Weekend in Wisconsin

I spent a much needed weekend away from most things familiar.  I went to Wisconsin.  Yes, this is a boarder state, but I had never really been to Wisconsin except for staff trips to La Crosse.  I was headed to Watertown!  Upon arriving at Gwen's house, she screamed and jumped and was extremely goofy.  Gaby arrived and we headed to eat.  It was great to be able to laugh with them again and catch up on everything.  It was so much fun to talk about guys like a high school girl again and not have to talk about DTR conversations and worries about taking a guy home to meet the parents.  A random Wal-Mart and mall run later, we were headed back to catch some z's before Saturday's adventure.

For a while now, I've been itching to go ice skating.  I've literally had my skates in my trunk since August!  Once Reed arrived, we headed for lunch, another Wal-Mart run, and then we were off to Milwaukee to the Pettit National Ice Center.  Check it out!  I was blown!  I'm the girl who is used to skating on our small farm pond, the lake at camp or the rink in the mall.  This place had stairs and multiple rinks and tons of people!  It also had a funny looking statue out front.

This adventure was an absolute BLAST!  We did 5 laps around the track.  Yeah, that's right there was an ice track that ran around two rinks!  I will admit that I was the only one that fell.  It was about 30 yards from the stopping point on the last lap.  My dignity was shot.

Next, we headed to the mall and rode the kiddie rides!  It was so much fun not to worry about how silly we looked while laughing our heads off.  We then headed to Buffalo Wild Wings for supper.  I got to help people experience their first taste of BWW's!  Back at Gwen's house, we played Disney Charades.  This brings me out of my comfort zone because I don't like to act.  We giggled so much!

It was hard to say good-bye to everyone and get back in my car and make the long drive back to UNI.  I was not ready for break to be over and I was definitely not ready to leave my friends behind.  I'm glad that God gave me the opportunity to meet these people during camp and then the opportunities to visit each other in the off season.

The best find of the weekend!

Growing up on a farm

I read this article and it made me sick!  Seriously?  This proposed law change could keep young teens from doing everyday jobs on the farm.  I was doing some everyday jobs before that.  I've been helping herd cattle, care for bottle calves, breaking cattle to lead and steering clear of PTO shafts for as long as I can remember.  These critics in the article are right, it would limit 4-Her's, FFAer's and farm kids in general.

Even if I was raised on a farm, my parents still had my brother and I go to Farm Safety Day.  The safety stickers on farm equipment still scare me with those graphicish pictures!  My grandparents would also tell me of freak accidents, so I knew what to steer clear of.

I learned a lot in 4-H.  This was when I began my cattle showing journey.  No, we did not go all out like some showers, but I did my best with my dad helping me.  He wasn't with me every time I worked with my cattle, and that was okay.  He knew it was important for me to realize that I needed to do a lot of the hard work by myself. 

One of my favorite livestock projects, Cinnamon.

They don't mention FFA in this article.  I wonder if that is because when you are a member, you have to have an SAE project.  SAE means Supervised Agricultural Experience.  I wonder if because it is titled that way, FFA is in the clear.  My SAE was my cattle, the ones I kept to breed, like Cinnamon and the ones I sold, like that nasty steer, Black Bart.  I filled out my Iowa Degree revolving around my SAE and I earned a certificate and a pin showing my accompishments.

Also, I hope that even with this proposed law change, people can still ride on a full wagon of hay, walk up an elevator, and still be able to help care for a bucket/bottle calf while under the age of 10.  I wouldn't change my upbringing for anything in the world.

Kenneth Leroy Goudy

Today is my grandpa's birthday.  My grandpa was a great man.  No, he did not perform any extraordinary feats.  He did not have a noble profession, he did not drive a fancy vehicle, he did not live in a big, fancy home on a hill, but that's okay with me.  My grandpa worked in a meat packing plant for most of his days.  He drove a very old Ford stick-shift pick-up for a very long time and the house I often visited, he lived in for over 50 years with my grandma.

There, in that house, he could sit for long periods of time listening to Johnny and June Carter Cash.  At the dining room table, he would do word search puzzles while sipping on a Diet Coke.  Often, in the summer, we would pull in the driveway, and there he would be sitting in a lawn chair, just watching the world roll by.  If I could go back, I would ask him what he thought about when he sat there.  I would ask him if he talked to God. 

When I was a kid spending the night, my grandparents usually made us go to bed when they did, which was EARLY!  I would struggle to fall asleep.  Sometimes I would still be awake when one of them had to get up to hit the bathroom.  Grandpa would often come check on us.  I would see it, the flashlight would suddenly light up the dark that my eyes had adjusted to.  Soon, I would feel him pulling the blanket up close around my shoulders.  Back then, I thought it was annoying, now, I'd give anything to be that kid again.

In 9th grade, we were given the dreaded Grandparent Report.  First off, I did not want to single out ONE grandparent to do a report on, but it had to be done.  I finally chose Grandpa.  Yeah, it started off awkward; I did not want to do this!  After a while, I relished the fact that I got to ask him questions.  I was beginning to learn things about him that I had never known before.  Yeah, I knew he had been in World War 2, but I hadn't known that he was there the day they stormed the beaches-his boat got called back, so thankfully he didn't have to officially storm the beaches.  I hadn't known that he saw the Eiffel Tower or had been to Germany.  I learned about that little statue of a little boy going to the bathroom that sat on a shelf in their home.  I do some day want to visit Brussels to see this famous fountain.

After my grandpa died and we had the house cleaned out, my mom took his clothes to be made into bears.  Now, all of us grandkids and great-grandkids have a bear dressed like Grandpa that we can hold close when we miss him the most.  My niece took hers to school a couple of weeks ago when she had to write about soemthing that meant a lot to her.  Yep, that bear represents a lot.

My bear's name is Leroy.

As Grandpa always said upon leaving his house, "I'll see ya in the funny pages!"

A thank you in D.C.

I was headed to Washington D.C.  A place I had only read about and seen pictures of.  I couldn't wait to get out there and experience it for myself.  We were taking the most legit family vacation I have ever been on.  My grandpa had an Army reunion with some men from his battery and it was being held in D.C.  None of us had ever been there, so my grandparents, two aunts, my parents, my brother and myself were headed east.  We were going to meet up with two other couples there for the reunion.  My sister and brother-in-law joined us too.

We went during one of the hottest weeks of the summer.  Most of the time were were there, it was around 100 degrees.  Despite the heat, I kept getting chills.  I got chills the first day when we went to Arlington.  This picture is one of my favorites taken at the Old Amphitheatre.

Not only did this give me chills, but seeing the solemn soliders at the Changing of the Guard did too.

We saw a lot of monuments and memorials that day.  I got chills being at the feet of Lincoln and then to look down towards the Reflecting Pool to the World War 2 Memorial and the Washington Monument beyond that.  We saw most of the memorials twice, at night and in the day time.  I can't even explain that feeling of reaching the Korean Memorial.  My grandpa, along with Mac and Dave and many others, were drafted to fight in Korea.  I got chills when they saw it for the first time. 

We also went to the World War 2 Memorial.  My Grandpa Goudy fought in this war.  He was there the day they stormed the beaches, but luckily, he did not have to get off his boat.  It gave me chills knowing that he never got the chance to see the memorial for a war he fought in.

The next day, we went back to the memorials and spent more time at each.  Grandpa, Mac and Dave had been wearing their Veteran hats the whole trip.  They had been stopped from time to time and thanked for their service.  When we got to the Korean Memorial agian, they were getting thanked every few feet.  We took another picture of all three of them in front of the memorial.

I forgot to mention that there were 45,000 Boy Scouts there didn't I?  When we were finished taking pictures, the Boy Scouts filed by shaking each man's hand and thanking them for their service.

Despite the heat, I got chills again.  This meant so much to Grandpa, Mac and Dave as well as all of us who were along.

I want to take this time to thank all Veterans and Active-Duty for their service.  Sometimes, people like these cannot get thanked enough.

The First One

So, I figure why not?  I'll start a blog.  I've been thinking on this for a while now.  I've read so many great blogs from people.  It took me a good long week, at least, to come up with a name.  I called upon some trusted friends for help.  I felt like Laugh and Learn would be a fitting name for my blog.  I do plenty of both.  God teaches me a lot of things, looking back, sometimes I just can't help but burst out in laughter.  I want to share these stories.  I want to encourage and inspire while I reflect.

I finally found time to begin my blogging journey.  It has been a busy semester and most days I felt like I was drowning in homework and things that needed to be done.  Things have calmed and I have more time to spend reading my Bible each day; more time to spend writing to the girls back home; more time to spend writing.  Yesterday, I filled up the last page of a journal that I started keeping the first day of staff training at camp.  Looking back through the pages, I remember the good days and some not so good days.  I'm looking forward to filling up another journal with days just like those.  I'm looking forward to sharing some stories here.

Until then, keep laughing!  :D