The Best of Friends: Reunion Weekend

This summer I have had some great adventures, I have gone to some amazing concerts, traveled around the Midwest, and spent time really enjoying the blessings that surround me, gifts from God.  On all of my adventures though, the best ones are the ones that were with friends and family.  A month ago we had a gathering of college friends (hard to believe it's been 10 years since we graduated college!) and this past weekend I was with my roommates from college.  I was blessed to live with 3 amazing women in a cozy 2 bedroom apartment right across from the South Dakota State University campus.  Inspired by one of our mothers, we decided to make a promise to each other to spend a one weekend a year with each other.  This is a commitment that as we get older we are more determined to keep.  Friends are there for you when life gets the hardest, and these are no exception.  These women have been married for 4-11 years and bring their spouses and kids when they visit. 

 

It was funny reflecting on how we had changed in 10 years.  When we were in college we shared meals, prayers, support, friendship, laughter, joys, sorrows and fears.  We are still sharing those things.  One of our first reunion weekends we stayed at a hotel with an indoor water park that was open late at night.  We spent that night laughing, drinking and playing on the water slides and kiddie pool.  I have the scars on my knees to prove it.  Fast forward 10 years, and I'm pulling 6 little kids around a hotel swimming pool on fun noodles.  We have changed, life happened, but I don't think we would change it for the world.  We have a few broken hearts, there have been sorrows and failures but our hearts are fuller, our lives have greater depth, we have greater joys than we could have ever known.  Even though hundreds of miles separate us and we still debate the Motherland versus God's Country, our friendships are stronger than they have ever been.

 

These women live their lives in big and small ways, and they are an inspiration to me.  They are devoted wives, hold jobs and professions, they are mothers, they are role models.  I know they will think that I am over praising them, but that is because they are humble women.  When I need support and prayers, they have my back.  If I need someone to talk to all I need to do is call.  God blessed me with the most amazing friends and if they ever need anything I would be there in a heartbeat.  If you have friends as amazing as this, don't take them for granted, make it a priority to visit them, call them, send a card, anything to share a relationship with amazing people.  We all know these women and aspire to be them...find some and don't ever let them go.

BUSY, BUSY!

Just thought I would leave and let you know that I have not fallen off the face of the earth but instead found tons of jobs to do instead of posting. Rest assured that once I do return I will have LOTS of videos to share with you.

On Sunday night, at 1am we finished hauling out the cow barn. We hauled about 77 loads of manure on about 50 acres of land. We look forward to the great crop of corn this will hopefully yield for next year. On Tuesday we had Herd Health. Our vet came out and checked all of the cows, as usual. He had good news for us....12 cows pregnant and ready to calve in for June and July of next year! We hoped after that good news and finishing tilling in the manure that would have been able to go home that night early, but we found out a pump in our parlor was out of commission. We called the local serviceman (about 40 minutes away) to come and fix it, and after we got it figured out we finally started milking cows at 9pm (2 hours later than usual). We were so grateful to have a serviceman so close! We often try NOT to take our dairy infrastructure for granted-they do so much to make dairying less stressful for the rest of us. Needless to say, the cows were pretty mad at us, but we got them milked and made it up to them the next day by giving them extra treats in their feed.

Yesterday I was at South Dakota State University to speak to the freshmen class of Dairy Science students. It was a great experience to see another excellent group of students excited about the dairy industry and looking forward to a career in it.

Today we will be working on moving some dirt for a winter project and miscellaneous cleaning around the farm....needless to say there's never a dull day.