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Katie Archer's avatar

Stacy! So glad you posted this. I read it two days ago and am still thinking about it - maybe because we left Montana to move closer to family and lately we’ve been missing MT so much. But also because I wanted to remember to comment and say wow, girl your day held so much! you made two big meals AND did a barre workout AND had to talk to insurance! i hope you went to bed feeling like you crushed it, cause you did. I think we oftentimes as moms see all the things we didn’t get to in a day instead of all that we DID! Maybe doing this DITL post helped you see all that you do for yourself and others in a day. Pretty beautiful!

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Stacy Bronec's avatar

Hi Katie! SO good to hear from you! Thank you for reading and coming back to comment! :) Thank you for saying that; I did not think I crushed it that day. Haha. A part of me always feels guilty (although I don't know if that's the right word) that I don't do more on the farm. Which I know from the outside probably sounds silly, but being more hands-on with the cows and calves. But I also worked three days in town the week I wrote this, so I wasn't even on the farm for part of the week. :) Anyway, thanks for taking the time to comment. I hope you're doing well!

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molly flinkman's avatar

I love this so much Stacy! Do more of this! 💛

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Stacy Bronec's avatar

Maybe once a season! :) My life isn't exciting enough to do it more than that.

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Judy's avatar

WOW! I’m so impressed with your organization! You have so much on your plate yet you manage it all brilliantly, Stacey! Rich and your darling kiddos are so very fortunate! As always. I love reading your posts! ❤️

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Stacy Bronec's avatar

Ah, thanks, Judy! That's kind of you to say. I am not in the barn day in and day out (like my SIL!), but I enjoy playing my small part. Thanks for commenting and reading!

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Ashlee Gadd's avatar

I am endlessly fascinated by your life and cannot believe how early your kids get on the bus 😵‍💫 I believe this took hours to put together because every time I’ve done a DITL on IG (all of like, 3 times), I am SHOCKED at how much time and energy it takes. Having said that: I actually loved reading this in longform!

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Stacy Bronec's avatar

I do have some guilt about the early mornings/school. But I also don't think I would be a good homeschool mom. 🫠 Thank you for taking the time to tell me you loved reading it. After spending hours over the weekend putting it together, I went to schedule the post and really questioned if this was dumb to share, boring, pointless. But I had already put so much time in, so I decided, "Oh well," and just went for it. 😂

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Ashlee Gadd's avatar

Girl. I'd put my kids on a bus at 4am if it meant I didn't have to homeschool 🤣

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Stacy Bronec's avatar

😂😂😂

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Bailee Bach Whalen's avatar

I love this! I'm not a rancher/farmer, but living in Rural Wisconsin I can completely relate to the early mornings, long drives to bus stops, long bus rides, and days that fly by but never seem long enough! Thanks for inviting us into your day 😊

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Stacy Bronec's avatar

Thanks, Bailee! The bus stop/bus rides are a whole thing!! I've had some guilt over the years that we don't homeschool. But I remind myself that my husband survived the same bus ride and turned out okay. ;)

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Laura Rennie's avatar

Loved reading this!

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Stacy Bronec's avatar

Thanks, Laura!

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Emily Roark's avatar

I loved reading this! I’d love to hear how you structure your days when your youngest is in school. I assume you have a long drive to get her there — or does she also take the bus? When I have 3 1/2 hours to myself, 3 times a week, I get kind of paralyzed and never feel like I’m doing enough!

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Stacy Bronec's avatar

Thanks, Emily! There hasn't been much structure this year! At the beginning of the year, I drove her to school quite a bit, then worked in town at a coffee shop (worked on the conference I was planning), then I would pick her up and go home. But since the end of November, I've been working at the school on the days she goes to school. So I have been driving them all to town in the morning. Then I come home when she is done with school. But she didn't have school on this day, so we were both home. On the few days I haven't been working, she rides the bus with the older kids, and then I have to drive in to get her when she's done. So I only have a few hours at home before the 40 min. drive to town by 11:15. ;) And yes, I sometimes get paralyzed about what to do. I try to write, but sometimes that goes nowhere. I usually workout, take a shower, and then read or write. But the time goes so fast!

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Kendra Kruckenberg's avatar

I loved this!!! Thanks for putting all the time and effort into it. (Also, learned something new with the non-GMO wheat thing, so thanks for that, too!

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Stacy Bronec's avatar

Thanks, Kendra! I get so annoyed about the GMO wheat thing. I purposely won’t buy something that says it’s non-GMO wheat because I know it’s purely marketing. 😂

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Sarah Powers's avatar

I love the new Substack name so much, and I loved reading this. Thank you for taking the time to put it together! I'm still thinking about how your kids 'grabbed a snack and headed outside to throw a football for a couple of hours'. Were they cold? Did ALL of them go out there? And they really stayed for multiple hours? I love it so much and am very impressed. (I'm impressed anyway, so even if it was 10 minutes and they came in fighting and freezing, you're doing a great job. ;))

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Stacy Bronec's avatar

Thanks, Sarah! I'd been thinking of changing it for a few months and am glad I finally went for it. :)

Nora did not go out. ;) She's a homebody who always likes to be near me (I know you get this with your youngest). ;) But yes, Rhett and Allie went outside around 3:45 and stayed out until about 5:30! I thought it was cold (it was around 15-20 degrees), but they didn't seem bothered. One thing that I didn't realize happened until later was that Rich came up from the shop and built them a makeshift goalpost by screwing pipes into the wooden fence in our yard. So they were practicing kicking through the new goalpost. :)

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Cara Stolen's avatar

This is so fun, friend! LOVE that you added that footnote- GMOs and conventional/organic/natural are topics that can have me ranting for days 😵‍💫 Sorry about your car!!

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Stacy Bronec's avatar

Thanks for reading, Cara! A post addressing much of that is coming soon (hopefully next week!). I'm so annoyed about my car. And annoyed that I was too trusting with this person I thought was being forthcoming with his information. Sometimes, I'm more assertive than that, but it caught me off guard, and I didn't do everything I should have done. :(

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Megan Hogg's avatar

This was such a fun read!! You are busy, girl!! That bundt cake is beautiful. And I'm sure the lunch that required the brief 3am wakeup was incredible! I always love your photos - what do you use to take them?

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Stacy Bronec's avatar

Thanks, Megan!! I have an iPhone 15 Pro that takes really good photos. But I often use presets in Lightroom that I bought.

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Melissa Anderson's avatar

I so love a DITL even though it exhausts me to even think of doing one of mine. So thank you for your time and inspiration haha!

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Stacy Bronec's avatar

Thanks, Melissa! It was fun to do, but nothing something I would do often. 😂 I’m thinking once a season: calving, spring seeding, harvest, fall seeding. We will see!

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Melissa Anderson's avatar

Also, I see you’re in Montana! Where abouts? We are currently in WA and wanting to relocate to have more land and our one of top 3 choices is western Montana!

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Stacy Bronec's avatar

We are in central Montana! Western Montana is beautiful!!

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Christina Doerksen's avatar

I’ve always enjoyed reading a ‘day in the life’ kind of post, this was refreshing! And I feel far less like a bad puppy parent. we are also finding ourselves on the couch with the dog.😆 That was not part of the plan! And she sheds.😑

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Stacy Bronec's avatar

Hehe we are probably not great puppy parents. We joke a lot about having to train the kids more than the puppy. Ugh. But, we're trying! Thanks for reading, Christina! I would love to read a day in the life from you!

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Christina Doerksen's avatar

Amen to having to train the kids more than the puppy!🫠

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Dani Elgas's avatar

Loved this post. As I said before, here for the calving content. But I’ll edit to say I’m here for farm content lol

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Stacy Bronec's avatar

Thanks, Dani!! :)

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Joy Nicholas's avatar

Love this! My whole life, I’ve enjoyed books about farm life, even if I have never had the opportunity to live rurally. This reminds me of those books!

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Stacy Bronec's avatar

Thanks, Joy! I did, too, growing up. Haha. And I still like reading them!

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Shannon Williams's avatar

I LOVE a good "day in the life" post! Also here for footnote rants, every time.

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Stacy Bronec's avatar

What good are footnotes, except to rant?! 😂

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