And Then There Was This Day In May...

Hi Everyone - welcome to our farm! No joke, this is what I woke up to this morning - May 2, 2013. I resisted looking out a window as long as possible because I figured I might see this.  Believe it or not, Tuesday was 80 degrees and now, today, there is snow on the ground! Someone tell me what is going on with this weather?!

Ok, enough complaining. Unfortunately we can't control it so we need to make the decision to make the most of it.  For example, I had a few friends in Northern Iowa last night that "checked fields" on snowmobiles. How cool is that to have that memory to share some day?! (I said some day...)

Sometimes, in life, we need a snow day to take it easy, to catch up, to get re-focused and even re-charged the sun will always shine again and we will look back and say, "Remember when..."  I know I will.

Cheers to all and happy May snow day from Iowa!!

Home - A Look Back at the Weekend

Good Morning and Happy Easter Monday! I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend spending it exactly as you hoped! :)

I went back to Minnesota for the weekend to spend with my mom and dad, see my grandma and catch up with a few friends. For a short weekend, it was a full weekend and one that was filled with all kinds of emotions.

I hadn't been home since Christmas and there have been some big changes since then;  My Grandma moved into assisted living and my parents have decided to build a new home, which means that the house my dad and I grew up in will be torn down and replaced with a new one.

I am SO excited for my parents - they absolutely deserve their dream home!  They have been married 30 years and have worked so hard farming and raising me and my sisters.  My mom is the happiest, most excited lady you have probably ever met and my dad is excited because she is excited, I know it's something he has always wanted to give her. But, my dad is the more sentimental type.  He grew up this house and raised his girls in the same home.  He has the most memories of us all.  Before I left, my dad had to take my picture in front of the old house, it may have been the last time I see it and the last time I spend the night in it.

The house has been re-decorated and added on to many times to fit our family.  We all learned to walk on the same slanted floors and have kept our same bedrooms, for the most part, throughout the years.  They are already starting to clean out and move out so they can start building this spring.  Every 5 minutes my mom was asking if I needed or wanted something, I even discovered some of the things I had left behind.  At the end of the weekend i had a new, replacement, refrigerator for our kitchen, George Foreman electric grill, and a pair of Carhardt overalls! :)

The new house will have many more memories and is being built to fit a growing family again as we get married and start our own families.  Thus the reason their will be two bedrooms on the main floor - so that their grand kids can be close when they come to stay! :)  (No kids in the works, just so you know!)

My grandma also moved to a new home, assisted living.  I never ever thought my grandma would be there, although she is 93. She was always young, tough and able to take care of herself, it is hard to see the grandma I grew up with get old.  I experienced her age first-hand when I got to her room.  She was napping and couldn't figure out right away who I was and that scared me.  I was trying to hide the tears running down my face for the first half hour I was there.  Fortunately, she came back to herself and we had a wonderful afternoon together over coffee and cookies in their common area and visiting with her new friends.  I seriously spent all afternoon there and if it wasn't for supper time I probably would have stayed longer.  One of the men that was there even knew who I was and that I was the University of Minnesota Homecoming Queen back in 2004.  It was so neat to know that was so important to him because he was a Golden Gopher too.  I asked my Grandma if she was going to stay there.  She said yes, that she thought it was a good idea.  I agreed with her and told her that she needed to so she could make it to our wedding in August, she told me there was no way she would miss it.  I believe her.

My dear friends, Melissa and her husband Rob, were also kind enough to hang out with me on Friday night. I had not seen them since last June. So much changes, and yet stays the same.  I think its because Melissa and I talk so often during the week.

It's amazing how in such a short period of time so much can change.  It's so important to not take time for granted, it is limited.  If not for you, for others.  The memories we have and are able to share are priceless, keep sharing and making them.

Happy Monday!

Linking up with Monday Mingling, YOLO Mondays, Meet Me Mondays, and The Collective Blog Hop.

Thoughts on Love, Life, and Design

I love this quote!  It applies to nearly every aspect of life, especially some of my things I enjoy most: Love, Life, Fashion and Design.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Weekend Read List

Here is my weekend read list.

Adam is out of town snowmobiling which gives me the perfect chance to catch up on my reading and HGTV-watching.

Besides reading my favs, here is what I will be up to!

Make a Vday card for my love :)

Finish spray paint projects for a DIY post this week

Hit the gym

Make the best ever Vday sugar cookies

Tan (in preparation for our Cabo vacation)

Complete the bloglove course I am taking

Brush up on my photo-editing skills

Attend the annual poker-run with friends??

Go to church

By the way... did you know that I am having my blog re-designed?!  I am super excited and cant wait to share it with you!

Weekend Projects

Welcome back from Thanksgiving break!  I can't believe it's been a whole week since my last post.  To those of you who are dedicated readers of my blog, sorry for the delay... I figured everyone would be traveling, decorating, shopping or all three!
Logically my post today should be about the house projects I accomplished over the weekend, the great deals I found on Black Friday and Cyber Monday and a few snap shots of the fabulous Christmas decorations I put up.

 None of those things happened.

Instead, Adam put me to work finishing up a few projects that needed to be done before the snow arrives. Our "to do" list included putting up 100 feet of snow fence, building a ladder to get up into our hayloft and this...

....finishing the windbreak for the cows.

(Yes, I helped with the whole project... setting poles, hanging boards and hanging the tin!)

Fortunately, in return for my help around the farm, Adam helped me with my little project which was cleaning out the basement.  I am getting the basement painted this week so I can finally have my own design and office space!  Wooohoooo!!

It definietly looks like a dungeon right now but once the walls are painted and I do a little decorating I am going to have an awesome space!  You will definitley see more on this basement transformation project!

Even though I didn't take part in the traditional holiday happenings beyond Thanksgiving dinner I had a pretty fulfilling weekend.  There is something so rewarding about hard work, seeing what you accomplished in a day and working side by side with someone you love and admire.

Have a great week!

BETH 

Preserve Your Battery Life!

My blog is all about ideas to lead a beautiful life both inside and out.  Lately, I've been sharing a lot of ideas to make our homes beautiful (the outside part).  So, today I thought I would write a post that includes some ideas to lead a beautiful life on the inside.

I know that most of you, like me, feel like our life is so fast-paced and our task lists never seem to end!  Between work, friends, family and all the random demands we encounter throughout the day our personal batteries wear down quickly.  When my battery wears down I am generally not very fun to be around.  I do it to myself because I always want to do a good job, give more, do more and be more.  I need to remind myself to sit down and relax so I can preserve my battery life. 

I came across this list on the Personal Leadership Insight Blog and thought I would share it with you all!  These are some simple things we can do that will keep us happy, healthy and well charged for the long haul!

16 Ways to Preserve Your Battery Life
1. Get adequate sleep.
2. Consume nutritionally sound food and drink.
3. Maintain positive relationships.
4. Do meaningful work that aligns with your core values.
5. Have a hobby and do it often.
6. Keep harmful chemicals out of your body.
7. Remove the clutter from your vehicle, home, office space and life.
8. Stop the gossip.
9. Help others in need.
10. Stop making tiny issues into big deals.
11. Forgive others.
12. Create a cool memory often. (I.e. - new restaurant, road trip, date night, catch some live music, etc.)
13. Take vitamins daily, naps weekly and vacations yearly.
14. Clear your email inbox regularly.
15. Forgive yourself.
16. Listen to positive, uplifting music and human interactions.

I love this list!  It's hard to remember to do all of these, but by just picking a couple of them to do on a regular basis you will do a lot for yourself in the long run!

So below, I posted a picture of Adam and I  at the ISU game on October 1.  We took time out from being busy and time away from our task list to have fun tailgating, enjoy the awesome fall weather in Iowa and make a memory or two.  He is great at helping me to re-charge and preserve my "battery life."  Unconciously we do a lot of these 16 things aleardy. Adam is naturally better at doing a lot of the things on this list but continually reminds me that it's ok to take a break, relax and not make a big deal out of something so small. 


ISU Game - Oct. 1, 2011

Print this list, keep it close and enjoy! :)