My favorites

I've came across some great things lately that I wanted to share!

Philosophy: This is a well being beauty company that sells anything from lotion to most recently, skin care lines. Recently I was given a free sample of their Amazing Grace shampoo, bath and shower gel as well as their firming body emulsion (lotion). This fragrance is a wonderful, light floral scent. The shampoo combo gel is great as a shower gel but I wouldn't use it as my go-to shampoo. Great in a pinch or traveling. The lotion didn't show any special firming effects but I love it as a general lotion. They have a lot of neat scents and gift packs that could be great for holiday gifts. Here's a link you can use for 15% off fragrances. It's something that I'll probably keep stocked, especially for company. Another plus is the words on the label. Some of them are really nice reflective sayings.

All Creatures Big and Small: My kids call it Two by Two. I bought this movie on a whim in Walmart a couple months ago and it's become a huge hit! I figured it'd be a good intro to Noah's Ark but there is so much more to the story than that. Some reviews complained about the made-up animals but that's what we liked most about it.

Weiman Stainless Steel Cleaner: I believe I initially heard about this product from Iowa Girl Eats and wanted to give it a try. New stainless steel appliances with 2 little kids in addition to our friends' kids makes for really gross appliances. This stuff is a miracle worker!

Pioneer Woman housewares collection: Anyone that knows me well (or follows me on Facebook or Instagram) knows how much I love this lady! I picked up her cookbook on a whim in 2009 before she became such a household name. Her recipes were delicious! Ree has now come out with her own line of household items (and cookbook) and I want majority of it. There's just a few items that I already have something similar. I'm ready to sell the beautiful but masculine dishes we have from our wedding. Mark might have to eat off of brightly colored and feminine plates from now on. Hint hint for anyone that cares: It can be bought online or in Walmart stores.

Saranoni: This company makes the most amazing blankets I've ever felt! I've already turned a few people onto them. Yes they are a tad expensive but seriously people, just cuddle with one and you'll forget about the price. They come in so many sizes and colors. We have 1 large one to share and the kids each have a mini and small size blanket. We all love them! Mark initially thought about making me send it back, that was until he took a nap with it. The original blankets are quite heavy so sleeping under it with a baby or kid will result in a lot of sweating....or so I've been told.

Parenting. An emotional and physical drain.

We all parent in our own way. It's a combination of our general attitude, fears, past experiences and a whole lot more things thrown in. This day in age we, as parents (and everyone else for that matter), take things incredibly personal. Especially when our children are involved. It could be a statement of 'Your child isn't talking/walking/sleeping yet?' or 'Your child was doing (insert whatever action here).' There are so many different scenarios where you could be possibly offended even though the statement came out nowhere close to as judgmental as it sounded.

While I'm not immune to these feelings, I like to think that I am very laid back when it comes to my parenting style. As long as my kids aren't being physically hurt, hurting someone else, breaking something or getting in trouble with teachers/law enforcement.....it's not worth my time or sanity to be constantly on them about something. Don't get me wrong, I believe there's a fine line of respect for your surroundings and chaos. To this I admit that things are handled very differently at our house compared to another house or out in public.

Anyone that has been to our house, especially since the move, has quickly realized that all bets are off when it comes to children playing. There's a lot of yelling, running and loud playing in general. And that is okay with us! Playing, especially at such a young age, is learning. Luckily no parents have ran screaming from our house yet and I prefer to not know what is talked about in the car on the ride home! Most of their kids are just as crazy and loud as ours. I'd like to think that our friends appreciate the ability to let our kids run loose and blow off some steam.

During that time the adult folk partake in some yummy beverages while the guys are usually watching a sporting event of some sort and the gals are sitting around the table talking. On rare occasions we have a bonfire outside as well. Our ability to ignore the craziness is amazing! Eventually a kid or two might start crying. At that point we all stop and take a listen until we decipher which family that cry belongs too. You might think we're asking for trouble but actually they play really well.

Something that that we're lucky that's uncommon is confrontation. We tend to step back and let the kids figure things out themselves. I will admit that we can't hear what they're saying most of the time but think about it.....can you really take what a little kid says at the complete truth? What comes out in words is rarely what is actually meant. Their ability to fully communicate isn't 100% yet. Case in point...my son thought that hot dogs were made out of wild dogs. No joke! When I told him that wasn't the best idea to tell people his response was 'Well the word dog is in the name. What are hot dogs made with then?' Poor Isaac will probably never eat a meal at our house unless his mom brings peanut butter sandwiches with!

Majority of the families we spend time with are a lot like us. In those instances I'm sure most people appreciate that we live in the country out of earshot. More than a few times we've wondered if a kid is going to fall through the floor upstairs. Thank goodness our house is built solid with being built in 1905!

Yes our house usually looks like tornado came through the next morning but at the end of the day, our kids (as well as us adults) have a great time. We love our friends and their children!!!! So if you come visit, be prepared for everything opposite of a quiet time, great company.....and a late night.

The First Year

Yesterday marked our official 1st year anniversary of moving to our 'forever farm'. There have been a lot of learning curves as well as some great moments that have happened so far. Below is my abbreviated list of things, good and bad, I've learned from living in the country.

1. Dust. It's everywhere. The outside of the windows, the inside of the windows, the inside of my car and we won't even talk about my car exterior. One of our neighbors warned me about the dust and there's nothing that she could do about it. I didn't believe her and I was wrong.

2. Speaking of dust, the traffic on our gravel road is crazy! It's not just that there is a lot of traffic, which there is. Passenger vehicles and large semis drive down our road going at least 50-60 mph. Incredibly dangerous since there is an uncontrolled intersection next to our house. It is a large fear that I will witness an accident there.

3. Snow is the devil. This past winter was a rough one without a way to move snow. Luckily we've added a tractor to the mix which will help dramatically. Mark would actually go out with the snow blower. Great if we lived in town but not so much with a descent amount of drive.

4. Buying 5-6 acres has been commitment for sure. Especially when the previous owner was 90-some years old and hadn't done any regular maintenance in quite a few years. Mark and I have gotten frustrated at times because there just isn't enough time in the day to do all the projects we'd like. We have to keep reminding ourselves that getting this amount of land and buildings 'pretty' is going to take quite a few years. Fixing 15 years (or more) of neglect isn't going to happen overnight. There's current a deck being built where the brush is in the picture below. More to come when it's finished!

5. Someday I will have a normal shower in the bathroom instead of the basement. I've lived 1 year without one so it's not the end of the world but in the middle of winter it gets a little chilly :)

6. Well water is tough on your clothes and appliances. More than 1 article of clothing has been ruined because of rusty water. Friends would ask how the water was on the clothes but I didn't notice anything until about 6 months in. I've found something to use to help but haven't tried it yet. Our washing machine is all stained inside due to the rust. We've been researching whole house water treatment systems to help with this issue.

Part of the aftermath of a party

7. Family/friends. We are incredibly lucky to now live close to our family and some of the best friends we could ask for. Yes we made friends in McCallsburg and I do miss them but there's something about reuniting with those old friends and getting together like nothing has changed. Our parents enjoy us living closer for sure and I do too. Saturday morning trips to see my mom for tea and sometimes breakfast for the kids has been something that I look forward too! We love having people over to visit. Our house has hosted more gatherings the past year than the previous 7 years at the old house (kid birthday parties excluded) and we can't wait for more.

8. The peace and quiet (minus the crazy cars driving by) is refreshing! More than once we've had a naked child running outside or as my son tells us, he pooped outside a couple times (we still have yet to find proof of that). Sitting outside and just watching the world go by is very calming. Our house it at the top of a hill in the area so we get a great view. Neighbors previously that were a tad crazy and by crazy I mean lots of yelling at dogs, herds of grandchildren living with grandparents, the older children that refuse to move away from home and like to have parties, trying to pull a hitch out of their truck with a long chain attached to a tree and last but not least, having the sheriff show up to arrest the boyfriend of the neighbors wife, kicking out the cops window and the ambulance showing up for pepper spray use. We lived on the wrong side of the railroad tracks for sure.

Hi George!

9. More space. The extra space is great but also a curse at the same time. Just as I suspected it's a lot harder to keep up with cleaning double the square footage. The messes in our old house looks much smaller now so in turn I don't clean quite as often. When I do though, it's harder to get out from under it.Organization still gets to be an issue as I'm still going through moving boxes very slowly.

The spare room is still a disaster!

10. Our vision of things to come at the new house is exciting! We have a beautiful property to clean up and make our own. The 1st stage of our deck and barn fencing is coming along nicely. The problem with a vision is time and money. All we can do is slowly keep chugging along and chip away at what we're planning on being our forever home. 

It's never too early to start chores

We are incredibly happy with the first year and can't wait to see what the future holds. There will be road blocks ahead I'm sure but in the long run it's all about working hard to complete our vision. It will take time but then again the world wasn't made in a summer.

Angel Wings

It's been a long approximate year for my family, immediate and extended. There have been many times that I started writing something for the people close to me that have lost their earthly life in the last year. Each time I only get a sentence or two in when the eyes start filling with tears. Today I face those feelings and finish what was started....I hope.

I always hear that death tends to come in threes. Hopefully that means I've had my fill and will have a long break. Even my kids have had more experience with death recently than they should. There were a lot of interesting (and honestly very cute) conversations in the car with my little people about heaven, angels, the use of cemeteries/heaven and the possibility of care bears up in the sky as well.

4 people and 1 special dog have went to a place where they can keep tabs on all the people that mean a lot to them as well as reunite with those that passed before them. Each of those people held a special place in my family. My Aunt Deloris, friend Joy, my Grandma Marj and Mark's Grandpa DeWayne and of course I can't forget our dog of 15 years, Miss Caroline.

Aunt Deloris and Grandma Marj were sisters. My dad's side of the family was always a tad unconventional in what I called family members. To this day I really have to think about the actual relation with people..hopefully I get this right. 'Cousins' are what I call my dads cousins and Deloris was actually my dads aunt, my Great Aunt. Hard to follow I know :) Pretty sure it's still hard for Mark to fully grasp all of it and sometimes I still get confused. Long story short my dad was raised as a brother to Aunt Deloris. Amazing lady who I still remember loved to garage sale. If it was a good deal, it was coming home with her. I spent time in her basement when I was younger with what I think (?!?) are my 2nd cousins playing video games or swimming in their backyard (children of my dads cousins). Ugh...I still get so confused. That pretty lady died just over a year ago and my funniest memory was of her and my Grandma sitting in the backseat of my parents car. They were headed to my brothers wedding in Colorado and my parents thought it was a great idea for Deloris to come along and keep Grandma company during the long drive. What my parents didn't take into consideration was how.much.they.talk. Hearing my mom tell the story still makes me giggle. Those ladies could talk for hours every day on the phone so being able to talk in person was great for them!

(I will try to find the perfect picture for this tonight. I know I have it...just have to find it still in the moving boxes!)

Joy is a dear, dear friend of mine whose life was taken incredibly too early. We hadn't had a long friendship and it was a match that some people called unconventional at first. We were very different people but our friendship blossomed very quickly while attending Iowa Central Community College together. We had known each other for a few years through 4-H but it was only in passing. Oddly enough her 2 best friends in high school were close friends of mine but our paths still didn't cross. Our close friends had gone off to other colleges and we latched onto each other quickly as a best friend. While both attending Iowa State our friendship was still there but we went our separate ways to 'find another side of us' or whatever college kids do. After graduation we kept in touch but we got even closer when Joy moved to Story City. Once again we lived close so we picked up right where we left off! It was at this point that Joy became the glue to a foursome that will forever have a large piece of my heart. Joy, Julie, Emily and I always got together during holidays when everyone was home. There was no way we weren't going to see each other if Joy had anything to say about it. We had always talked about having girls trips and never had the chance to do one. In Joy's honor Emily, Julie and I got together in Minneapolis this past weekend to plan our big trip. The toast during dinner and the feeling of her sitting as the 4th person at our table has stuck with me this past week. This past year has brought the 3 of us much closer together than I thought possible and Joy is the reason behind that.

Dear Grandma Marj, so many things I could say about her. She was incredibly feisty. Always made sure to have ice cream, brownies or cake, cookies, candy and Diet Pepsi in small cans on hand at all times for people who would visit. It was your own fault if you ever left her house hungry because she would force feed you. Grandma would always ask what she could bring to a family function. While we told her to only bring her chicken and noodles, it never failed that she'd bring an angel food cake, some fruit and banana and/or zucchini bread with her as well. The last time she was at our house was when she dropped off a meal to feed 20 people when moving into our house. It ended up raining so I waited around until Grandma showed up and we ate together instead. She was always worried about us and would call to check in on us and the kids! "Sorry to bother you, I know you're busy" is how she always started her calls. Most Grandmas were the homemaker type but not her. Yes she would cook but baking and sewing (other than crochet) weren't her specialty. She was running the farm and working outside instead.

Grandpa DeWayne is someone I didn't get to know as well as my own grandparents obviously. To me he was always the strong, silent one in the room. While I never got to know him well, Mark thought the world revolved around his Grandpa. He was always telling stories of fishing in the pond or riding the 4-wheeler around the farm. Long before we were engaged Mark was excited to take me to the farm for the 1st time and drive down to the river on the 4-wheeler.Like most older men he didn't hold Lane or Evy right away. I'll never forget the 1st time DeWayne picked Lane up, put him on his lap and started feeding him M&Ms. We all looked at each other and then started taking pictures quickly before the moment passed.

Last but not least is Miss Caroline. Mark and I got her from my brother when we first moved in together. Cost us a case of beer since she was one of the last puppies left from the litter. She was incredibly loyal and loving towards humans (not so much other animals) but unfortunately her old age got the best of her. Caroline went blind a couple years ago and started having seizures in the couple months before she died. Once and awhile the kids and I go out to 'pet' her and leave a treat on the ground next to her. Lane made me take a flower out of my flower pot and put in next to her!

The regrets of when someone dies are hard to let go. Whether is be the text you should have answered right away, trip to see them even if it wasn't convenient at the time or just making time for that lesson on how to make chicken and noodles just right. I know that I'm not the only one with these types of feelings. All I can do is to try and live my life according to their expectations. That's one reason why our girls weekends will be done on a regular basis (extravagant or local), why I promise to make perfect chicken and noodles by trial/error and why putting the extra miles on my car isn't something I think about any longer.

County Fair Excitement

I love the fair. County fair or state fair, it doesn't matter. My love for what some people would call mass chaos was passed down from previous generations in my family. I went to my first county fair at 1 week old and my first state fair was approximately 2 weeks later. People probably looked at my mom as if she was crazy! In our family that's not crazy, it was simply a way of life. You see, every generation of my family has at least 1 person showing an animal at the fair. My grandpa, my dad, all of my brothers, myself and my nephew for a period of time. For 30+ years there was always at least 1 Bullock showing at the fair. There has been a break of about 10 years now.

Well, that break is over! My son starts his 1st showing experience at the county fair this week. It's still unknown as to how this experience will go because as you can imagine, a 32 pound kid (why oh why is my child so small?) trying to lead a 90 lb lamb could end a multitude of ways. Some days go really well and others not so much.

My brothers enjoyed the showing process. Working them multiple times a day (while sleeping in the barn for early morning session) and traveling far and wide to get that coveted Grand Champion title. It was an unspoken rule that I would follow in their footsteps. A lot of years included tears and frustration because there were high expectations. While I never got involved to the point of traveling across the state/country for shows, my sheep showing journey ended with a lot of pride and joy at my accomplishments.

Lambs were never my 'passion'. It was horses. I was very lucky to get the opportunity for unlimited access to horses at a young age. The county and state fairs were a jumping off point for something larger. Eventually I started going to regional shows and capped off my showing career with a trip to the world show in Tulsa, OK on my 21st birthday. Actually, my passion for horses didn't stop there as I showed horses through a college club as well.

Every summer while growing up I returned back to the county fair. It was a time to spend 1 week with some of my closest friends. There was a core group of us that got along GREAT even though we were all competing against each other. We keep in touch to this day! It's funny because I recently ran into someone that knew all of us that showed horses together. He said to me 'You're one of those pretty girls that all ran around together!"

Being involved in 4-H and FFA at the county/state level gave me some of the best friendships I've ever had. I had friends that I went to school with as well but my 4-H friendships were on a whole other level. We weren't friends because we went to school together, we were friends because there was a common passion between all of us. All of our early morning, late nights, long days and even a 1.5 hr ride in the nose of a livestock trailer (why did our parents think this was an okay idea?) bonded us in a way no other experience could.

It is my hope that my children will have the same or even better experience in 4-H as I did. There might have been some disappointments at times but the time I spent doing something I loved with people I loved made it all worth it. This week is the start of that experience and I vow to help him make it as amazing as possible!

My favorites

It's been awhile since I shared some of my favorite things. The past few weeks I've been on a kick of trying new products! Not always am I willing to pay and try new things. Most of the time I'd rather try an item for free or a really discounted price then if I like the product, I'll keep using it. Here's my current favorites.

Tervis This is a product (the tumbler) that I received from one of our salesman a few months ago. He had gotten some extra from a vendor of ours and wanted to share. The tumblers keep hot things hot and cold things cold for hours. My tea which will usually get cold very quickly was still warm 3 hours later. Customize your own or choose from almost any interest you have.

Style Me Hair Oil I tried this a month ago when it arrived in my June Ipsy delivery. Initially I was worried since I've had bad experiences with using oil in my hair. It worked great. I was able to use 5 drops of the oil and it kept my curly/wavy hair from getting frizzy. Usually mousse and hair gel are my normal hair products but this allowed me to keep the frizz under control without my hair looking crunchy, wet or weighed down.

Taste Buds Kitchen My kids and I had our first experience with Taste Buds while on vacation recently. The premise of this company is it allows anyone age 2-however old you are to come in and take a cooking lesson. Best part is everything is so simple! Easy to recreate at home once you learn the technique. It could be a camp for your child, a adult/child class or a BYOB adults only event. Over 4 days we took in a Chocolate Lovers and Sushi & Dumplings adult classes. My 4 yr old participated in 2-3 hr camps where he made apple spice muffins, sweet potato bites, lasagna cupcakes, cannolis and I'm sure other items that I don't know about. Then both kids, myself and my mom took the flower cupcakes adult/child class. So much fun. This company is just starting out in the franchise business so it's very limited in locations.

Modern Farmhouse lighting Ever since moving to our 100 yr old farmhouse almost 9 months ago I've been on the hunt for new light fixtures and ceiling fans. I want something that 'fits in' with the property we live on. Rustic looking but nothing fancy. I came across this website on Pinterest and fell in love. The price tag on them snapped me back into reality though. This light along with another one listed would look great in our entryway.

It's been a long winter

The signs of spring are all around us! The first spring in our new house has been full of surprises. From some pretty flowers that we didn't know were planted..

Isn't this pretty?

These flowers are coming up where this mess of brush used to be!!

Unfortunately we've had some water in the basement the last couple days but nothing that we can't handle. Fixing the gutters/down spouts this summer should help. There are so many plans that we have for our forever home! A large goal is to have a wrap around porch with some of it covered. It will start on the east side of the house (where you see all the brush) and wrap around to the south side (which currently is the only way into the house).

The kids absolutely love being outside! It's nice to see how happy they are.

I really wanted to be mad at the kids for playing in the puddles. Especially with Evelyn wearing her cute (clean, non-mud) boots. Seeing the joy on their faces had my anger quickly fading away and being replaced with a smile.

Meet Pancake (left, Lanes) and Noodles (right, Evelyns). Warning, don't call Noodles, Noodle. Evelyn will correct you quickly that her name is Noodles. These lambs are for a bottle lamb project this summer. Hopefully we'll be adding another 1 or 2 lambs in the coming week for the only reason of filling our freezer and bellies.

Now I do admit these sheep are not technically babies any longer. They've been weaned off of mama so they are much easier to care for. Still. They. Are. Adorable. Makes me realize how much I missed it. I will be the first to admit that I didn't really 'raise' sheep.....I showed them competitively. Also, I use the word competitively very loosely. I did very well during my showing days but sheep were 2 of my brothers lives....not mine. My dad & brothers did the daily care of the sheep so this will be a learning experience for myself as well as Mark.

Last but not least is our garden. It's tilled and ready for plants. We doubled or tripled our garden size from last year. I thought it was going to be similar in size when telling my Uncle to go one row larger. What I didn't take into consideration was that our yard size is about 7 times larger than it was last year.

You know how it says 'objects in mirror are closer than they appear' on the rearview mirror of cars? There should have been a warning posted in our yard that said 'objects in yard are larger than they look'. I'll keep you posted on how or if I'll be able to keep up with that large of a garden!