Ok, honestly...I really would love to know how I am so "busy" that I can't find time to sit and write a post! I think procrastination is more of a description. I'm just going to blame it on the fact that my office has been a total disaster since 'tax time' has set in motion and I couldn't even begin to find the top of my desk tops. Therefore, sitting to the computer meant that I'd turn it on, and while waiting for it to slowly boot up, I'd get sidetracked by the mess of my desk and would end up attempting to file away papers, put art projects away, rifle through magazines...that sort of thing. Then it'd be time to start supper or go pick the dog up from the neighbors...see? Procrastination. But I'm slowly losing my excuses now. Although the office is more of a mess than normal, I have a brand new desk/hutch combo that I picked up from Office Depot for a score of $99...and although it's nothing fancy by any means, its' sturdier than most cheap desks and it's got way more room than what I was attempting to work with before! Only now I'm sitting surrounded by my old desk, my new desk, Trav's old drafting desk, and Tucker's little school desk...and boxes and boxes and boxes of stuff. Now do you see why a lot of times I would just close the door and pretend this room didn't exist?!
On a sad note, the cattle world lost a very ambitious, young cattle producer on Wednesday afternoon. Although I only knew him from cattle shows, as did Travis, it still breaks our hearts to hear about someone young being taken from us so soon. Nathan James Adkins died from injuries received in a car accident on February 13 just before 4 in the afternoon. He was such a sweet, kind-hearted guy, always helping others out, and always all smiles. I know he'll be missed by many, and that smile of his will be missed around the cattle barns. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends as they cope with the grief of losing him so early. As my sister and I relayed information about his death back and forth as we were finding details, it made me want to hold the ones I love dearly that much closer.
As the end of another work week nears, it puts us a week away from one of my most favorite shows of the year...Illinois Beef Expo! As long as it doesn't rain, this show is by far the best in my book. I'd take cold weather at cattle shows over the heat any day! Plus, the cattle producers literally have the run of the fairgrounds, so it makes driving/parking/stalling that much easier. Unless you go to the Denver Stock Show (that's on my bucket list...I'm hoping that within the next two years Travis and I are able to go out west for it), this is typically one of the first major shows in Illinois, and kicks off the 2013 show season. I'll be honest, there are really two reasons why I always get excited to go to Beef Expo...ok, three actually.
#1, I get to see a lot of show/fair friends that I don't get to see all that often.
#2, Sister-time! My older sister and her family lives in southern Illinois...I love them dearly, but we don't get to see each other all that often. Since they do the "cattle-thing" too (as my mom calls it), we get a weekend of hanging out together!
#3, SHOPPING! I'll admit, I don't shop well. I know what I want, I go in, get it, and get out of there. End of story. But in my area we don't have very many "western" boutiques. But at the Expo part, there is a growing number of booths that cater to us women shoppers and give me my jewelry/clothing/house decor fix for a good six months or so. Plus, this year we're looking into a couple of other options for here at the farm, so we actually have business to tend to down there...along with a few necklaces and probably a couple shirts...maybe a new coat if I'm lucky!
This year will be Tuck's first ever Beef Expo...I'm excited for him, but I'm nervous too. This is really a test for him, because it's not like the county fair where I can bring him home for awhile and the head back that evening. It's a much bigger show than what he's used to, but I imagine having my niece and nephew there will be a huge help to him. He's already jabbering about wanting to help Brayden comb his steer and lead the steer around.
Still waiting patiently for momma cows to start popping. We have about three weeks left before we have to begin worrying, but it doesn't hurt to be ready for anything. We still are betting that even though it'll be mid-March before the first one drops, we'll be dealing with snow....happens every year.
Be safe this weekend, and I know as I attempt to figure out this mess in this office this weekend, I'll be brainstorming more ideas for posts. I'm still figuring out this whole process, and I do have a stack of ideas for posts and pictures to go with them.....now I just need to make time to sit and do it!
Friday, February 15, 2013
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Timing is everything...after it happens.
Sometimes timing is everything...sometimes we get it right, sometimes we get it wrong. And then there are times where you look around, shrug your shoulders, and say "Why not?" and just go with it. I'll be honest, the first two tend to be a pretty consistent theme around this house, and the third, in thought, just gives me an anxiety attack just thinking about it. A lot of times, it's not until after something happens and we reflect back on it do we understand that maybe the timing was right or wrong...after all, hindsight is 20/20 if you take the time to reflect.
With that said, the timing of this post has NOTHING to do with resolutions (I really, honestly don't believe in resolutions except that they discourage more than anything). I simply believe that when I attempted this before, my timing wasn't exactly grand. Rocky ground had to be crossed, and quite frankly, I wasn't up for opening my thoughts to an audience. But I really believe that the time has come to try this again. I've had people ask why I've only done one post and encouraged for more. I've learned to take a step away and enjoy what's happening, and reflecting on it later (ok, this is a work in progress, but I really am getting better!). I feel confident in myself that I'll have material to write about and constant inspirations. It took some quiet nights and a lot of reflecting on the past six+ months, possibly longer, to help ease myself into a more settled spot. And with that, I shrugged my shoulders tonight while laying here, listening to my husband peel the paint from the ceiling, that I shrugged my shoulders and said "why not?" to restarting my blog. I'm ready for this...my family is ready for this.
So, as 2013 is starting up, I've decided I don't want to make resolutions...I want to implement change. In theory, same concept, yes. But the play of different words tells a different story. "Implementing change" helps me remember change is gradual...and set backs can happen. I want to get back to my love of the written word...making time to read and write (well, blog). I love that Tucker is so interested in books and reading just as I was, and still am. I want to make it a priority so he will see and hopefully follow suite as he grows up that reading and writing are important everywhere, not just school. I also want us as a family to go back to our healthier eating habits. We've strayed away from healthy, well-rounded, home-cooked meals to anything that can be done quickly in a pinch, and a lot more fast-food and carryout per month than we used to. That equals unhealthy choices, eating at all times of night, and spending more money than we should on "outside food". Which also ended up with cranky supper times, and weight gain for both Travis and I. Not acceptable. I don't do super health food, nor do I search out "all organic". Instead I keep the meals balanced, colorful, and tasteful. Back to making an effort in the kitchen for me. With the healthy eating comes me just wanting to be healthy...aka, exercising. I don't want to be skinny or have this obsession to run a marathon. I just want to be in shape and feel good. I'm not the one to go to the gym to "workout". I couldn't think of anything less motivating. Instead, I Jazzercise. Its fun, I dance and jump and attempt to make my hands and legs and feet move together...not always pretty, but fun nonetheless. I feel good and recharged when I'm done,and it's time e for just me...no one hanging on me or yelling...just me shaking my butt and not caring. I love it.
As this season of new beginnings gets under way, just remember...timing is everything. Sometimes we know when the time is right. Sometimes we don't have the slightest clue. Just remember when you close your mouth and open your heart, the answers are less likely to be missed. Just keep in mind, there has to be time to think back on events and ask yourself "why did this work? why did this happen? why did things turn out this way?" It's only then that you can learn from what has happened to make help make your decisions for today and tomorrow.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
First Time for Everything
So apparently writing a blog is about as terrifying for me as being on stage......
in front of everyone......
wait for it.......stop laughing at me Monica...
SINGING.
Those of you who know me know and understand that sometimes I like to be the center of attention in a goofy, "let's see how far I can push it" way, and sometimes, it just follows me around like my shadow without having to even try. But honestly, in high school, I did the musicals for something fun (mainly because I wanted a valid reason to play dress-up), but I never, ever sang by myself.....in front of people...except for one year. And it made me want to throw-up. I thought it would be a good idea, or maybe it was Tim that thought it was a good idea, to have a little solo to tag along with my little dance troupe number with the girls. Dancing is fine. I may not be the most coordinated, but darn it, they can teach me the counts and I'll practice my little heart out and make it look effortless, but in my head I'm praying I don't lose count. But singing! SINGING! I am definitely one of the people that know and fully understand that I do not possess any singing capability, nor do I pretend to. But you know what? I got up on that stage and belted out my little solo the best that I could, and what I gathered from friends and family, they had no idea I could do that. It was definitely a first.....probably a last as well, but I was proud of myself for giving it a try, especially since it pushed my comfort limits a little....or maybe a lot.
Everyone's limits are different, and most importantly, each of the different limits a person possesses are different in themselves. And I find that the hardest limits to push are the ones that I felt as if I could be judged by my peers the most for. It took a lot of growing up to learn to be me...few seemed to like the real me, and almost everyone was quick to judge. Thankfully age and experience has helped that along. But one place where I felt limitless was in my writing. I had two very outstanding teachers in high school, Mrs. Mary Stiers and Mrs. Janet Mottaz, who were so inspirational to me. Mrs. Stiers taught me technique, but it was Mrs. Mottaz who really taught me that it was OK to be me in my writing, not some stereotypical template that many follow. I always knew I wanted to write...I didn't know what, but I knew I wanted to put something in print. That is, up until midway through college....not all of my professors appreciated my perpetual voice within my papers. Between dry topics and professors that just wanted us to spit back the facts at them, it really began to dry up my writing skills, along with my confidence of my own voice and view.
Until there was one...A children's literature class, with a crazy-haired professor. I'll be honest, I don't remember his name, probably because I did nothing but read children's books in his class. But he assigned a paper that I knew I had already written in high school, so, as the organized little homebody that I am (some say pack-rat), that weekend home I found my paper, retyped it, and turned it in. I already had enough homework, I knew I didn't have the time to write a whole new short story. When I received my paper back, there was one comment that I still remember "Veronica, this is amazing...instead of education, have you ever thought about writing?!?!!!" I knew then that my dream was confirmed, but an outlet still hadn't made itself known.
Writing is such a therapy...it let's all of the thoughts have an escape route out of your mind, allowing you to clear it to be able to form complete thoughts again. I find that when I have too much time to think, I tend to feel crazy...giving myself an outlet for these thoughts will be a refreshing change of pace...hopefully. Don't get me wrong, I'm scared out of my wits of being judged. It's one thing for a teacher or a professor to read something, but to put it out there for all to see....that takes about as much guts as getting up on that stage and belting out my little solo.
With all that is going on in the world, especially focusing around agriculture, it's frustrating and down right aggravating. But who am I to get mad about it if I won't stand up and use the skill set that I have to help put more faces and voices with agriculture?! At a recent Women in Ag Conference in the QC with Michele Payn-Knoper, she stressed the significance of everyone reaching at least one person per day with some ag related topic, and further more, how effective social media is for reaching thousands of people almost effortlessly. Think about how many people on your Facebook account are going on about this 90 day challenge deal with the shakes. Most of us really don't care, but we see it anyways, just by scrolling through our timelines (and if you're as onry as I am, you block them off your newsfeed because apparently drinking a candybar shake is healthier than eating a healthy, portion sized meal, but that's a WHOLE different rant). I feel that if I share the "tails" of our family out here on the hill on our little farm, many of you will see that it doesn't matter your background or your upbringing, but that agriculture is the base on which the building blocks of our country were made. You can see the richness of daily experiences through a child's eyes, and I'm confident in knowing that he wouldn't get any of these experiences anywhere else. Feeding his heifers with his dad, shoo'ing away curious momma cows while we're trying to fish at the pasture, helping plant a garden that in the late summer, he'll help pick that night's supper. These are the stories that I want to share with you in my humorous, sometimes not-making-sense manner. I hope these stories will enlighten, educate, and most importantly of all, entertain you with our "simple" life here on the hill!
So here goes my solo!
in front of everyone......
wait for it.......stop laughing at me Monica...
SINGING.
Those of you who know me know and understand that sometimes I like to be the center of attention in a goofy, "let's see how far I can push it" way, and sometimes, it just follows me around like my shadow without having to even try. But honestly, in high school, I did the musicals for something fun (mainly because I wanted a valid reason to play dress-up), but I never, ever sang by myself.....in front of people...except for one year. And it made me want to throw-up. I thought it would be a good idea, or maybe it was Tim that thought it was a good idea, to have a little solo to tag along with my little dance troupe number with the girls. Dancing is fine. I may not be the most coordinated, but darn it, they can teach me the counts and I'll practice my little heart out and make it look effortless, but in my head I'm praying I don't lose count. But singing! SINGING! I am definitely one of the people that know and fully understand that I do not possess any singing capability, nor do I pretend to. But you know what? I got up on that stage and belted out my little solo the best that I could, and what I gathered from friends and family, they had no idea I could do that. It was definitely a first.....probably a last as well, but I was proud of myself for giving it a try, especially since it pushed my comfort limits a little....or maybe a lot.
Everyone's limits are different, and most importantly, each of the different limits a person possesses are different in themselves. And I find that the hardest limits to push are the ones that I felt as if I could be judged by my peers the most for. It took a lot of growing up to learn to be me...few seemed to like the real me, and almost everyone was quick to judge. Thankfully age and experience has helped that along. But one place where I felt limitless was in my writing. I had two very outstanding teachers in high school, Mrs. Mary Stiers and Mrs. Janet Mottaz, who were so inspirational to me. Mrs. Stiers taught me technique, but it was Mrs. Mottaz who really taught me that it was OK to be me in my writing, not some stereotypical template that many follow. I always knew I wanted to write...I didn't know what, but I knew I wanted to put something in print. That is, up until midway through college....not all of my professors appreciated my perpetual voice within my papers. Between dry topics and professors that just wanted us to spit back the facts at them, it really began to dry up my writing skills, along with my confidence of my own voice and view.
Until there was one...A children's literature class, with a crazy-haired professor. I'll be honest, I don't remember his name, probably because I did nothing but read children's books in his class. But he assigned a paper that I knew I had already written in high school, so, as the organized little homebody that I am (some say pack-rat), that weekend home I found my paper, retyped it, and turned it in. I already had enough homework, I knew I didn't have the time to write a whole new short story. When I received my paper back, there was one comment that I still remember "Veronica, this is amazing...instead of education, have you ever thought about writing?!?!!!" I knew then that my dream was confirmed, but an outlet still hadn't made itself known.
Writing is such a therapy...it let's all of the thoughts have an escape route out of your mind, allowing you to clear it to be able to form complete thoughts again. I find that when I have too much time to think, I tend to feel crazy...giving myself an outlet for these thoughts will be a refreshing change of pace...hopefully. Don't get me wrong, I'm scared out of my wits of being judged. It's one thing for a teacher or a professor to read something, but to put it out there for all to see....that takes about as much guts as getting up on that stage and belting out my little solo.
With all that is going on in the world, especially focusing around agriculture, it's frustrating and down right aggravating. But who am I to get mad about it if I won't stand up and use the skill set that I have to help put more faces and voices with agriculture?! At a recent Women in Ag Conference in the QC with Michele Payn-Knoper, she stressed the significance of everyone reaching at least one person per day with some ag related topic, and further more, how effective social media is for reaching thousands of people almost effortlessly. Think about how many people on your Facebook account are going on about this 90 day challenge deal with the shakes. Most of us really don't care, but we see it anyways, just by scrolling through our timelines (and if you're as onry as I am, you block them off your newsfeed because apparently drinking a candybar shake is healthier than eating a healthy, portion sized meal, but that's a WHOLE different rant). I feel that if I share the "tails" of our family out here on the hill on our little farm, many of you will see that it doesn't matter your background or your upbringing, but that agriculture is the base on which the building blocks of our country were made. You can see the richness of daily experiences through a child's eyes, and I'm confident in knowing that he wouldn't get any of these experiences anywhere else. Feeding his heifers with his dad, shoo'ing away curious momma cows while we're trying to fish at the pasture, helping plant a garden that in the late summer, he'll help pick that night's supper. These are the stories that I want to share with you in my humorous, sometimes not-making-sense manner. I hope these stories will enlighten, educate, and most importantly of all, entertain you with our "simple" life here on the hill!
So here goes my solo!
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