Update

I thought I had posted this last week, since I took the time to type it I decided to post it anyways even though it's "outdated". lol

____________________________________________________________________
So an update has been called for...I can always trust a sister to get after me if I haven't posted in a week or so, sometimes even if I haven't posted in a day or two. Sisters got love 'em! lol

So, here's the (old) update. I've now been up here in New York for 4 months & 6 days (someone PLEASE tell me where the time has gone!?!). Lynn and I are starting to drive down to Texas with 20-30 goats in the back of the pick-up & trailer. We leave bright & early Monday morning and are hoping to be in Texas no later then Wednesday morning. Prayers for us would be greatly appreciated as it's not the easiest thing to dive with that many goats, and not even to mention we're doing it in the middle of December! (Yeah, I know CRAZY, that's me!)

On other notes, this coming Saturday will be my last Saturday to sell at the Green Market in Union Square. I've greatly enjoyed getting to know the costumers and other vendors there. It's a great market & I would highly suggest visiting there if ever your in New York City. That being said I can't wait to get back to my home town and the farmers markets there as I miss all our costumers and the other vendors there. :D

I've seen so much in my off days, to be completely honest at one point I had seen so much I felt like I was sightseeing out. And I thought I would never say that. I've seen more things then I thought I would ever see in NYC and saw quite a bit of the New York & Pennsylvania country side. However I would absolutely love to come back as there is so much history here that I would love to see it all & I never got to Cooperstown for the Baseball Hall of Fame, so I can see future trips to see more of it.

And the countryside & people! The countryside is beautiful and the people were great I will miss all the friend's I've made up here, as well as the view's that I've grown used to.
____________________________________________________________________

With all that I saw I learned a lot, from goat care to cheese making. From Modern history to history dating back to the foundation of our country. I loved every aspect of my time up there except for the fact that it was over 1700 miles from my family & I missed them greatly. It was something that I had wanted to do for a while--Could I live without my family? Yes, I could however it wasn't the easiest thing I had done & not something I want to do again any time soon. Yes, if in the future God has me moving away from the family I'll tackle that problem when I come to it...Until then I'll enjoy my family every second that I can (hence all the pictures now on face book since I got home. lol).

Over the next few weeks & months I'll try to post more pictures of my times up there, but as I saw so much it will take a while to share everything with y'all. Thanks for 'joining' me on my trip & for the prayers that y'all said for me, I needed them & greatly appreciated them!! :D

I Always Said...

I was never going to own one, I always said if I ever went to New York I would get something else to remember my trip there....You know a postcard, a thimble, or a pencil sharpener (all of which I collect from the places I've visited). I was NOT going to buy a shirt, purse, or bag. I would rather get a coffee mug, key chain, or charm.

But I was NOT going to get anything that had this on it...

But then the weekend before I left my mom went clothes shopping for me (I hate shopping and mom does a great job shopping for me!) and she came home with a gift for me, in which to remember my time in New York.

When I got here & Lynn saw it, she told me it was great but if I wore it into New York City she was not responsible for me and anything that might happen to me. After all, I knew the risks of wearing a shirt like this in the heart of Yankee land...

November 1st

The day I start planning my Thanksgiving meal (I LOVE to cook & I LOVE the holidays), when I really start buying Christmas gifts, if I don't already have them and for those that I do have, I start wrapping them. The last two months of the year have to be my favorite ones!

But then I'm also used to Novembers where it can be in the 80s and tee shirts are the norm, and I've also eaten Thanksgiving dinner out on the deck. But, that's not to be up here...November first and there was a layer of ice on the waters & yesterday I saw some sort of frozen precipitation. And Thanksgiving this year? Well, it promises to be COLD!

I'm pretty sure I'll survive, but I do think I need to buy a whole new wardrobe, since unlike Houston my summer wardrobe won't work in New York's winter.

Update

For those of you who didn't know, a week ago today I boarded a plane headed for Houston. :D Where I spent 4 1/2 days with family & friends. :D God greatly blessed me on this trip home. I got to snuggle with all my toddler & baby siblings, spent time with mom while shopping for animal feed and human food. :D Bible study with Christin & some friends, did one market & visited three other markets, I was also able to go to Central Market & church with my family. God has greatly blessed me & the trip home showed me even more how blessed I am.

New York City on the way to the airport.

About to land in Chicago. Have I ever mentioned how I hate layovers? Chicago is in the top two cities that I want to visit and I didn't get to see any of it, due to being on the wrong side of the plane both when landing & taking off!

There's no place like Houston!! :D

City Center Market Thursday night with Sara holding Dixie.




Urban Harvest Saturday morning

Highland Village Saturday afternoon

On our way into Central Market





Discovery Green Market Sunday afternoon



My siblings waiting for me to board the plane (which I ended up not doing that day).

My Family!

Wednesday's Day Off

This past Wednesday for my day off I went to a Yankees game. :D In case you haven't caught it yet, I am a HUGE baseball fan and was missing my baseball games. The hard part about this game? Well, it was a Yankee game (Top of my dislike list), my dad wasn't able to come with me, and it wasn't the old Yankee Stadium. But I took what I could get and went to the game, calling my dad more then once, silently cheering the Orioles (as I wanted to go home alive!), and taking as many pictures of the stadium that I could.


I got there a few minutes after the gates opened, and enjoyed batting practice, Monument Park, the Yankee Museum, and looking around the park. (FYI for those baseball fans planning to go to Yankee Stadium, there is really no way you can get autographs while at the game.)




I greatly enjoyed my day off and can now add one ballpark and two more teams to my list of visited parks & teams watched. :D

Wednesday...A Day Of Firsts.

• First time to go to a game without a family member.
• First time to go to a baseball game all by myself.
• First ride on a New York subway
• First time to go to Yankee Stadium.
• First time to see the Yankees play.
  
• First time to see Lance Berkman in anything other then an Astros' uniform.
• First American League game to watch live without the Red Sox playing.
  

And another big thing that wasn't a first, rather a second. For the second time in 12 years I went to a baseball game without my dad. The last time was in 1998 and my mom went with me. But other then that one time dad has ALWAYS gone with me to a game and it felt really odd to not have him with me. (Just in case you didn't know I LOVE my dad and greatly appreciate that he takes the time from his days to spend time with me at ballgames. :D )

One Month!

I've been in New York for one month!

One month ago I boarded a plain for the fourth time in my life. Only this trip was different from my other plane trips. I was not going to or away from family for a vacation. I was leaving for four months for an internship in New York. And this coming only two weeks after I told someone that "No, I didn't really see myself ever leaving Texas for any length of time longer then a week or two for vacation". (Never say never!)

Now, one month later I am counting the days until I can see my family & friends back in Houston for a few days. Yes, I miss my family! I miss the hugs, kisses, laughter, toddlers, older sisters, fights, debates, & everything else that comes with my family.

But I am taking each day that I have here & counting it as a blessing, as it's not every year of my life I will be able to spend months in New York & sight see everything I can on my day off. Nor is it every day I get to live on another dairy and learn many different things about goats, cheese, & showing.

The people I've met have been great, very helpful & friendly. Even if I do have a new nick-name..."That Red Sox fan". lol And then get to be told how "The Yanks ARE the best!". (Yeah, well...)

The weather is totally different, not as humid & rarely as hot as it is down in Houston. It's been very nice in the 70s to 80s with low to no humidity and some mornings or even some evenings being a bit chilly. Though, I am warned that in a month I will be coming into the cool months & will see some winter which includes snow, then they can start calling me a wimp instead of me calling them one. Meaning I will need some warmer shoes & a nice warm jackets. (Which means I will have to go buy some new shoes...Last thing on my list of things I like to do!)

It does feel a little weird not having toddlers or Liberty sharing a bed with me. I have played music any & all chances I get as it tends to get to quite here. :D And I am still having a hard time cooking for less than a half dozen people--More like cooking just for me. I've found that though I greatly enjoy cooking, like traveling alone it's not as fun to cook for oneself as it is for when your cooking for others as well.

Then there are the TONS of pictures I take to share with my friends and family so I can enjoy the trip & time here knowing that they will be able to see my trip at least a little bit through my pictures. And by the time I get ready to go home I am going to need to drive down as it will be better with all the things I will have bought for my family & friends for Christmas.

So, one month down--Three and half more to go. BUT in less then two weeks I will be to see my family & friends. As well as attend a very good friend's wedding, I can't wait! :D

Yesterday's Day Off...

So, yesterday was my weekly day off, and unlike previous weeks it wasn't was WAY full. :D Well, for Carlson standards. lol

Yesterday I spent looking at goats, visiting a cemetery, viewing the grounds at Vanderbilt, And touring the Culinary Institute of America. A laid back & enjoyable day, even though it did feel like home in the mid to upper 90s.

The first stop was a Cemetery in Rhinebeck NY. For those of you who don't know my family all that we LOVE visiting cemeteries. You learn so much from them, see so many interesting names, and learn about people things you might not have. :D


After that it as touring the grounds of the Vanderbilt mansion. Due to a prior reservation I didn't have enough time to tour the mansion it's self but it is the plans for sometime while in New York.




After the rose garden & grounds at the Vanderblit I went down to the riverbank and took some up close pictures of the Hudson river. Ever since I first saw the Mississippi river at the age of seven rivers have fascinated me and the Hudson was no different. (When I am rich, and have nothing else to do with my time or money I am going to travel down the Mississippi river lol)





After that it was on to the the Culinary Institute of America, something I would never have thought of if someone had not mentioned it to me. But I greatly enjoyed my time there!

A New Post!!

Since I've had people (mainly my sisters) e-mail me, face book me, leave comments, & call me to tell me that I need to blog more I am doing that.

The only problem is I've been a wee bit busy, had a touch of writers block, & lack thing to really write about (meaning the funny things that toddlers say.)

As of Wednesday I will have been in New York for four weeks. In that time I've shown in two shows, I've been to New York City, I've been to Pennsylvania, made TONS of cheese, helped with the chores, enjoyed the quite, missed my family, started skype, bought Christmas presents, met new people, & enjoyed my time. :D

Now to expound on all that! lol

I've gone to two county fairs and helped to show some goats, they have lots of dairy goats up here, as well of lots of shows. Many more then we do down in Texas.

In New York City I walked around eight miles. From Union Square to Central park and back again. I saw more stuff then I can remember, hence why I took well over 150 pictures. In Pennsylvania Lynn had a show that she was judging so I want with her, & while she was judging I checked out the local town of Lewisburg, and then when she was done we went & saw four covered bridges. Both days were long but enjoyable day.

I've been doing chores in the morning & then helping in the cheese room, I've learned how to make Feta & Ricotta and done TONS of chevre. They make a lot more cheese then we do, but then when your milking 120 goats you are going to be making a lot more cheese then a farm milking 36 goats. :D

I've enjoyed the quite, but then quite is also those times when I miss my family the most. I miss Seth running up to give me a hug, Noah & Judah asking a question about the farm or what I am doing. Or Liberty wanting to snuggle with me or Timothy asking a baseball question. Then I miss the older girls and any & all conversations that we have.

And I can't forget mom & dad and the conversations we have about baseball, cheese, dairy, farm life, soap, and life in general. At last but no least I miss Dixie's cooing. face book chatting, phones, & skype have made it all a little easier but not 100% completely easier. (Yes, I have been counting the days until I go back for a few days...16!)

Of course being up here I've seen & bought things that I know my family will love & can't WAIT until Christmas to see their faces when they see what I got them. It's one of the best things about being up here, getting great presents for my family.

The people who I have meet have all been great, now all of them have been related to goats in one way or another. Be it at the farm working on cheese or at shows showing goats. :D

And yes, I am enjoying myself. I am making a point of doing that. It's a little odd to bee sight seeing without family or friends here to do with me, so I've kind of compromised--I'm taking over 200 pictures every time I go out sight seeing. :D