Uurgh.
I need to write a speech...and the words just won't come out right.
It's so frustrating.
Any words of wisdom to inspire me would be greatly appreciated....
Until then I am going to open another work document and try again.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
I Place This Class of Crossbred Market Hogs 3421.
I actually placed that class of crossbred market hogs wrong.
And it wasn't the only class that I placed wrong that day that I still had to march into the reasons room and tell the officials why I felt the need to disagree with them so strongly. On that particular Crossbred Market Hogs class, I simple busted it (which in the judging world means you messed up only 3 of 4 of them and didn't kill yourself but basically took yourself out of the top ten) and managed not to sound like too much of a fool in the reasons room. I unfortunately can't say for one of my sets.
I was pretty disappointed in myself and I didn't really know what to think.
It only took a day and I decided that I needed to sound like a fool this weekend at the National Barrow Show. Why? I needed a reminder on why I am doing this and how hard I still need to work. I didn't stick around for another semester for nothing. Not only do I want another piece of hardware, but I want to know I did the best I could and be proud of myself. I was not too proud Monday afternoon when I walked out of my last set thinking I talked really well...only too find out I simple busted every single class I so confidently just got done explaining.
Here is the thing...I have been so blessed in my past 22 years and have not experienced a devastating amount of hardships. I haven't got declined from many jobs, have an amazing boyfriend, have won my fair share of awards and somehow I have consistently done well in school. I think sometimes when life gets that good we just start to expect it to stay that good...without doing the work needed.
Whether it is a steer, paper, judging class or job....you can't succeed without a little determination and a lot of hard work. I learned it the hard way this weekend and I am hoping I can save you from the trouble as well. I strongly encourage you to take a moment while your reading this and think about something you could work just a little bit harder at--and then do it.
You can take my word I will be prepared when we hit the road to Kansas. :)
And it wasn't the only class that I placed wrong that day that I still had to march into the reasons room and tell the officials why I felt the need to disagree with them so strongly. On that particular Crossbred Market Hogs class, I simple busted it (which in the judging world means you messed up only 3 of 4 of them and didn't kill yourself but basically took yourself out of the top ten) and managed not to sound like too much of a fool in the reasons room. I unfortunately can't say for one of my sets.
I was pretty disappointed in myself and I didn't really know what to think.
It only took a day and I decided that I needed to sound like a fool this weekend at the National Barrow Show. Why? I needed a reminder on why I am doing this and how hard I still need to work. I didn't stick around for another semester for nothing. Not only do I want another piece of hardware, but I want to know I did the best I could and be proud of myself. I was not too proud Monday afternoon when I walked out of my last set thinking I talked really well...only too find out I simple busted every single class I so confidently just got done explaining.
Here is the thing...I have been so blessed in my past 22 years and have not experienced a devastating amount of hardships. I haven't got declined from many jobs, have an amazing boyfriend, have won my fair share of awards and somehow I have consistently done well in school. I think sometimes when life gets that good we just start to expect it to stay that good...without doing the work needed.
Whether it is a steer, paper, judging class or job....you can't succeed without a little determination and a lot of hard work. I learned it the hard way this weekend and I am hoping I can save you from the trouble as well. I strongly encourage you to take a moment while your reading this and think about something you could work just a little bit harder at--and then do it.
Some people dream of success... while others wake up and work hard at it. -Unknown
You can take my word I will be prepared when we hit the road to Kansas. :)
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
I'm Back...Again.
Long time, no blog.
Have you noticed the trend?
You know, "the wait a really long time between each post so you can start each post with 'long time no see/talk/blog'" trend? If not, you obviously aren't one of my loyal eight followers that read my random and sporadic thoughts on life.
Sorry again! I have a good excuse this time and it is that my roommates and I are way to cheap to get internet (yet) and I have no connection to the outside world except through my Blackberry. It makes it pretty rough to blog, Facebook creep and stay on top of my two online classes and it makes me spend most of my nights in the IACC...which is where I currently am sitting. Room 114 to be precise.
So while I am here I will give you a quick update on life and then, after this I promise weekly blogs will solve this problem of disconnect! :)
1. I moved back to Fargo on August 14th. I started judging practice on August 15th and my life has been crazy every since. If you think I am joking, ask my roommates. I see them for maybe 20 minutes each day. I run from work to judging to meetings to homework and then do it all again the next day. It's really not too bad. It's saving me from having to many late nights at Chubs mainly.
2. And just saying the word Chubs makes me miss last year and the girls and everything about my senior year. I feel old. I know I am not and I know in approximately 4 months I will feel extremely young and inexperienced, but for now, when I load in a car with a bunch of minors to go to a house party, I feel antique. And then I feel even older than antique when those younguns (like Kelcey Holm) ask me if I feel old. Here is my plea--to my old friends that always made me feel young--COME BACK. I miss you terribly. I miss Mary Berg, especially, after this crummy judging weekend. I miss apartment 13. I miss my crazy Montana friend. NDSU misses you too.
3. BWangs (Buffalo Wild Wings) is taking over my days. I know this isn't a profitable job for me at this time, but it will make due until my real job begins.
4. Which brings me to my biggest news yet--I am a future full-time employee of BEEF Magazine. Seriously, it's amazing. My goal was to have a job before I came back this semester and I do. How is that possible in this economy with soooo many good applicants? I don't know, but I am smiling ear to ear. :)
5. My favorite time of the year came and went and it was just as good as always. The MN State Fair is (by far hands down no use arguing with me) the best twelve days of summer. And it didn't let me down in 2010. Jason and Matt both had an excellent year. Matt was Reserve Supreme Breeding Heifer and Jason sold his steer on the Purple Ribbon Auction and was Reserve Senior Showman. I was pretty proud of them both! Check out the MN State Fair 4-H website for more pictures.
Jason with his Middleweight Friction Steer at MN State Fair 4-H Show.
Matt with his Saugahatchee x Lutton Angus Heifer at MN State Fair 4-H Show.
6. I started my final judging season this weekend at the National Barrow Show and well, it can only go up from here! :)
Alright that's all I got for now folks. Please look for motivating, exciting and sarcastic posts in the near future. My mind is filled with things to say. Enjoy your week! Friday is closer than you think....
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Home Grown Goodness
I have really big news to share... Mark and I planted a garden and finally have something to show for it!
Yep...real vegatables. We have cucumbers, acorn squash, lots of jalepenos, bell peppers, roma tomatos and cherry tomatos. I guess you could say I am a proud mother. I even took pictures :)
Here is our solo squash and I really hoping we get more. There are lots of flowers so I am hoping that means at least a few more squash for us! It is by far the biggest plant in our little patch, but it probably should be because this is also one of the only original plants left after Mark's "accident".
Let me explain. Mark and I planted the garden just one short week before I left for my France adventures. It was a really big step for us and a really big under taking for Marko, but he never has food at his house and I love fresh veggies from the garden. Plus, I knew I was going to want something to do at his house all summer! So, I left all those fragile plants in his care and made him promise he would water it every day, weed and most importantly not kill anything.
To make a long story short, he killed nearly everything in the month. How? Well, it's really so Mark.
Mark grew up on a very large crop farm, his family raises over 2500 acres of corn and soybeans each year and every spring and summer his Dad heads out and does his spraying to either kill the weeds or fertilize the fields. To them, and most farmers, this is the most economical way to produce their crops. And truly their system works well. Well, my boy Mark decided to apply that same system to our little 6 foot by 6 foot garden.
He started commenting that the garden wasn't growing very fast (he has no patience) and decided to take it into his own hands and help along Mother Nature. I mean I understand his thought process "If that fertilizer worked on the field corn, why wouldn't it work on our squash and tomotoes?" Well, it probably would have worked except he applied it a little too heavy.
Needless to say, our fresh-grown veggies are not "organic" and got a little bit of a late start, but the garden looked as good as new (and 80 percent was) when I returned! Despite the little setback, Mark did a great job keeping up the garden when I was gone and now we are about to have delicious food to enjoy! Here is some more pictures...
My favorite: cherry tomatoes. It's so hard to wait for these little guys to turn red....are there any tricks to help them along? I don't think we are going to have any even make it to the house!
Now on the other hand, the jalepenos are growing like wild! I am so excited to try the stuffed jalepenos my Texas friends suggested to me! I hope they are good because the only other thing I know what to do with jalepenos is make salsa. Next year, we are going to have to be a little smarter with our plant choices. :)
And speaking of next year, we already have BIG things in mind. For a boy who wanted me to plant my vegatables around the flag pole, he really has taken to the gardening. However, next year is a long way away and until then we will patiently wait for our cucumbers to get fatter and our tomatoes to turn red! Fresh veggies from the garden are the best...even if they aren't organic :)
Yep...real vegatables. We have cucumbers, acorn squash, lots of jalepenos, bell peppers, roma tomatos and cherry tomatos. I guess you could say I am a proud mother. I even took pictures :)
Let me explain. Mark and I planted the garden just one short week before I left for my France adventures. It was a really big step for us and a really big under taking for Marko, but he never has food at his house and I love fresh veggies from the garden. Plus, I knew I was going to want something to do at his house all summer! So, I left all those fragile plants in his care and made him promise he would water it every day, weed and most importantly not kill anything.
To make a long story short, he killed nearly everything in the month. How? Well, it's really so Mark.
Mark grew up on a very large crop farm, his family raises over 2500 acres of corn and soybeans each year and every spring and summer his Dad heads out and does his spraying to either kill the weeds or fertilize the fields. To them, and most farmers, this is the most economical way to produce their crops. And truly their system works well. Well, my boy Mark decided to apply that same system to our little 6 foot by 6 foot garden.
He started commenting that the garden wasn't growing very fast (he has no patience) and decided to take it into his own hands and help along Mother Nature. I mean I understand his thought process "If that fertilizer worked on the field corn, why wouldn't it work on our squash and tomotoes?" Well, it probably would have worked except he applied it a little too heavy.
Needless to say, our fresh-grown veggies are not "organic" and got a little bit of a late start, but the garden looked as good as new (and 80 percent was) when I returned! Despite the little setback, Mark did a great job keeping up the garden when I was gone and now we are about to have delicious food to enjoy! Here is some more pictures...
Now, you have to look closely to see the green peppers. We only have a few of them coming in, but honestly, that's okay because I don't know what to do with them anyways. Any advice?
And speaking of next year, we already have BIG things in mind. For a boy who wanted me to plant my vegatables around the flag pole, he really has taken to the gardening. However, next year is a long way away and until then we will patiently wait for our cucumbers to get fatter and our tomatoes to turn red! Fresh veggies from the garden are the best...even if they aren't organic :)
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Sweet Summertime
I haven't had too many reasons to get worked up lately. My biggest concerns are if my garden got watered, how I am going to get to the next cattle show and that Avery May is a happy little girl. I guess I could say life is good.
Now don't get me wrong I have been busy in the last 25 days since I returned home from France. But instead of it being a long-to-do-list-with-no-breaks-in-sight kind of busy it has been I-want-to-do-as-much-stuff-as-I-can-before-I-have-to-go-back-to-school-and-get-a-real-job kind of busy. I don't mind that type nearly as much...in fact, I pretty much enjoy it.
So far I have been to Dickinson, North Dakota to celebrate my friend Megan's wedding. It was a great time and it was even better bonding with the boy :) 16 hours in the car in one weekend is almost too much fun!
Now don't get me wrong I have been busy in the last 25 days since I returned home from France. But instead of it being a long-to-do-list-with-no-breaks-in-sight kind of busy it has been I-want-to-do-as-much-stuff-as-I-can-before-I-have-to-go-back-to-school-and-get-a-real-job kind of busy. I don't mind that type nearly as much...in fact, I pretty much enjoy it.
So far I have been to Dickinson, North Dakota to celebrate my friend Megan's wedding. It was a great time and it was even better bonding with the boy :) 16 hours in the car in one weekend is almost too much fun!
I sure missed my country girls. Hopefully we can catch up again soon :) I will be holding down the fort in Fargo for them while they are off getting married, starting real jobs and being big girls. My time will come...:)
I have spent some quality time with Avery May. She is getting to be quite the personality and has her little finger wrapped around my boy. He finds a reason to come to Kenyon nearly every time I watch her and manages to catch her waking up every time he checks on her napping. I had to put my foot down last night when he wanted to wake her up at 9:30 at night. :)
I have given back to the program that used to dominate my summer--4-H. Mark and I are coaching the Rice County Livestock Judging team and those kids are a hoot. We have this little guy who told me every heifer was wide and long...needless to say we are working on his vocab. I have a feeling he is going to be the next great one though, he just needs a little TLC. I also have somehow gotten to be an expert on fashion revue and was able to judge Washington County's purchased garment contest. This of course brought me back to my glory days of purchasing pants for $2.34 and a sweater for $3.02 and shoes for $8.01 for a grand total of BARELY ANYTHING! I mean why can't I find those good of deals today? Probably because I never wore those outfits...but that wasn't the point of that project, was it?? Oh and I also judged my first show...and it was tough. Hopefully things only get better from there! 10 head is harder than you think....
My latest excitement was traveling to Wooster, Ohio and then to Denver, Colorodo to reconnect with Certified Angus Beef and the American Angus Association. It was great to be out at the National Junior Angus Show again and catch up with some familiar faces. Plus, I was surrounded by some really really good cattle and I can never complain about that. Avery and Annabelle did really well out there and Matt came home with two second place ribbons, definitely something to be happy with. While we were out there, Mark and I got one free afternoon and took a trip to Golden, CO and visited Coors Brewery. Did you know they owned Miller Lite too? It was a good time and the free samples weren't bad either! Next time you head to Denver make sure to check it out!
Well that's my latest recap...I will try to be more timely in the upcoming days and before I know it I will be back to school and judging and hopefully will have lots of fun places and good news to post. Until then, enjoy the beautiful summer days. I hope you are getting to spend time with the ones you love, some good cattle and maybe even drink a glass of wine while watching the sunset over the cornfield. :)
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Homeward Bound
I will be home before I know it!
Back home everyone needs to just go to sleep once and I will be home. :) Over here, I technically should be going to sleep almost twice, but regardless I will be home soon!
To be honest, I am going to miss this place terribly. My host family has become such great friends and the relaxed atmosphere and stress free living was much needed! I tend to run and run and run and here, the closest thing I did to running was walking fast to the pastry shop to get a pain de chocolate.
People are right when they say it is a whole different culture over here, but truly I don't mind the differences. They may not use GMOs or hormones in their beef, but they do have this local pride and friendly spirit that is contagious!
I am going to keep it short and brief because I need to finish up a few things before I catch my train to head to Paris, but look back in the next couple of days--I have so much to tell you about Angers. I have three blogs started that needed to be completed with pictures even!
See you soon! Call me, text me, Facebok me or visit me...I can not wait to hear what ya'll have been doing for the last 30 days!
Did I really just say ya'll? I have been spending way to much time with these Texas people! :)
Back home everyone needs to just go to sleep once and I will be home. :) Over here, I technically should be going to sleep almost twice, but regardless I will be home soon!
To be honest, I am going to miss this place terribly. My host family has become such great friends and the relaxed atmosphere and stress free living was much needed! I tend to run and run and run and here, the closest thing I did to running was walking fast to the pastry shop to get a pain de chocolate.
People are right when they say it is a whole different culture over here, but truly I don't mind the differences. They may not use GMOs or hormones in their beef, but they do have this local pride and friendly spirit that is contagious!
I am going to keep it short and brief because I need to finish up a few things before I catch my train to head to Paris, but look back in the next couple of days--I have so much to tell you about Angers. I have three blogs started that needed to be completed with pictures even!
See you soon! Call me, text me, Facebok me or visit me...I can not wait to hear what ya'll have been doing for the last 30 days!
Did I really just say ya'll? I have been spending way to much time with these Texas people! :)
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
The Frenchest Sunday I Could Find
A good friend of mine warned me that I would have a culture shock when I got to France--which I have yet to have. The other day, I about thought and wondered why I was missing that common downfall of a study abroad trip; concluding that maybe I have been surrounded too much by Americans to feel the pressure of a new culture. However, after this weekend I am disputing that idea as well.
I think I experienced the Frenchest Sunday possible and I absolutely loved it. I don't know if you have picked this up yet, but I have a really great host family that has done a great job of introducing me to French culture. I mean even if I was a little nervous about eating raw meat last night, they were giving me a great opportunity to try something new, like they always do! I love being here and will be sad to leave them next week!
This past Sunday, they invited me with to a opening of a local winery that included dinner, music and of course wine tasting. It was sooo much fun and completely French. We ate under a tent that looked over the vineyard and we had a live singer serenading us in French. Plus, the food was delicious (it always is in France)...we had bread that reminded me of a pita, except it was made fresh in front of us in a brick oven. We ate the bread with a duck, goose and rabbit pattae for our appetizer; enjoyed it with a ratatuie or white bean mix for our main course; used it with our cheese for the third course and for desert we had French apple pie fresh from the oven! Mmmm...and of course we had each course with wine. Rose for the appetizer, white for the main course, red with the cheese and a sparkling wine with our desert!
After dinner, (which took about 2 1/2 hours) we took a ride through the vineyard in horse-drawn carriage. A friend from school, Taylor, also came with and the picture below is of us on the carriage ride. I really loved the whole afternoon and when Phillipe and Lydie explained that this was a common event in the summer, I got really jealous. It was such a fun experience and I got to taste four delicous wines...and of course, another bottle is now coming home to Minnesota (hopefully)!
P.S. Watch for more pictures soon, Taylor took most of the pictures because my camera died and my words just can't do this place justice!
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