Beef

To My Valentine…

/ Sarah Thomas Cleveland / 8 Comments

I promise this is not going to be one of those posts confessing how much I hate Valentine’s Day. I am single. Does this mean I hate Valentine’s Day? If you asked me this question on Monday I would have shouted, “HATE IT!” But, for some reason I have had a change of heart (no pun intended here). As I started thinking about this holiday where people pour out their love, I thought well goodness I have a lot of love to pour too…

I have a love for:

1. Homemade salsa. Favorite snack EVER!!!!!!!!

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2. Cowboy boots. I love every single pair for a different reason. And I will continue to add to my collection.

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3. Stationary. I should not be unsupervised in this section at T.J. Maxx.

4. Children’s books. So much so, that I hope to write my own down the road.

5. Sitting on my front porch. Rain or shine.

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6. Indiana. My flyover state is pretty great.

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7. Westerns. Yep, my favorite actor is John Wayne.

8. Speaking of John…Wooden definitely makes my list. The coach, man, teacher, that I gain many of my “words to live by.”

9. The wonderful ladies in my life. Each one is so special to me.

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10. Campfires. I don’t even care if it makes my hair smell. Give me a fire under the stars and it’s my perfect night.

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11. Beef. I have to have this protein in my diet.

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12. The man who raised me and who continues to help shape the person I am. He always looked after me. Now he does it from a higher view.

He's always looked after me. Now he does from a higher view.

My Father and I

13. Speaking of higher views, my dad has some help sitting next to my heavenly Father. Thank you both for doing your jobs so well.

14. And of course I cannot forget about Farmers. If it weren’t for them I wouldn’t be able to love half the things on my list.

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There it is, my love poured out for you. So who is my valentine? Well it’s everything on the list above and so much more. To sum it up, my valentine is me and the things that remind me to love this life.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

I love that you are reading my blog.

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Happy National Beef Month!

/ Sarah Thomas Cleveland / 1 Comment

May is National Beef Month! It is also the start of grilling season. Beef is a great addition to a healthy diet. My family raises beef cattle and I know that they have been working hard this spring welcoming new life onto our farm. Growing up on a farm and being an active 4-H member, I learned that animals like beef cattle have a purpose. Their purpose is to provide a source of food. I understand that they are not a family pet, but I also understand that they should always be treated with care. I have faith in my family and other family owned and operated farming and ranching operations, that they take great care and pride in their livestock. Their purpose is providing you and me with a heart healthy protein that we can choose to have in our diet.

I choose to eat beef. So, to sum it up, thank you farmers and ranchers for bringing one of my favorite foods to my plate.

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The Ridiculousness of it All

/ Sarah Thomas Cleveland / 1 Comment

The People for the Ethnical Treatment of Animals better known as PETA has been making headlines lately attacking the livestock industry. The most recent incident is recruiting one of Hollywood’s leading men to do its dirty work. Ryan Gosling has become an active PETA supporter sending a letter to the Huffington Post on the practice of dehorning cattle. In the letter he tries to explain the process of dehorning (I can guarantee he has never seen it in person) and how, “There is absolutely no reason — and no excuse for the cruel, unnecessary practice of dehorning to continue.”

Okay, dehorning is necessary for the safety of the animal and the other animals it will be associated with. It is also necessary for the safety of the farmer or rancher. Yes, there are ways for farmers and ranchers to breed polled cattle (cattle born without buds or horns) but sometimes there are still those in your herd that have them and need to be dehorned.

I was at a friends house earlier this week and a segment of E! News was playing. One of the top stories was about Gosling’s letter and they showed images of cattle. This is definitely not the kind of media attention the livestock industry likes. I hope that those of you who have heard the story have looked deeper and found the facts about PETA and dehorning. I also hope you understand that the fact is farmers and ranchers have the best interest for their livestock at all times. That livestock is their livelihood, so you bet they are going to work hard to treat them fairly.

In another recent news story, PETA has gone after a Louisiana boy who is selling raffle tickets in a Cow Raffle. The boy, along with the help of his parents, has organized this raffle as a fundraising opportunity to help raise money to attend a student ambassador program overseas. When PETA found out about the Cow Raffle they contacted the boy offering to help him raise money in other ways. I know what you are thinking, “That isn’t so bad. They are wanting to help him.” The help they wanted to send him was “The Lettuce Ladies.” These are women dressed in bikinis made out of, you guessed it, lettuce! Basically they wanted to provide the BOY with vulgar images to sell. This is so inappropriate and shows how extreme PETA really is.

To sum it up, I am pretty upset about how much media attention PETA is getting and how they are treating the people that put food on their tables, clothes on their backs, fuel in their cars, toothpaste on their toothbrushes, and ink for the newspapers or paint for the billboards they use to print and display their awful ads and stories.

Here is an interesting blog post about the picture below.

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