An Award!

Today I won an award :-)  I have to admit that it was almost a fluke thing because, while I had been planning on putting the application together for a few months, I didn't actually write anything down for the application until about the day it was due!  At the time I figured that I might be the only one applying so it was better to send my quick thoughts than nothing at all.

The award is to support some of the research I want to do into the possibilities of community engagement with my animal science students.  It is easy for engineering or construction or business students to find a community partner that needs help solving a problem, thereby giving the students real-world, hands-on experience.  It is an entirely different matter to find these partners in animal science.  That just isn't the way the industry works.

From the first day that I started my job, I heard about PACCE.  That stands for Pioneer Academic Center for Community Engagement and I wanted to be involved.  I just didn't know how.  I talked and asked and bugged for suggestions and I kept pestering the dairy farm manager.  So last year he gave me an idea: the cowbrush.  I believe I put a link on that story on Facebook, but here it is again: UWP Cowbrush.  That was a fun project and for my Dairy Products class this semester, there are students making yogurt.  The most popular is Pioneer Pumpkin Pie, but there are also Chocolate-covered Strawberry, Strawberry Cheesecake, Smores, Cow Pie, Dirt Cup, Chocolate-covered Cherry, and even one more unusual: Goat Milk Honey Crunch.  It was a fun run but now I am already thinking about the next project: getting a milk pasteurizer on the farm.

I enjoy getting the students involved in more than just the mundane lectures.  I am also looking forward to tweaking my lectures to add more pizazz but MAN does that take time!  I can't do real justice to all five/six classes each year and so I focus on one at a time. 

There is more...I want to put it down...my brain is constantly full of it.  It is exciting and fun and I am loving how God is using the short time I was in Oklahoma to work interesting things here in Wisconsin.  I often thought "Why am I even here!" but then I figured that if I had chosen the University of Alberta, that I wouldn't have had as much time for family (and so no husband, kids, Georgia, Georgia friends, etc.) so that alone is a huge blessing and God-send.  But now to see that that time in OK even benefited my future in my career, well, that is overwhelming.  In other words, it is a "God thing".

More on the exciting adventure of Tera in Dairy Science-land later...

I learned something new

It's fun, learning new things.  A few days ago I attempted to do something that I learned about at a conference in August.  I wanted to give my students MORE.  They were complaining that I didn't fully explain something that was a large part of the last exam so I wanted to explain it again, but I couldn't really take class time to do it.

So I tried Jing.

Jing is so cool.  It is free.  You download it and then it can capture up to a 5 minute video on the screen.  On the screen you can do anything.  You can open a website, you can draw pictures, whatever.  And you can narrate.  I don't even need any extra equipment, it just picks up audio from the microphone that is SOMEWHERE in or on my laptop (I don't have a clue where).  Then you can transfer the narrated video to a website, give someone the website address and BAM! The students have a mini-lecture of the stuff they didn't understand in class. 

Totally awesome. 

I don't know if it will help their grades, but I am doing my part and learning too.  I might have fun with this for personal use also.  Ooooh, the possibilities :-)

Once again, my camera is broke

This is what I get for buying a cheap camera.  But then again, if my camera was broke and I had bought an expensive camera, I would be sad and out some money.  So I come again to the decision of what to do about a camera.  I am starting to go insane not being able to take pictures of my constantly changing children.  But we are about due for a phone upgrade and some of the phones have 8gig cameras.  Pretty nice.  And we don't have a lot of money for a NICE camera (like the ones I like that Kacie and Jawan and Jodi and Melissa have).  It would be great to just HAVE one even if it is only a $75 one from Walmart.   So I don't know if I should miss out on more moments while I wait to save money to buy a nice camera and in January get a phone with a decent camera in it (not that I am getting the phone for the camera but the phone I want happens to come with the decent camera) or do I ask for an early Christmas gift so that I can capture my young ones precious moments?  Decisions, decisions.

Blog? What blog?

I like to blog and I like to read other people's blogs but I just haven't gotten to do a whole lot of either lately.  Second year into my job and my advisee numbers have gone from 19 to 45...and counting.  I just got another student today who came to my office and asked if I would be his advisor when he switched from Ag Business to Animal Science.

Then the Dean of the College came in, shut the door, and talked to me about dairy goats and the future of a research center in Platteville.  I get to be a faculty champion...whatever that is.

I am trying to convince some people to raise funds for a dairy products lab.  That might include me becoming a licensed cheesemaker!  Cool :-)

I had to put together information to convince the faculty to keep me around another year.  I was ranked above normal in all categories and have passed the first round of "should we keep her".  I am not worried :-)

I have put together a grant to get a cowbrush installed at our dairy facility.  When we get it, I'll post pictures and video so you know what I am talking about :-)

I presented a talk about year round lactation at a goat conference held on campus and the next day went to support the club I advise, Pioneer Dairy Club, with their annual cow sale.  It was fun, but hectic.

This weekend I get to go spend some time with my sisters and my mom in our new annual tradition.  Get to see Hairspray and eat some really good food and go shopping!  Woo hoo!

Ankica had a rough week two weeks ago when she had a slew of doctor's appointment, general anesthesia and an MRI to tell us that she is fine neurologically and just needs some physical therapy to get her leg muscles stretched out well.  A blessing for sure.

My girls are wonderful and sweet and I cherish every day with them.  Julia was here for a week in September and is coming in less than two weeks for an extended weekend.  Then we get her at Christmas.  She is doing so well in school!  Yay!

So, I'm busy, but rather in love with my life currently.  I am still here...still reading about your life...still wanting to tell you about mine :-)  I'll try to do better, but no promises!

My love...rockin' it!

Beautiful sunsets...

Flashback Friday

Today we aren't going very far back...just the beginning of the summer.  I finally found the camera cord and was downloading pictures.  I found this one and realized I couldn't tell at first: Is this Ankica or Lillian?  What do you think?