Ag Family

Teaching is the family business.  Especially teaching agriculture.  Both of my parents, as well as my older sister, are full-time agriculture teachers.  My younger sister will also be co-teaching with my dad during the coming school year.  I guess I'm the odd one out!

Last week was the annual conference for South Dakota Ag Teachers.  We had the rare opportunity to have all five of us (plus my new baby nephew!) together for the banquet and auction on the last night, as some of the proceeds of the auction were to go towards my dad's medical expenses.

It was so nice to all be together for an evening with not only my "Ag Family," but also the "SD Ag Family."

2013 Year in Review

2013 wasn't all roses, but, looking back, there are so many wonderful memories that I kind of forgot the hard parts of it all.  The first half of the year involved many, many physical therapy and doctor appointments for my knee, but the half-marathon I ran in the fall kind of made up for it.

January

2013 literally started out with roses when I traveled to southern California to watch my Stanford Cardinal play in - and win! - the 99th Rose Bowl.  My friend Kyla and I made the trip together, celebrating New Year's at a fabulous mansion party in the Hollywood Hills before watching our team in Pasadena.

At the end of the month, we celebrated Jas's birthday by going to a pop-up black-and-white masquerade ball and dinner party.  Masquerade ball has now been officially checked off of my bucket list!

February

My second knee surgery in six months happened on February 6.  The first surgery wasn't able to heal the whole tear in my meniscus, so they went back in and re-did the surgery to get the second half to heal.  My friends and neighbors were so sweet to bring me care packages.

 March

In March, I flew back home to South Dakota for "spring break" and Easter with my family.  Baby Sister, my cousin Les, and I had fun with the baby lambs, dinking around on the 4-wheeler, and going shooting with a dear friend of mine.  Holidays in South Dakota are definitely one of a kind!

April
April was marked by the start of the season for our garden.  We spent a day planting and setting up the drip irrigation system, and it was all worth it for the months of fresh veggies we got to enjoy!

May

In May, I had my first Bay to Breakers experience - a "run" across San Francisco with thousands of my closest friends, in costumes, with a lot of beer.  It was definitely memorable, and I'm glad I did it with this guy.

June

In June, I was finally able to go back to work with a mostly-recovered knee.  The same week, I also started graduate school!

Earlier in June, Tall Dark and Nerdy had an aunt and uncle come to visit us, so in showing them around, I got to see Yosemite for the first time.

July

I went to a lot of concerts in 2013, but two really stick in my head as representing the year.  Possibly because one was the largest concert I've ever been to - Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z's Legends of the Summer Tour.  Possibly because I planned the best date night ever taking Tall Dark and Nerdy to see Weezer in San Francisco at an incredible temporary venue.  Possibly because I went to these two concerts two nights in a row.  Whatever the reason, they were a couple of really great shows!

August

August brought an incredible vacation to Europe with Tall Dark and Nerdy.  With our time together in Germany, our long weekend with friends in Munich, my day by the lake in Zurich, my time in Scotland with my grandmother, and my days in London with friends, this trip couldn't have gotten much better!

September

I was able to fly home and be a part of when of my oldest friends' special days this fall.  I have known this girl nearly all my life and we have become such close friends since high school, even with me living 2000 miles away.  It was such a wonderful weekend kicking up our heels and celebrating a great couple!  And I got to spend time with Baby Sister, which made it even better!

October

On October 20th I participated in my second Nike Women's Marathon.  This time I did it pretty much on my own, and I ran more of it than I thought possible.  After all my struggles with my knee this past year, this was a huge day for me.  I couldn't run the whole thing, but it will come, maybe in 2014!

Now, as dorky as this sounds, the other highlight of October was getting our wood burning stove installed at the cabin.  Now I can relax by a fire all winter!

November

Every fall, the school I teach at has a wonderful auction to raise money for our scholarship fund.  Tall Dark and Nerdy and I went, talked with wonderful parents, and had a really nice evening (and even took a nice picture!)

At the end of the month, we headed to Cozumel, Mexico for a mini vacation.

December

The reason we headed to Cozumel was the Tall Dark and Nerdy was competing in an Ironman triathlon.  I'm so proud of him!

My dad came to visit us for Christmas, prompting a trip to Big Sur to see McWay Falls - which Tall Dark and Nerdy has been tempting me with almost since we met!

Wow, 2013 had a lot of memories!  I can't wait to make more in 2014!

#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 - 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.

10 Years

It's hard to keep the tears from my eyes while writing this or even thinking about it.  Ten years ago, I lost my best friend.  A man many loved and admired and depended on, but to me, he was so much more.

 

I was incredibly blessed as a child, because when my parents were at work, my sisters and I didn't spend our days in a daycare center or with a babysitter or nanny.  We got to spend them at the family farm with Grams and Grandpa.

 

My grandpa was the epitome of the strong, silent type.  He didn't say much, but when he did, everyone listened.  I was one of the few people that got to see another side of him. 

 

I spent countless days riding on the fender of his tractor going back and forth between the farm and fields.  We took many trips to market in the old blue pickup - usually stopping for ice cream on the way home!  And we enjoyed many "lunches" of graham crackers and Ovaltine.

 

I don't know what it was, but there was something about the two of us that just worked.  When we were riding in that pickup together, I heard stories of his childhood on the farm, adventures with his brothers, and humorous moments of his early courtship with Grams.  I didn't know until many years after his death, that these were rare experiences.  He and I shared stories that he never even shared with my dad, and I still just can't believe it.

Grandpa, I'm so glad I got to spend all the time with you that I did.  There is so much of your life still on the farm and I can feel it every time I'm there.  I still love to watch storms from the porch or sitting inside with the door open, because you taught me how to relax and trust that I'm being watched over.  You were such an amazing man and I'm so glad to have shared so many memories with you, I just wish you had been here for even more of them, like my graduation from Stanford.  I wish that I could have you by my side in the future when I get married and have children of my own, but I know you are still in my heart.  I love you and miss you every day, Grandpa.

#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.

 

Spring Break in SoDak

It's always great to go back home.  The place I grew up couldn't be more different than where I live now, but I love both places and the people in them that make my life whole.  I thought I'd share some pictures of my "spring break" vacation in SoDak this year with family and friends.

Lambing season on the farm, and shooting lessons with baby sister and Les.

Jon Pardi, Dustin Lynch, and Jon Pardi concert in Brookings with old friends!

Lola came to wake me up after spending the night at Ash's new house.

Baby sister was wishing we were back in Tahoe, so she tried on her
snowboard coat, one mitten, and MY hat...with her shorts.

A big reason why I made sure to go home in March was to meet baby Rig.

He was a month old and so precious.  And his mama KT was doing great too!

Papa Rist and I leaving the farm together one morning.  Yes, that's fresh snow.

It had been YEARS since I had scraped a windshield.  Not sure I liked it.

Mom's greenhouse got a couple thousand new plants for her students to practice growing!

South Dakota sunset between my farm and my hometown.  What a sight!

I love this girl to death!  My cousin Les, baby sister, and I had a "cousin night" together.

Dinner and drinks, then home for sweats, cookie dough, and Magic Mike.

#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 - 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!

 

 

New Holiday Tradition

Les with the .22

Baby Sister and I have kind of started a new holiday tradition.  If you remember, she and I went shooting with TDN and my boys right before Christmas and had a blast.

Pistol training with the 9

Nearly every time I go back to South Dakota for a visit, my friend Matt and I try to get together and do some shooting.  Well, this visit was no exception!  We got together on the day before Easter to do our thing.  The only difference was that instead of just the two of us, we brought along some friends!  I brought Baby Sister and my cousin Les, and Matt's brother and dad came with us, too.

Baby Sister showing off with the 22-250

Les had only shot a gun once, and she didn't remember what it was, at all.  Baby Sister has been hunting since she was 12, and so have Matt and his brother.  His brother also just got home from Afghanistan and gets to do weapons training through his job in the military.  Needless to say, we all have very different levels of experience and comfort with different guns, but it was an enjoyable time for all!

Les was scared to shoot the
22-250 at first, she just wanted
to pose with it instead.

I think the best part might have been getting Les to try all the different toys we brought along...and then helping her remember the names of them so she could tell the family at supper!  We shot a Ruger .22 rifle, a 22-250, a Glock 9mm, a S&W M&P .40, and a Glock .40.  My favorite is the M&P :)

She decided to give it a try though!

Baby Sister cleaned up
some clays with the .22

My unconventional
shooting attire.