Fall Beauty Swap!

Well would you look at that...a blog post! Haven't done this in awhile, but I promise it will be a good one!

I always have fun taking part in Crystal Cattle's #CCBeautySwap! Crystal always does a top-notch job in pairing up people for this! This time I was paired up with Myla from Illinois! She's also a lover of dogs, Hereford cattle, and gorgeous Paint horses! Myla also blogs over at The Purple Front Door and tells our tale of this Beauty Swap much better than I will! You can check out what I sent to Myla on her Fall Beauty Swap post! (PS...there was also a funny mixup about Myla and I being preggers...which we are NOT!)

Here is my sweet box of goodies the ol' Pony Express delivered from Myla! Speaking of mail service, I only get mail delivered three days a week! At my parents' ranch, it was only one day a week! Any of you have similar mail service? One thing is for sure, I'm so thankful for all of the rural route carriers and postal workers! It's a tough job driving all those miles over horrible roads to deliver us all of our goodies (and bills...)!

Anyways...back to beauty products!

Here's what I got from Myla!

That box was stuffed FULL of awesome products! Here's the breakdown of what was in there!

1. Argan Magic hair cream: It smells soooooo good! I used it after I showered last night and I love it! I've tried several similar products and this one ranks right up there with the best! It worked great as a detangler and left my hair so soft! And this morning, my hair didn't feel weighed down like some leave-in products.

2. Rock Your Hair Hot Curls: You spray it on dry hair before you curl it and ta-da it should stay curled! My hair usually refuses to stay curled unless I use 10 gallons of AquaNet! I curled my hair this morning just so I could give this a try! I was a little skeptical when I first sprayed it on because it kind of just clumped my hair like a hair spray would. But I ran the brush I got (#3 below) in the Beauty Swap box through my hair after I sprayed this and it was a lot better. Then I got to curling! Update after a full day of working on the ranch and wearing a beanie most of the day: My hair has stayed more curled that it would have without the product! Yay!

3. Revive Beauty Detangle Brush: This is legit, yo. I told Myla that my hair loves to tangle in the Montana wind so she found this little gem! This was the first thing I used when I opened up the box! The soft bristles worked through my hair super easily! My hair definitely needed it after the cold, snowy/rainy, and very windy day we had yesterday! The handle is a little hard to hang on to so I grabbed onto it like a horsehair brush! :)

4. e.o.s. lip balm in Lemon Drop with SPF 15: I'm a serious believer in this lip balm now! Myla had told me about this and I actually went out and bought the Sweet Mint flavor and I'm not kidding...changed my life! I've always been a Chapstick wearer...but not anymore! I'm excited to use this one during the day! I love that it has SPF 15! I have very fair skin, thanks to my Norwegian heritage, so I always wear sunscreen!

5 and 6. Philosophy in Cherry Pinwheel Cookie: Let's just say I love Philosophy products and Myla fed my addiction! Number 5 is a body wash/shampoo/bubble bath! And it has a cookie recipe on the bottle too!? Yum!  And number 6 is a matching lip gloss! I used the body wash last night and it took a lot of will power not to lick the bubbles. Ok...weird...I know...but seriously...yum! And the lip gloss...delish! It's super shiny and feels great! It's a little sticky, but it IS lip gloss! It's a great color that gives your lips just the right hint of tint!

7. Revive Beauty Makeup Blender Sponge: I couldn't find an exact picture of the one I got, but imagine the sponge pictured has a little black handle to hold on to! I love these makeup sponges! I have the one pictured and have loved it! But I think I like this one better! It's a little denser sponge and seems like it will hold up better than the other one! And I like that the handle acts as a stand to dry out the sponge after each use. The other beauty sponge that I have has a container that I have to pack around with it.

8. Sally Hansen Insta Gel Strips: I can't wait to use these! I haven't had time yet...hope to do it before my twin nephews' birthday party on Saturday! Have any of you used them?

9. e.l.f. eyeshadow duos: Love all of these colors! I love e.l.f. products because they are very affordable and are great ways to try out new types and colors of beauty products without committing too much moolah! I'm excited to play with all of the colors!

10. Now, I bet you're wondering why I got Milk Bones in my Beauty Swap box...well turns out they weren't for me! Myla's fur-baby, Bella, sent them to Annie!

Annie was very grateful for the treats! Let's just say the treats disappeared before I could even get through the whole box from Myla!

And I'm also very grateful for Myla! Thank you so much for the wonderful Beauty Swap box! And a big thank you to Crystal of Crystal Cattle for facilitating another awesome Beauty Swap! Be sure to follow Crystal so you don't miss out on the next Beauty Swap!

And if you're wondering what I've been up to...you can follow me on Instagram @dirtroaddreamer

Big gulps, huh? All right! Well...see you later! :)

Cheers,

Whitney

Springtime and baby calves



This first day of spring came with a lovely snow storm last week.  My husband and his dad had to make a trip to Wolf Point (about a 120 miles round trip from our farm) to do some paperwork, meet with our accountant, and...look at a new rifle. Boys...

 

But they also stopped by the greenhouse in Wolf Point and picked up some tulips and hyacinths (my favorite flowers)!  It definitely helped brighten my day with the dreary snowstorm going on outside!  I potted them in this cool old pot that used to be the 'random bolt holder' in the shop. And of course...it's turquoise. I also added some cool ceramic eggs to give my house a lil' Easter decor. 

 

 

Then on Saturday, the whole fam damily (including Annie the corgi) braved the bad roads as a result of the snow storm and made our way back to Wolf Point.  My mother-in-law and I had our Bountiful Baskets to pick up and Dylan decided he wanted to buy the rifle that he looked at earlier in the week.  Here's what the roads were like most of the way to and fro...not ideal...but not horrible. :)

 

 

 

And here's what the wheels of one our pickups looked like after a trip into Lambert last Monday.

 

 

 

Our cows just started calving this past week and it's always fun to capture moments of the new little calves and the momma cows. I'm very thankful to have my iPhone along with me during these times to capture these moments, because well...quite frankly things can get a lil' western in a hurry!  It's much easier to run from an overprotective momma cow with an iPhone than a big fancy camera! That and...well there is a lot of icky, gooey, and smelly stuff during calving!

 

These are just some of the images from around our farm this last week.  We still have quite a bit of snow, but it has gradually been getting a little bit warmer during the day and has now began melting off.

 

Annie drift busting.

Traffic jam on the farm at feeding time.

The photo below was taken about three weeks ago.  This momma and baby jumped the gun on 'calving season' and this baby arrived extra early!  She was healthy and alive, but a tiny calf!  This lil' calf needed some help nursing on her momma, so we had to do a lil' coaching!  But after a few days of help, this baby calf got the hang of it and no longer needed us!

 

My father-in-law, Tim, helping the new baby calf learn how to nurse.

During 'regular calving season', we have all of our momma cows in a smaller pasture in front of my in-laws' house so we can keep a watchful eye on everyone. We let the cows have their calves out in the pasture so they can roam around a find a 'quiet spot' to have their babies. As soon as we see the cow going to labor, we make sure to check on them often (most of the time with from afar with binoculars) to make sure they're not having any problems while calving. Sometimes with heifers (that is a female cow that had not had a calf yet) and young cows, the calves are sometimes too big and the cows need assistance in having their baby. But most of the time the cow doesn't need our help at all!


Dylan checking on a momma cow and new born calf to make sure everyone is healthy.

After the cows have had their calves in the pasture we go out to them to make sure that the baby is breathing and healthy.  We usually wait until the momma cow has cleaned off her baby and had a chance to get acquainted before we start moving the pair to the barn.  We move the new pairs to the barn so we can get them out of the weather (the wind is always blowing here) and away from the rest of the herd.  This gives the cow and calf time to recoup from everything that has been happening.

 

On our first day of calving (minus our early arrival) we had a busy morning!  We had 3 calves born within an hour or so! Our maternity pens in the barn were getting full with new mommas and babies!  

 

Three new mommas and their babies tucked away in the warm barn.

We've had heavy fog the last two mornings (Remember what I said comes 90 days after fog?) so it has made for some neat pictures!

 

Replacement heifer waiting for her feed.



Dylan and a momma cow walking in a newborn calf born at dawn.



This calf in the picture below was born on Tuesday.  He's a cute lil' bugger! This morning Dylan and I put an ear tag in his ear that matches his momma's number.  We match the numbers so we can make sure everyone has the right calf!  Another thing we use our ear tags for is to 'sex' the calves.  An ear tag in the left ear means it's a steer (male calf with testicles removed) and an ear tag in the right ear means it is a heifer calf.  This helps us especially in the fall when we are sorting calves into steers and heifers in preparation for shipping.



Whitney (that's me!) and baby Hereford.

Speaking of new calves, I've been watching a cow while I was writing this and she just had her calf!  I best be off to go check on her and the new baby!

Happy trails!
Whitney

Merry Corgi Christmas!

Hello world!  I survived the end of the world! And if you're reading this...you did too! Yay!

I know I've been absent (for the last...oh six months or so!) but I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Yule, Festivus, or just another day in December!

I had posted this picture of Annie wearing her reindeer antlers yesterday on my Instagram, but then my brother added the funnies!

Oh my sweet little red-headed fur-child, Annie! She was not impressed at all! My husband and I had just got done wrapping up some peanut butter rawhides and new squeaky toys for Annie and had placed them under the tree.  Annie was so worried about her new treats that she would barely leave the tree! The first thing she did this morning was rush over to the Christmas tree to make sure her presents were still there! What a goof!

Tomorrow, will be traveling to my mother-in-law's hometown for Christmas Eve.  Her family is Danish so we will be spend the evening dancing around the Christmas tree and singing Danish Christmas carols (seriously!)!! On Christmas day, our families will be coming here to the farm! Hopefully the weather isn't too cold and we can take our cousins sledding or drag them behind the four wheeler in the calf sled!

I hope you are amongst family and friends this Christmas, but I know duty calls.  So cheers to all of the dedicated hard workers out there who are working over the holidays! And sending much love to all of our family and friends that we don't get to see over Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Whitney
{Dirt Road Dreamer}



Corgi Friday!

Hello again, my name is Whitney and I'm also addicted to corgis!  So I thought that on Fridays, I should dedicate the blog post to my corgi, Annie, and other corgis around the world! 

Annie at 6 weeks old!

Corgi Friday was started by the bloggers at Warming Glow.  As near as I can tell, they blog and somewhat mock TV and media.  BUT they have dedicated their Friday's to corgis and posting pictures, videos, and stories about corgis! 

A little background on corgis, specifically Pembroke Welsh corgis.  According to the Pembroke Welsh Corgi Club, legend has it that the Pembroke Welsh Corgi is an "enchanted" dog, and certainly this must be true! It was said that corgis were used by the fairies and elves of Wales to pull fairy coaches, work fairy cattle, and serve as a steed for the fairy warriors. Even today those people with keen eyes and understanding hearts may see the marks of the "fairy saddle" in the coat over the shoulders.  And I totally believe it!

I can see a fairy riding Annie! Can't you? :)

Now most corgis these days are your basic pet.  But there are a few who live up to their breed and are working dogs! 
Kathy & Scott Wiley raise cattle near Musselshell, MT and have FOUR hard working corgis!  They were featured on the Animal Planet on a segment called 'Small Dogs, Big Jobs'.  They definitely earn their keep on the ranch! 

You might also know that the Queen of England has a few corgis of her own...

Image from here

Or is it this Queen that has all the corgis?

Image from here

Either way, you can tell that corgis are lovable, full of personality, and Montana State University Bobcat fans!!

MSU Bobcat vs. UM Grizzlies Football Game 2011

Annie also does a lot of work with us on the farm. 

Mr. Farmer and Annie feeding cows in the tractor.

The good news about my addiction to corgis is that I'm not alone!  I found this website last year that was specifically for those who have OCD, commonly known as Obsessive Corgi Disorder. 

Image from here

The funny thing is, my husband's friend just posted the link to this website on my husband's Facebook wall tonight!  Little did he know that I was already in the process of writing this blog post specifically about corgis!  He must have ESPN...er...ESP...whatever...

Anyways, I sure hope you love corgis or will come to love corgis as a result of Corgi Fridays!  If you are a lover of corgis, I'd love to hear about it! 

Thanks for joining me on the dirt roads tonight.  As always, dream big and Carpe' Diem! 

Cheers,
Whitney

Welcome to my blog!

Hi everyone!

My name is Whitney.  I'm a wife, farmer, rancher, and dreamer.  I live along the dirt roads and the rolling hills of Northeastern Montana with my husband. We farm and ranch with my husband's parents.   We raise Hereford cows, winter wheat, spring wheat, feed barley, alfalfa hay, and lots of grass!  We also have a small herd of chickens and barn cats, but our corgi, Annie, keeps them in line! 

Here's a picture of, Annie! 



Annie--our Pembroke Welsh Corgi & Queen of the Farm!



My hubby and I got married this last summer in my hometown! 
Here's one of our favorite photos from it!



American Gothic circa 2011

Well, that's all for now...

I'll be sharing more about my life here on the prairie, as well as lots of funny stories and photos!  You never know what is going to happen down the dirt roads! Thanks for tagging along with me on this journey!

Cheers,
Whitney