Oh the places you will go...

It is hard to believe that Friday was such a mix of emotions. From my last day as an undergrad student, to not knowing what is next. I was both happy and sad. I posed a question on my Facebook, "Do I follow my dreams, or make a decision that is financially responsible?" I received many responses, most that told me to reach for my dreams and never look back. It's really weird to me that I ever questioned what I should do, but my up bringing caused me to. Still in limbo I called the only person that, as an adult, I have never cried to and I have always kept my cool around, my Aunt Beth.

My Aunt Beth isn't my biological aunt, she is my mother's best friend from high school. Although she isn't biological you would never know. She has helped my mom and my brother and I throughout our entire lives. She is the one that I go to when I need a really good lecture. So I called her and decided to see what she thought. Needless to say, she gave me a very realistic perspective and gave me more options than I thought I had.

I also decided to bring out a book that I had long forgotten about, that Aunt Beth so happened to have gotten me, "Oh, the places you'll go!" After reading the book, because it is easy and one of the most inspirational books that has ever been given to me, I realized something. I realized that, "I'm sorry to say so but, sadly, it's true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you...and when your in a slump, you're not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done."

However, I turned the page and learned, "And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! Kid, you'll move mountains! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So....get on your way!

I know that this is almost a childish way of thinking of things, however sometimes things are too simple for our advanced minds, and we make things so much more complicated than they actually need to be.

So, for this Christmas season, I am going to have faith and hope and trust in my education and trust in my gut feelings. I am going to do what I have always wanted to do and have hope and faith that it will work out for the best.

Until next time, Merry Christmas!

CG

On The Road Again

Well it's about that time. The time to travel for the holidays. Throughout my entire life my brother and I traveled. It might be a shock to some of recent friends to know that I was born in Louisville, Ky. When my mother and father divorced my mother decided to move us, me and my brother to western Kentucky, which is where I grew up. Most of the time when asked where I am from I respond with Fancy Farm, Ky. So when the Holidays come around my brother and i always find ourselves in a dilemma. Where do we go to which Holiday and how long do we stay there. Growing up Mom always made it a priority that we see our father since we lived 4 hours away from him. But now that we are older she tends to let us make our own decisions about where we will spend our time. This year I decided to have the best of both worlds, I would spend the weekend before at the Elder Thanksgiving and the week of with the Gravattes. This year I am kinda thankful that I don't have a significant other cause I don't know how I would manage more family.

Along with traveling for family, this year I am also traveling to find a job. Currently I am at the airport waiting on a flight to Chicago for an interview. I don't think I have ever been this nervous about something. However, I am just going to have to take deep breathes and leave it in Gods hands. Welp, they are calling to board.

CG

A very MEATY summer...

As I close out another summer in our nation’s capital I thought it would be a good time to reflect on the fun, crazy, and exciting experience that I had this year. I will preface this by telling you that I never thought that I would end up back in Washington, D.C after last year. I thought that the internship I had at Monsanto was a once in the lifetime experience and how was I ever going to top it! Then I learned that no matter how hard you try, you can never top your first (at least in the memory category).

I started out the summer kinda rocky due to not being able to find a place to live and eventually with the tons of help from my roommate (ok, she did it all) we found a place to live. I was moving back to the city where I should have known tons of people, but the truth is everyone that I knew had left for the summer because they were college students.

When my parents moved me in for yet another summer in the big city it was a different response all together from last summers. That is because this year I lived in a not so good part of town. Throughout the summer right out my front door or a few blocks away there has been a dog fight, a shooting, a bomb threat, and I happen to live next door to some drug dealers (unconfirmed). I have been called names (they seemed to think terms of endearment) that I hope to never hear again and really have only feared for my life once (and even that time wasn’t too bad…just someone getting too close for comfort).

After meeting my other two roommates that both work for NPR I soon learned that living in a house with people who have very different ideas of my own was the lesson of the summer.

The internship at the American Meat Institute was such a different experience than I had last year. Over at Monsanto I was a part of a department whereas at AMI I was apart of the whole association/company. At Monsanto in order to see the President/CEO I had to watch teleconferences, at AMI I could walk into his office (although I never did..haha).



Monsanto offered me the corporate environment of multiple tiers of leadership and many networking opportunities throughout the company. AMI offered me close nit group where I could network with thousands of member companies.



Being apart of the AMI team I realized that it isn’t corporate agriculture that certain people are after, they are after ALL of conventional agriculture. You know people are after you when in order to get onto the AMI floor you need a special key, to get into the door you need a special key, and if you leave the door open a second too long then the alarm sounds….apparently they have had some run in with Peta. People wanting to attack our industry and the people in it is such a slap in the face to our farmers. Like it or not the food that you eat does come from an actual person whose title just happens to be “farmer”.

I hate the fact that our society has come down to questioning the occupation of farmers. When was the last time the secretary (or as they are referred to now Administrative Assistants) was questioned about her/his duties and title. They are allowed to live a day where they work mostly from 9-5. A farmer puts in so much more time than that and they are still criticized. I just don’t understand it.

This summer AMI made me realize that defending our food supply has truly become a reality. I know this doesn’t apply to defending beliefs but this quote from my soccer days just came to mind. “Offense sells tickets but defense wins games.” So while Peta/HSUS are on the offense, our defense will win in the end.

Now it is back to the homeland.....Western Kentucky

To be or not to be…..an agvocate.

Now to most people there is a simple answer to this question, of course be an agvocate! The idea of advocating for something that is so near and dear to my heart like agriculture is a no brainer! However, lately when starting to write for my blog I hesitate when it comes to defending my industry.

Many people can tell you that I have never been one for a lack of words. Those same people will also tell you that I hate to be wrong. So when these two worlds come crashing together I become very silent. The truth is I am afraid to agvocate and then be wrong about something that I said.

I did this when presenting my undergraduate research at the ADSA/ASAS Joint Annual Meeting in Denver, CO. I looked at my professor and asked, “What happens if they ask me this impossible question about my research that I don’t have the answer to?” He simply replied, “No one knows your research more than you do, not even me. I only know more about the analysis, so if you get any questions about that just send them to me.” And you wanna know what, HE WAS RIGHT (don’t let him know though)! I received so many questions about what I did by people who were genuinely interested in my research and not on making me look like a fool. I even was able to start a conversation with Dr. Temple Grandin and she gave me some amazing career advice. This one on one conversation eventually turned into all the undergrads (the grad students were out and about) asking her for advice and having a great conversation about what we should be doing to inform the public.



I learned that day that no one knows agriculture better than the people that were raised on a farm, and the farmers themselves. I learned that I should never be scared to voice my opinion and if I am not confident in a piece of information that I wanna share with people I have a whole host of professors at the University of Kentucky that will gladly set me straight. Upon graduating from UK I was given something that most people dream of, a toolbox of resources. Those resources are named, Dr. Bewley, Dr. Heersche, Dr. McAlister, Dr. Bob, DAP, Dr. Aaron, Dr. Thrift, Dr. Ely, Dr. Cromwell, Dr. Cantor, Dr. Pescatore etc. I could go on and on with the names that I have in my contacts list that are more than happy to help me with agvocating and making my future brighter and I honestly wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for their expertise and guidance.

Creativity...do I have any?

The school year is almost upon us and I am moving back to my great state of Kentucky next week and I got to thinking....this could be the last semester I am ever in school. And what did I decide to do with my last semester in school? I chose to take 13 hours of classes, work a part-time job (that consists of writing two scholarly journal articles for my undergraduate research), and enjoy the simple pleasures of being only responsibly for me. The classes that I have chosen to take are ones that I believe will help me through life, for example I don't believe myself to be the most creative of people...in fact sometimes I cruise the internet just on ways to figure out cute things that someone else came up with and then I can copy in my own house. So in order to work myself into being creative I am taking a class entitled (I can't make this stuff up) Creativity 101! It is considered a humanities at the University of Kentucky and fulfills my universities requirement in order to officially graduate! The creative juices are starting to flow!



Next I am taking Dairy Judging. Now I have already taken a intense (I say that for Dr. Heersche) Dairy Judging course. But this one is where you get to go to amazing places like World Dairy Expo, and Harrisburg, PA (I don't know what is there, but trust me it is a big deal!) I love cows, I have always loved cows, I grew up on a dairy farm and my step-father quit dairying when I was in high school. He blames it on me saying that I never would like to milk cows and he wouldn't have any help outside. I think he just says it in an effort to make me feel horrible that we had to quit because it was becoming nothing more than a very costly hobby. Since being in college I have spent more time out at the UK dairy and being with cow loving people than I ever was in Fancy Farm, KY. Heck, I even went to Scotland in May to do nothing else but see their cows and compare their industry to ours.

I am also taking a class (to fulfill my cross cultural) about politics in 3rd world countries. I am thinking that I will learn so much from this class because so much more goes into politics from around the world and third world countries than go into our country. Politics in other countries especially ones with low incomes is much more hostile and dangerous. I have a feeling it will humble me and appreciate the country that I am from, even more.

The final class I am taking is an Ag Econ one. It's probably the most serious in my schedule. It is a class that looks at International Agriculture and trade. I am super excited about this one because I love to look at the various cultures and how the way they live influences the way they trade. For example, we are the only country that has a separation of church and state so that means most of their policies have to go through religious traditions/guidelines before making it into law. This effects our trade with countries. We don't put a whole lot of money trying to trade cows with India because they worship the cow and would never think about eating it.

I really can't wait to get back to all of my friends and be able to go to lunch, TAILGATE at the football games, and just truly enjoy the last of my undergraduate career. I am sad that it is over so quickly however I am happy for all the experiences, roadtrips, friends, and love I have and am going to be able to share with these people for one final semester!

Now, to the kitchen...

All about the sweetness...

"Sure girls from New York are tough. And girls from Georgia, they are sweet. But those born and bred, feisty Kentucky girls, those are the ones you have to look out for. We have sugar and fire in our blood. We can ride a horse, be a debutante, throw a left hook and tell you the entire UK line-up all while making sweet tea. And if we have an opinion, you get to know it. We're both the pride and downfall of the Bluegrass" ~Ashley Judd




Those famous words got me to thinking one day....why doesn't everyone love sweet tea? I know, in that entire quote I just had to focus on the food component..haha, but who could blame me. What is it about this wonderful beverage that has the majority of Southerners addicted and Northerners scowling in disgust? Well, I have an idea on the subject. Sweet tea is a staple in my family and has always shared a spot at the dinner table with me and my siblings. However, our tea is a little different from the next Southern families. Here is our recipe:
-- 4 bags of Luzianne Decaf tea (in the green box)
-- a pot of water
Heat the pot of water and throw in the tea bags. Then when it looks like it is done and the water is a deep brown remove the tea bags and pour the remaining liquid into a pitcher. Fill the pitcher up with cool water. Fill your glass with ice (my family prefers crushed, since we have that feature on the fridge), then put 1 sweet n low in the glass and fill it to the brim with tea. Enjoy!!

NOW, if you can follow that recipe and you have a good product in the end then you ae either very lucky or have made sweet tea before. Sweet tea is something that is learned preferably by a southerner. Recipes just don't do it justice.

Of course, my families recipe definitely is not a normal one. A normal recipe calls for everything in the above recipe except after you take out the tea bags you pour in 2-4 cups (everyone is a little different, for Becca & Brit it would be 4 cups, for me it would be 2 cups...haha) of sugar. After the sugar has dissolved then you pour it into a pitcher and fill it with cool water. By the way, in this recipe don't put any sweet n low unless you wanna taste something disgusting!

In the southern world, which I proclaim is from Southern Kentucky to Florida's northern state line, sweet tea is as common as drinking out of mason jars, fried food, canning, and front porch swings.

The People of DC

While waiting for happy hour to start with the girls this evening I stopped at a Starbucks to grab coffee, new favorite is iced coffee with a pump of hazelnut and a little bit of milk, and those delicious apple fritters they have. During this time I sat down to enjoy my new purchase in front of the window. And so…I decided to watch people. It was enlightening to see the different stories on people’s faces. There were so many faces, since it was just as work was letting out on a Friday. Some were happy, some were sad, others determined, while some were off in space. In addition to stories you could categorize many of the people into one of four groups: local, commuter, intern, and tourist.

The local…dressed very stylishly, seems eternally annoyed at the visitors that are encroaching on her city and space. Always has a very nonchalant look on her face with an I have all day kind of attitude about her.

The commuter…always dressed in professional attire, typically carries a backpack or a briefcase as if getting ready to embark on the biggest adventure of their lives. They move swiftly as if to say, “I am here to get a job done and then get the hell out of here.

The intern….one of the most common type of people that passed by me today. They are only here briefly but during the summer the sidewalks are filled with them. They try to be a cross between the commuter and the local. They almost try too hard to blend in and end up sticking out. They have yet to master the art of wearing flip flops to work and then change into your dress shoes. You know this from the 6-inch heels they are wearing in addition to the band aids that cover every surface of their foot.

Finally there are the tourists…one of the easiest groups to identify, typically a group or family all wearing tennis shoes or flip-flops. The dad has the map while the mom carries the backpack and metro tickets. Most of the children are completely mesmerized with the large city and all that it entails.

Some how all these groups manage to live in harmony 365 days a year? They understand each other’s role in the community and the dynamic that each group brings to the community. Even though each group gets highly annoyed with the others they understand and therefore tolerate.

Blog of the week:
Quote of the week: Most people are as happy as they make up their minds to be. -Abraham Lincoln

~Drink some sweet tea for me...

Ok, so some new ideas...

So...I have decided that this is going to be a weekly post kind of things because I just can never find the time, not that I am a busy person at all, to actually sit down and write. So, I am going to insert all the stupid things that I love to read about, such as photo of the week, quote of the week, blog of the week or website of the week. I just love those kind of things so I am going to put them up here. I am also going to have my different themes of the week or I might decide I want to post a million things up here over several days....who knows what could happen with this thing. However, I do know one thing, I decided that I was going to be committed to doing this this summer and I have very much slacked. I would like to do so much more and instead I have been procrastinating it with episodes of Glee and Greek, I know my brain cells are dying by the second. So, I will start tonight and then will update probably every Sunday (just in case you were going to bite your nails for the next post). I want this is to be a fun way for me to document what has become such a crazy life for me. So....here goes nothing.

The stressed, scared, "I'm never gonna get all this done" phase

Well, tomorrow I leave for Scotland and the beginning of my long and exciting summer begins. It's almost seems like a new start for some reason, I don't know why. I am ready to travel a ridiculously long time (total of 24 hours) and then make it to what I have been promised is one of the most gorgeous landscapes ever. I can't wait to see the Highland cattle....the ones with long hair. I am ready for weird, awkward foods, and the tasting of what will probably be the best beer even though I won't think that it is. I am ready to take the leap across the pond. What I am not ready to do (and this happens every summer) is leave my family and my friends. As much as I complain about them all the time I don't know how I could have made it through life with out them.



I know I am only leaving for 10 days, it's almost like a vacation, but then after that I won't be able to go back to Fancy Farm till the good ol' picnic. This is the longest I have gone not seeing the town. It will be a total of 5 months. Not to mention missing the farm and the cows and the chickens and the canning and the garden...There is just so much I miss these summers. My favorite time on the farm is during the summer because that is the time when the babies are getting bigger and then the garden is planted and you eat some of the best foods, especially from all the church picnics.

In addition to feeling sad because I know I have to leave everyone for 3 months I also have so much to do before my plane takes off at 1:00 pm tomorrow. I still have to move out of my house...I'm in the process, it's just a more extensive process than I thought. I also have to make sure that stuff for Washington is loaded into my truck and my truck is secure. I have to make sure my research is complete by tonight and I have to make my 10 minute presentation that I am supposed to be giving in Scotland...that has to be finished by 6 pm tonight....lol.

Well, I am headed to all the things that I should be doing.

Nothing quite as southern as young love...

This weekend I was able to take part in one of the oldest traditions in rural America, I was a "photographer" at a family friends wedding. Now, I just got my camera back at Christmas and I still haven't quite figured out all of Pandora's quirks and advantages. Well, yesterday I was able to learn a little bit more about my camera and a little bit more about shooting people especially groups of people. I love to be able to put people into fun or interesting poses and then have them turn out wonderful. But I also hate the blurry ones, the ones that you really thought turned well on your camera. This moment was so special and if my mother hadn't been taking pictures as well than the moment would have been lost.



Then there were pictures that you thought would be way too dark for you to ever get a great shot and the shot turned out perfect.



I also realized this weekend that my mother and I were not made to work with each other. I love her to death but neither one of us can get along when we work together. We both have strong ideas and strong personalities and so then you can't work at all because you have two very different ideas of what should happen. If there is something that both of us hate is being made fun of, and we do it to each other all the time. I have no idea why, but we do.

The final thing that this weekend taught me is, when I get married EVERYTHING will be put on by other people. I will hire people to cater, I will hire people to do my cake, I will hire people to do my flowers, I will hire people to clean up afterward. Everyone yesterday was very stressed because they weren't just focused on the bride and groom but also dealing with the food and the facilities and the flowers and everything else. I would like to have my family be as stress free as possible and in the end it be a happy (stress-free) day for everyone.

--CG

The daily grind.

How much can one person do? I am a full time student with 21 hours, a part time undergraduate researcher, a sorority sister, and a church goer. What do I do with my down time....when I have down time? I love to bake, utilize my Kitchen Aid mixer as much as possible, I love to take pictures. The thought of capturing time continues to amaze me everyday. I try to capture everything, even when people seem to think that I am a little eccentric.




Most important, I am an advocate. I am an advocate for agriculture. I love the way I was raised, on a dairy and tobacco farm in far Western Kentucky. It is such a shame the way that our farmers are being portrayed these days. I firmly believe that farming is one of the most honest, selfless, honorable jobs there is. My step-dad is a farmer and I have never seen anyone who works harder. He never complains and ensures that his children don't either....(except John and Katie). I wanna make it so people understand that farmers do everything in their power to ensure they supply the public with good and nutritious food. And teach farmers ways to voice their opinion so their isn't such a gap from the farm to the consumer. COMMUNICATION is KEY!!!!!

AAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH the Weather!!!

Ok, so I have lived in Kentucky my entire life and never have I seen such a drastic change in weather conditions like I have seen these past few weeks. On Monday it was almost 60 degrees and then today it was 20!!! Within the next few days there is supposed to be a huge winter storm. This storm is supposed to give us almost 10 inches of snow and include ice! That is probably the worst part of winter, is the ice. I drive a Ford F-150, lovingly named Hank, and he hates rain, let alone ice!

So, tomorrow I shall wrap myself up in the warmest clothes I own and then attempt to drive to school, only to walk 40 minutes to get to my classes. Oh, how I love the university. Not only for their "amazing" parking, but for the fact that no matter how horrible the conditions get they refuse to cancel classes. Now, I understand they want to allow students to get all the instruction that we paid for. However, when it becomes dangerous for us to go to school but still attempt (all because we will get penalized if we don't show) that is when it starts to get too ridiculous!

Just for your enjoyment here are some pictures from the first snow that we had earlier this month.



The grapevines that are in my grandfather's backyard in the middle of the city!

Oh the joys of being a science experiment!

Yes, I was a science experiment today. Over the weekend I developed a rash and came down with flu like symptoms. So, because the offices were closed yesterday I went to the doctor today.

After seeing 4 doctors...all in the exam room at the same time, the conclusion was inconclusive....I felt like a celebrity autopsy. I mean, really doctors, there are only so many things a rash can be, it's not cancer. After they gave me an antibiotic, cause that is how they would treat it if it was one thing I went about my merry way. One opinion was for me to stay isolated, the other was that I could go about my life normally. (I went with the latter, because I don't have time to be sick!!!!!!)

Now, I feel like I am behind on my running (which I am, since I haven't ran in 4 days!) and on my school work. This week has been so crazy and sometimes I get so caught up in the business of the week I forget that I planned for this and I just need to STICK TO THE PLAN....I am a little stressed to say the least.

Until tomorrow, where hopefully I will be less stressed!

I have a lot of catching up to do!!!

Hello everyone,

I am currently laid up due to illness and watching Julie & Julia which always makes me want to blog. I have been super busy trying to get things settled for school and getting back into the groove of things.

Today, I got to learn something that I have wanted to learn for a while now....how to inseminate a cow artificially! I know, I know, "How could you have wanted to do that?!?!?!" I mean, my major is animal science and I love me some dairy cows!



This was when my arm was getting ready to fall of because the cow really wanted me to quit messing with her! I mean where would my Southern Charm be if I didn't know how to get a little dirty every now and then. We aren't completely finished with the training, it raps up on Monday. We were out there for 6 hours learning about the correct techniques and everything. I about passed out, but before I could do that I had to stop by the Grand Opening of the
and received some samples and a free cupcake compliments of one of the bakers (and my sorority sister) Kati. She decided to give me her cupcake that she got because she wanted to give it to me for my birthday! I decided on the Red Velvet Cupcake with cream cheese icing and a vanilla filling....it was heaven and will be the death of me!

We are on day 16 of my mini marathon training and because I am not filling good I didn't go running and I was supposed to run 4 miles today! Oh well, I have decided not to wear my body down too much because I don't want to burn myself out. So, I will start back strong tomorrow just as long as I feel up to it and I get back in time before the gym closes!

Well, back to the daily grind of doing O-Chem and Ag Policy homework.