By: Katy Wolff
When I first met my future husband, three things sealed the deal on our relationship: our mutual love for eating peanut butter out of the jar, Star Wars and a passion for livestock. In fact, my grand marriage proposal was in the lambing barn on a cold January Saturday night. I know, what nerds!
Yet, here we are, approaching our seventh anniversary in October, so maybe the criteria wasn’t all that bad. We still enjoy taking scoops of peanut butter straight out of the jar while viewing the latest Star Wars creation, and of course, we still find many ways to stay busy on the farm with our livestock.
Our Date Night
As you can imagine, with our three children and a stream of critters, time for just us is often in short supply. Our few and far-between date nights have often been a rushed dinner wherever we have a gift card followed by a stop at the grocery store without kids, which, in case you don’t know, is delightful.
Our latest Friday night getaway in early August was a rare opportunity together and took us back to our old road warrior days. August is typically the breeding season for our ewes, and this year, we found ourselves low on “ram power” (needing a new male sheep to breed with our ewes), so my husband geared up for a quick trip to get a new ram for our herd. At the last minute, we decided to pawn off all three kids, and I jumped in the rig to accompany my partner in crime to snag a new ram for our flock.
We had roughly nine hours uninterrupted, the most time alone since our eldest was born four years ago. I wasn’t sure what to do with myself when we stopped at the gas station, and I didn’t have to chase toddlers down the snack aisle. We shared a hot, fresh Casey’s pizza, drank iced tea and chatted away.
Once we arrived at the farm, where we would pick out our ram, we scanned the options, deliberated and finally got our guy as the fall-like chill cascaded over the barn. After sharing more stories, we shook hands and finally pointed the truck and trailer back home.
For some, this might sound like a bizarre way to spend a Friday night with your spouse, but for many stockmen and women, this is our way of life and how we make the most of our opportunities to spend time together. Although it was over in a flash, the trip was well worth the conversations, belly laughs and doing something together, which we both enjoyed. Time is precious, and this trip reinforced the value of cherishing every shared experience and making lasting memories.
