Diary of A Cow Tippers Wife

06/17/2026

Move Over Moab!

"What are men compared to rocks and mountains!" so says Mary from Pride and Prejudice. Preach sister! Never would I, a forest creature raised in wet and rainy Washington state, expect to be so fascinated by the scorching sands of Moab and Arches National Park. Indeed it was breath taking! Both metaphorically and literally because it was 100 degrees. We were so hot, we would very briefly run outside for photos before scurrying back into the truck. In the ravines, mesas, and badlands of Utah we weaved, finding shady spots to camp and praying for cool nights. Boy was it magical eating dinner under the starry sky after watching the sun set on the canyons. Killing time until our next ranch we would find interesting spots. Like hiking 2 miles through a canyon and exploring a mica mining site. Heifer trotted with us the whole way! I was incredibly proud of her. I only had to have her on a leash when she tried to chase after some lizards on a rest break. Silly girl!

On our way out of the desert we spotted dinosaurs looming in the distance. Dinosaurs! The love of my life slammed on the breaks and rolled us up to a dinosaur park. Bless that man! I shot out of the truck like a rocket, giddy as a school girl. My 12 year old self would have died and gone to heaven. Between that and the Dinosaur National Monument, I was a very happy camper. The monument is literally a wall of rock littered with bones from 14-15 different species of dinosaurs! Right there, where they breathed their last, decayed, and fossilized. It was like a layered cake of bones. All sorts, shapes and sizes. Paleontologist excavated the top layers for guests to see. The most complete skeletons were taken to places like the Smithsonian. Not just bones are in that area but also beautiful petroglyphs, carved into the rock by people long, long, long, ago. They surely told of stories lost to time and featured bighorn sheep, men with spears, and lizards. My wonderful husband had that sly grin as I jabbered on, chattering like a jaybird. All about ancient creatures and peoples. That man nourishes my heart and soul!

Finally bored of bones, we made our way to a gas station near our next ranch. A truck slowly rolled beside us with a guy rubbernecking at the trailer. We are used to getting stares whenever we roll up. It's not every day you see cow tippers after all! "Yall hoof trimmers?" this fella asked, gesturing towards the magnet on our truck. "Yes'sir" I nodded. "Got a couple a' show steers. Can yall trim them?". Indeed we can! We put him on the calendar and the next day we got their critters done. Who would have thunk that a gas station would bring in business! A few more dollars in our pocket, and a few more ranches satisfied. I met a wonderful new friend that's a new longhorn breeder. She was very kind and gave me a truly stunning domestic ram skull she cleaned up. I named him "Bighorn" for his beautiful curling headgear. Thats a heck of a gift! Our beautiful model holding him is a dear friend who will be featured in the next chapter of Diary of a Cow Tippers Wife. Stay tunned!

06/08/2026

Misty Eyes at 2 Miles High

The view literally took my breath away. Up at 12,000 ft in Estes Park Colorado bundled up in my coat, watching the sunset with the love of my life. I tried to not sound too out of breath. Thankfully it wasn’t just me feeling the effects of elevation sickness. Our trooper of a generator also was struggling. We made some shrimp in the airfryer as it sputtered and groaned. The wind howled around us. When we finally got the shrimp to satisfactory levels of “doneness” we got all cozy in the truck. (The wind up there is crazy strong). To our amazement a herd of cow elk trotted along the ridge in front of us. Dinner and a show baby! Snuggled together we nestled in our blankies and sleeping bags on the cot inside the excursion. Heifer settled herself under my chin. The cold mountain air soothed us to sleep. We witnessed so many incredible sights in the Rocky Mountain National Forest. Elk cows, young elk bulls still in velvet, mulies (mule deer), and two bull moose. One of which was the oldest bull in the park. He sported a fancy tracking collar with his name “K-9”. Weirdest looking dog I’ve ever seen!

Our adventures in Colorado were fantastic. We met some truly incredible people. One of our first stops was meeting with some good friends of ours. They helped us do repairs on our chute we trimmed their highland cows, and we caught up as if we had never left. (Those are the best kind of friendships). A new family of friends was kind enough to show me their extensive arrowhead collection. It was better then most museums! We also got to met a gal with a big ol bull that needed his feet done badly. She brought him to a vet clinic. They kindly let us borrow their runway system and let us use our chute. She was a delight and was a fellow horsewoman. So we chit chatted about ponies and refreshed my “horsey talk meter” which was severely depleated. And the bull got a very handsome pedicure.

Refreshed and renewed we took the swirly twirly roads towards Estes Park. Samuel’s longtime mentor, our dear friend, and brother in Christ, Bill, let us stay at his place. The next day he met us there after a very long drive from Texas to Oklahoma. Bill’s neighbors warmly invited us to have dinner with them. We had a wonderful meal, had deep discussions about the Word and belief in Christ. Oh and their kiddos were delighted to show me their fossil collection. And their black bear skull. Oh and can’t forget the skull of a big horn ewe that was attacked by a mountain lion. Safe to say, I was in heaven! Those precious kiddos were a delight. We could have chatted till the wee hours of the morning. But we went on an awesome hike instead and our friends kindly took our photos up on the mountain.

P.S. Bless amazing husband for driving an hour and 15 minutes out of our way so I could find arrowheads. I did not find arrowheads. I did find a piece of pottery though, so that was cool.

06/01/2026

Sneak Peak at Pike's Peak

The start of the summer trip has gone off with a bang! We'll be trimming in 13+ states and outside of Texas for 60 days. After a brief stop in Oklahoma for a ranch or two we blasted off to Colorado. We got to spend time with wonderful ranchers and made lots of new friends. The wildlife was flourishing. Gorgeous mule deer, a few cow elk, and I saw a pronghorn doe licking her newborn fawn, who was still wet and trying to stand. Between the cattle and the scenery I was so amazed. After working hard with back to back ranches, the love of my life, Samuel Faske, said it was time to see some sights. He took me to the Cog rail train that went up and up and up to the summit of Pikes Peak. That's 14,115ft. And oh boy did I feel it! I was so light headed and weak in the knees. Well that was just from looking at my handsome husband, but I did almost pass out from elevation sickness. I was revived by a combination of sweet kisses, bites of hot cinnamon donuts, and taking deep breaths. But oh the view! It's crazy how you can see all the way to Kansas and are above the clouds. You can see the landscape change from state to state. God's generosity at the creation of such a masterpiece continues to amaze me.

After the train ride back down we strolled into a German restaurant. I was an exchange student in highschool for a month in Stuttgart. Rarely do I get to have really authentic German food. For the first time since I left Baden württemberg. I had legit Swabian dishes. It's hearty fair, heavy on bacon fat, vinegar, and spices not "traditionally" seen in American savory dishes. Like cinnamon, cloves, raisins, and gingerbread sauce. Lots of veggies with vingar. Apples, cold cuts, and lots of butter. Gosh it brought back so many memories! Samuel let me chatter on, bless him.

Another fun moment we had, I got to indulge in one of my addictions, collecting taxidermy. I found a super nice taxidermist that had some hides the hunters paid for but never collected. For 200$ I got a Kudu backhide, and Impala backhide, a full bobcat hide (it did have some damage but I can still use it), and a blackbear butt with feet and claws. But the cherry on top was a full female black bear with a extremely rare genetic mutation resulting in a white undercoat and cinnamon colored fur. And no she is not a brown bear. 100% a black bear. She's STUNNING. I will turn her into a rug/ cloak. I named her "Ute" after the tribe that originally lived near Colorado Springs. She's probably worth 1,300$. It was the find of a lifetime!

05/05/2026

Comfortable with Comfort and Uncomfortable Discomforts

Fun fact of the day apparently there are alligator snapping turtles that live in storm drains in the literal middle of town in Brenham. And occasionally they wander onto the road. My husband had to swerve to not run over a huge one. Naturally he turned the car around so I could go grab it and take a photo with it. Gosh I am so besotted with that man!

Second fact. When walking a longhorn on a halter, its best to stay ahead of them some, but close enough that when they wack you (they will eventually wack you) the horns don't have as far of a range. My dearly beloved kindly brought my cow all the way from the pasture in Fort Worth so I could show her in Navasota. (Big big thank you to Emma for letting me borrow her trailer). Cow shows are super super fun, because as cool as it is to get a buckle, trophy, or ribbon, the best part is always hanging out with people and their animals. I snuggled with my cow Comfort while chatting with dear friends. My buddy Ivy let me use her show halter and gave me tips and tricks of how to show on halter. We ate dinner with our cattle family and shared stories into the night. It was a total blast! Comfort did fantastic and was very patient with me, as its only been my second time showing on halter. She got second in her class for the mature females. I did feel bad as she is very close to calving and looks as round as a bowling ball! Poor thing had a heck of a waddle going on.

Halfway though the show I had to rush to our friends ranch to try and find my missing horse. Yes my brand spanking new horse we just got shipped from Florida. Praise God we found him, he slipped through a narrow section of fence and was in a neighbors pasture. We fixed the fence and I rode him. Gallo Del Cielo has made such huge progress! I can ride him bitless on a loose rein and cover some serious ground and rough terrain with ease. Unfortunately he's been picked on by the other horses and lost alot of weight. So I'm going to try and give him some grain when I'm there and hopefully he learns how to be a 80 acre pasture horse instead of a breakfast in bed kind of stalled horse. Poor guy is uncomfortable learning to be a ranch pony. But he'll get there!

Missing horse found, I got back to the cattle show. Where our friends Brooke and Steve )who own said ranch I was at) said their bull is missing. Crap. So I head back to the ranch on a mission. Only myself and Brooke were available to go find this bull. Mind you, I'm a chronically ill cutie with the grip strength of a granny with double pneumonia. And Brooke is tough as nails but weighs a buck and a quarter soaking wet. We load up in my husbands gator (which we got for free and is in desperate need of repairs). I have to have my right foot cocked up on the gear shift to keep it in gear, and work the pedals with my left foot. The suspension is non-exsistant and it would be less bumpy on horse and buggy. We have to drive 3 pastures over and its crazy muddy out. I had to floor it the whole way so we wouldn't get stuck. Good news, we found the bull! Bad news. Now what! I can't rope on Gallo Del Cielo. Neither can Brooke on her horses. And we were sans our cowboys. Jesus really looked out for us. It just so happened their was a rope in the back of the Gator. And it just so happened that this bull was small and used to be halter broke. So I laid the rope around his head, Brooke pulled, and we tied off on the back of the gator. The engine screamed but we manage to pull this bull up a hill (we didn't think we'd make it up). Then got him into a catch pen. Then we drove back to ranch. The Gator died a few times but eventually we made back. Then we got back to catch pen. Andddd the bull won't go in. So we tried and tried before we finally found a rope in the truck. we looped it round the side of the trailer for leverage, Brooke pulled, I twisted the tail, and in he went! Mission accomplished! Honestly it was so much fun! I adore Brooke and she made it a fun girls trip, we got to catch up and got to be two boss babes. The discomfort of hard labor only strengthen our resolve.

If you learned anything from this don't ever underestimate ranch wives!

04/27/2026

Its A Boy...Kind Of...It's A Gelding....It's A Horse.

I am very excited to announce that we have a new addition to the Hoof 'N It Team. A gorgeous 13 year old Paso Fino gelding from Florida (He is the Colombian variety of paso's). His name is Gallo Del Cielo. For those that speak Spanish you will be very confused. His name means "Rooster From Heaven". Yep. You read that right. His name is from a song about a ridiculous, brave, and extemporary Mexican rooster. He's built strangely but has a whole lot of character and the best at what he did. It's a funky song about a funky chicken. Perfect for this funky horse! But Lauren you ask, where did you get a rare horse breed and where are you going to keep him? Glad you asked!

Here's how it when down. I used to ride Paso Fino's (a really cool gaited horse) at a local ranch that had them. One day after not riding for 4 months I called my trainer friend Ruben. To my complete dismay he said he had moved to Florida. I was so sad. But then he said he had a horse I would love for 2,000$. "But Ruben, yearlings are like 5,000$. So how high is my hospital bill going to be?". He told me that this gelding was very safe, he used to be a show horse for a little girl and would great a make trail horse for me. His brakes needed a tune up, but would he would be fantastic. He was 100% transparent about this horses quirks. Even the scarring on his sheath from an old injury (I now joke that I have a well endowed Colombian on my hands). I trust Ruben's expertise totally and he knows what I can and can't handle with horses. After we got done chatting I told my husband aughing "Ruben told me he has a horse for 2,000$ for me in Florida, isnt that crazy?!". To my shock my beloved nodded his head "For 2,000 its worth looking in to". That was NOT the answer I was expecting.

One door after another opened for this opportunity. Some dear friends of ours kindly offered for us to keep any horses or cows on their land. It's 80 acres of lush pasture 15 minutes from our house. In return we will check on their cattle and horses and help around the property, repair fences ect. Land, check! My brother in laws are farriers and can help correct his overgrown toes. Found a decent farrier, check! Ruben knows a horse transporter. Shipping, check! The ranch he's on has so much acreage we won't have to feed hay often, so we can be gone on our summer trip and he can have a vacation. Feed, check! I got an aussie saddle off Facebook marketplace for 100$. Tack, check! So Samuel and I took a quick trip to Florida, got a prepurchase vet visit, did a test ride (I feel in love) then went home counting down the days until he arrived.

I cannot tell you how much Gallo (Rooster) means to me. Horses have always been like God's extra special gift to me. Since I was a child I was entirely horse obsessed. Working with them as a teenager helped me see a mirror image of how God was working in my life. The day I had to sell my horse Captain something in me broke. But I knew that God was saying that horses weren't a "no". They were more of a "not now". And he had something extraordinary waiting, better then I ever could have imagined.

My dear Husband, thank you for being so supportive of my lifelong dream. For encouraging me, listening to my excited yammering, holding my hand on the plane ride, helping me load feed, and making my dreams a reality. I cannot express how deep my gratitude and joy is and how moved I am by your generosity. I am writing this in tears. This is third best gift I have been given. The first is the gift of Christ. The second is my marriage to you.

Together we have a whole lot of work to do. Gallo has to go back to “preschool” and learn some groundwork. Once we have good brakes and he graduates to “high school” then I’ll start conditioning him for trails and endurance. Well, after his feet are worked on that is.

04/13/2026

Resurrection and No Sense of Direction

What a whirlwind it has been this past week! My LOML (love of my life) and I blasted off for a heck of an adventure. Our first stop was Oklahoma to celebrate Easter with my family. We visited a stations of the cross set up that really helped give a more in depth glimpse to what Jesus experienced before during and directly after his crucifixion. Like did you know that his body was prepared with about 75 pounds of spices for his burial? It brings a new meaning to "the anointed one". And the silver that Judas was given in return for handing Jesus over, equaled the same amount as what was given for a dead slave. It was really eye opening for me. I am so thankful that our Lord and Savior paid for my sins on the cross. And that he rose again!

While we were with my family, we celebrated my dad's new promotion and went go carting together. It was a total blast! Then my sister and I did an easter egg hunt. Yes we are two grown women. And no you are never too old for a Easter egg hunt! It was awesome! Samuel and I then said our goodbyes and drove towards Alabama and Georgia. But I honestly had no idea what state we were in half the time.

While were in the south, we celebrated our anniversary in the best way possible, by working cattle together! It was a fantastic day! We got to trim multiple highlands and castrate a miniature yak. He was so cute! The next few days we bounced around in Alabama, meeting with friends new and old. Then we introduced our good buddies Stann and Neil to Korean bbq. (who would have 'thunk that Alabama has some of the best Korean food in the US)! We ate until our bellies hurt, it was so good! And we loved catching up with Neil and Stann. The next day we trimmed all day long and then drove through the night ( Samuel did the lions share, bless that wonderful man), and arrived at 2am to our last big stop. The Bluegrass Futurity in Lexington Kentucky. Boy oh boy was it fun! Heifer thoroughly enjoyed the facilities. Now that she's trained to stay by the truck and trailer, or follow mommy, I can trust her enough to be off leash. She was the delight of kiddos and ranchers alike as she chased flies, stalked chickens, and trotted around the stockyard. I checked on her frequently, but never had any issues with her straying. (Except when she followed Samuel into the indoor facility) She really is like an old cattle dog! Heck, my hubby even trained her how to sit on command!

Surrounded by friends and cattle, Samuel and I wore matching grins. We laughed, celebrated, trimmed feet, ate, drank, and were merry. It such a blessing from the Lord that we get to live full of adventures (and get paid to do so!). I especially loved getting to hang with my friend Hannah, who is going to be leaving soon for a 9 month mission trip. She's like a sister from another mister! We also got to see our friends Cassidy, Ginger, and Andrew from Michigan. Sadly we had to say goodbyes on day 2 and make the 19 hour haul to Alabama to drop off our chute and then head home. I took some gorgeous backroads winding through the Kentucky/ Tennessee area. When you put as many miles on as we do, you lose track of where you are. Then Samuel drove through the night so we could arrive in Waller TX, sleep a few hours, then attend church. For 9 days on the road, it was a real whirl wind!

04/06/2026

Nothing says love like taking off testicles together!!

Samuel Faske and I trimmed some highland cows today, plus we got to trim a yearling yak bull we turned into a steer. It was very entertaining!!

On a more serious note, today is our second anniversary. It’s been the best two years of my entire life!!! It’s wonderful just how much we have accomplished together and how much we have grown. In two years we have visited over 40 states, traveled probably 50,000 miles, trimmed around 3,000 head of cattle, battled working animals in freezing weather and scorching heat without a single raised voice, patched each other up through major surgeries and injures, including helping remove stitches, getting hooked by a bull, nearly loosing a thumb to a grinder, and smashed noses and toes. We’ve climbed mountain tops, walked through caverns, slid down sanddunes, and kayaked through a freshwater spring. We’ve said goodbye to our best buddy and travel dog. And welcomed in a travel cat. We’ve conquered living with chronic illness. With doctors doubting that each of us could live a normal life, hold a job, or accomplish much. But here we are. All of it we never could have done without Christ. God has richly blessed us, protected us, and guided us. Marriage was created to represent the union of Christ and the Church. So that our lives can be a testimony to others. That we would uplift one another in Christ.

Mark 10:6-9
“But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

03/18/2026

03/18/2026

Struggle Snuggles and Surprises

As per usual Samuel Faske and I have been busy busy busy! Between taxidermy projects (I just finished a beat up and scarred cowboy coyote named "Johnny Ringo), helping my incredible husband with the cattle, and the beginning of show season, it seems like its been go go go. But don't worry, my cowboy Casanova has swept me off my feet on several date nights and insured I have had enough rest.
One of the days we had ranch work I got to wrassle with a darling 5 day old miniature Zebu heifer calf. We needed to move her to where her mother was getting a pedicure. So I gave the ol "struggle snuggle"! Thankfully that little teeny Zebu calf weighed a buck fifty soaking wet (she was around 35 pounds I think). It was awesome!

Now that its spring time its cattle show season. The first futurity of the year is the Wi******er. It's held in a salebarn in Bryan and one of my favorite events of the year. They have a huge wooden catwalk above the entirely wooden stock yard. It's so much fun to be up there watching the hired hands scurry back and forth moving cattle on horseback. Even my cat, Heifer joined me up there! She put the cat in "cat walk"! The next show was the Legacy show in Fort Worth and inside a hotel. Literally. They have the stock yard in a parking lot, and a runway where cattle can come into the hotel ballroom for the futurity, show, and sale. It's so entertaining! Plus they have a black tie night, where everyone gets in their finest duds to watch the heifer sale. I was delighted to see my fine as heck husband looking downright deadly in his wool vest, white shirt, and cowboy hat. Delicious! Plus I got wear my blue velvet gown. It's very special to me, as its the only really really really expensive article of clothing I own. It was a gift from my parents for graduating university. I wore it when I received my degree, which was such a blessing as I was very sick with my Lupus and RA.

Between wrangling critters, I recently decided to paint a portrait of my friend Jimmy Jones. He is a legend in the longhorn community and his contribution to the breed is incredible. His animals are outstanding and both he and his lovely wife are true treasures. A year ago he presented me with some artwork last time my husband and I visited his ranch. I was deeply touched and now feel that it was time to return the favor. At the Wi******er Futurity I presented Jimmy with his portrait and asked "Do you know who this is?". I was a bundle of nerves, so worried that I didn't do him justice and that my painting wouldn't look like him. Mr. Jones responded "I sure as hell know who that is, that's me!" To say I was relieved was a understatement. I famously hate, despise, and despair, the day I have to paint people portraits. So much can go wrong. So when Jimmy looked at me with tears in his eye, thanked me, and gave me a big ol hug, I felt like I had achieved my greatest artistic accomplishment. He was like a kid at christmas, giddy with excitment, showing the nearby cattle breeders his portrait. He even gave me a kiss on the cheek (he very respectfully asked my husband first). Bless him! What a joy it was!

Oh and p.s. chat gpt works great to change backgrounds on bathroom selfies! Bye bye bathroom hello fake hotel lobby!

02/20/2026

Love Over-floweth Like A River....Of Coolant

Yall will have to forgive me for my delayed posting, being a cow tippers wife, amateur taxidermist, professional artist, mediocre blogger, and full time Heifer wrangler is busy busy busy. I wouldn't want it any other way though!

To summarize the past few weeks of most recent excursions:
We drove 13 hours (I drove like 6, so Samuel did the lions-share) to Georgia. When I took a turn as captain of the wheel I noticed some movement out of the corner of my eye. Sure enough a waterfall of coolant gushed from below the passenger dash. In the middle of freaking no-where Alabama I had to pull over the truck and trailer praying we had enough service to call someone. Turns out our brand new heater system decided to p**p out, and drain the entire coolant tank into the passenger floorboards. A good Samaritan came by and helped us jerry-rig some hoses to limp us along. But no more warm toasty heater until we got back to Brenham. And that night we had to sleep in the truck. During a northern. Did I mention it was 28 degrees and we had no heat? My amazing husband spent the night cuddled close to me, shivering, yet trying to pile more blankets on me, to keep me warm. God bless that man! Heifer helped act as a heated water bottle, and curled into my chest under the sleeping bag.

Thankfully we made it to Georgia, met some wonderful folks, trimmed some feet, went to see our friends Stan and Neil (who fed us exceptionally well), had lots of laughs, then rolled into bed glad to be warm. The next day we trimmed some beautiful animals. Saw our other longhorn friends Reid and Ashley (who also fed us exceptionally well). And very generously let me microwave a reheat-able heating pad to keep my toes from turning into icecubes. Then on to Florida to our friends Terry and Tammy. I had to have Samuel sit up front with me, as because we had no heat, and the defog wouldn't work. So he made a very handsome inside windshield wiper lol. And it was dark. On windy backroads. But we survived. We nestled into the guest house like turtledoves. Warm at last, we spent the next day or two trimming cattle and catching up. And eating exceptionally well. Are you sensing a theme? My pants certainly were! Then we hightailed it back to Texas to see my brothers and sisters in law, rodeo and have their prom. It was so good to see them compete! The girls looked beautiful in their dresses! I was so proud of them.

It was a very fun trip minus the cold! Then I got home to a whole bunch of taxidermy projects in the works including a squirrel and a coyote. I'll post sneak peeks, but can't post full pictures until they dry.

And lastly for Valentines day, myself, my husband, my brothers in laws Jonathan and Caleb, and Grant and his fiancé Emma all got to work an event with two steers. We guided people besides the two steers, took their photos, and talked about the longhorn breed. Safe to say, I was in heaven! With the love of my life at my side, surrounded by friends and longhorns, I was in my element! I can't imagine a better Valentines Day! Well, my husband did surprise me with breakfast cinnamon rolls in bed and Korean bbq as well. So it did get even better!