Amish Country

This last weekend, my wife and I wanted to get out and see some of the countryside before the leaves fell off. We decided to get some cultural exposure while we were at it. So, we packed up our car and headed out to see rural Ohio and Amish Country.

Upon the recommendation of a few of my older classmates, we decided on an Amish farm, Hershberger Farm and Bakery. A very cool place with quite a bit to see and do.

We started with the farm store. The Amish are amazing craftsmen with skills in leather, textiles, and they are known for their woodworking skills. This is a picture of the chairs that are very common among the Amish. The chairs are made from willow and are harvested only once a year during the spring when the wood is soft and able to be molded.

We then decided to take a ride on the wagon to go to the pumpkin patch.

They estimate that they grew 12,000 pumpkins this year. That wagon ride was fun with a quick tour to see the Amish horses and some of the livestock. The Amish are renowned for their horsemanship, and had some of the biggest horses I have ever seen.

We found the perfect pumpkin, but didn't want to call it a day just yet. We headed back to finish up our day with the bakery and produce. The bakery was busy, and understandably so. All the baked goods are made from scratch, such as the cinnamon rolls that were hot out of the oven. They also had apple cider, fry pies (a traditional Amish pastry), pies of all varieties, and a huge selection jams, jellies, and pickles. Outside they had an open fire with a kettle on it making fresh kettle corn (AMAZING!). And to finish it off the produce from Hershberger and surrounding farms.

I learned a little bit about the Amish, and had a great time while doing it

The Semester is Under Way!

As soon as the sun started going down before 8:00 I realized that the semester is quickly passing, and so is my time here in school.

We are quickly approaching exam week 2. It will be happening the week before Halloween. So, needless to say I am a little scared. I'm scared for tests not for Halloween. I have heard that there are some pretty awesome haunted houses around, I will definitely be checking those out soon.

As far as tests go, I think I am ready. Although I will say it doesn't seem possible that we could have tests so soon after the last test, but it has been a month and tests are still a week and a half away. Anatomy and Biochemistry will indubitably be my hardest exams, and I am a little stressed. But, so to compensate I've been studying a little harder everyday to make sure that I cover the material adequately. Shortly following my first round of exams I thought that I was studying a lot longer everyday, but it turns out that the sun was just going down faster. A week later, I realized that I was studying longer regardless of the waxing and waning of the moon. I hope that the extra effort will pay off.


It's just a matter of keeping up, keeping my mind straight, and getting enough sleep.  The professors help as well by presenting good lectures, they keep it interesting and they make it a pleasure to learn the material rather than a chore. No mental breakdowns yet (the second years say that happens just for for exam 2 next semester), and I tend to keep it that way.