I believe…

+ in Sunday dinners
+ in trying anything once
+ in love
+ in shooting stars & midnight drives
+ in wedding rings and bibles
+ the best walk you’ll ever take is walking down the aisle
+ that laughter is the best medicine
+ that there is still good in the world
+ in happiness
+ in staying up late
+ in singing in the shower
+ in dancing in the rain
+ in smiling
+ in music
+ in best friends
+ in God
+ in miracles
+ in fairy tales
+ in happily ever after
+ in traveling
+ in education
+ eating dessert first

I believe...

Millennials are an embarrassment.

First off, I should start by saying not all millennials are an embarrassment. It’s what the term millennial has come to mean that is embarrassing.

What is with this offended by everything, everything has to be fair, get a do-over, entitlement of the millennials? They are living in a world of unicorns and rainbows, but I’ll let you in on a little secret; life isn’t fair, there are no do-overs, and you are not owed ANYTHING.

Fast food workers think they should make $15/hr flipping burgers. Are you shitting me? EMTs make $15/hr. LPNs make $15/hr. Store managers make $15/hr. Burger flipping requires no skill, no education, no continuing education, nothing. You have no responsibility. Insert your argument about how minimum wage isn’t enough to live on. You need to go to school, get an education, and get a better job. You can go to school it just might not be easy. But not everything in life is easy. I had no financial help from my parents and I attended nursing school. I took out loans and worked through school. Many schools offer daycare. I’ll give you an economics lesson also; say if we raised the minimum wage to $15/hr or $30 for that matter – do you really think the cost of everything will just magically stay the same? Maybe in your dreamland. With an increase in the minimum wage comes this thing called inflation. Prices inflate to match the increase in minimum wage, so all it would do is drive prices higher.

In a world of participation trophies and handouts it’s time for a wake up call. There are literally 10s of thousands of teenagers and young adults running around not knowing how to function. They are clueless to real life because you can’t punish them or hurt their feelings. We have things like child led parenting. Try to have a conversation with one and it’s like dealing with a 3 year old who hasn’t had a nap. They honestly think something should happen or be a certain way simply because that’s how they want it, and will argue until they are blue in the face about it. They like to make invalid arguments about subjects they know nothing about. Let’s make marijuana legal but ban GMO crops. Yeah, makes perfect sense. Crops have been genetically modified for thousands of years, seriously have you ever seen what corn looked like in the beginning? We would have all starved by now. Farmers are feeding and clothing the world, and they need to be recognized for that not criticized. Especially from somebody who probably couldn’t grow a Chia Pet.

Do you know that the new thing now is that the millennial’s parent is accompanying them to their job interviews. You know for support because they can’t handle that on their own. Because maybe they won’t get the job and it will hurt their feelings and it won’t be fair. Boo-hoo. Recognition must be given for every little accomplished or they feel left out or underappreciated. You took a shit today, congratulations.

It is not anyone’s fault that you are too busy taking selfies, partying, or watching TV to live your life as an adult. The whole YOLO thing. Yeah it’s over. Done. Time to mature up. You do only live once so stop living like a child and take on life’s challenges. Please, please, please get off social media and stop watching channels like E! and MTV. Those ‘reality shows’ are not realistic at all. I am still trying to figure out how just about each Kardashian has their own show and that people what them. You can argue that you’re just a product of you’re surroundings, and that’s a bit true but stop comparing what is happening now and what you’re doing now to what your grandparents we’re doing 50 years ago. Because if you want to look at it that way; when your grandpa was 19 years old he was off in Germany fighting in WWII; you’re 19 years old live at home and dropped out of the local community college because they ‘we’re dumb’.

As a millennial myself (1991 model) I can speak on this subject. I’ll be honest with everyone I’m embarrassed to be considered a millennial. No doubt there are still plenty of millennials just like me, thank God. We are still hardworking, educated, and intelligent people. We work for a living and don’t expect handouts from anyone. Hopefully other millennials can look at this and see that with a little hard work and effort you can have your own life functioning as an adult.

millennials-to-manufacturing

Guess who’s back, back again…

Hi guys, it’s been awhile. Like a long while. So much has changed since my last blog post. The biggest – I got married! And also our honeymoon to Hawaii, which is totally worth mentioning. It’s hard to believe that we’ve been married for almost 9 months already. I’ve been  wanting to get back into blogging so bad for awhile now, but just haven’t seemed to have the time or when I do have the time I have so many things to write about I can’t think of anything to write, that happens to other people too, right!? I’m just so sad that I went from writing posts that were viewed over 150,000 times a year by people from over 125 countries to not blogging a single post in 5 months. Anyways I feel a change coming on, like a whole blog overhaul. New design. New name. New everything. I want to really focus on blogging about  life, what’s important to me, and just random thoughts. I plan to steer clear of beauty reviews unless it’s something really great. I know how annoying post after post of beauty reviews can be, so sorry about that. So I hope everyone is as excited as me about this, and will keep me accountable for keeping up with posting! Hopefully many new posts coming soon, stay tuned!

Tractor of the Month.

You ever have those days where you go to sit down and blog, but can’t think of a single thing to write about no matter how hard you try? Well that’s been me this week. I don’t know maybe it’s because I’ve had a lot going on and haven’t had the time to do much in blogland. Or maybe because I’m still in shock that my post So God Made a Farmer’s Wife has had 68,000+ views in the 5 days that it has been published. I know that’s not much to many bloggers but to me it’s a big deal!

But anyways…

Several months ago Kyle entered into a contest through Tom’s Agri-Diesel our of Harlan, IA. To enter the contest you had to submit a photo of a tractor you restored using Tom’s A-D/PowerMax Parts along with a brief summary about your tractor. The prize was: tractor featured in the newsletter as ‘Tractor of the Month’, picture in the Tom’s A-D calendar, and a $50 Visa gift card. We decided to submitted his 1966 John Deere 3020LP. Here’s the summary:

For my 16th birthday my dad and I went down to McCool, Mississippi to pick up this tractor. We brought it back to Iowa and restored it using a Reliance overhaul kit from Tom’s Agri-Diesel. That summer it took 1st place at the Iowa State Fair in the Restored Tractor – Original class.

We didn’t hear anything from Tom’s and actually forgot all about it until one day we we’re picking up parts and the employee mentioned seeing Kyle’s tractor in the newsletter. So that was a nice little surprise. Tom’s A-D contacted him in December to let him know he’d won and to send him the gift card and some calendars. His tractor is featured in January and since the calendar contains January 2015, it’s featured twice! Another nice surprise.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

So how about some before and after pictures? Because I know ya’ll are dying to see what it looked like before. 😉

May I present to you the ‘before’ picture. She was quite the gem, don’tcha think!?Before (2)

You’ve already seen the ‘after’ from the calendar, but here ya go anyways.
after

2013: A Year in Review.

year in review

Can you believe that 2014 is here? 2013 really flew by.
The year brought laughter, love, surprises, friends, family, sadness, and fun.

Let’s look back over some of the major events over the past 365 days:
I started this blog.
We finished remodeling our upstairs (hello, walk-in closet).
Held our Housewarming Open House.
Kyle put up his shop.
I sold my car and bought the Jeep.
We vacationed to Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, and road-tripped back home through Texas.
Annual Cedar Rapids/Coralville Trip with my mom and sister.
Got my current job.
Kyle competed in his first bus race.
Went to the State Fair, this year with NO tractors.
REO Speedwagon concert at the Bremer County Fair
18-hour roundtrip to Kansas to pick up a JD 4010.
WE GOT ENGAGED!
As well and many other memorable moments.

Here’s to 2014. Let it be the best year yet.

What were your most memorable moments over the last year?

Check back this evening for my top 10 posts from 2013!

Things I’m Thankful for this Thanksgiving.

I am thankful for my boyfriend, my family, and my friends.
I am thankful for the relationships I have with people.
I am thankful for my health.
I am thankful for my dog, Jules.
I am thankful for my blow dryer and hair straightener.
I am thankful for growing up in a small town.
I am thankful for living in the country.
I am thankful for my rights.
I am thankful for having a body that works.
I am thankful for my college education.
I am thankful for having a job.
I am thankful for sunrises and sunsets.
I am thankful for good weather.
I am thankful for fields and crops and tractors and the farmers that feed us.
I am thankful for the sunshine.
I am thankful for cameras and photographs.
I am thankful for the home I have.
I am thankful for living in a free country.
I am thankful for owning a vehicle. Especially one with 4wd.
I am thankful for cruise controls.
I am thankful for having a little money in the bank.
I am thankful for my common sense.
I am thankful for TVs and radios.
I am thankful for music.
I am thankful for cellphones.
I am thankful GPS.
I am thankful for email.
I am thankful for microwaves.
I am thankful for Pepsi.
I am thankful for the food on the table & having a full tummy everyday.
I am thankful for God and Jesus, and having freedom of religion.
I am thankful for having a heater and air conditioner in my home and vehicle.
I am thankful for blankets.
I am thankful for cuddling.
I am thankful for hot chocolate.
I am thankful for having clothes to wear.
I am thankful for ice cream.
I am thankful for trees.
I am thankful for umbrellas.
I am thankful for clean water.
I am thankful for date nights.
I am thankful for all 5 senses working correctly.
I am thankful for sleep.
I am thankful for love.
I am thankful for holidays.
I am thankful for blogs.
I am thankful for the military.
I am thankful for dancing.
I am thankful for laughing.
I am thankful for doctors and nurses, police officers, and firefighters.
I am thankful for 24 hour gas stations.
I am thankful for weekends.
I am thankful for traveling.
I am thankful for kisses and hugs.
I am thankful for internet.
I am thankful for being an American.
I am thankful for the moon and the stars.
I am thankful for having things to look forward too.
I am thankful for the little things.
I am thankful for windmills, barns, and cornfields.
I am thankful for holding hands.
I am thankful for get-togethers with friends & family.
I am thankful for having a good memory.
I am thankful for my bed.
I am thankful for oxygen and clean air.
I am thankful for rainbows after a storm.
I am thankful for my knowledge and intelligence.
I am thankful for home decor.
I am thankful for laptops.
I am thankful for prayer.
I am thankful for today, tomorrow, and yesterday.
I am thankful for restaurants.
I am thankful for Friday nights.

Most of all I am thankful to be alive.

thankful

What are you most thankful for this year?

3 years.

November 1st marked 3 years that Kyle & I have been dating. I kind of love him a lot and I don’t know what I’d do without him. 🙂

It’s been quite the ride, but I wouldn’t change it for anything.

Here’s to many, many more years.

I love you.