The Power of Blue Corduroy

Why I am forever, #WYFFAProud...

I never dreamed anything could fit so perfectly.  I put it on and admired myself in the mirror.  It was a little stiff from being boxed up for so long, and it was more than a little wrinkled.  But I had never in all my 15 years seen anything more beautiful in my entire life.  Soft and starchy, blue and gold.  It was stunning.  And I felt beautiful, powerful, capable in it.

No, it wasn't my prom dress.  It was something so, so, SO much more important.  It was my very own FFA jacket.

It arrived just after our district speaking competition where I had delivered the FFA Creed and placed 2nd, well enough to advance to the regional competition in a few weeks.  I had worn a borrowed FFA jacket for the event, as I had on a few other occasions.  I was riding the high from my speaking win when we arrived back at the Cheyenne FFA ag shop to a big box.

"Ah, now you'll really be dressed for success," my ag teacher, Mr. Berry, told me as he handed me the jacket.

I couldn't wait to get home and try it on.  I stood in front of the mirror in our upstairs bathroom. Slowly, carefully, I zipped it up.  Tears sprang to my eyes, it felt that awesome.  It was if in my 15 years on planet earth, I had been trying on and discarding self-images that didn't quite fit.  Tomboy, nerd, B-team athlete, horse show girl, all of those were me but they weren't.  But this, THIS felt right.  Perfect.  Life-changing.  I was an FFA member.  I was part of an organization that was half-a-million strong, united in leadership and learning about agriculture.  I was growing to be a confident public speaker, learning about cattle and hogs and crops and finding my place in the world.  We might bicker among us, but when the chips were down, an army of corduroy clad friends and strangers had my back, and the chapter and state embroidered on my back proved it.

FFA is first and foremost and organization dedicated to teaching it's members about agriculture, our most basic and important industry.  And I learned public speaking, leadership, business skills and time management.  But I also learned smaller, more important lessons along the way.  Responsibility from raising animals, humility from losing in the show ring and in judging competitions, leadership from being elected to a chapter office,

I wore the stiff and new right out of that first jacket,  I wore it to county fairs, camps, State Fairs, speech competitions and chapter meetings.  It was on my back when I lost that next regional creed competition.  Over the years, I added pins for the greenhand and chapter degree.  Offices were embroidered under my name on the front, ribbons and programs and phone numbers of new friends shoved in the pockets.  I wore that same jacket four years later, when I won the state Extemporaneous Public Speaking competition and was elected to a state office.  And I wore it to the funeral of two of our chapter members, killed in a car accident the summer after I graduated.  Within it's fabric are woven some of the best, and hardest, times of my life.

I've worn lots of different clothes since those days in the blue corduroy.  Sweatshirts so soft and worn they practically lulled me to sleep; hot pink Rocky Mountain jeans that I hoped would make the boys look twice; a navy blue linen suit that landed me my first professional job; a silky white wedding dress as amazing and gorgeous as the man I married.  But those moments, that jacket and all the memories I made while wearing it stick with me long after it was time to hang it up.

Twenty years later, and I still feel in my heart like...

Happy National FFA Week!

Happy National FFA Week!

I've been having some fun making graphics for National FFA Week.  I was amazed that one I put together last year has been shared, forwarded and posted several thousand times.  So I thought I'd work to create some new ones to share on behalf of the Wyoming FFA as part of the #WYFFAProud social media campaign.  Maybe next year, these too will become part of the National FFA Week lexicon.  #WYFFAProud.

They are expecting a storm on the East coast that has everyone in a dither.  We call this a Tuesday.

Be a #VoiceforAg

When I was in college, ag major friends and I would often discuss the division found in the ranks of the agriculture industry.  It seemed like instead of coming together as an industry, there was always infighting.  Different factions struggled to present a united front on issues like the Farm Bill, Endangered Species Act, brucellosis testing or wolf management.

What would it be like, we wondered, if we could get all the crop organizations, all the livestock organizations, all the natural resource organizations to work together?  How powerful could the industry be if each of us looked out for the benefit if our whole industry instead of our own special interest?  How much stronger could we all be, politically?

But our discussions never moved beyond that, talk.  It took a group of nine different college students to finally stop talking and start doing. 

This year, the 2014-2015 Wyoming State FFA Officers have created an opportunity for everyone in agriculture to come together and be a Voice for Agriculture with the first annual Wyoming Agriculture Advocacy Week.

To be held Jan. 26 through Feb. 1, 2015, Wyoming Agriculture Advocacy Week will focus on encouraging FFA members and others to be a voice for agriculture and engage their local communities in discussion about where their food comes from and how agriculture contributes to Wyoming’s economy and culture.  The effort is being led by the state officers, but their hope is that others will join in their fight to educate about our most basic industry.

No more farmers vs. rancher, Angus vs. Herefords, corn vs. cotton, or chicken vs. pork.  Just one industry, coming together, to educate about all the things it is doing right.  One voice proclaiming why we still believe in the future of agriculture.

I commend the state FFA officers for hatching the idea and their fellow FFA members for getting on board to help make that dream a reality.  And I encourage our industry to follow the lead of these visionary young agriculturalists and get involved in the first annual Wyoming Agriculture Advocacy Week.  Share your ag story on social media with the #VoiceForAg  hashtag.  Speak out for agriculture in our state.  Get involved with an activity the local FFA chapter has planned.  Let’s show these future leaders we believe in them and support their cause. 

Henry Ford said “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”

Be a #VoiceforAg this week and make a pledge to come together, keep together and work together for the success of this industry we all need.  

A memory for the baby book...

I was in the kitchen making dinner while Outdoor Guy played with Emily in her room.  Pretty soon, I hear her door open and she goes racing down the hall.  Outdoor Guy saunters into the kitchen, laughing.  When I asked him what he was laughing at, he said the two of them had been enjoying a rather fancy and formal tea party.  They were being quite dainty when all of a sudden, Emily jumped up, declared "I have to POOP!" and ran to the bathroom.

Becoming a Real Writer Means You Must Write

A while back, I started a quest to read more books.  I saw an infographic that said less than two percent  of American adults will read 50 or more books in a year.  So I challenged myself to meet that goal.  As part of that, I picked up a copy of "The True Secret of Writing," by Natalie Goldberg.  I've been working on a novel for the last few years, but can't seem to get motivated enough to work on it seriously.  Mostly, because I'm convinced I'm not a "real" writer and that only "real" writers write novels.  So there my manuscripts sits, floating in the digital ether of my comptuer's hard drive, 18,000 words among all those 0s and 1s and tiny electrical connections while my brain searches for ways to connect the thoughts in my head to the paper under my hand.

I'm halfway through "True Secrets."  One of the biggest takeaways I've gotten from the book is simply that if I ever want to be a writer, I need to write.  Pen on paper, strokes on keyboard, it doesn't matter.  I need to take letters, form words and sentences and write.  And I need to practice.  Goldberg's theory is not to start with the novel but to practice writing and all that practice will get your creative juices flowing and maybe a novel will pop out.

So I accepted her challenge of writing for 10 minutes a day.  I've signed up with a few services to send me random writing prompts, and will use those to log my 10 minute writing practice.  These aren't meant to be graded or critiqued, only to practice writing.

I had every intention of doing this as blog posts, but after trying one topic for about three minutes today, I realize that is never going to work.  I can't do this on the computer because I can't control my compunction to edit and redraft as I go along.  And that is so not the point of this exercise.  So I will revert to old school methods of paper and pen and other tools of the troglodytes.

Wish me luck in 10...9...8...

Cheers for another mother

We have a huge pine tree just off our front porch.  Each spring, a robin builds her nest in the tree, diligently layering bits of sticks and grass to make a cozy little home for her impending family.  In the morning and evenings when the shades are up, we can sit on our couch and watch the industrious little birds as they go about their construction.  But the first two summers we lived in Boulder failed to produce any live chicks.  Each time, a magpie would find the nest and eat the eggs.  Dastardly devils.

Now I understand the circle of life and all that.  I know magpies have to eat too, but it bothered me that their meal came at the expense of the poor little robins.

So this year, I was skeptical when yet another robin built her nest in the tree.  Every afternoon when we played in the front yard, Wyokiddo would have to check on the mama bird in her nest.  Soon, though, she wasn't sitting in her nest.  I wondered if the mama bird had fallen victim to one of the many predators in the area.

I shouldn't have worried.  Soon enough, we saw the robin sneak into the nest and deliver a worm to her new brood.

 Now four little beaks peak out above the rim of the nest.  This year at least, motherhood triumphed over Mother Nature.  Well done, mama and papa robin.  Well done, indeed.

Venison Taco Pie

Tacos are one of our go-to meals, especially in the summer.  Tacos are easy and quick to make, and I don't have to heat up the house turning on the oven.  But for a change of pace, I love this version of Taco Pie.  Taco meat in a soft and warm biscuit crust topped with gooey cheese.  Yes, please!

The original recipe came to me from a friend.  It calls for using deer burger, but I've found it works equally as well with ground elk, antelope and beef.  My two adult nephews, some of the choosiest eaters on the planet, asked for seconds! 

You could also change this up and use the biscuits in a pizza pan for taco pizza!

My food photography definitely needs some work, but you get the idea.  

Venison Taco Pie
1 pound ground venison

• 1 can (11 ounces) Mexicorn, drained
• 1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
• 1 envelope taco seasoning
• 1 can diced green chilies (optional)
• 1 tube (7-1/2 ounces) refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese

• 
  In a large skillet, cook venison over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Stir in the corn, tomato sauce and taco seasoning; keep warm.

 For crust, press biscuits onto the bottom and up the sides of an ungreased 9-in. pie plate.

• 
  Bake at 350° for 5 minutes. Spoon venison mixture into crust. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until filling is bubbly and biscuits are golden brown. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.  

• 
  
• Serve with traditional taco fixings, like sour cream, lettuce or tomatoes.  

Original recipe from Taste of Home.  Yields 6 servings

What You Talkin' About, Willet?

I love the variety of birds we get around here.  A few weeks ago, I caught sight of this guy, a willet.  I'd never seen one before, and had to take a few minutes with the bird book to distinguish it from some other more common birds.  It reminded me of a snipe, but with longer legs and a shorter beak.

These long-legged, straight-billed shorebirds feed along beaches, mudflats, and rocky shores. Willets are common on most of our coastlines, but Wyoming is a long way from any coast.  During breeding season the western population moves far inland to nest in grasslands and prairies near freshwater, I'm guessing that' how this beautiful bird ended up in a cow pasture in western Wyoming.

The Stars and Stripes and awesome clouds

Let's G.O. - First Time Fishing

I met my husband, Outdoor Guy, during my tenure at the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, our state's agency responsible for conserving and managing wildlife.  We live at a fish hatchery where Outdoor Guy works as the assistant manager.  So as you can imagine, wildlife and the outdoors are a big part of our lives. We both hunt and fish, and I love outdoor photography.  But while we want Wyokiddo to spend time outside, we didn't want to force our interests on her.  Especially too soon.  We both know parents who drag their kids along hunting, fishing, hiking, etc., regardless if it's an age appropriate activity or something the child is actually interested in.  In my opinion, this is setting yourself up for a frustrating day and a good way to inadvertently discourage your child from enjoying the same things you do.

But this weekend, the timing seemed right for Wyokiddo's first try at fishing.  She'd shown interest after seeing boys fishing in the community pond.  We've even "fished" here at home with sticks in puddles.  And now that summer seems to have arrived in Wyoming, we loaded up the truck and headed to a local lake for some fishing.

Wyokiddo actually did a little fishing, with help from me or Outdoor Guy.  He set her up with a inexpensive fishing pole we had in the garage, attached a worm and bobber and did the casting.  Wyokiddo watched the line and did her version of fishing, which was dipping her fishing pole in the water over and over again.  We took turns watching her and doing some fishing of our own.  Outdoor Guy caught a few and I mostly caught some rays.

When Wyokiddo was bored of fishing, it was time for some serious sand play.  She built some sandcastles with Outdoor Guy, splashed ino the lake and threw sticks.  The dirtier the better in this little girl's book!

In all, we probably spent more time getting ready to go and driving to the lake than we actually did on the water.  But this trip was all about Wyokiddo and exposing her to something we love to do.  It didn't matter that she was fishing correctly or that we only caught two fish over the course of a few hours.  We enjoyed a beautiful afternoon outside as a family.

So here are a few pointers for sharing your love of the outdoors with your kids, or even exposing them to something new you can all enjoy together!

1. It's About the Kids - Plan your outing around the kids.  This isn't about catching your limit or bagging a state record.  So pick an activity, location and time-frame that is age appropriate.  Fishing was perfect for Wyokiddo, who will turn two in a few weeks.
2. The First Rule is Fun - Don't worry if your child isn't doing your activity correctly - make it fun and the skills will follow.  It doesn't matter if your kiddos are casting correctly or using the binoculars from the wrong end.  Use the opportunity to teach, but don't interrupt their fun unless it's a safety concern.
3. Have some backup activities - Outdoor Guy and I could fish for hours, but Wyokiddo's attention span just isn't that long, even with an activity she really loves.  I packed water and sand toys to go along with the fishing poles to help extend the outing.  She drifted back and forth between fishing and water fun, and Outdoor Guy and I got a few more casts in that we might have otherwise!
4. Give them their own stuff - Kiddos love to imitate!  Make your little one feel special with their own age appropriate gear or equipment.  It's okay if it's not up to your standards, this is about making them part of the activity.  Consider a fishing pole, boots, tackle box or fishing license, like the one I made Wyokiddo for our next trip.  

And, in the end, it's the moments like these that matter...

Owlets!

My favorite story lead of all time belongs to Ray Hageman, voice of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.  "Sometimes, you find the neatest things in trees."

That was Ray's lead into a story about a Wyoming Game Warden caught a wild lynx in a tree outside Cheyenne (lynx are NOT native to the area, this one had traveled across all of Colorado to get there).  I didn't see a lynx, but these great-horned owlets were pretty amazing!

Not the Last Child in the Woods - Let's G.O. (Get Outside!)

When I worked for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, I was involved in many discussions about how to get and keep kids involved in the outdoors.  The Game and Fish is mostly funded by folks buying hunting and fishing licenses, so the future of the agency depended on a society that placed value on outdoor spaces and experiences.  I attended several presentations on a book called Last Child in the Woods, by Richard Louv.  The book does a good job of painting the picture of just how disconnected many of us have become from nature and how that correlates to some of the more disturbing childhood trends.  His theory is that this "nature-deficit disorder" contributes to obesity, attention disorders and even depression in adults and kids alike.  If you haven't read it, it's worth checking out!

As a parent, I can see the difference out play time makes in Wyokiddo's temperament.  Not only does she enjoy the outside time, but it improves her demeanor when we are inside as well.  She sleeps better, eats better and will focus on inside activities for greater lengths of time if she's playing outside in the day.

Our outside play is a little bit of everything.  We have a sandbox, playhouse and swing, as well as a small pool and water table for the summer days.  But one of Louv's points in the book is that kids need unstructured outside play, too.  They need to float sticks down a stream, kick ant piles, dig holes, splash in puddles, etc.  Set the most basic of boundaries and let them go!  Our outside rules are no touching poop and no playing by the slough (it's a mini-canyon).  She can run, yell, throw leaves, break sticks, stomp in puddles in her boots, chase the dogs, chase the birds, eat a pine cone (not so appetizing as it turns out!) and get as dirty as she wants.

Our house sits on about several hundred acres of land, leaving us plenty of room to explore and romp.  We play in the sagebrush, the tree belt and any puddle we can find.  We feed the birds and pick up sticks and try to sneak up on rabbits in the yard for a closer look.  Sometimes I'll point out something to Wyokiddo that I think she might like.  But I consider our time outside her time to explore and experience on her own.

As summer approaches, I'd encourage you to make sure your own kiddo isn't the last child in the woods. For some ideas on getting outside and exploring beyond the playground, visit Louv's Resource Guide.

Never a Dull Moment Around Here

Today, my sister asked me what new and exciting things Wyokiddo was doing these days.  What isn't she doing these days?  Here's my list of recent funny/cute Emily antics...

• Emily is obsessed with looking down my shirt.  If I'm wearing something even remotely loose-fitting, she's pulling it out and trying to stick her hand down my shirt.  It's sort of like a Friday night in the Cowboy in college.  
• Emily is also obsessed with the back of my pants.  She loves to lift up my shirt and inspect my underwear.  Sometimes, if I don't nip it in the bud, she'll try to stick things in my waistband.  Like magnetic letters.  Or little people.  Or a carrot.
• Mommy's clothing notwithstanding, Emily's new favorite activity is playing in her playpen with every single stuffed animal she owns piled around her.  Sometimes she wants me to throw in laundry, too.  Or binkys.  One day it was my shoes.  Hey, it works!  She's confined and entertained and I can wander around the house getting some things done.  
• A few months ago, Emily was obsessed with climbing on the couch.  After the 6,000th time I put her on the couch one afternoon, I figured she could do with a stool to help.  So I bought a little step-stool. And it did help her get on the couch, but not to get off the couch.  After the third time she bailed off the couch like a lemming off a cliff, I put the stool in the closet until she was older and more concerned with her own safety and well-being.  It's been buried in her closet ever since.  On Thursday, though, Em was playing in her room, throwing all her stuffed animals in her playpen.  I was in the kitchen when I heard her banging in the closet, then saw her sneak into the living room carrying what I assumed was her Cowboy Joe Pillow Pet.  The next thing I know, I see her sitting on the couch, which she still can't get on unassisted.  Then I realized she had found the step-stool, took it out of the closet to the couch and used it as a means to chillax on the sofa.  Uh oh, she's starting to understand the use of tools.  Crap.
• One of my favorite things she does is come grab my finger and pull me toward what she wants.  Usually she wants me to pull the crib away from the wall so she can rescue the binky that fell behind it during a nap.  Yesterday, after a particularly frustrating round of baby charades where I for the life of me couldn't figure out what she wanted, Emily threw her hands in the air, grabbed my finger and drug me to the bone dry dog's water dish.  I'm afraid the toddler and the hounds may be in cahoots...
• Emily loves to give 'mooches.  To me.  To Daddy.  To the dogs.  To Aunt Mindy.  To the bear on the Super Golden Crisp Cereal Box in the supermarket.  She's an equal opportunity 'moocher.
• Her newest word is hush.  We love to read "Goodnight Moon" and she'll finish the part about the quiet old lady who whispers "hush."  Makes my heart melt every time.
• I finally got around to starting her family photo album.  We "read" it several dozen times a day.  Each time she excitedly points at someone in the family and claps or gives them a 'mooch.  She's a people person!

All about the bling...

Keep this girl away from Bourbon Street.  She's lovin' the beads!

Ice Chalk Painting

Wyokiddo and I enjoyed another great summer day with a little ice chalk painting.  I got the recipe from Reading Confetti and made it in an ice cube tray.  Wyokiddo seemed to enjoy the sensation of the ice in her hands and wanted to suck on the ice cube itself.  She also had some spreading the "paint" around with her brush.  She did well keeping the paint cube itself out of her mouth.  Unfortunately, I couldn't keep her hands out of her mouth, too.  Oh well, at least it's only water and cornstarch and a teeny bit of food coloring.

I made the ice chalk last night using 1 part cornstarch to 1 part water and poured my mix into ice cube trays.  I wanted a few different colors, so I added the food coloring right to the tray.  This wasn't a huge hit with Wyokiddo, but the chalk paint was easy enough to make.  I think it's a recipe we will keep on hand and try again when she's a little older!

Spectacular Sunset

I love the wide open spaces of Western Wyoming.  It sure does give us some spectacular sunsets!

Buckets of Fun!

I decided to change it up a little bit and give Wyokiddo some water time without setting up the sprinkler.  I set her up with her stacking buckets and a few toys borrowed from the sandbox and bath bag and found a nice sunny spot in the driveway.  She had buckets of fun, literally!  She spent almost an hour dunking toys, dumping water and generally making a big, wet mess.  She eventually figured out I was refilling buckets from the faucet on the side of the house.  When a bucket was empty, she'd toddle to the side of the house, stick her bucket under the faucet and beg for more water.  Even the dogs got in on some of the water fun, draining a bucket or two when Wyokiddo dropped her guard!

Setup and clean up was simple...gather up the buckets and let everything air dry!  If you don't have buckets, storage containers of any size would work.

Fun with Foil

I bought a new photography book and was eager to practice using my camera, so I wanted  to set up Wyokiddo with a quick activity.  She's been into exploring new textures lately, so I cut up some squares of wax paper and tin foil and let her explore!  She had fun crumpling the tin foil and combining crumpled balls into bigger crumpled balls of tin foil.  I made some strips that I wrapped around her wrists and legs like bracelets, which Wyokiddo thought was a hoot.  I didn't get much done with my camera, because I was too busy enjoying the time playing with her!  She definitely liked the tin foil better than the wax paper, and I only had to reminder her once not to put it in her mouth.  This was so simple to set up and clean up.  I might even cut up some squares and keep them in an old travel wipes container to use next time we are stuck in the doctor's office!

Pompom Fun

Wyokiddo decided she didn't want to nap after we got home from a trip to town and the park.  But she was cranky and not interested in any of her toys, so I needed something new to keep her attention and get her smiling again.  I broke out the pack of rainbow colored pompoms I bought at the dollar store to make a discover bottle with, and handed Emily the bag of pompoms and muffin tin.  I had seen something like this with cotton balls and an egg carton on Pinterest and figured, close enough!

It was a hit!  She played for about half an hour, putting the pompoms in the muffin tin or the empty wipes container she found in a drawer.  When that got boring, she looked for other balls to put in the muffin tin...soon we had pompoms, a tennis ball, a hackey sack and balls confiscated from the ball popper in our tin.  That led to her experimenting with shoving the pompoms into the trunk of the ball popping elephant.  What to do you know, the ball popper can shoot out a handful of pompoms like confetti.  What fun!  This was a great activity for a cranky toddler that required about a minute of setup and clean up.  I had to remind Wyokiddo not to put the pompoms in her mouth a few times, so this is not and independent play activity.  But I highly recommend it as a boredom buster!