CMREC Facility

 Here is information about the facility I work at  CMREC Facility.
 People keep asking me what I do at the dairy. The answer is I do many different things on different days. One thing I do everyday is milk cows. The cows need to be milked twice a day and I am there when the second time comes around.
  So when I was in Kindergarten I went on this field trip to Thanksgiving Point and visited the petting zoo. One part of the petting zoo we went into a milking parlor. In the parlor there were machines to milk the cows. People working there explained that cows weren't hand milked anymore and that they were all milked by the machines. I thought that dairy's were so neat and I wanted the chance to work at one later in my life. It's neat that I have the chance to do that now. Dane wants me to get milk into wounds on my hand so I can get Cowpox and be able to fight off smallpox when terrorists help it escape and cause an epidemic:)
  Besides milking I usually help clean the parlor. A few times I have fed the calves. I have helped sort cow's out and bring cow's to the chute. I have now given my first shot. When the Vet came he had me palpate inside a cow. I enjoyed that I only found the cervix  and not the ovaries. It was my first time.
   And then I usually watch as artificial insemination takes place or cow's being given pills or having their hooves bandaged up. I have learned a lot about how the facility is managed. How they clean the barns, how they recycle the manure, how they get the cow's feed. What feed to use for which cow's, how they make the bedding. I am still learning. It has been a lot of fun. I got to see my first live birth.  (I never saw the sheep actually giving birth at USU I always came out when the sheep were already on the ground.) I guess I did see two C-Sections of cloned calves at USU but it didn't come out where it was supposed to. Here I did get to see a cow come out (the people I worked with actually had to help pull it out.)
  Lab today was fun. We got to feel inside a cows rumen. The rumen went a lot deeper than I expected. We then grabbed some of the feed that was in the rumen and squeezed out the liquid from it into a bucket. We then took that liquid and looked at it through a microscope. There were a lot of microbes in it. It was so cool to see them all moving about.  In lab there was also a ruminants (didn't ask what kind of ruminant)  stomach sitting out on the table. It was neat to see in real life what the "honeycomb" shape of the reticulum looked like and the folds of the omasum. Oh yeah for those who don't know cow's have a four chambered stomach the four parts of the stomach are called the rumen, the reticulum, the omasum and the abomasum. The abomasum is what you and I have the "true stomach".

  Last week in lab we looked at the digestive system of a chicken. Even if we were focusing on the digestive tract she showed us the yolks that had been formed in the reproduction part. It was so weird to see all those egg yolks in the body waiting to go down and form a shell. Simply amazing.
  Terp Host is still going well I am liking it more and more. I got a Maryland T-shirt the other day for going the extra mile. That made me pretty excited.
  I am liking the University of Maryland for the most part I just wish my credits would transfer better. Still don't know what to do about those. And I wish they had more maps around campus. Utah State wasn't that big but they had maps everywhere. The University of Maryland is huge and has a lot less maps. I have been lost so many times. Getting the hang of things more and more though.

DC Voyage

 Finally made it to DC but to my dismay I forgot my camera. It was really neat to see the Capitol. Dane has now seen the capitol in three countries; America, Cambodia and Germany. I have only seen the one in America. We went to one part of the Smithsonian and found out that all the exhibits are free which to me was extraordinary.  We went to the National Museum of the American Indian. We got to DC kind of late so didn't have to much time. We really liked that museum and can't wait to see all the other museums.

Wedding Day

  So before my wedding I constantly looked at pictures, wedding videos and blogs to get ideas for my wedding. So I just wanted to explain what I did for my wedding. I got engaged in the middle of August.

  No this is not an actual picture from his proposal. Although I do wish I had some sort of picture from the night that Dane proposed. For those that don't know. Dane proposed at the airport the night that he go back from his ethnographic field school in Cambodia. This is a picture of Dane and I at Senior Ball in 2009. Which by the way was pretty fun. We went horseback riding for the day activity and had a picnic. The part that the school planned was not as fun. They ran out of food in the middle of it.

 I planned for a wedding in either the Spring or the Summer. The date ended up changing a lot. It ended up being June 25, 2011. Because of the long delay I didn't start planning for a while. I believe I started dress shopping in March when I had Spring Break. I don't really remember. It could have been in January when I had Christmas break. I don't really know... My sister in law did some fishing and found a really good store you could rent from called Gowns by Pamela. I was happy with the idea of renting because it made it so you could get a dress you really really liked and not spend a fortune on it. Gowns by Pamela had the option of having a corset which I was really happy for. When I went dress shopping all I really knew was that I wanted a more old fashioned feel to it and I didn't want mermaid or puffy. It was hard to find a dress I really really liked. I liked this empire waist dress; It really reminded me of Pride and Prejudice it was a little too plain though. We came back and found the dress I ended up wearing. I think I looked a lot better in Ivory. One thing that was kind of sad was I didn't go dress shopping with my friends. I had a lot of fun when I went with Lisa. I just didn't have very much time since I lived in Logan. I did have fun shopping around with my mother.
  After my dress was taken care of I think I waited till I got out of school to actually plan the rest of it. I chose colors a while back all I had was this sample picture of purples greens and blues. Trying to put everything together  and hoping it all turned out right was the hard part. My flourist was my mom's friend Debbie Lewis. She had suggestions about cake decorators and table cloth stores. She suggested Susan's Party Rentals for the table cloths. Which we ended up using. Susan was really friendly and had a lot of options I was happy to have found that place.
  As for the cake we actually ended up going to a lady suggested by Susan that lived in Springville. I can't remember her name sadly. She just decorated cakes as a hobby. I ended up really liking my cake and was happy to have found her. Cake decorating is a hobby I would really like to pick up. I think my cake was flavored chocolate, chocolate and carrot. I guess people actually ended up liking the carrot flavor more.

  As for food that was a really big issue. The biggest issue with food was that we planned on a lot of people but couldn't really guess how many would come. My first thought was to have crepes and fruit.
my mom and I went to a caterer and found that they were very expensive. We ended up with pies. In the end it was pretty good.  A lot less people showed up than we expected so we didn't waste as much money. Was sad how many didn't show up. I know a lot couldn't  make it but to those who could thank you! Side note  but I was thinking, I think a lot more people would come to a funeral than a wedding. I think for a funeral you feel more obligated to come. But personally I would rather have people come to my wedding than my funeral. I can't talk to anybody at my funeral.
  Dane's parents were very nice to offer a Luncheon which Dane and I decided to do Costa Vida at a park that was pretty casual. I was happy with that decision I thought it turned out  well. I should have given a speech about Dane though :( I was kind of not thinking clearly. When I drove into the parking lot I had a sort of anxiety attack with so many people. Ashley did a great job at decorating she made a cowboy/space luncheon. I like western stuff and Dane likes space. Sadly we all forgot to bring a camera so we have no pictures of the event.
  I think I talked about the rest of the events of my wedding in my blog; Explanation and Being Married Sentimental thoughts.
 In the end I was pretty happy with how my wedding day turned out. Now I get to spend the rest of my life with this guy : D

Good Ol' Land of Mary

 Last week in lab we had to catch chickens, walk horses around and catch sheep. I didn't think it was as fun as the week before. I discovered that I'm kind of scared of chickens that was my first time needing to catch one. Chickens are so weird how they look, behave and their anatomy. I grew up in an urban area so you would see your typical house pets;  dogs, cats etc. In the past few years there has been a trend for our neighbors to get chickens. Apparently chickens are good for yards because they stir the dirt. And my neighbors used them for eggs. I thought it was neat. (A little annoying that we already had a dog, a Poodle which is a "bird hunter"). But I wanted to try it out sometime when I got older. Now I am not so sure...  Leading the horses around was fun to be with the horses but felt like I didn't learn anything new. And the sheep were okay. My first test will be this Wednesday.
  Winter is coming. It is getting cold! And my body does not make very much heat. Below is a picture of Dane and I at the National History Museum in Dallas, Texas. In January 2011. We really liked that museum it had a lot of neat things. One part of the museum had all these flip boards that had a creature and asked how much of their DNA was the same as in Humans. Dane got them all right except one. I was surprised I didn't know any of them.

 I worked outside for a major part of my shift last Saturday at the Football game. Thankfully I was under heated lamps.  Dane works outside all of his shifts.  I don't think my circulation being so poor helps me in anyway. I wonder why that genetic trait persisted. All sides of my family came from pretty cold places. Maybe some are not that cold but still; France, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany. To try to prepare for the cold Dane and I went to a sporting good store that sold Under Armor. We bought some thermals. I wish I had gotten thermals earlier. However, I really don't know how helpful they will be since my body doesn't seem to produce very much heat. (except for at night where my feet are on fire) For my sheep class I got coveralls and I loved them! I wish I could wear them everywhere. I guess I could I would just be embarrassed. They kept me warm.
  I was told before I came to the East that people here aren't as nice as the West. I'm starting to really discover that that is true. So much honking! And just straight out rudeness from folks. There are really nice people here but it seems that the rude ones out number them.
  There are so many people everywhere. Shopping is a nightmare. I hate shopping to begin with but the amount of people here make it ten times worse. It seems when I need things things there is not nearly enough employees to help. I've always hated driving and the driving here is a lot busier.  My nurse told me today that Maryland was voted number one for the worst traffic in the Country. Hopefully I'll come out of this a better driver :)

Bovine, Ovine, Equine and Swine

 Yay I finally got to start working at the Dairy today it was more training but still yay! I had my interview in the middle of August and had to wait for paperwork to go through and it finally did! I think I will like it I am excited to learn a lot more about how the Dairy Industry works, and get more experience with cattle. So far my only experience with cattle was when I joined Club Calf at Utah State and helped get a calf ready to get auctioned to go to a feedlot. There I didn't quite get the knot to tie them and couldn't exactly wrangle them by myself.  Last friday  in my lab we got to handle two older milking cows and I got reminded how to tie the knot now I got it down. In lab we also got to gather pigs and weigh them. I had never done anything with pigs and was happy to get a little experience with them. All I really know about pigs is what I've learned in class and that I like bacon.  I was shocked last year when I learned in my animal science class that mothers will eat their piglets sometimes or lay and crush them. I think it's weird how fast they go feral.
   Next week in lab we will handle horses and sheep. I did take that sheep class so feel like I can handle them pretty well. I'm sure there is a lot more stuff to learn. While I took that sheep productions class one of the field trips we went on was to   The Snowy Mountain Sheep Creamery in Eden, Utah. I really liked that place. I really liked the cheese and I really liked what a small setting they had. It made me want to start my own sheep dairy sometime. I ended up really liking sheep after that class. I was getting married in the Summer so couldn't but there was an opportunity to take a band of sheep up through ranges in Montana. It would basically be you a horse a dog and the sheep. That sounded like so much fun! I really enjoyed that class and was happy I took it.

  The horse part of the lab should be fun too. I want to get more experience with horses. I love Maryland for all the internships they have available here. Hopefully I can get more after this Dairy.
  Fall is coming it seems like you can tell a lot more than in Utah. Utah I feel sort of skips Fall. It comes but it is short you have a hot summer then a cold winter. Although I think I prefer Utah summers dry and no humidity. It is getting cooler here. I am very excited to see the trees change colors. The trees here are beautiful so many forests.
 The Terp Host job has been good so far. It does make your feet ache. And people can be rude. But overall I like it and am happy for the hours and a job. It's good that it makes me talk and be friendly to people :) This is a horrible picture but that is what I wear for Terp host just have a black belt and black shoes and socks. In the winter we have a long white button up shirt and a black vest.

  As far as Dane goes. His job is hard and demanding and wears him out. But he is doing a good job at it and being his friendly self. These are his work clothes.

And this is what he does everyday with his clothes.

He has a new hard hat and he wrote Anthropology on it. Some guy saw it and started talking to him and he knew a Grad student getting his Masters in Anthropology who is gathering a team together to study Coal Miners. We hope he is interested in Dane or has room.
   A few weeks ago Dane and I got the chance to go to Medieval Times. I always wanted to take Dane to it because I thought he would enjoy it. I went to the one in California when I was a little girl. I really enjoyed it then. He ended up really really liking it. I think I liked it more when I was little but I still had a good time. When I was little I didn't realize it was a performance and staged. This time a knight did throw a  carnation to me which was fun.

 So while Dane was courting me he did this really sweet thing. He got a hold of my friend who got a hold of my locker combination and he had her leave a white rose and a sweet note in it. I was so surprised by it and thought Dane was a flower guy. Turns out he thinks the concept of flowers is very stupid. "Why pay for something that will die in a few days". I get his point but still. My favorite flowers are tulips. If my wedding was in the spring there definitely would have been tulips there.  For one of my birthdays my sister McKenna got me a bouquet of Orange Tulips I loved them! 

Becoming a Terp

On August 22 I had Orientation for the University of Maryland. I had a lot of extra time to explore the campus. The campus is the biggest campus I have ever seen! It is very beautiful. I will be happy when I know where everything is. The food court was also really big and nice. 

 I really liked Utah State and Logan it had its own more small town ways. University of Maryland will be exciting for the bigness I think. I also think it is more of a big deal to attend here than Utah State. It is harder to get into and is a much higher ranked school.  I have been happy with my decision to come here. Really happy in fact all until it was time to register for classes. I went to register and saw that UMD accepted barley any of my generals at Utah State. At Utah State I finished all my generals and was moving on to the pre-vet stuff. Here they are basically saying I have to start all my Core classes over again! Which I cannot do. I sent all my course descriptions to be reevaluated but we shall see. If they end up not taking my generals I may have to come back to Utah State. Which I would be sad about. This feels like a new chapter in my life. 

  One thing I must say was nice about Utah State is that they did not have all the papers I have had to fill our here. I have had to do all these health insurance and immunization records Utah State didn't ask for any of that. Thanks Utah State for that :) Dane's diploma is in our living room every time I see it I am filled with pride. I feel like getting a diploma is no easy thing. 

So far I have had two days being a Terp Host. Both times I was an usher for the event "The Global Prayer Summit". I like is so far. It was neat being at the global prayers summit there were so many people so happy. The religion that held it was called "The Shadow of the Almighty Prayer and Deliverance Church."  Everybody there was of color and most were from Africa. There was a lot of fun music which I enjoyed. There was also a lot of yelling most of which I couldn't understand just caught parts like if you pray you will be raised. A lot of the people had brooms and oil. One guy came up to my section and was singing and dancing to the music. He said his mom set up this event and he was proud of her. It was a really neat experience.
  It is weird for me to greet people. Normally I don't ever approach people. And now I need too.

At our wedding one really neat gift we got were these glasses. It was a very non-original gift. We were sad there wasn't an Avenger cup with Thor. Thor is both our favorite. Thor has only recently became  my favorite. I have just learned a lot about Vikings and Vikings gods from Dane and have grown a fondness for them.  Lol we even have Thor hammer necklaces made from Dane's Grandma. We were both very excited for them. Not many people around the US have Thor hammer necklaces that we know about.  I think it is neat that both are names are Scandinavian. Mine means Ever Powerful and Dane's mean Person from Denmark :)

Since I'm going on about neat gifts I really like things with names in them.

We got these for our wedding from a lady in my old home ward and really liked them.

Our Home in Maryland/ Math transfer difficulties

 We still do not have much furniture but here are some pictures of what we have so far. 

This is our bed :) The bed spread was made my Grandma June a few years ago. I love it and was really happy to have a queen again to use it. The pillow cases were made my little sister Alyssa. The Dinosaur blanket is Dane's I believe he got it from his parents when he was little. The bear is Blue Bear it has been Dane's prized possession since he was one. Eeyor I got a few years ago. When I was little he was always my favorite character on Winnie the Pooh. 

 Below is Dane's computer and where he put all his posters. Those posters include maps from his favorite video games, pictures he has drawn, the galaxy, and genealogy charts.

 This is our guest Bathroom. Dane chose everything. We got it at Bed Bath and Beyond where we had a lot of money from our wedding. Thanks again everybody for the wedding gifts!

 I wanted a doormat with a C with swirls. But Dane wanted this one a lot more. Our house seems to have a critter theme.

 Dane put this up in our kitchen without me knowing and was really excited for me to see it. It is  kind of a fuzzy picture it reads:

"Cattle did, kindred die, Every man is mortal: 

But I know one thing that never dies,

the fame of a dead man's deeds."

-- The havamal

 I got these at my bridal shower from Dane's Grandma Dallyne. I thought they were so beautiful!

 This is our bathroom. Again Dane chose everything.  I think he would rather have had a whale but there  were none available.

 Dane got this towel as a Graduation gift. I can't remember who gave it to him :( I thought it was a good gift though.

 Our kitchen table for now :D It was originally planned for out TV.

 Our very low chandelier. Which Dane despises.

 Backyard

I was very excited to get a new home we had a few obstacles in our way. The main one being Internet. The Internet got installed last Wednesday! We technically could move into this house on August 8th but we did not officially move into it until the evening of August 20th. Only reason we moved out of Gary's apartment was that there was no more room. It was actually sad moving away we had a lot of fun there. I especially liked the first week we got to Maryland. Dane's mom and dad and Quinn were the only ones at the apartment at that time. I really like Dane's parents. Gary at that time had a little bit more open schedule so he was able to be around more.  After Maren left Gary had to stay at the Dorms at school. So both the parents were gone. Mikauli then moved in. I  like both Quinn and Mikauli but having them both there made a lot more fights.
  Dane then started working full time as a Construction worker. I am thankful he has a decent job now with good hours. It's just a really hard on his body. When Dane was at work from 6am till about 6pm I was basically home all day alone. Mikauli and Quinn had athletics to attend to. I  worked on my sheep paper, caught up on reading and kind of prepared for the math placement exam.
  Speaking of that Math placement exam, Math has been so frustrating for me through college. In high school I was pretty decent at math I could do it and for the most part I enjoyed Algebra. I then took geo/trig honors. That was a mistake in every way possible one taking geometry and trigenometry at the same time and taking an honors course. I did really poorly in that class. That was my Junior year and so decided not to take math my senior year. I really regret that decision. Math  is a lot harder in college. In my high school the next math course to take was pre-calculus it is a whole year class. In College it is only a semester. Anyways when I got to College I was way behind in Math mainly because I had not taken it in a year and just needed a review. But did not have the materials I needed to review so started from the very beginning Math900 (beginning Algebra) Then in the Summer I took Math1010  (Basically what algebra 2 was in high school)  Then I took Math 1050 (College Algebra or pre-calculus). I did not do very well in that class I of course have a million excuses why :) My schedule was too full, the teacher was bad. I studied so hard for those tests and never came out with a good grade :(  All my finals were at the first two days of the week one after the other. I passed with a C though and was able to move onto Calculus. Calculus I worked at really hard too but did not do well I ended up with a D. For my major the reason I needed to take Calculus was to take a physics class. To move on to physics I needed anything better than a D. So I knew I would need to retake it.
  In the summer I decided to apply to the University of Maryland. I knew I would need to retake Calculus there too because a D was still not passing. I assumed because I had just recently taken all those math classes they would accept them all except for Calculus. Nope they didn't accept any and wanted me to take a math placement exam. I took it not having anytime to prepare and the want me to start all over again! I can't continue taking on classes without those maths. I will try to prepare this semester. But jeez it is so frustrating.

   That was a really big tangent. Math has given me and is giving me a huge headache.

So Dane and I lived at Gary's till Saturday when he came home from the dorms then the next Tuesday or Wednesday the rest of the family came up so Maren, Macloud and Torriana. It has been nice having them here. I like them all a lot. Having Maren means I actually do stuff again. Dane and I only have one car so I am still just left at home. School will start on Wednesday and then the Dairy should start soon. Terp host is usually just on the weekends for events.