It's been a blessing, I am beginning to enjoy a few of the "lasts" of senior year. #senior2016

            Words cannot describe how well the Nebraska State Fair went for my family. I had the privilege to be a ten year 4-H Member, this year as I began my senior year with my “first” last. My last County Fair in 4-H, followed by my last first day of school in high school. Even though these moments are bitter sweet, I am so grateful to have these moments and I am ready to move on to the next chapter of my life.  My brother and I had a very successful county fair we exhibited the Grand Champion Market Steer, Grand Champion Market Heifer and the Grand and Reserve Overall Market Animals.  We were able to end it with a bang for my last year, which was very exciting.

            State Fair was especially bitter sweet. I was reminded how blessed I really am. On Sunday I showed my FFA Steer “Johnnie” he was Reserve Heavy Weight division. The last time I will ever show in the 4-H Show at the Nebraska State Fair happened this last Monday. I nervous and excited all at once. It seemed so surreal that it was my last time. I did have a good day though. I was able to exhibit the Grand Champion Market Heifer with “Abby”. I ended my 4-H State Fair career with almost the same way I started it.  In 2008 I exhibited the Reserve Grand Champion Market Heifer, it had been a goal of my family to win the Market Heifer Show ever since. I was very excited that I was able to accomplish a goal that we had set after one of my first years being able to show at the Nebraska State Fair.

            My 4-H Career may be coming to a close, but my experiences, friendships and memories most certainly won’t be. I have had the opportunity to grow in so many ways possible not in just showing cattle but in 4-H as a whole. I am so blessed to have such a supportive family, friends and business partners to help me be the best I could be, that I could not ever thank them enough.

Quote  “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” – Dr. Sues

 Here is a transformation the top picture is my 2008 Reserve Grand Champion Market Heifer and the bottom is my 2015 Grand Champion Market Heifer at the Nebraska State Fair. I was very blessed to be surrounded by many friends and family. 

We need to tell Our Story

Good Afternoon! I know this is beyond late blog post but I wanted to give an update on my life. I recently took another job, as many of you know I work for ABS Global/ Powerline Genetics as the Social Media Coordinator. I recently took a second job with Power Genetics as the media coordinator. I have been busy lately with my second job addition, school starting, county fair and just life in general.

            I am actually on the way home from Wichita, KS from Power Genetics 18th Annual meeting. There is a lot I picked up on in the last twenty-four hours.  There is over 7.125 billion people in the world. My passion is agriculture, and I absolutely love the beef industry. Anyone who knows me knows that I am crazily involved in the Show industry, but what you may not know is that I know I only have so much eligibility left in the Junior Shows. So what have I done about that? I’ve started expanding my cow herd. In March I took out a loan to buy 14 more cow/calf pairs. This expanded my cowherd to 21 head. I have a partner in my three Donor cows and worked on using some of my family’s open cows into donors. Anyway to feed the world we need to all work together to tell our story. Beef is the largest industry in Nebraska, and many people even in Kearney don’t know where there food comes from.

            I love the Nebraska State Fair, as many “show” people would say they hate the city people, I love them. I love being able to let them pet my calf, talking to them about the beef industry, what the calf’s name is, how much it weighs, how old it is, and of course how good beef is. I’m excited for this upcoming State Fair but I wanted to tell you all a little story from last Nebraska State Fair. Last Year I was fortunate enough to exhibit the Overall Grand Champion FFA Market Animal at the 2014 Nebraska State Fair, my steer was a 1,345 lb. calf named “Jagger”. He was a Charolais Cross he was white. After I won I was sent to exhibit my steer in “Champion Row” and my favorite part of it was, when I was getting ready to go lead Jagger through the Parade of Champions a city folk walked up to my pen and said this is the Grand Champion? I answered yes it is.  He asked so, it’s white.. Does that mean it has red eyes and it is going extinct? I answered, No he is not going extinct. He is a Charolais Steer, and his eyes are not red. I told the man about the American Charolais Association and Junior Nationals. I told him that Jagger is not here to show, he’s here for so much more. I don’t just show animals, I show animals to educate consumers and have that animal at the end of his life be an incredible end product.

Visit the American Charolais Association here to learn more about the history of the breed 
 http://www.charolaisusa.com/history.html

Quote: I truly believe that everything that we do and everyone that we meet is put in our path for a purpose. There are no accidents; we're all teachers - if we're willing to pay attention to the lessons we learn, trust our positive instincts and not be afraid to take risks or wait for some miracle 

Service. Seven letters, can make a huge impact in someone's life.

As I was looking at my Time Hop App today I realized exactly one year ago today I was in Washington, DC attending Washington Leadership Conference with my teammate Sarah Forbes. I had before attending WLC heard about how awesome it was and that I should try to go. So I ended up boarding a plane, not knowing what to expect just ready to see what WLC was like.

            The experience was life changing. I don’t say this because it sounds cool.. I mean this realistically. I met so many great people and learned more about my purpose and service. At the end of the week each participant must chose a Living to Serve Plan (LTS Plan). My family has had some hardships with cancer so I wanted to do something that would benefit the American Cancer Society with my LTS Plan. Ashtyn Strewsberry, Former Nebraska State Officer told me my Sophomore year of high school about how she made Parachord Bracelets and sold them and gave the proceeds to children who had clef pallets. I borrowed her idea and decided to make parachord bracelets, but I could have parachord to represent every type of cancer.

            One thing that stuck out for me from the conference that I haven’t forgotten until this day is it’s not about what others have done for me; it’s about what I can do for others. Service. It may just be seven letters, but it could make a huge impact on others. At the end of the day it isn’t about the legacy you lived it’s about the legacy you left. Make your legacy a good one. Think about volunteering in your local community it could be as simple as baking cookies for an elderly person, or helping pick up trash in the roadside ditches. Whatever you choose to do be passionate, even the littlest things can make the biggest difference in a person’s life.

            So far I have raised over $200 and have a goal of raising $1,000. All proceeds go to the American Cancer Society. If you are interested in a Parachord Bracelet they are $5 each, please email me at haleyehrke@icloud.com or go to my Facebook Page Parachord Bracelets for Cancer to learn more.

I am pictured with a donation check made to the American Cancer Society from the proceeds from my Parachord Bracelets for Cancer project.

Here are some examples of some Parachord Bracelets I have made. 

Quote of the Week: The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. –Mahatma Gandhi

It's about the experience you gain

One of the main things I have learned from showing cattle is how to make a return on your investment. Now this may sound silly when I say I love showing steers, but I have learned the importance of a good heifer that turns into a cow. I have not shown too many heifers throughout my show career, but I have been fortunate to be able to use my winnings from my steers to purchase commercial Simmental/Angus cross cows to put in my herd. This May I made a huge investment at 18 years old. I purchased fourteen Simmental/Angus cross cows. All fourteen cows have a calf on their side and I am excited to be able to sell 18 calves on Big Blue Sale barn. I will also have my five “show calves” selling this fall on Lueking Club Calves Fall Sale.

            I was really proud, was when I found out an old show heifer “Bling” had raised a steer calf that I sold last fall to a family in Colorado won a Steer Show. This cow was never Supreme Heifer, but she has proved herself in the Donor Pen. Which is worth more than winning that Supreme Heifer title. Congratulations, Trista Lebsack from Bennett, CO on your Champion Market Animal that was Raised and Sold by H & P Ehrke Cattle Company and Lueking Club Calves

Bling (Monopoly) X Bodacious.

            One thing I want everyone to remember when they are nearing there county fair, it’s not the ribbon you receive it’s what you gain from the experience. My heifer “Bling” the one I talked about never winning Supreme Heifer ever, yeah she got a blue ribbon and eighth in her class at Ak-Sar-Ben. Was I upset because of the color the ribbon? Yeah, but she turned out to be a great donor cow that is making me money for college. Enjoy the experience it does go fast, and it is not about the ribbon, it’s about the experience you gain.

I hope everyone had a great 4^th of July. I’m off to a fun week at the Nebraska Agricultural Youth Institute.

Trista Lebsack Grand Champion Market Animal, Bennett, CO. (Bling) Monopoly X Bodacious Raised and Sold by Lueking Club Calves and H & P Cattle Company.

Quote of the Week

“Life is a journey with problems to solve, lessons to learn, but most of all, experiences to enjoy.” -Unknown

Life as I know it

Life has been so crazy lately. I have been busy with the end of the year things for school as well as preparing my cattle to go into there show barn.  It has rained a lot lately which has meant the pens are a disaster and the milo has just been put in. I am very thankful for the rain, last summer we were in a drought. I just got out of school, I flew to Arizona to my cousins graduation then the day after I arrived back in Nebraska I went to COLT (Chapter Officer Lenadership Training) then I showed my cattle at a show on Saturday and then I went to Girls State on that Sunday. I was sure ready  for the week of recuperating after Girls State. Yes, I have a busy life but I wouldn’t want it any other way.

            One thing my parents have instilled in me is a strong work ethic.  They have made sure if I set a goal of some sort I am going to work my hardest to try to achieve that goal. This happened recently to myself. I have been a hardworking student my whole life. All until my junior year I was receiving 95% and above GPA. I was on the highest honor roll at my school every quarter. I made Quarter 1 Honor Roll with Distinction of my junior year with a 96.3 % GPA but, unfortunately Quarter 2 I was disappointed with a 94.9 GPA. I was devastated. As I was in tears telling my parents I wasn’t going to reach my goal of making every quarter in both Junior High and High School. They said “ Haley, sometimes goals are hard to reach, so you have to amend that goal to make it more feasible. You are taking hard classes this year, you are working hard in everything you are doing I am not disappointed.” With my parents support I amended my goal by reaching Honor Roll with Distinction every semester. I knew I’d have to work my butt off but I could do it. I accomplished first semester with Honor Roll with Distinction. But, as fate would have it with my heavy class load of College Chemistry, College Bound English, Algebra II, and American History, I only achieved  a GPA of a 93.8% I was upset. My parents then told me  “ Haley it is still achievable work 2x as hard this fourth quarter and you will make Honor Roll with Distinction for 2^nd Semester. I knew I could do it. So 4^th quarter I am happy to report I achieved a GPA of 96.2% and a 2^nd Semester GPA of a 95.2 %.  I am so blessed to have the support of my parents. Without them telling me it was going to be okay and pushing me to do my very best I would have given up right there and said well I missed 2^nd and 3^rd quarter so why not miss 4^th quarter?

            Sometimes we have to reevaluate goals. Sometimes we set goals that are not good for our selves. Goals are just guidelines, while I am a type A person who makes lists and sets high goals and has high aspirations that simple hug and pieces of advice from my parents made me feel that it was going to be okay and it was.

           

Quote of the Week “ Desire is the key to motivation, but it's determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek. – Mario Andretti