To ensure a happy family

bring insanely scrumptious desserts to holiday gatherings. I tried out this theory with a Chocolote Doberge cake, my secret recipe Black Walnut Ice Cream and a big plate of snowflake sugar cookies. It worked like a charm and I was elected dessert provider from here to eternity. Nice going, Pinkie.

Now I'll be slaving at the stove on Christmas Eve forever. Ah well. Now, see them and weep...because you didn't get any. Well, it's probably better that you didn't get any. The button on my pants is screaming at me for sampling too much of my own culinary work.

Merry Christmas!

We are hitting all the family gatherings, singing in the church cantata and hosting our holiday party, all in the next few days. So, have a Merry Christmas everyone!!

Glory, glory, halleluja!

I haven't had 12 days in a row off in over 4 years. Let me just tell you, it was UH-MAY-ZEEEENGGGG!!! I was pretty nervous about our adventure to Moab, but it was everything I could've asked for in a vacation. Plenty of fun, relaxation, adventure, breathtaking scenery, laughs, shopping and good food. Now for your viewing pleasure, a few shots from our trip. Be awed and amazed forever and ever. Amen.

Here I am all prepped for my first day's ride in 2 shirts, a sweatshirt, jacket, and a chest protector. It's cold in the mountains!

Here are hubby and I trying to get me up a rather steep hill without flipping end for end. I did it. I was scared to death, but I did it. Yay me!

P.S. I promise this was a HUGE hill. Cameras really flatten out things.

Now THIS shows you how steep that was.

Right?!? Because in this picture, I'm on flat ground

again. Finally!

All that hard work climbing the big hills was for this view. Totally, 100%, asbsolutely, no doubt about it worth it. Don't you think?

Welcome to Chicken Corners, Utah. Well, that's what they tell me it's called anyway. It's one of the most beautiful places I've ever frozen my butt off getting to.

Who knew it could snow 4 inches and be 60 degrees and sunny all in the same 5 hour span??

What do you do

if your last family gathering didn't go so hot? Schedule a vacation for the next upcoming holiday! Ha ha. Just kidding. Sort of.

My man's boss gave us an early Christmas present--a vacation to Moab, Utah, scheduled for the week of Thanksgiving. Hey, okay! We won't have to bear witness to the next installment of family drama. Sweet!

Well, as it turns out, Dave's boss doesn't do "vacations" per se. They do adventures. I'm a tad nervous about this trip. We're taking 2 trucklaods of gear and 7 four-wheelers and driving halfway across the country to Utah where we'll ride treacherous mountain trails for 11 days. The upside for this pinkneck is that we'll be getting our beauty sleep in luxurious southwestern condos. Scheweeet! Somewhere in there we're going rock-crawling in Hummers.

Did I mention I'm a tad nervous?

You're a wha?!

A Pinkneck Girl!! Since some of you...Some of you who? No one reads this! Hahaha...may wonder what the heck a pinkneck is, I will attempt to make it clear as mud. I love barbequed pork with fried pickles AND sushi. I own a big Chevy truck that is loud and dirty AND a little Toyota Camry that is clean and fuel efficient. I drink ice cold beer AND Grey Goose tonic with lime. I listen to Rascal Flatts, Kanye West, Good Charlotte, Guns N Roses, Finger Eleven, Colbie Caillet, Tim McGraw and Justin Timberlake. I love riding my muddy four-wheeler AND in BMW convertibles. I drive to the city to buy coffee because what is sold out here in the country is completely unacceptable. There is an Amish grocery store here with a spice section that the city stores can't hold a candle to. I am at home standing around a big bonfire with lots of other red and pinknecked friends AND in posh restaurants, consuming bottles of fine wines with my girls. Pinknecked is a marriage of flexibility, tolerance, and appreciation for two very different lifestyles. Embrace the pinknecks of the world.

I am Pinkneck Girl.

Hello blogworld. Welcome to my little corner of cyberspace. I am Pinkneck Girl.

It all started with this little thing called love. Well, before that, but really with the love thing, it kind of stuck. I grew up in a small town, but in town. I was not a country girl. I didn't ride horses, farm or work cattle. I did what town girls did. I shopped, babysat, played Nintendo and hot rolled my hair. Then I went to college in the big city. I loved 24 hour grocery stores, being 2 miles from the mall and 27 different coffee shops.

Then girl met boy and bam! Pinkneck Girl was born. I soon discovered that I loved all the fun, country activities that my man did. He rode four-wheelers, hunted, fished, went muddin', rode horses, went to rodeos, shot archery, and lots of other non-town girl things. I was quickly hooked, especially since he took my out dancing at the clubs in the city on the weekends and willingly moved me from apartment to apartment to apartment during college. I mean, who wouldn't want to keep a man who has packed up and moved your precious shoe collection 11 times in 3 years???

I'm still not exactly sure how, but he managed to convince me of the country cool factor enough to get me to move to the boonies with him after we got married. Gasp! I gave up the city for teeny, tiny Huntsville, MO. So now, here I am, sharing my slice of pinknecked wonderfulness with you.