Country Fair Blog Party......Easter Edition!

Easter is coming up......quickly and if you are anything like me you wait until the last minute and frantically call all of your family members to see what they are bringing to Easter dinner in hopes of trying to decide what you should bring.  This happens at pretty much every holiday for me.  Everyone always snags the staples such as the meat, potatoes, scalloped corm, green bean casserole, etc...so I'm left normally with looking online for a great recipe to try.

So if you are anything like me then this blog party may be just what you need to find a new recipe or gift to make for the Easter weekend upon us.  Check out the past week's winners for some great recipes and DIY projects and even past entries may just be your saving grace for the side dish you are looking for!

Last Week's Winners:

AG

Everstuff Ranch; Making Babies We're In Lockdown 

FOOD
Desserts Required: Gooey Easter Brownie Cups

DIY
Hasekamps of Tulips: Homemade Gifts Are Best

For all of you men and women out there that have great dishes for Easter or a great DIY project that would make the best Easter gift we need you!!!  Share your recipe or project or even just your post about Ag and help out those of us (myself) that wait until the last minute and need a good recipe!  Link up below!

An InLinkz Link-up

Country Fair Party + A Giveaway = Spring Excellence

50 degrees, wind blowing through your hair, the distant smell of fried food and elephant ears.......I Wish!!!  Since it isn't quite fair time the next best thing would be a Country Fair blog party right?!  Like weeks past we want YOU!!  If you blog and have your favorite recipe, or DIY project, or even just your favorite article about why you love Ag submit your post for others to enjoy as much as yourself! You may just be crowned the Champion! 

Here are the champions from last week!

Hasekamps of Tulip: Ag Week Special What's For Dinner

A Gentle Word: May Day Cookie Flower Pot

Kim's County Line: Everyday is Ag Day

I also mentioned a giveaway!!!!  So this talented blogger Sierra Shea wrote a poem So God Made A Farmer's Wife.  It is amazing and highlights the work, worries, joys, and life of a farm wife.  She has offered to allow us to give one away!!  All you have to do is sign up below to get entered to win this poem!!! 

So enter you blog posts and enter the giveaway and you are well on your way to ending this week a success!!

Enjoy!

An InLinkz Link-up

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Spring.......where art thou?

It is currently snowing and we are expecting 2 inches of snow....is this real life?  I love snow and all and secretly enjoy it when everyone else is complaining about it, but........even I've had enough!!!!
Coincidentally enough it is snowing and I'm watching the movie The Holiday.....perhaps I'm confused as to what month it is!!

As I sit here mourning the lack of sun and warmth (however the weather just must be drunk because tomorrow it's supposed to be 54 degrees!!! woo hoo) there is nothing that brightens my mood better than a little MAKEUP!!!!  I was honored to get to co host this springs beauty swap over on the Crystal Cattle Blog

I finally got to meet the fabulous Crystal at this years National Western Stock Show in Denver after years of being "social media" friends.  She is just as fab in person as she is online!

So back to the beauty swap.  It is super fun and incredibly easy to participate in.  Here's the jist.  You go over to Crystal Cattle's Blog......(click here) and sign up at the bottom of the post.  She will set you up with a partner and you guys will email each other and get to know one another. The best part?  You get to connect with someone new!!!  Then you get to go shopping!!!!  Who doesn't love a little shopping of beauty products to put you in a great mood?  Ship out your package and voila you receive a package too of fun products you may already love or new ones you will begin to love!

So what are you waiting for?  Head over by April 4th and get yourself signed up!!!!

Enjoy!!

Country Fair Blog Party #4

Friends!  It's time again to link up for our blog party!  It is getting warmer outside which means the county fair is just around the corner!  Who doesn't love a great county fair?  Well this is just like the fair only you get to experience it from the warmth and comfort of your own home.  If you blog be sure to link up your post to one of either DIY, Food, or Ag.  If you don't blog no worries, check out the entries and be sure to vote for your favorite!  Just like at the fair we will have a Champion in each division!  Voting starts Wednesday so be sure to cast your vote!!!

Here are the grand champions from last weeks link up:

AGRICULTURE

How Women Should Be Perceived 

 DIY

Recycling Momentos From the Past 

 FOOD

She Works with Willing Hands 

So go ahead and join in the fun and you may just find your new favorite recipe or a great DIY project and you may even learn a lil about Ag along the way!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Country Fair Blog Party

Do you love to blog about recipes, what's happening on your farm, or an awesome do it yourself project?  Then have I got an awesome opportunity for you!  Or if you just like to read about these then you are in luck as well!  My wonderful blogging friend Nicole Small over at Tales of a Kansas Farm Mom invited me to co host a blog party that is kind of like how your county fair works!

 Here are the details:

Country Fair Blog Party

Welcome to our weekly addition of the Country Fair Blog Party!  It’s a place for bloggers to share their finest each week whether they live in the city, country, or somewhere in between.  It’s a place to brag a little about what you have been doing in the kitchen, the farm, or craft room.

Just like a local county fair we name Grand Champions each week in 3 divisions:

Food

DIY Projects

Agriculture

The posts with the most clicks each week are featured the following week as our Grand Champions!

Feel free to join in the fun and link up with up to 3 posts!  Click through the links and find some new friends and leave us a comment to tell us what your favorite post is.

So if you are a blogger be sure to add your post by linking it in or if you don't blog and just want to vote and check out all the amazing posts you can do that too!

Here are the top 3 posts from last week for the 3 categories

Food: My Other More Exciting Self

DIY Projects: Hewitt Farms Inc

Agriculture: Old Blue Silo

Please be kind and follow your hosts for this party:

Nicole of Tales of A Kansas Farm Mom on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram

Taysha of Dirt Road Charm on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram

Danielle of High Heels and Shotgun Shells on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram

Enjoy!

Do we cut our own throats?

"Scientific responses will not work on ethical issues"- Dr Temple Grandin

Last night I had the opportunity to listen to Dr Temple Grandin speak at my Alma mater Michigan State.  I find her to be inspiring and a strait shooter mostly because she says the things everyone is thinking but doesn't want to hear.  She will give you her opinion and they are normally spot on.  I laughed a lil because as we were leaving a woman came up and said I bet she ruffled some feathers in there.  And she was right......many people get comfortable and don't like to hear things that go against their beliefs or actions.  She said many things that night that really hit home with what I see happening in the Ag industry.......such as:

"Ag gag laws killed us, when you get trashed you open your doors"
"What's going to drive change around the world is pressure from buyers"
"Students today are getting further and further removed from Agriculture. 31% of students have never been on a farm"
"If you want to be an activist, and make REAL change, you better get out and see things. The good and the bad. You have to travel. Get out of your office."
"You find your passion by getting exposed to things"

At the end of her speech she opened the floor for questions.  One woman asked her what her thoughts were on the videos that Chipotle was releasing?  She simply said this "I thought the images in the videos were pretty funny and instead of everyone putting out some response article about how they were so wrong we need to be making our own videos and opening the doors to our farms for visits."  She hit the nail on the head!

Are we bringing more attention to issues that may not even be an issue and cutting our own throats?

She made many great points but most all of them came back to showing what is happening instead of just writing about your thoughts on what is happening.  So here bares my question...... Do we as an industry need more videos and pictures than articles?  Are we spending too much time writing about our thoughts on issues instead of opening doors and giving first hand views of what is happening?  I would love to hear your thoughts!

On a side note I thought spring was around the corner until I woke up to blowing snow.....it has to be here soon........right?

Beauty Swap Jackpot

Winter has lasted long enough mostly due to the extremely cold temps not so much the snow...love me some snow.   The only thing that is getting me through this never ending winter and keeping me from slowly falling into a severe depression is the wonderful sights and colors of spring.....and makeup!!  I'm so excited about spring and in its honor I recently picked up an adorable new pink lipstick from MAC in hopes it will entice spring to arrive.

 Crystal Cattle and Cowgirl Crush teamed up to hold another beauty swap and I cannot express how excited I was to be partnered up with Courtney Nolz owner of Cowgirl Crush.  If you haven't been to her online boutique I suggest you stop what you are doing and go there now and browse the amazing clothing and jewelry.  This is one of the top boutiques that I shop from!! 

I was definitely spoiled with what I received and I can't wait for you all to check out what I got and link you up so you can go out and get some yourself!  So without further ado.......

First off I received an amazing peach colored fringe scarf and a peach colored wrap bracelet that were way cute!  You can check them out at Cowgirl Crush

Victoria's Secret Heavenly Perfume-this stuff smells amazing!!  If you're looking for a nice smelling perfume this is a must try!

Fresh SUGAR tinted lip treatment- I received this in the color Berry and it is amazing.  It is like a chapstick that is tinted but leaves your lips feeling smooth.

Benefit They're Real Mascara- this mascara is legit.  It is jet black and does all that stuff like volumize, lifts, lengthens, separates.....etc

Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer-a good primer is a must have.  It keeps your makeup vibrant and lasting!

Benefit 15 hour primer- like stated before.....always use a good primer.  I didn't see much of a difference between the 2 and neither felt greasy so either one is a great choice if looking for one!

Revlon Saucy Nailpolish-this is a great color that is a mix of red and orange!

That sums up the contents of my gift box and I hope that you find some of these items to love just as much as I did so go out and gettcha some!!

Enjoy!