Life Is a Gift

Life. It is something different for everyone. For me, it is pushing cows 15 miles to summer range on a 90 degree day. It is waking up at 5 am and throwing a leg over my little cowpony and not getting home until nightfall. It is spending all the time I possibly can with the people I love, and the rest of it doing what I love. I have made a promise to myself not to waste my life doing things that make me unhappy. My life is precious  to me. I am grateful for it. Life is beautiful, simple,  and a GIFT. A gift from God himself. He gave us life and free agency to make our life what we want it to be. He blessed me with the gift to create life, and because of that I have the most beautiful baby. Each one of our lives is also precious to Him, Including those unborn. Each soul has great potential on this earth, each life bringing something new and beautiful in a unique way that this world NEEDS. The world needs the innocent, the beautiful souls, the sweet and happy and lovely. Let us remember what a gift life is, let us not squander it, and ESPECIALLY let us not take it away from someone else. 💔 #thecowboyswife #ranchwife #ranchlife #prolife #savethebabies #lifeisprecious #lifeisagift #happylife

Men and Women Were NOT Created Equal

Why is masculine a word with such negative connotations? What is wrong with men being masculine? Men and women were created to be different for many reasons! They're NOT the same and men and women are NOT equals. If they were they wouldn't make a good team.

Men were created to be bigger and stronger than women. They are our protectors and our providers. I think it's wonderful to see a tough woman who can hold her own and take care of herself...but I see it as a weakness when a woman has too much pride to accept help from a man. Women can be tough and men can be tender, but let's not forget that it is okay to fill our natural roles.

I married a cowboy. He is strong and tough, a real man's man. He is very masculine. However, his hands tough as leather are so soft and gentle holding our child, or holding me when I need a shoulder to lean on. He is a real man because he easily fills his manly roles but isn't afraid to be gentle and tender.

I, too, fill my specific roles. As a woman, I find it easy to be thoughtful and caring. I think about others' needs because I am a caretaker...it's what I was made to do. I take pride in this. I love caring for my family. Even though I'm the caretaker, I'm not afraid to step into other roles. Living on a ranch means hard work from everyone. I can cuss cattle just as good as my husband!

Together, my man and I, we make a great team because we work together to fill all the roles. Society has damned traditional roles of men and women, but to me they are essential. He needs me to clean the house and cook the meals and take care of the children. And I need him just as much to be provider. Sure, we each step in to both roles because marriage is a team effort. However, we both have our places. I am better at gentling or gaining the trust of a skittish colt; he is better at riding the bucks out of them. Our roles are not equal but are of equal importance. This is something the world has forgotten.

The world is crazy in this day and age. People are confused by their own gender, which blows my mind. Anything traditional is considered politically incorrect. My saying that I think men should be men and women should be women is politically incorrect. We need to bring this world back to sanity, one manly man at a time, political correctness be damned!
- The rambling thoughts of a cowboy's wife

Old Faithful

Our good old faithful...Gus. He represents a lot to me. In today's world, everyone is a gypsy; here one day, gone the next. It's not so popular these days to settle down and plant some roots. My generation isn't in such a hurry to get married and have a family. "You're only young once!" They say. And how true this is. But is there anything wrong with spending my youth raising babies? Planting some roots and enjoying the slow down of life on the desert? I can't say there's anything I'd rather be doing besides watching my little one grow and learn, riding my ponies and feeling the wind in my hair. I love the wide open spaces out here, and I get to enjoy them in my own time. I get to stay put here on this ranch, and I get to cook my husband dinner every night. My old faithful.  Just like Gus, he is steadfast and strong, always learning and growing but somehow also staying the same. We are old fashioned, a couple of home bodies. We have so many goals and dreams, but they're focused around our family and this way of life. It gives me such a huge sense of freedom. No 9 to 5, no waking up in the morning dreading going to a job I detest. Just living our best lives, a little old fashioned,  a little bit slow paced. Just like our Gus.

And God Said, Let There be Cowboys

God created the mountains, the open range, the cows, and the horses, and then He knew there would need to be someone who would love and take care of all these things. So He said, let there be cowboys.
   
Let there be cowboys so there is someone willing to go out in the middle of the night when its 10 below to make sure none of the calving heifers need any help.

Let there be cowboys who will work those 12 hour days 7 days a week, with no real quitting time because they can't go home until the job is done.

Let there be cowboys that will get on that broncy colt on a cold morning, and teach him with a firm but gentle hand, because he knows that's how nice horses are made.

Let there be cowboys to treat a lady with respect, to open her door and say kind words, but also treat her as an equal partner because on the ranch, everyone works; and that cowboy, he knows she is every bit as tough and handy as he is.

Let there be cowboys to be daddies to little cowboys and cowgirls, to teach sons and daughters alike to work side by side in the branding pen and in the house. Everyone chips in on the ranch.

Let there be cowgirls, to work along with her cowboy, riding colts and roping cows.

Let there be cowgirls, so there is someone to keep that cowboy in line, but understand that he wasn't made to be tamed.

Let there be cowgirls, to show her daughters how to be the kind of woman that earns and deserves respect, and her sons how to respect a good woman.

Let there be cowboys and cowgirls...to live this hard, beautiful way of life, keeping things simple, loving God, and riding nice horses. 😘

Thoughts From a Homebody

The idea of travel....seeing all the beautiful places and meeting amazing people...who doesn't love it? I like to think I could be a vagabond, traveling the world in a camper van with no more than the basic necessities. A new sight to see out my front door every day! How wonderful would that be?
But if I'm really honest with myself, I'm such a homebody. I love waking up in the same place to the same face every morning. I love my little routine.  I love waking up to little hands grabbing my face and a little voice gurgling at me. I love making breakfast in my kitchen in my cozy little house that always stays in the same place. I love walking outside to see the tall trees and the pond and the geese honking (no matter how annoying they can be when I'd LOVE to sleep in). It might be six degrees when I go to feed the dogs, but the wiggly little pups so happy to see me, and my big hairy dog who thinks I'm the best thing in her world, make the cold air feel refreshing and wonderful.
I couldn't live happily not having roots...I love being part of a community, even if I'm kind of a hermit. That's the wonderful thing about Skull Valley and living on this ranch.  You have built in family and friends, but it's so easy to keep to yourself if you're not such a social human. Living way out here, 45 minutes from town, in the middle of the desert...it might sound like hell for someone but it sure is heaven to me.
Sometimes I really think I need to travel more...but then I look around at this beautiful place where I'm lucky enough to put down some roots. And well, it's no wonder I'm a homebody.

Flying by the Seat of Our Pants

   I was born a planner and an organizer. I plan everything out and make lists. I like things to be a certain way. I used to get so upset if someone ruined my plans...but I married a cowboy! Sometimes, being married to a cowboy means your plans don't work out or they change last minute. Sometimes it means running back and forth between where we live and where we're from...three hours away. Last minute trips home aren't easy with a four month old baby, but we make it work. Sometimes last minute trips home mean having to borrow my mom's clothes, but that's okay! I've really had to learn to fly by the seat of my pants, and I think I've gotten good at it!
   Being married to a cowboy means...the nights I plan and make dinner you can bet he had plans to go ride colts with a friend and eat in town! The weekends I really want to stay home and relax a little bit are the weekends he definitely has plans to go home...but forgets to tell me until the last minute.
    Being married to a cowboy means having to move twice a year from summer range to winter range. It means unexpected vet bills or having to stay up all night with the two year old because she tore herself up or colicked... again. It means that sometimes, my husband spends more time shoeing horses at night than he does with us, or he'd really rather work his dogs than watch a movie even though it's FREEZING outside.
   Sometimes he drives me CRAZY with all his last minute plans and forgetting that he doesn't have time for everything...but being married to a cowboy also means a husband who is home every night. It means a man who is so hard working and luckily, we get to go to work with him sometimes. It means getting a bum calf instead of flowers. It means a slower paced life, living a little bit off the grid. It means always having a new colt or a new pup, and for me that's the most exciting part! I'm just a little girl at heart and can't get enough horses and dogs! 😅 Being a cowboy's wife means being blessed enough to live the life I always dreamed of. It's crazy, busy, messy, and beautiful, and I wouldn't trade it for the world!

Life Changes

This time of year, I always find myself reflecting on my life.  This year especially, I've  been thinking about the past few years of my life and thinking how drastically my life has changed in such a short time. Two years ago, I was living in a sheep camp on top of the mountain with my horses and a bunch of dogs! Tyrell and I worked for Thousand Peaks Ranch and we were gathering cows. We covered a lot of miles on our poor horses and rode them all into the dirt! At the time, I thought for sure, "Wow, this is the time of my life!" I had no idea what was in store for me!

My life very quickly went from sheep camp livin to baby raisin! After working for Thousand Peaks, I went back to Sanpete County and the Bar J where I grew up working. I worked there all summer moving cows, riding colts, and just generally loving life. I had a very busy summer, as I was also planning my wedding.

I got married in September and moved to Skull Valley the next day. I'll have to say, it was quite an adjustment for me. I went from having my own job and my own horses to sharing everything. I traded my favorite horse and I found myself no longer owning anything that was just mine. I wasn't the one getting business and getting outside horses anymore. I worked in the feedlot with my husband, but all the calls from people needing colts ridden came for him. It was hard on me. It made me feel pretty useless. I thought hard about what I was doing with my life and what my place was in the world. I always thought I knew; horses are my passion. I don't want to say my husband took that from me, it wasn't as though he told me I couldn't start colts or take outside horses. He didn't even have any idea I was feeling that way because I couldn't find the words to tell him. I just felt pretty lost.

I had a plan to exercise colts at the racetrack for the winter, and I felt good about it. I'd have my own job again, riding colts and feeling like I could be useful again. However, the same day I was talking to the guy who would hire me, I got some happy, although unexpected, news! We were going to have a baby! I was so excited, but also completely terrified. Was I ready to be a mother? Would this change my life too drastically?

I never could have known how much I'd love being a mother. My sweet baby boy is the light of my world. I can't imagine life without him! I still find the time to work my dogs and my colts and go to work and play cowboy! Most of my days might be filled with diaper changes and baby snuggles and my horses come in second now, but I wouldn't change it for the world!

My life has done a 180 even in just the last year, but I find myself thanking the Lord for my blessings every day and wondering how on earth I got so lucky to have the life I do! I've always had big dreams for my life, but I never could've imagined it any better. ❤️