Garden City, KS: Callie and I FINALLY have arrived on the 2014 wheat harvest run! Sunday, after a quick drive south and a dinner date in Scott City, Kan. with Jenna, we parked outside the trailer house and let out a huge sigh of relief.
After a run to town, nap and unpacking, I sat down to take a test for one of my online classes and Mom and Dad returned from the field. We said our hello's and headed outside to watch a few post-Independence Day fireworks.
This morning Callie and I woke up with droopy eyes and a little confused

Manley, NE/Garden City, KS: Here in Nebraska, Callie and I are recovering from our first 4th of July celebration at home. We both had a fantastic day filled with food, swimming and fireworks. I started my day by baking a cherry pie. Remember when I picked those cherries off of our cherry tree? I used those very cherries to make the best cherry pie in the world. I don't want share the recipe because I'm selfish, but I've decided I must. I think everyone will enjoy this simply delicious pie!
Callie returned on Thursday night from her Future Business Leaders of

If you have read any of my posts in the past, you know that my Momma is the best cook around! She not only makes amazing new dishes, she brings back the golden oldies too. Like this dessert she made the other day. It  is so simple, anyone could make it. In fact, there really is not a recipe for it. So, if you can make Jello, you can make it.

Delicious Layer Dessert
What you will need:
1 package of Jello (your favorite flavor)
1 package of instant pudding (your favorite flavor)
Fresh fruit of your choice
Whipped topping
(Seriously, that is it!)

Make the Jello and

I love this time of year in South Dakota! The gardens are starting to get ready and you cannot beat fresh produce. Some of my favorite things are sweet corn, cucumbers, tomatoes and rhubarb! Mom made an awesome rhubarb dessert that I just had to share.
When I asked her if I could share her recipe, the simple answer was yes, but followed by, 'Well, which recipe would you like? The 'actual' recipe, or the way I do it?'.
It seems that all of her 'recipes' are really guidelines, rather than to a 'T'. So I'll give the 'real recipe', then the

Hoffman Harvesting is currently cutting both south and north of Kiowa, KS and the wheat is yielding around 30- 50 bu/ac. This yield is a surprise to some farmers in this area who received late frosts. The crop also didn't come up until around February making cutting conditions spotty- green heads mixed in with the dry wheat.

I am not sure why, but I think this photo is neat!
As a result, the wheat is just barely dry enough- in fact we had some close calls at the elevator with a couple of loads coming back at 13.8 and 13.9. Anything above

I am writing today with a new appreciation for life.
I've always considered myself an advocate for life, and an eternal optimist always seeing the light when it was darkest. God must have needed to give me a reminder of just how precious our lives are.
You may have noticed my absence from the blog in these last few weeks. I have a good reason I haven't been blogging about day-to-day life. On June 8 I got up around 6:30 a.m. and wasn't feeling that great, but naturally thought nothing of it. I went on with my morning working on combines, but