Celebrating The Birthday Boy!

My hubby turns 27 today! 

Happy, Happy Birthday to him!

He's my absolutely very favorite & I am lucky to have him! Now off to wrap some presents and spoil him... :)

 

CCC Christmas Wish List | Sweet Auburn Studio Goodies

It's never to early for a Christmas list, right?

Let me start this post with a disclaimer. I really don't NEED anything for Christmas this year. I am blessed in a lot of ways and being a grown up with a really great husband has allowed me the discretionary money to buy something if I need it (or occasionally even if I don't need it, but I convince myself it is a good deal.). I am really pretty lucky. With that said, it's still fun to dream and gather a list of really pretty things I wouldn't mind having, right?

So, with that in mind, I decided I am going to put together a weekly blog post highlighting some fancy little things I think any girl would love, from now until Christmas. Last year I did a Pinterest list, but that got really confusing for my non-Pinterest addicted husband and Mom (I know, how is it possible that anyone is not addicted?), so this year, I am going to share my wishlist on a platform they understand. And, hopefully along the way, you can pick up some new ideas as well!

So without further adieu, I present to you the most beautiful bracelets from Sweet Auburn Studio. What girl wouldn't love one of these?

Source: etsy.com via Jamie on Pinterest

I am having an internal debate on what I would have engraved, but I am set on the coral color. It's just gorgeous. 

Source: etsy.com via Jamie on Pinterest

And even though this might be too simple for some of you, this sweet bracelet would go perfect with my favorite earrings that I ordered off etsy last year. I know big, bold jewelry is in, but at $10, it would make a fabulous stocking stuffer or a simple gift for a friend. Plus, you could also consider ordering more than one. :)

What do you think of the Sweet Auburn goodies? And do you have a favorite (or your own) Etsy store that I should browse? I will be back next Monday with some more pretty little things for your Christmas wish list!

XoXo,

H54F | November 9th

Happy Friday! 

I am definitely looking forward to the weekend. It's going to be full of old-friends, my husband and Christmas crafts. Perfect in my book.

By the way, remember yesterday when I was so excited about making all my Christmas gifts? Then I made a list and got really scared. I have a lot of freaking stuff to do. Say goodbye to lunch breaks and lazy Sundays...

Anyway, every Friday, I like to celebrate the little things that made my week exciting by linking up with Lauren at From My Grey Desk for her High Five For Friday post. And there is a lot to celebrate this week!

1. One Year Anniversary

{You can read all about it here.}

 2. FBO Cheese Cave - Let me introduce you to The Cheese Cave. It's a little slice of heaven hidden in downtown Faribault. We've stopped in a few times before, but our visit last night was the best by far. I love it because the food is delicious, the wine is local, they have our favorite beer, plus the cheese gives France a run for its money even though it's made right down the road in the caves of Faribault. 

{via}

 3. FBO Beer Lovers Unite - Have I ever told you that I really, really like good beer? No mixed drinks or girly cocktails for this girl, I usually stick to beer (preferably dark) or really good red wine. In fact, one of my 101 in 1001 goals is to complete an Old Chicago beer tour. So, when we found out Faribault has an Unsettled Ale Society that gets together once a month to dabble in beer tasting, I almost died and went to heaven. Faribault, you really have been impressing me lately.

4. Weekend - Can I be thankful for something that is yet to come? Regardless of your answer, I am looking forward to this weekend. I have a date with my craft room and a brunch planned with my high school classmates. Plus, if my husband manages to not shoot a deer this weekend, my fears of eating venison can be laid to rest for another 365 days.

5. Crazy Good Gap Day - If you know anything about me, you know I have an obsession with Gap clothing. On any given day, you can find me wearing something Gap. It's partially because I had that ridiculously great discount card (read about that here) for a year, and partially because of days like I had this week when I walk away with impossibly good deals. By the way, Friends & Family event is this weekend -- 40% off your whole purchase. I wonder if I can convince Mark that I need to go again?

What are you thankful for this week? If you are linking up for H54F, share your post in the comments!

Have a great weekend!
 

Ridiculous Thoughts For A Thursday - Christmas, Apples, & Elections

I have a few fun blog posts in the work for next week, but for now, let's keep this simple. 

 Here are the completely random thoughts running through my brain today. Enjoy?!

1. I am listening to Christmas music as I type this. And I am not ashamed one little bit.

2. And speaking of Christmas, I am so excited to start making Christmas gifts. Yup, you read that right, my goal is to make every Christmas gift this year. Totally unrealistic, but still trying...

3. Yesterday, my blood was boiling all day over the ridiculous Facebook & Twitter posts over the election. Where did the days of not talking about politics go? And since when did Facebook become a venue where we should say things we would never actually voice out loud in real life? 

And on the same note, did anyone notice that this ridiculous social media backlash was somewhat generational? I remember when my Mom & Dad would come home from the polls and refuse to tell us who they voted for it because it was a personal decision for them. Clearly, my generation decided their political beliefs were public, and if someone didn't believe the same as them, they should "unfriend them," "unfollow them" or spew hate at them. And maybe it's the PR professional in me, but I would refuse to hire you for any job if you posted such offensive tweets/posts that I could publicly see.

4. On to a more positive discussion, we put our apple peeler/corer (one of our favorite wedding gifts) to good use this week. Two batches of homemade apple sauce in the crockpot and apple crisp -- yum!

And I learned that I should probably stick to being in charge of grocery shopping from here on out. I sent my husband to grab some quick-cooking oats and nutmeg for our Betty Crocker apple crisp recipe. First, he called me in panic looking for the oats - I am nearly positive he was looking for oats like we feed our cattle - and then he came home with Maple Brown Sugar instant oatmeal packages. And he forgot the nutmeg. 

Oh well, we needed a laugh, and it still worked!

5. Last, how long is it acceptable to leave pumpkins on your front step? I am fully intending to leave ours out until Thanksgiving. Too long!? I plan on giving Thanksgiving all the attention it deserves this year so I am refusing to put up Christmas decorations up until November 23rd. However, that does not mean I am not making new Christmas pillows tonight....while listening to Christmas music (if they made Thanksgiving music, I would listen to that, I promise).

And that's enough torture for one day, but feel free to add any and all (as long as they are appropriate and don't spew any more election hate) random thoughts of your own in the comments. See you tomorrow for a High Five For Friday! 

Happy Thursday!
 

Happily Ever After 367 Days Later

On Monday, we celebrated our first official anniversary. 

It was a big deal for two reasons:

1. It was our first anniversary as husband and wife.
2. It was our first "official" anniversary as a couple.

Can you believe we never had an official start date? (I will tell my someday daughters to get it in writing.) For the last eight years, I have just convinced him to like me a little more during the month we started dating. And/or my best friend would nicely remind us every county fair of our first "date" in the beef tent.

I found out that I clearly have been missing out. My husband is good at anniversaries. I am glad we officially have one on the calendar for rest of our lives. :)

{small town USA breakfast. Everyone there was regular, breakfast was cheap and the service was fabulous.}

{Augusto's & a bottle of wine I brought home from France for supper.}

{Just so you know, year-old sugar cookies aren't good, even if they are your wedding cow cookies.}

Monday was low-key, but perfect. It involved a breakfast date before work, Italian takeout for supper, a bottle of French wine that I saved for our wedding night that someone forgot to bring to the wedding, homemade apple crisp, wedding pictures, year-old cow cookies, Gossip Girl and a really terrible movie to watch on your anniversary. Thanks to"What To Expect When You're Expecting," we now have no plans to expect anything any time soon.

And by the way, I just realized I NEVER posted about my wedding. I will have to work on that, but until then, here are some of my favorite photos. By the way, my photos were done by Jeff Loves Jessica -- an amazing husband/wife photography duo.

I am pretty blessed. That's all.

There's More To Our Success Than A President

I am proudly sporting my "I Voted" sticker as I write this.

There is something about casting a ballot that is exhilarating. I was a grown up, I figured out where I needed to vote and I knew exactly what circles I was filling in. It felt good. I don't remember feeling that excitement four years ago for some reason, even though I know I voted. Maybe an absentee ballot doesn't give you that same sense of accomplishment, or more likely I probably wasn't as passionate about what I was helping to decide.

I will admit, until about a week ago, I was undecided who was getting my vote for President. I am sure 90% of my friends are groaning right now, because according to discussions, tweets and posts, it was So&So or Die (I may or may not have considered deleting friends it got so over the top), but it is the truth and I have never been one to follow the crowd. 

However, I think the fact that Mark and I were somewhat undecided was actually really neat. It meant that we got to really experience this process together. We watched the debates intently and had great discussions on what our impressions were of each candidate. We came home and taught each other what we had heard at work that day or what we had read about and we did our research on the amendments up for vote in Minnesota. 

I actually really enjoyed it. I am sure I wouldn't be saying that if I lived in actual swing state and I had to listen to commercials and ads all day long (I am excited for those to be over), but for now, I am proud that Mark and I took the time to make a decision that we believed in.

I don't know if we voted for the same ticket for President. And that's okay with me. I am not going to tell you who I voted for either. Call me old fashioned, but even though I am proud of my decision, I don't believe I should blast that opinion upon you.  

Regardless of who's candidate gives an acceptance speech tonight, I know as a country we will keep moving forward. Why? Because we have to. There's no doubt, whoever wins will play a major role in the future of America, but, it is just one man. And more important than Obama or Romney, is the character and drive we find within ourselves. 

So, while I watch the results filter in tonight, I am going to try not to groan at every ridiculous post on Facebook and remind myself that tomorrow's a new day and whoever wins, wins. There's (hopefully) no re-votes and there is no going back. Instead, we need to move forward and reach across the aisle, whether that is at Church, our cube at work or in Congress and agree to disagree and decide to work together.

Because even though I am crossing my fingers that Minnesotans voted for equality at the polls and I sure hope the candidates I voted for are victorious, at the end of the day, if it didn't work out that way, I still believe in the process.

So I will wear my sticker with pride, and be thankful that my husband isn't extremely political. I am glad we got to work through this mess together. :)

And side note: My optimism about the democratic process might be why I originally intended to get a double major in communications and political science. Can you believe I actually wanted to be involved in campaign management? The process behind campaigns fascinate me. 

Until next time,

 

Sayonara Harvest 2012

Exciting news!

The last kernel of corn has been tucked away in the bin, the combine is in the shop for year-end maintenance and my husband was home at 7 pm last night in time for supper (we had Buffalo Chicken Soup -- in honor of the Bison's homecoming win?! #BisoNation #undefeated).  

Harvest 2012 is officially over at Purfeerst Farm.

I know I said in Friday's post that it would probably be mid-week, but with the help of a few good days they were able to wrap everything up on Sunday afternoon. We even managed to slip in a quick birthday party on Saturday -- complete with a beer can cake -- for Jimmy, one of my favorite guys at the farm.

A little tidbit about Jimmy (besides his harvest birthday) is that PBR is his drink of choice. Yes, I realize it's a rare breed will that choose PBR every time, but Jimmy will. So, it only seemed fitting to make him a PBR cake. :)

{By far the easiest cake I have ever whipped up.}

Below is a picture of Saturday's crew -- some of the best people you could find. By the way, notice the hand behind Matt's head (far left, brown sweatshirt)? That's Wiggy, the one man in the world who has somehow avoided being in a picture his whole life. Maybe I will catch him next time...

Oh and another update? I learned to drive the ripper this weekend. It was the real test of my farm wife potential. I admit, I didn't pass with flying colors, but I didn't fail because I did do it solo for about 3 hours on Saturday night. And that might ask me back if they need me...maybe.

Mark's Grandma (second from the right, behind me) has been ripping all of her life. She's currently in her 80s and still does the bulk of the ripping on the farm.  

Everyone calls her Rippin' Rosie. 

She's one of the sweetest ladies you will meet and somewhat of a legend. I wasn't lucky enough to get to know and enjoy all of my grandparents in my life, but I am extremely lucky for the one I have always had (you can read about her here) and the two I gained. Hopefully one day I leave half of the legacy behind that they will.

{Here's a look at "ripping." Basically, we are breaking up the soil to prepare it for next spring.}

XoXo,

H54F - Harvest 2012 Style

It's Friday, so why not celebrate?

I am linking up with Lauren @ From My Grey Desk for this week's H54F, but I decided to add a little twist and celebrate all the little things that I am learning to appreciate as a new farm wife.

Numero Uno? Mark Purfeerst. (and every other farmer!)

This farming job is hard work and he is such a trooper, even though I am pretty sure he is completely, and overwhelmingly, exhausted.

Let me paint the picture. This week we are setting up a cow to flush (so we can collect embryos from her), so even though he may not roll in to bed until 2 in the morning after trucking grain all night, he still is up and out the door by 6:00 (in the morning, mind you) so he can make it back to the farm to give shots (just shots of hormones to convince her body to cycle -- pretty much like how it works in humans). After shots and feeding, he drives back to our house, showers, gets ready for work where he puts in 8 hours, runs home, changes clothes and heads back out to the farm.

And his schedule has been dauntingly similar for the last four weeks. But I couldn't be more impressed with how he is handling it. Now, I won't hold back the reality. Has he been a little crabby every once & awhile? Yes. Have I been a occasionally annoyed (even though I am trying desperately not to be. Cut me slack please, I am still learning.) that I have been momentarily put in charge of every single chore in our life like bills, laundry, groceries, food, cleaning, ect.? Yes. Do I miss having someone at home with me to go check on random noises and fix the light bulb that has been out in our garage for two weeks (I can't reach it!). Yes. 

{isn't he cute? BTW, don't mind his ugly shirt. It goes with his ugly hat & ugly pants.}

Nonetheless, all those things are to be expected and little things when we look at the big picture. The important thing is that we have 3,000+ acres of crop to get out and they need every able helping hand to do it. So Mark is doing whatever he can. Plus, a small percentage of that crop is ours and it's so exciting to see our year of planning and work pay off. 

I am proud of him. And, I can't forget to mention Jim, Jimmy, Ramone, Rosie and the rest of the guys at the farm and the thousands of other men & women out there doing the same thing. It takes long hours, but it's a rewarding job in the end.

Number Two | Going off the above, I am doubly thankful that harvest is almost over.

It's typically unheard of that we would have all the crop out of the field by the end of October, let alone October 10th, but rumor at the elevator is that we might be done as early as the middle of next week. 2012 has been such a crazy year.

{A load from from this week. Each semi holds 900-1000 bu.}

Now, by no means is the work over when the last kernel of corn is put in the bin. There is still grain to haul, fields to be dug and plenty of bookwork catch up on. However, we will be back to "normal" hours, where six hours of sleep and supper at the dinner table are possible.

Three? Huband/Wife Time.

Last Saturday, I got really lucky. I won free Twins tickets AND we weren't super busy at the farm, so my husband got to come with me. It was so fun to just hang out and enjoy one of the last beautiful fall days. Plus, we thought Mark would have to head back to the farm after the game, but they shut down early, so we got the rest of the night to just enjoy. We stopped at a pumpkin patch and picked out two BIG, beautiful pumpkins (plus a few white ones for inside decor), enjoyed a treat at the new frozen yogurt shop in town and then plopped our butts on the couch and relaxed. It was heavenly.

4. A New Barn Coat (I need to add a little fashion in here!)

Yesterday, Mother Nature decided to let loose the chilly weather. 80 and sunny on Wednesday -- cloudy, windy and 40 on Thursday. It was enough to make any girl crabby, but I like to make the best out of all situations and decided it was the PERFECT time to pull out my new cute barn coat.

Let me preface this by saying, I know barn coats don't normally get to be NEW or CUTE. But, I scored this one at Gap last year for $6.97 (and that was before my super crazy discount) for this sole purpose. Just because you're doing cattle chores, doesn't mean you can't be cute. And at less 10 bucks, who cares if it gets dirty?!

{Looking back, I should have bought 3 of them. Definitely. Maybe even 4?}

 A little fake fur helps class up any night at the barn, don't you agree?

#5 -- Lots of Learning
I've said it before and I will say it again. I am not an expert at farming. Give me cows and I could go on forever, but corn & soybeans? I am a little lost.

However, after a bit of a rude harvest awakening, I love every nugget of information that I am learning. 

By the way, I know what you are thinking. Rude awakening? You have been with Mark for 8 years. And you are right. But two of those years I was in high school, five of them I was gone in Fargo, and last year I was freaking out about a wedding. I was more concerned about invitations and flowers than if Mark was gone at the farm. I didn't quite know everything that went into it.

Back to the point, it's been great to actually understand what's going on and feel like I can help. I have been learning how to run the scale, what moisture we need to be at, why you can't harvest soybeans when it gets too cold, how the books work, what a bill of lading is, my husbands signal for when to stop the truck when loading roundbales, where certain corn gets delivered, how basis/puts/ect. work and so on. Next year, mark my words, I am even learning how to run the digger! :)

Am I an expert? No. Do I know more than I did four weeks ago. 1,000 times more. And that is a good feeling.

And because this is getting to be an extremely long H54F, I am ending it at that. :)

Have a great weekend, friends! And if you are in the same shoes as me, I would love to hear from you! What are you thankful for this week?

XoXo,

101 in 1001 Update - Camera, Recipes, & Cattle

Checking BIG things off the list. 

A long while back, I wrote an extensive list of things I wanted to accomplish in the next 1001 days. (You can read the list in its entirety here.) I am one of those people who need my dreams to be written down (and published it seems) to motivate me and keep me accountable

I know that I won't accomplish everything and I am coming to terms with that. Truth be told, I have no interest in accomplishing a few things. However, every now and again I think of my 101 list and it encourages me to try something new or take a chance, which is exactly what I was going for.
Part of the deal was to provide you with updates when I accomplish new & exciting things, so in light of all the great things I did in the last few months, you deserve an update.

35. Own a new DSLR camera. Check!

I have been wanting to buy my very own DSLR camera for months. Awhile back I got my hands on a work camera and because it was so fun to play with while taking pictures of cattle, I wanted one of my very own to drag with me to cattle shows, snap pictures of family and use for absolutely anything I wanted! Luckily, I have a really great husband who actually encouraged me to get one. Truth is, he wanted it so I could take good pictures of our sale cattle, and I don't think he knew what he was getting into, but nonetheless, I am an owner of new Nikon D7000 with a Tamron 18-270 lens.

Literally, deciding what to buy was the hardest decision to make thus far in my life, but three weeks in and I am still super happy with my purchase. I have a lot to learn yet (literally I sometimes am SO lost), but the more I play with it, the better I get. And I have full intentions to use the free classes from National Camera Exchange.

I am definitely excited to have high-quality photos of my own and while it was a big investment, it was also a life investment (that's what I have been telling myself, please don't tell me otherwise). One day we are going to have kiddos we want to snap pictures of and by then, I should at least understand what shutter speed & aperture I need to use. Hopefully....

36. Splurge on another pair of Sperry...or two. :)

A Macy's gift card plus a summer sale meant a new pair for me. Unfortunately, they are already covered in crap, but shows are there home away from home, it's really where they work best. My "or two" pick would be these.

40. Sleep in a tent. Check. Isn't this a great sight to wake up to?

63. Put away 3 paychecks for emergency fund. Money in the bank. 

 79. Try 5 new recipes (Stuffed Mushroom, PW Broc & Cheese, Swiss & Ham Sliders, Spinach Artichoke Dip, Wild Rice Casserole, Pumpkin Cupcakes).

This is the cheesy chicken wild rice casserole I whipped up last week. It's delicious. You can find the recipe here.  Just a note though, it makes a lot. We were eating this for four days straight. And I went without the Trader Joe wild rice, but I think it might be worth the trip next time.

I will share the pumpkin cupcake recipe tomorrow. It's so simple it needs to be part of my H54F post.

Others in progress: 

17. Judge five shows. (2 out of 5) I judged the Regional Highland Show this past month. I hate to admit this, but I was so freaking nervous before the show. Why? 1. I hadn't judged a show in over a year. 2. I am not a highland expert. However, good cattle are good cattle and it went really well.

20. Make all the breeding decisions on my own heifer...and get a calf. (I better get a move on #12.) Scarface (my wedding present heifer) is bred to Brilliance and will calve on March 3rd. You better bet I will be blogging about that calf. :)

XoXo,   

Choice, Chance, Change

Source: yourmomentsinlife.tumblr.com via Aaleen on Pinterest

Every now and again I need a reminder like this. Change can be this simple.

We simply need to make the choice to take a chance or be willing to accept life as is.

And folks, I don't know how you look at it, but for me, as good as life may be, it can and should always be better.

Still needing a little more inspiration? This video of reporter Jennifer Livingston responding to the bullying email she received (this video went completely viral, so hopefully you already saw it) warmed my heart yesterday. In fact, I was nearly crying at my computer. Her message is one everyone should here.

Happy Wednesday!

The Blogs I Never Wrote

I am sure it would be 100% appropriate to start this post with an introduction.

It could go something like, "Hi. My name is Jamie and I used to blog."

Or "Hey, I am that person who writes that blog that you stop by to read just to continously be disappointed that there is nothing new."

Or better yet, "Hi. I'm Jamie. I want to blog. I think in blogs. My mind has lists of things to blog about. I take pictures of random things to post on my blog. And then I never blog."

Yep, any of them would work.

HOWEVER, I am not posting any of that. 

I am just here to say that I solemnly swear that I am really going to give this 110% this time. Please hold me accountable.

Because here is the thing, I really honestly want to blog.

I wasn't kidding, my mind actually functions in 400-word blog posts. I drive home (on my ridiculously long drive) and write a post in my head summarizing my day. I see something at the mall and I draft up a mini-post ranting about the ridiculousness. I photograph everything I experience because I know how a picture is truly worth a thousand words.

It's how I function. I don't know if it's my education, my profession or just a weird quirk. Regardless, the result is that I have a whole library of blogs in my head that I didn't get to writing this summer.

Prime example, how did I manage not to write about the MN State Fair? I purposely took pictures of all the different food that I ate so I could share it with you. Case in point, the best food on a stick you will ever eat is below. I don't even want to know how many calories is in it. This was probably one of eight or ten servings I bought at the Great MN Get Together. And I wondered where my money went....

deep fried mashed potatoes.

Or, I don't know, maybe I should posted about the time my husband and I got to pose with a really big check and purple banner that we just won? That was a fun day. MJP Purfeerst Lut 104 (our Angus bull we have been showing this summer) had another great day in Minnesota and won Supreme Champion Bull at the Minnesota State Fair. Plus, added bonus, next year when we walk into the MN State Fair Cattle Barn we will be hanging from a HUGE banner with the rest of the Supreme Champions. Pretty darn cool.

we even had to drive to Wisconsin (no beer off sale in MN on Sunday) to get some celebratory beer!

I definitely should have wrote about our trip to Milwaukee, our week at the lake, or the Twins game we unsuccessfully scalped tickets at. And I wanted to rant for two weeks straight about how much I hated inserting my butt into my car seat just to sit in traffic for an hour and a half each way. But let's be real, there are a lot of things I could rant about, however they are probably better left unposted.

random date night at Target Field. Note to self: Don't let Mark be in charge of tickets.

Oh and don't even get me started on the P. Farms Corn Reports I missed. In short: It rained A LOT, it didn't rain for almost too long, then we got blessed and it rained again finally, but unfortunately the rest of corn country wasn't so lucky, so prices shot through the roof. This resulted in me checking corn prices every two hours so I could call my husband and convince him to sell some corn. In fact, I almost had Mark convinced that I should quit my day job and become a grain marketer. Then we remembered I have no idea how to do that. He went to school for that, not me. Fast forward a month, and now I never see my husband because we are trying to get that crop out of the field. I am officially a harvest widow.

Say hello to my husbands new home.

Lucky for you, my life as a new farm wife is something I definitely still have time to blog about. In fact, it's penciled in for this week.

And potentially the most important blog I missed is the exciting news about the new camera in my life that should make this blog 7,000 times better.

Yes, I fell victim to the beautiful things at National Camera Exchange. I am not ashamed.

However, that post is for Thursday.

And that's where I sign off.  See you tomorrow, same place, same time, for some inspiration. Lately, I have been lacking it.

Glad to be friends again!

Showing Cattle: A 365 Day Project

#BannerChasing #StockShowLife #GoneShowin' 

Remember in Monday's post when I eluded to a video my brother submitted for a scholarship contest for the Minnesota State Fair? Well, hopefully, you clicked on the link to vote, he would love your help!

However, even if you don't vote, I still want to share the complete video with you here. It's a good look into our crazy life.

 

Now, I know what you are thinking. Yes, he really does get up every morning and put his steers in the cooler to grow hair and yes, he stays out in the barn until well after dark every night to take them out.

Plus, they require work in between. This summer is the first summer he has been able to have a job because he needed to be home to check the cooler every few hours. And realistically, the only reason he managed a job this summer was because he had an awesome boss who let him drive home every 2 hours to check cattle. Fortunately for him, in the past, his "summer job" of working with cattle usually payed out okay at the MN State Fair.

And, my summers were exactly the same...except I had a big brother that made me get up at 5 am to put steers in. Jas is lucky... :)

For a lot of people, showing cattle is a summer project, and let me stress, that is completly okay. But for my family and a lot of cattle families, it really is a year-long project. No, we don't run our cooler barn 365 days a year (man that would get spendy!), but shows don't end after the state fair, either. For us, state fair is usually just the beginning of a busy run and four seasons of shows means four seasons of work.

But luckily, it's work we love with people with love.

I really can't stress that enough.

One last thing, if you enjoyed the video, click here to go vote for it. Every vote helps.

I will take a little credit for the video editing, but my chatty little brother was great at talking and providing footage. This stuff comes so natural to him. And one disclaimer, this is the "cool" version of the video with actual music in the background. We read the rules and saw that no copyright music could be included so we cut it out and used some iMovie music for the video we turned in for the scholarship application. Then we watched all the rest and they all had copyright music included................

Such is life.

And lastly, don't even hesitate to ask questions if you have any.

xOxO,

Cattle Show Marathon

Where the heck have I been? 

Good question, friends, good question.

Tonight, is not the night to go into details. I just did a Jillian Micheals' tape and my worn out legs are making my think funny. However, it's not fair to keep everything a secret forever.

So, follow closely...

Basically, since my last post (over a month ago), I went to Grand Island, NE, to watch my little bro get a maroon jacket, hopped in the car and celebrated a wedding, hopped back in the car and went to Milwaukee to drink bad Miller Light and be spoiled by my favorite company, sent my husband road tripping to Kentucky, somehow managed to do enough laundry in the two short days he was gone to pack for my trip to Louisville for the NJAS, got distracted from any type of work once our bull won grand champion, drove 13 long hours home to get back in the car to go to a county fair (we are die-hards), got overly obsessed with decorating for a baby shower the next week, then had a "normal" week that involved breaking calves, judging practices and clipping cattle, which brings us to the best week of the summer, AKA the Dakota County Fair and lake week where I watched my baby brother show at his last county fair, drank too much of that darn beer garden beer and got necessary sun on my shoulders from a day of REAL vacation in the water.

Hello, longest run on sentence in the world.

And now I am here, catching up on life in general and savoring a #singlegirl night as April at A.Liz Adventures calls it. Mine included the Kardashians, working out and Reeses Pieces cereal.

And tomorrow? Tomorrow, I will be crossing my fingers & toes and waiting for a call from my husband about the Iowa State Fair Angus Bull Show.

Short & sweet: We have been all about #bannerchasing lately.

By the way, just in case you aren't on Twitter (follow me: @jamielmay) #bannerchasing is my new favorite hashtag. It's total Twitter lingo for the show jocks, sorry if you aren't on that bandwagon and sorry if I am inappropriately using hash tags in normal writing. Like I said, Jillian is making me loopy.

And if isn't over yet. 

Last week, was week 1 of 4 of our month-long fair stunt. This week is Iowa State Fair and Steele County Fair, next week is MN 4-H Show and the following is MN Open Class. 

Life is good? Yes.

By the way, before I leave you, one small request. Go check out the video my little brother put together about why he shows cattle and vote for it to help him win a $500 scholarship. Click here to watch the video and vote. 

The video with the most votes win, so we need your help -- plus, I think you will really like it. It helps explain our crazy life and why we turn on the cooler for our cattle before the air conditioner in our house in the summer. :)

Until next time (which will hopefully be sooner than later),

Are You A No-Reply Blogger?

Easy Steps To Being Email Friendly

One of my favorite things about being a blogger is connecting with other bloggers and I love taking the conversations "offline" via an email conversation. However, lately I have been sending a lot of emails to my "no-reply" friends, to realize that whole conversation just got lost in no-reply cyberspace. Note to self - check email address before replying!

The fact of the matter is that if you don't know what a "no-reply" blogger is, you probably are one. Let's fix that ASAP. I put together some pictures to make this super quick fix even easier!

 Step 1. Go to your blogger home page and in the upper right hand corner click on the dial under your name. You need to go back to the Old Blogger interface to make the fix.

Step 2. Once in the old blogger platform (aren't you glad it got an update!?), click on "edit profile" next to your profile picture. BTW, I need a new one...I know everyone is sick of my feet.

 Step 3. It will bring you to this fun page where the last steps are super easy. Make sure you have "show my email address" clicked and that there is an email address in the box. I made an email address specifically for my blog so it's easier to keep everything separate. Press save & you are DONE.

Easy peasy. So quick, go make the fix. I am not naming names, but I would really love to email chat with some certain bloggers soon! :)

XoXo,