Decision Decisions

I'm finding there comes a time in life when we have to say to Heck with it and not worry about what we think will make others happy and do what makes us happy ! I've decided thats what I'm going to do; I'm going to start doing what makes me happy! I've got a new motto in life and its "What's another year?" I was talking about my life plans with my lovely Becky and then with my momma and they both told me you're 23 No body starts a career at 23 go have a crazy adventure year. I was really excited about going to Africa before I left for Europe but something changed when I got home. I don't think it was me but I believe that due to human decisions God's plan can adjust. I think his plan is a living thing that changes and molds based on what people decide and I don't think God gives up on us if we make a wrong decision. So get ready world I'm a coming !!!!

Life as we know it

So I have been inspired by my wonderful friend to go back to blogging even if it is for my own personal relief. Its been a crazy couple of weeks in my house hold... Why you ask? Well to begin with my sister had her lovely baby Nate and getting used to having a new born in the house is easier said than done. That first week he was home I didn't think I would sleep any, I had to just shut my door and throw a pillow over my head. Thankfully The week after he came home I left for Hawaii to visit my wonderful family! To put it mildly Hawaii was an adventure! I had never really had the opportunity to get to know these particular family members all that well. I mean I knew who they were and when I saw them I could identify who they belonged to but that was about it. To say I was nervous about the trip in general was a bit of an understatement! Once I got there all that nervous energy left. I feel in love with section of the family! I was in doubled over laughing almost the entire week. If it wasn't one thing it was another! The week flew by and I wasn't ready to come back to real life. I completely and totally fell in love with the state and the people. I am really considering moving there upon graduation in the spring! But who knows what life has planned for us. I certainly don't! What else is new in my neck of the woods? It appears I will be going to The Democratic Republic of the Congo come spring time! I really am excited to get this opportunity. IT is one that I believe will open doors to the things God has in store for me! Well that's enough for tonight!

Cobthorn Trust

Yesterday I went to Bristol to visit Andrew Sheppy who runs the Cobthorn Trust. The Cobthorn Trust is a Trust that works for the preservation of rare breeds of animals. For the last 40 years he and the Trust have been working on getting an original population herd of Dexters. All of the Dexters in his herd are 99-100% Dexter. They are really gorgeous animals. His herd has both short and long legs. I learned so much about the genetics of the Dexter and what other breeds had an influence on the modern Dexter. It was quite an amazing experience! I really think that this is something the ADCA should look into supporting. It would really help our breed not only in the states but world wide. He is not only working with the Dexter but also several other farm species. His biggest project right now besides the cattle in rare breeds of chickens. There are currently several breeds of chicken that the Trust has the only breeding pairs left in the world. It was a wonderful day. We got home around 7 in the evening but we had left at 7 in the morning yesterday.

Today was kind of a light day. It rained this morning so we fixed a chicken coup for the new Spanish chickens, and then we fixed the fence and by that time it had stopped raining so we went to work in the garden and get it cleaned up a little. So I used the weed eater and Mike fixed the roof on a second chicken coup.
Well I think that is all for tonight, Oh and pictures of the Original Population herd are on my Facebook page!

Its about time!

So I have been internet less for the better part of a month & for someone who is seriously addicted to the thing its been a real challenge, but I have managed to survive. The internet is now up and working and the company updated the service they were receiving to wireless so I can use my own computer. Which is rather nice because the keyboard on thiers is way different than mine. So I can type without out too many corrections.
Its been a heck of a week. I spent from Tuesday June 28, thru Sunday July 3 with Judy and Rhydian Lewis. Judy is the President of the U.K. Dexter Society and they are a lovely couple. They not only raise Dexters but Beef Shorthorns as well. I did have the honor of having one of the shorthorn heifer calves named almost after me since it was the only one born while I was there. Her name had to start with an M so they named her McBeth, which just so happens to be one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, So it all worked well. Judy runs around 70-80 Dexter Cows and has 9 Bulls which she uses not only on her own herd but she also leases them out to other producers so they don't have to worry about keeping bulls of their own and it introuduces fresh genetics into some of their herds. Judy also has a mixed herd of Short legs and long legs reds & Blacks. But not to many people here keep polled because they feel the Dexters are meant to have horns and the poll gene is one that was introuduced into the breed in the early years when the breed almost died out and people were crossing with anything they could find. While I was at Judy's we went to Aberporth and sat on the beach and had dinner. I could have had Fish and Chips but I wasn't sure so I played it safe and had a hamburger and chips. The longer I'm here I am learning the suttle difference between the two cultures. For instance when I ordered my burger I asked for pickles on it and the lady didn't know what I was talking about. She offered me pickled onions and I said no thats not what I mean. So after about 5 mins of trying to explain what a hamburger pickle was I just gave up and ate it plain.
Now that I am back at Mikes I only have 11 days until I go to Ireland! I can't believe it, it's gone by so fast. On Wed. we are going to see Andrew Sheppy and his original population herd in England. Its about 3 hours away so it'll be a short trip. I think it will be an intresting day to say the least. He knows tons about the genetics side of the animals. I spent the majority of the day building a pig pen because on Thursday Mike is getting two little pigs to raise. Kim is totally excited, NOT. She hates pigs. Tonight we are going to go grocery shopping and walk around the little town again. I'm not sure what all we are going to get. But there you are, they are the crazy shopping trip planners like I am.
I think thats all for today. It's suppose to storm the rest of the week so I may or may not have internt, even though they finally got it working it may try and go out again but hopefully not.

Why are grave yards and cows so beautiful?

SO its been about two days since I was able to post ! The internet at the place I am currently staying still isn't working just yet. We aren't so sure as to why but there you go. Yesterday I went to town with Mike when he went into see his mom. She's in the hospital because she broke her back. The town the hospital is in is just a little bit bigger than Perkins but smaller than Stillwater. I needed to pick up a few things I forgot at home like Q-tips and finger nail clippers so Mike parked in the hospital parking lot and I walked the 6 or 8 blocks to the town square where most of the shops are. I walked around and looked in a lot of the little local stores and quite different than towns in the U.S. Once I had gotten what I needed I headed back to the hospital and passed this amazing little baptist church. It was oh around 200 or 250 years old. It was so gorgeous. There was a graveyard surrounding the entire church and it was so amazing. I would upload pictures but I don't have my cord with me at the moment. The headstones were so interesting to read. They headstones would have the dates of the husband, wife and the child's names and death dates. I thought that was so odd, but still so amazing. Once the headstones had fallen over the church picked them up and lined the stone walls with them. So there were many more headstones than there seemed to be at first glance. Once I was finished walking around the church it was time to meet Mike back at the hospital. We had to go to the grocery store and get me a refill on my phone card. Then it was back home to cook dinner and prepare for today!

Today I am staying at the home of some of Mikes friends, Holly and David. They live in Pembrokeshire which is in the far south of Wales. They own Dexters as well. Guess thats why I'm staying here! lol. They use Dexters as a way to conserve the land. Their set up is actually really interesting. I'm not sure how it all works but I will find that out in the next couple days that I will be here, and then its back to Mike and Kim's! We went to supper at a pub in the little town next to where they live. It was located right on the sea. I ate Fish and Chips for dinner just because I couldn't come to the UK and not have it at least once! It wasn't that bad actually!
Then on the way home we drove along the coast and drove past some amazing old buildings. I love the history of this country it is wonderful. I can't believe that some of the buildings that are here have survived as long as they have its wonderful

Well thats a little update. I will update again tomorrow. Since I will for sure have internet until Saturday!

Crazy Week and No internet

Hey everyone,
So I arrived safely in Cardiff last Tuesday! There was only one small hiccup in the plan border patrol didn't want to let me in, so after riffeling thru all my luggage they finally decided that I wasn't a terrorist and let me in! LOL. Once Mike got me picked up we had to drive another 2.5 hours west to get to where Mike and Kim live. Its was quite interesting seeing the country side. This part of the world is so beautiful! There are hills every where! I am learning to remember my asthma medicine and I WILL lose weight because of all the walking I do everyday. I've got to meet a lot of interesting people in the short week I've been here. On the 2nd day I was here we went to visit Judy Lewis the president of the UK Dexter Society and she showed me some of here cattle and here bulls. They are so big compared to our bull at home. But I guess they are normal for here. Then the next day we stopped at the neighbors house for tea and got to set in his 200 year old kitchen, in his farm house. Its funny he lives in the small town up the road and drives the 1/2 a mile to the farm to do his work with his dairy herd. There are tons of dairy's here but Mike says there are a less than 10 years ago. I love this country it is truly amazing and beautiful! For the most part of the week I've stayed at the farm and just done basic farm work. Its actually kind of nice.
On Friday night we went to the neighbors Sam and Janets for dinner. It was amazing! She cooked like 6 or 8 courses and Yes dad she did cook blood pudding but I didn't eat any I just couldn't bring my self to do it. But I did eat some Duck and that was delicious! We stayed for like five hours. But it was so so much fun.
On Saturday Kim and I went to a little town 15 miles away called New Que ( Key). Its an amazing village right on the sea. We went to a little pier and were able to see wild dolphins that live in the area. It was amazing. Once the dolphins swam away we walked up this GIANT hill/mountain and looked out at the ocean and it was amazing! I will post pictures of that trip soon. I just haven't put them on my computer yet! So I can't load them on here. haha The beach was so pretty . I didn't dress for the beach so I didn't get in the water. But I promised jess I would get here some sand so I have to go back and get some. I didn't have a bottle that day!
On Sunday we did the rounds checking livestock and then we went and to visit another set of friends named Rich and Shann. Shann is actually from California so it was nice to have someone from America to talk to. Shann raises goats and has a goat dairy. She also exports goats to the middle east, which was really cool! She is going to help me with information for the Congo. SO I am so glad that I was given the opportunity to meet her! So I am going over there again and she is going to teach my to make cheese!
But I better get off here and get back to the house ! I will post again as soon as possible!!!

Crisis Averted and YAY for Tom!

So it 9:30 Atlanta Time and I'm sitting in the airport waiting on my 10:40 p.m. flight to Amsterdam! The drama of the trip so far has been minimal but still frustrating all the same. As I was boarding the plane to Atlanta from DFW they tell that there is NO more room on the plane for carry on luggage and I have to check it and they will send it on to my final destination. Well to be honest I wasn't trusting the airline with mine $500.00 camera in my carry on plus all my meds were in my carry on. So I like the nice person I am held up the boarding line while I "unpacked" all the things I didn't want being checked. And then I asked the check person if they would send my luggage to Atlanta not to Cardiff so I could have my bag back. Well little did I know what I was asking. Because I asked this after I arrived in Atlanta I had to un board the plane go all the way to baggage claim and then go back thru security and then find where my gate was! Which wasn't as big a deal as I thought it was going to be. Atlanta is one of the busiest airport in the country and trust me you can tell. I think I got lucky because its so late there wasn't very many people trying to go thru security so it only took like 10 minutes! The longest part of the check in process was the tram ride to and from the terminal to baggage claim. This airport is laid out weird! Thankfully the man that sat next to me on the plane from DFW lives in Atlanta so he's flown in and out of this airport lots of times and he showed me everywhere I needed to go all the way back to security then he left and went home. Which I thought was very nice of him ! I love how God put people in our paths just when we need them. I'm sure I could have figured it all out but it was much easier with his help and left me with a lot of extra time I may not have had had I tried to find all that stuff on my own! I really hope I don't have that issue this time, but I'm on a bigger plane and I have an earlier load zone than I did before which will allow me to get my bag in first! hahahaha.
Well I think that may be all for now! I may post while I'm in the air or I may wait until tomorrow morning when I land in Amsterdam!
Lots of Love
Beth

AGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Hey Everybody!!!
So its been a couple of months since I posted, mainly because I forgot the password in order to sign in and post. LOL. This has been a crazy week. Starting on Wednesday June 8 we begin setting up for the ADCA Annual General Meeting. It has been a heck of a week. I feel like I've lived at the Payne County for ground for the past 5 days. We've been getting up super super early and getting to the fairgrounds around 6 or 6:30 every morning. But thats okay it was a successful show and sale. I sold my little bull for 700.00 not what I wanted but I don't have to feed him anymore so thats a good thing! haha
In other semi-non cow related news I leave for the U.K. the day after tomorrow!!! We were going to drive to Dallas in the morning, but I've changed my mind and am going to drive down on Monday and then I will fly out at 5pm Oklahoma time, 11pm U.K. time. I will fly from DFW to Atlanta, then from Atlanta to Amsterdam and then Amsterdam to Cardiff. I will arrive 4:45 p.m. U.K. time on Tuesday afternoon so that makes it 10:45 in the morning OK time. I'm sure I will be so tired but we will see how that works out.

Well its midnight and I'm so so so tired!!! Good Night

YAY

So the exciting news of the week.... I booked my flight this morning. I was able to save $700 by flying out of Dallas vs OKC. It was totally worth the gas money to drive down there. So when I come home instead of having my parent drive to Dallas to pick my up it is cheaper to get on a Southwest flight and fly to OKC. Its only $ 39 so it totally worth it. I'm so excited.

But thats all for now

Beth

Luggage

 So my new luggage came in today! I am so so so excited. Its is super cute. I took Jody's suggestion and ordered it from Sam Moon, and thankfully since the set I like was on sale I was able to order the matching cosmetic cases and still spend less money then if I had ordered one of the other sets that weren't on sale. I am so happy with my choice. I looked at several different sites and several different options on the Sam Moon site and over several weeks so it was a long process to decide on what I wanted. Its just luggage , right?, No its something I will have for a few years so I wanted to order something that I would love as much next year as I love it this year. Well I shouldn't talk about it without showing you a picture of it. I hope you all love it as much as I do. But if not its okay, because I'm the one who has to carry it. 
Lots of Love; 
        Beth

Plans

Well I got an email from the coordinator of my internship in the UK today. It looks like I will be staying about 3 weeks in Wales. Which is going to be awesome!!! I am super excited. I am also working on planning my flight. Thanks to Jody I have found some super cute luggage I am going to order in the next couple weeks. I am trying to get everything in line as early as possible to save me some stress in May & June. I know there are going to be a ton of stuff going on the 3 weeks prior to me leaving. For sure I know my Best Friend is most likely getting married, we have the AGM and the OK dexter association is hosting it here in Stillwater so I have to help with that. But it will all go great!!!

Good Night for Now
Love,
Beth

Planning Cont....

So Good News for today. I found out that my Dad's step brother works for an airline and my Aunt called him today and he said he might be able to help me get my flight a lot cheaper than going through Expedia or even the airlines directly. This would be an amazing blessing. I feel like God is going to do an amazing thing in me over the next few months in preparation for this trip so on Monday of next week the church is going on a 21 day fast and I have decided to go on it as well. I think I am going to do a Daniel fast where I only eat fruits and vegetables. I'm not really sure what I am going to do. But I will decide sometime between now and then.

Good Night for Now!

Planning

So this whole planning business is not that fun at all. Currently I have two confirmed dates for my Internship. I will be in the Dublin Ireland area July 15-19 th and the 19-29 th I will be in the Belfast Ireland area. The other dates are still iffy as to where I will be and when. I can't tell you how excited I am to be able to go on this adventure. I have started looking at flights and trying to decide where I want to experience lay overs at etc... It looks like the most popular lay over is going to be in Amsterdam. I think it might be cool to be able to see the city as I wait on the next flight. I'm not really sure oh well. I think I will buy new luggage, I want something that stands out and will be easily find at the airport. 

I think thats all for tonight I will update as things come along.