Ask It!

Hey guys, here's this week's 'Ask it' post! I took a break from it last week, but here it is now. :) If you're new here and aren't sure what this is, then here's a quick scoop for ya': I offer consultation services on various homesteading skills for a fee, but once I week I open the floor up and answer questions for no cost at all. It's kind of a fun thing for everyone.

So here y'all go! Leave your question/s in the comments below and I'll answer it on Monday!

P.S. Melanie, you left a couple questions on one of my old Q&A posts concerning microgreens; I'll touch base with those on Monday!

This Is Me Right About Now

I mentioned this in an earlier post; saying that I feel like Rapunzel as I prepare for my big trip to MO. On a whim, I pulled the clip up from the abyss of Youtube.

Yeah, it's been a slow day today. ;)

What Is It You Want?

I found this Youtube last night and LOVED the pep talk on it. Yes, the video itself is about horses, but the message is for everything. Do you want something in life? GO AFTER IT. Now. Start small, start with research, and let it blossom. Life is so short, so precious... How will we spend this span that we're each allotted?

 I have a lot of things in life that I want to do, and this 4 minute video really helped me get out of my "oh someday" funk and back into the swing of WORKING towards a goal. Even if it's just reading up on them, that still puts me one step closer today than I was yesterday.

Watch the vid. It's a good one. :)

P.S. I have a growing collection of these awesome, inspirational horse videos on my Pinterest board, so if you want more of this stuff (and I have to say that some of them are even better than this!), you can do so by clicking HERE!

Thirty Days

 Today it hit me: I leave for Missouri in exactly thirty days.

That's only four more weeks. Thirty days. On December 4th my dog and I will be boarding a horrible plane (I hate flying; especially in the winter time!) and we'll be travelling 2,047 miles (yes I had to Google that) to a state that I've only been to once in my life, to a farm that I've never been to before, to stay long term with people who I've never met, and learn a whole new set of farming techniques and most likely learn a whole new lifestyle. 

 Folks, I'm scared.

 Scared, excited, nervous, eager, anxious, impatient to go, reluctant to leave, regretting my decision, wondering why I haven't done this sooner... You get the idea. As I described it to someone yesterday, I spend about ten minutes feeling like this will be the best adventure *ever*, and then the following ten minutes are spent feeling a horrified dread that I'm about to do this. If you've ever seen Disney's movie 'Tangled' then you might have a good idea on what I look like (and for the record, I adore that movie. Seriously.). The scene when Rapunzel first leaves the tower and is running around everywhere and alternating between shouting, "I did it!! I am never going back!!" and "I can't believe I did this. Mother will be furious!" pretty accurately describes me right now. You'd think that I would eventually find some calm middle ground... Like, be content with my decision, be able to patiently wait for my departure date, and then calmly accept the fact that I'm going to be gone anywhere from half to a WHOLE YEAR before coming back to Oregon. But it seems I don't have the staid sort of personality for that. 

 I'm counting the days until December 4th, but sometimes I wonder if I want to be counting them. I'm starting to feel the crunch... Time is fleeting and I still have a LOT I need to do. I'd say my biggest stress right now is - surprise, surprise - money. Yeah, we've all been there, I'm sure. Who doesn't stress about money? Some nights I lay awake, calculating in my tired brain how much money I think I'll need each month, and then how much money I'll have before I leave. I usually don't come up with satisfactory answers seeing as I'm half asleep and my mental math ends up looking something like, "$1,500 / 4 months = I-forgot-to-feed-the-dog"

My math during the day isn't much better. Anyway, this is one of those moments where I'm pretty darned sure I'll be fine, but I still want to be prepared. This is an unpaid internship, so I'll be on no income whatsoever unless I'm independently bringing in some cash (which I'm working on accomplishing). This isn't a *huge* issue seeing as I don't have to pay for food or board (both are provided) and those are the biggest expenses in life. 

  To come completely clean, the stressing part comes in when I think about the fact that I want to try and get a camera and a laptop before I leave. Ouch. Funds drain astoundingly fast when you start looking at buying those two little things. To make matters worse, I'm something of a quality snob when it comes to gadgets, so I've been eyeing getting my own Canon T2i camera (okay, a T4i would be a dream come true, but I'd be content with a sturdy little T2i). Laptop wise... Well, I'm really hoping I won't have to cave and buy an Acer; my apologies if you like that brand. It's just not my cup of tea. Yep, call me a snob. But I'm slightly easier to please on the laptop score; I mean, it's not like I'm bent on buying a $1,500 Ultrabook (you could buy me one if you wanted to though. I grant thee permission!). Just a decent $300 or $400 laptop will suffice. Right now, I figure I could probably squeak by with buying only a camera (hang on, don't panic just yet!), and then asking to commandeer my host's computer for blogging purposes. I still have to ask them if I could do such a thing, but if I can't buy both of my blogging necessities (you guys are expensive. I'm realizing this now... I have to buy a camera and a laptop to keep my readers happy!?!? I tease... I'm a teaser. I like you guys.) then I'll buy the more important thing first and get the second one later. 

 I really, truly am excited for this internship. Thrilled in fact! But I'm also the type of person who gets knots and butterflies in her stomach just thinking about going to a social event by myself for a couple of hours. Let alone going to a completely different state for months and months. I feel kinda' like Piglet; mentally stuttering "Oh d-d-d dearie dear!" when I think about leaving. But it passes in time, and then I'm back to my more confident self who thinks "Heck yeah! Bring it on!" Sigh. I wish I could find that happy medium of contentedness.

 Only thirty more days folks. Let's see if I survive...

Pinterest Link Up! Week #7!

I have to admit that I'm a little pleased with what I found on Pinterest this week. :) It's a pretty good scope of things, all in all. *tries not to look smug* So here you go, folks. Enjoy!

1. 20 Clever Homesteading Ideas. {Courtesy of Home Talk}

2. Homesteading Skills 101 - Raise Your Own Beef. {Courtesy of The Home Front}

3. Caring For Livestock In Winter. {Courtesy of Mother Earth News}

4. Pictures of Cow Problems - Good references (warning, many images are quite graphic!). {Courtesy of Cattle Today}

5. Natural Lice and Mite prevention for Chickens - Using Herbs in the Nest Box. {Courtesy of Natural Chicken Keeping}

6. Cornish Cross vs. Dual Purpose chicken. Detailed notes on differences/which is better. {Courtesy of The Home Front}

A Giveaway For The Ladies!

It's the first of November today! Good heavens, where did October go!? I personally prefer October to November, but it seems that I can't really do much about the fact that the months pass no matter what. Sigh. 

But to cheer ourselves up (seeing as I'm sure we're all sad to see October gone until 2014), how's about a giveaway to brighten things up? Gentlemen, this one ain't for you but I promise I'm looking into the next giveaway being something that will be more up your alley!

So ladies, here's for you! Enter for a chance to win either some awesome eye shadow, or some super fun lip gloss! Your choice on the prize!

 Now, am I the only one here who knows about Cowgirl Dirt? If that's the case then I would like to introduce y'all to my favorite place to buy cosmetics. Seriously, their products are down-and-out amazing. Everything they have is all natural, organic, non-allergenic, anti-inflammatory, and sun resistant. For the longest time I went without any makeup whatsoever. Partly because I didn't have time (when you're up at 5:30-6am to milk cows/goats, one of the last things you want to do right there and then is attempt to put mascara on), but also because nothing seemed to stay on very long (farm work is not nice to makeup), I didn't like the huge list of unpronounceable ingredients, and because most of the time it irritated my already-irritated, acne-prone skin. I had that awkward problem of "needing makeup, but makeup itself makes the problem worse".

  Then a couple of friends introduced me to Cowgirl Dirt a few weeks ago. *spellbound moment, with angels singing all around* Not only was the name cool (Dirt?? Am I the only one who loves the fact that this stuff is called "Dirt"!?), but the colors are fantastic, the prices are great, and they put a lot of beneficial herbs in their cosmetics, which I find pretty cool... My makeup is healing my skin at the same time that it's making me look great! Woohoo! Even their eye shadow has goodies in it, like raspberry and comfrey extract. And I'm also pleased to report that this stuff stays put. Even after hours of dirty work outside, everything is still in place. Shucks, here's my debit card Cowgirl Dirt; I'm a loyal customer now.

  Last week I got it into my head that it might be fun to host a giveaway on here, so I asked the lovely folks at Cowgirl Dirt if they would like to sponsor such a giveaway and they have most graciously agreed. *happy face!*

 So here's the scoop my dears: The ONE grand and lucky winner will be chosen on November 10th and said grand and lucky winner gets to choose herself either eye shadow or some lip gloss! oh, and clicking those highlighted words will take you directly to the choices available. I admit, I'm bummed that I can't enter this giveaway. I'd totally go for the eye shadow if it was me. Hehehe. As you may have noticed from the picture above, I've got some 'Smokin' Denim' colored stuff (no idea when I'd ever use it, but I love the color), and then for everyday-use I like using 'Stampede' since it matches my skin tone perfectly and adds a bit of sparkle. The lip gloss is fun too though! Decisions, decisions, eh? Have fun. ;)

 To enter 'zis giveaway, just leave a comment saying what you would choose as a prize! And get this folks: If you share this event on Facebook or Twitter then you get another chance (one extra vote for each place shared; leave a comment saying where you shared.).

On your marks, get set, go!

Farmland ~ The Movie

 Guys!! LOOK what's coming out in Spring of 2014!!! I apologize that there's no picture, no video, no nothin'; I tried. Honest. But there's an awesome film coming out after winter thaw; a story following 6 young farmers in their 20's and how they do their job. Looks like they cover a pretty good scope with a crop farmer, cattle rancher, hog farmer, chicken farmer, and...? The trailer had me all misty eyed and I done ruined my mascara now. :P I realize not everyone will get teary eyed over something like this, but I think a few will understand my excitement. I think I might even be more excited about this than I am about the new Marvel movies coming out (Thor 2, Captain America 2, Avengers 2). Shucks, I might even be more excited about this than about The Hobbit 2. And that's sayin' somethin'.

 If you missed that first link, here it is again. Click HERE to check 'Farmland' out!