Butcher

Well, this post is going to be about my weekend. Not the week. The week was fine. Very uneventful. This week is a bit more hectic. We have the Floriculture and Ag Mech contest Wednesday (pics to come), I AM GOING TO MANHATTAN ON THURSDAY (can you tell I am excited?), we have our mid-semester meeting on Friday, and then Saturday is the East Central District Selection Day.

Anyway, this weekend. I went to Bern Friday right after school. Linny and I had supper in Seneca since she was on call and couldn't join the rest of the Edelmans in Sabetha. I had an awesome time just catching up with her and, the food was good! :) Saturday was spent butchering a hog. Well, I took a lot of pics and watched the butchering. After they got finished preparing everything, it was taken to Brian's where it was smoked in a grain bin! It worked awesome! Saturday evening, Jeff and I went to Stef's and hung out with Stef and Lin. Ice came later. It is so good to go back "home" on the weekends and catch up. Perhaps the highlight of my weekend came on Sunday. At noon. After we finished singing in the Sunday School, I walked back out to the foyer. I ran into Ryan M and started chatting. More than an hour later, we had talked about a lot of things and I felt very encouraged!! Thanks Ryan! Right after church, I left "the country" and headed to "the city."

Here are some pictures from the weekend!

I really like this picture. I took this through the window. The bird in the background is really cool! :)

She was brave! She thought the ribs felt like a xylophone!

And, what would butchering be without the lovely pigs foot! 

Grinding the meat into sausage.

Packaging the sausage. Yes, those are real intestines that the meat is going into! :)

Jeff splitting wood for the smoker. Basically, they built some racks, stuck them in an old grain bin, threw the tubes of meat over the racks, built a fire in the bin, and shut the doors! It worked beautifully!

Ice

Well, the weather. It hasn't been improving. Yesterday we got another round of winter. However, this time it was a little bit different. It rained, and then froze. Today, it stayed below freezing all day even though the sun came out. It made for some awesome pictures. Wish I would have been able to walk around with my camera all day. Instead, all you get are a few pictures from a few minute session after school.

 

Pictures don't even begin to do justice to what this looked like as the sun shone through the icy branches!

 I think these bushes are pretty cool when covered in snow and then frozen! :)

Spring is on the way I hope! New life trying to push its way through the snow!

 

I really like this picture!

Ice makes everything look super cool!

 

Not sure what this is, but I like it a lot!

I really like taking pictures of the moon. I think pictures when its not a full moon are even more cool than full moon pictures!

 

Ice. Snow. Cold. Wind. Snow. Wind. Ice. Cold. - Winter 09/10

Am I still student teaching? Oh yeah. I guess I am. This week is normal as far as the schedule goes. We actually go to class for 5 days. That is a first since, the second week of January. Now I know why it feels weird to go for 5 days! Oh well. I think I will be able to handle it. The following week I have Wednesday (3/3) off for a contest and Friday (3/5) off for a meeting in Manhattan. The following week, I have Friday (3/12) off because it is the end of the 3rd Quarter. The week after that (3/15 - 3/19) is completely off for Spring Break. The week after that we have Donkey Basketball on Thursday (3.25) and another contest on Friday (3/26). Allen County Community College is holding a contest on April 1st making that week a four day classroom week. The week after that, we have Wednesday (4/7) off because GRP's (Graduation Research Project) are due. That means that the next full week of class I have will be the week of April 12th. Which is my last full week until I am done!

I guess I will make it! :) I used to say that my three favorite things about teaching were June, July, and August. However, after looking at this schedule, I guess I can't complain!

My bad...

Time got away. Where in the world did those last 9 days go? I can not believe that it is already the middle of Feburary!!  Won't be long and March will be over!

Anyway, the last few days. Let's see. Well, Last week was pretty uneventful. We didn't have class on Thursday or Friday because of Parent Teacher conferences. Those were interesting. Definitely weird being on that side of those conferences. Mr. Morgan went to the bathroom for a second and of course, a parent shows up then. I had a chat with her and she was gone before he ever got back! It was weird!! :)

Anyway, I left Louisburg at about 7:15 Thursday night and headed east. I ended up in Mt. Vernon, IL late and crashed in a hotel. Then, at about 6:15, I hit the road again for Louisville, KY, home of the Louisville Farm Show! Here is what I saw as I drove Friday morning.

 

 

There were way more people at the show than I ever remembered!! They were EVERYWHERE!!! I drove around the parking lot for close to 45 minutes looking for a spot! Finally, I got inside! I only got a few pictures because there were so many people in the way. Here is an example....

 

I think they said close to 30 acres under roof and full of equipment! Crazy! Anyway, Friday afternoon, we left Louisville and headed home. It was mom and dad's 25th wedding anniversary, Valentines Day, they gave lunch at church, Julia's birthday, and President's day! It was a fun weekend and I loved having my new camera. Here are some pics from the rest of the weekend!

 

Trenton playing in the barn.

 

Jared driving the 4-wheeler in the snow.

 

The trees. Grandma informed me that this was not snow, but frozen fog! :)

 

A cow.

 

Cowboy.

 

Trenton is a LOT of fun! :)

 

More pictures outdoors.

 

Old equipment in the snow. I like this picture!

 

Trenton after his bath.

 

Tyson after his bath! 

 

And Trenton ready for church Sunday morning! What a little stud! :)

Anyway, that is what I did this weekend! So good to have some time off! Now, back to the grindstone! Class today, Meats contest all day tomorrow, class on Thursday, Western Farm Show on Friday, and then a relaxing weekend! Have a good day!

Snow. Snow. Snow.

We have had more snow storms this year than I can ever remember. I remember when I was younger getting a couple of big snows (snows the probably amounted to more than a typical snowstorm now) but I never remember this many different snows. It seems like there is always snow in the forecast! Thank goodness for global warming our it would really be miserable!!!!! Here are a couple of pictures I took in the snow.

 As I was leaving Bern this weekend, I saw this cow standing in the snow. It was pretty pretty!

Einstein and one of his buddies were romping around in the snow. Can you find the third dog in the picture? As I have said before, there are hundreds of dogs in this neighborhood!!

This past Friday night was Louisburg High Schools Winter Homecoming. The FFA ran concessions stands and had a good night! Despite the weather, people still came out and we brought in over $2400! Here are some pictures from the evening.

Some of the boys taking orders.

Making "cho's!" When ever someone would order a nacho, you would just shout "cho" and Cole was all over it! :)

And, you can't have a concession stand without popcorn! 

A great homecoming game. This was the tip-off in overtime.

Garrett passing the ball in.

Despite quite a few missed free throws, LHS still won by one!

Oh, and we can't forget the most important thing.....

Non-School Post

I am going to avoid posting about student teaching for a little while. I am a little disappointed in the way things are going, so I am going to stay away from it. Instead, I am going to do a little photo blogging since I did get a new camera! :) Enjoy.

 

 

  

Meet Einstein. It is a lot of fun to take pictures of Einstein.

 

Short Week

Well, it is already Tuesday of week number four! It has almost been a month already! Crazy!! I started the floral design unit yesterday. It actually hasn't been to bad! I am learning and the kids seem to be enjoying it! Starting next week, Monday or Tuesday, we are going to actually start building our own centerpieces. If you have any ideas, tips, or anything to make this work, please share!

Tomorrow I am teaching a lesson on Beef Quality Grading. I am a little bit nervous. This will be my first time teaching the Ag 3 class since last Friday when my lesson blew up and I had the worst teaching experience of my young career. I am a little bit nervous as I am not yet completely comfortable on this topic. I am sure it will be just fine.

Exciting news since last time - I purchased my first Digital Single-Lens Reflex Camera (DSLR)! I don't have the money to jump right to a Canon or Nikon with an expensive lens, so after some research, I setteled on a Sony Alpha 100k (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Sony/sony_dslra100.asp). The little bit I have used it I have loved it! I can't wait for more nice days so I can play around with it! It is really bad that I have as much to do as I do because I want to shoot a lot of pictures right now! :) I will add some pics I took with it later. I am at school right now. No worries. It is my prep period!

Well, the rest of this week should be interesting. I am leaving Thursday morning for Hutchinson, KS which is about 3 hours from Louisburg. The KAAE (Kansas Association of Agricultural Educators) is having their mid-winter conference. All Ag Ed interns are required to attend. I am not looking forward to giving up most of my Saturday, but I am excited to have two days off of teaching!

Have a good week!

1 Corinthians 15:51-54

⁵¹Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

⁵²In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

⁵³For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

⁵⁴So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

I can't wait for that day. Just saying.

The biggest news since last time, is that I AM AN UNCLE AGAIN!!!!!!!!! Tyson Maxwell! Born Thursday, January 14th. Here are some pictures! Enjoy!

Speaking in terms of "twinkling of an eye," it has already been a week since I last posted! I thought about posting just a day ago or so and I was like, naw. I just posted! Today some left a comment on my last post (Thanks Janelle :)) and went I went to read it, I realized it was last Wednesday when I last posted. So here is an update.

Since last Wednesday, I have started teaching. Last Friday, I taught Ag 1. There are two sections, 1st block which has 17 Freshman, and 2nd block which has 25 freshman! It was exhausting! I was advised that I am working way harder than I need too! I was told to work less and make the kids work harder! I am going to start doing that! :)

We didn't have school Monday because of MJK Jr. day! Yay! Wrong. I am a teacher now. I had in-service. It actually wasn't that bad. Listened to a few speakers, got some work done, played some volleyball with other teachers, and left in pretty good time.

Yesterday was my first of three formal observations by instructor from K-State. It went pretty well. I was a little nervous as it was only my second day teaching. Other than not knowing the vast majority of the students names yet, I didn't do too bad I don't think!

Looking forward. I pick up my second class tomorrow. I am a little nervous as these kids are older. I think juniors. Anyway, it is Ag 3 and I am teaching them the wholesale and retail cuts of lamb. There will be a prize for anyone that can name the five wholesale cuts of lamb without looking them up! :)

This coming Monday, I pick up my third class; horticulture. Yep, let floral arranging begin. If anyone has tips, advice, lesson plans, or anything that would help make this unit go smooth, it would be greatly appreciated! Haha....I am not too worried about it.

Well, that is about all that is new here. I hope that you all have had a good week thus far and the weeks flying only mean one thing....that much closer to graduation! WOOHOO!! Which reminds me....Do you know what they three things I love about teaching are? June, July, and August! :)

Peace!