August 22, 2016

Home Sweet Home

Burns homestead
With the ranch closed for a couple weeks in August, I headed back to New York to wrap up loose ends and get some quality family time in. My flight didn't leave ABQ until 4pm and then I had to transfer in Vegas which I didn't enjoy because I lost $5 in about 30 seconds. Luckily I transferred quickly to my flight to Buffalo but then I didn't arrive until 1am. After some rest, it was non stop for the two weeks I was home. Tuesday I went with Mom, Dad and Felix to the New York Farm Days so Felix could look at all the tractors. I hadn't been in years so it was nice to check it out (and drink some delicious raspberry apple juice).
Farmer Felix
Wednesday I went back to KJT for a farewell lunch. I was a bit nervous but when I walked in the door it was like I never left. I even got to participate in some water balloon tossing to celebrate the Olympics. It reminded me of how much I love that place and those people and how much fun I had there. It was bittersweet to walk out the door with my cardboard box of belongings but I was excited for the future. Friday I got a much needed massage to iron out all the kinks I've worked up being on horseback 6 hours a day. Sunday I got to participate in the Silver Ball Tournament. I was glad I was able to make one game. There was no quarter given by Ma though as she got me out at third. She's a hell of a shortstop.
Priscilla Porters
Monday I was so excited to drive down to Falconer, NY and visit my friend Amy and her family. She had recently moved back after living in Boston for the last several years so it was great to see her and her new house. It was gorgeous with a barn and surrounded by cornfields and with horse and buggies going by. I loved spending time with her and her husband and kids. Wednesday I finally conquered my yard. It's amazing how overgrown it was even with the lack of rain and people taking care of it. I hauled two truckloads to the dump and was very pleased with my progress. I realized how much I'd missed mowing a lawn! 
Mopar in the Fury
Thursday the entire family drove down to Perry in the Fury, Roadrunner and Camaro. It was super cruise night so it was cool to see all the old cars. Earlier that day we had taken Felix to the Charlotte carousel so I could get my horseback riding fix in :)
Riding the wooden pony
Saturday morning the girls and I headed out to get pedicures in preparation for Cyd and Kevin's wedding. It felt nice to be pampered after being a cowgirl all summer. The wedding was amazing and it was nice to be able to see everyone and share what I've been up to. Amber and I danced the night away.
The siblings
The entire time I was home it was so hot and muggy. I'd forgotten how awful humidity feels. I broke down and installed an AC unit on Thursday because my house became unbearable. My last night at home the weather finally broke and it dropped into the 70s. Leaving was just as brutal as I had to get up at 3:30 am to drive to Buffalo for my flight. It was nice to step out in ABQ to the dry heat. I stopped in T or C before going back to the ranch to get myself a real cowboy hat. In all my years of cowboying I have never had a real hat, instead sticking with the "Fester" look. However I felt it was finally time to commit and get a real one. With that it was back to the ranch where I drove past a bald eagle at the lake which I took as a good omen for what's to come!
My new hat

August 13, 2016

A New Chapter

This has been quite the summer of change for me. I started out with the intent of helping Meris and Seth out at their ranch for a couple months. As the summer progressed though, it became clear to me that I had found my way back to doing something I love.
Summer 2005
It all began when Meris and I met working at a dude ranch in Colorado in 2005. I worked there for 2 summers and fell in love with the West and ended up moving out to Colorado after graduating. Meris was still working at the ranch for a third summer when she convinced me to quit my first real grown up job and come back and be a wrangler for the summer (do you see a pattern with Meris here ;) ). Over the years as I moved back East and got my MBA and started a career and bought a house I kept in touch with Meris (who had since bought Geronimo Trail) and had gone back to visit multiple times. She asked me every so often to come out and work but I always had an excuse. I was always thinking of her out there living her dream though.
Summer 2006
So this past May when Meris emailed and asked me to come and work my first thought was actually 'yes!'. It all happened so quick that my original plan was to just quit my job and find something else when I got back in August. However, I was offered to take a leave of absence for the summer and come back to my job in August. I was floored and obviously accepted since I figured I could just live my dream for a few months and come back to reality. I just assumed dude ranching was a chapter of my life that I had already closed.
My first visit to Geronimo in 2007
When I arrived in New Mexico, I jumped right back into wrangling and housekeeping and other vagaries of ranch life. I was back in the saddle again! It wasn't until the first time it rained though that I was immediately flooded with scent memories of Colorado and it reminded me how much I had truly missed this environment.
Visiting in 2009
Eventually the Geronimo team offered me to stay full time at the ranch and take over some more of the operational aspects. I was faced with my dream but it was a hard decision as it meant leaving the security I had built up over the last 6 years with my job. However with every week that went by talking with the guests and going over my job history, my degree in marketing, my MBA in entrepreneurship, my love of nature, my friendship with Meris and her family, that it made me realize that everything in my life had been leading up to this job. It was funny because the first thing my Dad said when I told him I was going to help Meris out for the summer was "i always knew you'd end up back out there". I was quick to remind him that it was just for a summer but he must have known.
Visiting in 2013
Leaving KJT Group was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do as that was the first place where I actually had a career and not just another job. I had been through so many ups and downs there but the people and the culture were the reason I stuck it out as I felt it was the best workplace in the world. The whole company has been nothing but kind and supportive and it was more than I could ever hope for. They helped mold me into the professional that I am today and I am forever grateful for all the knowledge, skills, and experience I learned there.

Everything has been happening so quickly but as I have been home visiting for the past week, people have been commenting on how happy I am and that is the greatest compliment I could receive because Grandpa Burns always told me to do what made me happy. Well Grandpa, I finally found it!
Summer 2016