Cast and Crew

With any good story you need good characters. Well, mine has got quite the variety. 

This is me and my adorable husband. I've already shared a little about myself and it would take a novel to explain my husband. Suffice it to say, no one but him could convince me to go through with this adventure. I love him more than I ever knew was possible. He is my best friend, my comic relief, my strength and my joy in life. 

And this. . .

is the third member of our little family. Did I mention that I'm 5 months pregnant? Little Anna definitely has not made things easier, but I like the idea of her starting this journey with us. 

Here is a picture of my husband with one of the sweetest women in the whole world. We call her Kitty or Grandma. The cow masquerading as a horse next to them is Abrax. Which brings us to the rest of our characters. 

This is Pepper: the other, better behaved horse on the ranch. 

We also have a gang of ranch cats. A happy go lucky corgi named Beezie.

Lassie is an amazing dog. You might notice her left front paw is missing. This doesn't slow her down at all. I've never seen a dog so persistent in being a part of life on the ranch. She's my role model. 

And this young fellow is Lambert. Bottle feeding him when he was small was a lot of fun. Now everyone is saying we are going to have lamb for Thanksgiving and I'm not so sure how I feel about that yet. 

And of course we can't forget the chickens. I have absolutely no qualms about eating any of them. They are funny looking at best and ugly at worst. And nothing tastes better than fried chicken!

Well that is about it except for maybe the cattle themselves. Oh and then there are the antagonists of my story. . . 

I HATE spiders! Beyond any other living, breathing, creepy, crawling thing on earth! And there are plenty here. This baby tarantula was my latest find today. While I've sprayed down the ranch house itself I'm realizing that it will be an ongoing battle.  

My New Home

As a girl who grew up in Wyoming I thought I knew and understood the "rural" life. So when my new husband called me a Roman in the context of being used to my modern conveniences and city life I was slightly offended. I knew what it was like to live in the country! There wasn't one "soft" city slicker bone in my body! I was a country girl who loved riding horses, working hard outdoors, camping, hiking and wide open spaces. Granted I can only listen to so much country music before I wanted to gag and I enjoy indoor plumbing and hot showers. A clean house is important to me and I don't mind activities such as going to the movies, occasional shopping and Italian restaurants. But a Roman?! I could handle my own in the barbaric countries of the world. 

I was so wrong.

May 18th 2013 (approx 2.5 weeks ago) we moved to Arden's family ranch in Southern Utah. This ranch is beyond off the grid. Powered by solar panels and using well water, the ranch house was built in the 1850's. Additions have been added one by one throughout the years including the small bedroom apartment, bathroom and living area which has become our new residence. But even these additions are run down and poorly/half built. In the winter the house is heated by two coal stoves, one in the kitchen and one in the living room. In the summer a swamp cooler attempts to cool off the main part of the house. Before getting a hot shower you have to plug in a small hot water heater made for a trailer.

 Arden's grandmother has been on her own in the ranch house since grandpa died over a year before. Luckily uncle's family lives in the only other house out at the ranch so she hasn't been completely alone. It's a 30 minute drive into "town" with most of it being on a dirt road. I say town but really it's more of a pit stop in the middle of the southern Utah desert with a few local homes and 3 gas stations and 2 hotels for the tourists.   It is a 2-3 hour drive to get groceries depending on which direction you prefer to travel. 

And so I have discovered what the Roman's felt when traveling beyond the empire. Arden's ancestors came from the wilds of Scotland. When the Romans invaded the British Isles they met with fierce tribes whose barbarism and uncivilized ways were shocking. Their strength and size made them quite the match for the Latin soldiers and so a wall was built. A wall to keep out the uncivilized, wild people of the north. A wall that was never crossed. 

In the few short weeks of living my new life I've realized how fitting Arden's metaphor was. I am a Roman. And I've crossed Hadrian's wall.