Divine Line Giveaway

As most of you know I am new to blogging and still trying to figure all of this out. I thought I posted this on Friday, but I checked my blog this morning and nothing. So, here it goes again!!

Did I mention how excited I am? I was contacted a while back by Amanda at Mom of Two Boys. You will have to check out her blog.....it is SO very cute. She has lots of great craft ideas, finds, pictures, not to mention two adorable little boys. Anyway, every Friday she hosts FAVORITE FINDS Friday and a GIVEAWAY! Guess what, this week her FAVORITE FIND is my very own Divine Line ETSY shop!

If you want to enter to win a set of four personalized photo blocks then head on over to Mom of Two Boys. To enter you must visit my Divine Line ETSY shop and then leave a comment on Mom of Two Boys blog about how you would personalize your photo blocks (mandatory). For a second entry you can become a follower of Mom of Two Boys, which is definitely worth your time. This is such a cute blog with lots of great ideas!! For a third entry you can LIKE Divine Line on Facebook. For a fourth entry, if you are a follower of my blog then leave a comment on Mom of Two Boys Blog saying you are visiting from So Divine.......

This feature and GIVEAWAY ends Thursday at Midnight and the winner will be announced on Friday! Good Luck! I can't wait to see who wins! Have a great week everyone!

OH for the LOVE of Fall.....The life of a ranch wife.....A day in the life of me.....

Well, I went back and read my last two posts......boring!! I was talking to a friend of mine when I first decided to try this whole blogging thing and we decided that I would have so much to talk about. It's true, I do, but I am having a hard time getting it all together.

I had such a hard time deciding on a title for this blog post. There were so many things I wanted to talk about and so many great titles. So, knowing me and my inability to make quick decisions or decisions at all I just lumped them all into one.

Did I mention how excited I am about Fall?? I love fall! Being a ranch wife in the fall is truly rewarding. My days, weeks and months become very busy, yet so exciting and fun. At the end of each day I am completely exhausted. I absolutely LOVE being good tired, if there is such a thing. Maybe that is what some people would refer to as an oxymoron....... To me when I know I have worked hard all day, from daylight until dark, cooked, cleaned, finished some laundry, found time to work in the yard, played and cared for my little guy, helped my husband on the ranch, had a nice hot dinner and shower to get the dust off.....now that is being good tired. So naturally, on these days, which is almost every fall day for me, I melt into my nice warm cozy bed and drift off to sleep fully anticipating the cool, crisp, quiet morning that awaits me and often comes way to soon. I just hope and pray that sometime during those quiet hours I don't hear the pitter patter of little feet and this ever so soft/sweet voice whisper "mommy"? Don't get me wrong, I am so lucky to have someone to call me mommy and I just love the sound of that word, but after a day of being GOOD tired I PRAY that he to can sleep through the night!

A day in the life of me is anything but uneventful, boring, dull or slow. As a ranch wife and proud mother of a very active two year old, my day usually begins somewhere between 4:30 and 5 in the morning. That is the time that I am out of bed. I may not be moving very fast at that early morning hour, but I am definitely out of bed. Sometimes I wish I was the type to sleep in, but I'm not. I have never been much on alarm clocks. In fact, I HATE alarm clocks! If for some reason my husband has to set the alarm and I don't wake up before it goes off, it's a bad day.
When I first wake up I stumble to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee, as there is nothing like a good cup of coffee in the morning. Both Casey and I love the Peppermint Mocha Creamer, which they use to make it only during the holiday's. However, they now make it ALL year long.....YEAH!! After the coffee is made I quickly hop in the shower. I have to have a shower in the morning to wake my sleepy head up and to take care of that hair do I worked hard on all night long. Not to mention this is probably the only 5 to 10 minutes I will have alone all day.....I am always looking for quality Tammi time.

Every morning from about 6-7 we have family time. Sometimes Hunter is up and sometimes he's not. Casey and I talk about what happened the previous day, discuss the day ahead, catch up on the morning news and just enjoy our life together on the ranch. We thank god every day for the opportunity to do something we both love and to be able to live and raise our son in such a pristine environment. After coffee time we hit the ground running. Casey goes out to change water and I get Hunter ready for the day and start breakfast. After Casey is done irrigating we have a quick breakfast and then go our separate ways. Right now I am taking care of all the riding and cow stuff and Casey is building corrals and irrigating. We are both doing the haying. I spend 3 to 4 hours a day on a horse and 3 to 4 hours a day in a tractor. Yep, this farm girl drives a tractor, a backhoe and a dozer. Hunter has his own pony so he either goes with me, goes with Casey or every once in a while he will choose to get spoiled at Grandma and Grandpa's. Hunter loves tractors, so anytime I am in a tractor he is right there with me....what a trooper he is.

So, I have accounted for about 8 hours of my day, but it's still far from over. The rest of my time is spent chasing a two year old, working around the house, cooking, doing chores and sometimes, if I am lucky we get to hit the arena in the evening. For fun, we enjoy roping and riding with friends and family. During the summer and early fall when the days are long we hardly ever get to the house before 9 and we rarely eat dinner before 10. We eat, Hunter takes a bath, we read a book and then the boys are off to bed. Now for some more Tammi time. When the boys are in bed is when I work on my shop business. I answer convos, work on orders, write BLOG posts and watch LMN.....lol It's usually midnight or later before I decide it's time to retire and try to hurry up and rest for the day ahead.

Living on the ranch is kind of like gambling, as your guess is as good as mine what the new day will bring. I have learned to never make plans, as they will most likely be changed or cancelled. Add a two year old to that mix and it's scary.....but amazing.

I hope you all enjoy my love and appreciation for the beautiful fall season we are preparing to enjoy. As a ranch wife it really doesn't get much better. Thank you so much for being a part of a day in the life of me, as good friends, family, my shop and blogging all help to keep me sane!

Have a great holiday weekend........RELAX, ENJOY and please be SAFE!

Tis the Seasons

I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am that Fall is finally in the air. This is by far, hands down my favorite time of year. Although, I have to admit I am totally a Season's girl. I love Summer. I love that the kids are out of school and you can hear them playing and laughing in the neighborhood. I love all the 4-H animals, the sheep bawling in the morning, the baby pigs squealing the goats bleating. I love SUNSHINE, warm weather, green grass, beautiful flowers, big trees, BBQ's, good hay, roping at night, thunderstorms and long evenings with family and friends. It's the simple things that make me smile. However, by the time Summer is drawing to an end I am definitely ready for Fall. Bring it on!

When Fall arrives it means that the fair is over, the animals are gone and the kids are headed back to school.....YEAH! The long, hot summer nights are replaced with crisp, cool, quiet mornings. The sound of the school bus and the birds chirping outside my window every morning is simply music to my ears. The leaves start to change, the cows start to come home, and the deer and elk take the place of hay in the fields. I never have a hard time knowing when Fall has arrived, as Casey starts blowing on his elk calls....can you say annoying! The History/Discovery channel is replaced by ESPN and Hunting.

I love hunting season, not necessarily for the hunting, but for the good food, friends and family that come along with it. Around here hunting season starts the first of September and runs to the end of December. During that time there isn't a weekend or hardly a week that we don't have someone extra staying at our house. There is usually always someone in our spare room, or on the couch, which I absolutely love. But the absolute best part about Fall is......FOOTBALL! I am a Football freak! I love high school football, 8 man football, Friday night football, College Football, night games, afternoon games, Saturday games, 11 man football, I just love football. In my book there isn't anything better than a good football game, with good friends, family and food.

Once Fall has ran it's course I'm definitely ready for Winter. Now it's time to bring out the long johns and warm clothes, build a fire in the fireplace, break out the sleds, gas up the snowmobiles and wait for our first snow. With the first snow comes frosty the snowman in our front yard, the making of snow angels and our first baby calf. This is a great time to stock up on hot dogs, marshmallows, smore fixings and hot chocolate, as you never know when it's time to hit the sledding hill. I also wouldn't be telling the truth if I didn't say that I really look forward to Christmas, as Jesus is the reason for this season!

From Winter we go into Spring, which I eagerly anticipate. I love it when 60 feels HOT, when I turn on my first sprinkler, the lawn starts to get green, the cows go to the hills, the horses come off pasture and we go to our first branding. I get totally excited when my first tulip blooms, when we get water in the ditch, when I make my first dutch oven meal, when we build our first fire in our fire pit, when the leaves start coming on the trees and when I know that Summer is right around the corner.

Like I said, I am totally a Seasons girl. I guess it's not really the seasons themselves, but what each one, in it's very own way has to offer. I hope everyone is looking forward to Fall as much as I am. It's the simple things that make me smile. Enjoy!

Have a great Friday everyone and Happy Labor Day weekend! Have fun and be safe!

Real Deal

I hate to even admit this, but I have to be the WORST blogger ever. I don't even think the words MIA would apply to my blogging habits, as it's more like nonexistent. I actually sat down at the computer tonight in hopes to get a couple of posts in, but I think I better focus on finishing this one. It's terrible to even think that I started this post last Sunday and I'm just now getting back to it. I would like to say and think that I will be able to catch up, but maybe we should just start over and hope for the best. Just consider my first couple of posts as a trial run, a little teaser, sneak peak or whatever you want to call it. But from here on out it's the real deal!

Ranch Wife 101 Guidelines..................

Here are the ranch wife 101 guidelines that I said I was going to share with all of you. If you have ever wondered what it would be like to own and operate a ranch with your spouse, please read these. To live AND WORK with your husband on a daily basis is definitely a challenge, but it's a challenge I have chosen to accept and one I really love.

These guidelines are passed on from one ranch wife to another and passed down from generation to generation. I hope you enjoy them and get kick out of them like I did. ENJOY!

1. Always load your horse last in the trailer so it is the first one unloaded. By the time he's got his horse unloaded, you will have your cinch pulled and be mounted up ready to go - lessening the chance of him riding off without you with your horse trying to follow while you are still trying to get your foot in the stirrup.

2. Never - and I repeat never - ever believe the phrase, "We'll be right back," when he has asked you to help him do something out on the ranch. The echoing words, "this will only take a little while" have filtered through generations of ranch wives and still today should invoke sincere distrust in the woman who hears them.

3. Always know there is NO romantic intention when he pleadingly asks you to take a ride in the pickup with him around the ranch while he checks, waters, and looks at the cattle. What that sweet request really means is he wants someone to open and close the gates.

4. He will always expect you to quickly be able to find one stray in a four-section brush-covered pasture, but he will never be able to find the mayonnaise jar in four-square feet of refrigerator.

5. Count every head of everything you see - cattle especially, but sometimes horses, deer, quail or whatever moves. Count it in the gate, out the gate or on the horizon. The first time you don't count is when he will have expected that you did. That blank eyelash batting look you give him when he asks, "how man?" will not be acceptable.

6. Know that you will never be able to ride a horse or drive a pickup to suit him. Given the choice of jobs, choose throwing the feed off the back of the pickup. If he is on the back and you are driving, the opportunity for constant criticism of speed, ability and your eyesight will be utilized to the bull extent. "How in the @#$% could you NOT see that hole?"

7. Never let yourself be on foot in the alley when he is sorting cattle horseback. When he has shoved 20 head of running, bucking, kicking yearlings at you and then hollers "HOLD'EM, HOLD'EM" at the top of his lungs, don't think that you really can do it without loss of life or limb.

8. Don't expect him to correctly close the snap-on tops on the plastic refrigerator containers, but know he will expect you to always close every gate. His reasoning, the cows will get out; the food will not.

9. Always praise him when he helps in the kitchen - the very same way he does when you help with the ranch work.........OR NOT!

10. Know that when you step out of the house you move from the "wife" department to the "hired hand" status. Although the word "hired" indicates there will be a paycheck that you will never see, rest assured you will have job security. The price is just right. And most of the time you will be "the.....best help he has" even if it is because you are the ONLY help he has.

So, I know by now that you probably think that I am exagerating just a little bit, but I'm not. Come spend the day with me, or any ranch wife for that matter and you will quickly know that all 10 of these guidelines are SO true.

I hope you enjoyed reading these quidelines as much as I enjoyed sharing them with you. I also hope that you found some humor in some of them, as they really are quite funny. I'm sure that almost all of you can relate to some of them in some way or another.

With all of that said I still feel like I am the luckiest wife, mother, daughter, woman and person ever. I get to live in the house where I was born and raised, live on and operate the ranch my great great grandpa homesteaded in 1884, the same ranch my dad ran his whole life, work with my husband, mom, dad and grandma everyday, be a stay at home mommy and raise my son in a setting that is absolutely beautiful, all while doing something I believe in and something I totally love......RANCHING!

Have a great night everyone! I will see you all tomorrow......same time, same place!!!

Welcome To My World

I have to apologize for being MIA (thanks Amber :) the last couple of days. Not that it really matters, other than when I set out on this little blogging adventure I made a commitment and thus far I haven't quite held up on my end of the bargin. I know, I know, it's only day four, but still way to early to be MIA. So here's hoping I can find and get myself into an everyday blogging routine.


I was so excited on Saturday when I wrote my first post that I left out sooooo much. I was not only excited about finally being a part of the blogging community, but also excited about being able to spend the weekend with my family, celebrating many wonderful milestones. If you were kind enough to read my "Blessings" post you probably walked away from it saying, who is this crazy blessed lady anyway. I know I did. So with that said, I thought I would take a little time to introduce myself, let you know ALL about me (the good, the bad and the ugly), my family and our journey back to the ranch.


It's so crazy for me to think, that as I sit in my living room and write this post, it's the same living room that I spent all of my childhood, junior high and high school years in. It wasn't until I went away to college that my parents built a new house. They definitely deserved it, but I remember how difficult it was to say goodbye to so many wonderful memories. I never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would ever live under that same roof again, let alone raise my family in the house in which I was raised.


I was born and raised in a very small ranching community in a very rural part of Eastern Oregon. When I say small I mean that there were only 20 some residents in the town where we lived and it was a little over 50 miles to the nearest city with an actual grocery store.. Our town trips, which happened once and on rare occasions twice a month, were a pretty big deal. Going to town was always an all day adventure and it still is, but I sure don't remember it being so exhausting like it is now. I would guess that 20 years and a 2 year old might have something to do with that....lol


I went to grade school and high school in a neighboring town about 15 miles from my house. Our little school was k-12, we went four days a week and I only had six kids in my graduating class. To make matters much more complicated (from a teenagers point of view), my mom was my principal and English teacher and my dad was my basketball coach. The chances of me skipping class or doing something even slightly against the rules were between slim and none.


After graduating from high school I went to a 4 year state college and got a BS degree in Psychology. After college I moved to Portland and worked at Nordstrom for 2 years before moving home to help out the family. I had an Uncle who became terminally ill and when they said they needed my help I didn't even think twice. I gave my two weeks notice, packed my pickup and was Eastern Oregon bound in no time. I was very close to my Uncle, he was my dad's brother who married my mom's siter. I know what your thinking, but really it's not illegal.

When I moved home I bought a house, as I couldn't imagine moving back in with my parents at the age of 27. I didn't think that I would be in Eastern Oregon long, that was 11 years ago. I have moved a couple of times and a lot of things have changed in my life, but the fact of the matter is that I am still here.

After Nordstrom I got a job for the Baker County Sheriff's Office as a 911 Dispatcher. I was a dispatcher for 2 years before accepting a position as the 911 Director for Baker County. I loved Lawenforcement, but I didn't like being inside, so I put in my application for a patrol deputy and got it. This was my dream. I worked in Baker County for a couple years before transfering to Malheur County. I worked the road for Malheur County for 4 years before we decided to move back to the ranch.

Shortly after transfering to Malheur County I met Casey. It was a whirlwind romance, as we went on our first date in February and were married in June and we packed up and moved home in September. It was a combination of things that led us to where we are now. Casey really didn't want me to work the road any more, we wanted to start a family and mom and dad needed our help.

It wasn't long after we moved home that we decided to start the adoption process. A process that was supposed to take two years only took 8 months. Our little man has been with us for a little over two years now and he is such a blessing! We are actually starting to discuss the possibility of adopting again.....I will keep you posted! Actually, that is why I opened my ETSY shop, Divine Line. Our first adoption was so expensive, as Hunter's birth mother didn't want state assistance. So we had to come up with 100% of the money. Which probably wouldn't of been to bad if she hadn't had to have a c-section and be in the hospital for five days.

Owning and operating a ranch is a wonderful life, but a hard life. We are on a very tight budget. To come up with the money to pay the initial adoption fees (which is what you pay to just get the process started) would be hard and probably cut us short somewhere else. So I thought I would start selling my crafts online to help with those fees. I could have never imagined the response and success Divine Line has generated. I am hoping to send the initial adoption fees in next week.......YEAH! Hunter might have a little brother or sister before we know it!


I have so much for to share, but I think I have rambled on long enough. Stay tuned for "Meanwhile Back at the Ranch, "Ranch Wives 101", "Our Adoption Angel" and why "Divine Line."

Welcom to my world, please come back soon! Here's hoping you had a wonderful day and a very enjoyable evening!

Take Care,

BLESSINGS

Oh my, this is all so foreign to me. I have been setting in front of the computer for the last hour trying to figure out what to write. I have written several things, read what I wrote and quickly hit delete. A few days ago I was so excited to get my blog up and going. I thought, I have so much to blog about that I can hardly stand it. Now that it's in full force, what do I really have to say that people want to hear? The answer to that is, I don't know, but I'm going to give it a try. I will approach this new adventure just like I do everything else in my life......with all of my heart and soul. So, here it goes..............

What a perfect day to start posting on my blog. I truly am "So Divine"....... To me Divine means blessed. I found this out by looking through my little Thesaurus one day (by the way, my mom is so proud of me, as she was my high school English teacher) when I was trying to come up with a catchy name for my ETSY shop, as well as my blog. I wanted something that meant Blessed Family and I came up with "Divine Line." It's perfect, as I'm so blessed in every way.

As a family we celebrated my Grandma's 90th birthday today. It was so much fun, as it was the first time in I don't know how long that we were all together. All the kids, grandkids, great grandkids, daughters, husbands, wives, everyone was there, and when you live in the sticks like we do that is amazing. What an accomplishment, seriously to live to be 90 and still be in good health. Grandma T is probably the strongest (willed and headed...lol) person I know, but she has the biggest heart. She still drives to town, which is 50 miles one way, twice a week to volunteer at the local hospital. For those of you that live in Oregon, she goes to town on Tuesday's and Thursday's, so if at all possible do your chores around the house on those days and stay off the road. Believe me when I say that you will know it when you meet her, as she is that little old lady that can hardly see over the steering wheel, driving a car that looks like it was in the crash up derby last Sunday.......if you see her coming just PULL OVER. It's so funny, as I ask her what she hit and she will tell me that she has driven up to that some curb 100 times and she just doesn't know what happened this last time? To funny.... I just hope that if I live to be 90 that I am in as good of shape as she is and that my mind is still as bright as hers. She is truly an amazing lady and I am so blessed to be able to call her my Grandma.

Tomorrow is another day of celebration in our lives. Casey and I will have been married 5 years. Can you believe it, 5 whole years together. Again, just one more reason that I am completely blessed. I am married to the most wonderful man, husband and father I know. He is without a doubt my best friend and I am more in love with him today than I have ever been. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that every day is sheer bliss, because that would be FAR from the truth. But I can honestly say that our relationship is stronger, our love for each other is deeper and our life together, as a family seems to get better and better every day. I am truly "So Divine".

Then last and definitely not least, the best blessing of all. Our angel child.....Hunter Allen Patrick Coleman. As one of my friends said, "Life is Good, God is Good." That is so true, I am completely blessed in every aspect of my life and Hunter is just like icing on the cake. Casey and I adopted our son, from birth, on March 17, 2008. What a blessing he has been in our lives. There is absolutely nothing like motherhood. It is so hard for me to believe that he is going to be three in just a few short months. Where has the last two years gone? I remember the day we brought him home and I remember yesterday, but where did all the time go in between? I remember someone once told me that before you know it he will be going off to school, asking for the car keys and then moving away to college.....so true! Cherish every minute you have with your kids, as they simply grow up way to fast!

Life as a Coleman, life as I know it, is TRULY "SO DIVINE".......