The Little Things

It all started with a hat, and me of course wanting the pink one...

After spending a weekend in Louisville, Ky. at the NAILE with my family and friends, one lady made me really realize about how it really is the "little things in life that matter."

This woman, Mrs. Karen Richey, is really amazing. She and her husband, Tom, are truly dedicated to agriculture, and especially the cattle industry. Karen was also diagnosed with breast cancer last spring.

Sitting ringside with them, I began to see why Karen is so wonderful.

She cares about her family. She drove 6 hrs. with her husband to see her sons working on cattle they sold, and to watch the shows of the breeds they raise themselves, many of which trace back to their bloodlines.

She is super sweet. My brother works for them with their sale cattle, and even bought his 2 favorite heifers EVER (Karen and her half sister Karebear). He, and the original Karen (Richey), text weekly, just to keep up on the calves.

Finally, she has the most positive attitude. She's currently going through her second round of chemo, and obviously has no plans of giving up.

Now, as I proudly wear my Richey Show Steers hat (the one with green writing), I understand why my little brother INSISTED on keeping the one with the pink writing.

"It's for Karen, Robin. Duh."

My Lifeline.

i am obsessed with this thing.

i use my iphone for EVERYTHING. and i'm probably their best spokesperson, apple that is. this phone is the reason i can manage my own life. the end!

so tell me, what's your lifeline?

Yay for new random followers! Look for new posts coming later this week. Perhaps even tomorrow! :)

friends in low places

it's been ... forever since i've blogged, but i've been traveling a lot! like i literally was in manhattan only 1.5 weeks the entire month of september. but now i'm back and i should probably reflect a little one where i've been and what i've done.

you should also know that the dairy judging team is full of nicknames --- robin = chong. deanna = depat, zipper, debag. justin = j-slut.

1st: the dairy judging team and i attended our first contest in viroqua, wisc. it was a decent first EVER dairy contest for 2 of us, and as a team we placed 5th in holsteins and 4th in brown swiss. this is where we learned we do NOT like milking shorthorns. but the team spent some quality time in the van, and we hung out in the ghetto of des moines --- all innocently looking for the liquor store. thank goodness for la pita, our trusty garmin.

2nd: after returning to manhattan for 2 days and then leaving for omaha on wednesday afternoon, it was time to head to ak-sar-ben to finish my summer internship. this was a wild 4 days where i ran across the qwest center like a crazyyyyy person. but i got to help with ALL parts of the event, and it was amazing to see it all come together.

3rd: sunday night, i cut out of the qwest center to head to the airport to fly to madison, wisc. to meet up with the team. i landed in madison at 10:30 and judged the World Dairy Expo contest at noon the next day. after 12 classes and 6 sets of reasons, we totally deserved the free beer they gave us at 7:30 pm. we had awards the next morning, where i placed 8th in ayershires, depat placed 6th in brown swiss, the team was 10th in reasons and ended up 13th overall. it's really sad how one class can totally RUIN your scores. whatever, we learned a LOT and walked away with a better outlook on dairy cows.

now i'm back in manhattan and getting ready to focus on school. and tough enough to wear pink, as it starts next week! more to come on that.

OH! and the name of this post is a garth brooks song, just for depat. you see, she can't handle garth brooks so we made her listen to it. i can't handle nickleback so we had a wholeeee nickleback hour in the van. perhaps the next post will have a nickleback title?

Fellowship

It's no secret that I love people. I enjoy quality conversation, and learning where people come from --- why they act the way they do --- and just getting an inside look into their world. I think by asking a few questions you can learn a lot about a person.

But FIRST, I am a huge sucker for a quality handshake. Don't skirt around, please just grab my hand, look me in the eye, and repeat my name. This makes it easier for me to remember you, and more than likely talk to you again and smile at you when I see you out and about.

After this initial handshake, I'll ask the individual where they're from. People here in Kansas are usually surprised to hear I'm from Indiana and then the conversation carries on from there.

If the hometown option doesn't work, I then usually ask them about their occupation. Coming from a diverse background, I like to think I can talk about anyone about practically anything...

Again, if that doesn't work say something about your surroundings, their outfit, etc. Remember to shy away from yes or no questions and instead focus on "why," "how," or "what" starting words.

These few rules have served me well so far, and I hope they'll work for you too.

peace&love.

Dairy Judging

According to my non-agricultural minded friend Kimbell, judging teams are where there are judges judging your judging ... and in a way she's right.

This school year I will be competing on the Kansas State University Dairy Judging Team. The cows I will be judging will be giving milk, some 20 lbs. a day (OR MORE).

We judge classes of 4 cows or heifers at a time, and then give oral reasons to an official (aka another judge) who then in turn gives us a score out of 50 points. Your original placings of the cows/heifers are judged against an "official placing" and given a score out of 50.

The point is to get you to choose exemplary livestock and then justify your placings with these aforementioned reasons. I'm sorry if this is confusing.

I judged livestock and meats in high school, but never dairy. I decided that I wanted judging to be a part of my K-State experience and dairy just kind of worked with my schedule. So here I am, embarking on the world of dairy cows.

Tomorrow I begin at 5:30am, now I just need to put phrases like "foreudder" "teat placement" and "defined vertebrae" into my vocabulary. Wish me luck!

Here's a link from the University of Georgia, that shows how I will use these terms in a set of oral reasons.

ak-sar-ben.

Alright everyone. Take a little bit, stare at that title and try to decipher what it means.

Okay, I'll admit it took me years (quite literally) to figure it out. Ak-Sar-Ben is NEBRASKA backwards, and also the name of the place I've been working. For a full explanation, keep reading.

I am currently (well, until Saturday) for the Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben Foundation in Omaha, Neb. the knights are a nonprofit group who's goal is "To leverage collective business leadership to build a more prosperous Heartland."

So basically we butter up the rich business people in Omaha & beg them to give us $$. As you can tell, this is my least fave part of the job.

MY FAVORITE part is planning ARCR, Ak-Sar-Ben's River City Rodeo & Stock Show, aka the world's second largest rodeo under the NFR, and a huge stock show (my specialty) which allows about 1200 junior exhibitors from 9 states (CO, IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD & WY) to show quality livestock.

The group also focuses on scholarships & "Quivera" the Coronation Ball business, which I jokingly refer to as "The Real Housewives of Omaha". It's like debutantes and escorts and kings and big dresses.

I love this job, and the people are spectacular! I would definitely recommend coming to the event, Sept. 23 - 26 at the Qwest Center Omaha. Plus, you'd get to see me :)

http://aksarben.org/

http://rivercityrodeo.com/

If you check out the rivercityrodeo website, we have done a complete website redesign this summer and I really think it's fun & exciting to look at.

something to think about.

i think this photo is just gorgeous. it displays the hard work it takes to plant crops that later turn out to be our food. i think that this black dirt is something to be jealous of, especially because it is so fertile and pure. it also displays how much love and care goes into each farm field, as it looks like the farmer is cherishing that one little plant.

what do you think of when you see this picture?

peace&love.

designs by robin

i tried my hand at design the last month, working with our good friends ALM Show Cattle. they pretty much let me have free reign with what i wanted to do, and luckily my imagination went wild (quite literally) to make it all come together!

i just had to share my excitement with the world! and ask for criticism, good or bad :)

peace&love.

ps - if you need more details on the sale, or are interested in any of the cattle being sold, just let me know, i'm your girl!

these boots were made for me!

I am a self proclaimed boot snob. And these will be my next pair --- black patent leather Anderson Bean square toes, for only $260 at Wolf Brothers in Omaha, Neb. (I'm not telling you what size in case anyone here wants to sneak out and buy them, they're ALL mine!)

I'm only half way kidding. I just love boots, and most frequently look at people's shoes before their faces.

peace&love.

the homestead.

the homestead is a lovely place to be. a nice place to visit, but not where i want to live forever.

how many of you feel the same way?

while i enjoy the people i know and love (like my family & friends that have survived the 2 yr. time span we've been apart), i don't really miss the attitude of the area i'm from. for those of you that don't know, i hail from Northwest Indiana, in Lake County. i guess that probably doesn't mean too much to you, but my hometown is quite literally only 32 miles outside of Chicago and on the southside of Gary, Ind. (brownie points for the person who can tell me WHO is from Gary, Ind.?)

ANYWAYS, people there seem to think farmers are a useless nuisance, who clog the roads with their tractors, feed their goats table slop and are huge hillbillies. but, really people...stop watching so much television.

these farmers that you complain so much about are really just doing the best possible job of providing the food on your table. these farmers, like my daddy, are using cutting edge technology and machines that cost more than your house to plant and harvest the corn for your cornflakes/soda/ethanol/etc. etc. etc. while they might be large & cumbersome, they help us AND you eat healthy, american-grown corn, soybean and wheat products.

furthermore, the livestock we raise might be in "confinement operations" but in reality, our animals are provided housing to protect them from the harsh weather in the summer/winter and allow for my family and i (as animal caretakers) to provide them the best care when or if an animal is sick. they're not raised this way to cause physical harm or to juice them up with hormones, instead it's to insure the consumer is getting the best possible product when they buy that steak/pork chop/chicken breast at the grocery store.

also, just because we farm that does NOT mean we are hillbillies. (i'd like to think we clean up rather nicely.) and what you might see as "crap" sitting out in front of our farm, or behind the barn for that matter, was once used in production agriculture. those old tractors, manure spreaders, and whatnot were once all my grandpa used on his farm, and well, it's hard to give up history. ;)

sorry if this seems like a little bit of a rant, but i'm tired of being judged when i go into the gas station in indiana and covered in cow poo --- farming/ranching has never been a clean occupation. but i am nonetheless proud to be a farm girl!

while i don't see myself returning to NWI, i do see myself continuing a life in production agriculture. and i'm sure i'll find myself defending it where ever i do end up...

peace&love.

Friendship.

So I titled this bad boy "Friendship." with a period for a reason, it ends sometimes. When that happens it can be very trying, in anyone's life.

Earlier today, I found this quote:

A true friend unbosoms freely, advises justly, assists readily, adventures boldly, takes all patiently, defends courageously, and continues a friend unchangeably. ~William Penn

So let's dissect this ---

unbosom means to disclose freely. A true friend is someone who will open up easily. tell you about their life, their background, their dreams, etc.

advises justly, or honestly/fairly. someone who wants what is best for you, and steers you in that direction.

assists readily. that person that will jump in their car at 2 am when you're drunk at the bars to pick you up. or help you move on the rainiest day of the year.

adventures boldly. this individual will try new things. new restaurants, new exercise routines, spur of the moment road trips. (ps - friends, i like all of these things!)

takes all patiently. while i might not be the most patient person in the world, i do appreciate people who are. those who can fully absorb before running their mouths, that's a gift people. a real gift.

defends courageously. those that stand up for what is right. whether it be in an election / social setting / interview. a true friend will not go down without a fight.

continues a friend unchangeably. this is the biggest for me. it doesn't matter if you or i are suddenly dating someone new or changing our major or moving across the country. we were friends for a reason in the beginning, and if we were truly meant to be friends, we would stay that way.

i've had a lot of reasons to lose friends i suppose ... changed schools in high school. moved 655 miles away from home to go to college. got really involved, really quick in college. but those of you that didn't let that affect our friendship are truly the ones i admire and cherish!

if anyone else has some admirable quotes that need to be added to my new mental list, just put them right there in that cute little comment box!

peace&love.

home is where the heart is.

i've never ever ever been a homebody. i like to get out and do things. but i couldn't be more excited about heading back to God's Country this weekend. God's Country being northwest indiana, duh.
i'm super pumped for multiple reasons.

1.) i'm bringing my girl DePat (Deanna Patterson, given name) home with me. I'll be flying from Omaha into the Chi and she'll be coming from Wichita, but that 1 hr. flight is way better than 7-10 hrs in a car! the dairy girl will get to experience first-hand a beef cattle show, the RJ Show Cattle way. Plus some more quality Indiana ag.

2.) BABY CALVES! joe & i are selling all of our calves this year on the Take a Walk on the WILD SIDE with ALM Show Cattle & Friends sale in September. So we need to take pictures of these adorable calves. Not only are they good cattle, but they're a lot of fun.

3.) i miss my family. while we're not exactly traditional, we get along great. plus, my mom's a great cook and always knows how to make delish food to bring us together.

4.) baby joey's 17th bday is on Monday. so there'll be celebration for that! guess that mean's he's not a baby? oh well, again...i'm making the rules here.

I can't think of anymore numbers right now. BUT i am super pumped. i'd love to see any of my indiana friends btw.

this is what home(s) looks like:

i make lists

lists are kind of my thing. i get this sort of weird thrill from writing something down to complete and then crossing it off once it's done.

right now i even have a life plan. is it creepy that everything is so planned out? whatevs. i need goals. the general life plan looks something like this...

• graduate from k-state with the double major & a minor. this will more than likely take 5 years, and i'm actually cool with that.
• go get my master's in ag leadership, from somewhere that isn't k-state.
• get a PhD in animal science (Dr. Robin Kleine sounds pretty awesome, right?)
• get a job at a land grant school in the animal science dept. working with youth livestock programs and a partial teaching appointment
• meet someone -- fall in love -- get married (whoops, should this be different bullets? oh well, it's my list, i get to make the rules)
• love my job.
  
• have lots of babies & continue to work.
• run a successful show cattle operation too.
  

now that doesn't seem to hard does it? crap, it really does.

i do understand that even the best laid plans don't always work out, but these can be altered. this is just what i think i DESERVE. we'll see what God has in mind for me, won't we?

hair.

So ... I'm a little bit obsessed. My friends in high school used to joke that I got my hair done every week, which a.) wasn't true and b.) kinda portrays how obsessive I really was. I learned how to do up-dos and properly use a curling iron by like age 12. I made a little business out of it even, doing my sister's office girls' hair for galas and homecoming/prom and fair queen contests.

My hair used to look like this, on any given day...

Perfect blonde highlights and straightened bangs.

Now that I'm in college, it's like a miracle if I even wear my hair down Monday-Friday. Or it's not covered by a hat (a college kid's best friend, trust me).

But one thing I still do live by is quality hair products. I'm always (sub)consciously searching for new products, but I currently love Big Sexy Hair Back Comb in a Bottle & Root Pump Plus mousse. For those of us that straighten our hair, it really really helps give you volume and shine and both really help when us show girls are working a poof! I'm also currently using AirControl Aveda Hairspray, which smells like Christmas. I know that sounds wild, but Ireally like it, and it holds really well. For the rest of you hair product junkies, let me know if there's anything big I'm missing!

My obsession with Aveda came from my hair salon in Manhattan, GAiA. Where a fellow aggie

Britni Beck cuts my hair as well as a LOT of College of Ag girls too. I am SUPER SUPER excited to see her next Saturday when I go back to the 'Hat for some friend time and a cut & highlight with Britni. :)

I let Britni dye my hair darker than my natural color like this ... (hi, Michael, miss you bunches)

And as recently as May, I let her chop about 5 inches off my hair, and I now have highlights in just the front and hidden a little bit. I'm actually very happy with it, although certain individuals named Callie Williams insist I go back blonde blonde blonde. But nahh, I'm gonna stay with this ... until I get bored.

Present hair looks like this..

Thoughts on changes? They may or may not be honored.

girls, girls, girls

So my roommate Audrey & I are sitting here watching "America's Next Top Model" and obviously we don't have very high standards for tv watching. For those of you that don't know, Tyra Banks (a world-renowned supermodel) hosts a model search basically and has 13 girls move in together. It's the living together thing that is troubling me most tonight.

When girls (usually more than 2) get together, they automatically put on this "bitch attitude," myself included. We all kind of get this chip on our shoulder, about how things aren't fair. Well honey, "life isn't fair" --- that's what my mom would say and the attitude I'm going to take from here on out!

Everybody has money problems every once in a while, but that's not an excuse to refuse to pay bills that you helped amass. Everyone disagrees with their families, but why take that out on the people that do not share your last name? Everyone has a bad day, but why not focus on fixing the things that went wrong instead of bringing others down? Why make a big deal out of EVERYTHING, when we can talk about things peacefully.

These are the reasons that sometimes I wonder why I wonder WHY I WASN'T A BOY!? But that's not really a change I'm willing to make in my life ... so, let's fix this.

Now ladies (or dudes for that matter), what can we do to improve on this? How can we forgo all the drama in our lives, that a good majority of us inflict?

I'm not saying by ANY means that I'm innocent in this, but I will say that in order to avoid angry roommate meetings and bitchy friends, I'm going to put forth an honest effort to not cause drama. Now who's with me?

peace&love.

What I Really Love ... Planning.

for those of you that know me, you know i love a well-made (& executed) plan. we do a lot of planning for my job is this summer, and after i've been at it for 6 weeks, i've began to realize just how complicated a huge event is to put together.

i take the same kind of pride in the organizations i'm involved in at k-state. i am fortunate to be serving as a co-chair for the annual Tough Enough To Wear Pink event that 2 of my clubs, Sigma Alpha Professional Agricultural Sorority & Collegiate Cattlewomen, have been putting on for the last 5 or 6 years.

already this summer, our committee is getting a headstart on fundraising efforts! it makes me proud to be part of such a well-orchestrated group of women. already the TETWP campaign includes selling t-shirts across the ksu campus and a free bbq open to students, faculty & the general public. for 2010 we plan on adding a silent auction as a way to get more faculty involved, as most of them aren't keen on wearing a pink t-shirt with a semi-suggestive saying across the chest.

speaking of these t-shirts, last year on k-state's campus the entire breast cancer awareness campaign sector caught some grief from a certain individual who writes for the campus newspaper. (that's where she lost my "freedom of speech sympathy" and crossed into full-on p.o.-ed robin mode). i can tell you that again in 2010, our group will be selling t-shirts banking on "frat boy humor" in order to make a sizeable donation to the Susan G. Komen Mid Kansas Affiliate. If over $40,000 in donations isn't a good thing, then I don't know what is...

But back to the point, I again want to point out what a powerful group of young women we have at K-State and a generous audience we have for supporting our cause. If you or someone else would be interested in donating to our cause (silent auction items anyone?), please let me know.

peace&love

What we do

as i stated in my first blog, i am proudly 1/2 of RJ Show Cattle. R being myself and J being Joey, my younger (little) brother.

we began showing cattle almost 9 years ago, when joe was finally old enough to show in 4-H. since then we've had a variety of animals beginning with my first 2 steers, Cosmo and Zeus and still continues with our (extremely) small but mighty cow herd of 5 and joe's show calves.

showing is important to me, because it's what my mom and her siblings did. not only has it brought me closer to my family, it has taught me why being an agriculturalist is important. by standing up for what is positive animal agriculture. i've learned why we raise our animals humanely and what a nutritious product we're giving to the consumer. for these reasons, i've gotten involved in various groups at k-state like collegiate cattlewomen, more to come (more promises, i know).

for those of you that actually care about our show string ... this year our show barn is a little more packed than normal...we've got one simmental steer named Hustla, one market heifer named Karebear (which has to be said in baby talk), and an august shorthorn plus heifer named Pokey. PLUS a shorthorn plus cow (the family pet) named Karen and her baby Tide (yes like the laundry detergent), and a feeder steer out of my old show heifer Peaches (who has turned into a badass cow), affectionately named Rolex.

recently we took 3 animals up to the Shorthorn Junior National Show in East Lansing, Michigan. while the placings weren't that great, the memories were. I was lucky enough to fly there from Omaha and spend 4 days with my family before heading back.

showing cattle has taught me responsibility (those cows ate before i did everyday), dedication (9 years is a long time to still love doing what we do), and time management (feed, rinse, blow, eat, work, feed, rinse, blow, eat --- takes more time than one would think).

now after a good weekend with the family, i'm back in omaha expanding my knowledge and further developing my love for agriculture everyday.

peace&love

5 W's & an H

Hello, I'm Robin Kleine and I'm joining everyone and their dog by starting my own blog. Now that that's over, get excited for the real fun ... where I cut loose and get crazy. no caps, yay!

so to follow my own rules, the 5 W's & an H i promised

Who: Robin Kristin Kleine

What: ...a roll in the hay... which will more than likely outline stuff in my life and focus on my love of agriculture

When: these aforementioned blog posts will happen sporadically at best, so don't get your panties in a bunch waiting for the next one, okay?

Where: right here, in the great world of cyber space

Why: because as an up and coming ag communications major i feel the need to tell my story, and i'm thinking this is a way to keep my family and friends who are far away updated about my life.

How: my trusty mac and i, plus a little help from my encouragement team

now if you want to know something about me, here ya go.

as previously stated, my name is Robin Kristin Kleine and i originally hail from Cedar Lake, Ind. where i was raised on a farm, where my dad and uncle grew (and still grow) corn, soybeans, and some wheat. we also used to have a commercial hog operation and my younger brother and i show cattle. our show cattle operation, RJ Show Cattle, has grown into more than just a hobby...some would even call it an obsession.

i am a junior at kansas state university, and i wear purple A LOT! go cats! i'm double majoring in ag communications and animal sciences, with a minor in leadership studies. i love my school and am really involved in a lot of things, which you'll read about in time.

one last thing before i'm off to bed, i'm interning for Ak-Sar-Ben's River City Rodeo & Stock Show in Omaha, Neb. this summer and i've decided i really enjoy what i'm doing! more on that in another post, promise.

peace&love,

robby k