Weekend Recap...

Our weekend went pretty much as we had planned it.  Friday evening after I got home from work Wesley & I started cooking and preparing the house for his parents to come over & eat dinner with us.  They got to our house about 7 and we sat around talking a bit before dinner.  We also gave them their Christmas gift (since we will be in Texas for Christmas), and they loved it!  For dinner we fixed a pork loin, mashed potatoes, rolls, and we had a cake for dessert.  Everything was very good.  Then it was on to playing cards!
 
They play a lot of a game up here called “Pinochle”.  So, they taught me how to play this game.  I was partners with David, and Wesley & Moo Moo were partners.  Let’s just say that David & I smoked Wesley & Moo Moo!  Haha!  It was a fun time.   Saturday morning the feed truck came & delivered feed, then we set out on the horses to round up the heifers in one section of the ranch, and move them across the road to another section.  It should have only taken about 2-3 hours, but one small bunch of heifers decided to hide out from the rest.  So, we moved the majority of them, and then set out on a search for the missing 23 head.  Wesley went one way, and David & I went another.  We rode up on top of a big ridge and were able to look down & out across a good majority of that section of land (what a GORGEOUS sight by the way), and eventually spotted the bunch down at the bottom of the ridge.  By this time, David had to get back home to feed the other heifers, bulls, and cows before he & Moo Moo went to Billings, so I rode down the ridge to catch up with Wesley & bring the bunch back to the rest of the herd.  It didn’t take us long after that; Wesley went to the bottom to keep them moving over and to the other side, and I trailed the heifers up the ridge and over so we could move them though the gate to another section of land.  For it being just the two of us (in the end, of course) it was pretty successful.  I took the front end of the herd (as cattle will follow a horse) and Wesley brought up the back end and made sure no one tried to snake away from us!  Saturday afternoon we went to Miles City for our weekly “date night”.  We did a little shopping, washed my truck, then ate dinner at a really nice steakhouse.  It was excellent!  I had a sirloin, and Wesley had the New York Strip steak.   Once we got home we played a new board game that we bought, and watched a movie too.
 
Sunday we didn’t do much of anything but clean up around the house.  We took a load of things to the dump, and cleaned up the outside of our house & our shed.  We put new plywood on one of the sheds (also known as Wesley’s “man cave”), then came in and made dinner.
 
Last night we went to Moo Moo & David’s house to eat dinner with them since it will be the last time they see us before Christmas.  She fixed chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, salad, bread, corn, and a delicious brownie dish for dessert.  It was a great meal.  It was nice to spend time with them before we head out for the holidays.  It’s always a fun time when we get together and talk about our days.  Everyone seems to have a different story that we can all laugh about :-)
 
Tonight we don’t plan to do much, but clean the house, and continue to get things ready to fly to Texas.  We don’t have much more to pack, so I’m thankful for that.  I’m just going to tidy up a bit before we head out so the house is nice when we return.  We are supposed to get 3-6 inches of snow between today & Thursday morning, so I’m bracing for that!  No one else around here thinks it’s a big deal, but I do!  First, I’m kind of excited to see the snow!  But more importantly, I want to get to Billings safely!!  So, we are watching the weather closely.  I am probably going to leave work early tomorrow so that we can get a head start on the road to Billings so we get there in plenty of time, and get there safely.  Moo Moo & David want us on the road early so we get there in the daylight, so we are going to head out earlier tomorrow.  We can’t wait to see everyone back in Texas!  Hope everyone has a great rest of the week, and Merry Christmas to everyone!! 
 
Love, 
 
Wesley and Tiffany

Our weekend

This post was supposed to be posted last Thursday but I failed to get it done by then. So, it's posted today! Enjoy... :)

The first week we were in Montana seemed like we were always doing something.  We were always on the run…every single day!  We had to go shopping for me some new “winter appropriate” clothes, gather, vaccinate, and move yearlings from one part of the ranch to another, clean up and put away things at the house, and somewhere in there find some time to enjoy the scenery, weather, and relax!  We took a few morning rides on the horses, and that was awesome.  It was so peaceful, and the scenery was so breath-taking….it was great!  I have taken pictures and will get them uploaded as soon as I find time.  I’m literally scrounging when I get home to do everything!  It takes me about 35 minutes to get to work, and 35 to get home.  So by the time we cook dinner, clean the dishes, and get things ready for the next day its dang near time to go to bed! 
 
I made us a new “cow print” mailbox for us so we have a fresh, shining new black mailbox with white cow print spots on it.  We also put up Christmas lights on the outside of the house this past weekend.  They look great!  We haven’t gotten any snow since I’ve been up here (except the first week I was here it snowed some), but other than that its just been cold…but no snow!  They say there is a slight chance for snow this evening, but it doesn’t look like its going to make it all the way down to us. 
 
We are starting to get ready to head to Texas next week to spend Christmas with my family.  We are very excited to see everyone again!  This weekend we have nothing planned, and that’s exactly how we like it!  Friday night we are planning on getting together with Moo Moo & David to have dinner & play a few games, then Saturday we are going to get the horses saddled & take a ride around the ranch for a few hours.  Sunday we plan to do absolutely nothing, just continue to get the house together, and spend time with each other!  And, somewhere in there, we are starting to pack our suitcases for Texas!  We have a pretty early flight out Thursday morning so that gives us a ½ a day in Texas by the time our flight lands & we get back to Brenham.
 
Wesley is doing great.  He’s such a hard worker and I’m so lucky and thankful for everything he does for me.  Anything I want or need he will get it for me or provide it to the very best of his abilities.  I’m so lucky to have him as my companion & best friend in life.  He’s an amazing person and I love him very much!
 
My job is going well for me.  I’m getting adjusted and the small town “atmosphere” here in Forsyth is great.  I can walk just about anywhere I need to go in town, and plan to do just that during the spring & summer months.  Right now, I take the truck, because its cold for this Texas girl! 
 
Things on the ranch are great.  I love going out on the weekends with Wesley & checking cows, or moving heifers, or doctoring the sick ones.  Its right up my alley and we enjoy doing it together.  We have more fun laughing and making jokes with each other.  We laugh so hard sometimes our stomachs hurt!  But that’s the way it should be we think J 
 
I hope everyone is doing well & hope to see my Texas friends when we are down next week!  Have a great rest of the week & weekend everyone!

Saying "See You Later"...Part 2

On Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, my parents & best friend Katy Stewart Butler hosted a “see you later” party for me, and a meet-and-greet for Wesley!  It was a lot of fun getting to see family members & friends that I don’t get to see too often.  My Aunt Sandra Cegelski cooked a wonderful meal for all of us to enjoy & of course we had dessert! I want to thank everyone for coming out and seeing Wesley & me off.  It was a great send off for sure!  I want to especially thank my parents for all their love & support during this transition time.  They have been a great strength for Wesley & me (along with Wesley’s parents) and we couldn’t have done this without their love & support!

Saturday was a crazy busy day for all of us!  We had to literally CRAM things into the U-Haul to make everything fit, and the Durango was loaded down all the way to the front seat as well.  We couldn’t open the doors on anything until we got home for fear of things falling out everywhere!  Friday about 1 PM we headed out for Big Sky Country!!  It took a while for us to say good-bye to my parents, and it was very emotional for me saying “see you later” to my sister.  But everyone has been so great with their well wishes for us, and that makes things a LOT easier! 

It took us a lot longer to get out of Texas than we thought...about 13-14 hours!  We stopped in Texas to take a break for about 3 hours then were on the road again. Then we hit Oklahoma.  I have to say...that is one state that I could never go back to and be just fine.  We didn't even know we were in Oklahoma because no one bothers to put up road signs in that crap-tastic state!  Then came Colorado.  We also stopped twice in Colorado to rest.  Until you get into the outskirts of Denver, Colorado is nothing to look at in my opinion.  Everything was, for the most part, pretty darn flat.  After Colorado we hit Wyoming.  I enjoyed the scenery of Wyoming much more than I did Colorado.  We drove thru Wyoming straight thru Wyoming and headed for Montana!  We got home about 10:30 PM on Sunday night.  Wesley's Mom is a sweetheart (and who will lovingly be referred to as "Moo Moo" from now on).  She went and bought us all kinds of groceries & goodies for the house because she knew we were getting in late and wouldn't have the things we needed for that night and the next morning.  She even had all the breakfast essentials we liked so we could make breakfast the next morning!  It was great! 

Monday we spent the entire day setting up the house.  David, Wesley's Dad, came over that morning and helped us move all the heavy furniture into the house.  That took quite a while.  Then we went into town for some more food items we would need for the week until we could go to Wal-Mart later in the week (Wal-Mart is an hour from the Ranch...so we plan trips there).  Since we drove through Montana at night, I was very anxious and excited to see what "God's Country" looked like during the day.  Oh.  My.  GOODNESS!!  Now I know exactly why they call it God's Country...it is beautiful up here!  Only God could have made such a thing as beautiful as the skies and countryside that Montana offers.  Tuesday we decided that we needed a break from all the unpacking and setting up of the house, so we saddled up the horses that morning and went for a morning ride for about 3 hours.  We rode through our yearling calves and made sure they were alright, and then I got to explore and take pictures of just some of the beautiful views the ranch has to offer.  It was amazing!  Wednesday we went to Miles City to do some shopping at Wal-Mart & such and continued to unpack the house.  Wednesday night it snowed a little bit, but nothing worth taking any pictures of at this point, as we will get MORE snow later.  Thursday we headed to the big city of Billings to shop some more and sign up for our Sam's Club membership.  That place...is amazing!!  We are huge fans of Sam's club.  Friday we worked around the ranch some more and continued to work on the house.  We also went out and cut down our Christmas tree.  That was such a cool thing.  We loaded up the dog in the ranch truck and headed out in search of the perfect Christmas tree...and we found him!  He has been named "Arthur"!  Don't know where that name came from, but thats what we call him!  He is decorated and everything...pictures to come! 

I will upload some pictures as soon as I can!  We have been so busy trying to get settled in, as I'm sure everyone can understand when you move across the USA!  This morning we are saddling up again and moving part of the herd to another section of the ranch...so that will probably take about 3 hours.  Anyway, we are doing fantastic!  Its cold here...the coldest it got was 0!  But Wesley & Moo Moo & David keep me very bundled up if I have to go outside.  We miss everyone from Texas!! 

Love you Mom, Dad, Brittany, and Katy! 

Delayed posting

I would like to apologize to all my followers.  I have not been able to update for over a week now because of the move.  Please accept my apologies for this!  We have been extremely busy getting things together for the move, driving, unpacking, and setting up our new home in Montana!  So, this weekend (and by that I mean on Sunday), I'm going to sit down and fill everyone in from last Friday on.  But, I am really enjoying it up here, and the views are breath-taking!  We went out for a morning ride on the horses on Tuesday and I was able to capture some great photos.  I even saw a Bald Eagle up close!  Talk about an amazing sight...that is a beautiful animal.  Anyway, tomorrow consists of gathering our heard and bringing the yearlings in for shots, and then dinner with Wesley's best friend.  So, on Sunday, details of everything will follow!  Hope everyone has had a great week and hope you all have a fantastic weekend!!

Saying "See You Later"...Part 1

Anyone who knows me well enough knows the one thing that I am going to miss most about leaving Brenham (besides my family & close friends, of course), is my job.  Working for Brenham National Bank for over 3 years has been a great pride & joy of mine.  I love(d) my job.  I have been so lucky and so blessed to work for such an organization as great as Brenham National Bank. Brenham National Bank is a wonderful organization and it was pure pleasure going to work each day!

Friday was my last day at the bank, but for family reasons I had to miss work that day (don't worry, everything turned out fine, thank God).  So today I went to meet the best co-worker and a very, VERY dear friend of mine Alison for lunch, and stopped by the bank afterwards.  First things first - lunch was great!  Alison and I rarely got to go to lunch together because we took lunch at two different times.  But, we'd have drinks dinner with each other as often as we could.  She has been an amazing co-worker and great friend of mine and I'm going to miss working with her so much.  Every morning we'd have our morning talks at work before we started our day, and every afternoon we'd see each other and catch up one last time.  If I ever needed anything I knew I could call Alison and she'd be there no matter what.  She's so strong and so kind and I know we will be forever friends.  Thank you, Alison, for being such a great person, co-worker, and friend to me.  I'm going to miss you so much!! 

After we got back to the bank I went and saw my other dear co-worker Kathy.  Kathy and I worked directly together every day back in Operations for the bank.  Kathy was like a second mother to me.  I could laugh, cry, and complain to Kathy and she was always there.  Everyone LOVES Kathy, and so do I.  As soon as I saw Kathy I started crying.  I'm going to miss her so much too.  I knew that no matter what kind of day I was having, Kathy would be there to pick me up, or let me vent.  Thank you, Kathy, for teaching me so much, and for being so kind.  Your "motherly" advice and care over me these past 3 years will never be forgotten.  I wish everyone could work with just one "Kathy" in their entire careers, because if they could, they would get to see the kind of wonderful person I got to go to work with each day.  I'm going to miss you so much, too, Kathy, but don't worry...I'll email you!

Finally, I'm going to round the day out with a pedicure and dinner with my very best friend of all, Katy Stewart Butler.  Gosh...that's so weird to write and its been almost 2 years since she got married!  Katy and I have been best friends since we were in the 8th grade....so that means we've been best friends for 13 years now.  13 years!!  You're getting old Katyroo.  JUST JOKING!!  Katy and I have literally been through thick and thin together and I cannot imagine my life without her in it.  She's the best friend anyone could have and I'll miss her the most!  The good thing is that she & I can go for weeks without seeing each other, so long as we talk every day on the phone....and we still will!  I'll report later how well our pedicure & dinner date was, as I know it will go great for us :) 

And one last thing, tomorrow my sweetie comes in!!  I've missed him so very much!  He will be here to spend Thanksgiving with my family, and then we will start the journey to Montana this coming weekend!  And, this is what I came home to on Friday afternoon:

He sent me flowers for my last day of work!  He's so thoughful, and I'm so lucky! 

I hope everyone has a great afternoon!  I'm off to see my bestie & get a much needed pedicure :)

A Family Affair

So this post is a little bit late, but better late than never...right?  Wesley and I had a fantastic weekend together spending time with family, and as always the weekend went by way too fast!

I picked up my love from the airport Thursday night and I was so excited to see him!  I met him at baggage claim/passenger pick up area of the airport, and ran as fast as I could and jumped into his arms.  It was wonderful to be in his arms and have him hug me so tight.  Ok so maybe I'm bragging a bit?  Sorry...but he's very special to me and I like talking about him :)

Friday we spent running around town getting last minute things together before the big move.  We had lunch at my favorite Mexican food restaurant in town, Mariachi's, and then went to the grocery store to get things we needed to cook dinner for my parents that night.  We had a lot of fun cooking together and entertaining my parents when they came over to the house.  We all enjoyed amazing "beer can" chicken, sides, and dessert (thank you Pinterest for the dessert recipe).  I had every intention of taking a picture of this delicious chicken before we cut into it, but of course that didn't happen.  *Sigh*  Oh well...I will next time. 

Saturday we cooked a big breakfast together, then started boxing up more things in the house.  We spent a good part of the day going through things, throwing out things, and even making a trip to the city dump to get rid of unwanted things.  Who knew one person could collect so much stuff in one small house?! 

Sunday we went to Wal-Mart and got some of those "Space Bags" for more packing.  We packed the comforters, clothes, and jackets in these things and they compressed down so nicely.  Its amazing how so much stuff can be compressed into such a small area!  I've still got quite a few clothes to pack, but we definitely put a dent in things.  My parents came over that afternoon to say "see you soon" to Wesley, and then the dreaded time came for me to take him back to the airport.  Of course, I cried like a baby.  I cried going in the airport, at the check in counter, at security, and leaving the airport.  And I cried on the way home.  But Wesley is so kind and loving to me.  He always tells me everything is going to be ok, and comforts me when I'm crying.  However, he will be coming back very soon, and I can't wait for him to be here again! 

Until then, though, I must continue packing up boxes.  It was so fun having him here to help me box things up.  It made the process so much easier!  Oh and I must say...my parents came over one night and helped me box things up, too.  They should get recognition as well for helping because they did a lot!  My Dad is an expert packer, and Mom was a lot of help too!

One more thing...I know that I promised pictures from the weekend, but we didn't even take any!  I know...shame on us.  I'll get some this next time for sure!  And I'll be sure to share them with everyone :)

Will You Hurry Up Already?!

I'm sure you're wondering what the blog title is in reference to.  Well...its a few things!  First can I just say that today seemed to drag.....on.....for-ev-er!!  I felt like I had a million things to do at home this evening and the day wouldn't end to allow me to do them.  Ok, so it wasn't a million things, but it was a few that's for sure.  After all, I had to get them done before "Country's Biggest Night" came on TV!  More on that in a minute.

So back to the title...well I'm wanting these next 24 hours to go by so fast because my wonderfully caring, kind and handsome boyfriend comes to see me tomorrow and I can't wait to jump into his arms.  I've missed him so much! Then once he gets here, time can stand....absolutely.....still.  We have such a fun weekend planned with my family.  I'm very excited about it!  Pictures from the weekend will surely follow in the next blog post.

If you will excuse me for one minute...the queen of Country Music is performing and I must watch.

Ok I'm back.  Miranda Lambert just got done singing her new smash hit "Baggage Claim".  Can I just say that I LOVE HER?!  She is so country.  She writes all her own songs and you can relate to her in so many ways through her music.  And, she isn't this thin little thing that conforms to what others think she should look like.  She doesn't care what others think of her body, and that's a wonderful role model for young girls who seem to have so much pressure on them these days to be stick figure thin.  All that aside, this leads me to why I want time to hurry up yet again tonight - so I can find out who the coveted "Entertainer of the Year" award goes to!  Of course, I'd love for my all time favorite country singer George Strait to win, but I'm sure he will be beat out by someone else.  At any rate, this is country music's night to shine and I'm excited to continue to watch to see who wins what!

On a side note - if you haven't heard of a little thing called "Pinterest", you MUST check it out!  I am addicted.  I first heard from my friend Adrienne (www.abtakesca.blogspot.com) and find myself addicted to it now.  They have tons of wonderful recipes, DIY crafts, and so much more!  I've got a few recipes that I'm going to try very soon and will report how they turn out. 

With that said, I'm going back to watch the CMA's and get ready for my sweet guy to come tomorrow :)

And so it begins...

Packing.  Need I say more?  This is what I am doing tonight...

Filling these boxes.  Yes, those are boxes which once housed various brands and types of alcohol, but they are the best boxes to use for moving.  It helps to work with someone who also works for a liquor store part time.  She holds out all the good, sturdy boxes for me and I just go by the store and pick them up from her! 

I haven't moved in a while, so I have sat and pondered where to start packing.  Where do you start?  I came to the conclusion that there is not one certain area which is better than another to start packing; you just have to dive right in.  So, for me, I'm starting in the kitchen with the glass items that I don't use on a regular basis.  From there, I'm not quite sure where I'll move next.  But, I have plenty of boxes to start filling! 

Thank goodness I have reinforcements coming soon (and by that I mean Wesley) to help me move this process along.  Sure I can get stuff done myself, but the bigger stuff I'll need help with.  And, it's always nice to have someone to talk to while doing the mundane task of boxing up your stuff.  However, if there is one light at the end of this tunnel, it's that all this packing is for a good cause! Getting to be with the one that means the most to me is worth all the packing in the world :)

So, now I must go...and pack!

Sunshine to....SNOW?

Texas winters consist of sunshine.  The end. 

Ok, ok so we do have the occasional blustery winds, but rarely do we hit 30 degrees (for the high, not the low), and Heaven forbid its cold enough for actual frozen precip to fall.  *Warning* when this does happen...stay home!  No one down here knows how to drive in that stuff.  It completely throws us in the ditch off balance when trying to complete our normal routines.  So when I looked at the weather forecast this week for Forsyth, Montana (my new soon-to-be home), and I see there is a chance of "frozen precipitation" on Saturday, it causes one to raise an eyebrow.  This is November people!  It doesn't get that cold in Texas, hardly ever, and surely not in November.  But alas, I've come to terms with the thought of actually having a winter season. 

I am sure many of you are wondering how the heck I ended up (or am going to end up) in Montana.  Well, let me give you the short version.

I am 100% Texan at heart.  I was born and raised here and never planned on leaving.  I have experienced much of the scenery that Texas has to offer...from the dust of Lubbock in West Texas, to the beautiful, lush, green rolling hills of the Texas hillcountry in Austin.  I graduated from St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas and moved back home as soon as I could. 

As I'd soon find out, southern charm was running a bit low in Texas (if you know what I mean).  I had all but given up on the thought of "love" when I met my amazingly handsome, hard-working, gentle and kind-hearted, giving and loving boyfriend.  Is it obvious I'm crazy about him?  And as with most good stories, there's always a catch. What is the catch?  He lives in Montana, and I live in Texas. 

After a job opportunity arose, lots of praying, the support of our families, and God on our side, the decision was made that I would relocate to Montana so we could start our lives together.  This blog is all about the adventures to come with the move, the relationship between Wesley and myself, and all the things we will share over the next few weeks, months, and years.  Montana be warned - a little Texas Tornado is about to touch down in that state, and it will never be the same again!

And just to be clear, "Montana may be Paradise, but Texas is Heaven" - That line's for you WD :)

Check back regularly as I continue to update the blog on our adventures of packing, moving, the holidays, our journey on the road, and settling into our new home together in Montana!