Special Cupcakes for a Special Event

I love summer, don't get me wrong, but this summer is different from any other summer I have spent. During high school summers I got to see my friends at FFA functions. Now, after living away from home and pretty much being around my friends 24-7, it's a change to be at home. Most of the time I love the quiet and solitude, but there are times I miss the girl-talk that comprised many of my evenings in the dorm.

My friends and I saw this coming, so we decided to set aside a weekend in June to get together. Originally, it was for Kathryn's birthday but after a postponement it ended up simply as a Girls' Night. 

Kathryn may not be fond of a lot of attention, but we decided we had to do something for her birthday. The day before heading to her house, I had to go back to Columbia for a financial aid appointment and work, so Megan and I made cupcakes!

Purple is Kathryn's favorite color, so we dyed vanilla cupcakes using our new neon food colorings. I think this will become a birthday tradition.

And then Megan (the artist of the bunch- she does wonders with wood!) made each girl a special cupcake with their initial on it. See the light blue? That is cotton candy flavored frosting! I LOVE cotton candy. And my friends know it. So when Megan and I went to Walmart for baking supplies, we couldn't resist the cotton candy flavoring packet. 

On the positive side: I think they went over pretty good. :)

On the not-so-positive side: I think I left the rest of my cotton candy icing at Kathryn's house! :( 

"I'm Farming and I Grow It"

The "I'm Farming and I Grow It" video has gone viral! I saw it yesterday for the first time and there were maybe 2000 views. Today, over 250,000 people have watched it! 

There are several things I love about this video.

1. The message. Farming is hard work, but it is extremely important work. Without farmers, ranchers and other agricultural workers who make it their life's work to produce food, fiber and fuel, you'd best be prepared to grow and process everything yourself. And since we don't have enough land for everyone to do that (and it'd be nice if we could have a few doctors, accountants, lawyers, police officers....) we should be appreciative of those who raise our food!
2. The creativity. If you thought agriculture couldn't get creative, you are mistaken. It may sound odd, but I think agriculture is one of the most creative industries out there. Sure, it often involves a lot of heavy machinery, mud and dirt, but it also involves a lot of resourcefulness and critical thinking. And, as an agricultural journalism major I use creativity every day! Writing, designing, videography... Creative juices must flow! I love the use of creativity here. Take a popular song, add lyrics relating to life on the farm, and effectively edit the video to make it fun, educational and catchy. 
3. The family. Did you notice the emphasis on family? The three brothers star in the video, the family sits together around the table, and someone who I can only assume is the little sister laughs behind the camera as her brothers dance in front of the staring cattle (my personal favorite scene). 98 percent of farms in the U.S. are family owned. I love how this video puts the spotlight on a family who I don't personally know, but one I am sure my family would get along with just fine. That's something I love about the agricultural industry. We may raise different crops and/or livestock or we may be involved in some other agricultural sector, but there is something special that binds us together. When it comes down to it, we all seem to have a love for our land and animals, and we value family, heritage and character qualities such as hard work, respect, responsibility and perseverance.
4. The reminder that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. This is my favorite part of this video, and the story behind this video (which you can listen to at AgriTalk.com). Greg Peterson, a K-State student, was just hanging out with his friends at college when the idea for this parody video originated. The idea grew, and he and his brothers acted on it. They put in early hours before beginning long days of fieldwork for the harvest, and I'm sure they put in late hours too. I know from personal experience videos take a lot longer to create than they do to watch when the final package is created! Ordinary boys, taking the time and exerting the effort to share a piece of their life, a life in agriculture, with the world. This is a definite reminder that standing up and sharing your story is important, and can be quite effective! Listen to their story, it's wonderful! 
5. Most of all, I'm proud to be a part of a generation standing up for agriculture, and remaining humble through the process. In the interview, Peterson said, "God gave us the talents and you know, it's about agriculture getting promoted not about us getting promoted." I don't think I could have said it any better! That's what it's all about for me, and it makes my heart glad to know there are others out there with that same mindset. 

Be sure to watch their video, listen to their story, and like their Facebook page! As I said, I am proud to be a part of a generation standing up for the agricultural lifestyle. We have a message that needs to be told, and who says we can't have fun while doing it? 

Pigs in a Blanket (or on a Wall Hanging)

I have discovered Pinterest! Ok so I actually learned about it last year, but I have finally joined the crowds of people (or maybe it'd be more accurate to say "crowds of women") who "pin" things to online boards. 

Why did I finally give in? My friends and I are figuring out what we're going to do about decorating our house, we are ready to bring the country to the city next year, and Pinterest is perfect for organizing the cool decorating ideas we've found. Some neat ideas we want to use: mason jar soap dispensers, antiqued wooden signs with inspirational messages, burlap placemats...

Above is a project I have been working on. I didn't find it on Pinterest. Rather, I found it in a pattern book hidden like treasure beneath a mound of fabric scraps at my grandma's house. 

Grandma is a big quilter. She used to sew all the time. She'd sew up the quilts, take them to her Amish lady friends who would quilt them, then she'd sell them in Jamesport. I've always had an interest in sewing, I made my first quilt in middle school, but this is the first wall hanging I'll have made. It features several barnyard critters: three pigs, two chicks, a hen, a rooster, and a lamb, along with a sun, barn and silo, cornfield and tractor. 

Agriculture is part of all of my new house-mates' lives, and we aim to let that be known to all who enter our home. 

Farm Safety Learnin' (Through Puppets)

My roommate and friend, Kathryn, came to help us process our chickens a couple weeks after school was out. She is an agricultural education major, so we felt she needed the experience. ;) She was a real trooper and did a wonderful job, though I think she probably learned more poultry anatomy than she cared to know. Future students of Ms. Coon will be set! 

Before Kathryn hit the road again, she needed to put in some hours for her job. As the Missouri Farm Safety 4 Just Kids representative this year, Kathryn gives presentations to promote safety on the farm to children. How handy is it that she can give these presentations in areas where she has friends? We get to see her, she gets a free place to stay and area children can hear important safety tips! She secured a presentation time for our fair, and then headed home.

A couple weeks later, I got a message from her saying another of her Trenton contacts had called her back and wanted a presentation. It was for the summer school kids at our elementary school, Rissler. And, she asked if I wanted to help!

Kathryn made the Trenton news!

The morning of the presentation, I woke up bright and early (though not as early as she had to!) and met Kathryn at the school. I led Kathryn to the office to figure out where she was supposed to be and discovered she'd be presenting to the younger kids down in the gym. 

It was an odd feeling walking into my old elementary school. Yes, I've been back there to help present Food for America to the fourth graders with FFA and for functions when Elizabeth was there. But this was different! I was walking into a piece of my past with one of my best friends from college, a piece of my present life and a sort of bridge to my future.

After talking to the secretary, the mother of one of my high school classmates, we ran into the lady in charge- my 6th, 10th and 12th grade English teacher. (Again with the odd new-college-life-meets-old-Trenton-life feeling). Then we started setting up the puppet show. 

The puppets, farm animals and a scarecrow, told the children animal safety tips through rhymes. Tips included the importance of staying outside of fences, not disturbing wild animals, and being careful around mother animals. It was a cute skit if I say so myself (I should have recorded it! Next time, next time), but I did play the role of a few of the animals so I might be slightly biased. The kids loved it though, and that's what was important. After the show, Kathryn got to answer questions (and hear all about the kids' experiences with animals at home!).

A Day in the Garden

As you read this, don't be led to believe we are super behind on our garden. I just realized this post from May 22 was never published. Better late than never though I suppose... 


What do two girls, a pocket knife, a box cutter, empty feed sacks, straw and tomato plants equal? It's mulching time!!! Throw in a portable music player, a pitch fork and a water hose and you've got a recipe for a fun summer day.


My dad is all about experimenting with different production methods in our garden. This year he's experimenting with no-till methods. He's being working with something called "lasagna gardening" and adapting it. Basically we've just layered feed sack and compost before planting, then put some straw on top. The hope is we won't have to deal with too many weeds.


Dad already had the tomato and pepper plants planted when I got home from college, and the whole family got in on mulching the first couple of rows, but Elizabeth and I (and our dog, Buffy) spent this afternoon cutting apart feed sacks (enter the pocket knife) and covering the ground (minus a few holes for the tomato plants- enter the box cutter). Later in the evening, Dad brought over some more composted material and the whole family planted some squash plants.

Step 1: Lay Flattened Feed Sacks on Ground

Step 2: Spread Compost on Feed Sacks

Step 3: Plant (Buffy likes to help)

Step 4: Water

Step 5: Watch and Wait

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Step 6: Have some Fun!

Elizabeth driving off in her "bustin' a move" t-shirt. How fitting for today's activities!

Dancing through the garden- watch for fairies!

Sisterly Love (and a Pitchfork...)

Awards- That's a Job!

I can't believe it's already mid-June! Where has time gone?

The funny thing is (or sad- however you want to look at it, I prefer to think of things as funny) I thought I would have MUCH more time to write when I didn't have to think about school work. Just goes to show you the grass is always greener on the other side!

So what have I been up to? LOTS.

It seems like I've been making the drive back to Columbia a lot this summer. I'm working with Marilyn Cummins of Cummins Consulting to get the American Ag Editors Association Awards Program together. It's my first "real job" (though I get to work from home most of the time, so maybe I can't consider it "real"), and I have been enjoying the experience!

It's so interesting looking at what professional agricultural journalists are writing. I am constantly amazed at what's going on in agriculture- new technologies, techniques, and implements; awesome agriculturalists who are doing what they love; and the people who are standing up for their passions and livelihoods. Seeing it in action, and realizing I could potentially be doing something similar in a few years, is really encouraging and exciting for me.

There is a lot more involved in putting an awards program together than I had ever realized! And I have just worked on pieces on the AAEA Awards Program. It's a huge program, so I'm a little nervous about what it's going to be like when we get to Albuquerque to present it. Fortunately, I got a little practice this past week.

Marilyn was also in charge of the Missouri Association of Publications Conference, and towards the end I got the opportunity to help her out with it. Bonus experience! Plus, it's kind of fun to have an excuse to get all spiffied up and look professional. I got some valuable practice experience in setting up an awards powerpoint, organizing plaques and certificates, plus I got to meet some very interesting people!

Oh, and I got my first experience driving on Highway 63 in morning rush hour traffic. I SURVIVED! :) (I'm not exaggerating my excitement about this...)

I'm looking forward to doing it all over (only on a much larger scale) in Albuquerque a few months from now!