Burnham Update

Hello everyone! I’m so sorry that I have not updated my blog in 9 months. So much has changed for Tyler and I in 9 months. We bought a house, got married, and I started a new job just a week after we tied the knot. I feel so blessed. None of these transitions have been easy on either one of us.

We began our house hunt in the beginning of June. We had looked at a foreclosed home just 3 miles from the farm. Unfortunately the house already had an offer on it, but on the plus side we saw another home in the neighborhood that we really liked. Unfortunately this house had a sale pending sign in front of it. I began to pray like I never had before for this home. I knew God would open the door to this house if it was meant to be. About a week later I found out that the sale had fallen through for the previous buyers. Tyler and I placed an offer on the home. Our offer was not the only offer that was placed on the house. Tyler and I kept praying. We both were in the combine combining spinach the evening we found out our offer was accepted. We were absolutely ecstatic. We new that it wasn’t over yet. We had a lot of hurdles to still overcome before we could sign the paperwork. Little did we know that ¾ the way through the home buying process I would lose my job. We thought for sure we would lose the house. We kept praying and God kept providing. Finally September 29th, 2015 we received our keys.

On November 8th, 2015 Tyler and I tied the knot. We love being married, but marriage in its self is a huge challenge. Now that we live under the same roof with two different personalities we have been challenged to improve our communication and faith.  I’ve heard this gets easier with time.

All in all we have adjusted pretty well to married life. We both are welcoming the upcoming harvest. Though we are both a bit scared to see how it goes as a married couple.

 

P.S. We don’t have a dog yet nor are we expecting any children 😉

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Harvest Favorites

Adjusting to harvest has not been easy for me because my love language is quality time. I’m not a super needy person or at least I don’t think so. I begin to feel disconnected from Tyler when I don’t get enough quality time and I dislike feeling that way. A relationship is a two way street, but in the summer there is no question that the farm comes first. Each harvest we go through we face new challenges. Each harvest we learn how to improve our relationship for the next season. Though I have not mastered how to deal with harvest there still are several things I enjoy about harvest.

Harvest Favorites

1.) Tractor Rides/Date Nights: I love riding along with Tyler because I always learn something new and its the best quality time we usually get during the summer season. Most of our productive and deep conversations actually happen while riding in the tractor. Some times I’ll even bring Tyler dinner and a beer. I much rather watch a sunset out the tractor window while enjoying some home cooked food with Tyler than going out to some crowded fancy restaurant. There is just something about mother natures beauty that makes the evening so romantic.

2.) Never Bored: During the summer season there is always half a million different things Tyler is trying to get done. Tyler hops from one project to another constantly. There are always challenges that come along with these projects that keeps things interesting.

3.) Date nights with his mom. If I’m not feeling up to riding with Tyler or he is doing something that I don’t really enjoy doing his mom and I have date nights together, usually on a Friday or Saturday evening. Our date nights usually consist of some sort of adult beverage, conversation, and some sort of TV show or movie we like. On occasion we will cook something together. Last week we enjoyed wine, fire, and smore’s on a beautiful Saturday night.

4.) Machine breakdowns or rain: Though neither of these events Tyler particularly enjoys interrupting his harvest, they mean quality time for me.

It will probably be many years before I’m truly comfortable with the harvest season, but once we are married and living under the same roof I have a feeling I’ll be a bit more comfortable with it.

Rainy Day Date Night

As you may already know I’m new to blogging, both writing and reading, and I’m really enjoying reading about the other farm wive’s experiences. Today I read a post by one farm wife that talked about how she is thankful for machine breakdowns and bad weather. Today I experienced her same thankfulness. I haven’t been able to enjoy many rainy day date nights recently because it has been a dry spring. He has been busy with planting and watering, but its been day two of rain and I am glad to spend some down time with Tyler. On this impromptu date night this recipe fit perfectly.

Tyler’s BBQ Style Stew

1 Crockpot

1 Fry pan

1lb Venison

1 Can diced tomatoes with roasted chiles undrained (or jalapenos)

1 Can kidney beans

1 Can white or pinto beans

8 – 16 oz BBQ sauce of your choice

1 Small onion

1-2 Cloves garlic diced finely

3 TBSP Olive oil

In your crockpot combine rinsed beans, tomatoes, and BBQ sauce. Cube the venison and place in a fry pan with the 3 TBSP’s olive oil, minced garlic, and chopped onion. Cook the venison until browned. Once the venison has been browned place it in the crock pot. Turn crockpot on high for 45 min. to an hour, then place the crockpot on low for at least an hour and a half. Keep warm unit served. P.S. The original recipe was a bachelor meal that Tyler used to cook himself: 1 can kidney beans, 1 can white beans, 1 container BBQ sauce, and a slab of venison. I put my wifey touch on it 🙂

And step by step You lead me, and I will follow you all of my days

I not only follow Tyler’s steps around the farm, I follow God’s. I became a christian about a year before I met Tyler. I had been in a previous relationship that was very unhealthy, and that relationship had broken me down to nothing. I took a year to grow my faith an stand on my own two feet again. I knew God would place the right man in my life when the time was right.

I didn’t want to try and meet men in class, or at bars. Both had proven to be awkward and unreliable sources for picking up decent men. I had seen the Christian Mingle commercials millions of times. I was skeptical that online dating would work out, but I decided I would give it a shot. At the beginning of summer in 2012 I had seen Tyler’s profile. He looked cute and his about me section made my heart melt. I knew I wasn’t quiet ready yet for a relationship so I stopped logging on to Christian Mingle for several months. At the end of summer when work dwindled and school picked back up I decided to log in again. This time I knew I was ready for a relationship. To my surprise Tyler’s profile was still up on Christian Mingle. I could not believe this sweet adorable young man still looked to be single. I thought perhaps he is socially awkward or he is really picky about his women. But I put my thoughts aside and decided to write Tyler a message and to my surprise some time later I got one back. I was so ecstatic. We talked for about a week online before we started to text which lead to our first date at Red Robin.

Little did I know until months down the road that Tyler actually is really picky about the women he dates. I also learned Tyler had no time in the summer to date, because all his time is devoted to his beloved farm. This was my very first farm lesson. A very hard lesson to learn, one that I still struggle with, but with God’s strength I have been able to make it through every summer sense. I depend on my faith to get me through the struggles, I can’t depend on one young man to bring me happiness. I don’t need anyones approval or in this case attention to be happy (John 5:41). I only have to please one person (John 5:30). I’m in charge of my self and my attitude in this situation. I can choose to be unhappy or I can choose to be happy and supportive.