This week was a lot of fun! It's been crazy trying to get everything ready for the upcoming fair in Merced next week on top of the everyday things that need to be done.
My day starts at 6 as usual and then the next hour and a half are spent feeding and tying up the show heifers and show cows. Then I check the fresh cows looking for any sick ones. The big thing that was added to my list was breaking the newest show heifers. It's been fun learning the correct way to lead a heifer and cow, as weird as that may sound. It's also been interesting to see the different personalities of each heifer. Some of them are sweethearts and have been relatively easy to train while others have been stubborn and near impossible to get along with. I'll be honest, there are some heifers I don't like because they like to push me around. Even still, it's a lot of fun. Did you know that if a show heifer doesn't want to get up and walk, biting their tail gets them up really quickly?!? I have yet to actually try it but I did witness it a few times yesterday.
I met someone yesterday who actually knew about Dordt! I was excited and it helped make my day! There were even a few people that go to Dordt that we both knew. I had gotten so used to the reaction of "Dordt? Where's that? It's how big? They have an ag. program? etc, etc." that when this person said "Oh, I know people who go there!," I was actually caught off guard.
I'm also learning that if I have a question, I should ask it, no matter how dumb I feel. I just need to keep reminding myself that it's better to be safe than sorry. It's keeping me humble for sure.
Something that has really surprised me out here has been working with the Jersey breed. I had never worked with them before and I had heard stories. Not good ones either... However, I learned that I need to make my own opinions. I love working with Jerseys most of the time! They are generally very quiet and easy to work with. It has been an eye-opening experience to say the least and I'm seeing advantages to both pure-bred and cross-bred herds.
I've been getting to know another one of the interns, Brenda, this week. She works at the dairy just across the street from me and lives just a 5-minute walk away from me. It's great to have another girl in the program because it gives me someone to relate to. She's great!
Last night I went over to the Russell's house for supper. The C.A. and Kirsten Russell are the owners of the dairy. They treated me like one of the family which was so nice! I helped set the table and visited for a while. They are such a blessing to me! They have 2 sons, Colin and Lars, and a daughter, McCallister (Callie for short). I went to church with them this morning, too. It was a great message. The pastor focused on Psalm 3, written by David when he was fleeing from his son Absalom. The pastor pointed out that God's grace and hope are always offered to us, no matter what situation we may be in.
This is the first summer that I've been away from home for the whole summer and I'm missing events that I've never missed in the past. Today is my dad's birthday. Happy birthday, Dad!! I know you'll be reading this sometime : )
God is blessing me in many ways out here. I'm learning a lot and having fun doing it!
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