(No So) Daily Diary!!!

Here's a slight recap of how I spent my week after Spring Break!!!

Monday: Woke up in the wee hours of the morning to a mere 33 degree weather, chilly for this Arizona girl; said goodbye to my Prince Charming with a Southern accent and headed back to the Dirty-T. After a three hour flight and some serious shut eye, I went a visited the whole fam bam, before headed back to college and kissing my senior Spring Break goodbye. I also entered the 21st century and got an Iphone 5c, look out world this girl's got a lime green bundle of social media and a lifeproof to protect it. #selfiecentral

Tuesday: I headed back to work, after almost two weeks off, it was nice to see the baby ponies again. I missed it a little. Then headed to school for a full day of classes and grad fest. I bought my cap and gown and paid, what felt like my left kidney. It was so surreal to finally purchase everything I need to GRADUATE!! I had a dinner date with Karli! Shady Mexican for two please! And learned the joys of an Iphone.


Wednesday: Another early morning at the farm. It was good to see the tiny critteras again, but it's not the same without Rufus. For those of you that are new, I am a senior in college who works for the farm at the university I go to. I work with baby sheep, pigs, and cattle. I might have spent a little two much time at work and spent the rest of the day procrastinating studying for my test and quiz, I mean, organizing my wallet, room,  and cleaning. Another dinner date, with Rosa this time, to work on graduation stuff. I got a whole lot of nothing done, UA is organized like that.

Thursday: Running on little sleep, I headed to work in the early morning hours and said good morning to the ponies. Headed to school early and got some extra studying in, took a test and quiz. I killed a few hours with my favorite duo, Amiee and Ashley. Then off to the Senior Sendoff. Boy, do I feel unsuccessful for my abundance of wanderlust. Also, for those that are new, I have NO plans after graduation. But no debt either, so bonus points there. I am 20 years old, with an almost bachelors degree, a love of travel, agriculture, and my tiny dog. Every other senior is much older with big plans and great jobs lined up...Then a Collegiate Livestock Growers Meeting and finally home.

Friday: Another day of work, filled with bales of hay, lots of corn, tiny lambs, and doggy daycare. I met up with Miki for coffee and headed back to work to finish up some chores. I spent the rest of the day being mildly productive, but a bit of a shut in.

Weekend plans: I am taking the rest of my senior pictures, headed to the Ostrich Farm, Zumba, Yoga, early morning work, power apartment cleaning, packing, and homework. It's gonna be a party up in here.

And that was my week! How did everyone else recover from Spring Break? And who is so not ready for Monday to come around again?!?!

Throw it way back Thursday!

So as the ever looming Doom's Date gets closer, I keep spending more and more time thinking about the last four years and everything that's happened.

If you would have told me that I would be the student lead at the Teaching Farm, stealing tails and tagging calves, with a long distance boyfriend, two summers in the Rockies, and a whole world ahead of me, I would have laughed out loud.


That girl was not me a mere four years ago...

Let's take it back to Freshman year, I lived in the dorm with two random roommates. There were endless bumps and a large amount of homesickness that made my first semester of college drag on. During the first week I made friends with my neighbors who ended up my second semester roommates, there were some unsolvable issues with one of the first. But not only did they become my roommates, they were my best friends. We all dated boys in the dorm and became a tripod of ROTC boys, Disney movie nights, basement sleepovers, and the social center of our dorm. I made some amazing friends that first year of college, but towards the end everything changed. After plans to move into an apartment with Vyv and the boys, I found out I got accepted into the NROTC program, Em was moving home, we said goodbye to the innocence of our first year. 

Sophomore year was a roller coaster of blood, sweat, and tears...lots of tears. For me the whole year was a silent war of dishes with the roommates, a constant juggle to keep up with my life, and lots of bitter feelings. I was WAY to involved. I became Sisterhood Chair in Sigma Alpha, worked at the farm and Aeropostale, and was trying to stay above water with NROTC. I was making friends in the unit, joined Color Guard, the Ball Committee, Arleigh Burke Society, was Commissioning Ceremony Chair for December 2011, and was dying a little everyday. That whole year was a blur. 

Junior year was strange. I don't really remember a lot of it, because I was a hermit. I was bitter about my lack of Advanced Standing. Spent a lot of time at home. I was somewhere between satisfying the masses with Christmas parties while still trying to campaign. I guess it paid off, because I got President. That whole semester was a hair pulling nightmare. Between the judging team and email situations, I think my tolerance level decreased significantly. While trying to do everything and make everyone happy, I was struggling. Now that I think about it my whole college career I was in a constant state of struggle. After loosing President, something in me changed. I knew nothing was going to be the same after the summer.

Senior year has been a blast. There have been a ton of bucket list moments and I don't regret a single sleepless night. I think I finally took time to be me and not be part of things that stress me out or surround myself with people I don't need. This year has been a blast. Yeah, most of my free time is spent with four stomached ruminants, but hey, there's no sass there. I did better in school this year than I ever thought possible, I've had fun, fallen in love with my life over and over again.

No matter what the adults tell you, college is about 12% class attendance, 8% doing your homework, 60% good times, 5% being an adult, and 15% talking about the being productive but never really accomplishing anything except finishing a 7 season series on Netflix!! 

So no, I may not be the homesick, overly excited 16 year old that I was when I started this whole adventure, but I am a 20 year with no college debt, an amazing group of friends, a handful of epic moments, and the whole world to conquer....

Watch out world, 51 days from now, you'll see!!! I'll be jobless with a college degree and no plans...dangerous. ;)

So....what are your plans?!?

Gosh. Isn't that just the million dollar question?!? 

I wish everyone was this interested in my life plans during college then maybe I would know where I'm headed! 

But really people, this just got super real. Grad Fest today on campus...seniorness overload!!! 

I bought my cap and gown today and plan to order announcements tomorrow. I'm making plans to decorate caps and take senior pictures. Can someone please tell me when exactly I became a senior!?! Like at what point did four years pass me by? How am I expected to go out into the world and be somebody when I haven't even figured out the right study habits yet? 

Today was so surreal, like someone else was standing in line buying my graduation attire and deciding on the perfect frame for my COLLEGE DEGREE!!! 

I'm very proud and excited to be graduating from such an awesome school and such an amazing college! Wildcat for life, but doesn't that mean I get to stick around for a while longer, like forever?!?

So, serious question here people, WHAT DO I DO WITH REST OF MY LIFE!?!?!?

Honey I'm Home...

     Well my second home. I know I know I only spent six months there and in the grand scheme of my two decades, that’s chump change. But isn’t there a saying somewhere about the moments that take your breath away…yeah, that’s what I thought.

   Anyways, SENIOR spring break! Bring on the booze, beaches, and bimbos…oh wait, I’m not a 21 year old frat guy and this isn’t a bad remake of Piranha! So I decided on Spring Break in the snow. It’s ok to judge.

    My Spring Break 2014 Extravaganza began with a lawn day at Aggie and an awesome evening spent with Amiee! After a struggle bus day at work, I finally headed home, only to catch a plane to my mountain paradise. Nice thing about divorce people, there’s always a second Christmas! ;) After finally landing getting to Coal Creek at 2:45am, I was ready for some serious shut eye! An early morning turned this girl into an educated hunter.  Check that one off my bucket list! So with twoish days left in State, Estes is a must…obvi.

     So I have this perfect image of my summer. And that perfect image is captured in what seems like hundreds of pictures scattered across the brick wall in my apartment. I remember crazy outfits, wrangler rides, group breakfast, bonfires, perfect dates, movie nights, Smokin’ Dave’s, Wapiti, and a million other good times. And let me tell you, there is nothing that could mess up this perfect movie I have playing in my head of my perfect summer. Today just further confirmed how perfect my summer was.

  I know it’s crazy to be so in love with one place, but I am! It’s a bit unhealthily and if all us wranglers take a minute to admit it to ourselves, we’re all a little reluctant to let it go. So we’re driving over the mountain and I literally get butterflies! Like meeting your crush for a first date, single greatest moment of your life butterflies and let me tell you folks, there are not words that could describe my excitement! Screaming fan girl excitement! Finally make it to Sombrero and this weird feeling washed over me, like I was finally back where I belonged, home.

    A quick reunion with Kansas and Kristen and some weird glances from the winter crew, a few pictures, and short glance at the winter herd and we’re off to one of the greatest restaurants of all time. Smokin’ Dave’s. After a pitmaster and sweet tea, I ordered a chocolate peanut butter pie to go, of course, gotta get the full experience. After a short trip down town for shopping and Laura’s, we headed home!

So it was one of the best days, well ever. Maybe not, but it was totally up there. No, I didn’t do anything exciting, but I got to go to Estes! What up kids, so cool!!!!

So for those of you that don’t know, Estes Park, Colorado, is hands down my favorite place in the world. What’s not to love? Mountain views, Rocky Mountain National Park, all the wildlife your little heart can handle, touristy vibe, a Safeway, unbeatable views, horses, cold weather, everything a girl could hope for. But that’s not why I love it…

This city, it’s amazing. It’s the place where I met my lifelong best friends, found myself, fell madly in love, gorged on food, stopped caring, jumped in a lake at 12am, and experienced unforgettable moments that made me into the girl I am today. It’s magic.

FFA All the Way!!!

So yesterday was CDE day! And for those of you who don't know what that is...I'm not surprised.

I've mentioned it a couple times, but really the main reason that I got involved in agriculture is because of FFA, Future Farmers of America. Hillbilly...I know. But it really wasn't like that. It was one of the greatest and worst things I've done with my life.

Sure the drama was through the roof and no I had no agriculture experience, but man the opportunities, the friends, the teachers, the trips, the jackets, the whole thing...EPIC! I'm telling you, if you don't know the joy of slipping into that blue corduroy jacket you were seriously deprived. 

Even now in my college years I still find people who were in FFA, we usually end up friends. It's not some secret special club, but it is a world all it's own and those who aren't in it will never understand.

So, CDE, Career Development Event, there are three levels of competition for two seasons of events. District, State, National for Mid-Winter and Spring contests. U of A has a long standing tradition of hosting the event and I, of course, was at the farm all day. I got t
o help with horse evaluation for about 30 seconds before I ran into my old FFA advisor.

We talked for a long time about my life and school and everything that has happened since the last time I saw him. And for the first time since I've known him it seemed like he was really excited for me. It was an oddly adult conversation full of good advice and it was kind of awesome. I totally needed that. I eventually got to see my other advisor and had the same talk. I spent the whole day catching up with them and hearing all about how different things are.

After competitions were over, I went to the award ceremony forgetting how many of my college friends were made in FFA too. It's odd when your worlds combine.

For me there are three different versions of my life.
1. My College Cowgirl life.
2. My Sombrehoe life.
3. My P-Town life. 

And those lives should never collide, but when it does happen it's so strange. I forget that I went to high school and college with Katy and Jared. And I don't always remember that people weren't in FFA. And I often don't realize my Sombrero friends know nothing about my life here. So when those lives overlap...mind blown.

It was super awesome to get to see my advisors and see my replacements in my chapter. But it was even better to realize what FFA did for me, it made me more well me.

Cows, cows, and more COWS!!!!

"I can't believe we're getting credit for this." I really can't either, but hey, if you wanna give me two upper division credits to sit around, eat cookies, watch movies, and do ranch chores, by all means, credit away.

Well this was a weekend for the history books! I got to be part of a 13 year tradition of calving pulling at the V-V ranch. With only 12 seats available, it was kind of a big deal to get in the class. And it was totally awesome.

After a four hour car ride full of life stories and laughing, we finally arrived in Rim Rock...population: 500 cattle. There was a quick tour then we got straight to work tagging and feeding. There was a short run down of how the night was gonna play out then some high tech videos...on VHS. 

The first night was spent in five shifts! 

10pm: Everyone goes out. It's raining. Two heifers need to be put in pens. Sophie and Sarah stay outside to watch the miracle of birth in slow motion...

12pm: I'm asleep.

2am: Still asleep. 

4am: First shift for me. Wake up resenting the world, the cows, the other room for getting to sleep!
6am: A little less bitter shift. Nothing exciting happens and I go straight back to sleep.

I was slightly excited to not have to wake up till almost TEN!!! Woot!

The rest of the weekend went by in a blur... A tiny cow filled, bull stimulating, tagging, dead lifting, "what not to do video", amazing food, kitchen time, muddy boot, Carhart wearing blur. 

I learned a ton this weekend and I am so glad I got the opportunity. It made me realize this is so not, but really is, what I want to spend the rest of my life doing!

I made a lot more friends than I expected to make and it definitely made me miss the teaching farm!

I'm super thankful that I get to wake up every morning to the sound of hungry sheep and mooing cows! I got to spend my afternoon bottle feeding a two pound baby lamb who is depending on me for survival! How many people get to do that?!?! Especially in college.

I may not be the most successful student in the world, I may not have the most friends, or even be that experienced in the livestock industry, but I know who I am and I know that I have my whole life ahead of me to make mistakes and learn more about the world I love. It was humbling yet reassuring weekend that I didn't expect at all.

All in all, it was one for the history books, even though I just went for the food and videos. ;) Write this one down as a success people!

#ARECmajorprobz

So, as I get closer to graduation I realize I'm about to leave behind a long standing tradition of procrastination!

More and more people in my life keep showing up as AREC (Agribusiness Economics and Management, is my technical major), majors asking for the advice of a lifetime; what classes to take, old problem sets, general life facts. After answering all of these questions I realize, we AREC majors are a unique breed all our own.

Seeing as this is my only major, I'm not sure if all of this true for the rest of the college world, but I think what we have is pretty unique. 


You might be an AREC major if....

1. The Law of Diminishing Marginal Returns is the catch phrase to your life.
2. You know the joy of being out of breath before every class....the stairs of Cesar Chavez.
3. You can draw a supply and demand curve, label Q* and P* without a second glance.
4. You could define opportunity cost, elasticity, and marginal cost before you could list the capitol of any state.
5. You base your life off of when the next problem set is due.
6. You can say Agribusiness Economics and Management, Agriculture Resource Economics, Agriculture Water Resource Economics, five times fast!
7. If it wasn't for the last minute, NOTHING would get done.
8. The study room will always be there for you....full of people....the day of an exam (or problem set).
9. You save every graded quiz, problem set, and test to sell for future profits.
10. You are one of four select groups.
        a. A water resource tie-dye wearing, Nalgene drinking, hippie. 
        b. Super smart and your knowledge is forever wanted by the rest of the major. 
        c. From Mexico and full of questions. 
        d. And as Karli would put it..."Good Old White Folk."

We are a small and very select group of people who really don't know anything about the things we're supposed to be learning. Futures markets...What's cross-hedging? I think this class is some form of policy analysis of poverty or law or water or economics, one of those.

• If the slides are online and the tests aren't cumulative, you can bet attendance will be minimal. 
• The day of tests and presentations the class size will triple and you will wonder if these people are really even part of the class. 
• Once you find the answers you are like a god, everyone will hunt you down and seek your advice. 
• One acronym....SWOT

Every class can be described as, "Well the TA's are usually pretty helpful and if you just get the old problem sets and tests from the class before you'll be fine. Oh, and he usually curves...sometimes, well maybe. You don't really have to go."