For Auld Lang Syne

It is nearing the end and the beginning once again. Some people will stay up late and watch a ball drop. Some people will sleep through midnight, without care. 

I won't be watching the ball drop but I probably will be watching the clock and hanging out with my family. I just made eight cups of coffee and we should be stoked enough to make it to midnight. I used to feel kind of mournful that I'd be leaving something that would never come back again... but I'm past the age where I get sad when change is inevitable. Tomorrow is another day for opportunely. Another day in this incredible, complex universe created by our gracious Heavenly Father.

2010 has been a great year! There was nothing that was too terrible, no mountains too high, or roads too long. 

Speaking of roads, I went on the most awesome road trip with my two awesome friends Courtney and Sandy!! Three of my friends got married and I had the privilege of serving in all of their weddings in some way or another. I graduated from High School this year and was able to share my graduation party with my good friend Norah. I turned 18 this year and I finally got my drivers license.
The only unfortunate event was my brother Daniel & his family moving to Arizona in February. BUT... that has a bit of a happy ending as well. I found out a few months ago that I have unlimited texting and I can text my brother whenever I want! It's great! =D I also have a brand new nephew as of August 10th!!

I've meet some new people and was able to see old friends that I haven't seen in forever. I've traveled places I'd never been before. Learned lots of new things. Enjoyed many great moments with people I care about. 

I can't complain.

So the day will come to a close taking with it the end of a year. We will rise tomorrow to face the adventures of another 365 days knowing that there is "nothing new under the sun". 

And to end of this lovely year with a classic that those in years past have sung.......

A Crappy Day on the Farm. ; )

Yesterday was a rather crappy day. Not for me personally but weather-wise. After all that's snow we've gotten, it's warmed up to 30 for a few days and it's been raining!!! It's a disaster for the farm. The work load doubles because every square inch of the cow yard and freestall has to be cleaned. Also in the midst of preparing for all of this rain and hurrying to get everything cleaned my dad had to replace a wheel axle on the skidsteer and something to do with the gear box went out on the manure spreader (while it was full of manure). I drove all the way to St. Joseph near La Crosse ( 2 hrs away) to get the axle for my dad and the manure spreader is a bad deal.... you leave the manure in the spreader because you can't spread it and then it freezes. It won't thaw until Spring. That means.... no manure spreader. =(

Oh well. That is life on the farm.

But.... we have the most kind friends and neighbors!!! One neighbor offered to let us use his skidsteer and another offered to lend us his manure spreader for the winter!!! That is so incredibly generous! God has blessed us greatly!

....so. Till tomorrow... and who knows it maybe next year before I post again. ;)

Searching

Now that the season to be jolly is over, I'm looking for a job. I've filled out an application for a local grocery store for starters... I will probably get some other applications from around town as well. The goal is to work as much as I can and buy cows.... or use the money for farm related stuff. It's complicated of course, but all of the adults in the family are looking for ways to cut back on spending and make some money to get ahead. These are pretty tough times for farmers. 2009, as I have stated before, was one of the worst years for farming in the past 70 years. In 2010 it was all farmers could do to break even if they were even able to do that. A lot of farms went out of business. We luckily expanded our cow heard in 2008 without expanding our facilities (which we had also wanted to do). It's very likely that it was the extra cows that kept us afloat in a sea of financial distress during that time. 

Now... with a new year approaching and the future milk prices looking grim our family is going to have to change some ways of operating. We've had to think outside the box... and search for alternative ways of making money. It's pretty tricky but I'm confident that with a few strings pulled it will all work out. 

So.... wish us luck. =)

...and...

And I also want to wish you a very wonderful Christmas Eve!!!

.....only 10 minutes till Christmas Day!! =D

The Truth About Christmas

700 Hundred Years and Christmas

According to the calender Winter has finally begun. The shortest day of the year has come and passed once again. Yesterday was different from the last 700 Winter solstices though. Not only was it the winter solstice yesterday, but it was also the full moon and a full lunar eclipse. Unfortunately it snowed and clouds hung in the blue dome above our land. Had the sky been clear we would have all strapped on our cross-country skis at 1 a.m. and headed out into the winter wonderland. It would have been fun. ...but not everything works out, and I do believe some friends/family will be coming out on Thursday and we will enjoy a waning (but still quite full) moon.

I really enjoy the Christmas season. Songs of joy and cheer and remembering the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. I really don't like the Santa Claus songs. They're catchy and all, and easy to listen too but I'm always disappointed that people would let their Christmas be about an old man dressed up in red who doesn't even exist. 

There's something so much more fulfilling about knowing the reason for your celebration has to do with the redemption story. That God became flesh and dwelt among men so that He could give His life in our stead and turn our filth and sin into righteousness, He who knew no sin. 
There's something so refreshing to beginning Christmas day (before opening presents) with a reading of Luke 2:1-22 (something we do every Christmas).

I made a tune (music) for that passage. Actually just to verses 7-14. I was quite inspired. =)

Anyway, it is exciting isn't it??? Christmas is only 3 days away!!  It's flown by so fast. I've been super busy for the past few days cleaning, baking cookies and treats (for the Eve of Christmas and Christmas day), and wrapping lots of presents. 

I like how Dr. Seuss sums it all up at the end of "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas":

Welcome, Christmas, bring your cheer. Cheer to all Whos far and near. Christmas Day is in our grasp so long as we have hands to clasp. Christmas Day will always be just as long as we have we. Welcome Christmas while we stand, heart to heart and hand in hand.

Crazy Things!

These days the time seems to move at a perfect pace. Fast enough so that I'm not bored waiting for the next hour to arrive... but slow enough so I don't get that shocked feeling every time another month comes to pass. It won't be long before Christmas day is here, but it seems like it's been December for a long while.
I'm pretty sure it has to do with how full my days are. With this big snow storm we had and the temperature below zero a lot, there is rarely a boring moment. It seems like there are always cows getting out (why do they always pick the worst weather to misbehave??) and it turns out this storm we had was a record. A lot of the folks who have lived and worked here for decades, even their whole lives, are saying they've never seen that much snow fall on one day.
My sister saw somebody skiing down her street in town the day of the blizzard!! And there were people who got stuck in the drifts on their way home during the blizzard that called for help and couldn't get rescued! They announced on the news that no emergency vehicles would be on the road because it would be to dangerous.
I think it took my dad 2 full days to remove snow enough to make things relatively normal again. He even had to plow paths through the dry cow pasture so that he could feed the cows!! Thank goodness we have a skid-steer!!! The Viking's stadium collapsed, and it sounds like there were other buildings that fell in from all of the snow (15 freestall -cow housing- buildings around our area that collapsed). There's a thing going around on facebook: "I survived the blizzard of 12/11/10"

Nevertheless, on the bright side of things... there is plenty of snow for sledding. My siblings and I were out on our hill (we call it Table Rock) fixing up our sledding hill. We're lining it with tires..... kind of making it similar to a luge track. =) Fast and furious! hehe! On top of that, it is the "most wonderful time of the year!" Christmas lights, decorations.... great songs on the radio (although I'm not very fond of the Santa Claus ones) and.... our X-milk plant (we switched to a different one recently...) just dropped off a Christmas present of cheese!!! =D I don't think any of our other X-milk plants have given us a present after we left. I don't think I'm going to complain.. I love cheese!

Anyway, lots of stuff whirling around in my head.... sorry if it's all kind of sporadic. So now for another full day... piano lessons, shopping for my mom while I'm in town, milking cows tonight.... and who know what else will pop into my schedule. Something crazy always happens.

Until next time...

WARNING: this is going to rip your stitches

You gotta check this out:
http://billboardsandroadsigns.blogspot.com/2010/12/coca-cola-demo.html

Before and After

~Yesterday~

 Snow on the windows!

  Fluffy white trees and snow blowing everywhere...

.

 You can see the bumpy drifts all over the hill!!

 Terrible weather for the cows
because their feed gets covered with snow and then they don't eat. 

Milk production was down, but thank goodness we 

didn't get any DA's (Displaced Abomasum).

 Our poor old barn lost a lot of it's shingles.

  Janelle and our dog Jess came in from playing outside 

(only little children enjoy playing in weather like this)!

~Today at Sunrise~

Don't let the sunshine deceive you.... it was not warm. 

Gusty, driving North winds created a wind chill of -4 degrees.

 Look at all the drifts!!

 It took my dad probably 2 1/2 hours to remove the snow
from the driveway and from the lane where the cows walk. 

(luckily he has a skid-steer that he can use to plow the snow with)

Although I had everything set up to milk,
I wasn't able to start milking until 9:20!!!!! (the usual starting time is 8a.m.)

 "Waves upon troubled shores..."

The FREEWAY, I-94, was closed from Hudson, WI to Tomah, WI.
Minnesota was just as bad. 

There weren't any emergency vehicles
of any kind out on the roads. 

So it was the wrong night to have something serious go wrong.

 

"Have yourself a merry little Christmas...
may your yards be white... 

from  now on the snow will be piled high..." 

Merry Christmas!

Blizzard (and not the tasty kind)!

24 inches in less than 24 hours, and it hasn't stopped yet! The drifts are at least 3 feet high. The wind is blowing at 21 mph with 32 mph gusts! ...it stings your eyes!!! 

We can't see past the creek.... which is only a quarter of a mile from our house. 

white.

white.

white.

 Then....... once it's done snowing and all of the clouds go away, the temperature is going to drop below zero, by 20 degrees. I milked this morning (and as you know I usually only milk once a day) but I'm going to milk tonight with my brother Isaac since the conditions are so terrible. In fact my mom was even telling us what to do in case the electricity goes out and  we're in the parlor. In essance..... we'll be stuck there because if we leave the parlor and can't see the house we could, die! ..... kind of funny, but not really. 

If you look at a weather map in motion for our area you'll see a huge swath of blue......... that is sitting over us, barely moving. 

Right about now I could use some snow shoes, skiing goggles, more gloves, hot chocolate to keep me warm.... the list goes on. But I won't be able to send a list to Santa Claus because the mail man will never be able to get down the roads!!!! 

Anyhoooooo.... I hope you are warm on this White Christmasy night. ;)

Working in the Winter

There is finally a decent layer of snow on the ground. Everyone here has adjusted to winter routine for the most part. Starting your car up 5 minutes before you leave to go somewhere..... and leaving to go somewhere with a little cushion time just in case the roads are bad. Loading the wood stove frequently so that it doesn't get too cold inside. Wearing enough layers to keep warm.

Winter also means extra precautions at work. Before milking we always check the temperature. Is it above 32? Below 20? Zero? A negative temperature........?????  Each degree makes a big difference, believe it or not.

In cold weather it's very important to make sure you switch all the gates... and close doors, or open the right ones. We've had huge nasty problems in the winter time from little mistakes that cost a fortune. Cows can get frostbite which sometimes ruins their teats (which = no milk) or lowers milk production. Doors, when left open even a crack, can cause pipes to freeze. Heaters have to running at all times. You can't use regular teat dip below a certain temperature...10 degrees F. I believe (They make a special teat dip for cold temperatures). Once the temperature drops below zero everything seems to freeze up and brake down. The work load increases. Shoveling, scraping, thawing, fixing, ... taking extra care at everything you do is imperative.

The cattle are indoors all night  usually so the freestall's have to be cleaned every day. 

Right now we are milking about 103 cows. It takes about 2 hours to milk cows when I'm moving along at a clipping pace. Quite often it takes me 2 hours and 30 minutes though.

We're supposed to get up to 130 pretty soon which will be great as far as making money goes.

 More cows = more milk = more money = less stress. 

 Right now I'm milking cows once a day, 6 days a week. I've been seriously considering milking  9 times a week. That would relieve my older brother Jed of the 3 mornings that he milks on. That way he can do other farm work. There's always more work on the farm. Trying to get on top of it all is a never ending battle.

A lot like trying to run a household.

My brother, Isaac, will probably be getting a license soon. Once he can drive himself around he'll probably get a job. Once he gets a job he my want to milk less... and that's probably when I will start milking more.

That's a lot of probably's, I know... but that's just how it works on the farm. ;)

Snowflake Ballet

snowflakes falling from the sky

bring about a blanket, white

that glitters a-million-diamonds bright

when shined upon by pale moonlight

as brilliant as the stars up high

they sparkle and dance to your delight

this is the wondrous ballet of night

Three Things I Love

My family insisted I had to see this video on  YouTube of a choir. Despite being busy trying to get work done I set aside my irritation and the task I was at work on and took a look and a listen.

There are three things that always give me goose bumps.
A good song,
A good story,
and bringing the best out of something you never thought would "rise above it"
(the video below doesn't give you the whole of the story... but look into it more!! It's quite inspiring!!).

This little clip brings together all of the above:



Gotta' love it!!! =)

What Betty Didn't Tell You

I have discovered through quite a bit of experience that there are simple tricks that make pie crust come out nicely every time you make it (for those of us who don't buy it at the store).

This is my version of the pie crust recipe out of the Betty Crocker cookbook.

Pie Crust:

1 cup of all purpose flour
1 cup of whole wheat flour
2/3 cup of butter
a couple shakes of salt
7 tablespoons of water

The do's and don't's...
- never use all white or wheat flour
(or any flour made out of garbanzo beans! o.k. that was a bit of an inside joke!!)
- 2/3 cup of butter is the same as 12 tablespoons.
- never, never use melted butter! In fact if your butter is frozen you can simply shred it with a cheese grater. It's fast and easy.
-you'll have to flour your rolling surface well and often when rolling out your crust or else it will stick.

Comical Gas Saving Tips

Back in 2007 there were a ton of us chicks who all blogged together. That was back before facebook really hit the scene. There were probably 7 or 8 of us in all and it was a lot of fun to see what someone would decide to write about... maybe some lyrics or a poem they just wrote. Possibly just some silly ideas. It was all just for kix and we enjoyed it. Since then either they've moved onto facebook, just don't care to take the time to blog cause they're too busy or have forgotten their passwords (no joke!).
Today I went to my sister's blog (which although she hasn't posted since December 30, '07 it is still accessible to a few of us peeps) and was reading her thoughts on saving gasoline back when she'd first gotten a car.
I thought it was pretty amusing so I figured I'll share some of the funny parts with you. ;)
Here goes....

I Got my license and car on April 4, since then I've had to learn how to make my money last a bit longer. I was trying to figure out how to save gas while driving....  I used a tank of gas in one week!! and no, I never even went shopping at the mall!!! that's the most angering part. But as I was thinking, you know you really don't need to accelerate when going down a hill. It just uses too much gas, especially when you are paying for it! And if you work with gravity a bit, you can plan out each hill by how much of an incline and decline and the math and basic judging, Oh yeah don't forget the wind!! Better yet just make sails!!! now that's a brilliant idea :) if you use your brain, I'm sure you could save some gas. If you plan it just right you can take off the gas a little before the top of the hill, or depending on each hill quite a bit before, or maybe not at all(Oh well, those cursed hills!!!), and make it all the way over the hill with out loosing to much speed and without convincing the tailgaters behind you that you are an old granny making your daily trip to bingo!!! But if they were using their brains they just might come to the conclusion that an old granny wouldn't be driving an old beat up Honda civic that's 5 feet from the ground. I mean how would they even get from their walkers to the inside without some serious help? You would think they would come to the conclusion that they should back off and stop tailgating me because I'm not gonna speed up, and I'm not going to bingo!! I cant afford to for Pete's sake, its just not in my budget!!! But I would just prefer they didn't use their brains, cause then they might come to the conclusion that its that Emily girl who has moron driving habits! another thing is when your driving through town and you see lights ahead, if they look like they're gonna change, don't accelerate. Or if there's a red light just take off the gas way in advance, you might not even have to come to a complete stop if it changes in time. You wouldn't even have to use your brakes that feel like your driving over some seriously grooved cement when you use them :) It also makes you feel better than everyone who did stop, cause then you can speed up and leave them in the dust for a few seconds. Only a few seconds unfortunately cause remember your trying to save gas. If you do have to come to a stop, at least you can think about the little gas you saved by not accelerating the last eighth of a mile it took you to get to the lights. If there's a double lane, don't worry, people can just all pass you if they want. If there isn't a double lane, well just hope they can't recognize you from behind. You don't need to feel bad! Just pray none of them know you :) You will be comforted! Oh and another way to save gas is, just don't drive at all. Gosh that sounds exiting!!! I've never tried that one before? Well the conclusion for me is: I think I'm gonna have to work more on Sundays :( I was hoping to make money milking cows; sometime maybe.
have a swell one,
Ems

Well there you have it. Wise words from my big sister. ;) She is a crack up...  and that's all I can say for now. My little brother wants me to finish crocheting some blaze orange gloves so that he'll be able to wear them on Saturday when he goes on a mini hunting trip up North with a friend. ;) I'm only half way done so I've got to get busy!!!!!

Sayonara!!!

Inspired

Yesterday for reflections in church my friend Tim sang a really cool song. You may have heard it already but to me it's new... and incredible.

 It's called "Grace Like Rain", by Todd Agnew.

Then on the way home from church yesterday we had some country music cranked up on  the radio and I heard a song called "Real" by a new country artist, James Wesley. The first thing that came to my mind was "FINALLY!!! A real country song!!!!"

The Crimson Tide

Today is Election Day!!! Americans all over... well, America got off their butts and went to vote! A lot of states are going red. I don't think I've seen WI or MI red ever in my few years which is very cool. It's definitely about time. NEVERTHELESS..... just because there is a Republican trend right now doesn't mean they're going to completely save this country or make all the difference. They're just maybe the lesser of two evils or (on a more positive note) more likely to head us in the right direction.

Hopefully some things like repealing of the health care bill and downsizing the "super-size me" government. AND... a million other things.

It's been great to see a lot of my facebook friends voted (facebook had a little application that allowed you to say that you voted and tallied up all the fb votes). There have also been some great status' and posts... and I will share some of them with you.

"Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government" 

- Thomas Jefferson

“Duty is ours, the results are God's.” -John Quincy Adams

"In 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, noticed a continuing pattern in the advance and decline of the world's democracies.

He stated then that a democracy would continue to exist until such time that the voters discover that they can literally vote themselves gifts from the public treasury. From the moment that revelation is made, the majority proceeds to vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury. The final result is that every democracy finally collapses due to loose fiscal policy. That collapse is always followed by a dictatorship.

Tyler charted the ages of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history... an average existence of about two hundred years. Every single time, these nations progressed through the following sequence:

from bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependence; and finally from dependence back into bondage."

--- snippet from the book "The Heart Mender", by Andy Andrews

The Hoax of the Day

 The pink-ribbon campaign's dirty little secret

Here's what October smells like: burning leaves, pumpkin pie and BS.

That's because it's Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is practically a national holiday at this point -- and if you don't join the "in" crowd and slap a pink ribbon on whatever you're wearing, you're treated like some kind of cold-blooded breast-hating monster.

But those pink ribbons don't exist to cure disease or save lives -- they represent a Big Pharma-funded effort to drive millions of women through a funnel of screenings for a disease many don't even have, and treatments that most of them don't even need.

In fact, the supposed benefits of all those screenings and treatments are about as real as the Great Pumpkin -- and the numbers prove it every time.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month is now 26 years old. In the 26 years since it was launched by AstraZeneca to help sell the company's cancer drugs, it's been a wild success -- for AstraZeneca and anyone else who makes money off cancer screenings and treatments.

But when it comes to saving lives and curing disease, it's been a miserable failure. Up to 15 lives are ruined with unnecessary and deforming breast-chopping surgeries and poisonous radiation treatments for every life "saved."

And even then, there's no guarantee that the one life "saved" was actually the result of early detection and brutal mainstream treatments -- because plenty of them were actually CAUSED by the radioactive and tumor-bursting screenings in the first place.

There's something you won't hear anywhere else this month!

The LA Times -- and kudos to them for this -- recently asked AstraZeneca if maybe Breast Cancer Awareness Month wasn't all it cracked up to be.

"If it's not broken, I don't think we should try and fix it," was all a spokesman could say.

Why mess with success, right?

But the Times didn't stray too far from the mainstream message -- because the very same day, the paper ran a massive 1,400-word article urging women with no sign of the disease to take AstraZeneca's cancer meds strictly as a preventive measure.

I'm taking those kudos back.

This article is by Dr. William Campbell Douglass II M.D. 

I copied it from an email that my mom received.

Health is Wealth

In the past year or so I have frequented the chair at the dentist's office enough to make me squirm at the thought of going back. It's been one cavity after another... and an abscessed tooth from a cavity that I had filled too late (therefore I've also enjoyed getting a root canal).

A few months ago No Greater Joy's monthly magazine had an article on healthy broth and the good a few egg shells can do for your teeth. At about the same time my sister-in-law, Kendra, discovered an article on rebuilding your teeth naturally and preventing tooth decay. I skimmed over the article and thought it would be a good idea to read them in depth sometime... and then saved that thought for another day.

Finally a week ago I read the article in NGJ and made myself some eggshell 'juice'. Today I read a few articles (including the one Kendra found) on the myths of modern dentistry. 

Not only do they explain what causes cavities and how to fix them, they are also filled with nutritional information and recipes for living more naturally; the way God designed our bodies to live.       I would highly recommend reading them. 

On a dietary note, it is simply terrible how people today just go with the flow and eat whatever they are served without a second thought. Fast food, processed food... already ready for you, TV dinners, restaurant food, easy cheese and hamburger helper.... to name a few. Our unhealthy diets contribute to our unhealthy teeth (and undoubtedly alot of our other ailments).

What's even more astonishing is what we think passes for healthy food. Unfortunately it is quite difficult to obtain truly natural, healthy and unprocessed foods... even for those of us who live on farms and raise our own cattle and grow our own vegetables!

I am determined nevertheless, to stay away from the dentist. No more Novocain, no more needles in my gums, no more holes drilled in my teeth (besides, how medieval is it to drill a hole in someones tooth anyway?! This is the age of science and that's all we can come up with?!) , no more estrogen packed fillings or X-rays!!!  

Still, the thought of not relying on the dentist to fix all our problems seems a bit risky. Don't the experts (doctors, dentists... etc.) know best? It sounds almost as scary as Dave Ramsey's idea of being debt free and not having any credit or credit cards! 

Our society is so used to "living the good life" that we've forgotten the basic element of working hard and doing hard things. 

In Genesis 3:17 God told Adam that,

"...Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

 ¹⁸Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

 ¹⁹In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."

I don't think McDonald's was a part of that equation. 

Whatever happened to the Proverbs 31 woman?  The woman that "worketh willingly with her hands". Who "bringeth her food from afar" and "riseth also while it is yet night"
A woman that "looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness".

Proverbs 31:31 "Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates."

I know I have just hit the tip of the iceberg. There is some much I have yet to learn about health and nutrition. I don't think I'm going to be a health nut but maybe I'll be able to find  a "healthy balance". Right now I am in my prime for learning new things. I am single, I only work part time and with the advantage of libraries and especially the internet there is a wealth of information just awaiting for me!!!

A question is always good for starters...

 What are the fruits the women of today? What do with our time... and will it be "praised in the gate". Would we even want our works to be mention in the gates?!?!
Matthew 15:20 says, "Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."
It can be a scary question to ask oneself, "What are the fruits of my hands?". One that I like to avoid... but am coming to realize the consequences of telling myself "ignorance is bliss" can bring.  

So.... what are the fruits of your hands?

....just a bit of food for thought. 

The Cutting Edge

Yesterday some guy brought my parents a deer. It was a huge buck apparently, that was from one of those deer farms. It was corn fed all it's life so we're thinking that it's going to taste pretty good. 

Anyway, today we've spent hours cutting the meat off the carcass and the sinew off the meat. We might turn some of it into jerky, sausage and hamburger.  We'll probably can some of it too. We saved the fat because we have a friend that uses deer tallow to make soap... so that way we'll have some soap to use as well!

It's quite a tedious job, cutting up a deer though. ...it is hard, but worth it in the end. 

I've also started some sewing projects. Cold weather always inspires me to create things. I don't know if it's because I'm cooped up inside all day.... but I always get an urge. So I've pulled my crocheting off the shelf and old sewing projects out of the sewing pile. 

I'd like to finish crocheting a hat and some mittens and slippers that I started last year. 

As far as sewing goes I have a quilt to finish (that I started in '05!!) and a dress (in the fashion of 1830's style.. a.k.a like in Pride and Prejudice) and my newest project!!! I've taken two pairs of pants and I'm turning on into a long skirt and one into a shorter skirt. I chopped the legs off of one pair to make the long skirt full. Then I'm going to sew some skirt from other material onto the short shorts. I'm sure that sounds confusing but I'll post some pictures so that you can see what I mean!!!

Now.... I am off to go milk one hundred and something cows for 3 plus hours in the frigid, moonlit night. If you're bored or you're just looking for a good time you're welcome to come join me. There's nothing like milking cows. =)

Until next time.....

Indian Summer

It is fall. You should see all the colors! Brilliant, yellows, golds, red, orange, brown, green!!! Gorgeous! 

This past weekend was Jae's wedding. She joked with me about the times we spent back in the day, talking about the guys we liked and wanted to marry. She was a beautiful bride.... and Nick was so handsome. I was honored to help out with the guest book and a bunch of other little things. The wedding was short n' sweet. The reception was nice and long.... barely long enough. lol ;) I danced a really lot and once again was sore for the next two days. hehe I love dancing so much and it was fun dancing with friends to good music. 

I met some people I'd heard about for years from Jae and Trenton.... which was strange because I felt like I already knew them from hearing about them so much. 

Now..... I'll have to wait for Robert (who's almost like a  big brother, I have known him so long!) and Alisha's wedding in June. With so many weddings in a row it's going to be weird to not have another one to look forward to in a month or so. Nevertheless.... there is always so much to do that I doubt I'll be lacking something to do. 

I'm doing some math with my brother to keep my skills sharp, and I've been reading a really lot which I love!!! There are so many good books out there. Lately I've been reading books by author Andy Andrews. He's a christian writer and his stories are absolutely fabulous... and so encouraging/inspiring! 

I would HIGHLY recommend them to anyone. 

I also started piano lessons again today. I kind of took a brake this summer.... it was nice to not have to worry about getting music practiced with all of the business that took place. I'm only going to lessons every other week though... which will be good because I can never get all I am supposed to practice ready in a week. :P

 We'll see how it goes. =)

Anyways..........

This fall is a beautiful one. We had a very chilly week this past week and so far all of the days this week have been in the 60's/70's. It must be our Indian Summer! I hope it sticks around for a while, 'cause I'm not completely ready for the cold or the snow. =P 

So until next time.

Ode to Courtney & Sandy and in Memory of Road Trip 2010

 

Rain, Rain Go Away...

It has been pouring rain constantly since about 6 p.m. yesterday night. This morning when my Dad checked the rain gauge we had had four inches of rain in the night!! The rain hasn't let up either...

Interestingly enough, it did not always rain on this earth. In Genesis it talks about how there was a mist that came out of the ground:

Genesis 2:4-6

⁴These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,

 ⁵And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.

 ⁶But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

I do not mind a rainy day though. Everyone stays inside to stay dry, usually you get something tasty for dinner like chili, and of course a wet day calls for something like tea, hot chocolate/coffee, or brownies!!! Yummy!!! If I had enough apples I would bake a pie... can you imagine the pleasant mood all of those spices would create?!!! Delightful! 

Nevertheless all this rain is not helpful for the farm. We started chopping the corn yesterday at around 1p.m. We hire our field work done and there were big tractors and equipment running until the rain hit. Now it looks as if we won't be able to finish chopping until sometime in the beginning of next week. 

Rain, rain go away... come again some other day.......

September Weddings

The first weekend of this month was probably one of the best weddings I will have ever been a part of. My best buddy forever just got married to the love of her life!!! I felt so lucky to be her maid of honor. It was fun rehearsing and the rehearsal dinner... and the after party!!!! We had that hay wagon dance like I told you about. BETTER than the last time!!! The groom-to-be and two of his groomsmen climbed in Sandy's dad's pickup truck (and the rest of us climbed in the back/bed!!!) and we fetched a wagon................ o.k. in essence we had two hay wagons side by side so you could go from one to the other. =) Trenton had his car pulled up blaring out music and we had Christmas lights hung all around the wagons!!! It was a beautiful site!!! =D And when it got too windy and wet and it started misting we took the party to the barn and danced on the limed isle (with the Christmas lights strung up around the barn!!). We were rockin' out till 11 p.m. The wedding was crazy awesome. Everyone managed to pull everything off even with a few last minute changes. I was supposed to walk down the isle right before the flower girl and ringbearer by myself, but the flower girl was having a bad day (and therefore went down the isle with her mom and dad who were also in the wedding) so I had the CUTEST little ringbearer escort me down the isle!!!!! It was absolutely precious!!! =D

(Isaac and I singing "Summer Love")

Sandy was such a beautiful bride. And Matt was the handsomest, and luckiest groom. =) They make such a cute couple!!!
The reception was perfect... everything was pretty and the food was good.

The DJ was great and the music selection was incredible.

(It looks like Courtney is flying!! lol)

(All the cute couples dancing!!)

I danced most of the time (and do believe me I paid for it for the next two days)! I could barely move without my whole body aching!

(The bride and groom leaving the reception)

~~~~~~~♥~~~~~~~

This last Saturday was Rochelle and Charlie's wedding!!! It was such a beautiful day...
in a gorgeous spot on the earth... so many colors... beautiful music....

and the most wonderful people all around....
We took the back roads there. It was a beautiful drive. Hills... trees... amazing view. The wedding was held up on a very high hill and the view was spectacular. At one part during the 30 minute wedding Rochelle and Charlie said a few words to each other and I do believe Charlie had every woman in the place wiping their eyes!!!



They were so sincere and so passionate I definitely couldn't hold back the tears. The reception was lovely! The food was SO GOOD!! I was on duty to help out with eight other girls (all of whom I'm great friends with.... so it made it easy to do the work). We served the head table and cleared all the dishes and cleaned all the dishes and washed all the dishes. Boy, there were a lot of dishes. What was only expected to take an hour took probably 4-5! We didn't mind too much though and it was wonderful to get to do something for Rochelle!!! They're going to live in Chicago and so we will all miss her terribly.


Charlie is a great guy though and so I know she will be very happy spending her days serving the Lord with him (because of all the young people I know they are the two most passionate about their work for the Lord). I have been very blessed to be a part of quite a few weddings and to be a witness at many more!! What a great thing marriage is!! Something that could have only been designed by God.

^{Ecclesiastes 4:9-12}
Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.
For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.
Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?
And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

ParTEE!!!!

So right now, it's a bunch of us girls chillin' at Stacy's house... in celebration of Sandy's last few days of singleness. BACHELORETTE PARTY!!!
We went to EC, had lunch at Olive Garden (I love their sweet peach iced tea... yummy) and picked up the essential supplies. ;) What every girl needs. hehe
Saturday the 4th is the big day. =D Sandy's gonna be a goner. lol... just kidding. She's marrying this really great guy named Matt! =) I'm really happy for her and I am so honored to be in their wedding.
We're gonna make some great memories this weekend.
The rehearsal is going to be a blast.... we'll set up the church and barn, rehearse the wedding, then go to Sanny's parents to play volleyball, eat awesome food, have a bonfire, and a Hay WAGON dance!!!! Can't wait....
We haven't had a hay wagon dance since 2008... good times all the way baby.
Anyway, now I have to think of something to say at the wedding. To my horror I have the great pleasure of getting to make a speach. :P Should be embarrasing. ;)
Soooooooo...... I'm gonna have a lot of pictures I'm gonna need to upload.
'Till next time.
♥

Summer 2010 Road Trip

Just two days 'till D-day!! I'm leaving with my dear friend Sandy for my dear friend Courtney's on the 1st of August. Sandy and I are leaving after church on Sunday. We won't be getting back until August 9th.
We're going to go see the town where Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) grew up in (Hannibal, MO). We're going to St. Louis, MO, and to Nashville, TN.... and we will also get to stop and see some great friend whom we haven't seen in quite a while!!!!

I will most definitely post after I get back and hopefully I'll have a bunch of pictures for you to see. =)

"Fireflies" - harp rendition

I love this rendition of Owl City's "Fireflies".... it makes me wish I had learned the harp. ;)