La Ranchita

Scrapbooking Christmas Cards

2012-01-12T05:16:00.002-07:00

Happy New Year!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas with your family; hubby and I enjoyed our first Christmas as a married couple. We even have decorations packed away at this point:) I enjoyed my time off from school as a teacher and was able to relax and take care of some projects that I hadn't had time for during the first semester. I wanted to share the outcome of one of those projects below - after looking for a creative way to preserve the Christmas cards and pictures sent by friends and family I decided to scrapbook them.

After gathering all pictures that you want to include, crop pictures down to an appropriate size. I left some pictures bigger than others until I had a chance to work on the layout. If needed you can always go back and crop more off.

Finally, decide how you want to arrange pictures on the scrapbook paper of your choice. The layout below was for a few cards I had saved from 2006. You can mount pictures on other paper before gluing them down so they have a border, or you can glue them straight away to the background paper. Make sure to include the year - I also like to include some Christmas appropriate scripture.

If you have another crafty idea for preserving Christmas cards I would love to hear about it - please leave a comment! Also, I hope you enjoy seeing the familiar faces of mutual friends - so fun!

I pray 2012 got off to a peaceful start!

2011 Review

2011-12-26T18:56:00.007-07:00

Dear Friends and Family,

The first edition of the Wright Family Christmas card is coming to you electronically for a couple of reasons. One - Christmas snuck up on Katy very quickly. As a teacher she feels like Thanksgiving and Christmas happen two weekends in a row. Two - Katy wasn't up for the third massive mailing of 2011. (The first massive mailing was wedding invitations and the second was thank you cards after the wedding.) We hope you enjoy our first family Christmas greeting as we briefly recount the multitude of blessings God gave us this past year month-by-month.

January - Katy kicks off the second semester of her fourth year of teaching with a student teacher who did a great job and allowed Katy to work on some projects around the Ag department.

February - Kelly asks Katy's dad for her hand in marriage; we were engaged soon after on February 11! The madness of wedding planning ensued.

March - Katy's FFA Dairy Judging team named State Champs. We also headed to Florida for the wedding of Brian and Mindy Estevez - the trip was a nice time for Kelly to meet some of Katy's Florida "family."

April - A lamb from our August 2010 sale was selected as the Grand Champion Lamb at La Paz County Fair in western Arizona! Wedding plans continued although most big decisions had been made. Kelly continued working hard on handmade contributions for the wedding including wood centerpieces, wagons for gifts, the arch and unity candle. He was a busy man!!

May - We married on May 28 at the Groseta Ranch Headquarters in Cottonwood. We honeymooned in Winter Park, Colorado where we stayed in the cabin of our friend's, Jake and Rebecca Mutz. We both are so grateful to the many family and friends who made our wedding day a memorable event - from helping run errands, to baking homemade desserts for the dessert buffet or making decorations.

June - This was a big month for Kelly - he turned 40 and celebrated 15 years with the City of Chandler as a firefighter! Kelly enjoys his job and the challlenges he works to overcome with the "C shift" guys which includes firefighting, technical rescue and HAZMAT calls. Brandy also competed in the Arizona Junior Beef Ambassador Contest and placed first; to say the least we were both very proud!

July - Kelly started feeding spent brewer's grain to our sheep (the leftover grain after brewing beer) - he was able to work a deal with the brewer at the Tempe branch of Gordon Biersch Brewery. We are excited about this opportunity because it will help cut our feed costs down quite a bit since we can now feed less hay and we get the grain for free. Katy was also awarded the Outstanding Young Member award for the Arizona Agricultural Teacher's Association at their annual summer meeting in Tucson. Brandy also moved back to Florida this month to live with her mom; we both miss her but pray for her often and look forward to her next visit.

August - Katy started her fifth year as the Buckeye Ag Teacher and FFA advisor with a new teaching partner that has brought far less stress into her professional life. We also found out that Katy was pregnant; "morning" sickness ensued for the next 16 weeks. (It was more like all day sickness!) Kelly had his annual Wright Club Lamb Sale on the third weekend of this month and we sold over 30 lambs to 4-H and FFA members from across Arizona. Katy's sister, Anna, was our auctioneer and she did a great job!

September - We took 10 of our best ewes to west Texas to be bred. We are both hopeful about the prospect of what will come from this - we are already anticipating March 2012 when these ewes lamb out.

October - We finally used some of the gift money from our wedding to purchase unfinished hardwood floors for the three bedrooms in our house; this was going to be Kelly's project while Katy was out of town for a week. Katy traveled with 25 students to Indianapolis for the National FFA Convention where she also had two teams competing in National contests: Marketing Plan (21st out of 42 teams) and Dairy Judging (22nd out of 44 teams). The month ended well with one of the lambs we sold being selected as the Grand Champion Lamb at the Arizona State Fair!

November - We returned to the farm an hour south of Lubbock to retrieve our ewes - they were in good condition. Still looking forward to early lambing both for these 10 ewes and the other ewes we bred for early lambs to our youngest ram, Carrera. We also picked up our colt, Dib, in Amarillo on the return trip. Kelly did an awesome job finishing the hardwood floors in the guest bedroom and nursery. He worked his tail off to finish the proejct in the nick of time - we hosted Thanksgiving for both sides of our families! We had our first ultrasound the day before Thanksgiving and found out that we are having a boy!

December - Katy had the FFA State Champion Novice Prepared Speaker at the Midwinter contest early this month. Kelly also earned the "Best Husband of the Year" award for all his hard work in helping decorate the house for Christmas which included painting the living room and dining room as well as hanging lights inside and outside of the house! We celebrated Christmas in Cottonwood and are looking forward to the last few days of the year.

We pray 2011 was full of blessings for your family too! We praise God for bringing us together and giving us the gift of a healthy, growing baby thus far in Katy's pregnancy. We look forward to seeing what God has in store for the Wright's in 2012 - check back for updates!

Much love,
Kelly and Katy

Picture Highlights from Last Week

2011-12-22T06:53:00.007-07:00

School is officially out for Christmas Break and this teacher is super excited for a chance to clean house (exciting, I know), sleep in a little, and see family and friends. While I look forward to the coming festivities, I wanted to share a couple of highlights from the past week though.

Hubby and I traveled north last Friday and I got to spend Saturday morning baking with my beautiful Grandma. She is visiting from Montana and I was glad for the chance to finally hang out with her. I was dying to make gingerbread cookies so she acted as Executive Chef and supervised my work!

After my baking session was complete, hubby and I headed to Sedona for the wedding of a long time friend from my hometown. Sedona is beautiful at anytime of year but a little chilly for an outdoor wedding a week before Christmas. Some of you have been asking for a picture of the baby bump, this is as close as you'll get until the next time I post pictures.

My thoughtful sister gave me a certificate for a cake decorating class as a bridal shower gift last spring and we finally had the chance to redeem it! After I finished my last day of school on Tuesday we met for a quick dinner and then sat down for an hour and a half of instruction on using fondant. We both felt like we should have taken notes but after leaving we both feel more comfortable decorating a small cake with fondant. Check out my cute little winter themed cake below - I didn't have a plan when I started but the snowflakes turned out well and I love my little snowman!

Southwestern Turkey Soup

2011-11-30T19:17:00.003-07:00

Hubby and I hosted Thanksgiving this year - we had 12 people over and really enjoyed the day with both sides of our family. Some of the highlights from the day include seeing my grandmother, my sister-in-law's green bean casserole made from scratch and the cute comments from my nieces and nephews. Oh, and how can I forget the fact that hubby and I were moving furniture out of the living room and back into the guest bedroom and nursery one hour before everyone arrived. Kelly was in a MAD RUSH to install, sand and finish new hardwood floors in our bedrooms and he finished in the nick of time. I am very much thankful for my husband's handiness and hardwork and grateful for his willingness to help get everything ready for Thanksgiving including cleaning the house and helping prepare food.

My favorite moment though was when we revealed baby Wright's gender to our family - I really wanted it to be a surprise because we called everyone to share the news that I was pregnant back in August. When I got done with school Wednesday last week, Kelly and I went for my first ultrasound. I picked up an outfit at Wal-Mart that evening and wrapped it up. Once everyone had arrived on Thanksgiving day, my youngest nephew opened the gift to reveal an orange and blue (Go Gators!) outfit for a little BOY!! He won't be able to wear the outfit until the Gator's 2013 season when he is a year and a half, but at least we're prepared! It was so fun to see everyone's faces when we revealed the news - I will try to remember to post a picture when my dad's gives me a CD of pictures from the day.

In the spirit of abundant leftovers, I wanted to share a delightful recipe that I tried last night. It was published in Cooking Light and chicken was the original protein featured in this recipe. Hubby acquired a 4x4x4 cement vault and installed it in the ground as our new pit barbecue; we inaugurated it by cooking two turkeys, some lamb and pork for Thanksgiving. The turkey had a wonderfully smoky flavor infused from the mesquite wood which blended really well with the cumin and lime juice in the recipe. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and enjoy this recipe!

Southwestern Turkey Soup
1 cup chopped onion
3 garlic cloves minced (I love garlic so I always had a couple more for good measure!)
6 cups fat-free, less sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup uncooked white rice
1 (16-ounce) can Great Northern beans (aka canellini), rinsed and drained
3 cups chopped turkey
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped seeded tomato
3/4 cup diced peeled avocado (I just used 1 whole avocado.)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
6 lime wedges

1. Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray or olive oil. Add onion and garlic and saute three minutes. Add broth, rice, cumin and beans; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 15 minutes. Stir in chicken, cilantro pepper and salt; simmer five minutes or until turkey is thoroughly eated.

2. Remove from heat, and stir in tomato, avocado, and lime juice. Serve with lime wedges.

Miscellany Monday

2011-11-07T12:00:00.002-07:00

In an effort to blog more (twice in almost two weeks, what?) I am going to make my first Miscellany Monday post today. I don't know how to link to the Lowercase Letters blog other than creating a hyperlink like I just did. Can anyone help this technologically disabled, in a constant rush person??

1. My hubby and I drove to Lubbock, Texas this weekend on a whirlwind trip to pick up 10 of our ewes from another club lamb breeder. They had spent 42 days in with some rams and we are excited to see the babies they produce come March. I LOVED the time locked up with my hubby in a truck because we had lots of great time to visit however I don't recommend driving 13 hours straight and then turning around immediately and doing the same thing to get home.

2. We bought a colt! Wright Club Lambs officially now has a cattle and horse division although I don't know if 2 heifers and 1 colt qualifies as "divisions." I will post a picture of "Dib" our almost yearling Quarter horse soon.

3. I think a pack of hungry coyotes made off with one of my chickens this morning:( Not really sure though since I don't actually keep a head count on our poultry "division." I just hunt down eggs in all the odd places they lay them. I guess I'd rather lose a chicken than a sheep though.

Beef and Other News on the Homefront

2011-10-24T16:05:00.002-07:00

I love beef. Hopefully most of you know that by now. However, this delightful piece of protein is not something I desire to consume since becoming pregnant. Ahem, what did I say? Pregnant? Yes, you read that correctly, I am pregnant and due April 20! What a subtle way to sneak this HUGE news into a seemingly normal blog post. Hehe. Well, more on baby W and the havoc he/she is wreaking on my body later. Back to beef.

Did you know that the protein in beef helps you maintain a healthy metabolism? Even better news though is the growing body of evidence that the protein in beef may be helpful in preventing chronic diseases such as Type-2 diabetes and osteoporosis.

Back to baby now. I have known for about the past eight weeks about the delightful changes happening in my uterus and since the discovery I have been terribly sick with what I call "all day sickness" as opposed to morning sickness. I have been sick all day, almost everyday. Hope is dawning though, this past week has been semi-normal but I did stay home today. I am thankful for the end result and am praying for joy and endurance through the yucky days.

I hope all is well with you and yours! Eat some beef now:)

Three Strikes

2011-08-23T20:19:00.004-07:00

I want to preface this post by saying I love my husband. I think he's the best husband in the world. (I hope everything thinks the same thing about their husbands too!) This post is about him - his ability to fix things and his ability to make me laugh.

Two weekends ago we set out to repair a few items at our rental house. We refer to the rental house as our Chateau - it makes us feel hoity toity. It's actually the house that I first bought when I moved to Buckeye to teach four years ago. We feel fortunate to have found renters willing to pay what we wanted without negotiation. Renters who pay in cash. And renters who so far have taken good care of the house. Aside from these blessings, renting the Chateau has involved a few small headaches along the way. These headaches have been caused by us though - I could have been more ambitious about moving all my stuff this summer while I had time. However, I waited until we found renter's to make the final move which also coincided with my first week of school. With that said, a few things needed fixing and we didn't have time PRIOR to the renters moving in. Hence, the story of three strikes at the Chateau.

Strike one - the food disposal didn't work. Is that what it's even called? You know the thing that grinds nasty food scraps in your sink? I can never remember what to call it. Anyway it didn't work so Kelly set out to replace it. The broken disposal was on so tightly though that he ended up banging and twisting the thing to get it out. In the process though he sliced his finger pretty darn good. At one point I thought he cut his chin too because he had blood dripping off his chin after swiping his chin.

Strike two - there was a partially installed ceiling fan in a guest bedroom. When I say partially I mean that it was hanging by wires from the ceiling. Kelly eventually got this bad boy installed, and without slicing any body parts open. However, when he carried the broken ceiling fan outside to throw in the trash our renter's dogs bit him. They were Taco Bell dogs at that - Chihuahuas.

Strike three - as I mentioned before we made the final move in haste. We had to leave behind my washer and dryer although our renter's planned to use their own. We removed the dryer without a problem. Kelly turned off the valves on the washer and began unscrewing the lines from the back of the washer. Before we knew it the cold water line was spraying water all over the place - in Kelly's face, on the laundry room shelves, at the door, on the tile etc. Everywhere but where we wanted it. I eventually opened the door into the garage so Kelly could spray water outside until he managed to kink the line and stop the water.

We eventually got the water cleaned up and drove away - wet from the water incident, and a little beat up after making repairs. Okay, let's be honest, Kelly was a little beat up. While everything was happening I just kept quietly telling myself that someday we'd laugh about this. Thankfully we did afterwards. And this my friends, is why I love my hubby. I love his patience, handiness and sense of humor.

The Heisman Strong Arm

2011-08-09T19:05:00.003-07:00

We have been married two and a half months and have enjoyed each second immensely! I thought it was about time I tried to make an honest effort to get in touch with my blogging self and post my version of how I met my husband got to this point. And never fear, my husband will make an appearance as a guest blogger and post his side of the story too! I had planned on posting both of these before the wedding but I figured better late than never since lots of you have asked for our story...

I remember meeting Kelly for the very first time - I had heard lots about my husband in advance so I was expecting him to be very nice and have really pretty eyes. Everything I had heard about him was confirmed in the first moment we met - he was really nice and his eyes were amazing. The morning we met was at a workshop for my students at school; Kelly was presenting information on showing sheep! I thought about the possibility of dating Kelly for a millisecond but quickly shoved that thought aside as I began taking pictures of the workshop that morning.

Later that next week Kelly texted me and asked if I wanted to grab coffee or go to dinner sometime. I said yes without hesitating thinking "what do I have to lose?" We went to a La Placita, a local Mexican restaurant, where we continued to go about once a month for dinner for the next seven months. Kelly says that I gave himthe Heisman strong arm, that I just kept pushing him away. But seven months after we met I finally agreed to truly date Kelly and not just have dinner once a month. All during this proces of slowly getting to know him, his character, sense of humor and commitment to family and faith became very apparent. I was working through my own "issues" though - I had become very content being single and had never really been intent on marrying someone. I think my sub-conscious knew what a good catch Kelly truly was so I was struggling with the fact that this relationship had good long term potential.

That first week in October 2010 we grabbed coffee on a Friday evening and then Kelly had to work a 48-hour shift. He was letting the Ag department borrow his sheep again for yet another workshop. That evening while having coffee Kell told me several times to make sure that I checked out the sheep the next day. I thought he was crazy for telling me this because I was of course going to do that without being told! That next day brought a huge surprise - Kelly had shorn his first note to me in the wool of his eight sheep that we had borrowed. The message read "Katy's the best and prettiest 2!" I was shocked - and delighted.

The month of October went by quickly and I became very intrigued and very "into" Kelly - I couldn't get enough time with him. After what I consider our first real date (how can that be...eight months into things?) we sat in my driveway talking for several hours. I got out of the truck and the little voice in my head told me that I could marry him. I wrote him a note that evening telling him this very thing.

After working through some issues our relationship progressed rapidly althought I kep telling everyone that we were just talking things slowly. I don't know when we started talking marriage but by the time January rolled around we were talking about when Kelly would ask my dad for my hand in marriage. The three day Martin Luther King Jr. weekend came and went and Kelly missed his chance to ask my dad when we visited my family that weekend. He ended up driving up a week later to ask my dad for my hand in marriage and then we were engaged a few weeks later.

It was the night of the FFA Pie Auction and Potluck - after a rvery romantic dinner with 60 of my closest FFA members and their families, we headed home to enjoy a delightful apple pie and watch a movie. I was so set on watching this movie that it cracks me up that Kelly humored me all while having that ring in his pocket. I was exhausted after the movie but Kelly seemed like he wanted to talk so I listened. He was being very thoughtful and serious and I just had no clue why this was necessary at 11:30pm at night. Kelly seemed distracted so I looked up and he was texting - or so I thought. After asking him what he was doing he told me that he sent me a picture. I opened the text up on my phone and there was a picture with another shorn message - "Katy will you marry me?" I couldn't have been happier or more surprised in that moment because I did not expect the question then. I obviously said yes and two days later I gave Kelly the letter I wrote to him back in October after our first "real date."

Happy Earth Day

2011-04-21T10:57:00.002-07:00

I just wanted to send a little shout out to all the original stewards of the land - farmers and ranchers. Happy Earth Day....enjoy the picture of a beef promotion currently being used on electronic billboards in Phoenix. {Great job Lauren!}

BEEF. Good for the Plant; Good for you.

Engagement Photos

2011-03-31T16:03:00.003-07:00

We took engagement photos over spring break - we headed to the Raven Golf Club at Verrado (yes Verrado is in Buckeye!). Ryan Neville was our photographer and he will also be the photographer at our wedding. Here are some of my favorites!

Wanna win $25,000?

2011-03-21T12:53:00.002-07:00

I know I do!

The National Beef Cookoff is calling all home cooks and entertaining enthusiasts to submit their favorite beef recipes for a chance to win $25,000!

Four category winners will receive $3,000 in cash! The four categories are:

The 5:30pm Dinner Crunch - this category will focus on easy-to-prepare beef recipes for busy weeknight meals using ingredients commonly found at home.
Retro Recipes Revived - home cooks can improve and modify an American classic or old time family recipe to be more convenient, healthier, or both for today's busy family.
Fuel up with Beef - recipes in this category will feature convenient and healthy beef recipes using one of the 29 Lean Beef Cuts for people with busy lives.
Stir Crazy Solutions - create a unique stir-fry recipe using one of the 29 Lean Cuts of Beef along with fresh vegetables and grain ingredients.

Please share this info with friends and family who are great cooks! May the best cook win!

Peanut Butter Cup Cake

2011-03-11T08:41:00.003-07:00

If you love the symphonic union of peanut butter and chocolate, get ready for this bad boy. It is delightful!

Ingredients
1 devil's food cake mix (I go for the $1 boxes - since I'm not saving calories on this, I figure I should save some cash while I shop.)
3 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups chopped peanut butter cups (plus more for garnishing)
8 oz. dark chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup peanut butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat two 9-inch cake pans with non-stick cooking spray. Line with wax paper and coat paper.
In a large bowl, beat cake mix, eggs, buttermilk, and vegetable oil on low for 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium-high and beat for 2 minutes. Scrape down sides after 1 minutes. Fold in 2 cups of the chopped peanut butter cups.
Pour batter into pans and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Cool cakes completely.
Place chopped dark chocolate in a medium bowl. Bring cream to a boil and then pour over chocolate. Whisk until the chocolate melts. Add peanut butter and whisk until smooth.
Trim each cake layer so the tops are flat. Place one layer on a cooling rack and pour 1 cup frosting on top. Spread evenly with spatula. Add second layer and pour remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Smooth out with spatula.
Allow frosting to set for a minute and gently press remaining chopped peanut butter cup pieces all over top of cake. Place in refrigerator for about an hour to set. Remove and serve.

This recipe was pirated from the Bakerella blog.

Interactive Meat Case

2011-03-07T17:05:00.004-07:00

This information was taken from a Beef Checkoff publication.

Today's meat case is brimming with exciting new beef choices and traditional favorites. Have you ever wanted to learn more about the beef cuts you love or wanted to try a new beef cut but weren't sure how to prepare it?

A Web tool called the Interactive Meat Case is now available to help you learn about all the options you have when making delicious, nutritious beef selections. This online resource also includes:

Cut descriptions
Recipes
Cooking tips
Recommended cooking methods
Nutritional information

Find the Interactive Meat Case online at www.BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com/MeatCase.aspx

Monday's Beef Fact

2011-02-28T08:30:00.002-07:00

The Beef Checkoff Program (and yours truly) is proud to announce that the American Heart Association has listed three beef cuts as part of its Food Certification program. This program helps healthy consumers over age 2 identify foods that meet criteria for saturated fat and cholesterol when labeled with the association's heart check-mark.

The three beef cuts that meet the American Heart Association's criteria for extra lean, and are now certified to display the heart check-mark include:

*Boneless top sirloin petite roast (select grade)

*Top sirloin filet (select grade)

*Top sirloin kabob (select grade)

I said yes!

2011-02-21T15:14:00.005-07:00

These pictures really don't need a caption, but in case the title wasn't enough, I said "yes" on Friday, February 11! As a quick introduction to this, I met my future husband one year ago yesterday (February 20, 2010) when he put on a sheep workshop for my students at the high school Ag department where I teach. Neither of us were looking for someone at the time but here we are a year later preparing for marriage. We dated on and off for several months, with Kelly perservering while I tried to give him the "Heisman strong arm" as he calls it. Per my request we stopped talking, texting and all communication last summer and thankfully we began talking again in late August and started dating seriously in late September. Right after I had agreed to date Kelly in September he sheared his first message to me into sheep for another livestock clinic for my Ag program; it said "Katy's the best and prettiest too." I was completely embarassed because in addition to myself seeing this message, so did 30 other students and parents in attendance at this livestock clinic. Fast forward five months and we are now engaged! I am blessed in more ways than I can describe, and praise God everyday for the kind, humble, hard working man that He has given to me in Kelly. We will marry on Mary 28 and I look forward to sharing more with you about this wonderful man as we make decisions and prepare for our lifelong commitment to one another.

Monday's (okay, Tuesday's) Beef Fact

2011-02-08T08:11:00.003-07:00

Many people today like to claim that the amount of red meat in our diets should be reduced or cutout completely because of it's high fat content. Those critics should know that there are 29 cuts of beef that meet the government labeling guidelines for lean or extra lean. Did you read that....29!! That's a lot of opportunity to consume deliciously flavored red meat and still maintain a low-fat diet folks. For more information on what cuts of beef are labeled as lean or extra lean click here.

28 things I love

2011-02-01T08:30:00.002-07:00

In celebration of the month of February, known to many as the month of love, I thought I'd share some of the things that I love.

1) My family (sigh). I become more thankful for them the older I get.
2) Kelly. My boyfriend is wonderful, and I do love him. I love saying that.
3) I love that I love my career (high school agriculture teacher).
4) The agriculture industry
5) A good 'ol fashioned wooden pencil (it's the little things in life folks.)
6) The satisfaction I get after I clean my house really well.
7) I love to organize stuff be it my closet, sock drawer, kitchen utensil drawer or the storage room at school. Be jealous, I lead an exciting life, I know.
8) Patriotism...I love being American and am thankful for the freedoms we have been given.
9) Food...I love to eat it, think about it, read about it and discuss it.
10) The spicy cream cheese sauce on the Pollo Fundido at Su Casa in Clarkdale, Arizona.
11) Lunch with friends after church
12) Putting something onto cook after church on Sunday and letting it cook all afternoon. I love doing this!
13) Johnnie Reb, my dog.
14) My friends - I am so blessed by wonderful, encouraging friends from all stages of my life.
15) My chocolate and peanut butter chip cookies...mmm, mmm, mmm.
16) Turquoise (My sister loves this more than I do but still there is love in my heart for color and anything made out of it.)
17) Getting 8 hours of sleep (this is a rarity for me, I typically average 6 hours...boo!)
18) A good cup of coffee and something sweet immediately after I wake up in the morning.
19) My nieces and nephews...they make me laugh.
20) Cooking for others- cooking in general is a form of stress relief for me, but I really enjoy preparing food for others.
21) White kitchen "stuff" - plates, pitchers,platters, etc. I love to display food on white.
22) Red and yellow
23) Western home decor
24) The first few minutes in the morning when I wake up; it is dark, quiet and peaceful. I feel like I have the world to myself and I have peace about the mistakes of yesterday. This time of day is filled with encouragement and hope for me.
25) Sunrises and sunsets
26) The Bible
27) Cheese
28) Watching movies

Monday's Beef Fact

2011-01-31T09:01:00.003-07:00

Hello faithful followers! Heellloooo? Anyone there? I guess I will find out after a four month absence from the blogging world! I am going to make an effort to blog, slowly but surely.

One {new} goal I have for my blog is to utilize this as a forum for beef education and advocacy...go figure, right? I've realized that there is much that I do not know about beef,even as a ranch raised gal, so I figure that there are many others like myself.

Today's Inaugural Monday Beef Fact
Kobe beef is an ultra-premium beef that comes from regions surrounding Kobe, Japan. For centuries, Wagyu cattle were used for rice cultivation, however, in recent times the cattle have been cultivated as a source of beef.

According to legend, Japanese Kobe beef is massaged with sake wine, fed beer and raised listening to soft music. It is said that this is the secret to the perfect Japanese Kobe beef. Kobe beef is loaded with high amounts of fat that makes it practically melt as you eat it. To achieve these levels of fat, Wagyu cattle are fattened longer than American cattle, 26-32 months compared to our average of 18.

You can purchase American grown Kobe beef, however you must know it is breathtakingly expensive. Two 16-ounce ribeyes can cost upwards of $100.

Keeping things in Perspective

2010-09-17T21:25:00.002-07:00

Fall is upon us - okay, maybe not in Phoenix, but in the rest of the country - and with fall comes elections and a lot statistics and propaganda. Something I have heard and try to remember is to keep all statistics within their context. The same is true of speeches and quotes - politicians and many others are oft quoted out of context. 'Tis the season, though, right? All is fair in American politics.

Anyway, that wasn't just a rabbit trail off into the randomness of my mind, rather it is my segue into tonight's post. Often times buzz words and phrases become trendy, and suddenly we find masses of Americans claiming to do what is best, right or most healthy. Take for example the locavore movement. Take for example buying a tomato in New York City; it is practically a sin to buy the juicy fruit if it came from California and those who buy local heirloom varieties are applauded for their contribution towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions produced from transportation and eating healthier. Truth is, the biggest energy hog is actually the home consumer not the 18-wheelers moving across America. Home preparation and storage account for 32 percent of all energy use in the food system.

A single 10-mile round trip to the local farmer's market can easily consumer 14,000 calories of fossil fuel energy. Running your refrigerator can consumer up to 9,000 calories; that number will double if it is not one of the energy efficient models. Cooking and running a dishwasher also add to that bottom line. Local households make up 22 percent of all energy expenditures in the United States.

Interesting, huh? I'd say we need a bit more context around these claims. Just some food for thought as you head into the weekend. Oh, and in case you're wondering, I love a good farmer's market. I have nothing against locally produced agriculture; I simply want to promote fairness among the various sectors of agricultural production. Conventional versus organic. Locally produced versus imported produced, whether domestically or internationally. Agriculturists need to stop the infighting and promote ourselves as a group; we only damage our own chances of survival when we start picking on those that have pursued different avenues of production or marketing methods.

Every dog has its day

2010-09-10T14:22:00.004-07:00

My FFA chapter officers plan a Supervised Agriculture Experience (SAE) fair each fall. The event is designed to educate all our first year students about possible project ideas and help them jump start their own. It's always a fun event - older students bring in a plethora of livestock, tractors and small animals. My officer that "chaired" the event this year talked me into bringing Johnnie Reb; many students take care of their family pets at home so I thought this was an okay idea. She did awesome! She is actually sleeping on the floor as I type because she is so tuckered out from all the attention. Enjoy the pictures!

This tractor tire was almost big enough for both of us to fit into it!

We had four sets of tortoises at school today - this little guy was a water turtle named Speedy. Johnnie Reb thought he was pretty cute.

Okay, she actually thought he looked good for lunch! After she licked him she attempted to fit him in her mouth...at that point I put him back in the safe hands of his owner!

Slipping in to September

2010-09-08T14:58:00.002-07:00

September is here, and I can't tell you how much I am enjoying this school year. I feel more blessed than I have before. Now, let me clarify. It's not so much that I haven't been blessed before, I think I've had a change in the attitude of my heart and am seeing more things as blessings as opposed to tribulations. With that said, I have a couple of stories to share from the past couple of weeks - hopefully they'll bring a smile to your lips!

What day is it?
Last week I distributed permission slips to all my students. To ease the burden of turning around 20 sets of permission slips in a year, we have students complete one that applies to all FFA events all year. Clever, huh? (Thank you Mr. Fite at Safford!) My freshmen students had to turn their permission slips in to register for a conference, and their permission slip was their place holder. I only had 18 spots, and 35+ freshmen competing for those spots. The next morning I had a steady stream of students stop by to drop their forms off before school started. While this is happening, I had one student talking to his mom on the phone trying to complete the information. He is almost finished and one of the last things he has to do is print the day's date. Simple, right? He asks her, "What is today? The 32nd?" What? Huh? I turn to look at him and he totally wrote that it was August 32! I guess there are worse things than knowing that 32 comes after 31, except when it pertains to days of the month.

A slippery slope
Yesterday was my first day of SAE visits where I essentially visit the project location of each student of mine. This is probably one of the most favorite parts of my job, if not THE most favorite. A senior student of mine built his own greenhouse, yep that's right, built it. Not from a kit mind you. From his own ingenuity. He's a pretty smart kid....probably smarter than me and I don't mind admitting that. Anyway, as I'm pulling up to his house he calls me to tell me that the greenhouse flooded. I reply telling him that it is okay, and I'll still check things out. His mom was nice enough to bring me a pair of rubber boots - after wading through the soggy mess and checking out the plethora of plants he has propagated, I exit the greenhouse. My exit wasn't that graceful though because there was a sink hole that I happened to find with my left foot! I slipped and and definitely had water up to my mid thigh. It was pretty funny, especially considering that his dad and older brother were there to observe my grace. I was just thankful I didn't drop my camera!

Today's Folly

2010-08-30T11:42:00.002-07:00

I definitely released my first hour class 25 minutes early today. That's right, 25. It wasn't on purpose either. For some reason, I thought class got out at 9:35....and we had finished a few minutes early. Thankfully there was one honest kid in the bunch. As they are all walking out the door, he says "I think we get out at 9:55."

Awesome. Combine that mistake with my whiny sophomore class and it makes for a grand morning!

Blessings to you!

Tender Mercies

2010-08-25T06:33:00.003-07:00

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
His mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness."

Lamentations 3:22-23

My study this morning revolved around God's mercy - it's yet another aspect of God that confounds what the world says. Forgive 70 times 7 says the Lord. (Matthew...I think. I'm sorry, I can't think of that address of the top of my head this morning.) I'm not much on explanations this morning, but I couldn't not share. For your benefit and God's glory, meditate on the tender mercy of the Lord this morning - neither of us deserved it, but it was given at no cost to us, yet we reap the benefits of it through God's forgiveness.

The End of Accomplishment

2010-08-01T14:54:00.002-07:00

Apparently I have no original thoughts to share at this point. Ha. I'm just kidding....I think I'd rather give you excerpts from articles rather than work on articulating my own brilliant thoughts into text. For now, it will suffice. Maybe after school gets underway and my student teacher begins teaching I'll get back on track with my own thoughts. Oh wait, my student teacher doesn't come for another five months. Boo. Well then, article excerpts it is for the time being.

The following excerpts were taken from Janie B. Cheaney's article "The End of Accomplishment" in the July 31, 2010 edition of WORLD magazine.

With bureaucracy's triumph over excellence, big and important projects have stalled.

(after talking about landing on the moon for the first time...)
The rest is history, but history may have turned downhill. Bruce Charlton, blogger and university professor, believes it did. "The landing of men on the moon and bringing them back alive was the supreme achievement of human capability...and I suggest the real reason we have not been to the moon since 1972 is that we cannot any longer do it. Humans have lost the capability."

Three reasons why: a preference for diversity over excellence in hiring, the expansion of committees and regulatory agencies, and the erosion of individual responsibility. These were the trends that had begun decades before, but by 1970 "the human spirit began to be overwhelmed by bureaucracy."

That's a depressing thought. But one mighty force remains, of individual souls freed from bondage, pledged to a common cause, inspired by a common vision, under perfect leadership. It's called the church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it, much less the muddle of bureaucracy. Where human progress falters, there the church rises. We have God's word on that; it's time to believe it.

(Katy's note: Amen!)

The Dawn of a New Year & Old Mediocrity

2010-07-30T16:17:00.002-07:00

I know this is an odd title, especially since I haven't posted a blog in almost a month. A month!! Can you believe that? The month of July swallowed me, spit me out and now I'm back at school. This summer was crazy busy, but the busy-ness allowed me to pack as many visits with family, friends and conferences as I could into 10 weeks. Today was my first day "officially" back on the job and it was a good one at that. I am planning on posting more in the coming weeks, but I can't promise anything. Anyway, I thought I'd share an excerpt from an interesting article that a fellow Ag teacher and friend passed along to me....it's sad to read, especially since I am a high school teacher from the state mentioned in the article. Please pray for our educators, our legislators...and me as I begin a new year!

Turning around Arizona's reputation for educational mediocrity
Published on Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Copyright (c) 2010 Inside Tucson Business

According to a new study, Arizona is winning a race, not to the top but to the bottom - we are about to lead the nation in jobs for high school dropouts. To help reverse this dangerous trend, the state must reshape its higher education system to attract, serve and graduate more college students. (Katy's note: not every kid needs to go to college, but they better not drop out of high school!!)

The study by Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce tells us that Arizonans are at-risk of being locked out of the middle class. (Katy's note: who is Uncle Sam gonna use to pick up the slack when it comes to taxes if we don't have a middle class? [Insert evil laugh.]) It predicts that Arizona will have enough jobs for high school dropouts, but soon we will be woefully deficient in the number of college graduates needed to fill the high wage, modern jobs that businesses demand.

What may be most concerning about this report is that it speaks to a persistent mediocrity in our state. Already, 45 percent of Arizona's high school students do not pursue any form of higher education after high school - the lowest rate among 50 states. Only 25 percent of Arizonan's hold bachelor's degrees.

You can't get away from God's love

2010-07-09T15:03:00.002-07:00

Did you get that memo? You. Yep you. You can't get away from God's love! What a wonderful message, huh?

"And I am convinced that nothing can ever seperate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow - not even the powers of hell can seperate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below - indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to seperate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Romans 8:38-39

Rock on Feedlots

2010-07-06T12:38:00.002-07:00

Arizona Young Cattlemen's Initiative (YCI) distributes a weekly email that is packed full of great information. Recently, this email contained a link to an article written for Precision Nutrition by vegetarian author, Ryan Andrews. Andrews was given an exclusive tour of the Magnum Feedyard in Wiggins, Colorado. He was stoked about the opportunity and had no clue about what his experience would be like. Fortunately for us (us = beef producers and other agricultural operations), Andrews was impressed by the healthcare, nutrition and sanitation that all cattle at that feedyard are exposed to. I am confident when I say that I think we would have found similar experiences at feedyards across the US. Props to Magmum Feedyard for doing an awesome job of representing one segment of the beef industry, and props to Mr. Andrews for his willingness to seek the truth when it comes to animal production in the United States. You can read the article for yourself here. A short excerpt is listed below to wet your appetite.

And, I have to say it. If my experience at Magnum is representative of other cattle farms, all those accounts of the dismal, depressing, disastrous cattle conditions seem to be exaggerated.
No, I’m not going to start eating meat again.

However, if I did eat meat, my visit to Magnum would have made me feel great about eating non-organic, non-grass-fed beef. Seriously. I can’t imagine the quality of meat would be substantially better with organic and grass-fed. Nor can I imagine the living conditions would be substantially better for the cattle.

Now, to be clear, we don’t require meat in our diet. And I don’t think we should be using cows for food, doesn’t matter if the cattle are kept on a feedlot or chilling in a waterbed listening to John Tesh. But that’s my own value system and I’m well aware that 97% of people in the U.S. eat meat on a regular basis.

However, considering the amount we procreate in the U.S. (there’s a birth every 8 seconds and a death every 12 seconds); and the amount of meat we eat (222 pounds per person, per year – not including marine life); and the small amount of money we’re willing to spend on food (we spend 9.6% of our disposable income on food, the lowest in the world. India spends 53%, Venezuela 34%, Italy 26%, Japan 19%, France 16%); feedlots have it right.

People want meat. And Magnum’s feedlot system is dialed in. They’re producing safe and cost-effective meat in, arguably, the most cattle-conscious way (short of opening up those pens and letting them run free). Rock on Magnum.

An Agent of Change

2010-06-28T15:28:00.004-07:00

I am in Des Moines, Iowa for the National Agriscience Integration Institute through Thursday. That's a big fancy name that basically means I, along with two other individuals involved in Ag Ed from Arizona, are here to develop a plan to integrate more Agriscience in our state. You may ask, how did I stumble upon this involvement? I will tell you...even though you probably weren't really wondering that.

Three years ago I applied to be a part of the National Agriscience Teacher Ambassador Academy; it was a phenomenal experience that literally changed the face of my approach to teaching. The entire focus of the original conference was to learn how to integrate more Agriscience instruction into agriculture classrooms through the use of Inquiry Based Instruction (IBI). The "Ambassador" part of the title came along with the expectation that we would return to our home states as reformed teachers, prepared to persuade our colleagues about this new and much better philosophy as an additional tool for our toolbox. That's all well and good until the rubber met the road.

Though I thought I understood my role three years ago, actually rolling out the plan became a bit more tricky. How do I, as one teacher, start a cascade effect among my colleagues about the importance of incorporating this method of teaching (inquiry)? To make it an even more dynamic problem, how do I affect change on the university level so that new Ag teachers have also been instructed about how to use this method?

And Wa-La, we have the creation of the current conference that I am attending this week. Operationally defined, each team of three from 11 different states, including the Great State of Arizona, will work as a team to develop a plan to integrate Inquiry Based Instruction (IBI) in their respective home states. For those of you not involved in agricultural education or education at all, there's a lot of gobblety-gook vocabulary that I am throwing around. To boil it down though we are trying to provide teachers of all experience levels with a new method of teaching. We aren't asking them to throw out everything they have and start over; we are asking them to incorporate this method slowly. Methodically. Purposefully.

Inquiry based instruction can literally TRANSFORM the learning in a classroom. Students are forced to take ownership of their learning, and suddenly their learning becomes much more meaningful. In inquiry based instruction, there is a continuum of both student self-direction and direction from a teacher. The teacher simply must provide appropriate amounts of information and context to place students at an appropriate place on the continuum that allows them to inquire or investigate from there. Teachers change hats and become facilitators for awhile, then change hats again and provide additional context for what they students have discovered. It's a really interesting approach to learning that I hopefully will continue to utilize more in my own classroom.

With that said I want to elaborate a bit on the title of this post; I did not know exactly what to expect coming into "part two" of this conference series. I fully understood that inquiry based instruction was at the heart of both, but I did not know that we would be developing strategic action plans to incorporate this method into our home states. I was able to participate in and observe some brilliant conversations today that revolved around how individuals become agents of change and the difficulties they may encounter. As Arizona's only "official" (I use that term loosely) Agriscience Ambassador, I have been given a huge opportunity to influence the introduction of this methodology on a state-wide approach. I am really excited to see what unfolds through the work of our team over this next week.

I realize that pedagogy and teaching philosophy probably don't rock your world as much as they do mine. I am glad I can share my excitement through this blog though, and am even more excited to see my own passion for teaching grow. I entered this career three years ago with some huge strings attached about how long I would teach and why I was teaching. God has been so faithful though; in three years I have become increasingly thankful for this profession, my colleagues and especially my students. My interest in the science and art of teaching continually grows as well, and I aspire to better myself as a professional. And now, as I prepare to enter year four I am excited to see how God continues to use me as an Agent of Change in more ways than one.

A Juxtaposition: Secure Border...Please do not visit!

2010-06-23T07:14:00.001-07:00

My thanks to Senators McCain and Kyl for visiting Douglas, Arizona this past weekend to learn about the current status of our southern border. While the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security (Janet Napolitano from AZ) states that the border is as secure as it ever has been, I am confident we know otherwise. For example, in this video Senator McCain shows several signs posted by the federal government warning visitors to this region NOT TO VISIT. How can that be a sure sign of safety along the border? Based on that one example, simple logic tells us that the border is not secure.

I know statistics can be used wrongly when reported out of context, but consider this one statistic: Phoenix is only second to Mexico City globally for kidnappings (as reported by Senator Kyl). Second! Are you kidding? A city in the United States of America known as a capital for kidnappings. Our federal politicians should be ashamed of themselves for blindly ignoring this statistic among others that affect public safety and the use of public lands.

While walking past the Massachusetts State House yesterday, there was an 18 day protest being staged to prevent similar laws from SB 1070 passing in MA. Citizens like them should also be ashamed for abandoning their fellow countrymen; they do not live on the border. They have no clue the desperate situation that Arizona citizens in the lower quarter of our state live with on a day-to-day basis. They don't have to live with the buddy system, always having someone at their side. They don't have to leave their house with a weapon. Don't tell me that this whole "thing" is about stereotyping people based on the color of their skin. It's about the situation on Arizona's southern border where U.S. citizens are not safe and will not be safe until the border is secure. We can't address immigration reform until the border is secure.

If you have 20 minutes, watch the video. If you only have 5, it's still worth it. If you're still opposed to this whole bill/issue in Arizona, please consider what it would be like to spend a day, much less a week or month in the life of southern Arizona citizens. It is our duty to protect our citizens above non-citizens and at this point, that task has not been accomplished.

I'm gonna miss Maine!

2010-06-22T18:22:00.003-07:00

Realizing that the title of today's post is going to be a bit misleading, I'm going to preface this post by saying that the majority of this post involves a synopsis of what went down in Beantown (Boston) today. Mom and I signed up for a trolley tour of the city - this was definitely one of the best decisions we made on this trip. If you've never taken one, basically you pay for the ticket and then you can get on/off any of the company's trolleys around the city. They stop at designated spots to explain points of interest and you can enter/exit the trolley if you want to explore more on your own. I thought we would skip through our tour with only 15 points of interest, however we started around 9:30 and returned to the hotel around 2:30.

One of our favorite spots is pictured below - The State House. The balcony, located on the eastern side, is where the Declaration of Independence was first read by Samuel Adams after being signed 18 days prior. The western side of the State House is the location of the Boston Massacre - did you know that this started out with Colonists taunting British soldiers by throwing snowballs at them? It eventually escalated into a "massacre" with five colonists being killed. One other interesting point: the Boston subway (4th oldest in the world) runs below this building and you can totally hear it as it runs below!

This picture was taken just outside of the State House as mom and I waited for the trolley to return.

We stopped at the original Cheers for lunch. You can't visit Boston and not go! The original name of the bar was the Bull and Finch Pub and I'm not exactly clear on when the name got changed. The producers of the television show visited this bar with the intention of finding a bar to create a sitcom about. After visiting a number of other bars around Beantown, the producers returned to the first bar and decided that it was the one. We shared the Burger Meister burger and it was great - it had a pile o' mushrooms and Muenster cheese. A combo that I never would have created, but fit really well together.

Before leaving Boston, we stopped at Emack and Bolio's ice cream parlor which if you look closely at the ice cream cup below says "ice cream for connoissuer's." It was really good, but not as good as the blueberry ice cream in Camden! And how about this? One scoop was $3.75 times two people, equals $7.50. We totally outsmarted the system and got three scoops (for "one" person) and only paid $4.75! Okay, so it's not the most exciting thing that happened to us on our trip, but we felt pretty smart! We shared Peppermint Patty (pretty good), Beantown Crunch (coffee ice cream with chocolate covered espresso beans....yummo!), and Vanilla Bean Speck (pretty good). You obviously know what my favorite was!

We drove to Ogunquit, Maine for the evening so that we have a shorter drive to the airport tomorrow. Yet another charming town in Maine that is right on the Coast and has an abundance of super cute shops and local eateries. Boston was fun, but I have so, so enjoyed Maine. The pace of life in the small towns. The number of ice cream eateries (can I get a hallelujah?). And the quietness that has accompanied us everywhere we've been. I hope you've enjoyed reading about some of the places that we have visited and eaten at, and if you ever get the chance to visit Maine, jump at the chance!

We fly back to Arizona tomorrow. I have loved every moment of my vacation with my mom, but am ready to return. I praise God for the rest and relaxation that I have been able to enjoy in abundance. I am especially thankful for the time I was given with my mom - I am so glad that we have grown to become friends and look forward to our next trip!

Monday in Boston

2010-06-21T17:28:00.004-07:00

I know you were expecting a "Monday in Maine" post but I thought I'd switch it up so we drove to Boston. Haha, if only the writing for blog were that important! Actually, Mom and I kind of planned it so that we would have enough time to spend a day in Boston. The drive this morning was quiet - we took a pit stop in Freeport, a.k.a. Outlet City USA. That is not actually it's alias, but if I were the Freeport mayor, I would start a marketing campaign with that title. The outlet shops were great; they were housed in old Victorian style houses. Very New England. Very quaint.

We arrive in Boston around 4:30 and once we finally found a hotel, we changed and headed to Little Italy for dinner. The concierge at our hotel gave us several recommendations and we ended up dining at Ristorante Limoncello. It was very authentic and brought back memories from my two week trip to Italy in high school.

Mom had Tagliolini al Limoncello which consisted of homemade pasta with a limoncello creme sauce which was really good - it wasn't as heavy as an alfredo, it was more like a red sauce with some creme. She also had some shrimp with it. I had Salmone alla Maurizio (a.k.a. salmon all about Maurizio). It was salmon with a lemon caper creme sauce - very good! For dessert we shared a ricotta and pear pie which was also very good - I was a little nervous about ordering it but it was nice. (I apologize for the pictures being wrong side up.)

After dinner we walked through part of the north end of the Little Italy neighborhood and it was great! Great people watching - lots of tourists but also lots of small eateries with four or five tables in them, windows open to the streets and flower boxes on every window. We didn't plan this, but we walked past Paul Revere's home and then sat on the waterfront for a little bit before retiring. This statue of Christopher Columbus overlooks Long Wharf, where our hotel was built.

Other Miscellany

-We're watching Cake Boss on TLC right now.

-Ships occassionally honk (do ships honk?) as they anchor/leave the harbor next to our hotel.

-I bought three pairs of shoes at the Rockport Outlet today, for a total savings of $200!!

Sunday in Maine

2010-06-20T18:05:00.002-07:00

After attending church at First Congregational Church in Camden, Mom and I headed to the Down East/Acadia region of Maine. Heading along Route 1, we stopped through several small towns, all situated along various bays and inlets. You can see from the picture below that Belfast is home to the "Oldest Shoe Store in America." An attribute that I love about Maine thus far is the number of flags hanging in every town we encounter. From telephone poles to store fronts, Old Glory is hung liberally in small towns across Maine.

Somewhere between Bucksport and Acadia National Park, we stopped at a small road side stand and purchased a quart of strawberries. The air smelled of strawberries as soon as we got out of the car. No joke. This little old man was placing strawberries into cardboard quarts; his fingers were stained red and he had a typical Mainer accent. Combine the smell with the precious 80-something salesman and I could not resist. The strawberries were perfectly ripe - imagine biting into a strawberry and having juice explode from it. That was my experience today!

One of the main attractions I wanted to visit in Maine was the Acadia National Park. At the time of its creation, it was the first national park on the East coast. It is a beautiful park that takes you from the shoreline to the top of Cadillac Mountain. Mom and I drove the 30-mile loop through the park taking time to stop at various attractions including the one pictured below. Sand Beach is one of the few sandy beaches along Maine's coastline, however it is only for those not faint at heart. In the summertime, the water only reaches high's of 50 degrees! Even the breeze is cold; I almost needed a jacket to enjoy my climb down to the beach. Mom stayed on top of the cliffside while I climbed down and she took the picture for me:)

This next picture cracks. me. up. The next attraction we stopped at in the park was Thunder Hole (I think that's what it is called). Basically it's a rocky inlet that sounds like thunder when the tide is coming in. Unfortunately we viewed it during low tide so we did not experience any "thunder." There were some cool views though. I asked this guy to take my mom and I's picture and this is what we got. Haha.

We pulled into Bar Harbor to check out the famous Maine town. We both decided it was a little too touristy for both of us though. The view of the harbor was beautiful and the town homes were gorgeous but we both preferred the quaintness of small towns we had previously visited. While returning to Belfast for dinner and to stay the night, Mom drove through the first rain of our trip. We cruised down to the waterfront (what else would you do in Maine?) for dinner and ended up eating at the Lookout Pub. This place was totally a hole in the wall, and I'm pretty sure it was mainely (pun intended) locals plus us. Mom and I were both in the mood for a good burger and that's exactly what we got.

Other Miscellany:

-I have slowly been finishing the last unit of my Hebrews study. I wanted to share a verse from 1 Timothy 6:6 that I love. "Yet true godliness with contentments is itself great wealth."

-My dad is at home (Happy Father's Day!) and while visiting this morning he mentioned that Johnnie Reb chased the heifer next to the house twice during the middle of last night. She is officially sleeping in her kennel tonight.

Saturday in Maine

2010-06-19T18:07:00.004-07:00

This morning started with a visit to Len Libby's in Scarborough, Maine to visit Lenny. Lenny is a life size moose made out of chocolate. I couldn't think of a more delightful way to start my Saturday!

Mom and I then headed northeast to the Rockland - Camden area which is considered mid-coast Maine. It was nice to get off of the interstate and cruise on some county roads. Before arriving at our destination for the evening we stopped in Augusta to check out the state's capital city. Sadly, nothing much was happening. August is situated on the banks of the Kennebec river which is beautiful, and the capital building itself is gorgeous. However, the downtown area could use some revitalizing. After visiting the Maine State Museum we stopped in the next town over to have lunch at Hattie's Chowder House.

After another short 45 minute drive we found ourselves in some of the quaintest towns we have found so far. We are staying in the Samoset Resort which is located just south of Camden on Penobscot Bay. The resort has amazing views and is located near a beautiful lighthouse. While my mom rested I walked out on a granite walkway and climbed the lighthouse. It was amazing. The view below is walking back toward the resort from the lighthouse. I didn't realize how much I would enjoy seeing lighthouses but I am totally digging them.

We drove north to Camden for dinner and ate at the Bayview Lobster restaurant. Our service was sub-par but the food was great. I had fried Haddock and sweet potato fries and my mom had pan-seared scallops. My Haddock was done really well, the breading was really light, but my mom's scallops were great. Kind of sweet, and perfectly done. Obviously the picture below is not of our food:) We ate on the dock and the view was spectacular - Camden is super quaint and the people watching on the dock can't be beat. We watched the crew from this ship the entire time we ate. I loved the American flag they had attached to their sails and couldn't resist snapping a photo.

Other Miscellany -

-I found my phone charger! Yay, thanks God! It was hiding in my carry-on bag and got buried beneath the plethora of magazines I brought to read.

-Blueberry ice cream is delightful. Mom and I both had a scoop following dinner.

-People who sail love dogs. I'm not sure this is a fact, but there was an obscene number of dogs on the deck tonight.

Mom and Me in Maine

2010-06-18T19:11:00.004-07:00

Mom and I headed to Maine for a week-long vacation. It nigh took us awhile to locate our hotel last night, but after multiple u-turns and requests for directions we were successful. Day 1 (today) was great! Mom had her first (and maybe her last) Maine lobster as pictured below. We asked for the best place in Portland to get Maine and multiple people recommended the Portland Lobster Company. We enjoyed eating on the dock, resting in the shade and feeding french fries to the little Shitzu at the table next to us. (Side note: Petie, the Shitzu, wasn't actually seated at the table, but she belonged to the owner's at the table next to us.)

After lunch, mom and I took a tour of the harbor. I was a little nervous about getting sea sick but it was actually very relaxing. I have been wanting to see Maine's Oldest Headlight and finally I did! In addition to being the oldest in Maine, it is the second oldest in America. We also managed to see a couple of sea lions and our own version of Deadliest Catch - a couple of lobster boats bringing in the day's catch.

I am hoping for more free internet tomorrow, and if there is you can rest assured more pictures will follow. On a couple of other notes - I did forget my phone charger so please don't call. :) Haha. That sounds mean, but I'm just trying to save you the effort because my phone is off.

Also, please pray for the family of Gary Ledger, the advisor of Las Vegas (NM) FFA. He passed away on Wednesday night in a car accident. I don't know the details but I counted him a friend even though I knew him only as an acquaintance. There is something about the bond we share as Ag teachers that makes him feel even closer than he was. Please keep his family, friends and students in your prayers.

Whirlwind

2010-06-07T10:02:00.006-07:00

That's exactly what the past two weeks have been - a whirlwind. From Texas to California and with three weddings in between, the past two weeks have flown by in a flurry of activity. I have treasured the craziness of it all because I have been encouraged by the fellowship I have shared and the great memories made. I have tried to share enough pictures to briefly share where we have been and all we have done. I will post more in the coming weeks (I hope) about each of the weddings because they were unique and beautiful...and I love weddings!

Anna and I stayed with our great Uncle Frank and Aunt Flora in western New Mexico on the first night of our trip to Texas. It was wonderful seeing them and they both looked great.

Anna and I left Grants and headed further east to the small town of Clarendon for Alix and Ben's wedding. The ceremony was held outside overlooking a canyon on the ranch that Ben manages. The immediate picture below is of Anna and I in the aisle after the wedding and the second picture is of Alix, the bride, and myself. If I were you looking at the picture of Anna and I, my response would be "Bless her heart, her hair is super windblown." Alix was a stunning bride!

The day after Alix's wedding, Anna and I traveled south to Lubbock to meet Ty and Whitney for lunch; they took us to Cafe J which was delightful. I've been dreaming of their burger since. (Check out my sister's review of the Cafe here.) Unfortunately I do not have any pictures of Ty and Whitney:( We left Lubbock after lunch and headed to Artesia, New Mexico to meet our friend Jennifer whom I met through blogging. Jennifer and her husband welcomed us into their home and I just loved meeting her in person. Pictured with us below is Jennifer and her son. Check out her blog here for more pictures.

After two days back at work last week, I started the craziness of a two day wedding extravaganza. I was a bridesmaids in two weddings, two days in a row in two different states. How's that for crazy? Wedding numero uno was in Goodyear on Friday - my good friend Holly Schindler (now Clements) married Michael. Holly and I met through FFA when we were in high school and then became better friends as we went to UA together. The wedding was held in St. Thomas Aquinas and the reception was held down the road at Tuscany Falls. Both the ceremony and the reception were absolutely beautiful, and Holly made a lovely bride. The dress she is wearing in the picture is not her wedding dress, this was taken just prior to our professional photos.

Wedding numero dos was held in Parkfield, California which is about an hour and a half north east of San Luis Obispo. I caught a flight on Saturday morning, the bride's father picked me up and about four hours after landing in Cali I was ready to go for pictures. I met Kirsten through FFA in high school (all roads lead to FFA!) and then we became really good friends in college. She married Scottie the Hottie whom I love. Their wedding was held outdoors and was a rockin' good time!

I caught a ride back to San Luis Obispo yesterday and had lunch with a great friend I met in grad school who is now teaching at Cal Poly. I am so thankful we had time to catch up over lunch and I finally got to meet their beautiful baby, Reagan.

I had a migraine starting going into lunch and it was killing me afterwards. My friend Kodi, who was also at Kirsten's wedding, had run inside to use the restroom and came out to find this...my head was killing me and the sun was so bright so I thought I would lay down while still guarding our luggage. This picture pretty much sums up how I was feeling yesterday though - worn out! I am back at school this morning making final preparations for our State FFA Conference in Tucson later this week. I have some deadlines I need to meet this week, so too-do-loo for now. I will hopefully post pictures from each wedding later this week.

Memorial Day Memories

2010-05-27T11:33:00.004-07:00

Two years ago, Anna and I set out for Taos, New Mexico over the Memorial Day weekend. The trip was part of my college graduation gift to my sister and it included white water rafting down the Rio Grande. We drove through snow in Flagstaff as we merged from Interstate 17 to the I-40 which was crazy considering it was almost June. The trip was awesome and since then have pledged to make an annual sister's trip somewhere...which leads me to this year's trip: a road trip to Texas for a wedding with plenty of visiting with family and friends on the way there and back. We leave tomorrow for Grants, New Mexico where we will stay with our great aunt and uncle, Flora and Frank. Saturday we are headed to Clarendon, Texas for our friend, Alix's, wedding. Sunday will take us to Lubbock to have lunch with Ty and Whitney and dinner with Jennifer in Roswell. Monday will be all driving! I know life will continue to change and get busier, but I am so thankful that my sister and I have agreed to make time for each other a priority each year. I'll be sure to post some fun pictures once we return.

Also, since it is Memorial Day weekend, I wanted to say thank you to all United States veterans and current military personnel. I appreciate your commitment and service to our country, knowing the sacrifice that is required. I pray you are safe in your service and that your family has peace as you are away.

How Mexico treats illegal aliens (OneNewsNow.com)

2010-05-22T10:07:00.002-07:00

A hypocrite is defined as someone who pretends to have a certain set of beliefs, virtues or morals but does not actually possess them. By this definition Felipe Calderon, Mexico's president, is a hypocrite. Mexico's own immigration laws are stricter than our own, yet he criticizes Arizona for trying to enforce laws similar to their own. Shame on him. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

How Mexico treats illegal aliens (OneNewsNow.com)

Who pays for welfare?

2010-05-17T18:03:00.000-07:00

Have you ever asked someone on welfare where their money actually comes from? I haven't taken the liberty to do so, and don't plan on doing so anytime soon, but I sure hope that the woman in this interview is not indicative of the rest of American's on welfare.

Chipotle Pot Roast

2010-05-13T07:37:00.004-07:00

Before I post a delicious beef recipe, I have to share a quote from Jan Brewer, Arizona's governor: "I find it really interesting that we have people out there that are attempting to boycott in favor of illegal actions in Arizona. That to me is just unbelievable."

Well said Governor Brewer, well said. That quote pretty much sums up my perspective on how ridiculous the opponents of 1070 really are. How can you actually support illegal action in the United States? If I find time today, I may send that quote to the United Nations and ask them to reconsider their recent ponderings of pursuing legal action against Arizona for exactly these reasons. The state bill upholds federal law. Pure. and. simple.

And without further adieu, the recipe for Chipotle Pot Roast

3 teaspoons vegetable oil, divided
1 boneless beef chuck shoulder pot roast (3- 3.5 pounds)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 cup ready-to-serve beef broth
1/2 cup dark beer (I used Coors Light because that's what I had. It worked just fine!)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon minced chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

1. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in stockpot over medium heat until hot. Place beef pot roast in stockpot; brown evenly. Remove pot roast; pour off drippings and set aside. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and black pepper.

2. Add remaining 1 teaspoon oil to stockpot. Cook and stir onion and garlic 1 to 2 minutes or until onion is tender. Add broth, beer, tomato paste, and chipotle peppers; increase heat to medium-high. Cook and stir 1 to 2 minutes or until browned bits attached to bottom of stockpot are dissolved. Return pot roast to stockpot; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover tightly and simmer 2 to 3 hours or until pot roast is fork tender.

Recipe courtesy of: "The Healthy Beef Cookbook."

Hints and Tricks (learned the hard way by yours truly)
-I had a 2 pound pot roast, which was perfect since I live by myself. However, if you half all other ingredients you definitely should not double the amount of chipotle peppers you add. I did this on accident thinking that 1 tablespoon looked "awfully scant." So I doubled it...and I could definitely tell.

-Make sure you brown the pot roast really well - this lends a deeper flavor to the sauce that you are simmering the pot roast in. Give the roast ample time to really brown.

-I recommend serving this delightly spicy pot roast with cheddar mashed potatoes or a simple risotto. Both work very well with the spiciness of the pot roast.

The Cost of Illegal Immigration

2010-05-07T17:44:00.003-07:00

1070. This used to be any 'ol number; now it's known for demonizing many in Arizona for wanting to enforce federal laws in regard to illegal immigration. I've been meaning to blog for weeks about this whole topic but I keep getting side tracked. If I'm not sidetracked, I tend to get a little overwhelmed with the enormity of the whole thing. But I need to eat this elephant one bite at a time, so here goes nothing. I am a proud American agriculturalist and I have heard enough. I plan on sharing my opinion and heart on topics ranging from securing the border to illegal immigration in the coming weeks. You may not agree with me on everything, but I pray you'll consider the opposing argument. I will do my best to verify my arguements and supplement them with facts.

To start with, let's talk about the cost of illegal immigration. The facts below speak for themselves:

1. $11 - $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year by state governments. Verify at: http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=iic_immigrationissuecenters7fd8

2. $2.2 billion a year is spent on food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens. Verify at: http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.HTML

3. $2.5 billion a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens. Verify at: http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.HTML

4. $12 billion a year is spent on primary and secondary school education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of English. Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANscriptS/0604/01/ldt.01.HTML

This link did not work for me. I did find information on Factcheck.org that pooh-poohed th entire report on cost to taxpayers to support illegals. The following link places the actual yearly education cost for illegals at more than $28 billion per year. Verify at: http://www.mnforsustain.org/immg_costs_of_educating_legal_illegals_fair.htm

5. During 2005 there were 4-10 million illegal aliens that crossed our Southern Border with as many as 19,500 illegal aliens from terrorist countries. Millions of pounds of narcotics crossed into the United States through the Southern Border. Verify at: Homeland Security report.

6. The National Policy Institute estimated that the total cost of mass deportation would be between $206 and $230 billion. This is an average of $41-$46 billion annually over a five year period. Verify at: http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org/PDF/deportation.PDF

I couldn't find the link...but you should check out the website anyway. They have some good stuff.

Happy Birthday J!

2010-05-04T08:07:00.002-07:00

Happy birthday JM, you've entered the double digit stage of your life! I love your sweet nature, especially the way you're willing to hold my hand when we take a walk, even if it is just to the barn. You make me laugh at the silliest things, and I am so thankful for your uncomplicated approach to life.

You are already so intelligent and have such zeal for learning. You've amazed me at your ability to absorb information at such a young age. I can't wait to see the things you will learn the older you get and the places you will "go" by the books you read.

I love you, and am thankful you're my nephew. Have a great day buddy!

Ranch Wife 101

2010-04-30T12:41:00.003-07:00

Wyoming Ranch Wife posted these guidelines on her blog recently; I still think they're applicable to most women in ranch situations whether you're married to a cowboy or not. Y'all know that I'm far from married, yet I can still vouch that these really do happen!

1. Always load your horse last in the trailer so it is the first one unloaded. By the time he's got his horse unloaded, you will have your cinch pulled and be mounted up and ready to go - lessening the chance of him riding off without you with your horse trying to follow while you are still trying to get your foot in the stirrup.

2. Never - and I repeat never - ever believe the phrase "We'll be right back," when he asked you to help him do something out on the ranch. The echoing words, "this will only take a little while" have filtered through generations of ranch wives and still today should invoke sincere distrust in the woman who hears them.

3. Always know there is NO romantic intention when he pleadingly asks you take a ride in his pickup with him around the ranch while he checks waters and looks at cattle. What that sweet request really means is he wants someone to open the gates.

4. He will always expect you to quickly be able to find one stray in a four-section brush-covered pasture, but he will never be able to find the mayonnaise jar in four-square feet of regrigerator.

5. Count every head of everything you see - cattle especially, but sometimes horses, deer, quail or whatever moves. Count it in the gate, out the gate or on the horizon. The first time you don't count is when he will have expected that you did. That blank eyelash-batting look you give him when he asks "How many?" will not be acceptable.

6. Know that you will never be able to ride a horse or drive a pickup to suit him. Given the choice of jobs, choose throwing the feed off the back of the pickup. If he is on the back and you are driving, the oportunity for constant criticism of speed, ability and your eyesight will be utilized to the full extent. "How in the *$&# could you NOT see that hole?"

7. Never let yourself be on foot in the alley when he is sorting cattle horseback. When he has shoved 20 head of running, bucking, kicking yearlings at you and then hollers "Hold 'em, hold 'em" at the top of his lungs, don't think that you can do it without the loss of life or limb. Contrary to what he will lead you to believe, walking back to the house is always an option that has been used throughout time.

8. Don't expect him to correctly close the snap-on tops on the plastic refrigerator containers, but know he will expect you to always close every gate. His reasoning, the cows will get out; the food will not.

9. Always praise him when he helps in the kitchen - the very same way he does when you help with the ranch work - or not.

10. Know that when you step out of the house you move from the "wife" department to "hired hand" status. Although the word "hired" indicates there will be a paycheck that you will never see, rest assured you will have job security. The price is just right. And most of the time you will be "the best help he has" even if it is because you are the ONLY help he has.

Night and Snowy

2010-04-28T20:54:00.008-07:00

No, I do not mean Snowy Night. Haha. Night and Snowy are the two beautiful chickens that my nephew and niece showed at the Verde Valley Fair tonight. It was their first time showing through 4-H and the entire family was proud of their performance. Despite the gale force winds and sand in my eyes (the wind is a sure sign that it is fair time), the night still proved to be a memorable one. I sometimes forget how nostalgic the fairgrounds of my youth is - lots of familiar places and smells. Fairgrounds bring back great memories for lots people, what's your favorite fairground memory?

D did great showing Snowy. (Please don't be confused by Snowy's dark appearance.) D showed in the booster class - we were confident that she would win it, but they announced that all booster's were winners. :) Great job D!

J was so relaxed while he held Night outside of the showring but as soon as he got his chicken set up he tensed up a bit; please note his left hand firmly holding Night to the table. J did enjoy himself but he finally needed a little break while the judge took his time (45 minutes for seven novice members) to thoroughly question each member about their chicken project.

I ran into my good friend from high school, Amy Badger. It was great seeing her! Dad is holding G and P was taking a break on my lap from kicking the dirt and dancing like a crazy man. Please don't hold my crazy wind blown hair against me.

G even had a chance to enter her drawing of a caterpillar in the art contest - her caterpillar was "really big and pink." Yep, that's her direct quote folks. She wasn't willing to pose for a picture, but even I had trouble smiling since it was 7:30 and my blood sugar was dropping...we ended the night with dinner at Hacienda, a local Mexican food place that holds a dear place in my heart.

Katy's Cakes

2010-04-24T17:19:00.006-07:00

I couldn't resist posting pictures of the cake I made for one of my best friend's bridal shower today - it was a four-layer chocolate round cake with buttercream frosting. Holly's wedding colors are chocolate brown with pink and orange accent colors. I left the buttercream white and then did orange and pink polka dots around the side and placed pink roses on top. I think it turned out pretty good if I can say so myself!

I am just starting to dabble in cake making and am starting to think that I could moonlight as a cake decorator on my weekends...okay, maybe not because extra time is non-existent in my life, but it's a thought. I pray about my future lots and I would love to eventually earn money through food preparation someway - a small catering business, bakery or coffee shop could eventually be in my future. For the time being though, say hello to the humble beginnings of Katy's Cakes! If you know of anyone in the West Valley who is interested in buying small to medium cakes that are affordably priced, please give them my number.

My next goal is to make and decorate a multi-tiered round cake...and don't you worry, I will definitely post pictures of that!

PS - I wanna give my sister a shout out because she threw an incredible shower - beautiful in every way including the invitations, food and favors. Check out her blog here for her posting of the details...if they're not up, check back!

Strawberries and Cream Popsicles

2010-04-21T09:16:00.003-07:00

I don't recall where I found this recipe, but it's a delightful treat especially in the heat of summer! I couldn't resist making it last night because I bought a HUGE container of luscious strawberries at Costco this past weekend. Enjoy!

Strawberries and Cream Popsicles
In a blender, whirl 2 cups rinsed, hulled strawberries until smooth. Push through a fine strainer into a 1-quart glass measure; discard seeds. (I usually skip that step because the seeds don't bother me and I'm usually in a hurry.) Return berry puree to blender and whirl in 1/2 cup light sour cream, 2-3 tablespoons sugar (to taste), and 2 teaspoons lemon juice until smooth. Pour into popsicle mold; freeze for three hours and up to one week.

Keep on Keepin' On

2010-04-21T08:12:00.004-07:00

One of the first things we do in my bible study every Thursday night is review the things we have learned thus far about the book of Hebrews. I'll share a couple of these truths:

It is a letter of exhortation written to Jewish Christians.
The recipients of the letter were being severely persecuted and were in danger of shrinking back to their belief in Old Testament practices.
The recipients were well versed in Old Testament scripture.

We typically spend several minute doing this; the repetition has cemented a lot of truths in our minds as we review and repeat the same things each week. Something new that hit home last week was the basic premise that when the outlook on life looks really bleak, we need to remain confident in Christ by keeping our eyes firmly on Him and the promise we have been given. This is a great reminder because we've all been there when our week is going terrible and it only seems to be getting worse. However, as I briefly mentioned in my previous post, our lives look pretty sweet compared to some of the persecution referred to in biblical times. Consider Hebrews 10:32-34:

"But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly being made a spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners, and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property..." (emphasis mine)

While the great conflict of sufferings is not described in detail, we can be sure that their property was seized. This could mean that their home had been taken away and maybe all their livestock. Can you imagine having your home, vehicle or business seized simply because you confess to be a Christian? While this may not happen in America today, the reality is this still happens in countries across the globe; praise God for the freedoms we often take for granted. As a way of encouraging the recipients of his letter, the author goes on to quote Habakkuk 2:4a, "But my righteous one shall live by faith." Why would this small quote be so significant or encouraging?

The prophet Habakkuk was questioning God about the current state of affairs in Judah - there were many evil people and he wanted to know why they were not being punished. He cries out in the first couple of verses of chapter one stating that the wicked are surrounding the righteous and justice is never upheld. God replies, "I am doing something" (1:5) for "I am raising up the Chaldeans" (1:6). The Chaldeans (Babylonians) are described as the fierce and impetuous people who came for violence and to mock kings; Babylon was the world's rising super power at the time. God was making it clear that Judah's impending judgment would come at the hands of a nation more wicked than Judah? How is that encouraging? While this seems to be at odds with the very nature of God, Habakkuk trusted God's purpose in using the Chaldeans to accomplish His purpose in His time. He ends the short book of Habakkuk with this (3:17-19):

"Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and He has made my feet like hinds' feet, and make me walk on my high places."

As I mentioned at the beginning of my post, the Hebrews were familiar with Old Testament scripture. When the author of Hebrews referred to Habakkuk, they fully understood that Judah's judgment was fierce and ugly yet the prophet remained hopeful in spite of this knowledge. How can we too be hopeful with the knowledge that our walk as Christians may get harder before it gets easier? Like Habakkuk reminded us at the close of his book, we must rejoice in our Lord knowing that He is our strength, and in all things He is purposeful. Not everything in our life will be good, but God will work all things for our good in the end (Romans 8:28).

While applying this to my own life last week, I described it as being something kind of like an out of body experience. I have to endure the struggles and challenges that I face with my physical body in the temporal world, knowing that Christ is purposeful in all that we experience. We have to keep our eyes and mind on the things of above so that we can exult in the Lord, and rejoice in the God of our salvation. We must be confident that we can endure all things if we choose to live by faith in God (Habakkuk 2:4/Hebrews 10:38a).

I pray you are encouraged by God's reminder; I am going to re-visit the idea of living by faith in an upcoming post so if you get a chance, check out Hebrews 11 in the next couple of days.

Worth Quoting

2010-04-20T08:57:00.002-07:00

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
Edmund Burke

I'm not sure if Mr. Burke ever thought of Jesus when he said this, but I sure do. Praise God for Jesus doing something and His subsequent victory over death.

I'm sorry I've been AWOL for awhile - I no longer have internet at mi casa, so I type blogs and then post them at work before or after school. I have a blog ready to go but am having trouble copying and pasting it into the blog. (Sorry, I'm a techno peasant sometimes!) Anyway, I promise to get another blog up by weeks end.

God bless!

By Faith

2010-04-14T11:39:00.002-07:00

I am nearing the end of my year-long study of the book of Hebrews and it has been so rewarding. Challenging at times, but mostly rewarding as I have gleaned greater depth of understanding into the word of God which so masterfully illustrates why and how Jesus became the better sacrifice allowing us to enter God’s presence. I entered chapter 11 this week where the author begins recounting the faithfulness of past individuals who lived in faithful expectation of receiving God’s promise. I love this chapter. It is motivating, encouraging and renewing. Too often I get bogged down in thinking about how hard or miserable my situation is when in reality I know my situation is pretty sweet compared to Old Testament times. I don’t have much more to say in light of the scripture I share below, but I pray you also are encouraged by reading it today.

Hebrews 11:32-40

And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jepthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, in order that they might obtain a better resurrection; and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

(emphasis mine)

Happy Easter

2010-04-01T08:36:00.002-07:00

In light of the upcoming celebration of the ressurection of Jesus, I wanted to take a moment to reflect upon what He has done for me. Through my (almost) year long study of the book of Hebrews, I have learned so much about the sacrifice that Jesus made and the symbolism involved in the Old Testament system of offering gifts and sacrifices. God never desired the sacrifice of calves and goats for they never cleansed the consciousness of the sinner. Jesus was the one time, all-perfect and all-satisfying sacrifice that cleansed our consciousnesses of sin. When Jesus returns a second time, He will do so without reference to our sin. Praise God for His mercy and the merciful provision of His perfect Son.

I pray you have a restful Easter holiday. Don't forget what we are truly celebrating - the death and ressurection of Christ our King. May the following hymn remind you of what was completed in Jesus.

The atoning work is done,
The Victim's blood is shed;
And Jesus now has gone
His people's cause to plead.
He stands in heaven, their great High Preist,
And bears their names upon His breast.

He sprinkled with His blood
The mercy-seat above;
For justice had withstood
The purposes of love:
But justice now withstands no more,
And mercy yields its boundless store.

No temple made with hands
His place of service is;
In heaven itself He stands,
A heavenly priesthood His:
In Him the shadows of the law
Are all fulfilled, and now withdraw.

And though awhile He be
Hid from the eyes of men,
His people look to see
Their great High Priest again:
In brightest glory He will come
And take His waiting people home.

by Thomas Kelly

For more information on why or how Jesus replaced the Old Covenant system of sacrificing calves and goats read the book of Hebrews. The book is wonderfully saturated with explanations on how Jesus is the better sacrifice; I'm studying chapter nine at the moment and this chapter has helped prepare my heart for the celebration of Jesus' ressurection.

A Quick Update

2010-03-31T13:13:00.004-07:00

I know, I know, it has been a loooong time since I've posted. I'm on my lunch break now so I thought I'd try to give a quick synopsis of the big and little happenings of my life as of late. I was in desperate need of spring break two weeks ago, and God was surely good to me over my week-long break. I soaked up some precious time with my family and loved every second. The weather has been awesome, and I love spending time outside.

My sister took me to the little mining town of Bisbee in southeastern Arizona. Anna and I both love this part of the state and plan to rendevouz down there again sometime. While in Bisbee we toured the Queen mine, ate at Jimmy's Hot Dog stand and enjoyed some great Mexican food. And one of the best part's was getting to catch up with a good friend of our's from college, Brita. We headed to Douglas on Saturday night to eat dinner with Brita and her boyfriend (Randy smoked chicken, salmon and pork....and it was awesome) and then kicked up our heels at the Douglas Fairgrounds for a late St. Patty's Day celebration. We're sitting on the steps of the Bisbee public library in the picture below (L-R: me, Brita and Anna).

The week following spring break was awesome - teaching went well and I enjoyed seeing my students again. I invited a bunch of friends over this past weekend for a big chile relleno fest. It was my first time to make this concoction in my kitchen and it turned out pretty well. I also made homemade beans and spanish rice to go along with it. I'd like to post recipe from this past weekend's cooking fest, so I'll try to get to that soon.

Hope all is well in your world. Thanks for checkin' in!

The ABC's of Me!

2010-03-14T16:22:00.005-07:00

I've seen several blogger buddies post their ABC's in the recent weeks, so I thought I would too.

A- Age: 27

B- Bed size: full; my parents refinished my great-grandmother's bedroom set and gave it to me as a birthday gift in high school so I've had a full bed since then. And I love it!

C- Chore you hate: pulling weeds

D- Dog's name: Johnnie Reb (referred to as JR on my blog, and yes she is a female, hence the "ie" on the end of her name)

E- Essential Food/Item: mini-food processor. It changed my life, my cooking life that is.

F- Favorite color: yellow

G- Gold or Silver: silver

H- Height: 5' 8 1/2" - I believed I was 5' 9" for most of my adult life until my sister made me measure my height and to my dismay I discovered I had lost a half inch. I guess I didn't really lose it, I never really had it. But it felt like I lost it. I've since moved on:-)

I- I am: daughter, sister, aunt, granddaughter, cousin. Daughter of the Living God.

J- Job: High School Agriculture Teacher and FFA Advisor - sometimes I can't believe I still go to high school everyday.

K- Kids: none, unles you count the 130 students I interact with on a daily basis.

L- Living Arrangements: 3-bedroom, 2 bathroom house that I bought after teaching only two weeks. I was really greedy about purchasing a house as soon as I got a "real job" but am so thankful the Lord has provided.

M- Mom's name: Mary Beth

N- Nickname: KJ, Katy-Joanie-Bonie, Ms. G, Kate-dawg, The Terminator (my student's call me that behind my back...j/k)

O- Overnight hospital stay: when I was born

P- Pet peeve: when people guilt me into socializing with them. Sometimes after I've been surrounded and questioned by 130 needy students all day the last thing I want to do is make small talk or hang out. I know, I know, I sound like a loner, but sometimes I just need a little peace and quiet.

Q- Quote from a movie: I can't remember any lines from a movie. I have a terrible memory.

R- Right or Left Handed: right

S- Siblings: Paul (older) and Anna (younger), both married to wonderful people!!

T- Time you wake up: please don't freak out...4:30am

U- Unique thing about your car: I have two decals on it stating that I'm an alum from the University of Arizona AND Florida!

V- Vegetable you hate: green olives...are the even a veggie?

W- Ways you run late: late bus drivers on school trips and late students

X- X-rays you've had: feet, ankles, chest and teeth

Y- Yummy food you make: I'm making refried beans tonight...and I hope they change my life. Other things I like to make and think I'm pretty good at: Shepherd's pie, peanut butter/chocolate chips/oatmeal cookies....that's about all I can think of while smelling these yummy beans in the background right now.

Z- Zoo favorite: elephants!

Why I do what I do

2010-03-09T17:39:00.004-07:00

So. I was grumpy and tired today. I am in dire need of spring break. Code Blue. Stat. NOW!!! I don't know how else to convey the sheer necessity of a break at this moment in time. The third quarter (January - March) is super busy and can be super stressful for me. I started praying about the preparation of my heart, mind and physical strength long before I started school in January, but 10 weeks can be a marathon. And I am at my point of breaking.

I know this to be true when my fuse is short and kids drive me nuts all day. Typically I am one of the most patient people I know. However, today, there wasn't much that didn't make me want to scream. There's only so many times I can repeat the same thing for 130+ students in one day.

Anyway, I was reminded this evening of "why I do what I do." 28 of my students are presenting in 10 elementary classrooms tomorrow morning; they will be teaching them how seeds turn into plants. An essential element of farming plants so that we can harvest food, right? I'm so excited for them to do this, however like all activities it requires planning and preparation. After a day like today, teaching for an additional hour after school to prepare students for another presentation can be taxing.

But as I waited for round two of preparation I was encouraged. (Isn't God good?) Even on the longest of long days, even on the shortest of short fuses, God is still in control and can lift me up using the same students that drove me crazy earlier in the same day. Mariah and Adrian were reading the Dr. Suess book they are going to use tomorrow; they rotated reading the pages. They laughed quietly exclaiming that this book taught them more about this process than they had ever learned before. And they were excited. Excited about teaching first and second graders about a process inherent to the success of agricultural crops.

What a day. God reminded me that I love my job. And sometimes I just need a gentle reminder.

Beef Choices

2010-03-07T16:47:00.000-07:00

In an effort to educate cattle producers across the nation, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) started a program called the Master’s of Beef Advocacy (MBA) program. Upon acceptance into the program you work through six courses that will not only educate you on modern beef production, but also better equip you to communicate the correct message when talking with consumers and adversaries. I have been enrolled in the program for about six months now and have completed a whopping 6% of my coursework!! Yay me. Real productive, I know. Anyway, in an effort to better retain the information I am learning about, I will be reporting to you! Aren’t you excited??? I’ll be your tour guide on this venture through the land of lean beef.

There are four choices consumers have today when it comes to method of beef production that affect the steak they can purchase at the store. There are many misconceptions and misuses of buzz words such as organic, natural and grass fed. In an effort to clear up some of the haze, please note the following clarifications.

1. Grain Finished Beef – these cattle on raised eating grass for most of their life; when they are about a year old they are placed on a ration of 70-90% concentrates (i.e. cereal grains) for anywhere for four to six months. The majority of beef in the US is grain finished.

2. Natural Beef – the USDA defines natural as “minimally processed and no additives.” By this definition most meat at your grocer is natural. Due to the loose definition of natural, there are many false claims surrounding this word. Naturally produced does not imply anything about growth hormones or antibiotic use.

3. Grass-fed Beef – most cattle spend the majority of their life eating grass; these cattle are finished on a forage based diet. Due to the need for grass consumption, most grass fed beef is imported from Australia where grass grows year round. Most consumers find that this type of beef has a distinct taste, much different than grain finished beef.

4. Certified Organic Beef – the USDA defined organic as beef cattle finished on a 100% organic feed, with no hormones and no antibiotics. Organic beef can be grain fed or grass fed. It is no safer or nutritious than any other type of beef; the only difference lies in the production method.

Today’s Take Home Message
Regardless of production method, American beef can meet the consumers’ demand for taste, nutrition and safety. Grocery stores offer a wider selection of beef products than ever before.

Happy Birthday Johnnie Reb!!

2010-03-04T07:26:00.002-07:00

As you may or may not know, I like to post pictures on the birthday of my family members. My dog is obviously not human, but she's like a kid for me so in honor of Johnnie Reb, today's blog post is in celebration of her first birthday. I got Johnnie Reb was she was just six weeks old and you can see that she was absolutely adorable as a pup.

I love loading her up in my truck and be-bopping around town or to taking her to visit my family. In the picture below, she was guarding my truck in the small town of Wellton, AZ on my first visit to my sister and brother-in-law's new house! She had really big ears for awhile so I'm glad she grew into them.

I soon changed my mind about leaving her in the cab of the truck after chewed several pages out of my prized planner, which in most cases acts as my short term memory. I was doing SAE visits (home visits) for my students last June and when I returned from visiting with a student's family, this was how she let me know that she wasn't pleased about being left behind.

I gave my dad a litter mate of JR's for a very, very early birthday present. Below Buck is on the right and JR is on the left. Buck is a great dog too, although is much stouter than JR. I love going home to visit my parent's and JR loves giving her brother a run for his money to see who is the most rambunctious and crazy dog!

Well, it's been a great year JR! I look forward to a couple more but I sure hope you grow out of this digging, chewing, plant-destroying phase that you're in. It sure makes things interesting now, but I would eventually like to see a garden of mine grow to fruition. I know you love me, right after your tennis ball, and am so glad that you're my little buddy.

PS-Thank you Sarah and Bryan Geiger for breeding such smart, fun and athletic Queensland Heeler's! I love both of you, and I love Janie too (JR's mom)!

Is this enough to say?

2010-03-02T12:35:00.003-07:00

Do you ever feel inadequate when praising God? I do, all the time. I wanted to share something from an insert in our church bulletin this past week. It's nice. (For those who know me well, you know that when I say nice, I say it in the most sincere manner.) But truly, it's far more than nice. Let this really soak in. Meditate on the characteristics of God which almost seem to be in opposition to each other, but are not, because it's God.

"You my God are supreme, utmost in goodness, mightiest and all powerful, most merciful and most just. You are the most hidden from us and yet the most present amongst us, the most beautiful and yet the most strong, ever enduring and yet we cannot comprehend you. You are unchangeable and yet you change all things. You are never new, never old, and yet all things have new life from you. You are the unseen power that brings decline upon the proud. You are ever active, yet always at rest. You gather all things to yourself, though you suffer no need. You support, you fill, and you protect all things. You create them, nourish them, and bring them to perfection; You seek to make them your own, though lack for nothing. You love your creatures, but with a gentle love. You treasure them but without apprehension. You grieve for wrong, but suffer no pain. You can be angry and yet serene. Your works are varied, but your purpose is one in the same. You welcome all who come to you, though you never lost them. You are never in need yet are glad to gain, never covetous yet you exact a return for your gifts. We give abundantly to you so that we may deserve a reward; yet which of us has anything that does not come from you? You repay us what we deserve, and yet you owe nothing to any. You release us from our debts, but you lose nothing thereby. You are my God, my Life, my holy Delight, but is this enough to say of you? Can any man say enough when he speaks of you? Yet woe befalls those who are silent about you! For even those are most gifted with speech cannot find words tod escribe you."

Augustine, Confessions, Book1, Part 4

Only a Farm Kid

2010-02-26T09:01:00.002-07:00

A Montana rancher got in his pickup and drove to a neighboring ranch and knocked at the door. A young boy, about nine, opened the door.

"Is your Dad home?" the rancher asked. "No sir, he isn't," the boy replied. "He went into town."

"Well," said the rancher, "Is your Mother here?" "No sir, she's not here either. She went into town with Dad."

"How about your brother, Howard, Is he here?" "No sir, He went with Mom and Dad." The rancher stood there for a few minutes, shifting from one foot to the other and mumbling to himself.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" the boy asked politely. "I know where all the tools are, if you want to borrow one. Or maybe I could take a message for Dad."

"Well," said the rancher uncomfortably, "I really wanted to talk to your Dad. It's about your brother Howard getting my daughter, Suzie, pregnant."' The boy considered for a moment. "You would have to talk to Pa about that," he finally conceded. "If it helps you any, I know that Pa charges $500 for the bull and $50 for the hog, but I really don't know how much he gets for Howard."

I thought all you "aggies" would enjoy this! Have a great weekend!

The Cowboy Boots

2010-02-19T12:39:00.001-07:00

A little humor for your Friday...

Did you hear about the Texas teacher who was helping one of her kindergarten students put on his cowboy boots? He asked for help and she could see why...even with her pulling and him pushing, the little boots still didn't want to go on. By the time they got the second boot on, she had worked up a sweat. She almost cried when the little boy said, 'Teacher, they're on the wrong feet.' She looked, and sure enough, they were. It wasn't any easier pulling the boots off than it was putting them on. She managed to keep her cool as together they worked to get the boots back on, this time on the right feet. He then announced, 'These aren't my boots.' She bit her tongue rather than get right in his face and scream, 'Why didn't you say so?' like she wanted to. Once again, she struggled to help him pull the ill-fitting boots off his little feet. No sooner had they gotten the boots off when he said, 'They're my brother's boots. My mom made me wear 'em.' Now she didn't know if she should laugh or cry. But, she mustered up what grace and courage she had left to wrestle the boots on his feet again. Helping him into his coat, she asked, 'Now, where are your mittens?' He said, 'I stuffed 'em in the toes of my boots.

She will be eligible for parole in three years.

Beef Giveaway

2010-02-18T09:20:00.001-07:00

Check out my sister's blog "Life be Delicious" for her first giveaway! She's giving a whopping $25 gift certificate away to purchase beef! You can't beat that! Stop by and say hello to her!

Lone Survivor

2010-02-15T07:58:00.002-07:00

The older I've become, the more I enjoy reading military and warfare stories. Hence, my recent enjoyment of Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of Seal Team 10. The story was written by Marcus Luttrell, an actual SEAL, and Patrick Robinson, author of best selling US Navy based novels. Below is a brief description of the book -

On a clear night in late June 2005, four US Navy Seals left their base in northern Afghanistan for the mountainous Pakistani border. Their mission: to capture or kill a notorious al Qaeda leader. Less than twenty-four hours later, only one of the Navy SEALs remained alive.

This is the story of fire time leader Marcus Luttrell and the desperate battle in the mountains that led, ultimately, to the largest loss of life in Navy SEAL history. But it is also, more than anything, the story of the men who fought ferociously beside him until he was the last one left. Luttrell recalls their valiant efforts in one of the most powerful narratives ever written about modern warfare--a stirring tribute to his teammates, who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

This book held me captive for four days as I hurried to read what happened next. The end is bittersweet, but well worth the read. I've always respected and admired our country's service men and women, but even more so after reading this book. What struck me most, was the precarious balance US special forces must deal with as they enter the most dangerous locations worldwide. The US government makes a major investment in special forces - training them to withstand the worst conditions, sharpening them physically and mentally and then arming them to the teeth so they can succeed in any circumstance. However, the US government then (almost) limits these forces with rules of engagement. Before I move forward with this, let me preface that I am not well versed in the rules of engagement (ROE) that govern modern warfare. I will say though that Luttrell's account struck a chord in my heart and I feel his viewpoint. I want to share one excerpt from chapter one that describes this:

"It's been an insiduous progression, the criticisms of the U.S. Armed Forces from politicians and from the liberal media, which knows nothing of combat, nothing of our training, and nothing of the mortal dangers we face out there on the front line. Each of the six of us in that aircraft en route to Afghanistan had constantly in the back of our minds the ever-intrusive rules of engagement. These are drawn up for us to follow by some politician sitting in a distant room in Washington D.C. And that's a very long way from the battlefield where some sniper's bullet can blast your head, where the slightest mistake can cost our life, where you need to kill your enemy before he kills you."

Our Special Forces must carefully balance their adherance to ROE while still managing to stay alive in situations that 99.9% of Americans would never willingly volunteer to enter into. I applaud the men and women who serve our country. They've sacrificed many things so they can serve, but most importantly they willingly put their lives on the line to protect our country and the freedoms of others around the globe.

This book is a short read, a quick read, and a worthwhile read. It will open your eyes to how well trained our Special Forces are, and will instill a new sense of pride in the patriotism of US military personnel.

Thanks for sharing your story Marcus, I appreciate the sacrifice you made with your teammates in those Afghanistan mountains.

Faithfulness

2010-02-12T08:12:00.002-07:00

One of my favorite stories in all the bible is found in Genesis 22 – God tells Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering. Abraham starts preparing immediately and departs early the next morning with Isaac, two of his servant and wood for the burnt offering in tow. Three days into the journey they arrive. Abraham commands his servants to stay put and then loads Isaac up with the firewood (he is carrying the wood that he is sent to be the burnt offering over). As they begin walking, Isaac asks Abraham where the lamb is for the burnt offering. With nary a bit of doubt, Abraham replies that the Lord will provide Himself with a lamb (God foreshadowed his own provision of Jesus). Once they arrive at the place God has told him, Abraham binds Isaac and lays him on the altar. Abraham’s hand is outstretched with a knife when an angel interrupts him telling him not to lay a hand on Isaac. As Abraham turns he notices a ram caught in the thicket nearby.

Despite my love for this story, I haven’t had a very deep understanding of it until recently. Let’s rewind and review a bit of what I know about Abe. Abraham and his wife Sarah waited 25 years for Isaac to be born after God originally promised them. When Isaac was finally born, Abraham was 100 years old (Genesis 21:1-12). During that 25 year period, Abraham did not have a bible available to him; he simply had to wait for God to reveal himself; and reveal himself He did. Over those 25 years God promised Abraham that He would bless Abraham and his descendants through a son from his own loins. Abraham’s descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the dust in all the earth. (Genesis 12:1-3, 13:14-16, 15:1-8, 17:15-21)

Now I don’t know about you but I have the bible right in front of me, in fact I read it almost every day, yet my faith is not near what Abraham’s was. I’m not sure what my reaction would have been if God appeared and told me to sacrifice the son I waited 25 years for. In discussing this story last night with my Hebrews study group, it really hit home though when we started discussing Isaac. Isaac was not a small boy when God commanded Abraham to do this. Isaac was 40 – a grown man. A grown man that was probably much stronger at this point than his father who was now 140 years old. The bible doesn’t say, but I don’t think Abraham told Isaac at first where they were going. I am assuming though that Abraham finally told Isaac that he was the burnt offering. Isaac had to have willingly submitted to his father, allowing his arms and legs to be bound, and then maybe even hobbling over to the altar to be sacrificed. Isaac could have easily gotten away with his advantage in age and strength, but he didn’t. Why?

Throughout Genesis, Abraham is a wonderful picture of faithfulness toward God. God revealed Himself and Abraham believed. It is obvious by this story that Abraham instilled this same faith and obedience to the Lord in his own son who willingly allowed himself to be led to the altar. Isn’t that crazy? While I am not a parent, God willing I will be someday. And if I am entrusted with children, I pray that I too may instill faith, reverence and obedience in my children, so much so that if asked they would submit as Isaac did.

Now let’s talk a little more about Abraham. Abraham was confident that God was faithful and powerful enough to fulfill his promise of abundant descendants – God specifically told him that it was through Isaac that all his descendants would inherit God’s promise of blessing (Genesis 17:19). Abraham’s faith in God allowed him (somehow) to believe in some type of resurrection for Isaac if he carried through with the sacrifice. Romans 4:17-21 tells us that Abraham was fully assured that what God had promised, He was fully able to perform. Hebrews 11:17-19 tells us that Abraham knew God could raise Isaac back from the dead if necessary.

After studying Abraham’s story in light of what the New Testament says, I have come to love this story even more. It is my ravenous desire that my faith might grow solidly under God’s teaching. I have God’s word before me at my whim, yet I don’t access it with the reverence and obedience that Abraham did when God revealed Himself. I pray that Abraham’s story would serve as motivation and encouragement for you – what’s holding you back from believing God’s promise of faithfulness and blessing?

Doggie Graduation x2

2010-02-10T17:38:00.003-07:00

Yep, you guessed it. Johnnie Reb graduated from her Intermediate Obedience class at PetSmart last night! She can officially sit and lay for 30 seconds...and with distractions!! She can bow, with some encouragement though. She knows to get "on her bed" although she only obeys this command occasionally. She can sit, stay and then come when I'm not in view (i.e. hiding in another row at PetSmart or in another room at home). She can also wait when told to wait at the door until permission is given to come. So smart, I know! I may be biased, but I also think she's the cutest one in the picture!

Milk vs. Steak

2010-02-04T07:23:00.001-07:00

This post is not about the superiority of beef over all dairy products. Nor is it about milk or beef production. It’s about the call Christians have to pursue maturity over infancy in their walk with Jesus Christ.

This January marked the start of part two of the Hebrews bible study I joined last September; I was home sick yesterday with strep throat so I had plenty of time to review the teachings of the past couple of weeks and refine my thoughts in regard to this subject. I also thought it was somewhat timely to discuss the needs of infants since more than five friends have had babies this past year!!

In Hebrews 5:13-14 the author says, “For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”

I have read this passage many times before but it took on new meaning yesterday. I have been a Christian for close to 15 years and I like to think of myself as a mature Christian but it hit me yesterday that I often act like a newborn in my faith. How do I know this to be true? Actions define my stage of maturity just like they defined the spiritual maturity of the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 3:1-9. Paul said he had to speak to them as if they were people of the world or spiritual babes; if I were there that same warning would have applied to me too because of my sinful, infant-like behavior. All too often I am jealous. I covet. I squabble with my sister or my mom and then justify it because I was tired in the moment. I am bitter…often…towards the work ethics of those I work closely with. And to top it all off, I am prideful. Quietly prideful, because I wouldn’t want anyone to accuse me of being so.

These sinful tendencies of mine clearly classify me as a part of those believers who are infants and adolescents. Now, listen to what Peter says in 1 Peter 2:1-3, “So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. Like newborn babies you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for the nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.”

Picture a hungry baby – yelling, squirming, angry that it even has to cry for its food. The whole of that infants’ being cries out for sustenance with focus and determination. The baby is immediately satisfied as soon as it starts nursing, but does so with just as much intense focus as before. Peter is urging us to crave the basic teaching of God with the same intense focus and driven nature as an actual babe. He wants us to know that our basic existence depends on this very thing; we will not grow if we do not seek this sustenance. But just as an infant grows and his palate matures and begins to desire real food, so must our sustenance in the Lord change. We must first seek the basic teachings of Christ so that we may mature to more complex and meaningful teachings. We aren’t instantly meat eaters, we must build up our strength with milk first.

Do not be discouraged if your actions, like mine, are those of an adolescent. I’m not condoning your sinful nature; I’m trying to encourage you. After strongly chastising his Hebrew audience about their lack of spiritual growth, the author goes on in 6:9 and says with confidence, “But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way.” I am convinced of better things concerning you too – I pray you are convicted. I pray you fiercely and passionately desire sustenance in Christ, regardless if that sustenance is currently spiritual milk or spiritual steak.

Tomato Peach BBQ Sauce

2010-02-02T12:31:00.006-07:00

While in San Antonio last week, I stopped by the "Go Texan" booth and grabbed this yummy recipe! (Side note - I was at the National Cattlemen's winter meeting.) The recipe card had an awesome picture of brisket covered in this savory barbecue sauce. Enjoy!

Ingredients
1/2 cup bacon, chopped
1 medium sized onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tomato, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 T worcestershire sauce
1/2 T whole black peppercorns
2 peaches, halved, pitted and diced
1 cup red wine
2 oranges, juice and zest
1 cup ketchup
Juice of 2 lemons
1/2 t tabasco pepper sauce
1 T chili powder

Directions
Cook bacon in saucepan until brown. Add onions and garlic and cook until caramelized. Add remaining ingredients and simmer until reduced by 1/3. Puree in blender until smooth. Baste brisket (or other meat) with BBQ sauce. Wrap in foil and cook until fork tender.

Tabasco Pepper

Wonderful Weekends

2010-01-25T08:33:00.004-07:00

I love weekends! Who doesn't, right? The month of January has been a month full of weekend blessings and I wanted to share some pictures to help explain.

Blessing #1 - My students. I love my job...most days. :) I took two livestock judging teams to the Arizona National Stock Show over winter break and enjoyed my time immensely with this particular group. Really. Fun. Seriously.

Blessing #2 - My family. While this picture only depicts the females in my immediate family, I still want to send a shout out to my dad and bro. I am so blessed by and provided for through them. Thanks for encouraging me, laughing with and at me and pushing me to do what's right and to always work harder. (This picture of my sister, mom, sister-in-law and myself was taken at a friend's baby shower.)

Blessing #3 - Friends from college. Trisha, Alix and I attended Arizona's premier University (The Univ. of AZ) at the same time. Trisha hosted a bridal shower for Alix whom is marrying a Texan come May. It was soo great seeing both of you!

Blessing #4 - Friends from Florida. After Alix's shower I spent the remainder of my MLK weekend with Jeremy, Rebekah and Sophie Copeland in Sahuarita. The last time I visited them was June 2009 and it was right after Sophie made her debut in this world. (Click the link to see pictures of Sophie then.) It was wonderful catching up with this family and I am so thankful for their treasured friendship.

Are Celebrities crossing the line?

2010-01-21T07:20:00.000-07:00

YES!! Can I get an amen? Ahem, sorry for my excitement, I guess I got a little ahead of myself. I’ll explain. In a December 23 article in the Life Section of USA Today, author Liz Szabo asks if celebrities are crossing the line on medical advice.

Jenny McCarthy says the pediatrician who vaccinated her son is “guilty for his autism.” Lance Armstrong raises money for cancer, and advocates policy changes instead of certain treatments to help patients. Suzanne Somers touts alternative cancer treatments that experts say have been debunked for years.

I think it’s safe to say that celebrities cross the line in many areas, but an especially important one being giving medical advice. I have no idea why someone would proceed with a treatment or take a side in a medical argument with a celebrity as opposed to any medical physician. Sadly enough, it happens. Physicians have legions more knowledge and years of practical experience to draw upon as opposed to celebrities who casually make statements without realizing their influence.

Another area that celebrities cross the line too often is the agricultural arena, an area many of you know I hold near and dear. Using the same logic as above, why would the American public take advice or consider the totally uneducated and inexperienced opinion of a celebrity (or politician) in issues pertaining to production agriculture? I think most people with average intelligence understand that it is wiser to seek medical advice from a doctor as opposed to a celebrity. Why then do these same people not make this parallel here? If I wanted to know what war was like, I’d ask someone who has been in the trenches. If I was considering switching careers from education to baking, I’d ask a pastry chef or someone who’d started their own small bakery.

If I wanted to know how a cow was slaughtered, I’d ask someone who has done it. In seeking the truth though, I would try to postpone making hasty decisions regarding my opinion until I fully understood the process. Instead of sighing and thinking about all the blood involved in harvesting an animal, I’d ask questions about the process. Why is it done this way and not that? What safety issues have been taken into consideration? If I wanted to know about vegetable production, I’d find a farmer and ask them about the chemical products they apply. How do you calculate the rates? How is it absorbed? What are the products designed to do? Are they safe, and would you feed them to your family?

I am willing to bet that American farmers and ranchers would be more than willing to share information with you regarding their production methods if they were simply asked. May this be admonishment for my fellow food producers – take the time to share what you do with people. Put a face on the American farmer. May this also be a wakeup call for those of you take advice from the wrong people, including celebrities. Go to the source, find a professional and wait before you form an opinion.

Happy (REALLY late) Birthday D!

2009-12-29T11:10:00.003-07:00

I wanted to start a new tradition on my blog of posting a few pictures on the birthdays of family members; I started by telling my youngest nephew, P, happy birthday in November. However, I totally missed my niece, D's, birthday in early December. So, in an effort to follow through with this new blog-tradition, here are retroactive birthday wishes to my oldest niece, D.

D, I love your love for life. You are creative, artistic and curious. You never fail to amaze me as you create "stuff" out of nothing.

You can pout with the best of them, and despite your super sad eyes that make an occasional appearance, I love your competitive nature.

I can't wait to watch you continue growing and maturing into a beautiful, smart and talented young lady during 2010! Happy birthday, and I'm sorry the wishes are late on my blog:)

End of the Spear

2009-12-28T09:49:00.002-07:00

I watched the movie "End of the Spear" this weekend and it was great! It's the story of American missionaries who were speared to death at the hands of Waodani tribesmen in Ecuador. I loved the story because it made me think how the message of Jesus can be shared across language and cultural barriers. It's a well-made Christian movie and it even involves some action! Here's the description from the DVD case:

Many years after his missionary father was speared to death at the hands of Waodani tribesmen, a young man returns to the Ecuadorian jungle to meet the native who murdered his father and learn the truth about his family's legacy. The result if a life-altering experience that brings him closer to the kin of his father's killer.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T18:20:00.002-07:00

A merriest Christmas to you and yours! I pray you had a blessed day celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Christmas Greetings

2009-12-22T07:20:00.005-07:00

Merry Christmas!

It is with great joy that I write you, and yes I mean each of you. I fondly think of each individual and family as I address envelopes (or write emails) or open the letters you already sent. God has richly blessed me with your friendship and it is with genuine love and thanksgiving for you that I send this Christmas letter.

My second year ended much better than the first; I worked really hard to establish boundaries during the year so that I could have some type of division between my professional life as an Ag teacher and my personal life. While I obviously do not have a famiy waiting on me at home, I knew it was not healthy (nor sustainable) to continue working the same number of hours as I did my first year. Hard as it was to leave a long "to do" list on my desk and papers ungraded many a night, I found myself making more time for communicating with family and friends and hobbies. I also found some time for stress relief in the way of good 'ol exercise:) My principal retired at the end of year two and with my new administration came a welcomed change of pace and management styles. My third year got off to a great start and I have thoroughly enjoyed my incoming class of freshmen Ag students, going strong at 84 students!! Teaching has gone smoother than ever but I continue to be a "student" of teaching. I have a feeling I will never stop learning about the art (and science) of teaching.

Another interesting and exciting highlight of 2009 was my younger sister's wedding in April! Anna and Bass officially became Mr. and Mrs. Aja on April 24 on the lawn at my parent's home. While I have been in wedding parties before, this one was especially fun to stand by as my sister prepared to embark on this new journey. The ceremony was beautiful, the weather was perfect and my family was so grateful for everyone who came to share in the special evening. Anna and Bass hosted the entire Groseta crew for Thanksgiving at their new home in Wellton (AZ); I was definitely impressed with our host's and look forward to our next holiday with them!

After preparing the lawn and house for the wedding, my mom and dad hosted several other events in the following weeks; they hosted a ranch tour and a group of teachers traveling around Arizona for the Summer Ag Institute. Mom continues to work hard to keep her quilt store successful; she did a long term promotion this past year giving out "quilt bucks" as a customer reward. The event ended with a live auction where they could buy all kinds of items, fabric included, using their quilt bucks and it was a huge success! Dad ended his term as president of National Cattlemen's in January but has continued his involvement on the local, state and national levels. Paul and Gretchen (my brother and sister-in-law) keep busy with their brood of my four nieces and nephews. Paul has been driving to the far reaches of Arizona completing appraisals and getting several ranch listings and in addition to the PTA, Gretchen has been working as the Executive Secretary for Yavapai CattleGrowers. As you can tell, life is never quiet around the Groseta Ranch Headquarters!

I can't end this letter without telling you about the new love of my life. No, no, no folks I do not mean a boyfriend, I mean a d-o-g! I got a little female Queensland Heeler pup the same week Anna got married. I named her Johnnie Reb and she is a perfect match for my personality...super energetic! I have had a lot of fun taking her through beginning training classes this fall and am preparing for an intermediate class this winter.

I cannot close my 2009 Christmas letter without praising God for his provision and generosity during 2009; I am continually in awe of the Lord we serve and the earth He created for us to enjoy. I pray 2010 brings continued health for your family and plenty of rain for your ranches.

Love,
Katy (and Johnnie Reb)

Hot Mama!

2009-12-14T07:01:00.003-07:00

After hiking the Elliott Ramada Trail at Papago Park in Scottsdale this past Saturday, a friend and I headed to Lulu's Cupcakes. We figured we deserved to ingest some extra calories after our grueling 2.7 mile hike on a paved walkway;) We each got a four-pack of delightfully decorated, oh-so scrumptious cupcakes. My four-packed included one lemon wedge (bought for my mom who I was going to see on Saturday night), one Eggnog cupcake with vanilla glaze, one Great Pumpkin cupcake with cream cheese frosting and one Hot Mama. The Hot Mama cupcake, pictured below, is a chocolate cupcake made with Mexican chocolate and chili pepper. It was the perfect balance of chocolate and spiciness; the chocolate was subtle and the chili pepper just kind of warmed my mouth. Delightful. I would buy it again. Twice. In one day.

The Throne Room

2009-12-05T06:19:00.003-07:00

I love watching movies that involve some type of king or queen from long ago. The gowns and jewels they wear are ornate and beautiful. Their conversation is formal, restrictive almost in its ability to help them connect with one another. And their throne rooms are exquisite. Surrounded by their court of subjects, the king and queen sit on magnificent thrones, their robes lay in expensive piles around their feet and their heads are adorned with heavy crowns.

While I love the culture depicted in scenes like the one above, I have no connection with it. The society that we live in today does not demand that I bow and kiss the ground as the President graces it. I have profound respect for our President and the position he holds, but I do not fear physical harm from him like some people did of their kings and rulers.

Cultures involving kings are different and this includes the culture of Christianity. After explaining why Christ followers should endure and not turn back, the author of Hebrews says "Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16, emphasis mine) Have you ever thought about how grand a command this is?

If we think the throne rooms of medievel times are impressive, let's try describing God's throne room:

"Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder." Rev 4:5a
"And before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal..." Rev 4:6a
"...the voice of man angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands" (Rev 5:11)

God's throne room will forever trump any throne room that we have seen. He is the creator of the universe; his grandeur and glory are greater than we can even fathom. We will be dwarfed by the hugeness of everything contained in this throne room. He deserves this throne room as well as the adoration of men and angels.

As we think of this, again, think of how wonderful the command given in Hebrews 4:16 is. Draw near with confidence to the throne of grace. In His infinite wisdom and mercy, God gave us His son so that we might be able to draw near with CONFIDENCE to find MERCY and GRACE in our time of need. Wow. If imagining the throne room of God doesn't take your breath away, the opportunity we have in drawing near should.

I praise God for being able to approach His throne; I am thankful that Jesus has granted me this access. I ask for help in remembering the great cost of my access to God's throne room so that I might approach God with greater respect, admiration and thanksgiving. May it be the habit of my heart to come before God knowing I have been commanded to draw near with confidence in my time of need.

Turkey Day Trivia with a bit of thanks on the side

2009-11-26T11:31:00.003-07:00

What president tried changing the date of Thanksgiving?

Drumroll please........

FDR! In 1939 he proposed moving the date forward one week to extend the holiday shopping season. I understand his thought process considering the US was coming out of the Depression Era and we were involved in the war. Stimulating consumer spending would have been wonderful; however citizens around the country were divided. After two years of debate at the state level, he decided to officially leave the date alone.

Happy Thanksgiving to my family, and family of friends!!

I am soo thankful for the rich relationships that the Lord has blessed me with! I pray you have a restful holiday!

Happy Birthday P!

2009-11-23T19:21:00.006-07:00

Happy birthday to you,

happy birthday to you,

happy birthday dear cowboy P,

happy birthday to you!!

I love you P and I love watching you grow! It's hard to believe that you were the tiny baby I held after Thanksgiving 2006...you've grown big so quickly! I love your curiosity, the fact you love cows and your smile! Have a great third birthday buddy.

My little graduate

2009-11-21T07:29:00.005-07:00

Johnnie Reb (JR) and I have been attending puppy obedience class for the past eight weeks, and last night JR graduated after passing her eight "tests." She had to demonstrate her ability to follow commands for various things like come, sit and stay, lay and stay, walking on a leash, the "leave it" command and shake. We are going to start our intermediate class in three weeks where we will continue building on these skills. Tracy, our trainer, says one of the primary goals of intermediate obedience is to develop self control. JR will have to demonstrate the commands I listed above with distractions and with me leaving her side.

I had so much fun doing this and I felt like I was the getting trained at times too. Enjoy the picture below....JR knows she's a star:-) Have a great weekend!

Thankful for Ranchers and Farmers

2009-11-16T19:53:00.004-07:00

With Thanksgiving rapidly approaching I find myself frequently thinking of things that I am thankful for. I wish this attitude of thankfulness was contagious to the other ten months of my year, but I guess that is something I can work on in 2010. With that said, I want to briefly describe a group of individuals who I am thankful for at least three times a day.

As the fourth generation to be raised on my family's cow-calf operation in northern Arizona, I fully comprehend what it takes to get beef from the gate of the pasture to the plate of a hungry consumer. I'll list a few things that I am especially thankful for:

I am thankful that ranchers and farmers are good stewards of the land they produce food on. Serving as good caretakers directly benefits them because if they misuse or abuse it, they will not be able to pass it on to their children. If they are to ensure the sustainability and longevity of their operation, you can be they will do all they can to protect, provide and invest in their land.
I am thankful for the abudance of American agricultural products. Technology and transportation have evolved over time, making more products available to more Americans.
I am thankful for the affordability of food in America. Relative to the rest of the world, Americans spend the least amount of their money to purchase food. People in other countries spend anywhere from 25% to 65% of their money on food simply so they can eat while Americans spend approximately 10%.
I am thankful for the high standards that American farmers and ranchers continually meet and surpass. The food we produce is not only great tasting, it is also safe. American agriculturists meet the strictest food safety standards anywhere in the world.

If you haven't thought about the effort that goes into raising the food on your plate, please take a moment to do so. If you want more information on production agriculture in America feel free to post a comment or question and I will respond directly.

Note: This blog was in response to the "food fight" that National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) and other agriculture commodity groups are launching against mainstream media. If you are involved in production agriculture, please join this "food fight" and post reasons why you are thankful for America's farmers and ranchers on your own blog.

Jesus was a man

2009-11-13T04:31:00.003-07:00

If someone were to ask me a series of true-false questions about Jesus I feel like I would get most of them correct.

True-Mary was Jesus' mother
True-Jesus was born in a stable
True-Jesus came to earth as a man, yet was still God

But if I had to describe something in detail about the nature of Jesus as a man, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to describe it in depth. That is until last night. Now, don't let me mislead you here, I'm not trying to win a bible trivia contest. I just wanted to admit that something HUGE clicked for me last night during week 8 of our Hebrews bible study.

I've always assumed (incorrectly) that Jesus had a man's body but was operating with God's brain. How else then could he live a perfectly blameless life, right? I don't know any human being who has ever been able to live a sin free life; there always seems to be something entangling us. The one person that this does not apply to is Jesus; he was wholly man (even his brain and thought process) and yet he remained sin-free his entire life. Now, let me back this up with a little evidence just so that we're scripturally on the same page.

Jesus was conceived in Mary's womb just as any other child would have been (Luke 1:26-35). Jesus had siblings and was son to a carpenter (Luke 2:4-12); he was was made fun of like a regular Jewish child (Matthew 13:55-56). He was circumcised and sacrifices were offered to God on his behalf (Luke 2:21-24). He wasn't born all knowing about scripture, but He grew in wisdom and stature, having to learn just like other children (Luke 2:51-52).

That Luke 2 reference is what really took my breath away last night. Jesus didn't just know everything. He was learning alongside other Jewish children. Now let's take this a step further. If it wasn't hard enough for Jesus (God of the universe) to simply be a human in every aspect, he also had to take on sin even though he was sinless. Wrap your human mind around that. Would you want to/be able to bear the weight of the world's sin? Once for all time. Completely.

I know that it is a stretch to imagine taking on the sin of the world so let's break that down a bit more. Look at Luke 22:39-44 or Matthew 26:36-44. Jesus knows what lays ahead of him and he is praying about it all night to God; he even tells his disciples "my soul is crushed with grief to the point of death." Let's apply that to us, yep, you and me. Have you ever been witness to sin or participated in it, and somewhere in the middle you were overcome with grief and disappointment because you realized the severity of what was going on. And I'm not even talking about something like murder. I distinctly remember a time in my sophomore year of college when I was out-and-out avoiding God on purpose. Refusing to pray and refusing to read the bible for months. The weight of putting God off was like getting hit with a load of bricks head on. We each have experiences with sin but realizing how heavy that sin can be around our neck can be staggering. Now imagine this. Jesus-wholly man. Never sinned. Perfect in every aspect. He took on the sin of the world, once for all time and for every person that will ever exist. Ah, now I get what he means when his soul was being crushed to the point of death. I imagine his earthly body having a hard time breathing. I imagine feeling like I was being torn apart.

Can you imagine any other human being doing this? I can't. While he was praying in the garden, he asked God for another "cup" but ended with a request for God's will to be completed in his life, not his own. In addition to not being able to fathom the weight of the world's sin on a perfect and blameless man, I also can't imagine myself asking God in this situation for his will to be completed over mine.

Do you get it now? Jesus-human being in every aspect, including his brain and thought process. He lived a perfect life, tempted in every way we are, yet remained sinless. This wholly human being took on sin. For us. You, me, my neighbors. It still takes my breath away just thinking about it. A man died for me. Jesus died for me.

Joyful and Content

2009-11-12T09:58:00.003-07:00

I have just a second now to post, I'm actually at school in between teaching right now. I wanted to share something God put on my heart this morning though. There was a brief moment on my drive that I felt an overwhelming reminder that I can be joyful and fully content in God anytime, anywhere. Regardless of my current situation, good or bad, challenge or blessing. I know this isn't a breakthrough, but my emotions have been on a pendulum this week; swinging from unsettling feelings about feeling purposeless on Tuesday all the way to other extreme of feeling fully joyful and content this morning. I am hesitant to trust my "feelings" because they are temporary and shifting; far from being a feeling though is understanding that my identity in God brings joy and contentment. It is something I am confident of.

Just wanted to share. Boldy proclaim. Praise God.

Halloween Happenings

2009-11-02T07:06:00.003-07:00

I was in Cottonwood this past weekend and thought I'd share some pictures....I'll narrate as I go. After I stopped for a bite to eat at mom and dad's I went over to P & G's to get a glimpse of some good 'ol fashioned jack-o-lantern carving. You can see my brother doing a magnifico job! You can also see my sis-in-law's completed pumpkin with "Boo" on it.

Here are the kiddos posing with one of the completed pumpkins. I love J's scary face:-)

I had to get one picture of G in this cute jacket...I made it a few years back for D when she was younger. It's now the perfect size for G; doesn't she look darn cute?

Please note the black ears of some cute heeler puppies below us. My dog actually made it over to P & G's first; she definitely took G out in one swift jump. G didn't mind so much as my mom did!

After carving was complete for the night, the girls had to try their hand at snapping a few pictures with my camera. Do you like the interesting angle in this one?

After getting some work done on Saturday morning, we watched D's fall gymnastics performance. Here she is on the balance beam...good job D! You did a great job!!

Saturday concluded with some trick-or-treating in Clarkdale and Old Town Cottonwood. J was Iron Man, D was a rockstar ferry, G was a cat, and P was spider man....please note spider man's boots.

I'm back....

2009-10-28T07:52:00.003-07:00

Hello friends....no I haven't fallen off the face of the earth! I've just been away for work and having some internet connection issues at home. I just wanted to give a quick update this morning on recent happenings...

I traveled to Indianapolis, IN last week with 14 of my students for the National FFA Convention last week! The weather was great and I really enjoyed this particular group of students I was with. I also had the chance to run into several friends, both those who are Ag teachers and those who are not, so all in all it was a great time last week.

School has been going well; my worst student (this year AND of all time) moved away two weeks ago. I hate to say it, but he was a management nightmare and it is a blessing he is gone. With his move, I thought my 6th period class would dramatically improve. I was correct in my thinking, however there was a group of boys in that class who treated my sub terrible last week. They got a good tongue lashing on Monday....I've officially decided if a child of mine ever treats a sub (or regular teacher) that way, I will tie their arms behind their back and make them pick weeds with their toes for three weeks. Sometimes student behavior still mystifies me. Should I be more upset with the student or their parents for the way they raised them???

I'm headed home to see my folks, and my brother's lovely family this Halloween weekend. Looking forward to sitting on the front porch, enjoying the reprieve from the city and trick-or-treating with my nieces and nephews. Hopefully I'll get a chance to post some pictures this weekend...have a great second half of the week!

Progressive? I think not!

2009-10-18T10:00:00.003-07:00

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) gave Baltimore Public Schools the "Proggy" Award for 2009 for establishing Meatless Mondays in their school system this year. Tony Geraci, the school district’s food and nutrition director was quoted in the Baltimore Sun as saying: “Tapping into a national campaign, the ‘Meatless Monday’ program is intended to make lunches more healthful, stretch the district's food budget and raise awareness about the environmental impact of large-scale meat production.”

Progressive? What?! Instead of progressive, I would desribe that as ignorant. The sole part of Geraci's quote that I can agree with is the part about stretching the budget. Protein is understandably the most expensive part of any diet. Expensive but necessary. But making it more healthful? Environmental impact? What about telling both sides of the story? Unfortunately though, where PETA is concerned, there is only one side to tell.

While I fully support the inclusion of an animal protein source in diets, the following points specifically speak to the value of including beef.

Eating less lean beef will not solve the greenhouse gas problem, but it will negatively affect our diet quality by restricting a rich source of important nutrients. Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency worldwide, and beef provides the most readily available and easily absorbed source of iron.
For America’s farming and ranching families, our land is not just where we raise cattle, it’s also where we raise our families. That means we have a personal stake in the quality of our environment; we always are looking for new ways to improve the air, land and water on or near our property.

I'm not so much disappointed in PETA as I am the move that Baltimore Public Schools made in pursuing this so called progressive decision. Maybe next time they will do a little more research when it comes to doing something that affects the 82,500 students in that district.

My Little "Helper"

2009-10-14T19:35:00.003-07:00

I took advantage of my time over fall break to do quite a few things, one of them being change a few things in my classroom. And I had to bring Johnnie Reb of course...when I'm not teaching she's my little sidekick. I just throw her in the truck (okay, she actually jumps in herself) and off we go. She does really well in my classroom. You can see just how helpful she was below:-) When she wasn't wrestling and chewing on butcher paper for my bulletin boards she was trying to eat gum off the bottom of the tables. No joke. Dis-gus-ting. I still think she's cute as heck though, even though she eats ABC gum (already been chewed).

And here you can see my (ahem) our finished products.

PS-Thanks Emily for letting me use your borders!! I love shopping at "Emily's Educational Store."

La Ranchita: Then & Now

2009-10-13T05:45:00.003-07:00

When I first started this blog in 2007 I didn't have a clear purpose. Or maybe I should say, the purpose wasn't yet clear to me. If you asked me then I would have said I was starting a blog because I was going to eliminate my Facebook account. I had been so bombarded with information in my teacher prep courses about professionalism that I felt Facebook was not in my best interest as a blossoming high school teacher. So I started my blog with the intent of keeping in touch as I returned to family in Arizona and left friends in Florida.

If you asked me now I would say that I write about the three things I am most passionate about: God, my family (yes, this includes friends) and agriculture. While it may be random thoughts or a soapbox issue that I must get off my chest, I love having the opportunity to communicate in writing. I never thought I would enjoy writing as much as I do for this purpose, but it's true.

Two years later though I am more confident about the direction of this blog and it's purpose in my life. So what's with the name then: La Ranchita? Growing up on a cow-calf ranch in north central Arizona permanently planted the long term desire in my heart to someday have a ranch of my own to call home. For now though, this is simply an idea knowing that I can make a home wherever I am because where I am, there God also resides in my heart. La Ranchita is a chance to welcome family and friends into my "home" and share what I am most passionate about....just as if you were to come and stay awhile at the ranch I hope to someday own.

With this reflection on where I've come, and where I'm going, I plan on changing the profile found on my bio but I would like some feedback from you-please let me know what you think about this:

Loving life as a rancher’s daughter, now removed from the family cattle operation and teaching high school agriculture in central Arizona. More importantly though, I am a daughter of the living God, never to be removed from His kingdom. Someday I hope to own my own ranch but until then welcome to my current frontier—I hope you enjoy learning about my passion for God, my family and agriculture.

Quotable moments

2009-10-09T11:06:00.003-07:00

I'm on fall break this week and have enjoyed every moment of it thus far. I started the break by visiting my folks and brother's family in northern Arizona, returned on Monday to clean my house and then worked all day on Tuesday in my classroom. I flew to Indianapolis on Wednesday to spend the remainder of my break with my former college roomie and long time friend, Amanda. She is a third year PhD student in Agricultural Economics at Purdue. It's been a nice break but I did come down with a small headcold...yuck! I've still enjoyed catching up though and actually experiencing some true fall weather. I wanted to share a couple of quotes from this week though that made me chuckle-

(after climbing in Amanda's truck at the Indy airport)
Me: "You're like a comfortable pair of shoes."
Amanda: "You're like my favorite handbag."

Isn't that what good friends are like? Even if you don't live in the same town, or have coffee every day, there is still a comfortable familiarity that resumes once you're with them again. I love this quote too because it totally reflects our personalities (to a point).

(we grabbed coffee midday at Java Roaster coffee house)
Amanda: "Can we have two large coconut coffees with skim milk in each?"
Me: "Actually can I have whole milk in one?"
Barista: "We only have skim; we're like...2020 or something in here already."

The barista's comment totally made me laugh because instead of saying that they're more health minded, he says they're more 2020 or something. Totally funny.

Amanda is actually teaching right now and I'm taking advantage of a few unoccupied moments to read email and blog. We're headed to Chicago tonight to watch the Ryan Montbleau Band, catch some fall foilage tomorrow and watch Amanda's good friend run the Chicago marathon on Sunday. Hope you're having a great week!

It's in the numbers

2009-10-06T07:32:00.005-07:00

Disclamer: I am in full support of most agricultural producers.

It doesn't matter to me if you choose conventional production methods that include the use of pesticides, herbicides or growth implants or if you choose to produce food products in an organic or natural manner. If a farmer can make a profit in a niche market for organic products, local products or natural products hats off to them. But please, pretty please, don't criticize the thousands of producers who currently employ conventional methods. Too often ignorant consumers and media extremists report that organic, natural and local are the only way to go. What? Excuse me, let me rephrase: WHAT?! In a few concise points below, I hope to illustrate that the world has an undeniable need for conventional methods of production in the coming years. (Note: John Lawrence, ISU agriculture economist has studied the effects of modern technology on beef production. To read more: http://www.econ.iastate.edu/faculty/lawrence/Pharma%202007%20update.pdf)

Some estimates predict that the current world population of 6.7 billion people will expand to 9 billion by 2050.
Based on 2007 prices, removing the use of growth-promotant implants, dewormers, and fly control from cow-calf production would increase the breakeven price 47%, a value f $274 per calf.
In the feedlot phase, removal of growth implants ionophores antimicrobial therapy, beta-agonists, and dewormers results in a 13.2% increase in breakeven, a $155 value.

If these numbers haven't hit home yet, let me elaborate a bit more. In 2007, 11.1% of US households were reported as food insecure (http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/FoodSecurity/). If the cost of food production increases as illustrated above, this cost has to be passed onto consumers. If people already cannot afford the price of food, then increased prices only means more of the same. Fewer people can afford food that is becoming increasingly expensive.

Now back to organic, natural and local. While I don't have specific research that supports the following claims, personal experience and first hand observation are enough to tell me that my claims are true. Organic, natural and locally produced foods are more expensive. Because of their comparitively higher cost, fewer people can afford to purchase them. If we require the production of food animals (or plants) to be organic and natural, fewer people are going to be able to purchase enough food to meet the requirements of their family. And this goes without considering the fact that our global population is growing.

Now back to my disclaimer at the beginning. I wholeheartedly support agricultural production, even if its not the method that I would choose. What I don't support though are people who deny the facts--the world population cannot afford to survive on organic, natural and local products alone. There is nothing wrong with consuming or producing such products; but please don't try to pull one over on America by telling her that organic, natural and local are the only way to go. She simply can't afford it.

The Lamb of God

2009-10-04T13:54:00.003-07:00

The more I study my bible the more I understand how essential it is to learn about context. When I simply read over a passage, think about it and move on, I don't find much significance or depth to the passage. What I often fail to do is think about who the author and recipients were and what their world was like when the text was written. I usually learn that Jewish culture plays a huge role in understanding what is presented and also that I usually need to refer to some part of the Old Testament to really understand the big picture.

Case in point--what is really meant when Jesus is described as the Lamb of God? Just off the top of my head I think about him being a blameless, perfect sacrifice. I think about the huge role sacrifice played in Old Testament times where there were very specific procedures and requirements for sacrifices. I think about the blood of calves and goats being sprinkled on books and clothing in the temple. But what I fail to think about is the value of the sacrifice--be it an actual lamb before Christ or more importantly, the value of Christ as a sacrifice for my sins.

What really got me thinking about this was the book I am currently reading, Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. I don't want to lead you to think this is a book on Christianity because it most certainly is not. But in telling the story of an American mountaineer's quest to build schools in Pakistan, the author shares a story when a regional nurmadhar (chief) tries to stop the "American infidel" from educating local girls. He and his henchman visit the village where construction is currently underway and demands 12 of their largest rams if they wish for construction to continue and for no one to be hurt. Without batting an eye Haji Ali, the local nurmadhar, sends the village children to retrieve the rams. After handing the rams over, he leads his people back to the village and joyfully says that while the other chief may have food for a time, his people will have education forever. He didn't question his decision and fully understood that the sacrifice of those rams was more than worth it.

The picture depicted in the book was beautiful and made me think so much more about the sacrifice that was given up for me. In my book, Greg, the American mountaineer, described the rams as the most cherished and valuable posession of each family in the village. They were treated like firstborn children and it was devastating to willingly sacrifice these rams for the betterment of their community. After reading this chapter though, my eyes were opened in a whole new way to the value and importance of a sacrificial lamb. Rams must have been treated and thought of in a similar fashion in Jewish culture. The people were looking for something that could be given to God to cover their sins--they needed as perfect a sacrifice as they could find. Rams (and other animals) were sacrificed on an annual basis to act as an atonement for the sins of the people (for more info on Old Testament sacrifices, read Leviticus). These sacrifices could never complete the job though and that's where our Lamb of God comes into the picture.

Jesus is called the Lamb of God (John 1:29) because he was the perfect sacrifice for my sins. He completely satisfied God's wrath. Forever. Death and sin have been conquered. Knowing this, and having come to understand more about the value of a perfect sacrifice, I want to think of Jesus more like those Pakistani children thought of their rams. Do I cherish Him? Do I value Him and lavish attention and care on my relationship with Him? I want to place more value on my relationship with Jesus knowing that He was willingly sacrificed so that I might have life. I also yearn to know the depth of His sacrifice because He is the one, perfect sacrifice for all time.

Comforts of fall

2009-09-28T20:21:00.003-07:00

I think fall could quite possibly be one of my favorite times of year. I love fall colors, especially if it means adorning my house with them. I love the smell of pumpkin pie, be it in candles or pies. I love the crisp, cool mornings that are so refreshingly light after a hot repressing summer. And I really love bringing out the sweaters baby! It's not that long sleeves are appealing to me, but sweaters in themselves are very comforting for some reason.

Now, the one thing I don't like about fall is the fact that I live in Buckeye, Arizona where it just happened to be 108 degrees today. Yep, far above average officially one week after the start of fall. What's up with that? My one comfort at this point is to look forward to this coming weekend's visit to my mom and dad's where I will joyfully wear my sweaters!

I hope you're enjoying this season's first week of fall! Want to celebrate the season and win something in a fall giveaway contest? Check out the Thoughts and Whatnots blog!

Week 3: speed=danger

2009-09-24T21:05:00.004-07:00

Yep, that's right. It is officially the conclusion of week three in my bible study. I have to be honest though before I really delve into the heart of things; speed and danger aren't really the topic from my study but I do have a comical story to start off with. Remember last week? I locked myself out of my house before bible study. Well, the devil is playing a few games with me because as I quickly tried to re-heat dinner tonight so I could make it to bible study on time I accidentally created this:

Yep, that's right. There is a whole pile of spaghetti sitting on my floor. Here's what happened--I dumped the said spaghetti out of a tupperware onto a plate to re-heat in the microwave. As I spun around and opened the microwave I realized I no longer had any spaghetti on my plate! I didn't realize how quick my cat-like reaction was and in the process of dodging and weaving in my kitchen to get to the microwave, the spaghetti pretty much slid off my plate. And here's where the story gets really good. I definitely salvaged what I could off the top of the mound and reheated that. I said I was in a hurry so please don't judge me. I was 2.5 seconds from being late, so salvaging was my only option.

Okay, onto the real meat of tonight's blog. Our study was primarily about chapter one of Hebrews. After we de-briefed we were asked to share how we applied this. As a teacher myself, I know that application is everything; without it, there is no personal connection to the content. It really hit me tonight though--chapter one is all about the majesty and superiority of Jesus. God says He (Jesus) is the heir of all things, the world was made through Him and he is the exact representation of God (1:2-3). Knowing this then, how have I managed to "humanize" Jesus so much so that he seems like a dusty mid-Eastern man who's main purpose is teaching us how to love our neighbor better? Doesn't that seem way oversimplified? YES!! Listen to what the author of Hebrews says about Jesus in verses 10 through 12:

And, "You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; and they all will become old like a garment, and like a mantle (outer coat) you will roll them up; like a garment they will also be changed; but you are the same, and your years will not come to an end."

Wow, breath that in. Can you imagine grabbing the sky and rolling it up as if it were a piece of paper? That blows my mind--the author is saying that the heavens, made by Jesus himself, will cease to exist while Jesus will remain. Even the heavens will become old, and just like old clothes, the heavens will be changed. Jesus though, no not Jesus. Jesus will be the same. Jesus' years will never come to an end. The imagery in chapter one really captured the bigness, the hugeness of Jesus and how superior He truly is. Jesus humbled himself to the point of allowing himself to become a dusty mid-eastern man who was purely committed to love and service of our neighbors. His example is beyond my ability to describe.

If you want to know who Jesus is, think about Him in both ways. Heir of all things yet human enough to become dusty and dirty in His service to other humans. Powerful enough to roll the heavens up at the end of time, yet tender enough to love the those who wronged him. Wow. And that's the note I'll end on tonight, as un-eloquent as it is, Wow.

My prayer this week

2009-09-20T20:18:00.002-07:00

As I was driving to church this morning I prayed that God would prepare my eyes, ears and heart for His word as delivered by my pastor. Little did I know what God would do. I will tell you more later, but suffice it to say now that the Lord got right down to the root of a huge issue in my life. More to come later....

For now though, I want to share the lyrics with you from the song titled "Speak O Lord" (emphasis below is mine). It was written by Stuart Townend and Keith Getty. I love the truth that is captured below and desire to make this my prayer this week.

Speak, O Lord, as we come to You
To receive the food of Your holy word.
Take Your truth, plant it deep in us;
Shape and fashion us in Your likeness,
That the light of Christ might be seen today,
In our acts of love and our deeds of faith.
Speak, O Lord, and fulfill in us all your purposes,
For Your glory.

Teach us Lord full obedience,
Holy reverence, true humility.
Test our thoughts and our attitudes,
In the radiance of Your purity.
Cause our faith to rise,
Cause our eyes to see,
Your majestic love and authority.
Words of power that can never fail;
Let their truth prevail over unbelief.

Speak, O Lord, and renew our minds;
Help us grasp the heights of Your plans for us.
Truths unchanged from the dawn of time,
That will echo down through eternity.
And by grace we’ll stand on Your promises;
And by faith we’ll walk as You walk with us.
Speak, O Lord, till Your church is built,
And the earth is filled with Your glory.

Melchize-who?

2009-09-18T04:42:00.003-07:00

Good (early) morning! I would have posted my thoughts regarding last night's bible study but I locked myself out of my house and had to sleep in my truck. The locksmith finally made it out and I'm in. Just kidding, well at least about sleeping in my truck. I did lock myself out of my house last night but thankfully some friends of mine had a spare key and brought it over (thanks Sarah and Bryan!).

Last night we recapped week two of our study which was a continuation of the overview we started on the entire book of Hebrews the week prior. While describing the priesthood of Jesus in chapter five, an individual named Melchizedek is introduced in verse 10. The following attributes of his are listed in 7:3:

Without father or mother
Having no geneaology
He did not have a "beginning of days" or "end of life"
He is made like the Son of God
He will remain a priest perpetually

I am so curious about him--chapter seven even says that after returning from battle, Abraham gave him a tenth of the spoils, a practice reserved for the priests. That wouldn't be that interesting if we also didn't know that he WASN'T from the tribe of Levi, the tribe that had been chosen to care for the temple and have priests selected from.

Here are some questions that I have regarding Melchizedek that I hope to pursue the answers to during the course of the study. Feel free to leave a comment with questions of your own regarding this interesting character.

Who is he and where did he come from? (6:20)
How can an individual have no mother/father/genealogy? (7:3)
When was the Levitical priesthood established?
How did the Israelites view Melchizedek then since the Levitical priesthood had not been established at that time when Abraham gave him a tenth of all spoils? (7:2)

Week 1: Endurance & Strength

2009-09-10T21:04:00.004-07:00

After a summer sabbatical from bible study, my church resumed our Growth Groups this week. The women's study I have joined will be studying the book of Hebrews in entirety over the next year. I am very interested in learning about this book because there are many things that remain unknown to me at the outset of our study, even though I've read the book before. The first few weeks of our study will revolve around learning about the context of the book. Who was the author? Who are the recipients? What was the author's purpose in writing this book? Our discussion tonight revolved around these exact questions.

The majority of our discussion focused on the recipients of Hebrews--after jotting down many notes this is what I would summarize. The author was writing to Jewish Christians; individuals who had been persecuted and challenged about their faith in Jesus Christ as the messiah and were growing weary (10:32-35). They had been made public spectacles, their property was siezed and some were even prisoners (13:3). It seems they have been believers for some time because the author admonishes that they should be teachers at this point but still remain infantile in their faith (5:12-14). Despite their current state though, the author is exhorting them to love and encourage each other (10:24-25), and reminding them of the value of discipline (12:7-11).

Okay, so I've learned something about the recipients of the book of Hebrews. Big deal, right? What does that mean to you? Me? I may be a Christian but I'm not a Jewish Christian. My faith has been questioned by some, but I have not been persecuted to the point of being imprisoned or having my property taken by family or friends. But I've been there, in that same weary state. To a point where I'm tired, grumpy and nearing the point where I'm tired of waiting on God's timing. Confused, overwhelmed, perplexed on God's purpose in something.

Don't you sense the love with which the author of Hebrews writes though? He wrote 13 chapters building an amazing argument of why these Jewish Christians should remain strong and steadfast in their faith. The prize that awaits them (and us) is far more valuable than anything else in this world.

"Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire." (12: 28-29)

Regardless of the persecution or challenge, he says to lay aside everything that hinders us and to run with endurance.

"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." (12:1)

I appreciate the direct, uncompromising nature that the Hebrews author uses. I am strengthened by his message of exhortation and admonishment. I pray that as I continue to learn about the context of Hebrews and the situation of the original recipients, that I may apply these timeless principles to my own life. I already have been encouraged in week one and I anxiously await week two, three and many more in the year to come. I hope to share my walk through Hebrews with you....feel free to contribute your own thoughts, questions and insights as I share mine.

Note: All scripture references are from the book of Hebrews.

Destructive Doggies

2009-09-07T11:45:00.004-07:00

Anna and I came home late Saturday afternoon after handing out samples of beef at the Phoenix Cooks! culinary event; we handed out well over 1,000 samples of a beef chimichurri. The event was awesome and I am so glad Anna asked me to help; not only was it fun to promote beef but on my breaks I got to sample other food and drink that was to die for. I will recount my two favorites before divulging my destructive dog story.

Favorite #1: Chilled Mango Soup
The chilled soup included strawberry, mint and basil (I think...correct me if I'm wrong Anna/Gretchen). Not a combination I would have put together but it was phenomenal. It was served in a plastic shot glass with a dollop of cream. So good in fact I had to go back for seconds. This was served by The Sanctuary at Camelback Mountain.

Favorite #2: Ahi Tuna-Avocado Appetizer
I'm not actually sure what the official name was but it was amazing. From a distance it looked like diced tomatoes with a scoop of chunky guacomole on top and garnished with a crispy cracker. When Gretchen and I bit into this we both knew it was not tomatoes--Gerti knew before I did...it was marinated Ahi Tuna. A-maz-ing. This was served by Tommy Bahama restaruant.

Okay, onto another crazy Jonnie-Reb (JR) story. After we came home, Anna sat down at the table to eat and I was headed back into the garage to unload more stuff out of Anna's car. As I stepped outside, I heard Anna say "Oh, no." I immediately knew that the dogs had done something they shouldn't. When I say dogs, this includes JR's sister, Lucy, who is owned by Patrick. The picture below is what I saw when I looked outside. Please note that the debris is dead plants (3 hibiscus plants and my beautiful mexican petunia) and the planter was full when I left that morning.

I just don't get it. I honestly thought they would be less destructive because they had each other. Not true. Another thing I don't get:

Does anything look pleasant or appetizing about that spiky plant? I know it hurts like heck when it stabs me everytime I weed eat around it. I don't understand how my dog chews on this thing every day.

Here's a shot of the two yahoos playing tug-o-war with an uprooted hibiscus plant. Forgive its fuzzy nature, I took it through the screen on the window.

Despite being destructive, I adore these two dogs. Jonnie Reb is so fun and Lucy is very sweet. I am fully committed at this point though to NOT replace any plants in my backyard until JR grows up a bit. I figure I'll get a better return on my investment that way.

Giving Thanks

2009-09-01T20:45:00.002-07:00

I tried talking myself into returning to school after dinner tonight to complete a new bulletin board and start a quiz that I will be giving my Animal Science class tomorrow. The idea sounded brilliant at 7pm but after cleaning up my kitchen at quarter 'til nine I thought otherwise.

Instead I thought I'd give thanks for a wonderful evening. I made Tamale Pie for dinner and invited a handful of friends over to share it with. Now don't get me wrong, dinner turned out great, especially considering it was the first time I had made this, but the part I am most thankful for is the time I had with new and old friends tonight. This may sound trivial to some, but let's briefly re-visit my first (and some of my second) year of teaching.

For about the first six months of teaching two years ago, my usual day looked like this:
4am-rise and shine
6am-head to school after devotion, hearty breakfast and getting ready
8:30am-school starts, the big rug rats arrive
3pm-the final bell rings, I collapse into my seat, and take a mental break for about 5 minutes
3:05pm-coach a team, grade papers, prepare lessons...etc.
5:30pm-break for dinner....this would be the second meal I have eaten at my desk today
8:30-9pmish-drive home, set automatic coffee pot and fall asleep instantly

I was working far too many hours and as far as I was concerned my social life was over. I was practically crawling to my truck at night so I could just get in bed and start the same overloaded schedule as the day before. I longed for the sweet days of graduate school where I had friends over for dinner frequently and they returned the favor at least once a week. Instead of evenings filled with satisfying food and friendships, I was trying to keep my head above water trying to prepare myself to teach parts of the cell to my freshmen Ag classes.

It's been a long time coming, and I have neglected far too many friendships and hobbies over the past two years. My third year of teaching has gotten off to a strong start and has included more time with friends than any other of my previous two years and for that I wish to give thanks tonight.

Note to other "foodies:" for a great recipe on tamale pie or other classic American dishes, check out The Cook's Country Cookbook: Rediscovering American Home Cooking. As my friend Sarah pointed out tonight, I know it's hard to believe that a dish with the word tamale in it is American, but it is. Believe me.

Bread and Lots of Butter

2009-08-22T20:54:00.003-07:00

After watching The Time Traveler's Wife with several girlfriends this afternoon, we headed to Olive Garden for some soup, salad and of course breadsticks. After our waitress brought out a second heaping bowl of breadsticks, I selected one and then commented rather absentmindedly, "I wish I had a bowl of butter to dip this into." The three girls I was with thought this rather amusing considering they were already slathered with butter and garlic.

When our waitress returned to check on us, I mentioned that dinner was great and the only thing that could have made it better was some butter. She smiled and promptly returned with one of those single serving type packets, with butter wrapped in gold foil and the Land-o-Lakes seal. She asked if I would like it melted and without hesitation I said, "If you wouldn't mind." (Note: Our waitress had already endeared herself to me because of her laugh, and this only sealed the deal for getting a great tip.)

Just as I had wished, I was able to enjoy my third (and final) breadstick of the evening by dipping it in butter. Much more butter than most people enjoy but I'm not most people. I love butter. I'm not just a bread and butter type of girl, I'm a bread and LOTS of butter type of girl. I don't mess around when it comes to adorning toast, croissants and english muffins with golden, translucent, savory butter.

PS-I'm not sure when my love for butter started but I have also been known to consume small tubs of cinnamon butter at restaruants in exchange for having my dinner bought. You can ask my friend Brian about the time we went to Billie Jack's in Williston, FL....that was some good eatin!

Random Reviews

2009-08-20T17:49:00.003-07:00

It's not the end of the week yet but I feel ready to give some random reviews of my happenings and wanderings of the past seven days.

God has been so generous in providing a really solid start to my third year of teaching. I have a tremendous set of freshmen coming through my Ag program and they have really supportive parents. So supportive in fact that I had a line, yes a line, at Meet the Teacher night last night. It was only scheduled to last 1 1/2 hours but I stayed 35 minutes longer because the line was never ending....
I ate a fried egg sandwich on sourdough bread everyday this week. I have this really annoying habit of falling in love with some type of food and then eating it day-in and day-out until I become sick of it. I've done this many types before with things such as cheese crisps (senior year at UA), bean and cheese burritos (junior year at UA) and green apples for lunch (the past year). The funny thing about eggs is that I love so much I rarely tire of them.
My dog has been destroying plastic water bottles and milk jugs everyday this week. She has fantastic little chompers and I try to keep her occupied chewing up recyclable material as opposed to killing my poor plants. First I freeze the bottles with water and once I set them out she has a hay day trying to pick up the frozen bottles.
I have enjoyed amazing sunrises each day this week as I walked Johnnie Reb (my plastic chewing dog) around 4:45am. It's been a peaceful and energizing way to start the day and I am hopeful about making this a daily habit this school year.
Anna (my sister) and I tried a new restaruant on Tuesday with Kami, a friend of ours. It was called Orchid Thai Garden (Dysart and Indian School). The food was pretty good but my favorite part of the whole experience was the 70-something owner who was named Perry. He shared that he had been traveling to Thailand for the past 20 years about two times a year. He must really love that place. He was eager to share his love for Thai food with us. He gave us a Thai ice tea on the house so we could try it....not bad but I probably wouldn't order it on my own. It was very earthy tasting. If you live on the west side of the Valley and need a Thai fix, check this place out.

I am looking forward to the weekend and I hope you are too!

Donate Blood Marrow

2009-08-03T05:18:00.002-07:00

I'm writing today's entry for my friend Summer who was diagnosed with severe aplastic anemia in February 2009. This rare disease has basically stopped her body from producing red and white blood cells and platelets thus making her super susceptible to infection and also making her very fatigued. At this point, Summer has already been through a treatment that involved blood transfusions to replenish her supply of red and white blood cells and platelets. Her body responded for awhile but has reached a plateau in terms of improvement. Currently, her physician is considering a second round of this same treatment and if that doesn't work she'll need to have a bone marrow transplant. Please be praying for Summer's FULL recovery--her body needs to be able to produce both types of blood cells and platelets so that she can return to her normal life which includes caring for a 9 month old. Please also be praying that this second round of treatment is a success so that they don't have to resort to a bone marrow transplant.

Now onto my next request and the subject of this blog. Most people have heard of donating blood but not as many have heard of donating blood marrow. As I mentioned in the previous paragraph, Summer's last resort for treatment is doing a bone marrow transplant. The thing is, she doesn't have perfect match registered in the nationwide bone marrow transplant. That's where you come in-if you read my blog I would like you to prayerfully consider donating bone marrow or at least spreading the word to your family and friends about this life giving opportunity.

To register in the blood marrow bank, you simply request a kit and then swab your cheek. It's really simple, and honestly pain free, and once the registry is updated, you could be a life-saving match for someone within a week. There is no fee associated with donating bone marrow--and even better is the procedure that they use to extract your bone marrow. One way that your bone marrow is harvested is a process called Stem Cell Pheresis. In stem cell pheresis, a donor gives only stem cells (undifferentiated cells that can develop into any type of cell) rather than whole blood. Prior to the donation procedure, the donor receives an injection of a special type of protein (growth factor) that stimulates the bone marrow to release stem cells into the bloodstream. Whole blood is drawn from the donor, and a machine that separates the blood into its components selectively removes the stem cells and returns the rest of the blood to the donor. For more information on how to donate bone marrow, please visit http://www.marrow.org/ or stop by a blood bank today and tell them that you would like to register in the bone marrow bank.

Finally, there is a replacement blood and bone marrow drive for Summer on Sunday, August 16th in Auberry, CA. If you know of anyone who lives in California who might be interested, please pass this info along to them.

Aunt Katy the Nanny

2009-08-01T14:35:00.004-07:00

I played nanny for my brother and sister-in-law a week ago while they traveled to Oklahoma for my sister-in-law's high school reunion. While I never thought motherhood was easy, I have a new found appreciation for the day and night job that mothering is. Each day started around 4:45am when P, my youngest nephew, usually woke me up by crawling into my bed. About five minutes later G would follow and ask me what I was making for breakfast. I enjoyed my three and half days with my nieces and nephews and would readily agree to do it again. Enjoy the picture anthology below...

Notice P sleeping on the floor...not sure why. He went down for his nap really easily, no persuasion required, so sleeping on the floor wasn't a product of a fit. I just liked the picture...pretty soon he won't be taking naps anymore and I won't have a chance to snap fun photos like this.

We went to see the movie "Ice Age, Dawning of the Dinosaurs." P got a nap before we went so he didn't sleep on the way back. G however refused a nap prior to the movie, so she zonked out on the way home.

Since my parent's were also out of town for my cousin's wedding, we made several trips to my folk's place each day. My nieces and nephews are drawn to collect snails like most kids are drawn to candy so each time we came back, a few snails made the trip back with us too. D is posing next to the "snail city" we created on top of the dog crate...everyone know that snails needed a good home to rest in while we went inside.

J is big enough to ride in the front now...he was holding our leftover popcorn tub on our way back from the movie.

I can't get enough of this kid. P wants to wear his boots no matter the occasion and you'll notice that his boots were perfect for riding his little bike around the driveway.

Mere shadows

2009-07-25T13:43:00.003-07:00

My friend Janette just got me hooked on a new (to me) series by Janette Oke. The series is placed at the turn of the 19th century (early 1900s...is that 20th century?) and describes the unique bond between two families, one of French descent and one of English descent. Circumstances between the families fostered a secret relationship between the two wives and through a long series of events including an Acadian expulsion, infant daughters were switched to save the life of one. Due to the expulsion, the daughters were never returned to their biological parents and each family raised the other's daughter thousands of miles away never knowing if their own daughter was even alive.

Fast forward 18 years and both daughters meet....when asked what her birth parents are like, Nicole responds, "Everything good about me, everything worthy, is just a faint shadow of who my parents are."

That brief sentence totally took my breath away. Have you ever thought about how your life reflects your upbringing? If you haven't I'm sure your parents have. I'm not at the stage where I have children, but as a teacher I'm always concerned about the behavior of my students while I am absent. If this is a concern that our earthy parents have, how much more is our heavenly father concerned about the message we communicate by the life we lead? We are the living bible. Some people may never read the bible but our lives can be open book to them. Whether you think about it or not, your attitude, demeanor, perspective, and choices all serve as reflections of the Lord we serve. While I can never make a complete list of the attributes of God I do know that God is love; it makes sense then that John 13:35 says the world will know we are His disciples by the love we have for one another.

Just like Nicole said I know that anything good or worthwhile in my life is a direct reflection of my heavenly father. If my life is only a shadow of God's goodness and love, how great, powerful and loving is God? While I am only a mere shadow, I pray that His reflection in my life is as bright, clear and unmistakeable as it can be.

I've been punked

2009-07-17T13:57:00.002-07:00

Twice. And by my dog. In my own truck. Need I say more?

Let's rewind to Monday of this week. I stopped by the local dance studio in Buckeye to pick up my camera from a friend (she picked it up for me after I left it somewhere). I was literally going to run in and run out so I left my truck running with Johnnie Reb inside. When I returned she was sitting in the driver's seat and the door was locked. I know it wasn't an accident; if I had waited a second longer she would have slipped it into gear and taken it for a joy ride. Anna helped me get a hold of AAA and my friend called a local auto shop. Thank goodness for living in a small town because AAA had just dispatched the call to them and they were headed my way.

Fast forward with me to this morning. I stopped by a Verizon Wireless store to inquire about getting a discount for being a public school teacher. While I was enjoying the pleasant surprise about my discount, Johnnie Reb was gobbling down the pan of seven layer bars I had brought to share with my family this weekend. I always fall prey to my pride and this morning was no different. I was secretly patting myself on the back thinking how clever I was for hiding the pan of goodies underneath a cooler on my front floor board. God, with his ever witty sense of humor, used Johnnie Reb's terrific sense of smell and led her to eat the seven layer bars to humble me. Hmmpphh. No wonder I didn't see her sitting on my console when I looked out; I assumed she had laid down in my back seat.

Johnnie Reb-2
Katy-0

The right size for kids

2009-07-16T08:00:00.004-07:00

A few posts back, I mentioned the quail eggs my sister bought me. I promised to post some pictures, so here they are! My sister and I were talking about it and quail eggs are the perfect size for kiddos...if you have a child, or niece or nephew, or someone else who is small and likes to hang out with you, it would be fun to cook the quail eggs with them because they're totally kid size. Speaking from experience with my own nieces and nephews, they love to have things that are "just for them."

I just wanted to show you the difference in size between a regular, large egg and the quail egg. There are actually two quail eggs in this picture; I didn't want you to think the quail egg had a wierd growth off to the right side.

Not only are the quail eggs perfect for kids, they're about the same size as my cowboy and cowgirl salt and pepper shakers. Not that you really needed to know that but I love Pamela Pepper and Sammy Salt so I thought I'd share them with you this morning. There's nothing like making breakfast with two good friends at your side:-)

As if you needed more proof about the difference in size, I thought I'd confirm that one is still bigger and one is still smaller even after they're frying in the pan.

Have a lovely day folks!

Paul and the trump card

2009-07-14T06:26:00.003-07:00

I've been reading through many books of the bible authored by Paul as of late. I love his directness and his desire to grow people for God. It seems that as he closes every book he writes, he mentions the name of many people that he has worked with and is praying for (Romans 16, 1 Corinthians 16). God blessed him with the opportunity to influence many for His sake. This is just me speaking, but I think Paul was extremely honored to be able to work on behalf of God. Especially considering his life prior to accepting Jesus as his Lord and Saviour.

Paul is the topic of my blog today because he has long intrigued me and I just read an article in World magazine that led me to think even more about his perspective on the war against Christianity. To quickly summarize, the article said that while many headlines today herald a decline in Christian faith, a closer look would reveal an actual rise in serious faith. The article was a refreshing read and I thought the author, Marvin Olasky, said it quite well when desribing this perspective of Paul's: "The apostle Paul was note unduly impressed by temprary ascents and descents. His confidence did not depend on which emperor was in power or who the next emperor might be. He knew that a benevolent reign would allow more to hear the gospel, but a hard reign would create inspiring testimonies that would show how the gospel sustained believers amid pressure-so Christ's cause would win either way."

God's truth will trump everything in the end. Regardless of who is at the helm of our government, or any government for that matter, we can be confident that any trial or challenge will only serve to bring more glory to God and the gospel that is shared through our lives and testimonies.