Weekly Review 3/6-3/12 AND 3/13-3/19

Yep. So, I missed my Weekly Review post from last week, so this week it's a DOUBLE WHAMMY of Fitness, Farm, and Life comin' at ya!

Abby and Harvey enjoying a wade while out for a hike.

Fitness
So, let's cut right to the chase and get on to it. Shape Up Montana continues on. We're about half way through that. Our team continues to move along and make progress. I feel good about the likelihood of making my goal of scoring 600 points in three months. Right now I'm at 345, with about six weeks to go. I'm scoring on average 49 points each week, and with Track Season having started, my miles are likely to be going up.

Otherwise, just trying to stay consistent with running, strength work and yoga. If anything's been lacking over the past two weeks, I'd say it's my floor exercises/strength stuff. Much of my running the past few weeks has been on the treadmill, mostly due to high wind.

March 6-12
Sunday- 5 miles of walking on pedometer, 3 miles running on treadmill (This is the day I met up with Jessie in Minneapolis for a walk with Matilda, and I had some more walking around MOA-- read here!
Monday- Complete rest. (travel)
Tuesday- 2.2 mile run
Wednesday- 30 minutes yoga
Thursday- 3 mile treadmill run
Friday- 2 mile walk, 45 min yoga
Saturday- 6.3 mile trail run with Jeff

March 13-19
Sunday- rest, walking and cleaning around the house.
Monday- 4 mile treadmill interval workout run
Tuesday- rest/30 minutes of stretching
Wednesday- 2.5 mile treadmill run, 1.5 mile walk
Thursday- complete rest.
Friday- 30 minutes dance workout (kicked my butt!), and 3 mile treadmill run
Saturday- 45 minutes of yoga

YTD Stats
Running: 122 miles
Walking/Hiking: 34.2 miles
Yoga: 535 min 
CC-Ski: 500 min / 14.1 miles (since I started tracking mileage on 1/17) 
Alpine Ski: 3 days
Mountain bike: 10 miles


Farming
We continue with calving. It's been the major news, of course, of the past month or so. At this point, I think we are about 80% through with around 20 cows yet to calve. Overall, it's been pretty smooth this year. The weather has been warm and dry, which is good for calving even if it's shaping up for a potentially stressful crop year. I have to say, I haven't minded that it hasn't been -20 for any of my early morning checks. Hell, it's only been in single digits once.  We haven't at all had to worry about getting calves inside or dried off right away for fear of frostbite. As I said, it has been a pretty smooth calving season. I am working on another post right now with some more detail about a few situations that have come up, so stay on the lookout for that to come out later this week.

I love it when the calves really resemble their mamas. :)

Life
Other news in my world is that track season started on March 15. This is my fourth year as an Assistant Coach at our local high school. It's always an adjustment to add the extra time away from home into my day as the season gets underway, but Coaching is something that I've found I truly love. Big, big thanks goes out to my husband, Jeff, and family for their support and encouragement. I know they make adjustments and sacrifices to allow me to continue Coaching, too. Our first meet is coming up on April 2. I'm looking forward to seeing how we do. We have good numbers this year, so that's always good and makes a big difference, especially in Class C.

Two of our North Star student-athletes in a drill to work on strength and acceleration.

I'd be remiss if I didn't bring up March Madness and the Tournament. We are a very sports-driven household so the Tournament is big doings for us every year. Jeff and I participated in a few light-duty bracket gambling shenanigans with friends (I'm pretty sure we're already guaranteed not to win any money back, so there's that...) and filled out our inter-family competition brackets-- Jeff, Tom, and I. As of now, Tom is in the lead with 32 correct picks. I'm next with 31. Jeff is third with 30. However, it's still anyone's game.

Mostly, I'm very excited that my home-town team, Iowa State Cyclones, have made it to the Sweet 16 to play Virginia on Friday evening.  Last I checked, the Cyclones were a 5-point underdog. However, they went into the tournament with somewhat of a chip on their shoulder and have been playing very good basketball--peaking at the right time. Virginia better not be overlooking the Cyclones! It's going to be a helluva game!

If you'd like to read more on the Cyclones, here's an interesting feature article on one of their Senior stars- Jameel McKay, from The DesMoines Register: For McKay, Mom and Prohm Know Best . There's a really wonderful line in there that appears a couple times- "Your attitude is your altitude." Good advice!

So, how's your bracket doing?
Do you think your "attitude is your altitude?"

Stay tuned for next week's weekly review of fitness, farm, and life right here on the blog! 

A young and curious calf gets close to investigate Harvey!

MFU Women's Conference 2016 Recap

First of all, let's acknowledge the obvious. I have a totally new blog design! What do you all think?!? 

I am IN LOVE with this design, which was created by my very talented friend, Joellyn. If you need any graphic design work done for your blog or website, definitely think about asking her! You can view her own blog by CLICKING HERE! She also does really fabulous interior design. Basically, if you need design help of any sort, ask Joellyn! 

With the new re-design and new name, I'm planning on doing a re-launch of the blog with a new URL very soon. But, I want to take a little time to plan up something special... like maybe a giveaway or two?? hmmm? yes? STAY TUNED!

Now, on to the true subject of this post: the 2016 Montana Farmers Union Women's Conference! 

The Conference was held a few weeks ago, February 5-7, at Quinn's Hot Springs Resort in Southwest Montana. This was the Fourth Annual MFU Women's Conference, and I'm happy to say that I've made it to all four so far! The past couple years, I've also been fortunate enough to be a member of the MFU Women's Committee, which helps plan the annual conference. Here's a photo of our committee of powerful, strong women:

Lindsey, Me, Delisa, Lisa, Mary, and Kathy.
Audra is also on our committee, but she couldn't make it to the conference.

I can't remember if we had officially decided on a theme for the conference during our planning sessions or not, but to me, the definite theme of the weekend was "Community." Many of our speakers talked about building and strengthening community, particularly in rural areas, and how strong communities can help us all reach our goals. We also grew the community of Farmers Union Women by getting to know each other better and meeting new people over the weekend. The conference did end up selling out, with quite a few registrants attending for the first time ever, and at least 2/3 of all attendees were not already Farmers Union members. I know I met some new people this year that I'm really looking forward to keeping in touch with. 

I also enjoyed having around some familiar faces. My friend Adria joined me again this year, for her third Women's Conference. This year, we were also accompanied by both our mothers-in-law, Carol and Lynn, and a few other friends- Glenda and Mary. With six of us making the 5+ hour drive, Rudyard made a very strong showing at Quinn's! 

Quinn's Hot Springs Resort is situated in a lovely canyon along the Clark Fork River, North of Missoula, near Plains, MT.
All the cabins on this side of the highway are brand new. It would be a wonderful venue for a wedding or reunion, if you ask me!

I think the success of this conference every year lies in simply bringing women together. As Delisa always says, "When you bring women together, magic happens." Magic happened again this year, too. There is a yearning for women to build community-- one that I think is lacking sometimes in our day-to-day lives. This year's group was very diverse, both in age and background. While most all women in attendance were involved in agriculture somehow, that wasn't true of everyone. We had many, many positive comments on our evaluation sheets, both from farmers and non-farmers. The conference held something for everyone, and community was indeed built in Quinn's.

The lovely Kriss Marion of Wisconsin Farmers Union and Soil Sisters spoke about community organizing and the snowflake model. She advocated for building community one pot-luck at a time, and bring cookies!

I believe that one of the greatest strengths that Montana Farmers Union possesses is its ability to bring people together from diverse backgrounds. We often find that we have much more in common than we have apart and when it comes down to it, we're all in this together and we need each other more than we need to divide one another. 

MFU Women's Committee Member Lisa Schmidt speaks about, well, public speaking.

Justene Sweet, an herbalist, spoke about native Montana plants in the context of how the plants are part of our community, and how we can use some of these plants to build our own communities. Lovely presentations!

And yes... I even led a session at the Conference. Something I've never done before! 

My session was a "Hack-a-thon" wherein we were "hacking" out solutions and ideas to grow/enhance/create vibrant rural communities. I began with about a 10 minute presentation in which I attempted to explain what a Hackathon is and how we were going to go about doing it, and also discussed Creativity and how it is necessary and useful when talking about building community. Basically, I described Creativity as being sort of like a muscle. Take the bicep muscle, for example. Everyone has a bicep-- some of us have stronger biceps than others, but we can all strengthen that muscle. Creativity is the same way. Each of us has the capacity to be creative-- we just may have to work out that "muscle" a bit. I led the group through a few Creativity exercises, then everyone split off into small groups of 4-6 people and strategized ideas that could help in rural communities. Groups presented their ideas the next day in a sort of show and tell session. Man, were there some excellent ideas!!! I hope people actually follow through on some of them! For example, a "Tour de Montana" style bike ride with stops at farms all across the state! How cool would that be?!

All in all, even though I was nervous for the hackathon, I think it was a success. It got people thinking in a different way, and mingling with people they maybe didn't already know, which were my goals at the outset. I am satisfied with that.

This is the Event Center- where the Conference was held.

Now, I just want to write down a few notes that I had jotted down during the convention. Things that got me thinking...

• Build your capacity through people and connections. Be leaders and make leaders of those around you.
• "I really think it's all about the food!" ~ Kriss Marion, on the importance of food and potlucks!
• "I want my farm to be loud and alive!" ~ Kriss Marion, when discussing keeping our farms and lands healthy and sustainable for future generations.
• Gather in diversity- with that comes wisdom. Gather to cultivate community.
• "What's growing in your own backyard?" ~ Justene Sweet, during herbalism presentation
• "I build confidence in others." (My own elevator speech-- thanks Lisa Schmidt!)
• "Feel the fear and do it anyway." ~ ??? Not sure who said this during the conference, but I wrote it down!

Above is a photo of all the attendees of the conference. That's a lot of powerful people and WISDOM in one place!!! I hope everyone took something back to their own community, or that everyone was affected in some way, and will make a positive impact.

If you missed the conference this year but may have wanted to attend, next year we will be back at Chico Hot Springs, near Yellowstone National Park. The weekend will be the weekend after the Superbowl this time, but before Valentine's Day. It should be another fantastic event to look forward to!

Speaking of Community and organizing, a friend of mine linked to this article on his Facebook page recently--
Where Have All the Members Gone?
If you're a farmer, or married to a farmer, or if you like farmers, or like food, or live in a rural area, or live in a city but appreciate farmers and food, than you should consider joining a farm organization. If you are a farmer, then you DEFINITELY should join one. Our voice is small, but it is important. If we want our voice to be heard on a national level, it needs to be done through farm organizations, such as Montana Farmers Union/National Farmers Union. Please consider joining. If for no other reason, then to get on the mailing list for the next Women's Conference! ;)

Weekly Review January 31 - February 6

A little belated, but here's my Weekly Review for last week. It was a busy week, especially the weekend, but I still got in a lot of fitness, farming, and life!

Beautiful golden light on a recent pasture hike.

Fitness

The #RunLoveChallenge continues! Last week my long run was to be 5 miles and I had done this on Friday morning with Jeff on the trails. That was a really great run, but I wanted to do 5 again on the road and try to push it a bit to see how I'd fare and to check in on what my pace is right now. So, Sunday I did just that and went for a 5 mile straight-line run from our house to Goldstone Church, and then had Jeff pick me up. The last mile especially I really felt like I was pushing hard, but I also surprised myself with my speed and ability to maintain a higher speed than I thought I could sustain. I'm really encouraged by this run and will use it as a reminder of my abilities and confidence-builder as I continue to work toward my 2016 goal of breaking under 25 minutes in a 5K. (My current PR is 26:10.)

Speaking of 5Ks, I stumbled across this article on the internet about why 5Ks are awesome and I agree with SO MUCH of what it says. I am impressed by athletes who train and compete for longer-distance races, but my body is just definitely built for shorter, faster races, and it's just more what I love. It was great to see the 5K get some love! If you like to run, definitely check out this article: 

10 Reasons the 5K is Freaking Awesome. 

My long run for the week was planned to be 5.5 miles, and I knew I'd be busy over the weekend so I did it on Wednesday. It went pretty well. I took a slower pace and enjoyed the scenery on a new route. There was as big group of mule deer at my turnaround point which was really cool to see, too. It was a nice run.

Mule deer!

Otherwise, I got in a lot of yoga and stretching. Great week for yoga this past week.

Last week was also the start of Shape Up Montana, which I'm doing with my family again this year for the fourth year in a row. It lasts from February 1 - April 30. I'm also coordinating three teams at the school where I work. I'm not on any of their teams, but I'm helping their Captains out and helping with overall motivation and troubleshooting. They are off to a really great start and their enthusiasm is inspiring!

This is a sample workout we had as a Weekly Challenge for Shape Up Montana.
Not too shabby! Turns out I need to work on my ability to complete a pushup.

Here's the Week Stats-

Sunday- 5 Mile run to IronMan statue. Hard effort.

Monday- 15 minutes core exercises, 30 minutes yoga.

Tuesday- 30 minutes yoga.

Wednesday- 5.6 mile run.

Thursday- 3 mile pasture hike with Jeff.

Yes, this is a cow skull.  We found it on our hike.
I find old, weathered skulls and bones to be strangely fascinating.

Friday- 10 min core, 30 minutes (3 miles) interval run on treadmill.

Saturday- 30 minutes yoga.

Here's my week last week, and the start of this week!

...and YTD- 

2016 Year to Date, through 2/6/16
Running: 58.95
Walking: 11.3
Yoga: 255 min 
CC-Ski: 380 min / 10.8 miles (since I started tracking mileage on 1/17) **No skiing this week.
Alpine Ski: 2 days

Farm

Not a ton going on on our farm right now. We continue to feed cows daily and work on bookwork. The biggest farm-related event that occurred this week was my attendance at the Montana Farmers Union Women's Conference. This was the fourth time I have attended. The past few years, I've even participated on the MFU Women's Committee, which helps plan the annual conference, among other things. The Conference was a great way to connect with other women from around Montana, whether they farm or not, do some networking, learn some skills, and communicate about strengthening our voice and our communities. Lots to say about this. I'll save it for its own individual blog post, I think. Watch for that, soon. 

Hello!

Life

I've been reflecting a lot lately on leadership, aspirations, and sort of a vague idea of what my role and identity is in this life. I'm not sure I have any concrete answers or clear-cut plans, but I recognize that I have leadership capacity and I'd like to continue to embrace that. 

Someone I really admire and look up to, Kriss, emailed me this citation from a book she is reading (Canoeing the Mountains, Tod Bolsinger)--

The person who takes personal responsibility to live into the new future in a transformative way, in relationship to the others in the system, is the leader. If someone is not functioning as a leader, the system will always default to the status quo.

We need leaders to step up and make change happen. I can be that. I'm figuring out in what ways I can actualize this.

I also saw this on one of my social media outlets this week:

Image source: www.inspirably.com

Have a great week, everyone! Be LEADERS!

Weekly Review January 24-31 ~ Discovering Trail Running

Another week, another Weekly Review post! 

Photo from Saturday's trail run.

The theme for this past week is definitely trail running and discovery. You can read last week's review HERE.

Fitness
No skiing this week, sadly. All our snow has melted away. It's unlikely that we'll get enough snow again this year to ski at home on the farm, but you never know. Maybe a spring snowstorm with heavy snow??? I suppose it's possible. Earlier in the week it was really icy in the yard and on the roads, so Jeff and I tried out our new YakTrax. They slip on over our shoes and provide really excellent traction on ice.

YakTrax on the ice = awesome!

We went for a light run together on Sunday evening, then I wore mine again on Monday afternoon on my first ever trail run at the new place. You can read about that in this previous post. I also had great road run on Wednesday, than another awesome trail run with Jeff on Friday morning through the pastures for five miles. Trail running out there is a great way to get to know the land in a very intimate way. Again, just super, super thankful for all this great access we have.

Looking back toward the Sweetgrass Hills.

The #RunLoveChallenge continues this week. Wendie and I pushed our distance up to 5 miles. The weekly challenge with that was to "discover" a new run, which I did out on the trails on Monday and again on Friday. So, that Friday run was a double-whammy of increased distance plus discovering a new route. Let me tell you, five miles on trails is MUCH different from five miles on the road. What I really discovered from getting into this trail running stuff is my own strength. Sure, my times are slower, but man is it a workout. One of those hurts-so-good challenges, you know? I know in the long run the trail running will make me a stronger, faster runner, and that's what I'm really going for. I want to know what I'm capable of.

Here's the weekly breakdown:
Sunday- Running 3.2 miles with Jeff
Monday- 3 mile trail run "Discovery" run
Tuesday- 1.6 mile walk, 30 min. core exercises
Wednesday- 3.4 mile HILLY road run at sunset...

The sky can be so beautiful around here! We have had a lot of good sunsets lately.

Thursday- 30 minutes of yoga after school
Friday- 5.2 mile trail run with Jeff

Jeff took this photo of me on our run. That's Sage Creek down below.
Hard to believe not that long ago we were skiing on the creek.

Saturday- 30 minutes elliptical

I guess you'd say the yoga day was my rest day, and I guess you'd call the hill workout and some of the trail running my "speedwork..."  Big week for me overall in terms of mileage and activity.

Filling in my #RunLoveChallenge calendar!

And here's YTD:
2016 Year to Date, through 1/31/16
Running: 45.35
Walking: 8.3
Yoga: 165 min 
CC-Ski: 380 min / 10.8 miles (since I started tracking mileage on 1/17)
Alpine Ski: 2 days

Farm
This week we completed and submitted our Organic Producer application. If you remember a few posts ago, we decided to farm some land organically this year. Well, you have to apply in order to be certified organic. The application is thick and tedious. I think the powers that be will review it and then someone will come out and inspect our farm and our set-up, probably this spring or summer. Sort of exciting. It's an interesting process, for sure.

This is a photo of a poster in the FSA office. 

We also continue to feed cows daily. They typically two hay bales rolled out for them in this feeding pasture each day, plus some more hay and straw in feeders in the corrals. They can wander back and forth between the pasture and the corral as they see fit. They also have an excellent view as they munch. I wonder if they appreciate it?

Our cows graze as the Sweetgrass Hills loom in the distance

Life
We continue to work on small things around the house to make it our own and finish the moving process. We decided to forego our kitchen face lift project for now and put our money toward some much-needed furniture instead. Turns out that I find shopping for furniture online or in store to be overwhelming and stressful. You ever go to a really big lunch buffet and become so overwhelmed with all the choices that you either pile your plate with way too much, or, walk out with absolutely nothing? That's what furniture shopping is like for me. Too many choices make me frustrated and confused, so then we get nothing. But we need things... so it starts again. On and on. We'll get there.

Also, you may have noticed that I changed the name of the blog.... (it's OK, I'll take a moment while you scroll back up and look...) I've been wanting to change it for some time and finally decided on something I like, and Jeff likes, too. A friend of mine is helping with a visual overhaul of the blog, so once that's ready to be unveiled, the URL will probably change too. Don't worry, though, I'll let you all know and give you plenty of lead time before that change so that I don't lose any of you as readers!

Well, that's all for this week! Hope you're all doing well! Catch you on the flip side. :)

Harvey says see you next week!

Thankful Thursday~ Exploring the Pastures

Nothing like a change of scenery, right? Land is permanent even though people may wander. 

All photos in this post were taken a few nights ago on a run through the pasture.

One thing I had been looking forward to about moving onto the family farm was exploring the pastures. Yes, we had pastures at our previous residence and I did spend some time hiking out there, but now, I have the chance to hike, run, ski, and play on our own Bangs land whenever the urge strikes.

It's not like I'd never been out there before. I'd done a few hikes with Jeff and other family members, and Jeff and I also began exploring by mountain bike last summer on some pretty fun trail rides. We've also done a bit of Nordic skiing out in the pasture this winter. It's just so great to have basically open prairie wilderness right outside your back door. People who live in towns and cities aren't so lucky as we!

Can you spot the "wildlife" in this photo?

This week for our weekly #RunLoveChallenge activity, we were to discover a new place to run. Even with some of the other exploring of the pasture I had done, I'd never actually ran out there. When I saw the challenge, I knew I had my mission! I couldn't wait to get out there and run the land. Even with patches of snow and ice, I used my YakTrax and was able to keep great traction on what ended up being a brisk hike/jog at sunset. It was right around freezing, sunny, and NO WIND-- I had to seize the opportunity to get out there!

Abby is a grinner!

All in all, it was a great run. Cow trails make excellent paths for hiking, running, and biking. Certainly not a fast-paced effort, but I relished in frequent stops to admire the scenery and interact with the dogs. One thing is for sure- I finished the run feeling inspired and excited to run the trails more and continue exploring the land. With a lifetime on the farm ahead of me, I'm sure I'll get to the point of knowing the cow trail system just as well as I know the local roads, if not better. And, thanks to Strava, I'll be able to figure out exact distances of different trails and sections.

Dogs love to explore, too!

But when I really stop and think about this land, these views, this access that I have, I feel pretty lucky. And thankful. I'm thankful that I am here and that I'm able to get out there and enjoy it. I'm thankful for the topography that creates a fun playground in the middle of an otherwise table-flat prairie landscape. I'm thankful that all of Jeff's family who've come before us have taken care of the land as well as they have, have kept it within the family, even added to it over the years, and now allowed me and Jeff to be here. It's pretty humbling when I really think about it like that.

Looking west.

I'm thankful even for the people who were on this land before it was "settled," as they've left their mark on this place as well. There are what appears to be an entire village of tepee rings on one bluff overlooking Sage Creek. What must it have been like to live here in those days? How different life is now, even though the views are the same. The creek is still here. The grasses still offer food and cover for an abundance of wildlife. And the topography has and hopefully always will support play and exploration of all kinds. It's easy to look out over the pastures and see what life could have been like in an earlier time, and to feel a responsibility for maintaining it into the future. With responsibility comes thankfulness.

As I stand on a bluff and gaze into the distance, pausing on a run or mid-afternoon ski, I'll look over the land and say a silent thankful intention to the greater power, or to sun and stars, and feel peacefulness.

Possible New Rudyard Community Center

A few days ago, I posted a question on my Facebook page. The question was this:

What do you see as the biggest issues facing rural communities?

There were many responses, comments, replies, and even some healthy debate. People's ideas varied greatly. Some people mentioned the advent of the CRP program, wherein some people who owned land put it into Conservation Reserve and then sought different professions elsewhere. Others brought up the size of farms increasing but the number of farms decreasing. There was mention of falling commodity prices, and there were other terms mentioned like "brain drain," and "loss of main street." Another definite theme was lack of access to essential services and infrastructure, specifically medical services and high speed internet. There were even social themes- some credited the insular nature of small towns making it difficult to feel like a person "fits in" if/when they do move to a rural area.

Needless to say, the "why" behind what one could call the decline of rural America is complex. It's good to think about the background and challenge ourselves to address these issues. Me, I'm mostly interested in progressing toward a more vibrant future for small towns and rural communities. Let's take what we've experienced and what we know about the decline and use our knowledge to grow into a promising future.

The initial reason I posted my question is because I'm leading a workshop at the upcoming Montana Farmers Union Women's Conference (<------ Click for more information or to register!!) on the topic of creating vibrant small towns and rural communities. Actually, it's going to be sort of a "hack-a-thon" where groups will brainstorm ideas and solutions- no idea too big or too small- that could help either in their town or some other town. Groups will develop their ideas, then "pitch" them to the room. I wanted a little background and opinion to help inform my thoughts as I prep for my workshop.

With all this already on my mind, literally the next day, I saw the following post on my Facebook feed:

How timely, right?

I attended the meeting of the Commercial Club last night and was delighted to see about 30 people present. The audience was diverse in age and experience. Discussion about the potential new building was exciting and optimism was very high, and I was really impressed by the comments people had about looking to the future of our town-- a feeling that was bolstered when looking around the room and seeing the number of younger people present at the meeting. People care about the future of our small town and clearly showed they want to work toward making this project a success. I volunteered to be on the committee working on the project of a new Community Center (or rehabbed current space).

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

So, if you've read this far, this is where you come in. Our committee is looking for input on what exactly the potential new building should be like. If it does end up being a complete replacement of the Senior Center/Community Building currently being used, we know it will need to at least have space for senior lunches, a cafe, and beauty shop. But what else could or should it have? Here are some more specific questions to get you thinking:

- What are some specific needs that our community has that could be addressed with a new building?
- What would be most useful for future generations of area residents?
- What could drive business, tourism, or more people to visit town?
- If you don't live in the area, what are some features of community centers in your town that you like or dislike? What has or hasn't worked?
- What gives people pride in their town? What gives people a strong sense of place?
- What do you like or dislike as far as aesthetics of a building like this?

We have a unique opportunity to make some changes to our Main Street area with the potential that this project possesses. At this stage, No idea is too big or too small. I hope to hear from many community members, near and far, and even from outsiders, so that we can consider your opinions and make this space a great fit for Rudyard for generations to come.

Please leave your comments below, or on my Facebook page, or call or talk to me or any of the committee members in person. All opinions are welcome. It's unlikely that we'll be able to use every single suggestion, but if you don't voice your opinion there is no chance that it will be heard. Thank you for your consideration!

Looking West toward Rudyard from a gravel road.

Lately

No where really to start except to acknowledge that it's been about four months since I last did a blog post. Between now and then, well, a lot has happened, both good and bad. There's too much to get into in one post. Suffice to say, for now, that Jeff and I are doing well and we're thankful for all the many, wonderful blessings we encounter on a daily basis.

It's odd, after such a long time off, to think about getting back into this again. Getting back into blogging. Thinking about putting into words everything that's happened between August 30 and now seems more than a little daunting. In due time.

For today, mostly to ease myself back into this process, I'm simply going to write briefly about one thing we have been doing lately: skiing. Specifically, we've been blessed with great snowfall this December--perfect snow for cross-country skiing.

Since Jeff and I purchased cross-country/Nordic skis a few years ago for our Christmas presents to ourselves, we've typically had a few opportunities each winter to use them skiing around our farm and in the road ditches near where we live. This year, I've already had my skis out three times and it's only December! Love it! The skis have been a lovely vehicle for deeper exploration of the pastures of the family farm.

Take a look at a few photos...

 We have to make our own tracks on the farm, but that's OK. It's great exercise and it's so satisfying to ski entirely within the borders of one's own land. My ski-in, ski-out chalet happens to be my own home! Just lacking a hot tub... ;)

Abby photobombed in the background, coming down the hill.

 I love the way snow piles among the sagebrush and other plants out in the pasture, and then the wind manipulates and carves into it. Dunes of sparkling snow.

 Lately has also been somewhat chilly. It hasn't been above freezing on the farm for a few weeks now. Sage Creek, which flows through our pastures, is completely iced up and is also great skiing as the wind has blown snow into the creek bed. I managed another selfie (below). No selfie stick required. Just propped the phone up on a tuft of grass and hit the timer.

 Anyone remember Iggy? He's still with us. He LOVES to go for walks, runs, and skis, especially in the pastures. With his shaggy coat, he was made for winter. He's a happy pup.

Old Ig, as we often call him.

 Jeff and I took turns breaking trail on a nice ski on the creek a few days ago. So peaceful and lovely down in there, protected from the wind.

Happy ski faces! 

I think I'll try to tackle some of the bigger events that have happened this fall one post at a time, including our health, the 5K On the Farm, and the big move. Be patient with me as I ease myself back into this!!!

Until next time, everyone! Let me know if you're still reading....

Thankful Thursday ~ National Dog Day

August 26 (yesterday) was National Dog Day, so today I thought I'd write my Thankful Thursday post about the dogs in my life!

Living on a farm in the wide open spaces of North-Central Montana, Jeff and I really do live in a dog's paradise! There are three dogs in our lives that we see regularly: Abby, Iggy, and of course, Harvey.

Harvey on a pasture walk. Happy National Dog Day, everyone!

Abby is a pretty Golden Retriever, and is Tom and Carol's family dog. She's starting to get on in age and is around ten years old. Abby is very loyal and loves love more than any dog I have ever met. She just insists on being petted! She always has a smile on her face. Don't be fooled by her kind-hearted demeanor toward people, though. She's probably the most ferocious "guard dog" we have when raccoons or other farm-yard pesky animals are in the yard! She has been known to attack small mammals, even porcupines, with great gusto! Abby also loves to tote around small, soft objects, especially work gloves, and often brings them up to the deck with her when she's laying in the sun. Abby can often be seen snuggling with the cats- Quincy and Peanut. She's a gentle and loving sweetheart of a dog!

Abby!

Iggy is an old dog that came to us late last spring. He's a mixed-breed of some sort, but we're fairly sure he has some Saint Bernard in him.  Iggy still likes to go on walks with me and Harvey but he just goes at his own pace. He definitely has a strong nose as he's always right on the trail of birds and creatures, just like Harvey. Iggy is always the first to scent a coyote in the area and sound the alarm. Let me tell you, his bark will get your attention! Iggy doesn't need much, but he does like to be around people. If you're out working in the yard, he'll slowly amble over and lay down near where you are and keep an eye on you. He really loves his pets and especially loves hugs. If you scratch him behind the ears, he'll lean against your legs, which you have to kind of be prepared for so he doesn't make you lose your balance! He's a big old guy, but he's just a lover!

It can be a little tough to get pictures of Iggy because
whenever you get down on his level, he comes up and tries to lick your face. :)

Iggy likes to go for walks, but usually lopes along at his own pace. 

And then there's Harvey! Harvey is the youngest in the pack at five years old, a purebred Vizsla, but definitely has the most energy! Harvey really needs his daily walks and runs or he is just unsettled. Good thing we have lots of space for him to get his sprints in when we're out walking! I know I get more exercise by having Harvey than if I didn't have a dog. There are definitely days when I don't feel like going for an extended walk, but I know Harvey will need it, so of course we go anyway. Harvey is an excellent hunter and has a very good nose for birds. He also has greatly increased the number of mice, gophers, and rabbits he's killed this year, which sounds sort of gross, but on a farm, it's nice to get rid of pest animals like those. Yes, Harvey is a skilled and accomplished hunter, but he is also so very endearing. He loves to snuggle with you anywhere he can and is very sensitive. He really picks up on the emotions of his people and seems to know what you need, whether it's snuggles or space. Harvey always makes me feel better if I'm down or not feeling well!

Harvey on-scent for birds in the crop stubble.

Harvey stalking a cottontail rabbit.

Each of our dogs has different personalities and strengths, and we love them all! Dogs just love. It's what they're best at! I'm so thankful for our dogs and the joy they bring to us every day!

Do you have dogs? Did you celebrate National Dog Day? If so, how? If you didn't, it's probably not too late. Your dog won't know the difference anyway!  I love this list of 20 Ways to Celebrate National Dog Day, from www.NationalDogDay.com:
20 Ways to Celebrate  If you really can't think of any ways to celebrate, check that list out for some inspiration!

We celebrated by giving our dogs lots of love and scratches behind the ears, indulging a few incidents of rabbit-stalking, and going for walks! I'm so thankful for the dogs in my life!