Life on the Farm

Okay so this blog update is for you Dad… Sorry it’s taken me so long to let everyone know what I’ve been up to. The best news of all is that Calving Season is finally OVER!!! However, AB did happen to start this week but in four weeks that will be over and then things just might possibly slow down.

This past week has actually been a really good week out on the farm. I was expecting it to be a terrible week because of AB starting but so far everything has gone smoothly given the circumstances. Last Friday was the day we glued on the Kamar strips. Kamar’s are small heat detectors that indicate if a cow is on heat and if it can be “Artificially Inseminated.” Again for those that are more curious about the A.B. process you can google it. I’m not too interested in going into detail about it. We ended up gluing on Kamar strips to around 880 cows. Everyone I’ve talked to has said that this would be the worst day in the shed because there would be glue everywhere and it makes that milking three times as long. Although, I think everyone was expecting a long day so everyone showed up to work early and surprisingly in good moods. My cousin Jen (who is nearly 9 months pregnant) also came out to help so there was an extra person in the shed to lend a hand. We all worked together and everything ran smoothly that day. It also helped that the weather was great and the cows were actually doing what we wanted them to do, which typically does not happen.

Work as a whole has gotten much better for me… Well I’ve at least gotten use to it and I don’t mind the hours that I’ve been working as much as I did. My days are still starting around 4:30 to 5am and end around 7pm but Summer is approaching and with the day light savings that happened a few weeks ago the days are getting longer so my mood has been quite pleasant. And if there is anything that I’ve learned from this experience is that I will definitely be appreciating a 40 hour per week office job much more than I did before. My over 80 hours a week can be a bit overwhelming at times!

My routine at work has stayed relatively the same but every day is slightly different. The work on a farm is never ending. If it’s not one thing that goes wrong it’s another… Especially on a “New” farm that was taken over less than a year ago. Milkings have gotten easier now that the cows have gotten into more of a routine. There are those days where it seems like you can’t get a single cow to do what you want it to do but there is really nothing you can do about it so you have to just deal with it. I’m also getting better at the just “dealing with it” side of things too. I still get oddly frustrated and it’s amazing how much I’ve grown to hate cows but all in all I’m still happy to be here and still grateful for this opportunity.

My days usually involve me getting up and going down to the cow shed. I’m the first person to the shed typically so I simply turn on the light and prep anything that needs to be prepped for whom ever is bringing in the cows that morning. The cows are usually waiting for me once I make it to the shed. Milking is typically over around 9:30am if everything goes smoothly and then we all usually head in for breakfast. Other jobs during the day now that calving season is over would be killing weeds (which is my favorite job because I get to hike around amazing hills and I don’t have to even look at a cow), fixing fences, and moving cows around. Around 3pm I head back to the shed for the afternoon milking, usually in for the night around 7pm. Some days are better than others of course and really it depends on the environment. If it’s raining I automatically know that the cows will be more difficult to work with and to be prepared for a longer day. Also you never know when something is going to go wrong, so when it does I’m not surprised.

My skills on the farm have improved compared to what they were three months ago as well. I won’t do anything if I don’t feel comfortable with it, so if I ever feel unsafe or unsure if I can do a certain job all I have to do is say something and either I’m shown how to do it or someone else takes over for me. I’ve gotten better at driving all of the tractors on the farm but all I really do is the simply stuff, I can officially kick start a motor bike (only took me 3 months to learn how to do haha!), and I’ve gotten faster at milking. All of those things are good but when you break it down there is still so much that I need to learn.

Life off the farm has become quite nice. I’ve made a few friends, all of which are farms around my same age. Either managing farms or doing the same thing I’m here to do. We all meet up at least once a week down at the pub in Reporoa and usually we get together on our weekends off as well. I’ve also gotten to see a little bit more of the country which really is the main reason why I’m here. I’ve gone on a few hikes and have enjoyed all of them. One of the hikes was simply a hike up the mountains that are across from the farm. There is a large amount of geothermal activity in New Zealand and its everywhere around the farm. So our hike was through trails that guided us along the geothermal areas and ended with us looking over a ledge to the entire farm. It was quite a few and an amazing hike.

I’ve also gotten a chance to hike to the “Tarawera Falls” which is located in the Kawerau Rainforest. The Tarawera Falls are the most spectacular falls in the Bay of Plenty. The Tarawera Rivers plunges 65 meters down a sheer cliff before tumbling down bush-lined rapids. The river bed around the falls is carved into ancient volcanic rocks and the high cliffs are thought to be the eroded end face of an ancient lava flow that poured from Mt. Tarawera about 11,000 years ago. Needless to say it was more incredible to experience in person. The pictures I took give the Falls no justice at all.

Also after being here for three months in the next few days I get to take a two week vacation. Jared (my Boyfriend) is coming to visit me and we will be taking a road trip around the East Coast of the North Island. I’m sure I’ll have plenty to write about after that adventure. I’m so excited to not only see Jared but to also get two weeks off! Even though I’ve gotten use to the work it is still more than I have ever worked before so taking a break will be a good mental break. I’m loving the weather, now that it is approaching summer. I’m just now hoping that the sun holds out for the next few weeks! And Dad, I promise it won’t take me as long to update my blog, Love you!

Emergency Room Visit

So I would like to apologize for the disgusting photos of my ER visit. Some people had to see what kind of a mess I actually got myself into haha. Also for those who know me well it won’t be a surprise hearing about how clumsy I am. My Grandma Mary says that she can trip on a toothpick in a parking lot. So Grandma Mary… Thank you for that gene! I guess being clumsy just runs in the family :)

This was my weekend off so I really didn’t even need to be in the cow shed but one of my coworkers who hasn’t gotten too much time off asked if I would cover for her for the weekend and I could have Monday and Tuesday off instead. Her job is to take care of the calves which for the most part is just feeding them and making sure they are all happy over the weekend, so I didn’t mind coving for her. I got up at 6am (which was nice b/c I’ve been getting up at 4:30am the past few weeks) I got all of the calves fed and happy and decided to help Brendan in the cow shed. He was in there by himself and I just wanted to help him finish up so he didn’t have so much to do on his own. After we brought in the last row of cows to be milked and were just about finished for the morning was when things went wrong. I went to put the cups on the very last heifer cow in the row. She looked a bit lively so Brendan thought it was a good idea for him to put the cups on her… I agreed and handed him the set of cups to avoid getting kicked. As I did that I stepped back and ended up tripping on a bar that we use to hold the cows in the row. I must have swung my arm back to try to catch my fall but the only thing I caught was the hook on the pole that holds the set up of cups up. I didn’t even know it had cut me, all I knew is that it hurt like hell. I hurried up and rushed out the cow shed. Brendan thought I had twisted my ankle when I tripped.

As I walked to the office in the cow shed I felt like I was going to throw up and I try to be tough but I could even control my tears. I sat down on a chair to wait for the pain to go away but it only got worse. I had a long sleeve underarmer shirt on so I couldn’t see the cut. The hook ripped a hole in my shirt and I tried to get a good look at what had happed. I decided that I needed to head in when all I saw was flesh. I jumped on the quad and drove back to the house. My cousin Jen was awake and I walked in the front room and asked for her help.

She helped me take off my T-shirt and Underarmer… She saw what I did and told me not to look at it. Well I didn’t listen and the moment I looked at my arm I started hyperventilating. She sat me down at the kitchen table to call my Aunt Val and to get me a glass of water. As I was telling her that it really wasn’t that bad and it didn’t hurt that much I started feeling really light headed and passed out. Jen said that I was out for a good minute and that my body was stiff with my eyes wide open. She said I scared her to death. Once I came to she threw a blanket around me and got me in the truck to drive me to the hospital.

My Aunt met us down by the cow shed where we let Brendan know what was going on and we left for town. It takes about 30-40 minutes to make it into town so it gave me plenty of time to calm down and to adjust for what happened. My hands and feet were numb which I thought was weird but that didn’t last too long.

Once we made it to the Emergency Room I still had Jen’s Fresno State Bulldog’s blanket over me. A Doctor saw my blanket and asked us where we were from. He was a traveling Doctor who was from Tahoe. His wife went to Fresno State and thanks to that blanket we didn’t even have to wait, he took me straight back to the ER Room. I wasn’t even able to look down at my arm until he had finished cleaning it. I now know why I chose to study Finance in school… b/c there is no way I could ever be in the medical field. You’ve all seen pictures which I’ll probably take down but even now I can hardly look. I think the doctor numbing my arm was the worst part of my ordeal but after it was numb I didn’t mind too much. I got 12 stitches and it looks like I’ll have a pretty mean scar from this experience. My cut is in the shape of a Koru which ironically I want to get a tattoo of while I’m here. A Koru is a Maori symbol that depicts new beginnings, growth, and harmony, taken from the symbolism of an unfurled sliver fern leaf. So if I chicken out on my tattoo idea I still go home with a souvenir of my journey haha! I have to take it easy for the next week and my arm will probably be sore for the next few weeks but I guess that is the price I’ll have to pay for being clumsy.

Adventure up to Now...

So I haven’t updated my blog for a while so I figure I’d let everyone know about adventure up to this point. Let’s just say Kiwi’s are Freaking Hard Out workers… The work ethic here is ridiculously incredible! There are days where I seriously can’t believe that I’m in New Zealand and I try to soak in every second of the day, while there are other days where I wonder what the Hell it is I’m doing here. I still have no regrets and couldn’t be happier that here but I think I’ll be appreciating an office job after this experience a little more than I did.

We’re finally reaching the end of calving season which is the busiest time of the year and after calving season its I.A. (which I don’t want to explain so those who are curious you can google it :) I get every other weekend off, so I work 12 days straight... Yep, I said 12 days straight :) With it being the busiest time of the year my days typically start at around 4:30am – 5am and end around 7pm – 8pm depending on what goes on that day. Usually get an hour breakfast and lunch break which is nice but still makes for a LONG day. The best part of all of this is that I get a month off during the summer (our winter) and I already have my vacation time planned out. I’m getting use to the hours but have to say that once this adventure of mine is over I will definitely never be stepping foot onto another farm again. I have also learned that I HATE cows. I nearly went through a vegetarian stage a few years ago and I’m super happy that I didn’t… Sorry to all of my friends that chose that path in life but cows are big dumb animals and I will eat beef until the day I die!

The hardest part of my time so far was simply getting use to the hours I work… the work isn’t that bad and is getting easier by the day. But it was still hard adjusting to coming from an office job where I only work 40 hours/week. I found myself getting so incredibly anxious and frustrated that I would literally have nervous breakdowns. At first I didn’t know why I got so worked up and then it clicked… I was yelling at cows to try to get them to do what we wanted them to do ALL day long. I finally asked Brendan for help because I was going to go crazy if I had to yell at another cow. He gave me some amazing advice and I haven’t yelled at a cow since. His advice was… Just don’t yell. He also walked me through the milking process a little more in depth and work has been pretty darn pleasant ever since.

I also wish I could kiss the person who invented the backing gate! It’s the gate that guides the cows up to the shed with a little electric shock as an incentive for them to move. The gate is officially working and my stress level has gone way down!!! Eventually the cows won’t need the gate at all and will guild themselves into the shed, which they are already beginning to do. It is amazing how much faster milking has gone and it will only get fast once all of the heifer cows get more into a routine.

I’ve had a few weekends off now and try to take advantage of every moment I get. One of the weekends off I decided that I needed to get away from the farm and figured the best way to distress was to go on a wine tour through Hawks Bay which is New Zealand’s wine country. I was extremely excited to take a biking wine tour through Napier and took off early Saturday morning to make it to Napier in time to catch the tour. It is currently the end of winter here and we’re entering spring so the weather is unpredictable. It ended up pouring down rain all day and while I still could have gone on the tour I decided that it could wait for another weekend. So I spent the day walking along the coastline and touring the local Shops and Cafés that Napier had to offer. The Cafés here are amazing! I think that I could live off of coffee and scones seeing how that is the only thing I wanted to eat and drink all weekend. I went to a few wineries which were nice but I’m still excited to take that biking tour! One of the attractions that Napier has is The New Zealand National Aquarium. This was pretty sweet because they had an aquarium that you could walk through while sharks and sting rays swim over you. The aquarium wasn’t very big but I’m still happy that I took the time to see it.

It continued to rain all day Saturday which I didn’t mind too much. I stayed at an FHA Hostile which was very nice and had all of the amenities that I needed. I woke up Sunday morning to beautiful blue skies and sunshine which turned my entire weekend around. I went out to breakfast and took a really long walk along the rocky coastline which was amazing. Drove up to Bluff Hill which is a viewpoint in Napier that looks over all of Hawks Bay. I stayed up there for quite some time before I decided that it was time to head home. All in all even though the weather was a bust I still caught a bit of sunshine and enjoyed my weekend off. The weather stayed nice the entire drive home which ended up being a beautiful drive. One thing that surprises me is how quickly I got use to driving on the other side of the road. The only time I get confused is in parking lots. I’ll get the hang of them eventually though.

This past weekend my cousin Jen and I drove up to Auckland to spend the weekend with my Aunt. Both her and I were looking forward to a relaxing weekend and that is exactly what we got. It took nearly three hours to get there and besides the fact that it rained the entire way up the drive wasn’t bad. I figured that the weather was going to suck all weekend so I was surprised to wake up to sunshine Saturday morning. Took a run down by the Bay near my Aunts house, got a pedicure, and spend the day shopping with my Aunt and Cousin. Can’t get much better than that. I’m not sure where my next adventure will take me but I’m sure it will be amazing.

First Weekend Off

Even though I was tired from my first week of working I wanted to take full advantage of my weekend off. On Saturday Jen took me for a practice drive into town. We had to pick up a few things so if was the perfect opportunity for me to get a few hours of driving in. When we made it back home I dropped Jen off and continued to drive back into town by myself. The hardest thing for me to get use to is that I shift with my left hand and having my turn signals on my right side rather than the left like they are at home. My main goal was simply to familiarize myself a little more Rotorua so if there is anything that I need I can find it pretty easily. I drive a 1997 Ford Lazar and its not the prettiest car to look at but it sure is fun to drive.

I didn’t really have a plan for Sunday… So I basically got up and pulled out a map of New Zealand and decided that morning where I would go. Back home I went to the beach quite often but haven’t been able to make it in about 3.5 years so my goal for the day was to make it to the beach... So I decided that I would drive to Tauranga. I spoke with Jen before I left and she said that Mt. Maunganui was something that I had to see. Around New Zealand they refer to it as “The Mount” and it is located on the tip of the port by Tauranga.

On the drive up there I took a pit stop in Te Puke which is the Kiwi fruit capital of the world. There was a gigantic kiwi that I had to take a picture of and gift shop that I had to explore (I’m such a tourist haha). Basically that was all to see in the little town of Te Puke. When I got back on the road I followed signs to Papamoa Beach which took me off the main highway to a road that drove me up the coastline straight to The Mount. I parked my car and walked onto the beach. It was partly clear and partly cloudy with a little bit of rain and some wind but the temperature was good. There wasn’t too much of a crowd but I could imagine there would be in the summertime. There were a few people surfing which I’m looking forward to learning how to do. I might wait for it to get a little warmer though.

After walking along the beach for a little while I decided to hike up to the top of The Mount. There were quite a few trails to choose from and I’m assuming all of them would have great views. I followed the main path up to the summit. Got quite a good workout from the hike but it was well worth it once I got up to the top. The view was incredible… You could see the entire coastline as well as the city of Tauranga. I’m still surprised with how clear the sky is. The only thing that I was looking forward to was that beach smell you get when you go to the coast in the states and there was none. But I got over it pretty quickly.

I made it home by 6pm and my family and I drove into Rotorua for dinner. We ate at the Lone Star Restaurant which is one of my family’s favorite places to eat because it’s the only place that plays country music in town. The food was good and I enjoyed spending time with my Aunt, Uncle and Cousins. All in all it was a great weekend. Now that I knew what to expect for the next week of work I was a little more mentally prepared for it

First Week of Work on "Bella Ridge Farm"

Holy Cow… I mean that figuratively and literally! My first week of working has been interesting to say the least. I work for my cousin’s husband Brendan and I don’t think I’ve seen anyone work harder than he does. He has been the one showing me the ropes around the farm and preparing me for the next few months while I’m here.

If I have learned one thing here it is that cows are the dumbest animals! Its currently calving season which means it’s the busiest time of year on the farm. My days have started around 6:30am and end around 7pm. We start our day by heading out and gathering up cows that need to be milked. This is the easiest part of the morning. We move them to an arena that guilds them into the milking shed, this is not as easy as it sounds. The cows that we are milking are mostly heifer cows meaning that they have just had their first calf and have never been milked before. So they have no idea what we are doing and they fight with you ever step of the way. After a lot of yelling and running around the arena we have to prep the cows for milking. We first spray the utters with a conditioner (Brendan explained this to me as KY for cows). Then we attach the set of cups to the utters… again not as easy as it sounds. Its quite intimidating and I have a feeling that it is going to take a while for me to get use to. Some cows don’t have a problem with this part and don’t even make a fuse, while other cows continue to fight every second they can. They try to kick but as long as you pay attention you won’t get hurt. Once you have the cups attached the cows typically just deal with it and don’t fight but there are the few that kick too much or simply kick the cups off once you’ve attached them. Brendan then has to deal with those one because I’m still too timid to deal with an angry heifer.

As nice as all of this sounds so far… you might need to think again. I was the one who chose to quit my job and come to work on a dairy farm (Still don’t miss the Systems… For now anyway, haha) but man I don’t really know what I got myself into! Milking cows is disgusting!!! They shit and piss everywhere and I try to do my best to stay clean…However, I usually don’t succeed. I never thought I would be milking cows and literally dealing with shit but I get to do it in New Zealand so some things are simply worth the shit.

After milking we take a quick breakfast break and then head out to farm to collect the calves. Calving season typically lasts the first few months of the milking season. Even though cows are stupid animals the babies are so damn cute. Collecting the calves can be really fun but also extremely frustrating. It is also the saddest part of the job. When we clear out the paddocks full of cows the cows that have just calved usually stay behind to mother their babies… so its really easy to spot them. This is where we take the babies from the mother cows... So SAD! Cows are too afraid of us to attack us but they try to protect their babies as much as possible and then they follow us around until we finally have collected all the babies and leave the paddocks. Some of the babies are so small that you can just walk right up to them but others see you coming and take off running… So you better have you Nike’s on cause you have to be quick. Brendan does the tagging which at first I thought I would have a problem watching but it doesn’t even phase the calves so its not too bad. The only thing that is comforting about gathering the calves is that I don’t think cows have much of a memory because once we leave the paddocks they simply turn around and start grazing again.

We take the calves to a shed where we have feeders set up. This is one of my favorite but yet most frustrating parts. Since we have taken the babies from their moms we have to teach them how to eat from the feeders. We just guild them to the feeders and get them to grab a hold of the rubber nipple attached to the feeder. Once you teach them to find the feeders they instantly think you are their mother and then you spend the entire time being mauled by baby calves... So CUTE! They are also much stronger then they look. If you’re not careful they’ll knock ya down… Even though teaching them to eat is time consuming and pretty damn frustrating its still my favorite part of the job.

After a quick lunch break it is back out to do the afternoon milking and the entire events of the morning take place again. I never thought I would look forward to taking a shower so much in my entire life. After the week of work all of my muscles are sore and my legs are all bruised up. I’m exhausted and completely ready for the weekend. I only had a few minor break downs and I won’t be surprised if there are more to come. It has been a little overwhelming working so much but things will calm down a little once calving season is over and when we are in the full swing of the milking season.

Bella Ridge is the farm I’m working on and it is amazing out here. There are rolling hills and mountains in all directions. The weather is what I expecting… rainy and wet. I have been blessed with a few sunny days though which has been nice. I have learned so much this week. I’ve learned not only the main details about the farm but also how to ride a dirt bike which will take a little while for me to get use to, drive a quad, and a gigantic tractor. I still can’t back up a trailer to save my life but I’ll learn eventually because if I don’t I may come back to the states with no hair because I’ll get so frustrated that I’ll rip it out. I have this next weekend off which I’m grateful for. I plan on just going for a few long drives to get use to driving on the other side of the road and potentially spending sometime at the beach in the Bay of Islands. Hopefully I’ll be able to post some pictures this weekend of my adventure so far.

First Week: Te Puia, Waitomo Caves, Mt. Ruapehu

The last few days have been extremely busy but have been a ton of fun. I’ve finally adjusted to the time change here and my head is not quite in the fog that it was in, so hopefully this entry makes a little more sense than my last posting. I’ll be able to post pictures soon but I’ll have to go into town to do that… and I need a few more driving lessons before I can just drive into town :)

My first full day in New Zealand I had the pleasure of spending the day with my Aunt, Cousin, and two family friends that were also visiting New Zealand. We were all interesting in the learning about the culture of NZ. Rotoura is quite a large tourist city and my Aunt and Cousin took us to “Te Puia” which is a museum dedicated to educating the public about NZ and the Maori natives. We also saw the Geothermal Valley and the Pahuta Geyer which erupts two to three times per hour. There was also the Kiwi House where I saw my first Kiwi bird. They are nocturnal birds that are very sensitive to light and sound so I wasn’t able to take any pictures but they were cute little birds. (www.tepuia.com)

The way the Maori people record time is by carving and storytelling. They combine whole sentences or phrases together to help their people remember. An example is “Whakarewarewatanga” which means “The gathering place of the war parties of Wahio.” The Geyer create a pretty nasty sulfur smell that you get a good whiff of every time you head into Rotorua. The geothermal activity has created natural hot pools all around the area. I haven’t been to one yet but I plan on going to one soon.

My second day was mostly busy work. I got my NZ drivers license which I technically didn’t even need to get but just wanted to have. I didn’t have to take any kind of driving exam, all I had to do was show them my US license. Also got my Tax Number (kind of like a Social Security number) so that I’m able to work and set up all of my Bank Accounts. All of this took nearly the whole day but it wasn’t bad, I enjoyed running around and getting everything taken care of at once.

I had heard that the there was an underground river that I had to see so that was our mission for my third day in NZ. My Cousin Jen, Whitney (the other family friend visiting) and myself all went out to see this river and the glowworms that they housed. It took us nearly three hours to make it to the Waitomo Caves. I loved the drive! Saw plenty of lush green farmland of cow, cattle, deer, and sheep farms. Once we made it to the caves we took a tour through one of the 300 limestone caves. Cameras weren’t allowed but I was sneaky and got a few decent pictures :) After walking through the caves we got to take a boat ride through the river to see the glowworms. The larva of the glowworm fly is what glows and it glows to attract insects in the dark caves. The whole idea of looking at worms kind of grosses me out but it was actually quite breath taking. They looked like the night sky full of stars. I really enjoyed the entire day and I’m happy that we made the drive up. (www.waitomo.com)

Yesterday was probably my favorite day so far. I got to go snowboarding in JULY, still a crazy concept for me to grasp hold of. We drove another three hours to Mt. Ruapehu and snowboarded down the Turoa side of the mountain. There is also the Whakapapa (pronounces Fuak-a-Papa) which I’ll probably go to the next time I head up. The mountains here are all volcanoes so there are no trees up near the slopes. The snow was a little icy but after the last snowboarding season I was use to it. There were plenty of runs to take and so many different places to explore around once we were up there. The view was incredible and we went up on a perfect day. It was sunny and clear so you could see for miles. I’m looking forward to traveling down to the South Island to board on a few mountains down there. (www.mtruapehu.com)

I start work on Monday and am oddly looking forward to it. All of the cows here are grass fed and the farm smells fresh and clean. There is no US Dairy farm smell which I am grateful for. It is calving season so I will be plenty busy, I’ll probably have quite a few stories to tell from this experience. I’m already planning out my next journey to see the country. I’m so happy that I am finally here and can’t wait to see more!

Hello New Zealand

I’ve arrived in New Zealand safely and had a very enjoyable flight over. I ended up getting the window seat right by the emergency exit so I had plenty of leg room and had now one sitting next to me and the other passenger who sat in the aisle seat. The flight was smooth and felt like it went by quickly. My Aunt was at the airport to greet me when I finally made it through customs and we were off to her home outside of Auckland. My Aunt and Uncles home overlooks one of the many bays that surrounds Auckland. I walked up their staircase and was greeted by the most beautiful sunrise. Couldn’t have asked for more for my first experience in New Zealand, and I plan on seeing many more sunrises.
After taking a shower and getting freshened up at bit it was time to head down to meet my Cousin’s and to go see the farm. The drive down to Waikite Valley where Bella Ride Farm is located was breathtaking. I spent the time trying to pronounce all of the towns that were on the way and marveling at the rolling mountains that surrounded us. New Zealand actually reminds me a lot of Washington State. It is so green and lush here. We drove along the coast down through the Bay of Plenty and into Rotorua which let us to Waikite Valley. Tomorrow should be a busy day not only site seeing in Rotorua but also getting a few things in order for me to work here on the farm.

The farm that my Cousin’s own is very old and they’ve only lived here for three weeks. The house is quite cold but I have a heating blanket and a space heater which should keep me plenty warm. They have already done so much to the house but they have a ways to go and I’m excited to be here to help them along. I’m happy to finally be here and am still grateful that I’ve been given this opportunity. I look forward to what the next few months will bring.