Windy Chicago

I  loved Chicago. It is probably one of the neatest cities I have visited in a long time. Yes getting a dress for Crystal was pretty neat, but I will leave that for her to share about. Here is my top 5 things about Chicago!

5. Did you know that Chicago almost burnt down in 1871. You can read the story below, but this is one of the only remaining buildings from "Old Chicago". This was there water station at the time.

4. Navy Pier is pretty cool. Its is definitely a tourist attraction with the bars and shops along the pier, but it was just a neat place to hang out. I loved being able to look back and see there massive buildings with the sailboats coming into dock. The ferris wheel was pretty neat too.

3. When we were there October had just begun. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and because of that the top of all the buildings are pink for the whole month. It was pretty neat to see them lit up like that. The city also has the most amazing architecture. It was super neat to see a really old style building next to the slick and sleek office towers. Some of the buildings along Michigan Ave (which has amazing shopping minus the 10% sales tax) reminded me of the cool historic churches in NYC.

2. Chicago has a ton of bridges. Mom read that Chicago has every kind of bridge possible: train bridges, walking bridges, draw bridges, triangle bridges and so much more! This was a really neat bridge by the hotel.

1. There is pop art and sculptures everywhere! This one was by far my favorite, it is huge Marylin Monroe. She was put there in September and will stay for 1 year. Each year a new sculpture is put there. I am not sure of her exact dimensions, but as we drove by grown men would only come half way up her leg! There were so many more or random sculptures and images spread around town. Remember the infamous Chicago cows of the 90's?

Hotel Tour: Fairmont Chicago

This last weekend we were in Chicago to buy Crystal a wedding dress. It was great to meet one of the other bridesmaids Dana, and also meet Jon's mom Debbie.

While there I took advantage of my Delta hotel discounts and we stayed at the Chicago Fairmont!

When you walk into the hotel you are greated by this magnificent registration desk. I loved the light details that extended from the wall right onto the floor.

We had 2 rooms for this trip, and having them adjoining made for a great way to socialize and visit with each other.

The bathrooms may not be the crazy shower of last weekend, but there were lots of mirrors and lights which was great.

And although we did not have a view of the Pier or Millenium Park, the downtown view really was great to see what Chicago was all about.

What to Wear: Derby Outfit

I know the derby was a month ago, but I can't stop thinking about what a great outfit this would be. Crystal is talking about maybe having a derby night at her stagette this winter, so maybe this will just have to be my outfit!

Derby Outfit by slycattle featuring glitter platform pumps

Short dress, $330
Miu Miu glitter platform pumps, $239
Yves Saint Laurent white handbag, £470
MNG by Mango coral ring, $16
Cocktail hat, £365

The New Boy In Town

Over the last few days word has slowly started to spread that yes there is a new boy in my life. I try to keep my personal life pretty quiet, so for the past 4 months no one has really known except those that I see on a daily basis.

The story broke this past weekend when my parents were visiting Crystal and Jon in Iowa. They were spending the evening at Jon's parents house when Crystal asked who was at the farm with me over the weekend. My family not knowing any better responded, "umm no one that we know of". That is when Crystal showed them this picture that I had posted onto Twitter.

Crystal's response was, "well why is there 2 pairs of feet in this picture then?" Over the last few days a few details have been released, but I am keeping a pretty tight lid on this for now. I am also taking a page out of Crystal's books and will wait some time to reveal a name and face. It seemed to turn out alright for her in the end, so its work a try for me.

So to all those that I have lied to or avoided your questions over the last few months about whether I was still single or not, I am sorry. In time hopefully you will all get to meet the new boy. Until then "The Eng" and I will see where this takes us, and hopefully will have a few stories to share along the way!

Birthday Wishlist

My sister started this in her "Birthday Month" a few weeks ago. Since we are now in my "Birthday Month" I figured I would start a few of these posts myself.

I seen these the other day on The Pioneer Woman and thought that they were so cool. This is my favorite use for them.

You can find the placemats at b.a.Friend

Time To Say Goodbye

This is definitely one of the hardest posts that I will ever write. And I am only writing it because both my mom and sister have wrote posts about this, but as good as they are, they just don't capture my true feelings.

Ruffles has been many things to be over the last 11 years. She has been my 4-H project, summer show companion, helped me win a Supreme Showmanship award, a great producer, the backbone of my herd, my favorite cow, and my best friend. I loved Ruffles as much as other people love their dogs.

I got Ruffles out of the Checkers sale as a heifer calf. She was the high selling red heifer that year, and came from a great family, the Hadways. The kids had already nicknamed the heifer Ruffles, and it just stuck. That year she also became my 4-H heifer, and we never looked back.

With Ruffles we won countless 4-H awards, showmanship classes, and just had a good time in the 3 years that I got to show her. There was something about her that really made her special, and it wasn't just her conformation.

After her show career was done it was time for her to be like every other cow on the farm. Her job was to produce a calf each year, hopefully of high quality. The bulls would be marketed and sold, and the females would either get sold or remain in the herd. She knew her job, and she did it well. When I bought Ruffles, she was a $3000.00 investment. In the end she made me well over $15,000.00 and left me 3 daughters in the herd. You can't ask much more of a cow then that.

Today Ruffles got on the truck to go to town. This time she would not be returning. It is part of the cattle industry, and with Ruffles only having 1 calf in the last 3 years, it was just not cost effective to keep her around anymore. She leaves behind 3 daughters in my herd to take over her legacy, with her last calf being born being one of the best ones she had ever raised.

Going to the farm will be hard this weekend. It will be sad to walk out into the cows and not see her there. We lost our lead cow, and sometimes the most stubborn cow. But no matter what anyone says she was part of the family. Even though he probably will not admit to it, I am sure even dad loved Ruffles some.

So this is good-bye to my good friend. I will always miss you and never will forget you.

Christmas Gifts

Well now that Denver is over it is time to catch up on some posts that I promised you. Two of the neatest Christmas gifts that I got this year were both very creative

My sister made this frame thing for me. Not sure exactly what you would call it. But it is really neat. It is now hung in out kitchen and shows all of the postcards we have received at our place.

Another neat gift that I got was this pillow. Although it will always be a decor piece and not actually used, I really love it. The pillow is made of my Grandpa Howard's chaps. My Grandpa Howard passed away this summer, so it is great to have a token of his in my house. A really neat gift from my parents.

Denver Stock Show 2011- Hereford Bull Show Results

Well today was a pretty fun day for me. Even though I was stuck in my office watching results and pictures come in from the Hereford show, it was a really fun day to see so many friends do well.

Many people always ask how I have friends in another breed, but the truth is we are just one big family. We all hang out with each other after the showing is done, and cheer each other on while the other is showing.

Over the past few months we have gotten to put faces and names behind the Star Lake name. Those of us in the cattle industry had heard of and see the success that they have had, so it was pretty cool to see them do well today. I am sure that Jon and Crystal are bound to have a good time tonight as always.

Just as with the Red and Black Angus the Hereford breeders should be extremely proud of the Canadian cattle that were exhibited and shown today. This is how our Canadian placings tallied as well as Star Lake's.

                                              Canada                  Star Lake
Grand Champion                                                        1
Division Champion                     1                              2
Res. Division Champion              1                              2
1st in Class                                2                              4
2nd in Class                               1
3rd in Class                                1

Triple A 1T Chrome 66X

Remitall Heater 161U

Harvie High Roller ET 66X- Res. Division Ch

Harvie DAN Ricochet 167U- 3rd in Class

GHC-Taboo Coalition 52U- Sr Division Champion

Star TCF Shock & Awe 158W ET

Star TCF Shock & Awe 158W ET

Star Market Index 70X ET

Star TCF Lock-N-Load 300W ET

Denver Stock Show 2011- Hereford Bull Show

Well another day and another show in Denver. Today will be a busy one for result watching as there are a few Canadian's showing today.

In the Hereford shows, I say shows because the Horned and Polled bulls both show today, we have a nice group of Canadians competing including:

Triple A Herefords

Adams Hirsche Herefords

Harvie Ranching 
Blair Athol Farms 
Crittenden Bros Polled Herefords

Along with the Canadians, I will also be watching out for Star Lake Herefords. Crystal's boyfriend Jon and his family are part of this operation, and they usually have a very good Denver. So all eyes will be on them today.

Good luck to everyone and I will have some results up later today!

Big Mamma

Although we are in the beginning stages or calving, we still have some cows out on swaths at the pasture a few miles from home.

This is a picture Crystal took of one of my cows while she was at home. 

She is a Red Label out of my old Ruffles cow. This cow will stay at the pasture for a few more weeks as she will not be calving until the middle of February.

Christmas 2010

This year was probably one of the best Christmas holidays I have had in a while. It was nice to stay home some, and it just did not seem as busy as other years which was nice.

Crystal was up for a short trip as well. It is nice to see her for a few days when it is not at a show or when we are running around trying to get things done.

Dad also had a few days off work which was nice. We got some things done around the farm, we even were hauling cows home from swath grazing on Christmas Eve!

Christmas Ever we always go to my mom's side of the family for a big feast. This year was small with about 50 people and kids there. It is always a fun time to catch up with everyone and eat some great food!

My Uncle Dean made this awesome Gingerbread House from scratch!

Kim & Tim have this huge 15' Christmas Tree. It takes 5 hrs to decorate!

On Boxing day, we headed to Red Deer to my Aunt and Uncle's house. It was nice to be able to see everyone there as well. We are an ever growing family with lots of little Great Grandkids running around now!

My grandma was also able to get out of the hospital for a few hours as well.

And of course our annual family Christmas picture!

Item of the Week #14

Now I know that Item of the Week is usually clothing, but for a bit we are going to be featuring house items as well...

Another discovery that I had at Welsh's was this mirror. I was afraid to look to see how much this mirror was, and if it wasn't so large, and my sister didn't live in the US, it would have probably been under the tree for her this year.

However, I do love this piece. I think it would look great in a bathroom (2 of them actually over double sinks) or in a hallway or foyer.

Agribition- Part 4.... Way

So it is taking me a little bit to get through all my Agribition blogs. It is a long week, and it seems like so much happens during this time.

For the last few years it has become a mini family reunion for us. Crystal has been able to join us at the show, and mom gets to make it out for a few days as well. Each year I notice that Crystal becomes  more "Americanized" when she comes back to the Great White North.

This year is was not so much an American thing as just a word thing that I really noticed. She has a habit of saying the word "way". Now this does not sound to weird yet, until she uses it all the time and most of the time it makes her sentences become improper English!

After I pointed this out, Jon and I decided that we would use it just as much as her to make fun of her. These were some of out favorite phrases, and most of them were her's originally:

Way Cool

Way Good

Way  Awesome

I can promise you one thing, it is not a phrase that I will be picking up anytime soon!

Agribition 2010- Part 1

We got back from Agribition last night after being out there for over a week. As usual the show never disappointed and our crew at High Country had a great time.

Because there was so much that happened, and there is a lot to catch up on, I have broke it down into a few different parts to keep you all informed.

The first part that I am going to talk about is probably the one that most of you are the most interested in... Jon. Crystal's boyfriend came up with her this year to help us out. None of the family had ever met him before, so it was a great opportunity to spend some time with him and get to know him.

I had a few people ask me what I thought of Jon throughout the week. My answer usually consisted of that he is a great guy, really funny, and they seem to really be in love. As long as she is happy and we don't hate the guy, i'm happy!

Jon comes from a Hereford background so we were not to worried about him helping out in the morning if needed. Most mornings this was how he contributed to morning chores.

And mornings that we was not doing that, he would do this in the afternoon....

He even missed out on shaving some ear's out because of all his afternoon napping... Oh well guess that will have to wait until next time!

Go Away!!

Sorry for my lack of posts lately. Things have been really busy, and my sister still has my camera, so the lack of pictures is a result of that.

Thank goodness for my blackberry. Without it I could not bring you this!

People it is not Christmas yet!! Put away your silly decorations and just enjoy the fall. The winter and Christmas will come soon enough.

Coolest Credit Card Around

I was flipping through my regular websites today. I came across a link for the Angus Credit Card. I was not needing a credit card, but thought I would take a look just because.

I was so glad I did because this is what I found.

The middle and right pictures are ones that my sister took! How cool would that be to have a credit card that thousands of people use daily have a picture you took on it!

A Little Bit of Oz...

This is the picture that I woke up to this morning from my family. It is the first that they had sent of their trip to Australia. Seeing that I am the only one at home my sister was nice enough to take a picture of me "being" there.

So here it is. Hazel the Koala bear and me hanging out in Australia!

Marcus Adventure

This week as I was going back through some of my blogs, I realized that I had never blogged about our friend Marcus!

Marcus was our new friend that we found in Vegas. While out for supper for Brett's birthday one night, a balloon animal guy came around. He asked us what we were doing later that night, and as we were going to see Thunder from Down Under, he decided to make us a male stripper. We named him Marcus.

That night Marcus toured Vegas with us. It was our mission to show Marcus around and make sure he had a good time.

Marcus bought souvenirs, gambles on the slots, and also came to Thunder from Down Under with us.
We also decided that Marcus would pose in every picture with us that night. Wait! Where is Marcus in this picture?

Oh there he is!

Marcus hanging out in the hotel room after a crazy night. He was a little hung over...

At the end of the night it was a pretty good time. There was lots of things that we can't tell you, because after all what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!

April Fools!

Ah that day again. All I can say is I am glad that I am not home for Dad to play some dumb trick on me and have me fall for it as usual!!

Earlier this morning my sister shared a story about one April Fools. This is one of my favorite stories, however, there is another one that stands out.

Usually in April we still have a good foot of snow left, or we hope we do anyways. We had a friend that came and stayed over for the weekend. Dad ran downstairs and woke us girls up saying the house was on fire. We had no time and had to get out of the house as fast as possible!

We ran upstairs and out onto the snow, we just had enough time to grab some shoes and get out of there. So there we were in the foot of snow, and below 0 temperatures thinking that our house was burning down.

A few minutes (yes it took us that long) later we realized that Mom and Dad were not with us. They were still inside the burning house! As we looked a little closer, we seen dad sitting in his chair laughing at us as we stood outside freezing out butts off!

We stormed back in the house and not a second before we stepped foot in the door he yelled April Fools!!

Hope everyone has a great day

Time to Share #17

As promised Time to Share is back. This week I really I want to feature one of my favorite blogs to read.

Tiffany is a friend of my sisters. I have never met her, but found her blog through Crystal's. Tiffany always has lots of great agriculture blogs. It is funny how much we have in common, or like the same things. I have often went onto her blog and found a post about something that I have been thinking about posting about.

Maybe one day Tiffany's and my paths will cross. Until then I will enjoy reading her blog and learning more about her.

Check out Tiffany's blog