City Girl Goes to the Country

Having coffee when T visited She!

*This week I went to visit My Terryn and did a guest spot on her blog  Faith Family and Beef.  Our relationship has always been complimentary; I am an accountant who grew up in the city and she is a ranch wife who has spent her whole life raising beef.  I give her insight into urban life and help her with math, and she teaches me about rural life and raising beef.  Please, enjoy my post and feel free to stop on over at Faith Family and Beef  for additional information about her life!*

There is something about the country that a girl who grew up in the city can easily fall in love with.  Ever since I was a little kid, I would take trips to visit my extended family out on the “Farm”.  Starting in middle school, these visits grew from day trips into weekends and then week-long trips.  I got to experience things on the farm that I didn’t grow up doing living in a city.  I went to county fairs, helped clean out the stalls, rode horses, collected eggs, and fell in love with a bucket calf named Oscar.   I always enjoyed my trips to the “Farm" and so did my cousins.  Their “chores” were exciting new adventures for me, and they got out of them for the week since I would jump at every opportunity. 

These trips were the start of the relationship that I now have with my Best Friend, Honey, Second Cousin, and whatever other name we decide at the time.  During my trips to see her, Terryn began to educate me about country living.  Things that were second nature to her were a whole new experience for me.  I still remember the saying that she taught me to help remember how to properly tie up your horse, “Over, Under, Eyelet, Underwear”!  Living with Terryn during college, my Friday nights became something I would never have imaged.  My own Grandma had to come out and see it in person to believe it.  Friday nights were roping night!  What started out as roping the dummy on the ground turned into roping the dummy from a horse, and eventually I made my way into the heeler box in the arena roping a real steer.



The girls out checking cows.

Now that Terryn lives on the ranch, I get to learn all kinds of new things about beef and raising cattle.  There is way more that goes into the process than one would originally think.  The vocabulary alone is a lot to learn.  I went from being a city girl that knew one simple word “cow,” to one who now knows what a bull, cow, heifer, steer, replacement heifer, heavy, and pair are.  This time of year is my favorite because I make her send me pictures of the “babies” they have on the ranch.  On this trip to the ranch I even got to help move a group of pairs to their new pasture.

My favorite horse Cash meeting "Sam" for the first time!

The mutual feeling is that we are both more well-rounded people because of our relationship and the experiences we have shared together.  Because of Terryn and the exposure she gave me to the county, I am now a City Girl that lives on 5 acres outside city limits, I keep half a beef in my deep freeze, and dream of owning a horse someday.  We are both so grateful to our parents who started the tradition that we plan to keep the tradition alive with our kids. 

Gross!

What is that one that thing that just grosses you out or gives you the heebie jeebies?  For some people it is bugs or snakes.  For me, it is mice!  As I walked through the prairie grass around our house tonight, I disturbed a couple of mice, they ran past me and hid under a plant.  I kept my cool and didn’t scream, but I did tell them they better stay away from me.   A grown women telling these little creatures to stay away from her, how silly does that sound?   

You are crazy if you thought I would include a picture of a mouse!

Mice and I have some history.  The first story that I can remember was back in high school.  We had a bag of bird seed in our house and one day I discovered a pile of it in one of my dresser drawers.  Thinking that my mom was trying to teach me a lesson about picking up my room, putting clothes away or something like that, I was convinced she had put the bird seed in my drawer.   It wasn’t until later when I discovered another stash in my desk drawer that I got extremely curious about what was going on.   Then one night it happened!  I had come home from work and was getting ready for bed, I had the lamp on and all of the sudden out of the corner of my eye I saw something come from under my door and go under my bed.   I jumped on my bed and as I sat there I could hear it, that stupid little mouse was under there.  After confirming by looking behind my head board, I did what any tough person would do, I went into my parent’s room and woke up my dad!  After getting me situated on the couch in the living room for the night, he went into my room and set a few traps.  It wasn’t but a few minutes later that I no longer had a mouse in my room.  That little mouse had been living somewhere and was stashing away bird seed in my drawers for later. 

Then in college I moved to an acreage, great place for someone who doesn’t like mice to live, right?  One day, we were feeding the horses and I reached in the grain barrel to grab the coffee can that we used to scoop the grain.  Little did I know, there was a mouse at the back of the coffee can.  It came running out at me, so, naturally, I threw the can down and went running out of the barn!  After I got my composure I went back into the barn to find my friend completely fascinated by this mouse who was in the process of having babies.  You know what is worse than a full size mouse, a teeny tiny baby mouse!

Everyone has that one thing that just grosses them out for no particular reason and normally the stories end up humorous for those you share them with.  Many people have found enjoyment over the years from my dislike for mice.  My defense is never about being the tough one, it is about trying to stay calm and get out of the situation as fast as possible!  

Miracle of Life

As Mother’s Day approaches, being a first time expectant mother, I have a different view of it this year.  There is nothing to explain what has happened the past 25 weeks other than a miracle.  My new favorite hobby is to lay and feel our little Bonzo in my stomach moving around.  As he moves, I wonder what is going on in there, whether that was a punch, a kick, or a flip that I just felt.  I find myself thinking about what he will look like and whether his personality will be a combination of my husband and mine.  My decision making and priorities in life have already changed.    

While I can’t say every moment has been enjoyable, I can say it is all a miracle.  There are many changes your body goes through to grow this little human inside of you, no matter how much you read or plan you don’t understand it until it happens.  Each week brings new exciting “joys of motherhood,” some of these are positive others you can do nothing but laugh about.  My husband and I often use the phrase “Have a kid they say, it will be fun they say,” to help me laugh off some of the not as enjoyable moments.  

One of the most amazing parts of all of this is to not only see the love that my husband and I have for our little Bonzo, but to see the love that my 5 year old nephew has for his cousin.  He has named the baby for us, and I am sure he will be devastated once he learns that “Sammy” will have a different name.  He must understand that this is a miracle as well, because so far we haven’t had to address the how did he get in there or how will he get out questions!  This past weekend, “Sammy” was moving around and the look on my nephew’s face was priceless when he put his hand on my belly only to get it kicked.  My favorite part is when he gives me a hug and lays his head on my belly and says “Goodbye Sammy, I love you.”

I can’t wait to see and experience all of the upcoming miracles of life that lie ahead of us.  There is something very special about the bond that forms between a mother and their child.  I wish all of you mothers and mothers-to-be a very Happy Mother’s Day!

If you want to call me a moth....

If you want to call me a moth, call me a moth, but when I look in the mirror all I see is a butterfly – Sheila Hansen

This week was spent reflecting on who I am and finding what it is that makes me happy.  I was reminded of a quote that I actually came up with a few years ago. With Mother’s Day coming up, this post will have perfect timing. 

To fill you in completely, this story starts back in college.  I was the first in our family to go off to college, and being my parent’s little girl it was tough for them to send me off to another city.  We got everything moved into my dorm room and later after they had left I found a hidden note from my mom.  I no longer remember the details of the note, but I do know that it referenced butterflies. This started my Mom’s Butterfly “obsession.”  I began receiving “Butterfly” related gifts randomly, for birthdays, for Christmas….you name it and my Mom probably gave it to me at some point.  A few of the specific ones I remember are a neon butterfly light, a huge poster of butterflies, a butterfly cookie jar, butterfly themed notepads, and butterfly shaped pillows.  Eventually I got her to settle down a bit, and while I appreciated that she cared about me, we came to an understanding that I didn’t have a need for most of these items.   Butterflies continued to stay with me through life and whenever I see one I think back to the love my Mom had for her daughter!

Fast forward a few years to a conversation I was having with my husband.  We were discussing a “cocoon” and how I like to be wrapped up in blankets like I am in a cocoon.  I made the connection that I am like a butterfly coming out of the cocoon.  He quickly informed me that cocoon was not the correct word for a butterfly.  A cocoon is what a moth grows in, but a butterfly grows in a chrysalis.  My very quick and clever response (which I was very proud of at the time) was “If you want to call me a moth, call me a moth, but when I look in the mirror all I see is a butterfly!”  Even though it wasn’t correct, he was proud of my quote!

Fast forward to the present, this week as I was thinking about who it is I am and how others view me, I am reminded of the quote.  I AM that butterfly I see in the mirror. There maybe others who view me as a moth, but at the end of the day I am a butterfly and if I am happy calling myself a butterfly, what does it matter what they think!  I am lucky to have a Mom that helped me see that butterfly years ago and has been there to make sure that I never lose sight of the butterfly that is inside of me.  

 Happy Mother’s Day Mom!!