Life right now

Life has been busy but good. Autumn is potty training so well and gets everything in the potty except for the occasional accident. She will even routinely go potty outside in the field when we are busy with cows. Now we just need to work on the night time potty training. But she is our big helper, she helps feed the cows, chase the cows, do the laundry, do the dishes and take care of Hunter. She is talking super well and we can understand everything she says usually and she is the most polite little girl her age I have ever come across. And anytime she can catch a ride on a horse with mommy, daddy or grandma or an aunt, she will. I have gotten into the habit of calling her "Goldie Locks, cuz her hair has been getting a little longer but has such gorgeous golden curls!!  She also loves church and saying family prayer at night.

 Hunter has one tooth and I think the other one will follow real soon. He gets into everything if he can get away from me for a minute. He will stand up by himself in the middle of the room but has yet to take a step. He waves hi and goodbye and gives hi fives. Such a sweet young man, he always has a smile and is happy unless he is hungry, tired, or wants me to hold him. He loves to ride in the ranger and he squeals with excitement when we go fast. He also likes to pull Autumn's hair.

Me? I have been helping Jonathan feed the cows, chase the cows, tag the babies and ride the horses. The kids come with us most everywhere which is fun. I have been keeping up with my running about 3-4 times a week, the boulder boulder 10k is on the 28th of this month. So excited. I love being pre marriage weight again and feeling good enough to do everything I want. I have been busy "landscaping" watering my "grass" and trees and we will plant our garden here soon.

Jonathan- He is busy with water and cows like always but it is nice when we go together, the days don't seem as long. He is going to participate in a rodeo this saturday with events like, calf branding and wild cow milking. I am excited to see him and video the whole thing, he will do well with his team I am sure. He is going to run the boulder boulder with me (he will kick my trash cuz he is amazing like that in a athletic sense) He keeps up with his outfitting business selling hunts and talking to interested clients. On mothers day he did the dishes and made cornbread for me, so sweet!

So all and all we are doing good. If anybody questions or wants to know....I LOVE my family. My husband is my everything and our children are our most beloved possessions. I care deeply for them no matter what....There, I just wanted to say it.

The Perfect Date

This is the article I wrote that ended up in the Bugle. I would like to clarify some things first, the whole "marriage on the ropes" that was their editor's addition. Of the whole thing we didn't like that (we were never "on the ropes"), but whatever, it catches readers attention I guess. But I would like to voice that this article is meant to be viewed as a triumph for Jonathan and I as a couple. It is a personal story of how we overcame a trial and what we can do to be a better couple. Duh, no one is perfect. I know I am not. Every one has hard times, so the point is, if you can overcome those hard times and come out stronger by it, then kudos to you. This story is not sugar coated, but it is very true and a example of true life experiences of what a new wife and mother might go through. Enjoy :) 

Women in Elk Country

The Perfect Date

by Brittani Bush (2/28)

A marriage on the ropes finds salvation in one little hunt.

My husband and I have been married for just over three years. I hail from Washington, where I grew up hunting whitetails. He is from Colorado and an avid elk hunter. When we met in February 2008 at Brigham Young University-Idaho, we knew right away we were a perfect match. It was our deep love of hunting that bonded us. We were married that July, camo vests included.

Since then, we have had two children. We bought a ranch, some cows. My husband eventually became an outfitter in New Mexico. This all sounds great, but from my point of view, it translates into my husband having all the freedoms of the outdoors while I am stuck caring for our super young ones. With every responsibility we took on, I felt like I lost my sense of identity. Most things that made me happy were put on the back-burner. Hunting seemed a far off dream to me. My young children came first for me, and the ranch and outfitting business were first to my husband. Soon, the very reasons my husband and I came to love each other were the reasons I began to resent him.

The pain of watching him leave with his brother to go for weeklong hunts without me was enough to send me into deep depressions. How could he choose to do everything I love without me? It was like adding salt to a wound. And my husband even confided to me that he didn’t want to come home for fear of an angry wife. Now I felt even worse. And where had my smile gone? I used to love laughing. Growing apart from each other was killing me inside. 

Then this year, my husband presented me with one of his prized bull elk tags for the private land he outfits. We went together the first day of rifle season. It was the first time in a very long time we had spent time alone together[jb1] . The crisp morning was filled with screaming bulls, and my lungs burned from the high-altitude workout. I managed to get my two-month, post-partum body to keep up with my husband. We saw one monster bull herd his harem of cows Brazos River  [jb2] and up into the trees. Both he and I smiled as our excitement grew, and I watched my husband. I could see on his face that he wanted me to get this one so badly—to make me happy. And inside myself I tucked away a new promise that even if we didn’t get this majestic bull or any elk, I would not be sad or upset.

We crept around in the woods straining our eyes and ears. We snuck around like cats, and I found myself whispering to my husband over and over, “This is so fun. This is so great!”

Our monster bull bedded, and my husband suggested we leave him alone until later. We found a spot to eat some lunch and just talked. How long had it been since we spent time together just as ourselves, instead of mommy and daddy? [jb3] We goofed off, throwing small sticks and pebbles at each other, and built small cities out of rocks and dirt. I laughed like I did when we were first married. We held hands looking at the scenery, listening to overzealous raghorns squeal. We decided we needed to do this every year. I was amazed how my wounds could shrink even with one day out hunting with my husband.

Now it’s a priority. It doesn’t matter if it is public or private land that we hunt, we need to have days doing what we both love together, and alone. No children, no family, just us, and the elk.

I ended up killing that monster bull that day. It was a wonderful hunt and the perfect date. But if anyone asks me how it felt to shoot my trophy 6x6, my mind goes back to our stalk in the woods and us smiling like little children enjoying the thrill of hunting together.

My life may not get any easier, and it will certainly get busier, but I look forward to our annual elk hunting adventure. It’s marked on my calendar, posted on my blog, jotted in my journal and constantly be on my mind. It reminds me annually that we are a team. Just as we are a hunting team pursuing our favorite game animal together, we are a team for life, pursuing every dream or challenge that happens to graze into our sights.

Born in Colville, Washington, on her grandpa’s ranch, Brittani Bush grew up loving the outdoors and hunting. She moved to Colorado after marriage, where she and her husband run a cattle ranch and an outfitting business.

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