Freshman 15

Let me start off by saying I CANNOT BELIEVE MY FRESHMAN YEAR OF COLLEGE IS OVER!

The transition to college can be hard in many ways. Lucky for me I never actually gained the famous “freshman 15”. But I definitely would have if I wasn’t limited by my dairy allergy (more on that some other time). The hardest thing for me though was balancing school, clubs/organizations, my sorority, and social time all while trying to find time to stay in shape. I tried time after time to get into a routine of going to the student rec center but it never lasted.

I am now home for the summer and today marks day one of Paige gets in shape. How do I plan to be successful this time? Well, look at the pictures below and try and tell me you wouldn’t want to spend as much time as possible out here.

There is just something about walking/running down a gravel road. Plus the Palouse hills are a great added challenge and keep things interesting.

Wish me luck!!

-Paige

The Weather

Snow in May!

Now at home in Washington we have some crazy weather, last year it snowed in May, the year before June. In the summer time it will be in the 80/90s and freeze at night time. I thought my crazy weather would prepare me for Kansas…but I was wrong. #1 it is always windy here, no matter where you try to hide the wind finds you. #2 one day it will be 55 degrees the next 85 degrees. Then #3 there are these things called tornadoes. At home we don’t really have “natural disasters”, unless you include my bedroom like my mom does or Mt Saint Helens (which was in the 80’s).

Just over a week ago I got my first taste of tornados, well tornado warnings. Needless to say I was that girl freaking out and checking the weather channel every 27 seconds. My roommates and others tried to calm me down but I am a West Coast Worry Wart!

Luckily the storms avoided us here in Manhattan, but many communities surrounding us and throughout the Mid-West were not as fortunate. I would ask that you keep all those affected by the storms in your thoughts and prayers.

Clouds from the storms

Cheers to the crazy, wonderful, scary, stressful, pleasant, relaxing, dreadful, happy, and beautiful weather around our world!

-Paige

Time Flies--Enjoy It!

Time flies when you’re having fun! Well, really it flies all the time—especially as we get older. I always heard people say this when I was younger but didn’t really understand what they meant…I think I’m starting to catch on :)

As a busy college student it is easy to get caught up in all the homework and school activities. However, as I get older I realize the importance of taking a step back and enjoying the small things in life.

I was fortunate enough to get to go home a few times this semester (and take Paige with me!!) and it reminded me how enjoyable and peaceful the country life is. So I just want to share some of the fun times we had through these pictures.

Beautiful Kansas sunset

Didn't catch any fish, but we had fun trying!

Paige meeting Tamale, a bottle calf at my house

I certainly enjoy being a college student as I expand my knowledge and experiences but it is always good to go home and especially to share it with friends.

Kassie

Farmer Gets a Smartphone

There are things in all of our lives we picture never happening, like going to the moon or owning an airplane. More often than not we are surprised by what life hands us. For me this came in the form of a smartphone.

My parents when they came this fall to visit!

The surprises all started a few years ago when my dad mentioned he wanted to use the internet to find a new pitching machine to put in the shop for my brother. So being the good daughter I am, I taught him a few tricks on the computer, which was harder than I thought! From there it just escalated. A year or so later he learned to send a text message. Now fast forward a couple years to the present. This Christmas, my parents purchased an iPad. Yet again my dad got the hang of it quickly.

What happened next probably surprised me the most; my dad got a smartphone. Not just any smartphone, an all touch screen, 4G smartphone. With that he also set up an email account! My dad having an email? SAY WHAT?!

Thinking about it now, none of this should shock me. My dad, a farmer, is one of the smartest people I know. He has taught himself, along with the help of my uncles and grandpa, everything he knows. He uses tools every day that are way more sophisticated than a smartphone or iPad. In both his tractor and combine, there are touch screen computers that monitor and operate the machines. He also uses a GPS system that maps the fields out to assist in the planting and harvesting of crops. Along with those, he uses many more pieces of technology I could only dream of understanding.

Since getting his smartphone and email, my dad has been very crafty and put them to use in everyday life. Just the other day I caught him (see below) using it to find a diagram to assist him when wiring new lights in our shop!

His smartphone is action!

-Paige

Busy, busy, busy

I am sure many of you have been there or are there now and know exactly how crazy college life can be! Of course like anything in life, everything seems to happen all at once. This includes things like tests, homework, clubs, organizations, trips, scholarships, summer plans, the list goes on.

Getting into the swing of blogging on a regular basis has not been easy! Kassie and I both have a list of topics we hope to write about, and it is just the time factor we have trouble with. In the coming weeks and months, I think we will both settle into this venture, and it will hopefully become much easier.

I should get back to doing my chemistry homework and editing my English paper, so I will leave you with pictures below of my recent venture to Lubbock, TX!

This last weekend with 11 of my fellow K-State Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow, I traveled to Texas Tech University for ACT’s annual Professional Development Conference. We got a taste of the ag industry in west Texas and developed skills to help make us better communicators and leaders.

My first trip to Oklahoma and Texas            Windy west Texas, I thought Kansas was crazy!

We toured the American Cotton Growers Denim Mill in Littlefield, TX.
We saw first hand how they go from bales of cotton  like this, to Denim ready to be sent off to make jeans.

Beautiful Texas sunset

 Kyle Park and Cody Johnson Concert at Wild West!

Got to catch up with a friend from WA, Kassandra,  who goes to Tech!

The long trip called for necklace making, coloring books and
knitting and actually finishing my first scarf! (The yarn color is "Ranch Red"!!)

Rain and Twilight

If you haven’t already noticed, I am a long ways away from home. To be exact from the front door of my dorm in Manhattan, KS to my driveway in Pullman, WA, it is 1528 miles.  With the distance comes a lot of questions, about where I grew up. The top being: “How do you like the rain?” “Have you been to Forks?” and “So, you aren't used to small towns and this much agriculture?” And to those questions I smile! I compare the common questions I am asked, to asking someone from Kansas how Dorothy and Toto are, or if they live in the middle of nowhere.

“How do you like the rain?”

I love the rain I am a farmer’s daughter! But, what people are often referring to is the Seattle area, where it rains on average 40-50” each year. I live on the east side of the state, literally four miles from the Idaho border, where we average 15-20” of rain each year. In Eastern Washington is gets into the 90’s in the summer and below zero some winters, we see a little bit of everything! Though, I do have to admit, the weather in Kansas is a bit more temperamental.

“Have you been to Forks?” (Like Twilights Forks)

No! Forks is an eight and half hour drive, including a ferry ride. But I know someone who grew up there and they also have an FFA chapter! 

“So, you aren’t used to small towns and this much agriculture?”

Wrong! I grew up in a small town, on a wheat farm (that often gets gasps). And wheat isn’t the only thing produced in Washington; it is the 2^nd most agriculturally diverse state, behind California. The state produces over 320 different agricultural products! Needless to say, if you take a drive across the state you can roll through the fields of wheat, pass by the pastures of cattle, see the famous grapes of the Columbia Valley, eat an apple fresh off a tree, pick some cherries for a pie, try some cheese, fresh from a dairy, eat fresh sea food on a harbor, pick up some logs to build a log home, and so much more! The diversity of Washington’s agriculture is amazing!

Coming to Kansas has taught me a lot about stereo types related to the places people are from. I challenge you that the next time you meet someone from a place you have never been, to take the time to understand what the place they are from is really like, before you assume it is like what you’ve seen the movies and on the news!

-Paige

The Girl from Washington

A hop, skip and a jump away is where I am from home. I was born and raised in Pullman, WA and now I am a freshman at Kansas State University. I grew up in the heart of the Palouse, home of the Cougs, alongside the rolling fields of wheat on my family’s farm. A few quick facts about me:    

•  I have lived with my parents and brothers (Rob and Jeremy), in the same house since I was born. (It is over 100 years old!)

• I have 15 first cousins on my dad’s side of the family and 13 on my mom’s.
• My family raises wheat, dry peas and garbanzo beans. We also have a small herd of cattle.

• I am duel majoring Agricultural Communications & Journalism and Marketing.
• As of now after college I want to work in public relations or marketing for an agriculturally based company.
• I am allergic to cow’s milk, so that means I can’t eat anything with dairy in it.
•  FFA, enough said.
•  I am Wildcat and a Cougar, meaning I bleed purple and crimson (where I am from that isn't allowed).
• Member of Alpha Delta Pi Sorority!
• I make and sell necklaces
• I love Crayola Color Crayons and coloring books :)
• The things I love most are God, my family, my friends, and agriculture.

You’re probably wondering the most asked question of me in the past six months, why K-State? That answer is simple and complex. For the complex version, I grew up in a college town, where Washington State University (the land-grant university in Washington) is located. I always knew that I needed to go out and experience some place new, but it wasn’t until I took a year off before college, and traveled around Washington and the country serving as an FFA state officer, that I realized I was ready to take that step for college. I had previously visited KSU as a senior in high school and after my visit it continued to come up in research and conversation. I realized I wanted and needed to be a part of the College of Agriculture at K-State so I applied, got accepted, paid a down payment, and the rest is history! The short answer is who wouldn’t want to be a Wildcat?

Being a part of production agriculture since the day I was born, has taught me a lot about where my food comes from. My background on the farm has made me want to continue to be involved and work in the industry. Although I don’t plan on returning to my family’s farm full time, I would like to return home during our yearly harvest to continue to contribute to both my family’s farm and production agriculture. 

Through this blog I hope to share my experiences as a college student in agriculture!

-Paige