September sails by

Ah, school has begun, summer is 'over', and research just keeps going and going and going. My project continues on through mid October when we will wean the calves. The project itself went well overall this month. There are always small hiccups and challenges, but overall, the calves are growing, eating more forage, and sampling is getting easier and easier. Praise the Lord!

Since probably mid Juneish my best friend Christa and myself have been plotting and planning....and we kept our mouths shut about it too! Talk about being proud of ourselves! Two of my dear friends that I have known since I was 13, got married on Sept. 11th. I REALLY wanted to make it, but wasn't sure if I could make it with research, tickets, etc. So, God totally worked it out and I was able to get a CHEAP ticket out of Denver, CO, got the ok from the ranch manager, and one of the ranch crew guys was willing to feed my cattle for me. So, neither Christa or myself told hardly anyone and didn't say anything on facebook or other communications that could leak my surprise.

It was sooo hard at times to keep it under wraps. I hadn't been home since Christmas, and I needed this pick-me-up to get me through til Christmas break this winter. The irony of me being such a homebody and God continuing to call me farther away from home. All part of His bigger plan that I don't know about yet. :) BUT, we did it! I flew in to Portland on Friday, the 10th and Christa picked me up from the airport. I was even blessed with a quick visit from a dear friend at the Denver airport who came to hang out with me for a bit before I had to go through security. Christa and I had some sweet time and fellowship together, making memories and a bit of shopping. Christa had set a coffee date with my sister Jessica that evening and I happened to tag along....tee hee hee. The surprise look on her face was priceless! I think she forgave me rather quickly and she gave me lots of hugs! I don't get any hugs being out here at the ranch.

The weekend flew by. Christa bought her first pair of real cowboy boots (black squared toed with grey/blue tops!) and I got my first pair of All Stars (kelly green). We showed up at the wedding a bit early to see my friend Drew (the groom) before the ceremony started and to find my family so they weren't in complete shock when they saw me at the ceremony. My dad was officiating the wedding and did a double take when I walked up to him and said, "Hi daddy!" (chuckle). My mom didn't believe it was me when I walked across the field to say hello. Ah, sweet success! I was blessed, so many others were, and it was a great wedding! It was like a big camp staff reunion.

I was able to spend Sunday at my church and with a mentor and her kids. Also, just family time! Much needed time with my immediate family, grandma, and aunt Faith. It was one of the hardest things I've had to do in a long time when I boarded the plane to fly back to Colorado and then drive back to Nebraska. It took sheer will power to board that plane Monday morning.

The rest of the month flew by juggling research, studying, the ranch practicum class, and 'attending' class via skype....that doesn't work so well. God is so faithful to continue to stretch me in ALL aspects of my life to grow me more into a young woman after His heart and to be more like Him. Life proved new challenges and even the possibility of not being able to go home for Christmas due to research time crunches in Lincoln. And yet, when the storm cleared and after two weeks of communicating with people in Lincoln, constant and persistent prayers, God worked it out once again-that I will be able to go home for Christmas!!!! AND make it for anther dear friends wedding. Due to research deadlines, I have to leave later than I had planned for my break and ticket prices jumped. On top, I have to be back early for a class. Someone in my church in Lincoln heard of my plight and blessed me to help me get home and timing wise with our research lab, I am able to go home! God truly knows our heart and what we need most in life.

He continues to prove His faithfulness for those who choose to serve and honor Him with their lives as a spiritual act of worship. I still have so much to learn and grow in. Thankfully, He doesn't give up on me and is there to lift me up when I slip and fall. All praise, glory and honor to HIM.

August at a glance

Yes, I am alive and ta da! posting again. I am sorry to those that I have failed to do this more regularly. I decided over the next couple of days that I shall update you all about life in the sandhills and all of the mischief I've been up to. :) Last time I let you know what I did in July, so this is my tale about August.

I was able to go back to Lincoln for the weekend during the end of July/beginning of August to take care of business, check in with professors, and see friends and church family. I even had the opportunity to play guitar and sing on our church's worship team. I know...I'm a bit over zealous, but it was some much needed fellowship and spiritual filling up of my spirit! I ended up house/dog sitting for the people who are watching Bella for me this summer/fall and she could not believe that I was actually there! I miss her dearly.

The month plugged along with continuing to feed my cattle daily, collection periods, and the beginning of school. Most of the schools in the midwest begin classes at the end of August. I am enrolled in one class, Feedlot Nutrition and Management. Since I am still at the ranch, we decided to try to use Skype for me to 'attend' class. It sort of worked. Unfortunately, the connection did not work well or consistently. This has become very disheartening in trying to learn material, hear and see what is going on in class. Thankfully my professors and AMAZING TA have been very helpful, supportive, and lenient in me getting work to them.

All of the other graduate students and undergraduate worker have gone back to Lincoln for school. It became very quiet after they all vacated the dorm. It wasn't too bad. I have realized that I am a social person, loving to be with people, interact, and mentor them. Yet, I also like peace, quiet, and my own personal space. I'm definitely learning and have a better understanding/grasp of the balance of what it takes for me to be sane, healthy, and happy. :)

There is a ranch practicum class that I am attending through the university extension services. It primarily meets at the ranch (major convenience for me) and have been studying plant ID in the sandhills prepping for an upcoming exam in September. Fun fun...walking around on hills carrying my notes on a clipboard and looking at plants. I think I have the 20 or so that we are supposed to learn down fairly well. We shall see how the test goes. FYI..there are over 400 species in the sandhills alone! Thankfully I don't have to learn them all.

God continues to stretch me in all areas of my life. Relying and turning to Him first has been a biggie lately. Being in his word and keeping my focus and thoughts on Him is definitely a challenge being out here in this remote area. I am confident that He who began a good work in me, will continue to perfect it until the day of Christ's return! Learning from the past, God has used events and situations in my life to prepare me for the future and the people that come into my life. It's all part of the journey. Gotta make the most of it and look for the little blessings each day that He provides us to help us get from one day to the next.

Research is like the energizer bunny...

It just keeps going and going and going. My research trial is half over. I will officially finish October 19th with my final two day weights of my calves and cows. They are finally starting to grow! My nonfistulated (the ones w/out the canluas in their rumens) calves are beginning to put on weight! PTL! It has been quite the journey to get to this point.

July was quite the busy month. I had something going on every weekend of that month; Collection period, traveling to Estes Park for a grazing livestock nutrition conference, Scottsbluff extension center for their 100 yr celebration, and my one weekend back in Lincoln. whewh.

My second collection period at the beginning of the month was still a little rough with the canulated calves not producing good (quantity) diet or fecal samples. Let's just say there is a reason professors have grad students....to do the dirty work. These collection periods are no walk in the park. Now, I am not complaining, but lets just say that once I am doing working with the calves, feeding, handling samples, and cleaning up/prep for the next day....I immediately hit the shower. Irish spring body wash seems to work to take away the smell-it is very distinct and potent. I figured after calf rumen contents and fecals, dealing w/ kids will be a walk in the park. :) I am thankful that I got 2 tablespoons worth of a calf diet this period (Period II). Not much, but a start in the right direction.

Estes Park, CO conference was a long haul, but a much needed breather. I was able to spend the night before the conference with a dear friend and former mentee in Fort Collins. The time together seemed too short, but was worth the lack of sleep. :) The conference hosted professors, researchers, and students from all over the world with our guest speaker from Australia. It was quite the educational experience and great time to spend with my advisor, Dr. Karla Jenkins. We talked about research, the ranch, and life. It was nice to hang out, outside of the school world. It was a whirlwind weekend, but I was able to have a little bit of R&R before I had to head back to Whitman. I was also able to hang out with a former student from Canyonview who is working in Estes for the summer. Estes reminds me of Eastern Oregon right over the Cascade Range. Lots of pine trees and rocks and wildlife with bigger mountains. It was a wonderful reminder of home.

The centennial celebration at the extension center in Scottsbluff was an enlightening and interesting experience. I was able to meet a lot of the educators stationed out of Scottsbluff and take in the history of the center. I was stationed at a booth that hosted both the range and feedlot research that the center has done over the past 100 yrs. I learned some as well as had the opportunity to share with people my research project and what we are striving to learn. Long day, but still a good experience.

I have to be honest that I was a little apprehensive to return to Lincoln after being gone for three months. I have changed so much and grown personally, that I didn't know how I would 'fit in' again with the people I was with before. Well, to my relief, being with my friends and church family was no problem at all. Now, I didn't like driving back into Lincoln and having to remember where things were and dealing with sooo many people and the traffic-ich! It was good to see familiar faces and touch base with my professor, Dr. Terry Klopfenstein. I was able to serve with the worship team at church that weekend and sing harmony on a song for special music. Totally blessed, convicted, and thrilled to serve on my wknd back.

Probably the best part of my time back in Lincoln was seeing my BELLA! I have missed her so dearly. It just is not the same here at the ranch w/out her. She was a little confused when I walked in the door and called her name. Once she realized that it was me, she about took me to the floor. She is a big girl. I house sat for the people who are taking care of her as well as their two dogs. I wish I had more time at home with them, but loved having her at the foot of my bed at night. The first night she kept checking to still see if I was really sleeping on the bed. I love my little girl.

God has been stretching me so much and teaching me so many things about myself, my beliefs, convictions, and other people. When one is removed from their 'normal' environment and support system, it causes them to completely rely on their Lord and Savior in ALL aspects of their life. As well as having the time to contemplate and ruminate over things. I have had lots of time to think, read, and pray. My daily morning feedings have proved good times to pray for people as well as to talk things over with God. I don't always get answers, but the open communication is amazing. My life is so open and the possibilities are endless-of which scares the heebee geebees out of me. :) Though, everyone else envy's me..? go figure. Well, I know that I will finish my Masters degree at UNL. After that, we shall see what happens next.

More to come soon....

Red Rock and Huggies....here we come!

Hey ya'll!

Sorry it has been a while since I have written. Things are going well out here in the 'middle of nowhere Nebraska'! This place is growing on me more and more. I never thought I'd admit to that. God TOTALLY knew what He was doing when sending me here was added to His plan. It is so peaceful and serene, away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Room to think, mull over things, and just be. I have been reminded how much I love the country and as well as how much I have missed it.

I cannot believe I have been here over a month already! My baby calves are healing well overall from there surgeries and my trial has been going for just over two weeks now. The first week of my trial we had over 7" of rain alone that came down three different nights! That is a LOT of rain in a week, let alone here. They normally only get ~19-21" of rain a year. It proved some interesting challenges with feeding my dry lotted cattle, but we figured it out. Some of our roads were REALLY washed out and the only way I could get over the hill was on my four wheeler.

Ok, here is the low down of what my research project is about. I am studying the grazing intake of cow-calf pairs on the native range grasslands in the sandhills of Nebraska. My focus is in how much the calf, in particular, is eating grass. Ranchers have not accounted much for the calf consuming a significant amount of forage (grass) because they are still nursing. Well, my advisor believes that the calf is eating earlier than we think he is and more than we give them credit. So, I have 9 pairs of cattle and five of the calves have rumen canulas. Rumen canulas are portals into one of their stomach chambers so that we can collect diet samples and find out how much grass they are actually eating. They are split in half, with 4 pairs in pens where they are fed hay individually of similar quality and digestibility of what is being grazed by the other 5 pairs in a pasture throughout the summer and fall. The two groups switch treatments (grazing vs. dry lot pens) every three weeks. We collect diet samples for the cows and calves, measure fecal output with fecal bags i.e. huggies :) and milk production of the cow by weigh suckle weigh method. It is quite the process. My first collection period begins tomorrow. Thankfully they ranch crew is great and willing to help me out. I couldn't do this on my own-in any way, shape, or form.

I have named two of my calves so far. One is Red Rock-from the crew because when we were breaking the calves to their harnesses and fecal bags for the collection periods he let loose like he just came out of a buckin' chute. The other has a star on his forehead and his name is Raymond or Ray for short like the firefly in The Princess and the Frog movie who is in love with the Northern Star in the sky. :) As I name the others, I'll keep you posted. One of my calves got pretty sick last week and we weren't sure if he was going to make it, but he is lookin' like he is on the mend. Praise God! He is well mannered and easy going canulated calf. I really wanted him to stay in the trial.

Let's see....I have found a great church recommended to me by one of my advisors-Pleasant Point Community Church near Ellsworth, NE. The only hitch is that it is 1.5 hr drive away from the ranch. I am unable to attend every week, but when I can, I am blessed. It is a great group of people that gather from the sandhills in LITERALLY the middle of no where. You turn North off of Hwy 2 onto Hwy 27 and drive for 30 miles and all you see are sandhills pastures and cattle. Then, at the bottom of a hill, there is the church! There are probably 50-60 people who attend regularly. It is nice to have fellowship and be fed spiritually, even out here. :)

It has been yet again another learning experience being out here. And the learning is not over by any means. I am so blessed to have the view and serenity right outside my door every day. The weather can be intimidating and forboding, but is thrilling as well. We are lucky that we don't have the humidity that Lincoln has! I am thankful for that. I am getting to know the ranch crew more and more each day. I am thankful that they are warming up and willing to teach me things that I don't know or how to do something better. They are even beginning to tease me-which is a good sign.

This collection period should prove to have several stories in line for the next entry. I am also headed to Estes Park, CO next month for a grazing nutrition conference for a weekend as well as trying to get back to Lincoln for my mid research break. Once the other grad student Sandra and Zac-her undergrad helper leave for school, I will be alone and not really able to leave the ranch for a weekend until my research is completed. Until next time....

I'm still alive!

I have officially been at the Gudmundsen Ranch outside of Whitman, Nebraska for two weeks now. It has been quite the change of pace, scenery, society, and culture.

Everything has been wrapped up in Lincoln. Bella is being taken care of by a fellow grad student who has two dogs of her own. Bella will have a backyard to play in and plenty of playtime with her new pals. I have to admit it is not quite the same here without her. Thanks to the help of some great friends and their vehicles I was able to move out of my old housing situation quite easily. I have a place to store my stuff. (Thanks Kevin and Jenn!) I survived finals, including Biochemistry and Forage Evaluation. Didn't stress too bad and kept things in perspective! A first for me.

The drive out here was alright and I caravaned with three other grad students who were helping me with my calf (baby cow) surgeries the next day. It was hard to leave Bella, my friends, and my church family, but research calls! Surgeries with the calves was long, but good. We put rumen canula's in five baby steer calves so that during my research trial we can collect diet samples. It is like a portal into their stomach with a plug. It was quite the endeavor, but we gotter' done! I am so thankful for the crew from Lincoln and the ranch crew for helping. Couldn't have done it without any of them. That night we drove down to North Platte, NE for beef committee meetings. This is where everyone involved with beef research gets together and grad students present their research. Presentations went well and a majority of the group got food poisoning from the caterer....no fun. Though, I didn't know what it was until one of the grad students returned to the ranch after I did and told me what happened. I knew I felt ill, but not that it was food poisoning. PTL, I had a low key week of work the rest of the week and weekend to completely recoup from illness and the craziness of the last two and half weeks of moving, finals, and transitioning to Whitman.

More to come....

Less than 2 wks...and NOT counting

I was challenged by a friend to not be counting down the time I have left, but to make that time count. Now, it has not been easy by any means and I have had my moments of being overcome by the sadness side of my situation, but I have also learned about the choice we have on our outlook on life. This doesn't mean it will always be easy or that I have to be in a good mood all the time, yet I can still have the joy of the Lord and make the most of what I have been give in that allotted time.

So, it is dead week, this last week of April and finals are the first week of May. I am leaving Lincoln on May 9th after church to drive six hours to Whitman, NE to the Gudmundsen Ranch for my research. Lots to do and little time to get it all done. Yet, also striving to enjoy time with dear friends and my church family. Everything will get done in one fashion or another-I am a Payton and a Walker (the two sides of my family). :)

Rest assured to those who actually read this, once classes are over and I am at the ranch, I will have more time to fill you in on the events of this spring and all of my upcoming adventures at GSL!

Transition

This is what people near and dear to me keep telling me. A time of transition. Who knew that transition would drive you to your knees daily before the Lord, crying out for mercy, forgiveness, grace, guidance, and a glimpse of hope. I knew this would be a difficult, stretching, and growing experience, yet I never could have imagined how much and to what extent I would be pushed....and I have only been here 8 months? Oh boy.

In this time of transition, I have been placed 1700 miles away from my family, church, friends, and everything I once held dear in this world. Talk about a challenge to trust completely in God to take care of those you love most, but cannot do anything except make phone calls to and pray for them. The fall was a time of adjustment to a new environment, school, city, and culture. Now, in less than five weeks, another adjustment-moving to the GSL ranch for the summer/fall to conduct research. Six hours from Lincoln, two hrs from the nearest Walmart, 30-45 min to the closest grocery store. To top it off...no cell reception unless you have a phone from a local company. OK!......

Shall we say, let's get back into letter writing? The one praise is that there is Internet....depending on the day, how well it will work.

And yet, God remains faithful through it ALL. Those little bits of encouragement provided to get through the next part of your day. The card in the mail. Someone smiling at you. A word of encouragement or bible verse. Company of a friend or short conversation with them. The sunset. Birds singing. The breeze blowing across your face. Praise God that He knows and provides exactly what and when we need it. His timing is truly impeccable! Just enough to keep going, despite the uncertainty of everything around you.

At least I am certain that He is with me every step of the way.

making lemonade....

There is an old saying, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade."

This seems to be the theme for my life for the past several weeks. One new thing after another comes up. A change in research time-line. Unable to make an important date because of being out of town. Being sent to the middle of no-where Nebraska for potentially six months now. The list goes on......

And yet, we are called to make the most of the time we have hear on earth. Our days our numbered and only God knows that number. So, we make lemonade. Thankfully I have hope. Hope in a future and purpose. Trust that God will not allow anything to happen to me that I cannot handle with His help. So, no matter the hurt, pain, questioning, wondering, feeling lost, loneliness, or lack of direction, Jesus is holding my hand and walking alongside me. He is holding the lantern to shed light down the path of my life. It seems as if all I can see is the immediate step in front of me. But it is enough and He will NEVER let go of my hand! For this I am truly thankful and will praise His name-NO MATTER WHAT!

At last, at last!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am FINALLY writing another entry in my blog!

I realize this is past overdue. I due apologize, but this I can assure you: Once I am at the Ranch at GSL for my summer/fall research, I will be a constant blogger because of me being in social cyberia and only the internet for means of communication with the outside world. :)

It has been a hard, but good thing-to be here in Lincoln, Nebraska. It has been one of their coldest winters in many years. The snow is finally beginning to melt and is almost all gone. It is strange to see the ground and the dead grass on it. LOL. How crazy is that? When we think that the high 30's is a heat wave....you know you've acclimated to the midwest.

Second semester is already part way through. I am enrolled in Forage Evaluation and Biochemistry. I never thought that I would like/look forward to going to biochem class, but I do! Our teacher is AMAZING! She is practical, has applicable information, class interaction and group work. She is real, admits when she's wrong, and says her IQ drops 20 points as soon as she stands up in front of the class! Tee hee hee. That doesn't do too much damage because she is VERY intelligent. :) It is a challenging class none the less, but I do enjoy it. In forages class, I am finishing up a digestibility trial with sheep. It has been quite the learning experience.

I shall write again soon. It has been a challenging month, to say the least, but God remains faithful. He truly provides what I need, just when He deems right. There are definately little blessings every day that help me get through and continue to serve Him.

He is what gives me hope and strength to face the day.