I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Halloween and wish my husband Mark a Happy Birthday!!!

Everyone enjoy the day, be good to the kiddies in your neighborhood and be safe.

Our dog Puddles

The Hunter’s Wife

Mark did decide to go out over this past weekend.   He thought the weather may end up being alright and he didn’t want to intrude on my plans.   He’s such a good husband.

Friday night it was pouring down rain.  While Mark waited out the rain until Saturday, I was home enjoying my tacos, a lifetime movie and my pj’s.  We talked that evening and he was off to bed and I was off to clean.  (Well, I thought about it.)

Saturday morning Mark was in his stand for about 2 1/2 hours when a young 7 point buck came in.  He decided to pass on it knowing Indiana only allows 1 buck per season.  Then a couple of doe came in about 17 yards.  He downed one with his bow.  (I hope I am using the correct terminology.)  It field dressed out at 122 lbs.  Mark calls me with his exciting news and in a panic, my first question was “Are you coming home already?”  I am a terrible wife.  I seriously am going to get punished.  He wasn’t coming home because he needed to take his deer in and his brother’s were all down so he decided to stay.  

I’m glad Mark decided to go and got a doe.  This is only his second time out and he has already passed on a couple of small bucks and a few doe.   Me feeling quilty for not asking the right questions, I made sure to make biscuits and gravy Sunday morning for when he got home.  I also had a roast in the crock pot.  :) 

Sunday night we went to bed early then the phone rang.  It was Mark’s brother Steve.  I quietly said Mark is sleeping and Steve said wake him up.  Me being the good wife said nicely why?  He said I GOT A BUCK.  I woke Mark up and they had their hunting chat.  Steve downed an 11 point buck with split brow tines that field dressed out at 197 lbs.  Seeing that Indiana only allows 1 buck a season the hunting lodge brothers just assigned their cook and dishwasher for the rest of the season.  

Note to self;  Research the right questions to ask your deer hunting husband about his hunt and be the good wife. 

Check back in a week or two for the deer photos!

In honor of my brother Jeff and it being his birthday, I thought I would take a trip down memory lane. 

Let me give everyone a bit of background.  I have 2 older brothers, 1 older sister and 1 younger sister.  Yes, there are 5 of us.  We are all J’s.  John, Jeff, Jane, Jody and Jerri.  We are all within 7 years from eachother.  My younger sister and I are only 10 months apart. 

My brothers were true boys.  I remember them in their cowboy pj’s, playing with their cowboy toys and their GI Joe’s.  They always got a gun for Christmas.  Not sure what year it turned into real ones.  They even had cowboy curtain’s in their bedroom.  They were the kind of boys that played in the woods with their rabbit traps, dragging nasty snakes home, (I could barely get that word out I hate those sssssnakes) and played baseball every summer.   I have lots of memories of them and their little boy ways.  When they became teenagers I would think, do they ever really grow up? 

With it being my brother’s birthday I thought I would take a moment to thank him for being my brother.

• Thank you for showing us the dead rabbit you caught.  Me and my barbie cryed.
• Thank you for babysitting us girls and tying us up in chairs back to back and playing cowboy and Indians. 
• Thank you for going with us to Kmart.  Jer and I really enjoyed the “crash the baskets” game that you John loved playing.  John pushing Jer in one basket and Jeff pushing me in the other.  Then crash!  I think I still have whiplash. 
• Thanks for helping me get my hand stuck in the bubble gumball machine.  And YES you did.
• Thank you for babysitting us and making Jer and I wrestle.  My head still hurts from Jer flipping me back and hitting the back of my head on the hard floor.  I never realized that 20 years later my Chiropractor would be adjusting my back and neck and asking me if I had ever hit my head.  The memories came rushing back.  Did I really want to explain that my brothers would play the “wrestling game” and make my sister and I torture eachother.  The words just came out of my mouth as “Ummm No, Never”.  Thanks for the cranium problem that won’t move and should. 
• Thanks for blackmailing me into those tequila shots.  It was only 6 not 8.  And by the way, was it necessary to rat me out?

One memorable moment I will never forget.  I think he was 16 or 17.  He said a bad bad word.  My mother came storming down the hallway and washed his mouth out with soap.   This was a boy I considered a grownup.  You know those days when parents controlled their kids and made them have respect. 

I really don’t think he learned his lesson though.  He still uses those bad bad words.

Have a HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY.

FROM YOUR MOST FAVORITE SISTER.  You know the prettiest and smartest one. :)

            The Cowboy’s                                                The Poor lil Indian Girls

            John & Jeff                                                         Jane, Jer & Jody

Here is a great recipe I received this week from Marian over at Marians Hunting Stories.  Go take a trip over and say Hello!

Breakfast Pizza

• 1 pound venison sausage
• 1 (8-ounce) package refrigerated crescent rolls
• 1 cup frozen loose-pack hash brown potatoes, thawed
• 1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• Pimiento (optional)
• Fresh oregano (optional)

Cook venison sausage in medium skillet until brown; drain and set aside.  Separate crescent dough into 8 triangles.  Place with elongated points toward center of greased 12-inch pizza pan or dish.  Press bottom and sides to form crust; seal perforation.  Spoon sausage over dough.

Sprinkle with hash brown potatoes and Cheddar cheese.  Combine eggs, milk, salt and pepper; pour over sausage mixture.  Bake 375 for 25 minutes.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake an additional 5 minutes.

Garnish with pimiento and fresh oregano, if desired.  Yield about 6-8 servings.  The oregano really sets this pizza. 

Thanks Marian it sounds so so good!

Also, check out the Idaho Salad recipe over at Rex’s Deer Camp Blog.

I have been looking forward to this coming weekend for over 2 weeks.  Mark was going hunting!!!  He didn’t go out last weekend because it was too hot.  Well Monday came and so did the cool weather.  So this weekend, he is off to do what he enjoys and I was off to….

I had everything planned.  I was going to clean up the house, get some closest organized.  I had plans to put a roast in the crock pot to make my favorite tacos.  Which I would end up eating for dinner, the next days breakfast, possibly again for lunch.  Take our family pet to get groomed.  Work on my blog, read blogs, read statistics, read more blogs.  Can’t forget to add in a Lifetime movie or two in there.  Yes, I had lots of ME plans.

So, I stopped at the grocery store this evening.  Got all my favorite foods for the weekend so I wouldn’t have to go out.  On my way home I was organizing all my plans in my head.  I was going to be home alone all weekend and free to do what I want.  No set plans, no routines, no worrying about anyone.  Ok, I do worry that Mark is safe hunting. 

I get home, we have dinner and then sit to watch the news.  I never watch the news but I sit with Mark for a few before the nightly routine of cleanup, laundry, etc.  It was just about time for the weather to come on and I thought to myself if the weather isn’t all that great I have plans to stay in all weekend so a nice rain and nap on Saturday might just be perfect.  Then I heard those words.  “WHAT, 20-30 mph winds and rain on Saturday?  I can’t hunt in that.  I might as well stay home.”  If someone took a picture of my face right at that moment they would have thought I hated my husband.   

After the moment of shock, I sat quietly and had to re-organize my thoughts.  Did he just say he isn’t going?  I can’t have tacos for dinner, he hates tacos. Not to mention the thought of him knowing that is what I was planning for breakfast the next day.  My Lifetime movie just got changed to the Hunting channel and all their whispers and chanting and &*^%$.  Isn’t there a hunting chant for the rain and wind to go away like the Indians do? (Not intended to offend anyone.)

So it is back to reality with My Hunter.  Meat, potato, vegetable for dinner.  (He is not getting dessert!)  Yet our 4th or is it our 5th trip to Cabela’s.  The hunting channel.  The hunting channel. Did I mention the hunting channel.  Let me whisper that maybe you will understand.  Yes, back to reality………

Until next weekend.

P.S.  For those of you who don’t know me, I do love my husband dearly.  We both enjoy our freedom and time to do what we love to do even if it isn’t the same things.  We have trust, love and respect for eachother and we both wouldn’t want it any other way!

This is one of my cutest stories that some of you may enjoy.

A few years ago my sister-in-law Darlene, niece Chrissy, her husband Adam and their son lil Adam went to an animal farm.  It was just a small little petting farm with goats, ducks, pigs and deer.  Not much but it was cute for my great nephew Adam to see. 

We walked around feeding and petting all the animals.  When we got to the deer cages we came to a doe who had just given birth to a couple of fawns.  The fawns were just old enough to walk but theirs legs were not very stable.  I can’t remember how old they were but I think it was just a couple of days.  They were the cutiest little animals I had ever seen.  We watched and watched them. 

After a while one of the fawns had gotten out of the gate and ran off into the woods.  We went over and talked to one of the owners and they said he will eventually come back and that they were going to try and look for him.  Before we got ready to leave I asked again if they had found him and they said no.   I was so upset when we left there.

When we got back to the house I had told Mark what had happened.  I went on and on how he is in the woods without his Mother.  What if something happens to him?  What if another animal gets him?  What if he doesn’t come back?   Mark being the hunter he is said stop worrying he will be fine.  Grrr men!  So I called my sisters and Mother who were more sympathetic.

That night, I couldn’t stop thinking about him.  So the next morning I told Mark I was going to call the farm to find out if they found him.  He just laughed at me.  So I called the farm and asked if they found him and they did.  Needless to say I had to call everyone and let them know Bambi made it back home. 

Home Safe and Sound.

Now that hunting season is underway, every Friday I will be posting a Venison recipe to try for the weekend.  If you have any favorites send them to me and I will post. 

Here is a quick and easy recipe.

Venison Grilled Steaks

1/2″ to 3/4″ thick venison ham or loin steaks

Marinate steaks in:

• 1/2 cup of Soy Sauce
• 1/2 cup of Italian Salad Dressing
• 1 to 2 tablespoons of A1 Sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon of hickory liquid smoke
• salt
• pepper
• garlic powder

Mariante steaks for 2 hours then grill.  Steaks are best if they are slightly pink in the middle.

Hope you enjoy!

The opening to Cabela’s in Hammond, Indiana is scheduled for October 19, 2007.  Mark and I received a special invitation and were able to shop last night prior to their big opening day.  We are only about 5 miles from Cabela’s.  I’m not sure if that is a good thing or bad. 

Mark has been waiting for this day since they announced Cabela’s bought the property.  We saw a lot of people we knew and they were asking Mark questions as to what they should do for this or what they should get for that knowing he has been hunting for over 35 years.   Maybe he should think about getting a part time job there. 

We saw a lot of familiar faces with their carts full.  Mark got a few hunting shirts, deer scents, hats, yet another grunt thingymajigger and of course pointed out the rifle he wants for Christmas.  Cabela’s has everything you can imagine and more.  Make sure to bring the whole family.  They have a lot of nice things for women and lots for the kiddies.

There are many hotels in the area so if you are out of towner’s and are in the area, I’m sure it would be well worth the trip.  We are about 30 miles outside of Chicago, so there is lots to do in the area.  Cabela’s is a beautiful store on a beautiful piece of property and you won’t be disappointed.  

If you are planning to come to the area, email me and I can help out with where to stay and what to do. 

I have been tagged with the meme circulation by CDGardens. For those of us who have never been tagged by the meme before, my understanding of a meme is the originator ask’s a question, tags a few to answer, they answer and pass to those they choose to tag and you link back to the person who sent it to you.

The question: 

“What got me to blog and how has it evolved since I started?”
I actually just started blogging a few months ago. I own a Virtual Assistant business called to Assist you which provides offsite administrative support to small businesses and entrepreneur’s. After doing a ton of research I came to find a lot of virtual assistant’s and businesses were blogging. So to keep up with the industry, I wanted to set-up a blog. I didn’t want to start my business blog until I knew exactly what it was all about. It so happen that Mark was getting some hunting things together and it hit me that I would blog about Mark and his Elmer Fudd kind of ways. So that is how The Hunter’s Wife came to be.

How has it evolved? I am still getting my feet wet and am loving it. I am meeting all kinds of fascinating people who are great writers and host great blogs. Even though I do not hunt, I find myself reading and researching hunting. I have learned a lot over these past few months about blogging, hunting and the hunter’s ways and hope The Hunter’s Wife will be enjoyed by many.  

I am tagging the following because I enjoy reading their blogs.

Marian Marian’s Hunting Stories
Kristine Outdoor Bloggers Summit
Othmar Outdoors with Othmar Vohringer
Marc NY Bowhunter

The past week has been extremely hot and a lot of hunters didn’t even go out.   I am sure all of you deer hunters are now excited that the cool weather is approaching.  With that, I thought I would help some of you out with My version of a successful deer hunt.  Your significant other will thank me.

1. When waking at 3:00 a.m. - 4:00 a.m. - Do not turn on all the lights in the house and wake everyone from your excitement.
2. Please do not hum those tunes “Up in the morning with the rising sun.” Others are sleeping.
3. Prepare yourself the night before.  Do not wake the house cause you can’t find your deer grunt thingymajigger.
4. And don’t try out your thingymajigger before you leave.
5. If using the rattler thingymajigger, please don’t try that out either and rattle the house up.
6. When dressed don’t blame us because your clothes smell like downey fabric softner.  I forgot I had to use that green stuff to wash them in and put in a bag of leaves.  Who does this? 
7. If you catch a deer (oooops…down a deer), I can wait and hear about it when you get home.  We are sleeping in.
8. Please let some of your hunting friends know where you hunt in case of an accident.  I am 150 miles away and have never been in the woods.  They will find you before they find me. 
9. If you call one more time because you have poison oak or ivy….well, &*^$%#&*$*.
10. Last but not least, even though we enjoy you are enjoying yourself please don’t forget those special holidays like MY birthday tomorrow!  October 10th Honey!!! 

P.S. our anniversary is October 15th.