Honors & Awards

My friend Sarah over at Uneventfully Wonderful awarded me my first ever Liebster Blog Award.  Liebster Awards are intended to bring attention to blogs with less than 200 followers.  I'm so honored that Sarah thought of me!  I like this award because it honors those who blog because they purely love it, & not because they get paid to.   I started this blog a little over a year ago & enjoy doing it so much.  One of my purposes of this blog is for my kiddos.  Someday when I'm really old & they get married & start families of their own I'd like them to have access to all my recipes & ideas.  Nesting Corral is also a great creative outlet for this busy mom who NEEDS a creative outlet.  Thank you Sarah for awarding me!

Part of receiving the Liebster Award is awarding it to other bloggers.  Here are the guidelines:
1. Choose 5 blogs with fewer than 200 followers to grant the Liebster Blog award. 
2. Show appreciation to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them!
3. Post the award on your blog and link back to the blogs you have given the Liebster Blog award to so everyone else can pay them a visit. 


So here goes...

Fabulous Farmhouse 5 by Jami Rodolph.  She has so many cute crafty DIY ideas that cost near to nothing.  I'm always inspired (& a little jealous) by her garage sale finds.  Plus there are tons of cute items she makes & sells.  I've blogged about her recipe boxes & photo albums, but there's so much more- you'll have to check it out.  Beyond that, keeping up with her family is always a fun read.  This is a great blog for anyone who likes to create, enjoys shabby chic decor, & is thrifty.

We Have Plenty is co-created by my friend Michelle Fullente & her cousin Myra Cherchio.  It is a great site to get a variety of recipes.  The premise of the website is using what you have.  No overly fancy ingredients, yet wonderfully creative & yummy dishes.  Try the King Ranch Chicken, you'll be hooked!


I know I'm suppose to award five blogs, but my other choices have already received the award or have too many followers.  I am happy just to bring attention to these two wonderful blogs.  Nice work ladies!

Finally, Someone Gets It

I was grabbing a few things at the store the other day when I spotted this beautiful creation.  I swear, when I saw it angels began signing from heaven... or maybe that was me...that would be really embarrassing.  Anyway, kudos to the Tillamook cheese company for creating this beautiful blend of cheeses that sole purpose is to make one of the most amazing foods ever- mac & cheese.

I've not tried to make said dish yet, but I can't wait.  This combo of cheeses would make a mac & cheese that falls right in the middle of adult & child taste preferences.  Genius.  Thank you Tillamook for understanding me & creating this wonderful product.  (I'm pretty sure I'm the one they were thinking of when they formed this brain child, right?)

I Heart Craigslist

Since moving in I've been filtering through our stuff.  I had already gone through it when we packed it, but somehow I had not purged enough stuff then.  Now that we are settling in & are planning on being in this house for a long time I am getting rid of what we do not need.  Which happens to be a lot of stuff... notice how many times I said stuff in the last few sentences, yeesh, I'm so sick of stuff.  We had a garage sale & got rid of a few things, but not enough.  That's when I started using Craigslist for the first time.  It's so easy & I've made a good chunk of change in the last 3 weeks.  So far I've sold

 a chandelier

 a twin bed

 a vanity sink

 a computer hutch & chair

 a lightweight stoller

 a double stroller (Don't worry, we haven't decided if we're done having kids.  but I figure if I ever need a double stroller again then a stroller will be the least of my worries.)

 an end table

a trike.  And I'm still going strong.  I love getting rid of stuff.  I love it more when people come to my house & take it away.  I love it best when those people give me money for the stuff.  I heart Craigslist.

Favorite Spot (today anyway)

I'm in the midst of unpacking & decorating our new house& often find myself frustrated.  I'll get an area picked up & looking good only to have it drowned by a pile of boxes & bubble wrap thirty minutes later.  I'll dig through & deplete one pile only to find another pile around the corner waiting to be unpacked.  Needless to say not one part of my house is completely finished... close, but not completely.
That's why I love this spot.  It's a small spot in front of a set of sliders that act as our front door, because our front door is in a really weird spot.  Since it's in front of a door no piles can accumulate there.  This is the only place in my house that always looks nice.  It's got minimal furnishings, so it's hard to trash.  The sun shines through the windows most of the day.  The big Oregon grape bushes right outside are covered in berries & look delightful.  I love how the rug & curtains compliment each other.  I dig how the chair I found at a garage sale years ago contrast with the curtains.  This spot is right by my desk & kitchen so I look at it often.  Many times during the day it is the constant that keeps me sane.  Thank you little spot for always looking so lovely.

Junking Market Finds

This past weekend I went to a fun junking market.  It was a beautiful place full of antiques, handmade goods, & re-purposed items.  My major score was found within the first two minutes I was there.  I walked into the very first booth & a beam of golden light from heaven was illuminating this gorgeous cast iron pan.  It was big, it was already seasoned, & it was only thirty-five dollars.

I ran to it & snatched it up, & held it tight, & firmly told the other customer who tried to grab it off the counter as I was purchasing it "I'm buying that."  & the mom was happy.  I've needed a very large skillet since we've moved from the ranch & I had to leave the one that belongs to my parents.  I have a great set of red Paula Deen pots & pans, so I was just going to but the large skillet that matches.  But this, this is beyond my wildest imagination!  Just look, it's fifteen inches across.

It's hard to picture fifteen inches in your head, so here's an egg for scale.

And a banana.  See how big this sucker is!  Imagine how many chicken fried steaks I could cook at once... or biscuits... or bacon!

I'm not totally sure you understand the capacity of this pan, so I put Spider Man in to help you.

Here's my shoe, with room to spare... see what I mean?!  Now I need to go wash my precious pan... without soap- never was cast iron with soap, takes the non-stick coating off... & it takes years of cooking to make that coating.

The Future of Rodeo

Things haven't slowed down a bit.  We just spent the holiday weekend with a couple of close friends out at our ranch.  Total head count, 7 adults, 13 children.  Needless to say we were out numbered.  But the kids kept themselves very busy, moving as a small herd from the barn, to the pond, to the bunkhouse, back to the barn & only coming to the house when they were hungry. 

We ended the weekend with an afternoon at the rodeo where a few of our buckaroos did some mutton bustin. 

Not sure what that is, pretty simple & semi-barbaric.  It's where you stick your small precious bundles of joy on top of a non-rideable sheep & let them see how far down the arena they can get.  One of our girls went the farthest, she really held on! 

It's always super fun to watch & the kids feel so proud afterwards.  Sometimes the pride comes after a few tears, but they always have big smiles when they're handed their prize of a baseball cap & two dollar bill.  This is our friends son biting the dust.  That't the unfortunate part of the game, everyone has to fall off sometime.  A few lucky ones are saved by the rodeo clown, but that doesn't happen very often.

Here's a my second born's (by 10 whopping minutes) ride in sequence.  She had a good grip from the start.

 The sheep eventually turned right & B-lined for the flock.  But she held on.

 Then the sheep tried another tactic, bucking.

Which proved effective.  There's here dismount, & the rodeo clown is right there to help her up.  Those rodeo clowns are great.  They keep the kiddos safe & help them when they fall off, I mean, dismount.  They are so encouraging & the kids feel like real rodeo starts.

I love the bronc riding.  Now you see him...

...now you don't.  Look a that horse's concentration.

My girls love the barrel racing.  They are just starting to learn how to do it & love it.  I wouldn't be suprised if I have pictures of them in the junior barrel racing in next year's rodeo.

And of course everyone loves the bull riding.  For some reason this doesn't seem like a good idea to me.

And all of it's wrapped up with wild cow milking.  I love watching wild cow milking.  Hey buddy, are you sure you want to do that?!

Zucchini Week Begins

 Alright, go out to that garden & pick you some zucchini.  Go ahead and take that bag full your neighbor keeps trying to give you.  Zucchini week is officially beginning.  I personally have been overran by the buggers. So much for planting a "little" garden.  So this past week I actually had some time to cook & with my over abundance of zucchini I played with some recipes.  Starting tomorrow I will share some with you.  A few are surprising and all are yummy.  Stay tuned.

And here is a pretty picture of a flower A) because summer is almost over & I don't want it to be.  Especially since I didn't get to enjoy it because of a house remodel & moving. B) just to brighten your day & remind you of the beauty that constantly surrounds you. C) because I love pink, always have (even ask my Mom), always will.

See you tomorrow!

Busy Week

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while.  See, I had family in town.  Family from really far away.  Family that I love dearly & see sparingly.  So I was a little preoccupied.

Actually, a lot preoccupied because my beautiful sis-in-law brought her new baby girl.  This was the first time I got to meet her (& smell her, I love baby smell).  So every spare moment I was sitting on the couch holding her.

Or taking pictures of her & her cute chubby cheeks.  Which left little time for blogging.

Plus the weather finally got warm up here in the mountains.

Which meant there was a lot of time spent outside swimming...

... & posing cute chubby cheek babies in ridiculously cute settings...

... & working.  My bro-in-law loves coming here so he can work ;)

& of course we squeezed in some horse riding.  Unfortunately my other bro-in-law (not pictured) took a horse ride the first day he was here & had an accident which resulted in five of his ribs being broken.  So his vacation was a bit dampened.

We also took a day trip to a nearby town for some fun shopping & a stop at the amazing candy store.

Cousins got to spend time with each other...

... & we topped it off with yet more cute pictures of the sweetest chubby cheeked baby around.
I promise to post some yummy recipes soon.

Don't Let the Door Hit You on the Way Out

About a month ago it snowed about eight inches overnight.  It was the kind of snow that covers the trees perfectly & everything looks smooth & soft.

It was so pretty that I went out with my camera early in the morning to capture the beauty.

I wanted to get some shots before the sun or kiddos ruined the soft white serenity.

It also was getting late enough in the winter that I thought "this will be the last big snowfall we get...

... From here on out we will just get little dustings & the sun will melt most of the pretty white stuff away...

... The ground will have snow on it, but it will be dirty melted snow.  So I better capture this moment now.  A sort of farewell to winter."

Boy was I WAY off!  We have gotten so much snow since then.  The other week we got one foot overnight.  I swear winter will not stop here, it's just going to bleed into next winter.  I'm so ready for Spring!  I'm tired of shoveling, feeding horses, & snow boots.  It's time for bare ground & warm air.  So Winter, I love you & mean this with the best of intentions, but it is time for you to go now.