As most of you know I left our family ranch back in 2003 while I was working my way through college. Recently with my new job I have had time to go back and work on our ranch. When I started out working construction in the summers it was a vacation compared to ranch work. I have always loved equipment and building things. After working my way up in the company and going to school I moved on to a new job that is still construction but I am in the office more than before. I still get to go out and work with my crew, but not as much as I would like. There is no better feeling in life than seeing something that you have done that will make things better and you can be proud of. So many people do not know the pride that can be felt in doing a job well. Today I working on our ranch. We were installing a cattle guard. Not a glorious task or something that is very difficult. My Dad and I were putting this in so my Grandpa who is 80 has one less gate to open when he is going around to work on our ranch. He has worked the ranch his entire life and even though he is 80 he can outwork most people. Growing up on the ranch taught me that any job that is worth doing is worth doing right the first time and making it the best you can. Well today with the cattle guard we had to adjust the road (two track) that leads up to it so it lines up with the fence and makes the corner better. We hauled a couple loads of dirt the in the dump that was old when I was born, cut out the vegetation with the new to us backhoe and made it look extremely nice and smooth when you go over it. It was not a glorious task or one that many will even notice but still we did the best job we could with what we had. It was a job that I could walk away from and be proud of, take my kids up and show them even though they are still too young to appreciate the work that goes into repairing an old cattle guard, digging out the rocky mountain ground, setting the railroad ties and staking them into the earth and supporting it so it lasts until they are old. We did not buy a manufactured base, they cost a lot and are a pain to get up to our ranch. The backhoe saved us a lot of time and made the job a lot easier. But there was still a fair amount of shoveling and making the ground level so it worked right.
Recently my wife who finished her second degree this may has started her own business. It is nothing big or glamorous but it is something that she can take pride in and shared her talent with the world via the web. She has always made crafts and different things and is very talented. She is specializing in leather beaded bracelets right now. They seem to be selling the best. Each one she makes is one that she is inspired by her surroundings and creating what she feels. She takes a great deal of pride in what she does and every item she creates is unique and made from her heart. She has a Psychology degree and a elementary education degree. She got the education degree as an insurance policy incase something happens to me and she needs to have a job that gives her good insurance. After she graduated for the second time she had received a lot of pressure from certain people to jump into a job that her heart isn't set for. We were discussing what she would do if she could do anything and she said she would love to have a store that she could sell things she created and poured her heart into...www.kickassieskreations.com was born. It is much cheaper to start an online store than to have a physical store with what she does. Also in the area we live in it would be a struggle with how small it is. So why not reach out to the world with a click and share what she does. This endeavor has given her great joy and is something she loves. I enjoy equipment, horses and working with my hands but I am not as delicate as she is. She can make clay sculptures, jewelry and tiny intricate things, I can move a lot of dirt, weld, and other types of stuff. It is delicate in its own way but not as pretty or enjoyable as what she does.
I hope if you read this will at least stop by her store and see what she does. We love to share our creations with you and hope you enjoy a job that we can be proud of.
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