Friday, January 2, 2009

Little House On His Prairie

As I mentioned in my last post, we went to visit Matt's mom for a few days last week.

Now, when I say that M to the Izz-A grew up on a farm, I don't know if all of you are getting the correct visuals. And for that sole purpose, I took a few pics to show you just what I'm talking about. But before I do that, let's elaborate a bit on the hubby shall we?

I like to joke with him about how country (or red) he is. Besides the fact that when we first met, while he worked, he wore Wranglers tight enough to make me question his future ability to procreate, he also didn't like anything that involved technology. Not only was he not a big fan of computers, but he also refused to have an atm/debit card or bank online. And now my friends, I'm proud to say that he emails, surfs the web on occasion, owns and uses an atm/debit card, and banks online. He's come a long way (and even lets me dress him every now and then). Although I must say that I secretly love it when he pulls out a pair of his old Wranglers to work around the house in.

He gets it honest. And I love him for it. I love the country boy that he'll always be.



However, I didn't always love the visits to his mom's (the place he grew up).


On my first few visits I must admit that I was a little uncomfortable miserable. I remember asking him where they shopped, what they did around there for fun, and where was the nearest mall? (Although I grew up in a small town where the nearest mall was 40 minutes away, at least I knew where it was and how to get there.) He just laughed and said, "No one cares about stuff like that out here."


One of our initial conversations went something like this:
Me: "So I shouldn't bother asking your mom what she thought of US Weekly's latest cover story?"
Him: "US who?"

Me: "Nevermind, question answered."
As you can see, our conversations were very deep and long in length.

I, too, was born and raised in the South but never lived on a farm. I call it a farm, but really it's a 500 acre ranch.
It's absolutely beautiful and I've come to really enjoy my visits. I now know, and am comfortable with the fact, that they don't keep conditioner anywhere in the house, only shampoo, and to always remember to bring my own. But we all know that I'm not a fan of washing my hair everyday, so this hasn't really affected me as much as I thought it would.

In fact, I find the visits to mom-in-law-ville quite refreshing. I can just kick back and relax....and not worry about the fact that all that's left of my toenail polish is a few random chips of color.


So when I say that I went for a visit to Matt's mom's, I'm talking about this





and this


and this





and this.


Growing up on a ranch, everyone has to 'pull their own weight", or so I hear. So Kate thought it was time she started pitching in.




We even got to feed the goats.


On the last day of our stay, while Kate was napping, M to the Izz-A and I decided to go for a ride through the ranch.....on four-wheelers.


We were enjoying the scenery, while riding through the pastures in random zig-zag patterns as to avoid the piles of cow goodness, when we came up this:




Now, to the untrained eye (that would be me) it appeared to be just a hole of sand. But to Ol' Red (that would be Matt) he saw past the emptiness that was the hole and dreamed big dreams.


Well, have I mentioned my love for speed? If I haven't yet, now I have. And let me just say that it went very well with our new little find.



Why yes, yes I am getting all four tires off the ground. (in some grey yoga pants at that!)
Try that Laura Ingalls.



47 comments:

Jaime said...

My dad's side of the family is completely "country". Dean couldn't believe it when we first went down to visit my side of the family. Everyone has their wranglers and button up western shirts. I love it down there, you can def let your hair down and relax. Love the pics by the way... where is that at??

Casey (@ Chaos and Cardboard) said...

My husband's dad lives in a place like that. Every time I go out there I feel like I have stepped into Waterboy land! Thank goodness for 4 wheelers!

Mrs Anne said...

Nelly ain't got nothin' on you!

ha!

love farm time!

happiest new year!

xo

shalay said...

That ranch is incredible! I've never even been to a farm before, so I can't imagine just having all of that open land. And seriously? Those last two pics kick major ass. Awesome!

KriskropMemories said...

Wow that looks fantastic, great job getting all four wheels off the ground!

Tanya said...

I would love it there! Four-wheeling is wonderful, red-neck fun, he he...

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog!

Anonymous said...

Oh wow, that is...um, remote. But it looks beautiful. You're right--it is probably a great place to kick back and relax and not worry about anything! And the 4 wheeling looks so fun! I've never done that, even though I grew up on a farm too (not quite as "farmish" as that one though!) :)

Becky said...

Greatly enjoyed this post! I've heard Matt talk about how he grew up but you just can't appreciate until you see some pics! Wow! I love Walnut Grove but this is a little too removed for me.That boy lives in the big city now!

~Mrs. Guru~ said...

Love it! I love four wheelers! We grew up on my grandparents farm and had a blast!

Anonymous said...

Great post! Your posts are always so dang funny and your pics are great!! Thanks for making me laugh AGAIN!!

EJ & Roo said...

love the last pic. we spent the day of christmas eve riding four wheelers at my dad's "ranch". tons of fun!

Sassytimes said...

Wow! That ranch looks beautiful and oh so relaxing!

Darci White said...

Too funny - love this.

My hubby and I are both from small towns in West Texas. However, my small town is quaint and Mayberry-ish and a decent size while his is WAY too small (the closest Target is an hour away - that's how I judge a town!).

Anyway, with that said, I grew up in the "country" )5 miles from town) on about 80 acres and we had a few horses and a few cows. Nothing major. I did not partake in much (none really) of this "country" life.....just wasn't my thing? My dad is a cattle buyer and my mom knows how to do just about everything in the world - from baking yummy goodness to changing a tire on my dads huge arse truck.

It's fun to go "home" and compare our lives now (suburbia to the max....going 90 miles an hour all the time) to our lives then.

To be honest, I miss the slower life in my home town. But, if we ever moved back, we'd live in town I'm sure?!

Good story - and the four wheelers look like a blast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And truly, "boys" from small towns are best. I'm sure of it.

Queenie Jeannie said...

Brave girl and a great sport!! My ex's family is like that and I don't miss it a bit!

When you take a break, come on over and register for my awesome jewelry giveaway, ok?

University of Iowa Meg said...

Hollie- Those are beautiful pics!!! Seriously. I'm glad to hear your husband has made it into the real world- but wow, living on a ranch...in the country.....so jealous :)

Mrs. Ruby said...

Haha - gotta love the Wranglers!

Kristy said...

Hey- was that a bow that I saw in Miss Kate's hair???? She's steppin' up! =)

Summer said...

Oh my gosh!!! First of all, I could last there only a few days, but I would have such a blast with the 4 wheelers!!!

Mandy Rose said...

I love reading your posts because you always make me laugh. My hubby is the opposite of "red"...but I think there is just as many things to find funny about a "city" boy that is totally metrosexual as there is a country boy.

What camera are you using? Your pictures are so good!

Jenni said...

What a beautiful farm! And look at YOU up in the air on that thing! I'd come home in a full body cast...

Sweet Simplicity said...

That last picture is great! You look like you are having so much fun!

Rebecca Jo said...

What a wonderful place to grow up!!!

And HOLY COW girl!!! Look at your flying through the air!!!!!

Q, La, and Gooner said...

Way to let loose! Isn't it a little fun to get away from it all? ;)

MiMi said...

What a great place to grow up and what a great place for Miss Kate to get to visit! It looks incredible! Love the picture of the cow and the horse is gorgeous!

Did he grow up in Florida? Looks like Spanish Moss hanging form the trees.

As I think I shared with you before, my husband also grew up on a farm, and also shares the same "redness", but I think there's just something kinda special about a "good ole' boy", don't you?

Katy said...

I bet Kate loves going there, looks like she had fun feeding the goats. Nice post on the ranch...hope you're having a great New Year!

Girl Meets Beau said...

I love the pictures of the farm and how beautiful everything looks! You took some amazing pics!! Looks like a fun time

Rune said...

Thank you for very nice comment on my blog:)

I love the pictures. It looks like a very nice place to live:)

Wibeche

Unknown said...

How awesome of a place is that and I love love love four wheeling though I haven't done it in years.

morewineplease said...

those pics are adorable!
Its funny how our ideas change as we get older...

Nice AIR!!!

Kristina P. said...

What a beautiful ranch!

And my husband bought a new pair of jeans last week that he said he thought were as tight as Wranglers, but they made his butt look good!

Thanks for stopping by my blog and for your kind words. I'm adding you to my Reader!

Anonymous said...

Now that is a place one can forget about their worries and relax. I see why you enjoy it so much. But, holy crap, you're on the four wheeler? Woman, are you mad?

Lulu said...

I love it! You have me laughing out loud every time I read your posts... Glad the little one was able to pitch in on the fun!
xoxo,
Lulu

Lulu said...

I love it! You have me laughing out loud every time I read your posts... Glad the little one was able to pitch in on the fun!
xoxo,
Lulu

Anonymous said...

My grandparents have a farm - I love visiting because it's always so quiet and grammy's food is just awesome.

I love the 4 wheeler pictures - awesome! I'd love to live there - minus the manure! ha!

petrii said...

Hahahaha I loved this!!! My hubs and I live in a little town in MO about 1100 people, which I affectionetly call "the country". But hubs corrects me reguarly and says we live in the city. Is 1100 people really constituted a city? I mean we do live in a sub-division of sorts, I'll give him that, but a city? Too funny. Can you guess which one is from the city and which is from "the country"?

Have a Blessed and four-wheelin' kind of day,
Dawn

Anonymous said...

wow - what a beautiful place, I'm jealous! Although I admit that a long visit would require me to find the nearest shopping center eventually. :)

Sassy Engineer said...

That is absolutely beautiful - it sounds very nice and relaxing :)

Emily said...

ahhh that place look soo beautiful and amazing.. can I go with next time:) And girl... your really know how to four wheel.. my nerves would hold me back:)

Chic Runner said...

This is the same exact feeling I get when I visit my bf's family. Glad I'm not alone but look at you go on that fourwheeler! :)

amy (metz) walker said...

Wow, those pictures are amazing! What an awesome place to be able to retreat to...DW and I would give our left arms to have somewhere like that!

Also, just had to say that I cracked up at the wrangler comment about questioning "his future ability to procreate". Hilarious!

Adrienne said...

It looks like you had fun! That is awesome! My guy grew up on a farm as well, like the one posted here, smack dab in the middle of nowhere. It took some getting used to, but I love him for it!

Lindsay said...

How beautiful is that? And look at you 4wheelin'...funfun!
My grandparents house was on 100 acres and we called it the farm. My cousins and I all drove a little pickup (standard might I add) and umm I think we were 8 yrs old. Oh it was so fun. Nothing like when I went home, I remember telling my Mom I wanted to live there, not in the city! Haha, who was I kidding, I loved it, but I do need to be right here in Dallas also! It is a nice relaxing get-away though!

Shannon Strong said...

Thank you for your comment on my page! I stumbled across your blog from Katie over at the Baker 5-and instantly thought it was such a cute, fun blog-and I too love Fruity Pebbles-so then I of course was hooked ;-) Thanks for letting me peak in on your bloggy world-come on over to mine anytime! :-) Shannon

Unknown said...

I love all of your pics! Especially your speed at the end there. Love your blog!

Jon and Steph said...

Hey Hollie. Thanks for the comment! I actually have visited your sight before... I saw it on Kristen's blog I think? Beautiful family! You're daughter is adorable ;)
How fun to spend some time on the ranch! I love the country, growing up as an Okie, we weren't too far off. Four wheeling... love it!

Steph

JennyLee said...

How fun!!! Laura Ingalls doesn't have anything on you! ;) Thanks for stopping by my blog. I look forward to following yours!

Anonymous said...

You look like a pro! BTW I am also not a fan of washing my hair everyday! Love your Blog!