Meet the Cast Monday #15: ND Friend

I am SO excited to introduce you guys to my amazing friend, who I refer to as ND Friend on this blog. We have an interesting story.....we went to school in small towns about an hour and a half away, but got to know each other through FFA. Then we graduated high school and sort of lost touch...only facebooking occasionally on a birthday or something.

And then, I think God must have decided that if we weren't going to reconnect, He would take matters into His own hands. Because He knows me, he used college football. Remember my amazing trip to the Notre Dame football game? Well, that was our excuse to reconnect and we've been constant friends from then on! ND Friend is seriously one of the sweetest, kindest, most amazing people that I have ever met in my life. I am so beyond grateful to be able to call her my friend. With that.....

MEET ND FRIEND

What was the best part of going to school at Notre Dame? For me, the best part about going to school at Notre Dame was the way in which faith life tied in so closely with academic life, social life, and everything in between. From prayer breaks at the Grotto during study days (students milling about at 2 am and the Grotto literally ablaze with burning candles representing 1000’s of dear-Lord-let-me-pass-this-test’s), {I told you that was an amazing place previously!} to 10 pm Sunday night Mass in the dorm chapel with 150 of your closest friends (all in their pj’s), to the “Jump-Mom!-I’ll-Catch-You” statue of Jesus at the base of the Main Building, the faith component of campus life was palpable and contagious (in a good way). I’ll never forget walking into the Basilica for the very last station of the Campus-wide Stations of the Cross on Good Friday as the choir sang “Were You There When they Crucified My Lord?” acappella from the choir loft—For me, the beauty of the faith became real and powerfully present to me on that campus. And, even during the most homesick, stressed-out, overwhelmed moments, or during times of celebration, there was always a chapel and a peaceful place to find calm and have a little conversation with the only One necessary.

Oh, and there is that little element that Tiffany and I like to call “Notre Dame Football…” {Why yes.....yes we do. In case you missed it, you can read all about that little element here!} Tell us about your favorite restaurant in Chicago? Oooo. Tough question, Barbara Walters. Why are you doing this to me? I think this is called the ringer. Okay. I guess I will have to go with the Bongo Room, the famed location wherein pretzel pancakes were imagined, created, and used to test the worth and spontaneity of potential boyfriends. {Stick with her....if you missed that blog, you'll understand in a minute.}

The Bongo Room, even upon first mention, seems like a she-she/frou-frou place—I get it. I know downhome country boys aren’t so wild about she-she and sure as heck hate frou-frou, and Bongos don’t do anything for a man in a Carhart or camo jacket. But, here is a litmus test for all of you tough boys: My father, a direct descendant of John Wayne, practically adores (if his vocabulary included that word, I’m sure he’d use it) the Bongo Room. Test finished, results not in your favor. Anyway, the Bongo Room is filled with such heavenly concoctions as Red Velvet pancakes, Crab Eggs Benedict, Cinnamon Brioche French toast, Bananas Foster flapjacks, and other menu items shipped in direct from the land of milk and honey. It’s in the South Loop of Chicago’s downtown, and it’s worth every block you have to walk to get there (right, girls?). {She's not lying, we treked halfway across the city and I've told you before, it was worth every last step! I had pumpkin pancakes with cream cheese frosting....to. die. for.}

Speaking of that, you made Pancake Boy famous on the blog .....did I leave anything good out of the story? {If you missed it, trust me.....well worth you time to click here!} I’ll tell you what you left out: Pancake Boy’s valiant effort to redeem himself—a bit of the story that has happened since the time of that fateful, epic-fail-of-a-weekend. My honest assessment of Chicago weekend with Pancake boy was “No way no how what on earth was I thinking,” and I think that was pretty clear by my not-so-generous description that was immortalized on “Figuring out the Plot.”

However, a couple of weeks after the crash and burn, Pancake Boy called me, sweetly wanting to chat, having “missed talking to me,” in a really apologetic, regretful tone. (Aside: I am embarrassed to admit that these types of “aw shucks” comments, no matter how small and seemingly insignificant, severely impair my judgment.) Of course, the topic of Chicago came up, to which he claimed in his best SE Texas accent (which I do love), “(My name in a slow, twangy, two-sylable drawl), it wasn’t YOOO. It was Chicago! I couldn’t handle that city. Me coming to Chicago and trying to have fun was like a claustrophobic person trying to have fun in a closet.” Hmmmm. Interesting. And, blah blah blah, rest of the story, we still talk.

So where does that leave Pancake Boy and I? Still at an impasse? I am not sure, but what I do know is this: for better or for worse, there’s no way I am living a pretzel-pancakeless life. We’ll see how the rest plays out. {I told you she was awesome, no? Seriously I just love this girl to death!}

Tell us about Word on Fire and the Catholicism Project! Well, I am glad you asked! I would love to, as it is about my favorite things. Long story short, Father Robert Barron is the brains behind the operation—he is a priest from the Archdiocese of Chicago whose class I took when he was on sabbatical at Notre Dame for one semester (sophomore year). This particular class was unlike any class I had ever taken, and as a result, I went on to major in theology. I kept up with Father Barron after that, following the release of his subsequent books, DVDs, CDs, his podcasted sermons, etc.

In 2009, I moved up here to work with Fr. B and the Word on Fire team, whose “mission” (so to speak) is answering the call of Pope John Paul II to evangelize through the new media. Father Barron gives the Catholic voice in response to current events, cultural phenomena, and the like through this website portal, on You Tube, and now, through the 10 part DVD series that will come out this fall called "CATHOLOCISM." I will let this two minute trailer speak for itself. For as much as I often wish I was home on the ranch, I love this job every single day. {Be sure to check out the Word On Fire Blog.....you can even catch some blogs by ND Friend herself as well!}

What is the best vacation that you've ever taken? Best vacation I have ever taken. Hmmm. This is a separate question from the best roadtrip I have ever taken, right? And it is different than my favorite place I have ever been? Okay, when you look at the whole package, the best vacation I have ever taken was… oh, who am I kidding. I have noooo idea. I have loved them all. Even the ones that just went to the northeast corner of NM from Fort Worth, South Bend, or Chicago.

What is your favorite part about being an aunt (to the most adorable baby ever!)? Oh my gosh, I could go on and on. Let it be known that you made the claim, “most adorable baby ever,” but since you did, I am allowed to wholeheartedly agree, right? My favorite thing so far is that little smirky smile he gets on his face when he’s feeling cheerful (which is quite often, that little Charlie Brown) and I walk into the room. “Does he do this with everyone?” you ask? That is beside the point. The point is, when he smirks and rings those little rubber band wrists because he is so excited to see me, I melt all over the place.

And, I try to find ways to sneak him little bits of sweets to shamelessly keep this little behavioral trend going strong. Don’t tell my sister. I also just adore seeing his personality develop. That must be amazing as a parent to see your child start to become this individual human with unique responses, character traits, talents, quirks, expressions, etc! I know it is pretty cool to see as an aunt. What is one (or more) item(s) on your bucket list? One time, a friend of mine asked me this question, and I immediately responded with “eat cookies everyday and never gain a pound.” {We are so meant to be friends.} Yep, I did. I was promptly reprimanded and reminded that a bucket list is not a magic lamp wish.

So, I am grateful to have a second stab at this question. Minor misunderstanding, really. My bucket list has “live in Savannah, Georgia” on it. Probably this item is a bit silly and superficial, but I am in love with the South, and particularly Georgia. I love the hospitality, the slow-talking, the sweet tea, the peaches, SEC football, the plantations, and the proximity to Paula Dean. One more item that I just recently added is to do this pilgrimage that I heard about through the filming of CATHOLICISM on this island in Ireland called Lough Derg. It is a three day penetential prayer retreat, and as difficult as it is, it really sounds amazing. I don’t know if I could do it, but I am going to keep it on the list for a while.

{As y'all know, that is usually my final question, but I had to add one more for ND Friend.....}

What will you be doing on April 18, 2011? Only one thing I know for sure: eating an ENORMOUS hamburger. With really fried fries. Heck, maybe even a 44 ounce drink with diabetes-inducing amounts of sugar. {You want to know what she left out? I'll tell you what she left out....that she is currently, as we speak, running the BOSTON freaking MARATHON!! That's right, my friend is a rock star. To read about her qualifying run at the Chicago marathon, click here...be sure to read about her shirt!}

Photos of the Week: Week 15

Another week with lots of photos to share! One difference....the camera I am using! Cousin Swiss Mister had a great camera that I borrowed the whole time I was visiting him in Europe. After I left, he broke the LCD screen on the camera, and just bought himself a new one. I asked him about the old one, and he said that if I wanted to get it fixed, I could use it. Well I did just that and I can already tell you that was the best money I've ever spent! The other breakthrough was I learned to create collages....which means even more pictures to share!

Theme: Spring Fever

As I mentioned yesterday, I decided that I was in need of a little outdoor therapy this weekend. Nothing like blue skies, warm sunshine and fresh air to help get your geared up for another week! I was super excited when I caught these photos (and when I didn't get stung in the process!)

Theme: Red and Pink

I saw this theme and could only think of the cupcakes that Blonde Oklahoma Girl made for our Valentine's Day dinner party! Since I already shared those on here, I decided to try something else. I finally gave up on finding pink and red together, and went with a little collage action.

Theme: Work

This was a hard one for me, but I was testing out my new camera and actually really liked these photos. This is an article I am finalizing that will be published in the ABA Natural Resources & Environment Journal this summer.

Theme: Heat

I had lots of ideas for this shot....I tried some burning candles, took some sunset shots at the river....but in the end I liked this little southwestern twist on the idea of heat in the form of chile ristras!

Theme: Brothers

This weeks' Pioneer Woman theme was Brothers. Since I started this project, I only have a couple pictures of my own brother, but I really do love this shot. Once again, the photos entered were phenominal. Go check out the finalists!

Theme: Sports

As you can tell, I went into the archive for this one. I snapped this shot at homecoming a couple of years ago and it's one of my all time favorites. Looking at this baby just makes me want to fast forward until football season! Go Pokes! (I'm linking this up to HAPPY MONDAY....check out the other entries!)

Theme: Philippians 3:20

I thought for a while about how to depict this verse of the week, and then settled on an empty bench. I have always loved old benches, and think they are perfect symbol of waiting. Such a beautiful verse!

Project 64: Week 15 - Magenta

This weeks color is a good one---Magenta.

Everytime I hear the word magenta, I think of College Roomie and her obsession with Golden Girls. She made me watch Golden Girls and I made her watch football, and through this (you know and everything else we did for 3 years living together) a best friendship was formed.

There is one episode where Blanche is feeling just "blah." She deemed that feeling "magenta" and explained that she didn't like that feeling and she didn't like the color magenta. Makes sense to me.

Anyway, the irony of this is that I've been feeling a little magenta this week. So today I went out to get some sunshine, fresh air, and to take some pictures. I ended up at a local farm/hotel/store that I had never been to, but automatically fell in love with. It was the perfect little getaway that I needed. Of course, I found my shot for the week.

Here is my version of magenta.

As always, be sure to check out the other entries over at Project 64!

AND...as a special treat....I am linking up to another awesome blog called Yellow Songbird. Go over and check out all of the other Saturday Snapshots!

Family Farm Friday #49: He's Here!

“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” ~Maria Robinson

It's been a crazy insane week over here---work has been nuts, I'm still not unpacked/rested up from the sheep sale/fire weekend, and I've had lots of friends in town (including Blue Eyes and his wife and Little Cowboys' mom) for dinner! All that to say, sorry this blog is pretty short and not super deep. I'll do better next week.

Remember a couple of weeks ago when you met some of the AI calves? And remember the "missing calf" that was mentioned?

Well....he's here! That's right. My cow, Bonus, decided to stop being a tease and finally have the calf that we swore was coming every day for the last two weeks. Here he is:

Cute right? He looks a little leggy (not a good thing) but I'm hoping that he'll grow into them!

Now, as I explained, Bonus was artifically inceminated last summer (if you missed the awesome post on this be sure to read it!), but she didn't breed by that method. Instead, this calf's daddy is a bull we own that is called Redman.

How do I know that you might ask? Well, I'm happy to tell you. :) We keep track of when we AI a cow and then just simply do the math to figure out when the calf should be born if she bred the day she was AI'ed. Had Bonus bred, she would have had a calf about the 21st or so of March. Since she didn't have her calf until April 12, that means he's out of Redman (the bull who was put in with the AI cows for this very purpose!)

You guys might be wondering what I'll be naming this little fella. Well, that will be up to a certain young man in Bolivia to decide! I'll keep you informed!

Stack the Deck

“One would give generous alms if one had the eyes to see the beauty of a cupped receiving hand.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Okay....I'm asking for a favor. I don't think I've done this on the blog before, but there's a first time for everything, right?

I mentioned a while back that I am pen pals with the most adorable little 6 year old boy, Yamil, who lives at an orphanage in Bolivia.

I've been trying to get a plan to send a package to the kiddos there and finally came up with a fun idea!

I'm trying to collect decks of playing cards for a bunch of different US states. So you know when you're in a gas station and you see the deck of cards that have the state flag or a picture of a hot air balloon or whatever? Well I thought it would be fun to send each of the kids (there are 18 of them) their own deck of cards from a state. Along with that, I'm planning to send a map of the US (and Canada for my Canadian followers!) so that the kids can find on the map where their cards came from.

So....this is where the favor comes in.....I know I have followers and readers from all over the country and even in some other countries! If you'd like to help out, either leave a comment below with your email address or email me at tiffy83@hotmail.com and I will get you my address so you can mail your cards. My goal is to have all of the cards collected and get the package sent out by May 1.

Yamil is quite the artist and he drew the above picture of me in his last letter---I can't wait to see what he'll draw us when the package arrives! (Sidenote: the orphanage is always looking for more pen pals for the kids....let me know if you are interested!)

You Better Get To Playin'

"Some people drift through their entire life. They do it one day at a time, one week at a time, one month at a time. It happens so gradually they are unaware of how their lives are slipping away until it's too late." ~Mary Kay Ash

Last weekend I spent some time with the 4 year old who I've deemed Little Cowboy. He told me his mom liked it when he learned things (but did clarify sometimes his mom didn't like things that he learned from my Little Brother....shock of shocks). Well, this weekend Little Cowboy and I learned something together.

We were working over at the barn and he could tell that we were getting close to wrapping things up. He ran over and asked if we were leaving, and I told him not quite yet. He said, "Well I still want to play, so can we stay longer?" and proceeded to negotiate and analyze the amount of play time he would get. Later, the same thing happened at my parents' house. We got in from the barn and his mom told him he had 5 minutes until it was time to take a bath. This sent him back into negotiation mode (I expect him to be either an attorney or a hostage negotiator when he grows up) about how that was just not long enough for he and I to play farm. She looked at him and said, "You're wasting time, you better get to playin'."

I thought about that comment and realized, that's completely applicable to life. I waste too much time doing other things when I really should get to playin'. How many times are we guilty of not living in the moment--of trying to negotiate more time, or planning more things or worrying about what we have to do next--instead of just getting to playin'? When we do this, we end up missing the fun in life, and instead spend all of our play time trying to get more of it, or to get better things to do it with, or whatever it is.

Instead, if we get to playin' and live in the moment, and really take in the time that we do have, we'll be so much better off. We won't miss moments, and we won't miss opportunities, and we won't miss our lives. Because I'm learning that if a person isn't conscious of this, missing life can be pretty easy to do.

Hopefully Little Cowboy can learn this lesson while he's four, and not take until he's in his mid (okay, LATE) 20's to figure it out. He strikes me as being ahead of the curve.

Happiness Project Month #8: Nutrition

Well it's time for another Happiness Project report. This month, my focus was on nutirition. My goals? Here we go: (1) No sweets; (2) Drink at least 40 oz of water a day; (3) Eat at least 2 fruits/veggies per day; (4) Keep a food journal; (5) Find some healthy snacks. The results were mixed. Y'all, this is not an overly exciting topic, so I'm going to spare you the boring details. Basically I can tell you this....no sweets (which coincidentally happened to be during the same time as giving up sweets for Lent....) has really not been that hard, except I've been craving this amazing dark chocolate cherry bread from an Irish bakery in San Francisco that I discovered while out there for Bay to Breakers 2010. Fortunately, that has really not been an option. I realize that 2 fruits/veggies a day seems pretty minimal....baby steps. The food journal was super useful to get an idea of what I eat and how many calories I consume, but about 3 weeks was enough. As for water....I don't drink coffee or tea or cokes, so it's pretty much water for me. Plus, ever since I was a kid, my mom though that any problem could be solved by doing three things: Driving slower, eating more veggies, and drinking more water. I'm talking broken hearts, broken noses, bad grades, bad moods.....you name it, those were the cure. Since I always listen to my mother (wink wink, nod nod) I drink quite a bit of water every day. The one area I will go into detail on is healthy snacks. This might be useful for some of you if you're hunting some snacks and I would love to hear any suggestions that you might have!

Fruit strips--really tasty, and sort of sweet, which works well to help me combat my little sweet tooth after a meal. They have all different flavors, but I prefer strawberry.

Grapes--I love love love grapes. I figured out that if I buy a bag and then bag them into smaller ziplocks, I have just the right amound to take for a snack at work.

Cheese and Breadsticks--These remind me of my childhood, so my like of them probably has more to do with sentimental reasons than them tasting good, but you can get like 5 packs for $1.50 and they each have only 100 calories.

100 Calorie Cheese Packs--I LOVE these babies! I bought the kind with cheddar and monterrey jack cheese. It's the perfect little bit of cheese.

Apple/Granola/Yogurt pack--I couldn't tell you because I didn't eat this fast enough and it expired. After a bad experience a while back with expired yogurt, I didn't take any chances. Shame on me.

Ones--I love these little individually wrapped prunes. They have a pretty sweet taste, so when I crave something sweet, I can pop one of these and they do a pretty good job of stopping the craving! Fruit Crisps--THese are a new prodeuct and I really like them! Sort of like fig newtons I guess, but with a thinner, crispy crust and a smaller amount of filling. I'm not doing a good job of explaining, but I'm addicted and you should seriously try them.

Honey Roasted Peanuts--I saved the best for last. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the honey roasted peanuts on Southwest, as you have read about before. Well, I learned that you can buy a whole flavor sealed jar of them and eat them all the time, not just on airplanes! Score!

Another month down.....just 4 to go with this Happiness Project journey! Stay tuned! :)

Meet the Cast Monday #14: Cousin Kevin

I know you are all excited about this week's cast member. Cousin Kevin is a pretty cool guy who you have read about several times previously. He was instructed to answer these questions without using the word "stripper" which might be his favorite word, since this is a PG rated blog. By some miracle, he complied with that instruction.

Anyway, Cousin Kevin owns a fudge company and a few cows and lives on a little place outside of Houston. Dont' tell him this, but he'd be right up there at the top of my list of "heroes" if I wrote them down. When he's not making fudge he's probably chasing one of his kiddos around at their athletic events, or giving me life advice. If you're ever in Houston, give him a call and he'll give you some too!

Meet....Cousin Kevin!

How did you owning a fudge company come about? My partner and I started and built a successful business in the oil/gas industry. We had the opportunity to sell the business in March 2009 – it was a good opportunity and I was ready to do something different, so we sold it. While we were at the closing table, the broker we were working with told us about a little fudge company that had come up for sale. My partner and I looked at each other – we agreed, “That’s weird – let’s do it.” So we bought it – and we’re having a lot of fun trying to figure out how to grow it. You've built two businesses from the ground up...what's your best piece of business advice? Don’t waste your time doing something that doesn’t excite you. If it excites you, and you enjoy it, you’ll do well. {Remember this same question to Miss Canada? I think they are onto something here!}

If you could go back and re-live one day again, what day would it be? Tough question. I thought hard about how to answer this. There’s things that seem obvious – birth of my kids {I'm sure he meant to include by birth of his favorite cousin in there too...}, times spent with parents and grandparents and family, competitions won, etc. But the truth is, I don’t think there is one. Not to go Dr. Phil on you {he has been called that on this blog before}, but I guess I believe today is cooler than yesterday – tomorrow is even more exciting. Why do it again? That would be boring.

What's been the best part about having kids? I’ve got four. That means I got a total of 5 childhoods (counting my own also, Tiff – in case you’re struggling with the math). {Really cute, Kev.} I think this is what keeps me so immature.

Give us one piece of relationship advice. Don’t waste your time doing something that doesn’t excite you. If it excites you, and you enjoy it, you’ll do well.

What was the best vacation you've ever taken? I’ve never taken what I think of as a traditional vacation (pack everybody up and go somewhere for a week or two). I’ve taken several little 2-3 day trips here and there. Probably my favorite one of those was a trip to Grand Cayman – it was my first (and only) time to go scuba diving – I swam with stingrays and fed them out of my hand. That was cool!

What/where is your favorite bar? In case my mother reads this, I don’t like bars and I don’t go to them. But if I did, I would probably like a bar with live music, really cold beer, good friends who have good jokes and funny stories, and a good dance partner. But I don’t like bars and I don’t go to them. {I was going to bust him on this, but I used the "my mom reads this blog" excuse last week, so I can't say much!}

What is one (or more) item(s) on your bucket list? I want to learn to play the guitar – just have to get past the “no musical ability” issue. I want to go to Moscow. {I have been trying for a while now to get him to apply with me for The Amazing Race.....they go to Russia sometimes, Kev!}

Photos of the Week: Week 14

Sorry I am late getting this up....it has been a CRAZY weekend! You know that the sheep sale went on, but trust me, that wasn't close to the craziest thing that went on as you'll read about below. Anyway, we have quite a variety of pictures, hopefully you enjoy! I'd love to hear your comments on which one is your favorite!

Theme: April Showers

Sadly y'all, this picture is going to fill you in on some of the drama. We haven't had ANY April Showers....so things are scary dry back home. This picture shows you how dangerous the situation is. A huge grass fire started on Saturday afternoon. My family and our neighbors spent hours on fire trucks, lost a lot of pasture land, and will be spending a lot of time re-building fences, but we were so lucky to come out with no structure damage and no injuries to people or animals. Please say a prayer for rain soon! Also, I am linking this up with Happy Monday, so be sure to go over and check out all the other entires at Allie Photography!

Theme: Wedding

Because there was no time to squeeze in a wedding this weekend, I hit up the archives and found this picture from the Trevi Fountain that I took during my post-bar vacation. I love this picture, because these two are surrounded by hundreds of tourists, but they acted like they were the only people in the place.

Theme: Excitement

My friend Little Cowboy was at my house this weekend and after all of the fire drama, he was pretty excited when I let him use the hose on the fire truck and try on this helmet. What a face!

Theme: In Motion

I took this picture a little while back while out driving on Sunday. It is actually someone's entryway sign for their horse farm, but I love how it looks like they are running against the sky (mind you this was right after I watched Secertariat for the first time....I had race horses on the brain!)

Theme: Don't Ever Change

I got this shot while I was home a couple weeks back. It's off an old farm implement that sits in one of our pastures. I love that our land has been involved in agriculture for so long, and I sure hope it never changes!

Theme: Romans 8:28

I originally had another photo planned for this weeks' verse, but after the fire situation, I knew I would be making a little change. The situation could have been so much worse. There were a lot of people thanking God for his protection on Saturday! Check out other people's takes on this verse here!

Project 64: Week 14 - Burnt Sienna

Apparently every time I see a color from the brown family, I immediately think of a horse. Remember "Chestnut" and my dispair over not finding a horse? This week's color is Burnt Sienna, so my first thought was of a bay horse.

That thought led to this week's photo. Without further adieu, I give you my version of Burnt Sienna.

I snapped this shot of a little cowboy on Little Brother's horse, Lou. I think that Lou is the perfect shade. This farm girl is glad that I was able to redeem myself and get a horse picture for at least one of the color assignments!

Be sure to go over and check out all of the other photographers and their takes on this week's color!