An Anniversary, Vacation, and Bristol

Bristol Motor Speedway

What does an anniversary, vacation, and Bristol have in common? They were all part of our adventure this past weekend.

Jonathan and I enjoy traveling to different NASCAR tracks to watch the car races. If possible, we like to see both the “B Squad” Xfinity race, and the “A Squad” Sprint Cup race. Knowing that is one of our hobbies, Jonathan’s sisters gave us tickets to Bristol Motor Speedway for his birthday this year. The tickets were purchased, hotel arrangements were made, and we were starting to anticipate the weekend way back in June!

The Night Races at Bristol also just happened to be on our anniversary weekend. Friday night’s race was awesome, with one of our favorite Xfinity drivers finishing second after being on the verge of going two laps down. On Saturday, we celebrated our 28th wedding anniversary at the track. We had a great day, even though the race was delayed 5 hours before they rescheduled it for Sunday afternoon. We left the track around 1:30am, and arrived at our hotel close to 3:00am. After just a few hours of sleep, we were off to the races again. Pun intended!

Now, most people, when they plan a vacation, also plan a little down time to relax and recharge. Somehow, Jonathan and I keep forgetting to schedule that part in. The only real downtime we had was in the Durango, and at Anna and Doug’s place. Even then, we weren’t really sitting and relaxing. We did get some great visiting time in, and had fun seeing Anna’s very pregnant belly. We are really looking forward to the arrival of our first grandbaby!

The time passed quickly, however, and we were on a deadline. I needed to be at a meeting 30 minutes from home on Tuesday evening. It takes about 16 1/2 hours to drive home, and with the race taking place on Sunday, that didn’t leave us much time to visit. We had a late night and early morning, but we made it home in time for me to change clothes and head off to my meeting.

In six days we traveled close to 2800 miles, drove through 8 states, saw 2 NASCAR races, and met great people all over. We are exhausted, but very happy to have celebrated our anniversary with a vacation trip to Bristol.

Celebrating 5 Years of Carolyn CAREs

Celebrating 5 Years

Celebrating 5 years of Carolyn CAREs

2015 marked my 5th year of blogging. What better way to celebrate this milestone than to highlight my top 5 posts!

5. Top 10 Things I Love About Farm Life

This was a fun post with my top 10 things I love about life on the farm. Even though this post was written a few years ago, the list remains pretty much the same…especially number one!

4. Don’t Be a Pringle

The expression “Don’t Be a Pringle” means we are all unique, and shouldn’t try to be like everyone else. Agriculture is so diverse, we can’t really be like everyone else, even if we try. It doesn’t matter if what you grow is different than what I grow, or if our methods are different. We are all feeding our communities…after all, if someone is eating, chances are pretty strong that someone had to grow the ingredients that went into that meal.

3. 90 Days 9 Lessons

This post is a little more recent. Last May, I was told ever so gently by my doctor that I needed to make a few changes. I was pre-diabetic, and needed to work on losing weight, getting my blood glucose levels under control, and dropping my triglyceride levels. Since that post was written, I’ve lost a few more pounds, but have a ways to go yet before I hit my goals. I really need to go back and focus on number 5 and find my number 6’s!

2. Baby It’s Cold Outside

I love living in Minnesota, and I love Minnesota winters…most of the time. A few years ago we had multiple polar vortexes that dropped our temperatures to well below zero for days at a time. We raise our crops organically, but have made the decision to raise our pigs in barns because we think they are happier and healthier when kept out of the extreme weather situations like the polar vortexes.

1. United We Stand…Resisting the Attempts to Divide Agriculture

If I had to write this post over again, I probably wouldn’t change it much at all. This post was the first one that was read by more than my mom, I think. It was written about a year after I started blogging, but still says a lot of what I want to say today.
“I will never make anyone feel bad for the food choices they make. We all have different taste in clothes, shoes, cars, TV’s, computers, orange juice, cereal, etc. We don’t tear each other apart for those differences, why do so many feel it is okay to condemn food choices? I see no need to have an us vs them attitude in agriculture. What benefit is that to anyone? I would encourage everyone to have a mixed, balanced diet filled with color…and the occasional deep fried Milky Way on a stick.”

 

Thank you for celebrating with me, and for riding along on this journey for the last 5 years. Here’s to many more!

 

**Shout out to Sweet Cheeks Honey and Sartori Cheese for the delicious products in the photo above.

Wordless Wednesday – 26 Years!

Happy Anniversary

You have to walk carefully in the beginning of love; the running across fields into your lover’s arms can only come later when you’re sure they won’t laugh if you trip. ~Jonathan Carroll, “Outside the Dog Museum”

Thanks for not laughing at me every time I trip!     Happy Anniversary, Jonathan! I love you!

25 Years Later, Still in Love!

Today Jonathan and I are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary. I am so thankful that God brought us together…and that Jonathan was wanting to be a pig farmer and not a dairy farmer. I am so not a morning person.

August 20, 1988
August 20, 1988
December 24, 2012
December 24, 2012

Our hair may have turned a bit gray – or thinned some. We’re both a bit fluffier – me more than him. We move a little slower after a day of filling the planter. But I think it’s safe to say, we’re still in love after 25 years. I love you, Jonathan!

If you want to read more about how this city girl became a farm wife, read my very first ever blog post, Why I Care.