Mommin' Through Life

As my family embarks on a new chapter in our life life, our faith and love for God has never been stronger.   Moving to Plymouth, Indiana in 1994 was an exciting year not only because of a new sister on the way, but a new chapter of life my family would be starting. Settling into my great-grandparent's house and farm we began a journey raising dairy cattle.   We knew that this journey would be filled with joys and sorrows, laughter and tears, heartache and pride yet we continued to begin this journey.   Sixteen years later, living through a tornado, deaths of cattle, riding the milk price roller coaster and watching feed prices sky rocket and hit bottom, this fun, wild and blessed dream my parents had been living for sixteen years was coming to an end for a number of reasons.  As the tears of sadness fell as cows and heifers were loaded on trailers heading to their new homes, we knew that the love and passion we had for these beautiful bovine creatures did n...

Finally having the opportunity to sit down and blog, I find myself in amazement at how incredibly fast the summer has went!  Beginning my summer in May and ending in late August, I thought for sure summer would last way too long.  To my amazement, the Indiana State Fair is now here, which means school is soon to follow. The year 2010 for me has some important dates for my life.  July 19, I finally became an "adult," turning 21.  This birthday also means it is my last year as a national junior member where I will finish my "junior days" of showing at World Dairy Expo (WDE) and the North American International Livestock Exposition (NAILE).  This year also marked some other special events in my life, but these two are the most pertinent right now. This age change also means I will no longer be on the Indiana Junior Holstein board. Having served for the past 5 years on the board, as Secretary/Treasure and Reporter, interacting with the junior members will defini...

As the school year comes to an end, it is time for me once again to pack up and move back home to the farm for the summer.  As I have continued my education at Purdue University another year, I have learned that the city life is not for me.  I love the country and everything about it. I will miss the great friends I have, but they will still be around next year upon return to Purdue.    Driving on back country roads, getting stuck behind a tractor...driving fifteen miles per hour, does not bother me one bit!  Getting up in the wee hours of the morning to check a cow that may be calving, receiving a knock on the door from a police officer telling us we have cattle that got out and are out on the road, to staying up late finishing milking due to complications on the farm earlier in the day are all just a few memorable moments I know that I will experience this summer.   What I long for the most this summer, is to spend time with my family, whether at co...

The Culver Young Farmers provided their Farmer’s Share Breakfast, Saturday April 3, 2010 at the First United Methodist Church in Plymouth.   A very small cost of, $.49, to enjoy a hot and satisfying breakfast was served to approximately 200 people Saturday morning.   The breakfast was held to educate the community on the price difference of commodities from the producer to the retailer.   The low-priced cost of, $.49, is the amount the farmer earns for the sausage, scrambled eggs, toast, potatoes, and biscuits and gravy that was served at the breakfast.   The rest of the money that consumers pay to purchase their groceries at the store goes to the middle man and the retailer, not all to the producer. Not only did many community guests attend this breakfast, but Congressman, Joe Donnelly, State Representative, Nancy Dembowski   and State Senator, Ed Charbonneau were also in attendance.   “ F armers feed us. With that , our world is expecting to double its...

"I would sooner live in a cottage and wonder at everything than live in a castle and wonder at nothing." Joan Winmill Brown After a recent visit home this past weekend, not only did I find myself doing the usual tasks I do when I visit the family farm, but some "extras" were tacked to my list of things to do. From dry treating cows to move to the dry cow lot, moving heifers that are due to calve in the next few weeks to the milking pen, helping cows calve, to giving our red & white Holstein show heifer her first hair cut to be prepared for the WI Spring Show, I was worn out and it wasn't even Saturday yet!   As the weekend went on, things just became busier and busier.  Not only did I help with the outside work, there was some work inside the house that needed to be done as well.  There are days when I am at college I really wish to be home working along side my dad and outside working with my therapeutic friends I call my cows.  Working with my ...

My 4-H dairy judging coaches would always stress to their teams that when we went to contests, we always needed to remember that over-analyzing a class would get us into trouble.  That wasn't something we as a team tended to do too much at the county and area levels of competition, but it was quite a challenge to not over-analyze when we were judging elite cattle at the state or national level of compeition.  As I reminisce and think about those words that my coaches drilled into my mind, I think sometimes in my life, in general, I tend to over-analyze many things.  Deciding whether to continue my education, choosing which classes to take, analyzing the potential I have to reach greater heights, etc., I don't have enough fingers and toes to count how much and how often I catch my self being too critical about life and its circumstances.   Each of us face challenges and obstacles that don't always bring the best ou...

If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room. — Anita Roddick I recently discovered that quote on a Facebook page of a very close friend.  Each day we face challenges, opportunities, and circumstances that sometimes make us feel as big as a moose or as small as a tiny mosquito.  We tend to either become bogged down with the feeling of guilt, failure, stress, etc., or, depending on the situation, we feel like we are soaring on wings of eagles and it almost seems as if things are falling into place as each day is brought to us.   Now, some of you may think that things that come your way are circumstances that you "deserve", (positive or negative), however, when we really think about the society that we live in, I find too often that that "deserve" word is full of selfishness.  Whether it is in the show ring, workforce, within your own family, etc., is there really anything in life that we deserve?   It make...