One of the many things I love about St. Thomas is the weekends. There’s almost always something to do on campus, and if there’s not, it’s usually a perfect opportunity to either catch up one some homework or, if you’re really lucky, go to a friend’s house for the weekend! I’ve been able to do the latter multiple times during my freshman year and last weekend was no different, except for the location: I visited my first real farm last weekend!

One of my closest buddies, Emily, lives on a farm in western Minnesota, and so last weekend myself, Emily, and another friend named Emma took a 3 hour road trip to Minneota, Minnesota. There were pigs, there were horses, baby goats, regular sized goats, baby pigs, a stray cat, and two dogs! I was in animal heaven! This weekend was one of my absolute favorites because it was just so much fun and such a nice change from the usual routine of school work and dorm rooms (gotta love ‘em!). I’ll list a few of the highlights for you, even though there were too many to count!

-Baby goats

I don’t know if anyone out there has ever seen/held/played with a baby goat, but if you ever get the chance to, I highly recommend it. These guys are adorable. There were six baby goats at the time, and, while we were there, a mama goat gave birth to triplets! Being a triplet myself, that was pretty spectacular. The baby goats pretty much acted like little dogs, jumping up on your leg, letting you pet them and pick them up, and, one of my personal favorites, playing King of the Hill on your back when you lay down in the hay. A grand time was had by all and I now have a new baby goat best friend: Jane.

-Four wheeling

I had never gone four wheeling before and it was probably one of the most epic things ever. There’s nothing like whizzing around on a seriously fast contraption that’s half bike and half car, especially when there’s ditches and branch-dodging involved. Those of you that go four wheeling all the time know what I’m talking about! Next up on the adventure list is snowmobiling!

-Baby pigs

I am here to tell you that baby pigs are some of the cutest little guys you’re ever going to meet. They’re soft and pink and don’t have hard hooves yet, and they just cuddle right up to you as long as you’re warm and as long as they feel secure. We also got to see “teenage” pigs, who are more interesting in chewing on rubber boots and sweatpants than they are in eating their feed. Then we got to see the mama pigs that, to be honest, are pretty opposite of their adorable babies. They were impressively huge and a little bit scary, but what an experience! I also learned that pigs get spooked by people and noises pretty easily-you should have seen them stampede away when we were in the back of their pen!

-Everything else

From sleeping in to homemade meals to movie nights without the stress of homework, it was a weekend to remember. And to think that some people go back to that adventurous life every time they go home! As an Iowan, I have gained a way better understanding of farms in general and now when I meet a farm kid at St. Thomas, they’ll be greeted with enthusiasm and lots of questions!

In other news, Easter weekend was so great and now I’m back at St. Thomas for three more weeks of regular classes, then finals! It’s so crazy to see how fast my freshman year has gone, and it makes me a little sad but there are such adventures to come! Stay tuned if you want to know what I’m doing this summer-something I’ve never done before! Happy Easter, everyone!

What a busy week! The week before Easter was even busier than midterms for me, as I had a project due Tuesday, two papers due Wednesday, and multiple assignments due throughout the week. Now that I’m home for Easter break, however, I’ve been able to reflect upon ways I could’ve made the last few days not so crazy, and I think I’ll share these simple tips with you.

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What a beautiful week! As a non-Minnesotan, I now have a very good glimpse of the beautiful Minnesota spring/summer that is to come, and I personally cannot wait for more days like this week!

One of the happiest things of the week was the quad: it was full of people! From playing Frisbee to “doing homework” to playing guitar, the students of St. Thomas really know how to relax. Some of my friends have even had classes outside! The quad has also been full of Twins gear and a few of my friends even got to go to the opening game.

Last night there was a big concert comprised of Liturgical Choir and Concert Choir, along with Cantus, a very talented singing group of nine men, and a famous woman named Nirmala Rajasekar who played Carnatic music from South India. It was a very educational night and there was really some beautiful music. The Sacred Water concert was part of the Sacred Arts Festival that’s going on here at St. Thomas.

April seems to be birthday month here on our floor so we have had a blast celebrating the lives of many of our wonderful women and are looking forward to the two or three birthdays in the next few days. I am happy to report that this week has been one of the most relaxing of the semester, and now as I sit here with my window open listening to the baseball game, I just wonder how it can possibly get any better! It somehow always does. Side note: it’s going to thunderstorm tonight in St. Paul which just makes a perfect week even more perfect!

For you incoming Tommies of 2015, feel free to email me if you have any questions about dorms-I’ve been in all the female ones and I live in Dowling so would be very happy to answer any questions about your new home (schm9587@stthomas.edu). Enjoy your last few months of high school and I hope you don’t get senioritis too terribly bad! My freshman year is just flying by (because I’m having so much fun!) and a great adventure is about to begin in your lives!

Take care everybody!