Beef is not what's for dinner...

So, for those of you who think that things have gotten a little carried away here lately with the animals and such...pull up a chair, a thing of popcorn and some milk duds because we are about to tell you about how we've taken things to a whole new level!!! Yesterday morning, bright and early, we went to Albuquerque to meet with Jacob the Butcher and be there for the delivery of our 2 steers, which we would be saying a quick hello and goodbye to as they would be butchered on Sunday...well, all was fine, we got there, the man with the steers got there, delivered them, we paid him, he took off, we said goodbye to Jacob and left, planning to pick up our wrapped beef on Monday...that is until Jacob called...here is the jist of the phone conversation:
Jacob: Hey Tiffany, I have some not so good news.
Tiffany: What is it?
Jacob: Well, the steers aren't ready to be butchered...
Tiffany: What do you mean? (Thinking that the steers have told Jacob they aren't ready to die and who do they think they are??? I bought them and I will decide when they will die....)
Jacob: Well, there isn't any meat on them. They have basically been fed to be kept alive, not to fatten up for butcher.
Tiffany: (pause) So, what are we suppose to do?
Jacob: Well, I suggest raising them for about another 3 months and letting them gain 300-400 lbs and then we can butcher them.
Tiffany: (totally speechless...) Where in the world am I suppose to put 2 500lb cows for three months?????????????????????????????????????????????
Jacob: Well, hmmm.... um... er..... uh..... why don't you talk to your husband and call me back.
And that was the conversation. So...meanwhile, Todd was in a meeting and I didn't want to disturb him so I texted him: CALL ME ASAP. And then I called my good friend Alisa, who by the way has done nothing but find amusement in this whole endeavor...and we laughed about it for about 10 minutes. This was actually very helpful because I was a serious stress case...I mean honestly, let's be serious, what business do I have raising cows? And now, these 2 cows that I thought were suppose to be dead are really still alive and they are OURS!!!! So, I drove to a feed store and guilted the old man who worked there (found out later he owned the place) into giving me some advice as if I were his daughter!!! 45 minutes later he had given me a few options and I felt calmer and more capable of being the owner of 2 cows, and actually felt guilty for making fun of those kids in high school that joined the FFA...how I wished I had joined!!!
I called Jacob back and asked him if he would be willing to house, feed and raise the cows on his property for the next 3 months and as payment we would give him one of the cows. To my surprise and complete gratitude he said yes and so that is what we are doing... This cows is a grouch and this is the one we gave Jacob...
This is our cow. Now, I know what you are thinking, how could we take pictures, see or even be apart of such an endeavor, but here is the answer: It's better that we know how our meat is raised because we will know it isn't processed or given any kind of drugs or steroids, etc. And it will be much more healthy for our family. So, we aren't getting attached and we aren't going to cry when it's butcher time, we will be grateful for the experience and the opportunity to have "organic" meat at a pretty reasonable price. And we will have the opportunity to say that we OWNED a cow in our lives...how many of you can say that?!