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...