Happy New Year!

When I began Wheat Brothers Farms a few years back, my desire has always been to keep this one hundred year old Wheat Farm, and the family who built it, in the forefront of what we do. The significance of the farm, the families who lived here and their footprint on our little Valley. This here piece of land offers so much to everyone that sets foot on it. It’s a place I have the honor to call my house, my home.

This alongside my own family traditions, led me one day to start digging through old family recipes. I was overjoyed when I came across my great granny’s pie recipes and they have since become the basis for the Wheat Brothers Farms selection of pies that we offer today. Funny how little things like that work out…

My great granny would be tickled pink to see so many of you enjoying her recipes, just like our family did around her kitchen table. I see it as a way to honor women who began something, even in its smallest measurements, that still has bearing and applicability to our generation.

And in continuing that regard, I’d like to introduce to you to some other special women in my life. The women who help me run my companies, listen to all of my ideas and those that deal with my grammatical errors, right Amanda? (you’ll meet her later)

These women are the ones that help keep me grounded, make me laugh when I want to cry, encourage my dreams and have truly helped our family businesses grow. They are the ones that have help create the brands you love from Wheat Brothers Farms and now Longhorn Coffee Bar and Saloon. Each of them has their own individual gifts and talents as well. They are moms, wives, sisters and most of all my friends. While their apron strings are constantly being tugged at, they still pursue and accomplish their goals and I am honored to know them.

Amanda Moreira

Amanda and her husband just welcomed a new baby girl at the end of 2020 and that makes her a gorgeous mother of four darling children. Amanda and I met in 2018 and instantly realized our shared love for farmhouse goods and vintage finds. At the time she was in the middle of her modern farmhouse build and new to the area. She has impeccable taste and a gorgeous smile that always makes you feel right at home.

Amanda is my social content and blog editor for Wheat Brothers Farms. Thanks to her, this website runs with fluidity and let’s be honest, I’m happy to know you don’t have to read about a gazillion run-on sentences.

Katie Bell

Katie is a stay-at-home mother to six gloriously remarkable children. I met
Katie at Home Depot nearly six years ago. We were both attending a class for making fruit baskets and I quickly realized how much her style was like my own. Our homes are an exact, and I do mean exact replicas of each other, because we are junkin’ buddies to the core. We collect all the same things, it’s truly uncanny.

Katie is a self-taught portrait photographer and produces each photograph you see on the pages of my businesses. From the website and blog posts to magazine shoots, Instagram style images and much more candid shots of our little farm in the city, she has an amazing eye and we are so lucky to have her.

Katie Bell is also someone who makes you feel cared for. She delivers handmade flower bouquets on May Day and gifts of homemade bread and jam from scratch each Christmas. Her timeless ways bring so much joy. Katie Bell is a true lady.

Elisa Shulters

Elisa is a stay-at-home momma of two little boys who truly adore their momma.
What strikes me about Elisa is how we both have little homesteads smack dab in
the middle of commerce, and both run our tiny businesses from them. Her home is bursting with joy and her small kitchen always has something new she’s giving
her hand at, such as her new Italian pasta recipe. She is the kind of woman who
makes you want to get in the kitchen and try to improve your culinary skills.

Her hand lettering and flawless watercolor images are what you can
experience when you see a Wheat Brothers Farms and Longhorns menu or sign. Her typography is truly impeccable as is her classic and soft tender heart.

Caitlin Rogue

Miss Caitlin Rogue is new around here in this Longhorn girl gang. This last
Autumn, I was asked by another member of our Girl Gang if she, Caitlin, could
come help with a silent auction fundraiser that we were doing for a woman who
lost her home in the Almeda fires. That was all I needed to know about Miss
Cailtin. Her desire to help someone else showed her good heart shining through.

She runs a highly successful sewing company from home and thru her Etsy
shop, while simultaneously raising three witty and rambunctious boys. You’ll also find Caitlin’s graphic and audio designs pop-up from time to time on our Instagram and social media pages. She’s edgy and cool, but her willingness to help a stranger in need is what makes her a diamond in my book.

Joey Kaufmann

Joey is the bread to my butter.

Joey and I go way back to being best friends on our Crater High School cheerleading days. Our weekends were always spent with one another rocking out to Metallica, covered in glitter and driving way too fast in her Honda Civic!

Joey is now my social media manager on our Longhorn Coffee Bar and Saloon pages and is learning the trade in managing content for multiple companies. She is a stay-at-home momma of one teenage son and comes with a quick wit and insatiable thirst for life. The best part of our 20+ year relationship is she still calls me by my high school cheer squad nickname, “Cheetah” and never ever takes herself too seriously.

Amy Kaufman

This woman is the kind of influencer you want to follow. The real. The raw. The unfiltered kind, who runs around her home wearing tiny hands and dancing to late 90’s pop.

Amy is a stay-at-home momma of one adorable little Z, as I call her, and dedicates her time to her passions, one being makeup artistry. Amy is part of our Longhorn Girl Gang and is the flawless creator of our on-set makeup designs. She even got Katie Bell to wear eyelashes, so if she can do that, anything is possible!

I met Amy a few years ago when I was invited on a Applegate wine tour for a girlfriend’s birthday. She was sitting in an Adirondack chair telling a joke in a very cute sun dress and I couldn’t quite make up my mind if I liked her. Then she delivered that punch line and I turned to her and said,  “I love and am obsessed with Seinfeld.” Truly, she should have been a comedian and if you don’t already follow her on social media, go do it now. She is “pee your pants” funny. She’s also real and honest about life’s ups and downs and one helluva makeup artist.

Emily Figuero

Emily is the momma of two darling pug puppies. She is a full-time
art teacher and loves to thrift shop for the cutest outfits. I met her online
and then randomly a week later this total stranger sent me a gift in the mail.
It included a sticker and a patch, as well as a note saying she enrolled me
into a special Pinecone Society. A sweet gift just to show our shared love of
pinecones. Our friendship blossomed from there and if you’ve purchased
merchandise from Longhorn Coffee Bar and Saloon, you probably are wearing one of her designs.

This deeply intelligent art major is full of color and humor. When you’re
around her, you leave with a lighter heart- she just has this way about her. Its intoxicating and childlike. I adore it and you will too.

P.S. Support local artists.

Emily Alden

Emily, my show pony and barmaid at Longhorn Coffee Bar and Saloon.

Emily is a stay-at-home momma of two beautiful little ladies who she
homeschools. Her laugh is infectious and her cocktails will leave you wanting another mason jar full of some sweet concoction she made just to your liking. Her and I go back to some good ole’ church days in youth group.

Emily has the soul of a old Hollywood starlets and that is what binds us.
Every blonde need a damn good brunette by her side.

Erica Bryan

Erica owns the sweet bakery shop literally nine houses from our little farm in the city and is the confectionary master of all our private gatherings. Her
gorgeous and tasteful baked goods are phenomenal.

The gold leafed mini lime tarts Miss Erica created for my book signing and launch event last year were just the top of what this young master
confectionist is capable of creating.

You can find her at Sweet Stuff Bakery and tell her I sent you.

Lisa Martin

Miss Lisa is my neighbor and the sweetest thang! She is married to a true gentleman with an affection and appreciation for all things Western. It is what
initially drew me to her, besides her being just a total kick in the pants.

Miss Lisa is our companies embroider and you can find her creations on our website store. She is never afraid to try new designs and embraces all of the ideas I throw at her at any given moment. She loves her grown children and grandchildren as well as her new 2020 Jeep. Folks, get to know your
neighbors…open conversations and see the talents that others possess.
It’s truly a gift.

Falon Cardin

Falon is the momma of two toddlers and a wife to a lumberjack, seriously. She is a true grit gal and has been around awhile creating items for Wheat
Brothers Farms and now for Longhorn.

She isn’t always available for our photo shoots because of hunting season, but still a grit gang gal. She’s honestly the most genuine person I’ve ever had the privilege to meet. She will also outshoot you at 100 yards, without blinking an eye.

Falon has a love and affection that runs deep for nature, hunting and pretty
jewelry. Her creations are gaining traction on Esty with their rugged and boho mix of texture and textile.

I remember her calling me after she made 100 sales and we blissfully celebrated her accomplishment. That’s the joy in supporting a stay-at-home moms. We’re there for one another that and I’m grateful for that.

Jamie Lewis

Jamie and I met ten years ago. At the time, I was searching a relatively new
app called Etsy, looking for a birth announcement for my unborn son. She
created the perfect aviator look and the rest is history!

Jamie is a visual genius and we’re proud to have her as our company graphic designer.

Miss Jamie Lewis is a stay-at-home momma to one little Eli bug. Her infectious laugh and accent from Carolina will have you wishing you were sitting next to her, sippin’ tea.

I adore you Jamie girl. Thank you for creating these companies with me over the past decade. It has been one amazing ride with you as my co-pilot.

These remarkable women make my life better, not because of the way they support my companies, but the way they love my family in all seasons. I am proud of the awe-inspiring legacies each one of them are creating for their children and families.

If you’d like to follow these extraordinary women, you can find them here on Instagram:

Jamie @heirloomink

Caitlin @catiebugscreations

Katie @thehappyishhomestead

Elisa @oakandbrush

Amanda @theoregonfarmhouse

Joey @life.got.me.like

Amy @keepingupwith.ak

Emily @figleaffineart

Emily @emersalden

Erica @sweetstuffcake

Falon @pineandpoppies

Happy New Year and abundant blessings,