Six Spectacular Reasons to Ignore All Those Stupid “Six Reasons He’s the One for You!” Articles

Three years in the book and I didn't need a Yahoo! article to tell me he was the one

This strays from my regular content, so I apologize to my consistent readers (all five of you). Since our anniversary was yesterday, I've been thinking and praying a lot about marriage and I really can’t keep this in anymore. I don’t know if it’s just my Facebook feed or if it’s a social media pandemic but it seems that a new “Six Reasons He’s the One”-type article pops every day. I take issue with this.

Basing your definition of a successful relationship off a Buzzfeed article may be entertaining but ask the 50% of married couples who end up divorced how entertaining it was that their match enjoyed "telling each other things you've never told anyone else.” Yeah, I bet he really enjoyed hearing about your defaulted loans, that pregnancy scare with an old boyfriend and how you chew up your cat’s food before each feeding. You just gave him the ammo to embarrass you on a whole new level.

So below I break down and provide some truth, in my opinon, to a few ridiculous reasons you should permanently hitch your wagon to someone else for eternity (folks, marriage is for life).

• You laugh together: Seriously – do I need to explain why this isn’t an indicator of your soul mate? People who I’ve laughed with: my beef science professor, my doctor, my mailman – my point? Laughing with someone doesn’t mean they automatically become marriage material – your soul mate might be somber while you’re hysterical. Think, people.
• You’re extremely attracted to him/her: Please see above. Don’t let attraction overshadow compatibility. When you’re both 75, wrinkly and saggy, you’ll be thankful for a smart, intelligent partner that you can converse with daily.
• You respect him/her: Shouldn’t you respect pretty much everyone? If so, that doesn’t really set your potential life-partner apart from everyone else.
• You can imagine a future together: This is one is way too often overused as a reason to marry someone. I imagined a future with a few fellas before I met the Ninja and thank God imaginary is as far as it ever got. They were good guys but building a life is different than imagining one.
• Your intuition tells you he’s the right one: Did your intuition tell you that getting a rainbow unicorn tattoo on your neck was a good idea, too? Sometimes our intuition is off - stick to concrete evidence.
• You don’t have to try to impress him/her – You may love sitting on the couch eating Chinese and watching NCIS, but maybe he is only sitting next to you to please you. Will he suffer through that for 50+ years to keep you happy? Or is it more likely that he'll eventually quit because honestly, there are better things to watch and eat than NCIS and Chinese takeout?

I could go on but I think I’ve made my point. Every marriage and relationship is different, so expecting some article to define perfection (or the illusion of perfection) is asinine. Ready for some real advice?

• Pray, pray, pray – God has a plan for you and hopefully you’re listening to Him.
• Use your head – I feel like this should be common sense but apparently that isn’t too common.
• Don’t rush into marriage – maybe getting engaged after 6 weeks isn’t such a good idea.
• Pay heed to red flags – does he refuse to clean up after himself? Does that infuriate you to the point of a screaming match? Guess what honey, he’s not going to change those habits. If you don’t like picking up paper plates now, you’re really going to hate it in 40 years. From personal experience: I’m still trying to get the Ninja to stop putting dishes on the counter instead of in the sink (because the sink is clearly where you put dirty dishes) and I’ve made no headway in five+ years. It’s not infuriating but it’s annoying and it likely won’t have changed 47 years from now.
• Pray some more - seriously.

Some of those articles have decent advice but the vast majority (that I’ve seen) trigger an eye roll. I’m not a relationship expert but I don’t think you have to be in order to make your own relationship decisions without the use of a Redbook quiz or a Yahoo! shine article.

Really want to know if someone is right for you and your marriage will last? Well, so does everyone else. There’s no 100% guarantee that it will work out. Marriage is a risk but if you commit to it completely and put your whole heart and soul into your marriage and keep your faith in the middle, it will be one of the most rewarding journeys you ever partake in, although it’s also one of the most difficult.

Yes, you read that right. Marriage is hard, in addition to being risky. Sure, the wedding planning and the big day are fantastic and the honeymoon will provide you a lifetime of amazing memories but when you get home that “what now” feeling will wash over you. The first year you live with someone is MISERY (in the words of my good friend, Kylee). Weekends can make or break you! In college, when you had roomies, there was always something going on but now you’re married. What are you going to do when you have no weekend plans? Are you going to complain and whine about it and let boredom breed contempt for your partner? Or are you going to go outside and unload hay, play with the dogs, ride the horses, fix the fence etc etc. Really want to bond with your partner? Clean a bathroom together after the pipes have frozen and waste water has backed up into the tub. Team work makes the dream work, people.

My point is, when you’ve got no big event to plan and it’s just you and him and your daily activities and conversations, you discover amazing things about each other and grow deeper and deeper in love. Brad Paisley sums it up very well.

What do you think? Am I off-base? Does anyone agree with me? Comment below – shout out!

Until next time,

~ Buzzard ~

p.s. And on a semi-related note – I can’t even address some of the stupid that is flowing from this article. DON’T GET MARRIED BECAUSE TWO PAYCHECKS ARE BETTER THAN ONE.

Blogiversary - The Big 3 and A Freebie!

Three years ago this coming Sunday, I started a blog with this post about one of my favorite agriculture traditions.

And boy oh boy, I had no idea the things that would come of this little ole blog.

Over the past 3 years and almost 300 posts, I have learned far more about blogging and social media than I ever imagined possible. I have gained followers from all walks of life and from all over the world. I have found friendships with people I have never met but feel like I've known a lifetime. This blog prompted my signing up for, and eventual addiction to, Twitter (@brandibuzzard). It has also sparked a journey that led me to my career today, so without any more insightful crap mushy memories, here's a list of things that have come of this blog:

- The development of my writing skills which led to freelancing opportunities with:
    -- Farm Talk
    -- Grass and Grain
    -- DRIVE magazine
    -- SwineWeb.com
- Master's of Beef Advocacy Blog of the Month - August 2010
- Blogging on these other sites - YPC Beef Blog, Food For Thought 
- Social Media Coordinator for NCBA's Young Producer's Council (which led to):
- Co-Chair Communications Committee NCBA YPC
- Featured twice in articles by Chuck Jolley in Drover's Cattle Network -- October 2009 and March 2012
- Featured in a BEEF Magazine article by Jamie Purfeest in the October 2011 issue
- Because of my vocal advocacy of agriculture on this blog and Twitter I was an invited to speak about agvocacy at the Australasian Pig Science Association (APSA) Conference in Adelaide, South Australia in November 2011. There were a lot of different demographics and ideals in the room but I think everyone benefited from the experience.
- The freelancing and blogging experience led to a job with K-State Research and Extension incorporating several of my favorite things into one amazing experience: K-State, agriculture, writing, social media - whammo. Perfect.

The Hardcore Stats

My top 5 all-time posts are:
1. Temple Grandin - HBO Biopic: 4570 views - A post announcing the release of the Emmy award winning film about Dr. Grandin's early years
2. Buzzard's fly, they don't ski: 3469 views - This post was about Ninja and I getting engaged so while I would like to think that 3500 people were concerned with our lives, I am assuming some other search term like "buzzards flying" brought them to that post.
3. Who Are We to Judge Horsemeat: 1791 views - A post about how American's don't set the tone for what other countries eat and we shouldn't condemn those that don't rely solely on beef, pork or chicken.
4. Grillin' Ain't BBQ'in: 1149 views - A surprisingly popular post about how the terms grilling and bbqing are often interchanged and misused.
5. In Honor of Pigs and Pork: 847 views - Again, a post which garnered a lot of attention for some unknown reason. This contains a lot of factual information about pork. It was written during Pork Month.

Where y'all be coming from?

The top ten countries that visit Buzzard's Beat are:
1. United States
2.  Russia (surprising)
3. Australia (not surprising)
4. Canada
5. United Kingdom
6. Germany
7. Netherlands
8. France
9. India
10. Brazil  

Whatcha lookin' for?

The 10 most popular search terms used to find this blog since its inception:
1. Temple Grandin
2. Buzzard
3. Turkey Buzzard (thanks Sharita)
4. Buzzards
5. Horse meat (which I'll not be eating)
6. Fiji (probably stems from posts of this nature)
7. BBQ
8. Buzzards Beat (hooray you remembered my url!)
9. Mini pigs (whaaat?)
10. Trevor Brazile (hahahaha - I love me some Trevor Brazile)
Those that didn't make the top 10 but are still funny were: vet (uh, no), great American desert, school lunch policy, 80s girl, article on global warming and my personal favorite: bone in cow heart (twice!).

Ok - so now to the part that you all really came to the blog for....

A friend of mine makes western jewelry with copper and silver. It's gorgeous - her company is called Silo Silver and you can find her on Facebook. She has generously helped me out with a pair of these gorgeous feather earrings with turquoise and copper to giveaway to one lucky reader. For the fellas, you may not think they'll look good on you but what about that lucky lady in your life???

Enter by following the instructions on the easy peasy Rafflecopter thing - (Sheridan introduced me to these and they make giveaways so much easier). Entries will close on Halloween - then I'll announce the winner the next day! It'll be a spooky surprise, but not really spooky.

****This giveaway is now closed - the Rafflecopter widget has been removed****

Thanks so much for your loyal readership over the past three years. It's been quite a journey and I've loved it and hope to be able to continue sharing my opinions, sarcasm and passion with you for years to come (did I say years? yikes).

Until next year (kidding, I'll post again before then),
~ Buzzard ~

p.s. the picture above is from my Instagram feed - here is my shameless plug. Follow me - @brandibuzzard!

Skiing adventures in Utah

So before I left for Utah to go skiing with Hyatt's family I asked for prayers. Someone must have answered my request because I didn't break any bones!  We skiied for three days and it was awesome!

Day 1 - Brighton Ski Resort
The first day we went to Brighton ski resort.  I refused to take skiing lessons - so I started off on the bunny slope (fairly successful) - after three runs down that, my instructor extraordinaire *the Ninja* decided I could handle something more. I was pretty stoked to be there at this point

On the bunny slope

  After getting off a much higher lift, I proceeded to fall down repeatedly (no less than 10x) on a very steep blue.  I got so frustrated I took off my skis and tried to walk down the mountain (that's not as easy as it sounds).  I eventually got over my frustrations and struggled down to the base. It was finally lunchtime and I was thankful for a chance to warm up and take a break from falling down.  The afternoon was much more fun as I fell down a lot less and completed several green runs.

Day 2 - Snowbasin

Me, Hannah, Hallie, Hunter and Vicki at the top of Snowbasin

On the second day we had originally planned to go to Alta, the highest resort, but due to a late start and bad traffic we trekked to Snowbasin.  Snowbasin was really pretty too.  They didn't have as many easy courses so I had to step up my game and do some blues.  I got ticked at my teacher (Ninja, again) because he was overly confident in my skills and I had to go down a race slope (very icy, very steep).  But the girls and I ended up having a pretty great day.

Day 3 - Alta

We finally did end up going to Alta on the last day.  It was amazing! It was absolutely gorgeous!  They had tons of green and blue runs at the top!  By this time I felt confident enough to do a black diamond with moguls!  I was successful and only fell about 8 or 9 times the whole day (much better than the 30 on the first day alone!)  Here is the most entertaining fall

Yes, that is my skipole upsided down.

Also at Alta, the Frobose family (diehard Ohio State fans) wrote the script Ohio in some really deep snow! Check it out -- you could see it from the lift!

One other really amazing thing happened on that last day on the mountain.  The Ninja proposed! He told me to take the blue path down and meet him at the script Ohio (above) and he would go down a black diamond and then meet me.  When I got there, this was written in the snow

and this was in his pocket!

He was so sweet!  I'm very blessed!  Thanks to everyone for all the congrats!

All in all, the ski trip was a huge success!  I'm only a little bit sore four days later!

Until next time,

~Buzzard~