Why I Farm Roadtrip Countdown: 4 Days to Go

Today is my third day of Why I Farm Roadtrip Countdown posts! (The other two posts are here and here.) I'm on a roll!

This morning was bittersweet. Two of my wonderful roommates, Locky and Lynn moved out to head to their real world jobs. We had a yummy breakfast to finish up the last of the pancake mix and syrup. I've only lived with these girls for a year, but we've had so much fun together. I'm sure going to miss them!

In hopes of changing my mopey mood, I went out to my car to try and put the jack back in its spot by the spare tire. Thankfully, I've never had a flat in this car, but we took the jack and spare out for some Why I Farm Roadtrip photos back in March. I couldn't get it back into place for the life of me, so it's been rolling around in my trunk ever since. It finally donned on me to Google my predicament, and sure enough plenty of other people have had the same problem. But after searching YouTube, I still couldn't find a simple how to video. After a lot of determination and frustration I figured it out. It's nothing great, but I decided to make a quick YouTube video to help out the other people struggling. Here it is:

Maybe two coolers is excessive,
but I like food, okay?!

Next, I tackled a few gross cleaning projects I've been putting off. We used my coolers for our graduation BBQ, but it's been pretty rainy since then so they got covered in dirt and leaves. After a little elbow grease, my coolers are as good as new. Right now, the plan is to pack the big one with lots of ice and unopened cold food. Once I open a cold drink or snack, I'll move it to the smaller cooler so that it's more accessible. This way, I can take my lunch with me in the small cooler and the ice will last longer in the big cooler.

For a couple years, I've been a part of a Women In Ag Facebook group organized by Successful Farming. There are over 20,000 awesome women constantly sharing their advice and encouraging one another. I reached out to them because I've had trouble deciding what to collect from each state. Shot glasses are just clutter, and spoons are old school. Since I'm driving my tiny Ford Fiesta I don't have room for anything big. They responded with so many creative ideas. I got sucked into crafty daydreams for over an hour! I think I've settled on postcards, stickers and t-shirts from each state. When Why I Farm Roadtrip is over, I can make a collage or frame the postcards. As I travel, I'm going to stick all the stickers on the silver cooler I just cleaned up. All the t-shirts could be made into the coziest blanket ever when I get back.

The afternoon was a different pace with tons of conference calls and emails. It was one of those days were doors just seem to be getting shut in my face, but you have to have a few of those to keep the good days in perspective.

Once the rain quit for a while I put the drawers in the hatchback part of my car. They fit nice and snug. I spread a towel on my back seat and loaded up the big silver cooler. Seeing things finally fall into their places turned my mood around. I've been getting lots of questions about how the whole set up will work, so I shot this quick video:

With most of my big items in the car, cleaning up the disaster I created in the living room was next on the list. I made such a mess!

I have a handful of emails to send yet tonight and some social media to schedule for work. I hope to get to bed a little earlier tonight, because I have so much planned for tomorrow. Better get going!

Thanks for reading! 

Why I Farm Roadtrip Countdown: 5 Days to Go

Yesterday I started blogging about the last week of the countdown to Why I Farm Roadtrip. I'm continuing today hoping that it will help you prepare for an adventure of your own. 

While I'm roadtripping, AgSolver has been gracious enough to let me stay on the marketing team and work remotely. Today was my last regularly scheduled day in the office, and quite a productive one! I had three meetings and created a lot of social media content. It was sad to leave the office for the last time, but I'm excited to transition to working remotely.

My car, Kermit, was way overdue for
some cleaning!

Once I got off work, I returned the last of the extra plastic drawer sets to Target. Yesterday, my boyfriend and I spent a long time figuring out the perfect combination of drawers. After we'd made our final selection, I went to Goodwill and found a brand new set of drawers exactly like I needed for 1/4 of the price. So, I kept the Goodwill drawers and returned the Target ones today. While I was there, I noticed my favorite v-necks were on sale for $6. They can be dressed up or down and I love how neutral they are. Needless to say, a couple of them came home with me and will be along for the ride on Why I Farm Roadtrip.

There's a great place in Ames that has a car vacuum station you can use for free. So while all the drawers were out of my car, I sucked up every last crumb from the seats and floors. When I got home, I used the wipes I bought yesterday on the mud, dust and scuffs on my dash and doors. After I wash the windows at the gas station tomorrow, Kermit will look like a whole new car!

One final errand before coming home! I got several rolls of quarters to stash away for my trip. I know they will come in handy for parking and the laundry mat.

When I got home, I met a friend to look at our house. She was looking for a subleaser and we had an open room. Perfect match! (Insert more adulting and coordinating roommate logistics here.)

Just a few items are left in the laundry.
Packing is coming along!

After that, it was time to dive back into laundry and packing. Now most of the storage drawers are full. A few missing items are in the wash, but I put sticky notes on each drawer listing what needs to be added. I'm hoping this keeps me from sneaking in lots of extra clothes, but it's so hard to narrow it down.

As a break from packing, I jumped on #AgChat from 7 - 9pm. The topic was videos, and I learned from so many fantastic people, as usual. Tuesday nights are one of the highlights of my week. My favorite part was the intros, were everyone shared their favorite ag related clip. I hope to make a Monday Night Movie Night post out of everyone's comments.

As always, my final step today was make a list for tomorrow. There's still plenty to do!

Thanks for reading! See you tomorrow!

Why I Farm Roadtrip Countdown: 6 Days to Go

Graduation was on Saturday, so today was my first day
 "in the real world". I had a great weekend celebrating
with family and friends.

Whoa. These last three weeks have been a blur. School finished up, graduation celebrations came and went, and now we're in the single digit countdown for Why I Farm Roadtrip. I plan to blog through this next week for a couple reasons.

1. My recent Twitter poll tells me you all are interested in what and how I'm packing.

2. I'll be packing and repacking several times over the course of this year. I want to take note of how I did things so I know what worked and what didn't after the end of this first loop.

3. I have done a pretty good job of blogging about four times a month, but I need to step it up and get in the habit of writing daily. Hopefully I can start a habit this week before I hit the road.

This is my first Monday as a college graduate. My first day of adulting went well! I made lots of progress preparing for Why I Farm Roadtrip. Here's how it happened:

1. Work from home on AgSolver social media. If you follow me on social media, especially Twitter, you've probably noticed I have a part time job with AgSolver. I love using social media to communicate with farmers about their innovative Precision Business Planning tools. 

2. Why I Farm emails and phone calls. Every day there are a few more Why I Farm Roadtrip stops to confirm or introductions to make. I got a bunch of those crossed off my list before lunch today.

3. Spare key. I purchased my little Ford Fiesta, Kermit, used and he only came with one key. I figured it might be wise to have a spare when I'm on the road so I killed two birds with one stone this morning. Took my brother to pick his car up, and I ordered another key. (I also looked into roof racks and cargo carriers for my car, but they are too pricey for my budget right now. It would save a lot of space, and hold things that I don't always need access to, like a sleeping bag and tent, but I decided to keep it on the wish list for now.)

Choosing drawers took so much math!

Here's what is packed so far. Progress,
but there's a long ways to go!

4. Pack up dry food. I went through my pantry and put the half packages of crackers, granola, etc. into my new food containers. (Remind me to tell you how I scored the containers sometime.) I consolidated boxes of breakfast bars and created a shopping list of snacks for later in the week.

5. More AgSolver, Why I Farm email and social media. 

6. Pay bills and figure out insurance. This is where the adulting came in, and I started to freak out. I'm trying to arrange my bills so they're all due on one or two days a month. I really don't want to have to worry about paying bills every week when I'm out traveling the country. I still have some work to do on this tomorrow.

7. Laundry. I got most of the dirty clothes that I want to take washed up. Clean laundry is such a good feeling!

8. Errands around Ames. Made a quick deposit at the bank and notified them of my upcoming travel. Dropped a few thank you notes in the mail. Picked up some cleaning supplies and storage drawers at Wal-Mart and Target. Finding the perfect combination of storage was quite an adventure, but with a little help, I got it done. I've settled on two 3-drawer stacks and one 5-drawer stack for the back hatch. 

9. Packing. After finding the best prices around town I brought the drawers in and started filling them up. The top skinny drawers will keep my paperwork in order. T-shirts and v-necks, scarves, hats and socks are nearly done. I'll use other drawers for farm jeans, nice jeans, flannels/misc. shirts, cardigans, shorts and jackets/sweatshirts. It's going to be a challenge narrowing down my closet, but I've got a good start.

10. Made list for tomorrow. I felt good about today's progress, but tomorrow will be plenty busy with another list of to-do's.

Thanks for reading! See you tomorrow!

Monday Night Movie Night: NAMA 2016

Until last week, it had been a long time since I'd posted a Wordless Wednesday. It's been even longer since I've done a Monday Night Movie Night! In all my social media stalking I found these two awesome videos from NAMA 2016 and had to share them with you.

Hope you've enjoyed these videos as much as I have. Thanks for reading!

Wordless Wednesday: NAMA 2016

If you caught my blog post earlier this week, you know I just got back from a great trip to Kansas City for NAMA (National Agri-Marketing Association) Conference. I haven't done a Wordless Wednesday post in a while, so I thought I'd share a few shots from the week! Enjoy!

Photo credit: Rachel Lium

Photo credit: Rachel Lium

Photo credit: Rachel Lium

Photo credit: Rachel Lium

Photo Credit: VistaComm

Photo credit: Rachel Lium

Photo credit: Morgan Ball of Picking Wildflowers

Photo credit: Sandbox

Photo credit: Carly Cummings

Photo credit: Carly Cummings

Thanks to everyone that made #NAMA16 such a fantastic event! Hope to see you all next year! Thanks for reading!

12 Pieces of Advice from NAMA 2016 Student Mentor Luncheon

I just got back from an inspiring week at NAMA 2016 in Kansas City and have so much to blog about. To keep myself from writing a novel, I'm keeping this blog post short. One of the highlights of NAMA this year was the Student Mentor Luncheon. Along with five other students, I met Dave, Carrie and Hannah who took the time to share their wisdom with us. Here are quotes that really hit home for me:

1. "It's not what you know, it's who you know." - Carrie

2. "Don't limit yourself." - Hannah

3. "Influence the influencer." - Hannah

4. "A portfolio is huge." - Hannah

5. "Passion is something you can't fake." - Hannah

6. "Look for ways to give back. Stay connected." - Dave

7. "Have a robust social media presence that's professional." - Hannah

8. "Don't be afraid to take a chance. Put your idea out there." - Carrie

9. "Seeking out and keeping in touch with mentors is important." - Hannah

10. "Challenge the status quo. That's our job." - Dave

11. "Learn about yourself. Knowing who you are helps you work with others." - Carrie

12. "Ask questions in an interview." - Dave

I'm so thankful for the chance I had to meet Dave, Carrie and Hannah. I know their advice is something I can apply to my life for years to come. Thanks for reading!

18 Tidbits of Wisdom from AgChat National Collegiate Congress

I've blogged about my feelings for the AgChat conferences and community before, but after my experience at AgChat National Collegiate Congress, it deserves a post all to itself.

For those of you who haven't had the chance to participate, #AgChat is a weekly Twitter discussion every Tuesday night from 7-9 p.m. CT. Over the last two years, it's opened a lot of doors for me to grow personally and professionally.

Recenly, I had the opportunity to attend my second AgChat conference and serve on the NAMA social media corps. I was really impressed with the event. It gave me an opportunity to network with peers from other schools as well as professionals with varying fields of expertise. Learning with such a diverse group made for a very rich experience. The students panels offered great insight and were unlike anything I'd ever participated in. I came back with several pages of quotes. Here are a few of my favorites:

Roy Lee Lindsey, Jr. - Oklahoma Pork Council

"Words live forever"

"Dead air time is okay. Stop and think, especially when you're angry."

"There is room for everyone at the table. It's going to take all of us."

Katie Glick - Time Management Tips & Tricks Breakout

"Keep trying. Be diligent."

"You can do it all, just not all at the same time."

"Review the guest list before attending a professional event."

Jade Halliburton - Student Panel

"People don't really care what you do. They want to hear why you do it."

"You have to make ag relevant to people that don't think ag is relevant to them."

Travis Haney - ESPN

"There's always going to be a hunger for good stories."

"Don't overlook the people you meet."

"Set as many lunch dates as you can."

"Read as much as you can."

"Write as much as you can."

"A good story is a good story."

"Don't miss the journey."

Jenny Schweigert - Executive Director of AgChat

"Viral posts and high reaching numbers are great. They are not everything."

"One-on-one conversations have great value."

"You don't need to be everything to everyone."

Huge thank you to all the wise speakers that shared their tips and advice with all the young professionals in attendance. I learned so much and can't wait to keep up with everyone I met each week on #AgChat. Watch this video to see how you can join the conversation.