Mooooving on up...Welcome to my Farm

This weekend was monumental for us!  We have been waiting for this moment in our family since a few months after we were married.

WE STARTED OUR FARM! Yes, we have/had chickens, and dogs, and cats, and fish (not terribly farmy), but now

Introducing....

GINGER
   ** moooooooooooo**

Nathan's parents got us a cow for Christmas...or money for a cow I should say.  So this weekend, we went to the sale barn, Ruthie and my first time ever.  Have you ever been to a sale barn?!?!  Here... let me show you...

Ok, so see the door on the right...the guy opens it up and there are cows (not so patiently) waiting behind and then they walked out to the center mostly freaked out by the guy at the door, but they go where they are supposed to.  Then, the guy on the left and the guy on the right kind of poke them a little so that people can see them from every angle.  They are looking for how their weight is distributed, making sure all their legs are good (you dont want a bad leg on an animal that has to hold up about 1,200 lb of meat), and the color to determine their breed.  Then the auctioneers there in the center start the bidding.  The one on the right will say, "These lovely ladies have had two rounds of shots, and are primped and ready to go," or "These strapin' boys have both rounds, are de-wormed and cut.  They were grain raised on *fill in the name of the farm here.*"  If you don't know what cut means, think of the difference between a guy and a girl, and well...if you don't get it... ask Nathan.  :)

Then the other autioneer just start rambling like auctioneers do and then soon he yells sold and then the search begins on trying to figure out who bought them...it was usually this row of old guys down in front gossiping like giddy school girls oogling over the big ones and hurrying up the process over the small ones.  I thought this was crazy!  They would get like, 20 head of cattle in there and the cows would somehow move...not sure, but then the bidding would start and the Carharts would go crazy!  I really wanted to get one of the pretty ones...Nathan said they were herefords... the black and white ones...Ends up they are milk cows and take a long time to fatten and not what we want... but they were so much cuter.  Nathan's dad ended up bidding and getting these three here.  A red, a chocolate, and a black one.  And of course I'm gonna choose the red... :)

So here is timid Red Angus, Ginger.  She hasn't met me yet.  We will become good friends, I'm sure.   Don't worry, I am not scared to name and eat her.  I think it's so important to value and appreciate the food that God prepared for us!

Although we probably wont be eating Ginger.  Our goal is to sell her and then by two and then raise those and sell them, and then buy four...grow like that...

So come June, fire up the grill!  We've got a cow just for you!  She will be tasty and home-grown!  Remember, a happy cow is a TASTY cow!  mmmm prime rib....  are you hungry yet...

Happy BELATED Christmas...argh, I hate being late...

Wineinger Christmas Picture 2012

Yes..yes...it has been wayyy too long!  I agree.  I want to come up with something snappy, maybe a good excuse.  Yea...got nothin.'  This new baby, new house, new job routine is kicking my butt!  I really am a late hater, and I have been embarrassingly behind since August.  I hope the cycle breaks soon.

To redeem myself/create a blog post/update/avoid type overload, I'm gonna post my Christmas letter!    Yeah.  I'll come up with an exciting post soon.  I'm working on it really!  I am also going to create a break in the post in case you don't want to read my letter.  If you just want to look at my year end pictures, click "The Wineinger 2012" page above (or that link).

And I promise! I'll post again next week...maybe sooner...maybe...

Be Like Ree...

I have grown to understand that I have a slightly unhealthy obsession with Ree Drummond... aka the Pioneer Woman... blogger, writer, photographer, accidental country girl... i didn't come up with that.  That is what she clams on her cooking show every Saturday morning on the food network (9:30a EST 8:30a my time...i DVR it).  It's nothing we need to inform the police about, but I'm pretty sure we could be kin.  I almost said we could be the same person, but I can't photograph as well as her.  I tried and failed.

Here is a bulleted list of why I think we could be bestest friends ever...

• She likes making bulleted lists.
• She has cows... LOTS of cows.  I per say have cows...kinda.
• She has red hair. I have kinda red hair.
• She cooks ALOT and loves it!  I would cook more if I didnt have a job, but I cook more then most and LOVE it.  
• She has the garden I can only dream of.
• She lives on a ranch in Oklahoma with wild horses and cowboys.  I can't really compare...corn does not run and our boys wear john deere or DeKalb hats.
• We kind of look alike (see picture) except for the eyes, and her hairs a little darker, and, well maybe her nose a little... but for the most part.
• Her style is fabulous.  Clothing and house...It's country but contemporary.  Look at her daughters' room.  This was also featured in Country Living which i also subscribe to.  And the staircase! That was pretty awesome too.
•  From her blog and her show, I have concluded we have the SAME sense of humor.  And I secretly think that if she didnt have someone managing her websites, she would misspell just as much as me.
• She names her animals (even the cows) that get killed.  See it's not that odd.  
• We have amazing canine companions...Her basset hounds, Charlie & Walter, and my Thing 1, Moose, and Thing 2 Hummer.
• Her husband doesn't venture too far away from red meat, bread, and potatoes.  My husband consumes no green besides ice burg lettuce.  I believe Ladd aka Marlboro Man aka her hubby is way more adventurous..
• There are many, MANY more... scary really.

I will be like her when I have more grown children.  I'm sure of it.  When Tricia and I were driving to Dallas in July, I got so excited when we were driving through OK b/c I thought that we might be seeing Dummond cattle...just maybe.  And after looking at a map, i think that possibility is more like 60% because of their distance from I-44, but I got chills thinking she drove on the interstate we were on... do you see where I get unhealthy in this obsession...

I have her first cookbook and i have made all but one or two recipes out of it.  AND her website, Tasty Kitchen is one of my go-tos to see how other women sub stuff or cook stuff or find fast recipes   I aspire to blog like her, but I don't have nearly enough entertaining moments in my life or pictures to post...well...and i have a day job...that kinda hinders stuff.  Her day job IS her blog/writing/TV show/awesomeness.

So, Santa (aka anyone), here is what I want for Christmas... Lunch with Ree, Alex, and Paige (those are her daughters who are similarly awesome). And if you're elves can't do that, her second cook book would suffice.

On a slightly serious note though, it's pretty stinkin' awesome to see a woman who loves and is dedicated to her family who can still be quarky and do what she absolutely LOVES.  Did i mention she home-schools her kids, too?  I mean she's a rock star... a COUNTRY rock star!  Minus the vocals...man shoot..she's prob so good she can sing too.  Oh, and the men in her family BULL RIDE!  What?!?

Ree, if you ever read this... which truly may never happen, you dang well inspire me. Keep on keepin' on. I think you show other women that each one of us can each live our dreams on our own "homesteads."