Recuperation and Renovation

The end of July is always a stressful time for me, perhaps the most stressful of the year. I returned to work on Monday morning instantly regretting not taking another day off to rest up from the week at nationals. I slowly got my energy back as the week went on only to stress out about moving all of my stuff out of my house in College Station into a duplex. 

My lease on the house was up August 1st, which left me one day to get everything out. For most people, this would not be that big of a deal. Really and truly it would not be a big deal except that I had to paint my wall back. Let me just say that the word paint and me do not go in the same sentence. I tend to get into the project. One summer when I was painting some panels black with pink edges, let me just say that evidence is still there of that project on the shop concrete and the flatbed trailer my panels were laying on. Then last year when I got the bright idea to paint a wall in my room things started off badly when a can of black paint, that had never been opened before, slipped out of my hands and busted all over the carpet. It was a mess getting all over the carpet, door, and me. Thankfully Jeff helped me replace my carpet, but I definitely was not looking forward to painting the wall back!

So after my new roommates Tiffany and Nicole helped me move my stuff from one place to the other it was time to paint, which Tiffany assured me she was excited about. While this time we did not have as many disasters, it still wasn't pretty. We used Kilz primer to cover up my zebra stripes. The primer did a great job, it just got all in our hair while we sprayed it. So we moved onto actually painting the wall. At one point Tiffany starts laughing hysterically at me saying I have white paint in my nose, then laughs at me again when I had more than just white dust in my hair, but actual white paint. With all of the chaos, we successfully got everything moved in time. 

As the weekend progressed I began to lose my voice because of my allergies acting so horrible. (Tiffany tends to think this is an ongoing thing because of the fact I really lost my voice while we were interning at the San Antonio steer show in February.) It was an eventful weekend in College Station, I spent most of the day Saturday shopping (scary), made crafts with Tiffany, and got to see Mallory and Ansley on Ansley's four month birthday (hard to believe she is already four months old). 

Summer Internship

I got an internship with DMA Solutions this summer, and I am so excited about it! Not only will it be learning about things I am really interested in, but I will be able to live at home during the summer. It has been a while since I have been home for a long, extended period of time. 

I really like the company and everyone on the team there too. I am sure it is not going to be easy, but things that are usually worth it never are easy. The only downfall I have found about it is the fact I will have to drive into Dallas everyday. For most people this is not a big deal. Personally I have never driven to Dallas, but after riding countless times, I never really had the desire since there are so many bad drivers out there. The way I figure it, after driving in Fort Worth, Houston, and worst of all San Antonio, Dallas shouldn't prove to be a problem. I dislike driving in College Station because there are so many bad drivers. It makes San Antonio look like a breeze. 

You don't know how excited I am about this internship though. May 18th is my first day on the job. If you know anyone needing a place to live in College Station during the summer let me know. I would like to sublease my room out if I can. 

Music Junky

One thing I enjoy the most is some good music, from all different genres. Of course, there are some genres I listen to more than others, but I just really love listening to music. Depending on what kind of mood I am in, usually determines what will be found on my playlist. Texas Country and Rock are definite on every playlist or c.d. though.

There are very few artists that I can listen to an entire c.d. all the way through over and over again. I kind of have ADD when it comes to music and most of the time will skip through a song before it is all the way through. Randy Rogers Band used to be really the only one I could do this with. Josh Abbott's latest c.d. Scapegoat is one of those that I can listen through the entire thing twice in a row. I love his music! While there are lots of artists that are personal favorites, very seldom does their entire c.d. hold my attention. 

College Station has had quite a line up of concerts during the Spring semester. Unfortunately for me, the spring semester is always so busy, there were several acts I wanted to see but couldn't for various reasons. When I learned that Old Crow Medicine Show was going to be playing at the Hall on May 7th, I got so excited. It is a Friday night, I will have finished my first final, and it's O.C.M.S. Many people don't know who they are, even though I am sure most have heard some of their songs like Wagon Wheel. They are a folk "American roots, folk, blues, gospel, bluegrass and a little bit of gritty rock" band from Nashville. The last time I had looked at their tour schedule, there was nothing posted that was close, so I didn't believe my friend when she first told me. So rest assure, May 7th, I will be at the O.C.M.S. concert.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Wow, I cannot believe how quickly this semester has flown by! The spring semesters always seem to do that with all the excitement every year of majors, it seems to consume my life. It all started with Fort Worth the weekend after school started. I was able to get to Fort Worth and take care of the heifer on Friday since dad had jury duty, Garrett had a basketball game, and mom was keeping the books all night at the games. Garrett showed Mink's Bella Da Ball. They were Reserve Junior Champion and Reserve Champion Bred and Owned. 

 

Then we moved onto San Antonio. The last time my family showed there was in 2007. Garrett won the scholarship her first year showing, so it is really pointless to go back every year. But I attended the week of the steer show as an intern. That week was definitely crazy but a TON of fun! I definitely don't know what my problem was that week. I totally forgot we were supposed to be there at seven the first night rather than nine, but that all worked out fine. For some reason I, like everyone else gets sick at San Antonio in some way. I had been dealing with allergy and sinus problems a few days before I left (really this whole semester, I don't think they ever go away) but as the week progressed, I lost my voice more and more each day to where you could barely even hear me by the end and it felt like I was screaming. That has never happened to me, although I am sure my parents wished it had, but it was really unfortunate because people have a hard time hearing me anyways. To top it all of, I locked my keys in my car..the second day...and again the third day. I HAVE NEVER LOCKED MY KEYS IN MY CAR BEFORE IN MY LIFE and here I did it twice in one week. 

 

I guess when I was getting everything ready to go into the room my first night from my car, I mistakenly threw them in between the seat and the console, but thought they had made into my bag. I didn't realize it until the next morning when I was getting ready to leave (early surprisingly, I should have known better) and could not find them anywhere. I tore up every piece of luggage I took with me. Twice. And anyone who has traveled with me knows that I cannot travel light, I mean I want to but there are just too many variables that prevent it. So I had to make the dreaded phone call to my dad to ask for help/advice to immediately start getting a butt chewing. I quickly stopped him in the middle of it to tell him it is not like I wanted to call him but I did not have any other options because I knew what his reaction would be. Then he went on to ask if I had my spare keys with me. I quickly replied, "Well theoretically my keys should be in purse. There is not a good place to hide my keys on my car so my spare would be in my purse too. So if I locked my keys in the car, my purse should be locked in there too and so what was the use of that." So after some calling around and help from family friends we found a Chrysler dealership close to the fairgrounds where they made a spa

re key for me. So when I locked my keys in the car the second time, it was no big deal, except it was to me. But other than that I had a fantastic week, got to meet a lot of new people/friends, and would do it again in a heartbeat. 

We did not show in the open show at Houston like we had planned, so our first trip to Houston was for the junior market lamb show. I always enjoy watching the shows, so I had fun. When I left College Station that morning it was really cold and raining, it felt good to me though. So I dressed appropriately, Houston is not that far from College Station. I got a reality check when I stepped out of the car in the parking lot. HUMID and warm. But we took our jackets in anyways because the front was on the way and we did not want to be freezing. Well needless to say I felt dumb. The front hit right about the time we arrive to the restaurant we ate at that night. 

I made it back to College Station to attend class on Thursday and then it was Spring Break time. Most people go on some sort of trip. Mine has always been spent at a livestock show in some way, if it wasn't the market show or breeding heifers show at Houston, it was county. Nothing new this year. I interned for the junior heifer show at Houston. The firs

t day consisted of getting to the staging area at midnight. I quickly volunteered to be the one to sit at the window and help with stalling assignments, which I did all day. It didn't bother me until I decided to go use the restroom and couldn't walk because I had been sitting there so long and was stiff. We worked from Wednesday through Sunday. It was a long week, but I had fun. I always think it is funny to see how different San Antonio and Houston are. Of course it does not help that heifer people are crazy always causing problems. Interning is always a lot of work and very tiring but the people I get to meet make it worth it!

Garrett showed Mink's Shazam at Houston this year and won her class, Reserve Calf Champion, and Champion Bred and Owned. Market lambs were showing in Austin on the same day at the Star of Texas Fair. A lamb we raised was third in it's class and made the sale. So it was a pretty good day.

 

County was two weeks after Houston. It was my first time to go home in nearly two months and boy was I ready...well if you can say home. It does not seem like I spent a lot of time there. The heifer show was Thursday. Garrett took Bella, Shazam, and Sheniqua because it takes three to make a breed. Bella won Champion American heifer. 

I got in late Thursday night, talked to my mom for a little while until my dad got home from the fair grounds and went to bed. Waking up the next morning was really hard but I knew I had to in order to get to the show in time to watch Garrett show her lambs. For some odd 

reason, both of Garrett's lambs were in the same class, which should not have been the case. (My family likes to go from one extreme to the other apparently. Last year her lamb weighed 175 lbs. and was Reserve Grand Champion) This year she took a young black face ewe lamb and a Southdown ewe lamb we had raised. She was first and second in her class and won Reserve Grand Champion and Champion County bred with the Southdown, who looked dang good I might add. She had a good county. 

 

By the time we were done with the lamb show, I had just enough time to almost drift off to sleep on the couch when we had someone show up to look at lambs. So out the doorI went to help dad. As soon as they were done looking, we were headed up to the softball fields to watch Garrett's game. They won and she did a good job hitting.

Saturday I was able to spend a little time outside in the morning taking pictures around the house, which I LOVE to do. Then I had to get ready quickly to make up to the sale which started at two thirty. Thank goodness Garrett was reserve so she was relatively close to the front of the auction so we were able to leave and go home just long enough to change clothes and head out the door to go prom dress shopping. So the rest of the day was spent with mom driving, me sleeping, and Garrett texting as usual. We did not find a dress for her which was frustrating. I told them I would not be any help to them anyways because I am very picky. But, mom did order pizza for dinner. (It is a big joke in our family that the only time we get pizza is when mom is out of town because she doesn't allow us too. Which is the truth.)

I spent much of Sunday sick with sinus problems. For some reason I get the sickest when I am at home. Add on top of that a lack of sleep, I felt like I had been ran over by a truck. The wind was ridiculous outside and it was pretty chilly so that afternoon dad and I got out to take pictures of the lambs to send to people. I was covered head to toe with my ear warmers to block the wind, my sweatshirt, and pants. Somehow I was still freezing. It is nice not having class on Monday. I was able to stay all that day and take some more photos for dad since he was not as pleased with the pictures as he wanted to be. Also, we had someone coming to buy lambs, which is the best part of raising livestock I think. I have always enjoyed having my favorites and watching people go through and pick which ones the like and hear their reasoning. It is probably one of the things I miss the most.

County was the last show Garrett showed at and probably the last for us until Nationals in late July. It is hard to believe that another majors season has passed us by and Garrett only has one more left. Where has all the time gone? Looking back she had a great year. The two heifers she took to State Fair both won their class, calf champion, champion bred and owned, Ft Worth reserve junior champion, reserve bred and owned, Houston won her class, reserve calf, and champion bred and owned. All with heifers we have raised, which makes it even better. 

It has been a crazy semester with majors only being a little bit of what I have done. School, organizations I am involved in, and a little work seemed to take up the rest of it. It has been a great semester though! It is hard to imagine that this time next year I will be getting ready to graduate. The same time, Garrett will graduate high school and make her tracks to College Station for four years of an "education."