Ramblings of a 23 year old..

I had one of those moments this weekend when I turned 23, ya know, the one most people get when they turn 30, 40, 50; I haven't hit 90 yet, but maybe my grandma thinks the same thing..."What have I done with my life?"

I realized I've soon been out of school for 2 year and I feel like I have nothing to show for it. While my other friends are out buying houses, getting married and being promoted, I'm over here like, "Ughh I have to learn to cook?"

To give you a little background, this was where my skills started...

Okay, so they have improved a little, but not enough to warranty 2 years of accomplishments!...

Homemade chocolate chip cookies-recipe to come in another post!

I started thinking, what have I done to contribute to this world? How have I made an impact? I feel like I've been busy...

But I have nothing to show for it! Then my next thought came (I know that was a long thought, but I'm a girl and we ramble..but I digress).."Okay, so what is my purpose on this earth and where do I want to go from here."

Here's the best part, "I HAVE NO FREAKEN CLUE!!!"

What I do know is this: I make people happy, I'm great at making people laugh and feel more confident about themselves. I may never win a Nobel Peace Prize, I'll never run a marathon, to be honest folks, I'm going to be lucky if I can ever cook an 3 course meal! But maybe that isn't God's plan for me, maybe I was put here to simply make other people's lives better and help them enjoy their life a little more.

So, that's what I'm going to do. I'm just going to keep on living life, making other people smile and in the meantime I'll figure out my life goal....or how to cook. One or the other.

What am I?

Am I a farmer?

I used to say I was without a doubt. Now, I'm not so sure. My lifestyle has changed a bit. I moved 300 miles away from my dairy farm and work full time. What classifies you as a farmer?

I went to fill out a form the other day and it stated, “You must be a farmer/rancher to win.” Well, do I qualify? Does my first source of income have to be from the farm to be a farmer? Is it enough to be involved remotely on my family farm and help a neighbor on theirs?

Is it a money commitment? Time commitment? Or is the status of being a farmer driven by passion or personal belief?

I still do the record keeping back home in Minnesota. (Not my family records, cow records; Lord knows I don’t want to know my family tree!) I also milk cows at a local farm. When I take time off from my full time job, it isn’t to go hiking through the mountains or lay on a beach, it’s to go home and help on the farm, show my cows or help at the county fair. A day doesn’t go by that I don’t have a “cow conversation.” Now, that might include an actual full conversation with a cow, but don't judge, they are good listeners.

My PTO: Showing Raisa :)

I work full time at an agricultural marketing agency because my passion is in connecting people to their food. To do that effectively, I think you have to be both a producer and consumer. My main income isn’t from the farm, heck it hasn’t been in the 22 years I’ve been alive. Actually, for the first 20 I counted it as volunteer work on my resume! (Insert dad quote about instilling values through hard work and not cash payment...) In a world where people are so many things at once, can a girl not have a city job and be a farmer?

Team motto: #listentothestadick. By the way..these are my awesome co-workers.

I’m an employee on a dairy farm because I miss the cow connection. I’m a teacher because I inform people about dairy farms. I’m a listener because I want to improve our farm. I am the person who will connect consumer's with their food, and farmer’s with their buyers. Does that make me a farmer?

Shout out to Cows on the Concourse for allowing me to listen to consumers! Oh and spend a whole day with baby calves :)

Third Times the Charm?

Third time is the charm right? I hope so, because this is the third time I've tried to start and keep this blog going...

Now that I've moved away from the farm and am working for an ag marketing agency, I thought it would only be appropriate for my first blog post to be about the similarities and differences between my life now and what it was on the farm.

Similarities:

1. I still get up before dawn...but now instead of easing into the morning milking, I go to the gym and pretend I'm throwing hay bales (or that's what it feels like....)
2. I still milk cows. Let's be real, we all knew I couldn't give that up!
3. I still talk a lot. Most of my conversations are just with myself now that I live on my own. Mom always said it's fine to talk to yourself. You don't have to worry until you start a conversation with yourself.
4. My neighbor is still 5 feet from my door...it just isn't my grandma or a cow fence anymore.
5. Finally, I'm still doing something I'm incredibly passionate about.

Differences:

1. I can make it to the 8am Sunday service instead of rushing to the 10:30am.
2. I have A LOT of me time. I still prefer the cow time.
3. I milk Brown Swiss not my Holsteins. That's enough said for now...
4. I can bike to the grocery store, work and gas station. No more of the 60 min drive to Coldstone. It is less than 10 miles people!!! :)
5. My self discipline has increased greatly (refer to Coldstone comment.)

Well folks, hopefully this is the first post of many more to come. Although, I'm not sure what I will be writing about yet since it used to revolve around farm activities. Any ideas, shoot them my way!