Fun unplaned day!

This weekend we really didn't have anything planned besides the usual...laundry and clean house. Earlier in the week we were invited to attend the Maynard day parade and when Saturday came around, we decided to take up the Offer. Will's cousins, The Kelly's, grandpa was the grand Marshall this year so they would be attending the festivities. We didn't know what the day would bring but we were up for anything. The morning started with a 20 minute parade where Lyndin loaded up with candy. While waiting for the parade, Will and Travis decided we should venture to Edgewood to Rodeo days and take in a rodeo. Lyndin was all for that. So after the parade we went the the Maynard park for face painting and lunch before we headed to edgewood.

Since we were going to Edgewood we decided to pack a cooler so we could stop at the locker. So we picked up a cooler at his cousins house and we were off. We knew Edgewood had a parade at 2 but we also knew Lyndin needed a nap, which we were hoping so woild take while driving. Right! Our first stop was the locker where we loaded up on pork products. There we found out the rodeo didn't start until 8pm where we originally thought it started at 5. So we had 5 hours to kill. We watched some of the parade and then we headed off to try to find the Edgewood Amish. We were able to find a couple stores where we purchased a sweet wagon, some bulk candy and a lot of memories. At one store Lyndin saw a pony and worked her charm to get to see it. They even let her sit on it which she loved. I guarantee there will be a horse on V56 Farms soon enough .

Lyndin still hadn't napped and we were all getting hungry so we decided to head to Manchester for supper at Pizza ranch. After a quick stop at Wal-Mart and supper at Pizza ranch it was time to head to the rodeo. Let me tell you i was so nervous to take lyndin. Not only did she have a short nap I knew there would be tons of people and a late night. Will's other cousin and her friend met up with us at the rodeo. Edgewood is a town of 900 and they announced that there were 4700 people at the rodeo that night . Wow! We lucked out and got great seats right by the start gates. Lyndin loved the rodeo. She loves the horse and seeing the bulls. Will loves going and rewinding to his bull riding days. I think he still has the itch to bull ride but his body says otherwise. After a three hour rodeo and fireworks we were headed back north. What a fun unplanned day that turned out to be exactly what we needed. No judgement. No drama. Just a fun day. After the last month that we have had I hope we make time to enjoy more days like Saturday .

Reset

The last few weeks have been an emotional rollar coaster for me and my family. I was told by someone I considered family how terrible of a person I was and that her whole family hated me and that I don't have any friends and on and on. It hurt my heart to the core that I even considered taking my own life as I started to believe her. I Have always struggled with depression and anxiety and since having Lyndin it has gotten much worse. I have hit rock bottom before but this time felt much lower. I had never been hurt by someone I had so much respect for. My family had lost a support system and i lost all of my confidence i had as a wife, mother and person. I am constantly hearing the hurtful words she said to me over and over in my head and it hurts me more and more daily. This has been really hard on Will as he is busy working and leaving me alone can be unsettling to him. Not knowing how to help me or what i am thinking is scary for him. Probably more scary for him as it is for me. Today I looked at the calender and realized that it was memorial day and as much as I have going on in my life....i still have a life to fight for as so many people lost their lives to give me that right. So today I am deciding to start a new chapter in my journey of healing and moving on past this. I am going to look at this as a growing opportunity. The person that hurt me so much doesn't deserve to have me and my daughter in her life. Someone so hateful and hurtful has no place in my life. I wish her healing and closure as she now has to live with the actions she made. I will look back at my respect I had for her and make sure next time I hold someone to the level I held her that they deserve that respect.

For someone to degrade someone to the level that she degraded me is not only hurtful and harmful but it goes to show her true colors. I hope God can give her the guidance she needs to not be so mean to people that once looked up to her.

So here is to a new restart on life. Goodbye to the hatred and hello to the people that truly do have my back and deserve my respect.  I have chosen to block her on Facebook and delete most of her family as facebook friends in order to block my life from her. As hard as it was to hit delete on some of her family I knew it was the right thing to do. To the ones that remain  friends I hope you understand I never had any intention of hurting you or your family and i do value our friendship.

A pat on my back....

Calving season 2018 has started hot and heavy. We have about 10 cows in the maternity ward with all of them being cows that I AI'd. That is a pretty big deal for me. We decided in 2014 that I would take the AI course and start AI'ing to help save money. Well last year I had two AI calves stick but unfortunately one was born premature and didnt make it. If you look at past blog post, I shared that experience with you. Well this year I am 2 for 7 so far, with the remaining cows ready to go at any time. I am pretty excited with 2 as that for me is a big accomplishment.

Having the security cameras up and running has really helped alot. As we speak we are watching the new momma cow lick her calf clean from the comfort of our warm home. While we all went out to make she the birth was going okay, we don't have to spend hours in the cold keeping watch.

2 down.....70 to go!

2018

2018 started out with cold weather and a good freeze, but 2 days later we are flooded and antipicating ice. What a mess. We took advantage off a good Black Friday sale and added a security system to the calving barn which will hopefully allow us to keep a closer eye on the cows so inturn help the calves. It has been quite an improvment and already is allowing us peace of mind. I told Will tonight that I might have to pull the plug if he keeps waking me up asking....is that a calf? Needess to say, there is a learning curve to it all. 

We received 2.5 inches of RAIN today so Will spent the day creating trenches to keep the water flowing as the temperature is hoovering around 33 degrees. After the trouble we had with the ice last year we are extra caution to keep water flowing. Hopefully we can escape the predicted forcast of freezing and then snow. With the cold weather we had the first few weeks of January the frost is very deep so we might be pumping water out of the field to clear the pond! Mother nature is one powerful women.

This year we retired our herd bull V56 Jalnie. After keeping almost all of his heifer over the last few years it was time to say goodbye, so Will has been busy looking for a replacement. After looking through our records and our calving rates we are needing to eliminate some of the old cows and replace them with more productive heifers so Will is also looking for breds to buy. Never ending....

Well, Lyndin is ready for bed and  I need to finish lundry and go checks cows (in person as I keep reminding Will is something that still needs to be done) before I can get some sleep. 

Cheers to the end of 2017

If you follow my blog I have wrote about a lot of our downfalls in 2017. Will and i often comment on how this was the hardest year so far so they can only go up...or so we hope. I am not going to recap the bad things as I hope to never relive them again but I want to recap the good.

January.....had our first batch of lambs. Started calving. Heather nominated for church council.

February.....moved into our (hopefully) forever home. Continued calving. Iowa beef expo. Surprise 35th birthday party pulled off for Will. Bought a new cattle trailer.

March....continued calving. Bought 2 new cows.

April...finished calving. Started working on plans for Wills dad's next step in life....assisted living and selling his house. Fast planting season

May...cows to pasture. Father in laws house listed for sale. Spent most of month cleaning out his acreage. Lyndin got tubes put in.

June...AFRICA! accepted offer on house. Parade season.

July...happy birthday America. Spent weekends in west union enjoying cows being on pasture. Jim moved to assisted living and loves it. Chickasaw county fair. Open cattle shows.

August...Lyndin turns 2. Iowa state fair.

September...another batch of lambs and goats. Redid bull barn. Bought j bunks. Big 4 Fair

October...Weaned calves. Harvest started. Chopped silage. Accepted second offer in wills dad's house.

November....Welcomed my goddaughter Mya to the family. Brought cows home. Thanksgiving. Sold feeder calves for $200 per head more than last year. Harvest finished. Finally finished family room in basement.

December...christmas. new years. Getting Christmas tree. Lyndin was a flower girl. Closed on wills dad's house. Heather accepted position on 4h youth council and will accepted beef superintendent position. Bought 30 new cattle gates.

We did have a successful year overall even with all our bad luck but I guarantee we are both looking forward to 2018 and a fresh start. Cheers to staying positive and things looking up.

If your thinking of marrying a farmer...

It is October and that means any plans made will be without my farmer. It's not the first, nor the last I will have to RSVP to a wedding 1 for sure, 2 depending on the weather....

It's harvest season, which means anything I do that isn't in the cab of a semi, likely doesn't involve him.


It has been 3 years since we said, "I do", and planning another play date so Lyndin doesn't notice her dad is gone.

If you're thinking about marrying a farmer, stop.

You will think about an insane schedule, completely dictated by weather the seasons. And completely out of your control. Completely.

You will picture interrupted dinners because someone showed up for a load of cows at an ungodly hour and interrupted weekend getaways because the cows are out. The cows always get out.

You will think about being solo at everything from weddings to funerals, that is, if you can even go at all.

You will think about making budgets and vacation plans based on the price cattle, knowing full whatever your plan won't be right.

In fact, it won't just be your budget that won't go as planned. It will be everything. EVERYTHING.

You see, marrying a farmer is full of risk. And thinking on it too long might let the risk overshadow a lot of things.

Things like riding together in the ranger to check cows, saving a calf you both poured your souls into.

Or watching your child's face light up when a baby lamb stands for the first time. Or raising your children knowing that the value of hard work will be engrained so deep in them they won't ever know any different.

Or being woke up at 1am by your farmer finally coming home - not from a night out on the town - but from a long day of working toward everything you both want.

Or sitting on the deck together, watching the sun rise over the land, animals and children the Lord has entrusted you to care for.

So if you're thinking about marrying a farmer, stop. Stop thinking and just do it!

​Because this crazy, dependent on the weather and price of grain lifestyle, is truly the greatest blessing in the world.

Even if it means going to everything stag.

Happy 3rd Anniversary

Today marks three years of Will and I being married and what a ride it has been. September 20, 2014 was a lot less hot than it is today. We got a little rain in the morning and the afternoon was just beautiful. We chopped corn the following week where this year we did in two days before. What a crazy three years it has been.

Will and I are still close with all of our wedding party except for one usher (family drama). We have welcomed into our hearts a daughter and 2 nephews (my sister's 2nd son and Will's "Brothers" third son) and a great nephew (Will's niece's son) and in those three years along with watching our nephews  who were just month's old at our wedding grow. There has been a lot of up's and just as many down's, but we have made it.

Marriage is hard work. There is a lot that goes into taking two different people and making them live cohesively and then add kids into the mix......crazy! I can say we have both grown individually, as a couple and as parents. Life is busier than ever, but we are surviving. We have made new friends along that way, some by crazy chance (like cows walking 3 miles to their house) and some by fate (like Will's cousins he didn't get a chance to grow up with). We have both taken a long look at who we want apart of our lives and who we need to cut out. Sometimes it is clear to us and other times we had to learn the hard way.

Our farm has grown by leaps and bounds. We added farm land and pasture land. We sold cows and added cows. Will even decided to part ways with his first bull he bought 9 years ago. We have upgraded our facilities and learned new ways of doing things to make things easier.

The one thing that stays the same is the love and commitment we have for each other, our daughter and future children and our promise to raise our family on the farm. As hard as it gets we will never fail as along as we don't loose site of those commitments.