Making a Change

I am a firm believer at this point in my life that 90% of being able to make a significant change in your life involves a new mind set and way of thinking. I found a great quote that I find inspiring and true in several aspects of my life:

"THE FIRST STEP TO GETTING ANYWHERE IS DECIDING YOU'RE NOT WILLING TO STAY WHERE YOU ARE."

 

I love this because it can be applied to lots of different situations. Decide that you don't want to continue down the road you are on either emotionally, physically, etc. and get off that road, tell yourself that you are done with it and plan your new route. Once you make the change it is empowering and will motivate you to change other things in your life that may have seemed too difficult.

 

FATE ~ a power that is believed to control what happens in the future. : the things that will happen to a person or thing : the future that someone or something will have

 

Do you believe we control our own destiny or IS their a "power" that controls our future? Think about it.

Garden, Garden, Garden

In the blank spots of my garden I planted 4 bell pepper plants, we love green peppers! Much to my surprise they have done pretty well. Every time I go out to the garden there are new peppers coming, hiding inside the plant under the leaves. I have chopped a whole bunch and froze them for later use, I sure wish I knew how and was interested in canning! Kinsley and Ryder help me wash everything, which is great, but what a mess!

We also grew sunflowers in all colors to brighten up the garden, but mostly to give me something fun to take pictures of! We have one so far, with hopefully 2 more opening when we get home tonight!

And we had corn for the first time on Sunday. It was super yummy. They say it is ready when the end of the silk turns brown, well I still have to peel back the husk and peek!

5 Years, Where Does Time Go?

Yep, that's right he's 5 years old. For Ryder's birthday we went to the zoo and to iJump. Then a party at home with pork chops, mashed potatoes & gravy and corn on the cob for his birthday dinner. He got to pick the day and the dinner. We had a fun day. I wish I would have made it my rule to take the day off for my kids birthday about 5 years ago!

Then came the family party with the How to Train Your Dragon theme. Again Lisa made the cake and exeeded all expectations. I love her cakes because all you do is give her a flavor and a theme and she designs it and you pick it up on party day! Big surprise for everyone. We had a blue raspberry cake with a hidden surprise inside. I honestly could have eaten the entire thing over the course of a week. I had to throw it in the garage (out by the road) so I wouldn't eat any more of it!

We happened to plan Ryder's party on the same weekend as our Just Family Reunion, so Todd, Julie and Kellan were able to come! Todd and his family were also there - they are usually in Bear Lake. Grandpa Jim came! It was a full house, tons of fun, good food, lots of good people.

I love this kid.

And here's the surprise inside. It was jam-packed with Sixlets, Swedish Fish, Bubble Gum, etc. It was so cool, the kids loved it. It looked like the cake exploded when we cut into it and everything came spilling out.

What a fun time. Great memories.

Happy Birthday to my most favorite little man on the planet!

Good Times

Kathy calls this the 3 Musketeers. But I would say it should be called Superwoman since the lady taking the picture wrestled these 3 (Colt 1, Kinsley 2, Carly 3) all by herself while the rest of us rode for 2 or 3 hours. Good times with cousins, I remember those so clearly from when I was young. Both on the Christiansen side and the Mattson side. Memories to last a lifetime. Friendships that may fade a little, but a connection that is always there called family.

Let me set the scene. This is our "crew." Left to right: Ryder & Jalepeno, Grandma Kathy, Tiffany & Peanut, Grandpa Wayne & Yellow horse, Lauren & Wes (way back), Katie & Roy, Whitney & Paskel. Yup, that's it, what an awesome day, everyone survived, had a great time and this is less than half of the riders. We are missing 3 grandkids that are too little to go, Todd and Wade. Just wait, couple more years and we will fill up this photo, all on horses. All three kids ride by themselves. Whitney can get on and off by herself. Man, they are getting big. Ryder is 5, Lauren is 7, Whitney is 10!

Three of my most favorite and important things in the whole world right in one spot: Family, Horses and the Hills!

Rain, Rain go away.....?

Just look at this rain gauge! I dumped almost 2" of rain out of this in the first 2 weeks of August. Now there are a lot of different opinions of the rain at this point. If you are a rancher, we call this "the million dollar rain." Meaning it could not have come at a better time, it softens the existing grass, brings on new growth, settles the horrible dust and renews the land for the upcoming fall season. If you are a hay farmer and had your 2nd crop hay down the rain could not have come at a worse time. It all but ruined the 2nd crop, we are even hearing reports of hay being chopped and blown back on the fields, not even worth baling. And then there are the barley and wheat farmers, this rain also could not have come at a worse time. It came right as farmers were beginning harvest and made the fields and the grain too wet to harvest. What does that mean? The grain starts sprouting and molding in the heads, while still in the field. What does that mean? The grain in not useable by the grain companies at closer to $5.75/bushel, now the farmers can only sell it for feed at around $3.00/bushel! This is terrible for the farmers, but it is also agriculture. Lots of reports of a total loss of the wheat and barley crop in East Idaho, only time will tell. Today it will hopefully be dry enough to start cutting again and get the grain done before potatoes officially start around the 25th.

I often hear that agriculture is like a double-edged sword. In order for one commodity to do really well, another commodity or two have to have some type of loss. Sad that we almost have to hope another producer has struggles so our industry will pick up. But this is the ag cycle, this is life in agriculture. When grain is up, corn is down. When corn is up, cattle are down, etc. We as producers have been on an extremely good ride for at least 8 years that I know of since being in the lending business, I am sad to say that it is about time for a little down turn to the markets to bring us all back to reality. And even though cattle at ridiculous highs, they too will have their time.



We should as beef producers should be thankful for this time and count our blessings. Plan for the future when things are not as bright. Agriculture is the best life I know, but it's also one of the hardest, hence my full-time job in town. But at the same time, I still deal with the down turn to the full extent at my job in town professionally every single day. Stupid occupation? No. I GET to live the life I love and deal with agriculture and it's people every day. Some days that's good and some days it's not as good.

Work

It's not often that I mention my job, but it is a big portion of my life and I think it is worth mentioning. I work for a great organization (IACA) in Blackfoot, Wade and I also borrower money from them for our cattle and hay operation. IACA is a very open minded company when it comes to employees, their families and education. I am always willing to go to a training or learn something new, which more times than not has got me a new project or "title." This week I was able to attend a seminar in Pocatello and it was really good, I only thought I was going to fall asleep once and it was only for about 3 or 4 minutes, so it doesn't really count! The whole seminar was based on communication, which I do a lot of both at work and at home, so it was very interesting to me. I would be willing to say that I had several "ah-haaaa" moments on some pretty basic stuff that is a little embarrassing, so that's right, I am going to talk about them!

1. The instructor asked, "Do some people make you mad?" The whole room says, "yes, all the time, etc." He says, "No they don't, you are in control of you. You are the one that decided to get mad." Ah-haaa #1 - Um so as much as it pains me to admit that this was a "moment" for me, IT REALLY WAS! So true if you stop to think about it. I am not saying that we should smile and let everyone run us over like a dog, but that we should be questioning ourselves more and deciding if getting mad is really the best thing to do, does it help the situation or does it just make YOU feel better at that moment? Does it do any good to yell?
2. In a recent study, part of a basketball team practiced free throws everyday for 30 minutes, the other part visualized a perfect swish everyday for 5 minutes and the other part did nothing. At the end the players that practiced shot 24% better, the players that visualized shot 23% better and the players that did nothing shot slightly worse. What is the moral to all of this? Ah-haaa #2 - VISUALIZING is so powerful, our minds are so amazing! Think about it.
3. Saying stuff out loud is extremely powerful too. For example, if you are a smoker. Say to yourself repeatedly during the day, "I do not smoke, I am not a smoker, I do not like to smoke." This will aid in breaking your smoking habit. Ahaaaaa #3 - For myself and my current situation I would say several things, but for example, "I do not like sweets, I do not eat sweets." Simple right? You may sound crazy, but if it works and makes the transition easier, who really cares?
4. To go along with #3 it actually takes 30 - 40 days of a repeated behavior to "reprogram or change" your mind and actions. Ahaaaa #4 - In short, if you want to kick a bad habit or start a good habit, you have to do it everyday for 30 - 40 days in order to get it to stick in your mind/body. That is why most recovery programs are 30 or more days. If you skip day 19, you start over the next day with #1, it has to be consecutive days.
5. Last but not least, did you know your body can store 4 times more negative energy than positive energy? Ahaaa #5 - no wonder it's so hard to stay cheerful everyday. The chips are stacked against you. Who cares, I like a good challenge.

Making ourselves happy is a mental challenge. All the negativity we hear every hour, every day it is so easy to fall into the trap. What if every one of us made the commitment to not say or do anything negative for 1 hour per day? I don't know about anyone else, but I could stand to be less negative. And I could stand to hear less negativity from others. Negativity is like a dark cloud that forms and shadows our lives, it dampens our spirits and darkens our days. Life is too short.

I started Facebook a few short months ago and just last weekend saw for the first time a negative comment that was directed at my family and truly meant to hurt us. First thing I felt was shame on that person for being that childish. The second thing I thought was, what a jerk. The third thing I did was comment back, "Oh ******, really. Sad." I thought that made me feel better, but in fact I had only stooped to his childish level and became negative all at the same time. I have not been on Facebook since. It in a way hurt my feelings, what a baby huh? Before the Facebook posting we had a disagreement with this gentlemen that posted on Facebook. And I was really upset for a couple days and felt bad that we wouldn't be close to him and his family. Then I received word that a wonderful family that we know had lost their 5 year old granddaughter and after I quit hysterically sobbing I realized, I have my kids, my husband, my parents, my in-laws, my brother (sister-in-law), grandparents, nieces and nephews right here in Blackfoot, I am so blessed, so lucky, what does it really matter that one guy is mad at us?

It doesn't.

"I've see a great many worries in my time... and some of them even happened." - Mark Twain

Little Buckaroos

 We love the Little Buckaroo Rodeo in Firth. Most of all I love taking pictures of the kids BEFORE we go to the rodeo. They are getting so big and so dang cute!

 I am not sure if she's going to a rodeo or a shootout?

 We love pictures with grandparents, they are priceless.

 Grand entry time! Ryder, Lauren, Whitney and Carly all paying tribute to our wonderful country by taking their hats off and listening intently to our National Anthem. 5 contestants from our family this year. Ryder & Lauren - sheep riding, Whitney - barrel racing, Kinsley & Carly - stick horse racing

Colt and Kinsley - snuggling? Maybe at first, but it quickly turned into a head-wrestling match! 

Oh my word this is cute! One of my many favorite cowgirl nieces.

 

The rodeo was great. It clouded up and was a beautiful night, not too hot. Kids did wonderful (as usual). It is amazing to me each year how great the rodeo is and how cute all the kids are. They had a record # of kids at 413 over two nights, pretty hard to believe that Firth draws all those kids.