I'm an outlier and I embrace it.

Have you ever felt like no one understand you? What about the fact that you think people understand you, and then a comment or situation with them proves the opposite? Do you think differently or act differently from peers?

Let me reassure you, you are not alone. I do. And I'm good with it.

Rocking rubber boots and ripped jean shorts in 2009.

Growing up was hard for me. I was always that quiet, skinny, weird girl who spent too much time working, doing well in school and getting overly involved in organizations and community activities. Being the oldest of my sister and me, I was also the "son" on the farm. This made me a bit more tomboyish and the uncanny ability to have more guy friends than girl friends. I grew out of the "shy" part a little. As for the skinny and weird, I'm still working on those. Nonetheless, in all points of my life, there is always a moment of being "the odd one out". It may have been an instance as little as my favorite farm animal being the alpaca or as large as spending five consecutive hours doing homework and student organization projects on a Saturday night. Somehow, this feeling of being different has not changed since moving from high school and college to the working world.

I received recognition at our annual college banquet for being a top
student employee in my job two years while at Ohio State. #workaholic

Now, it is a larger scale of different. I am a female in the agriculture industry. More specifically, I am a young female in the seed industry. Even as more women work in different job sectors, it is mind boggling the amount of confused looks and skeptical remarks I get when I talk to people in the grocery store and strangers in the community. Sometimes, people are genuinely supportive with responses like, "Good for you! I'm sure you'll do great." Other times, it may go more like, "Oh, that's interesting. Guess you are in the right place for that."

The evil emotion: fear.

I do not like to admit it, but I have fears. Everyone does, including you. The chemical changes in our human brains control our emotions, like fear. They allow us to interpret thoughts and actions and since everyone thinks and feels differently, we have different fears (if you keep reading, you might discover mine at the end of this post.)

People "Don't Do Vaccines"

A common fear is of the unknown or a threat. Imagine you approach a dark tunnel. Is it intimidating to look at the pitch black and not know what is there? Where does it lead? Where is the end? Anything could be there. That unknown factor impacts the situations and decisions people make on a regular basis.

Do you feel challenged yet?

Time moves quickly, life changes often. I can't believe it is already March of 2015! It seems like yesterday I graduated from Ohio State and started by first big girl job with Syngenta. Even as this time passes, there are things that feel like they move so slowly. One of them is feeling like an expert in your job.

Every job you have is an unwritten requirement to become an expert. Why you might ask? If you do not know the necessities and fundamentals of your job, you cannot progress to actively learn, grow and excel. Experts excel. 

To learn and grow, you are challenged. Tell me,

Did you have Protein Pancakes for National Pancake Day?

Sometimes, I get adventurous with my cooking. This week proved that. And since today is National Pancake Day, here are the delectable Protein Pancakes I made.

My recipe was inspired by this one from Shredz. I think mine look healthier. :) Below is my adjusted recipe. What do you think?

Human Health and Plant Health Require Multiple MOA

We are constantly scrutinized. What should we wear, what should we eat, what we should do for our careers, how we should act and what we should think. That's a lot of pressure. One area I have seen even more pressure is to eat healthy and be fit or in shape.

Why are we fat

Some statistics and facts about ag.

The continuous impression we received from news anchors, celebrities, athletes, doctors, friends and family is that American's are overweight. As stated in this November article by Business Insider, a study from The Lancet by the Global Burden of Disease found the United States as the fattest country in the world for 2014, with 33 percent of the population being defined as "obese".

This is not a good thing for our country, but it is does demonstrate other positive aspects we have in our country, being modernized, technologically savvy and full of resources. With all of these resources from food to electronics, it has become easy to overeat, spend more time staring at computer, tablet, and phone screens and become less "physical" in our daily routines. More people sit in an office or in a vehicle for their jobs because our society has become smarter and made it "easier" for us to work.