Year of Joy: July

July flew by. I can’t believe summer will be over in less than a month. July was a very busy month for me, but I like to be busy. It was a very exciting month with many things bringing me joy including Stampede and vacation. So let’s get started.

• Spent Canada Day at the Millarville horse races just outside of Calgary. I’d never been before and it was fun cheering on the horses and jockeys, and walking around the farmer’s market.
• Calgary Stampede! This year I celebrated my fifth anniversary volunteering for the Calgary Stampede Agriculture Media committee. Shortly after I moved to Calgary in 2012 I was recruited for this committee. Through this volunteer work, I’ve had the opportunity to meet and volunteer with some amazing people who share my passion for agriculture, and helping people connect farm and food. This year I volunteered four full days. Unfortunately, it was a very wet Stampede with daily thunderstorms, wind and cool temperatures – but still a fun experience.
• Country concerts – I enjoyed both the Thomas Rhett and Zac Brown Band concerts during Stampede.
• Road trip across the Prairies. Every summer I drive across the Prairies, from Calgary to my family farm in Manitoba. It’s a fairly long drive – app. 13 hours each way – but I enjoy it. It’s an easy drive when the weather and road conditions are good. And you know you’re a farm girl when you get distracted checking out the crops along the drive. Talk about distracted driving!
• Work media tours – I enjoy working with the agriculture media and this summer we hosted two media tours at two of our field sites.
• Work video shoots – July was a busy month for video shoots. I organized and led four full day video shoots at different locations. I love getting out of the office, walking fields, and talking to farmers, ag retailers, ag media and colleagues.
• Summer vacation! I managed to sneak in a short vacation while I was in Manitoba. Every day was jam-packed with fun. A few highlights were: spending time with my three nephews (Kyle, Ethan and Beckett) who are growing up so fast; a mother-daughter weekend in Grand Forks; a day trip to Winnipeg to visit four friends and their kids; a visit with my grandparents; and just being away from the hustle and bustle of the city and on the farm (despite being attacked by mosquitoes!).

Here are a few photos from my summer so far.