In & Out of Taylor Ranch

Here are a couple of my pictures from my flight into Taylor Ranch on Monday!  Like I stated in my previous post, it was a beautiful day for flying, we left Pullman at 7:30 am and landed at Taylor Ranch about an hour and a half later.  

Here is a picture of the amazing Palouse from overhead!  It was a little hazy in North Idaho and I'm shooting through the window.  I am so happy I invested in the Canon DSLR camera back in January!  I would have never been able to capture high quality shots like this without it!  Below is a picture of my Aunt Kim and Uncle Darrell's house outside of Genesee.  We're still a little far away--but what a beautiful spot to have a house!

 These photos are from across the Palouse region!  

 Uncle Darrell & Doug Gadwa (our Pilot) talking about their many connections on the Palouse!

 Below is the small runway we landed on and took off from!  I still can't believe that Doug landed on so amazingly!

 Me taking a break from hiking the shade!  I was not used to the heat that we find in Southern Idaho.  We actually had to take off earlier in the afternoon before it got too hot and the plane wouldn't have been able to handle it.

 This plane came in right after us and dropped off a Fish and Game researcher.  I was able to capture a couple pictures of him taking off!

 This is the main cabin that the students get to stay in.  It is relatively new and was built to replace a cabin and cookhouse that they lost in the 2000 Wildfire.  It is gorgeous inside and UI currently has six students living in this bunkhouse this summer.

 The below cabin serves as the research spot.  It has a library, study area, small lab, and quarters for visiting professors etc.  It is pretty impressive the set up that UI has worked on.

 The river offers some relief to the heat!  I think next time (if I ever get this opportunity again) I will bring my fishing pole!  The managers said the fishing is great in July!

 Behind me is the Cessna 280 (unsure of the number, but I'm pretty sure!)  This is when I was waiting to take off!

 The two managers, assistant manager, a professor who is visiting, the Pilot (Doug) and my uncle Darrell.  Also in there, are two adorable dogs, Toby and Snowball.  Darrell and I also got our picture taken--this should make a great Christmas card!

 During take off!  It is amazing to be so close to the mountains in a small airplane and Doug was amazing and fearless--but always very, very safe!  Below is approaching the Palouse--it felt great to get back home and on solid ground for a while!!

Roger that...10-4...Rubber Ducky Out!

I had the amazing, once in a lifetime opportunity to fly into Taylor Ranch Research area earlier this week.  I found out Sunday I would be, while at Hoopfest, that my Uncle Darrell was flying in and had room for a UI employee...I became that UI employee!  WOW!!  What an adventure of a day I had.  
My mom raised me to fear small airplanes (thanks Mom!)  I never thought I would leap into one for a quick day trip to South Idaho!  But, I LOVED IT!  The flight down and over to the Cascade, ID area, was breath taking--we as Idahoans truly live in a beautiful state and I got to see it from a truly unique view--on top of it!  
I will be posting pictures of my beautiful trip later this week.  I am still working on uploading the pictures.  The weather was perfect and we got to take a pit stop in Grangeville to pick up the UPS and drop it off in Lewiston!  
I love what a small world it is, as well!  Our pilot ended up being one of my great friends from college's, dad, Doug Gadwa!  He did a great job at keeping us in the loop at what was going on during the flight and telling us the history of the land we were seeing and pointing out great points of interest.  
I am so amazingly blessed to have been invited on this amazing trip with my Uncle Darrell.  A huge thank you to Darrell and Doug for a fantastic day and a wonderful adventure, that I will never forget!

What the What?!

Shane and I celebrated our two year anniversary over a week ago.  I got text messages and facebook posts all day!  We truly felt the love from our wonderful friends and family!  I was able to go through our wedding album that our wonderful photographer, Cyndee, put together for us recently and I fell in love with this picture all over again.  To truly understand what is going on in my mind and probably in Shane's you need the back story--and I can't believe I haven't shared this one yet!  This story will take you back to the day before our big day!
June 18th, 2010--I woke up and got ready for all the work we had ahead of us that day!  Shane was already up and ready to go, I went into the living room and started talking to my parents about everything that needed to happen that day, after we had a game plan I went outside to where Shane was talking to his brother, he ended the conversation by saying, "ya, I'll see you soon."  I told him I was going to head to the church to get things started and he told me he was going to go meet his brother in Caldwell for a while to do "guy stuff".  I asked him how long he would be, when I could expect him to get everything put together for "our" wedding?!  To say I was in crazy mode is a understatement.  I asked what he was doing, so at least I could tell people where my soon to be husband was while we were working on the wedding--he of course couldn't say.  
Fast forward to our wedding day--our wedding toast actually!  My beautiful best friend had just given the toast and made me cry (thanks Marie!) Next up, Shane's brother, Kyle.  At this point I had almost completely forgotten the crazy lady I had been the day before (I am unsure if Shane had though!)  Kyle started his speech by announcing that he and Shane had gone skydiving the day before!  Our amazing photogratpher caught this picture--an amazing reminder at how much Shane (and his brother) could still surprise me after knowing him for over 4 years!  
That was the first surprise of many after being married.  Two years later Shane (and his family!) still surprise me.  Some days it's his thoughtfulness, or his random acts of kindness towards me, my family, his family, or others.  There have been not so pleasant surprises, but for the most part I feel pretty dang lucky to call have this funny and loving guy at my side through our adventures! 

Deer Pictures!

As promised, here are the very cute pictures of the fawn that ventured my way!  Again--such an amazing experience!  I am still trying to dig out the picture of my car post deer hit and run.  But the fawn is much better to look at!  

Deer! Oh, dear!

It has been a long hiatus from blogging.  It all started with the Holidays, which were fantastic, but stressful at the same time.  I didn't get stuck in the snow once this year--but we did buy a Tahoe to help me stay on the road!  It was a much better winter than last.  

This spring I was out in the field more than ever.  I drove truck off and on, and even got in the driver seat of one of the tractors for practice!  I am still practicing my backing up skills with a trailer on though.  

My most exciting moments on the farm this spring and summer (if you could call it that so far!) have been centered around deer.  Yes, deer.  

In April on my way home from a very long weekend at UI for events and a class that met on weekends.  It was rainy and crappy out.  I was almost home, when out of a blue, a deer ran in front of me and I hit it.  I slammed on my breaks, examined the damage to my car and the poor deer.  Both were in bad shape.  The poor deer died instantly, and it looked like my car was pretty much done for as well.  I cried in the middle of the road, apologized to the deer, (even though it ran out in front of me!)  

Thankfully Shane was home and came to my rescue.  He held me in the rain, told me my car would be okay, and that we should go home.  After two weeks of waiting and driving a very nice rental car, I had my car back and it looked great!  I am definitely even more wary of deer on our road and am thankful that I wasn't injured and that no one else had to see the pathetic sight on the road I was!  It made me realize that there are huge perks for living out in the sticks--no traffic to see you mess up!

The other very positive event that revolved around deer happened last weekend!  We were driving home from the Tekoa Slippery Gulch parade when a mama deer and her twins crossed in front of us--I slowed down and noticed that the two fawns were hanging out in the tall grass next to the road.  I jumped out of the car and started taking pictures.  
Pictures will be soon!

 

This experience made me so very thankful that we live in such a beautiful place!  So far this summer I have seen four different (I think) fawns in the seven mile stretch of gravel road!  

Thank A Farmer

I have been spending some time looking up recipes for Holiday parties and dinners. It struck me today that so many people, myself included, take for granted the important role that farmers have in the holidays! Every meal, appetizer dish, and yummy treats are possible because of our farmers! So, thank you to my husband, who works his butt off so we can eat great food, thank you to my ancestors who worked hard to feed their families, and thank you to all the farmers out there making our lives possible!

I'm Back....

Whheewww! It has been a very busy couple of months. We have been busy out and about! We have taken on some house projects, that I will post, but the one thing I have pictures of is my melted crayon art project I took on over Thanksgiving break. I have lost a lot of time on pintrest. I love seeing all of the craft ideas and recipes. I finally took one on and am very excited about it! I hope you enjoy...once I get these babies on a wall the project will be complete!

I started by grabbing canves that was on sale at Ross for $6 for a pack of three! I am always so amazed at what I can find there. I printed out the barn and the tractor and traced them onto the canvas. I then took a sharpie marker and filled them in.
Whheewww! It has been a very busy couple of months. We have been busy out and about! We have taken on some house projects, that I will post, but the one thing I have pictures of is my melted crayon art project I took on over Thanksgiving break. I have lost a lot of time on pintrest. I love seeing all of the craft ideas and recipes. I finally took one on and am very excited about it! I hope you enjoy...once I get these babies on a wall the project will be complete!

Once the canveses were ready I pulled out the crayons from colors that I wanted to use--Crayola Crayons worked awesome--I had a friend who tried a project with crayons and bought cheaper ones and hers didn't turn out. I super glued the crayons onto the canvas borrowed Shane's heat gun from the shop and my friend and I went to town melting crayons. Don't forget wax paper underneath the canvas to catch the melted crayon! If you don't have access to a heat gun, then a hair dryer would work well too. I was surprised at how quickly the wax started dripping down. Each canvas only took a couple minutes to be finished. We are really excited about these and are happy with the way they turned out.

Freezing Corn...

This picture was taken after I had shucked the corn, boiled the corn, and blanched the corn into freezing cold water with ice cubes. Then I took my angel food pan that works nicely to catch the corn, and my handy tool from Pampered Chef and started cutting the corn off of the cob.

This corn is from Shanes dad, and was YUMMY (don't tell him that I finally admitted this--I try to act like South Idaho corn is the best). This is a look of the corn when I was almost all finished. From here I scooped the corn into a measuring cup and froze it in ziplock bags.

I love that we'll have tasty corn year round and I froze them in one cup and two cup bags so we can decide how much we want to eat.

Is that Suzy? No...it's Marie!

Last summer, my father in-law said to me many times, "Marie, are you becoming Suzy-homemaker?" I would laugh and say, "No way!" I am a strong, independent woman...I wasn't insulted, but I told myself, I will never be Suzy-homemaker. I am proud of that I have never baked a pie from scratch (even though my husband has and can) I have never canned anything or froze vegetables. I was content, I was happy with my crazy busy life.

I don't know if any of you have noticed as the price of fresh food has gone higher and higher. The price tag on my groceries has continued to go up and, I know I am not alone here, but I have other (maybe not necessities) items I would like to spend money on! So, I have taken a big step toward becoming a "Suzy-homemaker" and dang it--I'm proud of it!

I started by freezing raspberries. We were over taken by raspberry bushes this year and Shane and I spent a lot of time picking in the evenings. I then froze what we didn't snack on. Next were green beans. Fresh green beans are delicious--green beans from the farm and so much better than canned, so I blanched green beans and froze them for use throughout the winter.

I don't know if anyone is quite as addicted to peppers as I am--but they are ridiculously expensive up here in Moscow. At one point I saw a green pepper for $3. I almost cried. I cannot afford green peppers at this prize. Luckily, Purdum's Produce, in Fruitland had green peppers, 3/$1. I stocked up and took them home and sliced them and then froze them in bags.

I have now moved on to corn on the cob! I always thought the corn that my Grandmother froze every summer took so much time--I have now learned that it is worth the time to have delicious corn year round! There also happens to be some great tools out there to make life a lot easier! Pictures will be posted tomorrow of some of my experiences!
If you have canned or frozen foods and have some tips--I'd love to hear them!!

NYC: Day Two

Day two in NYC was fantastic. We slept in, ate a crappy breakfast from our hotel breakfast bar and took to the streets. We traveled throughout Central Park that late morning. We were amazed at first how beautiful the park is in the middle of the big city.

After the trip through Central Park we went back to the hotel and got ready for our dinner cruise that we did with my family that was in town. En route to meeting up with the Fabricius crew we did some sightseeing. Checking out the NBC headquarters, Rockefeller Plaza, the Empire State Building and more! We also grabbed some frozen yogurt and sat back and enjoyed some people watching--there are so many to watch!!

We headed to meet the family and it started raining! My Grandma, Mom, Uncle John and myself snagged a taxi to get to the dock. The boys...I mean men, decided to hoof it. What started as a sprinkle turned into a full out down pour. So much rain that they shut down the train to get in and out of the city! The men showed up completely drenched from head to toe. But they didn't let that ruin the booze cruise as we called it :)

NYC: Day One

Someone once said, getting there was half the battle. I would agree. But, getting there is much more fun when you're with a great guy and you run into the Vandal Plane! That is my silhouette while Shane tries to figure out the flash. There are no good ways to get a picture like this.

When we finally landed in Newark we jumped on a train and headed to a Brazilian BBQ place we found online. One of the things Shane wanted to do while in New York was go to an all you can eay meat joint like we did in D.C. with the Pea and Lentil Board a couple years ago. It did not disappoint! We didn't eat all day in preparation for the meal and we ate until we were stuffed!

After the meal we headed out to find our hotel in Long Island. We decided to take the train to Madison Gardens and then take a taxi from there--what an experience. Shane gets motion sickness when I drive. It was nuts trying to watch him trying to not lose his cookies! We arrived fairly late and after a full day of only sitting and eating we were exhausted and hit the hay!!

More on day two soon....

June 19, 2011

Well, we made it! It was a shaky, stormy, rough road. There were moments I was thankful that my mom is a counselor. We had great moments as well. Moments when we laughed so hard together that we had tears running down our face.

We made it through our first year of marriage. We celebrated by taking a week long anniversary/honeymoon trip to New York City. It was fantastic to get out of Idaho for a week long vacation.

We were true tourists in NY. Getting lost together, riding the Metro the wrong direction, and asking random people in suits on crorners for directions--ALOT! You would think that after four trips to NY I would be a master. We also did a lot of fun things together. We walked a lot, toured Centeral Park, went on a dinner cruise that went right by the Statue of Liberty, attended my younger brothers college graduation, ate amazing cuisine, and danced and sang our hearts out at dueling pianos...ok, maybe I was the one dancing and singing while Shane just herded me out of there!

More Details to come in the following posts....

Sure Happy the Sun is Out!

Those of you who kept tabs on me this winter know it was rough for me and my poor car. I lost track of how many times Shane had to come pull me out! Lucky for us my parents got us AAA for Christmas--and there was one really bad morning that we both had to use it.

I have been told that this past winter was particularly bad and that it probably wont be that bad for awhile. I am hoping they are correct! But, with twisters touching down in Massachusets, I am starting to think that "normal" weather just doesn't apply today. Thank goodness we live in a area where people ask if you are ok, let you borrow their land lines when you run off the road in a "dead zone" and where employers aren't mad when you roll in an hour late and believe you when you say you're snowed in.

My car has really enjoyed the sun the last couple days and I have enjoyed racing to and from home with no worries! I am knocking on wood right now, because snow in June can always happen!!

"He couldn't catch a cold buck naked in Alaska"

I don't know who "he" is--but I have definitely caught a cold, and it didn't even take me getting buck naked in Alaska to do it!! It is flat out cold here!! I spoke to a recruiter a couple of weeks ago who had been up in AK and she hadn't explored much. I told myself, "that wont be me--I will be out and about every chance I get" little did I know that it would be too cold to bare outside! Part of it coule be that I am a huge wimp, part of the reason I have stayed inside as much as I can is because I have a cold, most of it could be that the warmest the weather has been since I have gotten here is -2. This morning when I left my first high school at around 10 am the sun was finally out, but it had disappeared by 2 o'clock in the afternoon. The sun never rises it seems, it just hovers, as does the moon.

The picture above is a shot of what it looks like flying into Alaska. I couldn't get to my camera on the plane but I was amazed at how beautiful the ocean was frozen over. It looked like trees from above--this photo is courtesy of NASA--they have a better camera than I do anyways!

Tomorrow night I am planning to drive up a little north out of Anchorage and hopefully see the Northern lights. It has been so cloudy here that the hotel front desk folks were skeptical that I'd see them, but tomorrow is supposed to be clearer. I am going to go get a hot chocolate and wait it out--wish me luck!!

I got here Monday afternoon, I started my high school visits today and had three successful visits! The counselors here are great and I have had quite a bit of interest in University of Idaho. I will do three visits a day and am hosting a Informational night on Thursday for students and their families. I am pretty excited for it and am hoping for a good turnout!

I miss home already though and feel bad for poor Shane, he is working hard and here I am having a work/vacation!

Catch Up

Wow--It has been awhile! December flew by and Christmas was done before we knew it! We spent Christmas in Tekoa with Shane's family! It was very busy--which was good! It kept me from thinking too much about missing my family. Christmas Eve Shane's family (Terry, Denny, Jenn & Grace) came to our place for brunch and to open presents! It was a lot of fun!
Shane and I got each other couches for Christmas (finally!!) and they came the day before so we were able to enjoy them with the family together!
After brunch we relaxed for a bit, went to Mass at Tekoa together and headed Shane's Grandparents house for a Brouse family dinner! This was probably the highlight of Christmas for me! Delicious food, very fun people, my first time playing Pictionary, and a White Elephant gift exchange made the evening fly by!
I missed going to midnight mass with my family, singing in the choir, and everything though. The following day (Christmas Day) we slept in and went to Denny and Jenn's for dinner and a game night with some members of her family.
Overall Christmas was pretty good! It was my first Christmas away from my family! It seems like every time to Fruitland gets shorter and farther apart with the obligations of work and farm that we have--but I wouldn't change it and I'm just happy that both Shane and I are able to do what we love and be together :)

Thankful for so much...

I have been back from Alaska for over and month and life has just whipped right on by! It took me a bit to get used to driving in Idaho and Washington and it has been great being able to sleep in my own bed again! I do have to admit that I do miss out eating all the time, but am very happy to be in Tekoa where there are familiar faces, and of course happy to be back with Shane.
Thanksgiving sneaked up on me this year, and was over before I could get a second helping of turkey! We celebrated at my Grandparents house in Myrtle, (outside of Lewiston.) It was the first time since the wedding that I have spent time with them and my parents and brothers, aunts, uncles and cousins rounded out the guest list. It was fabulous having the entire 'gang' back together.
My parents and brothers joined Shane and I in Tekoa, WA for a couple days. We watched football, ate great food, and played the Wii. I realize I am very fortunate for family and friends this season! Thank you everyone being a part of my life! Until next time!

Glaciers, Moose, Eagles, Oh My!

Awww....Alaska. I have been really enjoyed being in Alaska. It is going to be so hard to go back to Tekoa and Moscow. Before this trip I truly thought I lived in the most beautiful area, no offense to anyone in North Idaho/Eastern Washington, but Alaska is AMAZING!! I grew up in a family that went camping, explored, and got out to the unknown of the Northwest. I thought I had seen it all. I have been to ghost towns, Yellowstone, and many other National Monuments, and parks. I thought it would take a lot for me to be surprised or amazed at my surrounding. I have been in awe most of my trip here so far. Here is a taste of what I have experienced and there is more to come!
Sunday while I was driving through Anchorage a moose (yes a full size moose!) crossed the street. Now, I pictured Anchorage as a smaller "city"--bigger than a town but still small. Boy, was I wrong. It is a good sized city with more than one Target! And here is a moose walking down the street! It was absolutely amazing.

Monday I had the pleasure of visiting Seward and Soldonta High Schools on the Kenai Penninsula. I had some spare time in Seward before I left for my next visit and was able to visit Exit Glacier. This is my first experience with a glacier. I didn't know what to expect, but I was amazed at the beautiful color and the size of the glacier. As I was leaving the glacier a Bald Eagle flew right over me--it was amazing feeling to be engulfed by nature, only 8 miles from a town.

I was able to look at four different glaciers in the portage area later that day after all my visits and they were all amazing. Once again a different bald eagle appeared. I was able to pull over and take some pictures as it ate its fish that it pulled out of the stream. As you can see I was able to get very close!

Now, I should probably say something about the work I am doing up here. Every student that I have met has known someone who has been or is currently a student at the wonderful University of Idaho. I have been very excited about the students and the teachers that I have encountered. This trip has been a blast and tonight I started the fair circuit and was able to meet the recruiters from other institutions.

As always, more to come soon. Tonight I am in Ketchikan, tomorrow Sitka, the day after tomorrow Juneau....I am a traveling fool!

Give Moose A Break....

My favorite road sign that I have seen so far in Alaska has been the "Give Moose A Break" Yesterday I had quite the day before the day even got started for me! I went out bright and early to warm up my car because it was frosted over and I had high school visits in Wasilla and Palmer, AK. I got out there and my car was dead.
I asked the front desk and everyone in the hotel breakfast area if anyone had jumper cables. Everyone I encountered had a rental or a work vehicle and had none. But, once again, everyone was so nice. I walked through the lobby and over heard a gentleman re-asking the front desk for me! The front desk called a cab company who came and did it. The gentleman who had re-asked the front desk for me (he was about my dad's age) actually went outside with me when the cabbie came to make sure that he was legit and didn't kidnap me or anything! It was so nice of him!
Anyways, I paid the nice cab driver and got on my merry way to Wasilla. I pulled into Wasilla, turned my car off to grab a water and a coffee at a gas station and got back to my car and it was dead again! Ridiculous I thought to myself! I jumped out and went into the gas station, they luckily had jumper cables. I found someone to jump my car and when we got back to my car it was locked....WITH THE KEYS INSIDE IT. Not only were my keys inside it, but also my cell and wallet. I had nothing but my coat.
So I went back into the gas station and they called a cab company. I was about in tears!
The cab company got there and tried to start working on my car. The woman was kind of struggling with it and a guy filling up his car with gas came over to try to help. While he was working on it a competing driver came by and started to try to help. 10 minutes later he was in. No one would take any money for getting me into my car or jump starting my car! EVERYONE WAS SO NICE!
I went on to have spectacular visits--and was so ahead of schedule that even with all the drama of the morning wasn't late to any visits! Every student that I talked to knew someone who had or is going to University of Idaho and UI was in many of these students top three. The counselors were all very welcoming and allowed students to be pulled out of class and asked me to come back again soon to visit! It all turned into a great day--mostly due to the amazingly nice people that I met in Wasilla. THANK YOU TO THESE PEOPLE AGAIN!
Now...today (Friday) it hit me, that maybe the second time my car was "dead" it actually wasn't. I remembered later on, that I had a hard time turning the engine over when the guy hooked the battery pack up to it. He jumped in and said, "Well you need it in Park, honey" I had acidently turned off the car with it in gear. I drive a manual so I usually coast into a spot and pull the brake. So, maybe if I had checked that I would have never gotten into my second mess. I still haven't figured out the locked out, but I have turned the car manual inside out and found the pin access code for the keyless entery on the door.
Hopefully I will have no more car trouble for the rest of my trip. I find it funny now, but yesterday if anyone gave me a hard time about it I would have cried. It was stressful and not a very fun way to start a trip. Those of you who know me wont be surprised by this story at all :)

ALASKA!!

So, I have made it. I have been in Anchorage, AK for a little over eight hours. Why am I here you may ask? University of Idaho sends recruiters to Alaska every year to talk to potential students etc. Alaska fell into my area so here I am. I am all alone in a new city, new state, new timezone! I love adventures like this!
Today I cruised around Anchorage to try to become better acquainted with it, talked to some locals and decided that there is just too much to do in this one trip. Oh yah, I am also supposed to work on this trip :) Tomorrow I head to Wasilla and Palmer to do High School visits. Friday I am sticking around Anchorage and Monday I will explore Seward and Soldonta. I do get the weekend to explore freely--I am very excited about that!
This trip is different than any I have ever taken before. I will be gone for 15 days. Shane and I have never been apart for that long. Weird. He is busy with fall work and maybe by the time I get back he'll be done...probably more around Thanksgiving time he'll be completely done. So, no Shane to join me. It is a weird feeling to have someone who you want to call and share each new experience. A friend of mine who is married told me this would happen.
"Traveling alone just isn't the same. You want to share everything with your spouse."
I laughed and told him that I had traveled enough alone that it would be fine. I had been to Hawaii, New York, D.C., and plenty other places alone and while I would call my mom to catch up, I never had that feeling of wanting someone to experience it with me. I was fine being a lone traveler.
Not even 24 hours into this trip, I am wishing Shane were with me. I called him when I got my rental car. I called him when I got to my hotel. I called him when I ate my first meal alone in Alaska. I called him when I returned my rental car because it smelled of cigarette smoke. I swear I am bugging him, but I guess that may be the price he pays while he's driving a tractor in Idaho!
Some notes on Alaska. The first thing I noticed was that people in customer service jobs are NICE. They are genuinely kind and good at their job. Now, I have only encountered 5-6 people in these positions, but all were extremely welcoming and effecient. Not something that I have always encountered during my travels. I am loving this town (the little I have seen) and am looking forward to getting more and more acquainted as the week goes by!

My Birthday....

My birthday is tomorrow, Oct. 3--the best day in history. I know of a couple people who agree. On October 3, my parents had their first child, their only daughter and I have been a constant joy ever since, (just ask them!) My grandparents (both sets) were blessed with their first grandchild, thus making me the favorite for the rest of my life.
My Grandpa Tes used to tell me that I was the only one who could say certain things to him. Those of you who knew him, know that he didn't always take a joke directed at him very well--but I for some reason could get away with making smart-aleck remarks.
On a great October 3 while I was in high school my amazing cousin, Ellie, was born. It is a very special thing to share a birthday with a child. We had horse themed birthdays, and Dorah, and many more.
My favorite would have had to been last year. Ellies parents and her siblings and my parents and Zack and Shane all came together in Moscow. Early in the afternoon Shane and I had lunch with his parents (Dennis and Terry) and my parents (Jon and Teresa.) This was the first time they had met, and it was a lot of fun. Shane and I both agreed that they seemed to get a long well (which was nice--we got engaged a couple weeks later.) After lunch time we hung out together for a couple hours and then Ellies family and my family came together in the house I was living in last Fall for a BBQ dinner, lots of birthday cake, and a little tailgating for those of us who were old enough. We all loaded into the cars and headed to the Vandal Football game. We wont that game, which was awesome, but the best part of it was having everyone come together once again for the birthday celebration.
Many people believe that farmers are only busy 3 months of the year. That farmers just twiddle their thumbs and stare at each other after harvest. This my friends, is not true. It is weird how you have to take care of the soil, fertilize the land, plant seeds and work on equipment so it is always ready to use. This for me means that farm work is not even close to being done.
Not only will this be the first time in 9 years that I am not with my parents or Ellie and her family to celebrate my birthday, it will be the first time I'm married. This is the first time in a long time that I have actually felt a birthday.

I feel old. Should I feel old? Another thing is that Shane has been working long days (11-13 hour days) I am not sure if he has time to even remember that it is my birthday tomorrow. So, I am going into tomorrow with no expectations. We will wait and see--keep your fingers crossed. If nothing happens, I can do my best to be understanding towards him. He loves farming and it does require long days--we signed up for that together. I knew going into it what was required and expected.

Till tomorrow!!