By: Kate Sanchez
“So how does someone from New York state end up in Texas?”
To this day, I still dread answering questions about where I’m from. Don’t get me wrong, I’m proud of the place I was born and raised; and frankly, my upbringing in a small, humble, farm town in upstate NY, helped largely shape me into the person I am today. However, it never fails; I feel instant judgement when I start going into detail about the biggest and best move I have ever made.
Let me back up just a bit…
Upstate NY, particularly the Adirondack Mountain range in which I grew up, is snow country. I’m not a skier and my limbs go numb faster than most would think possible. However, what I did do (a lot) while growing up, was show horses. NY was a great place to live, except for the fact that most horse shows were at least four hours away and oh yes, that horrible white stuff that covered the ground sometimes six or more months out of the year!
After 18 years of living there, my parents and I set our sights on moving out west. Horse country. Ranch country. Portales, NM: someplace I had no idea would change my life forever. Three years into college at ENMU and lots of Journalism and Agriculture classes later, there walked a handsome cowboy into my life. We married in August of 2010, managed a ranch in OK for about five years and then were offered the job of a lifetime on one of west Texas’ most historic ranches.
So here I am, a native New Yorker, living as a ranch wife on the dusty plains of Texas, by way of little Portales, NM; a town that changed the course of my life. While many may think that living as a “just a ranch wife” sounds boring, it’s the furthest thing from that. There’s seldom a dull moment, never-ending new experiences, and obstacles continually standing in front of us women, which we face with courage and discipline. But the truth is that the rewards far surpass the struggles and the pride that’s felt at the end of each day is what dreams are made of.
That being said, I look forward to bringing you as much of an insight to the ranch-wife-life that I can; be it good, bad, or ugly. From stories, experiences and insights, to some good cowboy-crew approved recipes, I hope to share it all in anticipation of representing the ranching lifestyle as well as I can!
