*Busy Summertime*

I have kind of been burning myself out lately with work, house-keeping, adoption stuff, photography, and family/friend outings. Plus we still... yes, still... haven't gotten internet at our house so I have to come to the ranch every time I want to do more than just post a quick comment on facebook from my phone. And after returning e-mails, paying bills, updating our adoption profile and reading everyones blogs I am so done with my computer and don't feel like blogging. Hopefully soon we will figure out our living situations and finally get me some internet hooked up!

Just a few highlights from this month:

1. OUR BACKGROUND CHECKS FINALLY CAME BACK. Our profile is now officially on our adoption agency's website and we are all ready for a dear birth mom to pick us to become parents! Now the hardest part begins... waiting! I am having a hard time not checking my e-mail from my phone every 1/2 hour just in case Sandy (our case worker) decides to tell us about an interested birth mom... I will definitely have to learn patience!

I have a bag all prepared for quick access just in case we get a call and have to go pick a baby right up, or if we will be staying overnight in a different town or just because it makes me feel better to be prepared. That's only 1/2 of what's in the bag haha

2. This month has been full of shipping cows shipping cows shipping cows. Ever since we got that semi-truck it has been nonstop cow shipping for Joey. I hadn't hardly seen the guy the whole 1st half of this month! He would leave at 4am and not get back until 10pm. Sometimes he would even take the truck to where ever the cows where and stay in the sleeper so he wouldn't have to get up so early the next day. Coatsy and I were getting used to having the big bed all to ourselves :) Now Joey is getting ready to start haying haying haying. We have probably 5 or 6 extra fields this year to hay because of the new ranch and also the new place we are leasing (Indian Creek). So, here's to another 2 months of Joey leaving before the sun comes up and not getting home until well after it's gone down.

The Semi

3. Last week was awesome because we were in-between shipping and haying so I was able to get Joey basically all to myself for 5 whole days! I had bought tickets as soon as I heard that Def Leppard was going to be kicking off their Rock of Ages tour in Salt Lake City and that Poison was going to be joining them. Joey laughed at me because I had to pull over my truck and mess around on my phone for 30 minutes until I had finally got 2 tickets for us haha. So we started off our "together time" by running to Tooele to fix a fence and look for a couple pairs (a cow and her calf) left behind (which we found, sneaky ladies). We then spent the rest of our night at the USANA Amphitheater at the concert. It was a blast, I finally got to see my 2 favorite bands live!

 Us waiting for Poison to come on

We had some pretty awesome seats 

Our after midnight Taco Bell run that we brought back to the hotel. We look tired!

The next day we spent in downtown Salt Lake. I got to do some shopping at the Gateway mall, we went to see Avengers because Joey still hadn't seen it, we had an early dinner at PF Changs and then we took our time on our way home where we ended the day by doing a little irrigating together (aka: being drained alive by mosquitos).

The whole rest of the weekend we spent in Paris...... Paris, Idaho (dang it haha), where we camped for Joe's family reunion. It was great. Besides the torching in the daytime and turning into the Abominable Snowman at night. Coatsy had a blast. He only lasted a day though before we decided to take him back home haha.

4. I have finally decided what I want to do school-wise. I am going to be pursuing my photography degree online as soon as possible and then starting up my own little business (JencyJo Photography aka: J. Jo Photo). I am excited. I am passionate about photography and would love to learn more about it and share it with others. This way I will also be able to take awesome photos of my own children someday.

Here's a sneak peek of  the photo-shoot I did of my adorable new nephew Zac. He was my 1st infant photo-shoot! It was hard, but pretty cool at the same time! And they turned out great!

5. We will be going to visit my parents who are currently in (and have been for almost a year now) England! We are planning on going to September! I have been there multiple times but this will be Joe's first time! I am excited for him to go to castles and little Bed & Breakfast cottages, to eat in the pubs, to try Fish & Chips and Steak & Kidney pies haha, to get to experience something new! It will be great. When I was a little younger I used to always think about going on a plane ride with a boy and how I could fall asleep on his shoulder instead of the side of the plane and now I get to do that! :)

6. We are currently in a stand still/don't-know-what-the-heck-we-are-gonna-do about our living situation. I wish we loved the house we are in because it's 100% free living and it's in a wonderful location, full of space to spread out and have privacy. We just have been having a hard time living there lately. Even Joey has been feeling like it's not where we are supposed to be living anymore. So now we are stuck with not knowing where we want/should/can move to. Should we stay in this town, move to a neighboring town, move to the new ranch, move onto the old ranch... Rent? Buy? Build? Ahhhh.... So there, I shared a little of my frustration with you haha. Right now we are just making do and praying that we will figure something out.

There! I hope this post let y'all in on a little bit of what has been going on in ours lives at this moment. Basically we are running around 100 miles/hr like chickens with our heads chopped off and we are trying to enjoy life at the same time. So far so good :) I promise to do better with posting on here and also on our adoption blog waitingforourlilcowboyorcowgirl@blogspot.com.

A picture I took of Panama Red before we went for a ride

*Update: Adoption & Our New Ranch*

We've been a ball of stress/excitement/exhaustion around here lately because... wait for it...

1. We bought another ranch

and...

2. We are all ready to start our application process for adoption!

I get giddy and/or more like panicked just thinking about it all! This time next year we could possibly have a child, in a brand new house, on our very own Idaho ranch! Joey, his older brother Brett his dad (Monty) all decided to expand our ranching business, and even though this new ranch (Winecup Land & Livestock) will be a "separate" operation from the Winecup Cattle Co. here in UT, we will still just be "The Winecup Bunch". Joey will still continue to work for the WC Co. and someday, however it all works out, it will all be one big operation. But, for the sake of not losing our minds with the particulars they will be considered 2 different ranching operations run by the same 3 guys... Make sense? As for The WC L&L ranch.... It's located on the northern side of Bear Lake, in a beautiful location. It is smaller than the WC Co., it has 450 acres and can run around 300 head of cows and we also have a summer forest permit close by for the same amount of cattle. It has a super nice shop, barn, bunk house, scales, corrals and outdoor arena. AND... it comes with about 1000 head of cats... They run the place. We're in love with it. As for the cattle, Joey has applied for a 1st time Ag. loan and we have already bought 5 bulls and are looking at about 90 head of cows at the moment and are in the market for around 100-200 more before they start to calve and prices sky-rocket more than they already have (so, if anyone knows anyone with bred, nice looking, Angus cows who calve around the end of March/early April for sale PLEASE let us know!). And wish us luck... this is a big step for us all!

As for our adoption process, I'm glad to say we have decided on one adoption agency for now. We decided to go through LDS Family Services and we are working with a couple different offices here in UT. The wait has been because of 2 things... the first was the decision of which adoption agency(ies) to go with and second was when we decided on LDSFS we had to have our LDS Bishop fill out a letter of recommendation and he must have been pretty busy because it took him quite a while to get them that letter. But, as of this past Friday we are now in the LDSFS adoption system and working on getting all of our paperwork started, finished and turned in! We also have to take some classes before we are all ready to be eligible to adopt! I will keep this blog and also the blog we made for our adoption updated on how this process is going and when exactly we are "up" for adoption! Hopefully it will only take a couple months and then when all of our paperwork and classes are done with it can take anywhere from that next week to... well, a long time. So here's to prayer and faith and hoping that we are meant to adopt a beautiful little person into our family someday (soon we hope!).

Here is the blog we made specifically for our adoption process. We would love it if you would share this blog with others. It will be a little less about our personal everyday going ons and more about us and our adoption journey. I will be working on it more and more (right now it isn't anything special and I have hardly written anything on it...). If anyone has any suggestions for this blog or would like to help "spruce" it up a little please, let us know! Thanks for your thoughts and prayers we have gotten this far, we appreciate every little bit!

http://waitingforourlilcowboyorcowgirl.blogspot.com/

*Branding 2011*

I have been a horrible blogger lately. This month has been crazy. Just busy busy busy. I am not complaining but, I do need to write some, if anything, just so I have some journal entries of this fun month.

This week has been jam packed with work, doctors appointments, craft get-togethers, and lots of cleaning. I was coming to terms with the fact that I wouldn't be able to make it to our winter range to help brand 1/2 of our herd. I was able to make it the last two years but I had to work when they first headed down and then I had no way to get there the last couple of days. I got a text from Joey's cousin Bri asking me if I would be able to go down with her for Friday and Saturday because they needed some hands. I was excited to actually get to go. (I did miss my good friend's baby shower and I am so sorry! I promise I have your presents and will get together with you soon!!!)

I was able to grab my camera for a few minutes to take some quick, sloppy pictures right before it started raining and when we were "slowing" down. So... enjoy :)

*I'm Not Alone*

I found this post on a fellow ranching wife's blog: The Ranch Wife. I couldn't have said it better. Thank you for this post!

"A Bad Day" 

"You can't save them all", I was told as tears welled up in my eyes. The Cowboy couldn't even see me, but he knew I was about to cry over the calf that lay dead on the barn floor. "We did our best to help her, that's all anyone can ask." It was true, we did do everything, it's still heart-breaking.

    The Cowboy called me and told me to get everything ready, we were going to pull "that" heifer. 226 I knew who "that" was. We'd been watching her for several days now. I was relieved that the call was coming in the day and not 3am. I rounded up all the gear and the munchkin and we were soon out the door and headed for the barn.

    The Cowboy and I have pulled too many calves to count and too many heifers to remember. A lack of a "heifer bull" (a smaller bull or a bull that sires lower birth-weight calves for first time mommas) was the problem way back when. Mother nature was the problem with this one. She looked like an alright heifer, not too tiny, not to small of hips, just an average heifer.

    We had her in the head-catch in no time and went to work on pulling the calf. She wasn't pushing at first, but with a little encouragement, started to help a little. It was soon clear that there wasn't any progress made. We then went "fishing", in other words, we went in to feel the position of the calf. My smaller hands were no help this time as my arms weren't long enough. By this time, the Boss Man had arrived. He too went fishing and could barely touch the head.

    The calf had a head turned back. This means that the usual front feet first with head in the middle, didn't apply. The front feet were pointed out (with a bit of a twist) and the head was pointing towards the groundand up and over his shoulder. It didn't help that every time someone had a hand on calf's head to get it straightened out, the calf would pull back. It was a mess on every level you could imagine.

    Once we finally got the calf straightened out, the momma laid down while we were pulling. So we started pulling from the ground. She was too small. Boss Man had to do the bovine equivalent of an episiotomy, he had to cut to make room for the calf. Finally, finally we got the calf out.

    Momma just laid there, not really knowing what just happened. Calf just laid there, never knowing what just happened. The heifer calf never took a breath. Momma still laid there, relieved of her burden and pain, not wanting to get up. She was a good Momma, she never bellowed, never tried to fight us, never freaked out like some heifers do, it just wasn't meant to be.

    Losing a calf is never easy, but losing one that you've tried so hard to save is worse. When you step out of a barn covered in baby goo and blood and there's a live calf on the ground, it's a great day and worth a high-five. When you step out of a barn covered in baby goo and too much blood, to see the clouds have rolled in and it's raining, and knowing there's a dead calf, it just makes you want to cry. And I did.

    To all those people out there that think ranchers and farmers are mindless and we don't care about our animals because we raise them for meat.......I'll show you a grown man that sucks gunk out of a calf's nose to try to clear his airways, I'll show you a tough Cowboy that tries CPR on a dead calf to try to get them to breath, and I'll show you buckets of tears shed for the lose of animals from a ranch wife.......and that was just yesterday."

I cried when I read this post from The Ranch Wife. Just the other day one of our calves accidently mistook the horses as its mother and took off after them and ended up getting trampled. Joey watched the whole scene go down and when the dust settled he ran up to the calf that was taking his last few strained breaths, got down on his knees and began preforming CPR on the poor thing. When he realized it was doing no good and the calf's body was too traumatized and broken he just held it in him arms for a minute. I cried when he told me what had happened. That morning we had 5 early, beautiful, healthy calves that had survived the wet and cold, and just like that we'd lost another one. Calving season is bittersweet for me, I love the new calves, watching our first calf heifers become mothers and love on their babies for the first time, our older calves who we know will treat their calves right; and then there are the bad days...

*Separated And Missin' Him*

For the past couple of days I have been up north staying with my family because it's that time of the year when Joey needs to go north to our winter range to move cows. This certain "move" is usually done with a bunch of the boys where they will go and get it done in a couple days, so I didn't go (didn't want to be the only girl, didn't want to have to get a separate hotel room with Joe when he could bunk up with the rest of the guys, and it's kind of an unwritten deal that it's "boys only" haha). So I decided if he was going to go there to have "fun", I would head up north and stay busy with my family. And I have been! We've done lots of shopping, watched and went to movies, went out to eat, stayed home and cooked awesome meals, and have done a lot of hanging out.

When I first got up here Joe and his parents met us in a near by town at a bull auction where we bought 3 bulls and I got to bring my parents and brothers to watch because they have never been to one before. They loved it. They couldn't believe that they sold a bull for $13,000, what they really couldn't believe was the owner of the ranch holding the bull sell had just recently returned from a sell in Montana where he bought a bull for $56,000!!! I want his ranch!

I am glad I got to spend a day with Joey up here before he headed down south. I know I know, it's only been a couple days and will only be a couple days longer AND I love being here with my family! But, I miss my Joey. It really is hard being away from someone who you can't get enough of when you are together! He's my best friend and it isn't the same sending a text, or telling a story over the phone, or sending him a picture of the "cute" outfit I bought. I can't see his facial reactions, or his eyes light up, or feel the kiss he "gives" me over the phone. I can't cuddle him in bed at night or hug him first thing in the morning. I can't wait until we are both home... in our home.

Until then I feel empty and not complete and am here whining about it on my blog. Kiss your hunny as soon and as much as you can and don't ever take it for granted!

*New Arrivals*

A couple ladies asked me if our one heifer, mentioned in this post that I wrote on wednesday, ended up having her baby... Well she did. Joey had been checking on her every 30 minutes that night. At about 11:15pm I realized he had been out there for a while and decided to go check on him and make sure everything was okay... in slippers. {Note to self: Don't ever go outside during calving season for a "quick" second in your slippers, because you will be pulled into helping out and your feet will get soaked, muddy and possibly stepped on!} Joey had her roped and was trying to tie her down so he could pull the calf because the poor heifer was plum wore out. I ended up doing the dog's job, keeping her from moving around, and also was the flashlight holder/parts hander (very similar to a surgeons nurse who hands them tools. "Scalpel"... "Scalpel"). By then my slippers and feet were soaked and we were all knee high in snow. At about 11:30pm we finally had the calf pulled. And no wonder she had such a hard birth... that calf is HUGE. I didn't get any pictures of the birth, #1 it was somewhat graphic and #2 I had my hands super full.

I went inside to dry my feet afterwards. And for the next THREE hours the heifer had yet to lick her calf up and let him eat. So around 2:00am Joe finally put the calf in the calf heater, fed it a bottle and came to bed. Ahh the joys of calving season.

Since then "Big Red", that's what I've been calling the calf, has been able to drink his mom's milk on his own but with some difficulty because the heifer won't hold still for him. And we now have 4 calves here on the ranch, two were born last night, (we don't know about our older cows, on the winter range down south, if they have had any yet. We haven't checked on them for a couple weeks and our calving guy hasn't moved down there yet). But, so far all is well here! The boys are outside right now making sure all the babies are able to get up and suck on their own :)

Here's a couple pictures of Big Red and his momma I took yesterday

*New Babies And A New Recipe*

Instead of going home and watching our much awaited shows {*sniff *sniff} we ended up staying here at the ranch because Joe's parents are gone and there is a first calf heifer about to have a baby. Bittersweet. We've already had one give birth this morning to an itsy bitsy little thing. What the heck? You're over 2 weeks early ladies and it's FREEZING outside and you're not on a fancy ranch with nice warm calving barns so just watch where you drop the poor things! Hence our staying here and watching where this momma calves out(if she does in the thick snow we'll have to move it) and making sure everything goes smoothly. {Crossed fingers}

It was too dark to get a good picture and by the time I got my camera out she was leading him away. But, here's the new little guy. He doesn't look so small next to his mom because she is super small as well. And look at all that snow... Yuck.

Pizza Recipe:

Pizza Crust (Homemade or a mix)

Pizza Sauce (Homemade or from a jar)

Pepperonis

Sausage

Shredded Hash Browns

What?? Shredded Hash Browns? I don't think so. And let me tell you why. I was going to make homemade pizza for dinner here at the ranch using some of my mother-in-laws ingredients. Made the pizza crust, made the pizza sauce, put toppings on, all's well. Put what I thought frozen shredded mozzarella on top and then stuck it in the oven. Half way through cooking it I check it and wonder why the heck the mozzarella wasn't melting and realize it wasn't mozzarella, it was shredded hash browns!!! Barf. So I go to find any kind of cheese so I could scrape the potato off and melt cheese on top... No such luck. So we ended up having Cheeseless Potato Pizza. Joey loved it. I about puked. I ended up scraping everything off and just eating the pizza crust. Yum.

*Going Once, Going Twice...*

This morning before Joey's class we ran over to sell an open heifer(a young female cow who didn't get pregnant) at auction. It went by fast and here's why...

It sounds like the auctioneer is singing really fast. In fact I think that's what he is doing because when the sale is final it kind of sounds like you are slowing a song down and finally it stops. It was interesting. I've been to many auctions before but never one where I swore the guy was literally singing.... Crazy. It was entertaining.

p.s. That's not our cow...

*Coldmorning*

Brrrrr, it was cold this morning but, also, gorgeous with the sun shining. I wish I would have had a better camera to capture it but I did my best:

We are getting ready to go round up our first calf heifers to Scour guard, "Big Girl Tag"(as Joey calls it), and Preg check. At least the sun is shining :) I'm gonna try and take some pictures. Have a great day! 

*Be Reasonable*

I have decided that over this last year and a half of marriage to my hard working, very smart husband; with all the things we've already been through and with all the work, sacrifice and smarts and budgeting it takes to live the kind of life we've chosen to live... That there are a lot of things that are better to be reasonable about then not.  For instance: (BTW: This is a semi-long post, just with my thoughts and I don't mean to offend anybody.  It's just been on my mind and it's what makes sense for me and Joe)

Vehicles- We have two pick-up trucks.  First off, I know it's not that great with mileage on fuel, but it's what works best for us.  Joe has a 1 ton Dodge cummins, completely stock, no frill's on it what-so-ever.  That's because it's the work truck.  It pulls the huge horse trailer.  My truck is the commute, future baby haulin' truck.  Now, we prefer trucks in Randolph on the ranch because the cars just get beat up from the roads, and unlike SUV's we have a bed in the back to haul "dirties" as I call them (anything that would dirty up or ruin the inside of the vehicle). Also, our for hauling our wolf pack around haha.

I used to (and still kinda do) think these huge, 8" lifted, 35+ mud tires, chromed out, custom painted trucks were dead sexy.... until I got a reality check.  I bought my GMC earlier this year while we lived in town and I thought it was just so pretty with it's small lift, clean inside, and slightly chromed out exterior (I even added a couple chrome detailing after we bought the truck).  And then we moved to Randolph.  After one week you could barely even make out that it was a white truck with chrome detailing because we live down and 1 1/2 mile dirt road and I've had to take it off into muddy, bumpy fields numerous times.  When all that was said and done I had a muddy red/brown truck that could be beat to crap for all anyone else knew.

If you have the money to have a super nice truck, with all this extra detailing to it than that's awesome, good for you, I'll probably envy you for a second or two.  But then I'll think about how for us, we'll save our money that we could use to lift, primp, sexy-up our trucks for when the tranny goes out or the brakes, tires and oil need changed (which they do A LOT).

Clothes- Now this subject I'm not too picky about but still, where we live it's kind of ridiculous not to be reasonable.  It's a cold, muddy, snowy, windy and hairy (from the horses, dogs, cats, cows exc.) life here.  So, I'd rather not walk outside and in my cute heels, expensive jeans, tee, or jacket on just to have a dog jump up and muddy my jeans or accidently rub up my jacket up on my dirty truck.  I've also realized that I'd rather be toasty warm in a makes-you-look-20lbs-heavier-than-you-really-are Carhartt jacket and thick unflattering Wranglers than freeze my tush off in a cute little sweatshirt and skin-tight, paper thin jeans.  It's also pretty hard to save up for a nice pair of durable boots that I'll get a lot of use from when I'm spending all my money on unnecessary clothing.

I do love though to have a few "nice" articles of clothing for church, or when we go out somewhere not ranch related.  I used to spend all my money on clothes, now I'm learning how to keep clothes looking nice for as long as possible by learning how to wash different kinds of material, and steering clear of the color stripping clothing detergents.

Pets- I LOVE my pets (as you all know too well).  I've realized after having pets whom I paid good money for, who I spent so much money on throughout the time I had them and who I spent so much time, care and love on.  Just to see them die.  I love my pets but, from now on if I am going to have them I need reasonable pets.  I need dogs who are our companions but who are also going to work.  Our pets are our family members, so with the life we have all of our family members have to work.  I've always wanted a big cuddly St. Bernard or a cute little Pug.  But, it just makes more sense for our family to have a good cow dog who'll help us out on those long rides in the mountains, or in those tight corners of the cattle shoots where we can't reach to keep the cows moving but the dogs can.

Same with cats.  I adore a sweet cat to cuddle up with on the couch.  I would have 20 inside cats (Yes, I could totally see myself as the old cat lady, with a house full of just me and my 100 cats haha) but, with our little old house we only need one cat inside to take care of the mice.  And she does a great job.

This post is mostly for me, as much as I would love to have a fully-loaded, beautifully brand new vehicle, or super nice, expensive clothes, shoes and jewelry, or a cute little AKA Pug to keep me company and buy cute little dogs things for, or manicures every week(they would need to be every week  because they get ruined after 10 minutes outside around here), getting my hair done at steep priced salons(I get trims every once in a while, no coloring, no hairstyles that require $100 worth of hair product and my sis-in-law usually cuts it for free... Bless you Druc {muah}), the fact is that I simply can't afford these things and they are not reasonable!

So here is me saying, think about what is and is not reasonable to you, in your circumstances, and eliminate any unreasonableness in your life. It really is a smart idea!

*Cat Herding Vs. Cattle Herding? Cats Would So Win*

BEST COMMERCIAL EVER!

                                             

*Ranching Women Stickin' Together*

I hit the JACKPOT and found some amazing women's blogs about their awesome lives of being Ranchers/Rancher's Wives! I love reading about other women out there who have a similar life as mine and who also agree that at times it is hard... but, wouldn't have it any other way!

Thank you ladies for letting me share my experiences and your experiences in this pretty perfect kind of life! If I don't comment as much as I should I am sorry... But, I am most definitely reading! Promise! I kinda need you guys! :) :)

Love,
Jency

P.s. As much as I love reading these ladies blogs, I love reading my friend's blogs who are here in this little town with me a little more. I think they understand my blog on a deeper level hahaha. There's no place like our little town huh ladies?!? :) Love you!

*Ranch Life 101: Guidelines For Women*

 Thanks to Dustin Eastman for e-mailing me this thinking I'd "enjoy" it haha.  Thanks Spew!

Ranch Life 101: guidelines for women:

1. Always load your horse last in the trailer so it is the first one unloaded. By the time he's got his horse unloaded, you will have your cinch pulled and be mounted up ready to go - lessening the chance of him riding off without you with your horse trying to follow while you are still trying to get your foot in the stirrup.

2. Never - and I repeat never - ever believe the phrase "We'll be right back," when he has asked you to help him do something out on the ranch. The echoing words, "this will only take a little while" have filtered through generations of ranch wives and still today should invoke sincere distrust in the woman who hears them.

3. Always know there is NO romantic intention when he pleadingly asks you to take a ride in the pickup with him around the ranch while he checks waters and looks at cattle. What that sweet request really means is he wants someone to open the gates.

4. He will always expect you to quickly be able to find one stray in a four-section brush-covered pasture, but he will never be able to find the mayonnaise jar in four-square feet of refrigerator.

5. Count every head of everything you see - cattle especially, but sometimes horses, deer, quail or whatever moves. Count it in the gate, out the gate or on the horizon. The first time you don't count is when he will have expected that you did. That blank eyelash-batting look you give him when he asks "How many?" will not be acceptable.

6. Know that you will never be able to ride a horse or drive a pickup to suit him. Given the choice of jobs, choose throwing the feed off the back of the pickup. If he is on the back and you are driving, the opportunity for constant criticism of speed, ability and your eyesight will be utilized to the full extent. "How in the *@*# could you NOT see that hole?"

7. Never let yourself be on foot in the alley when he is sorting cattle horseback. When he has shoved 20 head of running, bucking, kicking yearlings at you and then hollers "Hold 'em, hold 'em" at the top of his lungs, don't think that you really can do it without loss of life or limb . Contrary to what he will lead you to believe, walking back to the house is always an option that has been used throughout time.

8. Don't expect him to correctly close the snap-on tops on the plastic refrigerator containers, but know he will expect you to always close every gate. His reasoning, the cows will get out; the food will not.

9. Always praise him when he helps in the kitchen - the very same way he does when you help with the ranch work - or not.

10. Know that when you step out of the house you move from the "wife" department to "hired hand" status. Although the word "hired" indicates there will be a paycheck that you will never see, rest assured you will have job security. The price is just right. And most of the time you will be "the best help he has" even if it is because you are the ONLY help he has.

Gotta love being the Rancher's wife :)

*The Ranchers Wife Who Doesn't Love Beef*

My dad-in-law Monty is out of town shipping calves so Joey decided he wanted to invite his mom over for dinner.  I'm excited, I'm making really yummy pork chops w/ apples and onions (Cudos to our friends Jed & Cami for being our guinea pigs the first time I made these)! As I was deciding what to make for dinner I realized how much I love pork & chicken. I would take either of them over beef any day. I also realized how funny it is for a cattle rancher's wife to prefer pig and chicken over beef.  I like beef, don't get me wrong. It good for you, full of nutrients and I'm not against it in the least, I just prefer the taste of a good pork chop or the fun, tasty things you can do with a chicken breast.

Here's a delish and fast way to cook a chicken breast:

- Take a large chicken breast and make a "butterfly" cut(like picture). It's where you cut the breast lengthwise to where it's still connected just slightly

- Put the breast inside down on a skillet with some olive oil(or vegetable oil) and cook for a couple minutes

- Remove and cut a *(star shape) on both insides the of the breast(the side you just barely cooked)

- Fill the star's with your favorite salsa and fold the breast so it looks like it did before you made the butterfly cut

- Place back on the skillet and cook both sides the rest of the way through

- Before you remove the cooked chicken place a thick slice of sharp cheddar cheese on top of the breast and let it melt

- Serve with Fiesta rice and Mexican style beans

*Trials*

(Beware: This is a long venting post)

I know I put "Learning to love ranch life" as one of my new year resolutions but seriously, WHO'S idea was it to have a ranch in a place where there is snow for 10 months out of the year and -40 degrees is a norm??  I want to kick that guy in his unmentionables.  And yes, I have no doubt it was a guy.  I am just having the hardest time with the weather here.  I'm from Northern Idaho, I'm used to cold and wet but not face numbing, frigid, pipe freezing, slip-on-ice-you-just-barely-melted-with-salt-and-break-your-back, horrible, nasty weather! 

Okay, with that little vent over and done with, I am sorry but this is another "bad mood" post.  There's only so much I can take before I break down... for a little while at least.  It all started the day after we moved back home to the ranch on Saturday...

Get this... -14 degrees at 4:00 PM while the sun was shining.  Thank heavens for our friends Gabe & Carlie for their help unloading all our stuff, you guys probably saved me from my could have been first break down.

My house was a disaster that day, it's not as bad of a disaster right now but it still is a disaster.

Sunday night we realized our puppy Bo wasn't looking too hot, he wasn't eating, looked way too skinny, wasn't even walking around.  I gave him some dewormer, a blanket and extra food and got ready for bed. He then started throwing up all over the place.  Finally Joe & I got him calmed down and put him to bed in his kennel.  We said a prayer and hoped he'd be better in the morning.

Monday was the big one though, it was the day I decided "It's okay, you can cry".  I woke up to a messy, nasty house, frozen and very dead house plants and an even sicker pup.  Joe made a vet appointment and I jumped in the shower.  As I headed on my 45min drive to the vet in Evanston on our snowy/dirt road I almost hit head on with someone because I couldn't see anything but snow, so I decide to drive on my side of the road, bad idea, I got sucked into the ditch on the side of the road and got stuck.  It took Joe 1/2 an hour to come get me unstuck.  By then I was late for the vet appt and Bo wasn't moving and had started wheezing.  Joey decided to drive me because I was shaking and upset.  30 min later we got to the vet and Bo was slipping away in my arms, I had to hand him to Joey and go stare out the window.  We finally got a vet to look at him, run a test for Parvo, negative, Bo's eyes started glazing over so I had to leave the room, stopped my crying long enough to walk back in the room right as Joey says "...let's put the poor guy out of his misery", I had to leave the room again.  Finally Joey gets back to the truck where I was and told me what the vet said.  Apparently Bo had a kind of digestive infection that basically had starved him, he had no muscle left, they could do an IV drop but he gave him less than a 50/50 chance to live and all in all it would cost us over $500.  Joey signed the papers to have him put down.  Our poor baby, we didn't even know anything was wrong until Sunday night, the vet said we caught it sooner than most people but it still was basically too late.  Joey was so upset, it was heartbreaking.

Since then our house is still a disaster, it's still a freezing death hole outside, today our water quit working and we still don't know why, I found mouse poop ALL over the in the kitchen cabnets and drawers, Joe & I are both still sick, we both have had bad tempers, and I can't seem to stop crying.  I think I might have had it... I don't exactly know what that means but it sounds right.

I promise next time I write it will be about something happy.  Hope y'alls first week of this new year has been a little better than ours

*Got The Babies Out In Time*

Wow, talk about a thankful month. Lots of family and friends have been loosing calves to this horrible weather we've been having. A family even lost TEN, 8 in that nasty blizzard last week and 2 afterwards. We were able to ship our calvies and get them on their way (THANKFULLY) the weekend before the storm. We ended up, unfortunately, loosing one of our small calves we had to keep because she was too little to sell just then. But, only one compared to what we could have lost was totally okay with us! We haven't lost any replacement heifers. They are all beautiful and doing great, and they are even weaned! Ahh, if only it were always like this. AND, to top it off we got a call from someone at the base of the mountains where we run half the herd in the summer that two pair showed up at their place and to come and get them. Ended up being two HUGE steer and their mommies. Perfect! I like to see Joe & his dad puff out their chests and be happy every once in a while. Joey loves every second of this life.  Sometimes, I'm sad to admit, I just need a month like this one to boost my faith on this livelihood. Now we have a breather before we ship half the cows out to our winter range and a while before the new babies start to arrive this winter!

*Black & White Day At The Winecup*

Getting vaccinations ready

Ready to go sort the calves from the cows

All the Mommas

A couple bulls showing off

Refilling syringes & recording heifers(females) and steers(males) 

Dogs waiting for the calves to run through the shoot

Calves in the lane being tagged & vaccinated

The Winecup 

*You Might Be a Rancher's Wife...*

You Might Be a Rancher's Wife...

- If the vet’s number is on the speed dial of your phone
- If you know how to change the flat on your car, but can’t because the spare is on one of the ranch trucks
- If your second vehicle is still a pickup
- If your husband has ever used field equipment to maintain your lawn
- Better yet... If your cows are the ones who mow and fertilize your yard
- If you’ve ever washed your kids or the dishes with a pressure washer
- If going to the post office in town is the highlight trip of your week
- If "a little bit of lunch" involves 6 courses and a dessert made from scratch
- If taking lunch to the pasture is as close as you get to a picnic
- If you can mend a pair of pants and the fence that ripped them
- If the shopping list in your purse includes the sizes of filters, tires, chains, cables, spark plugs, ear tags, or shotgun shells
- If you buy antiques because they match the rest of your furniture
- If your kids’ wading pool has ever doubled as a stock tank, or vice versa
- If duct tape is always on your shopping list
- If the directions to your house includes the words: "miles," "cattle-guards," "pivet," or "gravel road"
- If your storage shed is a barn
- If you measure travel in miles not minutes (minutes is too depressing)
- If your husband says, "Can you help me for a few minutes?" and you know that might be anywhere from a few minutes to six hours or even possibly all day
- If grass stains are the least of your laundry problems...
- If your refrigerator contains livestock medicine
- If your car’s color is two-toned and one color is gravel road brown
- If you need a pair of vice grips to run a household appliance
- If your husband gave you flowers, but you had to plant the seeds yourself
- If you've used the loader to reach the windows when they needed washing
- If dinner is at noon and lunch is before and after dinner and supper is dinner???
- If you bring out your "cow patties" (no bake cookies) and your guests are afraid to eat them
- If you shovel the sidewalk with a skid steer loader
- If you can find a use for that old tractor seat
- If the only way your ranching business is successful is if you have a job at the gas station in town
- If you end up planning the best time to get pregnant so that the baby arrives after branding season and before haying season
- If your kids sometimes think that to you the calves come before them
- If your kids know how to ride a horse before they can walk
- If you have 50 years worth of canned food
- If your front door never gets used because you threatened the lives of anyone who dared not use the mud room enterence
- If your dogs are your children too, they just sleep outside
- If the nails you use in your house are the same kind of nails used to shoe horses
- If you have 10 pairs of boots and one pair of house slippers... High heels? What are high heels?

"My Livelihood, Get Over It"

I'm okay when people speak up and say what's on their minds, but my gosh... when it comes to bashing people's livelihoods and trying to ruin their BUSINESSES (Like our livelihoods and our businesses) it REALLY bugs me.

It seems like more and more today there are articles, talk shows, debates, and people who just-don't-know-what-they-are-talking-about arguing over the pros and cons of ranching and grazing cattle. People are trying to say that the cows are ruining precious land, and the cows are polluting the air with methane from their burps, that ranchers are inhumane, or red meat is "bad" for you....

I'm not going to really get into this but I just wanted to say a couple things:

Our cattle are not ruining the land, they are helping it. Seriously. When a cow grazes the grass it helps it come back the next year healthy, full and beautiful. You may not think it's growing "naturally" but animals have been doing it... well... forever. It doesn't get anymore natural than that. Trust me. The only reason people think it's our cows ruining the public land is because as my husband/rancher says "Everyone and their dog will walk up public trails in the forests and all around the lakes and tramp the ground and grass and see a cow in the distance and think that she is the reason there is no grass growing around this lake and blah blah blah". Most of our cows are so far up the mountains in the national forests and private grazing lands that the public NEVER EVEN KNOW THEY ARE THERE. I myself think they are fascinating animals and kinda cute and great lawn mowers. So, I repeat myself.... Cows are NOT ruining our country's land, they are helping it stay natural and beautiful. But, I will give you a couple guesses to figure out what really is ruining our country's beauty....... *cough smog, *cough cities, *cough trash, *cough HUMANS and how they live today.

As for red meat being bad for you.... it's not. People have been eating it for years. I found this on a site called sixwise.com that pretty much sums up everything that tons of people have tried to inform everyone about when it comes to red meat: "Meat is the single richest source of iron and zinc and contributes significant amounts of vitamins," says Mary Abbott Hess, a registered dietitian and former president of the American Dietetic Association (ADA). Meanwhile, a three-ounce serving of beef provides 50 percent of the daily recommended protein, along with beneficial B vitamins. And as for all that saturated fat, according to the ADA "more than half the fatty acids in beef are monounsaturated, the same type of fatty acids found in olive oil and championed for their heart-healthy properties. In addition, approximately one-third of the saturated fat in beef is stearic acid, which is shown to have a neutral effect on blood cholesterol."

If you choose not to eat read meat then that's fine. I myself don't eat hamburger, not because I think it's bad for me but, I just don't care for the taste. But, please don't try and convince someone that red meat is bad or even horrible for them. It's not. I guarantee that if you steer clear of red meat all together THAT is bad for you. So while you are eating your tofu steaks or no steak what so ever I'll be enjoying a juicy, protein and vitamin filled, home-grown steak.

Ranchers?? Inhumane?? I'm a rancher's wife and an animal lover. We have a dozen horses, half a dozen dogs, half a dozen cats and a few hundred cows on the ranch. They are all working animals. The horses are used as our steeds as we ride up in the mountains and on day long round ups. The dogs are our herding co-workers and our companions as we go through out the day. The cats keep the mice population down, out of our feed, shops and houses. And the cows are the business, they are our calf-makers, our foundation, our livelihoods. And why, I ask, if we rely so much on these animals would we treat them badly? News flash for you... WE DON'T. I know for a fact that every one of our animals down to cow # 376, have it good. And we make sure of it. Upkeep of care, good food, good home, sweat, love, tears(literally) and 24/7 thought goes into our animals. If you don't like animals, you don't become a rancher simple as that. And if you like animals, you'll treat them right. Especially if you are counting on those animals to help your business thrive.

It's hard enough being a rancher or a rancher's wife WITHOUT having every none-rancher try to sabotage our livelihoods. From sunup to sundown we are feeding, checking, fixing, sweating, worrying, getting dirty, working our bodies to death just to provide for our cattle who in return provide for our families. It's a hard life, but it's a GREAT, rewarding, exciting life as well. And my family wouldn't have it any other way. So please, if you don't know what you are talking about... don't talk... If you want to learn about what ranchers REALLY do come spend a day with us, walk in our shoes, take a look at what hard work really looks like and it looks good.

*Branding In Tooele 2010*

Nikki(sis-in-law) & Diane(Joey's mom)

Joey was going to put his arm around me haha. I was giving shots

Joey could only clip ears this time 'cause his broke finger. Monty Brett(Joey's brother) is branding

Monty(Joey's dad) & Joey joking around. Monty did some ear tagging when he wasn't trying to keep the stupid generator running to keep the brand hot

Diane always keep track of how many steers(males) and how many heifers(females) we have

Joey & Josh(Joey's cousin)

Hagen under the flat bed like all the dogs SHOULD be ha

Sage(Joey's nephew) holding a calf down that missed the head catch

Brining a calf in

Bret Nicole, Sadie & Dakota (Joey's nieces)