Girls Traveling

saturday confessional | danielle @ sparkles + lattes

Saturday, May 31, 2014

you bet it's saturday. time for another round of the confessional, and this story i love.

i love it because i'm nearly positive this sounds like something that could/would happen to me. that's just how that goes.

a little business first - as always, if any of you fine gals have a confessional list or confessional story you want to share here on September FARM just shoot me an e-mail and we'll get you scheduled to take over on a saturday coming up very soon!

also...should you be feeling extra snazzy and you want others to enjoy these confessionals...feel free to grab the button below (HERE)!

okay...now go read the gorgeous danielle's confessional. enjoy now. gasp later. and then let's thank our lucky stars danielle is safe and sound, mmmk?

Hello lovely September Farm Readers! My name is Danielle and I blog over at Sparkles and Lattes. I am a lover of anything and everything with sparkle which means I have a bad shopping obsession. I am a wife, a mother to the cutest chiweenie, Walter, and football lover. I can’t start my day without a latte and I hate to end my day without a glass of red wine.

I have some great stories from my past. Enough to fill up quite a few Saturday Confessionals. Like the time I went rafting with a friend who got so drunk that she lost my keys while floating the river and tried to beat me up on our raft. Or the time when a guy was too drunk at a party and he fell over the rail of the stairs and pulled me over with him, leading to me cracking my head open and tying my head shut with my hair. Or even my entire friendship with my roommate/friend who was a stripper, left her dildos out for all to see and even took a deuce on her exes car. But today’s confessional is the best and most entertaining. My confessional dates back to 2007-ish (I tried to erase some of this from my memory, so dates are fuzzy). All names have been changed to protect my favorites and not so favorite people.

Let me first give you a little background information. I used to work on my college campus (University of Nevada, Reno) in the Civil Engineering Department, and I dealt with grad students daily. There was one guy, Bob, who never really made a lasting impression. I knew who he was, saw him occasionally and worked with him a handful of times in the four years I was working there.

My husband and I at a University of Nevada Wolf Pack football tailgate.

Fast forward to 2007. I was out of college, working at the job I have now and living with two roommates, Pat and Joe. One day while out on a run, I ran into Bob who come to find out was living right behind me.

A few weeks later, it seemed like a normal summer Saturday morning. I was sleeping in, Joe was sleeping in and Pat was up at the crack of dawn. I was rudely awoken by the police pounding on my bedroom door with orders to come out of my room with my hands up. Now in Nevada, summers can be pretty hot, so I tend to sleep in boy shorts and a sheer tank. Don’t worry, I would change or put on a robe before coming out of my room in front of my roommates. But without thinking, I opened the bedroom door in a haze.

I had four police men in swat gear pointing their guns at me asking me to turn around and put my hands on top of my head. I politely asked if I could put some clothes on, which they not so kindly denied. So there I was in little pjs, if you can call them that, being escorted out of my house in handcuffs with my roommates nowhere to be found.

As we are exiting the house my new neighbors and their parents are unloading the moving truck. These new neighbors were acquaintances of mine from college with parents in tow. Wonderful welcoming into the neighborhood. Girl gets lead out of house in a see through tank (ladies in full view in the morning sun), boy shorts and handcuffs while the entire neighborhood watches. Embarrassing to say the least.

One of my roommates was in the back of a cop car handcuffed, the other two houses down sitting on the curb and a mystery man in another cop car. I asked the police officer what was going on. He told me they received a call that someone was trying to break into the house and didn’t know who the suspect was. They needed to clear the house and sort things out.

Then they asked me if I was Danielle X and if I knew a Bob Y. I told them I vaguely remember him and recently learned he lived behind me. What happened next blew my mind. Apparently, Bob thought his drug dealers were coming to get him. He said they threatened him, so he ran out of the back of the house, jumped the fence and tried to get into our house for safety since I apparently told him he could come over any time.

Now the real story, Bob, the grad student got into meth and probably did have drug dealers coming after him. So he jumped the fence, tried to get into the sliding glass door and then tried the door that lead into the garage. All the while, Pat sees this going on and calls the police. He did forget to wake Joe and myself up and let us know what was going on.

When the cops arrived, they found Bob in the backyard with his pants down to his ankles pleasuring himself and mumbling who knows what. He claimed he knew me and everything was fine. Bob was arrested, my roommates and I were handcuffed (brutal bruises left on my wrist) and shamed and after an hour. we were eventually let back into OUR house. Though I did have to prove it was in fact our house even though the perp was caught pants down.

A few weeks later, the police men came back to our neighborhood to do a survey on safety and changes. Guess what was number one on our list? Neighborhood safety.

Thank you for reading my Saturday Confessional. Again, I hope you come check out my blog and follow along in my adventures with my husband and pup.

(I don't have any photos of this incident, so I threw in some that had some sort of relevance to the story. ie. campus photo, myself, etc.)

5 | lusting, announcements, baby goats

Friday, May 30, 2014

1 | looking forward to.

my farmer is actually going to get some "boy time" this weekend. this is oh so rare since he's a farming maniac. but today he leaves for a good friend's bachelor party. there are talks of a rafting trip, but the water is looking chilly. i wouldn't be surprised if they managed to find themselves a nice little...we'll call it an establishment...and parked it there for a few hours.

you see...at the last bachelor party my farmer attended, his very very good buddy (we'll call him ben to protect identities), was pulled up on stage and whipped with his own belt.

needless to say, i'm looking forward to the stories upon my farmer's return.

2 | lusting after.

4-way stretch speed short

so...a little over a month ago i set a goal for myself to start running 20 miles a week. i said that if i hit my goal that first week i could justify buying some new running shorts. (i have a few pair, but it's time to retire one nike pair in particular that have been around since 2003. ick.)

naturally, i've been lusting after lululemon apparel which is not cheap. well, i hit that goal and my new goodies arrived! not only that, but i've been hitting my 20 mile goal every week since and the lululemon packages keep arriving. i could certainly get used to this.

3 | what's new.
ummm...farmer and i slept in our new king-sized bed last night. it's about 80-eleven feet wide and very tall. i have to jump to get on. it's so tall we're considering taking the legs off our bed frame. this would make me so sad since i absolutely love the bed frame...but it's comical how tall it is. practically princess and the pea. but above all that...i slept like an absolute dream. i sleep great regardless, but it was even better last night. you could fit farmer, kaye, me AND a baby goat in that bed and we would never touch each other. and that's what marriage is all about, right? not touching each other in bed. glad we covered that.

ps. on a completely related note...we have baby goats on the farm.

4 | for you.

oh...you know how excited i get each month to launch the group giveaway and share some amazing sponsors with us all! well, the june giveaway is coming right up and i have four spots left. i'd absolutely love to get those filled, so if you've been considering getting in on one of these...this is it! do it. peer pressure. 30% off. code: 5FRIDAY

5 | coming up.
guys...i'm practically bursting to share all sorts of exciting stuff coming up on the blog. we've got baby showers, birthday parties, announcements, recipes, bridal showers, giveaways...gah! summer is upon us. so feel free to stick around.

bloglovin' | facebook | twitter | instagram

linking up with four fab hosts...

farm food | whole wheat blueberry zucchini bread

Thursday, May 29, 2014

get ready for this tasty lick. it's sweet. it has a vegetable. my kaye loves it. my farmer loves it. basically i'm mom/wife of the year. (raises hands in air in obnoxious victory dance.)

INGREDIENTS LIST

3 eggs lightly beaten

1 c olive oil

1/2 c greek or regular plain yogurt

3 tsp vanilla

2 c sugar

2 1/2 c shredded zucchini

3 c whole wheat flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 c blueberries (fresh or frozen)

1 | preheat your oven to 350º and grease whatever type of pan you're using - bundt, mini-muffs, loaf, regular muffs.

2 | in a mixing bowl lightly beat your eggs and then add oil, vanilla, and sugar. stir in greek yogurt.

i'm pretty sure kaye is tasting vanilla here...which if you've ever had...it's not good. but helping is helping. thanks gal.

3 | fold in your zucchini.

4 | add the rest of your ingredients - flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.

5 | gently fold in your blueberries. you don't want to crush them. i used frozen which are a lot more forgiving...and cheaper. they also take a lot longer for a hungry turtle to bite through. girlfriend eats blueberries like it's her job.

here i thought i was being clever by adding a few more blueberries to the top individually...so they didn't sink to the bottom.

don't be fooled. a bundt gets flipped, so all these blueberries were actually on the bottom. not my smartest moment.

6 | you're ready to pop these yummies into the oven!

bundt - check after 45 minutes
loaf - check after 40 minutes
mini muffs - check after 8 minutes
muffs - check after 15 minutes

tip - i always take my baked goods out of the oven when they are on the verge of looking complete. i feel like as they are cooling the warmth will continue to bake them a little more. by taking them out a minute or two early you could be saving yourself from some dryness. and nobody likes a dry slice of blueberry zucchini bread...just sayin'.

sponsor post | q + a with jess from being mrs. beer

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

if you blog (or maybe you don't) i'm nearly positive you've seen jess from being mrs. beer. how could you not? she writes a super, snazzy blog over yonder on the east cost. we're talking white house folks. works for the president.

okay, that's a lie. she doesn't work for the president, or his wife, or his family. actually...i couldn't even tell you if she's been to the national mall, which probably should have been one of my questions in this q + a. jess - favorite national landmark over in your parts...go?

but, i opted for a more personal level like...

KARLI | jess...you basically have the dreamiest of dreamy last names. please tell me you like beer. especially on a hot, summer day sitting on a patio, eating pupu's and enjoying live music.

JESS | it's so weird. i get people that like to joke about it, and then people that spell it wrong. it's ridiculous. who misspells beer? they always want to add an S to the end, or make it bear or something weird. seriously people, it's not that hard. and i do like beer...but only the girly ones. basically, give me a blue moon on tap with an orange in it, and i'm a happy girl.

KARLI | i can most certainly see the value in a blue moon with an orange. as a matter of fact, that sounds like a tasty treat this very moment. but give this girl an IPA (hoppier the better) and i'm all set. idaho has kind of been booming in the brewery department lately...i may have to branch out.

what's the most perfect date your hubs could take you on?

JESS | depends. what's the budget? actually, a night away with just the two of us would be amazing. (she's saying she'd ditch her little gal...and so would i.) he did that for my birthday the first year we were dating - got a hotel room for the two of us and we had quiet time all to ourselves - it was awesome. i'd love to do that again.

KARLI | girl...you're speaking my language. except i would ask for two nights. one without my farmer or little gal, and one with just my farmer. we did the hotel bit for our anniversary last year and it was...incredible. i didn't think i could wipe the smile off my face...except for when i had to breast pump. that sucked. quite the mood-killer. too much info?

how often do you talk to your husband about blogging? is he into it or does he find it silly or does he make fun of you for it LIKE SOMEONE I KNOW?

JESS | he actually loves that i blog. he writes one too (but it's political and i honestly never read it...does that make me a bad wife? if so, i don't care), so he's used to this sort of thing. i even asked him if he'd be up for me attempting do do fashion posts and he said he'd take the pictures! winner right there!

KARLI | i wouldn't read a political blog either...even if my own kid wrote it...and she's only 19 months so that would be super impressive.

outfit posts! do it! for a hot second, when i was obsessed with the daybook, i tried my hand at outfit posts (don't search the archives). thank god i gave that up real quick-like. actually, i think my farmer told me it was time to let those go. solid advice.

changing gears - you host a series called the sleep chronicles. what inspired this?

JESS | ugh. my daughter was the WORST sleeper for the longest time. i scoured the internet looking for stories on how to get her to sleep better...and there was research, but not really any personal stories. when we sleep trained abbie at eight months i kept a log...and since i thought it'd be helpful for other moms, i started the series and opened it up for others. i'm hoping it has helped people, and i've loved hosting it.

KARLI | first kids are a crazy challenge. thank god for the internet. thank god for the sleep chronicles. and thank god for the breastfeeding diaries.

changing gears again - do you splurge on anything? help me make my husband realize that i'm not the only one that likes my feet rubbed by strangers...

JESS | oh, i'd so LOVE to hire a house cleaner, but i'm just too cheap for it. but then being cheap backfires on me...like when i see things that are on sale or clearance and i need to buy them all. like zulily...seriously, why do i keep getting those e-mails? and in the summer i splurge on pedicures...because my toes are weird and awkward to paint myself...but only in the summer. it's pointless in the winter.

KARLI | well, i don't know about pointless. there's still the whole foot-rubbing thing they do. and the house-cleaner...girl. you're speaking my language. windows, bathrooms, baseboards...these are chores i would gladly fork over cash for.

back to your hubs - how did you two meet?

JESS | well...we both worked for the same company for awhile and i'd always see him at work events and happy hours. we were friends for a long time, but we didn't start dating until after i left the company. it all started at a friend's party. he insists i got him drunk and took advantage of him...but that's a lie. he got himself drunk.

KARLI | pardon me for reading between the lines...but it sounds like you still took advantage of him? i say good for you. it sounds oddly familiar as to how i snagged my farmer...that fateful day on the golf course. swoon.

last question - more of a request than a question...share a piece of blogging wisdom with us all.

JESS | keep going. even if you take a month off and want to come back, do it. blog for yourself rather than someone else.

KARLI | you're so right. it's easy to forget why you started blogging. easy to get overwhelmed. easy to feel pressure.

i have a friend that often used to say, "do what feels good." and another friend that says, "you do you." that same friend says, "you go glen coco!" i apply all these to my blogging.

oh my goodness, jess! so freaking fun to have you and your life stories/wisdom on the blog today! thank you!

friends - feel free to find jess here -

bloglovin' | twitter | facebook | instagram | pinterest

_______________________________________________

and you bloggers + shop owners, get excited. jess is offering September FARM readers 30% off her ad spaces, because she's killer like that. just use the code KARLI30 and you're in bizz.

but that's not all. she's also giving away a LARGE AD SPACE. get yourself entered below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

the best sunday you can have…with a kid.

Monday, May 26, 2014

i'm not sure when memorial day weekend became an invitation to shove as much delicious food in your face as possible…but let's just say i certainly RSVP'd.

how do you say "no" to strawberry-covered waffles, pasta salad, blueberry zucchini bread, bratwurst, 47 mini brownies, birthday cupcakes…the list goes on.

but hey…when in rome?

feast your eyes.

and the zucchini bread…recipe post coming soon.

it's not our fault we had two parties to attend this weekend…our little gal, she's popular. she all but got invited to kimye's wedding, but we couldn't get her passport in time. i'm not too concerned, not even rob kardashian made it to the nuptials.

in all honestly, it was such a fun weekend. even with our farmer in the middle of haying he's managed to forgo sleep to take us on dinner dates and attend the parties.

he literally sleeps about three hours a night and then maybe takes a quick hour nap once a day.

our farmer…can't get enough of that guy.

so anyway, we celebrated picnic style this little man's first birthday. i cannot believe he's one. time absolutely flies.

this beckam-boy. he's the sweetest. kaye falls between his older brother and him…and the fact that they are all farm kids makes me so excited to watch them grow up together.

i'm really hoping kaye thinks of them as brothers because these boys…they are going to be pretty good-looking. they come from good stock, that's for sure.

but if kaye ends up being as awkward as my farmer, here…well, i don't think we're going to have too many issues in the boyfriend department.

moving on.

next we booked it to the big city to make our presence known and kaye fell in love with this little gal, claire.

the very best part? her mom was not only a bridesmaid in our wedding, but she also delivered kaye. so when we got to see our two best gals love each other so hard…melt our hearts. i mean…kaye may have loved claire a little more, but that's what us farm girls do…love hard. some people call it clingy…i call it…clingy. we can't help it.

regardless, i hope in five years, ten years, and so on we can show our best gals these pictures and tell them they've been friends forever.

while it was super fun to watch these two fall for each other it was even better to get together with more friends.

and my gal gina? she knows how to throw a bbq. delicious food, yummy treats, and a blind wine tasting? brilliant.

that's her dad learning up all these young kids real good…especially my farmer…drumroll please...

who totally ended up winning the blind tasting!

that's my man. hard working, hands-in-the-dirt…but with class. kind of. he only got two guesses correct, which doesn't say a lot for the rest of the tasters.

it was such a fun sunday, and i feel totally lucky to have such wonderful people in our lives.

sidenote - if i had known that a cornhole board could keep two kids under three busy for a solid hour…i would have invested MONTHS ago.

happy memorial day! take a moment to remember our loved ones and those who served for us.

saturday confessional | famous in a small town

Saturday, May 24, 2014

friends. farmers. welcome. we have another round of the confessional today…and while it's relatively tame…there is one in there that will make you gasp. GASP i say. because that's what i did. but then she made a very good point and i forgave her. read on. can you guess which one i'm talking about?

okay…take it kelly!

Hey y'all. I have been asked to be a part of a blog series! Pretty cool huh? Well I think so cause it's a pretty cool one. I started following Karli a while back & realized we had a lot in common. We're both part of the farming world (my dad & her husband). And even though we live far, far apart (Idaho to Indiana), we have similar thoughts as well. When she did her first confessional post, I agreed & laughed along with her.

I must admit I was so giddy when she e-mailed me & asked I would like to be a part of the confessional series. (I might have danced around my room hollering.) Some of the other ladies have shared stories, but since I don't have any embarrassing or cool stories to tell, I thought I'd confess some things about me that y'all might not know.

http://farmerbell.blogspot.com/search/label/the%20confessional

For those of you reading from Karli's blog: Hey y'all & welcome! My name is Kelley & this is my little bloggy world Famous in a Small Town. I live in a farm town in Southern Indiana & I love pizza, Dr Pepper & long lazy Saturdays. I admit I don't have the most interesting life, but I like to document it here & share with y'all.

Now to the good part, I hope.

1} My niece loves to eat bananas, but I detest the smell of them. I almost gag when I feed them to her.

Me & Peyton almost 2 years ago!

2} I got more sleep in college than I do now. I averaged 9 (yes I said nine) hours of sleep when I was supposed to be partying or pulling all nighters. I'm lucky if I get 7 hours of interrupted sleep now a days.

3} I hate taking pictures of myself & I refuse to say or use the word "selfie." What is this world coming to. It's probably why I currently have no pictures of me & my boyfriend. How terrible Kel!

Circa 2006...before the crazy you know what phase lol

4} I don't wash my hands after using a public bathroom. Yeah gross but I hate the bathroom's cheap soap. But I do use hand sanitizer. So not as gross right?

5} When I was a senior in high school, we had a fan/pep club called Cougar Crazies. We used to do human dominos. At an away game, we did our dominos. Seemed normal. As the game was beginning, someone behind me said my jeans were ripped. Yep. From butt down to my knees.

6} When I'm in the car with people I don't sing at all. But boy when I'm by myself, I belt it out like I'm Carrie Underwood, & we all know that ain't true!

7} I didn't try my first steak until I was in college. Man was a I missing out!

8} I got a perm when I was 8 because that was the thing at the time, & 19 years later it's still in my hair. Or as a result I have curly hair now. I have my days where I hate it, but I love how easy it is to take care of.

Not the best pic of me, but I was havin a good hair day!

Exciting things are happening today! Last night, my baby sister Michael graduated from high school! She is getting ready to start the best years of her life! I am so proud of her! Today we are partying it up!

Thanks Karli for lettin' me take over your awesome blog for the day! :)

Thanks for checkin' out my blog & finding out a little more about me. Y'all come back now!

5 | a little about my farmer

Friday, May 23, 2014

1 | how did you meet such a good-looking farmer in a tiny town? and how do i meet my own?

farmer and me at his companies' christmas party when we first started dating.

really really good question. and you're right. my farmer is pretty fine. like…the bomb.com. but i didn't meet him in this tiny town of 100. i also didn't meet him at any sort of farming convention or an equipment auction…although i'm sure many great love stories have began that way.

i met my farmer when we were both living in the big city…fresh off of college graduation. i had been working for an architecture firm (still trying to figure my sh*z out) and he worked as an engineer. his boss had called my boss looking for two people to complete on a golf team for a tournament they were putting together. i was sent to represent our firm with another gal. and then, right there on the driving range, up walked my engineer. what a dream boat. but i specifically remember not liking his shoes.

regardless of the shoes, he was so dreamy, funny, and he stole me a beer from one of his co-worker's coolers. i was smitten. that next week (after not hearing from him????) i shot him an e-mail asking him if he'd like some golfing lessons. he accepted and that's how we began phase 1 of our dating career.

phase 2 involved me moving to prague and him coming to visit.

phase 3 involved me moving home and him finally admitting we were boyfriend/girlfriend and a proposal after five years of dating.

phase 90-eleven was when my farmer told me he was going to buy a farm.

how do you snag your own good-looking farmer? find one in the big city and then gently nudge him towards farm life. make him think it's his own idea. when he decides that's the direction he'd like to take…resign to only seeing him in the winter. kidding. kind of.

seems like a lifetime ago. next question!

2 | where and what do you guys farm?

farmer and i live in a tiny tiny town of about 100 people. and when i say "in town" i mean we live about 10 miles outside of town. we literally have no neighbors. the town is in south westish/centralish idaho. the farm consists of nearly 3000 acres of corn and alfalfa this year, and normally some wheat is dabbled in there.

3 | do you get bored living in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere?

sunset on the farm

honestly…yes. on occasion i have pity parties because i miss living in the big city. there is a lot of effort involved (especially when you have a baby) just to go get milk…or the endless supply of blueberries our turtle requires/demands.

but then i get my sh*z together and realize that the life my farmer provides out here on the farm for us is unlike any other. we have a beautiful home with tons of property. the stars are absolutely unbelievable because of the lack of city lights. turtle and i get to ride 4-wheelers all over our property on the daily (girlfriend loves a 4-wheeler, motorcycle, etc). the pluses are limitless and i'm excited to watch our little family grow out here in the sticks.

4 | what is your farmer's name?

ummm…really good question. i'm planning a Q + A with him here in the near future and i think i'll disclose it at that time. i have mentioned it once before (for dramatic purposes) in a previous blog post. i think he kind of digs the anonymity and mystery. plus i think if i disclose too much information some of you gals may try to steal him…according to some of your comments.

speaking of those comments…i tell my farmer about them and i'm pretty sure he secretly loves them. or he'll tease me and say, "who was this girl? what does she look like?" at least i think he's teasing.

5 | have any additional questions for my hunk of a farmer? or me? i'll toss them in the pot! e-mail me.

oh! and don't forget to get entered in may's group giveaway for $200 CASH. GO HERE.

oh! and should you be interested in getting in on june's group giveaway…i have five spots left! visit my advertise page to get more info!

happy friday! make good decisions.

i've solved the mystery of toddler picky eating

Thursday, May 22, 2014

meet kaye. meet kaye mid-fit.

i don't think anyone would ever accuse her of being a picky eater. well, maybe slightly picky.

however, sometimes its difficult to hold her attention long enough to even try a bite of a meal. it can be pretty frustrating considering i find meal times to be the hardest part of the day. i'm not very creative in the meal-making department. i don't enjoy it. i never have. but guess what? that frustrated turtle above? she has to eat about forty-eleven times a day, counting snacks.

when i know she's hungry and i watch her throw food to the floor…nothing ticks me off more quickly.

so when i say i've solved the problem to toddler picky eating i mean i've solved my toddler's picky eating…for one day…for one meal.

i thought it was worth sharing if it helps one mother/toddler relationship.

it's worth it if one toddler doesn't refuse food set before him/her.

it's worth it if only for the fact that it could save a mom from having to try and think of something different after having already prepared a perfectly yummy meal for lunch.

here's what you do. go to the store. get yourself a box of toothpicks.

me? i used a giant, wooden skewer because if that's all you have on the farm…then that's what you're stuck with.

hand the stick to your toddler.

watch your toddler immediately try to blind/stab him/herself.