Catching Up Is Hard To Do…

I cannot believe that January is almost over! Typically this month is filled with farming book work, getting tax stuff ready, and all the other end of the year stuff that comes with running a business. This year we started out a little differently…

On December 26th, Jonathan’s sister and family came from the Chicagoland area for a few days. We had a fun Christmas celebration with that side of the family on the 27th. I love reconnecting with family, and catching up on their activities.

My side of the family arrived on the 29th. We celebrated Christmas with them on the 30th, and stuffed ourselves silly (again).  On New Year’s Day we drove down to Iowa to see relatives that were gathering at my aunt’s house. It was fun to reconnect and catch up on their lives.

Mom and my sister Pam spent the night with us once again, while Sheryl’s family stayed overnight at aunt’s house. On January 2nd, everyone headed for home. That is when Jonathan and I started packing for our trip. 🙂

On January 2nd, Jonathan and I left for Fargo, ND. We had an early morning flight from Fargo to Salt Lake City, UT. From Salt Lake City, we flew to Honolulu, HI! We were going to attend the American Farm Bureau Annual Meeting, which was held on the 8th and 9th.

We were traveling with cousins Andy and Heather. We have traveled with them to Nascar races and Disney World, and they still like us, so we thought it would be fun to go to Hawaii together. We were right. We had a blast!

Our travel agent arranged for a tour company to meet us at the airport where we received a fresh flower lei, and an invitation to a free breakfast the following morning. We all thought, “Free breakfast? Okay!” It was a sales pitch of sorts, telling us about the various tour packages they have available. Since we had about 4 days before the AFBF stuff started, we gave a look at what we thought would be fun. For once in my life, I really didn’t care what the plan was. I chatted with a tour company employee while Jonathan signed us up for events. It was quite nice to be able to just let go.

(Pic: At the airport after landing in Honolulu…we had been up for about 18 hours at this point, and it is starting to show)

Our first activity was whale watching, while Andy and Heather chose to go snorkeling in an area with sea turtles. I get motion sickness really easy, so I made sure I took meds for that. Good thing! I had never been out on a boat in the open ocean, so I was a little nervous about the waves. This was a lunch cruise with a buffet of great food to eat while cruising out to the whale watching waters. At least that was the plan. The whales had a different idea. Two of them were in the harbor that morning. They think it was a mom and a juvenile calf that had followed a fishing boat for 6 days and over 800 miles! We got up close enough to be sprayed three times with whale snot.   I gave my new camera a workout!

(Pic: one of my whale photos. I have others that I am not sharing online…)

That evening, all four of us went to a magic show dinner theater thing. We met some really nice people from Australia and Canada. After that ended, we went to the Lani Misalucha show. The best part was when she did impersonations of different singers. She had some of them spot on! Sadly, no photos were allowed for our evening adventures.

The next highlight was Pearl Harbor and the Arizona Memorial, where the weather was beautiful. The museum grounds had been improved since we were there in 2004, making it an even better experience. Three survivors were at a book signing for a few hours.

After Pearl Harbor we went on a city tour and saw the State Capitol building and the Iolani Palace. Friday night we went on a supper cruise where we would see the sunset while at sea, and watch fireworks over Waikiki. There were Polynesian dancers on board, so between the sunset and the fireworks we didn’t get bored. The night was beautiful. The fireworks had to compete with a great full moon over Waikiki for my favorite scene of the cruise.

(I’ll let you decide which you like better…the full moon or the fireworks)

         

Saturday we had some beach time, and just took it easy most of the day. Sunday brought the start of the AFBF Annual Meeting. The opening ceremony sets the tone for the entire event, with an address by President Bob Stallman. We were really impressed by what he had to say, and it made us proud to be a part of such a great organization.  We believe that there is room for all types of agriculture – organic or conventional, crop or livestock, etc. We need to work together, which is what President Stallman mentioned in his speech. The keynote speaker on Monday afternoon was Dave Barry. He was hilarious! It was a great way to end a great meeting.

(Pic: AFBF President Bob Stallman)

We also attended a luau, and went on a Circle Island Tour with a bunch of our Minnesota friends. We started our journey back to Minnesota (and reality) on the 11th, and made it home the afternoon of the 12th.  Our flight schedule took us from Honolulu to Los Angeles (no celeb sightings, but it was 5:00 am when we landed). Los Angeles to Minneapolis, Minneapolis to Fargo. Then a 4 hour drive home. This didn’t quite work with us. Thursday evening was Parent’s Night for the dance team. Laura is a senior this year, so in my mind this was a big deal. If we were to catch our flight from Minneapolis to Fargo, we would not have made it back in time.  I was bummed when we discovered this before we left, but Jonathan made a few phone calls…

Cousin Denise picked us up from the airport in Minneapolis, and brought us home. Andy and Heather flew on to Fargo as planned, picked up our luggage (we checked it in under their names in Honolulu), and drove our van to their house. Jonathan and I made it back home in time to shower and change clothes before heading into the school. It was worth making it back in time!

The following morning, Jonathan and I ran some errands, then packed our bags to head to an organic farming conference a couple of hours away. We picked up our van on the way home from the conference the following day, and kinda crashed once we got home. That was a week ago.

I still have a few loads of laundry to do, and gifts to distribute. I finally caught up on reading all my emails as of this morning. Jonathan and I both feel like we are finally back in our time zone, and that our brains have finally caught up with us.  Hopefully, we’ll get caught up on the book work this week as well.

Vacation was great, but catching up is hard to do!

We Wish You a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

This year we once again started our Christmas celebration with our church’s candle light Christmas Eve service. It was beautiful. We all hold candles and sing Silent Night near the end of the service.  It is the best way to celebrate Jesus’ promise to us!

After church we had our Christmas Eve supper. Nachos were on the menu this year, just for something different. Watching the anticipation build within the girls was so fun. They are 21, 19, and 17, yet they are just as excited as they were at 5.  Part of the excitement now is watching everyone open the gifts they picked out for each other.  We tell each other what gifts we want them to open next, or what went into the selection process of the one they just opened.  The were genuinely happy with what they received, but also with what the others received. There was no pouting, jealousy, or bummed out-ness.  It was probably the most relaxing and enjoyable Christmas since before Anna was born.

On Christmas morning, we were back at church for regular Sunday service. We sang many Christmas carols throughout the service.  After church we lounged around for a little, had a late dinner, and played games or watched movies. It felt so good to relax!

When Christina went to get a drink of water late in the afternoon, she looked at the sunset and asked me to run out and take pictures of it. It was magnificent! The colors were so brilliant!  I grabbed my camera, and ran out the door. I was wearing shorts, and t-shirt, tennies, and a fleece jacket when I ran out to the edge of the yard to try and capture the sky. It was relatively calm at the moment, so I could hear birds singing in the grove to my right. It was such a nice evening! What a switch from a year ago when we had wind blowing over 20 inches of snow around!

We will be hosting family all week, and we are excited! Jonathan’s family is coming at the beginning, and my family at the end. We love to spend time with both sides – laughing, eating, laughing, playing games, laughing, eating…

So, I will wish you all a Happy New Year today. May your year be filled with God’s blessings, love from family and friends, and much happiness!

Here is one of the photos I took of God’s Christmas Painting:

Reading Between the Articles…

I was reading a women’s health & fitness magazine this morning while drinking my coffee. Most issues of this magazine have typical headlines on losing 10-15 pounds this month, or getting the body you want by (insert holiday here). The healthy cooking sections are touting the latest research in fat burning meals, or which fruits and veggies give you the best anti-aging antioxidents. Then I looked at the ad right before their big motivational section. It was for Tonalin…a pill you can take for reducing body fat and increasing lean muscle mass.

Wait a minute. This followed an article about fat fighting foods. Isn’t that sending mixed messages? So I started looking a little more closely at all the ads in this mag. There were also full page ads for Fastin (a fat mobilizer) and SlimQuick Razor (America’s Stongest Female Fat Burner). Interspersed were ads for Centrum vitamins and supplements, a coulple of NY Road Runner’s sponsored events, and prescription meds.

I looked at a competing magazine, they were even worse. They had the same SlimQuick Razor ad, but they also had ads for Zantrex-3 (ooh, Snookie was “caught” with a bottle!), Fit stack (a 3 supplement series), Lichi 9 (lose 25 lbs in weeks), 2-Week Boot Camp Extreme Diet (contains bottles of Fat Burner, Colon Flush, Carb Blocker, and Bloat-Less), and Super Antioxident Chews from jealousblueberry.

I moved on to the latest issue of Runner’s World.  I was curious, since I hadn’t paid that much attention to all the little ads in the back. There was one quarter page ad for Alphastra. That was it. However, if you are looking for a race or a car, they have an ad for that.

While I don’t always agree with the nutritional advice in any given magazine (I don’t believe in cutting out any one particular food group, especially the Meatless Monday thing, but that is a whole blog in itself), I enjoy the recipes and like to hear about the latest in nutritional trends. I also like the different workout suggestions for cross-training.

I appreciate that RW doesn’t blast us with the next quick fix, but encourages us to push our bodies harder to get the results we are looking for.  That is what will work in the long run. (Pun intended?) If you want results – weight loss, Personal Records at races, or just overall fitness – you have to work for it. You have to put in the blood, sweat, and at times the tears.

I am pretty sure I know which magazines I will continue to support, and which ones I will let go.

This was taken after the Long Grove Turkey Trot in 2010.  Yes, I look like a dork!  BIL Paul is right behind me. He was nice enough to run with Christina and me instead of running at his much faster pace. Christina beat her mommy to the finish line, but stuck with me until the sprint at the end.

A Yoga Review…Of Sorts

I have heard from many runners about the benefits of yoga. I have dealt with alignment issues starting in my hips, and messing up my knees for years. I figured I’d give it a shot.

I purchased a beginners DVD set, that (according to the package) started with the basics. You could choose to do one of the four workouts on the first DVD, or you could do them all! Sounded good to me!

I got my mat all ready, popped in the DVD, and sat in anticipation while the hostess droned on and on about the benefits of yoga, and what she hoped to accomplish with this series. Finally, it was time to begin.

She had me sitting on my heels just like she was to begin. We started with breathing exercises, which she explained pretty well. Then we stood. Okay, she wanted me to do a pose…what was it she called it? Shoot. Missed it. I just tried to copy what she was doing, because the only thing she explained was when to breath.

We moved into downward facing dog. Oohh! I know that one! We were then supposed to bring our left foot up in between our hands. What? No way that was gonna happen! By the time I had my feet in position, she was on the other leg. Nuts.

She then went into about three more poses in rapid succession, without really explaining what we were doing…except for breathing. I gave up…

Found a different beginners yoga DVD that I had gotten for Anna. This one was for the lower body. Cool! I popped that one in.

After listening to her drone on and on about the benefits of yoga, we were ready to go.

We did some poses that I still don’t know what their names are, but we looked like trees and mountains, I think.  And the downward facing dog…. I swear we did about 100 of those! Old shoulder issues cropped up by the end of the session. Nutserdoodles.

At least I got some of the poses. Except the ones where we went from a plank, jumping to put our back feet in between our hands. Right. Obviously, I have had more muffins in my life than she has. They are displayed around my center to remind me of their presence every day.  Some day, I would like them to go visit someone else, but for now, they hang around here.

My hamstrings are also probably a little tighter than most. I think you could play a tune on them at times. Just strum along!

Uff da. I think I will need to figure out a different way to stretch, because I am not this flexible!

Sunny Saturday…

Today I helped Jonathan put the star up on the windmill. Okay, help may be too strong of a word. Let’s just say I handed the star to him after he got to the top of the ladder, then walked away. I hate watching him climb up the windmill! I pretty much pace back and forth, with phone in hand in case I have to call 911.

It was such a beautiful day out today! Mid 40’s, sunshine, little wind. I would normally be happy about that, but I love snow. It looks so brown and dreary outside. Not very Christmas like.

I did go for a little run/walk for about 1/2 hour. The first running I’ve done since the goat chasing incident.  It felt really good!  When I got done with my stretching afterwards, Jonathan was baking up the Belgian cookies I had mixed up earlier in the day.

I still have Peanut Blossoms and Russian Tea Cakes to make before the night is done. They are heading for a bake sale at church tomorrow. Extras will go in the freezer for our Christmas celebrations.

Tomorrow we’ll light the third candle in our Advent Wreath! Have a blessed day!

Christmas Joy

We had a great Thanksgiving at my sister’s. The weather was great, so we didn’t have to worry about icy roads. That is always a plus when traveling over 5 hours!

I participated in the Facebook thing of counting down to Thanksgiving by posting something you were thankful for each day. I have been missing out on the intentional daily reflections that would help me focus on what I was thankful for.  So, I think I will continue the practice. Only I can’t call it Thanksgiving Thankfuls…  Maybe the Christmas Joy’s? I’ll take suggestions for a catchy name!

My challenge for you, the few who actually read this, is to post on your Facebook pages or in your own blogs about something that has brought you joy that day…or just in general makes your heart happy.

My Joy for the day: Having Jonathan give me 30 minutes of his time to do anything inside the house that I wanted him to do. Thanks for taking out all the trash, honey! 🙂

P.S. The house is smelling really good right now…I’m making a new bread recipe called Sour Cream Bread. It is supposed to make great grilled sandwiches and french toast. I’ll let you know how it turns out!

First Snow!

Call me crazy, but I love the first snow of the season. After staring at brown grass and empty fields for awhile, the blanket of snow makes everything look so fresh and clean.

Traditionally, I bake the first batch of Christmas cookies during the first snowfall. Even if it happens to be October!

When Jonathan and I were first married, we lived in a tiny house across the section from where we now live. We didn’t want to turn on the fuel oil furnace too early in the fall, so sometimes the house was pretty chilly.  I think it was the first October that we were married, on the day of the first snow the house was very cold. I decided to bake some cookies to warm up the house. The snow reminded me of Christmas time, so I baked Christmas cookies.

I have kept this tradition just about every year, maybe baking the day after if I didn’t have the right ingredients on hand.  The other part of this tradition has remained as well. None of the cookies make it to the end of the week.

This year, our first snow fell while I was out of town. (Which is a funny term, since I don’t live in town-maybe I should rephrase with out of the county?)  When I arrived home that evening, I was tired from the long day of meetings and driving on slick roads. I still had to go to the grocery store to buy ingredients for a large batch of chili that I was making for a chili cook off at church the following morning.  Cookies didn’t even enter my mind.

When I arrived home from the grocery store, I made my chili, a batch of corn bread (from a box), and caramel for the rolls for the high school Sunday School class.  I think I went to bed around 1:30 am.  After the very fun chili cook off, I came home and propped my sore ankle on some ice, and vegged out for awhile. Again, cookies didn’t even enter my mind.

I’m kind of sad that the excitement of the first snow was lost due to a crazy weekend. As I am making my Thanksgiving pies today, I will try to slip a batch of Christmas cookies in the oven.

Today I am making Double Layer Pumpkin Pie:

Double Layer Pumpkin Pie
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 cups thawed Cool Whip
1 prepared Graham cracker  crust (6 oz)
1 cup milk
1 can (16 oz) pumpkin (not the canned pie filling, just pumpkin)
2 pkg. (4 serving size)  instant vanilla pudding
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Mix cream cheese, 1 tbsp. milk and sugar in bowl with wire whisk
until smooth.  Gently stir in whipped topping.  Spread onto
bottom of crust.
Pour 1 cup milk into large bowl.  Add pumpkin, pudding mixes
and spices.  Beat with wire whisk until well mixed.  (Will be thick.)
Spread over cream cheese layer.
Refrigerate 4 hours or until set.

Injury by Goat?

I have been nursing a sore foot the past couple of weeks after doing a little running again. It isn’t like anything I’ve had before…not like plantar fasciitis, but a pain in the back of the heel and outside of my left foot. I have started icing, and continuing the stretching for my calves and ankles. It has been helping a lot, to the point where I was pretty much walking without pain today! I had been feeling sluggish today, but mustered up the energy this afternoon to go 25 minutes at a jogging pace on the elliptical. I had just finished my cool down when my father-in-law came in the house looking for whoever was home. I made my way out of the basement, only to see our semi wild fainting goat buck running through the yard. Crap.

We adopted this goat from a family that was moving, and couldn’t take him along. Most of his life to this point had been spent in the woods around their house. He came smelly and full of cocklebur’s. I talk to him every day when I feed him, but he is still pretty skittish.

The other people helping me chase this creature were my 77 year old father in law, and Nick, our part time hired help. Jonathan showed up after the fun had begun, and did what he could to help for the few minutes that he was able to be home. Soon, it was just me running around the farm yard. At this point, my heel just hurt a little after sprinting around our house, around a couple of sheds, around a couple of bins… I finally went to the house and called our Rat Terrier out. He had been locked in the house by my father in law. Pongo had gotten in trouble earlier in the day for barking and lunging at the goat through the fence, so he was a little unsure as to what I wanted him to do.

Pongo, it turns out, is a great goat herding terrier! He nipped at the heels of the goat just enough to herd him in the right direction. They didn’t make the turn into the pen, and goat took off down the driveway again. Another sprint…great. We got him turned away from the tar road, and took a little detour behind another set of buildings. Pongo kept right on him, without having to nip at this point. Nick parked the Ranger in the way so goat wouldn’t try going the driveway loop again. Pongo made one more run towards goat, and in the pen he went. Nick quick shut the gate, and put the strap on the door to lock it. Whew!

Somewhere on the last sprint, going around the semi’s that were parked in the yard, my foot started hurting so bad I could hardly walk, let alone run. So here I sit, foot elevated and resting on an ice pack, thinking that this is the most bizarre cause of re-injury I have ever had. And I am wondering…if he is a fainting goat, shouldn’t he just fall over if you scare him? Apparently, he’s missing the desirable fainting trait. Bummer!

By the way, for all of those who drove by on the county road in front of our house…I hope you at least had a little smile on your face watching a 44 year old mom dressed in capri length tech shorts and bright pink tech t-shirt running full speed around the yard after that darn goat!

Pongo, the goat herding Rat Terrier:

Favorite Foods for Fall

The weather has turned colder here. We actually turned the furnace on last week. A few mornings were in the mid-20’s with wind chill readings in the teens. That is when I start craving comfort foods like soups, stews, chili, and pumpkin.

Tuesday brought a much needed get away for my Domestic Goddess friends. We were celebrating a couple of birthdays, and wanted to meet half way between Cottonwood and the Cities. Hutchinson it was.  We ate lunch at Zellas Restaurant (zellas.net), and a few hours later ordered dessert. I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise that when four women get together for lunch, talking happens.

I had a most excellent mix up meal of half a grilled cheese sandwich (Provolone and cheddar cheese with a sun-dried tomato aioli on whole-grain bread), and a cup of Tomato Basil soup that was topped with a couple of shaved Parmesan cheese swirls and a drizzle of what appeared to be a nice balsamic vinegar. Very delicious!  For dessert, I had a slice of carrot cake.  Very moist, and not too sweet.  I should have taken pictures, I know!  All of these are comfort foods in my book, and totally hit the spot.

Fall weather makes me want to bake, and cook up new things as well. This year, my pumpkin kick is a little stronger. I love Starbucks’ Pumpkin Scones, but they are not exactly the best thing to eat regularly. I have also been craving chili, but Jonathan typically isn’t a big fan of it, but I think it is mostly due to his body’s intolerance of any peppers.  I found a recipe on SparkPeople.com called Unique Healthy Chili that tasted good even though I left out the green pepper.  The icing on the chili cake? It contains pumpkin puree! I tried it out on the family and Nick (our part-time hired help) yesterday, and they loved it!  It had great chili flavor, without being too spicy.  You could kick it up a notch if you like your chili to have an alarm status, but for us it was good as written.  Well, sort of.  Grandma Bredlow’s recipe altering habit is alive and well in this granddaughter!

This recipe is how I made it. The original called for 1 cup of bell pepper, ground turkey, chili beans, and water. With those ingredients, it is 212 calories per serving.

Unique Healthy Chili

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 pound ground pork

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 can pumpkin puree

1 ½ Tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon pepper

1 Tablespoon granulated beef bouillon

Salt to taste

1 can black beans (rinsed and drained)

1 cup vegetable stock (can use more if you like your chili more soupy)

Heat oil in large skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat, and sauté the onion and garlic until tender.

Stir in the pork, and cook until evenly brown.

Mix in tomatoes, pumpkin and black beans.

Stir in beef bouillon and vegetable stock.

Season with chili powder, cumin, pepper, and salt.

Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes or put in slow cooker.

Serve with shredded cheddar cheese over top if desired.

Serves 6

We All Bring Something to the Table…

I have been reading a lot of agriculture themed blogs and opinion articles this weekend in between trips to Sioux Falls. Some have been quite disturbing in their polarizing views of agriculture as a whole. Basically, their way of farming or their choice of food to purchase is the only “right” way. Really?

I understand the desire to support our methods. After all, shouldn’t we all be proud of what we produce? But why the need to put down or demonize someone else’s methods?

Yes, we are organic farmers. We grow corn, soybeans, barley, wheat, oats, and field peas. The corn gets used for many things, and a good majority of the rest is raised for seed. What doesn’t get used as seed is made into livestock feed.  This method of farming works well for us, and we love what we do.

That said, we have many friends and family that raise their crops in a “conventional” or “modern” way. That works for them, and they are just as proud of what they grow as we are.  They, too, love what they do. We do not put them down because of their farming methods, and they do not put us down.

Why is it, then, that many who consider themselves mouthpieces for agriculture cannot have the same tolerances? Why must they always pit one group against another? It is troubling to me, really.

We are blessed to live at a time, and in a country, where we have many excellent choices when it comes to food. If someone chooses to buy produce from a farmer’s market, they can. If they prefer to buy their produce from the grocery store, they can. Organic, non-organic, natural, grass-fed, free-range, barn raised, corn fed, whatever you prefer. It is available for you to choose.

I look at it this way. My two sisters and I grew up learning how to cook from our mom and the same Home Economics instructors. We were taught how to make the same things, using the same methods. As we all have established our own homes, we all specialize in different courses.  My oldest sister is an excellent bread baker. We request that she brings bread items along whenever we have a family gathering. Middle sister is very creative, and finds the best salad and vegetable recipes. She is pretty fearless when it comes to trying different food pairings. We always request side dishes from her. Mom is the expert pie baker. I don’t think I have ever seen her measure the ingredients for her pie crust – and it turns out perfect every time. Her lemon meringue pie is awesome! I like to bake cookies and make lefse, especially for Christmas. I have my favorites, and take requests from family members before we all get together for the Holidays.  All of us like to prepare the main meat course, whether it is a Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey, or shredded pork barbecues for summer gatherings.  When you put all of our talents together, we have a complete meal.

To me, agriculture is the same way. We each have a way of farming that suits us. When we put all of the things we raise together, we have a complete agriculture “meal”.

I think it is time we stop drawing lines, and celebrate the differences we all bring to the table.

Almost time to stock up ingredients for my most requested cookie: