Liquidi

Crafty Ales

Craft ales are on the rise and have been for a good while. I’ve always felt that in every city there is a local brewing company that can bring out some of the best combinations and recipes. The competitions that they’ll have keep everyone on their toes and really push the boundaries for better brews and methods. This past year, I had the pleasure of going to our local brew competition with over 30 different small hand brewers showing off their best samples.

You should have seen it, tents as far as the eye can see with everyone showing off their latest tastes and plans for expansion of their breweries. It’s always cool to see this kind of action happen, especially if it starts off a small local scene and just explodes overnight. After a night of that competition, I found out that craft ales are just as amazing as the people who make them.

We should have stayed by the pool

So the good news is that our tent can float on water when it’s upside down. The bad news is how we found out. Let me explain. Our camping trip started out with some of the most beautiful weather we’ve seen in a long time. The winter months were taking a toll on us and the first weather report that we got with a clear weekend, we decided to go for it. Friday, amazing clear skies and weather that actually was warm enough for shorts and some awesome hiking trails. Saturday was a little chilly but nothing that could freeze you in the middle of the day. Saturday night was where it got crazy.

A major storm came through out of nowhere and we had to seek refuge in the car until it passed over but we fell asleep in the car. The next morning, it had cleared up but our custom canopy had disappeared on us. We knew that it blew away but we couldn’t see where until I looked up at the lake and saw it upside down just floating around. At least we found it though.

Chewy Goey

Owning a bakery has turned out to be one of the greatest, as well as most difficult, things in my life. Each morning starts out with coffee, some home-made artesian, and the dawning of the apron. I’m telling you, this thing has more kitchen war stories than most cookbooks have recipes. It’s been, slashed, shredded, chewed, and more but the one time that stands out the most was when it caught fire. No, it wasn’t a bad fire or anything, actually pretty tame when you think about, but the story was pretty funny.

I was catering desserts at a formal event and had just set out the last dish underneath the commissary tent. Everything was going perfect and looked so nice that I had a moment to take it all in. Then I smelled something burning. I looked down to see that an edge of my apron had been playing with a chaffing burner. I went wide eyed and slapped it a few times to put it out then played it off like nothing happened and walked away. The only thing that hurt was pride.

Business Expo Logorama

Graphic Art design has always been a passion of mine. Ever since I could stand, I loved to draw and paint, or as my parents would call it “become a paint tornado”. I’ve worked for several companies on logo work and banners which always makes me incredibly proud. Not only am I going to have my work printed out, which is really a solidifying experience when you work predominately on a computer, but I can have a standing resume wherever my work goes.

At the latest business expo that I went on our team had our tent, with my most recently designed logo, out in the lobby and we had such a great turnout. We would have expo goers stop by and tell us how great everything looked and ask who designed it all. I know that I had the biggest smile on my face when everyone pointed at me.

Da Ranch

This year was my first full year "back on the ranch" so to speak and I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the year even though my family is still in "Christmas Crazy Mode" (three Christmases in one weekend, and a day!). Since my husband, son and I had the opportunity to move back to my family's cattle ranch in November, we've now seen a year in the ups and downs of agriculture and life on a family ranch.

My absolute favorite part of being home on the ranch is getting to view it through the eyes of our son who turned four in August. Every "vrrooomm", "beep beep", and “hey Mr. Cow” that he says really is encouraging in that we made the right decision to come back. He loves being in the calf tent area where we feed the newborn calves for a week or so. Definitely the right move.