five favorites (09/18)

I always intend to get these posts done on Friday, but with how jam-packed life has been ever since we had Eve, it seems like it takes me a few extra days to actually finish them. Oops! I guess it doesn’t really matter what day I get them done, because regardless, I know that I’ll love looking back on these in a few years.

ONE. We’ve been trying to get outside when the weather has been nice enough, and we definitely snuck in some playground time before the tail end of Hurricane Florence’s rain came here. Nella has been insisting on only riding the big kid swing, and she also went down the slide all on her own for the very first time!We love it when Daddy meets us there on the way home from work!
TWO. I had a doctor appointment this week, and fortunately, Daddy was able to take the girls so that I could go alone. They went on a little walk and had the best time seeing some farm animals! Kaya and Kaelyn named this horse “Beautiful”! THREE. A few weeks ago, Michael really hurt his ankle playing volleyball. We thought it was just sprained, but after about ten days of him walking around in an ACE bandage and not seeing any improvement, he ended up getting an x-ray at the local urgent care clinic. The radiologist told him it was an avulsion fracture, and he was put in a boot!He wore the boot for about a week before he was able to get an appointment with an orthopedist, who told him that he and his colleague had meticulously looked over his x-ray and had no idea what the radiologist had seen. It wasn’t broken after all! Crazy. Michael took a little while to adjust back to the biomechanics of non-boot life, but he’s on the mend now.

Even with a messed up ankle, he’s still been doing house projects. He got the stairwell painted, which is something I’ve been eager to get done for forever!FOUR. On Wednesday, my Dad-in-law sent me a picture of him and Mom having breakfast at Cracker Barrel… so I asked them where they were, and they told me they were in the next town over! They were driving home from their trip out west and completely surprised us by spending the morning here. These little girls were so happy (and of course requested to watch Shaun the Sheep with Grandpa… it’s kind of their thing now)!Grandma got some Evie snuggles!FIVE. We got to go to a Hokie volleyball game last week! I had never been to one, and it was a first for the girls, too. It was really fun to be back on campus and feel the sense of school pride and community that any of my fellow Hokies know! I just had to get a picture of the girls with the largest Hokie Bird statue I know of!Happy Tuesday!

finally!

A few days ago I was finally blessed with the opportunity to witness a live birth! I've studied it for many of my classes and watched it many times on video, but never had seen it in real life! Lelia was out at the beef barn watching the pregnant mama cows, and boy did she see a lot of action! There were three calves born within a couple of hours- and I was so glad she invited me out to watch the third one!

Just look at the cute little one!

I took video, but please don't watch it if you get queasy easily!

 

auction

On Friday night we went to the livestock auction here in town. I get extra credit for going and writing a report, and I find it quite exciting anyway, so why not? The highest-selling lots were two full brothers who sold for $2700 each. We went to the same sale last year, except that I was working it! If you remember, I halter-broke "Henry", my Hereford bull calf to be sold at the last sale.

I ended up wearing Michael's coat because I was freezing!

if you feel stressed…

Try some cardboard therapy. Just gnaw, chew, rip!

This week has been crazy… I had 3 exams! At least those are over, but now I have to start thinking about writing papers and my lab practical next week. Ahhh!

I'm so grateful for my wonderful husband, who helps take care of me when I don't always know what's best for myself. He makes so many sacrifices for me, like giving up his lunch hour last week just so he could drive me out to the barn to process my calf. I love him so much.

Speaking of processing my calf… I was assigned a cow, and once she gave birth I got to go out to help "process" it, which basically means just hold it while it gets an eartag, ear tattoos, nasalgen, and is weighed. My sweet little Angus heifer calf was just 62 pounds! Newborn calves are the best, because you can just pick them up and go where you want, without worrying about getting hurt…unless you're in the pen with the mama cow!

an eternity later…

Well aren't I good at neglecting this blog?  I sure think so.  Yep. Practically a pro.

As you can see, we have a new theme! So exciting, isn't it?  Michael and I have a condition called "NERDS". (Never-Ending ReDesigning Syndrome).  There's just one symptom: never being happy with how your site looks and always wanting to change it. Ok so I made all that up. Maybe you're laughing right now. I hope so.

Anyway… so I'm about to attempt to tell you about our life, in summary.  But life is a pretty hard thing to summarize.

Anyway…

The livestock sale I was preparing my awesome bull ("Henry") for went very well.  I'd never been to a cattle sale and I got to be right behind all the action, working the sliders (basically, I let the cattle into the sale ring).  I loved it!  Henry sold for $925.

In other news, we bought a Gamecube for $3.25.  Sadly, we're still trying to figure out how to attach it to our monitor… ah!

Halloween this year was a lot different for me.  My family gets really into it, but this year, I didn't even dress up.  Some friends from the ward had a little party though, so that was fun.  There was even a competition where Michael had to plunge his face into a bowl of pudding.  You bet that was cool.

A couple weekends ago we got to volunteer to help set up the Christmas Store (an organisation that helps needy families "shop" for what their kids need).  We put all the baby stuff out.  Cute!

Of course, I need to give you a guinea pig update!  Maggie and Juni are doing well, eating about a ton of veggies a week, and are so excited for their Thanksgiving trip to Mom and Dad I.'s house!

sleepless

Well, it's after 1 in the morning now, and I can't sleep.  I got up, worked on homework, and now I'm writing on the blog for your enjoyment (I hope).

Well, the biggest news we have for you is that…

Michael got an internship for summer!!!

I am so so so proud of him!  He is so smart! =)

Other than that, normal life is still going on.  It's week 10 of school, so we're finally starting to get a little tired.  This Friday is the big livestock sale that I feel like I've been anticipating forever.  My bull calf, "Henry", is -nearly- ready.  He's not quite angelic when it comes to being tame.  I am so excited to see how much he sells for, though.  He is quite a nice calf.

On Friday night I got to see my roomie from Switzerland (Amanda) and make Halloween cookies!! I must say, mine were quite scary and I had a blast.

This wouldn't be a real post if I didn't mention Maggie and Juni, of course!  My favorite little girls in the whole world.  Maggie's been picking on Juni a little lately, but that just happens when she's moody.  They just got a new bowl (shaped like a carrot) because I broke the other one. Oops!

19 days later…

Well school has kept us soooooo busy, and as a result, I haven't blogged for 19 days! Ah! the world must be ending! Okay not really.

So I'll start recounting things to you, pretty much in chronological order.  September 12th was our "one year" mark since we started dating! For some, it may seem a little weird to have your one year mark after you're already married… but hey, when you know who you want to/should marry, why wait? Michael is such an incredible blessing in my life. So, we went out to dinner at Macado's! yum. It was nice to get out.

This past weekend, we went to visit my in-laws! I wish I didn't have to use the word "in-laws" because that often carries a negative connotation… and it was so fun! I love them.  In french, in-laws are called "la belle-famille", which is so much better, because it means "beautiful family". Family is beautiful! The francophones have it right.

So we went to the most family-oriented place on earth- the temple! Little Jeffrey is all grown up now- he received his endowments because he's going on a mission very soon!  I love the temple.  Especially being there with my family! ðŸ™‚

Well, the last few weeks I've been working out at the barn for one of my classes- I'm responsible for halter-breaking a calf. Mind you, this calf weighs about 500 pounds.  For those who aren't into agriculture, halter-breaking is just getting the animal used to wearing a halter and walking with it on when you're on the other end.  When you first start, their spirits are wild and they fight against you.  So, you tie them up for awhile, and once they're used to being tied you can start trying to walk them in circles… usually walking turns into tug-of-war with an animal over 4 times your size! Haha.

Anyway, I decided to call him "Henry", but later found out his real name is "Hummer" (Henry is so much better…).  He'll be sold at the end of October… you know, just in case you're interested in buying a Hereford bull.

So basically, that's all!  You're all up to date on our fascinating life!