Short Ones Too

"The days are long, but the years are short." ~Gretchen Ruben, The Happiness Project

Isn't that quote the truth?

When I read this quote, it hit me like a ton of bricks. (Watch this great video about the quote). I remember being a kid and hearing adults talk about how time went so fast and how they coudn't believe it was already July or whatever month it was at that time. I never really got it---until now!

Sometimes, the days do seem to drag on---especially when I am busy working away on a research project or a brief. It can feel like I'm at the office for 20 hours a day instead of 10! The days also seem to drag on while I'm trying to run on the treadmill. Thirty minutes can seem like an eternity on that thing (especially because there is no college sports to be watched and I really would rather run outside but it's too darn hot for that!). There are plenty of other exampes---waiting in line at the store, doing laundry, washing dishes....you et the idea. The days do seem long....

....but the years are starting to fly by! Maybe it's because it's my first year working instead of being in school, but I swear the years are starting to go in fast forward! I can't believe we are halfway through 2010. Just last week I was putting a date on a motion to file and I found myself typing "April" before I realized I was 3 months behind.

So in light of this long day/short year situation, I'm doing my best to try and enjoy the days....and really, to even try and enjoy the moments. Those moments are what make up the years, and if we don't enjoy them now, we will realize that we missed out on the chance to do it. We will never get these moments back.

The years are short, but we have the chance to pack them full with great experiences, memories, opportunities, and the people who mean the most to us. They say good things come in small packages....maybe they come in short ones too.

Along for the Ride

“I seldom end up where I wanted to go, but almost always end up where I need to be.”

~ Douglas Adams

The Oklahoma Girls and I were talking about relationships and boys and the like last week. As three twenty-something single ladies, we have a lot to say on this topic! Specifically, we were talking about the idea that relationships are just meant to be and whatever is meant to happen will happen. Instead of us having control over the situation, maybe it's completely in God's hands and we're just along for the ride.

So, after thinking about this, I've decided a couple of things.

First off, relationships really are all about the timing. It's amazing to me that people ever find each other really! Think about it....you have to get two people who are at the same place, at the same time, who want the same things (including each other). If everything doesn't line up just right at the exact moment, things don't work out.

You know those people who can never seem to get their timing right? The girl likes the guy, but he's dating someone else. Or the guy's into the girl, but she's not looking for a relationship. Then, a year later, the roles reverse. I can think of several examples of people in my life who would fit right in this category. It is frustrating and annoying and can drive a person crazy!

So now that I've depressed everyone, my second realization is that I truly believe whatever is meant to be will be. Considering all the stars that have to align for a relationship to work, I sure hope that it's true that it's all in someone else's hands. I like to believe that there is a plan for how things are supposed to work out and everything that happens in our lives leads us to that moment when the timing is perfect.

I sure hope I'm right on this, because I'm here to tell you, I am pretty sure if it was in my hands, would be little hope I could get all of the timing right ever! And if I had been given the things I might have thought I wanted at some point in the past, I I would have screwed up my life countless times!

In the end, I'm grateful to just be along for the ride. Oh, and I'm hopeful that our Mister Rights find a clock soon to get this timing issue figured out!

What Do You Know Now?

"Happiness is one of the most important treasures. It is within your soul. All you have to do, is dig it out and enjoy it." ~ Unknown

I'm a follower of the Happiness Project Blog. Every week or so, the author interviews people and asks them questions about happiness in their own lives. One question that she always asks intrigues me. Her question is:


"What do you know about happiness now that you did not know when you were 18 years old?"

I think it's a great question, not only in the context of what we know about happiness, but also what we know about life in general--about money and dreams and relationships and friendship and whatever else you can think of. At the end of last year, I wrote a blog about what I had learned the year before. I plan on doing this every year from now on. I think that this type of reflection is important--what are we learning as we get older and experience new things?

So, for the last week or so, I've been thinking about what I have learned about happiness now that I didn't know when I was 18 or so. I think for me, I've learned that making myself happy is what matters, and that making other people happy is only secondary. I'm one of those people who is always worried about other people and I never want to let anyone down. When I make a decision, I want to feel like everyone is on board with it and that everyone supports it and thinks it's the right thing.

Well you know what? That crap is exhausting. In the end, I'm the one who is living my life and I'm the one who has to make the decisions that will make me happy. That means that if I have to chose one job over another because that's what I want to do, then so be it, even if everyone else thinks I'm crazy. And if I want to save up my money and jet off to Europe for two weeks, then I should do it if it's what I want to do.

Some people might read this and think that I'm being selfish. But no one else in the world focuses on my happiness but me. I don't think it's a selfish thing.....I think it's a smart thing. I plan on living my life making my decisions based on what will make me happy, and not worry about what other people would do in my shoes.

In the end, we decide how to live our lives. We decide what opportunties we will grasp, what experiences we will have, and what paths we will take. Happiness really is up to us.

So what do YOU know about happiness you didn't know when you were younger? Comment below!

Family Farm Friday # 23: The Chore that Got Me Into Law School

"Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be." ~Grandma Moses

Hopefully the title of this blog intrigued you.....here's the deal. When you are applying to law school, you have to write what's called a personal statement. It's just an essay about yourself....they give you no more direction than that. It can be about anything you want. So, when I sat down to write mine, I tried to think of what I could write about that would best describe me, my goals, my roots, my passions.....naturally, it had an ag-related theme to it.

I came up with a personal statement that focused on one particular farm chore....irrigating. Apparently this chore was pretty important in my family, because it was also the topic of a winning speech at the District 4-H Contest when I was 9 years old! Hey, when you find a good topic, you stick with it, right?

So anyway, below you can read a portion of my personal statement about irrigating that got me into law school.

I can still recall pulling on my rubber irrigation boots (which were about five sizes too big) and slowly climbing over the barbed wire fence into the field. My little legs did not come close to jumping the ditch, so my dad lifted me over, and the work began. I could not have been more than three years old following my dad across the rows of alfalfa. My boots squished through the mud as I dragged a seemingly huge load of irrigation tubes, that, in reality, consisted of about four of the two-inch diameter pipe tubes. Setting the water was hard work and not very much fun, but my whole family worked together to get the job done. My mom and I set the tubes, and my little brother played in the mud and pulled the shovel along behind him. I never questioned having to help set the water. I understood this was a job that had to be done, and everyone worked together until it was finished.

Teaching this work ethic was very important to my parents. I believe this greatly impacted the person I have become. Throughout my life, I have learned to work hard and to do my best. When I was in junior high school, my dad gave me the best advice I have ever received. We were at the barn one night taking care of our show animals. He told me, “Tiffany, we may get beat, but we will never get out worked.” This statement has stuck with me, and I work hard to live my life true to these words. My parents would not accept a mediocre effort; it was always understood that I was to give one hundred percent to everything I did.

......

I feel fortunate to have grown up in a rural community. Although my parents were always a driving force in my life, I am also a true example of the statement, “It takes a village to raise a child.” My many neighbors acted as additional sources of wisdom throughout my life. Coming from such a close-knit community has shaped the person who I have become and inspired me to represent those with similar backgrounds and experiences.

Much has changed since those sweltering summer days of years past. My feet have grown into the irrigation boots, I can jump the ditch by myself now, and, most of the time, my brother has outgrown his desire to play in the mud. However, as I look back, I realize there are certain things that have remained constant in my life. The closeness of my family, my competitive nature, my strong work ethic, and love for the agriculturural community are still as prevalent today as they ever were.

Why Kirk Herbstreit Is Killing My Love Life

“Every time you date someone with an issue that you have to work to ignore, you're settling.” ~ Unknown (but clearly a genius person!)

I don't particularly like Kirk Herbstreit. I think he's cocky, completely biased towards USC, he played at Ohio State which I can't stand, he's too much of a pretty boy, and he always seems to pick against my Cowboys. But when I learned recently that he may be killing my love life, my opinion of him went even lower.

So, now because everyone reading this is probably completely confused, let me explain. Kirk Herbstreit is one of the anchors on College Football Gameday. Every Saturday, he is on tv talking about college football, and he generally calls one of the bigger games of the week on Saturday night. As you may have realized as a reader of my blog, college football is one of my passions. I love it. And because of that I spend a lot of time with Kirk Herbstreit during the fall and winter months.

And, not to brag here, but I know my college football. I'm talking I know conferences, coaches, bowl games, Heisman winners, and I can probably refer back to games from years ago and still complain about the blown call that cost Miami the national championship or the amazing Statue of Liberty play that won the game for Boise State. And I'm not afraid to tell you my opinion on these things. Just saying.

Now, here comes the problem. One of my guy friends, who we'll call McCain, was giving me boy advice. Part of his advice was that guys don't really like girls who are too into sports. So, he told me that it's okay to talk about sports in general in the beginning, but I probably don't want to show that I know who Kirk Herbstreit is or get into some heavy debate about why the Big 12 is a better conference than the others.

I was floored--guys don't like girls that are "too into sports"? What does that even mean? Should a girl really change her interests and personality in order to get the guy? And to be fair to McCain, he didn't really tell me to change who I was, but just not to show everything right away. But still, is it really a good idea to hide who you are in order to get someone on the hook?

My initial thought was something along the lines of "no way, McCain is clearly an idiot and doesn't know anything." I think that this is probably the knee-jerk reaction of every girl when she thinks about changing or hiding herself so that a guy will be interested.

But then I thought a little deeper....The problem with this logic, as much as it pains me to say, is that McCain is actually a pretty smart guy who has his stuff together. And maybe girls do this kind of thing all the time and just don't want to admit it. I can think of girls who I know who have done the same thing (albiet it didnt' involve Kirk Herbstreit, but you get my point). And in light of the fact that I am perpetually single, maybe I should re-think this a little.

It makes me wonder--are all guys in on this anti-sports ploy and I just never knew about it? Am I single because I know who Kirk Herbstreit is? Should I just erase him from my memory all together? Is Kirk Herbstreit really killing my love life!?!

Okay readers---I'm asking you so comment below!

Suffering....Lessons from Job

"On the road marked with suffering, though there's pain in the offering, blessed be Your name." ~Matt Redman, Blessed Be Your Name

A sort of classic story in my family happened after my Aunt Elvina's funeral. The preacher had been a bit long-winded and pretty heavy on the "fire and brimstone" type message. As everyone filed out of the church, my cousin Ted said, "Well boys, I don't know about you, but I think I'm good for Sunday!" Well, you may feel that way after reading this blog, so I'm going to do my best not to be too preachy, but instead to simply share what I feel like is an important message.

Last weekend at church, was had a guest speaker, Fred Zaspel, who preached on the book of Job. For those of you who are not Christians, or who may not be familiar with the story, a very brief overview is that Job was extremely faithful and righteous, and he was one of the wealthiest men in the East. One day Satan was bragging to God about all of the destruction he was causing on earth, and about how many souls Satan was winning over. God pointed to Job as a success story. The devil basically said, sure, you give him everything, he never suffers, of course he is faithful, but if you take it away, he will curse your name. So God told the devil that he could cause great suffering to Job, in order to prove to the devil that Job was faithful, even in extreme suffering.

I think that suffering is one of those issues that every Christian, and non-Christian, has questions about. I know that I certainly do, so I was excited to hear this sermon. I was not disappointed. I honestly think this was the best sermon that I have ever heard preached in my life. (And that's impressive, because my church in Stillwater had who I consider to be the best preacher in the world!)

The gist of the sermon was three-fold.

First, there are reasons for suffering that we cannot fathom, know or understand. Look at Job--we know that the reason for his suffering was because of the battle going on between God and the Devil. WE know that, but Job didn't. The same is true for our sufferings. There are likely reasons and causes that we do not understand, because we can't see them.

One of these reasons for our suffering may be to give glory to God through a worshiping sufferer. That was the purpose of Job's suffering....God used Job's faith, despite the terrible suffering that he was enduring, for God's glory. That doesn't take the pain away, but maybe it makes it easier to bear when you know that there is a purpose to it, and when you understand that your being faithful through suffering may well be to glorify God.

Second, in our suffering, God is calling us to a stronger faith. When bad things happen, we often think that God owes us an explaination. I know that's true for me. But that's not correct--God owes us know explaination, but instead, we owe him trust. It's not important that we know why, what matters is that we know that God knows why, and we trust him.

Third, unlike Job, we suffer as Christians, with our hope in Jesus. Job frequently asked where God was during his suffering, and he plead for a mediator or some sort to come and bridge the gap between himself on earth and God in heaven. We have that mediator in Jesus. This makes our faith all the more reasonable, and Job's faith all the more remarkable.

If you are interested in listening to this sermon (trust me, Pastor Zaspel is 100 times better than my attempt at explaining it here!), you can listen here. I know that these ideas touched my heart, so hopefully they will yours as well.

Rant Lists

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." ~Dr. Seuss

I should preface this by saying that my friends and I are genuinely nice people. That said, however, sometimes a girl just has enough!

So the Oklahoma Girls, College Roomie and I all periodically send rant emails. When someone has a bad day or get really annoyed at someone, they get to do a rant and email it to everyone else. I would strongly suggest that other people try this. It's amazing how much better you'll feel!

This actually started in the context of boys (shocking, I know). The way it work is you write a short letter (like a couple sentences usually) to several of the boys from your past, and basically tell him off. You don't send it to the boy, of course, but writing it and sending it to your girls gets lets you get it out of your system.

I wish I could show you the entire boy rants we did, but in order to protect the innocent, I'll just share a few to give you an idea.

"I'm fine with you not wanting to drink or party or whatever, but talking bad about the Penny is just unacceptable. Period."

"Who has to take level 1 college Algebra 4 times… Oh that would be you!"

"Cigarettes smell bad, make you smell bad, make your clothes smell bad, and don't make your mouth taste very good either."
Anyway, we have started ranting about various other things as well. Traffic, wedding pictures, people we have to deal with in every day life..... Again, I can't share too much for confidentiality reasons, but here are a few more ideas.

"Wranglers will not be worn at my wedding...unless I am marrying George Strait."

"I hate it when she comes to work and talks about how sick she is. Well why in the crap did you come in the first place then? Just freaking stay home. If I get sick I'm going to strangle her. Then she'll really need a doctor."

"Pretty sure we are in the 21st century and women and no longer inferior to men, so don’t treat me that way! If you don’t want me to kick your crazy %&$ then learn how to play nice!"
"The 1980's called and they want their wedding cake back."
Anyway, when you get frustrated with someone or something, try a rant list. And feel free to email it to me. I always find myself feeling better after reading them as well!

June Updates

"Life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you wish, but you only spend it once." ~Lillian Dickson

Every month I try and update my readers on any developments from prior posts. Here we go!

Expanding my herd. You probably all remember when I purchased my cow a while back. Well, my livestock herd has expanded once again. I'm now the proud owner of 8 hamp/suffolk cross ewes. I'm pretty excited to see how this little project turns out. I love having cattle, but if we're being honest, I'm a sheep girl through and through.

After spending so much of my life lately cooped up in an office, I cannot wait to get home this weekend and spend some time with the animals, out in the sun, wind and dirt! I'll get some pictures of the new little ladies to post soon!

More Senior Quotes. Well, you may remember one of my favorite blogs about funny senior quotes from one of my Oklahoma girls. You might also remember Mr. G---he was responsible for the quote about the shirt and about his wife thinking about a diet. Anyway, we have good news to report. Mr. G has been discharged from physical therapy. Yay for him, sad for us because that means no more quotes from him. He did, however, leave us with a dandy.

(Mr. G is leaving the office after his last appointment).
Oklahoma Girl: "Mr. G, I sure am going to miss seeing you."
Mr.G: "Well, me too... but I am just glad those cops never caught me."

Oklahoma Girl informs me that she has no idea what he was talking about. Classic.

Casting Call. After the blog about who would star in the movie of my life, I continued thinking about who would play other friends in my life. I decided to give you some insight on who would play the people you read about frequently in my blogs.

The Oklahoma Girls will be played by Joanna Garcia (actress who played Cheyenne in Reba) and Adrianne Palicki (who plays Tyra on Friday Night Lights--which is my favorite show by the way!).

The Crazy Canadian will be played by Melissa Peterman (Barbara Jean from Reba). She's perfect....they are both so perky and happy and full of life. I think this one is the best casting yet! A picture will not do it justice, so watch this video!

BFF was the hardest one for me to cast to be honest with you. After a lot of thinking about this, I went with Dermot Mulroney, the guy on My Best Friend's Wedding and the Wedding Date. He's funny and nice and really cute. BFF isn't sold on this yet, but I think it's a great idea.

Flintstone will be played by Luke Perry. Sort of in a cross between Dillon from 90201 and Lane Frost from 8 Seconds.

Cousin Swiss Mister will be played by Jude Law. I really do think they look sort of alike!

Cousin Kevin will be played by Danny DeVito. I'm kidding, I'm kidding---his head probably just exploded. That was payback for his suggestion that Meryl Streep should play me. Um....no. Actually, I think I'd go with Bruce Willis for Cousin Kevin.

Quote of the Month. For the second month in a row, one of the Oklahoma Girls wins quote of the month. Summer is the season of weddings, which can be a little frustrating for single twentysomethings. This fact led Oklahoma Girl to pronounce this month's quote:

Even bald people are getting married.....I have a full head of hair...how is this fair??

Family Farm Friday #22: Gate to Plate

“All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.” ~Galileo

I love it when I can find great examples of agriculture telling our story. The New Mexico Beef Council puts on a great event every other year in order to educate New Mexicans about the agricultural industry in the state.

Each year, the Gate to Plate tour highlights agriculture in a different region of New Mexico. On the tour, the participants get a crash course in agriculture. In 2010, the participants saw branding and roping at a family cattle ranch, visited a dairy, went to a livestock auction, toured a feedlot, and saw a wind energy project. In addition to these visits, there were many speakers who rode along with the tour discussing a variety of agricultural issues facing the state.

The tour participants are important leaders who have the power to shape public perception, and to make policy decisions that will have far-reaching affects on our industry. On the 2010 tour, there were freelance journalists, the general manager of a Albuquerque television station, a Taos filmmaker, the legislative finance committee chairman, a popular food writer, state representatives, magazine editors, and the executive chef of a popular Santa Fe restaurant.

Many of these people had probably never been on a ranch before. Without the Gate to Plate program, they probably never would have. But this program puts these people right in the middle of agriculture....there is a picture in the New Mexico Stockman magazine of a senator branding a calf.

Not only that, but they get to hear our side of the story. They meet the people, see the operations, and understand what agriculture is truly about, instead of hearing slanted propoganda from anti-agriculture advocates who seem to keep getting in the mainstream media.

This is a way to get lawmakers, the media, resturant owners, and the public on our side. One jouranlist said that after this year's event, she already had an idea for 20 different stories to write. Those are 20 different stories that she would have never thought of without this type of event. The people who read these stories will get an important insight into agriculture that might not otherwise ever exist.

Gate to Plate is a wonderful example of agriculture reaching out to the public in order to promote our products, share our way of life, and tell our stories. People are interested....we just have to find opportunites to bring them in!

(Photos courtesy NMBC)

Throwback Thursday #27: Real Hugs

"Where I live if someone gives you a hug it's from the heart." ~ Steve Irwin

I've been on a throwback to college kick here lately, so that's going to continue for another week.

As you may have read about on here before, our group of friends loved going to the Copper Penny, which is the ag college bar at OSU, or at least it was when we were in school there. There was always country music playing, guys in boots and cowboy hats, cow crap on the floor, and frequently a dog running around. It was sort of like Cheers, where everyone knew your name. And I do mean everyone--even the owner, Penny, knew who we were. More than once when one of the boys would get a little out of control, she would come find me in the sea of people and be sure I was driving them home. I'm telling you, it was like home!

I frequently was the driver of the group. We have lots of stories from those journeys from Washington Street to 44th and Western. There were screaming fits, threats of pulling the care over and making them walk, and my favorite game of "guess who" where the guy in the back seat would put his hands over the driver's eyes. Ah yes.....we were at school to become the leaders of tomorrow.


One of my favorite stories occurred after one of these drives home. One of the Animal House boys was quite the hugger. As he got ready to get out of the car, he went to hug College Roomie and I. We gave him the one-armed sideways hug, which was really all we could do while sitting in a car.

Well Animal House Boy got infurated. He went off on a tangent about how that was not a real hug and we couldn't leave until we gave him a "real" hug and he was not getting out of the car until this happened. So there we are, 2:00 am, piling out of the car to give Animal House Boy a two armed "real" hug. After that, he went inside, we got back in the car and went home.

They say that the most important lessons you learn in college don't happen in the classroom. I totally beleive that to be true. Animal House Boy taught us that night that sometimes, a person just needs a hug. A real hug. And it's a lesson I haven't forgotten.