The Royal Wedding serves beef

Here comes the bride. 

Yes, I am one of those people that is pretty excited about the Royal Wedding. I mean the head of Canada is still the queen. I remember my mom crying watching Princess Diane's funeral. And I had one of those celebrity freak out moments when Queen Elizabeth visited Calgary, Alberta. I was interning with the Calgary Stampede and she made a visit to the grounds. By accident I ended up standing 20 feet away from her, and when she saw me she waved. Top ten moment.

Just remember Trust your Beeflex, Nothing Beats Beef. 

I will be waking up to watch the Royal Wedding, and have been keeping close tabs on all the wedding details. I am hoping that the Australian are right and Prince William and Kate will be serving beef at the wedding. Otherwise you might have a wedding meal situation like this. Click here.

Crystal Cattle is getting hitched

A life changing weekend.

This weekend the Boy once again proved that I am the luckiest girl in the world by proposing. After a year and week long relationship we have move from the dating zone to the engaged zone, and if it wasn't for all the wedding planning and sorting out life details I am pretty sure we would get married tomorrow.

Jon and I at his family's sale last weekend.

We've been fielding questions all weekend about the details of how all it all went down. So I present you with our story.

I have been patiently waiting for a ring for a little while now. Jon (by the way that is the Boy's real name) instructed me last fall to go and look at rings and decide on a style I liked. At the time he thought he might propose when we traveled back for Agribition a cattle show in Canada, it was also going to be the first time my parents and Jon met. However, as our departure date got closer Jon decided it wasn't quite the right time, and he would wait. (I did not know any of these facts until recently).

Christmas went by, a trip to Chicago for New Year's went by, the Denver Stock Show went by, Valentine's went by, my Birthday went by, Easter went by, and no ring. My parents wanted to make a trip to see Jon and I this summer so I had surrendered to the fact that he would wait and ask my dad in person. That summer trip is actually next weekend. In my brain I had constructed a timeline that Jon will wait and ask Dad next weekend, and then if he has a ring it might be then, otherwise it would be sometime in June or July. Little did I know he had other plans.

I arrived in Iowa late Friday night and we decided to go see Hangover 2 (definitely recommend it). Before the movie started I asked Jon what was up, he seemed uneasy and anxious. Jon quickly brushed it off as nerves about my parents coming next weekend. Although, I reassured him that everything was going to go great, I understood his nervousness. (After the proposal he told me that he wasn't at all nervous about my parents coming, but he needed an excuse to cover up his nerves about proposing.)

Fast forward to the next morning. Jon and I headed out to the farm to feed the show cattle. After bucket chores, we hoped on the four-wheeler to go look at the pairs in the pasture. I was excited to look through all the calves at it had been a few weeks since I had seen them, and at this age the calves change so much each week. As the last cow crosses the creek, I asked Jon which cow that was, as she was looking pretty good - in Jon's words this sealed the deal since it was one of his favorite.


Jon said "hey" and I turned around to find him on one knee the grass. And that's when I am pretty sure my heart stop. I was not expecting at all. And then in such a romantic way I say "Are you kidding me" and give him a little push. It was a good are you kidding me, like you completely surprised me, I had no idea that kind of kidding me. The next part is a little blurry, somewhere in there he said will be marry me, I said yes, I said you should probably put it on my finger, I definitely had tears in my eyes. Just like that we were engaged, out in the field with all those Hereford cows - and it was perfect!

We didn't leave the pasture before we started calling friends and family. My side is estastic to have Jon joining our family, and I can't wait to be apart of his. Not too many other details have been discussed, other than we can't wait to start our lives together, and are so happy that we have the support of our friends and family.

Turquoise Wedding Invites

It's time to party

I've been getting lots of questions about the Boy's and I's wedding, and promise to share more with you soon. However, I will reveal one tidbit of information the wedding colors. Ready... they will be - black, white, burlap and wine. That's right no turquoise, did you fall over? It wasn't fitting in my concepts so sorry turquoise you're out on my wedding day, but I will welcome you into my home and closet whenever you like.

There is however going to be another little party in a few weeks that my cousins are throwing for the Boy and I back in Alberta, so he can meet a few more of the family members and friends. For this event I have let my two cousins take care of the details because are they pretty much two of the most creative gals I know. They've been pretty tight lipped about their master plans, but these did arrive in the mail the other day.

These are the invitations for our get together. Kim is an awesome designer. She is also the gal behind the famous shrimp gumbo recipe. 

And inside they were filled with the specifics, a map and M&Ms with our name on them, and other wedding phrases like Tie the Knot & Ball and Chain. I'm so excited!

Hope you have an awesome Thursday. My long weekend starts today as I am headed back to Iowa for the future Sister-in-law's wedding. 

Not Blogging Today

I am on vacation. 

That's right folks I started by vacation last night with a five hour drive to Iowa. I get to stand up beside my future sister in law while see gets married this weekend. I hope you have a wonderful long week. Drop me a line and let me know what you'll be up to. And finally don't forget today is the last day to enter the Farmer's Trophy Wife and I's giveaway. Check it out!

My Driving to Iowa look. This picture was actually taken last weekend. See you Tuesday.

A Turquoise Wedding

Here comes the bride.

My shower gift to Jaci.
We hung her wedding dress on
it for pictures. 

No, we aren't talking about my wedding, rather my future sister-in-law's wedding. Over Labor Day weekend Jaci and Jason got hitched. It was a beautiful wedding with a beautiful bride, and the groom looked good too.  Plus, she choose turquoise/Tiffany blue/pool as her wedding color. Every company has a different name for the color. I thought it would be only fitting that I feature her wonderful wedding in a Turquoise Thursday.

Our first mission. Get the bride into her dress. 

The dresses Jaci picked were in a color called Pool. Not only did they look great, but they were super comfortable. The sandals came from Aldo. 

The happy new family

Jaci and Jason with their bulldog Grover

This is where the meal was served. We snuck in before they brought the flowers in.

The wedding was held at Heartland Acres Agribition Center. I've talked about Heartland before, home of the World's Largest Tractor - Big Bud, and an agriculture leaning center. However, they also have an events center. I highly recommend it for anyone in Eastern Iowa looking for an events center. 

Cocktail hour was hosted here, and then the room was switched over for the dance.

But make sure you call early because it books up fast. So fast that the Boy and I weren't able to get a date there for our wedding!

My handsome date

The Boy's family loves fireworks. So what would a wedding be without a spectacular display? Sorry no firework pictures. Just use your imagination. 

It was great to see some old Hereford friends. 

This is my favorite picture of Jaci and her Maid of Honor.

And then we danced the night away.

I think it is safe to say we had a pretty good time. This is the Boy's Aunt (his family is awesome) and I am wearing Jon's future Best Man's tie. A nice fashion accessory to the turquoise dress. 

And the next morning I wrapped up the Boy's cousin and we have him to Jaci and Jason as a wedding present. 

Congrats, Jaci and Jason. All the happiness in the world. 

Crystal Cattle finds a wedding dress

The big day is getting closer. 

This past weekend my sister, my friend Dana, my mom and my future MIL all headed to Chicago for the search for a great white dress. And I found it!

Before the weekend I had actually not tried on any dresses, so I was pretty excited to start the adventure. The day started out with me trying on a dress I has saw on the TV show Say Yes to the Dress - I watch the show all the time. Well it turns out that the very first dress I tried on! I still kept all my appointments that day, but in the end we headed back to that same store and I bought that wonderful dress.

I loved in Mira Couture how all their dresses were displayed. 

Jenny Yoo was another great store with awesome dresses.

I am pretty sure it was meant to be because when I was trying on the dress for the final time I told my consultant that that I had saw the dress on the show, and that's when she told me she used to work at Kleinfeld's and knows all the people on the show!

I thought all this dress fabric was beautiful.

Now, no one will be seeing the dress until the big day. The Boy wants it to be a surprise until I walk down the aisle. We'll also be waiting to do our photos until after the ceremony! Therefore you will all be kept in suspense until April 7! However, I will tell you the dress came from Ultimate Bride and they were awesome.

Chicago Skyline

Crystal Cattle Wedding: Engagement Photos

Up Bright and Early

This weekend the Boy and I had an awesome time with our friends. It was our annual American Royal together weekend, which meant great cattle, wonderful friends and lots of laughs. This year we also throw in engagement photos.

I really can not say enough wonderful this about our photographer Chris of La Brisa Photography. I have admired his work for a long time, and we are so excited for him to be our wedding photographer.

The morning started REALLY early. By 6:30 a.m. we were in my car and headed to Smithville Lake, Missouri. Chris thought it would be awesome to start off the day with a sunrise session, so did we. We just forgot how cold it was going to be. Chris, the Boy and I braved the below freezing temperatures but as you can see it was definitely worth it.

You can check out the rest of our teaser photos at La Brisa Photography's Facebook page and be sure to give them a like. 

Turquoise Thursday Note Card Giveaway

Sometimes all you need is a little turquoise. 

The Boy and I are getting a lot closer to the big day, so it is time to get a few things scratched off our list.

My dress came last week! So excited to show you all what it looks like, but you'll have to wait until April. The Boy has no idea what it looks like, and we have planned not to see each other until the ceremony.

The dress is tucked away safely at the Boy's parent's house.

I also used Shutterfly.com to finish our guest book. People will be able to sign their names around our engagement photos. Which I have to give a shootout to La Brisa Photography. Chris was amazing to work with.

I love Shutterfly because of all their coupons you are able to use. On this order alone I got 50% of photo books, $10 off for spending more than $10 and free shipping. However, to get to that free shipping I needed to add one more thing to my cart.

Anyone remember this picture from when it was my blog header?

Enter in cute turquoise notecards with one of my photos. I've got 6 of these Thank You notecards for one lucky blog reader. 

To Enter:
1. Leave a comment below and tell me who you would say thank you to with one of these notecards.
2. Follow the Crystal Cattle blog, leave a comment saying you do on this blog and I will give you an extra entry.
3. Follow Crystal Cattle on Facebook, leave a comment saying you do on this blog and I will give you an extra entry.
4. Follow Crystal Cattle on Twitter, leave a comment saying you do on this blog and I will give you an extra entry.

The giveaway will close Saturday, February 4, 2012.  

Farm Life Never Stops even when you have a party dress on

Farming in heels. 

This weekend the Boy was a usher in our good friends' wedding. It was excited to be a part of their wedding with our big day less than two months away. I have been tweeting and instagramming (yeah I just made that a verb) about us getting two heifers and a bull ready for the Iowa Beef Expo sale.

On Saturday, the Boy and I worked together on the cattle until he had to leave to go put his black and hot pink tux on, while I finished up on the cattle and met him at the church.

This is what I like to call the barn to party dress transformation.

Barn clothes to wedding clothes in an hour. I also smelled much better. 

The dress is from Express (bought last year) and the silver pearls are from my favorite western store in Kansas City, Nigro's

The wedding was wonderful, but we knew at some point we would have to go back to the farm to do night chores. Cattle get hungry and their needs always come before ours. So after supper, and when the first dance was over we slipped out of the wedding. 

Doesn't the Boy look handsome. 

One of my Twitter followers said that the calves are going to expect their feed on silver platters next time. Our wedding photographer also saw this picture, and asked if we could do this for our wedding? The fact is that on our wedding day the calves are still going to need to be fed. So there is a pretty good chance I might be seen in a wedding dress holding a feed bucket! I wouldn't trade life on the farm for anything. 

Turquoise Thursday: Wedding Registry

It's like Christmas

The Boy and I have just over a month until our wedding, and we couldn't be more excited. I don't think we have received so much mail in our life. Between RSVPS, packages arriving from Etsy (yes, I am a little addicted) and wedding gifts arriving we feel pretty popular.

Last week, when I arrived home from a travel trip to Georgia, I asked the Boy what the big box was sitting in our entryway. He replied, "Oh, I just thought it was something else you had order." Nope that big box was a gift from Bed, Bath and Beyond. We quickly tore into the box to find this.

This is what a very happy girl looks like.

We received an awesome KitchenAid mixer from the Hatmaker and Parke families! 

But the best part is that it is Turquoise! Well technically it is called Ice, but it makes me smile every time I look at it. 

I have already put it to use. Baking up two loaves of banana bread with a recipe out of a great aunts cookbook. 

Other turquoise-ish items that I am hoping will end up in our home. 

Pottery Barn Jute Braided Pillows in Ice. 

This Mixing Bowl set from Dillards. I love the big turquoise bowl.

And these turquoise placements from Bed, Bath and Beyond. Hope you all have a fantastic Turquoise Thursday!

DIY: Jute Monogrammed Wedding Letter

Thank you Pinterest inspiration. 

I had been eyeing a very similar wreath to the one I created, however my thrift (a better word than cheap) self said, "Self you can make that yourself." And so I did.

Don't be fooled this project takes a little while (more than an hour in my case). But it was a great way to fill the time while the Boy was at bowling.

I didn't take any step-by-step photos, but here are some tips.

- I bought my styrofoam letters online here They shipped out super quick. Mine was 12" tall and 1" thick
- You'll want to wrap the letter in jute twine. I bought a HUGE roll from Burlap Fabric.com (you should see all the other cool stuff I got for the wedding! However, that is for a later post). Pick a really thick jute, because that will mean less wrapping, and trust me by the end you'll be glad!
- You'll need a hot glue gun, I went through one of the super long sticks. Choose the low setting on your gun otherwise the styrofoam will melt a little
- whatever decor you want to use as an accent

I started in the middle of my letter, and began wrapping toward the top, and the did the bottom half, trying to put most of the glue on the back side of the letter. The jute is easier to work with if you cut it into 2-3 foot sections.

I love this jute stair runner.

Have you been inspired by all the burlap and jute decor that has been popping up? I am so glad that we choose it as one of our wedding colors. p.s. It is exactly one month until the big day! We can't wait.

Wedding: We got hitched

Introducing to you Mr. and Mrs. Blin

Well it is time to break the silence. After a little wedding vacation and then a honeymoon vacation from the blog I am happy to be back - as Mrs. Blin. Some people are a little surprised to find out that my last name is actually not Cattle. I told the Boy that Cattle seemed to be pretty popular so maybe we should both use that, but he didn't quite agree. Anyhoo....

Our wedding was amazing, and I can't wait to share the details with you. Some of them will have to wait until a few more pictures come in, but we'll start with the basic info.

Where: The Boy and I decided to marry in Iowa, even though I am from Alberta, Canada. I moved to the Midwest in 2003 to attend Kansas State, and I really wanted all my family to see my new Iowa home. We had the ceremony in the Boy's hometown, and the reception was at the Park Place Event Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Highly recommend them - beautiful place and amazing service!

Dress: I traveld to Chicago to buy my Rivini dress. I actually first saw the dress on Atlanta's Say Yes to the Dress television show. I knew there was a reason I spent so many hours with my eyes glued to that show. I will definitely have a separate blog about my dress and accessories. 

First Dance: After some persuading I convinced the Boy we should dance to Are Going to Kiss Me or Not by Thompson Square. It is one of my favorite songs, and while the Boy and I were dating he may or may not have received many late night phone calls with me belting out this song. I think the best part was how many of our guest were belting out the song as we danced. 

Wedding Party: Our best friends made up our wedding party. My sister was my maid of honor, and the Boy's good race car buddy was his best man. The funny thing was that each of the them caught the bouquet and the garter. Except for the Boy's sister none of the groomsmen or bridesmaid met until a couple days before the wedding, and I would say we have great taste in friends because they got a long awesome! 

Photography: Other than marrying my best friend this had to be one of the highlights of the day. If you are having a wedding you must consider La Brisa Photography, and don't worry about location because they will travel! Chris Heish our photographer totally surprised us by bringing a second photography B to help capture our day. Our engagement photos were amazing, and with the teasers they have already provide (that's right the night of the wedding they have already put up more than 100 photos for us) they again blew us out of the water. Be sure to check out the La Brisa Facbeook page! 

Watch for many more posts to come, and if you have specific questions email me at crystalcattleblog@gmail.com and I'll work on putting a blog together to answer them. 

Wedding: Cow Pretzel Sticks

A little chocolate, a little cow

The Boy and I for quite a while thought that we wouldn't do favors at our wedding. I have watched far too many wedding favors go unused or never taken home, and thought that maybe it would just be better to forego the favors... that was until I saw these.

That's right cow sprinkles! I knew instantly that I could use these sprinkles to make my starting to be famous pretzel sticks. They were a pretty big hit at Christmas. 

I added additional white sprinkles to the cow sprinkles to make them go a little further. I found all my sprinkles through The Baker's Kitchen, except for the longer white sprinkles that had an iridescent shimmer to them. Those ones came from Hobby Lobby. You can find them also at Jo Ann's fabrics, but Hobby Lobby was better price wise. 

Jon's Grandma Johnson.

Jon's Great Franke, Jon's Grandma Judy and my mom. 

After a couple hours of dipping, sprinking and wrapping we had 350 pretzel sticks made. Luckily I had the help of three generations of family. Me, my mom, my mother in law, two of the Boy's grandmas and a great aunt of the Boy's. 

I use regular melting chocolate for the pretzel sticks. and use a spoon to help spread the chocolate on three quarters of the stick. Next lay the stick on a cookie sheet that has been covered with wax paper. Next use a spoon to sprinkle your "sprinkle concoction" over the sticks. Don't worry about the extras that don't stick, you'll be able to re use them. Place your cookie sheets in the fridge and allow to set for a couple of minutes. Once you pop the hardened sticks off the wax paper they are ready for wrapping. You'll be able to add the extra sprinkles back to the your stash of sprinkles to reuse. 

We used Wilton pretzel stick bags from Jo Ann Fabrics, and then tied with Jute Twine from BurlapFabric.com. Their jute comes in HUGE rolls, but trust me if you are going to incorporate burlap into your wedding you'll want a lot.