The Next 101 in 1001

So, earlier this week we examined my inability to do simple math calculations like figuring out the end date for 1001 days. Today, I start the next chapter and get to work on my next 101 in 101. This list will be permanently hosted by the 101 in 1001 tab but I wanted to share it here first. Give it a read - what do you think?

Start date: January 30, 2014
End date: October 26, 2016

Healthy Living
Complete 30-day shred
Workout 3x/week for 3 months
Workout 3x/week for 6 months
Run 10 - 5Ks

Ten more 10Ks - no problem, right?

Run 3 - half marathons (yes, you read that correctly)
Go to the damn dentist
Get Lasik surgery
Give up soda for a month

Spiritual Growth/Paying it Forward and Marriage (because, clearly, these go hand-in-hand)
Tithe 10% of every paycheck for 6 months
Read the Bible from front to back (Old and New Testament) - Sharita showed me this great guide
Attend church regularly for a year (2x per month is regular for us since we're gone so much)
Pray out loud
Pray for strangers
Give until it hurts
Give a homeless person all the cash in my pocket (*note to self: start carrying cash)
Pay for next person's meal
Donate hair to Locks of Love
Read a marriage strengthening book with the Ninja
Finish our engagement, wedding and honeymoon scrapbook
Volunteer in my community 5 times
Donate to the foodbank

Learning New Skills and Trying New Things
Learn the basic of fitting a steer
Learn to change the oil in my truck
Take piano lessons
Teach myself one nice hair up-do for weddings and special occasions
Try 5 new foods
Take an online history course

Nurturing Relationships
Visit 5 [more] friends who don't live in Kansas
Engage in 3 father/daughter activities
Plan 3 mother/daughter things
Attend 5 more of little sister's events
Go out on 10 girl's nights
Go to a concert with little brother
Plan a tailgate
Host a dinner party
Write 20 thank you notes (handwritten)
Friendship photoshoot - rock the dress, KSU pride
Send Christmas cards at least one year

Domestication and DYI
Try one new recipe per week for 8 weeks
Complete two separate full-day sessions of cooking to fill the freezer
Make a perfect omelet (not a scromlet)
Make homemade bread without a bread maker
Learn basic sewing machine skills
Make a set of curtains using the sewing machine
Make some decorative pillows
Refurbish a dresser (or two)
Learn to make Grandma Buzzard's divinity candy, chicken n' noodles and other select recipes
Make and freeze/store my own salsa and red sauce
Plant a garden every year (if location permits)
Create a really cool DYI/craft project from scratch
Make/create 3 Christmas/birthday gifts
Make a cheesecake and an angel food cake from scratch

Financial Improvement
Save 10% of every paycheck for 6 months
Triple the amount of $$ in my 401(k)
Have zero credit card debt
Cut my student loan debt in 1/2
Take the Dave Ramsey finance course with the Ninja
Create a family budget and stick to it - evaluate and adjust after 3 months
Once every six months (for entirety of the 1001 days), complete a no-shopping month

Organized and Decorated Home
Frame and hang B.S. and M.S. degrees (as soon as my M.S. diploma arrives...)
The next time we move, organize and purge unneeded items
Organize and clean office so that it's functional for two people
Buy and hang wedding photos and select Kansas photography for the walls
Hang either a photo collage or cross collage on one of the walls

Adventures
Go whitewater rafting
Go rock climbing, hiking etc
Travel internationally
Go camping
Visit 5 states I've never been to before
Take a yearly family vacation
Meet someone famous
Go to an amusement park
Go pheasant hunting

Motivatated Thinking, Career and Writing/Blogging/Social Media
Write six chapters for my book
Have an article or blog post picked up by Huffington Post or similar outlet
Get a RT from someone famous - Peta doesn't count (been there, done that)
Make a 'Recipes' section on the blog and post 50 recipes
Blog at least once per week for an entire year
Fill a journal

Thanks for the nifty journal, Target. Oh, and of course what's a journal without a purple K-State pen?

Meet 5 social media friends IRL
Get 1,000 likes on Buzzard's Beat Facebook page
Speak on behalf of agriculture 3x
Get Twitter verified

I want that little checkmark

Stuff Just For Me
Read one book per month - revise and update book list to reflect what I've read
Add 10 more books to our library (an actual printed copy)
Buy myself a designer handbag
Create a coffee-table book out of my travel photos
Go to another K-State football bowl game
Check off some more concerts on my old soul music bucket list
Attend the KSU basketball game when they retire Jacob Pullen's jersey
Write myself a letter to open in 5 years
Go vegetarian for two weeks - blog about the exhaustion
Buy a barrel saddle
Finish Friday on the barrels - exhibition and enter at a rodeo

Friday, the soon-to-be barrel horse

Start another young horse on barrels
Get inked
Buy a new [to me] Chevy
Eat mind-blowing steak at 3 premier steakhouses
Beat the Ninja at Scrabble 3 times (this will be a miracle)
Go to an away KSU or Chiefs football game, or away KSU b-ball game or away KSU baseball game
Make a new list when this one expires

 

Do we have any common goals? Am I crazy?

 

Until next time,

~ Buzzard ~

Quit sucking at blogging

Naturally, I'm talking about myself.

I don't have any excuses why I haven't blogged in almost 5 weeks. I've been busy but there are people out there who are far busier than I who blog regularly so I'll just shut up and get on with this post.

Today, I'm writing in the 5 Fact Friday model. This may or may not become a Friday custom but it seems appropriate today since I have a lot to include and don't want to write a novel since I literally just finished writing a freaking thesis. For real, y'all.

1. I passed my Master's defense two days ago.
 Actually, that's one of the primary reasons for me sucking at blogging because I was so busy losing my mind while preparing for this defense business. Ipso facto, when your mind is absent, it's hard to be creative and write.

But seriously, I am so overwhelmingly blessed and grateful for all of the love, support and encouragement I have received over the past week. My phone was blowing up Wednesday with people wanting to know how I did and the subsequently congratulating me. My office at work smells like a flower store because I was inundated with gorgeous arrangements. Here are a couple from some of my BA friends. The Ninja and my mom got me flowers, too. They're purple (Go Cats)!

My camera phone doesn't do a great job of capturing the vibrancy (word?) of those beautiful blooms but wow - I feel loved. So thanks again to everyone who Facebooked, called, texted, tweeted, email, g-chatted and came out to celebrate afterwards. I cannot tell you how thankful I am. Also, my mom and stepdad surprised me by coming to my defense so that was cool. Pretty sure they didn't have a clue what I was talking about but they were supportive nonetheless. Props.

2. The Farm Bill has been passed by the Senate and amendment #2252 did not make the cut.
In case you're wondering what that amendment is about, #2252 would have codified an agreement between HSUS and The United Egg Producers (UEP) that would have provided our federal government with the authority to mandate animal care - something which should rightfully be in the hands of farmers and ranchers. On his blog, Wayne Pacelle, CEO of HSUS, cites the failure to adopt this amendment to the persistence of pork and beef producers to contact their Senators and express distaste for #2252.  Pacelle cries "Waaah" and I cry, "Wahoo!" Bravo to all those who stepped up and made your Senators aware of the danger animal agriculture would have been in had the amendment been passed. The failure of this amendment, in addition to the Department of Labor dropping it's rules about on-farm child labor, are huge victories for grass-roots agriculture. It's fantastic to see our industry come together and stand up for itself!

3. Now that I have my life back there is a long list of things I've been wanting to do/work on.
 - Start running again. Yes, I said I actually want  to start running. Not because I love the high but because I want to ensure that I never have to buy larger jeans. And I watched Love & Basketball last night (I was/am a baller - especially in high school) and I miss having a six-pack. So running and crunches is how I will get my six-pack back.
- Golf. A lot.
- READ. I have so many books on my book list that I want to read and I have a ton more to add!
- Put all of the recipes on my Pinterest food board in my recipe book. Then use them.
- Do some of the DIY projects on my Pinterest board- headboard, refurbished dresser
- Watch The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
- Get back into the groove of riding and roping. I already bought my membership card for the year so it's time to get my Gadget up to Manhattan and enter some rodeos. For those of you who read this post, Doc is still lame. Not sure how this is going to turn out for us.
- Hang out by a pool/lake.
- Figure out how to put music on my new phone. I broke my Droid Bionic, which I really liked, and now have an LG Spectrum.
- We moved about 1.5 weeks ago but between FFA Convention (I coordinated Kansas' convention), Hyatt's defense, my defense and the KSU Livestock Judging camps we haven't had a chance to unpack and organize everything.

4. I have a new job!
With K-State Research Extension. Combining my love for Kansas, K-State, agriculture and Manhattan all into one. Whammy!

5. Did I mention I passed my Master's defense? Because I did. 
Still on that high :)

Blogging to commence more often starting next week!

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

Why's the Barn Red?

Ever wondered why every single barn you see is either red or used to be red?

Me neither.

But then today I stumbled across an interesting tidbit of info on Yahoo!. You can thank my habit of clicking embedded links and an incurable affinity for quirky info for today's post.

http://whoknew.news.yahoo.com/who-knew/red-barns-26979922.html#crsl=%252Fwho-knew%252Fred-barns-26979922.html

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

101 in 1001 Update

Ok, it's been quite a while since I last gave an update on my 101 in 1001 so I thought I'd do some blog filling and catch you up.

Since my last update, the goals I have completed are:

5. Go to bed before midnight every weeknight for two weeks -
  This was really hard because I'm a night owl but I managed to pull it off by scheduling it the same time as Ninja's project when I was getting up at 5-6 every morning to weigh, sort or slaughter pigs.
38. Consolidate/forward all email accounts down to 2
24. Refrain from purchasing any item of clothing, accessory or footwear for 1 month - today is one month since I purchased anything and I am in Perth currently and likely won't buy anything while I'm gone soooo... success!
51. Muster the courage to play blackjack in a casino - preferably win - Only won about $20 total and then lost it all back but still, yay me. This was in Calgary when I attended the ILC 2011.
59. Find the perfect cocktail dress - color insignificant I may have gone overboard - I now have two. A grey one and a black one. Here is the black one:

At my bff Rebecca Tokach's wedding (rehearsal dinner) with two great guys. This picture doesn't do the dress justice but you'll have to trust me on this one.

57. Scuba dive somewhere exotic - Great Barrier Reef 7/2011

This is me and the hubsy after diving the Great Barrier Reef. To read more about that trip, click here.

69. Watch the sunrise and sunset in the SAME DAY - Lamington National Park - 6/2011

I'm not an early bird, so this was difficult but it happened on our roadtrip with Andy, Mandy and Kristen to Queensland. Read more about that trip here and here. This was in Lamington National Park - I didn't get a sunset picture but take my word for it that I was awake for that occasion.

70. Attend an opera, symphony or musical - Love Never Dies 9/2011

Ninja took me to see this opera the day I got back from the states. Read more here.

25. Eat 5 exotic/uncommon foods (Thai seafood 4/12/2011, Tofu Steak 5/2011, Kangaroo 6/2011, Crocodile 7/2011, Octopus 7/2011)  -- Crocodile is chewy but good. Octopus is mediocre, at best. KANGAROO IS FREAKING AWESOME - as good or better than venison.

and these are the goals that are currently in progress:
9. Celebrate one of life's little achievements once/month for 12 months (1/12)
12. Watch 5 movies that Ninja loves that don't interest me (Apocalypse Now, Papillon)
27. Call /visit my grandparents once/month for 12 months (3/12)
29. Attend 6 of Kristy’s sporting events/school events/4-H stuff - (Bourbon Co. hog show, Bourbon Co. beef show - these were on separate days so they are separate events)
49. Pay off my small credit cards - Maurices, Victoria's Secret
55. Face 3 fears (claustrophobia 7/2011, heights 8/2011)
58. Create a wardrobe I love. (This is defined as a closet full of clothes I am equally happy to wear).  This will be complete when my closet is full - it's currently about 1/2 full ;)
68. Purge and donate old clothes from closets at least three times (1- 7/2011)
72. Learn how to make Grandma’s fried chicken, chicken n’ noodles and divinity candy  -- Grandma taught me how to make fried chicken and I practice the art when I got back to Aus. The Ninja loved it and I must say it was purty tasty.

77. Volunteer once/month at a breadbasket, food pantry or other comm. service 6 times (5/2011 - Red Shield Appeal;)
79. Donate 25,000 grains of free rice through Freerice.com (4010)85. Say 'I love you' EVERY day for entirety of 1001 days
88. Attend church once/month for 12 months (6/12)90. Read the books from this list98. Post every day for 1 month on From Oz to Aus - I've posted 22 days in a row - another 8 days and this one is done!
In summary:
Goals completed- 14  (it seemed like a lot more than that)
Days until end of 1001 - 824

Feedsack Giveaway

No, not here. I am not artsy craftsy in the least bit (well, I wish I was but God didn't bless me with sewing skills or patience) but my blogger friend and fellow agvocate Crystal Young, over at Crystal Cattle, is having a giveaway. Her friend, Sarah, from The House That Ag Built, has provided a feed sack bag to be given away! I used to have one of these and I absolutely loved it! They are really eye-catching and very durable. This isn't a picture of the exact bag but it gives you an idea of what one looks like. Great aren't they?!

Would you like to enter? I thought so - head on over to Crystal Cattle and check out the giveaway rules (the actual bag is pictured there). I would wish you all the good luck in the world but I'm hoping to win myself so..... I'll wish you a little bit of good luck.

Just out of curiosity - how many people out there would participate in the steps required to win a giveaway on Buzzard's Beat?

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

Image from here

Buzzard's Got a Brand New Bag!

Well not literally, even though I'd love to have this one.

 but alas, I don't make enough to afford the strap on that thing.

Anyway, my James Brown inspired title is referring to the brand spanking new look of Buzzard's Beat. Do you like it? I hope so - the folks over at RV Designs hooked me up with a sweet new header and cleaner, more crisp look - easier to navigate, more eye appealing and check out that mischievous looking buzzard up there! Whooeee!

I've also added some new pages to the blog - look up there underneath the search bar. See those tabs? Those are chock full of information for your reading pleasure - a 101 in 1001 goals list, a books to read list, About Buzzard (in case you want to know more about lil ole me) and a library of agriculture videos for all to see!

So go ahead, look around. You know you want to and if you don't mind, tell your friends.

As always, thanks for reading and I'll catch you on the flipside!

Until next time (probably tomorrow),
~ Buzzard ~

Fashion Forward Farmer

I'm not super fashionable -- most days I wear jeans, boots and a t-shirt...sometimes even a dressy t-shirt.  But what I do know is that today's farmer can be couture while shoveling manure and feeding cattle.

 It's snowy and muddy outside so you'll definitely want some good, waterproof barn boots.  How about these?

Women's Bogs - they come in fun colors like green paisley, chocolate flower, sky and autumn.

Don't feel like wearing the same ole same ole brown coveralls? No problem. Check out these colored coveralls from Rod's

Now you're a fashion forward farmer! So go throw on some work gloves, grab a shovel and get to muckin those barns!

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~