Baby Calves, Pinantas and Miniature Butterfly & Flower Sugar Cookies=Our Family Easter Holiday

We had the most beautiful and perfect Easter holiday at the farm. Most holidays our family places a lot of emphasis on food but Easter food is trumped by the call of the great outdoors.

Public Embarrassment #1

Last week I got the biggest kick out of Domain of the Mad Monny's blog post and it inspired me to write a little story about my own two kids when they were young and ornery.
The public embarrassment always seem to stick in your mind because of all the witnesses.

Sneaky Chocoholics

I don't know how to say this, but here it goes. I have an addiction problem that seems to be hereditary. I come from a long line of chocoholics, SNEAKY ones too! I remember several instances that should have given me a clue while I was growing up, but I guess when raised in the addiction atmosphere you don't know any better.

Two Tone Frosted Birthday Cake & The Little Things in Life

My husband has mastered the art of grilling and smoking on our smoker. He rarely cooks although he makes a mean chili (his own recipe) and on occasion he will make his mother's Golden Treasurer Meatloaf recipe. He never bakes except once a year for my birthday. He insists on making me a birthday cake and not just in a 9x13 pan. They are always a double layer chocolate cake (my favorite).

A Year in Review - Easy Life's Most Popular Posts 2013

Easy Life's  Most Popular Posts of 2013 & Blogiversary

On Thanksgiving eve of 2012, we took our blog live and it was the first time we had an official blog site. It was a soft opening since we didn't really know what we were doing. We started adding substantive content (well that might be debatable) the end of December, 2012. We can't believe how far we have come in such a short time so in celebration of our blogiversary we wanted to reflect on our most popular posts in 2013.

We also want to take this opportunity to thank our blogger friends, mentors and all of our visitors. You have made our venture into the blogging world a lot of fun and quite enjoyable! Top posts below

Sunshine Award

I was bestowed a Sunshine Award by +Betty Taylor . A great blogger friend at Losing My Gut and Gaining My Insanity . She inspires me and others by her 40 pound weight loss and her journey to a healthier lifestyle. She provides motivation to those who are wanting to be or on their journey to a healthy lifestyle. But Betty is so much more than weight loss and motivation, she has great stories to tell and tells them well. I first met Betty co-hosting a linky party and we now now co-host two parties together. 

Change 3 Challenge

Callie is my floor exercise assistant!
She chases my legs as they move and lays
on my stomach while doing crunches

 Last week you may have seen my post where I was whining because I was being deprived of all the junk food I love while visiting my sister for two weeks. This past year she adopted a healthy eating lifestyle and I have not. So before I even boarded the airplane I had committed to behaving and not sabotaging all the good habits she has adopted.

I am definitely a junk food junkie and I knew it was going to be difficult and it was! But I also thought just maybe if I can cut back on the sweets and chips at her house it will stick when I get home. Which has sort of worked but not totally.Today I was feeling guilty because I found myself sliding back to those old habits and then low and behold I have a Facebook message from a new follower, Adventures in Mindful Eating.

Williams-Sonoma Cooking Demo

We had such a great time on Saturday and met a lot of great people. Watching our audience react to our twist on a Sundae was hilarious. When they first saw it you could tell they were thinking desert they would have such a confused look, but after the explanation we got an OMG! I have to do this on my next party.

Authored by +Shawna Williams
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Thoughts of Hijacking the Entenmann Truck

I have been visiting my sister in Florida since last Saturday. Our plans were to do a cooking demonstration, get some work done on our blog and have a lot of fun. Well, we completed the cooking demonstration and we are having a lot of fun and getting a little work done on our blog. 

Our Cooking Demo at Williams-Sonoma

I can not explain how excited I was when we were asked to be a guest host at Williams-Sonoma cooking demonstration. I know all you foodies can understand what an honor it is to be able to show off a couple of your best post, but also be able to blog on Williams-Sonoma's products that we will be using. We will be demonstrating our Roast Beef Sundae and Southern Cheesy Grits and Shrimp Sundae on Sept. 28th between 12-2. They will be calling their cooking club for sign ups and they have our poster and pamphlets throughout their store. This should be quite the day!

Authored by +Shawna Williams


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Iowa State Fair

I fell in love with the fair the first year I brought my Angus cattle on an 80 mile trek to spend a week showing them. Since that first year I spent many more showing cattle at the fair and I have never missed visiting the fair since. This year I spent 6 of the 11 days sight seeing. There is so much to see you could spend every day at the fair and still not experience everything. 

Now if you are not familiar, the Iowa State Fair is one of the largest in the country and the fairgrounds in Des Moines was established in 1886. In 1987 it was included on the 

Cedar Key- Old Florida Beauty

The Pier 

This tiny little gem of an island host some of the most beautiful old Florida 's charm I have seen in a long time. The Key itself is set north of Tampa and on the Gulf. The community preserves it's way of life not only through  the architectural building but how it preserves it's past too. Kayaking and fishing is a must when you come to this village. It is so quite and one of the most unique places to view some of the most beautiful birds and wildlife.

Anna Maria Island

Our view from our room

One of our favorite places in Florida is on the West Coast of Florida and it a quite little beach town that has kept it's character. Even though it is pretty crowded during the season it still keeps it's charm and friendliness. The sunsets are beautiful and it is so peaceful there.

What Does Healthy Living Mean to You?

There is a lot of talk these days about living a healthy lifestyle but not everyone understands healthy living is more than just exercising and eating well.

A trip to the Green Market

Nothing is better than waking up looking outside and it’s a beautiful 75 degrees and its Saturday. Terri and I decide that it’s a perfect day for the Green Market. Besides, we need to buy something for Supper.