Sunday, February 24, 2013

And They Call the Thing Rodeo!

In case you didn't know I am a big rodeo fan. The way some people love college basketball or professional baseball I love rodeo. I love all types of rodeo from small local rodeos to the big PBR and PRCA rodeos. I never rodeoed as a kid but have enjoyed watching the sport for many years. It is a family friendly sport who's athletes are down to earth and most of the time genuinely good people. I have been to several rodeos both PRCA and PBR where I have gotten to meet a few of the cowboys and have been very impressed by their friendliness and willingness to talk and take pictures with and get autographs from. I'm sure it's not easy trying to talk to everyone but most of them try and make each person feel important. I'll share about my autograph collection another day :)
 
 Today I got to go to the PBR in Kansas City and while I was there I got to meet 2 of the riders Mike Lee and Guilherme Marchi and a stock contractor Chad Berger. I was super excited to meet Mike and Guilherme both of whom I love as riders and had never met before. I had met Chad Berger last year and about had a heart attack!! We were going through a line and some guy was passing out stuff and I didn't think twice about him since I knew he wasn't a rider. Well.... as we got closer to him in the line I was like OMG that's Chad Berger the stock contractor!! To me that was awesome because someday I would love to raise bucking stock and he is one of the best in the business.
 
Mike Lee and I
Along with meeting those people the event itself was amazing. Ever since we switched TV providers, and were able to have the channel the PBR was on, I have not missed a single event for going on 3 years now. It is so cool to see these guys you watch every week on TV in person. Plus you get to see Flint Rasmussen the barrel man that man who is hilarious and makes the boring TV commercial breaks fun!!
 
That's Flint standing on the gates in a plaid cutoff shirt and camo pants :)
 
Unfortunately none of my favorite riders won but one came close at second place. I bet I was the only person in the building who was not cheering for the winner when he rode. But hey you beat out my favorite guys I'm not going to cheer for you! Now I'm going to go watch the event on TV to see if I can see myself :) We had pretty decent seats on the lower section but at the opposite end of the chutes but still better than the nose bleeds. I'm hoping one day I'll be on the back of those chutes flanking a bull or two :) A girl can dream!!
 
This is a very poor quality video from my phone of I think Shane Proctor

Friday, February 22, 2013

When life gives you snow.....make Snow Ice Cream!!!


As you all know a good portion of the Midwest was hit with a giant snow storm yesterday. Or as some headlines called it Storm Q, Snowmagedon, Thundersnow, or Snowpocolyps. But where I live we were lucky enough to miss the worst of it. We still managed to get a few inches of the fluffy white stuff. A friend of mine on FB decided to make the best of a bad situation by making snow ice cream for her and her roommate at college.  So I googled snow ice cream to find a recipe and the best one I found came from TLC the TV channel's website. I thought that would be a fun little activity to try so my sister and  I gave it a shot and it turned out amazing!!!

The tools/ingredients are:
  • Snow- for some reason they tell you to use pure white snow. I don't know why we have to be racist against our snow :)
  • Bowl
  • Spoon
  • Vanilla Extract
  • Milk/cream
Instructions:


Scoop some snow into a bowl enough for a serving and enough so that when you add the milk it doesn't all melt away


Add a little sugar and a few drops of vanilla

Mix together adding the milk little at a time until you get consistency you want
 
This is the finished product!! Enjoy



Wednesday, February 20, 2013

I'm On Facebook!!!!!!!!!


Hey I just wanted to take a second to let everyone know that Diaries From the Dirt Road is now on Facebook!!! I've wanted to do it for awhile now but was to scared to. So I want everyone who follows me here to go and Like it please and share if you want! I really want to expand my readers and I thought that by being on FB it would. I would really appreciate it!


 
Plus be on the look out for a post about my trip this weekend to Kansas City for the PBR bull riding!! I'm super excited! Hopefully I will come away with a few new autographs and pictures with some of the riders and stock contractors. You can watch part of it on TV this Saturday @ 1pm Eastern on CBS. Then Sunday @ 8 pm eastern on CBS Sports Network. If you have never gone a PBR event I highly recommend it. It is a thrilling sport with great riders who are very friendly and willing to talk and sign autographs. Check out the PBR's website to see if they come to a city near you!

Monday, February 18, 2013

German Chocolate Brownies


This weeks recipe was yet again sparked by one of the girls I work with. Like I said before we talk about food all the time. The sad part is that we are all trying to lose weight. But hey, it's hard to try and be skinny when you love to cook and eat delicious foods especially desserts :) This recipe is pretty easy to make. The topping takes a little more patients but if it turns out right it's wonderful. I hope you enjoy!!

Ingredients:

Brownies-
  • 1 box (17.6 oz) brownie mix
  • 1 tspn coconut extract
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans
  • 1/2 cup coconut
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips
Topping-
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 5 tbspn unsalted butter
  • 1 can (5oz) evaporated milk
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1 cup coconut
  • 3/4 cup chopped pecans
  • 1/2 tspn vanilla extract
The first section is how to make the brownies.

  • Heat oven to 350° F.
  • Line a 9x13 pan with foil or coat with non-stick cooking spray
  • In large bowl stir together brownie mix, egg, water, oil,  and coconut extract until smooth

  • Stir in coconut, chopped nuts and chocolate chips

  • Pour into pan. Spread to edges

  • Bake for 20-25 minutes until center is set

  • Cool before putting on the topping
Now for the topping.
  • In a small sauce pan combine sugar, butter, evaporated milk, and egg yolks.

  • Cook over medium heat whisking until bubbly and thickened (9-13 min) **Make sure to stir the egg yolks in very well at first and keep stirring them because if you don't you will end up with scrambled eggs in your topping.
  • Stir in coconut, nuts, and vanilla

  • Cook 2 more minutes
  • Pour over prepared brownies and cool

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Happy FFA Week!!!


Today marks the first official day of FFA week throughout the country. During this week chapters do special activities at school and in their communities to promote FFA and Agriculture. When I was still in high school our FFA chapter would do fun things like have tractor day, let the greenhands paint their hands green, dress like a farmer day, and have a petting zoo for the elementary. We would also do special activities in our community. On the Sunday at the beginning of FFA week we would go to one of the local churches in our town and have church service with them. Then on the Sunday ending FFA week we held a free will donation breakfast for the community. My freshman year communality people said they liked the breakfasts so much that we decided to continue them every month. So on the last Sunday of every month we open up the local café in town and hold a breakfast. Along with FFA week I thought I would share with you all some of my favorite memories. I will try to keep this as short as possible but there are so many wonderful memories associated with this amazing organization.

Throughout the 4 years of FFA I had the opportunity to go on several different trips. I was lucky enough to go to the state convention in Columbia, MO all 4 years. The first year was the only year that I competed. Me and the same 3 other girls were on 2 teams, livestock judging and knowledge, that qualified for state. The other years I went as a delegate, earn my state degree, and sing in the choir. In order for your team to qualify for state you had to compete at districts which we were lucky enough to have it in our county so we didn’t have to drive. Before districts you got to go to practice competitions all over the state to practice up on your skills. That meant getting up early, long bus rides, and most importantly missing lots of school.
Me recieving my State Degree in Columbia
We went and saw this on one of our practice Livestock Judging Trips

My sophomore and senior years in high school I got to go to Indianapolis to the National Convention. It is an amazing experience to be walking through the career fair or down the street from one building to another and seeing hundreds of blue corduroy jackets from all different states. A lot of the time I cussed wearing the official dress (jacket, skirt, the dreaded panty hose, and black heels or flats) but on one occasion myself and a couple of other students were stopped at a fast food restaurant, in our official dress, when the lady taking our order commented on how nice we were dressed.  She said that it was so great to see us kids respecting our organization by dressing respectably. After that moment I really took pride in wearing the official dress.
One of my two FFA Jackets

 Back to the National Convention… when we go to National Convention we spend about 3-4 days in Indianapolis. On the first night your there you go to a big concert in Lucas Oil Stadium (home of the Colts). I got to see Toby Keith, the Eli Young Band, Little Big Town, and Blake Shelton. The next day you get to go to the opening ceremony of the convention. That is usually when they have a special keynote speaker. My sophomore year the speaker was Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs. He was an awesome speaker. One of the things I remember him telling us was that “In order to make the green you have to get down with brown”. What he meant by that was that in order for you to make money you have to get a little dirty. Then the rest of the time you are there you spend at different workshops, the career fair and special tours your advisor sets up. The places we got to go extra were the NCAA Hall of Fame, Indianapolis Speedway, this cool little popcorn factory,  and a mini zoo. Then on the final day you’re out there you get to watch the kids get their American Degree (which is televised on RFD-TV). A little boasting time…. Missouri has had the most number of students each year to receive their American degree for I don’t know how many years and hopefully this year I will be one of those lucky students.  
Mike Rowe!!!!!!
We got to go on the Race track and "Kiss the Bricks" on the finish line at the Indy Speedway
Yes My favorite partwas meeting the Cowboy's ;) I got to meet Ty Atchison (PRCA Saddle Bronc Rider)- From Missouri Luke Snyder (PBR Bull Rider) and Coby Yates (PBR Bull Rider)
Colby Yates :)
 Luke Snyder :)

Probably the biggest and to date the best and most life changing trips I’ve ever been on was when I went to Washington DC 2 summers ago for the Washington Leadership Conference (WLC). It is a week-long conference that builds your leadership skills. When I went my Ag teacher couldn’t go so my parents offered to chaperon since they had lived out in Baltimore when they were first married. We actually flew into Baltimore when we went out there so that we could do some sight-seeing there. We went to the Inner Harbor and ate lunch and walked around looking at the cool boats. Then we went to Fort McHenry (where Francis Scott Key was inspired to write the Star Spangled Banner). For the actual conference we had small group activities and large group activities to build our leadership skills. We also had one day where we got to do a community service project. I got to go to a habitat for humanity Re-store and work. Along with the conference we had several opportunities to do sight-seeing in DC too. We went to Mt Vernon (George Washington’s Home), the National Mall during the day and at night, the Smithsonian Museums of American and Natural History, Ford’s theater, Arlington National Cemetery, and the Capitol. We saw the White House but only from a distance. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves history to go to Washington DC because it is chalked full of it.
The Backside of Mt. Vernon overlooking the Potomac
Fort McHenry (the inside of the fort)
Lincoln Memorial- Fun fact from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument is 1 mile!! It doesn't look that far on TV but when your standing at one or the other it looks really far away!

Of the 4 years that I while I was still in high school I was an officer 3 of them. I have held the positions of junior reporter, Vice President and President for my chapter and then during my junior year I was also the Area 1 Sentinel. This meant that we got to lead the meetings and banquets by doing the official ceremonies and plan activities for our chapters. While I was an Area officer I got to go down to the Lake of the Ozarks to an officer retreat to develop our team building skills. We also had the awesome opportunity to charter in a new chapter. I did apply and interview for a state office my senior year but didn’t get it. It was something that I really wanted but was ok with that I didn’t receive. The boy who got the position has done an amazing job and has represented our Area well.
Me and my Area Officer Team at Area Banquet
My chapter officer team one year.

 Over the years I competed in several different Career Development Events or as we call them CDE’s. My favorite one would probably be livestock judging. This is where you have 6 classes of 4 animals in each class to place first, second, third, and fourth. Each animal will have a number on its back. After some of the classes you have to give a set of “reasons” to a judge. This is basically telling them why you placed what animal the way you did. Basically “I place this class of cross bread heifers 3,4,2,1. In my initial pair I placed the number 3 heifer over the number 4 heifer because…..” and you describe their positive and negative qualities. Not to brag but I was rather good at that contest. I qualified for state my freshman year doing it. I competed in livestock three times at a fall contest that the university about 10 min from where I live puts on. The first year was when I was first getting started and wasn’t that good yet. Then the second year I placed 4th place individually out of about 250 kids, then my senior year I placed 7th place out of about 300 kids. If I had it my way that would have been the only contest I would have ever done because I really enjoyed it. Some of the other contests I did that were similar to livestock were poultry judging and dairy cattle judging. I also did parliamentary procedure (how to run a meeting), knowledge, soils, and several speeches.

Through FFA I have won several awards. I won the star greenhand and star chapter farmer awards. I received my leadership and scholarship pins all 4 years. I lettered in FFA. I earned my greenhand, chapter, and state degrees.
State Degree Pin

Like I’ve said before FFA was probably the best thing that could have happened to me. FFA has brought me many friendships, bettered me as a person, increased my appreciation and love of agriculture, and brought me many joys. I’m a little sad to know that this will be my last official year as an FFA member. The night I gave my retiring address as a president I cried while giving my speech because it was so hard to say good bye and know that it was going to be over. I was blessed to have such an amazing Advisor, Mr. Wilmes, who not only was my favorite teacher but a role model and most importantly someone who believed more in me than I ever believed in myself. There were many times when I was writing a speech, filling out an application, or contemplating running for an office where he kept me from quitting, giving up, or not even trying. He kept pushing me and because of that I achieved so much.

I know some of you weren’t in FFA but I would like for you, if the opportunity ever arises, to support the FFA. It is a great organization that is creating better leaders for tomorrow. Kids who are in FFA not only will be the future people who feed America but could be the next president or person to cure cancer.

I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Thomas Jefferson.
“Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals, and happiness.”

Please go Check out The Midwest Farm Girls blog she will be posting about her experiences in FFA!

 

 

 

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Happy Valentine's Day!!

 
 
"Being a family means you are a part of something wonderful. It means you will love and be loved for the rest of your life. No matter what!"
 
Today I wasn't going to post a post simply because I don't have significant other and today is just another day. I have been having some problems with school the past couple of days and I feeling a little blue. But today when I was coming home from town I stopped to get the mail I found a package addressed to my sister and I from our Great Aunt Annabelle. Inside the package was a note and 2 heart shaped pot holders. The note said that she was going through her Valentine's Decorations and she came across these 2 pot holders that my Grandma Carolyn had made for her many years ago. She thought that she should pass them along to my sister and I.
 
As I was sitting in my car reading her note and looking at these adorable pot holders I about cried. Just when I thought I was at a really low point in my week and that I had no reason to celebrate Valentine's Day did I realized that I have so much to celebrate and to be happy about! I have so many people in my life that love me, support me, and want the best for me. I am beyond blessed.
 
"I've Got Ewe Under my Skin" & Owl be Yours Forever"
I was very lucky as a child because I was able to have such a good relationship with my extended family including great aunts and uncles, and a bazillion second, third, fourth...etc, cousins. One example would be my Aunt Annabelle and Uncle John. They've been very important to me growing up. They always supported me when I was doing anything. I remember sitting around talking with my Uncle John at my grandmas house and at family reunions and finding out how much we had in common. He was a farm boy who was in FFA and later in life he really enjoyed golfing and those were two things we had greatly in common. My Uncle John passed away a year ago Tuesday but he will always be a big part of my life through the lessons he taught me and the many memories.
 
This is me with my (LtoR) Grandma, Great Aunt Annabelle, and Great Uncle Short In Marshall MO
At Jim the Wonder dogs Grave (story for another day)
 
So go out today even if you don't have a significant other and celebrate and really embrace the people in your life who love you. Weather that be friends, coworkers, teachers, or your family because you don't know how much time you have left with them and you don't want to waste a second!! Write them a letter, send them a card, call them or go over and give them a big hug and let them know that you care!
 
 
Happy Valentine's Day!!
 
 
 


Monday, February 11, 2013

Liebster Blog Award!!

Today I was nominated by Suzi from Chores and Chandeliers. I am so excited because I've only been blogging since last November and I am so blessed to have such awesome followers!!

 
 


Rules

This award is given to new or up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers...the award is then passed along to other bloggers in the same category to help spread the word and support one another. What to do: 1. Each blogger should post 11 random facts about themselves. 2. Answer the questions the tagger has set for you, then create 11 new questions for the bloggers you pass the award to. 3. Choose 11 new bloggers (with less than 200 followers) to pass the award to and link them in your post. 4. Go back to their page and tell them about the award. 5. No tag backs.
 

Random Facts:
1. I love donating blood. I have successfully done it 13 times.
2. Since probably 7th grade I've wanted to raise Bucking Bulls
3. I collect antique chickens
4. I love to put sauerkraut on my pizza
5. In the past probably 10 years I have worn a dress 4 times maybe
6. I love Old country music
7. I think Bigfoot is real.... It's always fun to believe in something a little crazy :)
8. I have lived on the same farm my whole life
9. My favorite rodeo event to watch is Saddle Bronc Riding
10. The coolest place I've been so far would be Washington DC
11. I love to golf
 

Questions from Suzi!!
 
1. What is one thing you can’t live without. My computer!! I am on it the first thing when i get up and off and on all day!
2. How long have you been blogging? Since last November so only about 4 months.
4. Do you have pets? Yes, a dog named Duke, some cows, and a miniature donkey named Barney.
5. What is your biggest pet peeve? People who start drama. Everywhere you go in life someone is always going to try and make someone else's life miserable.
6. What the last thing you bought for YOURSELF? A very pretty opal ring from Avon!
7. How did you find my blog (chores and chandeliers)? I think you commented on one of my blog posts that you found from Buckaroo Barbie!
8. What is the last text you sent? Telling my dad if he got an email I sent him LOL
9. Ever been to Nebraska? :) Yes I have the last time I think was in September though but we only live about 45 minutes away from the border.
10. What is your biggest fear? BEARS!!!! My whole life I've been scared to death of bears.
11. Do you have any tattoos? No, but I would love to get at least one someday.
 
My Nominees:
  1. Elizabeth from Circle the Wagons
  2. Emily from Fuhriman Ranch
  3. Gussie and Kricket from Boots, Braids and Big Loops
  4. Josie from Wild & Wooly
  5. Katlyn from Midwest Farm Girl
  6. J. Rhoades from The Uncharted Rhoade
  7.  
 
Questions For Nominees:
  1. Where is the coolest place you have been?
  2. What is a hobby you enjoy?
  3. If you had a million dollars what would you do with it?
  4. If money were no object what would your dream job be?
  5. What is your favorite book?
  6. What is your favorite movie?
  7. Name a person dead or alive you would want to meet.
  8. Who is your biggest role model?
  9. What is your favorite sport or sports team?
  10. Do you have any special talents?
  11. What is your favorite quote?
 


Peanut Butter Pie

Today I thought I would share a recipe that is one of our families favorite deserts. In our house anything with peanut butter in it is a good thing. We go through peanut butter like crazy. This recipe is another recipe that my mom has made for years and I have made a couple of times. I made it yesterday and took it to work for the girls I work with. It seems like a lot of the time we end up talking about food at one point or another and some how peanut butter pie got brought up. So I told them I would make them one and they loved it. It is a really easy recipe that takes about 10 minutes to whip up and then some time to chill.

The Ingredients:

1 Graham Cracker or Oreo Pie Crust
1 8oz package of Cream Cheese
1/2 cup Peanut Butter
1 cup Powdered Sugar
2 tbsp Milk
1 4oz tub of Cool Whip

In a large bowl combine cream cheese and peanut butter; beat with electric mixer until combined. I beat my cream cheese first to break and soften it up.


Next add powdered sugar and milk; beat until combined.

 
Next fold in about half of the container of whip topping with a spoon not the electric mixer.
 
 
Spoon into pie crust and then top with remaining cool whip.
 



 
Cover and chill in the freezer for 15 minutes. Makes 8 servings.
Enjoy!

Friday, February 8, 2013

How I Try to Stay Organized

This past week all I've been working on has been homework!! It wasn't exactly hard homework but it was things that took time to complete. The biggest task of this week was my anatomy homework. This week we studied the Integumentary system and the bones. One of the assignments was to label the bones on about 100+ pages. I worked on that for about 5 days. It was easy because we have a computer program that tells you what each bone is  but you have to write each of the little parts down about 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 times (I'm not kidding either) and you could only do so much in one sitting. Then after I was done labeling them I had to tear them of my work book  out and remove all of those stupid little squiggly things on the edge of the paper and mail them to my teacher. I am not looking forward to several more weeks of doing that. But I have to remember I signed up for this. I want to be a nurse and you kind of need to know the anatomy of the human unfortunately. The rest of my homework was just watching a couple of videos and reading a few chapters which didn't take too much time but still had to be done.

Now to the point of my post...I am in 4 different online classes this semester which means that I don't have a teacher I go to who tells me out loud to do this this and this I have to follow the syllabuses and "road maps" (yes I have a road map that tells me what to do for Sociology) to make sure I do every thing on a certain day and time. For all of my different classes each has a different due date time. Somethings are due on Friday at noon, some are due on Sunday at 11:55 P.M. Some things I have 1 assignment and 3 weeks to do it. Well in order for me to keep organized I have to make a list of some sort. I have this cool little AP on my computer that has sticky notes you can put on your desktop. My desktop right now is covered in those sticky notes. But it helped me out last semester and now this semester to keep organized on what I have due when. So far I haven't skipped anything. I encourage anyone who uses a computer, at least daily, and has something like this to use it because it really helps and has kept me sane through college!

This is what the desktop of my laptop currently looks like!!

 It is really important that the second someone tells you to do something that's important to WRITE IT DOWN!!! I am bad about forgetting things. I will be talking to my mom on the telephone and she will tell me to do something and I will hang up and then go do something else and simply forget it. I hope that this little bit of advice helps someone out! Have a nice day!!

Friday, February 1, 2013

Lessons Learned in the Show Ring

This week I had the opportunity to do a guest post, for Katlyn over at Midwest Farm Girl, about showing livestock. Livestock shows were probably one of the biggest parts of my life that took up every summer for the past 10 years. To read about how I began and a couple of interesting stories go check it out at:

http://midwestfarmgirl.com/lessons-learned-in-the-show-ring/

Winning Senior Showmanship at a local county fair.

Kid President

Lately I've been hearing a lot of people on TV talking about the "Kid President". I finally sat down today and watched his Pep talk video and I have to say this kid is AMAZING!! His whole goal in doing these videos as the kid president is to encourage everyone to make the world a better place. In this particular video he is encouraging everyone in the world to be the best they can be and asks them to work towards their dreams and not quit. It is truly inspiring. Today there are so many people who are afraid to go after their dreams and we need someone like him to encourage us to keep going. In his video he talked about how Michael Jordan didn't give up on his dream of playing basketball just because he didn't make the high school team he kept going and became a legend. What could you do if you kept reaching for your dreams and never quit when a road block comes along? We could all be amazing and change the world if we just keep believing. If you haven't watched this video yet please do. It will inspire you and give you that boost of confidence to keep going.

 
Check out his other videos here.