So I'm sure you've heard the expression "breath-takingly beautiful" before but Montana actually puts those words into action. Here are some photo's I've snapped on my travels around the Hi-Line area of North Central Montana.

Encountered on my morning drive around the reservation to post flyers.

An approaching storm created some beautiful lighting!

Can you see the double rainbow?

The Zurich hay house. They bale everything out here, even vacant lots!

Outside Big Sandy, same storm. The pic
doesn't do the beauty of it justice.

Same storm and more pretty lighting
at Verona.

Same field where the double rainbow photo was taken.

I think this should be the tourism poster child photo for anything in
Montana that's East of the Rocky Mountains. It takes my breath away!

Some Good Old Fashioned Free Speech

I made it to Montana and I have to say that people here are PROUD to be in America! It is extremely refreshing to see that concept displayed in raised American flags flapping in the breeze; whether at home, at a local cemetery or at a State Park showcasing the last battle of the Nez Perce Indians. I was forwarded this letter via email from my aunt who lives in St. Francis, KS and I am proud to post it here on my blog. A 4th Grade teacher from Hillsboro, MO is facing threats of losing her job over it, but I could not have put it into better words! Read through the whole thing and then you decide - one of the greatest things about America is that you can, and have the RIGHT, to agree or disagree with her views. As for me...hear, hear sister! She hit the nail on the head! Enjoy!

"April 17, 2009


The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500


Mr. Obama:

I have had it with you and your administration, sir. Your conduct on your recent trip overseas has convinced me that you are not an adequate representative of the United States of America collectively or of me personally.

You are so obsessed with appeasing the Europeans and the Muslim world that you have abdicated the responsibilities of the President of the United States of America . You are responsible to the citizens of the United States . You are not responsible to the peoples of any other country on earth.

I personally resent that you go around the world apologizing for the United States telling Europeans that we are arrogant and do not care about their status in the world. Sir, what do you think the First World War and the Second World War were all about if not the consideration of the peoples of Europe ? Are you brain dead? What do you think the Marshall Plan was all about? Do you not understand or know the history of the 20th century?

Where do you get off telling a Muslim country that the United States does not consider itself a Christian country? Have you not read the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution of the United States ? This country was founded on Judeo-Christian ethics and the principles governing this country, at least until you came along, come directly from this heritage. Do you not understand this?

Your bowing to the king of Saudi Arabia is an affront to all Americans. Our President does not bow down to anyone, let alone the king of Saudi Arabia .... You didn't show Great Britain , our best and one of our oldest allies, the respect they deserve yet you bow down to the king of Saudi Arabia .. How dare you, sir! How dare you!

You can't find the time to visit the graves of our greatest generation because you don't want to offend the Germans but make time to visit a mosque in Turkey ...... You offended our dead and every veteran when you give the Germans more respect than the people who saved the German people from themselves. What's the matter with you? I am convinced that you and the members of your administration have the historical and intellectual depth of a mud puddle and should be ashamed of yourselves, all of you.

You are so self-righteously offended by the big bankers and the American automobile manufacturers yet do nothing about the real thieves in this situation, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Frank, Franklin Raines, Jamie Gorelic, the Fannie Mae bonuses, and the Freddie Mac bonuses. What do you intend to do about them? Anything? I seriously doubt it.
What about the U.S. House members passing out $9.1 million in bonuses to their staff members on top of the $2.5 million in automatic pay raises that lawmakers gave themselves? I understand the average House aide got a 17% bonus. I took a 5% cut in my pay to save jobs with my employer. You haven't said anything about that. Who authorized that? I surely didn't!

Executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be receiving $210 million in bonuses over an eighteen-month period, that's $45 million more than the AIG bonuses. In fact, Fannie and Freddie executives have already been awarded $51 million not a bad take. Who authorized that and why haven't you expressed your outrage at this group who are largely responsible for the economic mess we have right now?

I resent that you take me and my fellow citizens as brain-dead and not caring about what you idiots do. We are watching what you are doing and we are getting increasingly fed up with all of you.

I also want you to know that I personally find just about everything you do and say to be offensive to every one of my sensibilities. I promise you that I will work tirelessly to see that you do not get a chance to spend two terms destroying my beautiful country.

Sincerely,

Every Real American
Ms. Kathleen Lyday
Fourth Grade Teacher
Grandview Elementary School
Hillsboro , MO"

Playin' in the dirt is the way to spend the day!

Well I decided to take a break from packing, house hunting and just generally preparing for my move to play in the dirt a bit; specifically the garden.

These are some pics from my fun time in the dirt.....

So in this picture there is a lot going on. So from left to right there are some radishes, which aren't my favorite but mom likes to eat them.  We planted a lot of radishes and with all the rain we've had they are splitting so the ducks, chickens and turkeys are getting to eat them, which they like...a lot! There is also a lot of snow peas, the kind where you eat the pod and are my favorite. They are yummy for a stir-fry! This is about the last heavy haul and I'm thinking of freezing the rest of the harvest for stir-fry mixes in the middle of the winter. In the center of the pic is a few stalks of mint, which is beautiful smelling and mom is brewing some lovely iced tea from it as we speak...uh type. :) Also in the center are two scallions from our stock that are growing quite well. Behind the mint is our lettuce haul. It's the kind you cut and it grows back...it's nice and sweet too. Then the pretty colored mix is half spinach (yummy) and then oak leaf lettuce which you cut and then it grows back. I'm working on using more greens in my diet. I have horrible eating habits so I'm trying to fix that! :)

This is a nice bowl of strawberries from mom's strawberry patch, which my brother claims as his own. Sooo he gets to eat this bowl all to himself. We've been having some issues with something eating our strawberries. I think it's slugs or mice but who knows. We're going to but out some Seven and dust them to see if that fixes our problem. :)  

God  has been working wonders in my life lately and I'm very thankful to have the opportunity to play in the dirt with my mom today! Well that's all for me today. Hope you all have a great day! :) 

Pacific Northwest Young Cattlemen's Conference

I recently attended a Young Cattlemen's Conference focusing on the cattle industry in the Pacific Northwest literally from pasture to plate. A group of approximately 120 young members of the cattle industry traveled to Pasco, WA to meet up and travel to a cutting edge dairy, a cow-calf operation, tour the Simplt feedlot and the Tyson meat packing plant. While at Simplot/Tyson we had an amazing BBQ beef lunch! In addition to the tours, PNW YCC attendees were able to listen to some world-class speakers from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, U.S. Meat Exchange, University of California-Chico, Colorado State University and Beef Northwest. We were treated to a prime rib dinner where as a group we were able to pick the brains of these speakers to find out more about the topics they talked about. The dinner was yummy and me being me snagged an end piece because I'm not a rare meat eater. It had all the seasoning an actually Jenna took the rest of what I couldn't eat because of that, and her's was super rare!

The next day we travelled to La Grande, OR and attended the 6th annual Cattlemen's Workshop, which featured the speakers we were able to chat with the previous night. I learned a lot and it was very interesting, but after closing down the bar two nights in a row I was having trouble staying awake. I am so proud of myself thought becuase I managed to stay awake and even take notes! And that's actually a big accomplishment for me with the whole thyroid thing - your energy levels deplete three times faster than a normal person. I am a walking miracle! ;) Lunch was BBQ'd beef and salads prepared by the local cattlemen's group. It was super yummy but I can't remember the last time I ate so much beef. After the conference we traveled back to Pasco and traveled home. The next day I do believe I slept most of the day away after returning home from a gun show. Nothin' says conservative like clinging to your guns (and religion) right?

Shifting gears I think attending the PNW YCC will help me greatly in my preparation and candidacy for the Ft. Peck extension job I am interviewing for on Feb. 9th in Poplar, MT. I'm not really concerned about the interview but I needed a refresher course on the buzz words and the PNW YCC was perfect. If selected I would be the agriculture and 4H/youth development extension agent for the Ft. Peck reservation. I am trying not to get my hopes up but I feel confident that I would be an excelletn choice. My main concern right now is putting together my presentation and finding a way to get there. One thing at a time, all things in succession right?

Ok, so here is your website to checkout and gather some awesome recipies for...you guessed it, beef. YAY!
http://www.beeffordinner.com/  and it even has a mobile compenant. Enjoy! :)