A new soundtrack to my life

I spent a bit of time updating the soundtrack to our blog (believe me - I've been searching for something more important to do all day). I have long (okay - not that long, like 2 years now) been a fan of Lori McKenna's music. She is a country and christian artist that has been around for many years now - and I know you've heard her songs on the radio: "Stealing Kisses" and "Fireflies" that Faith Hill recorded and a few others by Sara Evans, Jimmy Wayne and Tim McGraw.

If you do pay attention to the music booming in the background (and I suggest you do - I don't spend hours searching these hits out for my own pleasure -wink wink) you'll notice this first song is entitled Unglamous. I may implement this as my song for the moment. While I originally intended to cut/copy/and paste the entire lyrics to this song - but I didn't want to win the "LONGEST BLOG POST WITHOUT A POINT" award, so rather I'll include the best verse and a link to the rest (enter if you dare).

No diamonds in our bathtub reams
Peanut butter on everything
No frills, no fuss - unglamorous

How wonderful a gravel road leading to a front door
How beautiful old wool socks on a bedroom floor
No frills, no fuss, perfectly us -unglamorous

If you dare spend than (approximately) 3 1/2 minutes catching up on my recent posts (I'll work on posting so you have more to read - I am trying to find a job people) you'll notice that I have paid homage to a few of my favorites from the best of Grey's Anatomy moments. This is hopes that my pleas will be answered for new episodes soon! I have always (okay - since 2006) been a fan of The Fray and Brandi Carlile (as a result of my devotion to Grey's). There are few in here for those of you who enjoy the occasional "tear-jerking, heart-breaking - we belong together" ballad.

A few other songs in the middle and near the end are just a few oldies but goodies. I came across a version of matt nathanson's Come on Get Higher (remember from an old post) from Sugarland. I suspect that will be a new favorite of some of yours. Fransesca Battista's "Free to be Me" is a good-hearted anthem that I love to hear on some days when you need to kick the blues and dance in your apartment until you laugh yourself silly because there is a chance your neighbor could hear/see you shaking your bon-bon.

If I could wrap my musical taste up in a phrase it would be "Hopeless Romantic". Pretty typical. I hope you enjoy my new playlist. It's not for everybody, but not everybody takes the time to visit this page - and its for you who do, that I hope you smile when you hear my anthems.

First contest of the season!

I've officially become a coaches widow - today. While there had been practices and a few weekend workouts up to this point, Ben and the team left today for their first contest trip. I can't recite the schedule verbatim (I've repeatedly asked for a typed itinerary with contact information on "From the desk of Ben Williams" letterhead but have been denied), I do believe that this weekend is the National Barrow Show somewhere in Minnesota (my judging friends can more accurately name the town, I'm lucky to remember the state) and a new contest which is aimed to be a companion to the Barrow Show contest.

Early this morning (well before my scheduled wake-up time) Ben ventured off (with his Garmin and cannister of piping hot coffee in hand) with his 6 kids to workout somewhere in South Dakota. I'll see him again sometime on Tuesday evening.

I, on the other hand, have been up constructing my "To-Do" list for the upcoming weekend. Firstly, I think I'll venture over to a thrift store close to the apartment named the "Attic Treasure" - maybe I can find a few antiques for the apartment. Next, although I am positive its a bit premature - I'm going to rummage through the listings in the local newspaper and on the internet for homes for sale in the Cass Co. area (ND). I can always hope, wish and dream right? If I get really ambitious (I know I'll have the time) I'll go to a few furniture stores around locally and scout out a few new pieces for the living room.

All the while, I'll move from item to item on the list (I don't anticipate actually spending any large sum of cash - since I'm not the bread winner at the moment) I'll have my tele-phone close by - I'm missing the first KSF since I was at least 10 years old! Hopefully my dad will be able to provide frequent updates for me (I'm still lobbying for a live broadcast of all the shows).

I hope that Ben's team performs up to their expectations. Good luck kids (I realize they aren't kids, but for a lack of a better collective term - go with me here)!

Our Boys

In the town/area I grew up in, there is not many people/places/events that draw notority. Until a few years ago. My family's homestead is located in rural Smith Co., Kansas and as most of you know I am one of four children. Of the original three of us (Kait, your fate is yet to be determined) the only one with noticable and coachable athletic talent was my brother, Grady.

Thank goodness at least one of the Godsey kids had some athletic talent.
During the course of Grady's 4 years of high school at Smith Center Jr.-Sr. High School he was a part of 4 consecutive Kansas state football championships and 2 consecutive Kansas state wrestling championships. To say that he was part of an athletic dynasty was an understatement. We are very proud of him!

Long story short, the success of Smith Center's football team has been documented in the NY Times, Sports Illustrated and various other national media venues. This past year, on the heels of a 5 straight state football championship and a record for the longest active winning streak, a book was written about the community and the football program.

I've included links to the books website, and I recommend this book to everyone, not because I'm looking for recognition for the small community I grew up in, but because I think the author did a tremendous job describing the value of growing up in a rural community, the value of role models, and teaching kids that being a winner at life doesn't mean winning championships on the field.

http://weareredmen.com/team/

I think the best philosophy Ben and I took from this book is something that we kindof took for granted for many years, rather than trying to conquer the world all at once - vow to just get a little better everyday. What a novel concept right, but think about it? It leaves less room for you to set your self (and others) up for dissapointment if you try to just progressively grow in your position, life, career, etc. rather than trying to do everything at once!

We got our copy and we're willing to share it with anyone who is interested in reading it!

We got the JOB on the brain.

We (its a team sport, right?) officially made it through the first week with students! It would be more accurate to say Ben made it through the first week, but its an accomplishment none-the-less. This fall Ben has two teaching responsibilities that include a group of 7 kids on the senior team and then another 21 in the junior evaluation class. Contrary to the programs that Ben went through, livestock evaluation is a required course in some animal science options when students are pursuing a degree in animal science from NDSU. This simply means, he will have the opportunity to interact and hopefully capture the attention of more students who may have not been interesting in livestock judging, but enjoyed the class and subsequently changed their minds.

This week the students evaluated some of the school's pigs and spent Friday night in the reason's room. NDSU has the good fortune of having a nice swine teaching/research herd that has Duroc, Hampshire and Yorkshire influence. Today (Saturday) the kids are on their first weekend workout of the fall at a nearby open show in Lisbon, North Dakota (don't quote me on the state - the close proximity of Minnesota makes it hard for me to keep track).

I, myself, had plans of my own this weekend. I have been lucky enough to score two job interviews this week! (YEAH!) I'm trying to stay focused on preparing a presentation, looking up information on Cass Co., ND and the demographics of the community, county and state to be more prepared for ND agriculture! It would be nice to finally get myself into a routine, meet some people and get involved (a paycheck would also be a huge BONUS)! Don't get me wrong, I would never turn down a good nap, but my sleeping habits are off kilter and I'm beginning to talk to myself!

We haven't purchased a new laptop yet, but its coming soon. We have the good fortune of Ben's job supplying him with a both a laptop and desktop for use, so I can borrow both the internet and the hardware until we get it replaced!

Quick briefs...

We have had a very very busy July and August, so I apologize for my lack of communication skills. Here are a few tidbits of "Ben and Corineah news".

1. We moved - to Fargo, ND (as in North Dakota). We lucked out on an "sight-unseen" apartment with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms (with the exception of the 3rd floor business).

2. Ben started his new job - he's the livestock judging coach and animal science instructor at NDSU, he has his first meeting with the team today.

3. I finished my M.S. degree, but am currently un-employed. We'll let you know when that situation changes.

4. We got back recently from a trip to Indiana, Ben judged the market lamb showmanship at the Indiana State Fair. He was great!

5. While in Indiana - our car got broken into and my laptop was stolen. Hence, the lack of communication (I'm updating the blog from the local branch of the Fargo Library). Looking forward to having a computer back soon!

6. We are in the process of updating our phone plans, so that we can visit with more people on the phone without going over our minutes (it only took one $200+ phone bill to realize that we needed to make a change).

7. We are excited for any and all possible visitors to ND, it's really pretty this right now. I'd recommend coming before winter unless you plan an extended stay!

This will have to do for now, I'll give a more indepth update once I have my internet back. I'd like to send a quick shout out to all our friends and family back in school, GOOD LUCK!

We've officially started our own family!

Now, it's not the news most of you would be interested in - but Ben and I did decide to make a few additions to our family. Since we're not in a place to be able to have children at this point in - we thought pets would be a good alternative. After much convincing and a good set of negiotiating skills - I convinced Ben that we should get not one but TWO male red-heeler crossbred puppies! I've added a few pictures to commerate the event! Firstly - this is "Dad" on the way to collar our puppies to signify that they are not able to be given away.

I think the exact words were, "I'm just trying to keep my wife happy!" All you other newly wed-women out there, just remember - it may take some time, but eventually you'll get him trained. Let's just hope the puppies are this easy to train!

I did not include pictures of all the puppies in the litter, but each puppy looks like a different breed. This first picture is our Gunnar. His hair is a mix of brown/black and will probably be a longer haired boy. Gunnar is the biggest in the litter and has monster feet, so we're anticipating this being our "Big Boy" and is quite the snuggler. Ben has already marked a claim on Gunnar as his buddy.

This is Gage and he has the marking that most resemble his momma, Zoey. Contrast to Gunnar, Gage is very short haired and is quite ornery. He loves to play and bark, I'm anticipating him being quite the handful and definitely being the naughty one of the two. I have a feeling Gage and I will be great companions, I can't wait!

Gunnar and Gage aren't quite old enough to be weaned yet, so they are staying with my mom and dad in Gaylord for at least a few more weeks. This should also suffice Kaitlynn, as she is having a hard time letting the puppies leave for their new owners. Once we have figured out where our next journey is going to take us - Gunnar and Gage will join us and we'll begin the daunting task of potty training. While we hope that they could eventually become outdoor dogs - we'll most likely crate train them and get them acclimated to apartment living, "Just in case."

If you are aware, this is the 4th and 5th "Grandchild" for Craig and Regina - as we already have Sheba, Lucy and Macy in the clan (Amanda, Lyndsey (& Matt) and Anna's female dogs) - adding Gunnar and Gage will only add to the madness, since to date Bandit is the only male dog at the Williams'. We are definitely looking forward to the boys meetings their "cousins" in the near future.

We'll definitely be providing picture updates of the boys!

Baby news!

Uncle Ben and Aunt Corineah recently received a phone call from Nana and Papa Godsey announcing the newest addition to Corineah's side of the family on Tuesday morning! My sister, Emily, went into labor about 2 1/2 weeks early and delivered our new neice after about 10 hours of labor! In addition to being extremely unprepared, Emily was also very upset that she wasted her catfish filets because her water broke about 7:30 on Monday evening as she sat down to eat supper. Here are a few pictures, visit my facebook page to view the rest!

With that being said, Ben basically had to hide the keys from me to keep me in Lincoln until Tuesday afternoon. We made a quick trip home last night to see Mommy and Honey. Ben also got some night fishing in with Grady and Spencer. We were back in-time for Ben to put in about 4 hours this afternoon.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures: Nana Godsey holding baby "Honey Christine" who was 8 lbs. 1 oun. and 18 3/4 in. long. Everyone has to fight Nana for their shot at the baby. Papa Darin couldn't hang out with us in the hospital because we're in full swing wheat harvest. But he was almost all night with Emily through labor and then had to go back to work yesterday morning, but we caught up with him after he got off work!

This is actually Kenya after being acquainted with Honey for a couple of hours, giving "Baby Sister" a few kisses.

Aunt Kait finally got her turn to hold the baby and used the breast feeding pillow to help her support the baby.

More kisses from big sister.

This is the best picture of the baby, with her eyes open. She has an olive complexion just like her older sister. Very pretty, but not as much hair as Kenya. We hope it will be as curly as pretty as Kenya's.

Emily's family picture with the girls and Honey's daddy, Anthony.

Kenya just met her little sister, Honey. Kenya was missing Mommy very much and didn't really care about the baby at this point. She eventually wanted to "HOLD MY BABY SISTER!"

Uncle Ben took his turn with Honey, but if you can tell - he was quite unsure of himself. Kenya loves playing with her Uncle Ben and I can venture to guess Honey will be the same. Kids just love him!

Finally, Aunt Corineah got to take her turn with baby Honey. She was very tiny - and I was well informed that I know nothing about babies and have a lot to learn before we have our own.

That's about it for us, Ben's visiting friends this weekend while I dog-sit and study for my defense. I'll update next week my progress and stay tuned, I'm travelling to Quebec next weekend for a few days! Hope your enjoy your 4th of July weekends!