What are my Pros/Cons on living the farm life?

So I was asked a tricky yet very easy question! What are the pros and cons (for me and my family) of farm living?

I grew up on a farm and wouldn't have it any other way! Yes there are lots of pros and cons but I do feel that the pros do out-way the cons!

I am sorry these photos are out of order but here are a few pictures that will help with the pros of farm life!

Where else do your get one on one photos with a piglet???

Pro: Meet all sorts of animals right from the start! FEAR NOTHING!!!!!

Con: Exposing to different types of germs and piggy's do bite! (only when pushed..)

Or see a dog walking a "pet" Calf???

Pro: Laughter, Discipline, determination and tame food! So far this guy (Romeo) is still getting fat and happy but someday soon he will be making us fat and happy!

Con: You get attached to your "food".

How about meeting your family's herd of beef cattle???

Pro: Being raised with beef cows you learn that each animal has a purpose... That is food or producing food :) Harsh I know but I learned very young that God gave us the privilege to grow these animals for a purpose and that is to feed people :)

Con: Alot of work! You have to feed, water, walk, watch, breed, show, bath, halter break, and sell your animals. With this comes risk of : Being kicked, trampled, bitten, trip to the emergency room, stitches... etc...

This is a precious moment I caught my daughter bonding with one of our old herd cows! They had never seen a "little human" before!

This is my sister and I with "Mama Red" our first red angus beef cow!

Mama red was a gentle, trusting, tame, beautiful and understanding cow. Your probably wondering why I feel this way about this cow... Well... "God protects the young and dumb" a trainer once told me and now I understand. My sister and I enjoyed roaming the pasture for new calves, brushing the cows, and herding them back to the barn. (This meant chasing them nicely!) Most animals wouldn't tolerate that and mama red enjoyed our attention.

The chickens!!! 8-10 hours everyday we spent in the chicken house. EVERYDAY! You cant imagine the strain it was on my mother and father but it needed to be done, and it was a paycheck.

Pro: Learned hard work, discipline and how to enjoy a job even if you didn't like it!

Cons: No Vacation, no breaks, and you begin to hate chickens!!!!

My parents still have chickens but they do not have layers anymore.

Another pro is you have access to different types of animals and lets just say our favorite were the horses! Kate and I enjoyed many days grooming, riding and perfecting our horsemanship techniques!

Who needs a pool and all the upkeep bills when you have a creek to play in!!! Many hours we spent in the creek running through our farm! It was a cheap and easy way to cool off after a long day on the farm!

Here is another list I have put together that doesn't include pictures... though I wish I had some!

• Cons

1. Mud and dirt everywhere!!!!! I can't keep my house clean more than 5 minutes!!!!!
2. Farming is very dangerous. PERIOD... If i listed all the dangers of farming we would be here for a few hours!!! I will give you a few samples of what has happened to me while i grew up, and pregnant... I was trampled by a 500lb steer, kicked many times by cows and steers. Bitten by horses, dogs, cats and cows. Thrown off of a few horses. Body slammed into gates and pinned by a bull. While I was pregnant I was knocked down by the pigs, kicked in the stomach by a calf, slammed belly first into a gate by a cow, head butted by a cow and flipped over a gate to get out of the way of a mad bull! (My blood was pumping then! Whew!)
3. Vacation never happens! My first time to the beach was when I was a freshman in high school! Thats pretty bad!!!! Ever since then it was rare to get a vacation and our family decided that horse-shows were our vacations. Now that I am a hog farmers wife, Alan and I don't get out at all. Our honeymoon was to the Pocanos because we couldn't travel any further due to the hogs starting to go out (the honeymoon was only 4 days long :( )
4. Life doesn't take a break on the farm. There is always something that needs done!

• Pros

1. You can grow your own food. This cuts your grocery bill drastically! We don't need to buy Milk, Eggs, Tomato sauce, Peaches, Pickles, Red Beats, Green Beans, Broccoli, pork, chicken, beef, peppers, celery, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, apple juice, grape juice... etc you get the idea! It is a relief when it snows like it did today!!!!
2. Fresh Air!!! I love the smell of the farm. The freshly plowed soil. The hay drying in the summer sun. The smell of a rain storm. The cool fall breeze drying your laundry! Theres nothing like the country air!
3. Life lessons! You learn a lot of different lessons as you grow up on a farm! I learned how to read animals like others learn how to read music...It is a gift. I can tell you if a cow/ horse is mad or just scared. I can herd a cow where she needs to go without much effort! I laugh at the newbies in the barn who try to herd a cow into a barn and she just runs circles! Its a skill you don't learn overnight!

You learn discipline. You have to get up to feed, water and walk you animals everyday. They can't feed themselves! Even if that means 4 in the morning in order to be ready for school! Through I didn't like the early mornings I did enjoy the quiet time I had with God before my stressful day at school!

Strength. Strength to halter break a steer only to have him get sick and you have to start all over. Strength when you pull a foal from a mare only to find that the foal has a fatal disease and you need to let her go. Strength to shrug off the pricing comments from peers about your attire or how you smelled since you came straight from the barn. Strength to be gentle when an animal is the opposite with you. Strength to show mercy to those you don't get along with.

You learn to be tough... tough skin... You learn to get back on the horse when you've been thrown.

You learn to get back up after you've been trampled and finish your job even if your bleeding or in pain.

4. I can outwork most woman outside, I don't mind getting dirty and the smell... well its life! Who cares!

Thats what showers are for!

5. I believe that if our eyes are open, we can see God everywhere on the farm! From the plants we grow, to

the cows caring for their newborn calves.

I am so blessed to have been raised a farm girl and now a farmers wife! Life couldn't be any sweeter!

I feel that the pros out-way the cons for me! I am in love with the farming lifestyle and would be lost without it!

As a farm mom I am exposing little Rhya to everything! She is already showing a great interest in the horses, pigs and cows! I am so proud of her! I am hoping that I can be the teaching, trusting, understanding, supportive, and merciful mother that my mother and grandmother were to me.

Here are a few amusing pictures!!!

Rhya is helping to planing in the garden (Spring 2010)

Fresh Milk!!!

Me and my show horse mable (Spring 2010)

Rhya helping to wash the tomatoes for the sauce! What a BIG help she was!

Two very important women in our lives! Grammy (Closest to the camera in solid blue) and Aunt Eddie! These two women are some of the hardest working women I have ever worked with!

My Husbands favorite piece of equipment! The combine is to him and the horses are to me!

A nice dip in the creek to cool off after working hard to the garden!!!

You know you married a farmer / Farm girl when you arrive to your wedding reception in a combine!!! What a blessed day that was!

"Hey mom, we're trying to focus here!!!!" I love Rhya's love to ride with her daddy!!! She is her fathers daughter!!!

Clothes drying in the country breeze!

Hope you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoy creating it!!!!

My Baby Sisters Wedding 1/22/2011

Hello everyone! My sisters wedding was yesterday and I would love to share some cute photos with everyone :) She was absolutely stunning, as always. The day couldn't have gone any better!

The cake, cupcakes and mini whoopie pies were done by Central Manor Bakery and Grill where Kate used to work a few years back.

The Flowers were done by Megan Herr whom Kate and I both knew in high school! The flowers were beautiful!

Our makeup was done by Mrs. Marie Newswanger. Kate and I are both cousins to Marie's other half Mike. We became fast friends... well... fast!

Our hair was done by 4 different hairstylist which did a fabulous job!

Over all the day was fun, exciting and it was a blessing to be able to share this moment with my little sister!

One Fabulous Question

So ... I had posted a little while back about any questions you might have :) well I got one question and now I will answer it!

The question was : What was my favorite meal to cook?

I like to cook a lot of different things here and there and it all depends on the season! I like more salad type things in the summer when its hot and more hot dishes when its cold! I think thats pretty normal!

The meal that I find myself making for company and if i have time is Parmesan Chicken, green beans or broccoli and stuffed mushrooms.

The chicken is really easy to make. First you take you chicken breasts and dip them into a mustard mixture ( 1tbs mustard, 1/2 cup butter, 1tsp of Worcestershire sauce) The you coat the chicken with Italian bread crumbs. I usually go by how much the chicken needs because I always end up with to much breading left over :( Then you put the chicken in the oven at 350 or about 30-45 minutes (Always check to make sure the chicken is done before eating!)

The green beans/broccoli are really really simple! Just boil and serve! I like to add a little bit of salt and pepper for flavor!

The Stuffed Mushrooms are a family favorite but they do require a lot of preparation.

First wash and cut the stems out of the mushrooms. Place the top of the mushroom in the bowel/dish that you will be baking them in. Then chop the stems and begin to saultee them in a frying pan. Add Velveeta cheese, bacon bits and bread crumbs as the stems fry. When done add the filling in the frying pan into the tops of the mushrooms by spoonful. hen bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes.

Hope you enjoy!

Pictures... Pictures... Pictures

Guess what! I'm posting pictures today!!!!!!! I'm sure your all excited to see some of my work so here it is! I wont leave you waiting any longer!

This is Dan and Erin. I was so excited to do their maternity photos!!! Erin and I grew up together and have the same love for animals! Thanks for putting up with a rookie photographer! I will be posting photos of baby Sam on my next blog post!

This is Tori and Bj. I knew both in high school but was closer to Tori since we both enjoyed horses. Tori and I were both on the FFA horse judging team in 2006 and have been friends ever since! I was very excited to see the great news of their engagement and and looking forward to their beautiful wedding in May 2012!

... Till the cows come home...

We are preparing for a big step in alan and my future... We are in the process of cleaning and building pens for the "Creekside Red Angus" herd. We are probably going to keep the name "Creekside Red Angus" because our farm doesn't have a name and we are going to keep the herd going I think it's rather fitting... Since we are also located by a creek!
There is a lot of stress that goes with this task. The preparations, the finances, the herd health... Etc...
We are excited to finally have the cows so close. I grew up taking care of these cows as well as showing them! I enjoy it just as much as my new passion for photography!

For my dads 30th birthday my mother bought him his first red angus cow (we called "mamma red"). Mamma red had a calf by her side (marigold) and was pregnant with bipper. Those three were our "foundation". Within the last year we had to part with bipper, which was a sad day... The last cow from the beginning pasted away. Now we have 18 head of cows! 15 years later! It's an amazing thing to see how your herd grow and bloodlines are refined. The calves look better and overall the herd is healthier!
I'm sure I will be updating with pictures sometime of these beautiful ladies soon!!!! As soon as our Internet is better!