Calf Fry Gets Me a Checkmark!

"Won't you smile for me my Texas Angel....it'll be alright. Just lay your head beside me, dream of me tonight..." ~ Honeybrowne, "Texas Angel"

I wanted to blog today about how Calf Fry let me get a Bucket List CHECKMARK this year today....because tomorrow I'm going to be having a short rant about the bad side of this year's event.

But, happy news first---me and my fabulous foursome all reunited in Stillwater to attend the yearly ritual/national holiday of Calf Fry.

I do love checking items off of the bucket list! You might wonder what my item was:

TAKE A PICTURE WITH A FAMOUS PERSON.

See, one of my Oklahoma Girls works with a wonderful woman who dates a guy named Alex, Miranda Lambert's lead guitarist. When Oklahoma Girl said I might get to meet him, I was super excited, but a little on the fence about whether he qualified as famous.

Sure enough, his girlfriend was kind enough to get him to come out and meet us. He was super nice and really funny. Then, randomly, I learn that he used to be the lead singer for Honeybrowne. I try to play it cool, but completely freak out because I LOVED Honeybrowne, especially their song "Texas Angel."

Anyway, at this point I know that he qualifies as famous for sure and I'm dying to get that picture...luckily, his girlfriend is a saint and she offered to take one for us! She also got us all guitar picks from him....how great is she? And for all the talk I hear about what jerks band guys are, I can assure you I'm not a believer. This guy came off his bus to meet four girls he didn't know and chatted with us for half an hour before his show, posed for pictures, and got us guitar picks.

Anyway, another Calf Fry is in the books and I have a Bucket List checkmark to prove it!

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.)