#LaRueFarm

Okay before I get into anything I have to tell you the funniest thing in the entire world. I named this post #laruefarm because i'm mostly going to be talking about our farm but also because I just discovered that Jon says POUNDlaruefarm. hahahhahahhahha im literally dying. okay back up- let me set this scene for you.

the other day we are in our room, i'm getting ready to shower, Jon is laying on the bed looking at my phone and I hear him say, "what does pound laruelife, pound laruefarm even mean?" and I was like what on earth are you talking about? he turns the phone around to show my instagram, and points to the caption- #laruelife # laruefarm. I about lost it. HE SAYS POUND INSTEAD OF HASHTAG. I married a grandpa. hahhahahhaa okay i'm done teasing. I love Jon and i'm so grateful he is my husband, he brings so much joy to my life, I don't mean to make fun of him because we try really hard to be very respectful to each other in our marriage but sometimes things like this are said and they cannot go unnoticed. (for example, one time we were driving to utah and we passed that HUGE bull statue on the side of the freeway, the one between tremonton and brigham and i said, "are there bulls that are really that big?" obviously without really giving it much thought, and of course Jon died laughing and now asks me that every time we pass it. so we're even now.)

so yeah.just thought that needed to be shared. pound i love my husband.

ANYWAYYYY-YOU GUYS! Summer is fast approaching and the reality of living on a farm is quickly smacking me in the face! It's more like a love tap though, and I DO feel loved. Like, could we live in a more beautiful place? I really don't think so.

The rainbow literally began and ended in my backyard. is this real life?

So i've probably mentioned this before. but the previous owner of the house we bought was divorced, and you could tell by the very neglected yard and house that there hadn't been a woman there in a few years. So it's been a lot of work. Obviously all the flowers were dead and the fields and yard themselves have even been pretty dead.

Now let me back up here a bit. I grew up in Chicago right? Your yard is like . 25 acres (if that) and you maybe have one tree and a teeeny garden if your mom is awesome (like mine) and maybe a flower bed or two. Regardless of that I pretty much never did yard work.(or any labor of any kind) There wasn't much to do for one, and I obviously had better things to do like swim in my neighbors pool. So growing up i NEVER did yard work. maybe weeded like once for .50 cents. and then we moved to Utah where people do service projects all the time for old people, and turns out I have reallly poor work ethic and I steered clear of those most of the time (horrible I know, I like service projects now, no worries.) anyway, all in all what i'm trying to say is honestly if you added up all the yard work, weed pulling, planting, blah blah blah all of that combined that i have done in my lifetime (up to this point) you'd probably get about 3 hours. SO PATHETIC I KNOW. anyway. so one friday afternoon I was feeling really motivated, I don't work fridays, but Jon does so I thought I'd go weed the crap out of our front flower bed and blow his mind when he got home.

well this is what i had to work with-

After FIVE HOURS of slave labor, this was the result

(This "after" picture was taking about 2 weeks later actually, so some more little weeds grew back)

But talk about progress! Are you proud?! I only finished half the flower bed too! I was done after 5 hours though, lets be realistic.

Now to make this actually the worst story ever, my neighbor came over the other day and told me those huge green weeds that I spent 5 hours removing were actually hollyhocks. WHICH ARE FLOWERS. I almost passed out from the tempest that was raging inside of me due to the thought that I might've spent 5 hours actually putting some effort into something, BUT to be honest I'm not sure if they are hollyhocks or not because after my internal meltdown (I tried to keep most of my emotions inside, I only threatened to kill like 3 people while the neighbor was still there) I looked up hollyhocks online and they looked a little different.. plus when we first went to look at this house back in august of 2014, there were no flowers ANYWHERE so... I'm not sure if they are actually weeds, or if they are indeed flowers that just haven't bloomed yet, or didnt bloom last year due to lack of water. WHO KNOWS. either way, I got work done, and we possibly have half a flowerbed full of flowers. I guess only time will tell.

On to the next part of our farming extravaganza-The field.

We live on a 16 acre lot, about an acre of yard, 2 acres of pasture where we keep the horses, leaving about 13 acres for our hay field.Which was pretty pathetic when we moved in. We had a really nice neighbor come over and plow it all up and we planted a crap ton of seed. Real nice fancy stuff so we can feed our horses quality hay through the winter, and also sell the rest for some mulah$$. So in april we started looking into getting the pump turned on so we can start irrigating. Lonnggg story short, our beautiful pump (which we were told was a 10 horsepower, only a few years old, had good pipe and watered the field perfectly all summer last year) was actually like 18years old, 25 horse, had corroded pipe and had broken during the middle of summer last year. So we dropped a nice chunk of change on a brand new one. Don't you love unexpected expenses? We were very blessed to have had enough in our savings to pay for it though, and we fasted and prayed a lottt for rain. And it has rained AT LEAST once a week since then. We have been soo blessed praise the Lord!!

So anyway last night we finally got everything all situated and were able to begin irrigating. Setting up the pipe the other day was a lot better than I anticipated (remember the 3 hours of yardwork/labor i did in my life?) Turns out you kinda have to help when you live on a farm. and I LOVE IT! I'm gonna be so ripped by the end of the summer.

Sometimes I laugh because we are the majorly poor new farmers in the area (if you can't tell by our field) But we are really enjoying it and it's hard when you start from scratch! Our millionaire neighbors across the street have given us some really good advice and have provided the "grass that's greener on the other side" (super literally) to give us something to aspire to. lol

I actually really enjoy looking at their field because it's always so beautiful and green and gives me something nice to look out my front window at! I never feel discouraged that they're grass is greener to be honest. Especially considering their resources! I am happy they are doing so well and happy I have a nice view :)

Speaking of resources, see those big pivot sprinklers? That's what the rich farmers have, and that's what Jon's new job is about. He designs those. Pretty cool huh?

Also check out the seeds I planted!! yay!! the dogs got a hold of them one day and I lost quite a few :( but some were saved!! yummy veggies and flowers, can't wait!
We are soo self sufficient

So Penny still hates the cat. She drags her around by the neck and I always have to remind her to be nice.

Copper on the other hand is very kind and patient with the kitty. (who so desperately wants to be an inside pet, along with copper.)

 

He lets her snuggle.

it's pretty adorable.

Love them.

Every now and then I let her inside though and she purrs like a motorboat.

Quotes from Jon: (besides the "pound" episode of course.. still laughing)

"You're grounded"

"What even is mascara? that eyebrow stuff?"

"Be weird with me, you're super good at being weird."

"You got my emotions all stirred up"

(He was hollering something from the kitchen and I couldn't hear him so I kept asking "what?!" ) and he yells back NM!"

"We need to eat brain food, and do brain things."

Pound he cracks me up Pound see you next time.

Home sweet home

You guys! we've already lived in Idaho for 3 months! Time has flown! And it already feels like home. Here are some updates. Johnny moved in with us pretty quickly after we moved in, but is now moving out next week. It was fun having him here but it'll be nice just having it be me and Jon here because we've probably only lived alone for like 6 months out of the 2.5 years we've been married. We are just a welcoming home. haha we love having people live with us, but sometimes it's nice to just have each other :)



Our lovely little farm just got plowed today and we will get some seeds in have some hay start growing! Look at us go!

Also the first flower of spring popped up this week, and I was thrilled! We have tons of flower beds around our property and i'm so excited for them to start blooming! They'll need quite a bit of work but it'll still be fun! I called penny over to show her the new flower and literally 2 seconds after i took this picture, she chomped it.


Jessie and Jack are bffs and it's been so fun having horses! I can't wait till they're old enough to ride. Jessie is the sweetest thing, she comes when i call and loves to be pet. Jack is kind of a little turd, but he has come a longggg way. Jon will make him a great horse :)

Penny and Copper are living the high life. They roam free and have an endless supply of mice to chase, which usually results in a very dirty penny.


 But that's what baths are for (which she loves) not.

lol she looks like a bearded old lady.

My handsome Copper

Our little kitty cracks me up. Sometimes I call her pocket because she likes to sleep in my hoodie pocket, or in my coat. but mostly I just call her kitty. She is an outside cat but absolutely lovessss me.
 She follows me around like a dog whenever I'm outside, and when i try to come back inside she chases me and i have to run and shut the door really quick otherwise she tries to run in the house. She's adorable, yet hideous. I like her.
At first penny really didn't like her and would chase her and bite her lots. Copper did nothing, she was still scared of him though.

They all get along pretty good now though.

The purpose in getting her was to catch all the mice we have around. We haven't really had any more problems with them in the house now that copper has become the master mouse catcher. One day I came home and there were 11 dead mice in my back yard. He's like the ultimate mouser. People say you should have young cats stay around older cats so they can learn to mice, but i think i'll just keep her around copper, cuz he obviously knows what he's doing!

She is still too little catch anything but today i showed her dead mouse and she had a ball! Hopefully she will start hunting.


In other news- Jon and I got new jobs! what?? me? a new job? I know right.

I've been working at the preschool and haven't really been loving it, plus I make pretty much nothing. So a few months back I starting looking for a new job and interviewed for a medical receptionist job. Unfortunately I didn't get it so I just kind of stopped looking because i was tired of Job hunting. The school year was almost over anyway so I just figured I'd stick it out till summer. Well the other day the clinic called me back and offered me a job! So I jumped on it. Jon also got a new job. HIP HIP HOORAY!!! He is going to design pivots for irrigation systems which is awesome! No idea how he got that job because he doesn't have a degree and really has no experience in that but he rocked his interview and once again proved he can literally do anything. I love having an awesome husband. anyway the cool part is we will work pretty much the same hours and we only work like 10 min apart! So we will carpool to work together and it'll be great! such a blessing!

Okay last thing. In october I bought a camera on a local classifieds ad just because I felt like it and photography was something I kind of always wanted to do. Well i never did anything with it and Then in march I felt like I should start trying so I posted on another local classifieds page that I was looking to start a portfolio and was offering free shoots. well the response was huge! I booked my whole month up in like a week and here are some of my favorites so far:)

To see more you can go to my Photography blog, or check out my Photography page on facebook.
 [be sure to "like" it :)]

anywho- time for quotes from Jon!

"I feel like I could run a marathon right now!...if I didn't have to use my legs."

"I've been telling a lottt of dead people jokes today"

"THIS is why I could not be a drug addict! I'm too concerned with cleanliness. I'd be like, did you sterilize this needle?!"

"I feel like I could squeeze your hand hard enough to break all your bones."

"I support you with all of my heart, and none of my body."

"You could sing that.. America song.. the one they sing at the beginning of stuff"

and my personal favorite-
"If you're going to sin, make it count."

Later gator!

Our newest adventure!

It’s done!!! It’s finally done! We are all moved in and loving our new home. Moving here was the biggest headache ever! ( we may have been a little spoiled since buying our first home was a piece of cake, but still!) We put in an offer on the house in August and didnt get moved in until the very end of December. Sheesh! We just had a very poor experience with our lending officer and the realtor selling this house. (lots of dishonesty, and miscommunication) So if you’re moving to Idaho, I can tell you who NOT to use!! But if you want to sell your house in Utah, (or buy one) I can sure as heck tell you who TO use! Our realtor was literally our life saver! (it helped that she was my friends mom, so we already knew each other which made it nice) But this lady seriously helped us out sooo much and went above and beyond! She was the bomb.com I could go on and on but I wont, if you need a realtor ASK ME, I’ll give you her info.
ANYWAY
So much has happened since we moved in!! First off let me just say small towns are THE BEST. Our ward has like 50 people in it and everyone is awesome. I already got a calling into the YW presidency and I am thrilled!!! (I was crossing my fingers that it wouldnt be primary again.. woops) I may or may not be like 30 years younger than all the other leaders but that’s okay. Haha There are only 7 YW in my ward and they’re all so different and wonderful in their own ways. I’ve always wanted to be in the YW and I think it’ll be a blast  We had YW in Excellence, or New Beginnings at my house this week and it was a hoot. It was SuperHero themed, and since there are 8 values, and only 7 YW guess who was voted to participate. Say hello to SUPER VIRTUE. (way creative, I know) anyway it was fun.

There are so many perks to living out in the middle of nowhere. We only hear about 3 cars a day drive past our house, every direction you look is beautiful-whether it be mountains, pasture, rolling hills-I love it all! There is wildlife EVERYWHERE a bald eagle has a nest IN OUR YARD. We see huge hawks flying around ( sometimes i get nervous one is going to snatch up Penny) there are huge herds of deer that graze across the street, It’s just awesome. I used to not care too much about nature and the outdoors but moving to Utah helped quite a bit, and moving to Idaho made it even better! I love where we live!

Because we live so far from everything I decided it would be smart to start meal planning, and trying out freezer meals, and I’ll tell you what! What a good idea!! If you’ve ever considered freezer meals TRY IT! It’s so easy and they are all so good! I just found a few recipies on Pinterest that I thought sounded good and easy so I made a shopping list of all the ingredients and went out and bought them (it’s just a 45 min drive, NBD) and came home and got to work! Here’s a tip- if you want to do freezer meals, they make life during the week wayy easier because you don’t have to cook, but you do need to set aside a good chunk of time ONE day to make everything. It took me about 3 hours but I had made 12 meals. (7bags, most with enough for left overs for lunch) and I did the math and it came out to about each meal being under $4. Like, you can’t beat that. Some of our favorites so far have been-


BBQ CHICKEN-The first time I made this I shredded up the meat and we put it on salads, WOW YUM! The second time i shredded up the meat and we had bbq chicken sandwhiches. Both excellent options.

TERIYAKI CHICKEN- I cooked some rice and poured this over it. The juices soaked right up and the chicken was delish!



These two weren’t technically freezer meals, although I’m sure you could make them that way, they were just from one of my crockpot cookbooks but wow were they delish!!

POTATOES AND HAM- I work for the school district here and for Christmas they gave each person a Ham roast, So one day I cooked mine and then just cut it up and portioned it out into bags and froze some. It has lasted forever! So I used cut up ham chunks from this and wowowowo! Delish!! But if you don’t want to buy a whole Ham, I’m sure those little pre packaged ham chunks are good too.


STEAK FAJITAS- This was actually out of the “kids in the kitchen section” haha I didn’t realize that till after, but they were sooo good! And obvioulsy easy. I used elk steak and it was incredible! Sooo tender and lean. But of course if you dont have any elk meat lying around, i’m sure beef is wonderful too 

Moving on!

Penny has been loving all the open space to run around. She is the tiniest little cuddly sweetheart but when she wants to play, she plays!! She’s kind of a psycho but we love her. (even Jon! It’s a miracle!) She also likes to bring me dead cats.

she likes mud.

I haven’t had tons of time to teach her any tricks except sit. But she is a quick learner.
Story time!!
Let me give a back story quick- Jon hates poop. All poop. (he claims he isn’t changing diapers, we’ll see about that) I don’t really understand because he lived on a farm growing up, but anyway- when penny pooped in the house for the first little while being potty trained it infuriated him, and I always cleaned it up because she’s “my dog” anyway one morning he got up for work and I was still in bed and I hear from the hallway “what the heck.. you’re going to die!” my immediate thought was that somehow Penny got out of her kennel and pooped on the floor because then I heard “Lauren.. come here” So of course duty called and I was summoned from my place of rest to go pick up some poop. Well when I got up I saw Jon standing in the doorway of the bathroom. He goes “there’s a mouse in here! (time out-when we bought this house I was delighted by the idea that we wouldnt have mice anymore because this house was much newer, and in our old house OLD, mice were the bane of my existance, but turns out when you live in the country it doesnt matter how new your house is. There aremice EVERYWHERE outside and some find their way in-Time in!) Go get me something to trap it with, I don’t want to make a mess in the bathroom.” I laughed and was like let’s get penny!! So I grabbed her from her kennel and we put her in the bathroom and started egging her on to “go get him!!” she pretty much had no idea what we were saying but we kept egging her on and she started to get excited, especially when the mouse started to run! This little guy was so fat that he didnt even scamper, it was more like a slow speed walk. Poor little guy haha he reminded me of Gus Gus from cinderella. Anyway she started pawing at him and barking but wasnt attacking, Jon and I were just cracking up because it was so entertaining I tried to get my camera to record it But somehow the mouse got away and crawled under the cabinet or something. Darn. Penny did grab him a couple times so there was a little blood on the floor so we figured he would go crawl away and die somewhere in the walls.. (greaaattt) oh well. So Jon and I both left for work. WELL! When i got home I walk in thehouse and the first thing I see is little Gus Gus sitting in penny’s food bowl chowin down! No wonder he was so fat, he’d been dining on high calorie puppy food! Ha! So i trapped him under a bowl and got penny. (we need to pause right here and take note that this is quite impressive for me. I don’t handle the rodents or pests of the house, that is Jon’s job) but since he was gone, i had to be tough. Anyway. I got penny and we tried again! This time she was much more excited and chased that little guy all around the kitchen she grabbed him and shook him up real good and I shooed her outside and she fisnished the job! I was so proud!! Unfortunately I still had to dispose of the dead mouse but our little baby is now a mouser! Who needs cats when you have a little sweater wearing dog?! The end.

In other news you all remember from the my last post that Jon’s dog Jasper died. Well long story short the owner of the pit bull was apparently ordered to pay restitution (not by us, we didn’t press charges or anything) we were asked what we thought Jasper was worth and blah blah blah anyway, Pitbull owner didn’t want to pay cash so he gave us a horse instead! Ha! So we got a free horse. Her name is Jessie. Jon tried to surprise my with it..but he’s not so good with secrets and I figured it out. We have been talking about getting a horse for a while but our “farm fund” was being saved up for equiptment for the fields so we didn’t want to spend awhole bunch on a horse. But we didn’t have to because Jessie was free! What a blessing! She’s a great horse too! Comes from excellent papered lines (owner is a horse breeder) I’m not sure why he didn’t just pay us because what we asked was less than half what the horse is worth, but we aren’t complaining! I’m so excited to have a horse! Every little girls dream right? She’s beautiful, super sweet and friendly and young so we have plenty of time to train her how we want and bond with her before she can even be ridden. What an adventure!

Jon's glamour shot^^

I’m totally digging this country life!

 

Oh yeah, and I turned 23, so that was pretty cool. I had a little shindig at my house with lots of family and some of my friends were even able to make the trek! It's crazy some of them already have kids!! (who are all totally adorable!!!)

Quotes from Jon:
“Sometimes I wish I was a raindrop..”
“Remind me to thank your parents for teaching you that your jokes never get old”
“My body hates me, but pepto loves me”

 

Oh, and then there was this gem at the DMV

Lady behind counter: Name?
Me: Lauren LaRue
Lady behind counter: Lauren LaRue? Sounds like a stripper name.

okayyyy bye.