The past week's happenings...

We have had a fun past week up here in cold, Idaho. A week ago Friday, after Chase and I did our thing at the calving barns in the morning, we went to Tendoy (20 miles) to help the “neighbors” rope and brand their calves. Since we run all ours through the table, when Chase has the opportunity to go help anyone rope and brand, he tries his darndest to get there! It was fun to just be around other couples, laughing and joking, and not having the stress that comes along when it’s your job that needs done. The weather cooperated, and it turned out to be the perfect day for branding.

Saturday, my new friend, Erin, :) (so happy to have a friend up here) and I went to Salmon to be judges in the High School Rodeo Queening. Don’t judge! My beautiful Mom did some rodeo queening, as well as being Miss Washington…..but obviously, I didn’t do High School Rodeo, or Queening. However, I was excited (and a little nervous) to have the opportunity to do this and to learn. We judged horsemanship first, where the girls had to run a pattern and were asked, “What is the purpose of the horse’s frog?” Next we did a personal interview, followed by impromptu questions, modeling, and speech. There were 3 girls that competed, which was the most they have had in a while. I am so glad I did this, it was a great experience!

Sunday – General Conference! As I listened to conference, I realized even more, that I love my husband, my life, out here in the country. My husband is the most wonderful man I could ask for and listening to our Priesthood leaders teach us by example and wisdom, sage advice, loving chastisement, makes me love him, and US even more.

Elder Scott’s talk made me want to be a better wife. The kind of wife elder Scott’s wife was. The kind of wife my mother is. The kind of wife my grandma was. I want to become the woman my husband tries to emulate.

When Elder Holland told us about the process they each go through to know what Heavenly Father wants them to speak about and what we need to hear, to help us, I got chills and teary eyed. I KNEW without any doubt, that what he was saying was right. That they receive their topics from God, through the Holy Ghost. How blessed we are as members of the church to have such great examples and leaders. I have acquired a love for conference, and I wish it came around a little more often.

Tuesday, after getting stuff done at the calving barns, Chase and I were able to sneak away in the afternoon to go to Idaho Falls. I had a hair appointment first thing. By the way, I LOVE my lady! She is so fun and is fabulous doing hair! She put a few feathers in my hair….I guess it’s the “new” thing. I like them, even if some people don’t ha! Then, Erin and Jayde met us at the house. They were heading to Utah, and so they stayed with us Tuesday night, to break up their trip a little. We went to the Bodies Exhibition. It was so fascinating! It is amazing the things that can be done these days. It gives you a deeper appreciation for our creation, what an amazing miracle! FYI- the exhibit is a little graphic, so probably not for young kids. We followed that up with a nice Mexican Dinner.

Wednesday, we all go up and went to breakfast, before the Christiansens got on their way. Chase and I ran errands, did our grocery shopping, caught a movie, and even came home with some BABY CHICKS! Hooray! They are so cute! I can’t wait to have fresh eggs! We always had chickens growin up and we loved to go gather the eggs!

Sad note: Chase’s snowmobile quit him the last time he went riding. So we took it with us and dropped it off. They plugged it in to see what was wrong…..and sounds like it’s done-for. Dang sleds! Anyhow, I really enjoyed our time down there. Chase RARELY gets to go with me, so when he does, it’s an extra special treat!

Things have slowed down quite a bit at the barns, with only 100 left to calve, so I’ve been able to start on some of my spring cleaning and baking! I made bread on Saturday. It was my first time to do it all on my own, not having anyone coaching -me along. It turned out yummy! You can’t beat warm-out-of-the-oven homemade bread and honey!

Well, there’s our week in review! What a great week! Life is good!

(I know the font is all messed up, it would not do it right-grr!)



Cozy watchin me mop the floor



2nd post, a year later…

Here I am a year later, making my 2nd post! I've missed out on blogging about so many different events, but my hope is to briefly catch up on a few things and then keep up to date!

We're to the end of the month...which also means, the end to one of  the craziest months on the ranch! We have 275 cows left to calve out. We will have calved out 1,700. Things have slowed down so much! All 3 barns (99 stalls) are no longer needing cleaned every day! Hooray! And now, Chase is doing ALL the doctoring and I enjoy tagging along with him! We like to do it on horseback, but once in a while we go out in the ranger or on the wheeler.

Right as things started slowing down a bit, we came down with something...crappy (no other word seemed to fit). Unfortunately, the cows didn't understand and continued calving. So...we had to continue coming to work. No rest, no quick recovery! This is what our counter, right below the medicine cupboard, has looked like for a few weeks.

It's too much work to get them in and out of the cupboard every morning and night, right? Thanks to some drugs, we are feeling much better and hope to be completely well any day now!

We are grateful when April, Chase's sister that lives in Montana, is here! She came for a week, with a cheery attitude and lots of energy! She loves it! And we LOVE having her here! She's an extra boost for those of us that are tired and wore out! Thanks Ape! My sister, Krystal, also came up for a few days and helped us out! It was fun having her here and it gave me a little "family fix." I've been here for 18 months, and so far, February 2010 and 2011 are the ONLY months I haven't had some sort of "family fix." I think it's a good tradition..... :) Let's see how long I can keep it up! Ha! It helps that she is going to school in Logan. Although, she graduates in May!

Some of my favorite memories are of my Dad picking me up from Kindergarten to go check his cows on his ranch on the Arizona Strip. I've always loved cows! I always wanted to marry a rancher! I wasn't ever the little girl that wanted to marry a doctor or lawyer. Except for when we played MASH...and you HAD to choose 4 different occupations for your future husband. And as much as I love working and being outside with the cows, I am ready for calving to be done and I am ready for Spring! Some of the things I'm looking forward to are:

First and foremost, some Spring Cleaning! Organizing, Organizing, Organizing! I LOVE organizing! I can hardly wait til I am waiste deep, de-cluttering, re-arranging, and organizing my cupboards and closets! Days of window washing, cleaning mopboards, dusting light fixtures.....you know how it works! My house is ready for it....and I'm ready to do it!

With a little warmer weather, I anticipate the day I can water and mow the lawn, plant my flowers and garden, hang laundry on the clothesline, and get all the sheds at our place cleaned out!

I hope to get this old homestead that is right out our backdoor, moved and burned! It's neat that it's the original home, but I'm ready for this mice infested building to be OUT of my backyard!

I am excited to do some sewing! My wonderful boss, Sharyl, sent me home with one of her Berninas a year ago, along with all the material (we spent a day getting me started) to make the cutest quilt. So along with that quilt, I have a few other projecs to finish up, and many more to start. Yipee!

Cooking! Say what!? I never thought I'd say that! During calving, Chase and I get to the ranch at 7:30 and usually don't leave beofre 6. Paula feeds us all a BIG lunch and so when we get home at night, we are not starving, plus we are exhausted. So we usually just have some salad or a smoothie. It's been over a month since I've cooked! It will be like I'm a beginner all over again, but I'm ready to get back to cooking some meals!

Young Womens! Girl's Camp, Youth Conference, etc, etc. I'm the secretary in our Young Womens and I LOVE it! We have the best group of girls. And the President and her counselor (that's right, just a president, counselor, and secretary) are such great examples and friends to me! I hope to magnify my calling and participate in all the activities and to grow closer to the girls and leaders I serve with.

Biking! Chase got me an awesome bike for my birthday last year. It's currently in the house, set up on the trainer. It didn't get a whole lot of use outside this last year. But I plan on breakin it in real good this summer!

Traveling/Family/Friends! These go hand in hand. I hope to see my family A LOT this summer! I miss them all so much! I miss the everyday activities with them! I miss seeing some of my neices and nephews on a daily basis! We hope to have some family come to the ranch. I remind Chase everyday how excited I am to bring my oldest nephew, McCoy, home with us when we go down the end of May. So hopefully he is being obedient and a nice little boy....so he can come! We miss out on so many of my family's different activities and that has been such a huge adjustment for me, cause I was ALWAYS there-to ALL of them! I look forward to a visit from my mother! Just spending lots of time together, learning how to be domestic :) My Mom is very domestic! She's awesome! And there is SO much for me to learn from her! I hope to have outings with friends....like camping, cookouts, horseback riding, ATV riding, shopping, etc.

Ropings! I love traveling to ropings with my hott cowboy! It gives me joy watching him do something he is so passionate about! Don't get me wrong....there are times I get wore out. But I love supporting him. And hopefully here any day, we will both be roping the heel-0-matic.

And of course, Ranching! We live in such beautiful country and when we're out moving cows or whatever, everything is so peaceful and breathe taking. I'm grateful for this lifestyle. I'm grateful I can go to work with my husband every day, if I choose to. Ranch life and working with family every day (especially when it's not your own :) ) can be real tough, but it is worth it and I wouldn't choose a different life. I'm so thankful for my sweet husband. He is so patient with me and all my adjusting. He makes me smile and laugh every day. How blessed I am to have him in my life!

Gonna try it out!

So I've decided to attempt this blogging stuff! Hopefully it will give our family and friends that aren't here in Idaho a better idea of what's going on from time to time! Since I'm new.....I'll appreciate any tips from all you pros!