2011 Year in Review

There are so many more people/events that I didn't have pics of! They also helped make the year great :) I don't own any rights to the song.

Daddy's Girl

I opened up my Facebook early this week to find a post from my dad to his daughters :) I read to caption on it and it was a good thing I was alone, because by the end of it, I was definitely tearing up. I love my dad SO MUCH and I am truly blessed to have such an awesome dad! The following words of wisdom were written by Michael Mitchell, in his blog lifetoheryears.com. (I’ve added my own comments in bold.)

50 Rules for Dads of Daughters – by Michael Mitchell

1. Love her mom. Treat her mother with respect, honor, and a big heaping spoonful of public displays of affection. When she grows up, the odds are good she’ll fall in love with and marry someone who treats her much like you treated her mother. Good or bad, that’s just the way it is. I’d prefer good.

2. Always be there. Quality time doesn’t happen without quantity time. Hang out together for no other reason than just to be in each other’s presence. Be genuinely interested in the things that interest her. She needs her dad to be involved in her life at every stage. Don’t just sit idly by while she add years to her… add life to her years.

3. Save the day. She’ll grow up looking for a hero. It might as well be you. She’ll need you to come through for her over and over again throughout her life. Rise to the occasion. Red cape and blue tights optional.

4. Savor every moment you have together. Today she’s crawling around the house in diapers, tomorrow you’re handing her the keys to the car, and before you know it, you’re walking her down the aisle. Some day soon, hanging out with her old man won’t be the bees knees anymore. Life happens pretty fast. You better cherish it while you can.

5. Pray for her. Regularly. Passionately. Continually.

6. Buy her a glove and teach her to throw a baseball. Make her proud to throw like a girl… a girl with a wicked slider.

7. She will fight with her mother. Choose sides wisely.

8. Go ahead. Buy her those pearls.

9. Of course you look silly playing peek-a-boo. You should play anyway.

10. Enjoy the wonder of bath time.

11. There will come a day when she asks for a puppy. Don’t over think it. At least one time in her life, just say, “Yes.”

12. It’s never too early to start teaching her about money. She will still probably suck you dry as a teenager… and on her wedding day.

13. Make pancakes in the shape of her age for breakfast on her birthday. In a pinch, donuts with pink sprinkles and a candle will suffice.

14. Buy her a pair of Chucks as soon as she starts walking. She won’t always want to wear matching shoes with her old man. Boots work too :)

15. Dance with her. Start when she’s a little girl or even when she’s a baby. Don’t wait ‘til her wedding day.

16. Take her fishing. She will probably squirm more than the worm on your hook. That’s OK.

17. Learn to say no. She may pitch a fit today, but someday you’ll both be glad you stuck to your guns.

18. Tell her she’s beautiful. Say it over and over again. Someday an animated movie or “beauty” magazine will try to convince her otherwise.

19. Teach her to change a flat. A tire without air need not be a major panic inducing event in her life. She’ll still call you crying the first time it happens.

20. Take her camping. Immerse her in the great outdoors. Watch her eyes fill with wonder the first time she sees the beauty of wide open spaces. Leave the iPod at home.

21. Let her hold the wheel. She will always remember when daddy let her drive.

22. She’s as smart as any boy. Make sure she knows that.

23. When she learns to give kisses, she will want to plant them all over your face. Encourage this practice.

24. Knowing how to eat sunflower seeds correctly will not help her get into a good college. Teach her anyway.

25. Letting her ride on your shoulders is pure magic. Do it now while you have a strong back and she’s still tiny.

26. It is in her nature to make music. It’s up to you to introduce her to the joy of socks on a wooden floor.

27. If there’s a splash park near your home, take her there often. She will be drawn to the water like a duck to a puddle.

28. She will eagerly await your return home from work in the evenings. Don’t be late.

29. If her mom enrolls her in swim lessons, make sure you get in the pool too. Don’t be intimidated if there are no other dads there. It’s their loss.

30. Never miss her birthday. In ten years she won’t remember the present you gave her. She will remember if you weren’t there.

31. Teach her to roller skate. Watch her confidence soar.

32. Let her roll around in the grass. It’s good for her soul. It’s not bad for yours either.

33. Take her swimsuit shopping. Don’t be afraid to veto some of her choices, but resist the urge to buy her full-body beach pajamas.

34. Somewhere between the time she turns three and her sixth birthday, the odds are good that she will ask you to marry her. Let her down gently.

35. She’ll probably want to crawl in bed with you after a nightmare. This is a good thing.

36. Few things in life are more comforting to a crying little girl than her father’s hand. Never forget this.

37. Introduce her to the swings at your local park. She’ll squeal for you to push her higher and faster. Her definition of “higher and faster” is probably not the same as yours. Keep that in mind.

38. When she’s a bit older, your definition of higher and faster will be a lot closer to hers. When that day comes, go ahead… give it all you’ve got.

39. Holding her upside down by the legs while she giggles and screams uncontrollably is great for your biceps. WARNING: She has no concept of muscle fatigue.

40. She might ask you to buy her a pony on her birthday. Unless you live on a farm, do not buy her a pony on her birthday. It’s OK to rent one though.

41. Take it easy on the presents for her birthday and Christmas. Instead, give her the gift of experiences you can share together. Travelling places with Dad are some of my favorite memories!

42. Let her know she can always come home. No matter what. This one is my favorite and definitely true!

43. Remember, just like a butterfly, she too will spread her wings and fly some day. Enjoy her caterpillar years.

44. Write her a handwritten letter every year on her birthday. Give them to her when she goes off to college, becomes a mother herself, or when you think she needs them most.

45. Learn to trust her. Gradually give her more freedom as she gets older. She will rise to the expectations you set for her.

46. When in doubt, trust your heart. She already does.

47. When your teenage daughter is upset, learning when to engage and when to back off will add years to YOUR life. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

48. Ice cream covers over a multitude of sins. Know her favorite flavor.

49. This day is coming soon. There’s nothing you can do to be ready for it. The sooner you accept this fact, the easier it will be.

50. Today she’s walking down the driveway to get on the school bus. Tomorrow she’s going off to college. Don’t blink.

This picture definitely isn't the greatest of either of us, but I don't care, I love my dad!

What Did You Do For Thanksgiving?

It's a Thanksgiving tradition at my grandparent's house to go around the room and have everyone say one thing that they are thankful for. My youngest brother, John, responded with "family." Little did he know how truly thankful he would be later that day...

My grandparents live on a dairy farm. Visiting them while growing up was a lot of fun because there were always new places to explore and new adventures to go on! Today one of my aunts, a few of my uncles, my siblings, my cousins and I held a scavenger hunt across the farm because it was SO nice outside! We're talking between 50 and 60 degrees F! I can't remember the last time November has been so beautiful :) Anyway, the scavenger hunt ended and as our whole group was heading back to the house, we stopped to climb on the round and square hay bales that were lined up on the yard. The cousins had races up and down the rows of round bales and my brothers decided to climb the stack of square bales. This stack was 12 ft high (4 bales high) and made up of bales wrapped in plastic to protect them from moisture. They were also laid down in alternating directions so that the stack didn't fall over. Well, there were places that weren't packed tightly, so my youngest brother thought it would be cool to take a picture of one of the crevices on his iPod Touch. He didn't get that far....

As the iPod was coming out of his pocket, it caught on the edge of the pocket, flipped out of his hand, and fell 12 feet to the ground in the middle of the stack...literally: 2 bales deep on each side, and 8 rows in from the nearest end. The only way to access the iPod was through the 12 ft deep crack that it fell down. It took an hour to get the thing out! We tried duct tape and cow magnets, but that didn't work. Then we tried sticking it to just duct tape. That didn't work either. At this point, we were still 12 ft. away from the iPod. Well, with nothing working and an iPod to lose, I got the chance to make my brother realize just how thankful he was for family.

The crevice that had swallowed the iPod was slightly wider between the top 2 layers. It was just wide enough for me to slide down to stand on the 2nd layer (3rd from the top). I was squished, to be sure! My brother Troy slid down next to me to help me by holding a flashlight, and his 6'3", 170lbs build was only able to slide down. He couldn't move at all! It was funny. Before the night ended, I had finagled my way lower and lower so that I was laying on my side, one arm pinned behind me and the other under me, in the middle of the stack. I had to take my fall jacket off because I couldn't fit with it on. We ended up finding a plastic pipe that was 6 feet long, wrapping the end in duct tape and sticking it to the iPod. It took several tries, but we finally got it to stick. On the way up, however, we realized that the iPod was too wide the way we had gotten it to fit through the hole that it had fallen through..... After more adjusting on my part, I reached an arm down and grabbed it before it fell again. We returned to the house an hour later than planned, dusty, tired, but overall we were happy with the successful adventure.

Now I just have to figure out how John gets to repay me : ) After all, as my whole family pointed out, I saved him a whole bunch of money today!

So when someone asks me what I did for Thanksgiving, this is going to be one fun story to tell!

Fun Times

Here at Dordt, fall begins with Heartland Break. This break consists of teachers coming to Dordt for a conference taught by Dordt’s professors. This also means that Dordt students get a four-day weekend! It’s a pretty great way to start fall.

This year my dad and I loaded up his truck and headed to Madison, Wisconsin, for the World Dairy Expo. Dad was working in his company’s booth but he was more excited about meeting all of his Twitter friends. I was going there to see what World Dairy Expo was, since I had never gone. I was also going to see if I could find any leads to get to New Zealand to study abroad for a semester. Dad and I both agree that the weekend was a huge success!

Dad met many of his Twitter friends at different “Tweet-ups.” I got to tag along for these and I met a lot of great people! They were very welcoming and a lot of fun to hang out with. I hope I can meet up with them in the future.

I also got to see some of my friends from California. Brenda made it up to expo on Friday and we hung out for a few hours. I also saw some of my friends from Oakdale.

While all of this was great fun, the highlight of my weekend was making contact with people who are helping me figure out how to study abroad in New Zealand next year. Thank you to all the people who helped me make these connections! We will see where they go J I’ll keep ya’ll posted on how things are going!!

Life is Exciting!

Lately I've found myself being incredibly excited about life. And here's the thing: I have no idea why because I have no idea where I'm going to end up. I have no idea where God's going to take me! Maybe that's the very reason for my excitement: I'm embracing the unknown.

Saying that kinda freaks me out. Not gonna lie! When I really think about it…yeah, it freaks me out! I used to hate the unknown. I really didn’t care for doing new things. Now I beginning to realize what I’ve always been told: everyone out there is just a person. I’m learning to talk to people. Meeting new people doesn’t scare me (as much). God is allowing me to grow in ways I have never dreamed of.

I got to talk to my friend Kristen on Monday night. Our talk was cut short because I had to go to work, but it was really good to talk to her. Last time we talked was at school last May when we packed up our dorm room after exams and headed home. Sure, we kept in touch over Facebook, but it wasn’t the same as talking over the phone. I told her about my internship and how much I missed being out there and how much I didn’t want to be at school. I also told her about what I want to do next summer and next fall. She looked at me over Skype and said into the phone, “You’ve changed so much!” I think she meant it as a good thing. She’s such a good friend; I can’t wait ‘til I get to talk to her again.

This coming week I will be going out to the World Dairy Expo in Madison, WI! That also has me very excited! It happens to fall right over a two-day break at school, so I’m not even missing any classes for it. I’m going up there with my dad. We’re driving Thursday, attending Friday, and while he’s working on Saturday I’m hoping to be hanging out with my friend Brenda. We’ll head back home on Sunday.

Last night I spent time at my aunt and uncle’s house. We were celebrating my cousin’s 11^th birthday and my grandparents were there! God has blessed me with an amazing family! It was so good to be able to visit with everyone. Even though we only a few hours away from each other, schedules fill up and we don’t get to see each other as much as we’d like to. Last time I saw my grandparents was around Easter, I think. Last night we were able to catch up on what had gone on in the six months since we had seen each other. My family did get together during the summer but I was in California. That was probably the thing I disliked the most about California: missing out on family get-togethers back home. However, my family is incredibly supportive of what I want to do and they make their support known. I am so thankful for them!

I got a little side-tracked from the beginning of my post, but that’s okay. I’m thanking God for the opportunities that He has presented in my life and the ones He hasn’t revealed yet. I’m looking forward to seeing what He has planned for me. It’s been amazing so far!

A World of Opportunities

The past week of school has been very busy. Ag. Club and class field trips have taken up time that I could have been using for homework or simply to catch up with everything going on. On top of this I'm starting to look for what my adventure next summer might be.

For a while I thought about entering the South Dakota Dairy Princess Competition. It's still in my mind but I have to face the fact that college isn't cheap and I need an income during the summer. I've also come across an internship with Hoard's Dairyman. There's an internship out in New York that caught my eye. There are so many options! I just don't know what to do besides apply for a whole bunch and see what God does with it.  Thank goodness He has a plan because I have no idea what I would do if He wasn't in control!

Beyond internships, I'm also looking at studying abroad somewhere (New Zealand currently has my interest). I don't know why, but suddenly I want to experience things outside of what I'm used to. I never used to be that way, but for some reason that is changing. It's a crazy feeling, but I'm so excited to see what God has in store for me!

Life's Not the Breaths You Take, but the Moments That Take Your Breath Away

I never thought that I’d fall in love with California. Before my amazing experience this summer I was convinced that the only place for me was the Midwest. I was convinced that nowhere else in the world could even compete with the way of life in the Midwest. I was convinced that I would never be happy out on my own and so far away from my family. This summer changed so much for me.

I discovered that there are other places that I can be happy with. I discovered that even if the pace of life is a little different from what I grew up with, it’s still a LOT of fun. I discovered that the location of where you are can have very little to do with how happy you are. The people that I worked with this summer became a second family to me. (One of the workers even called me “Mi hija”, which means “my daughter”.) Every one of them brought a smile to my face on a regular basis and I had so much fun and will miss them all. Thank you to C.A., Kirsten, Colin, Lars, McCalister, Karen, Kimberly, Brenda, Aaron, Adam, Zach, Brett, Dr. Liz, Antonio, Steve, Urbano, Tomas, Alfredo, Alejandro, Jake, Sergio, Oscar, Paul and the rest of the milkers, John, Danny, Joey, Matt, Hannah, Mr. and Mrs. Clauss, Miss Doreen, Kathleen, Sal, and everyone else who I hung out with or worked with. The list is long and I’m sorry if I forgot anyone.

I am being brutally honest when I say that I didn’t want to leave California to go back to school. I didn’t want to say the goodbyes to the people or the life I had made for myself. Each of the people I worked with or hung out with helped make my experience what it was. I’m pretty sure that there are several reasons that God put me out here this summer, not just one, but one way to sum everything up is that he put me out here to help me grow. My personality is still reserved and quiet but I’m more confident in myself and the experiences I had this summer helped me with that. I can’t adequately put it into words.

My dad and sister have been putting up with a lot of complaining for the past day. I’ve been letting the fact that I didn’t want to leave affect my mood which isn’t fair to them. It’s been great having them out here seeing what I’ve been doing for the past ten weeks. For those of you who don’t know, when my dad flew out on Wednesday my sister came too as a surprise. I had a legit freak-out in my work truck when I drove up to the Hilmar Cheese Company Visitor Center to say hi to my dad before an intern meeting and saw my sister there too! Thankfully Brenda was very understanding about it.

My whole week was a little different. I went with Dr. Liz on vet check on Monday and then worked on misters and soakers that afternoon. I don’t remember what I did on Tuesday for the life of me. Wednesday morning I put out fly bait, helped vaccinate cows, dried cows, went to a Jerseyland Sires meeting, had an exit interview at Hilmar Cheese with their HR Department. Wednesday night I worked late with Brett getting things ready for Thursday which meant we had to move cows around and get lists ready for vaccinations. I warned my dad that I’d be working late but after work I called Brenda and we took my dad and my sister to our taco truck. They were very impressed with it. Who would’ve thought that such good food could come out of a converted RV! Thursday morning I got to start the guys in the morning because Brett was gone and I spent the day with Danny over at Clauss while my dad and sister drove out to Yosemite National Park. I ended my day back at Yosemite entering sheets. That’s when the good-byes started. Steve was going on vacation so he wouldn’t be around on Friday. Going to work Friday was kinda depressing because I knew it would be my last day. Brett started the guys and then we went to check feed around the dairy. After checking feed and entering the changes we went to walk the pens before a nutrition meeting and the weekly meeting that Clauss, Yosemite, and Sunwest have. After the meetings we all headed to La Morenita for lunch. We picked up my sister and my dad met us there and we all had a great time. After lunch I got a few hours off to start cleaning out my work vehicle and my apartment and then Brett told me to come back to work at 3:30 so that I could enter sheets. I figured there would probably be an exit interview/review during that time but when I pulled up to the barn I saw Brett’s truck, C.A.’s truck, Kirsten’s car, and the whole row of parking was full. I went to Brett’s office and started talking with Kirsten and C.A. while Brett went to take a phone call. Well, there was no work for me to do…. They had a going away party planned for me! They even stopped milking for it. They gave me a Yosemite Jersey Dairy Carhart jacket and some things from Hilmar Cheese. Antonio gave me a pen so that I would remember the feed area and that I need to be as sharp as a pencil. I got pictures with almost everyone that I’d worked with this summer and we had cupcakes and milk and then I had an exit interview with Brett and C.A. It was a fun/sad afternoon. Saturday morning came around and I went to say goodbye to a few more people before we left for home.

We made it to Salt Lake City on Saturday and as I’m writing this blog we are driving though Utah or Wyoming (though I won't post it until I get home). I’m not really sure where we are. I’m finally accepting the fact that I’m leaving California. My dad made a good point earlier while we were talking. He told me that it’s probably better that I’m leaving while I still love it rather than leaving something I didn't like because then I’m all the more likely to go back and visit.

Goodbye for now, California. I hope to see you again soon.

It's Almost Time to Say Goodbye....But Not Yet

Friday will be my last day in California. It's a bittersweet week because while I am SO excited to see my dad on Wednesday and my family next week, I will be saying goodbye to people who became like a second family to me. The whole Clauss family, the workers at Yosemite, and the other people I met will all have a special place in my heart because they made my summer a huge success.

Probably the hardest thing about this week is that the workers keep asking me if I'll be back when I'm finished with school. Nothing has been said to me from anyone above me about that, so I don't know what to say to them. I usually just muster a smile and say something like "I don't know but I'll be back to visit sometime." If they go on and say, "But you'll come back to work here, right?" I just answer honestly, saying that I don't know and I guess we'll find out in the future. The whole thing has got me very confused because it makes me happy to know that they have enjoyed working with me but I have no idea what my managers and bosses think of me or the job that I've done this summer. Maybe that's something that I'll find out later this week. Hah, the workers might ask all of the interns the same thing every summer.

I have also been reminding myself that God brought me out here for a reason. While I'm not exactly sure why, I know that I will walk away from this experience with a new confidence in myself, new skills that I can put into use wherever I end up and a realization that being out on my own is more fun than I thought that it would be. There are lots more things that I could add to that list.

So I will be enjoying myself as much as I can this week. Tonight the interns are going to a BBQ at someone's house. Tomorrow we supposedly have a meeting and then a tour. Wednesday my dad is flying to California and I'll see him that night! Thursday night I'll probably do something with Brenda and Friday will unfortunately be here too soon! Dad and I are driving home so I'll do my best to post one more time about this summer before school starts in two weeks!

Playing Catch-Up

The past few weeks have been so busy that I've hardly had any down time, which is more than apparent through the fact that I haven't been on here much. I'm backtracking all the way to last week Sunday when Brenda and I went to Monterey and I'm sure that I'll miss some stuff along the way but I'm going to try to get as much in as I can.

We left on a beautiful Sunday morning in a diesel GMC Sierra. It was a pretty sweet truck to drive. We had bikes in the back and Lee, my Garmin GPS, in the front with us. With Lee's help we successfully made it to Monterey while it was still really cool out. It was also humid and I had forgotten what humidity does to my hair when it's down. It kinda went nuts but I figure that I'll never see anyone from there again so I didn't really care what my hair looked like.
When we got to Monterey the first thing we did was found a parking garage so that we could ditch the truck and bike around. The parking ramp we found was in a great location. As we were pulling in however, we realized that we had no idea how tall the truck was. The clearance was 7 feet and a few inches and we just made it under. It was so close that I had to lean out my window to make sure we were clear. Well, the truck cleared but the CB radio antenna didn't. We heard a loud twang as we pulled into the garage and had no idea what was going on. We kept going and finally figured out that we were the ones making that noise. Thankfully the antenna was fine and we were able to find a spot.
We unloaded the bikes and headed for the coast. I wish that I could post the pictures that I took but I don't have my camera cord and the pictures aren't on my memory card. There were sea lions and seagulls all over the place! Brenda spent a good deal of the morning laughing at me every time a bird got too close for my comfort. We biked up and down the coast and then made our way to the aquarium. (We went right when it opened and only dealt with masses of people on our way out.) The exhibits were so cool and we were able to see them feed some of the fish there. We took a lot of random pictures and even felt manta rays! Yes, I actually touched one, Mom :) It was gross and I'll probably never do it again but at least I can say that I have.
After the aquarium we decided to leave our bikes locked up and walk down Cannery Row. That is a very neat area of Monterrey. There are lots of old sardine cannery buildings that have been converted into shops and restaurants. After walking up and down the row we went to Sly McFly's Refueling Station for lunch. We both got the fish and chips and it was really really good! After eating we biked back to the truck and went to try and find the 17-Mile Drive. On our way there we found ourselves lost in downtown Monterrey and then on a one way street going into a military base. Thankfully the guards were very understanding that we were just 2 Midwest girls lost in Monterrey and they let down a barricade and we pulled a U-turn and left. When we finally did make it to the 17-Mile Drive, which is a scenic drive along the coast and foothills, the first animal we saw was a HUGE whitetail buck! So what did we do? We stopped in the middle of the road and tried to back up so that we could get a picture of this deer. We were definitely true to our Midwestern roots. The rest of the drive showed us amazing sea views and forest landscapes. We kinda felt like we were driving an awkwardly large boat as all the little cars passed us in our big diesel truck, but we didn't care.

The next week was pretty typical with the exception of the State Fair. We started early every morning to come in and walk the cows before starting our chores. With the fair coming up the cows were taking off their TMR and put on a special diet of beet pulp, a grain mix, and grass, oat, and alfalfa hay. They were also washed every day and tied up for a few hours. On Thursday, Brett and I went to the Stanislaus County fair to figure out what needed to come back to the dairy on Monday. Thursday night I got to drive up to Sacramento to pick up Yosemite's intern from last summer. Brandon came back to help with the state fair. He and Brett left early Friday morning to set up for the cattle that we loaded into a semi on Saturday morning. We took around 25 animals to the fair. It was quite an event and I was excited to go up on Monday night.

On Friday the interns toured another dairy and Saturday was a quiet day on the dairy after loading the animals. Things got done quickly and the day ended without a hitch. On Sunday I went to mass with Brenda. This was the first time I have ever been to a Catholic service but it was a good thing to experience. There were definitely things that I didn't agree with but I think it's important to experience different churches.

Sometime during the week (and I may have written about this already) but Dr. Liz and I necropsied a cow that had bloated to death and literally blown up like a balloon. She was also wedge under a freestall

Sunday night things got crazy! Because everyone was up at the fair I was figuring on going into the office to do some work for Brett to get things ready for vet check on Monday. I was supposed to go in around 8:00pm but at 4:45pm, all electricity to the dairy went out. Antonio and I spent the next few hours running around making sure that the generators were going and that the wells were getting water to the cows. Brett ended up coming back from Sacramento to make sure everything was okay and helped Antonio and I figure out the water situation. After that Antonio went home and Brett and I tried to work on the computer for a while but the dairy's generator was sending energy slugs and kept shutting the computer down so we unplugged everything and just called it a night. The electricity came back on around 11:30pm.

The next morning I went to the Turlock fairgrounds to get 4-H equipment that stays at the dairy. When I got back Brett helped me get started with Dr. Liz on vet checks before he went back to Sacramento. That afternoon I had a meeting at Hilmar Cheese with the other interns. It was a banking meeting and it felt like a repeat of Farm Management with Vos at school. When the meeting was done Brenda and I headed back to our dairies. That's when Steve called me and told me that the alarm in Brett's office was going off and if I was around to come and turn it off. I drove over there and called Brett to figure out what to do. He told me the security code that should have disabled it but it didn't work. Then I called the security company and they needed a code that was inside a transformer box that was located in the ceiling of Brett's office. When I finally got up there the box was locked and there was no key for it. Steve was helping me and finally figured out how to unplug the whole system and we got it turned off. Then Clauss' manager, Danny, came over and did the same thing I had been trying and it worked. The only idea we have as to why it went off is possibly because of the electricity failure the night before. The mystery is why it went off when nobody was around and the door was locked instead of going off when Brett or I had been in there earlier that day. We still haven't figured it out but it hasn't gone off again.

Monday night Brenda and I drove up to Sacramento for the State Fair. We got to work there on Tuesday and Wednesday. We helped bed the cows, walked them back and forth from the wash racks, helped the fitter (the person who cuts the cow's hair) and caught a lot of manure. The cows get washed first thing in the morning and they have to stay clean all day long, which means that their bedding also has to stay clean so we get to catch all the crap in buckets and then wipe the cow's backside clean with a paper towel. That was not the highlight of my day, however. The fun really started when the show started. Making sure that everyone was where they needed to be took a lot of people. We had around 15 people for around 12 animals. Some people were showing and others following with buckets. We showed from 2:00pm until 7:30! It was a long day, but so much fun! I even got to show a cow for the first time!!! Colin and I showed Bullet and Elsie as Best Pair and we took 3rd. Overall I think the dairy took 2nd, but don't quote me on that.

Here are some more pics from the fair:

This is Shakira, the cow who walks you, not the other way around.

(See the bucket and paper towels? We were serious about keeping those cows clean!) 

Half of our string of cows 

Shakira in the show ring 

A junior show class 

Callie and her show heifer Bethany 

Elsie

We had fun walking around the fair on Wednesday afternoon. 

Our show heifers

As you can see, it was a busy couple of days. We came back and went right back to work the next day. I got to move cows on Thursday and I got a crash course on the criteria for moving a cow to a different pen. On Friday we toured another intern's dairy and got to see what the inside of a malignant tumor looks like. It's cool in a very gross way :) I ended Friday by entering sheets into the computer and then a few of my friends from school came up and visited for a few hours. Brenda joined us and I showed them the dairy, we went out to eat, and then we played spoons at my apartment. They left at 10 and Brenda and I were invited to a going-away party at someone's house so we headed over there for a while. I didn't have to work on Saturday or Sunday but I still stayed really busy! Saturday morning a bunch of people from Clauss Dairy and I went up to Mr. and Mrs. Clauss' house boat on Don Pedro. We spent the whole day on the lake and I got another sunburn. It was gorgeous weather and the lake was nice and warm. It was a fun day! 

Today I went up to Oakdale for church and then came back for a BBQ with people from the dairy. It was a long, fun day. Doreen has a pool at her house so we lounged around the pool and had a tri-tip dinner and delicious peach cobbler and homemade ice cream for dessert. It was a good day and I was able to track down the source of the many rumors about me that have been flying around the dairy and Hilmar. In the past two days I've been asked if I am Morman, if I'm 14, if I'm Amish, if I'm engaged, and if I have 2 boyfriends. (For the record, none of these are true). The same person spreading all these rumors also has ridiculous nicknames for me and often calls me by my middle name. 

It was a wonderful week and weekend! I can't believe I only have two weeks left! I think the time will fly by much faster than I want it to. 

I'm Still Alive, I Promise!

Here's a public link to pictures that I've put on Facebook but haven't made it to the blog yet. I'm working on the next entry but it's not quite done yet...


https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1733776233177.2088862.1501680171&l=b03c519572&type=1

What A Week!

The past week I have literally been all over the place! I don't think I did the same thing twice very often! This might be a long post, but it's been a good week so I feel like it's worth it to take the time to write about everything.

Monday:

We started the day with the vet checks. Yosemite, Clauss, and Sunwest dairies recently hired an on-staff vet that will work for all three dairies. Her name is Dr. Adams but she prefers Dr. Liz. One new thing that we are starting with her is sexing all of our calves before they are born so that we can make educated decisions on whether or not to keep a cow around if she gets sick or hurt. This was the first week we've done this and it took almost twice as long as it used to. Dr. Liz thinks it will only get faster as we keep doing it.

For vet checks we divide into two groups: one group goes through and finds the cows that need to be checked by the vet and the second group goes with the vet later and records everything. The second group also gives shots. That took all morning.

In the afternoon I finally got to try my hand at driving the skidloader because we had to clean the calving pens. For most of the summer the guys haven't let me anywhere near the inside of that Bobcat. I didn't know that it is controlled the same way as our New Hollands back home so when I got in and started driving around, I was thankful for all those times that Grandpa made me drive the skidloader back home even if I didn't want to.

Tuesday:

On Tuesday everyone started at 5:30 walking the show cows. Once they were walked I went and spent the rest of the day with our breeder, Steve. He taught me to breed cows, look for cows that are ready to be bred, keep the breeding records, and how to tell when a cow is almost ready to calve. Steve is a lot of fun to work with because he is funny and he likes to have fun while he is working. We laughed a lot on Tuesday. It was a really good day. Another thing that happened on Tuesday was that Colin and I got a lesson in cow reproduction from the retired breeder, John. It was probably more funny than it was educational for me because I'd seen it before in school but I think John repeated the lesson 4 or 5 times before we were done.

Wednesday:

Wednesday was a big day! A group of 9 people from Yosemite and Clauss Dairies, as well as another intern and his manager, went on a hike to Yosemite National Park. We climbed Clouds Rest. It's probably the most intense hike I've ever been on but it was well worth it.
We left Hilmar around 4:45am and made it to the park around 8. It was a crazy drive out! The road we took was carved out of a cliff and the drivers were making time! I didn't really notice because I'm used to my dad's driving in the Black Hills back home in SD, but everyone else was making comments about how fast we were going. 

When we made it to the park we found the head of the trail with only a little difficulty. Once there we unloaded and started down the trail. 100 feet later we came to a snow-fed creek. We were slightly confused because it looked like the trail went right where the water was. There were people on the other side and when we asked them how they got across they said they went across the creek. Well, most of us still wanted to go on the hike so we took of our shoes and socks, hiked up our shorts and waded across the creek. It was only 3ft deep in the middle and 40 degrees cold... no big deal. 

When we were finally all across we set out again. The next obstacle we faced was keeping to the trail when it disappeared under 2 feet of snow! We only lost the trail a few times but the views made it well worth it.

When we stopped for a rest Antonio broke out his camera and started taking pictures. Thanks, Antonio, for sending these to me!

Brett, Zach, Erin, McCallister, Dr. Liz, Brenda, Colin, and Sabino

Brenda and me

McCallister, Brenda, Dr. Liz, and Sabino

Brenda, McCallister, and C.A.

After our break we started up again. This time I'm pretty sure we lost the trail until we reached the top of the mountain. It was a long, hard hike. Antonio broke out the camera to keep us smiling but we weren't buying it.

By the time we were almost to the top we were exhausted, only to find out that the most difficult part of the hike may not have been the climb. In order to reach the summit you had to walk the ridge of the mountain with a drop-off cliff on both sides. The path was so narrow I could see the drop-off on both sides of me when I looked at my feet. This is what the path looked like looking up at it from the bottom:

 And this is what was below:

The views were well worth it and I'm glad I pushed myself. Once up there we stopped to rest and eat and relax. That's when the marmot decided to make an appearance! The guys had lots of fun feeding it Goldfish and turkey and whatever else they weren't going to eat. 

The way back down was much easier because we followed the path this time! There was still a lot of snow but it was fun.

  When we finally made it to the bottom and back across the creek we were exhausted but we had all had lots of fun. We got back home around 9:00 and in bed so that we could work the next morning.

Thursday:

On Thursday Brenda, Dr. Liz, Danny, Oscar, and I went to Vlots Custom Heifer Ranch by Chowchilla. This is where we currently send our calves to be raised. We went to scan the calves (like taking an inventory) and to make sure that they were healthy. Thursday afternoon Dr. Liz necropsied two cows to see what they died from and Brenda and I got to watch. 

Friday:

I was with Steve again on Friday morning but I also got to go to a weekly management meeting. There all of the managers and higher ups from the three dairies met to discuss problems or new things that were coming up. 

Saturday:

I helped Colin in the hospital on Saturday when I wasn't working with the show cows. It was a relatively easy day which I was thankful for. That night Brenda and I were planning on meeting people at the Turlock fair but we were running late and told not to bother coming because the seats weren't worth the $20 to get in. So instead we went to Redbox for a movie and I ended up locking my keys in my car along with both our cell phones. I couldn't remember the code for my door which frustrated me all the more! We ended up going into the store by the Redbox and asking or a phone book. The manager was very nice and even went to look at my car to see if he could get it open without a locksmith. Thankfully that's when I remembered the code and we got in but we did panic for a second!

Today Brenda and I went to Monterrey but I have to work in the morning so I will write about that in my next post.