About Me

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I was raised in California, where my family ranched along with my parents raising us 5 kids, sometimes a few extra with them involved in foster care. I remember as a little girl how I loved watching my Dad ride...especially the gritty horses. He has a special way with horses. I knew from a kid that I wanted to marry a Cowboy...so I did. Although I haven't been a Wyoming Wife for long, my husband and I live an exciting life together. Not only are we partners but were the best of friends. These are going to be stories which include my emotions (which as a female they seem to be on the fritz sometimes!), days gone bad, and days that ended absolutely perfect. All in all...this is just a journal of my crazy, beautiful life as a Wyoming Wife.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

A Year With Your Lifelong Friend

On December 12, 1986 a little cowboy was born. The youngest of 3 kids, the only son and his parents pride and joy. They named him Kody.
3 years 3 months and 17 days later a little girl was born. The first child of 5, born to a loving mother and a cowboy dad, they named her Jordan. The parents of these kids were in different stages of their life, different generations and miles and miles apart.
The kids weren’t raised down the road from each other. They were separated by a few rivers, state lines, zip codes, highways and never knew who each other were. I was happy with where I was living close to my grandparents with a pony, a playhouse, tire swing and sitting on the back porch with mom watching Dad ride outside horses for people. I never knew anything different.
Kody was raised with Hancock horses, BB guns, 22 mags and trapping coyotes and bobcats in the winter. I always thought snow was something that you went to visit in the mountains, and the only thing I knew about winter was not to eat yellow snow.
I was a big sister 4 times over and Kody was the baby. He was the rambunctious kid, the wild one without a care in the world. I was the one that loved holding my baby brothers hand as we crossed the road and making sure his helmet was buckled correctly when he set off on his dirt bike.
I was 13 when we moved, crossing the rivers and state lines to get to our new home. We moved to Wyoming where winter is real and people own snow boots and Carrhart coats.
I knew Kody through mutual friends, but we didn’t start dating until I was 18. We would go camping, hunting and shooting. I loved Kody from our first date and my mom thought I was crazy when I told her that. She was just looking out for her baby girl, and she knew all about cowboys. My mom knows everything.
Our wedding date was set in a very remote place far from town with the mountains surrounding us in every direction. It was a beautiful day, I married my cowboy.
As our first year of marriage has come and gone there are so many things I have learned being a Wyoming Wife. I always have a pair of boots in the truck because this California girl has gotta have her flip flops. I’ve gained some sort of uncanny self-reliance being married, if I have to start off walking out a lion track with a few dogs while Kody is with the hunter, I’m alright with that.
I learned that sometimes you just have to put all your might and muscle into a gate that has given you fits every time you try and close it, and Kody ends up closing it for you. Except that one time he wasn’t there, it took me 15 minutes to shut it. But I did it.
I learned that sometimes you just have to put on your big girl pants and head into the mountains in the dark because Kody packed into a bear bait and you have hunters to pick up. Let me tell you I was singing Amazing Grace and Old Rugged Cross. It was nice one on one time with God. That one time my hunter shot a bear and couldn’t find it, I had to hike in the trees the opposite way of my hunter and look for this bear…but I found it. And then I had to go back through the same gate I could barely shut.
Kody held my hand when my trusty horse Sonny decided it was time to go to Heaven, he cut his tail hair off for me to keep, and Kody even cried with me. That goes to show when either one of us are hurt or upset it hurts the other.
When were working I have to trade my turquoise necklaces for paisley printed wild rags, my good boots now have a holes in the bottom, and my carrhart vest has just enough pockets to hold chap stick, cell phone and two way radios when were lion hunting. Because of Kody I am now an official Wyoming hunting guide…because it saves us money with me guiding hunters instead of paying someone else too.
On a more serious note, the first year of marriage was simple and meant to be. We work, we mend, we fight and sometimes I cuss…and then apologize for my potty mouth. We had to learn to lean on each other when times got hard, but hard times make your love stronger. My grandparents tell me that the first few years of marriage are hard but that’s where most of the memories are made, enduring tough times with each other and making due with everything you have. So if you don’t have a lot of cash in your pocket, but your set off in the right direction…don’t worry. You have a soul mate, a best friend and someone to go through tough and great times together.
To my Kody, I look forward to all the years to come, all the hunting seasons, all the cowboy-ing, new and old dogs, and I can promise you I will always giggle when your trusty horse decides to split in two with you on his back.

1 comment:

  1. Hi Jordan,
    I'm Angie Dailey's twin sister, Debbie. She told me I should take a look at your blog, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
    I moved to the Idaho panhandle 16 years ago, and though I don't hunt, I can definitely appreciate the simpler life and working with the weather and nature. This way of life appeals to me far more than the city life and busy pace of So. California.
    Congratulations on your firm commitment to marriage and working together. As to Sonny's tail - you could have a braid made of his tail for your saddle. Kumihimo is a creative way to do this. Just a thought.
    Anyway, You tell your story well. Thanks for sharing.

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