Maternity Pics

I got them back and it's official...I love them!!! Our friend was so sweet to offer this as a baby gift to us and we couldn't thank her enough! I'll let the pictures do the talking...

 I mean, maybe it's just me...but helloooooo tall, dark and handsome cowboy! I may be biased :)

While I was taking pictures, Patrick was listening to the Packers game on Sirius XM. (Side note, he didn't even complain ONCE about missing the game to take these pictures! What a guy!) This was his reaction when they scored, and our friend happened to capture it! We were laughing so hard at him! 

I am in LOVE with the job that she did! I wasn't going to do maternity pictures at all, but when she offered I thought what the heck?! I'm SO SO SO glad I did! And now I can't wait to have one of them printed to hang on the wall. 

I hope you all take a break from blogging tomorrow and spend the day stuffing your face with all of the good food that will be inevitable eaten! We'll be spending it with Patrick's family and we'll be taking naps, watching football, and I will continue reading the Divergent series.

I thank God for the wonderful life He has created for me, for my amazing family and friends, and the future plans that He has for us. We are so blessed :)

Life Lately

I feel like I've kinda been slacking a little on the blogging and not giving you guys any good info into the world of Patrick and Nicole lately. So, here's what has been going on around the ol' Hackley Land and Livestock....

Let me preface all of this by showing you my current setting...

My living room, Costco chocolate cake and a fork. Didn't really want to bother getting a plate dirty :)

Let's see...I've been workin on some maaaajor huge work projects for the last couple of months. I finished mine and my boss wasn't done with hers, so I decided to volunteer to take on another 70 page report. Why not?? 

Patrick has been doing random farm and ranch stuff...feeding cows, spreading fertilizer, hauling grain, hauling hay. The usual. 

Last week we had a friend of ours stay with us for 3 nights. We had a huge amount of hay this year and sold a lot of it, and this friend hauled it to another farmer about 100 miles away. 

Last weekend we took a birthing class...it was pretty good and I think we both took something away from it. I feel pretty prepared to have this baby, and am just counting down the weeks now!

Yesterday a friend of ours came out to our house and we took our maternity/Christmas card pics. She sent me a couple of them, and I am so excited to see the rest!

I am loving what I see and she did a great job. And she's such a good friend that she said she would be honored to do this...for free! We are lucky to have a great person like her in our life. If any of you would like a Christmas card from us, you can email your address and I'll get one sent once I get them printed.

Other than that, we've just been hanging out at home with the dogs, and enjoying life since it has slowed down after harvest and all of our fall work. I love having down time to read, clean, catch up on DVR shows and napping :)

How is life with you lately?

Jumbo Blueberry Muffins

One of Patrick's favorite breakfast foods is blueberry muffins. I usually get the box kind, but when I came across a pretty easy recipe in the Taste of Home magazine, I thought I'd try it out.

Ingredients:
1/2 Cup butter, softened
1 Cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 Cup buttermilk (I used 1%)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 Cups fresh or frozen blueberries
Topping:
3 Tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in buttermilk and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt. Add to creamed mixture and stir just until moistened. Fold in blueberries.

2. Fill greased or paper-lined jump muffin cups two-thirds full. Mix topping ingredients, sprinkle over tops. Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Serve warm.

These were pretty good, and Patrick said he liked them more than the box muffins. Looks like I'll be making them again! The best part was, with the exception of the blueberries, I had all of the ingredients already stocked in my cabinets, so I didn't have to spend a bunch of money at the store buying different ingredients. 

Try them out!

What It All Means

Thankfully I have some answers for all of us....about my dreams. If you haven't read it yet, go read my blog from yesterday about the crazy dream I had last week.

Here is what my cousin's Mother in Law said about my dream:

Dog- Good omen symbolizes friends, and is linked to colors usually a sign of a protective friend

Colors-Red if bright- a warning to curb your temper- if deep unexpected good news, Brown-MONEY LUCK!!!!

Garden- a comfortable life, an absolute best foretells spiritual satisfaction, domestic love and financial security.

Corn- The best dream you could have, Happy omen of success in all that concerns you.

Money- Finding money is a sign of mixed blessings: your financial success will come with some disappointment, but loosing it means a windfall...she had both...

House- Selling a house is a release from pressing responsibilities, but buying a house signifies a short but exciting love affair.

Teacher- being a teacher in your dream is telling you that if you want to run avoid unpleasant repercussions, you must control your tendency to "Hunt with the hounds, and run with the hare". In other words slow it down be patient. 

Please tell her to read this from the bottom working up, as this is how the chain of events is taking place. Because she is pregnant, her spirit guilds are giving her information via dreams. Please tell her that her little one will be watched over by passed loved ones, and spirit guilds. Also, babies up until the age of 5, can still see spirit subconsciously, some kids till they are 7. Your cousin is totally in a spot to play this smart, as her spirit guilds have basically given her the road map. REMEMBER - START AT TEACHER AS THIS IS WHERE SHE IS RIGHT NOW, AND WORK UP TO DOG. 

This baby is a good thing for her, and is there for her... literally picked her to be it's mommy. Most important on the road map...LIKE THE HARE

 

 
So what do I think about her interpretation? SPOT ON!!! I read it from top to bottom and didn't really understand it...but once I followed her directions and read it from the bottom up (Teacher-Dog), it totally made sense for my life.  Each and every one of those things I can tie into a certain situation going on in my life and it just makes sense. 

Apparently my subconscious has a lot going on and it needs to get it all out. And she thinks my dreams are "exciting"...to me, I think that means I'm crazy and in need of an intervention or something, hahaha.

 

What do you guys think?

Crazy Dreams

I've told you all before about my crazy dreams. I had them before I was pregnant, so I know it's not that that's causing these off-the-wall dreams. I told my boss about it (who's a Licensed Addictions Counselor) and he said, "Have you noticed your food tasting funny lately? You know, like acid?" Cause apparently my dreams are similar to stories that his clients tell him. 

Last time I shared my dreams, it turns out my cousin's (hi Erin!!) mother in law interprets them, so hopefully she'll have a good answer for me this time too. Once she shares what it means with me, I'll let you guys know. 

I had a whopper the other night that I just had to share with you guys, so here goes:

I was in a classroom because I became a teacher for kindergarten, even though I wasn't qualified. Chay's sister was in my classroom helping me lesson plan because I had no idea what I was doing. Then I had to leave to take care of a house transaction because I was buying/selling a house with my friend Lacey. However the transaction ended up, I ended up making $2.5 million dollars. The millions were left in two square million dollar bills. The rest of it was larger bills. Lacey just left them on the table, but I was out of the classroom. I came back in and one of the kids had taken one of the million dollar bills and ripped it. Chay's sister just taped it and it was fine.

Then I was in Vegas with my mom and we were sitting in the front row of this smaller show. I didn't want to go there, but my mom really wanted to go so we did. But it was some no-name person who wasn't even singing. They were just on stage getting ready for the show. The theater was all in red velvet. My brother was also there but kept coming in and out of the theater. I wanted to go tend to my garden, but my mom wouldn't let me.

When we finally could go, I ended up at my parent's house where my garden was in their backyard. My uncle Glen (dad's brother) was supposed to be there taking care of one of Patty and Rick's dogs, Deeks. I went back to water my garden. I was surprised it wasn't overtaken by weeds because I hadn't weeded it all summer. The plants were big and growing and I already had some squash growing even though it was too early in the season. The corn was big and huge, and I just kept spraying water all over it with this big giant hose I had borrowed from Patrick's Uncle Steve. I had too many carrots and squash, so I dug them up and placed them in a dirt pile. All of a sudden, they started growing on that dirt pile so I started watering them. I went back to look more in my garden to see what I had, and that's when I found Deeks. He had gotten into something so my uncle tried to help him. He placed him in a pink kiddie pool, and put that on top of a brown leather chair in the garden. I picked Deeks up out of the pool and tried to get him to walk but he was so sick. I was so sad. He layed down and I saw that his insides had been operated on and there was a giant open wound along his belly. I opened it up and there was a baby toy inside of him. I took that out and then I started grabbing the gauze my uncle had used-which happened to be all of the baby blankets and swaddlers that people had given me at my baby showers. I kept pulling more and more out of him and they didn't seem to stop. I was mad so I called Patty and told her, and was on my cell phone with her as I kept pulling out the folded and washed blankets.

So what do you think? Am I crazy, or am I crazy??

Happies and Crappies

Happy Friday!!!

I'm linking up with Amber today for the weekly Happies and Crappies link up.

Thankfully I have mostly happies, so it makes for a pretty good week!

My Happies...

I am only 5 weeks away (*hopefully*) from meeting Baby H!

I was a winner in a local photo contest! One of our grocery stores built a brand new giant building. They had a photo contest and asked for people to submit pictures of what it was like living in Eastern Montana/Western North Dakota. I entered about 15 of my pictures and WON!! I guess there were hundreds of entries and mine was one of 7 winners. They'll keep the picture up for a year, then run the contest again. When they take the picture down, they give the picture to the winner, so I'll get to keep this nice print of one of the windmills on the farm. How cool is that?! And I also won a $150 grocery card...that always helps!

My hubby drove my pickup yesterday-filled it up with gas and washed it. When I met him in town last night I had to do a double take because I barely recognized my pickup. He hand-washed it, then took it through the car wash. What a guy! Here's Foxy looking super sexy this morning:

My last happies of the week comes this today...I had a coffee punch card all filled out and my coffee was free! And I'm getting my hair done!

Crappies....

I only really have one crappy of the week...my emotions are out of control! I'm all over the place, any little thing can make me sad or upset and I end up crying over nothing. Please pray for the sanity of myself and my husband...we're gonna need it!

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

'Til the Cows Come Home

It's that time of year where we wean the baby cows from their mamas and give them their vaccines to keep from getting sick. Last week, Patrick was up helping his uncle for 2 days, then the crew came down and finished up with our cows. It always makes me a little sad, because for the first few days the mamas are really loud trying to beller at their babies and get reconnected with them.

On Thursday, I had to stop at the grain elevator and pick up some Lick Tubs for nutrients. We pulled into the lot to a bunch of loud cows, and the mamas waiting for us to open the gate because they thought they could reunite with their babies.

Unfortunately for them, I backed right into the gate so they couldn't get through. Patrick rolled the tubs out for the calves (the tubs weigh like, 300 pounds or something ridiculous, I don't know). These tubs provide them with all if their vitamins and nutrients, and run about $125 each.

Meet Hercules, the Polled Red Hereford bull we have. He's gonna make some cute babies in the spring!

And this cow was hysterical. I had my window down and she just walked right up. I didn't even zoom in on my phone, that's how close she was. She just sat there staring at me with her big eyelashes while I talked to her for a minute.

Sadly, the babies we decide not to keep will be sold at the auction in the next couple of weeks. It makes me sad to see them go, but that's the name of the game we play as ranchers. But next spring, there will be a whole new batch of babies to name :)

My Attempt at Being a Fashion Blogger...A Sad Story

Last week, Patrick asked me to follow him down the road to an old shed so we could park our hay baler and older tractor for the winter. Of course I obliged.

And it just so happened that the light was decent, so I decided to make Patrick stop what we were doing and take a picture of me...you know, so I could be a fashion blogger and all. I  mean, look how I flipped my hair to the side! Granted I wasn't staring off into space, laughing at nothing or at my feet (which is what a lot of fashion bloggers do, but that's just not me), but I think I added enough sass to the picture. Oh, and a giant belly.

Patrick had a long 3 days weaning calves from their mommas, so he was ready to be home and sitting in his recliner for the night...so he wasn't too thrilled to be stopping and taking pictures of me at the end of the day. But being the good blogger husband he is, he obliged. I asked him what he thought about it and this is how he replied! HAHAHA, oh what a sense of humor he has. But hey, he stopped long enough for me to take a picture of him, so he couldn't have been too upset ;)

And last but certainly not least...our sweet little Smoke all tuckered out from playing hard all day. This dog will even put himself to bed at night when he's tired. Around 9 pm, he'll go in the bedroom and jump up on the bed and fall asleep! What a sweet little bud.

Happy Hump Day everyone! Only 42 days until Christmas!!

A Little of This, A Little of That

First and foremost, you know this sweet little nugget niece of mine? The cutest Minnie Mouse I've ever seen! She was all sorts of curious on Halloween, and looks too cute for words in her little outfit. Well today is her momma's birthday, so wish my sis Michelle a Happy Birthday! I don't even want to think about how old she is, cause that makes me feel super old :)

I am unbelievably happy that it's Thursday, and almost the weekend...however I'm working this weekend, but not at my regular job. A friend of ours owns a retail store near here, and she's going to a trade show this weekend. Her employee who was supposed to cover the weekend, up and took off somewhere, so she called and asked if I would help cover the store...of course! She always lets us in on the sweet friends and family discount deals, and it's just nice to help out a friend. The store is called Steamboat Dry Goods, and you can see some of their fantastic merchandise on their Facebook Page. Both Patrick and I have a ton of it, and it's really good quality stuff. 

Next...these boys...I mean come on. Their faces??? So precious :) If you look close enough to Harley's bottom jaw, you can see his teeth sticking out..he's got a bit of an under bite. Only a face a mother could love!

There's a white board at my office...and each week my boss has been putting up someone's name, and we all write down the things we enjoy about that person. This was the one from my turn on the board. It's always nice to see the wonderful things that people think about you :)

Lastly, there have been some gorgeous skies around here lately. I mean, this is 

the Big Sky State!

Doesn't get much better than that my friends. Happy almost Friday!

Marriage Isn't For You

Several of my friends on FB posted this link the other day, so I decided to check it out...and glad I did! It's such a good short piece about marriage, I just knew I had to share it with you guys. Enjoy!

Marriage Isn't For You
by Seth Adam Smith

Having been married only a year and a half, I’ve recently come to the conclusion that marriage isn’t for me. Now before you start making assumptions, keep reading.

I met my wife in high school when we were 15 years old. We were friends for ten years until…until we decided no longer wanted to be just friends. :) I strongly recommend that best friends fall in love. Good times will be had by all.

Nevertheless, falling in love with my best friend did not prevent me from having certain fears and anxieties about getting married. The nearer Kim and I approached the decision to marry, the more I was filled with a paralyzing fear. Was I ready? Was I making the right choice? Was Kim the right person to marry? Would she make me happy?

Then, one fateful night, I shared these thoughts and concerns with my dad.
Perhaps each of us have moments in our lives when it feels like time slows down or the air becomes still and everything around us seems to draw in, marking that moment as one we will never forget.

My dad giving his response to my concerns was such a moment for me. With a knowing smile he said, “Seth, you’re being totally selfish. So I’m going to make this really simple: marriage isn’t for you. You don’t marry to make yourself happy, you marry to make someone else happy. More than that, your marriage isn’t for yourself, you’re marrying for a family. Not just for the in-laws and all of that nonsense, but for your future children. Who do you want to help you raise them? Who do you want to influence them? Marriage isn’t for you. It’s not about you. Marriage is about the person you married.”

It was in that very moment that I knew that Kim was the right person to marry. I realized that I wanted to make her happy; to see her smile every day, to make her laugh every day. I wanted to be a part of her family, and my family wanted her to be a part of ours. And thinking back on all the times I had seen her play with my nieces, I knew that she was the one with whom I wanted to build our own family.

My father’s advice was both shocking and revelatory. It went against the grain of today’s “Walmart philosophy”, which is if it doesn’t make you happy, you can take it back and get a new one.

No, a true marriage (and true love) is never about you. It’s about the person you love—their wants, their needs, their hopes, and their dreams. Selfishness demands, “What’s in it for me?”, while Love asks, “What can I give?”

Some time ago, my wife showed me what it means to love selflessly. For many months, my heart had been hardening with a mixture of fear and resentment. Then, after the pressure had built up to where neither of us could stand it, emotions erupted. I was callous. I was selfish.
But instead of matching my selfishness, Kim did something beyond wonderful—she showed an outpouring of love. Laying aside all of the pain and aguish I had caused her, she lovingly took me in her arms and soothed my soul.

I realized that I had forgotten my dad’s advice. While Kim’s side of the marriage had been to love me, my side of the marriage had become all about me. This awful realization brought me to tears, and I promised my wife that I would try to be better.

To all who are reading this article—married, almost married, single, or even the sworn bachelor or bachelorette—I want you to know that marriage isn’t for you. No true relationship of love is for you. Love is about the person you love.

And, paradoxically, the more you truly love that person, the more love you receive. And not just from your significant other, but from their friends and their family and thousands of others you never would have met had your love remained self-centered.
Truly, love and marriage isn’t for you. It’s for others.

Million Dollar Spaghetti

I follow Joyful Momma's Blog on Bloglovin, and one of the things I like most about the recipes she posts is that they are normal, nothing weird, and generally fall in line with a lot of the stuff that I enjoy cooking and that Patrick enjoys eating. Her recipes are simple, straightforward, and I enjoy most of the ingredients she uses-and all of the recipes are kid and family-friendly.

She posted a recipe last week for Million Dollar Spaghetti, which sounded easy and delish. The last thing that sold me on it was that she uses it as a freezer meal too! So I decided to try it and freeze half the recipe.

 I also used her picture, because I did a big blogger

fail and forgot to take a pic of the final product.

Million Dollar Spaghetti Casserole

Ingredients

• 16 oz spaghetti noodles
• 2 lb jar of marinara sauce
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 2/3 cup Parmesan cheese
• 2 cups shredded cheese ( I use cheddar/colby blend)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 8X8 pans.
2. Boil noodles according to package, drain and stir with a drizzle of olive oil so they don't stick together.
3. In a bowl combine cream cheese, cottage cheese, and sour cream. Mix well and set aside.
4. Brown ground beef and onion until no longer pink. Drain. Add in jar of marinara sauce and stir.
5. Begin by layering half of the noodles in the bottom of your greased pans.
6. Top with 2/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese (1/3 in each of the 8x8 pans)
7. Layer on the cream cheese mixture.
8. Top with remaining noodles.
9. Spread marinara sauce with ground beef over top.
10. Bake for 30 minutes then sprinkle with 2 cups cheese (1 cup over each 8x8 pan) and return to oven for another 15 minutes.
11. Let sit for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
12. Enjoy!

*For freezing: I didn't bake the second casserole. I stopped at putting the beef/marinara mixture on top, then covered it with the Reynold's plastic baking dish cover. I wrote the rest of the directions in a sharpie on top of the clear plastic lid it came with, that way when I pull it out of the freezer, all I have to do is follow instructions 10-12.

I fed this to Patrick and a friend he had helping him haul hay. They both loved it. I asked Patrick if he would eat it if I made it again, to which he replied, "Hell yeah!" That's a win folks...this is one I'll definitely be making again.

Friday Letters

Dear Readers,

Let me introduce you to Salem Sue. She's the world's largest Holstein cow statue...located 

in New Salem, along Interstate 94 between Dickinson and Bismarck, North Dakota.

Everybody say, "Hello Sue!"

Dear Pregnancy Brain,

You are not my friend. You know what happened yesterday? I gave a thank you card to 

one of my coworkers for the gifts she gave me...and I actually forgot to fill the card out. I just put

her name on the inside of the card, stuck it in the envelope, sealed it and wrote her name on the

front. Genius I tell you.

Dear Alcohol & Drugs,

I've seen a lot of families suffering because of you lately...please just stop. 

There are 11 employees at my job and we are all the busiest we've been in 

over 20 years. If you weren't a problem, we wouldn't have jobs. Yet here we are, day

in and day out.

Dear Husband,
I came home the other night after a long day at work, to all of the laundry done. 
You my dear, are a rock star.

Dear DVR,

You and I have a date this weekend. The Voice, CSI, NCIS, Top Chef, 

Grey's Anatomy. I cannot wait!

Dear Elliptical Machine,

With the time change coming tomorrow night, you and I will also be having frequent

dates, since it will be dark now by the time I get home from work. It's time

to dust off the cobwebs!

Dear Christmas Music,

It's only a little while longer that you and I have to hide quietly in my office together,

before we can actually turn the volume up for all of the world to hear...and not be

publicly shamed. Soon, my friend, soon.

That's all for today my friends! Hope you have a happy weekend!

.