Christmas Blessing!

So tonight we are going through contacts to send Christmas cards to... 

We ordered 150 cards and realized our list had quickly added up to 160+... 

 We were having to go through and cut some out when we thought to actually count the cards. 

 By some mistake, they shipped us not 150 but 260 cards!!! 

 What a special Christmas blessing! :D

Have you received or realized any unexpected blessings recently?

Our first Christmas tree!

I have a lot to post on.  It's all backing up in my mind; quite a line, really.  But alas!  I haven't much time... because I HAVE A LIFE, people!  And I've been doing a lot of living lately!  So one of these days I will maybe (finally) post about Thanksgiving, a friend coming to visit, thoughts on Traditions, my Christmases the past few years, and other stuff that's been happening!

Until then this (pathetic, sorry - it's from my phone) picture of our first tree will have to do!  It's a real tree and it smells so good!  We picked it out ourselves and brought it all the way home from... Menards!   It is a very cute tree and very picture-perfect-ish! :)

For all those of you reading this who might be going through pre-marital counseling or will be soon, a little word of advice.  Picking out the tree is easy, however, what's not usually covered in the books is choosing lights.  Colorful vs. white.  Discuss and come to an agreement NOW.  It will save you from an eye-opening surprise when standing in the Christmas decoration aisle together...  Haha, it wasn't that bad, but our different preferences and why was certainly entertaining! ;)   

In case you're dying to know, I love my hubby so much - there are WHITE lights on the tree!  

...but I have two boxes of colored ones to decorate a room with! :D

For the other married couples, what have you had to learn to agree or compromise on?

~ Merry-almost-Christmas from snowLESS Minnesota! ~

On the Pizza Ranch blog!

It is really special to be featured on PizzaRanchServes' blog today!  You can read it HERE. :)

P.S.  Don't forget to come visit me at work!  Marshall, MN between Walmart and Menards~

~ Officially Winter ~

Maybe the Weatherman will be right!

Because look what's on the forecast for tomorrow!!! 

Disclaimer:  I'm sorry other angry-Minnesotans, if you dislike me because I am excited about alternate forms of precipitation; at least I am thinking positively about the new seasons in this frigid polar region in the north - in which you CHOOSE to live!  And if you can't think of anything happy (white Christmas anyone?) about six months of many-feet of white fluffy freeziness, then you should... um....  

...move to Florida.  Or Hawaii.

Pizza Ranch

The continuation of my crazy job-story, Part 2.

Of how I came to work at Pizza Ranch instead of PictureMe... it still starts with a "P"!

(Didn't that sound like a Winnie the Pooh title?)

          I woke up on this dreaded Friday morning and dressed again in classy black and white.  It was only my second day at work - and I hated my job.  (I am sorry, kids who might be reading this - that is a very strong word... I should say greatly disliked my new job.)

          I had five minutes before I needed to leave out the door and I needed something that would make me feel a little more cheerful.  So I decided to look up Pizza Ranch's website!  At the bottom they had a button that said "PizzaRanchServes", I clicked it and it was a link to their blog.  This is what I saw:

Go to HERE to read it

A devotional???  A link on the left that says 'Prayer' and they will pray for your prayer requests?  I clicked on the 'About' and it listed their Vision and Mission.  The Vision?  "To glorify God by positively impacting the world we live in."  Glorify God!?  How cool!  And what on earth...???

          But it was time to go, and face the dreaded job and tell them I'm sorry, it's just not me, and I need to do what's best for me - it is not worth the physical and emotional stress/damage except maybe for a much higher pay wage and for sure confirming time off at Christmas.  Both were impossible to grant. Legally they must give the new employee the choice after two days of video training to take the job or not.  I said I'm sorry, but no, I cannot stay; I have no peace about it.

          I wasn't sure why God had it be this way.  I had been excited for working here, I worked hard to get accepted and I tried my best to like it even when negative aspects came to light.  I thought it had been God leading up to this point!  So why was I here and it didn't work out?  Maybe God was trying to show me that the working world is not all it's cracked up to be and I should be content to be at home.  That sounded great to me - anything besides working at a job!  If this is what jobs are like, I was scared away from wanting any job.  For now, I was jobless and FREE, and couldn't have been happier!           

          I called Ben when I stepped out of Wal-mart, "Ben!  I DON'T HAVE A JOB!!!!  And I'M SO HAPPY TO NOT HAVE A JOB!!!!!!"

           

          An hour later I texted Ben:  "I'm HIRED at Pizza Ranch!  Doing training the rest of the day!"  What happened between then and then, you say.  That morning - by faith - I had brought along my cowboy boots, work appraisals and resume from the ship, and the checkbook (in case of direct deposit).  I was thinking that if the job didn't work out, I could at least hope to get called for an interview for Pizza Ranch that day so that I wouldn't have to make another trip to town.  Well after I didn't have a job anymore, I decided to go over to Pizza Ranch to follow-up on my application and amend the date I was available to start work.  Instead of January, it was now!  Anytime!  I am here!

          I went in and once again, many happy people in a very busy/fun atmosphere!  They found a manager who happened to have a little time open so they could interview me.  First, they had to find my application in the stack... they hadn't even looked at it yet.  Eventually the guy dug it out and we sat at a brand new table for an interview.  Basically they wanted someone cheerful with a positive attitude and a smile, who could work in a team and also interact with people (customers) well and could handle it being very busy/hectic.  I said THAT'S ME!  Wow, what a perfect fit!  My favorite foods?  Spaghetti, PIZZA, and lasagna (no correlation there, is there?!).  And I love a western theme (see the boots?)  They saw enough from my work appraisal on Deck and my initiative trying to get this job even though I was a latecomer and my smile, that before I had time to even talk to Ben about working here, I was hired!

          But there was no time to lose!  The rest of the new crew who had been hired over the past two months all had started work with orientation on Wednesday and training on Thursday.  Now, it was Friday.  The miracle about it was, all the training that had been given on Thursday, was repeated Friday.  Today.  NOW!  They ushered me quickly into the first session of the day, and on I went on this roller-coaster of a whirlwind from training to training and in between I would run back, fill out more paper work, and back to class!  Then I would dash out, they threw a uniform at me, I changed and back into training session I went!  The next in between time, I was registered into the system and there I was, clocked-in for my first day at my second job in two days!

          There was only one little breather of a break between two of the sessions, after everything had been sorted out paperwork-wise, so I had a little time.  It was late afternoon and I hadn't had any lunch yet so I drove across town to grab a bite, gas-up and had just enough time to stop at Goodwill.  My dressy clothes weren't quite right for a restaurant!  By now I was partly transformed; a Pizza Ranch visor, name tag and T-shirt that was too big for me (they didn't have any more smalls), along with my dress slacks and white cowboy boots!  I had 5 minutes to find the perfect pair of jeans at Goodwill.  I ran in, grabbed two off the rack, tried them on, one pair fit and I just left those on and went up to the counter and said, "I'd like to buy these jeans that I'm wearing!  I'm in a time crunch and it's part of my uniform and I just left them on!"  Poor lady, she must have been confused.

          Back I went to the brand new restaurant, one article of clothing at a time getting the right dress code on.  At least I didn't stand out so badly now from the rest of the crew!  All that was different now was I was still wearing white cowboy boots, which unfortunately I can't wear for work because I have to have slip-resistant shoes.

          By Friday night I was caught up to everyone else who had been working on applying for the last two months.  It was definitely a God-thing to walk in and walk out with a job!

          I feel so privileged to get to work in a brand new restaurant that still smells like wood and fresh paint, to be part of the team that gets to set high standards in this not-even-open-yet franchise branch, and to work in a place where God is hung on our walls right in the front door where you come in, big and bold in our vision statement.  God is good.  I get to sing along to my favorite Christian artists (Casting Crowns) as I clean the buffet glass because we play either country or Christian radio.  I work in a team, and I am getting to know some of the other girls.  I work in an atmosphere where we smile and build each other up.  I work in a family-friendly restaurant (that doesn't serve alcohol) where I'll be able to interact with lots of kids.  I get to serve people and make them happy!  I get to bring out their favorite kind of pizza!

          We have a higher calling than just making pizza and chicken.  As we learned when we watched a video made by Chic-fil-A - on a computer that was on a chair which was stacked on top of a table... great makeshift movie theatre there! - it's about serving, about making a difference in our communities.  As our mission statement says, Pizza Ranch is a ministry opportunity to give our guests our very best - Legendary service!  And I get to work in such a place as this.  God is good!

We open on Monday.  

I get to be the first one to welcome the guests to Pizza Ranch!  

My one-day job

Could I spend six and a half weeks applying for a job and finally get it, just so that my first day of work brings me 'in town' the exact day necessary to apply for the job I wanted in the first place... 

to walk in in cowboy boots the next day and get accepted at my dream job???

God works in mysterious ways!

This is the story of my one-day job.

          So I applied to PictureMe!, a little photo place at the Wal-mart in our nearest city, Marshall.  It was right after the miscarriage, and I felt like I needed something new to keep me busy and some outlet of getting out of the house and seeing people!  What could be better than taking pictures of darling little angels, getting to work with kids (which I love) and learning more about photography?  Excitedly, I left for my first day of work, dressed in professional black and white!

          Soon I learned, however, that most of the kids coming to get their pictures taken have never been spanked in their life, and all their poor exasperated mother can (will) do is scream empty threats... There's not much to the photography due to it all being set up and automated already; mostly it's just about sales.  I was told it was ok to lie to customers... anything to sell that super-expensive premium package!  I noticed a few other things about the work environment - that I would be working alone once fully trained and you don't actually see that many people; just stand in the shop alone and make many phone (sales) calls. :P  Training would take about 4 weeks, with two weeks left for me to work to finish out the season... that seems real practical, doesn't it?  Several more things, like lack of good communication/sense of caring among managers to employees (they are all long-distance because they oversee many locations), showed me that it's a broken system.  And basically your job is always on the line if you don't make enough sales. Oh yes, and it would be impossible to get time off at Christmas (a previous commitment to visit my family) because this is the busiest time of year!

          In my lunch break, I went out to the truck to eat my sandwich and decided to drive over to the new Pizza Ranch building to see if they had the date of opening up yet.  I had been watching for it, and for a "now hiring" sign since before it was even a building!  When it was just a sign in the ground saying it was the future home of Pizza Ranch, I started checking, every time I was in town.  I saw the roof go on.  I saw the boxes of chairs stacked outside and I saw the chairs being carried in.  But the apply now sign never came.

          So in the meantime, I had applied for another job.  And gotten it.  And today was my first day of work.  And it was my lunch break.  AND A SIGN WAS THERE!!!  They were going to be open the 21st of November!  No hiring sign.  Must have somehow gotten all the workers they needed already.  But maybe Ben and I could take a date there when they opened!

          I saw some activity inside, so I decided to check it out.  I stepped inside... it was all newly decorated - I had forgotten it was cowboy themed!  And there were all these smiling girls behind the counter, in some sort of training.  *sigh*  THIS was an environment I wanted to work in!  

          "What are you doing here?" I wasn't really sure actually, I knew my chance of applying was over and I was just so excited to see it I guess.  "Came for an application?"

          What?!  Still hiring?  "Um... Yes, actually!  Could I pick one up?"  I asked.  The guy handed me some papers and asked if I wanted to fill it out there.  Remembering I was on lunch break and didn't have much time (and still hadn't eaten yet) I asked if I could bring it in tomorrow.  No, that wasn't good enough.  It had to be by tonight if I wanted any chance!

          So I rushed out to my truck, wolfing down my sandwich as I hurriedly scribbled out names of references and such.  I had just enough time to run it back in (right away - hopefully making a good impression) before making it back to my other job just in time!

          I sat down to more video training and realized over the rest of the afternoon that this job really wasn't for me.  (See issues above)  And to top it all off, the volume could somehow not be changed on their computer so I had to hold my headphone like 1" away from my ear for hours on end!

          I went home in tears, super stressed, pessimistic and distraught over if I could even survive working at this job.

          Ben was so good at trying to help me, and we set some boundaries and conditions for if I would stay at that job.  It was a long first day.  I had a horrible headache and no peace.  I couldn't eat any supper.  I dreaded going back to work tomorrow, and I never wanted to walk into Wal-mart again.  I was sick.

'I belong to no one'

What would it be like to belong to no one?

It's almost christmas - I don't have my grandparent's or parent's home to go to... because I simply don't have family.  None.  Zilch.  I am a family of one.  Except, I don't think 'family' can be singular.  If there's only one it's 'alone'.  Yup, that's me; I don't belong to anyone. 

I don't have a curfew, which many teenagers might envy.  But I just wish there were someone who cares what time I come home... or if I come home at all.  I wish I would have a real home to come back to.  Looking to the future it would be cool to get married someday.  But I need to find another loner like me.  It wouldn't be fair to him that I would get a family out of the deal because I don't have family he'd be joining.  I will never have a Dad to walk me down the aisle. 

I had dreams too, you know.  I imagined being pushed on a swing by a smiling person called Mom.  My 6-year-old joy would have been indescribable!  I wanted to know what it would be like to have a Grandma who baked the best pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving.  Would I help roll out pie crust or would I be outside with Grandpa showing me how to shoot a rifle?  How about as a family to go sledding in the park in the winter?  In my mind's eye I could see us walking across the snow, seeing all the other fathers out with their daughters having the best Saturday of their life, at least it would be of mine!  But it's all in the past tense because it's too late for me to make any of those childhood memories.
Age 17 was my last chance for a normal life.  That was the year I heard someone say, "My plate's full.  I have a full house!  God's given me enough with my own two grown children, one teenager at home yet and grandkids coming over..."  I'm only 5'1 since I was preemie; I don't take up much room.  And no space for me in their mansion of a house?  Did they not read in the Bible the 47 times it says to care for the orphans?     

I waited a long time for a family and they never came.  I don't have a family and I never will.  I'll never get my turn to be someone's kid because I 'aged-out'.... of the System.    

Suzanne L. __________  

Age 18, American Foster Care System   

P.S.  I am Suzanne Lauren __________, with no last name because I belong to no one.

Big-scale plumbing

This was a several day job this week and I am so proud of my husband!!! This was when they finally got the fitting on! (It was a very deep trench and a nasty cold, windy day outside.)

Waiting...

Every morning when I open my eyes I look out the window.  Every morning since the beginning of October - or maybe even end of September.  Ever since the trees lost most of their leaves and the sky got that "wintry" look.  Ok, I don't really know if it's a true wintry sky cause I don't actually know what it looks like come December or January.  But it's overcast, grey and dark.  So it must be collecting lots of white fluffy moisture up there, right?

Because every morning I'm checking to see if it snowed. :)  And every morning so far... not yet! :(

Snow reminds me of a new word I'm learning:  "winterize".  Everyone keeps talking about needing to "winterize" their camper or "winterize" their house.  I have yet to find out what it means... I'm just keeping my eyes open going to watch for how people do that!  I thought you just had to turn the heat on! :P

Being officially November now, I'm unashamed to say I listened to Christmas music ALL DAY!

CHRISTMAS TIME'S A COMIN'

Snowflakes falling my old home is calling
Tall pines are humming Christmas time is coming.

Can't you hear them bells ringin' ringin' joy to all here them singin'
When it snows out I'll be going back to my country home
Christmas times a' coming Christmas times a' coming
Christmas times a' coming and I know I'm going home.

Holly's in the window home where the wind blows
Can't walk for running Christmas time is coming.

Home fires burning my heart's yearning
For the folks at home when Christmas time is coming.

This song, sung by Steve & Annie Chapman, was my favorite for many years growing up!  Even into my teens.  You see, I liked it because I liked the words "country home".  Growing up overseas we called Hong Kong "home" and the States "home country".  With a dreamy look in my eyes as I sang along, I thought this song was written for just such a person as me - they just switched the words to make them rhyme better.  And the part "when it snows out" I thought was a phrase like "when the cows come home".  In other words, it would never happen because we lived in the tropics; the way it was very unlikely we would go to our 'home country' for Christmas.  We knew that Christmas for people in America meant going to visit family... for us of course, that was not feasible and this person who wrote the song dreamed - just like me - of the year it would finally come that they would go 'home' for Christmas.

My dream was finally realized when I was 16 and I had my first Christmas (that I could remember) Stateside!  (It was one of the best ever but that's a different story!)  Anyway, somewhere around then I realized that the song really meant COUNTRY home, as in, home out in the country.  It burst my bubble somewhat and I was actually genuinely sad when I found that out.  But even now this particular Christmas song holds a special place in my heart, if only for the memories of being blissfully naive thinking it was written just for me!  And now... I guess it IS written for me - my home's in the country! 

My $2 .25 happiness

I really like the colour orange.  Not florescent glow-in-the-dark sort of bright orange, rather the fall-ish dusty, deep, rich orange.  The shade that looks good with my brown hair.  The determining factor in me using Blogger instead of Wordpress (once they changed to the new simple-with-orange-accents dashboard.)   The flowers for our wedding...  Background colour of my blog, anyone?
Maybe that's the real reason I liked emergency lifeboat stuff so much on the ship!  

Orange... Lifeboats

Lifevests

EPIRB

SART

Liferings

And the orange "black" box.

Everything related to life-saving for an Abandon Ship was ORANGE!!!  So I loved my emergency duties!  (Ok, there's a slight chance there was more to it than that, but I'm trying to make a point here!)

So when I walked in the store - our dear Wal-Mart of course, seems as though we rarely shop anywhere else; you know it's bad when you recognize all the different greeters no matter which day you go - and saw these beautiful round autumn decorations.  They were ORANGE!  It was love at first sight!  And this 10 pound (4.5kg) piece of happiness cost only $2.25!  A smashing deal, in my mind!

  

...And my dear husband bought one for us! :D

~ Happy Fall! ~

P.S.  I call it my "get-well" pumpkin because I went to the Dr. yesterday (yes, I am sick - dysuria and cystitis), am now on antibiotics (Ciprofloxacin), and am feeling much improved even today!  Feels so good to 'not hurt'!  And I was feeling good enough so we could carve the pumpkin!

STILL in bed!?

I am sick of being in bed! Oh wait, that is WHY I am in bed - because I am sick! :(

Just FYI, a UTI is no fun. Go look it up. It's awkward... this is embarrassing... Ok, fine. It stands for urinary tract infection, which has spread to infect my kidney. A LOT of pain as all those little bacteria eat out my insides! :(

We are working on treating it... I am drowning myself in all the liquids I am drinking! Hospital = $$$, so unless it's absolutely necessary, I don't like to run in for every petty little thing. So I am on some homeopathic "remedies"! It's... interesting!

Doesn't that look like enough "remedies" and drinks and potions to cure any ailment???!

This was written yesterday (Wed.) and the update today (Thur.) is...  not much better. :/  I have been sick for five days now, and basically bedridden for four of those...

Fall

This is the combine by our house!  (See the 'Ben and Naomi' pines?)

This is what it looks like all around us these days!

Everything has changed to fall colors (i.e. brown)!

It is so beautiful outside these days!  There is a warm wind from the south teasing us with Indian Summer... the constant hum of the combines harvesting day and night (mostly beans and soon the corn)... the leaves changing color, rustling in the wind and falling, and the sun glinting off the leaves and sparkling between the trees in our forest grove!  I have the windows open today for the wonderful refreshing air, and I feel very European! :)

Dinner!

Actually, that was yesterday's dinner!  Tonight we are having something special that Ben will really love! :D  (Hint: he likes seafood!)  I've got to go make it now, so this is me signing off! ~NSS

Fettuccine Shrimp Alfredo  Shhhh...!  Don't tell him! ;) 

When the combines don't cooperate...

Ben called to tell me the farmers were combining the field by our (new) house.  (This goes to show that the driveways are SOOOO long - and anyway the grove of trees blocks the view - that you can't even see it from the house!)  This was important because I wanted to get pictures of them combining, our house in the background, etc.  I'm getting into photography a bit lately and I need things to take pictures of.  On empty gravel roads running between lonely fields there's usually not much to take pictures of.  That is, until harvest!  Now there was activity... and I didn't want to miss it!  (I was later informed by one of the farmers that it will continue for one to two months - I didn't need to hurry.)  However, I didn't want to miss this picture; the combine by OUR house!

So I went out, middle of the day (interrupting my normal schedule for the day - isn't that how it goes when you're a photographer?), direct sunlight of course being the worst type of lighting (as a general rule for photography), to capture a documentary photo.  Because under these conditions it wasn't going to be photographically amazing, but it would give a glimpse of life in the country!

Just my luck.  The combine was NOT cooperating.  Apparently harvesting the beans was of higher priority than being the perfect subject for my Nikon D90.  He was at the far end of the field doing a great job of just that - gathering those beans.  And totally ignoring me.

*sigh*

Which leads me to a great rule of photography I learned today:  

When combines aren't cooperating, become your own model!

Or, find something else.

Direct sunlight is not the best, but this one (below) turned out kind of cool!

Later in the day I happened to be driving by on my way somewhere, and (like every good photographer) had the camera with me, and all the combines were out for the perfect photographs!  So in five minutes I got shots I'd been waiting for for over an hour! :P

Pictures of the harvest to come in the next post!  

My favorite room in the house

See our new skylight?  We have two of them in so far... a special project we worked on when Grandpa Berge was here on a Saturday!  They let in so much light!

This is what the upstairs looks like right now:

The guys working hard!  This is the master bedroom:

And now, my favorite room in the house!  The ATTIC!  The other day I brought my books and studied  while Ben worked on putting in the floor... the attic is the best because of the 'porthole' windows, interesting roof lines, skylights, and the open overlooking railings (yet to come)!  I'm so happy that there's now a floor so it's easier to be up there! :)

I'll leave you with this parting shot of my hardworking hubby! 

Too much time in the house?

The greatest paradox in our house is our washing machine.  This would be washing machine #4 (our current and longest-lasting one so far).  Anyway, this 'Heavy Duty' beast which has 'Oversize Capacity' is also (apparently) of the 'Quiet Series'.  Now you have to understand, this is the washing machine that has scared me many a time thinking there is a burglar banging around in my pantry, or that I have an elephant stomping in the kitchen!  When the load gets off-balance during the spin cycle it goes "THUMP, THUMP, THUMP!"  Along with that, it also is able - of it's own accord - to shake around and move itself several feet out from the wall!  As you can imagine this is quite disturbing.  To go in to change a load and find the washing machine has moved!  By itself!  And then there is the screech.  The gyrating drum comes to a SCREECHING halt when the load is done.  Oh the irony of the so-called 'Quiet Series'!  On the up side, it lets me know when the washing is finished. :)  

Along with wireless for just about everything, this younger generation is also going cordless!  We have a cordless iron, and I feel very cool.  It works very well* actually, and I would highly recommend it to anyone!  We weren't quite brave enough to try a cordless vacuum (fear of the battery not being strong enough for good suction), but maybe someday...

Tired of hair on your carpet?  Here's a great trick that works really well for most kinds of carpet (works the best on indoor/outdoor and short-haired sorts of carpet, but also works for other kinds).  Just take a stiff bristled broom and sweep your carpet.  Yup, that's what I said!  Sweep it!  Brooms not only work on hard floors, they do great in a pinch to make the carpet look nicer if you only have a couple minutes!  All the hair collects on the broom and you take it off with your hand and dispose of it and -viola!- your carpet is magically hair-less!  Followed by a good vacuuming, your carpet will feel cleaner to a whole new dimension!

There is that verse in James about the tongue** that goes something like, "...if we have our tongue under control, we are able to keep our whole body in check".  I have found it to be very true in housekeeping as well.  If I have the dishes and laundry under control, I have the whole house in order!

Funny how biggest fear getting married was cooking; turns out I quite like cooking.  It's the cleanup (dishes) and the laundry I don't like! :P  But the cooking part... has turned out very well! :D

*the specific brand that we have
**James 3:2

"Our baby is in Jesus' Arms now"

And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”  Job 1:21 (ESV)

Ben got these flowers for me the day before you went to be with Jesus

Baby, 

This is the only (sort of) "family" picture we have...  Your dad is a photographer you know.  We were going to get some amazing pictures of you and us...  He and I loved you very much!  We were excited to meet you, but I guess now we have to wait a little longer.  Your Uncles and Aunts and Grandparents-to-be were very excited too - one of your uncles had been praying for a long time that you would come.  He wanted to give you four-wheeler rides, go exploring with you and show you how to catch minnows in the pond.  Mama had a lot of dreams for you too!  I was going to have a baby for the first time!  You were going to be born in the spring and all summer I would keep you nearby as we planted a garden, made supper for Daddy coming home, and kept our house tidy.  We hoped to be moved into our new house before you arrived.  We wanted you to have a really nice home to grow up in.  You would grow up healthy and free in the country.  Some days you might have even gone to work with Dad and gotten a lolly at the hardware store!  Dad would also teach you how to work on cars, fix pipes and wire stuff, though if you were a girl you'd be more interested in the kittens that play in the shop!  You would be Mama's little helper!  I was looking forward to building forts with you in the woods, teaching you your ABC's and letting you pursue your interests.  We were going to keep each other company while Dad is at work every day.  He works so hard for us, and he loved you too you know.Well, I need to go and stop crying and try to be cheerful for your Daddy!  It's supper time.  Just wanted to let you know that we miss you.   

Love, your Mama

Even though I was eight weeks along, we think the baby died or stopped developing at seven weeks (this is what it looked like).

I never got to sing you a lullaby so I'll have to sing this "Lullaby of Love".  It's a really neat song for anyone who's lost a little one through miscarriage.

And in memory of you we're going to plant a tree -- someday -- maybe in the spring.  Because trees are growing, and living, and full of LIFE!  Just as you are, in heaven with Jesus. :')

First comes love...

...then comes marriage, then comes a BABY in a baby carriage!

Happy 25th Anniversary (on the 20th) Mom & Dad Nelson!  You're going to be Grandparents!!!  

Little baby Sahlstrom is due May 3rd.  I'm seven weeks along and so far feeling fine (praise the Lord!), except for some days where I am really tired!  I'm not showing yet.  We pray for he/she or they... wouldn't it be fun to have twins??!  (We think it would!)  Ben jokes that he is enjoying his last few months of bad table manners before he has to set an example for little one!  LOL!

Dry Goods in the Pantry...

Happiness is... a well-stocked, well ORGANIZED pantry! Yay for fresh ground whole wheat flour, re-filled rice, and oh the amount of oatmeal! (The last now being our breakfast four times a week because it's cheap while still being healthy!)

This is also cool because it's posted from my phone! You see, I'm in the pantry and the computer (in the living room) would be too far to walk! :P Double yay for Blogger finally getting a proper iPhone app!

The Seasons

You may know the season as Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter.  But when you work in the plumbing, heating and refrigeration business, the seasons are A/C installation, A/C installation/fixing, Digging, Heating (respectively).  Plumbing, of course, is year-round as most people can't wait until next season to get their toilet flushing again!

All that to say, it is now Digging season.  At 60 degrees I think it's quite chilly, but Ben claims it's finally "nice!"  The days are beautiful, the skies very blue, and I can open windows! :)  Ben works very hard during the day and then in the evenings we work on our house.  The DWV (drain waste & vent) is almost done and we have a water spigot and one outlet in the basement!  We also picked out skylights to help give natural light in what will be a very fun room, the attic!  It is going to be one high-class country house!

When your little boy plays with his Tonka work machines and says he's a big "digger-man!", smile and be very proud of him because when he's a man it just might be true and his wife will be very proud of him! :)

New Blog

So! I have a new blog! Each chapter of my life I feel like starting fresh, so here it is: 

Introducing the blog of... Naomi SAHLSTROM!  Follow my new life as a young wife in [frigid] Minnesota; the story of a city girl, a traveling nomad, adjusting to having a home - and one in the country at that! - along with pictures and insights into random thoughts and issues.  

It's my happy place where I can write, because I like writing! 

I am in the wee stages of setting it up, so don't expect too much just yet! However, I did figure out how to blog by texting from my phone (aka, expect updates more often)!  It's working, cause this is from my phone! :)

Don't forget to read about my life up until this point at

http://www.dockhopper.blogspot.com and

http://www.xanga.com/hk_nut