I Don't Wanna Grow Up.....

"May your heart always be joyful; And may your song always be sung; May you stay forever young" ~ Forever Young

So this weekend I'm taking a little journey to the Happiest Place on Earth (aka Stillwater America!) for a national holiday (at least at OSU)...Calf Fry. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, allow me to explain.
Calf Fry is an institution at the Tumbleweed Dance Hall in Stillwater. It's a HUGE outdoor concert with tons of red dirt music. When I was in school, it was only two nights, but it's now expanded to four nights of music. Check out the event and the musicians who will be in attendance. It's so much fun--it is like an ag college reunion, but not just the OSU ag college--people come in from all over the place. This year, I know of people coming from New Mexico, Texas, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska! (and fyi--are are my age--so it's not just me!)

I've taken a day off of work on Friday and I'm counting down the minutes until I'm in Oklahoma! When my brother found out I was headed to Calf Fry, he responded, "You know that you're not in college anymore right? One day you're going to have to grow up and let that go." Those of you to know Little Brother will find this ironic.


Maybe one day I will grow up and not flock back to my college town for this college event--but that day is sure not today! I am still ready to go live it up with my friends and pretend, at least for the weekend, I'm still a crazy college senior!

So stay tuned for next week's blogs that will no doubt discuss the crazy fun the occurs at the concert on Saturday night (And the adorable babies that Aunt Tiffany will see on the trip. See, I am growing up in some ways! These two will be having their first little one on the Calf Fry anniversary!)

.....I'm no Toys -R- Us kid, but I do love my Calf Fry!

The Happiness Project

"Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." ~ Abraham Lincoln


I think I've mentioned before I usually read about 4 or 5 books at a time. College Roomie says she thinks I may have undiagnosed ADD. But I get bored reading the same thing every night before I go to bed, so I try to mix it up. The most recent addition to the list....The Happiness Project. Apparently I've had happiness on the brain lately, as I recently blogged about the topic.

Here is how the author's Happiness Project started: "I'd always vaguely expected to outgrow my limitations. One day, I'd stop twisting my hair, and wearing running shoes all the time, and eating exactly the same food every day. I'd remember my friends' birthdays, I'd learn Photoshop, I wouldn't let my daughter watch TV durin breakfast. I'd read Shakespeare. I'd spend more time laughing and having fun, I'd be more polite, I'd visit museums more often, I wouldn't be scared to drive. One April day on a morning jus tlike every other morning, I had a sudden realization: I was in danger of wasting my life." (Gretchen Ruben, The Happiness Project)

After this, she began a year's journey that she called her Happiness Project. Each month, she decided that she would focus on improving one area in her life. Within each category, she'd pick 3-4 goals to focus on. Sounds simple, right? By the end of the year, she would try and put each of these goals into action.

So, I've decided that I will start a similar project in my own life. The first of each month, I'll let you know what the category and the goals for the month are. Instead of developing my own categories, I'm stealing Gretchen's. I will, however, design my own goals within each category. Hope you'll enjoy my journey! Stay tuned for May 1.... (FYI--I started a week early on the first one since I'll be gone to Calf Fry next weekend and let's just say I'm already loving it!)

Every Day

"Be the living expression of God's kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness.” ~Mother Teresa

So I had an interesting experience last week that made me think. You know that if I end up thinking, it goes on the blog.

One of my guy friends, McCain, asked what I was doing over the weekend. I told him about my plans for going to get some bloodwork done, shopping and hot yoga on Saturday, and that I planned on helping at a volunteer event for the American Cancer Society and going to church on Sunday. He responded with something along the lines of, "Wow, Sunday must be your day to be a good person or something."

Ouch. I know that he was kidding because our friendship is pretty much based on sarcasm. But I couldn't help but wonder--am I only a good person one day a week? I sure hope not.

Life is funny--our weeks are crazy and busy and it's easy to let things slip. Laundry and dishes, for example, usually fall by the wayside in my house! I really hope that I don't let more important things, like being a good person, slide as well.

Obviously I don't have time to be spending 5 hours volunteering at an event every day of the week, but there are so many other ways I can be a good person--being friendly to people in the elevator, helping someone with a problem, calling a friend just to say hi, praying for people in my life, letting someone in when they need to change lanes.... Maybe every day we don't have to do grand gestures, but every day we should try to do something good for another person.

As I get older, I realize more and more how important it is to be a good person. I just hope that besides realizing how important this is, I'm successful in putting it into action.

Family Farm Friday #17: Things Are Different....

"You can take the girl out of the farm...but you can't take the farm out of the girl."

It's officially summer weather. I went for a run in a long sleeved shirt and almost died. People have their doors and windows open all the time. And the ice cream man has been driving around playing his little tune.

One of my "city friends" was talking about how the sound of the ice cream man music made her think of summer. It made me realize how nostalgia is different when you grow up on a farm or a ranch. Ice cream trucks don't come driving by. But don't feel bad for us. We're not deprived. We have plenty of strange nostalgia of our own.

• The smell of sawdust and revive: It's my favorite smell. Hands down. If you showed, you understand. Anytime I smell Revive to this day my stomach drops and I feel the pre-show nerves. My brother said once that if a girl wore perfume that smelled like Revive, he'd propose on the spot. The guy he was talking to agreed. So it's not just me! (For the record, my second and third favorite smells are similar...fresh cut alfalfa and rain).
  


• Pick-up Lines: There are some lines that a guy can use on a country girl that would never work on a city girl. Two of my favorite examples from college were: "You two girls, you are class winners." and "Tiff, if you were a cow, I'd flush you." To this day still the best compliments I have ever gotten!
  


• The State Fair: My "city friends" talk about the rides and the fair food. I can assure you that country kids think of neither. State Fair conjures up images of the dorms, street dances, livestock shows, and washrack water fights.
  
• Friends: When you're an ag kid, you have friends all over the state. Other people don't have that. They know people at their school and maybe a few that live on their street. But ag kids bond at fairs and rodeos and judging contests.....people are always amazed at how I know someone in just about every town in New Mexico. Thank you 4-H and FFA!
  

• Savings Accounts: I was talking to some friends the other day who opened their first savings accounts after college, when they got their first job. I've had a checking account since I was 9 years old and a savings account since I was 11. Showing built that baby up pretty large by the time I headed off to college!

Our memories might be a little different, and we might te flattered due to compliments that most people wouldn't even understand....but I wouldn't trade growing up an ag kid for anything (including the ice cream man!).

Throwback Thursday # 20: Row Row Row Your Boat...

“Life is not a journey to the grave with intentions of arriving safely in a pretty well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming ... WOW! What a ride!” ~ Unknown

I'm going totally out of order here. But I think this is one of my favorite summer stories, if not one of my favorite days of my life. Picture it, Sonoma County, June 2008.

The firm took us on a KILLER wine tasting weekend (don't worry...blog on that coming soon!) in Sonoma. We stayed at the beautiful Sonoma Lodge, where everyone got their own room, or their own cottage if they had brought a date along. Because I hate being dateless to anything, my best friend ever in life, BFF, came to join me!
The last day of the retreat was a free day, so we could do whatever we wanted. Some people went to the spa, some slept in, some went home early. The fun people went kayaking/canoeing. And thus, the story begins.

My fellow summer associate and good friend and her husband had called around and booked kayaks for the day. When they asked if anyone else wanted to come along, they got quite a contingent---in all there were 9 of us up for the challenge. We loaded into vehicles and headed out. We stopped at Subway to get lunch that we would stop an eat along the river (this will be important later). Off we headed to navigate the Russian River.
When we got there, we had three kayaks and three canoes. The kayaks were one person and the canoes were for two. So BFF and I ended up in a canoe. You need to realize, canoes are much harder than kayaks. Now, I've never used a kayak, but I am sure this is true. Had BFF not have been there and I would have had a kayak to myself, I'm sure none of the disasters you are about to read of would have occurred.

We're canoeing along. Everything is fine. Then it happens. Our canoe tips over. For the life of me I don't know how it happened. But here we are, in the middle of the Russian River, canoe turned over, trying to swim to the shore, stuff (including sandwiches, shoes, etc.) floating right on down the river. Yea. Well after we gathered everything back up, and managed to save one sandwich that was somehow tied in an airtight bag, we flip the canoe over and get in again. This couldn't have been more than 20 minutes into the trip, so I figured it was common and everyone would flip at some point in our journey.

So we continue along. I am in the front, BFF is in the back. We somehow end up on the bank about to run right under a tree. Seeing this I yell "Duck!" and lean to the left. My dear BFF also leans to the left. You can guess the result. Yes, flip flops and surviving sandwich bag go floating down the river again. By this point BFF and I are screaming our heads off at each other about how stupid the other one is. Everyone else has gotten pretty good at fetching shoes and sunscreen as they float by. So, we're back in the canoe and we go again. Mind you, we've flipped twice. No one else has had any issue. (We gave our stupid sandwich to my friends Hawaii and Gonzaga at this point, because they looked to be a much safer choice!).

Then my married friends manage to get sort of caught on a tree that had collapsed in the river. The husband was so nice to the wife, saying things like "oh it's okay honey, just paddle a little. Lean to the right a bit, we'll get it." They did. In the mean time, BFF and I are literally screaming at the top of our lungs about common sense and who is supposed to be steering. We weren't mad, it's just how we communicate. :)

We continue down the river and at one point there's a big rock on the middle. Now, this was literally THE ONLY ROCK sticking up out of the river. We probably could not have hit that rock head on if we tried. But, because we were not trying, we hit it. No tip over this time, but it did make for a hilarious scene and story for my friends Hawaii and Gonazaga, who saw the whole situation, to tell for the rest of the summer.
Well, to wind this up, we ended up flipping over one more time. I don't remember how this one happened, but we were pretty good by now at getting things back under control. No one else ever flipped. Not at all. Go figure.


I think our canoe was defective. Or maybe it was because we were from the desert and had never seen much water before. Regardless, it was a great day and one I will never forget. Notice we have no pictures while canoeing. Luckily, we did not take the camera. Good call there.


In the end, BFF remained my best friend despite the yelling. After this, I've pretty much decided that when I apply for the Amazing Race, I have my partner already picked out. We'll be a dream for CBS' ratings!

Back Up Plan

"The more you find out about the world, the more opportunities there are to laugh at it. " ~ Bill Nye

Here's a question for my blog readers: If you lost your cell phone tomorrow and needed to call someone, would you know any phone numbers?

Scary, isn't it? I don't know about you, but I could call my parents' house and my brother's cell phone. That's it. Out of the 400 contacts in my phone, I know two numbers!

What's the point of this? Well my mom lost all of her contacts in her email address book yesterday when her account got hacked. It's actually a funny story (although she's not quite to the point of seeing the humor....) as to how it happened. Apparently the hackers sent an email to all of her contacts saying that my mom was stranded in London and needed $2500. Now, I find this funny for two reasons. First, my mom would NEVER not have enough money with her on a trip. Seriously, when we were kids, if we needed to take $100 bucks with us on a trip, she'd insist we take $250 to be safe. She's crazy like that....and also about packing enough clothes, but that's another blog. Second, my mom would never be in London. She HATES to fly and the thought of her flying across the Atlantic is just hilarious.

Anyway, my whole point is that we all need to back up our information. Today, I printed out all of my email contacts. It took about 3 minutes to do, but I had never though of doing it before. I also have a list of all the contacts in my cell phone in case I lose it.

So...unless you want to start trying to memorize phone numbers, you might think about backing up your info. And, on the bright side, my mom now knows that if she's ever stranded in London, she has lots of friends who are willing to help her (after they confirm the story with a phone call!). She's a lucky lady.

Deciding to Be Happy

"So plant your own garden and decorate your own soul instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers." ~Veronica A. Shoffstall, "After a While"

Recently a woman I know said something that made me think. She said, "You are just so lucky to be a happy person. It's refreshing. I wish I was like that." She seemed to think that happiness was genetic (like your height) or a gift given to some people that others don't have (like the ability to sing) or something along those lines. It got me to thinking, and I disagree.

Now, I realize I am extraordinarily blessed and I am grateful for the gifts I have been given every day. If anyone in the world should be happy, it really is me because I've been blessed far beyond what I deserve. However, on the other hand, I think a great deal of my happiness comes from my own conscious decision to be happy.

At the risk of sounding like a self help book here, every day I see and hear people complain, whine, and just act generally miserable. I just choose not to do that. I make a daily decision to be happy and upbeat. Life is too short and too precious to go around in a bad mood all the time.

Sure, we all have days where we need a pity party, but hopefully these days are few and far between. When they happen, you have your pity party day and get over it the next.

So figure out what you can do for yourself to make you happy. Then do it. I have some friends who love curling up on a couch all day with a book. I have some friends who need to go spend the afternoon on a horse. I have another who loves bubble baths and pedicures. Today, I decided I wanted some flowers. So instead of sitting around sulking that no one was buying them for me, I got in my car and took my butt down to the store and came back with the yellow mums you see below. Whatever it is that makes you happy--do it.

So when you wake up in the morning (well, not right when you wake up because I'm SO not a morning person and would be a completely hypocrit if I said that...but maybe like after you've gotten up and showered and got dressed and listened to some music and driven to work) decide that you are going to be happy that day. Happiness isn't genetic--it's a choice. Make it!

P.S. ~ If you are wondering about the random pictures....I just tried to pick out some of the happiest pictures I had. I figured that it couldn't hurt to get the day started off right!

Family Farm Friday # 16: Extended Family

"Friends are the most important part of your life. Treasure the tears, treasure the laughter, but most importantly, treasure the memories." ~Dave Brenner

When you grow up in the agricultural community, you become part of an extended family of sorts. You make friendships while showing or judging in 4-H and FFA, while rodeoing or giving speeches or going to auctions at the sale barn. Agriculture is a tight knit group who tends to take care of its own. I've seen this countless times in my life, and was reminded of it again this week.

You may have seen this tragic story on the news. On Monday, two Roswell high school seniors were found dead in Arizona. The two were stand-out rodeo athletes who had been in Arizona to compete at a rodeo. They stopped in a grocery store parking lot to spend the night in their camper shell, which was equipped with a generator. The boys suffered carbon monoxide poisoning and died.

It is such a tragic story--lives cut way too short. Boys who were doing nothing wrong were taken from their friends and family too soon. Sadly, in eastern New Mexico, especially in the agriculture community, this is not an uncommon story.

When a tragedy like this occurs, people rally. They send cards, say prayers, help plan meals and funerals. People drive from across the state to support the loved ones left behind and to pay their respects to the lost. I've seen, and been a part of this, countless times. The "agriculture" family bans together. It makes a difference.

Every Friday I talk about the benefits of farming and ranching---how we feed the world, provide safe products, care for the land. All of these are important. But we also become a family who takes care of each other in our time of need. Maybe this is the most important of benefit of all.

Throwback Thursday #20: Grilled Chicken

"If I had my life to live over, I would perhaps have more actual troubles but I'd have fewer imaginary ones." ~Don Herold

So.....I was pretty nervous for my summer job. I had no idea what to expect and frankly no idea if I could hack it. I'm a planner (shocking, I know) so I figured I had thought through everything that could possibly go wrong.

What if the trolley was late? Or got stuck? Or ran off the tracks? Had a back up. What if my shoe broke? Or I fell in one of those grates that let the steam out of underground? What if the elevator didn't work and I had to walk 24 flights of stairs in my heels? What if I got a run in my hose? What if they asked me a question that everyone else in the room knew but me? What if they wanted to know how to cite to the U.S. Code and needed an answer in .25 seconds? Yea, seriously, I played all of this over in my head.

Well....I missed one. Ordering lunch.

Now, let's get this straight--I am not a picky eater. Never have been. Other than not liking seafood because it stinks and makes me want to gag, I'll pretty much eat anything. May not love it, but I'll eat it with a smile on my face and use the manners my mama taught me. You also need to understand I grew up in rural New Mexico. The restaurant options were American and Mexican. If you think Pizza Hut qualifies as Italian, then we had Italian. Then I hit San Francisco.

The first day, my mentor took me for Greek food. The menu.....in Greek. HOLY COW! I was freaking out.....I knew that I was going to get fired for sure. I mean, how could they hire me and ever think I could meet with clients if I didn't even know what to order? In the midst of my total panic, which trying to remain calm, cool, and talkative, I came up with a game plan. Find the thing that looks the closest to grilled chicken. This became my mantra for the entire summer...you can always eat the closest thing to grilled chicken. So, on Day #2, we go to Thai and I stick with my same idea. Worked out well. Day #3, fancy seafood restaurant, same plan.

You get the idea--I won't bore you with the menus for the next three months. Suffice it to say, it never led me astray and I didn't get fired for being unable to order. (And those of you who are thinking, ISN'T SHE A CATTLE KID? Yes....I am....steak obviously tastes better. But let's be honest, it's hard to screw up grilled chicken....it's the safe bet.)

Undefeated.....and Overlooked

"Don't worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition." ~ Abraham Lincoln

Okay....question to the blog world. How many of you watched the NCAA Women's Basketball tournament? How many of you watched even one game? Did you know that the women from UConn completed the perfect season? That's right--the went undefeated to win the National Championship over Stanford. Isn't it sad that they get such little recognition for this? Although, they did get at least one pretty cool phone call. Here's some quick UConn info--the ladies ended the season with a perfect 39-0. They are riding a 78 game winning streak. Think about how unbelieveable that is! They are just 10 games shy of breaking the men's win streak record, which was set by UCLA in the early 1970s. The team is lead by stand-out and tournament MVP, Maya Moore and coached by the legandary Geno Auriemma. The Championship Game wasn't a romp--in fact--UConn was down 20-12 at halftime. But the team rallied and beat Stanford 53-47.
This is good stuff and people should be watching. I'm as guilty as everyone else. I am a huge sports fan. I played basketball. There is no excuse for why I will watch every single Men's NCAA tournament game, but won't tune in for any of the Women's tournament. So I wanted to take today's blog and give a shout out to the UConn Huskies and their perfect season. And to vow that next year, I will be watching BOTH tournaments!

April Updates

"In golf, as in life, it's the follow through that makes a difference." ~Unknown

Do you feel like sometimes I start something on the blog and never finish it? I know some people are annoyed that I blog about something I will be doing soon, but then they don't get to hear any follow up on how things went. So I've decided that every month I'll do a blog of updates---sort of filling you in on the events that have occurred related to the prior month's blogs.

Sheep Sale As I told everyone last Friday, our family lamb sale was last weekend. It went great--best one we've had. We sold 38 lambs. We even broke a goal we set for ourselves....twice. And on top of that, we got to visit some great time with our customers, who are really great friends as well. It's always like a little show family reunion.

My New Cow One Family Farm Friday Blog told you about my new cow (and calf). I have finally seen them, and little brother is still hired as my cattle buyer. She looks pretty good! I'm very excited and plan to spend some time deciding which bull I want to breed her to--which you all probably remember me discussing previously. The calf looks pretty good as well....so I'll have to decide if I am going to keep her or sell her. She may end up being a little fine boned, but we'll see.
NCAA Tournament Well, my Cinderella Stories blog almost was the ultimate preminition. Tiny underdog Butler almost beat college basketball powerhouse Duke. Butler was the smallest school EVER to play in the Championship game. Their coach is only 33 years old. They were the total real life Hoosiers (great movie if you haven't seen it) who were playing for small schools everywhere. They came within on basket of pulling it off. One of my favorite parts of this was College Roomie who had me help her with her bracket. We were filling it out and she said "Butler. I'll pick them. Go Big 12." I laughed and informed her that Butler was not in the Big 12. She was thinking of Baylor. Had I kept my mouth shut, she probably could have won a lot of money. Note to all of you--apparently basketball conference knowledge does not equate to bracket selecting ability!

Bay to Breakers Training Well, I've officially registered for the race, which you have previously read about. Their website has a countdown, which officially freaks me out and motivates me to go on runs most nights! So far my farthest run has been 3.5 miles in 30:45. Not great.....but I'm getting there! Cross your fingers that in 32 days, I will be able to do the full 7.5!

West Virginia Miners The prior blog was sad enough, but the tragedy got even worse. The four missing miners for whom they were searching for and hoping against hope they would find alive in the mine's refuge chamber were found dead. In all, 29 miners lost their lives in the worst mining disaster in our nation's history. These are 29 fathers, brothers, sons, cousins, friends..... Please continue to keep these families in your prayers.

Family Farm Friday #15: We've Come a Long Way

“You don't make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas.” ~ Shirley Hufsteddler

This weekend is my family's annual show lamb sale. As I am preparing to go home for the sale, I was thinking about the very first sale that we took lambs to. Looking back, it's safe to say that we've come a long way!

Mr. Franklin, cousin Whitney and I loaded up into his silver Ford truck, hooked onto his tan gooseneck trailer and away we went. The trip was pretty typical for a Franklin-style outing. The dashboard was full of snuff cans, hauling papers for the last 30 years, and a half-eaten bag of chicken gizzards. (Poor cousin Whitney may not have seen this as typical, but I didn't blink). We drove the endless road to Capitan.....aka the middle of nowhere. It was freezing, snowing and not pleasant. There were very few buyers there, our chains on the lamb rack kept breaking so we were continuously catching lambs as they were trying to run away (probably back home where it was not negative 57 degrees) and we were not having fun. We sold a few lambs....we may have actually sold all of them because I don't specifically remember bringing any home. I'm sure we averaged about 125 bucks a head.

To give you an idea of how enjoyable this trip was, on the way home Mr. Franklin said, "Girl, if we have to do that again, it's going to drive me to drink." As it was, it drove him to stop at a convenience store to get a Swisher Sweet cigar and puff on it the rest of the way home.

Now, thank goodness, we no longer trek to Capitan. And we no longer have to use that stupid lamb rack. And we no longer have to wash the lambs before the sale. Hallelujah! Our families rent out the fairgrounds and have the sale there. We usually have around 200 buyers on hand, we feed everyone lunch, give out door prizes and sell some lambs. Last year, we sold around 70 total between the two families. Not too bad.

Hopefully this year will go just as well. Sheep sale weekend is one of my favorites of the year--I love getting to catch up with our friends and customers. It's sort of like a showing family reunion.

Yep, we've come a long way since Capitan. As much as I enjoy and prefer our current sale format over that chaos, I would go back and re-do that first sale in a heartbeat now. The sale this year won't be the same without the little man in the golf cart running into everything and everyone in sight. So much of why we've been able to come a long way can be credited to him....in the sheep sale context and in life.

Maybe I'll buy some chicken gizzards to put on my dashboard for the drive home, for old time's sake.

Throwback Thursday #19: Where It All Began...

“The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination.” ~ Don Williams, Jr.


I have gotten several questions, both since the Throwback Thursday topic switched to my summer in San Francisco and before that, about how I ended up in San Francisco for the summer. I figured, why not blog about that?



When I was done with my first summer clerk job (at the firm where I now work), it was time for look at jobs for the next summer. I knew that I loved my firm, and said that if I already knew that if I stayed in Albuquerque, I wanted to work there. So, because working at a different firm in Albuquerque seemed like a waste of time, and because I was craving some adventure, I went a different route. I thought I wanted to work at a large firm to see what I thought.


I asked around, and one attorney I knew suggested that I get an Am Law magazine and send cover letters and resumes to all of the top 50 firms in cities I might want to work. Being young, dumb and not realizing what a long shot this really was, I followed his advice. Somehow, I started getting phone calls asking to set up interviews. My first call was from...the San Francisco office of Paul Hastings.



Getting recruited for summer associate jobs by Top 50 firms is super fun. I was flown out to San Francisco and put up in the fanciest hotel I have ever stayed in. Then I interviewed with five or six attorneys in one day, had a fancy lunch, and then got to do some shopping/sightseeing before I head home. That should be the end of the story. However, because it's me....we have to throw in a little drama.
Have I mentioned that I get car sick before? Yea, I realize you are supposed to grow out of it. I didn't. So I got super sick on the plane to San Francisco. Then I got sick again in the cab. Then again once I got to the hotel. By this point, I pretty much feel like crap. However, to make matters worse, I had already rented a bike to go biking across the Golden Gate Bridge (bucket list checkmark ahead!) that afternoon.

Well, because I really wanted to check that item off, and becuase I'm cheap and had already paid the 20 bucks or whatever it was for the bike, I decided to go biking anyway. I'm lucky I didn't die. I as so deyhdrated I got out to the bridge and just turned around. I didn't have the energy to get across. I did, however, get to see the famous skateboarding dog and snap a few other pictures that day.
The interview went well, although when they took me and tried to feed me really fancy food on my poor sick stomach that was a mess. I loved the people and the city and the firm. Somehow, they decided to give me an offer and, as they say, the rest is history. I had an offer with a great firm in D.C. as well and, although I really wanted to experience living in both cities, I chose San Francisco. Speaking of, I read interesting blog this week about this very issue.


Pretty sure that was one of the best decisions of my life.....

The Faces

"Next to love, sympathy is the divinest passion of the human heart." ~Edmund Burke

It's really easy to watch tragic stories on the news and not really think about the fact that actual people are involved. It's hard to stop and really think about them---putting yourself in their shoes. When we see this kind of stories, most of the time I think we feel a momentary sadness for the people, and then just go on with our day. I'm as guilty as anyone. I'm busy--so I might see a headline on MSN and say a quick prayer for the people and go back to whatever motion I'm working on.
Today I was reading about the mine collapse in West Virginia. I was looking at the pictures of the families and friends of the miners who have been killed, or who are still missing. When you look at the faces and remember that there are actual people--wives and mothers and sisters and children--it's a lot harder to just go on with your day. With these faces, I really tried to think about how that would feel if I were in their shoes. It could be any of us....
Please take a moment today to think about the people, and to look at their faces. You can read about some of the miners who lost their lives. Pray for peace and comfort for the families today. One day, God forbid, it could be our face that people are looking at. I would hope they would return the kindness.

State FFA Week - Don't Tell Me I Can't

"The turning point, I think, was when I really realized that you can do it yourself. That you have to believe in you because sometimes that's the only person that does believe in your success but you." ~ Tim Blixseth

It's State FFA Judging week in Las Cruces, so I figured a blog on something judging related was appropriate. I've always been a person who hated being told she couldn't do something. If there was any sure-fire way to motivate me, it was to tell me I couldn't do it.

For those of you who were not in FFA, the way judging works is that once your team has won state and judged at Nationals, those team members are not allowed to judge that contest anymore. So, usually you just find another contest and give that a try. My freshman year we won livestock, which was "our contest" so to speak and went to Nationals. So, sophmore year we won Dairy and went to Nationals. Junior year rolled around. Judging season started and we were signing up for which contests we would be competing in. Mr. Franklin puts our names on the board for Poultry. He had lost his mind.

Now, you have to understand, we were livestock kids. I had never touched a chicken in my life. Kyle didn't even EAT chicken. And Mr. Franklin thought we would judge, and not just judge, but win the Poultry contest? We suggested other contests, I tried to pull the "I'm allergic to feathers" line, Kyle said he'd never even seen raw chicken. We tried to explain this to him, but anyone who knew Mr. Franklin realizes this was akin to talking to a fence post. He calmly informed us not only were we going to be judging Poultry, we'd be winning poultry. So, we started learning about chicken parts, pigmentation loss, and candeling eggs.

Our first invitational contest rolled around and we were in Clovis. The Poultry contest was set up in one of the barns, so off we went, clipboards in hand, eyes ready for our first Poultry experience. As we were entering the barn, a whole group of ag teachers from other schools were laughing at us. It seemed like they all had comments about the livestock kids judging poutry and how funny we looked and then one of them made a crack about our winning streak being over and how his team had been training for years to win Poultry. He had implied that we couldn't do it--bad mistake.

Kyle and I both saw red, and it was on. I remember getting off that bus that night and going to the freezer to unthaw chicken parts to practice. The next week at night after we had been judging at district all day, it was the same thing. All along we could do it, and now we knew we were going to. To this day I can look at most any cut of chicken and blurt out what it is in about .25 seconds. I could analyze a problem with a fried chicken patty like no one's business--they really should have hired me at McDonalds. I guess if the lawyer thing doesn't work out...
Life is full of people telling you that you can't do something. You have two choices--you can listen to them, or you can prove them wrong. Most of the time, people don't know what you are made of. They underestimate your abilities and try to get you to sell yourself short. Don't listen. Prove them wrong. Put you head down and go to work. You know what you're capable of. Show everyone else.

Oh, and in case you were wondering how the story ended? We ended up holding a big red State Championship banner in Gerald Thomas hall. We went on to be holding big scholarship checks at the National FFA Convention a few months later.

I don't think I ever thanked that ag teacher for his assistance with achieving these goals.....that was unthoughtful of me.

OSU Family Easter

"I've learned that your college friends become kind of family, you eat together, you take naps together, fight, laugh, cry, and do absolutely nothing together until you can't remember how you ever lived your life without them in the first place." ~Anonymous


This Easter I was thinking back on the holiday and I decided a blog about my favorite Easter may be necessary. It was my senior year of college at OSU. We never got off Good Friday (shame on OSU....being in the Bible Belt and all!) so it was just too far for us out of state kids to make it home. Instead, we had our own "family" Easter dinner. So there we were....our hodge podge group of New Mexicans, our token Texan, and our city boy Okie.

I can still remember everyone getting all dressed up and meeting at our apartment to go to church. We all piled into my car, like one big happy family, and then all piled into a pew where there was probably room for about 1/2 of us. Sorry people who were squished in the process--but family sits together for Easter church! I seem to even recall Cole threatening to pull the car over if the bickering didn't stop in the back seat.


When church was over we all went back to the casa and had a huge dinner. I don't remember what we had--my guess is mexican food since that's really the only thing I know how to cook. I do remember that I had to make deviled eggs especially for Christopher, because his mom always made deviled eggs on Easter and I was like his college mom, and in his head, that logic made complete sense. I made his stupid eggs.
The saying is true that your college friends become like a family. These boys (and College Roomie) were there for me no matter what--good, bad and everything in between. I could always count on them for anything. From taking the dead mous out of a trap, to a place to sleep when our apartment almost exploded, to the craziest nights ever at the Penny, to golf lessons that ended up in screaming matches, to saving the worst birthday ever.....they were there.

They were, and will always be, family. Even if that means making deviled eggs to go with enchilladas.

Happy Easter!

"Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won't stay there." ~Clarence W. Hall

Family Farm Friday # 13: All Hat, No Cattle

"There's nothing like sitting back and talking to your cows." ~Russell Crowe I had a professor in law school who would randomly, about once a week, come dressed in western clothing. Wranglers, button up shirt, belt, and boots. In undergrad at Oklahoma State, I would never have thought twice about this. But at UNM, this is a little bit more rare. One day I was meeting with him on a day when he was in his western wear, so I asked him if he owned a horse or something. His response? "Oh no honey, I'm all hat, no cattle!" Anyway, recently I felt his pain. My family has always raised cattle and sheep, and I've always had some of my own cows. I bought my first heifer when I was 10 years old from our neighbor. She was a Hereford cross with a red circle over one eye. I took the money I had made from selling my first lamb at the county fair (2nd place, lightweight blackface) and invested. Over the years I've pretty much always had some cattle that were my own, or belonged jointy to me and my brother. However, my 7 years of higher education (I know, I know....I'm a nerd) tended to tighten the budget, so I hadn't been able to keep replenishing the herd. I, like my professor, found myself in the "all hat, no cattle" situation. Until yesterday. I sent my brother to the cattle auction. Now, you have to know a little bit about my brother. He's one of those people who could sell ice to an eskimo as the saying goes. He knows everyone, talks to everyone and is friends with everyone. He also has a great eye for livestock. We both grew up judging in 4-H and FFA, and both judged in junior college. He easily has always had more natural talent than I have when it comes to livestock evaluation, so I trust his judgment. (Although, I suspected him of trying to make a "finders fee" so I insisted that I be on the phone during the auction to see how much he was really bidding!) Anyway, I am now the proud owner of a cow and calf. They were sold as a pair--which is a pretty sweet deal. The calf is a heifer, so that means I will either keep her to breed (which you remember I'm super excited about from my prior blog about bull semen), or I'll sell her and end up getting a big chunck of my investment back! Sounds like a win-win to me. I haven't seen them yet, but I'm hoping that when I go home for Easter this weekend, I'll be able to scope out my purchase. I'm debating naming the cow Bonus (since that's what is paying for hre!). We'll see if it fits when I see her.

Throwback Thursday Failure

"Don't make excuses - make good." ~Elbert Hubbard





So....I didn't get my blog written for this Thursday. Bad blogger, bad!



Anyway, I have had several people ask me how I ended up in San Francisco for the summer, so I decided I'd start from the beginning and explain how I figured out where to apply, talk about the highlights of the interview process, that kind of thing. Dont' worry, I'll have some fun stories thrown in. Including one involving this little guy......





So stay tuned. Next week I'll be sure to blog ahead of time so it's ready to go on Thursday morning!