The 38th Floor

The first blog. Whew, what a relief! I set my blog site up a couple weeks ago, and have stressed for two weeks as to the topic of my first blog. Then, I realized that I was just going to jump in and write whatever I was feeling.

So here it is. It's not an "about me", hopefully through my blog posts y'all will get to know me, and all about what I stand for. I hope this blog will be an informative place to learn about beef, agriculture products, and the general life of a farm girl fighting untruths about agriculture. But, first, a couple important parts of my life:

Part 1: I'm from Texas, as evidenced by the "y'all" in the prior sentence - that's a word y'all know!

Part 2: livestock judging. Livestock judging has been such a big part of my life for ten years, now I only have ONE month left judging with some of the most amazing people I know (aka prepare yourselves for sad, sappy blog posts in the preceding months). For those of you that don't know, livestock judging is basically a contest where we evaluate cattle, sheep, goats and hogs based on their market potential, and their efficiency in saving producers and consumers money! Always important! It's also a high stress, high time-intensive, road tripping, steno and pencil required, teammate bonding, memory making, late nights and early mornings love affair.

Recently, we traveled to Tulsa, Oklahoma and Dallas, Texas for two of our last four contests EVER - no, please tell me it isn't true!? Anyway, after the State Fair of Texas contest, our team quickly realized (thanks coach) that we had not set ourselves up to win the contest. In fact, we ended up second - congrats Aggies, we'll get ya next time. 

Losing is never the goal. But losing is what makes the next win so much fun. Monday night, for the awards banquet, over 300 coaches and contestants rode the Sheraton elevator up 38 floors, to the very top where we were greeted with the most gorgeous sight. Surrounding the banquet hall were solid glass walls, allowing us to look out over the lit up Dallas night sky. Talk about taking your breath away!

In that instant, standing over the top of the Dallas skyline, surrounded by livestock industry leaders, and the most passionate group of people, I realized that had to be what life is about! We travel, we do what we love, we may not always succeed, but there is always something to learn, something to love and something to strive for. Whether it is livestock judging, sports, competitions, family, or life in general, we always have to remember to cherish the moment we're in!

 Have a blessed day, may your coffee be bold, your worries subtle, and and your happiness 38 floors high!

P.S. I can guarantee not all my blog posts will be deep and thought provoking! But hey, when the shoe fits, rock it like Lady Gaga.

P.S.S. Because I think it is a sin to post without a picture, check out my fantastic team! This picture was taken a few weeks ago in Illinois (I think) when we "spotted" a spot gilt!