Now Picture That: Young Dreams

It was a chilly Friday night with no plans on the agenda, until Sister Pister came bounding through my front door in her cowboy boots on her way home from college. Followed not too long after by another cowboy boot wearing girl named Megan. Soon after, I sat in the corner of my couch surrounded by pillows with a glass of wine in my hand and the fire next to me and I listened. Agenda made for me.

I listened to my little sister and her friend excitedly make plans. Plans for their next barrel racing adventure. Plans for their weekend. Plans for decorating a pumpkin for a contest. Plans for the next horse to buy as they browsed through prospects. Plans for where to live when life "begins." Plans for what to do. Plans for the big thing called life.

I listened.

I watched.

Those two girls are balls of spirit and fire; they are unstoppable really and support each other as only best friends can. All of those plans they discussed? Absolutely attainable. Right down to making Mike from Monsters Inc. as a pumpkin for the contest.

That's the thing with being young.

It's all there. Waiting to be discovered...or maybe it's more of a waiting to be made thing. Dreams are often not magically found, they are most likely painstakingly made.

And I think these two get that. They have put more work into their horses than most put into a career. They have cried together and laughed together and pushed themselves through scary right on into fun. They work. They want. They work for what they want.

I had the privilege of offering up little bits of thirty year old wisdom to them, "Girls. If you want something bad enough, figure out a plan and start freaking doing the plan. One little step at a time."

I also had the privilege to be reminded that my thirty year old self is not done. I'm just getting going, more dreams to be made and more work to be put in. More dreams to be made. I am never done growing and learning. Being around two more than energetic pips will do that to you, light a fire under you as you sit with a wine glass in your hand.

When my friend Karen showed up to complete the this is a perfectly random and non-planned Friday evening, we sat and visited in much the same manner as our younger counterparts. Girlfriends are life blood no matter the age.

And I have to do this because I just do. My little sister won two saddles at the North Dakota National Barrel Horse Association state finals. She has worked so hard for the past four years. It paid off before, in learning how to keep striving and in learning the tough lessons. But it was so sweet to see it finally pay off in winnings for her. I cried real actual tear drops when I received the final text from my mom in a day full of updates. I ran to the other room and yelled, "She won two!" Then Billy had a tear too. Because his sports heart gets it.

If there ever was a day when I was willing my little sister along with every ounce of my soul, it was that one.

There are things I believe in. Like holding a coffee mug with two hands and theme outfits for holidays and surprising little ones at their dance classes and talking to strangers and being ridiculous while traveling and packing snacks grandma style for road trips and the very best pictures are when kids have dirty faces. One more has been added to my I believe list.

I believe it might be more heart squeezing to see someone you deeply love achieve than to actually win yourself.