Best of 2015

It's the 7th of January and I'm finally writing out my best of 2015. There are usually a couple of months which are tricky to decide, but it actually wasn't too bad this time around. Here goes.....

January: Since moving to the we(s)tside I've pretty much stuck myself in my own little hole because of homework. However, my friend Christy whose family is from Puyallup (2 hours north), makes sure I get out once in a while. As she pointed out to me in December, we've seen each other almost every month in 2015, one of us going the other's direction somehow. I love hanging out with Christy because I can forget about homework, I can forget about work, and just have fun!

February: As with every February, KYG is my highlight. It was especially unique this last year because our Sparrow (child in medical need that we turn in service hours to "buy back" funds for) was from Kittitas County. She was, in fact, one of the goat kids when I was a superintendent, so I knew her and her family. They're great, and she is so full of energy it's unbelievable. Every time she saw me after KYG she made sure to say hi and I even got a few hugs. Made my day every time. I loved seeing our CF team connect with her too, there were many tears!

March: Baby animals! Each spring I look forward to the baby goats and calves, but this last year I had the chance to meet a baby llama. There are llamas in Kittitas County, I've just never had a chance to visit a baby one. It's one of the perks of having one of your kids show an animal you don't have much experience with -- you learn a LOT because it's their passion, heart and soul.

April: TULIPS!! I've wanted to visit the tulip farms for a few years, since I picked up photography, and being in Vancouver puts me in a great spot because there's a tulip farm about an hour south of me. I went during the last good weekend, and there were lots of people, but I had a blast getting some great pictures. I got dirty from sitting in the dirt, okay, laying in the dirt, and I'm sure I got weird looks, but I'm totally okay with that because of what I ended up with.

May: May is my birthday month, and I had the opportunity to attend a professional development conference in Portland, Maine. I kinda made it a birthday present to myself, so went all out on tours and fun stuff while I was there. I had lots of fun exploring, loved the trolley tour which even took me out to the local lighthouse! That was the one thing I was trying to figure out how to get to, and thank goodness that tour went right out to it.

June: In March I sent three of my photos in to be part of a contest about agriculture. I found out in May that two of my pictures were accepted, so Dad set to work making frames for them. I'm fairly certain they're the only two pictures in the entire exhibit that have handmade frames. They look awesome regardless!

July: Okay, two things for July. At this point I'd been in SW Washington for about a year, and still hadn't been to the beach. I made it my mission on my 4th of July day off to visit the beach. I left early so got to see the fog roll out, pretty cool. The other best thing for July was being able to stand next to my best friend when she married her man! It was a gorgeous day in Leavenworth for a wonderful couple :)

                       

  

August: Picturesssssssssss galore! August and September are usually the best months to get senior or family pictures, and 2015 was filled with them! Every time I went home it seemed I was taking senior pictures, which is fine by me because I love it, and we always manage to have a good time. This is Rylee's "money shot" that we waited out rain for, and I'm so glad we did!

September: I was able to take the entire week of Kittitas County Fair off so I got to go home and hang out with the local 4-H kids in the barn. They didn't need me a whole lot (because they're experts!), so me and my camera floated between show rings and took lots of pictures to share with the kids and their families. I also had the chance to visit kids at the State Fair, and watched the livestock judging teams compete. Made me miss it a little bit.

October: 4-H, 4-H and more 4-H....should I really expect anything less? Nope. I think I had something 4-H related every weekend, whether it was for work or not. One of my highlights every year is attending Leaders Forum, as I love seeing everyone I've gotten to know over the years. It's weird now though because I'm not just the volunteer, but I'm 4-H staff, so it puts a little bit of a twist on it. BUT, the best part would be in helping nominate Grandma Mary for the Washington State 4-H Hall of Fame award, which she won! She's been a part of 4-H for almost 70 years, so it is well deserved!

November: This was probably one of my favorite months.....at the beginning of the month I got to meet Klete and Karter, new twins whose mom is one of my favorites! They are so super adorable and I can't wait til I see them again. The end of the month brought about taking kids to Congress in Atlanta! You can read more about it here, but what I loved about chaperoning is that I didn't know all of the kids, so it gave me a chance to adopt new kids to my 4-H family, and spend more time with the few that I already knew. We had a ton of fun, of course, and I can't wait to see them all again to find out what else they've been up to!

December: I finally finished school for the semester. It was a great feeling because I had to work around some deadlines with my travels and everything. It was a super great feeling though when I finished knowing that I only have three (that's THREE) more semesters of school left. And, to top it off I got a 4.0 for the semester to add to my gpa. Right now, life is looking good!

Hoping to add some more local adventures to 2016, trying to get out with my camera more, and had plans for New Years Day, but an awful cold took over instead....I'm getting better though, and CF training is next week so lots to look forward to!