I'm a happy RN married to a hardworking resident. We have recently become Carolina fans and are adding the color "carolina" blue to our wardrobe and home. I love the east coast and couldn't be happier living in hot, sticky climate. I was raised on a farm/ranch with two wonderful parents and three fun loving older sisters. I went to a one room country school house down the dusty dirt road with grand total of three in my class. Life in the country was rich, meaningful, and simple, just the way I like it. So from country farmgirl to coastal bell, here I am, living life and loving it!

Saturday, August 31, 2013

Momma's Birthday

It was special to be home for Mom's 61st birthday.  She had all her girls, her mom, hubby, brother, some grandchildren, all home to celebrate her special day.  Laura flew back to North Carolina on Wednesday so Mom and Dad went together to take her.  In the meantime those of us who stayed behind had a fun day home together.  We picked flowers, took a scenic drive, played with cats, got a delicious meal prepared for mom, and ate cookies while going through two pots of coffee visiting. Happy Birthday to the most amazing mom!

 Julie, Micah, Seth, Grandmama, Jonah, and I had a blast picking flowers.  The sunflowers along the road this summer were beautiful.



 You can see some dust in the distance.  The gas line crew is making a road for Dad and Uncle Tom in the one of our hay pastures.  It was fun watching all the big gravel trucks drive in and out.




The picking crew.  Oh and I see sweet little Blake in this pictures.  We took him as well to give his momma some much needed rest.




 The birthday table all set and ready for Mom!  We had so much fun putting everything together.
 Here is the beautiful bouquet.  Now if you were to buy this bouquet at some store you would pay a pretty penny.  But here out in the open country we picked, sunflowers, alfalfa (the small purple flower), crescent wheat grass, and holly hocks all for free!
 Happy Birthday Margaret Ann!


And I had to take a picture of the whole other crew taking a picture.  What a fun day we had together!

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Sweet Moments

Ok now the new goal is to see how many posts I can get in before August is over.  I have the rest of this week and then we are out of town for the weekend visiting Tim's cousins John and Sonneri in Charlotte.  It has been way too long since we have seen them and I am so excited to get away and spend some quality time with them.  

One of my dear friends asked me the other day what my day consists of.  So here is a little run-down.  We wake up at 7ish, get a cup of milk and watch some cartoons together.  Then we eat breakfast and head outside to play.  We load up and head to the gym at 9.  I workout and Jonah plays (fusses because he hates the daycare), done at 10:30.  The we head to target, Sam's club, grocery store, whatever errands we have to do for the day.  Home to eat lunch and play at bit.  Then down for a nap anywhere from 11:30 to 12:30.  Jonah will nap 2-3 hours. During this time I update my blog, check my favorite blogs, clean house, do laundry, unload and reload the dishwasher, and get dinner prepped for the night.  Jonah gets up and we head outside to play for the afternoon until Dad gets home.  Now some days are totally different than that depending on if we have a playdate, or if I go to Laura's,  if we go to music class etc.  And I don't clean the whole house everyday.  I do bits and pieces throughout the week because that is all I can handle.!!  That was a total side-note, but I thought it was appropriate so my dear friend doesn't think I sit and eat oreos all day:)

I got some good pictures of Jonah semi-cuddling with Grandmama, fun feeding the horses, and life around the farm.    I love my family near and far.  So here's to another post about our wild trip out West.  

 Sweet picture of Micah and Grandmama.

What a day in the kitchen looks like.  Food on the island, get your plate, and go...



Oh I will cherish these pictures.  Grandmama and Jonah playing together in the living room.  This lady is the best.  I can't tell you how much I love my Grandmama.  I have the most amazing memories of her and love her more and more each day.  So glad we had a week together this summer!



 Jonah with Uncle Mike.   We got a big bucket of cake to feed the horses. It's called cake, I'm not really sure why, but it's a mixture of oats, grain, barley and some other things that is made into a hard cylinder about 4 inches long.  I should have gotten a picture of it to show you.

 Just another picture of the beauty of Montana.




 This was our last day with Laura:(  Her husband was a sweetie and let her come out for 5 days all alone (we missed the kiddos:(.  It was so special to have all the family together for a few short but great days.



Tuesday, August 27, 2013

The Mountain

Once everyone arrived for our week together we headed up to the mountain for a little BBQ.  Mom and I had planned out every meal for the week and mom (because she is just amazing) had pre-made a bunch of meals so all we had to do was pull them our of the freezer!  The mountain meal was brats, hotdogs, beans, chips, smores, and ice tea.  Dad, Mom, Jonah, and I had gone up to the mountain a couple of times the week before to move some stumps around for chairs, and we rebuilt the fireplace.

Now the Mountain is the most amazing place on earth.  Well at least it is to my family.  I have so many memories from the mountain and from the top there is the most amazing view of the ranch and the open prairie.  We have been going up to the mountain every since I was a toddler, or for as long as I can remember.  Every year we would pack up the yellow Toyota, then it was I think some maroon truck, and then Old Green, and now we have the tan Dodge.  We would haul out our trusty 6 man tent, load the cooler with hot dogs, beans, bacon, eggs, cold pop, and smore fixins.  We would get out our sleeping bags and pillows and load up in the truck.  It was the best camping spot you could find.  Our own little piece of heaven.  So it's always a joy to go back up there even if we don't spend the night it's great to grill out over open flames and enjoy that little piece of heaven.




 Hello sweetness.  This little guy, love him to pieces!

 Uncle Mike and Grandmama enjoying watching the craziness all around!!

Muzzie, Micah, and Jonah picking up more firewood.

 Dad was the fireman. He roasted all the brats and hotdogs.

 What kid doesn't love hotdogs!!
 Sweet Micah smiling for Aunt Amy.




Steve proposed to Julie on the mountain 7 years ago.  So I got a little snapshot of the cute couple. And Laura now has a nicer camera than me (are you reading this Laura).  So she got some awesome photos, and I will have to admit I think she is a better photographer than me, well I know she is a better photographer than me!  I am anxiously awaiting the disc with those pictures:)......

Monday, August 26, 2013

Storybook Island

And the posts keep coming.  I told you I took a lot of pictures and I don't want any of them left out.  Well a few will be left out because I can't blog as many pictures as I took, but I want our trip to be completely documented.  It was pretty good weather while we were home.  There were a few rainy days which is great for the Montana ranchers, but depressing for me since North Carolina has been drenched this summer.  I was so excited to leave the rain and then sure enough it rarely rains in Montana and does while we are there.  Oh well I would rather the crops get the rain then me be a whiny baby about the weather!

Laura flew into Rapid City and those of us who were already home took a little road trip with Mom and Dad.  We were also going to pick up Grandmama and Uncle Mike.  Mom and Dad wanted to take Jonah and Blake to Storybook Island.  It is this cute little theme park with displays, houses, ships, rides from all the classics.  We had a great time with the kids and got some fun pictures.

Mom and Dad at the funny house.  What a cute "little" couple they are.


 My sisters!  Sure wish Julie could have joined us!


Fun on the choo-choo train.  Jonah would have stayed on the train all day if he could have.  This boy loves trains.

 Cousins, ahh so sweet!

 I think this is funny how Jonah was running around with Papa and then started running toward the rest of us.  I got a few action shots as he got closer.



 The three little pigs houses.  Thought they were all so cute.
Fun on the slide!!




 And we found some more trains to play on!  It is so hard to get a good pictures of Jonah because he is always on the move.  So I am pretty much just running around chasing after him hoping to get a few good ones.



Thanks for the fun day Dad and Mom.  We had a great time!