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Taylor, Grant, Vicki, Seth, myself, Ted and Boiler |
Ted: Ted is the the head honcho on the farm. He makes the final call, but he's so good about getting the boys to be on the decision making side too. Ted is best known for his evening attire. In the summer you can find him in his office in his shorts, tall black work socks and boots, and in the winter, the same combo but slippers and a puffy vest (no shirt under the vest, just a puffy vest). Ted likes to eat weird things like "shit on a shingle" (ground beef on tortilla chips or toast) and he puts cheese on everything. Ted is a tough guy, but he's a big softie too. I think all of his years working with a ton of women in his office made him this way. He also has a big spot in his heart just for his dogs. Ted and Vicki's Doberman, Boiler, is constantly at Ted's side. He rides with him, romps with him, eats with him, and sleeps with him. I love riding along with my husband in the machinery, but I love riding with his dad just as much. Ted loves to talk and he loves to listen. He explains things so well, and he's a great teacher. The first time I was to drive the grain cart I was so terrified because Seth's final words were "You'll be fine. It's really easy. Just don't mess up or dad will kill you." Ted was so patient and even if I did mess up, he didn't tell me! I'll never forget what Ted said to me at our wedding when we danced together. He said, "This wedding is a lot of fun, but I don't feel like it changes anything. You've been in our family since day one." See why I love this guy?
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| Grant, Ted, and Seth after a lawnmower race |
Vicki: The relationship between a mother-in-law and her son's wife can be a challenging one, but I have so much respect for this woman dealing with her boys. I grew up with all girls, and poor Vicki grew up completely opposite. Not only did she raise them, but she fed them, educated them, had to clean up their scrapes and bruises since Ted doesn't handle blood or vomit, and she gets picked on by these guys ALL. THE. TIME. I have literally walked into their house before and Vicki is hanging upside down, one of the boys is beating her with her socks, someone else is holding the dog to lick her face, and then the big finale is one of them farting in her face and then dropping her on the kitchen floor and then asking "what's for dinner, mom?" You'd think she'd yell, drive off, drink herself into a stupor, but instead she laughs her way through it. She's the mom who works part time as a short order cook when the boys are in the fields, which is saying a lot because she has very picky eaters. When they guys come in for dinner she makes sure they have their vitamins, a hearty meal, a kiss on the head and then for good measure yells, "GET OUT OF MY KITCHEN WITH THOSE FILTHY BOOTS!" (and then pours us girls a glass of wine and she heads to the living room to watch True Blood) Seriously, I could take lessons from this woman and never be able to master all that she does. Vicki may be tough, as all farm wives must be, but she has a soft side too. She's so busy, but I love it when I see her climb up in the semi or combine to ride with Ted. Its the only way you get to talk to your husband sometimes, and it makes me smile to see them still do these things. I die for her wilted lettuce and chocolate chip cookies, and I admire how relentless her love for her family is.
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| Vicki may be surrounded by men, but she knows how to make it work to her advantage! |
Seth: I won't take much time to talk about Seth, because he's featured in about every single post. Seth is the typical older brother. Bossy, control freak, nosy, and he always has a strategy and is always trying to wheel a deal. Seth is extremely passionate about farming, maybe more so than anyone else in the family. Its all he talks about day and night. He lives for it and its what truely makes him happy. Seth is at his happiest during harvest when he's behind the wheel of the combine, singing to the radio, and yelling at the monitor to show better yields. One kinda important/embarassing thing to know about Seth: he's obsessed with Nascar, especially Tony Stewart. For our last weekend getaway before Eli was born, we went down to a Christmas festival in Tony's hometown because he was the guest of honor. In fact, for a long time, Seth was really angry with me for not even considering Tony as the baby's name. One thing I love about Seth is that he puts it all out there. There are no hidden sides or secrets to Seth. What you see is what you get, and he is honest, open, not always the most tactful, but he loves his friends fiercely and would take a bullet even for the worst person. One thing I loved about him while we were dating is that he would always pick up the tabs, even if I had 12 of my girlfriends with me, and he would take my sister and friends out to lunch, even if I couldn't go. Some girls would find this "weird" or get jealous, but I like that he has friendships with my friends or that he will just call up my sisters to chat on his way home from work. He's a great guy, and I realize I've talked too much about him so moving on...
Grant: Sometimes I joke with Seth that I married the wrong White brother. Obviously after reading my description of Seth, you know I don't really mean it, however, Grant is one of the best guys I know. He is smart, sweet, and one of those "still waters run deep" type people. He is slow to anger or react, and he takes his time making decisions (Seth should take a lesson from him now and then). Grant is the mechanic around the farm, he can fix anything and everything. Seth usually is the one to break it, and Grant fixes whatever he broke. Grant also has a sneaky side that you have to watch out for, he's been known to have a couple tricks up his sleeve before. One time Grant was having a party at his house on campus during a football game and he had been busy getting food ready and drinks too of course. I was in a hurry to get to the game with my parents and Grant told me I had to try some of his homemade hot cider before leaving. Little did I know that there was a LOT of Everclear in the cider. It was so funny because he just kept pushing the cider on everyone and refilling their cups for them. Grant and Seth have a great relationship too. They get along really well and even though they call each other names and pick fights and wrestle, I know they love each other a lot deep down. An example of this is when the boys race lawnmowers. Seth loves to race, but Grant is the one who is really good at it, and Seth knows this. It's so fun to watch Seth blocking everybody and getting in everybody's way so that his baby brother can smoke them all and cross the finish line first. I'm so lucky to have such a great brother-in-law who has supported us so much and always has ours backs.
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| Grant and Taylor |
Taylor: Taylor is Grant's fiancee, and comes from a farming family herself. She is literally "the girl next door" and has known both Seth and Grant for a while. I knew Taylor long before meeting Seth because her older sister and I were in the same sorority, and I got to meet Taylor when she joined the house as well. Taylor is goofy, beautiful, smart, fun, creative...I could go on. You want to hate her because she's the whole package, but you can't because she's so much fun to be with. She's the person who pushed Seth and I together and I'm so grateful that she did! As I said before Taylor is really creative. She's won countless 4-H awards for her seamstressing abilities, she helped me decorate and paint Eli's nursery, and she's an amazing artist too. One of my favorite moments with Taylor was when we lived in DG and she would show us how many somersaults she could do in a row, or when she and I dressed as "white trash" for a halloween party and she drug me all the way to Mcdonalds afterwards to get burgers even though we looked hideous. I'm so excited that Taylor will officially be my sister in just a few months, and that they are going to be living close to us. She's a wonderful Aunt to Eli and a wonderful friend to Seth and I both!
So there you have it! The people behind the White Farms! Hope you enjoyed!
Cute blog! Just thought I'd say "Hi Neighbor!" :) Its funny to read about someone that lives a mile away!
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