FIRST SNOW IN WHARTON, TEXAS!

December 10, 2008. 1:48PM. Tricia yells at us from her office,

"GIRLS IT'S SNOWING!"

And what do we do...of course what anyone else would do, right? We grab the camera, run down stairs ecstatic, and out the door we go to catch snow flurries! We can hardly believe it but it's true.

Pam was gracious enough to take a picture for us. Thanks Pam! (we swear there is a snow flurry by the arrow!)

Now all we can do is stare out the window with big smiles on our faces like a kid looking into a candy store! After we got inside we just had to call everyone we knew in Wharton County and tell them! So now it just needs to snow a little more for us to build a snow man.

What a great afternoon!

Written By:

Christa Jo

Backtracking!

How many of the RHD Loyal Blog Readers rely on technology way too much? I know that I do. For example, I have got to be the most directionally challenged person in the world. So bad that any time I print off directions to a place I had to make sure that it said "turn right" instead of "turn north," because something about the acrostic Never Eat Sliced Worms to remember the directions North, East, South, and West never stuck with me. Thankfully, people who are much smarter than me created a navigation system called Garmin.

Everyone I know has a Garmin, except the old die hards who still think that reading an atlas is cool. These handy little devices can tell you the quickest route from Texas to Indiana and all of the eatin' joints along the way. However, every once and a while Garmin makes a mistake. This September when the Texas A&M Judging Team was heading to the National Barrow Show in Austin, Minnesota, we relied heavily on the navigation skills of Blake's Garmin.

A quick history on the Barrow Show trip. This trip is called the pilgrimage because every university and junior college that has a team all travels together to different hog farms around the Midwest. I once counted 32 fifteen passenger vans travelling in the pilgrimage. This means that if all vans were full a total of 480 students and coaches are all travelling together.

So back to the main story. Due to the large numbers of people we split up for lunch and set a time and place to meet after we finish lunch. So we set the location in Garmin, load up in the van, and we are off. Up to this point Garmin has never got us in any trouble. Well we quickly notice that the roads we are on are getting worse and worse. Finally we reach a point where we cannot go any further. The road we were one was about ten feet wide and about 50 yards in front of us, the road ends in a creek. Hmmm.....what now, the road is too narrow to turn around on and we have a trailer full of our luggage. Our only option is to unhitch the trailer and make a 12343 point turn around. Finally we get turned around, re-hook the trailer and we are off.

This was the first and only hiccup that Garmin has had on our many trips so I will continue to endorse the almost flawless navigation skills of Garmin.

Speaking of great strides in technology, I recently fell victim on the BlackBerry craze. My new BlackBerry can tell me the weather in Banff, Alberta and get me all of the emails that my fans send me constantly. But the best feature of this hand held office is the only game that is comes with, Brick Breaker. Gone are the days of Snake and Brick Breaker is what everyone is talking about. This game has a simple concept of bouncing a ball off of a paddle and hitting the bricks to bust them open and hopefully reveal a secret prize such as an additional life or a laser. As any of you know that have taken a long trip where you are sitting in a car or an airport, you have to have something to do during the down time. On our past judging trips, this game has saved us from certain insanity. Our games range from just comparing high scores to passing the phone from level to level and see how long we can last and how many bricks we can break. Unfortunately, just like Garmin, Brick Breaker has its flaws. Frequently, the ball will slip in between two bricks and not hit a single one. How does this happen? No one knows! Another problem that should be fixed is when you lose all of your lives you must START AT THE VERY BEGINNING AGAIN! I really have to fight back the urge to throw the phone against the wall when this happens, but somehow I think that the next time I will make it past that level and get an even higher score.

So choose carefully when you are selecting your next piece of technology to add to your collection as some of them can get you lost in the backwoods of Illinois or invoke a wild competitive mode that you did not know you had.

CMA Winner - George

I’m not a big television watcher. I have four children who monopolize the TV, plus I have four children. Who has time to watch TV?

But I settled down in front of the big screen, turned on the surround sound and tuned into the Country Music Awards Wednesday night. And there’s the other love of my life – George Strait – on the front row!

First award: Single of the year

Nominees are: George Strait, “I Saw God Today”

And some other artists.

The winner is: George Strait! I’m thinking, this is going to be a great evening.

He wasn’t the big winner of the show but he still made me proud. His album Troubadour, received Album of the Year honors, bringing his total CMA trophies to 22. That makes him the artist with the most CMA Awards in history. Go George!

My friends and family know I’m a George Strait groupie. Have been since before he even made it big.

New country music stars come on the scene – Brad Paisley, Kenny Chesney – and I enjoy their music, even buy their CDs. But there is just something special about George.

My children, especially my daughters, love to tease me about my infatuation with the man. So they took advantage of the situation during the CMA broadcast to give me grief all night long. “Look how old George looks, mom. I think he’s had some work done”, insinuating he’s had Botox injections.

Not George. He’s a country music icon. He just keeps getting better with age. He doesn’t need that stuff.

Then, later in the program the girls start in about how it won’t be too long until people will start saying “George Strait? Who’s that?” Not in my lifetime, I assure them.

I was hoping he would change into his Wranglers before he sang on stage. But, instead he kept his suit on, which was a little disappointing. Something else my girls don’t understand. It’s a little hard to explain to a 15 and 11 year old what’ s so special about a pair of good fitting jeans, and still uphold my motherly image.

New S2W Spotlight

Do you ever wonder what it is like to own and operate a boar stud? Jon Fisher of Prarie State Semen Supply in Illinois is the new Show To Win spotlight. This is the first professional spotlight to be listed on ShowToWin.com and it is very interesting. Fisher talks about his childhood, career, and even Facebook. Click here to learn more!

Also, please do not forget if you want to be considered for a S2W Spotlight all you have to do is complete the short form and submit it and a S2W staff member will be in contact with you. All spotlights are archived so you can not only go back and read about others, but if you are selected as a S2W Spotlight you can continually show it off to your friends!

Remember to check back soon to see who the next feature will be!

JAIL BREAK!!!

This past week I was touring the Midwest with the rest of the Texas A&M Livestock Judging Team in preparation for the American Royal. Along the way we had a many stops where we were able to work out on some very high quality stock. Our first stop was Buck Cattle Company in Madill, Oklahoma. They still had some cattle there after their sale, including the sale topper (a big THANK YOU goes out to Jirl Buck for letting us sort through another great set of cattle) So after getting a late start at Buck's, the daylight limited the amount of classes we could see, and when dusk settled in we departed for Stillwater, Oklahoma.



While in Stillwater we worked out at all of the farms on the Oklahoma State campus. The beef unit had all of the steers from either the Tulsa State Fair or the Oklahoma State Fair. We made an entire morning of steer classes and then we got to go to eat at one of my favorite places, El Vaquero! One of our judging team coaches, Blake Bloomberg, introduced this place to me and I think that every time I pass Stillwater, I will stop in for some great Mexican food. The afternoon was filled with hog and sheep classes then we again headed north.



The day before the contest we went to Summit Cattle Company/Charolais Farms. This was the stop that none of us will forget. We thought that we would be working out on some bred heifers, yearling bulls, and maybe some young calves. However, when we arrived at the farm, we quickly noticed that all of the cattle were FEEDLOT CATTLE! The National Western in Denver is the only contest that has actual feedlot cattle, and we were stumped as to why were where there. So our coaches head down the alley to a pen that has some bulls on feed. We are just standing outside the van waiting for the go ahead to come on and judge. We are just watching our coaches try to sort off cattle into a vacant pen from about 50 yards away. What happens next, is what made the trip. We notice that two bulls have ran to the corner of the pen and jumped out! They somehow made it under the steel cable that ran along the top of the feed bunk.



The layout of this farm was not prepared for escapees. Once the cattle got out they had the rolling hills of Iowa to roam. Everyone on the team looked at each other with the signature "OH CRAP" look and we were not sure what was going to happen. About this time one of the most intense combinations of modern and western ranching was being seen. Five pen riders on horseback appeared from no where and took out after the loose cattle. Then we noticed huge clouds of dust coming from roads that lead to the feed lot. I think that every truck in a five mile radius was called into action. Our position on top a hill proved to be great for watching the roundup that was taking place, and let me tell you it was INTENSE! The cowboys on horseback and behind the wheel quickly cut off the cattle and headed them back towards the pens. But the cattle had a different plan. After running through two sets of fences, an Australian cattle dog finally herded them into a pen of other feeder cattle. After this escapade, we were asked to move inside to a barn to judge the cattle in the working pens which were made out of 6 foot tall solid gates. We all had to stand tippy-toe to see these goofball cattle. We initially thought that one of our coaches left a gate open which would have made a much better blog!

However, what we saw there must have been just what we need, because at the Royal contest, as a team we won cattle, reasons, and were high team overall!

McMonopoly Baby!

Anyone who appreciates the fast service of a drive thru is all too aware of the latest craze. McDonald's Monopoly! Just like the traditional game this diet friendly version has the RHD office in a frenzy. Our fearless leader Rachel has the official game board with the pieces tucked in their respective pockets. This game board is placed in a safe at the end of each day. Why you may ask? Well, it is because we are not taking this series lightly and utilizing all of our resources.

First, Ranch House Designs has locations in Wharton and College Station. Although both in Texas we have got different pieces from each. Not too far from Texas is Arkansas, a state that Rachel has been visiting often. Again the potential for other pieces is growing. However, perhaps the greatest tool to our winning the million is me and the Texas A&M Livestock Judging Team.

Anyone who knows about collegiate judging realizes that we are on the road more than we are on campus. As our season starts to wrap up, we have two contests that are at great distances away. This next Tuesday we are leaving for Kansas City, Missouri in a van! What does that mean? Lots of opportunity to gain pieces from different states. Also, my family is from Indiana and they are aware of the pieces that we are missing and have been dispatched to track down the stragglers.

Once we win the big bucks and retire from advertising, I will make sure that we remember all of the little people (or big people since we are eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner at Micky D's, see Tight Fittin' Khakis) who helped us get to that beach house in the Caribbean with servants. Our competitiveness towards this game has reached such heights that we know how many pieces we will get before they even hand us the bag from the window. For example, 4 hash browns, 2 large cokes, and a chicken sandwich yield 14 game pieces and one $100,000 code that must be entered online.

So if anyone has some McDonald's Monopoly pieces sitting at the bottom of their cup holder in their car or mixed in the change cup, please send them our way!

New S2W Spotlight

I took a break from piddling (whatever!) to put up this week's spotlight on ShowToWin.com. So, take some time to see what Cally Thomas of South Dakota has to say. Click here to read more! Don't forget you can also check out our past spotlights archived at the bottom of that page.

If you want to be considered for a spotlight, send us an email using the form on the web site. We're looking to spotlight both current and past exhibitors as well as professionals in the agriculture/livestock industry.

Keep checking back every week to see who was selected as the spotlight!

Check out Sarah Stream

This is a short blog post, but we have a NEW educational spotlight this week on Show to Win...Miss Sarah Stream from Iowa. Check out her insights at http://showtowin.com/educational.html!

Antsy

I'm spending two days down in South Texas at Mr. Cannon's Ranch near Kingsville. I always look forward to a few days in the RV/cattle trailer as a restful - quiet get a way. Prior to leaving on this trip, I noticed a few little ants in my underware drawer in the trailer. I figured - no problem - I'll just take the drawer outside and dump the ants and be on my way. Surely that would take care of the little pests because if they knew what was best for them, they would certainly not want to be anywhere near my pants during the south Texas heat. I thought I won the battle and retired to bed.

The ants had other plans.

The ants took up shop in my bed. All night long the little @)#*# stung places on my body that I didn't even know I had. I got up about midnight, and smashed - pinched - and killed every one that I could find in my bed. I thought I won the battle ... but I was wrong. All night, they chewed on me.

This morning when Jim got up, his first 'honey do' was to go to the store and buy me a Ant Arsenol. I sprayed all around the trailer and then got into the shower. I thought surely I won the battle.

After getting out of the shower, I see the ants have now invaded a unforgiveable place. All bets are off now. They were in my box of apricot kolaches. At this point, I'm going nuclear on the little commie @#*) ants.

Jim and I spent two hours taking everything out of the trailer, and hunting down the little hilters and his queens. Now, I have ant bait everywhere in the trailer and I have sprayed every non-human crack possible. There's no way osama ben ladin and his ant army is alive in this trailer.

I am now retiring to bed- I have fought the good fight. I don't think there is a ant within 10 yards of this trailer. My luck - there will be some pesky skeeter buzzing around my head tonight. Ugh..

RHD Book Club

Oprah ain't got nothin' on us.

Somehow, the RHD office has created an unofficial book club. The funny thing is though, we don't really try to be diverse with our books. We don't try to read a mix of contemporary and classic authors, or mix genres like chick lit and suspense. Our book club centers around one single author: Jodi Picoult.

I should preface this by admitting that Rachel and I have always been a little bit on the bookworm side. When we were kids on car trips, we would always get to pack our own little bags with Barbies, cards, crayons, and coloring books to keep us entertained. But after a few trips with melted crayons in the car, we started bringing books on our trips and reading them to pass the time. It has always helped that we're both super fast readers.

I've always been a little behind the current cool book trends. Rachel on the other hand, even as a elementary school kid, has always been 'with it.' While I was still reading the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary, Rach had moved on to The Baby-sitter's Club. When I finally, caught up with those, she was into Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield and Sweet Valley High. When I finally started reading about the SVH drama, she'd moved on to R.L. Stine's Fear Street series.

Well it has happened again. On any plane ride, I always visit the airport bookstore and pick up whatever mindless chick-lit fiction is available. My favorite authors of past have been Jennifer Weiner, Jane Green, and Sophie Kinsella. Well, probably about May, I was at an airport looking for my latest read, and I wanted something with a little more substance. I happened to pick up Plain Truth, by Jodi Picoult. The author's name sounded somewhat familiar to me, but I couldn't place it. Upon reading the back of the book, I found out that she is the author of both My Sister's Keeper and Nineteen Minutes, both of which were New York Times bestsellers. Well, I bought the book and could not put it down. This book happened to be centered around the Amish culture, which I found fascinating. On my plane ride back from wherever I had been, I picked up another Jodi book, Salem Falls. Same thing... I was hooked.

When I got back, I couldn't wait to tell Tricia and Rach about my new favorite author. Well, of course, Rachel was like, "Oh, I've read Plain Truth already." She beat me to it! Of course she did, though, because at this point she'd been laid up with that broken ankle for 2 months, so she'd been catching up on her reading. Well, during our aimless conversation at the office one day, we discovered Tricia is also a fan. She loved Nineteen Minutes.

For those of you who aren't familiar with her work, I would say these books are a combination of several genres. The main subject is usually something that has been in the news recently. For example, Nineteen Minutes is about a school shooting. There's always something law-related in it. Usually, a trial takes place, so there's courtroom drama. And of course, there's always a fair share of romance. But my favorite part of these books is that they always leave me thinking about what would each of us do when placed in similar difficult situations that her main characters are placed in.

Of her books, here's the ones that, between us here at the RHD office, we've read:

• Harvesting the Heart
• Nineteen Minutes
• Perfect Match
• Salem Falls
• Plain Truth
• The Pact
• The Tenth Circle
• My Sisters Keeper

There's a whole other part of this Jodi Picoult fascination that I haven't even gotten into yet, which is the the fact that a lot of her movies have been made into made-for-TV movies by, you guessed it, Lifetime TV. So, I really am looking forward to a lazy Saturday afternoon where I am flipping through the TV and stumble upon the familiar title of one of my favorite books.

So, next time you happen to be in your local Barnes & Noble, be sure and stumble over to the fiction area and look for all the Jodi Picoult books. After all, you can't go wrong... the RHD book club recommends it!