What do I do all day?

"What do you do all day?" "How are you not bored?" "I would go crazy!"  I swear everyone asks me this. I don't mind. I sometimes wonder the same thing. However, i'm not bored, i'm not depressed, and I haven't gained weight! (I don't think. We don't have a scale so can only weigh ourselves when we go to Bed Bath and Beyond and take advantage of all their scales on display, or if we HAPPEN to be at someone's house who has a scale in the open. Oh. The last time we weighed ourselves was on a calf scale. Ranch life, I tell ya!)

To those who don't know. I live in the middle of nowhere (like the nearest hospital, Wal-mart, etc is 1.5 hours away.), and I live on a ranch, and I am not currently legal to work yet. With that being said, I just got notification that my paperwork to apply for work has been approved! So I should be getting a card within 30 days which'll allow me to work! But I reallly don't want to work. I'll likely get on at the post office part time/casual. Once summer comes, I will be a lot busier!

For starters, I wake up in the morning and cook lucky Jed breakfast. We really don't buy cereal. If I do, it's for an evening snack! We eat oatmeal every now and then, but he gets eggs, sausage, bacon, pancakes etc for breakfast. I have fairly fast metabolism, so if I eat cereal at 7, i'll be hungry again by 8:30-9.  And i'm not even physically working! So I make sure he has a full belly because it's a long time between 7&lunchtime!

 He gets to come downstairs to his breakfast and tea, all hot and waiting for him to partake! Lucky him! I also get to see the sun come up (at least in the winter)

Typical breakfast for Jed

I love mornings!

I also try and do yoga in the morning and then in the afternoon. However, there are random times where I feel like REALLY getting in shape. So I do a workout. And then because i'm so out of shape, I am sore the next day so OBVIOUSLY you can't work out when you're sore, so I get a day off and then the next day I end up doing something else and then I no longer workout.
I try to take one of the pups out for a walk/freedom in a fenced shelter belt. They have to be tied up at all times because they are still young, and there are cows all around the yard now. If they get undone, they will go BERSERK and chase the cows in any which direction.

I also clean. A lot. We have no carpets or rugs, and it is ridiculous how much dust and stuff accumulates! It is also kind of gross because I now realize just how disgusting carpets/rugs actually are. Little germ collectors. I could easily sweep every single day. A thorough put all the chairs up, lift up all the laundry baskets, take everything off the floor kind of sweep. I do that a couple times a week. And then do a quick sweep after dinner because who likes having wet/damp feet and then walking on crumbs. Barf.

I am the dishwasher. That means washing a minimum of 3 sink fulls a day! I don't let dishes accumulate, and I can't cook with dirty dishes in the kitchen. That means I wash dishes. A lot.  Thank goodness i'm so good at it.

Clean house + natural light=my favourite

Our gorgeous bathroom which Jed can take all the credit for! Acid stained concrete floor, custom shower tile job, and hand painted wall (that design on the left!)

I also got this beautiful kitchen aid about a month ago. That means I try and use it as much as possible because I just love it! The colour is called Aqua but it's really hard to get a picture of it. It actually is almost the Exact colour of the blue in our countertops! 

Best picture I could get showing it's colour off!

And a thanks to kitchen aid for assisting in making Jed's current favourite cookie! Gingersnaps.
Also, I love the lighting in this picture. I love my 5' wide south facing window!

Pretzel+caramel+chocolate+seasalt=amazing.

And I do laundry. Load after load after load. (Ok, maybe not quite that much) But I do do a lot of laundry! If we have to work cows (which is a fair amount right now, plus once calving starts in Feb/March it'll be more, and then once AI-ing starts in May, it'll be even more) the clothes are guaranteed needing a wash before wearing them again. I just do a lot of laundry! I believe this was 6 loads or so. Luckily I don't mind doing laundry. I do plan on training our kids to do their own laundry before they learn to walk though. Priorities, priorities. 

 And sometimes I help go feed the bulls. Push up hay, push up hay. By the way, this photo was taken in November. Hoodie weather! And it still is now!

Yes, I took a selfie. But it's not a selfie if there's cows in the background, right? 

Once the summer/spring comes I'll be even busier, luckily! February/March the calving starts, and yes, I will definitely be hanging out a lot more with my father in law then! Little calves are just so cute.  May is AI-ing, and I will be planting my garden hopefully then too. I planted it waayy too late last year. I figure if you plant too early, and it freezes, you just replant. No big deal.
AND I WILL HOPEFULLY HAVE CHICKENS BY THEN! I just have to work on getting the husband to build a chicken coop, and then I can order the chicks! (They come in the mail!) No. I will not be a crazy chicken lady.
I go and get the mail at the end of the driveway (1 mile) 3x a week. Such a good start to the morning! In the summer I take a quad, and in the winter I drive. I have walked, but that requires crossing 2 cattle guards (a fear of mine after falling through one) and if there are parcels, it's hard to walk with many parcels and mail!

I am very thankful for pinterest. I spend lots of time on pinterest, and I actually do make/use/create the things which I've pinned. It's very educational, so therefore it's ok to spend time on pinterest.

This basically sums up how i'm not bored. I keep busy, or I cherish how much relaxing time I have! I could work, and I may work once I get my card, but I really love being home, always being able to be reached by family, friends etc. I guess I just love my freedom!
I wouldn't have thought I would be content here, considering where I lived, and grew up. Quite frankly, I got SO sick of the city mentality when living in Edmonton, and got sick of the mixed nationalities that I dealt with at my work. It really gets annoying. 

We have no traffic issues here, no people that don't know how to speak english, and  the whole scheme of life here is just so basic. It's refreshing.  I don't LOVE it here, but i'm content. It's not a place I would raise a family (#1 reason is there is no hospital) but it's great for the time being!
We definitely won't be living here forever, or long term, but I am making the best out of what I have! Freedom, no traffic, country life at its finest, cows, soon chickens, and soon my garden!
Make the best wherever you may be! 

November in Montana

This is the oddest fall. Ever.  Probably because it's the first time in my life (aside from when I was in Ecuador) that there hasn't been snow in November! It's been like 8-12C on an average! I went for a walk up to Little Rock Hill yesterday and was wearing my t-shirt for the most of it. In the middle of November. weeeirdd. However, it is gorgeous! Clearish sky, sun and no snow! 

Bringing in some cows. I like to walk once they're all together and follow them in 

The dog and the cow checking each other out

 

This is where Jed proposed!

                                        Yucca Plant

I heard some crackling going on and realized it was the bulls, right out our window! 

Snow Shots

Our snow came a day later than it did for everyone back home. However, we did get a little skiff of snow about a month ago. Nothing compared to the 3-4 feet that hit SW South Dakota about a month ago. So we aren't complaining.

I ventured outside to take some photos. I hate this time of the year...snow on a not frozen ground. Such mud! Thank goodness I have gum boots, but they aren't insulated so I just have cold feet instead.

The heifers are back around the yard now likely until they're done calving.  They "can't" get into my garden. But they can get through fences every now and then.....

Heifers on the other side of my garden

I love that the colours are still around :) 

Sassy is the less aggressive pup. Oddly enough she was the most aggressive when they first got her, and up until the cows came around. Now Dan is SUPER aggressive with the cows while Sassy is not! Funny how that changed!  

 The above pic is the trees at the river yesterday when it started to snow. Crazy to think that just last week they were bright yellow and a week later the leaves are gone and replaced with snow!