My former safe life

I used to sit on my couch and watch the weather alerts crawl across the bottom of my screen as I watched Entertainment Tonight. I'd pick up my phone and call my Mom and make sure they were okay. But now, now I am a storm chaser and this is not by choice...I despise my new life as a storm chaser.

Instead of heading into this, I want to be back on my couch with my blanket and the latest celebrity gossip.


You know you're an idiot when you're flying down the very rural county highway, trying to beat the storm and you pop over the hill only to meet the county sheriff parked along the side of the road watching the clouds. You're going a good 20 over, but he doesn't even flash his lights at you, he just bids you good luck as you head into the darkness.

Every two minutes, a new weather advisory text alert comes through my cell phone. At this point, I don't know if it's a good thing that I know we're sitting right in between two storms, or if I'd be better off not having my phone tell me every two minutes that I'm about to die. John Wayne is hating the text alerts. He is also hating the frantic wife cleanching the seat next to him, asking him every minute and a half if he's scared. To which the obvious reply is "not yet."

John Wayne did some pretty crafy backroad driving, maneuvering to stay behind one storm and ahead of another. About 20 miles from home, we came across this: water flowing down the ditches fast enough to grab a tube and go tubing right here on the plains of eastern Colorado.


It wasn't but another two miles down the road, we pop over the hill and are met by this: so much hail it looked like a winter storm had just blanketed the plains.

Boyero was a disaster. Traffic along Highway 40 barely creeping along, numerous cars slid off into the ditch.


Our commuter, Fancy the Ford Focus, did well. Poor little girl was up to her gills, but under John Wayne's command, she trudged through the nearly foot of hail.


This next picture is misleading, it looks like we're headed off into the sunset for a calm night on the prairie. Not the case. When we make our final turn off the highway to head home, we are met by more hail and heavy rain.


We make it home only to be assaulted by hail as we race from the car to the house and are welcomed home by dark rooms and no electricity. Well, it's 3 o'clock in the morning and I'm blogging...there's only one thing to do when you have no electricity: go to bed.

Stroller Stress

Yesterday I had to go to the big city for a couple of appointments. I had just enough time between my two appointments to make a quick stop at Babies R Us to check out some strollers. We are going to Disney World in September and much to John Wayne's dismay, neither of the strollers we already have, are right for the job. I had a coupon that expired today, so I was on a mission.

I have been doing a lot of research on strollers.

I was feeling pretty confident that the Chicco Liteway was the stroller for us.

It met all of my major requirements:
-reclining seat
-lightweight
-compact fold
-stylish
...and it is a Chicco...we LOVE our bigger Chicco stroller, so that gave it a slight advantage. I felt like I knew what I’d be getting.


But then, I see this stroller, the Aprica Presto, sitting there on the shelf with a big SALE sign on it. I had eyed this particular stroller in my research, but $200 was more than I, or really John Wayne, was willing to spend on a stroller. So I said to myself, “yes, that one is nice,” but then quickly threw it into the category of "the one I'll buy if I can get more money squeezed out of John Wayne" and moved my focus back to the Chicco.

Dilemma.

Here they sit on the shelf at Babies R Us – the Chicco and the Aprica – too close in price to one and other to make cost a factor. You would think I was thrilled, the more expensive Aprica that I had deemed out of reach, was now sitting right in front of me, ready to conquer Disney World. Instead, I suddenly feel loyal to the Chicco and the cynic in me begins to question why the price has been so drastically reduced on the Aprica. There’s only one option, I must try them both out.

I grab the Aprica off the shelf and steer it around the aisles of BRU for awhile, ok, drives good, fine, whatever. One of things that I’m most concerned about is folding this sucker up. I can’t figure it out…nope, not even with the manual that I find stashed in the stroller’s basket. I flag down the nearest person I see wearing the purple polo. She says it’s brand new on their shelves, but she’s pretty sure she knows how. So after my lesson in stroller folding, she is on her way.

I head over to the Chicco. Same thing, a few laps around the stroller department, ok, drives good, fine, whatever. I go to fold it up. Nope, not even with the manual that I find stashed in the stroller’s basket. I go find my friend in the purple polo, who by now I’m sure is thinking, “Really, this lady’s going to take a kid to Disney World…she can’t even fold up a stroller.”

Now that I know how to fold them both up, I still cannot make a decision.
I call my Mom and tell her to Google both of them and give me her opinion. Nope, no help. “They both look nice and have pretty good reviews.”

So I proceed to drive around, fold and unfold each stroller seven times. By this time, I’m sweating; drenched really, mind you I’m in dress clothes and high heels.
But I am beginning to master each stroller like a NASCAR pit crew.

Forty-five minutes later, I’m pretty sure the purple polo crew is having a good laugh back in their break room watching me on their security camera, and am still no closer to a decision than when I first saw the SALE sign. I’m now going to be late to my next appointment; it’s crunch time, a decision must be made, now. So I throw the Aprica over my shoulder and head to the check-out. My decision is finally reached by the fact that the SALE might not last forever. After asking the cashier four times if she is sure that I can return the stroller for a full refund if I change my mind, I purchase the Aprica.

I need your help though, if any of you out there have experience, good, bad or otherwise, with either of these strollers, please comment and let me know. If you don’t have personal experience, but just want to give me your opinion (besides telling me that I am insane, it’s just a stroller) on which one you’d choose, I’d love to hear that too. Please I need your help.

Too bad the Little Lady wasn’t with me…she never seems to have a problem expressing her opinion!

The Big Guy and The Little Lady

Tressie and Moe
Branding 2011

Ranch Wives Cooking Club - Branding Breakfast

It has been forever since I've shared any Ranch Wives Cooking Club recipes. Branding always brings A LOT of good food. My Mom prepared an amazing lunch of roast beef, potato casserole, pinto beans, rolls, and lots, lots more! I'll see if I can talk her into sharing some of her secrets to the best branding meal in Cheyenne County.

Branding morning is always hectic: getting chores done, horses saddled, last minute preparations taken care of, before the neighbors arrive to start gathering the cattle. Everyone needs to eat because there is a hard days work ahead, but no one has much time for breakfast, we need something everyone can just grab and eat on their way down to saddle the horses.

This year I made a couple of easy "cheater" recipes for breakfast. I consider anything that you don't start from scratch, a "cheater" recipe. Most of the time, from scratch is the way to go, but occasionally even this ranch wife has to cheat!

I had some Rhodes Bread Dough in the freezer that needed to be used, so rather than making what have become my usual Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls, I cheated and made Rhodes Old Fashioned Cinnamon Rolls (with a few minor revisions, like I cut mine thinner and baked them in a 9x13 pan). They were good, although not as good as PW's recipe.


I also made Kraft's Cheesy Ham Bubble Bakes. They were good. John Wayne prefers something hearty over something sweet for breakfast, so he especially liked them. They are super easy, and like I said, good. I'll be making these again, but am renaming them...Branding Biscuits!

So while most of you probably don't have a branding crew arriving at your house anytime soon, I would imagine these simple recipes would fare well as a make and take recipe for an upcoming camping trip or such.

My two favorite guys

We branded yesterday. I have tons of pictures, so as I edit them throughout the week, I'll share some more of them. Even though this post would probably be better saved for next Sunday, Father's Day, they are some of my favorite pics, so I'm sharing them today.

My two favorite guys: my husband and my Dad.


They're both pretty quiet guys...more of the let's get the job done, rather than stand around and talk about it, school of thought.


Like I said they're quiet guys, and they definitely don't wear their hearts on their sleeves, so while they've never really came out and said it, I think they like each other ok : )

Kind of "the mentor" and "son I never had" relationship.



Or maybe they just like having each other around because they can gather, sort and work a whole pen of calves with out saying a word. If they opted for the alternative help (that'd be me and my Mom), there would be lots of directions to the obvious, yelling and unnecessary chatter.

John Wayne's New Horse

Horse power, that is!

Pool Party!

Two really good things happened today...
Aunt Katie came to visit!
And...
We had a pool party!

Testing the waters.

Me and Aunt Katie hanging out at the pool!

Splish splash! I was quite the splasher!

Doin' a little dance!

I loved my pool and am looking forward to lots more pool time this summer!