Rockin' Rural Women

Pretty cool ladies. 

Recently, I have gotten involved in a group called Rockin' Rural Women. Is is a group for women from across the world to join in and celebrate the rural lifestyle. That means those women who live on an acreage outside of town, those women who run 500 head of cattle or those women who work on a multi-generational grain farm and everyone in between. 

Last night we had a launch party on our Facebook page, and today I want to introduce you to a really cool Rockin' Rural Women. We haven't met in person yet, but our paths are going to cross at the National AgriWomen Conference in November, where I am speaking, and I can't wait. So here is Celeste! 

A bit about me ~

Doesn't she have the
best hair! 

I am a proud farmers daughter steeped in the rich traditions of all things agriculture! By day I am a fresh vegetable commodities broker and when that is complete I work side by side with my family on our Red Angus cow /calf operation. This past year I have ventured out and created Couture Cowgirl Communications where I do a whole lot of fun things including a weekly blog, write a column and special features for the livestock magazine Pacific Showcase, promote and assist with the marketing of fellow cattle operators, weekly fashion minute on farm radio in the midwest and finally my one true love which I am trying to build bigger and better - speaking on behalf of rural America! I especially love speaking to groups of young people hoping to empower them to be their best selves!! 

I am the current president of California Women for Agriculture, board member of my local farm bureau, legislative director for California Cattlewomen and proud member of American Agriwomen!

I am also a very proud Zia to my niece Paige and looking forward to her starting 4-H and helping her with her projects – keeping my fingers crossed she will want a little heifer to show – no pressure !!!

What is a RRW~

A Rockin' Rural Women is one that steps out of her comfort zone and finds the “magic”- she is committed to her rural roots but is not afraid to get out there and tell her ag story to all those that will listen, empowering folks along the way! I believe as a RRW it is my obligation to fellow farmers and ranchers and to my family to share the ag story!

Biggest Social Media Tip ~

Celeste & her niece

Be yourself - there are a lot of folks on social media who do wonderful things with their facebook page or blog through fonts and photos and beautiful graphics but some of us aren’t as techy as others and that’s ok – your social media platform is a canvas to express yourself, share your thoughts, your pictures and your story like you know how. No one expects you to be someone else so there is no need for you to think that way either!  There is a whole world of wonderful people out there that share the same passion as you do , I love connecting with them and then finally meeting them! I have made some amazing friends through social media circles. Use these new friends to help you share your ag story! 

Favorite Social Media Tool ~

I think the ability to “tag” a person is a great thing! I am all about promoting fellow ag enthusiasts and it gets me excited to be able to share my friends with others.  By tagging you can express your thoughts, be a champion for others and share with them at the same time.  I believe social media is not all about me but about the connections I have created that make me better!

Where can people connect with me ~

I am on facebook or you can follow my blog Couture Cowgirl or twitter at couturecowgirl7. My facebook is a place to share news and information on agriculture issues, my thoughts and current events, we throw in a bit of personal fun every now and then too and I love pictures!!  My blog started just this year and I am constantly learning, my blog covers everything from clothes to cows.  We talk current trends in fashion and offer up fashion advice and tips, I also like to share my ag adventures and special features on special people in my life. My fashion followers enable me build the bridge and connect over to the world of agriculture. 

Three favs in my closet ~

Scarves – I love scarves and wraps and have trillions of them in all patterns, textures and colors, I really believe they add to an outfit and pretty much any time of the year if weather permits I have some sort of scarf wrapped around my neck.

Bracelets, bracelets and more bracelets – there is always a party happening on my arm !

Cowboy Boots – Love my boots and wear them with dresses and with jeans.  I have lots of cowboy boots but my favs are my brown leather pointed toe with flower embroidery. 

I think with these three staples you can spice up any outfit, they are timeless and fun and can really make an outfit pop!

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FFA Convention and lots of new friends

FFA + Friendship

Last week I was in Indianapolis for my very first National FFA Convention experience, and it was awesome. I was there will be new company and we were launching a brand new rewards program. Throughout the week I had the opportunity to meet tons of my social media friends! Similar to when I met Katie Pinke it was awesome to finally meet some of these people face to face.

Morgan (@MMuller24) follows my blog, and is from Iowa. It was so fun to meet lots of people from Iowa since I'll be calling it home very soon!

Heyley Heupel (@heyleyheupel) was competing at National FFA. It was so much fun to chat to these girls. It is pretty clear that FFA members have their heads on straight. Big goals and aspirations with the tools to get there. 

One night we had some fun at Howl at the Moon, and this was wrote on one of the mirrors. I guess advocacy can show up in the strangest places. 

Now these were probably the two most photo genetic FFA members I met. @NEBenOhio tells me that is is the jacket that makes so photo genetic! @CarolineWeihl is the Ohio State FFA District 1President aka a pretty big deal. Someone needs to give this girl an amazing internship this summer. 

I was able to stop by the K-State College of Ag booth while I was there, and they gave me a little flair. 

And while at the K-State booth I worked on recruiting another Iowa friend Bobbi to get her master's at K-State. I told her the green screen could help her "visualize" herself at K-State. 

There was also Kelli, she was there as a Media Intern. I'm also going to see her next week at the American Royal. Another really talented Ag Communications gal that needs a rocking internship this summer.  

 And Drew, who is an ag teacher in Ohio. He's also great help at suggesting great places to eat in Indy. 

Katie Pinke and I got to reunite, along with a first time meeting of Leah Beyer. She is a really cool gal, I think a Rockin' Rural Women kind of girl best explains her. More of RRW to come soon. Leah is also the mastermind behind Hunk of Meat Mondays. 

 And @NellieHill a fellow K-Stater and the girl behind @kstateag She was the first one to come over to the booth and surprise me! I also get pumped when I meet other K-Staters.

And the very last person who stopped by the booth was @JakeKnutson. I've been following Jake on Instagram for awhile and I love the pictures that him and his brother post. Jake was there a proficiency finalist, which also makes him a pretty big deal. Jake's excitement is contagious and you can tell that he has a true passion for livestock and agriculture through his picture.  

I know that I have missed a few people, but I loved meeting all of you! Next time you are at an event, convention or meeting don't be afraid to seek out your online friends. Having conversation in real life is even better than what you type out on your keyboard.

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Social Media Friends Katie Pinke

Now we really are friends

In my last social media friends profile, I featured James Decker, someone that I have connected with through social media, but never have met in real life. Today, it is Katie Pinke's turn, and we HAVE met before. I first knew Katie through her blog Pinke Post, then Twitter, and now the awesome facebook group Rural Women Rock. In August Katie was coming through Kansas City and we got to meet face to face for the first time.

Our first meeting. I laughed and told some friends it was like a blind date! p.s. Katie had some awesome turquoise pieces like that cardigan and a beautiful turquoise bracelet. 

We had a blast. I mean Jack Stack BBQ, to blonde gals, and lots of conversation about agriculture and social media, who wouldn't have a good time. Plus, Katie is a MAC make-up girl like me. Friends for life!

And with that I bring you Katie. I hope from each of these posts you learn a little more about social media, and gets to know another farmer or someone that is involved in agriculture.


1. Name and where you are from 
Katie Pinke, Wishek, North Dakota

2. A little bit about your agriculture background

Agriculture is just who I am although I didn't really grasp it until I was an adult. My family farms in east central ND which we call GriggsDakota . I'm the first of the 5th generation and my son is the first of the 6th generation. We raise 6-7 different crops and my uncle operates a cow/calf operation alongside with grandparents. I lived on the farm as a young professional with my son. After getting married, my husband, son and I made a drastic life change when my husband jumped off the corporate wheel. We moved from Fargo, ND back to his hometown in the heart of a rural agriculture area in south central North Dakota. My husband, Nathan, owns and operates a lumberyard, planning and general contractor business with his parents who started the business in 1977. Nathan is the four generation builder. The chest of carpentry tools that his Great-Grandpa Henry brought through Ellis Island from Germany still are in our lumberyard today. Our building business is definitely a big part of the agriculture community as most of our business is from farmers and for the ag industry. Agriculture is our livelihood. We bought some land and built a house in a hayfield where we raise our family of five now. Our kids are ages 14, 3 and 2.  We make frequent trips to our GriggsDakota farm where my parents farm 2 1/2 hours north of us. 

Professionally, I work remotely for an agriculture focused marketing communications firm, AdFarm. http://adfarmonline.com/aboutus.php (video of me talking of my work on link)

3. What is your favorite social media platform or tool?

Hard question. Only 8% of Americans are on Twitter but I love my different Twitter communities. It's a unique connection builder. My favorite social media platform though is my blog, Pinke Post. It captures all that I am as a prairie working mom. I have been blogging for what will be 4 years this fall and I have over 700 blog posts. It's truly my journal and I met connected with so many amazing people through it. My blog enriches my life beyond anything I could have ever dreamed or known. 

4. When using Twitter what hashtag do you like following or using the best?

I have SO many I love to follow. I don't follow the "ag" related hash tags much unless I need to for work. I try to connect with #foodies #recipes #workmom and others that have similar interests to me outside of agriculture. I follow other key words also like fresh produce, local farms, California farmers for our client Know A California Farmer #kacf

5. Give us your favorite agriculture fact?

I have about 100 favorites ag facts! Here's one though: 

Katie, also does the best Hunk
of Meat Mondays posts.

North Dakota is #1 in numerous agriculture products but being #1 in barley production is unique for me because our GriggsDakota farm contracts barley to Anheuser-Busch which makes us #1 in beer. However...I hate beer so I don't really celebrate this fact literally but I know a lot of beer drinkers that do. 

6. What is your favorite smartphone app and why?

I don't do a lot on my phone with apps because I'm on a Blackberry for work and TALK on my phone a lot. I use UberSocial for Twitter though and it's great.

7. If we want to follow you, like you, tweet you where should we go?

http://facebook.com/pinkepost

http://pinkepost.blogspot.com

http://twitter.com/katpinke

Anything else you would like to add?

Social media has transformed how I gather information and communicate. I am truly thankful for the relationships and connections I have made through social media. Thanks for being one of those connections and relationships Crystal! My love for cattle AND turquoise has definitely grown because of reading your blog and connecting with you. 

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Farm girls and the winery

Drink up. 

The wine glasses we made before
heading out on our tour.

The other weekend I jumped in a limo with a dozen other girls and headed towards wine country. Ok, it was actually only Missouri's wine country, which means North of Kansas City in the Weston/Platte City area of the state. We were off to celebrate a good K-State friend's upcoming wedding.

I am a wine lover, but this was my first time actually going to a winery and doing a wine tasting. Our first stop was the Jowler Creek Vineyard and Winery. Jason along with his wife started making wine out of their home's basement and it has now grown into a successful business.

As Jason started pouring the first glass of wine the questions started pouring out. How many acres, how long were the grapes planted before you could use them for wine, do you buy grapes from other growers? I am sure he was surprised by our questions, but as farm girls these are the things we contemplate while enjoying a glass of wine.

The Chambourin was my
favorite wine.

As Jason poured the next wine sample he told us about how sustainability was important to him and his wife. They use a small sheep breed to help keep weeds down as part of their sustainability plan. These sheep are small enough that they can't reach the vines, but will everything at the base of the plant. Smart idea.

I automatically asked what breed? I think this is when Jason knew something was up. It was quickly explained that he had a table full of K-State College of Agriculture girls. The breed is Babydoll sheep and they are all white. Knowing that we were interesting in farm Jason also talked to use about some trails they were doing with chickens to keep the bugs down and reduce pesticides.

Jason then said something that made me really like him. He said that he loves technology and isn't against it in any way but is willing to explore other avenues that can help his farm be more profitable. Yeah, I bought wine from Jason, and next time I see Jowler Creek Wine on the shelf I'll probably buy another bottle. Technology is awesome and should not be judged, and neither should more traditional ways of farming. Thanks Jason for a great afternoon!

And don't forget to get signed up for the giveaway! 

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Looking pretty in agriculture

It isn't all about playing in the dirt. 

A little while ago one of my awesome friend's Chelsea Good invited me to be apart of a little photo taking session. She wanted her good girlfriends to join here for some photos by Wrenn Bird Photography. Now, Wrenn is a great photographer, she also has a strong background in ranching and agriculture, and I wasn't going to miss an opportunity to hang out with the girls, so off to the Flint Hills of Kansas we went. 

You see just because we are "farm girls" doesn't mean we don't like getting dresses up a little. You should see how many different hair products and make-up containers there would be between the three of us. I always laugh when someone says well you don't look like you grew up on a farm. I am not really sure what growing up on a farm is supposed to look like. 

Chelsea is originally from Colorado and your typical 4-H/FFA geek. I mean that in a good way. Livestock Judging brought her to Kansas, and that's where we met. From there Chelsea continued to conquer the world. She is finishing law school, while promoting agriculture as the Communications Director for the Kansas Department of Agriculture (quick go like her facebook page, it'll make her happy). Chelsea is the girl that we need in agriculture cause she is going to fight for us. Just because you wear sundresses 80% of the year doesn't mean you don't know something about soil, corn or cattle.

This is Abby - she is single, actually so is Chelsea, incase anyone was curious. Abby comes from Michigan. She knows her way around the cattle show barns and the pastures back home. A ton of mutual friends in agriculture brought Abby and I together. Abby also ended up in Kansas working for the Beef Cattle Institute as their Communication Officer. She runs around the state of Kansas, and actually the whole country, getting people signed up for Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) courses. She is the girl making sure farmers and ranchers have the training to provide you with the safest product possible. Please like her facebook page too, and you might want to sign up to become BQA certified. 

And that is me.  I think you know quite a bit about me already, but don't be afraid to ask if you are missing a piece to the puzzle. I have a LOT of exciting things to tell you soon about changes in my life and new projects I'm working on, but I have to keep my lips sealed for now. All I can say is yes no matter how I look on the outside I know a thing or two about the food we eat, raising cattle, corn (OK trying to learn) and turquoise jewelry. And above all I have a passion for agriculture. 

Our better side?

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Blogs Worth Reading

Today I want to highlight a couple of my fellow bloggers:

The Great Arizona Bale-Out 

In my Life Isn't Very Fair When You Are a Farmer post I didn't mention one of the other natural disasters that has been effecting agriculture this year - wildfires. In Arizona there are some massive wildfire fires that have burnt up thousand of acres of grasslands leaving little feed for cattle and livestock. Anna on Life Be Delicious takes about how you can support their Arizona ranchers and farmers.

Am I Eating Dirty Foods

Do you question which tomatoes you should buy when at the grocery store - the regular ones, the organic ones, or should you leave the grocery store and visit a Farmer's Market. There is an article from Men's Health magazine circulating, and I don't agree with it very much. Amanda Hill has done a great job of commenting on the Dirty Foods article, I would have said the same thing, so check it out. 

Social Media Lemonade Stand

Are you needing help with your blogging? Then talk to me about redesigning your blog or helping you generate a larger social media presence. If you want those cool new blog features, feel like you need a new template, or want to get that facebook page started then visit my About tab and shoot me an email and we'll talk about some ideas and strategies. Also, one of my blogger friends does some nice design work, and is raising some funds to go to an agriculture social media conference. Brooke Clay will help you redesign your blog header for a small fee, and then will use the funds to fund her trip. Hopefully, she'll write a post about what she learns when she gets back. 

What are some of your favorite blogs or posts out there right now. I am always looking for good reading. 

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Crystal Cattle photos turned into artwork

That's John.

My photo in pencil

I have this friend named John. He is a pretty cool guy. (He's probably going to read this, so I have to say those kind of things.) I met John while on the Livestock Judging Team at Butler, and John also ended up at K-State like I did. And although I like to think I am a pretty good evaluator of livestock, John is really good. At the National Western Stock Show John was the High Individual (best of them all) in the Senior College Judging Contest, thus earning himself a trip to Alberta, Canada, to do a little judging up there. 

I'll never forget John calling me a couple days before his trip asking if I had any idea of who was going to pick him up from the airport because he had lost the contact number of the lady helping organize the trip. I was spending the summer down in the States, but I put John in touch with my family and they took care of him for the week.

Last year, John was asked to judge one of the Sheep shows at the North American International Livestock Exposition (NAILE) aka Louisville. Since, I was also there at the same time for the cattle shows, and had my camera in hand I decided I would see if I could get a couple snapshots of him judging. (My DRIVE magazine cover actually came from these photos.)

Another one of the pictures I took.

But, this is the picture I want to draw your attention to.

Because this got turned into this

John's Judging Team had this picture drawn for him. The artist is Tonja Rose Shudy, and although we haven't met in person I think you do incredible work!

p.s. Don't forget to refollow this blog and update your bookmarks. This will be my new url. 

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Camera Accessories - Turquoise Thursday

1. 2. 3. Smile.

You know me I love taking photos, especially of the farm and cattle. And I am always admiring my friends' amazing photography skills. I mean check out the recent pics from Our Little Ranch Photography and Wrenn Bird Photography. Fabulous. www.Not only do I love looking through their photos, but I'm always intrigued by what new gear they are carrying around, which has inspired this Turquoise Thursday.

This is actually a camera bag. Really. Thanks to my Pinterest buddy Holly Martin for suggesting it to me.

See, look at all that room. I love the lime green on the inside. You'll have to check out all the other colors at the haveaepiphanie.com blog. Some really neat stuff.

Have you seen these new camera straps that everyone is walking around with. When I was at the Oklahoma Youth Expo one of the photographers had a cowhide one. If you search on Etsy.com you can find tons of these handmade camera straps - like this fun turquoise one. 

This turquoise camera strap is pretty too. 

I definitely need one of these lens cap covers, as I am always misplacing my lens cap. This lens cap pocket slides onto your camera strap, so it is never far from reach. Again found on Etsy.com.

What are some of your favorite camera products?

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