Funny how when your attention turns to something, you see it everywhere.  Such is the case for Liberal and me.  I’m heading there to emcee the Pancake Day Talent Show this week, and launch a friends Vault Denim Business,(Ronda Maxwell) so sure enough when something or should I say someone catches my eye at a volleyball tourney recently should I have been surprised SHE was from LIBERAL??

Typically it’s the tallest girl on the court that gets the attention in volleyball, because Hey, they are tall….and that’s an asset in the game.  At the 12 year old club volleyball tournament  at Newman recently I watched my own daughter, of course, but when she wasn’t playing I couldn’t take my eye off Khiley Davis.  The 11 -year-old from Liberal Kansas is a dynamo, and while I don’t know much about sports, I guarantee Liberal’s Libero is being homegrown before our very eyes.

I couldn’t believe the way this four-foot-four-inch fifth grader served the ball.  She rarely misses, and then when she’s on the front row, she goes for every ball that comes her way.  When I asked her coach about her, he said, the only thing with her is sometimes he has to settle  her down, check out the video, and you’ll see what he means.

As for whether she’s a natural born libero, Khiley says she got so good because she practices, a lot.  Well her dad better keep it up, because she’s proving to the rest of us size alone has nothing to do with being good at a sport.   Good luck Khiley, I’ll be watching.

Maize South High lost a brilliant teacher, coach, and friend last weekend to breast cancer.  Shelley Poynter probably has no idea how much she touched my life, though our paths crossed MANY times.   Growing up in 4-H Shelley Woodard, from Maize showed sheep and Anita Steckline, from Garden Plain showed cattle at the Sedgwick County Fair in Cheney for years.  I admired her from afar, how calm, cool and collected she was in the show ring, and I wanted to be like her.

Years later as a reporter covering Wichita’s Komen Race for the Cure for KSN-TV, I saw that old friend in a pink shirt, and asked to interview her.  I doubted that she remembered me, but she did, and she was willing to share her story with my viewers and me, so that we could learn more about her battle with breast cancer….in hopes we wouldn’t have to endure it ourselves.

Fast forward a few years later and turns out I’m seeing her everywhere because she teaches in my children’s school district.    It took me awhile to put together that she had also married A.C. Poynter who had gone to High School with my husband, and who teaches at my kids middle school and in fact, had me come speak to his broadcasting class.

Then this year, I became an even bigger fan when I fell in love with Maize South High’s Volleyball team.  I was there mostly because the head coach, Teri Larson and I have been friends for decades…….and low and behold, her assistant was none other than Shelley Poynter.  I watched again from afar as she battled the cancer that had returned, and I still wanted to be like her…..  Strong, present  and always available to the kids who came into her life.   I became fans of her daughter, McKenna, a junior at Maize South who is an exceptional athlete…..Kent and I looked forward to teasing A.C. at all the games,  and Shelley became OUR daughter’s PE teacher this last semester.  They were our friends, even if it was from afar.   And now, with Shelley’s death I grieve, not so much from afar as I probably should, but right up with the rest of you because while I may not have been on her A-list of close friends, I was on her A-list of admirers.  Shelley Poynter, Thank YOU, for sharing your life with me even when you didn’t realize I was watching.  You mattered to me.

(That’s Shelley in the back row with her ball cap on following the win over rivals Maize High School)

Just back from a Mexican cruise with my very first TRUE FRIEND (Pamela Woodside) and I had to remind you about one of the best reasons to travel with your GIRL friend, SHARING their makeup.   It’s funny what you will try if you know it’s free, it works for someone else, or you left yours at home.

I first forgot my foundation….and there’s no party pix without foundation! I used Pamela’s Clinique foundation for redness.…it ROCKS.  I would never have even tried it because frankly, I don’t have a problems with redness.  If you think about it though, I LOVE full coverage, and if that stuff covers RED it should be able to cover anything, and it did.   The funny thing is, I found my foundation in another part of the suitcase a day later, but I kept using hers (remember hers is FREE, at least to me!).
It’s okay though cause she fell in love with my mascara. It really is the best, ask my 15-year old daughter who OD’s on the stuff. It’s from Benefit, “They’re REAL” makes the lashes look so fake it’s scary. Then when I got home it was easy to come up with a small token of my love and appreciation for Pamela….she got her own mascara, and I guarantee every time she uses it she’ll think of me, and MEXICO.

If you need a copy machine contact Pamela. She sells for Wichita’s Image Quest...and she’s the best. So much so she won this little trip and luckily her hubby no like to travel I can’t wait to see where we go next.

Great thing about road tripping back to Southwest Kansas is these days I realize THOSE were the good ‘Ole Days.   I ran all over southwest Kansas in the early 90′s as the News Anchor/Reporter for KSNG, in Garden City.  I put hundreds of miles on the news car covering Dodge City, Liberal, Hugoton, Sublette and all places within 90 miles of Garden City.  In fact, I laugh because really whenever you needed to go somewhere back then, the answer to “How long will it take?”  ….was standard, one hour.

This time, it’s gonna take a few hours to get there, but  I’m pretty stoked, I actually made the Liberal Newspaper …. with my soon to be appearance there.   That’s when it hit me, for some reason the folks in Western Kansas really seem to embrace me more so than the folks in my hometown Wichita.    I hope it feels like that this time when I visit, but if it doesn’t it should make for a funny read afterwards!!  Stay tuned.  Oh, and Hi Mark Strange, and Ronda Maxwell….those are two of the old-timers I’m really looking forward to hooking up with this time.

I know I went to college for Broadcasting but if I were to go back today, NO MATTER what I really wanted to do. I would get a degree in Computers. Starting my own businesses since leaving TV, you can’t just start a business without knowing, Facebook, Twitter, WordPress, Website Design, Excel, PowerPoint…..It feels like even in my newest venture, Vault Denim, I need a COMPUTER DEGREE.
My latest project was setting up my new Vault Jeans website just unveiled at convention….check it out.    Actually I had do TWO of them because Facebook screws you with FRIEND limits.  Please Like if you can. They are pretty good, but if I was really good at this,they would be even better.  Yes I can shoot, and edit video, but my education and life experience has left me weaker on computer skills than I would like.  Anyone want to join me for classes?? Anyone??    Then again, maybe I will just self teach, it’s gotten me this far so far. Luckily, I have some great friends willing to share.   So here’s some love to the people who saved me recently.  Remember it’s who you know, now you can know them too.   Thank you.  Cody Heitschmidt, Davis Sickmon, Angie Rowan, Laura Tutt, and Tiffany Hausdorf.  Oh and since I haven’t had time to write, read what my Vault Denim peer  Kimberly Dodson  had to say about convention, basically she said everything I wanted to say….and I didn’t have to write it.  SHARING really is the best concept.

Oh Yeah…NEW Jeans came in today….. TONIGHT, Feb 2nd 7-9 at my house is your first chance to see them.  Email me for address.  

Yep, that’s someone else’s tag line, and I quit caring enough when greeting cards started costing like $5 bucks a piece! So I gave up Christmas Cards this year, I don’t include birthday cards, or actually, any cards on the gifts I give…..but some times you NEED a card. So I decided to personalize a Thank You recently and I did it on Shutterfly. Made my own card, had them address and mail it for me, for $3.67. Now that my friends is priceless. Want to check it out?

5×7 Folded Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Facebook, twitter, Anitacochran.tv…..seems like every time I turn around I am trying to spew information about myself all over the internet.  Oops, I did it again.  Yep, I’m starting my 90-day Challenge on Body by Vi.  Why you ask….well you can check out the scary pictures over here.  I really don’t feel like typing the same sad story more than once.  XXOO but here’s a sneak peak of my problem.

    Do you see what I see?

So what if the song goes, “I just CALLED to say I love you.”   I just had to write this.  Sometimes I LOVE something so much I want to tell someone.  That’s where I’m at with just weird stuff that doesn’t really go together at all.  So I’m writing about it, so they all have something in common.  ME!  Enjoy.  If you have something better, feel free to comment, the more we learn from each other the smarter we all will be. XXOO Anita

Best little Cookies EVER.  (Target) Goes to show, those taster people work.  Yep, the sample got us.  Hate that I’m that easy, but hey, I’m that easy.

On to the latest hair

products I can’t get enough of.  I ran out of Morroccan Oil and the lady who helped me at the beauty supply store PROMISED I’d like Alterna’s Kendi Oil.  Lord was she right.  If you ever see me with hair that looks like it’s really wet or really greasy, it’s cause I’ve smeared this all over it, just cause I LOVE the smell.  It’s great.

So is, Pureology’s Antisplit Blowdry.  It’s made for colored hair.  I could tell you I’m a natural blonde, I am…but anyone over the age of four gets help from the color fairy….so this stuff helps keep my processed hair from looking OVER processed.  It’s one of those leave in deals, and again, if smell sells…..this alone would have it flying off shelves.  The cool thing use them together and my hair is so darn shiny I’d swear it was healthy!!

Now this next little duo, makes me look like the SuperMom I am.  I finally have a laundry duo I LOVE.

  Actually there’s two parts to this laundry love affair.  I stacked my washer and dryer…..and it makes that small room, PERFECT sized.  I also managed to put a piece of furniture I had stored in the garage back into service.

The other duo is the only laundry soap I’ll use.  Yep, that’s Gain POWDER.  I used to think one of my friends who used powder was nuts, I mean what a MESS.  Turns out, the darn stuff is cheaper and seems to last longer, and dare I mention, it smells BETTER than the liquid kind.  Don’t ask why, it just does.

The other part of that duo, the Downy Unstopables, is a scent booster. (Can you say just another marketing tool to separate you from your money?) It again smells good enough to eat and it works.  I love it, but  I hate to say this it’s a splurge in this household, it’s expensive and not a necessity.  However, I’m thinking I like it enough to include it on my Christmas Wish list so if Santa doesn’t bring any, I may move into the must have column come the New Year.

So looking at the Want Ads the other day…….I know, between that and  reading the obituaries I have totally dated myself!!   Anyway, I found this prayer that I had never seen.  So I’ve been saying it, and then at the end it said PUBLISH it.  I think in this day and age, my BLOG counts.  So Good Luck to you, I’ll let you know if it works, and if it doesn’t at least it gives one hope.  It did me.

Prayer of the Blessed Virgin.

Oh, most beautiful flower of Mt. Carmel, fruitful vine, splendor of Heaven, Blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in my necessity, oh, Star of the Sea, help me and show me here you are my mother.  Oh Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and Earth, I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to hear me in my necessity.  ”Make Request”.  There are none that can withstand your power.  Oh, Mary, conceived without sin, prayer for us who have recourse to thee, “Request 3 times”.  Say this prayer three consecutive days.  Publish and it will be granted.  Never known to fail.  Thank You, C.A.  (I think we should change that to Thank You.  A.C., since it’s now my prayer

Had Chipotle for lunch and some website said I could add my nutrition label to my website …..thought I’d test her out.  I mean really doesn’t the world need to know what I like in my burrito bowl?

–>

Now that’s Cool