In like a lion out like a lamb!

This winter was like none other in my life time. The snow, cold and wet weather made farming in TN tough. I'm thankful for the moisture, but I am looking forward to spring. I love this time of year all the flowers and trees in bloom. It reminds me that God provides for everything! I'm so thankful for my husband and family and can't wait to see what the summer has in store for us.

NCBA-San Antonio, TX 2010

This year's NCBA Convention was in San Antonio, TX. Ben and I headed down on Monday to kick of the weeks activities with Masters of Beef Advocacy (MBA) training and commencement. We were trained by some great people: Troy and Stacy Hadrick from South Dakota and Amanda Nolz also from South Dakota. These young agriculture enthusiast are and inspiration and I look forward to working with them in the future. For dinner Tuesday night the Simpson's, Reece's and Neale's headed off to Fogo Chao a Brazilian Steakhouse and the atmosphere and food was great.

NCBA's Opening Session was held on Wednesday and it was awesome. The speaker was Chris Gardner author of "The Pursuit of Happyness". His story is amazing and I can't wait to see the movie starring Will Smith. After the Opening Session we headed off to the trade show to meet up with friends and meet Chris Gardner at his book signing. I can't wait to read the book. The coolest thing in the tradeshow was the sand sculpture.

   

  

 For dinner we meet up with Dr. Devin (aka A-Dad) at Mortons. We all enjoyed our prime steaks!

 

Thursday was a rainy and windy. Ben, Michael Simpson and Robby Reece headed off to tour Graham Land & Cattle Company in Gonzales, TX. Jay Gray general manager gave the guys a tour of the ranches 30,000 head capacity feedyard. I went shopping with Michael's wife Stacey, Robby's wife Brandi, and their little boy Colby. We went down to Market Square to shop and eat authentic Mexican food. On the walk back Colby and I had fun out running each other and playing in the water fountains. Thursday night was the Fiesta Party which consisted of many receptions for different organization. The food and fellowship was wonderful.

 

Friday was a day of committee meetings for Ben so I took off to tour the Alamo. While, there I tried to donate blood at a blood drive, but failed the iron test by one point. One would think after a week of eating beef for every meal my iron would be just fine. The south represented itself well at the Alamo especially Tennessee. Over 20 Tennesseans gave their life to help Texas gain their freedom from Mexico.

Friday was an eventful evening of PBR bull riding and a country music concert. We attended the bull riding and this was my first PBR event. The bulls are big and powerful!

We left sunny TX (it was above 70 degrees most of the week) on Saturday and flew into a cold and snowy Nashville. The officially yard reading says we have 4.5 inches. We had a great time and I hope spend the year promoting the consumption of beef and dairy products!

Christmas 2009

I'm a little behind on updating the blog, but didn't want to get to far from Christmas without posting some pictures. The holiday season started early for us as we went tree shopping the first weekend of December. We has a great time and found a great tree.

I sang in this year's Christmas Choir and loved the music....it was Have No Fear.

In the middle of the month the Band of Brothers had their annual Christmas party. Ben did a lot of planning for this and it was a wonderful evening. We had over 75 people attend. Santa dropped by to read the Christmas story!

On Monday Dec 21 we headed to the Carolina's for Christmas. We had a good time and we really enjoyed the time we got to spend with my Grandmother Iristine. Eva Lynne was a prefect angle even through she was scared of the toy we got her. The Peeler gathering was big as usually... most everyone was able to attend. It's amazing to see what two people (my grandparents) can produce. To date there are 4 children+ spouses, 10 grandchildren+ spouses, and 5 great-grandchildren. All because two people fell in love. I love a BIG family. We drove back home on Christmas Eve and spent Christmas together around our live Christmas tree!

Mom's Birthday

My Mom's birthday is Oct. 23. She and I took a trip to Chattanooga, TN the weekend of Halloween to celebrate. We both arrived Friday prior to lunch and at BBQ and then set off to see Ruby Falls. The waterfall in the deepest part of the cave is breathtaking. We both wondered all the beauties under the earth that most humans never see. Later we rode the Incline Railway. It's the steepest vertical drop in the US. The leaves on the ride were beautiful. Friday night we had dinner at Bald Headed Bistro in Cleveland. It's an upscale steak and wild game restaurant. Mom said it was the best piece of beef she had ever eaten. On Saturday we went to the TN aquarium and did the River and Sea adventures. Mom's favorite was the seahorse exhibit and mine was the penguins. We had a great time and I'm thankful for the time I get to spend with her.













Mom and I take a self portrait!




















Mom and a "candle" in Ruby Falls.













The fall foliage on the Incline Railway.














Mom get up close and personal with a bird!
She really doesn't like feathered friends.

Annie get your gun.....

As most of you know I'm not a fan of guns. I don't think they should be outlawed, I'm just scared of them. My husband and brother are both avid about their ammunition. During a recent visit to the farm my brother and his friends decided to teach me to shoot skeet. I did hit the first two thrown for me, but after that I took up hand throwing the clays for them.














It's heavier than it looks!













My brother Davis and I shooting clays!














Throwing the clays is a much better work out.

Band of Brothers Fall Retreat

This past weekend Ben and I went to Pigeon Forge with the Band of Brothers from our church. This is an annual trip for the group; however, it was our first time. We stayed in Mountain Destiny with 9 other couples. We ate lots of good food, shopped a little, and enjoyed the fellowship with fellow believers. The last night we play the "Oldie Wed" game, a knock off of the "Newly Wed" t.v. show. After 20 questions, Ben and I were named this year's winners. Silly game, but showed us how much we do know about each other. We had a great time and look forward to going back again next year.


Ben and I on the deck of our cabin.


The view the first morning from our cabin.

The corn stalk cow at the Apple Barn.

1st Year Anniversary

Ben and I said, "I do" one year ago today. Many people have given us marriage advise over the past 365 days ranging from: "Ben do just as she says!" to "The first year is the most difficult. " All jokes aside, though we have learned a lot about each other and it has been an adjustment, I know I would do it all over again and say yes to my most perfect gift from God. As far as what we did, both of us kept with the tradition of paper for the first year's gifts. I made Ben a scrap book of our honeymoon to Yellowstone. He asked if we could do something neat with the pics so I did my best. He gave me tickets for the noon dinner and show on the General Jackson in Nashville. We had a great time and enjoyed the view of downtown on the river.