Karina Jones is a real-life ranch wife in the Nebraska Sandhills and one of the most highly sought-after speakers in the cattle industry nationwide!
Welcome to the merry month of May, right here on Ranch Raised!
The older I get the more trepidation I have as I approach the month of May. I feel like a little kid peeking out from under my covers looking for the boogie man, saying to myself, “it’s here, it’s really here. Are we really going to do this?”
May is where we seem to burn more daylight getting to a to do list that lengthens every year, knowing full well we probably won’t get it all done but we will work like mad men trying. I tend to fear what all has to get done and fear what challenges will arise that will impede progress towards getting those non-negotiables done. And so it would seem I start worrying about a lot of things that are out of my control because there are just so many boxes that have to be checked, as if the world will implode on May 31 if we don’t accomplish the mission.
And it seems like when you have 4 active kids in the mix, sacrifices have to be made. Track meets will be missed, I will probably miss important notes that come home in backpacks. The laundry pile grows. The dishes don’t stop especially with a dishwasher that is down and the part needed is stuck “in customs” according to the tracking information. Maybe I could just send my dishes to “customs” to get stuck there too.
So, I give myself another pep talk to extend myself grace and to extend it to those around me. The proverbial race against the clock this time of year is probably more in my own head than anything else.
Karina ranches with her husband, Marty, and 4 children near Broken Bow, NE. She grew up in western NE, with roots also in southwest SD. The cattle industry and raising kids is her passion.
Watching the cattle industry go the path that it has gone, she could no longer sit quietly at home checking cows, fixing fence, and doing all the everyday tasks wondering when some else was going to make it all better. As she became more active and outspoken on industry issues, she was asked to join the R-CALF USA staff in September 2020 as the Checkoff Petition Campaign manager. That position transcended into her former role as full time Field Director for R-CALF USA.
Listen to Ranch Raised on a Your Ag Network hometown station or www.youragnetwork.com where she talks about her daily life on the Jones Ranch.
Cattle producers are her people. She will meet you at the county fair, at the sale barn, or anywhere the dusty trail leads.
[email protected] or visit facebook.com/ranchraisedwithkarinajones
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