three months later....

I'm back. Three months later it has been brought to my attention that I am completely slack with this blog. I've been asked to keep a pregnancy blog so friends and family can follow me week by week. My friends and family should know that I will never be able to write in this every week, but I'll try!! Oh yeah, if you didn't already know, I'm pregnant! :) We found out on Mother's Day and now I am 16 weeks. We have an appointment on Monday to hopefully find out the gender. I'm thinking it's a boy....

So far throughout the pregnancy I have craved fruit, all kinds of fruit. Grapes, watermelon, cherries, apples, plums, you name it! This week I've been on a peaches kick. Peach ice cream, peach cobbler, frozen peaches... I don't have anymore morning sickness, praise Jesus, it lasted a few weeks and now has finally subsided. I am starting to get my energy back and purchased the furniture for the nursery today. We got the Kendall crib and Skylar changing table from PB Kids. I'm holding off on anything else until after Monday. I need to find a comfortable chair and ottoman also, any suggestions?

I will try my hardest to write again after Monday. We shall see.. my memory has been pretty terrible lately! ;)

xox

what are your strengths?

I've started a personal journey lately trying to realize all that I have to be thankful for and how to become more motivated and positive about life. With that includes writing down things that I am thankful for, I am calling them "God gifts", and trying to answer some personal questions about myself, such as, "what are your strengths?" ....... It took me quite some time to come up with an answer to this. I have strengths don't I? I knew my weaknesses immediately, such as: lack of patience, procrastination, laziness, etc, but at the time I could only think of a few strengths. Then an event occurred the other day that lit a fire under me. I had someone, a complete stranger, question my knowledge on a subject that I knew a little bit about, but his complete ignorance and inability to understand genetics led me on a path to discovery. Not only on the topic of which we were arguing, but also a discovery about myself. 

If you know me, you know that I can argue with the best, but I always admit when I am wrong, and I have a knack for research. I can find anyone and anything if given the time and resources, it's just what I do. It's a strength. This fire I lit under myself got me thinking about all the things that I can do and have done, and made me realize the potential for things I have yet to do. 

I am a woman. A highly educated woman. I can walk through the woods identifying plants and trees, I can shoot a shotgun just as well as the next man, I know how to fish and don't require someone to bait my hook, I carry a pistol (a 9mm Glock), I can drive a tractor, and run a chainsaw. I was a North Carolina debutante and am well versed on Emily Post. I can recite the prologue to the Canterbury Tales, in Olde English. I can cook and bake better than most women, as well as clean a house and do laundry. I have china and silver, and I use it. I have a closet full of designer clothes and shoes, but most of the time wear an old t-shirt and a pair of jeans. I hold records for shotgunning beer. I have traveled to many other states and countries, I speak Spanish, French, and a little bit of German. I am a daughter, farmer's wife, and hog slayer. I believe in conservation and Jesus Christ. Am I an anomaly? Maybe. Possibly even yes, but I have strengths. 

My challenge today is to ask yourself, what are your strengths? What is it that makes up the person that you are? 

xox - C

who am i kidding...

Trying to learn how to format a blog for me is a joke. I have never had any form of diagnosed ADD but when it comes to html and formatting my eyes wander to the bookmark bar and my alter ego clicks on Pinterest or Facebook and sprucing up this blog goes to the wayside. Maybe I will just pick a default theme and say forget it! 

Hank is sleeping on the couch and I am surfing the internet, trying to stay away until Brent comes home. I just had a tick crawling on my leg which Brent assures me is one of the "joys of living in the country" ... I'm not so sure that I agree. I grew up in the country and rarely had ticks on my leg hours after being outside and showering. It would be one thing if it was attached, but I have been sitting in the same place for at least an hour and it started crawling up my ankle. Clearly from the floor and definitely from Hank. (He picks up his head and wags his tail) 

Corn planting is over for this year, next up on the agenda is turkey season, planting peanuts, and cutting wheat. Basically that means we are busy until the middle of June. YAY! Then we might get a few weeks off until it's time to harvest the corn, cotton, peanuts, and soybeans. Whew. That's the farming life for ya! 

Since we are trying to live on a 'budget' I fished through the fridge and pantry to make supper tonight. The end result was something like a pizza casserole and Brent LOVED it! Apparently my cooking has gotten better over the years he says. In the pizza casserole went: italian sausage, pepperoni, a jar of pizza sauce, can of cream of mushroom, italian seasoning, rigatoni pasta, and a 6 cheese italian blend. I do have to say it was delish. My MIL has a real recipe for Pizza Casserole. I will get it tomorrow at work and post it. 

LOVE - xox

here i go again...

Late again! It seems I have been slack on all of my new years resolutions, including this blog! I had a friend ask if I had posted any new recipes and I have not... (sad face). It seems lately I have had time for Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, Etsy, and eBay, but not this! SO I am going to hone in my computer skills this week and try to re-do this thing. It has started to be a place for me to rant instead of share life happenings and recipes. 

I am NOT a computer wizard and I lack many necessary skills for web page design but I will see what I can come up with. Stay tuned! 

are you on the edge?

I know you've all been sitting on the edge of your seats waiting for me to post again! HA! Sorry it has been TWO WEEKS! I have been working and we have had company for the past few weekends so I have been busy!

As far as updates go... I've only lost two pounds. Seriously. I think the problem is that all the healthy, small portions I eat during the week have gone out the window during the weekend and I weigh in Monday morning so it's a losing battle. I am going to be good this weekend and see what happens. It was way easier to lose weight when I was single. I had more of a drive to look good no matter how miserable and hungry I was. Now when I am cranky and had a long day I don't want to eat grapefruit or cottage cheese. I want to drink a coke and eat some chocolate.

I had an email from a reader a few days ago asking about weight loss and goals and it got me thinking about the fact that most of my friends are always on a diet or saying they need to lose weight. We have such a fixation on being skinny instead of healthy. If being skinny was my goal I could achieve it quickly. Give me some SlimQuick, water, walnuts, and grapefruit and I could get the job done but I wouldn't be healthy. I am trying to put more focus on eating well balanced meals than eating 100 calorie packs throughout the day. I think people forget they need servings of fruits and vegetables and protein, etc... I just keep praying for the discipline to stay away from all the fabulous deserts I've been making at WenLilys, drink lots of water, and EXERCISE! Those of you that see my Facebook know that I am constantly cooking and baking. I watched Fat Chef last night on the Food Network and if that's not a reason to stop tasting everything you cook, I don't know what is! Y'all just try to hold me accountable!

On another note.. I am finding out that more people are reading this blog than I thought. And some of the people I don't even know! Hopefully I haven't stepped on anyone's toes or offended anyone with the sometimes crazy things I say.. especially pertaining to where I currently live. I started this as a way to vent and keep up with my family and friends. I guess I didn't really think anyone else would read it, but I am glad to know that people find it humorous.

That being said; the month of January is almost over. I feel like I was just writing about my new years resolutions and all of the exciting things to come this year and it's almost February! I don't know where the time is going. I have been helping my MIL during the week at her Cafe/Gift Shop in Summerton. As most of you know, it is called WenLily's, and we make "southern specialties." For example, pimento cheese, different kinds of chicken salads, cheese wafers, all kinds of home made cookies and bars, quiche, and casseroles. That's really not even the half of it. but you get the picture! This month I have introduced Chicken Tetrazzini, key lime bars, and bacon quiche; now I am working on some new recipes for a salad and new cookies. I swear one day I will get around to that cookbook and share our amazing recipes with the world. I wish we could make the pimento cheese and traditional chicken salad commercially. As much as I love Ruth's, we would put them out of business.

I'm watching the Foot Network and looking for new china patterns, naturally, and I am thinking I want to have a tea party. Any takers?! I'll do all the cooking, just show up with a big hat. No seriously. I don't have any dining room chairs so maybe I should wait until the weather is warm and we can sit on the porch. Or go buy some chairs. Hmmm. I also want to go camping and kayaking. Any takers on that one or suggestions for good places to go? I'm still pretty new to SC and that is something I want to do before it gets warm! To avoid snakes, mosquitoes, and gators! Oh my!

Let me know if you are interested! xx

welcome 2012

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Years! Last year was full of many events, both good and bad. Our family lost some treasured women, my brother lost his home in a flood, Brent and I built a house and got married, many of our friends also got married and some had children.. I can only imagine what this year will hold for us! I already know of a few weddings and babies!

As for New Year's resolutions, as usual, lose weight, save money, etc etc. Brent's Mom and I have started trying to lose weight together. Our goal is 20 pounds in 13 weeks. We are weighing in every Monday and holding each other accountable. I can already feel the pounds melting away. (I wish!) I have been eating less and exercising more for a few weeks already and lost about 4 pounds so with the added 20+, I would like to lose a total of 25. That would put me back to my weight when I was 19! Sounds good right? I'll track my progress on here with you guys!

Life on the farm is very quiet right now, thankfully. Brent is away at a marketing conference in Litchfield for the week so I am holding down the homefront. I think tomorrow I am finally going to the Social Security office to change my name and then go get my SC driver's license! I wonder if they can fit my whole name on my license? If not I will just put 'Carson Clark Cogdill' and leave out the Amanda.

This weekend I am heading to Raleigh for a get together with my college girlfriends. It is hard for all of us to plan a time to get together so these don't come around very often! Unfortunately I have obligations at home so I can only participate in half of the activities but will still get to spend some time and catch up with everyone. Hopefully I can stick to my healthy eating while I am away. Brent has already asked me to bring home Smithfields when I come through Lumberton on Saturday. I will just have to resist eating all of the hushpuppies and drinking a massive sweet tea....

it's christmas time, in the..... country

Back so soon you say? Well yes, I am trying to keep up with this for a little while. Hopefully I'll have a longer run than last time. I just finished making Aunt Jo's cream cheese braids, well actually they are Nancy Hollingsworth's but since I don't know who she is I call them 'Aunt Jo's' .. It's a two day process of mixing and dishes and flour all over the kitchen and it is so totally worth it.

Every year at Christmas our neighbors, the 'other Clarks', bring us a cream cheese braid and it was technically supposed to be saved for our Christmas Day Brunch, but in recent years I have been eating part of the middle out and sliding it back together so you can't tell I've been secretly devouring it at night while everyone sleeps. My mother probably thought they were just getting smaller every year. HaHa! So finally last year I begged my mother to ask 'Aunt Jo' for the recipe. I will post it under the recipe tag. :)

We had a Christmas oyster roast here on Saturday night and I discussed my ideas for a book club, etc. I had one taker on the book club, then someone's husband mentioned that people around here don't really read, and he meant that they can't, so I didn't feel so bad about my previous post. Then my sweet friend Katherine said that she was recently invited to a Pinterest party and everyone made a craft. Maybe I should really follow through with that idea. (Windsor: I'll let you skype in!)

I thought that Brent and I were really missing out on the social scene around these parts but I was informed that one doesn't exist, unless you are in the crowd that goes to places like Goast Island or the strip mall bar in Sumter, but we are most certainly not. And then I discovered that not only is there no social scene, but people don't even really entertain. I guess I will have to start the trend. I did hear that there is a supper club that we are not a part of, so I am determined that even though we don't live in Manning that I will find my way into that supper club. Or just steal the people I like away from that one and start my own. When else will I be able to use all of my fine china and my 16 foot dining room table?

I could keep rambling on, but it is lunch time and I will have to eat some more cream cheese braid and do laundry. Then start wrapping Christmas presents and pack to go home tomorrow. There seriously isn't enough time in the day...

[[cream cheese roll is NOT low fat... as my stomach hangs over my jeans. yay me. i feel like the truvia commercial of the woman eating doughnuts as they sing "jiggle bell"..]]

seriously, it's been three months?

I honestly don't know where the time has gone. I can't believe that it has been three months since I have last written. Trust me, I have gotten plenty of grief about it but it hasn't hit me yet that it has been so long. So much has happened since September 16th.. WOW! Let's see, I've gotten married, gone on a honeymoon, quit my job, buried both of my grandmothers, celebrated Halloween, Thanksgiving, and now getting ready for Christmas. One of my best friends had a baby, one graduated from college (finally after 8 years..), three friends have gotten engaged and another is now pregnant. Time sure flies by! As I write this, Birdie is attempting to climb in my lap, she is completely unaware that she is no longer the tiny baby puppy that used to sleep in my lap while I worked at the computer, she now weighs almost 70 pounds and is barely 9 months old!

You would think now that I am a stay at home wife that I would have more time for stuff like this but I seem to always be busy and on the go. I have turned 'staying at home' into my full time job. I have a whiteboard in my office that I have turned into a schedule of sorts. It lists all of my household duties that must be done Monday through Friday. (I get the weekends off* haha, I wish!) For example on Wednesdays I vacuum and mop all the floors in the house and do laundry. Since these tasks don't take all day I have time to pay bills, unpack boxes, organize, take care of and keep up with our three sweet adolescent dogs, go to the grocery store, bake, cook supper, run errands for Brent, blow the leaves out of the yard, wrap Christmas presents, do dishes... you get the drift. It's not as glamorous as you may think. Sometimes I wish I did still get up and go to an office every morning instead of cleaning up dog poop, picking up socks and dirty washcloths, and playing maid all day, but like they say, the grass is always greener on the other side.

I think for the start of 2012 I will incorporate going to the gym and getting my nails done into my weekly schedule. Maybe one day this place will have a book club or garden club, although I'm not even sure the women down here my age read, much less tend flowers or a garden. I am by no means insinuating that they cannot read, just that skimming magazines or gossip columns probably seem more fitting. At least we have Pinterest now so everyone has suddenly gone Martha Stewart and people are cooking and making crafts. Maybe I should start a Pinterest club! We can all get together and make t-shirt scarves. :)

I jest, I jest. I am still getting used to the idea that I am going to live here forever. Before Brent and I got married there was always still the option to take off, but now I'm here to stay! I do love living on the farm. I love that our front yard right now is a giant wheat field and our back yard is a pond. The dogs are free to run and play and we have no neighbors or traffic going by, well, unless people are coon hunting. Then we might have someone in our back yard, but for the most part it is a life of solitude. The only thing I wish is that we had Harris Teeter and Target close by and somewhere I can dress up to go. I look sadly at the shoes in my closet and I know that they are totally jealous of my crocs and they want to go out and be seen. I could always start incorporating some of my fancier things into my church outfit, but then again.. I live in a super teeny tiny small town and people love to talk. I can hear it now "Did you see that girl Brent married in church on Sunday, who does she think she is?"

So for now I will just continue to wear my fancy shoes around the house and drink champagne in my pajamas. I have a secretly fabulous life. xx

taking a deep breath

It's been almost a month since I last posted. *slap on the wrist* The meatloaf turned out great. And by great I mean, Brent LOVED it... I however still can't bring myself to love it, it's hard enough to like it. Maybe if it was covered in cheese it would be different! :)

SO.. the past few weeks have been crazy. I feel like this is the first time I have actually been able to sit down and take a breath. On the other side of the screen is my to-do list and the massive list of gifts that I need to write thank you notes for. I have moved all of my stuff from the office at the farm to my office here at the house. That way I am here to meet all the people that keep showing up to fix various things and when I'm not super busy I can run downstairs and change out the loads of laundry.

The wedding is in two weeks. Yes, TWO WEEKS! I've got a million things going on with cakes and dresses and hair appointments. In the mean time I am constantly unpacking boxes, trying to organize and clean out all of our stuff that keeps piling up at the house, and clean up after all the people that have been over at the house and shop. I probably do an average of 4 loads of laundry a day, vacuum the living room at least twice, and then clean up after the dogs.... sheesh!

I think everything will calm down once the wedding is over and people get used to us living out here and realize that this is our home and not the fun place to come hang out all the time.

I am using the computer Brent gave me for my birthday so I have no pictures on here, but I will upload some at some point and start posting some good stuff again! I hope everyone is doing great.

:* xox

today i will tackle meatloaf...

Today is a day for the books. We have started moving into our house and tonight will be our first night actually staying there. So in honor of our first night, we are having our first meal. The first meal I will ever cook in my new kitchen. I wanted something hearty, something with meaning, something we will always remember. So I thought I would try to cook meatloaf. (eww, yuck, gross)

Meatloaf is something that I have normally in the past refused to eat. Something that I want nothing to do with and something I am totally not interested in. However, Brent loves meatloaf. I figure I will have to make some compromises in this marriage so I am starting with meatloaf.

Maybe I will like the meatloaf if I made it. Maybe it won't be dry. Maybe the sauce in the recipe I have chosen will be out of this world. Just maybe. If all else fails, I make amazing mashed potatoes. :)

I'll take pictures tonight and post tomorrow!

it's been two weeks already??

I do sincerely apologize for the lapse in my writing lately. As we are getting in the final stages of the house we have been crazy busy! When I last wrote they had installed our cabinets and were coming to do the countertops... Now they have installed the granite, finished the plumbing, the appliances are in, and we spent the past 4 days putting polyurethane on the doors, trim, and the entire master bathroom. Needless to say I feel the effects of the fumes in my nose, throat, and lungs.

Now we just have to finish any woodwork and clean out the house so the guy can come and wax our floors! Oh yeah, and we have to wire up the lighting under the cabinets and get the house inspected... oh! And find mirrors, finish putting up the hardware in the master bathroom, get two or three more door knobs.. wait, did I say we were getting close? Maybe not that close.

I will post some pictures of what the house looks like now probably tomorrow. I need to take updated ones where the faucets are in and stuff so you can get the full effect! In the meantime I have managed to lose my spiral index card thingy with all of my important phone numbers in it AND my brand new ray bans. Sometimes I don't know if I am going or coming.

My brother is in town and coming to visit on Wednesday. I am very excited for him to come and see the house. He hasn't been down here in well over a year so he has never even seen what it looks like or where we are building. And he gets to meet all of the dogs! ..... Speaking of the dogs. I have learned that they love pizza. I can get them to do just about anything I want as long as the word 'pizza' is involved. I have started calling Lainey "Cheesey" and I finally figured out yesterday that when she is being bad and doesn't want to go in her pen, if I say "come here Cheesey... you want some PETE-ZA?!" she runs in her pen and sits down like a good girl. I only hate that when she finally figures out I don't have any pizza she will sprint away and hide in the woods like she used to. I will probably have to invest in Pizza Hut soon.

Last week I took some photos with Megan Manus in Sumter, just for fun, and they turned out really great. I didn't buy the digital files but Megan will be putting some up on her blog if you want to check them out. http://meganmanusphotography.com/blog/ ALSO I had my first dress fitting at Hayden Olivia. It was fabulous. Luckily they are having to take the dress in about 4 inches so that made me feel pretty good since last time it barely fit perfectly. I am SO excited about the dress. It truly is magnificent. Afterwards I roamed the streets of East and West Boulevard waiting on my friend Weldon to get off work so I could finally see her place and see Louise and spend some time catching up. I spent about an hour in the shop called Paper Skyscraper and bought a lot of neat things! When Weldon got home we visited for a bit and then went out for sushi (yum! my favorite) and then I had to make the long dreaded trip back down to Summerton. I wish I lived closer to my friends.... well wait, let me rephrase, I wish my friends lived closer to me! :)

Hopefully tomorrow I will get to see Lacey and visit with her. She has never been down here so I am excited to show her the house and the farm. And then my brother! SO it will be a good two weeks! Also this weekend our dear friends are giving us a shower, which will be much needed since we are hopefully going to move in SOON! I promise I will write more now that things are slowing up a bit. I will at least be taking more pictures so I can share some things with everyone.

xox

my office is a racetrack

Happy Monday y'all! As I sit here right now Hank and Lainey are running wide open in circles around the desk in the center of my office. I can't tell who is chasing whom since it changes every time they turn a corner or run behind the chairs a different one is in the lead! Every now and then they take a break and slosh in the water bowl.

It's been almost two weeks since I have written and a lot has happened! They came and installed our cabinets last week and they look fabulous. Next the granite people will come Thursday to install the countertops and then it's only a few more little things and we will be moving in! I'm shooting for the week of August 15th. It would be fabulous if we could at least start moving that week since my parents and my brother will be here! (and they can help us move, of course!) When the house is complete I will post a few pics for those of you who might never make it down here.  ;)

Along with the house plans are the wedding plans and we are down to 60 days. I would say two months, but I am a procrastinator and two months sounds longer than 60 days so I have to think in terms of days now so I will get things done! I have about 5 or 6 different to-do lists (they have a lot of overlap) but it makes me feel better to write it all out and be able to cross things off.

After much debate over wedding shoes I have finally gotten a pair. They are totally NOT what I thought I would get but I am in love with them. I have been saying for the past year and a half that I wanted blue heels and I ended up with gold glitter flats from J Crew and they are SO comfortable.

I spent a little time today going over the marriage license process, the name change process, and then changing my residency finally to say that I truly live in South Carolina. Yes I know I've lived here for well over a year but for part of that time I was a "student" and I didn't need to get a SC license. I didn't want to go through the DMV deal twice so I figured it was best just to wait. It's ONLY 60 more days.....

Both of my wedding dresses came in on Friday. Weird that they came in on the same day but I am so relieved that they are finally here and we can start the fittings. I need to get one of those "It Works" fat wraps just incase I've gained weight. Hopefully I can loose a few more inches before we get down to the nitty gritty of alterations. I think my main problems are length and bust, not waist, so that's a relief. I would definitely have a hip problem but the ball gown covers that up! :)

I'll post a few sneak peaks of things under the Photos tab. I honestly don't have any new recipes at the moment. Sadly. Mom came this past weekend and helped me clean my house and pack. I swear we could be on an episode of Hoarders. While she was there she made my favorite Chicken Tetrazzini. I will post her recipe under the Recipe tab! It is delicious!!

I hope everyone is doing well and staying cool in this blistering heat wave!

taking life by the ears...

 

Today marked day one of corn cutting season. It's quiet around the farm now that everyone is off in the fields and riding on the combine this morning with Brent brought back great memories from last year. Everyone is getting along today which is a God sent blessing from the heavens. My life is better when they all get along and I am sure that everyone else's wives and girlfriends feel the same way. We had a severe lack of rain and a lot of the corn didn't reach it's full potential. I am praying for rain daily so the cotton and soybeans will make a good crop.

I thought that the cabinets would be ready to install this week but it seems that they had a bit of a problem with our wood having too high of a moisture content so they are coming the first of next week. I don't know when we will ever be able to move into the house. I am starting to get a little discouraged, but I know everything happens for a reason.

Brent's birthday is this week. He is finally turning 25! I think he has said he's 25 for the past year so now he'll probably think he's turning 26. I am a big proponent of celebrating birthdays, especially my own ;) so it's been frustrating that they are going to be harvesting corn and we can't really celebrate. I guess when they get finished for the day we will have a late supper for him Thursday night and he can open his presents. I got him some really awesome stuff! Although I can't put it on here just in case he happens to read this before Thursday!

We had Laura's baby shower this past weekend and I also got to visit some old friends in Howards Mill. The baby shower turned out great and Laura got a lot of wonderful gifts. It was great to see all the girls even if it was for just a few hours.

I hope everyone has been doing well! I will update again soon with more pictures and recipes!

  

it's almost monday again already?

It's the end to another wonderful weekend and time to start a new week. I feel like the weeks are just flying by and we are in a permanent state of chaos! Life around the farm is always busy but it seems more so than usual these days. We haven't even started cutting corn yet so I should probably enjoy it as much as I can.

Friday I went to finalize everything for the cabinets and I am SO excited about them. The man said they would start on them Monday (tomorrow) and they would be finished in a week. So hopefully that means just a few more weeks until we can move in! I'm hoping once we live there people will stop showing up to 'check out the house'. I am not a fan of unexpected visitors and was always taught to call before you drop by. I think that chapter of Emily Post didn't make it in the etiquette books down here. It usually goes something like this "Heyyyyy there I heard y'all were building a place back here. Billy Bob told me it was real niiiice. I'm Fred from yonder down the way and I just happened to be riding through and I thought I'd just come and take a look for myself and see what y'all was building back here." It's seldom that I know the people that I find wandering around in the yard and letting themselves into my house but they seem to know who I am and even if they don't, they're friends with Jim Bo's cousin that lives over in Silver and Betty Sue gave them permission to come on by. The last guy was trying to pick the lock to get into Brent's shop and thought it was ok to just break in since he had permission to go over there, even though he didn't receive the said permission from myself or Brent.

But who doesn't love good ole country living. I reckon' I'll have to post up with a shotgun and be the crazy lady with wild signs everywhere. I recently read a book called 'Forty Acres and A Fool' and the man in the book had the same problem we are having. He wrote about how the locals would trespass and hunt on his property and joy ride down his road. We have the joy riding and right now the random people fishing in the pond. In the book, the man puts up signs saying 'Beware of the Monkeys!" ... Wendy suggested I try "Beware: HIV patient on the loose" ... it's worth a shot!

Aside from the craziness at the house and the farm, some friends of mine from college are orchestrating a baby shower for one of my best friends, Laura, and that will take place this weekend. I went to Florence on Friday to pick up some things and I will head to Charlotte tomorrow to pick up a few more. I am so excited to see everyone again. It's been two months since we've all been in one place together and I'm just tickled that it is for a baby shower. Laura and her husband Ben are having a little boy and he is due to come into this world on October 20th. Hopefully he will get to come and visit Aunt Carson and Uncle Brent on the farm! :)

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and a happy July 4th. I am heading to bed to watch some more Harry Potter. The new one comes out Friday so I am catching up with the old ones and Brent is learning who the people are and what's going on. After two days of HP he is developing a British accent and calling Lainey "Hermione" ... but he pronounces it "Her-whiney" :) God Bless y'all!

sweet summertime

I just realized I hadn't even posted pictures of Lainey! Wendy and I had a great, but long, trip to Missouri. It literally took exactly 16 hours. The worst part was when you are going towards Branson on "Old 76" and it's like driving through the mountains for 3 hours on scary curvy roads! But we made it safely and without too many bumps in the road. So here she is: 

Lady Jane Cogdill aka: "Lainey"

So far she has been a good pup. She has had a few accidents in the house but I think it's mostly she is trying to communicate with us that she has got to pee but I just think she's whining because she's bored or hungry or just being whiney. I guess I need to be more in tuned with her needs! She loves to swim in the pond and the lake and enjoys her new brother and sister, Hank and Birdie, and biting their tails and chasing them around the yard. She is very relaxed and laid back and starting to get protective, which is a good thing. Brent and Gavin came to the lake last night and she barked and growled at them until they came in the door and she figured out who they were! She is sweet as can be.

She also enjoys laying out on the boat :)

I had a request for some ideas for July the 4th menus so I'm going to include a new tab at the top and make that a separate post. I have been doing a lot of recipe searching lately. My good friend Stephanie gave me Southern Living's 1001 Ways to Cook Southern and I finished reading it last night. I have also been checking in on Tasty Kitchen and The Pioneer Woman as well for new ideas. 

I can't wait to get into the new house so I can start cooking again. I have been cooking more than usual at the lake, but mainly sticking to pasta dishes so there is less clean up. Last night Brent requested a late night snack of fettucine alfredo and surprisingly I had everything to make it! Mainly because I used the Alfredo sauce in the jar but some good ways to spruce up stuff like that is some good fresh parmesan cheese and salt and pepper. I also cooked the pasta noodles in water with chicken base and salted it well. 

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week. We are headed to the beach on Friday for a few nights. My brother is flying in from Vermont on Saturday and I haven't seen him in a while so hopefully we will go play some golf on Sunday before Brent and I head back. 

I will post some festive recipes next. Have a fun and safe July 4th holiday!

who am i?!

It's one of those days where I wish I was back in Raleigh. Yes, I hate to say this but it's just one of those days. We decided to let Birdie sleep in the bed last night, which was a terrible idea since Brent had just given the dogs rib bones before bed... So around 4AM Birdie projectile vomits on the comforter. (Thankfully she happened to be on Brent's side of the bed at the time..) So naturally I leap from the bed, grab the dog and the comforter, and run to the door. Then I proceed to clean up the dog throw up, put a new comforter on the bed, console Brent as he is very disoriented and not sure what just happened, gather the dogs, put them in the pen, wash my hands, and try to go back to sleep....

Then 5AM comes around and it's time for Brent to get up. This time I was disoriented and wondering why someone was yelling at me about clean pants when it was still dark outside and I remembered "oh, we live on a farm and get up before the chickens do..." so I yell back that all the clothes that are folded in the laundry basket are clean and attempt to go back to sleep. Then the dogs start to bark and by now it's almost 6AM so I let them out in the yard. Sure that they wouldn't be eaten by an alligator that early in the morning, I tried to take a quick nap. Unfortunately our horrible neighbors were at the lake with their dogs and the chaos ensued. I quickly dressed in gym clothes, ran outside to grab the dogs, threw them in the car, and drove to the office. 

Nothing was new in the folders or the voicemail or email so I took the dogs to the new house to put them back in their pen. We have no water right now so they dogs will have to deal with the bucket of water that was already in there until I can figure that one out. I can't water my garden and frankly the garden is so huge now I don't even know what to do with it. My vegetables were so big once again that they were no longer good so I threw it all out into the woods. I picked the few squash and zucchini that still looked decent and put them in a crate and while fighting the gnats and the heat I jumped into the car and nailed my head on the top of the door.

I sat there for a moment and truly just missed Harris Teeter and Cameron Village and the mall and sushi and the convenience of having my bank right around the corner and getting my nails done and then I remembered how much I hated all of that when I was there. I dreamed of having a garden and dogs and living the good life in the country and I remembered something my uncle Bill told me once.. "the grass may be greener on the other side, but the bull shit is still there too," very smart that man is! 

So now I am back in the office making my to-do lists and updating spreadsheets and I thought I would take a moment to write in here. Our house is a wreck, literally, the dogs have destroyed the yard and the laundry is piled to the ceiling. We come home, unpack, pack again, and head back out the door. We just got home last night and already I've got to pack up again to head to Missouri. I have to be in Branson on Thursday morning so I'm going to try to leave early Wednesday morning and drive it in one day. It's the same distance as it was to Maine and to Wisconsin so I'm pretty used to that drive! Brent has to work so his mother has offered to go with me so we will be on a long road trip this week! But we will come back with my beautiful Lady Jane (whom we will call 'Lainey'). Then in the midst of the fourth of July, my Dad's birthday, Laura's baby shower, and Brent's birthday we will have to start packing up the house and starting the big move! I am praying we will be able to move in before they start cutting corn. 

And then once we get all moved in and settled it will be dove season, deer season, Clemson football season, and time to get married! And then it will be Thanksgiving, cutting soybeans, and then duck season, and then Christmas! Hopefully we will settle down next February :)

back to life, back to reality....

i'm back home again after almost a full week away from the farm. of course a lot happened while i was gone.. my zucchini grew the size of baseball bats, i had okra pods bigger than my hands, and the cucumbers, oh Lord, the cucumbers. well let's just say, they don't look anything like what a normal cucumber does! it rained while we were gone, finally. not sure if it did any good with the corn or not but it will be a great help for the cotton and soybeans.

saturday i had a wedding shower on lake norman. it was my first shower! we have had lots of parties but no showers yet so it was a really nice change. the party was given by some close family friends and was absolutely amazing! the weather was beautiful and they had gorgeous sunflowers and fun cocktails and delicious food. i couldn't have imagined anything better! it means a lot when people go out of their way to do for you and i got some incredible gifts! i noticed a trend that i have had parties and such on my bridesmaids birthdays... one the day before sara beth's, saturday was elisabeth's birthday, and then i think we have another shower on septemeber 10th, the day after weldon's birthday! i hate that it keeps happening, i am surely not trying to steal anyone's thunder. i'm thinking that i'll just have a celebration for weldon after the shower! :)

as for the house, i think our target date to move in will be the third week in july. i'm crossing my fingers and praying hard. that would be a wonderful birthday gift for brent! i had hoped it would be sooner but they can't start on our cabinets until after July 4th so we've got another month to go... everything is pretty much ready to go except setting the cabinets and countertops and finishing up the plumbing. i am so ready to be in. i swear it didn't think it would take us this long but it's been a bumpy road!

i almost forgot to mention that we are about to introduce yet another puppy into our home. not that three isn't enough, four is always better. back in february i wanted a springer spaniel and i wanted one for my birthday. after doing a little research i realized i didn't want a black and white one and i didn't want a liver and white one, i wanted the red and white kind. well that's NOT an english springer spaniel, it's a welsh springer spaniel and they happen to the one of the rarest dog breeds in north america. perfect. just my luck... well we found a breeder in kansas, signed a contract, made a deposit, and now the dog is ready to be picked up. so next week we are meeting Peggy Ruble of Ky-Bryn Welsh Springers in Branson, Missouri to pick up "Lady Jane". the breeder has named her "Lainey" so i'm not exactly what i will end up calling her, but i have always referred to her as Jane so i'll stick with that for now!

i will be sure to post pictures as soon as she is in my arms! hank and birdie are passed out on my office floor right now and i am going to get jack today to try and work on some pointing techniques. i have been told to tie a rag of fabric to a cane pole, 'cast' the fabric out like i'm fishing and get jack to point it. i'll let y'all know how that goes. maybe i could be good at it? i did teach a beagle to retrieve and do tricks so maybe i'll have good luck with pointers!

have a wonderfully blessed day y'all

longest day ever

i feel like today is never going to end! i guess that is what happens when you're up before the sun. i've had a very productive past couple of days in the office with filing and billing and such and now it's almost friday again! 

it's already at a heat index of 100 again today. this has been the hottest week so far this year. my face is a permanent shade of red and i run from the office to the car to avoid the heat as much as possible. we desperately need some rain down here to cool it off a bit and help our corn come back to life! it would be nice if we could hurry up and get all of the wheat out but that's a whole different story. i think brent has cut over a thousand acres already but everywhere i go around here i see another field they haven't done yet. we might be cutting wheat until the fourth of july at this rate! i had hoped that they would finish fairly soon so we could take off to the mountains and relax in a milder climate for a few days but it's not looking promising. next weekend i have a shower at home with some close family friends and the weekend after that is my cousin bonnie's wedding reception/party and father's day. 

on a good note though, my final proofs for our wedding invitations came today and they look amazing. tifany is an amazing designer. check out her work at http://gourmetinvitations.com/. she does some very unique stuff. i am so lucky to have found her! i won't give away what the final invitation and everything else looks like until after the wedding. i want people to be surprised when they get it in the mail. i feel like the invitation sets the tone for the wedding since it's the first glimpse people get into the overall feel and theme. i think ours will make an impression!

the garden is still producing at a rapid pace. i find new squash, cucumbers, okra, and zucchini daily. i'm trying to give it away but everywhere i go people have tons of squash! i think i might plant one more squash plant for late summer and maybe two more okra. i've thought about doing some onions as well and maybe a watermelon! i have to get all of the weeds out first. i'm glad i did the garden this year so next year i'll know what to do differently. 

the house is coming along quite well. they stained our concrete yesterday so no one can go inside for a while. i think they are working on our cabinets as we speak and i need to send the form back in on our countertops. everything else is ready to go. we just have last minute trim work, finishing the floor and stairs to the loft, and finding a shower door! i'm SO ready to move in. hopefully we will get some things that we have registered for next weekend since we need just about everything for the house! 

i hope everyone is having a wonderful week and staying cool :)

friday!

it's finally friday! i wasn't so sure that this week was ever going to end! i just finished with the pay check sheets for the truck drivers and now i'm taking a personal moment so i don't lose my sanity!

in the midst of it being pay day and wheat harvesting, my FIL sold 40,000 bushels of corn to be delivered by today; so it's chaos! there are trucks everywhere and everyone's hair is on fire! i just updated the grain contract so yes, i am taking some time for ME!

i am getting back in the swing of cooking again and getting excited about recipes. i made brownies yesterday and today it's tuna salad day! i included the recipe for tuna salad on the recipe page. two summers ago i had the pleasure of eating some tuna salad at the beach that my friend mimi made. i'm usually not a big tuna salad fan but it was delicious! i have been making it ever since. i've also been craving a big bowl of pasta. my favorite when the weather is hot is to cook up some fettucine and toss it with asparagus or peas and a light cream sauce. i have a good recipe for this as well that i will also include on the recipe page.

i haven't quite figured out how to use this blogger thing with the pages but apparently i can't put posts on a page. i started another blog for recipes and still i can't figure out how to link them so stay tuned! eventually i'll get this all figured out!

it just started raining here. and i mean downpour. big raindrops mean it probably won't last long. i can't remember who told me that, i think it was my friend Weldon. i faintly remember her learning that at camp thunderbird and passing along the info to me during college. OH! and speaking of Weldon! i think she will be adopting miss Louise! [crossing fingers] Brent and I can't possibly keep 4 puppies and it stinks to have to leave them in the pen all the time. Louise is very sweet and mild mannered. she doesn't seem to be as crazy as hank and birdie but she has her moments. yesterday she made an escape from the pen and found the leftover lunch from people who were working on the house... styrofoam was everywhere! and i found her passed out underneath the fan at the dog pens. sweet weeza!

happy friday y'all! i hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

and another..

okay so i am falling in love with everything today. i have a bad habit of finding stuff that i can't live without, buying it, never taking it out of the box, and putting it in storage. that way when we move into the house i can unpack everything and still be fresh and excited about it. i have that bad habit especially with anthropologie. i want everything in their store. (especially all of the kitchen stuff) i've already bought the farmers egg crate, the little milk jug measuring cups, etc etc and now they have a few new things that i am obsessed with..... the farmers market basket. it's just like the blue farmer's egg crate, same material, cast out of a real container and to die for! i think i'm going to get the large one in white and the small one in the neutral color. is it sad that i am planning on having a cutesy decorated refrigerator? next i'll be looking for posh tupperware!

it's funny how your tastes change over the years. i can remember when i first saw anthro i thought it was some weirdo hippie store and now i buy tons of stuff there. my mom was saying the other day that she doesn't know what i like anymore or really anything about me in my mid-20's. so maybe i should tell a few things about myself (just for you mama!) that people may not know....

1. i collect aprons. i have somewhere around 10 right now and still counting. i usually find some of my most favorite ones from anthro. (imagine that)

this is one that my mom gave me for my birthday. the picture doesn't quite do it justice, the blue/green color is much more vivid in person.

2. i'm obsessed with black leggings and black Nike workout pants. i wear them with almost everything.

if i do shop for something other than gym clothes i normally go to Anne Taylor LOFT, Anthro, and JCrew.

3. my favorite place to shop lately is Lowes Home Improvement. i go there multiple times during the week and yesterday i found an entire new section with organizing stuff that i had never seen before so needless to say, i'll be back there very soon!

4. i follow the pioneer woman religiously. and the new tasty kitchen is awesome! (thank you thank you thank you to my friend nikki reese for turning me on to her. it has been the inspiration for this blog, my avid photo taking, and my desire to write a cookbook.)

5. oh yeah, i'm in the process of writing a cookbook. i can't plow ahead as i would like until the house and my kitchen are finished but i am in the process of collecting recipes right now. any good recipes y'all have, please send them my way! i will soon start cooking all of them and adjusting measurements and such. i am SUPER excited about this.

6. i have a collection of nail polish. whenever i get some extra cash i splurge on essie and opi nail polish and i think i have every shade of pink and brown known to man. this is my newest favorite, it's called "sand tropez" ...

7. i LOVE gushers. particularly the watermelon ones. for christmas last year all i asked for was a giant bag of them. so naturally, brent bought boxes of gushers, opened each pack and filled a ziploc bag with them. i was in heaven! it's still my night time guilty snack.

8. i use anti aging products because i am scared to death of wrinkles. if i didn't look so terrible when i'm pale i would stay out of the sun completely to avoid them. i have a deep dark fear of having lines around my eyes and mouth and having a turkey neck.

9. i could spend my life savings at kate spade. i have multiple pairs of shoes, dresses, purses, jewelry, stationary, perfume.... you name it, i probably have it if it's kate spade. that started when they opened the kate spade store at southpark. i went there all the time and loved all the colorful stuff and now i buy everything. i literally collect the purses. my favorite so far is an all gold one that i use most of the time. and then of course my black "baby bag" ... i have shoes that i bought that just sit in the box, never worn, just waiting on the appropriate time and i wear them around the house every now and then for fun.

10. and lastly, since some people don't know this because i complain a lot, i do love where i am. not many people love their job, that's natural, but i do love where i am and where we live. i love the farm. i love summerton. i truly and honestly like the people here and the small town feel. i like that when i walk in the diner everyone knows who i am, sure they probably know all of my business too, but that stuff doesn't matter to me. no, brent and i don't have an exciting social calendar and we don't go out to bars, but that's not what is important to me in life. i wrote a quote the other day that everyone lives their lives differently and that's true. i don't feel like i'm missing out on anything in life by not getting drunk or going out, even when everyone pressures you to do so. i enjoy spending time with brent and doing things together like working in the garden or going for a boat ride or kayaking. everyone grows up at different times and i think my time for that is now. they say that you discover yourself in college but i'm not so sure that is true. i feel like i am discovering myself now and setting the guidelines for the rest of my life. i still love my friends and i crave more time with them, but we all live in different areas and it's harder to get together. i just hope that even though we are miles apart that we will all stay close and know what's going on in each other's lives. that's another reason for this blog. even if it is only a glimpse into my life down here.