I'm in Love Again

Just a quick post. Since I'm traveling all week I don't have time to write a huge post, but I am going to write more about my awesome weekend when I get back to Livingston. But for now can I just say...

I LOVE MISSOULA!!! It's one of the coolest cities in the country. I want to move there.

That's all for now. Check ya later.

Love,
Becky

My Claim to Fame

If any of you were curious about my newspaper article, I finally got a PDF copy of it. Check it out at my Farm-to-School Webpage for Livingston Public Schools.

http://www.livingston.k12.mt.us/13931092134128787/FileLib/browse.asp?A=374&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&C=55743

(Sorry I couldn't get this to link so you'll have to copy and paste, my bad)

I am going to try my best to keep my Farm-To-School page updated as much as possible with what I'm doing, so feel free to check it out as much as you'd like!

Wednesdays are my busy day so I must get back to work!!! Adios amigos!

Love,
Becky

Thanks

This is just a quick post. It's been a little over a week since Leroy passed away and I just wanted to thank everyone for all the kind E-mails, Facebook messages, cards, and phone calls. They were really comforting and have helped me cope tremendously. Thanks again. Love you all!

Love,
Becky

Cowgirls and Quesadillas

Yesterday I hungout with one of my few friends here, Maggie. I think I mentioned her in an earlier post, but not to any extent. Maggie grew up on a ranch here in Livingston. She is a senior at Montana State University in Bozeman. While she lives in Bozeman, she still comes back to Livingston regularly to hang out with her family since Bozeman and Livingston are only about 20 minutes from each other. We met because she's helping me out with some Farm-to-School stuff as an internship for school.

Anyways, I got a call from Maggie yesterday to go out to her family's ranch and ride horses, which I definitely did not turn down. It was so much fun to ride again. I've gotten to ride a handful of times in my life. Horses are such beautiful and great animals. I really connected with horses from a young age when we had horses still around at my family's farm. To this day there's a video of me at 3 years old brushing my favorite horse, Buck, with my mom.

Here's some pictures of Maggie and me on the horses. (I'm riding Blue and she's riding Snowy)







Pretty cool eh? The best part was that I even "loped" which is between a trot and a gallop. Kinda scary, but kinda awesome too. I can't wait to ride again and become an expert cowgirl!

After riding Maggie and I made dinner for her mom, step dad, and uncle who was in town for Seattle. We went with quesadillas.

I must say it was great being around a family atmosphere since my family is all back in Cleveland. They really made me feel welcomed and I appreciated it so much. I now have an open invitation to stop over whenever I'd like!

Well that's about the coolest thing that happened this weekend. Now it's a four day work week then I'm off to Helena, Arlee, Great Falls, and hopefully Missoula from the 9th-16th. I'm sure I'll have a couple of good posts from my travels!

Till then....Yeehaw!

Love,
Becky

I'm a Busy Bee

Wow! What a week it has been.

School started this week which has been very exciting. I've been in second grade classrooms everyday this week teaching half hour Farm-To-School lessons. The lessons are about seeds. The kids have been planting there own seed that they will observe and watch grow. Ultimately in the next couple weeks I hope to arrange a field trip to a local farm I help out at. I really want the students to see planting on a large scale. Getting kids on a farm is Farm-To-School at its essence....well more like School-To-Farm.

Today I also did my first observation of lunchtime at the elementary school. What was on the menu? Pizza, salad, canned fruit, and a granola bar with a choice of chocolate or regular milk. Not nutritious at all (with the exception of the salad). A few observations:

1. About 90% of the kids picked the sugary chocolate milk over the regular.
2. Most kids didn't even touch their salads.
3. More kids than I thought didn't finish their pizza, probably because it was old, frozen, piece of shit pizza.
4. More ranch was used on pizza than salad.

The whole thing was frustrating to watch, but it was necessary for me to do. Now I have a real idea of what kids are eating, and I'm more motivated than ever to improve school lunches. Children deserve more than the crap we give them for school lunch. And anyone that says kids won't eat healthy food is completely wrong, it just requires creative cooking and more education about food.

Also I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but I was interviewed by the local paper a couple weeks ago. My article finally was published this Tuesday (on the front page!). I really didn't think it was a huge deal, but I've been recognized everywhere I go, from the schools, to the farmer's market, to the restaurant I was at last night. I didn't realize that when you live in a small town like Livingston, news travels fast. It's kind of cool getting noticed, but what's even better is that people that recognize me are totally on board for the Farm-To-School. I'm having a lot of people willing to help in anyway they can. Community involvement is key to make this Farm-To-School program sustainable, so I'm very optimistic that Farm-To-School will be a success in Livingston!

Finally, I've started helping out at the middle school with 7th and 8th grade volleyball. Volleyball has been a part of my life since I was 13, so I really wanted to get involved out here. It's been great. The girls are super sweet and it's just fun to share my love of the game with such eager learners.

So that's been my week...pretty busy, but super exciting.

Hope everyone has a great Labor Day. If only I was super rich and could come home for this long weekend. Oh well, I'll just have to wait till December.

Love,
Becky

Leroy

Last night was one of the toughest night of my life. Yesterday around 11:30 P.M. I said goodbye to my cat Leroy.

Leroy was only one year old and his passing was completely unexpected. He had developed a blood clot in his artery that sent blood to his legs. The clot was caused by some kind of heart disease. The vet informed me that they could try to treat it and he could possibly regain the use of his legs, however there was no guarantee, the disease would always be with him and it was likely that he would develop re-occurring clots in his legs, lungs, brain, or heart. Unable to let Leroy suffer the rest of his life, my only option was to put him to sleep. It was one of the hardest things I had to do.

For those of you who didn't get the chance to know Leroy or our relationship, he was a very special cat. Before I met Leroy he didn't have a great life. He was adopted as a kitten by another family. He developed a serious upper respiratory infection while with them. Instead of taking him to the vet to treat it, this family let it get worse. When it got bad enough they just dropped him off at the APL. At the APL they treated the infection, however he lost his right eye in the process. Shortly after he was better, I adopted him.

I tried to give Leroy the best possible life he could have. He was like a child to me. Anyone who has seen us together knows that. When I was home, he was always nearby me. Every morning once he heard me wake up he's come running into my room, jump on my bed and cuddle with me. Every time I walked in the door he'd run up to greet me. Every time I ate dinner he was always stiffing what I was eating (and sometimes trying to take a bite himself). He was my co-pilot on my trip out to Montana. He was there for me at a time in my life when I felt confused and lonely. Even though he had one eye, he could always see what was bothering me. He was truly a perfect match for me. It kills me that I didn't even get to spend a whole year with my buddy.

I know I did what was best for him, but it still hurts. I wasn't ready for this day.

Leroy, I loved you buddy. You were the best cat, you just didn't have the best health. You were a tough, strong kitty and you set an example to me of how to be the same. You helped me in ways you'll never know and I feel lucky to have had such a loyal companion even if it was only for 10 months. I'm going to miss you Leroy.

This poem is called the Rainbow Bridge and I'm sure many of you that have lost pets have read this...

By the edge of a woods, at the foot of a hill,

Is a lush, green meadow where time stands still.

Where the friends of man and woman do run,

When their time on earth is over and done.

For here, between this world and the next,

Is a place where each beloved creature finds rest.

On this golden land, they wait and they play,

Till the Rainbow Bridge they cross over one day.

No more do they suffer, in pain or in sadness,

For here they are whole, their lives filled with gladness.

Their limbs are restored, their health renewed,

Their bodies have healed, with strength imbued.

They romp through the grass, without even a care,

Until one day they start, and sniff at the air.

All ears prick forward, eyes dart front and back,

Then all of a sudden, one breaks from the pack.

For just at that instant, their eyes have met;

Together again, both person and pet.

So they run to each other, these friends from long past,

The time of their parting is over at last.

The sadness they felt while they were apart,

Has turned into joy once more in each heart.

They embrace with a love that will last forever,

And then, side-by-side, they cross over… together.


Love,
Becky

Kizoa slideshow: Leroy - Slideshow

To kill time...

So things in the office have been pretty boring today. School starts next week so right now it's kind of the calm before the storm. My supervisor has taken the day off and I honestly don't have anything to do till next week. So today I've decided to make a list of all the things I could possibly do after AmeriCorps. Here it is (in no random order):

1. Stay another year working on my Farm-to-School program here in Livingston.
2. Join PeaceCorps
3. Go to grad school. The next question is where. Montana State? Case? Anywhere with a good nutrition/dietetics program?
4. WWOOF. I know most of you don't know what this is. I'm not going to explain it. Look it up.
5. Move back to Ohio and then figure stuff out.
6. Try to find a job somewhere......anywhere for goodness sakes.
7. Hangout in Europe with Ben.
8. Backpack in Europe with my friend Lindsay.
9. Fall in love.

Nine options is a lot, but it's better than nothing. I know I have time to figure this stuff out, I just have a lot of time today so I figured I'd at least write my ideas down and share them with everyone.

Totally random side note. I went horseback riding last night with my friend Maggie. We went kind of late though so we weren't out there for too long. We plan on going again sometime soon. Yay!

Okay enough of my rambling for today. Going to Missoula this weekend for the Root City River Festival which should be pretty fun. I'll let you know how that goes!

Love,
Becky