The Turkey Turks

The day was sometime in July 2016. I was headed to Cheyenne Frontier Days with my best gal Brianna. We had stopped in Casper to eat some grub. I had been dabbling in the world of Tinder. Let me tell ya… I met some odd ones there. I vaguely remember this red headed guy popping up on my swipes. I can still remember the picture he had on there. He was in front of his yellow Mercedes smiling ear to ear with a thumb up. All I could think was that he's cute and funny! So you guessed it. I swiped right. 

Not long after that he messaged me. I wish I had those messages that were written to each other in the beginning. It sure would be funny to look back on those. I’m sure it was cringey too. Haha! 

Not long after that, he drove to Billings to meet up. It was really cool that he was making the effort to seek me. I had never had that happen to me before. I met him in the parking lot of the truck stop on Johnson Lane. We were going to meet Brianna for lunch. I was taking every step possible to make sure people knew where I was and that I was safe. 

He steps out of the black second gen dodge with his tie up roper shoes and cinch jeans. Holy moly I was smitten! He gets in my car and the first thing he says to me is, “don’t worry! I am not an ax murderer…” Reo Turk, that's what all ax murder’s say! 

We made our way to the only place that a 20 year old wants to go. That place being Buffalo Wild Wings. We had a really great time with Brianna there. 

Then it was time for him to leave. With him working 8 days and getting 6 days off. He was able to come back later that week. He actually drove all the way to Red Lodge to surprise me there. 

The next few years we were long distance. 2018 I moved a little closer. I moved to Buffalo where I was living there and driving to Sheridan to work there. I enjoyed coming to the ranch of the days where he had the weekend off. I enjoyed getting out of Buffalo and helping out on the ranch. 

Fast forward to May of 2019. Reo had to put his beloved pug Otis down the first week of May. We decided to go out with our friends that weekend. He had been getting all sorts of crap for not putting a ring on it. So by then we had been dating 3 almost 4 years. Little did I know, I was sleeping in the same room as the ring that he would ask me to marry him with. Knowing Reo, he shopped for MONTHS trying to find the perfect ring. To me he nailed that on the head. I would have said yes if he would have asked me with a ring pop. We hiked to the highest points of the ranch closest to the house. When we got there I had blisters on my heels from the muck boots that I had to wear. I actually told him I hated him at one point because my feet hurt. Ha! He told me that I was going to need to help him run the ranch one day and asked me to marry him. Then I black out....

As the months went on, I started to plan the wedding. I told him to pick the date. I only had one request. I wanted a fall wedding. He chose October 3, 2020. I thought he was crazy! October is a busy month in our household. Cows are coming off the mountain. My birthday is the 11th. Calves get shipped and cows get preg tested. But, the day was absolutely perfect. We got married at the Johnson County Fairgrounds. In the middle of COVID. We weren’t going to let COVID stop us from getting married. 

We were still living in different towns at this point. We had bought our house in March of 2020 but had some things to get done before we could move the house down to the ranch. Reo really did take the bull by the horns with that. I am so thankful that he took the time to research and get all of the stuff done that needed to get done. I know it was stressful for him. But, 2020 was a big year for us. We moved into our little humble abode in December. 

I am so thankful for Reo. I am so thankful for the life we live and the opportunities we have had. Our next chapter is just about to begin and we are so looking forward to adopting the names of Mom and Dad someday.