I just have to take a quick moment to brag a little bit... cuz I feel so close to fame. ;)

My cousin Jessie won Best In Show for the ND Governor’s Photo Contest for her (one of many) beautiful photos of the Maah Daah Hey trail in the ND Badlands.  The studly Marlboro Man-esque subject of her photo is her hubby, Chad. See the full story here:  http://www.ndtourism.com/news/news-releases/detail.asp?newsID=387&ref=nf  and if you want to read some (ok ALL) amazing posts and see more of her stunning photography, check out Jessie's blog: http://veederranch.com/


The winning shot!  Awesome, right?


And my cousin Jaci (from the other side of the family!) stars in this month’s edition of everyone’s favorite in-flight reading material on Delta Airlines, the Delta Sky Magazine -- she is the one who appears to be very excited about what her friend is pointing at. http://msp.imirus.com/Mpowered/imirus.jsp?volume=ds10&issue=10&page=132  


Channeling a little Lewis & Clark, but in downtown Fargo.

Way to go ladies, you both make me so proud!

In addition, my little brother Seth (ok, not so little, he just turned 29!) is now a doctoral candidate in the counseling psychology program at the University of Miami.  So we'll soon have someone in the family who can "attempt" to fix all our mental problems.  He caused many of them, so it's fitting he should fix 'em.  HAR HAR HAR.  I kid, I kid.  I am so proud of his accomplishments, and I hope he is too.  He has worked so hard and come a long way in 29 short years!  Way to go, Sether!


I couldn't find anything nerdier if I tried.  And I tried pretty hard. 
This is the most "studious" looking picture I could find of Seth, though...


And a little tooting of the ol' horn: both my husband and I landed sweet new jobs at Microsoft recently!  Jordan is still in support, but he for a completely different product:  he's now supporting SQL Server (Core).  It's a big new challenge he's tackling, but there are exponentially more opportunities for him in this role.  I'm proud of Jordan, it has been a crazy adjustment for him the past couple years, coming off his teaching / administration career and jumping into the private sector.  But he has worked really hard in his former role and accomplished a lot in a short time, which certainly helped him earn this great gig because of it! 

As for myself, I am completely switching jobs, so I'll no longer be doing commercial technical support for Office applications (stop the tears, Chuck, I'll still be on-call to fix all your compy woes when you break stuff).  On Monday I will officially become a Technical Account Manager for the Premier National Team in Fargo.  [Um, yeah, I'll let you know just exactly what all that means in a couple months!  At Microsoft we LOVE obscure titles and acronyms.]  I'm BEYOND excited about the opportunity, and I guess pretty proud of myself for landing the job too!  I will definitely miss my current team, I honestly couldn't have asked for a better crew to work with over the past while.  And I'm not just saying that!  They really are the most professional group of individuals I've ever worked with, in addition to being a blast to hang around with every day.  Never a dull moment with you jerks! Haha!  I know I'll only be a building away, but I'll truly miss you all.



Corny.  Trashy.  Awesome.  (Pretty much describes our team right there...)  Couldn't find a pic of the whole team, but this one'll have to do.  This here's Adrian (he's from Texas, which is why he looks slightly less enthused about the cornfield), myself, and Nate (sans busted up leg)

And of course I have plenty of other ridiculously awesome relatives who accomplish amazing things every day with courage and grace.  Like Joan, who helped get a Buddy Walk organized in Great Falls, MT for Down Syndrome awareness month in October.  Or like my mother-in-law, whose strength is a rock in the midst of the shitstorm that is sometimes life.  Or like my dad, who has been dealt kindof a crappy hand lately but is rising above it and will persevere like the tough old cowboy I know him to be.  Or like Jodi, who is fighting a battle with cancer, and has had great health reports recently due to her persistance and diligence in diet and pure will and faith.  I admire all of you more than you will ever know.  You give me the strength and the motivation to try to do great things. Here's hoping I can live up to your examples!