#tbt - South Dakota State Fair

Labor Day weekend for several years was incredibly occupied with the South Dakota State Fair.  It made for a ridiculously busy weekend with more sheep shows than I can count, but a lot of fun.  And, of course, baby sister and I had fun goofing around to break the tension.

 

These pictures are, I think, from the 2008 State Fair, the summer I graduated from high school and about a week before I moved to California to start college.

 



#tbt - Bruce

Bruce [Almighty/the shark from "Finding Nemo"] was my favorite ram.  I realize how weird that sounds, but it's true.  The big guy had a special place in our hearts, and our show schedule!

 

This summer of showing (2007) was made more interesting by the fact that I had recently had ACL reconstructive surgery and was still wearing a huge knee brace. 

 

This picture of me with Bruce and baby sister was taken just inside the barn in Parker, South Dakota at the Turner County Fair - The 4 Best Days of Summer.  I don't even know what to do with myself the 3rd week of August now that I'm away, since every year that I can remember through 2011 was spent there.



#tbt Paris 2008

I'm about to leave for a European vacation and I couldn't be more excited!  In honor of this trip, I dug out a picture of me taken at the base of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France when I was there just over 5 years ago. 

I met a few great guys from Texas in the Louvre one evening.  We instantly hit it off and had fun exploring Paris together over the next few days.  One of them snapped this photo of me.  I was having such a great time, and I can't wait for my next European adventures!

#tbt Besties in Chicago

One of my best friends from home, KT, is a wonderful young woman that I've known since I was just a young pup.  She and I have definitely had our differences over the years, including most of high school, but we managed to grow closer than ever even with the physical distance of me moving to California.

She is constantly inspiring me.  Just this year, she had a beautiful baby boy, graduated from nursing school, passed her boards, and started work as an RN.  She's marrying a wonderful man in a few months, and I can't wait to help them celebrate their day.

The wedding is less than two months away, and I can't wait!  While I'm beside myself with excitement, I'll share an oldie but a goodie of the two of us in Chicago as high school juniors right before we saw "Wicked."

#tbt - My Maria

I can't believe this girl is getting married on Saturday!  Maria and I have known each other most of our lives, and I wish we could spend more time together now.  And I really wish I could be there to help her celebrate her big day.

 

I still love this picture of us because it reminds me of such a great day we spent together.  These were taken at an SDSU football game on my 18th birthday.  Go Jacks!

#tbt - Medicine ball trouble

Now that my knee is mostly recovered, I have started a new weight lifting program of sorts thanks to Mik, my personal personal trainer :)

 

Any type of weight lifting gives me flashbacks to my time on the Stanford Women's Rowing team.  We were an uncoordinated bunch, and our strength coach tried to fix that by making us throw medicine balls around all the time - at walls, at the floor, at each other.  I'm still a little hesitant to use medicine balls in the gym.

 

Someone snapped this gem during weights my freshman year as I was doing a killer ab exercise with a medicine ball and one of my team captains.

 

#tbt - First day at Stanford

Now that I'm a few weeks into graduate school, I have been reflecting a lot on the last time I started school - nearly 5 years ago when I began my freshman year at Stanford University.

 

This photo was taken by one of my roommates' parents, right after we all got there and moved in.  I couldn't have been luckier with the roommates I was given for my freshman year.  We had a wonderful year, and Mik and I essentially lived together all through our undergrad experience and miss her every day now that we live more than a couple feet apart.

 

#tbt - July 4th 2009

In honor of the holiday happening to fall on a Thursday this year, I thought I'd dig out a July 4th throwback.  This is from the summer after my freshman year f college when I went back to SD for the summer.  Papa Rist and I rode the motorcycle up to Watertown and spend the day on Lake Kampeska with my godparents, family, and friends.  This photo was snapped near the end of the night, sitting on the dock watching the fireworks.

#tbt - Frosh Formal

Stanford graduation was a week and a half ago. 

This fact has left me feeling a little old.  I have officially been out of college for over a year.

This picture is a classic from my freshman year at Stanford - dancing down the hallway of my frosh dorm (Roble!) before Frosh Formal.

#tbt - Baby sister way back when

This throwback features two of my favorite people in the world:  Papa Rist and baby sister.  This picture is from the same family reunion-type event that last week's beautiful picture of my cousin Les came from.

She was such a cute little peanut!  This girl means so much to me and I don't know what I would do without her!  Although I haven't always showed it in a "normal" way - I did encourage her to eat a mud pie once upon a time - I couldn't have made it through a lot of the challenges in my life without her constant support.

#tbt - Les

I was lucky enough to have a cousin less than 6 months younger than me, Les, so we got to do a lot of growing up together.  Les is now a beautiful woman entering her final year of nursing school and I'm so proud to call her my cousin and friend!

This picture was another find from Grams's piano.  We were all gathered at the Centerville Steakhouse for some sort of large family gathering - maybe a reunion? - where we were all lucky enough to have to sing, dance, or play an instrument during the "show."  Oh, my childhood.

 

#tbt - Cousins

My family has always been very close, especially the "cousins." 

 

My Grams always loved to tell people that she waited a long time for grandkids to come along, then she got 7 in 7 years.  Maybe it was because we were all so close in age, or because we all lived within 3-1/2 hours of each other, or maybe it was because of our Grams, but I still know that I can count on my cousins for anything.

 

This picture is from the morning after my cousin Les's graduation party less than a week after I finished my freshman year at Stanford.  Six of the seven of us were there - #7 was at Army basic training - and we snapped a picture with Grams before the first family left for home in the morning.

#tbt - Senior Prom

Here's another picture I came across on my last trip back to SoDak to visit my family.  This is from my senior prom. 

 

And, yes, I'm wearing a hat.  That spring, I was performing in a community arts production of "Anything Goes" - a 1934 Cole Porter musical.  I came across this cute little hat among our costume options and fell in love with it and the way it was going to go with the "look" I had in mind.  I had found a classic black halter dress with pearl details on the bodice, which I paired with black gloves and pearl jewelry, a la Audrey Hepburn circa Breakfast at Tiffany's.

 

Looking back at this picture makes me smile.  What a wonderful night with my friends and great date, Matty.

#tbt - Grams's wallet

Grams wanted to show off the pictures in her wallet - to the people in her wallet -  over Easter.  These gems were in there, and have been for a loooong time!

 

I'm not exactly sure what year these are from, but I'm guessing I was in probably 3rd grade, which would make this Baby Sister's picture from kindergarten!

 

 

#tbt - Toothless

I'm joining the Instagrammers and their #tbt craze.  #tbt stands for "throwback Thursday" and has been a fun trend to watch.  Friends post pictures of themselves or their friends in the past, whether it was 6 months ago or when they were 6 months old.

While visiting my Grams at home last month, I enjoyed looking at old pictures of my cousins and I growing up displayed proudly on her piano.

This gem, my first tbt post, can be found affixed to my mom's file cabinet in her classroom at school.  Apparently, I had just lost some teeth and wanted to show off the gap!