Fall Beauty Swap!

Well would you look at that...a blog post! Haven't done this in awhile, but I promise it will be a good one!

I always have fun taking part in Crystal Cattle's #CCBeautySwap! Crystal always does a top-notch job in pairing up people for this! This time I was paired up with Myla from Illinois! She's also a lover of dogs, Hereford cattle, and gorgeous Paint horses! Myla also blogs over at The Purple Front Door and tells our tale of this Beauty Swap much better than I will! You can check out what I sent to Myla on her Fall Beauty Swap post! (PS...there was also a funny mixup about Myla and I being preggers...which we are NOT!)

Here is my sweet box of goodies the ol' Pony Express delivered from Myla! Speaking of mail service, I only get mail delivered three days a week! At my parents' ranch, it was only one day a week! Any of you have similar mail service? One thing is for sure, I'm so thankful for all of the rural route carriers and postal workers! It's a tough job driving all those miles over horrible roads to deliver us all of our goodies (and bills...)!

Anyways...back to beauty products!

Here's what I got from Myla!

That box was stuffed FULL of awesome products! Here's the breakdown of what was in there!

1. Argan Magic hair cream: It smells soooooo good! I used it after I showered last night and I love it! I've tried several similar products and this one ranks right up there with the best! It worked great as a detangler and left my hair so soft! And this morning, my hair didn't feel weighed down like some leave-in products.

2. Rock Your Hair Hot Curls: You spray it on dry hair before you curl it and ta-da it should stay curled! My hair usually refuses to stay curled unless I use 10 gallons of AquaNet! I curled my hair this morning just so I could give this a try! I was a little skeptical when I first sprayed it on because it kind of just clumped my hair like a hair spray would. But I ran the brush I got (#3 below) in the Beauty Swap box through my hair after I sprayed this and it was a lot better. Then I got to curling! Update after a full day of working on the ranch and wearing a beanie most of the day: My hair has stayed more curled that it would have without the product! Yay!

3. Revive Beauty Detangle Brush: This is legit, yo. I told Myla that my hair loves to tangle in the Montana wind so she found this little gem! This was the first thing I used when I opened up the box! The soft bristles worked through my hair super easily! My hair definitely needed it after the cold, snowy/rainy, and very windy day we had yesterday! The handle is a little hard to hang on to so I grabbed onto it like a horsehair brush! :)

4. e.o.s. lip balm in Lemon Drop with SPF 15: I'm a serious believer in this lip balm now! Myla had told me about this and I actually went out and bought the Sweet Mint flavor and I'm not kidding...changed my life! I've always been a Chapstick wearer...but not anymore! I'm excited to use this one during the day! I love that it has SPF 15! I have very fair skin, thanks to my Norwegian heritage, so I always wear sunscreen!

5 and 6. Philosophy in Cherry Pinwheel Cookie: Let's just say I love Philosophy products and Myla fed my addiction! Number 5 is a body wash/shampoo/bubble bath! And it has a cookie recipe on the bottle too!? Yum!  And number 6 is a matching lip gloss! I used the body wash last night and it took a lot of will power not to lick the bubbles. Ok...weird...I know...but seriously...yum! And the lip gloss...delish! It's super shiny and feels great! It's a little sticky, but it IS lip gloss! It's a great color that gives your lips just the right hint of tint!

7. Revive Beauty Makeup Blender Sponge: I couldn't find an exact picture of the one I got, but imagine the sponge pictured has a little black handle to hold on to! I love these makeup sponges! I have the one pictured and have loved it! But I think I like this one better! It's a little denser sponge and seems like it will hold up better than the other one! And I like that the handle acts as a stand to dry out the sponge after each use. The other beauty sponge that I have has a container that I have to pack around with it.

8. Sally Hansen Insta Gel Strips: I can't wait to use these! I haven't had time yet...hope to do it before my twin nephews' birthday party on Saturday! Have any of you used them?

9. e.l.f. eyeshadow duos: Love all of these colors! I love e.l.f. products because they are very affordable and are great ways to try out new types and colors of beauty products without committing too much moolah! I'm excited to play with all of the colors!

10. Now, I bet you're wondering why I got Milk Bones in my Beauty Swap box...well turns out they weren't for me! Myla's fur-baby, Bella, sent them to Annie!

Annie was very grateful for the treats! Let's just say the treats disappeared before I could even get through the whole box from Myla!

And I'm also very grateful for Myla! Thank you so much for the wonderful Beauty Swap box! And a big thank you to Crystal of Crystal Cattle for facilitating another awesome Beauty Swap! Be sure to follow Crystal so you don't miss out on the next Beauty Swap!

And if you're wondering what I've been up to...you can follow me on Instagram @dirtroaddreamer

Big gulps, huh? All right! Well...see you later! :)

Cheers,

Whitney

Why hello there

It's been awhile...to say the least. So thanks for sticking with me!

Things have been humming right along since last spring and here were are mid March of 2014 already! Uffda!

I just returned from a week long trip to Washington, D.C. for Women Involved in Farm Economics (WIFE).  Every March our organization travels to D.C. for our Legislative Conference, where we meet with leaders in government agencies, Congressional men, women, and staff, and industry partners.  You can find out more about my trip to D.C. on the Montana WIFE Facebook page and website.

Linda Newman, National WIFE VP and Montana WIFE Pres., Me! Whitney Klasna, National WIFE Beef Committee Chair and Montana WIFE VP, and new WIFE Member Maggie Nutter in Washington, D.C.

After wearing business suits and dress shoes all last week (and having to wear makeup and curl my hair...), my jeans, insulated Carharrt bibs, and Muck boots felt heavenly! Montana also welcomed me home with a few inches of heavy wet snow!

From business suits in D.C. to Muck boots in Montana.

Right now I'm in the middle of washing and repacking all of my business suits as I get ready to fly back to Washington, D.C. for another 5 day adventure! This trip will be with a new and exciting two year long leadership class focusing on agriculture and natural resources called REAL Montana! I along with 19 other leaders from Montana were selected this last summer to be a part of this program.  We meet every other month for 3 days at different locations across Montana.  Our program also includes this trip to Washington, D.C. and an international trip next January! The purpose of this program is to build a network of informed and engaged leaders to advance the agriculture and natural resource industries in Montana.  You can follow along on our adventures via our REAL Montana Facebook page!

But that's not my last trip to D.C. this spring either! Come mid-April the Wankel-clan (that's my family) will be gearing up for a big ol' Griswold style vacation back to our nation's capitol via Bozeman, MT!  I'll give you a hint...it has something to do with this guy...

"Big Mike" bronze replica of the Wankel T. Rex located at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, MT.

If you don't already know, my awesome mama, Kathy Wankel, discovered this giant Tyrannosaurus Rex in 1988 on the CMR surrounding Fort Peck reservoir in Montana.  After being on display at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, MT, the T. Rex has gotten called up to big leagues and is heading to be put on display at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. this April! I promise I will tell you all about how my mom came to discover this amazing creature and more in a later post...