Well, There Goes JUNE!

Well, I'm a horrible blogger. OH WELL! I never get around to actually writing, but here I am :)

These past few weeks have been busy, and it's only going to get worse! (which can be better) :)

Most of this is old news...but whatevs :) We can pretend it just happened!

1. We either have to get rid of Lenny (our llama) ..or castrate him. Yeah. Not cool. Not so little Lenny has a love of mounting people (generally me) when they're out in the field. Well long story short...and little girl came over, and was out in the field with Lenny, when he decided to take action...mounting her and knocking her down. He then proceeded to stomp on her. NOT COOL, LENNY! NOT COOL. So...as a result..Lenny is either losing his home...or losing his YOU KNOW WHAT!

2. MY SEMEN ROUTE ENDED!!! (Sorry, it may appear as though I'm yelling at you...I'm actually just really excited) :) Although it was easy work, I won't miss driving 4-5 hours a day, and putting a ton of miles on my car!  In conclusion to this special job that I had, I calculated that I drove over 4,129 miles, spent around 100 hours driving, and delivered well over $600,000 worth of horse semen! Betcha can't say you've done the same! :) I must say though, I have enjoyed the reactions I get from people when they ask me what I'm doing this summer! It's a great conversation starter! :)

3. Sooo...before the semen duties came to a close, I had an accident incident. I'm driving along, approaching Leo... probably going around 50 ish, when low and behold..a tree FALLS OVER in the road. RIGHT in front of me. I slammed on my breaks, and swerved, but still hit some of the tree (mostly branches). The cop said I did a great job, because if I would have stayed in my lane, I would have hit the whole trunk of the tree. (GO ME!) The cop ALSO got a good laugh when he found out that I was driving to go pick up horse semen.  This was right after he asked me how old I was...as he proceeded to say "I couldn't tell if you were 17 or 25" Sweet...thanks. But have no fear! My car was just scratched, and one of my front lights was popped out! (Ernie is all fixed up now, and looking better than ever.)

4. Went biking with my parents on Sunday afternoon. I thought it was a good idea to bust out the tandem, since we just got it fixed! Well..dad also just got his bike fixed, so he was eager to try his out! Soooo..I ended up riding with my mom. Guess who did all the pedaling? Yup. Me. Guess who's never riding with Judy again? Yup. Me. The ride was bad enough already, because the guy that "fixed" the bike, put 2 different sized tires on in, resulting in a constant wobble while riding. Then we had the "backseat" driver who would yell at me every time I took a hand off the handlebars. Needless to say, it was a very entertaining ride, and a great day for family bonding :)

Other fun facts:

--June 24th my Grandparents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary, and on the same day, my sister and brother-in-law celebrated their 5th wedding anniversary!

JULY PLANS--
*Lake, Lake & Lake--2nd-4th
*Texas--5th-10th
*Cedar Point--11th
*Boys & Girls Club (amazing race/farm tour)--12th
*Warsaw for Andrew && Johanna's wedding festivities--14th-17th
*MY BIRRRFDAY!--18th
*Laura's due date--21st
*Laura's & Ryan's B-days--22nd, 24th
*FAIR--22nd-30th

YAY! So many exciting things happening in the month of July...so if you wonder what I'm doing (which I'm sure you won't be)..there you have it! :)

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe 4th of July!

#prayforaustinhatch

Enjoying the Outdoors!

It was an awesome, but CRAZY busy weekend.

Friday I had my semen route till about 6, went straight to Dominique's open house to help with that, went straight from there to Lady's night in at church, and from there headed over to house-sit. (Meanwhile, missing the State Holstein Show Supper.) :( Evidently I left LNI too early at church though, and missed Kelly KURTZ killing a bat in the basement. (another disappointment..) Ha!

Saturday I got up, and tended to my house-sitting duties (taking care of the dogs, and chickens.) I fed the inside dog, the outside dogs, and then headed out for the chickens. I fed, watered them, and collected the eggs. I was in a hurry to get to the state show, so I put the eggs in the fridge without washing them first. I headed out to the State Show with mi madre until duty called and semen once again had to be delivered. (on the bright side...I only have a few weeks left of delivering!)

Sorry James....HAD TO :)

I got back to the house, and after relaxing a bit, decided I would wash the eggs that I put in the fridge. (I collected about 15 that morning.) I'm washing away, and all of the sudden I see an X written on a shell. Then all of the sudden I see a name written on another, and another X, and another name. CRAP. They were trying to hatch a few of the eggs.....and I ABORTED THE BABY CHICKS!!! hahahaha I mean minus the fact that they were just in the fridge all day...it's really no biggie.

Saturday night, Rachel and Lauren (roommate reunion!) came and stayed with me. (It's scary being alone!!) We hung out, went to bed...and got up for church. (Oh wait, that was just me...they slept in :) haha. We headed to the lake for an awesome day (minus being a little chilly..) and Rachel had her first jet ski ride!! I also had my first time of getting thrown off a jet ski...and I'm still suffering from whiplash! (As I was bragging about Nicole being such a fun and safe driver!) HA!

 Sunday night I had an awesome time hanging out with my Cholo :) Summer just isn't the same without her!

Monday (I know it's not the weekend anymore...but I'll just add it on...:) I mowed (don't ask me how that went...) and delivered on my route. As soon as I got home, I ate, and headed to Hilltop to bike with Megan, Michelle, and Kelly. We ended up biking around 25 miles--to go to the Chief for ice cream! (Kelly didn't inform me ahead of time where we were biking to....) It was a great time, and strangely enough the only thing that hurts from the ride is my shoulders and neck. I'm an odd duck.

June is almost halfway over...and I have NO idea where it went! Time flys when you're having fun :)

Memorial Day Weekend. (I know...I'm a little late.)

Well for not wanting to have a legitimate job this summer, I sure am staying busy!

Memorial Day weekend...we had a garage sale. These are always my favorite, because I love seeing what people buy (of my junk, and treasures.) I think that my favorite of the weekend was the "bless her heart" lady that stopped by on the last day. She saw a tin in our "free" pile that she just HAD to have. 1st of all...it was a popcorn tin..nothing to be too excited about, but ohhh she was just so excited! I asked if she'd like me to hold it at the table for her while she shopped around, and she agreed. She came across an old watch of mine that was marked 50 cents. She asked if I would take 25 cents for it..(which I think is the dumbest thing, because it's already cheap as it is...but WHATEVER! HA!) Anyway, I agreed, and then she informed me that she would have to bike home to get a quarter. Well trust me...my stupid pink watch was NOT worth biking for...so I gave it to her. Meanwhile, she forgot her tin was sitting by the table, and she left. I felt horrible...because I knew how much she wanted her tin! (You had to be there to understand.) We were packing up, because it was the end of the day...and we debated what to do with it. We figured there was no way that she would bike back in the heat for a free popcorn tin. (Then again, she was willing to bike home for a quarter...) Nevertheless, we loaded up our stuff remaining from the garage sale...and donated it to the Depot. Low and behold.....who do you think comes knocking at my sisters door the next afternoon? Yup. You guessed it. She wondered if we still had her tin. It still breaks my heart knowing that she didn't get it. However, she wanted to make sure we "didn't lose any sleep over it..." and I assure you...we didn't. :)

Also, over the same weekend, we lost  about 1/2 of our barn roof in the storm! Fortunately no one was hurt--as one of our Amish workers was in the barn when it happened. He took cover under the tractor, and most likely had brown shorts after it was all said and done. I spent my Sunday night helping clean up, and patching up the silage bags...but the roof is now fixed! Thanks to the great help we had from neighbors and other workers.

I know I'm a little behind on posting, especially since this all happened about 2 weeks ago...but delivering semen has just really kept me busy! That, and laying by the pool. :)

Happy early weekend to all, and to all a good night!

The NEW Job!

Ohhh as I'm sure you all know..if you're my friend on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter..I have a new, very exciting job. Say hello to Northern Indiana's newest Semen Courier! Ha yes..I currently spend my days picking up and delivering horse semen at various locations around Elkhart and Lagrange County...then each day I make my way down to Grabill, Indiana where I meet up with a nice 70-something year old lady...we swap semen, and carry on our way. The whole deal is driving around 200 miles a day or more... and I do it 4 days a week. (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday.) The nice thing is that I only have to drive the route until the first of July. (Just in time for my trip to the great state of TEXAS) :)

I must say though, I love to see the faces of people when they ask what I'm doing now that I Graduated...

Meanwhile... I'm still working on the farm and organizing. (Ohh and currently getting ready for our garage sale. BOO.)

BUT! On another note...I did have a few rather exciting things happen in my life recently!

1. My parents got a new recliner for the living room...so no more fighting with dad over who gets his chair :)
2. My boy Huddy turned 2 on Sunday! :) I can't believe how big he is!! & only 8 more weeks till we have another little buddy!! :)
3. Got to see ADELE in concert with my girl Lauren Brown on Monday...which was... uhhh AWESOME.
4. Getting bit by a spider Tuesday was also pretty exciting...especially since you can still see the holes in my knee.
5. Jessica Herschberger was ever so kind as to ride along with me for hours on my Semen route Wednesday.
6. I got to see my bestest friend Rico Suave Wednesday night! :) :) Oh how I missed my Stichter family!
7. Today...my car headlights are getting fixed...and since I've been driving around with my brights on since last summer--this is a big praise :)
8. AND! This just in...as of November 1st...I will be $50 richer thanks to Tyler Brown and our bet. :)

That's all for now! I'm off to price my belongings.

Back On The Grind

After an awesome extended weekend visiting my HU clan, celebrating my graduation with family and friends, and a great Mother’s day, it was back to work.

Talk about being sore. This week I’ve done more manual labor than I have in years. 

Monday I spent the day mowing with my sweet 52 inch deck AMISH push mower. Yes it is self-propelled, but don’t be fooled, it’s still tough to maneuver.

 I can’t help but laugh as the Amish men go by and wave at me while I use a mower only they would use. The worst part is that when they wave, I let go of the mower to wave back which causes it to swerve…and just makes me look like a bad driver. My Monday excitement didn’t end there, however. I spent my evening digging up weeds all along our house for hours.

Tuesday I babysat Hudson for a few hours, and we took a trip to the Flea Market to see Amy @ Miss Chic (LOVE her stuff!!!) I headed home to take over for my dad in the field. I missed helping in the fields/working outside in the summer ever so much.

 Everything was fine and dandy till I hit Mr. Skunky pants (fortunately, I love the smell of Skunk.) I looked down to my right to see one torn up little sucker. As I tried to avoid hitting him again, I of course swerved—and missed a rather large part of rye. (I’m sensing a pattern in my driving and swerving skills lately.) The best part is that when I got home, which was a decent distance from the field, my mom walked outside and said “do you smell skunk?” OOPS! Haa!

Wednesday was my mama’s 60^th! Happy Birthday Judy Kay!! I helped my sister with Hudson/babysit for a boy from church all day, and we once again headed to the Flea Market J My wallet won’t be able to afford me babysitting anymore—my sister lives waaay too close to the Flea Market. I started planting Hostas after 9 pm, and kept planting until I no longer could see the ground in front of me.

Thursday I got up at 6 am—realized how dark it was and that I couldn’t work in my garden, and went back to bed until 6:45. I realized how much work you can get done in a day if you get up before 10! AMAZING!

After 3 hours of working in the dirt, I finally headed in go to my next job. ORGANIZING! Yes, I really do have a job where I clean/organize. How lucky can I GET! J I actually really do love it, and we always have fun.

Today (Friday) was completely exhausting. I helped my dad with random jobs today--everything from climbing inside the giant milk bulk tank to get a hose nozel out for the milkman (which was very difficult to get out of) to drawing up shots for 80 head of cattle (and giving myself a shot in the process.) Of course you can't forget mowing again with my sweet Amo mower, which I'm actually starting to grow quite accustomed to! 

It was a long--busy, but productive week. But now it's the weekend! :) AMEN! 

Ta Ta for now! 

Life After Graduation

As we all know (or don't) I graduated on Sunday. It's officially SUMMER VACATION! ...well sorta.
A. The weather has not been up to par.
B. Technically, I don't think I'm supposed to have a summer vacation, but I'm giving myself one anyway...and
C. I don't have any of my summer girls living close to me!
(Yes, I realize I have other friends--but all my close friends are at least 35 mins away or more.)
So ERICA STICHER, JESSICA HERSCHBERGER, & SAM SANFORD... Thanks for ruining my life!!!! Okay kidding. I'll be fine. (I hope) But on a side note--my dad DID inform me that he and my mom are "worried" about me because I don't have any close friends living near by. (Obviously they know that I need my friends to stay sane.)

Which brings me to my next point. 2 days after graduation...it hit me.

I'VE ALREADY GONE INSANE!

Tuesday night ... we went to Hilltop Restaurant. Afterwards, we got home, and I thought "hmm it's really nice out..I should go play with the horses or something!" (BAD IDEA)

P.S. My definition of "playing" consists of brushing them.

So I go get Bill--my dad's horse because I thought it'd be nice to get all his nasty winter hair of of him and make him look all pretty. Bill and I trot in to the tying post, and I start brushing away. It's not long before Bill is pawing at the ground, turning circles so fast, trying to pull back and rip the post out of the ground, and breathing out of his nose so much I thought he was trying out for Running of the Bulls. I finally untie him, and decide to put him away when my dad comes out to help. I take him back to the field, and literally all the horses are going nuts. They looked like wild stallions running, bucking, and kicking around the field. (It was actually quite beautiful, but there goes my fun idea of "playing" with the horses.)

So I moved onto the pigs!
(BAD IDEA)
We have 3 little piggies that aren't so little anymore, that I insisted we get! Yeah, well they're not the friendliest little guys, which kinda takes the fun out of having them. (I'm working with them!) So I get in the pen with them. (All I wanted to do was pet them!!) Well, they were gonna have none of that, and they attempted to bite me as they "barked" at me. I'm pretty sure at this point I said something out loud like: "Fine! If you don't wanna play, I'll just leave!"

Which brought me to the goat.
(BAD IDEA)
Buckwheat is our only goat--and he's a fainter goat. He doesn't actually faint like he's supposed to. I think his "fainter" is broken. :) Haa! So I decide HE could use a good brush down. I sprint to the shed to get my curry comb, and I head back. Well, Buckwheat is fine to pet, but evidently he doesn't like to be groomed. He proceeded to stand on his back two legs, attempting to charge me with his rather large horns. I was having none of it, and I left.

Then there was Duke. (Or Scooter...yes my dog does have 2 names)
(BAD IDEA)
Duke came running to me when I got in the office and I thought.."FINALLY! Someone likes me!!"
Nope. He turned around and ran back to his chair. I called for him, he didn't care, so I went back in the house.

It didn't dawn on me until after the fact, that I just attempted to HANG OUT with animals, and they all rejected me. (Next time I'm gonna try the cows.) So as you can see...I need my friends to stay sane.

....and now I know why my parents are worried about me.

T-Minus 24 Hours!

My Graduation ceremony is in approximately 24 hours! Seriously--WHERE DOES THE TIME GO?! Literally just yesterday I was at Huntington for freshman orientation FRANTICALLY searching for a "normal" roommate. Well I'm not sure if normal is what I got, but Bradie Vance was one heck of a fun roommate! :) I'll never forget the times we had. From the night of our sugar-buzz, to having the biggest mud fight EVER...it was an amazing year and a half living with her! And of course there were all the other girls, and everything we did--stealing bikes--or "borrowing" shall I say (like the night that I stole the bike with no breaks) yeahhhh--that ended well! HA! Dressing up so ridiculous, the night I went roller blading down the GIANT hill, and literally ripped a new one. And of course dying the fountain red--which turned out more pink (even though no one ever knew we did it) OOPS! :) There were good times, and bad--but one thing is for sure: I'll never forget my Foresters :) 

Then there was Bethel! I was a little skeptical of transferring in the middle of my sophomore year, but going to Bethel was one of the best decisions I ever made! I loved the people, the environment, and the faculty. I know a lot of people complain about the rules, and at times I was annoyed by them too--but hey! I CHOSE to go there...so I had no reason to complain! I love seeing peoples reactions when I tell them that I'm 22 and I'm not allowed to watch rated "R" movies, drink, have boys in my room with the door closed, and that I have a curfew every night of the week. Through the "strict" rules, I survived :) and I came out with some awesome memories, and some even better friendships! Friends that I KNOW I'll have forever :) 

I'll never forget the Steak and Shake night with Kristine and Lindsay, and how we lied to the waiter, telling him it was my birthday, and when he asked for my ID, we told him we "forgot it at home". He said he had to check because a lot of times people come in just saying "ohh it's my birthday" when it isn't. (WHO would do SUCH a thing?) So he paid for it himself. (Yes...jerk move on my part--I KNOW!) I'll never forget the Spring Break trips to Florida Sophomore, Junior, and Senior year with awesome girls! And of course my "second" Spring Break I gave myself Sophomore and Junior year--1 week after Spring Break, heading down to Branson to watch our boys in the tournament! Can't forget the Keg parties--ROOT BEER KEGS of course! (Partying Bethel style!!) Coming back from Logan's on Halloween to a very festive-decorated room with Kristine! (Whoever did that still needs to fess up!) The countless videos Julia and I made--dancing and just being US! Dressing up for Midnight Breakfast as thugs and having Jessie rap the Bible in under a minute :) Basketball games, game nights, and Snuggie parties. Farm tours to my house, and the junior/senior trip to Chicago! Such awesome times with such amazing people that I know I'll never forget. 

But as my college career is wrapping up, I have to admit: I'm excited and nervous for the future, but one thing is for sure--my God has the ultimate plan for me, and I can't wait to see what that is! I've come to the conclusion that this whole graduation thing is bittersweet...I'm PUMPED to be done with class and school work, but not as eager to be done living with my best friends, and be in the "real world". But as they say... READY OR NOT...HERE I COME! 

Days Like This.

Days like this, I can't help but laugh at myself. Ever have those days when you KNOW you're in a bad mood, and you just don't care? Yup. That was today. I generally find myself in a good mood through bad circumstances, but today I didn't care that I was grouchy. My friend and I got pulled over this morning on the way back to school, my sweats were beyond soaked from the rain (my biggest pet peeve is wet pants) I had no other clothes to change into, I was stuck in my room alone for about 4 hours with nothing but my computer and wet sweats, I didn't eat or drink anything until 4:00 pm, and I literally lost half of my fingernail. (Yum, I know.) 


I told my roommate a few weeks ago that I thought it would be fun to start blogging, but with school I was too busy. She recommended that I wait until the end of the semester, and since this was my last day at Bethel, I decided to give it a go! That and the fact that I was stuck in my room waiting for my family to come help me move out, and I had nothing else to do.  

Now if you're wondering what turned my frown upside down, I'd have to give credit to blogspot. My first blogging dilemma was of course finding a name! I evidently jumped on the blog wagon too late, and missed all the good names. I tried everything from "This Life I Live" to "Que Sera, Sera to "My Fricking Blog" to "Oh The Tangled Webs We Weave" Yup. ALL TAKEN. Which made me think--Lisa, you're a funny person! Have a funny name! So I started getting creative--or so I thought. The name "Baa Baa Blog Sheep" was in fact taken, so I resorted to extending my "Baaa's" --maybe my sheep was hungry, or lonely, or maybe someone else just had "Baa" taken for their Blog URL, either way, here I am! As I found myself literally laughing out loud at some of the names I tried, and laughing even more because someone else had used that name, I had to stop and realize that whatever was bringing me down today, wasn't worth it, and that I have no right to be in a bad mood. This blog sheep should be celebrating after officially moving home from school after 4 years of college. Graduation is just around the corner (Sunday to be exact!!) And I have SO much to be thankful for!! So next time you're having a "day like this" stop and laugh at yourself, because nothing should keep you from smiling. Life's too short to sweat the small stuff :)