A Bridal Party and Ag More Than Ever

During the long weekend the Boy and I flew home to Canada for my sister's stagette and bridal shower. We were welcomed warmly as we purposely brought much needed rain with us. We have control over those things you know.

The weekend was was full of lots of laughs, family, friends and cattle.

Saturday was the day of bloopers you could say. Nothing went terribly wrong just one funny mishap after the other. Everyones $85 spa pedicures were smudged and wrecked within two hours. We went to a Blo Dry Bar, which I was really excited about. The idea is it is a place you can go get your hair styled without a hair cut. You get to select from five different styles and most the girls in the group, including me, decided to go with the Hollywood a glammed up, big hair, lots of curls look. In the end we got a ton of hair spray, half curled heads and half straight, bangs going ever direction, the worst teasing I have ever had and my hairdresser had to be shown twice how to use a flat iron to curl hair. I really shouldn't call these characters hair dressers as come to find out they only have to go through a two week training to work there. One girl promised she could talk to cowl licks. I think she must have forgotten their language after seeing on of the bridesmaid's poor bangs.

Luckily, Stacy's hair looked the best. However, within an hour of leaving Stacy told me mine looked like I had been playing hot mess out on the dance floor for the past four hours. Lots of laughs but I wouldn't recommend the Blo Dry Bar (or at least the one in Edmonton). 

On Sunday we showered the bride to be with gifts. I played hostess and made some of my favorite recipes that have appeared on the blog including Corn Chowder, Pretzel Sticks, Raspberry Delight, Jalepeno Dip and Ugly Dip. Who knew so many of these recipes were both tailgate and bridal shower approved. 

Stacy and her lovely ladies. This is one of the dresses I bought in Oklahoma City from Ann Taylor. 

On our way down to the shower I saw this really cool sign that said Ag More Than Ever. A pretty true statement. Then just by coincidence Ag More Than Ever tweeted me. 

You can actually buy these Ag More Than Ever signs as well as all kinds of other sign wraps and apparel. I guess there isn't a day go by without me finding something cool in agriculture. Makes sense when you think there isn't a day that goes by that we shouldn't be thankful for farmers. 

Raising a family without meat

It's a scary world out there.

I'm not really sure how to write this post, but I feel strongly about this issue. So if I wander or babble here is my apology up front.

My supper last night. A 6 oz. steak
and wedge salad.

Recently, the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) has done some startling things. 1. Meatless Mondays (I choose to support Hunk of Meat Mondays) was suggested as a wise choice in the organization's company newsletter. I really don't think that the organization that is suppose to support farmers of all types should be supporting a day created by animal rights activities. 2. Even more recently has been USDA's changes to school lunch programs, and this is a what I really want to talk about.

The school lunch thing used to be a little foreign to me. In my elementary and high school we brought out own lunches. Mom usually packed them for us because we would get up early to do chores before we headed to school. However, I have talked to the boy and a lot of friends about school lunches and it was the norm in their lives. I also understand that there are a lot of families that don't have "quite enough" and the meals that their children get at school are very important. Maybe the only meals they get during the day.

Now back to USDA. USDA has made more changes to school lunch program nutritional guidelines. They include more fruits and veggies - that is awesome. They include less meat - not awesome. The new guidelines state that Grades 9-12 will get 10-12 ounces of meat a week, younger children even less. Let's put this into perspective. A four ounce serving of meat is roughly the size of a deck of cards. That means you get three deck of cards servings a week, at the maximum.

I remember when I was younger I could consume a foot-long Subway sandwich in a matter of minutes, I usually could eat two hamburgers, and my mom used to call me a grazer - I never quit eating. I was healthy, active, strong. I was on my volleyball team, danced in ballet and jazz classes wo night a week and was able to lift a 30 lbs. bucket of grain on each arm with ease. Protein was my fuel. My friend Katie Pinke has a growing, active high school son, and the new nutritional guidelines won't even meet his daily calorie needs.

Some may say well you still have the option to serve meat at home. True, but what about the families that can't afford protein options? In a 2010 survey done by Share our Strength No Kid Hungry it was reported that two-thirds of teachers said most or a lot of their students rely on school meals as their primary source of nutrition, and around two-thirds of teaches also say there are children that regularly enter their classrooms hungry because they are not getting enough to eat at home.

The Boy and I definitely will have children one day, but sometimes it scares me because of the direction of society is headed in. I watch eight years olds with cell phones, I didn't have one until college. I watch the government making more and more choices for families. It is frustrating.

I would love to hear your opinions on this. Are you a mom that is concerned about the direction USDA is taking school lunches in or maybe you are on the other side of the fence and have a differing opinion. Or maybe you are like me kind of watching from the sidelines, but don't like what is going on.

Best of the Barns Giveaway

Vote and Win! 

Hello lovely, super, amazing followers. Why the extra sugar, well I have a favor to ask, but don't worry you'll there is a goody in return!

This week the second Best of the Barns nominations are up and I am up for three awards! Best Cattle Blog, Best Show Cattle Social Media Poster, and Ag Advocate of the Year. It is always exciting to see your name list amongst people that you respect. You have until the end of the month to cast your vote, and you are not required to vote in every category, but you do have to leave your email at the end of the survey.

Now here is the fun part. Some of my friends like Star Lake Cattle Ranch, Purple Banner Designs, Butler Livestock Judging Team, DRIVE and Southern Jewlz are also nominated!

She does horses too! 

Today we are going to feature Bethany of Purple Banner Designs. I LOVE Bethany's designs and have featured her on the blog many times. She custom makes tons of different baby items, kids clothes and these stuff cows called Stockyard Friends (totally want one of these for Christmas)!

Bethany is donating a $35 gift certificate to the Purple Banner Designs store.

Bethany has done bibs for me to give as baby gifts. 

You can also read about the custom nursery bedding she did for my good friend Robyn. You can not believe how soft that brown fabric is that is in the picture. 

I wonder if I can convince Bethany to make me one of these cow stocking hats in big kid sizes! 

Now for the important part how to enter. 

1. You must visit www.bestofthebarns.com and cast your vote, and then come back here and leave a comment saying you did 

www.bestofthebarns.com

For extra entries

2. Follow Crystal Cattle's blog and leave a comment saying you do

3. Follow Purple Banner Designs and leave a comment saying you do

4. Tweet about this contest, include the hashtag #bestofthebarns and leave a comment saying you did

5. Blog about this contest and leave a comment saying you did

6. Post about this contest on your Facebook page and leave a comment saying you did

Good luck to everyone. We'll draw for a winner at noon, on Monday, November 7. 

Trick or Treat it's Moving Day

No goblins, just a lot of boxes

After a crazy week of packing up boxes it was time to move from my Missouri residence of near four years and head northeast to my new home in Iowa. I don't consider my self a collector or a pack rat, yet it is amazing home much stuff you can collect over the years.

And therefore the most logical way for a farm girl to move is a truck and livestock trailer.

The Boy brought down the stock trailer on Thursday night, and left it parked on our residential street through Sunday while we were getting engagement pictures done and spending some time at The American Royal. I am not sure what our neighbors thought. In a way they should be used to it. My roommate Robin parent's often laid over at our house with seed tenders and other farm equipment in tow. 

It all fit, with plenty of room to spare. I was lucky that the Boy decided that he would at least pressure wash the stock trailer out and lay some tarps down before we loaded everything. 

It was a little surreal arriving at our new home last night. I still had my trusty red suitcase, but it finally dawned on me that this time I could actually unpack it. Although, at this time I have no idea where I am going to put my stuff! Wish us luck with the merging of two closets. 

Fall Equals Pumpkins

They are everywhere

Last week the pumpkins arrived at Wal-Mart (yup I am a Wal-Mart shopper), and although Wal-Mart is usually a couple months ahead of every season (expect Christmas decor soon) I am ready for Fall.

I figure what way is better to celebrate fall than pumpkins! Yes, I know other would say harvest, corn stalks or scarf weather, but this year I am really excited about pumpkins.

Like pumpkins like these. You can read the pumpkin tutorial here, but basically this requires washing the pumpkin, spray paint and stick on numbers. Done. Check our Twig and Thistle for all kinds of cool decorating tips.

Did you know the top producing pumpkin states are Illinois, Ohio, Pennslyvania and California.

There are so many carveless pumpkin DIY ideas out there. You can read the tutorial here, but it involves white acrylic paint and black paint markers. You could do all kinds of designs. Maybe a polka dot pumpkin?

Did you know that pumpkins are 90% water.

I also love thumb tack pumplins, and this monogram one is great. Amy from All in a Day actually used a foam pumpkin, so this one will last forever. She has a really clever trick, so definitely check out her thumb tack pumpkin tutorial.

I love these nailhead pumpkins! I think they are amazing, and I'm adding these to my DIY Fall project. You can find the Nailhead Pumpkin tutorial here.

If you are traditional and need some pumpkin carving inspiration check out this pumpkin carving post of mine from last year. You could also just make a pumpkin burger! 

From the latest Food Network Magazine.

I hope you have an awesome weekend. The Boy and I are headed home to Canada for an engagement party. Should be a great time with lots of friends and family. 

Social Media Friends - James Decker

"Friends"

It is amazing the number of people that I have connected with via my blog, Twitter, social media. People that I call my friends, yet we have never met in real life. I wanted to do a Q&A with a few of them. Not only because they are really interesting people, but they also have some good advice for us.

Let's start off with James Decker. James and I crossed paths through Twitter and here's what he had to say.

1. Name and where you are from 

James Decker – Stamford, Texas

2. A little bit about your agriculture background

Descended from dryland sharecroppers and cotton/wheat farmers; personal background through my youth and the present day in wheat farming; returned to my hometown to open up a law practice dedicated to serving agriculture producers, rural landowners, and rural business; also engaged in grass roots efforts for rural development and beautification, co-founder of the Ruraltopia.com blog.

3. What is your favorite social media platform or tool?

Twitter – it is an efficient, practical, and handy way to connect across the world to develop friendships, build business and professional relationships, and share ideas between like-minded people in a way that was simply unimaginable just a few years ago.

4. When using Twitter what hashtag do you like following or using the best?

#agchat because it provides a great “jumping off point” for networking in agriculture and obtaining data and resources

5. Give us your favorite agriculture fact?

Agriculture producers are the most efficient, resilient, and productive members of the economy. A tiny fraction of the American population grows enough food to feed the booming population of the entire country and this group of people does that in the face of soaring input costs, uncooperative weather, ever-burdening laws and regulations, and declining amounts of available land.

6. What is your favorite smartphone app and why?

The “Twitter for iPhone” app is the most handy and useful social media app I have, but as a huge baseball fan, the “MLB At Bat 11” provides me great enjoyment and entertainment throughout the season.

7. If we want to follow you, like you, tweet you where should we go?

I can be found on Twitter here: @jamesdecker2006, on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/james.decker and blogging about rural issues at http://www.ruraltopia.com.

Canvas Print Giveaway from Canvas Stock

In the giving spirit.

It's time to reveal the secret. The Farmer's Trophy Wife and I are teaming up with  Canvas Stock for an awesome giveaway. Up for grabs is a 20x30 canvas print of one of my photography images.

As The Farmer's Trophy Wife says "That way all you darlings that are in the city, but have true country hearts, can bring a little farm/western into your home! And those of us who are lucky enough to live in the country have a little piece to bring inside and enjoy!"

The winner will be able to select from these five images.

We have a ton of ways to enter, but you have to follow the instructions carefully as all the entering needs to be done on The Farmer's Trophy Wife's blog.

1. Head on over to Canvas Stock and check out their new website. Then head over to Farmer's Trophy Wife's blog and leave a comment what feature of their website you like best. 

2. Follow my blog and leave a on the Farmer's Trophy Wife's blog saying you do 

3. Follow the Farmer's Trophy Wife's blog and leave a comment on her blog saying you do

4. Follow Crystal Cattle or the Farmer's Trophy Wife's on Facebook and leave a comment on her blog saying you do

5. Tweet, facebook or blog about this giveaway and eave a on the Farmer's Trophy Wife's blog saying you did

The contest will end Friday, September 2, 2011 at midnight, and we'll announce the winner on Monday. And don't worry there is something for those that don't take home the big prize. On Monday we'll have a 30% off coupon code to purchase your own print for Canvas Stock.

Happy Tuesday! 

Farm girls and the winery

Drink up. 

The wine glasses we made before
heading out on our tour.

The other weekend I jumped in a limo with a dozen other girls and headed towards wine country. Ok, it was actually only Missouri's wine country, which means North of Kansas City in the Weston/Platte City area of the state. We were off to celebrate a good K-State friend's upcoming wedding.

I am a wine lover, but this was my first time actually going to a winery and doing a wine tasting. Our first stop was the Jowler Creek Vineyard and Winery. Jason along with his wife started making wine out of their home's basement and it has now grown into a successful business.

As Jason started pouring the first glass of wine the questions started pouring out. How many acres, how long were the grapes planted before you could use them for wine, do you buy grapes from other growers? I am sure he was surprised by our questions, but as farm girls these are the things we contemplate while enjoying a glass of wine.

The Chambourin was my
favorite wine.

As Jason poured the next wine sample he told us about how sustainability was important to him and his wife. They use a small sheep breed to help keep weeds down as part of their sustainability plan. These sheep are small enough that they can't reach the vines, but will everything at the base of the plant. Smart idea.

I automatically asked what breed? I think this is when Jason knew something was up. It was quickly explained that he had a table full of K-State College of Agriculture girls. The breed is Babydoll sheep and they are all white. Knowing that we were interesting in farm Jason also talked to use about some trails they were doing with chickens to keep the bugs down and reduce pesticides.

Jason then said something that made me really like him. He said that he loves technology and isn't against it in any way but is willing to explore other avenues that can help his farm be more profitable. Yeah, I bought wine from Jason, and next time I see Jowler Creek Wine on the shelf I'll probably buy another bottle. Technology is awesome and should not be judged, and neither should more traditional ways of farming. Thanks Jason for a great afternoon!

And don't forget to get signed up for the giveaway! 

A cotton wedding

Bring agriculture to the wedding 

This past weekend the boy and I worked on a little more wedding planning. Location, guest list, etc. We also attended the Iowa Junior Hereford Preview Show - pictures to come.

I have been using Pinterest to help collect and gather wedding ideas. And although Cotton won't be apart of our wedding day decorations I still had to share this with you.

via GreenWeddingShoes.com 

The bride and groom used raw cotton throughout their ceremony and reception. I remember seeing Cotton for the first time on a leadership conference in Alabama. At that stage the crop was flowering, and I thought it was one of the most pretty things I had even seen.

via GreenWeddingShoes.com 

I love the boutonnieres for the guys. Did you know that Texas, California, Georgia, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, North Carolina and Arizona are the top cotton-producing state - kidsarus.org

via GreenWeddingShoes.com 

via GreenWeddingShoes.com 

The cotton chains are probably my favorite part. How many of the guests do you think wore cotton that day? They would have fit right in. It actually takes 10 oz. of cotton to make one men's shirt, and 350 ladies knit & woven dresses can be made from a bale of cotton - a bale of cotton lint typically weights 500 lbs. - cottonsjourney.com

And did you know that there are wedding dress designers that focus solely on cotton wedding dresses. 

via thecottonbride.com

For more general information about cotton check out jplovescotton. She is an awesome blogger that has worked in the cotton industry for a long time. Her Cotton 101 series has loves of really great information about this crop.

Young Farmers and Ranchers Blogs Part III

Time to feature some more of the Summer Synergy #agblogs

Starting a blog can be a little intimidating, but I have been very impressed by the way these young people are jumped right into the advocacy waters on this project. Here are a couple more blogs for you to check out. And to learn more about the program or starting your own blog check out my tabs above.

Emily Puch - Life of a Farm Girl 
I really liked Emily's most recent posts, about the signs of spring in Alberta. Sometimes I forget that Canada is just getting into Spring, since there has been green grass in the Midwest for such a long time already. Plus, how can you resist new kittens...

From Life of a Farm Girl

Katie Dietrich - It ain't always pretty, but it is real

I really like this post of Katie's that talks about both her 4-H and dancing careers coming to an end. I took was really active in both of these activities, and it reminded me of myself. Yes, there are pictures somewhere of me feeding my show cattle with pink curlers in my hair because after chores we had to rush off to a dance competition. 

Katie in her dance attire

Young Farmers and Ranchers Blogs Part II

Tell your story.

There are lots of areas of agriculture, and although beef cattle are my favorite, I try to learn and be knowledge about all aspects. This month I am going to be featuring some brand new blogs from young agriculture agvocates.

Maryellen Gibson - Farm Kid Forever
Maryellen isn't a cowgirl, and doesn't own a pair of cowboy boots. She's a Shepard. I've been enjoying reading her blog and perspective on sheep and other areas of agriculture. I really enjoyed learning a lot about the sheep industry on my trip last year to Australia.

Farm Girl Forever

Dakota Wilson - Beef Undressed

I love one of Dakota's first posts about Artificial Insemination. Yes, this is a technology that we use in the cattle industry. She explains more about how it is done, and why on her blog Beef Undressed.  

A picture of Dakota's dad A.I.ing one of their Angus cows.

Rosie Templeton - Absolutely Agriculture

A passionate advocate Rosie blogs on a variety of topics. She has exposed me to some new way to connect with consumers, and how consumers could connect with me, like the Meet Your Farmer program.

One of the newborn Hereford calves on Rosie's farm.

Feed Sacks Bags

Who knew feed sacks were so fashionable.

I have been seeing feed these pop up quite a bit lately in a variety of forms, but now farmers and ranchers have one more way to be environmentalists - by doing a little repurposing of feed sack and feed bags.

I love this travel bag made of burlap feed sack. Be sure to check out Lost Property of London they have a bunch of really cool feed sack bags of all shapes and sizes. I kind of have this things for burlap.

Source: etsy.com via Crystal on Pinterest

This is another really cool vintage feed sack bag that I found through my Pinterest account. 

I have seen lots of these plastic feed sack bags at the cattle events I attend. I think you could make these pretty easy. Check out this Etsy store to see lots of different feed sacks that have been turned into bags.

And here is an awesome tutorial on how to make feed sack bags from my friend at the House that Built Ag. 

Miranda Lambert Hell on Heels

Miranda Lambert our beef loving cowgirl.

Since Miranda was such a hot topic on my blog this week, I figured why not end it with her. I love this song that she sang with her new band Pistol Annie. You go Miranda, and thanks for talking a little bit about agriculture.



I hope you all have an awesome weekend! I'm off to South Carolina, a state I have yet to been to. Should be exciting.