Acacia Farm

Wow, July was the last post. Lots to catch up on....most importantly Ben and I purchased a farm in Warren County TN this past summer. We named it Acacia Farm and of course there is a story behind the name. If you know biblical history you are aware that the Israelites spent 40 years in the wilderness prior to entering the promise land. Scholars have stated the place they lived prior to entering the promise land was known as Acacia Grove. Ben suggested since this is where we will live prior to entering our promised land (Heaven) we should name it Acacia Farm. I loved it!

This past fall we (mainly Ben) spent many long hours at night working on remolding the inside of the house which was built in 1978. If I might add, nothing had been changed in the house since 1978 so everything from the floor up was ripped out and new put in its place (or will be). We put our house in Murfreesboro on the market in August and it was under contract the week before Christmas. That meant the remolding projects had to pick up the pace and some would have wait until after we moved in.

We moved from Murfreesboro to McMinnville the last week in February. We owe a big thank you to the Band of Brothers from New Vision Baptist Church for all their help with the move. We were loaded, unloaded and all our furniture in place by noon. Yea, that's fast!

Since we moved in we have been working on the projects that were left incomplete like paining, trim work, hanging blinds & curtains, etc. I promise to do a before and after blog of the home once everything is done. I know your thinking that will never happen...but since I will have three months off this summer my goal is to get the inside done...the challenge begins! Ben has been working on buying farm equipment and starting the fencing. We hope to have cattle sometime this fall!


From our house to yours....

Ben's Birthday!

Today we celebrated Ben's 31st birthday. We had a wonderful lunch followed by a great DQ ice cream cake (his favorite)! He loved his gift a framed print of the American Cattle Trails.

Eva Lynne's 1st Birthday

Eva Lynne celebrated her first birthday on July 8th in a purple tu tu! Family and friends gathered for a backyard BBQ and everyone enjoyed water games.

Sunset Beach

Back in May Mom, my Grandmother, and I took a trip to Sunset Beach, N.C. My grandmother has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and wanted to take a trip one last time to her favorite place. Guess I get that love honest, because there is no other place on earth I would rather be than at the beach.

Mom and I rented bikes and rode them everyday back and forth from the beach to get in some exercise. We had to ride them across a wooden "swing" bridge that was one lane. It was an adventure to go bump, bump, bump and dodge cars.

We read books, baked in the sun and ate great food. Our view from our bed was amazing. We looked over a boat dock and onto "Goat Island". Goats really did live there...there activity was dependent on the tide.

During one of my beach rides I found the "Kindred Spirit" mailbox, where people wrote about life, their families, their faith and their trips to the beach. It was a really neat and of course I left "our story" too.

The sunsets were amazing and so was the rainbow that started and stopped on the beach. It was a great reminder of God's promise.

Here's to three generations of Sandlappers who love to bake in the sun and wiggle our toes in the sand!

FFA members why are we here?

"To practice brotherhood, honor agricultural opportunities and responsibilities, and develop those qualities of leadership which an FFA member should possess."

Founded in 1928, the Future Farmers of America brought together students, teachers and agribusiness to solidify support for agricultural education. In Kansas City's Baltimore Hotel, 33 young farmboys charted a course for the future. They could not have foreseen how the organization would grow and thrive.

Since 1928, millions of agriculture students - no one knows exactly how many - have donned the official FFA jacket and championed the FFA creed. FFA has opened its doors and its arms women in 1968, ensuring that all students could reap the benefits of agricultural education. Today, the National FFA Organization remains committed to the individual student, providing a path to achievement in premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education. Now, the organization is expanding the nation's view of "traditional" agriculture and finding new ways to infuse agriculture into the classroom.

My FFA career begin in 1994 when I registered for my first agriculture education class. At this time I had no idea where that blue jacket would take me. I competed in a couple SAE (supervised agriculture experience) and won the State Dairy Proficiency. I also enjoyed competing in several CDE (career development events). I was proud to earn my State and American Degrees. In 1998-1999 I severed as the S.C. State FFA Secretary and had the honor of dedicating the national head quarters in Indiana. All 50 states brought samples of their soil and poured them around the flag pool in alphabetical order. Needless to say South Dakota was not impressed with our red clay!

On June 9 I was invited back to the S.C. State Convention as a past state female FFA officer to honor 40 years of women in FFA. It was such a joy to sit and the seats of the Brooks Center on the campus of Clemson University and slip back in time. Though technology and the world around us has changed; I'm proud to say the jackets and the time honored traditions of this organization stay the same!

May 2010 Flood

In the first 3 days of May we have made history! We have had more rain in these 3 days than the entire month combined. The Bible tells of a time when God destroyed the earth by water and after this past weekend I am thankful I wasn't apart of the first flood. On Saturday parts of middle TN had over 13 inches and it kept raining on Sunday. Our home and neighborhood are fine. There are families north of us that have lost everything. The dams on Cumberland River had to be opened today to relieve some of the strain and water levels are expected to rise another 6 feet in the surrounding areas. Please keep the area in your thoughts and prayers. Only one water treatment plant is running in Nashville is short and ground water is contaminated with sewage. This past weekend's weather reminds me of a powerful and might God we serve! I don't have pictures because we choose to stay at home to be safe and stay out of rescue workers ways.

Job Updates!

Haven't posted anything in awhile, so I thought I would give a job update for both Ben and I. As many of you know I worked for Fort Dodge Animal Health for over five years. This past October they were purchased by Pfizer. Many of the products I represented were sold to another company as required by the Federal Trade Commission. I had the opportunity to leave the company and receive a severance and choose to take this time to exit. I stayed at home and cleaned and reorganized everything. In January I received a phone call from a regional manager with Intervet Schering Plough about the possibility of working as a contract product launch specialist for 3-6 months. Ben and I thought this would provided a good opportunity so on February 1 I started work. I just finish month 3 and it appears I will have 2-3 more months of work.

Ben worked for 2 years for TN Livestock Network which is a non-profit cattle marketing group. In February he turned in his two week notice and on March 1 he started working for the Beef Connection of TN. Check out their website at www.thebeefconnection.com. This job is providing and challenge which Ben loves.

Ultimately we want to be in the middle of God's plan and be living His will in our lives. We have started actively looking for a farm to purchase. We both realize this could take some time so we remind each other to be patient and wait for the right one. We plan to stay in the middle TN area and are looking in Coffee, Warren, White and Cannon counties.

We hope the spring weather has brought as much beauty in your lives as it has ours. As I write this I am listening to a power thunder storm only wishing I was sitting under a tin roof!