It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year!

The last few weeks my life have consisted of working at the elevator and loving it, along with still juggling school and not so much loving it.  The days I've been in class I find myself wondering how foolish it would be to quit school for a job that lasts just six or seven weeks out of the year.  Cause that's how much I love working at the elevator during harvest:)  But then I start thinking more "big picture" and come to terms with the fact that it probably would not be the wisest of decisions.  But really- I've been loving it!  (Harvest, that is)

 

 

However, except for one, possibly two more Saturdays, it has come to an end because I start my clinicals tomorrow.  I was excited about it at one point in time and I'm pretty sure I'll get excited for it again once I start, but until then, I'm not sure how I feel.  It's the whole harvest thing.  Once that's over I'll feel a lot better about being at clinical.  I'm going to be at an adult day care type place.  It's for people with Alzheimer's, traumatic brain injury, or something of the sort.  People who don't live in a facility, but can't be alone during the day when their families are at work.  The people with Alzheimer's are not really progressed in their disease yet, and will still be able to interact, though I may find myself having the same conversation 50 times each day.  In one of my jobs I worked with a lady who had Alzheimer's and I really enjoyed her, so I do think that once I meet the people and get accustomed to the place, all will be well.  But my nerves are definitely a little on edge right now!  I struggle so badly with feelings of inadequacy when it comes to my ability to do things.  I mean, I get it "on paper" and do fine in my classes, but I always have a fear that the way I implement the things I've learned will be wrong wrong wrong.  I can't tell you how many times during an evaluation in past jobs I've seen something like "Sarah does a good job, but she needs to work on being more confident."  What can I say?  I'm a lot more of a mess than people realize!  Oh boy.  Look at me, spilling all my secrets and insecurities.  Sure didn't intend to do that when I started this post!!

 

Anywho, other than that, I have an apple crisp baking in the oven right now for potluck tonight and smells deeeelish!  It's a recipe that I've never tried before so I sure hope it's good! 

 

Looking forward into the next month I'm pretty sure there will be some pretty entertaining events in my life.  Stuff with friends, stuff with friends' weddings.... it's always nice to have something to look forward to.  That's the only thing about harvest that I don't like.  You plow through all the long hours and then when it's over you realize you haven't really seen or talked to anybody in what seems like forever!  So it will be good to get out and be social again:)

What Not To Wear: Bridesmaid Edition

In our quest to find the perfect bridesmaid dresses, we were met with failure.  We did, however, find what we will NOT be wearing down the aisle! 

From left to right:  The purple leopard print would be fabulous if we were living in 1987. 

The pink, orange, blue, and black leaf/butterfly print?  Perhaps if we were teenagers who were one with nature.

I happen to think the middle selection is kind of a little bit cute, just not for a November wedding.  Key words being kind of and a little bit.

Number four actually shows some (fairly small) resemblance to the desired color scheme, though the heavily shoulder padded jacket might be more appropriate if we were all 70 instead of 30.

As for the last option, well, the bride is all farm girl and the groom loves his motorcycle so maybe the denim combined with the leather would suffice in a pinch. 

 

 

 

 

The good news is that by the end of the night, after discussing many possible solutions, the end result has been decided, though not available to see yet.  Not til November!

I Knew Him Before He Was Famous

I don't really know anybody famous.  But I might in a few years!  Awhile back my BFF Katrina heard a song online or on XM radio or something from a guy she had never heard of before- Austin Moody.  In his song he talked about a Case IH tractor, and being that she is a 3rd generation Case IH dealer/farmer, she emailed him!  Through a series of emails he then said he would like to come play at the dealership and through a series of a lot more stuff, he did!  And he's really good!  He definitely sounds like he belongs on the radio.  She let me take advantage of being her friend and I got to meet him and the band, and hang out on the tour bus before everything started.  (I know, I'm such a groupie!)  But they were all really nice and someday when he makes it big I'll frame my pictures.  Well, probably not, but at least I'll have a good story!

 

 

On the bus

 

 

 Austin and the drummer, Bobo.

 

 

 Concert time!  These band members have played with the likes of Wynona Judd, Tanya Tucker, and Dolly Parton.  They were legit!

 

I'm sure it helps that I really like country music, but I'm serious when I say he's good.  If you like country, check out his stuff!

The Closing Out Of Summer:(

You know the end of summer is drawing near when you see the tractor mower take out the sweet corn patch.

 

 

One last weekend road trip before school starts- perusing the streets of downtown Hannibal, MO.

 

Babysitting my two little sweeties one evening and having a little self-portrait time.

 

Game night with my first cousins- truly a joy!

 

School has begun now and unfortunately, easing into the new semester is a thing of the past.  I guess they figure we've been together long enough now that there's no use wasting time!  So, I can't say there will be a whole lot of action on here between now and Christmas break.  I mean, who really wants to know all about the mundaneness of my studying anyway?  Not me!!  But hopefully there will be something blog worthy come up now and then because I like to be on here.  It's a little bit of a therapeutic outlet for me.  Until then, happy end of summer to each of you!

Cedar Closet Treasures

While cleaning out the cedar closet, my mom found this gem of a shirt.  It was mine, back when I was about 5 years old.  I know I've mentioned on here before that my dad raises turkeys, and I acquired this particular shirt after one of his turkey conventions.  Yes, such a thing exists:)  And I felt cool.  If you can't read it, it says "Turkeys make wonderful friends".  I mean, who WOULDN'T feel cool in a shirt like that??? 

 

 

 

 

My mind travelled back to Kindergarten, when, while wearing it one day, I was quite confident that I was the coolest girl in the classroom.  The shirt made me feel a little on the invincible side.  I ask again, who WOULDN'T feel invincible in a shirt like that????  Because I had such confidence, I was sure I could do whatever I wanted in the classroom, just so long as I was wearing that shirt.  So one day, I decided to get from point A to point B by running, which, as is common in most classrooms, is a big no-no.  But not worries- I was wearing my awesome sweatshirt.  All was well until my teacher, Mrs. Norman, said above the noise of the classroom in a very sing-song, teacher-ish voice, "Sarah, we don't run in school"! 

 

I felt utterly deflated.  Devastated.  Confused, even.  I had just gotten reprimanded in front of my whole class.  While wearing my turkey shirt!  All of a sudden that shirt didn't make me feel so invincible.  In fact, if I remember correctly, I might have even been a little nervous to wear it again the next time because it stirred up those memories.  Now there's another generation that fits into that shirt.  Judging by her reaction to my request that she model it for me, I think it's safe to say she will not be experiencing any embarrassing moments in Kindergarten because of the turkey shirt!

 

What Was I Thinking?!?!

This summer while I've been babysitting, the challenge has always been to find something to do on the cheap.  Or even better- free!  Today we found ourselves going out to lunch and then PetSmart to look at the animals and fish they had in the store.  We came to the bunny rabbit section and one of the girls lamented over how much she would love to have a bunny because they're so cute.  I had to agree that yes, they are cute.  But I also had a memory come to mind.  A memory that I knew I absolutely couldn't share with the missing-her-two-front-teeth-big-brown-eyes-girl in front of me.

 

Have you ever done something in order to try and look cool and really it's about the dumbest thing you could do at the time?  Something that, when your parents ask you what in the world were you thinking, you really have no answer?  You just really weren't thinking?  Turns out, I used to have a pet bunny myself.  Her name was Nibbles.  I had her for about two years, from 5th to 7th grade or so.  I really liked Nibbles!  She was really cute- she looked about like the rabbit here.  But for the sake of coolness, Nibbles is no longer among the living.

 

 

(Source)

 

I shot Nibbles.  Granted, it was just a BB gun, but I shot her nonetheless.  My brother had a friend over and had gotten in trouble for something while the friend was there.  After lunch, my brother had to make restitution for whatever it was he had done, and it was left to me to entertain the friend.  He and my brother had been using the gun before lunch he wanted to keep using it afterwards.  Between the need to prove that I knew how to use the gun and his convincing me it wouldn't hurt the rabbit, we took turns firing at poor Nibbles.  And even more importantly, I had a huge crush on this guy's cousin and just KNEW that he would pass the word along that I was soooo cool!

 

Then my aim happened to be dead on and I hit Nibbles.  It didn't kill her right away, but I had never seen her jump that high!  We were far enough away that it didn't even really cause bad injuries, however, she was so traumatized and didn't move for the next few days until she finally just died.  As  soon as I hit her I realized what I did.  I was too scared to say anything so we just quietly put the gun away and went on with our afternoon.  I thought I was home free until my dad found her dead in her cage.  Then I had a LOT of explaining to do. 

 

You know how I said sometimes we do things just to look cool even though it's a really stupid choice and we don't really know what we were thinking?  I had no explanation for my dad.  And he didn't think I was cool right then.  Lesson learned.

 

Poor, poor Nibbles.

R.I.P. Giant Chicken Statue

Anyone who has spent a significant amount of time travelling on Route 24 between Illinois and Indiana knows the giant chicken statue.  Many a carload has stopped for a photo opportunity with it.  This past weekend, after yet another trip to IN, the passengers of the car I was in collectively decided to stop and take pictures of some of the well known places along the road home, including the giant chicken.  Actually, it's a rooster, but everyone calls it a chicken.  Two of us have already had our Kodak moment with the statue, but the third had only viewed the attraction as a passer-by.  As we came upon the place of the statue, we were horrified to see that it was gone!  Truly, it is the end of an era.  There was nothing to do but pay our respects and continue on our journey.  It is our hope that the giant chicken statue is only being repaired and will one day return to it's proper place.  But until then, we will look back with fond memories.  Rest in peace, giant chicken statue.