The Crazy Month of August

August has always been a crazy month for me. When I was in 4-H, it was the rush to get all of my projects finished, make sure my cattle wouldn't drag me through the show ring, showing at the county fair and then the state fair immediately after, ending in going back to school whether it was college or high school. Even once I was out of 4-H, there were internships to transition from and back into school. Last year I ended an internship, moved to Madison and started a new job.

This August was no exception:

• I started a new job at Lallemand Animal Nutrition working with their Sil-All brand of silage inoculants (essentially bacteria designed to aid in the fermentation process of forages to create a better silage for feeding catle)
• Took a trip back to Minnesota for a wedding, visiting the bf's family's dairy and beef farm and my family's farm along the way
• Moved to Milwaukee and had a great going away party with my Madison friends
• Attended the #AgChat Foundation Agvocacy 2.0 Conference in Kansas City, MO. Amazing. 

Still to come in August:

• A brief work trip
• Heading back to Minnesota for the Minnesota State Fair aka The Great Minnesota Get Together or The Happiest Place on Earth. Though, I'll actually be at the fair in September. Close enough.

My apartment is still a bit disheveled from moving, with boxes that need to put away and pictures that need to be hung up. One of my top priorities with my move is getting a new library card. I'm getting more settled into my new job and of course there's still lots to learn. I've loved being so busy but it will be nice when things calm down a bit so I can actually decorate my apartment.

Posts of a few of the above activities from this crazy month coming shortly!

Moving Forward

The past couple weeks have full of activity in finding employment land. Last week I drove an hour to an interview, flew to Phoenix for an interview at a trade show and flew to Ohio for another interview. The last trip was fraught with flight delays and I was hardly home all week, but it ended up being worth it.

In early August I'll be starting a position in marketing with Lallemand Animal Nutrition. I'll be working primarily with the silage inoculant part of the business and will have a variety of roles ranging from developing product literature to coordinating trade shows. The interview process was rather long and extensive, which made me even more confident in the position and company. It just seems like a good fit and I'm excited to get to work and stay in the agriculture industry.

The position means I will be moving to Milwaukee, WI which is both exciting and a bit sad. I've been in Madison for almost a year now, have an absolutely fantastic group of friends and enjoy the Madison area. Milwaukee isn't too far from Madison though so I will still be able to come back to Madison to visit. I've started the process of finding an apartment in Milwaukee and I've decided that I will be getting a cat in the new apartment. I currently have a rabbit in my apartment and I've been wanting a cat for a while. To make things more interesting, the bf is starting graduate school at the University of Minnesota in August. We've done long distance before, but it's never ideal.

Here's to hoping this next position is a great fit, as it seems to be, and the move to Milwaukee goes well. It's definitely exciting!

The Big Move

I'm getting settled into my new apartment in Madison, WI and have been in town for 2 weeks now. The past two weeks have a whirlwind of busy as I had a hotel mix-up, started apartment searching, met some relatives that live near the area, started my new job at BouMatic, moved into my new apartment, and met lots of new people.

My journey to Madison started two weeks ago as I was heading to my home for the week - an extended stay hotel - but due to a mix-up had to find a different place to crash for a couple of nights. I knew I had relatives in the area but I had not known them before. I got in touch with my parents and my Dad called his cousin in Oregon, just outside Madison, and arranged for me to stay there. It was essentially "Nice to meet you! I'm your cousin's daughter and I'll be staying here for a couple of nights." Luckily, my Dad's cousin's family was very nice and friendly. On my first day at work I finally got into my extended hotel stay hotel, which I loved because it had free wireless, breakfast and supper.

Work has been interesting so far and I've met so many people and am learning a lot. Even though I grew up on a dairy farm, I am realizing that there is so much about the industry to learn yet, which is exciting. My boss is in Belgium and works out of the European headquarters in Remicourt, Belgium, but I work closely with a great Brand Management team in Madison. That team has been showing me the ropes and I'm learning everything that my role entails and getting started on some big projects.

Last week I signed the lease on my new apartment and I moved in on Monday. I'm still in the process of settling in, but it's getting there. I'll be bringing one of my rabbits to live here (in it's cage) sometime soon. The complex I live in is just 2 miles from where I work and, though it's still in Madison, I drive by a corn field on my way to work. There's a woods just outside my patio and I love it. Pictures of the place will likely come as I get more settled in.

So far I'm experiencing a huge mixture of loving the city and my new job and greatly missing home. The missing home portion is compounded by the fact that the Douglas County Fair is going on at this moment and this is the first year I've ever missed it completely. Last year was my first year not being in 4-H, but I was still able to make it to part of the fair in between coming home from Missouri and heading back to college.  Still, I'm grateful for this experience and it's definitely a change to be on my own in a new city and a new state.

Big News: Starting a New Chapter

My internship with Wilbur-Ellis ends August 5th and I've been applying and interviewing for full-time positions to start once my internship ends.  There's been many ups and downs, confusion, excitement, and hard decisions along the way, but I'm happy to say that today my job search is over.

I concentrated my job search on the agriculture industry and focused primarily on roles dealing with communications and/or marketing.  My Communication degree is broad and marketing can apply to a wide variety of roles and tasks, and I believe I found a position that I will be very satisfied with.

Starting August 8th, I'll be the North America Market Manager with BouMatic in Madison, Wisconsin.  BouMatic is a global dairy equipment manufacturing company and I'm excited to be able to work in the awesome dairy industry.  I'll be moving to Madison, about 7 hours away from home, which is both scary and exciting at the same time.  I'll also be apartment searching for the first time and doing many other firsts.  It's a big change that I'm very excited about.