Confessions of The Rancher's Wife - The Idaho Rancher's Wife

Doing Scary Things- Ranch Wife Style

February 18, 2025 by admin Leave a Comment

The comfort zone- a place of ease, perceived control, and little stress. Let’s be honest, we all want to operate inside our comfort zone where we can keep anxiety at bay, feel confident, and know what we are doing. We fear failure so we ensure success by only doing those things we have already done. But experience teaches that the most growth and learning happens when we step outside that comfort zone. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Do something everyday that scares you. These small things that make us uncomfortable help us build courage to do the work we do.”

Life on the ranch tends to give us all plenty of moments outside our comfort zone that we can either embrace and learn through or shy away from and stay stagnant. I’ll admit that embracing those moments feels especially hard when my failures are out on display for so many others to see. It’s ok for my growing children to learn from failure, but as a grown adult, I too often feel like I should just know, well… everything.

Just last week I took the opportunity to do something new and outside my comfort zone. For some, this might seem like a simple daily chore but for me, it was a whole new experience- feeding cows solo. Now I go out and help feed often, sometimes daily. I know the routine, what to feed, how much, but I’ve always been the crew that opens the gates, cuts the net wrap off and such.

What I haven’t ever done is be the guy in the tractor behind the wheel. If we had to choose between my very capable husband and myself in the seat, we choose him because we want to get the job done and move on. And, really, why should I do it when he is there?

Eventually the day rolled around when all of the usual feeding crew were gone. The roping that was supposed to get done with plenty of time for the ranchers to get home and feed, went long, lending to one of two possibilities. Either they would have to feed late after getting home or I could jump in and try to do it myself. I pulled on my big girl coveralls and jumped in the tractor seat, sure that I could feed three bales of hay without disaster striking.

There were a few things I knew I had on my side as I set out- first I had the basics of tractor mechanics down so that I could drive faster than at a snail pace and move the loader in all the necessary directions. Second, if I had questions, FaceTime put me just one phone call away from help. And third, cows don’t care how pretty the feeding is, they just want the hay out.

Getting to the stackyard I found the right hay, and through a little trial and error, managed to get a bale on the forks and grab one with the three point bale squeeze on the back. It wasn’t as smooth and easy as when the guys do it, but I was doing it. I headed up the hill to the hungry heifers, planning in my mind how I was going to go about feeding. I would set the first bale down, cut the wrap off, tip it over, send it rolling down the hill and that would keep the cows out of the way while I put the other two in bale feeders around the pasture. Easy enough.

Everything started off according to plan until it was time to send that bale rolling down the hill. What seemed like a simple little push with the forks was hardly so and because it was taking longer than usual, the cows were now starting to get in the way. To complicate things even more, it was suddenly dark outside.

I was definitely outside my comfort zone, but also so in the thick of what I was doing that there was no quitting.

Scooping up the bale I had intended to roll down the hill, I put it in the first feeder and opted to try again with the second bale, learning from my earlier mistakes. It took a little trial and error but bale number two was finally rolled out and the cows were content to leave me alone while I fed the last bale.

Heading to the feeder, I saw that it was on a hill and while I might be in a tractor, I had better be smart about how I went about getting there. Between the snow and mud, the hill was slick and in that moment, a distinct memory of a teenage girl failing to turn a tractor up a muddy hill came rushing back to me.

Putting the tractor in the low, snail pace gear, I carefully headed down the hill, making sure I had a clear plan out of there after dropping my load. All seemed well as I made my way to the feeder until I stopped the tractor to pull off the net wrap and noticed the tractor continued to slide. I quickly turned the wheels and that was enough to keep it still. I knew I could dump the bale but I wasn’t sure how I would get out of my predicament once I straightened out again.

Four wheel drive. That was the solution. I really should have thought of that before heading down the slippery hill but at least I was thinking of it now. The only problem was that of the millions of buttons, levers and switches, I had no idea which to toggle. And I was sure that the wrong one would probably make the whole tractor implode.

Mustering the courage to make that phone call that admitted a bit of failure, I called my husband and asked for help. Without laughing at my mistakes or making me feel even more dumb than I already felt, my rancher easily helped me get out of my sticky situation. I dropped the last bale, skirted around the feeder, and headed for home quite proud of what I had finally accomplished that night.

For some, this was a simple chore, something they could probably do with their eyes closed, although I don’t recommend it. They made it seem easy but as I went through the very steps they did, it seemed so complicated and almost dauntin. I hope you chuckle about this little ranch wife willing to help even when the job is outside her comfort zone. But more importantly I hope you learn a few lessons from her.

Learn that you can accomplish far more than you think you can. You just have to try. New things are hard and scary- they are supposed to be! But, trying, jumping in with both feet is the only way to grow. Learn that people are here to help you. Asking for help isn’t admitting failure, even though it feels like it. Learn that the only real confidence in life comes from conquering those moments of fear, big or small. I might not be on the “A team” when it comes to the feeding crew, but if the job needs doing, I know I can do it. Next time, I just might have to start a little earlier and find the four wheel drive a little sooner.

The Rancher’s Wife Bloopers

February 25, 2021 by Allison

If there was a reel for this ranch wife’s time spent on the ranch, there would 100%, hands down, for sure be a bloopers cut at the end. One that was dedicated to all of the blonde moments, huh-ohs and flops that add a little excitement to our ranch life. Now don’t worry, the ranch is still standing, our marriage is still solid and nothing that had to be undone, couldn’t be done. Truth be told, once I moved passed the shame of my failures, some of them were actually pretty humorand added a little humor that we can use a bit more of.

Not a Chicken-Herder

I’ve said it before and will likely say it again and again, but I don’t like chickens. Like, really don’t like chickens. I don’t do chickens. And even less so with the herd (flock?) of chickens that we have now. These chickens apparently don’t have a personal bubble and aren’t afraid of anything because they like to get all up in my business. Anymore I don’t gather eggs or check chickens without someone to protect me, like my kids.

Super impressed with my mothering, right?

I feel like I have been plenty patient with these hens wanting to peck my hands and toes and try to fly up in my face but when they had me cornered in the coop I decided this was no longer a one mom job. Someone walking past might have thought the scared screeches and squawks were coming from the chickens, not the other way around. These days I brave the chickens with my courageous four year old taking the lead, boldly shooing away the chickens as we walk across the coop to the nesting boxes. Then I hoist him up to gather the eggs as fast as he can while I keep watch. Every time I wonder if this is the day I will have to call retreat and leave the eggs in order get out of there in one piece.

I know. Its ridiculous. They are just chickens and it only takes a few minutes to gather those eggs. I should totally be up to the task but when it comes to the chickens I have a faint heart and fall short.

Backing up is Just Like Going Forward, Just in Reverse.

The science of backing up a horse trailer is beyond brain surgery and rocket science. Ok, not really, but when it comes to this rancher’s wife there is a lot of room for improvement. The Rancher just laughs at my deficiency and reminds me over and over the backing up is just like going forward, but in reverse.

Genius.

I understand the principles of it but applying it can be a little challenging. If I’m lined up with a straight shot and all tires are straight and I’m praying really hard I can usually pull it off. Or if someone is there to tell me which way to go and shake their head when I turned the wheel the wrong way I can manage to get backed in where we need. (Why someone would let me back up instead of kicking me out of the driver’s seat kinda blows my mind…) But if I’m on my own it can be somewhat problematic.

Like the day we decided to move a group of heifers on our way home. The Rancher hopped on his horse and asked us to drive the truck and trailer around to open the gate. Sure. Easy. I am a professional gate opener. So we get there, open the gate and wait. Unfortunately the heifers weren’t having anything to do with the truck and trailer there by the gate and wouldn’t go through. That meant I had to roll up my sleeves and back ‘er up. I was doing so good, backing up with the trailer heading where I wanted it and then I turned too much this way and that and before I knew and I was taking up the whole road. Traffic isn’t all the busy down our road so I wasn’t too worried but one glance up and down the road proved me wrong and I couldn’t just wait for The Rancher to bail me out as he has done more times than I would like to admit.

Don’t worry. Common sense prevailed and I just pulled ahead enough to be out of the way of traffic and the heifers and all ended well. Something I probably should have done to start with. But my rancher’s wife ego took a serious blow. I mean what kind of ranch raised cattlewomen has such a handicap?

From Hero to Zero

Its not very often that The Rancher calls me to save the day to help him out of a pickle and I relish the chance to be the hero. More often than I would like, there are those days that my triumphant moment turns to a flop.

One of these days stands out in my mind so distinctly because I quickly turned from rescuer to rescuee in a hurry. It was a cold January morning, The Rancher was out feeding cows and was pushing to get done quickly. The ground was covered in snow and the intense wind had blown drifts in some places and bare ground in others. The Rancher had thought he would be safe to drive through some snow but realized too late that he had just sunk the truck into a well disguised drift. He gave a good effort to get out to find that he was too stuck to get out alone.

With no one else around to help, The Rancher called me to bring our truck down to see we could get him moving again. I come charging in to save the day, beaming with pride that he would call me to help (pretending that it was do more to my skill than to his desperation). I pulled up to him to get my set of directions- pull around in front so we can yank the truck out. I put the truck in gear and start to go around where I was so sure The Rancher had told me to go. Seconds later I realized that was NOT the way I should have gone and sunk my truck up to its axels in snow.

What a rescue…

I’m sure The Rancher was kind and patient and understanding at my less than helpful efforts. Maybe not, but we can’t help but be sympathetic to his situation of having not one, but two trucks to pull out when we were already running behind…

With true stick-to-it determination, The Rancher managed to first dig his own truck out, and then pull mine out. He has been brave enough to call for help again, but jumps in the drivers seat before things go from bad to worse.

Helping in the Wrong Direction

While I love every opportunity to jump in and help, I realize that there is some amount of time that I am going to need to get caught up to whatever the guys are working on. Sometimes it takes just a second and I’m ready to roll. Then there are those days that I am rolling in the opposite direction.

Literally.

On the hot summer evenings, I think that moving wheel lines is a great way to end the day. We load the kids up, enjoy riding across the field and cooling off in the sprinklers. Its refreshing, even fun! Having my own pipe-moving-experience I have no problem jumping in to help. I consider it one of the perks of marrying me, that The Rancher got a wife willing to do a little irrigation.

On occasion, he just might think otherwise.

After a few irrigating oopses, there are always two things The Rancher is sure to tell me before I head off to move any lines on my own. First which direction the wheel line is moving and second, how many turns I need to go. Even as I’m writing this I’m second guessing how many we should do. To be fair to me, it can be hard to notice which direction you are moving across the field. Sure you may go the same direction year after year and it isn’t that difficult to see what is wet versus dry. But when the alfalfa is tall, the kids are distracting and you are just trying to get the work done, you just start moving and its entirely possible you are rolling in the wrong direction.

Maybe this sort of sub par help is why we have gotten rid of most of our wheel lines for pivots. Hhmmm…

I hate to admit that some of my out on the ranch skills have gotten a little rusty. Don’t get me wrong, I am helpful, more often than not. But in all honesty, I have my days that I just can’t win. Part of my charm has to be helping the rest of the crew look good. I’m sure that if all of my time and energy was dedicated to just the ranch, I would sail along, no problem, day after day. But its not and so I will take the ranch wife flops and laughs along the way. They always say, “laughter is the best medicine.”

Photos by the great Kendra Bird at kendrabirdphotography.com

Weekend Adventures in Locomotive: Part I

March 24, 2018 by Allison

** We had a fun filled weekend with loads of stories. In order to share them all, I’m going to post them in a three part series. Keep an eye on the blog to get the whole story!

When you can’t take vacation because work on the ranch is true crazy, you find a way to take a working vacation. For us, something like that looks like a weekend in Locomotive to camp out while keeping an eye on the cows. Work on vacation, sounds like win to me!

In past years, the only time that we have camped out with the cows in Locomotive is when they needed extra looking out for. Those times are rare and only happen when it’s so cold and so snowy that we have gathered in the herd to feed and watch the calves through the cold nights. I always felt bad admitting it, but I loved it when we would head down and camp with the cows. I didn’t want to hope or wish that we have some time down there camping because that would be wishing for the cold, lots of snow or poor calving and I couldn’t wish that upon The Rancher.

But this year, somehow, someone saw the light and realized that things do have to be so bad down there for us to go camp out for a few days!

Our story of weekend adventures camping in Locomotive starts on the trip down. Adventure lies not only in the destination but in the journey too, right? In this instance, it’s a resounding YES. Let me set the scene so you can fully grasp the exhausting-ness of this night.

We had already spent the day at the Carter Cattle Co. bull sale in Pinegree, Idaho. And while we hurried to eat some lunch, buy our bulls, settle up, load up, do a little PR with the different ranchers and bankers and such, it was a long day. I had intended to have done some packing and prep work in the camp trailer the day before but that just hadn’t worked out. That meant as soon as we got home we had to scurry to get everything ready. When I say we, I mean me, of course, because The Rancher had chores to do outside as well as to hook up to the camp trailer, load up the gator, and hook that to the camp trailer.

Can you imagine the long list of things that we needed to check off before we could head out? And of course we had to get it all done NOW because we had to stop to get propane at the truck stop before it was too late.

Now, let’s add to the frenzy of getting ready, the kids hyped up for the adventurous weekend ahead of them. They were so pumped and jazzed about the whole thing that they were just bouncing off the walls and begging to take the most random things in the camp trailer (all while forgetting the important things, like underwear and socks…). There came a point they were just too much and I kicked them out to go find their bikes (… still trying to decide if that was a good mom moment or not). To top off the chaos and tension you could feel from all the excitement and stress, the baby was running a fever and all he wanted was to be held. To be more specific, he just wanted his dad to hold him.

I’ll admit that is was stressful getting ready to go- packing bags for everyone, packing food, getting enough bedding, grabbing towels and cooking supplies… and, of course, I forgot stuff. I do every time I go somewhere, I swear… (Ask my sister-in-law, she is always shipping me something after I have been to visit their family!)

But we got on the road.

Finally.

The sun was setting and it was dark before we even got 10 miles down the road. Not biggie, we thought. Sure it will make things a little more challenging, but we could handle it. We made it to the truck stop, figuring it would only take a few minutes to top the tanks off and get back on the road. But we were wrong… so wrong… It seemed everything we tried to do went wrong or took more time that it should have.

As we pull to the back of the station we saw a truck and flatbed trailer parked in the middle of the truck parking lot. There was enough room to move around him, but not enough room to move around easily. Of course he was right in front of the propane tanks, making it especially hard for us to get where we needed to go. With his mad truck driver skills, The Rancher managed to sneak us in to get filled up. After three trips into the store to get everything right, we were filled up and ready to go, except for the truck in the way. He had bottlenecked everything and there was a line of semi’s we had to wait to get where they needed to be before we were finally able to make our wait out.

So now we are stressed, sick, excited, and anxious, with lingering feelings of frustration but on our way.

Phew.

Then I realized I forgot the hot dogs and the roasting sticks. Curses. (I had plenty of food packed so we didn’t starve, we just didn’t get to have our roast out… bummer)

The trip was uneventful as we pulled our haul down the squishy, gravel road to our corrals in Locomotive. We were getting close to our turn off and I was thinking that things were all settling down when something on the road looked off. It was just after the cattle guard and I couldn’t quite tell what it was until eyes started shining back at us.

Cows! Black cows, all over the road, lingering and meandering SLOWLY in the middle of the dark night. The Rancher hit the brakes and I silently prayed that the bump wouldn’t be too bad and that we could keep going. Ya, I didn’t even think we would manage to avoid smashing into a cow. You can imagine how a truck towing a 30(ish) foot camp trailer and another 16 foot trailer with a gator on it would be hard to stop or maneuver through cows dotted across the road. By the grace of heaven, a loud horn and good trailer brakes, The Rancher got us stopped and the cows scooted off the road.

Curses! Heart racing, breath holding curses! And then, phew… We refer to those moments as butt-pucker-moments, if ya know what I mean!

I’m starting to think that getting to where we are going can’t happen soon enough but I know that in reality, the hard part was still ahead of us. We had no idea what the road to the corrals was like. It could be fine, but it could also be laden with slimy, greasy, squishy mud and that we would have to park it for the night somewhere else.

We turned off the road and I held my breath to find that the road was surprisingly ok. Not great, but not enough to stop us from going on. We made it through the first gates just fine and continued down the road until the road started to look more like one huge puddle than a road. The Rancher figured that driving along side of the road instead of on it would be a better option at this point and we began off- roading. It really was a good idea because there weren’t any puddles or greasy mud and the grass helped us have a little traction as we made our way across the range.

Our progress was slow but steady and then suddenly The Rancher said, “Uh, oh…” and gunned it. It didn’t take a genius to recognize that we were about to be in trouble. And just like that we sank. When I say sank, I mean sank clear up to our axles. We sank so deep we didn’t even attempt to get out. We sank so deep that when The Rancher stepped down out of the truck there was no down part of it.

Curses… again …

I started convincing myself that we would be fine to camp out here for the night and just deal with it in the morning. I was figuring that my attitude was a good-take-things-as-they-were type of attitude but in retrospect, I was probably just ready to be done with the night. The Rancher, the great problem solver that he is, jumped into action and made up a plan.

To our benefit, and ultimate salvation, the backhoe was at the corrals and we had the gator hooked on to the back of the camp trailer. So The Rancher could jump in the gator, drive up to the back hoe, drive it back down, and finally pull us out of the mud hole that swallowed us. With this being the only real plan we had, he took off down the road leaving the kids and I in the truck waiting. Now, being the God-fearing, religious woman that I am, I didn’t let this moment escape without gathering my babies close and offering up a prayer that everything would work out to our benefit.

It seemed to take FOR-EV-ER (channel your inner “Sandlot” as you read that) but soon enough we saw the lights of the back hoe approach. Yahoo! He made it.

But now, to get pulled out.

I was dreading this moment because I would either have to be in the back hoe yanking on the trailer to pull it out or in the truck feathering it just right as I attempted to steer the truck out of the mud and avoid getting deeper in trouble all while in the dark when I couldn’t see anything except from the lights of the back hoe.

Yikes…

My lot landed in the truck (which was honestly my preference of the two undesirable choices…). My only instructions were to wait until I could feel the jerk of the back hoe and then give it just enough to drive out, without spinning my wheels deeper in the mud. I put the truck in reverse and waited for the jerk. As it came, I began to let off the clutch and slowly push on the gas. To my immediate relief and total surprise, we were moving! I had figured there would be some finagling to get out, but before we knew it, we were out!

The Rancher looked at me and said, “It should NOT have been that easy!” We will take it! And by it, I totally mean the blessings of answered prayers. We loaded back into the truck and made our way to the corrals, following the tracks the back hoe had left as The Rancher made his way back to us earlier.

The rest of the night seemed ordinary after so many other high emotional moments. We made it to the corrals, got cozy in the camp trailer, and managed to warm up some dinner (leftovers never tasted so good!). The beds seemed a little cozier and sleep came quickly after such an eventful night and we were ready for an exciting day come morning.

Why a Rancher Goes to College

January 24, 2018 by Allison

We just got done with an awesome weekend with the whole family. Nothing big. Just some good food, some game time, and our favorite people. Three of The Rancher’s brothers are in college right now and coming home to the ranch is their quick breath of fresh air and their means for rejuvenation before the next week of school. I totally get the need to take a break and come up for air after so many deadlines nagging at you over and over again. Over the weekend we heard all sorts of “I gotta study for this big test…” or “I have this huge assignment coming up…” and it almost sorta, kinda took me back to the days that The Rancher and I were in school.

I had two different college experiences in the quest for my degree. The first was when I was single and living my own dream and all that was on my schedule was a little bit of school, a little bit of work, a little bit of homework, and a lot of sports games. That was my life. Oh, and trying to get into nursing school… Then I got married, moved and started a new university experience. I didn’t have an apartment of girls that I had to share the bathroom space with anymore, but I had a man that needed real food, that I had to negotiate who got the car with and that I was building a life and sharing a dream with.

It was awesome.

It was hard.

The Rancher is not a sit-down-read-the-text-book-to-learn kind of kid. There might have even been some classes that he didn’t even open his book up, let alone learn from it. He is hands on, learn as you go, trial and error kind of learning guy. He learns fast and can see so quickly how to get from A to B. But sitting in a classroom just drained the life out of him.

There were a lot of times that I heard people say, “Why is he going to school if he is just going back to the ranch? He isn’t even going to use his degree anyway. Its just a piece of paper.” And when I hear those words, my blood starts to boil.

Yes, my husband was very VERY lucky that he had a job waiting for him the day he finished college. The job he had dreamed of having his whole life. He didn’t have to do scores of applications and interviews. He was qualified for the job by his experience long before ever finishing his degree. But that doesn’t mean that his college experience wasn’t a valuable asset for him as he returned to the ranch.

Here’s why.

When a grad walks away from college, we like to think it was only worthwhile if they got a job in their field or if they are able to make money using the skills and knowledge that they gained. If not then their experience was a total waste. In The Rancher’s case, it would seem that he already knew everything he would need to know to cowboy, so what was the sense in spending all that time and money on math classes and literature classes that he would never use anyway? And of course everything they would teach him in his ag classes were things that he should already know or he wouldn’t need to use. Right? It was just as wasteful as someone that went to a trade school or did an apprenticeship but changed course after getting done. Its wasted money and time if the girl that went to beauty school doesn’t open up a salon the week after she is certified or if the boy that went for diesel mechanics doesn’t end up working on trucks. Right?

Wrong!

I get that getting degrees and certificates and those kind of things cost money. I also get that we feel that there needs to be a return on that investment that is deemed worth such an investment. But the future potential income ISN’T the only returns from going to college.

There are so many life skills learned while going to college from the little things of doing laundry to learning how to problem solve from some crazy math (I will NEVER forgot the ah-ha moment I had mid-math class when I figured out the most complex problem… Never…) . Not to mention learning how to meet deadlines and pushing through to the end when you don’t want to.

You also gain an amazing network of friends and professionals in your area of study. They are the people you can work with, lean on and learn from. They push you to be better, help pick you up when you fall, and encourage you to try again. These people are so invaluable!

Taking time to step back from the ranch to learn from other people, their experiences and knowledge widens what can be a narrow view. You learn different ways, other ways, possibly better ways to work in the same industry.
If you ask The Rancher, a boy that spent all of his growing up time on the ranch, he will immediately tell you that he uses things that he learned from his classes. Especially his ag classes. Could he still ranch and cowboy without what he learned? Probably. Is he better at doing what he loves because of it? Absolutely.

The Rancher pushed through school because we both felt it was important to him. Not just for the things he learned, but for him to accomplish something that was hard, something that he thought he wasn’t made to do. We also thought it was important for the day that he may ever have to look for a job. Our dream was always to come back to the ranch, but what if that didn’t happen? What if it took years for that? What if at some point he had to look for other work? Having a degree made him marketable. It was a safety net that we needed for our family.

I am a big proponent of getting an education, ANY education you can. Because it is there that people gain valuable experience and confidence, gain life skills, net work, and find what they do and don’t want to do with their lives. You might think that this is an expensive cost to learn what they don’t want, but gaining an education is priceless. No matter what you are learning. It can be simply that you don’t ever want to be the prescribing rations of feed supplements. It could be that you learn how interested you are in genetics.

Not everyone is made for college or trade school or an apprenticeship. But everyone is made for learning. There is a whole world out there waiting to teach us is only we are ready to learn. So don’t ever think that because you or someone you know wants to cowboy or be a rancher that they don’t need to go to college or that they shouldn’t waste their time on college. Because it isn’t wasted time. Its invested time. Support them and their want to learn, their want to do something hard. They are probably going to complain or even regret it while in the thick of it all. But when it is all over, they will tell you it was worth it!

Christmas for a Rancher

December 12, 2017 by Allison

I am a big fan of Christmas! BIG FAN! I love everything about it- the tree and ALL decorations, the gift wrapping, the baking, the music, the snow, the hot chocolate… ALL of it! Except all the crazy shopping. I do admit that my anxiety reaches an all time high when I am shopping and there are 12 other people looking over my shoulder trying to find tooth brushes too. Ok, it was only 5, but still… CRAZY!

Shopping is especially stressful if I don’t know even what to get someone, especially The Rancher. I can pick out Barbie’s and tractors with the best of the best. I know my toys. But I have those moments of total blank-ness (yep, made that word up… Merry Christmas!) when my blonde hair sinks deep in the midst of a brain fart and nothing comes to mind to put under the tree for my cowboy. That’s when I wander the isles aimlessly hoping something will jump out at me to give him.

Obviously the smart thing to do is to ask him what he wants for Christmas. I do. And he doesn’t answer me. Or he says, “I don’t need anything. Spend it all on the kids.” So sweet and noble, right? But I know deep down inside that there is still a little boy inside that wants something exciting for Christmas too! Should I resort to filling his stocking with tractors too? I mean, there should be something besides socks in there, right? Anyone else in this boat with me?

Actually, this year… I got a list. Well, sort of a list. It was a list of all things that he likes. Not quite what I was hoping for but its definitely a start. Ya know, for those moments that nothing comes to mind as I’m staring at the shelves with an empty cart. (More likely when I am searching amazon with an empty cart and nothing coming to mind…) I thought I would share The List for any others that sometimes need a jump start for a cowboy. This list is certainly not totally encompassing and lets be honest, shopping from this list could really empty out the penny jar. But, in the case where a girl just doesn’t know what to get her cowboy, this might just get you through.

A cowboy hat– They can never have enough. Ever. Just when I think he is good, its time for a new one. And there are so many kinds you can have and they need to have them ALL.

Horse tack- Sometimes I feel bad getting him tack because that seems like work stuff. I try to be a little more original than that. So that’s when I get maybe a little fancier bit. Make it seem like more than just ‘work stuff.’

Clothes- The Rancher can go through work shirts and jeans like candy. Barbed wire, pocket knives, oil stains, poop… It is all hard on his clothes and a wardrobe upgrade is always welcome.

Boots- He teases me about how many shoes I have, but does he really need so many boots? Yes, he really does and there is always room for more!

Tools- Whether it is a new Leatherman or knife or wrenches or whatever, more is certainly merrier. Because tools get lost all. the. time!

Cowboy gear- What cowboy doesn’t want a new pair of chaps or a new work coat or wild rag or gloves? It may seem like a boring gift but they will put a smile on their face for sure!

Gun- Guns and ammo are always good. Yep.

Then there is always the list like- a new custom saddle, a new truck, a new trailer, a new horse…. the dreamer list. If you can shop the dreamer list you have made their Christmas for sure! I haven’t made that yep but someday… maybe…

Now that I have shared a few ideas to get you through some cowboy Christmas shopping, what are you getting your cowboys? What do you want for Christmas? Merry Christmas, Friends!

Thankful for the Moments

November 25, 2017 by Allison

Happy Thanksgiving! Wasn’t it a terrific day yesterday? A day full of eating and family and eating and sleeping and eating and fun! Actually, I don’t think I got an-after-lunch-nap but that’s ok.

I like my Thanksgivings best when its steeped in tradition and intentional. We can eat a turkey any day and we can over-indulge whenever we want, but to be really be Thanksgiving, this day has to be more than that.

My mom has a tradition every Thanksgiving. Its simple. Its easy. But it helps me keep Thanksgiving more than just a day about eating.

Every year my mom pulls out her hand drawn thankful turkey and carefully puts it on the wall. To begin with he looks a little sad, so bare because he doesn’t have any feathers yet. But as the days surrounding Thanksgiving pass, he is filled with colorful feathers inscribed with the blessings that we are most grateful for. Some of them say “family.” Some of them say “God.” Some of them say “my blankie.” And some of them even say, “my hot wife!” They aren’t elaborate or fancy, but they are true, heartfelt things we are grateful for.

For this first time ever, I struggled to know what to write. Not because I wasn’t grateful, but because I was so grateful for so many things I just didn’t know what to pick. We have been blessed with a beautiful home in a place that we get do what we love to do. We are constantly surrounded by good friends and family. We have so many opportunities to learn, to serve, and to grow. And while our year was so full, it was so full of blessings! I just didn’t know what to write.

As I sat there trying to decide what to put on my empty thankful feather I began to think back through this year and all the things we had done and I began to realize that what I treasure most are the moments. Those special moments you breath in deep because you know just how fleeting they can be. Those moments you pause to take it all in so you can remember the sounds and smells that wrap around you. Those moments that seem to make a place deep within your soul.

Those moments came as I stood with my kids as the heavy snowflakes drifted down from a peaceful winter storm while we were building a snowman. They came as we worked in the garden, planting, weeding and watering lending to our eventual harvest. It was in the quiet that I had those special moments when I rocked my growing baby before bed. More came as we worked together as a family to fill our yard with new grass. Some of those moments were spent late at night as we talked and laughed with our brothers and sisters.

There are so many things in this life that I wish we could have or that I could give to my family. We fill our lives with things or with moments and if I had to choose what my kids filled their lives with, it would be these moments. More than anything, I hope that they hang on to them. That they cherish them. Because all of the things that they have will slip away, but these moments are for them to keep forever.

There was no better thing for me to be thankful and to put on my feather than “the moments.” What are you thankful for in this season of gratitude? There are no wrong answers because being grateful is so much more important than what we are grateful for. If you haven’t, take a minute and look through your life and find those things that bless your life.

Happy Thanksgiving, Friends!

From a very grateful Rancher’s Wife

The Reality Is…

November 2, 2017 by Allison

… Its November…

GASP!!

I can’t believe that not only is summer gone, like LONG GONE, but Fall is on its way out. And so much has happened in that time. The good news is, I FINALLY (mostly, or almost mostly) have the new look for the blog up and running. The reality is that I am NOT web designer and so what I thought would be a quick and easy change was anything but… There is still a handful of surprises I have up my sleeve but I have enough done that I might sleep at night and NOT stress over it all.

I don’t have the time or the head space to give you a complete update on everything that has happened between now and then. But here is the highlights reel of the summer.

The kids and I made a trip to Montana- a much needed break and chance for renewal before a long and crazy summer. The highlight of that week had to be the basketball camp that The Rancher’s Sidekick got to be a part of. I have to admit that I was swelling with pride because I went to that same camp since I was a girl in second grade and it was my high school basketball coach that put on the camp!

My Montana skies!

Between The Rancher and I, we had FIVE different family reunions scheduled throughout the summer. No, we didn’t make them all, and that’s ok. We still had lots of time to reconnect with family, especially those that we don’t have the opportunity to see often. Highlights included fishing, water slides, bon fires (and consequently FIRE TREATS!), and late night games. Low-lights include being stuck at the mechanics for SEVEN hours, stomach bug while camping, and never enough time for it all.

My sister planned an EPIC road trip for herself and I was privileged enough to kick it off with her. The Cowboy Kid (my littlest) and I braved a plane to California, two full days of driving to Arizona (where we surprised our brother) and a flight back home in just a few days. Once again never enough time, but still so much fun. I have a whole new appreciation of how much I love where we live. One, because it isn’t swarming with people and two, because it isn’t a desolate, dreary, bleak, sterile desert. I mean, we live in a desert, but at least we have cedar trees and sage brush growing!

Road trippin’… (we really had fun despite these crazy faces!)

Even though it was summer, there was so much work to be done on the ranch. We rolled from crazy winter to busy calving to hectic branding to a quick turnout to rushed spring field work. This was our first spring with the new pivots (Christmas in May!!) and there was a heavy learning curve and lots of kinks to work out. I wish I could have had a dollar for every time The Rancher said, “We shouldn’t have to touch the cows until…” or “The field work should be down now…” because I swear Karma would kick in and we would inevitably have something come up that we STILL didn’t have a chance to catch our breath. Maybe we will after the calves are all gone? The reality is, catching our breath is pretty unlikely because we just don’t know how to slow down!

Getting the pivots up and running

A little spring farming!

Out on the range to check water with The Rancher

Of course we had our hands full of rodeos and roping all along the summer. The Rancher’s Sidekick even took a chance to ride into the arena and do a little sorting like the big boys. I don’t know how well he did, but it didn’t matter when you saw the smile he had on his face. All I could do was pray that he didn’t fall off and all he could do was beam with pride!

No summer would be complete without a little fire action. Unfortunately a lot of the action we had was on our private and BLM rangeland in Locomotive. And of course Mother Nature has no regard to Holidays or family time so Fourth of July fireworks had a whole new meaning and the dust was a little thicker with smoke at the Annual Stone Rodeo.

When we actually managed to be home and NOT working, we poured sidewalks and laid sod! I had been saving my pennies for a good long time and it was all worth it to a new sprinkler system, established grass and sidewalks instead of mud! It might actually be worth dusting now that we don’t live in a giant dirt bowl… HA! The reality is that even though I don’t have as much dust, I still don’t have any more time to clean!

The summer closed out with fairs, concerts (can you say bucket list!) and a wedding (Cowboy Pete tied the knot! More on that later, for sure!!)! Being on the County Fair Board is exhausting but always worthwhile. From ropings to horse races to hog washes, we did it all! Probably one of the highlights of my summer and the best way to end it was to go to a Home Free concert! The music was awesome, my date was the best and having a TERRIFIC babysitter was the icing on the cake!

Home Free date night!

We are full swing into school and fall work and back into some sort of routine. We eat, sleep, work, play and pray. The reality is, I don’t ever feel caught up and I never feel like I am doing good enough at any of it. But as a good friend recently told me, we are too blessed to be stressed.

Until next time, Friends!

Pausing for Perspective

May 24, 2017 by Allison

I love my life. I really do. Its amazing how much joy and satisfaction I find in what we do. I get to watch my kids learn and grow and fail and succeed. They get to watch their dad work and see what it means to have responsibilities and carry them out. It is exhausting and amazing and inspiring… and exhausting.

I love our life but it is exhausting. Most of the time when life gets busy and exhausting, you pause, give yourself some space, do something new to recharge yourself, and then jump back in.

We don’t do that.

Not that we don’t believe it taking a break, but its kinda difficult. With cows, irrigating, haying, feeding, checking water, and all the other things on the never ending check list, we don’t have the time to just up and leave. Not to mention the fact that we live in the middle of nowhere and going anywhere requires plenty of travel time.

But that’s ok.

We may to be able to be world travelers or we might not have the opportunities to visit exotic places. Its all ok, because we have an entire world to explore in our back yard. We have horses and 4wheelers and mountains and trails. We really have everything we need.

What we do, everyday, is what we love. Yes, we get tired of the daily grind, but that is when we load up in the gator and go for a ride. And we take a moment to refocus on what our priorities are and then we get back to it.

I’m in desperate need for such a pause. I am feeling the weight of the work that needs to be done on our home, for our community, in the fields… There is always more work to be done than there is time and energy. Think I can talk The Rancher into taking me on a romantic motorcycle ride tonight?

For the Love of Branding

May 8, 2017 by Allison

I have literally thousands of pictures of branding this spring. THOUSANDS! 5 different days of branding and taking so many pictures of busy cowboys (I might have less if they stopped and posed, but I take what I can get…) has made for so many photos to go through and edit.

I’m certainly not running out of photos, but I feel like I am running out of rocking stories to tell you. Its not that cool things didn’t happen, but I’m just afraid that those details of the day might bore you. Especially since we do about the same thing every year- we gather the herd, sort out the cows, brand the calves, eat lunch and start over.

It really is an exciting day that the crew looks forward to every year. I’d say its their drug of choice that they are going through some seriously withdrawals of roping and riding after a long winter. They take off across the range, adrenaline flowing, and they can’t get enough of it. They rope all day long until they are so sore they can’t keep going. Then they wake up and do it again.

The photos are going to keep coming and hopefully the stories come too! But sometimes, the photos speak for themselves. As they say, “A photo is worth a thousand words!”

Going Nuts Over Branding

April 28, 2017 by Allison

With all of my years of ranching and branding there is something that I have never done. Ok, there are plenty of ranchy-branding things that I haven’t done… But there is one that I took pride in not doing until just a few weeks ago. I don’t know if I should be proud for what I did, but I did it.

Here is what I did- I ate a nut. Not like a nut nut, but like a calf nut. A lemon peppered, battered, deep fried calf testicle.

Gross, I know.

Like I said, I don’t know if I’m proud of myself for doing it, but I did.

My brother-in-law, Cowboy Pete, had some buddies that thought it would be a great idea to fry up some nuts and have a party about it. So all day long, we were collecting nuts as we were branding. He even had his mom bring a tupperware with water that he had in the cooler with the vaccines to keep the nuts clean and cool. He went to some pretty extensive lengths to make sure that everything would be just right for their dinner that night.

So Cowboy Pete gets home, pulls out the nuts and made up his own little recipe for some gourmet fried nuts. All day he kept telling me that he was going to bring them over for me to try and I just laughed him off, so sure that he wasn’t going to do it and even if he did cook some, he wouldn’t bring them over.

But he did.

He comes over with his buddies and his plate of fried testicles and wafted them in front of my face as if its tantalizing aroma would be something I couldn’t resist. He grinned from ear to ear as he was trying to convince me just how good it was and that I HAD to try them.

I waffled back and forth on what I should do. Because really, one bite wouldn’t kill me. And if it was nasty, I could just spit it out. But I didn’t want to give in to him and justify his claim that his deep fried calf testes were good.

Just then, my husband reached over grabbed one and took a bite. I was super surprised because no one had been goading him to eat one and he JUST DID IT! And he liked it! Or at least I think he did. He at least didn’t spit it out, although he didn’t have another bite so maybe he didn’t like it so much.

After that, I knew I had to do it. If I didn’t, I would be the weak one. The one that wasn’t brave enough to even eat a little nut. So I took a bite.

I still shudder to think about what I did. I stooped to eating genitalia… Gross. Except, it was good. Or at least not bad. They seasoned them enough that it just tasted like a lemon pepper beef nugget (like chicken nugget, but beef… get it?).

Now I have done it all. And I will likely never do it again. Cowboy Pete did say that no self respecting ranch blogger couldn’t call themselves legit without trying a nut at least once. I tried it once, now I’m legit and have great credibility with my people, right?

Let me know if you want Cowboy Pete’s Deep Fried Calf Nut recipe ;).