The Reality of the Ranch

These “deep thoughts by Jacquie” are from August 2012 {I think}. It’s been sitting in my drafts and I decided I should hit “publish” just for documentation sake. Enjoy!

I’ve been thinking a lot this week. A lot. Mostly about how awesome my life is. How blessed I am. How lucky I am to be a mom. How much I love being at the ranch.

A few weeks ago, my story might have been different.

We spend different parts of the year at the ranch for different reasons. In January we come up to feed cows during the winter months. In the spring we’re here to change water (irrigate the fields). In summer we are here to hay with the rest of Ryan’s family. This year we weren’t up here for much of the spring because I had Ray and then we’ve been working on getting our new house ready. As moving day kept getting closer and closer, I was dreading it. I didn’t want to be in the middle of nowhere. I wanted the internet and the tv and the phone. I wanted to stay “connected”.

Here’s confession time…

Since I’ve been up here, I’ve realized I’m a terrible mom of 2 when I’m in civilization. Instead of getting down and playing with my kids, I sit on the couch with the computer on my lap hoping Harper will go play and Ray will stay happy in his swing. If either of them need me, I get so frustrated…they’re interrupting my online time. Ugh! I anticipate naptime so badly just so I can have a minute of quiet time…on the internet. Seriously…I’m terrible! Please tell me I’m not the only one like this?

This is where the ranch comes in. I don’t have the internet, tv or phone up here. So instead of wasting my time away on facebook, pinterest or google, I’ve been forced to get down and play with them, be there when they need me and love every minute of it. I try to make it so each of my children get a little one-on-one time with me. Ray and I snuggle and talk and practice rolling over. Harper and I play outside in the water and draw love notes to each other with chalk. Naptime is our favorite part of the day though. Not because Harper is going to bed and getting out of my hair, but because we spend a 1/2 hour in bed cuddling, reading books and talking. And then we fall asleep. It’s pure sweetness. I’ll sleep for 1/2 to 1 hr and then quietly sneak out of Harper’s room to go get a few chores done before the kiddos wake back up. I love when Harper wakes up and comes down the stairs and greets me with a big “Hi!” or “Mom!”. I spend all day thinking how lucky I am to have 2 beautiful children in my life.

I’m so lucky.

The ranch has saved me. Really. It always puts things back into perspective and helps me get my priorities straight. It’s so easy, in a world filled with so much stuff, to get lost in things that just don’t matter. But I remember what matters now…and it sure as heck isn’t pinterest.