--- title: "21 Life Quotes By Ree Drummond" description: "21 Life quotes by Ree Drummond. Plus more from Ree Drummond and more Life sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a08/ree-drummond-818_grief_i-was-naked-and-alone-enduring-the-flop_732510.jpg" --- > [“I was naked and alone, enduring the flop sweat attack of my life. It figured. It was usually the times I felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/i-was-naked-and-alone-enduring-the-flop-sweat-attack-of-my-life-it/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a08/ree-drummond-818_grief_i-was-naked-and-alone-enduring-the-flop_732510.jpg) > [“He was going to be my own private playground for the rest of my life. I almost felt guilty, like I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/he-was-going-to-be-my-own-private-playground-for-the-rest-of-my-life/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eba/ree-drummond-818_life_he-was-going-to-be-my-own-private-playgr_1457944.jpg) > [I'm as flawed as the next person. But maybe I inspire women because I'm an example that you should never assume that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/i-m-as-flawed-as-the-next-person-but-maybe-i-inspire-women-because-i/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa0/ree-drummond-818_flawed_i-m-as-flawed-as-the-next-person-but-may_1047848.png) > [“It wasn’t about me anymore. I had a child. A husband who needed me to be there for him in the midst…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/it-wasn-t-about-me-anymore-i-had-a-child-a-husband-who-needed-me-to-2/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eef/ree-drummond-818_children_it-wasn-t-about-me-anymore-i-had-a-child_1117988.png) > [“In the coming year, real life would come crashing in around us. Within days of our wedding, we would receive unexpected, startling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/in-the-coming-year-real-life-would-come-crashing-in-around-us-within/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bb/ree-drummond-818_death_in-the-coming-year-real-life-would-come_2759546.png) > [“At times the differences concerned me. Could I ever be with a man who’d never, in his entire life, eaten sushi? Could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/at-times-the-differences-concerned-me-could-i-ever-be-with-a-man-who/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d9/ree-drummond-818_entire-life_at-times-the-differences-concerned-me-co_57170.png) > [“In the meantime, I tried my best to acclimate to my new life in the middle of nowhere. I had to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/in-the-meantime-i-tried-my-best-to-acclimate-to-my-new-life-in-the-2/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9a/ree-drummond-818_food_in-the-meantime-i-tried-my-best-to-accli_2804484.jpg) > [“It had been building for a while, starting with a tiny ache, for life as I’d known it before, and culminating--once J…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/it-had-been-building-for-a-while-starting-with-a-tiny-ache-for-life/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e33/ree-drummond-818_chicago_it-had-been-building-for-a-while-startin_2442071.png) > [“I was just beginning to wrap my mind around the way daily life unfolded here: wake up early, get your work done,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/i-was-just-beginning-to-wrap-my-mind-around-the-way-daily-life/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe1/ree-drummond-818_daily-life_i-was-just-beginning-to-wrap-my-mind-aro_800654.png) > [“I’d been reborn since Marlboro Man had entered my life; his wild abandon and unabashed passion had freed me from the shackles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/i-d-been-reborn-since-marlboro-man-had-entered-my-life-his-wild/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b27/ree-drummond-818_life_i-d-been-reborn-since-marlboro-man-had-e_1689988.png) > [“Nothing in my life could have prepared me for the horror of watching Marlboro Man, my new love, and his brother, Tim,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/nothing-in-my-life-could-have-prepared-me-for-the-horror-of-watching/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa7/ree-drummond-818_brother_nothing-in-my-life-could-have-prepared-m_641301.jpg) > [“I’d been reflecting on this--the drastic turn my life and my outlook on love had taken--more and more on the evenings Marlboro…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/i-d-been-reflecting-on-this-the-drastic-turn-my-life-and-my-outlook/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79b/ree-drummond-818_city-lights_i-d-been-reflecting-on-this-the-drastic_223592.jpg) > [“Marlboro Man and I settled in together, soaking up the first days of married life on the ranch that was my new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/marlboro-man-and-i-settled-in-together-soaking-up-the-first-days-of/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b6/ree-drummond-818_every-day_marlboro-man-and-i-settled-in-together-s_2736775.jpg) > [“In the meantime, I tried my best to acclimate to my new life in the middle of nowhere. I had to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/in-the-meantime-i-tried-my-best-to-acclimate-to-my-new-life-in-the-3/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8d/ree-drummond-818_every-day_in-the-meantime-i-tried-my-best-to-accli_2874458.jpg) > [“Now, did you really mean that about not wanting to do this the rest of your life?” he asked. That familiar, playful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/now-did-you-really-mean-that-about-not-wanting-to-do-this-the-rest-of/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc3/ree-drummond-818_country-life_now-did-you-really-mean-that-about-not-w_1979513.jpg) > [“My milk had burst onto the scene with a vengeance, and eating became the baby’s new vocation. The next two weeks of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/my-milk-had-burst-onto-the-scene-with-a-vengeance-and-eating-became/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6b/ree-drummond-818_computers_my-milk-had-burst-onto-the-scene-with-a_479880.jpg) > [“Eric, my German hairdresser, was waiting for me in the large dressing room upstairs. He’d cut my auburn hair since I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/eric-my-german-hairdresser-was-waiting-for-me-in-the-large-dressing/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0eb/ree-drummond-818_current-events_eric-my-german-hairdresser-was-waiting-f_2490584.jpg) > [“Soon it was time for us to leave; the clock had struck midnight, and we had miles to go before we slept.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/soon-it-was-time-for-us-to-leave-the-clock-had-struck-midnight-and-we/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bd/ree-drummond-818_big-city_soon-it-was-time-for-us-to-leave-the-clo_1571696.png) > [“Of course, no china--however intricate and inviting--was as seductive as my fiancé, my future husband, who continued to eat me alive with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/of-course-no-china-however-intricate-and-inviting-was-as-seductive-as/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/413/ree-drummond-818_big-city_of-course-no-china-however-intricate-and_1885429.jpg) > [“In the meantime, I tried my best to acclimate to my new life in the middle of nowhere. I had to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/in-the-meantime-i-tried-my-best-to-acclimate-to-my-new-life-in-the/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04b/ree-drummond-818_every-day_in-the-meantime-i-tried-my-best-to-accli_477001.png) > [“I’d been reflecting on this--the drastic turn my life and my outlook on love had taken--more and more on the evenings Marlboro…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/i-d-been-reflecting-on-this-the-drastic-turn-my-life-and-my-outlook-2/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/430/ree-drummond-818_city-lights_i-d-been-reflecting-on-this-the-drastic_2634035.jpg) ## Other authors on Life - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b022/author-sunday-adelaja-87912.jpg) Sunday Adelaja 2,086 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/sunday-adelaja/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b001/author-nishan-panwar-14.jpg) Nishan Panwar 1,901 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/nishan-panwar/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b019/author-paulo-coelho-74345.jpg) Paulo Coelho 1,045 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/paulo-coelho/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b001/author-ritu-ghatourey-5.jpg) Ritu Ghatourey 893 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/ritu-ghatourey/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b010/author-frederick-lenz-36205.jpg) Frederick Lenz 659 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/frederick-lenz/) - [Lailah Gifty Akita 630 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/lailah-gifty-akita/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b001/author-anurag-prakash-ray-38.jpg) Anurag Prakash Ray 621 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/anurag-prakash-ray/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b022/author-steve-maraboli-87325.jpg) Steve Maraboli 550 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/steve-maraboli/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b001/author-melchor-lim-61.jpg) Melchor Lim 538 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/melchor-lim/) - [Mehmet Murat ildan 452 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/mehmet-murat-ildan/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b011/author-henry-david-thoreau-41473.jpg) Henry David Thoreau 432 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/henry-david-thoreau/) - [Ralph Waldo Emerson 430 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/ralph-waldo-emerson/) ## More by Ree Drummond > [“What else haven’t you told me?” I thought for a minute. “Actually, yes…there is,” I replied, pausing to consider my words carefully, “I eat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/what-else-haven-t-you-told-me-i-thought-for-a-minute-actually-yes/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) > [Butter, cream, and bacon. That's such a great foundation right there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/butter-cream-and-bacon-that-s-such-a-great-foundation-right-there/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) > [“More and more, I began helping around the homestead. I learned to operate my John Deere mower so I could keep the yard around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/more-and-more-i-began-helping-around-the-homestead-i-learned-to/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) > [“I walked proudly out of the church, the new wife of Marlboro Man. When we exited the same doors through which my dad and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/i-walked-proudly-out-of-the-church-the-new-wife-of-marlboro-man-when/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) > [“When we arrived at the wedding at Marlboro Man’s grandparents’ house, I gasped. People were absolutely everywhere: scurrying and mingling and sipping champagne and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/when-we-arrived-at-the-wedding-at-marlboro-man-s-grandparents-house-i/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) > [“What is it?” I asked, pasting a magazine photo of a football--found in an old Seventeen magazine spread--on my beloved’s collage. “Well, a bunch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/what-is-it-i-asked-pasting-a-magazine-photo-of-a-football-found-in-an/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) > [“When I arrived, I immediately saw the mother of an ex-boyfriend, the kind of ex-boyfriend that would make you want to look as good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/when-i-arrived-i-immediately-saw-the-mother-of-an-ex-boyfriend-the/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) > [“At times the differences concerned me. Could I ever be with a man who’d never, in his entire life, eaten sushi? Could I, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/at-times-the-differences-concerned-me-could-i-ever-be-with-a-man-who/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) > [“You did not do my homework assignment for me,” he said, grabbing the collage again and looking it over. “I had insomnia,” I said.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/you-did-not-do-my-homework-assignment-for-me-he-said-grabbing-the/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) > [“I couldn’t bear the thought of a ham sandwich. Imagining milk trickling down my esophagus almost sent me over the edge. Even the saltines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/i-couldn-t-bear-the-thought-of-a-ham-sandwich-imagining-milk/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) > [“Marlboro Man picked me up the next evening, exactly one month before our wedding day. Our evening apart had made the heart grow fonder,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/marlboro-man-picked-me-up-the-next-evening-exactly-one-month-before/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) > [“I’ll send the nurse in here in a minute, okay?” Waste of time , I thought. “Okay, but…do you think there’s anything we can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/i-ll-send-the-nurse-in-here-in-a-minute-okay-waste-of-time-i-thought/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) > [“How come I wasn’t riding around in his middle seat? Was I supposed to initiate this? Was this expected of me? Because I probably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/how-come-i-wasn-t-riding-around-in-his-middle-seat-was-i-supposed-to/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) > [“I’ll see you in the morning. Oh, and hey…if I don’t answer the door right away it probably means I’m doing some weight training…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/i-ll-see-you-in-the-morning-oh-and-hey-if-i-don-t-answer-the-door/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) > [“Minutes later, we were back at the sliding glass door that led inside the house--me, leaning against the glass, Marlboro Man anchoring me there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/minutes-later-we-were-back-at-the-sliding-glass-door-that-led-inside/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/ree-drummond/#itemlist", "name": "21 Life Quotes By Ree Drummond", "numberOfItems": 21, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I was naked and alone, enduring the flop sweat attack of my life. It figured. 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And always and forever, Marlboro Man.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ree Drummond" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/it-wasn-t-about-me-anymore-i-had-a-child-a-husband-who-needed-me-to-2/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eef/ree-drummond-818_children_it-wasn-t-about-me-anymore-i-had-a-child_1117988.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eef/ree-drummond-818_children_it-wasn-t-about-me-anymore-i-had-a-child_1117988.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eef/ree-drummond-818_children_it-wasn-t-about-me-anymore-i-had-a-child_1117988.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It wasn’t about me anymore. I had a child. A husband who needed me to be there for him in the midst of what…” — Ree Drummond", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“In the coming year, real life would come crashing in around us. Within days of our wedding, we would receive unexpected, startling news that would cause us to cut our honeymoon short. Within weeks, we would endure the jarring turmoil of death…divorce…and disappointment. In the first year of our life together, we would be faced with difficult decisions, painful conflict, and drastic changes in plans. And through every step of the way, it would be the passion that sustained us.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ree Drummond" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/in-the-coming-year-real-life-would-come-crashing-in-around-us-within/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bb/ree-drummond-818_death_in-the-coming-year-real-life-would-come_2759546.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bb/ree-drummond-818_death_in-the-coming-year-real-life-would-come_2759546.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bb/ree-drummond-818_death_in-the-coming-year-real-life-would-come_2759546.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In the coming year, real life would come crashing in around us. Within days of our wedding, we would receive…” — Ree Drummond", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“At times the differences concerned me. Could I ever be with a man who’d never, in his entire life, eaten sushi? Could I, a former vegetarian, conceivably spend the rest of my life with a man who ate red meat at every meal? I’d never thought about it before. And, most concerning, could I ever--in a million years--live so far out in the country that I’d have to traverse five miles of gravel road to reach my house? The Magic 8-Ball in my head revealed its answer: OUTLOOK NOT SO GOOD.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ree Drummond" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/at-times-the-differences-concerned-me-could-i-ever-be-with-a-man-who/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d9/ree-drummond-818_entire-life_at-times-the-differences-concerned-me-co_57170.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d9/ree-drummond-818_entire-life_at-times-the-differences-concerned-me-co_57170.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d9/ree-drummond-818_entire-life_at-times-the-differences-concerned-me-co_57170.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“At times the differences concerned me. Could I ever be with a man who’d never, in his entire life, eaten…” — Ree Drummond", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“In the meantime, I tried my best to acclimate to my new life in the middle of nowhere. I had to get used to the fact that I lived twenty miles from the nearest grocery store. That I couldn’t just run next door when I ran out of eggs. That there was no such thing as sushi. Not that it would matter, anyway. No cowboy on the ranch would touch it. That’s bait , they’d say, laughing at any city person who would convince themselves that such a food was tasty.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ree Drummond" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/in-the-meantime-i-tried-my-best-to-acclimate-to-my-new-life-in-the-2/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9a/ree-drummond-818_food_in-the-meantime-i-tried-my-best-to-accli_2804484.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9a/ree-drummond-818_food_in-the-meantime-i-tried-my-best-to-accli_2804484.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9a/ree-drummond-818_food_in-the-meantime-i-tried-my-best-to-accli_2804484.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In the meantime, I tried my best to acclimate to my new life in the middle of nowhere. I had to get used to…” — Ree Drummond", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It had been building for a while, starting with a tiny ache, for life as I’d known it before, and culminating--once J accepted his new job--in a full-blown resolve that I wanted to head back to the Midwest. Chicago probably. It would be closer to home--one short plane ride away rather than two, sometimes three legs and an entire day of travel. I’d be closer to friends, closer to family. I’d be in a climate more suited to my complexion.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ree Drummond" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/it-had-been-building-for-a-while-starting-with-a-tiny-ache-for-life/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e33/ree-drummond-818_chicago_it-had-been-building-for-a-while-startin_2442071.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e33/ree-drummond-818_chicago_it-had-been-building-for-a-while-startin_2442071.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e33/ree-drummond-818_chicago_it-had-been-building-for-a-while-startin_2442071.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It had been building for a while, starting with a tiny ache, for life as I’d known it before, and…” — Ree Drummond", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I was just beginning to wrap my mind around the way daily life unfolded here: wake up early, get your work done, eat, relax, and go to bed. Repeat daily. There wasn’t a calendar of events or dinner dates with friends in town or really much room for recreation--because that just meant double the work when you got back to work. It was hard for me not to wonder when any of these people ever went out and had a good time, or built a snowman. Or slept past 5:00 A.M.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ree Drummond" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/i-was-just-beginning-to-wrap-my-mind-around-the-way-daily-life/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe1/ree-drummond-818_daily-life_i-was-just-beginning-to-wrap-my-mind-aro_800654.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe1/ree-drummond-818_daily-life_i-was-just-beginning-to-wrap-my-mind-aro_800654.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe1/ree-drummond-818_daily-life_i-was-just-beginning-to-wrap-my-mind-aro_800654.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I was just beginning to wrap my mind around the way daily life unfolded here: wake up early, get your work…” — Ree Drummond", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I’d been reborn since Marlboro Man had entered my life; his wild abandon and unabashed passion had freed me from the shackles of cynicism, from thinking that love had to be something to labor over or agonize about. He’d ridden into my life on a speckled gray horse and had saved my heart from hardness. He’d taught me that when you love someone, you say it--and that when it comes to matters of the heart, games are for pimply sixteen-year-olds. Up until then that’s all I’d been: a child masquerading as a disillusioned adult, looking at love much as I’d looked at a round of Marco Polo in the pool at the country club: when they swam after me, I’d swim away. And there are accusations of peeking and cheating, and you always wind up sunburned and pruney and pooped. And no one ever wins. It was Marlboro Man who’d helped me out of the pool, wrapped a towel around my blistering shoulders, and carried me to a world where love has nothing to do with competition or sport or strategy. He told me he loved me when he felt like it, when he thought of it. He never saw any reason not to.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ree Drummond" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/i-d-been-reborn-since-marlboro-man-had-entered-my-life-his-wild/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b27/ree-drummond-818_life_i-d-been-reborn-since-marlboro-man-had-e_1689988.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b27/ree-drummond-818_life_i-d-been-reborn-since-marlboro-man-had-e_1689988.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b27/ree-drummond-818_life_i-d-been-reborn-since-marlboro-man-had-e_1689988.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I’d been reborn since Marlboro Man had entered my life; his wild abandon and unabashed passion had freed me…” — Ree Drummond", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 11, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Nothing in my life could have prepared me for the horror of watching Marlboro Man, my new love, and his brother, Tim, whom I’d just met, chivalrously dart around Tim’s driveway, trying valiantly to save my wayward dollars, all because I couldn’t keep my balance on the steps of their shiny new semi. I left my car at Tim’s for the evening, and when we pulled away in Marlboro Man’s pickup, I stared out the window, shaking my head and apologizing for being such a colossal dork. When we got to the highway, Marlboro Man glanced at me as he made a right-hand turn. “Yeah,” he said, consoling me. “But you’re my dork.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ree Drummond" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/nothing-in-my-life-could-have-prepared-me-for-the-horror-of-watching/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa7/ree-drummond-818_brother_nothing-in-my-life-could-have-prepared-m_641301.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa7/ree-drummond-818_brother_nothing-in-my-life-could-have-prepared-m_641301.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa7/ree-drummond-818_brother_nothing-in-my-life-could-have-prepared-m_641301.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Nothing in my life could have prepared me for the horror of watching Marlboro Man, my new love, and his…” — Ree Drummond", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 12, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I’d been reflecting on this--the drastic turn my life and my outlook on love had taken--more and more on the evenings Marlboro Man and I spent together, the nights we sat on his quiet porch, with no visible city lights or traffic sounds anywhere. Usually we’d have shared a dinner, done the dishes, watched a movie. But we’d almost always wind up on his porch, sitting or standing, overlooking nothing but dark, open countryside illuminated by the clear, unpolluted moonlight. If we weren’t wrapped in each other’s arms, I imagined, the quiet, rural darkness might be a terribly lonely place. But Marlboro Man never gave me a chance to find out.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ree Drummond" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/i-d-been-reflecting-on-this-the-drastic-turn-my-life-and-my-outlook/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79b/ree-drummond-818_city-lights_i-d-been-reflecting-on-this-the-drastic_223592.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79b/ree-drummond-818_city-lights_i-d-been-reflecting-on-this-the-drastic_223592.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79b/ree-drummond-818_city-lights_i-d-been-reflecting-on-this-the-drastic_223592.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I’d been reflecting on this--the drastic turn my life and my outlook on love had taken--more and more on the…” — Ree Drummond", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 13, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Marlboro Man and I settled in together, soaking up the first days of married life on the ranch that was my new home. He spent his days working cattle; his evenings figuring out the business ramifications of the imploding financial situation in which he and Tim now found themselves. I, on the other hand, spent my days getting organized and washing his muddy clothes, failing miserably in my attempts to remove the greenish brown manure stains and making plans instead to order a hundred pairs of the jeans he wore so I could replace them every day. I saw no other alternative.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ree Drummond" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/marlboro-man-and-i-settled-in-together-soaking-up-the-first-days-of/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b6/ree-drummond-818_every-day_marlboro-man-and-i-settled-in-together-s_2736775.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b6/ree-drummond-818_every-day_marlboro-man-and-i-settled-in-together-s_2736775.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b6/ree-drummond-818_every-day_marlboro-man-and-i-settled-in-together-s_2736775.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Marlboro Man and I settled in together, soaking up the first days of married life on the ranch that was my…” — Ree Drummond", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 14, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“In the meantime, I tried my best to acclimate to my new life in the middle of nowhere. I had to get used to the fact that I lived twenty miles from the nearest grocery store. That I couldn’t just run next door when I ran out of eggs. That there was no such thing as sushi. Not that it would matter, anyway. No cowboy on the ranch would touch it. That’s bait , they’d say, laughing at any city person who would convince themselves that such a food was tasty. And the trash truck: there wasn’t one. In this strange new land, there was no infrastructure for dealing with trash. There were cows in my yard, and they pooped everywhere--on the porch, in the yard, even on my car if they happened to be walking near it when they dropped a load. There wasn’t a yard crew to clean it up. I wanted to hire people, but there were no people. The reality of my situation grew more crystal clear every day.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ree Drummond" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/in-the-meantime-i-tried-my-best-to-acclimate-to-my-new-life-in-the-3/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8d/ree-drummond-818_every-day_in-the-meantime-i-tried-my-best-to-accli_2874458.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8d/ree-drummond-818_every-day_in-the-meantime-i-tried-my-best-to-accli_2874458.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8d/ree-drummond-818_every-day_in-the-meantime-i-tried-my-best-to-accli_2874458.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In the meantime, I tried my best to acclimate to my new life in the middle of nowhere. I had to get used to…” — Ree Drummond", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 15, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Now, did you really mean that about not wanting to do this the rest of your life?” he asked. That familiar, playful grin appeared in the corner of his mouth. I blinked a couple of times and took a deep breath, smiling back at him and reassuring him with my eyes that no, I hadn’t meant it, but I did hate his horse. Then I took a deep breath, stood up, and dusted off my Anne Klein straight-leg jeans. “Hey, we don’t have to do this now,” Marlboro Man said, standing back up. “I’ll just do it later.” “No, I’m fine,” I answered, walking back toward my horse with newfound resolve. I took another deep breath and climbed back on the horse. As Marlboro Man and I rode back toward the thicket of trees, I suddenly understood: if I was going to marry this man, if I was going to live on this isolated ranch, if I was going to survive without cappuccino and takeout food…I sure wasn’t going to let this horse beat me. I’d have to toughen up and face things. As we rode, it became even more clear. I’d have to apply this same courage to all areas of my life--not just the practical, day-in and day-out activities of ranch life, but also the reality of my parents’ marital collapse and any other problems that would arise in the coming years. Suddenly, running off and getting married no longer seemed like the romantic adventures I was trying to convince myself it would be. Suddenly I realized that if I did that, if I ran away and said “ I do ” in some dark, hidden corner of the world, I’d never be able to handle the rigors and stresses of country life. And that wouldn’t be fair to Marlboro Man…or myself. As we started moving, I noticed that Marlboro Man was riding at my pace. “The horses need to be shod,” he said, grinning. “They didn’t need to trot today anyway.” I glanced in his direction. “So we’ll just go slow and easy,” he continued. I looked toward the thicket of trees and took a deep, calming breath, grabbing on to the saddle horn so firmly my knuckles turned pasty white.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ree Drummond" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/now-did-you-really-mean-that-about-not-wanting-to-do-this-the-rest-of/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc3/ree-drummond-818_country-life_now-did-you-really-mean-that-about-not-w_1979513.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc3/ree-drummond-818_country-life_now-did-you-really-mean-that-about-not-w_1979513.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc3/ree-drummond-818_country-life_now-did-you-really-mean-that-about-not-w_1979513.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Now, did you really mean that about not wanting to do this the rest of your life?” he asked. That familiar…” — Ree Drummond", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 16, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“My milk had burst onto the scene with a vengeance, and eating became the baby’s new vocation. The next two weeks of her life marked the end of my life as I knew it; I was up all night, a hag all day, and Marlboro Man was completely on his own. I wanted nothing to do with anyone on earth, my husband included. “How are you doing today?” he’d ask. I’d resent that I had to expand the energy to answer. “Want me to hold the baby while you get up and get dressed?” he’d offer. I’d crumble that he didn’t like my robe. “Hey, Mama--wanna take the baby for a drive?” Not no, but hell no. We’ll die if we leave our cocoon. The rays from the sun will fry us and turn us to ashes. And I’d have to put on normal clothes. Forget it. I’d kicked into survival mode in the most literal sense of the word--not only was laundry out of the question, but so was dinner, casual conversation, or any social interaction at all. I had become a shell of a person--no more human than the stainless steel milk machines in dairy farms in Wisconsin, and half as interesting. Any identity I’d previously had as a wife, daughter, friend, or productive member of the human race had melted away the second my ducts filled with milk. My mom dropped by to help once or twice, but I couldn’t emotionally process her presence. I hid in my room with the door shut as she did the dishes and washed laundry without help or input from me. Marlboro Man’s mom came to help, too, but I couldn’t be myself around her and holed up in my room. I didn’t even care enough to pray for help. Not that it would have helped; stainless steel milk machines have no soul.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ree Drummond" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/my-milk-had-burst-onto-the-scene-with-a-vengeance-and-eating-became/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6b/ree-drummond-818_computers_my-milk-had-burst-onto-the-scene-with-a_479880.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6b/ree-drummond-818_computers_my-milk-had-burst-onto-the-scene-with-a_479880.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6b/ree-drummond-818_computers_my-milk-had-burst-onto-the-scene-with-a_479880.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“My milk had burst onto the scene with a vengeance, and eating became the baby’s new vocation. The next two…” — Ree Drummond", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 17, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Eric, my German hairdresser, was waiting for me in the large dressing room upstairs. He’d cut my auburn hair since I was six and had seen it through tragic self-trimmings of my bangs, unfortunate summers of excessive Sun-In use, and horrible home perms gone terribly wrong. He’d never shrunk from haughtily chastising me through my follicular antics and had thrown in plenty of Teutonic life coaching along the way, on every subject from pimply high school boys to current events and politics. And he’d pretty much made me feel equal parts stupid and uncultured on more than one occasion with his superior knowledge of theater and art and opera. But I loved him. He was important to me. So when I asked him to come to my wedding to transform my hair into an elegant and sexy and uncontrived but polished updo, Eric had answered, simply, “Yes.” And the moment I sat down in the chair, he chastised me for washing my hair right before I arrived. “Ees juss too smooz,” Eric scolded. “I’m sorry,” I begged. “Please don’t ground me, Eric. I didn’t want my head to stink on my wedding night.” And for the first time ever, I saw Eric crack a relaxed, mellow smile. I loved it that Eric was there.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ree Drummond" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/eric-my-german-hairdresser-was-waiting-for-me-in-the-large-dressing/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0eb/ree-drummond-818_current-events_eric-my-german-hairdresser-was-waiting-f_2490584.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0eb/ree-drummond-818_current-events_eric-my-german-hairdresser-was-waiting-f_2490584.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0eb/ree-drummond-818_current-events_eric-my-german-hairdresser-was-waiting-f_2490584.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Eric, my German hairdresser, was waiting for me in the large dressing room upstairs. He’d cut my auburn hair…” — Ree Drummond", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 18, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Soon it was time for us to leave; the clock had struck midnight, and we had miles to go before we slept. After throwing my bouquet and saying good-byes, Marlboro Man and I ran through the doors of the club and climbed into the back of a smoky black limousine--the vehicle that would take us to the big city miles away, where we’d stay before flying to Australia the next day. As we pulled away from the waving, birdseed-throwing crowd at the front door of the club, we immediately settled into each other’s arms, melting into a puddle of white silk and black boots and sleepy, unbridled romance. It was all so new. New dress…new love…a new country--Australia--that neither of us had ever seen. A new life together. A new life for me. New crystal, silver, china. A newly renovated, tiny cowboy house that would be our little house on the prairie when we returned from our honeymoon. A new husband. My husband. I wanted to repeat it over and over again, wanted to shout it to the heavens. But I couldn’t speak. I was busy. Passion had taken over--a beast had been unleashed. Sleep deprived and exhausted from the celebration of the previous week, once inside the sanctity of the limousine, we were utterly powerless to stop it…and we let it fly. It was this same passion that had gotten us through the early stages of our relationship, and, ultimately, through the choice to wave good-bye to any life I’d ever imagined for myself. To become a part of Marlboro Man’s life instead. It was this same passion that assured me that everything was exactly as it should be. It was the passion that made it all make sense.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ree Drummond" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/soon-it-was-time-for-us-to-leave-the-clock-had-struck-midnight-and-we/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bd/ree-drummond-818_big-city_soon-it-was-time-for-us-to-leave-the-clo_1571696.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bd/ree-drummond-818_big-city_soon-it-was-time-for-us-to-leave-the-clo_1571696.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bd/ree-drummond-818_big-city_soon-it-was-time-for-us-to-leave-the-clo_1571696.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Soon it was time for us to leave; the clock had struck midnight, and we had miles to go before we slept…” — Ree Drummond", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 19, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Of course, no china--however intricate and inviting--was as seductive as my fiancé, my future husband, who continued to eat me alive with one glance from his icy-blue eyes. Who greeted me not at the door of his house when I arrived almost every night of the week, but at my car. Who welcomed me not with a pat on the arm or even a hug but with an all-enveloping, all-encompassing embrace. Whose good-night kisses began the moment I arrived, not hours later when it was time to go home. We were already playing house, what with my almost daily trips to the ranch and our five o’clock suppers and our lazy movie nights on his thirty-year-old leather couch, the same one his parents had bought when they were a newly married couple. We’d already watched enough movies together to last a lifetime. Giant with James Dean, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Reservoir Dogs, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, The Graduate, All Quiet on the Western Front, and, more than a handful of times, Gone With the Wind. I was continually surprised by the assortment of movies Marlboro Man loved to watch--his taste was surprisingly eclectic--and I loved discovering more and more about him through the VHS collection in his living room. He actually owned The Philadelphia Story . With Marlboro Man, surprises lurked around every corner. We were already a married couple--well, except for the whole “sleepover thing” and the fact that we hadn’t actually gotten hitched yet. We stayed in, like any married couple over the age of sixty, and continued to get to know everything about each other completely outside the realm of parties, dates, and gatherings. All of that was way too far away, anyway--a minimum hour-and-a-half drive to the nearest big city--and besides that, Marlboro Man was a fish out of water in a busy, crowded bar. As for me, I’d been there, done that--a thousand and one times. Going out and panting the town red was unnecessary and completely out of context for the kind of life we’d be building together. This was what we brought each other, I realized. He showed me a slower pace, and permission to be comfortable in the absence of exciting plans on the horizon. I gave him, I realized, something different. Different from the girls he’d dated before--girls who actually knew a thing or two about country life. Different from his mom, who’d also grown up on a ranch. Different from all of his female cousins, who knew how to saddle and ride and who were born with their boots on. As the youngest son in a family of three boys, maybe he looked forward to experiencing life with someone who’d see the country with fresh eyes. Someone who’d appreciate how miraculously countercultural, how strange and set apart it all really is. Someone who couldn’t ride to save her life. Who didn’t know north from south, or east from west. If that defined his criteria for a life partner, I was definitely the woman for the job.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ree Drummond" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/of-course-no-china-however-intricate-and-inviting-was-as-seductive-as/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/413/ree-drummond-818_big-city_of-course-no-china-however-intricate-and_1885429.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/413/ree-drummond-818_big-city_of-course-no-china-however-intricate-and_1885429.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/413/ree-drummond-818_big-city_of-course-no-china-however-intricate-and_1885429.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Of course, no china--however intricate and inviting--was as seductive as my fiancé, my future husband, who…” — Ree Drummond", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 20, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“In the meantime, I tried my best to acclimate to my new life in the middle of nowhere. I had to get used to the fact that I lived twenty miles from the nearest grocery store. That I couldn’t just run next door when I ran out of eggs. That there was no such thing as sushi. Not that it would matter, anyway. No cowboy on the ranch would touch it. That’s bait , they’d say, laughing at any city person who would convince themselves that such a food was tasty. And the trash truck: there wasn’t one. In this strange new land, there was no infrastructure for dealing with trash. There were cows in my yard, and they pooped everywhere--on the porch, in the yard, even on my car if they happened to be walking near it when they dropped a load. There wasn’t a yard crew to clean it up. I wanted to hire people, but there were no people. The reality of my situation grew more crystal clear every day. One morning, after I choked down a bowl of cereal, I looked outside the window and saw a mountain lion siting on the hood of my car, licking his paws--likely, I imagined, after tearing a neighboring rancher’s wife from limb to limb and eating her for breakfast. I darted to the phone and called Marlboro Man, telling him there was a mountain lion sitting on my car. My heart beat inside my chest. I had no idea mountain lions were indigenous to the area. “It’s probably just a bobcat,” Marlboro Man reassured me. I didn’t believe him. “No way--it’s huge,” I cried. “It’s seriously got to be a mountain lion!” “I’ve gotta go,” he said. Cows mooed in the background. I hung up the phone, incredulous at Marlboro Man’s lack of concern, and banged on the window with the palm of my hand, hoping to scare the wild cat away. But it only looked up and stared at me through the window, imagining me on a plate with a side of pureed trout. My courtship with Marlboro Man, filled with fizzy romance, hadn’t prepared me for any of this; not the mice I heard scratching in the wall next to my bed, not the flat tires I got from driving my car up and down the jagged gravel roads. Before I got married, I didn’t know how to use a jack or a crowbar…and I didn’t want to have to learn now. I didn’t want to know that the smell in the laundry room was a dead rodent. I’d never smelled a dead rodent in my life: why, when I was supposed to be a young, euphoric newlywed, was I being forced to smell one now? During the day, I was cranky. At night, I was a mess. I hadn’t slept through the night once since we returned from our honeymoon. Besides the nausea, whose second evil wave typically hit right at bedtime, I was downright spooked. As I lay next to Marlboro Man, who slept like a baby every night, I thought of monsters and serial killers: Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers, Ted Bundy and Charles Manson. In the utter silence of the country, every tiny sound was amplified; I was certain if I let myself go to sleep, the murderer outside our window would get me.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ree Drummond" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/in-the-meantime-i-tried-my-best-to-acclimate-to-my-new-life-in-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04b/ree-drummond-818_every-day_in-the-meantime-i-tried-my-best-to-accli_477001.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04b/ree-drummond-818_every-day_in-the-meantime-i-tried-my-best-to-accli_477001.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04b/ree-drummond-818_every-day_in-the-meantime-i-tried-my-best-to-accli_477001.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In the meantime, I tried my best to acclimate to my new life in the middle of nowhere. I had to get used to…” — Ree Drummond", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 21, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I’d been reflecting on this--the drastic turn my life and my outlook on love had taken--more and more on the evenings Marlboro Man and I spent together, the nights we sat on his quiet porch, with no visible city lights or traffic sounds anywhere. Usually we’d have shared a dinner, done the dishes, watched a movie. But we’d almost always wind up on his porch, sitting or standing, overlooking nothing but dark, open countryside illuminated by the clear, unpolluted moonlight. If we weren’t wrapping in each other’s arms, I imagined, the quiet, rural darkness might be a terribly lonely place. But Marlboro Man never gave me a chance to find out. It was on this very porch that Marlboro Man had first told me he loved me, not two weeks after our first date. It had been a half-whisper, a mere thought that had left his mouth in a primal, noncalculated release. And it had both surprised and melted me all at once; the honesty of it, the spontaneity, the unbridled emotion. But though everything in my gut told me I was feeling exactly the same way, in all the time since I still hadn’t found the courage to repeat those words to him. I was guarded, despite the affection Marlboro Man heaped upon me. I was jaded; my old relationship had done that to me, and watching the crumbling of my parents’ thirty-year marriage hadn’t exactly helped. There was just something about saying the words “I love you” that was difficult for me, even though I knew, without a doubt, that I did love him. Oh, I did. But I was hanging on to them for dear life--afraid of what my saying them would mean, afraid of what might come of it. I’d already eaten beef--something I never could have predicted I’d do when I was living the vegetarian lifestyle. I’d gotten up before 4:00 A.M. to work cattle. And I’d put my Chicago plans on hold. At least, that’s what I’d told myself all that time. I put my plans on hold. That was enough, wasn’t it? Putting my life’s plans on hold for him? Marlboro Man had to know I loved him, didn’t he? He was so confident when we were together, so open, so honest, so transparent and sure. There was no such thing as “give-and-take” with him. He gave freely, poured out his heart willingly, and either he didn’t particularly care what my true feelings were for him, or, more likely, he already knew. Despite my silence, despite my fear of totally losing my grip on my former self, on the independent girl that I’d wanted to believe I was for so long…he knew. And he had all the patience he needed to wait for me to say it.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ree Drummond" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/i-d-been-reflecting-on-this-the-drastic-turn-my-life-and-my-outlook-2/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/430/ree-drummond-818_city-lights_i-d-been-reflecting-on-this-the-drastic_2634035.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/430/ree-drummond-818_city-lights_i-d-been-reflecting-on-this-the-drastic_2634035.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/430/ree-drummond-818_city-lights_i-d-been-reflecting-on-this-the-drastic_2634035.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I’d been reflecting on this--the drastic turn my life and my outlook on love had taken--more and more on the…” — Ree Drummond", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/ree-drummond/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/ree-drummond/", "name": "Life Quotes by Ree Drummond", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/ree-drummond/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a08/ree-drummond-818_grief_i-was-naked-and-alone-enduring-the-flop_732510.jpg" }, "description": "21 Life quotes by Ree Drummond. 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