Saturday Night Fun

This weekend was pretty nice. Patrick has been working long days getting the crop in, and since the weather was a little rainy this weekend he got to spend more time at home with Hunter and I.

Saturday morning my MIL and I went to a direct sellers showcase where people that sell things like Pampered Chef, Mary Kay and Origami Owl bring their catalogs and merchandise and sell them in a big market place. The show was kind of a bust, except for the Pampered Chef stuff I ordered. 

That night Patrick and I, and a friend of ours drive to a brewery and had dinner and watched a concert by Doug Stone.

Doug Stone is an older country singer with a couple of good songs. He is friends with the brewery owner, which is how he came about to this little town of 900 people called Wibaux. 

There were only about 200 people there, so it was a nice small concert. 

Sorry for the blurry pic, but I still thought it was a good one. This friend of ours, Vanessa, is one of the greatest people we know!

Sunday was a really rainy day, so we mostly stayed at home and watched TV. Hunter stayed at his grandparents house Saturday night, which means I got almost 10 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Yahoo!!

Hope you all had a great weekend! Come back tomorrow for a "day in the life of Nicole".

Easter Weekend

Hope you all had a great Easter weekend! We had a great weekend filled with fun stuff. 

Saturday night Patrick and I attended our annual brew fest. We both worked at the event so there was no drinking for me, since I was on the clock for work checking ID's. 

Top is from Maurices, jeans are Silver brand.

Isn't he handsome?? But this is more like us...

Ha!

By the way, whoever decided to have a beer fest the night before Easter Sunday probably wasn't thinking too clearly. 

My brother and sister in law watched Hunter that night and just stayed the night so we could all go to church together. 

And here's a big fat mommy fail...didn't even get a picture of Hunter on his first Easter...whoops!

Afterwards we came home and just had them, my in-laws and out neighbor over for a small meal. The menu included a ham, twice baked potatoes, broccoli cheese casserole, green beans, pretzel rolls and white chocolate raspberry cheesecake for dessert. 

I also made a "man basket" for Patrick:

You can see that I cut the top off of a Coors Light box, stuffed it with tissue paper and goodies. I got him the latest People Magazine-Country, sports illustrated swimsuit issue, body wash, body spray, deodorant, and all of the candies he likes. Nothing too fancy. 

It was a great weekend overall! Now Patrick is up at his uncles to start seeding the crops. It's go go go time from here on out!

Weekend Wrap Up

Aaaaaaand we're back to Monday! I honestly don't mind Mondays because I love my job and I love the people I work with. Well, most of them ;) And for me it's really like Tuesday because I have a short week this week. I'm headed to Vegas on Friday for the weekend !Woohoo!

This weekend was pretty low-key for us, which is nice. Friday night we went to dinner with my brother and sister in law, and then headed in for the night. Saturday Patrick worked around the farm a bit, and was checking cows and saw that we had the first calf of the year!

All of our cows are red angus, but we are taking care of our neighbors' herd of 235 cows this winter, so this was one of his. While he was out working I started cleaning. He came home and entertained Hunter while I scrubbed the floors, cleaned bathrooms and got ready for company we were having that night. He also started planning out some corrals and a riding arena that we're going to put up this year.

As I mentioned, we were having some of our friends out for dinner. They have a 6 month old little girl named Trinity. Let's just say I have one chunky monkey for a child, because she is twice his age and they weigh the same and are the same length. We were joking that it was their first date together and got some pictures together. They were so cute! After a few seconds she sort of cuddled into him and started holding his hand. It was adorable :)

Sunday we went to church, Patrick did some work stacking hay and loading his semi, and well, I blogged :) I am happy to report that I have a blog entry for EVERY day this week! That hasn't happened in months!!

One thing I've started doing to be more organized for the week, is a lot of prep work. Sunday I usually do meal prepping for the week. I go to the grocery store on Thursday or Friday, then get everything ready for the week. I usually bake something for Patrick to take in his lunches, get stuff ready for my lunches, and make a couple dinners ahead of time. This week I am making some marinated round steaks for tomorrow night and lasagna for another night.

I also set out Hunter's outfits for the whole week, and my outfit for the next day. Staying super organized like this definitely helps me get to work on time, and allows me to get up at my normal time that I always did in the mornings, even before baby. I'm still able to make a nice meal every night, and make a lunch for myself and Patrick every day. All while working full time! But believe me, I get tired!

Sunday night we decided to have a movie night, so I got some microwave popcorn, candy and some ice cream for both of us :) we rented Last Vegas and it was pretty funny.

Overall it was a nice weekend with my little family. We're looking forward to a week of hard work, and then a trip for me starting Friday, and some daddy/Hunter time for 3 days!

Happy Monday friends!

Weekend Wrap Up

Well, I suppose it's Monday again. Honestly, I love my job so I don't mind Mondays. I bought a bunch of new clothes recently, most of which were for work, and I'm having a fun time getting dressed up! In the fall when I was pregnant it seems like I wore leggings....like every day. So it's nice to have a bunch of new dress pants to wear. 

So this weekend was pretty low key for the most part, with the exception of Friday night. We had a Farm Bureau Young Farmer and Rancher social for our county. Patrick is the chair of the committee, so he planned a dinner in a town called Wibaux (wee-bow). Most of us had the rib steak, potatoes and salad bar. After dinner we headed across the street to a brewery called Beaver Creek Brewery. Their motto is "our beaver tastes better." Yep.

Since we were gonna be home late, Hunter had his first sleepover with his grandparents. We went and picked him up in the morning and he did great! I did good too :)

Saturday we all just hung out and Patrick went to some political campaign dinner while Hunter and I hung out and caught up on the DVR. I also hooked up my new washer and dryer-woohoo!

Sunday I did some meal prepping for the week, and made enchiladas for tomorrow, banana bread, and put a roast in for dinner.

Also on Sunday it was 60 degrees! Considering it was -20 last week, we were all pretty excited. I got to take Hunter out in his first walk, which is the most time he has spent outside yet.

Then we spent the afternoon hanging out watching TV. Hunter an his dad had on their Carhartts and boots :)

Hope everyone else had a great weekend! I have a blog post for tomorrow on a health fad that has been going around lately...stay tuned!

Mama's Night Out

Last weekend Patrick and I attended a local fundraiser for the Mondak Stockgrower's Association and the Foundation for Community Care. Both are local non-profit organizations. Obviously Stockgrower's helps promote animal agriculture, and the Foundation helps support local healthcare. This was the second year the two teamed up to put on the Cattleman's Ball. It's a night full of food, dancing, drinks and an auction.

My friend Chay was in town again, so we went dress shopping in the morning. I got a new Calvin Klein dress that I absolutely love. Since I've lost so much weight after baby, most of my dresses don't fit me. Oh darn, have to go shopping! Chay and I were friends in college, so when we were getting ready for the evening it was just like old times. 

Before we left for the evening, my mother in law came over to watch Hunter and got a few pictures of us.

Our first family picture :) I hate that it's a  little blurry, but the lighting wasn't the best at the time.

How lucky is he that he had 2 hot dates?!

I love that Hunter is smiling for the camera!

And last but certainly not least...

This event was pretty fancy-they had a red carpet and everything! The evening started out with a social hour, and salad and rolls. A few people got up to talk about the organizations, including a representative from the Montana Beef Council. Then we were served a dinner of prime rib, and baked or scalloped potatoes. They had a dessert bar, and we told Patrick to get us one of everything, so he did! Hey, this was my cheat day for eating, so I took full advantage!

Let's just say after a few cocktails, Chay and I decided to have our own photo shoot on the red carpet...

 It started out nice...

Then things got a little western...

I don't know what got into me on Saturday night, but I just felt like having a whiskey night. That almost never happens. It just sounded good for some reason though. Who knows.

Patrick with our good friend Vanessa, Russell, and Vanessa's friend Megan.

It was a great night out with friends, and we look forward to doing another fun outing in a couple weeks to a local brewery! 

My Christmas Wish List

I'm not gonna lie, I haven't really thought too much about Christmas gifts for myself this year. Patrick and I decided not to get anything big for each other, because we're going to buy new couches. I did get him a couple things, but they're small. 

I do have a couple things on my ongoing wish list, which I'll probably just go purchase myself, ha ha. As I try to do this post, for some reasons non of my pictures are coming up...so for now you'll have to do with just a list of the things I want...

-Michael Kors watch. I don't wear a watch now, but I've wanted one of these for awhile.

-New black Purse. Probably something Coach or Kate Spade

 -Kindle Fire HDX

-New barstools

-Keurig (I already know I'm getting one of these from my in-laws :) )

And what am I getting for Patrick?
-George Straight button up shirt
-Garth Brooks' new box CD set
-New Ariat leather wallet
-Fast & Furious 6

Like I said, nothing too big since we're getting new couches.  I love this time of year and seeing what everyone is wanting for their Christmas gifts! I will say, that in getting older, it's much for fun for me to get stuff for the house! I'd rather have new furniture or some sort of decor than clothes or jewelry! Ok, maybe not jewelry...

What's on your Christmas list???

Low Key Weekend

As you can probably imagine, I'm not doing a whole lot these days, other than relaxing and spending time at home. People say that at the end of pregnancy you start to nest...I can't really say that I have felt any of that. I've had a lot of time at home so naturally I've done a better job at keeping up on dishes and laundry. Especially after working 2 days from home last week! But nothing crazy like scrubbing the walls or any deep cleaning.

Now a quick side note...I know a lot of the US has been dealing with artic temperatures. But I saw a couple of my FB friends post something about how Montana had the coldest weather in EARTH last week. That's right...colder than the South Pole. Yes, Montana is for badasses. Or really crazy people. 

This was without the wind chill, which put temps at -45 or so. 

So what does a low-key weekend look like for me? Friday, I went to a Christmas craft bizarre. It was ok, but didn't really really have anything I was looking for. I ended up only buying a couple jars of canned jellies and jam.

Saturday morning I woke up early...didn't even sleep in. Patrick ended up spending about 6 hours outside getting the cows' water unfrozen. He was frigid by the time he came back in, so I made up some yummy beef stew for him...one of his favorites. It's the Pioneer Woman's recipe and I highly recommend it. Saturday night we stayed in as well.

Sunday morning I was up early again, and decided to cook Patrick breakfast in bed. He deserved it after his day outside on Saturday. I cooked up scrambled eggs with cheese, homemade hash browns, bacon, toast, blueberry muffins and orange juice. 

Yum!! After that we headed to church, then home to watch football for the rest of the day. Anybody else watch that crazy Vikings/Ravens game??? I napped, made more blueberry muffins, then cooked chicken Parmesan for dinner, which is also one of Patricks favorites.

To say I'm counting down the days for baby to arrive is an understatement...10 days until due date...

How was your weekend?

Christmas Traditions

One of my favorite things about the Christmas season are the traditions that my family has. Lucky for you guys, Jen @ It's My Life asked some of her fellow bloggers to share in their family traditions. I'm over at her blog today, so if you want to hear what my family's traditions are, head on over!

And I promise you that you will want to read it...I talk about stocking stuffers like cans of olives, jars of peanut butter and baby food. Oh, and Pizza Hut for Christmas Eve dinner. Yep...you read that right...

Christmas card picture 2010

Photos from my phone

I know I'm not the only one who randomly will go through all of the photos  in their camera roll on their phone and reminisce about all the good times had over the past year. 

I was scrolling through these last night and was just laughing out loud at some of them, and thought it would be fun to share them with you all. I'm sure you've probably seen most of these at some point or another on my blog, but hey if I didn't remember the pictures, surely you guys won't remember some of them too. That's my hope anyways...

Calving shed from last March...love all the icicles!

Helping my hubby load grain. That was probably the first and last day I'll go with him for the entire day...he said I asked too many questions :)

A weekend trip to Billings for an FFA state officer 10 year reunion and the PBR rodeo. In the grand scheme of things, Baby Hackley was about 3 weeks old at the time :)

My handsome boys after their annual spring haircut!

My backyard fire pit...my favorite place to spend time in the summer...

Branding...

Ohhhh and the dancing cows!! How could we forget that?! I literally crack up laughing every time I see these pictures!

Miranda Lambert concert...only my 3rd time seeing her :)

My MIL's birthday present...patriotic pallet flag that I made!

My friend Chay and I at the Wolf Point Stampede rodeo.

Good friends wedding....don't mind the giant goblet of booze my friend Emily is holding...it's a sorority tradition :)

My garden!!

Back when I had a teeny tiny baby bump, and looked more bloated than pregnant. Pretty sure that shirt would fit about halfway down my stomach right now, ha ha.

So I just realized there are way too many pictures to share with you for one blog post! This is the first half of the year, so I'll save the second half for another day!

Happy Wednesday friends! I'm working from the comfort of my living room in sweatpants :) roads were crappy and my boss didn't want me driving on them, oh darn :)

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 :)