Into Every Life...

A little rain much fall. And this Spring - again - has been no exception. Every year we follow how much rain listeners receive with our AgLand FS Rain Gauge report. This morning when I opened my email I have rainfall totals from all over Central Illinois and I honestly just let out a huge sigh. We're getting reports from 3/4 of an inch to over two inches over the weekend. Our ground is already so saturated - I wonder if it is ever going to end.

Then I look at the forecast... Possible rain showers today and tonight and tomorrow... BLECH! Friday on my way home I saw equipment moving... I got a little hopeful. Today - I have a feeling of blech. May 1st.. My goal to do our first planting tour stop is by May 1st. With the weather the way it is - I won't hold my breath...

Later this week looks nice though - mid 60's on Wednesday, mid 70's on Thursday and on Friday - 80.. 80? Seriously!? Honestly - I'd be happy with 75 and sunny every day... Is that too much to ask?

I suppose this is enough for now - I should get into the office and get real work done.

Are You Helping To Grow Your Soup?

Those that know me.. know I get excited about some of the silliest things. When I say silly - I don't mean childish silly - I just mean things that most people wouldn't normally get excited about. For example - I love "Double Cross" Mornings at the radio station. I love simplistic beautiful architecture. Like Martha Stewart, I too, love "Good Things" (that's the only thing I want to compare to Martha Stewart). I even like the Fine Young Cannibals song "Good Thing". So when I get excited about something, especially... Good Things I want to share it over and over and over again.

I'm sure you're wondering where this is going.... Today, on The Noon Show - I had John Faulkner who is the Director of Brand Communications with Campbell's Soup Company back to talk about their Help Grow Your Soup Campaign that they started last Fall. Today he talked about how successful the campaign was. Today... we also talked about their new campaign. It's still called Help Grow Your Soup but this time... Campbell's is teaming up with the National FFA Organization and Urban Farming to plant gardens in six urban areas across the United States. In addition - Campbell's is partnering with Partners in Active Learning Support (PALS), a mentoring program of the National FFA Organization, to help build agricultural learning greenhouses in schools.

So - yes.. I get excited for interesting things. I really, really get excited over companies wanting to educate consumers about where their products originate.

Ones last thing... If you go to http://helpgrowyoursoup.com/ and click on the grow button you can donate seeds to the greenhouse... through Campbell's. If you purchase a can of Campbell's Soup and enter the codes... You can get your own packet of Campbell's Seed to grow for yourself. These aren't any seeds... These are seeds that Campbell's uses to grow tomatoes for their soup... Pretty Cool, eh?

One last thing (I promise)... Here's a video that John sent me that talks about the campaign even more.




Enjoy... and Help Grow Your Soup!!! It's a Good Thing, Marther.

Mission: Blog.

I keep telling myself (and you) that I'm going to sit down and blog. I have so much to say - I'm just not sure if my thoughts are organized enough to put everything in writing. What's more - I'm a little scatter brained this morning.... I'm not sure if it is from the snow... Or the creepy voice mail that was on the phone in my office when I came into work this morning.

So here's what's been going on recently... The last time I wrote - I was getting ready to leave for Germany. I wrote on the 18th of March - before Germany. My goal was to blog from there about the trip... But I didn't succeed... So now.. I'm playing "catch-up". Hopefully I'll be able to post every day... That way I can give you multiple stories and pictures from Germany!

I'm going to break this down day by day in separate posts. This way - this isn't such a long post!

Day One "I'm Leaving On A JetPlane":

The day I left for Germany was the last day of National Agriculture Week. So my mom and I headed for breakfast at the Knights of Columbus Hall off of Radnor Road in Peoria to support the Peoria County Farm Bureau's Farmer Share of the Dollar Breakfast. It was pretty tasty and a great way to start off my trip! My mom dropped me off at the airport in Peoria and I started my journey. I landed in Chicago with an eight hour layover - and I used every minute of it! I ran into some fellow broadcasters, and participants of the trip. We loaded up for our flight and were on our way to Germany.


I had the most entertaining and one of the most interesting people I have ever met next to me on my flight. It made for some interesting conversation, to say the least. We landed in Germany around 8AM local time (that's about 2AM back home). We headed to he most amazing hotel to a little R&R and to tour the sites in Dusseldorf. Here are some photos from Day 1.

















Those are some photos from the tour of Dusseldorf. After our tour some of us grabbed some dinner (lunch to normal people) in the hotel and relaxed before our evening. I really, really love those trees!!!

I love food - that should be no secret. However - we had the most amazing food while we were in Germany. Our first night kicked it off right... Our dinner consisted of soup, the man course, dessert and bier! We went back to the hotel to get some rest because our first day of sessions in Monheim are going to be a busy one. And that's coming up next....

Before I sign off this morning - here are some photos from our dinner that first night...

P.S. Mission: Accomplished.