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!
 

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!

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,

If You Give A Three-Year-Old An iPhone...

Avery May has always been infatuated with my iPhone.  

She absolutely loves to see herself move on the screen when I flip the camera and she can easily scan through pictures, so we get a lot of this when it's in her hand: "Look at this one. Look at this one. Oh Jamie, look at this one."

Last weekend, she discovered that you can point it at someone else and take a picture, which was a major game changer in her book. However, while she might be the smartest three-year-old you will meet, she's still working on the hand-eye coordination and it was pretty darn tricky to hold the phone, point it where you wanted and press the button.

So, in turn, we got a lot of almost-there shots. I narrowed it down to a few of my favorites; I definitely think she has a future in photography. :)

{left: lots of green grass and little three-year-old foot. top right: my cute husband bottom from the chin down right: time for a close up.}

{top left: we told her to point the camera at us, instead she pointed her finger at us. Oh well, we are getting closer! bottom left: I've always wanted a picture of these shoes. top right: We finally found a subject! blake man swinging. bottom right: Mark & Blake playing. I think she was on to something with the angle!}

 So here's my take away:

1. It's fun to see the world in the eyes of a three-year-old. What if we all simplified to this?
2. Kuddos to the iPhone (I accidentally just wrote eye-phone. Editor brain is officially turned off.) for being a camera that you can hand to a toddler and they can take a decent picture.
3. And finally, can you even dare to imagine what our world is going to be like when these three-year-olds that are already obsessed with an iPhone (and that honestly understand how to use it) grow up? They will be a generation that will know nothing but file sharing through Dropbox, messaging through Facebook, immediate information and gratification online and the Apple domination. I can't even imagine the things they will create after growing up in a world where things were always bigger, better & at their fingertips.

If you're a forward thinker, it's actually pretty exciting to think about it.

XoXo

High Five For Friday | June 15

I'm welcoming Friday with open arms this week.

Let's get real -- I welcome it every week with open arms -- I may or may not live for my weekends in the summer. Doesn't everyone?

My crazy, busy schedule has forced me to miss a few High Five For Fridays, but that just means I have a lot of stuff to celebrate this week. I am once again linking up with Lauren @ From My Grey Desk for her H54F.

So in no particular order, here's my favorite things from the past week!

1. I got my second Birchbox in the mail and this time, I was completely impressed. I have a few more things to try before I give a review, but from my tests so far, I am back on the Birchbox bandwagon.

{are you a Birchbox subscriber? What did you get?}

2. I also discovered a FABULOUS iPhone app that can make a blah picture amazing in just seconds like below. I am working on a post for you on Tuesday that explains everything you need to know it, so make sure to stop back & visit. Really, how did people live without smart phones?

{slightly off subject, but I absolutely love a perfectly wrapped present & that adorable tape is my new BFF. Best part? I got it at Target.}

 

3. It's my last weekend with long hair! I can't wait to chop off these locks and hand them off to someone who needs them much more to me. I'll admit, I am a little nervous and wish I could keep my hair long for a little bit longer, but it always grows back, right? And, worst of all I have no idea what I am going to do. Any suggestions? I think I am going to try to go back to something similar to this picture, but I don't know how much hair I get to keep it, so we might be playing it by ear... :)

{I randomly went to a beauty school for this haircut. She easily cut off 10 inches, it took her 2 hours and she cut herself twice...it has to turn out better this time! :)}

4. We have another road trip planned for cattle shows this weekend - this time to northern Minnesota on Saturday and south to Iowa on Sunday. Oh the things we do...

{the second heifer in the lineup is my younger brother with my "wedding present." We call her Scarface.}

Make sure to check out yesterday's post for a review of last weekend's show. Plus, if you are new to agriculture, let alone crazy people who show cattle, I answered some of Katie's questions in the comments that might help clear things up for you!

5. And last but not least, I am excited that I finally washed my dry-clean only pile. H54F is about celebrating the little things, right? Well, I just added 10 super cute items back to my closet that have been MIA for months and for a girl who is trying to avoid the mall this month, it's the best I can do. :)

And one last shout out to Whitney @ The Observant Turtle - I am a featured sponsor today! Yeah! Stop over and give her some blogging love. She's great.

Happy Friday Friends!

High Five For Friday | #Blessed

Hey All,

It's that day of the week again. Yes!

I'm linking up with Lauren @ From My Grey Desk for High Five For Friday because the little things are worth celebrating.

The MN Twins |  Let's be clear on this: currently, the Twins stink big time. Worst in the league kind of stink, but that means super cheap tickets on StubHub and since I am paying for that gorgeous stadium with my tax dollars, I might as well take advantage of it! Right?

Great friends + Legends Club + Twins Baseball = A Perfect Monday Night.

Social Media | It's no secret that I am a social media nerd. It weirdly excites me. As does advertising campaigns, online analytical numbers, and PR success stories (and fails). I know, call me what you like, but there is a reason I picked this profession. Anyways, I have found some great SM (yes, I am even that nerdy that I abbreviate it) stats and ideas that week that completely motivated me. So much so that I have a whole blog post in the works.

Did you know that the average Facebook user spends seven hours and 45 minutes on the social network each month? And you can quadruple that number for me. (I am getting paid for it people, don't judge!)

Life Changes | Two of my long-time BFF's have had some big life changes in the last few months – job, engagement, baby – that deserved celebration. Pizza, spumante, the lake and catching up? Nothing is better.

{I am a sucker for anything mini -- this bottle of champagne was too cute!}

Husband | I am not being sappy when I write this (I actually hate all things sappy), just realistic – this week Marko has been pretty great. He spent two nights in the tractor while I got to have all the fun (side note - digging is fun, just not Twins game & girls night type of fun), and the first night his butt wasn't glued to the seat, he helped me clean the house. He deserves some type of award, but by the time he reads this, the size of his head will be enough. :)

Chief | A lot of things battled for this 5th spot, but I am pretty sure that Eric Church at the Target Center is going to take the prize. I am admittedly writing this on Thursday because there is no way after a night at EC that I would want to get up & post, but am confident that this concert will be the highlight of my week.

{via}

I can't say it enough, I am blessed with so many good things!

Happy Friday!

Instagram Is Facebook's Baby

It only cost them $1 billion.
 

Did you hear the news?

Our favorite social media site is now the progeny of Mark Zuckerberg and it only cost him his arm & his left leg & his right lung. 

{via Tech Crunch}

But let's be serious, to Facebook, a billion dollars is petty cash.

I am a little apprehensive about the purchase, but I am forcing myself to be optimistic because:

1. Facebook promises that they are letting Instagram be it's own great self, and
2. I don't hate Facebook changes as much as the rest of the world (I actually like the new layout). Maybe they can help make Instagram even better?

I doubt it though, because literally, Instagram is a perfect iPhone app in my book. My life would be blah without it.

Here are some of my recent faves:

{it's spring at Carleton College!}

{luckily, Marko already owns that stylish shirt}

{march 16th | hello summer!?}

{winner, winner! look at the trophy!}

What do you think of the purchase? Was it worth 1 billion big ones? Do you think Facebook is going to wreck it? 

And by the way, are you an Instagramer? Send me your username so I can give you a follow! Plus, you can follow me at jamielmay. But be warned, you will get some cow pictures! :)

xo,

The Blog Gets A Makeover

Cows, Corn & Country Girls got a little facelift.

I started this blog nearly three years ago and it's been an interesting adventure. I will be the first to admit, I don't deserve a blogger award for my work. I don't write every day. In fact, I rarely blog every month and more often than not, my posts begin with "I am sorry it's been so long." Like I've eluded to before, sometimes life deserves to get in the way of the online world.

So, despite being a a self-proclaimed social media nerd, I guess I have officially decided I am not going to play by the blogger "rules." I am just going to take this blog one day at a time and hopefully have an avenue to share the quirky thoughts that go through my head daily...and make some new friends a long the way.

But, despite my non-commitment to daily posts, I did decide it was officially time for a facelift. While I think the old look was fun, a lot has changed in the past three years and I needed something that reflected the new me. And if you remember nearly a year ago, I promised an update....it was time to finally follow through.

So, with the help of Kim from Seven Thirty Three, we are successfully rocking a new look. It's still a work in progress on my end, but I feel refreshed and ready to jump back on the blogger wagon. So friends, we will chat again soon!

Until then,

Providing Great Beef To Consumers Around The World

"What we do as an industry is really exciting, because what we do is provide great beef to the consumers around the world."

I found this video from U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance this morning & love it. What a great look into the beef industry and the real people behind it! Make sure to check it out!

And why don't you pass it along? I bet you have some friends who might need to watch it too.

Happy Thursday!

Jamie

I Would Like Some Customer Service With That

I think you could say I got "wowwed" the other day.

Remember that blog I wrote about the Blue Door Boutique? You know the cute little shop in Georgia that thankfully is online so I can lust over it everyday? You know the one that has this dress that I feel like I have to have?

 

Well, after I wrote that blog, I got a note from Kimberly (the model of the gorgeous green dress!), thanking me for the kind words and asking me for my address. She wanted to send me a little birthday "happy" from the Blue Door!

Now, I am not even quite sure how she found my blog, but somehow she did and immediately went above and beyond the call of duty to make me feel extremely important. Sure, I am thinking Miss Kimberly must be an extremely nice person to start with, but there's no denying it was extremely good service as well.

Now, if you weren't quite sure what was the value of social media was yet, here is your lesson.

I found out about Blue Door from a blog, I then wrote about it in my blog, which some 100 people read. That alone could have been good enough because 100 more people knew about there store, but realistically who knows if I ever would have bought anything myself (I do have some self-control). But, then Kimberly found my blog (I am sure through some online social media tool) and wrote a simple note and just like that she created a customer for life.

Not only have I checked the website everyday, BUT, I have also checked my mail for the past two weeks straight. 

Last Friday, I got my birthday "happy" --- the nicest note and a gorgeous set of gold earrings that I think will go nice with this dress. :)

So, there are two points to this post. One, good customer service is simple but it goes a LONG way. Two, go check out the Blue Door; you are going to love it. And if you hurry, you still have time to send a belated birthday gift my way. JK :)

I think I will just buy myself a little "happy".

Could You Live Without FB?

I have told you this before and I will say it again. I really like infographics.

They are catchy, easy to read and usually have a pretty astounding point to show. I read this one today in the PR Daily Newsletter and I thought you might like to know what your world would be like without Facebook.

Sure, you might be an anti-Facebooker who doesn't have time, thinks it's stupid or just strongly believes it's ruining the world; but more than likely, your like me. It's part of your life. It is how you find information, know what your friends are doing and how you stay in touch. In my world,  Facebook/Twitter/ect. are the norm. I don't think it makes my generation "anti-social," instead, I believe it's our way to gather information, just like watching the 9 o'clock news might be yours.

So if your like me, ask yourself, what would your life be like with Facebook?

[Via: Single Grain]

Dear Glamour

Please get your facts straight before you publish your magazine.

About a month ago, I subscribed to Glamour through one of those deals too good to pass up. I guess I should have known that it was too good to be true.

Today, I received my first issue and I was super excited to page through and get some new fashion and workout tips. Instead, I got tips on going vegan and saving the world...by not eating meat.

Not only did I have to read a biased article about veganism ("The Shocking Way Celebs Lose 20 Pounds Fast") that suggested animal products are unhealthy and unsustainable, but then in their "16 Ways to Save the Earth" they falsely claim that livestock production is responsible for 18 percent of the world's greenhouse gas.

Dear Glamour, here are the real facts:

• According to the Environmental Protection Agency, studies show that U.S. livestock production accounts for less than 2.4% of total GHG emissions. 
• A global estimate of livestock production found worldwide, livestock and manure contribute 5.1% to world GHG emissions (World Resources Institute).

I don't know about you but neither of those figures from beefboard.org are anywhere near close to 18% in my world. Glamour clearly didn't fact check. Or if they did, they chose to ignore anything that downplayed their story. As a journalist myself, I am completely disappointed in their writers, editors and production staff. Beef production is a sustainable practice. In fact, grazing animals on land not suitable for producing crops more than doubles the land area that can be used to produce food. If 1955 technology were used to produce the amount of beef raised today, 165 million more acres of land would be needed – that’s about the size of Texas!

As most of you know, this week we celebrate Earth Day. For American farmers and ranchers it's our opportunity to show how we are everyday enviromentalists. We don't just boost up our game this week; every week we strive to take care of our workplace and produce a safe and sustainable product.

I have said this before and I will say it again. If you chose to be a vegan, you chose to be a vegan. But for the sake of an industry that is striving to feed the world, don't falsely spread messages that beef is unhealthy and unsustainable. Lean beef is a extremely beneficial source of protein, zinc and vitamins and our modern technology practices allow us to today produce more meat using less energy, land and water.

I know and trust American agriculture and without their efforts, we would have an awful hungry world...I think that Glamour needs to realize that is a story worth sharing.

For more facts and information on sustainable beef production, visit the Earth Day section on  beefmagazine.com.

Bad Blogger

I have been stinking it up at blogging this week.

Sorry.

This week was just slow & hard to get motivated...today especially. My list has not gotten any shorter. I do not have save the dates made & I don't have a wedding website created.

Ahhh.

Can someone motivate me? I need to get my act together this week. I need to blog more. I need to write more. I need to basically accomplish more.

And it starts now. I am going to do some Minnesota Junior Spring Classic stuff (less than 15 days away!), wedding stuff, workout & then spend some time with my fabulous fiance...who is the probably the reason I have accomplished so little this week.

I promise I will be better this week. More posts will come soon! Thanks for being such loyal readers!

Jamie

It's A Mobile World

The other day these stats came across my inbox at work and not only do they impressive me, but they reaffirmed my belief that I am not alone.

I am not the only person attached to my cell phone.

Actually, I bet a fair percentage of you are actually reading this on your cell phone. Cell phones are changing our world...and the fun part, it's really the only world I ever knew. It's pretty exciting to me that I am part of a generation that gets to lead this rapid change in communication.

Prepare to be impressed. And prepare to want a smart phone! :)



Learn More about Mobile Tagging at Microsoft Tag.