“If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans.” ― Iyanla Vanzant

"Forget college, I think I'll just move to Montana and go work on a ranch," said my teenage self.  "I won't ever get married," was a statement my brother so kindly reminded me of at our wedding.  "I don't want kids," I always said.  "I'll marry a 'Smith' when I grow up," were the words of a frustrated young girl teased by her last name (which so happened to be shared with a tasty, salted snack).  

Fast forward so many (unstated) years to a college career that eventually led to a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and a respectable job with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  Somewhere along that journey, despite my best efforts to remain single, a "fateful" road trip with a class mate and compadre ensued.  During a Thanksgiving vacation when most students were visiting family, we made the trek across the deserts of New Mexico to a dusty, windy, pile or dirt out in the desert that someone decided to call a "ranch" where a few hundred wiley, mismatched cattle worked too hard to make a living.  It was there we were greeted through the truck window by a gruff cowboy with few manners who resembled Josh Lucas and drove a red 80's model Chevy far too fast down an ungroomed dirt road to his single wide trailer that was suitable for the sole purpose of arsen.  

This eventually leads us to where we are today:  Still together, though sharing a common last name (with far too many consonants and far too few vowels), with a sassy, smart, sweet, redheaded toddler, far too many dogs, a few too many horses, and a barn cat running cattle for an outfit in big sky country, and living "the dream".  The stories that ensue are a collection of memories and adventures that I've been wanting to write down, and possibly share with some of you who might find them amusing.  I'm sure that there will be a continuing stream of things that are worth talking about as soon as a person has had the time to get back up, dust their pants off, take a shower, grab a bite and "get over it".