My LOVEly past two weeks.

Hello again. 

I'm feeling a fairly long-winded blog, because I haven't written in so long.

Just bear with me.

Since my last trip to the E.V. Smith Dairy Farm, I have been back twice; once to milk the cows, and once to perform mastitis checks. Both times were equally fun, although just a little annoyed that we drove 30 minutes out there yesterday, only to leave after 20 minutes to make the 30 minute drive back to Auburn. But other than that they were very informative, and it is always nice to get some hands-on experience. You know what my favorite part of both of those days was? Getting to eat a Moe's before we left. If nobody else, I know Lindsey will appreciate that. 

What else happened? 

Oh yeah, Valentine's day happened. A.K.A. "Single Awareness Day." That is always an extra special day for me. 

Just kidding. Actually, I quite enjoy Valentine's Day. It gives me an excuse to dress up in all pink, red, and purple, and wear any heart-shaped jewelry I have. And there is always a "single's party" that night. This time, all my single friends and I (a group which gets disconcertingly smaller and smaller every year), headed to Chili's to enjoy their queso appetizer, and their Chocolate Molten Lava cake and ice-cream afterwards. They stayed out for their party they were having, but I unfortunately couldn't go. More on that later. 

This holiday is also nice because my dad and I always exchange something. I will be enjoying his gift to me for 60 minutes tomorrow at Spa Auburn. Gotta love a massage. I really think I kneaded it too. 

For him, I bought a red poster-board and then proceeded to bedazzle and feather and ribbon and glue that thing to death. It seemed like a great idea and all, only then I had this giant thing that was incapable of being rolled up, and no way to get it to Atlanta for him. I decided to try my luck with UPS, and see what they could do with it. Now mind you, I didn't take it into the store at first, because there was no way I was going to be caught dead in public with this crazy thing I had made, unless I had to. I asked the guy if they could mail a posterboard, and he said "Sure, we can just roll it up and put it in one of these tubes." Well that wouldn't work because it was just too thick from the bows I put on it, too stiff from all the glue, and too delicate because the gems would pop off. So he suggested mailing it in a big cardboard box, and just not opening it all the way. It would be almost flat, and they could just tape off the edges. So I was very happy to hear that they could mail it, but sad because that meant I had to bring it in and show it too them. Needless to say, they didn't show too much amusement on their faces when they saw it. But they had to lay it on the scale while people kept coming in and out of the store and staring at it. Good thing I am not an easily embarrassed person. And good thing I am a girl, because I think even I would have laughed if I saw a guy trying to mail it. 

Don't get me wrong, it is really cute and I was happy with it, it was just very Loud.

I also got my roommate to take some pictures of me and Daisy in our Valentine's Day garb to send to my dad also. Here are some samples. 

So why couldn't I continue the Valentine's celebration that night? I spent most of the past two weeks studying, in preparation for the largest grouping of tests I have ever had since coming to college. That would be: Molecular Genetics on Monday, Animal Breeding and Animal Growth and Development on Tuesday, and Domestic Animal Behavior and G&D Lab Midterm on Wednesday. Needless to say, I felt the need to start studying early. And in the end, despite some minor freaking out that I just wouldn't make it, they all went fairly well. Praying for some peace of mind really can help matters out a lot. Now all I got to do is get caught up on my shows. But that's the fun part.

My Life as a Dairy Cow

I spent my afternoon at the E.V. Smith Diary Farm: Exit 26 off of 85. I went there for a lab in my Modern Livestock Systems Management class. 

I had a couple of classes first, and then a friend picked me and two other girls up from the Animal Science building. We had about forty-five minutes before we needed to leave, so we went and grabbed some lunch at Veggies-to-Go. Definitely one of my favorites. And made me very happy.

Then we made the 30 minute drive out there, which wasn't too bad. Mainly because I have been looking forward to this for a while, since I love going to E.V. Smith. We always do something fun there. This time my instructor, Dr. Cummins, (who is incidentally my advisor as well), took us around the farm and explained to us all the different methods and techniques they use for waste management, feedstuff mixing, blah blah blah.

 Interesting stuff, don't get me wrong, but I was ready to do what i was really was looking forward to- feeding the baby calves!

Later.

Here I managed to snap a picture of the infamous Dr. Cummins, explaining away the content of these cows' (cow's, cows, cowses? hah) feed: forage, corn silage, cottonseed- O Wait... you don't really care to know that do you? Anyways, this picture is for you mom.

So, the funny thing about dairy calves, is that they are taken away from their mother after a day or two, and then are kept in these things called hutches. There is one calf per hutch and they are kept far away enough from each other so that they can't have any physical contact. They practice this procedure, because it prevents the spread of disease between calves and keeps them from dying. It is funny because it makes them look like dogs, and the hutches look like doghouses. They have a collar and everything. A few of the girls in my class and I decided to see how many people we could fit in the hutch. I count six. I tried to convince the guys to have a "cute guy picture" like ours, but to no avail. 

And then I have about 50 million ridiculously cute pictures of my friends and I all feeding the calves. If you want to see them all, just check out my facebook album. And I don't think I even put all of the ones I had there either. I put up some videos also. 

This calf was everybody's favorite because she was a freak. Ahem, a red holstein cow that is. Not black and white like all her cooler neighbors. Or those happy california cows for that matter. 

Speaking of- did you know that the "Great cheese comes from Happy cows, Happy cows come from California" commercials are played in every state except California, where it is illegal? That would be because PETA sued them for false advertising and won. Don't you just love those people? Here and Here.    

 

I actually took this picture, because Dr. Cummins just finished telling us that this cow has approximately 100 pounds of milk in her udders right now, most likely a little more. Whew! Thank goodness she is walking up to the milking parlor in this picture. If I had 100 pound boobs-     

that would suck.

And just a few more random pictures for ya'll to enjoy.

Groovy Man

Got a few pictures of me and Carlyn rockin' the 3D glasses during the Super Bowl party.

I must say I was slightly disappointed with special effects. I don't know what I was expecting, since it is not like my T.V. is made for that kind of thing anyways. I guess I just wanted everything to pop out at me a little more. Instead I just got a bunch of football players floating around the screen. Maybe I just wanted it to be a little more...

Gratifying? Especially after all the hype and advertising they did about it.

To top it off, my head hurt after I took the glasses off, from adjusting back to the normal television screen.

But at least we looked very hip. Or as Carlyn's mom told her when she handed them to her, "you will be the coolest one at the party!" Thanks mom.

So after I read my sister's blog, I decided to post a few pictures of my own. I got home yesterday and Magen told me she had taken pictures of something on my camera, and this is what they were.

Someone had pulled the trashbag out of the can, and set it down next to it. Combine that with all the leftover Super Bowl snacks, and I just don't think Daisy could resist.

 

I wasn't planning on posting this, because it is not that big of a deal to me. Daisy is constantly flipping the trashcan lid open while I am gone and pulling out just my banana peels to eat. Only when something rises to the level of bodily functions do I not like cleaning it up.  ech. But I just wanted Lindsey to know that her dog is not the only one causing trouble this week. 

Pre-Super Bowl XLIII

I am having a few people over tonight for the Commercials... excuse me, I mean for the Super Bowl.

Called Meaghan earlier, and we decided to go to the grocery store together and buy a few things to fix for snacks tonight.

I fixed the brownie chocolate chip thing suggested by my sister and am currently waiting for the ganache to set. Then we will see if it turned out all right. But it looks Heavenly.

Pouring in the ganache.

Meaghan provided us with some 7-layer Mexican Dip. 

Oh Yeah, we made rotel dip too.

Meaghan also brought her Sheltie, Anna, over to hang out with us. She and Daisy are both pretty chill and they pretty much ignore each other. Except for the fact that Anna tends to follow Daisy around and stare at her. I call her Daisy's lesbian lover.

They love each other!

Haha, I am just putting up this picture that Meaghan took, because she thought it was going to be a good picture... except Daisy sneezed while she took it. She looks pained.