Parable of the Rose

“A certain man planted a rose and watered it faithfully, and before it blossomed he examined it. He saw the bud that would soon blossom – and also the thorns.

And he thought, “How can any beautiful flower come from a plant burdened with so many sharp thorns?” Saddened by this thought, he neglected to water the rose, and before it was able to bloom, it died…

“So it is with many people. Within every soul there is a rose – the God like qualities planted in us at birth – growing amid the thorns of our faults. Many of us look at ourselves and see only the thorns, the defects. We despair, thinking that nothing good can possibly come from us. We neglect to water the good within us, and eventually it dies. We never realize our potential.

“Some people do not see the rose within themselves; someone else must show it to them. One of the Savior’s greatest characteristics was that He was able to show people the kingdom of heaven within them. He was able to reach past their thorns and show them the rose.

“This is the characteristic of love – to look at a person, and, knowing his faults, recognize the nobility in his soul, and help him realize that he can overcome his faults. If we show him the rose, he will conquer the thorns, then will he blossom, bringing forth thirty, sixty, or a hundred-fold as it is given to him.

“Our duty in this world is to help our brothers and sisters by showing them their roses and not their thorns. Only then can we achieve the love the Savior wants us to feel for each other; only then can we become perfect as He wants us to be and blossom in the garden of His Father.” (Author Unknown)

I found this post on another blog and wanted to share it with my family and friends. I found the message inspiring and true in my life.

Christmas Rules

I got this in an email and thought I would stick it up here for reading enjoyment. I certainly need to lighten up a bit this season and this injected a bit of levity for me.

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. It's rare . . . You cannot find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-alcoholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it... Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It 's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog. . .

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple, Pumpkin, Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards!!

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner. Remember this motto to live by:

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

Quirks

Rules:
1) Tell six of your quirks

2) Tag your friends.

1) Well, Sarah, I had to laugh when I read your post about Making the Bed. TJ's funny nickname for me at that all important getting ready for bed moment is "Bed Nazi." I do the exact same thing, making the bed, straightening the sheets and fluffing the pillows before I get under the covers. I even have to have the right pillows. TJ doesn't pay attention to the pillows and will sleep with any of them. Unfortunately, this means that occasionally the pillow is unceremoniously yanked from under his head. And yes, TJ does complain about the cold draft when I shake out the blankets.

2) I organize the clothes in my closet by type and then by color. Shirts all next to each other and separated by color (shades of blue, white, red, purple, etc), then short skirts, then long skirts, then dresses. Conversely, my underthings are just tossed in baskets on the shelf, although they are separated. . .socks in one basket, bras in another, etc.

3) I don't like flipping through channels. My radio station pretty much never moves. It used to move all the time, but when I finally find a station I like then I tend to keep it there. I also don't like watching more than one show at a time on television. However I am pretty obsessed about holding the remote control for the television. TJ is pretty mellow about it, fortunately. So, Netflix works pretty well for us, no commercials, no channel flipping, pause on demand.

4) Knives . . . . MUST HAVE SHARP KNIFE . . . yes, I have probably driven people crazy trying to get the right knife sharp. A good chef's knife with a great edge is one of my favorite kitchen tools. Right after that is a good paring knife.

5) I worry too much. Maybe my middle name should be Chicken Little instead of Irene.

6) I tend to sit in the same general place in any room, given the option. I prefer the left side of the room, so I am looking to the right when facing the front. I also like to sit about 3 rows back from the front. A boring and weird quirk, but I realized just now that I do this. In all my classes for the last several years and also in church meetings, I sit in the same general place.

I don't have anyone to tag that hasn't already been tagged. I guess I need to get to know some of the sisters out here and see if any of them blog for future tags.

Ayden is born

This time around was not exactly what I expected when I planned the birth. :-p I should have listened to the little voice in my head when I actually took the step of writing out a birth plan and giving it to my OB. The little voice was telling me that if I wrote anything down that I would jinx myself. . . . .

He was born both quickly and slowly. He dithered about deciding to be born and had to be coaxed into birth with three days of light labor, but, when he finally decided, he came all at once. This was my first time with a water birth and would do it again. TJ was great and thought it was really neat. However, he drew the line at getting in the water with me. I can’t imagine why not!?!

He had some trouble breathing on his own when he was born, so only held him for a minute before the Dr. was working with him to get him to breath well.
They decided to put him on a CPap machine, which is similar to ones used on adults for sleep apnea. It is a little more serious with babies because they don’t have breathing down yet, so if they forget, then they might not remember at all again. (part of the reason for SIDS)

We couldn’t hold him while he was on the Cpap machine, so that was kind of hard for both of us. I think it bothered TJ more than me. I just had confidence that he would be okay.

Part of that was because I have confidence in the priesthood. I had contacted some priesthood in my ward and also called my Dad to see if they could come and give Ayden a blessing. Grandpa came with Mom and he was able to give Ayden a blessing. Then, the elders from the ward came and gave me a blessing as well with Dad. I knew they would be there soon and I also knew Ayden would be fine once he got the blessing. Dad gave Ayden the blessing as soon as they got to the hospital, then they came in to visit with me for a while and wait for the elders from church. About an hour passed in conversation and right after everyone left, the nurse came in to let me know that right after Ayden got his blessing his O2 stats had come back up and were staying up on their own. She didn’t mention the blessing part, just how long he had been doing well, so I knew the timing. So, that was the first time I had been able to hold him, right after a priesthood blessing.

Then, right after that, they got the results back from his blood tests and discovered his elevated Hematocrit levels. It is like blood doping in athletes and can cause a stroke if it is too high. Apparently it was dangerously high because they put him on an IV right away.

Now, he is fine and you would never know he had some difficulty getting here. If you count the preterm labor, one would think we didn’t know what we were doing. . . .i guess more practice is needed.

Baby pics of Ayden Marshall

He still has his splint on to protect the IV in his right hand. It was pretty cute watching him deal with it. He kept trying to suck on the splint. He didn't get frustrated, just seemed to take it in stride.

This was the first time after he was born that I got to hold him. He has little sensors and wires and an IV attached, so it was somewhat of a challenge to feed him the first time as well.

Right after he was born but before they checked his hematocrit levels. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hematocrit They had him under a warmer that was like an easy bake oven as far as I could tell. I think he got dehydrated from the lights and this caused his elevated RBC levels. Anyway, just after this they put an IV in his arm with a 10% dextrose solution to dilute his blood just a bit, since there was some concern of a stroke from blood that was too thick.

Last day just before we left the hospital. As you can see, he is as happy as we were about the situation. :-)

Look at that great big Yawn!

Moving

It has been a while since my last post. We have been pretty busy with an apartment search, among other things.

And, we found one, finally. It is about 300 square feet bigger than the one we are in now and has great windows and light for plants and some of my hobbies. It is also about $100 per month cheaper. So, we are quite pleased with the arrangement.
The only down side is moving in the winter. I am hoping that on our moving day the weather cooperates and stays fairly temperate for December in Minnesota.

It also has its own Washer and Dryer hook up, so that will be great when the baby is born. I was having some troubling thoughts about keeping up with cloth diaper and baby clothing detail.

I will try and post some photos before and after we move.

It will be here http://www.artspace.org/properties/franklinlofts/ or you can look here http://www.brainerd.com/news/archives/franklin-art-center.html
They don't have any photos of the actual apartments but it is pretty neat nonetheless.

Salsa

I finally did something with all of my tomatoes. I made Salsa. I got 11 pints altogether and it tastes great. A little bit hot with lots of flavor, not just heat.
Anyway, it was fun to make even though I forgot to wear some gloves when I cut up the peppers. My thumbs and pointer fingers stung for two days. Some picks later probably.

We finally had a sprinkle of snow out here. Not that we were excited about it, but the weather is turning.

TJ and I went to the child birth class this last weekend. It was interesting watching TJ react to things. I think he will be great. It wasn't so much a Lamaze type class as it was an information class. They showed different videos with 4 different birth experiences. Natural, a little meds, a planned epidural, then an unplanned C-section. It was kind of interesting, but you could kind of see the path that some births might take because of interventions.

We are planning to have a water birth at the hospital. Because of my age and some of the little things going on, I am considered to have a high risk pregnancy. Also, I don't know who I would have deliver from around here if I tried to have a home birth. So, I am not quite comfortable trying to do it at home.

TJ and David prepping for Halloween

David in his new Ironman costume. TJ is helping him "fly" in one of the photos. David picked it out himself.

TJ wanted to wrap david in bandages and wheel him around on a furniture dolly, like some kind of mummy. The tactic involved less movement for David, but unfortunately, he didn't go for it. :-) Imagine that, lol.

Tagged, my husband

What is his name? Timothy Joseph Ingwerson

How long have you been married? Just over one year.

How long did you date? Almost three years. And, he is almost 4 years younger than me.

Who eats more sweets? I think that depends on the sweet. TJ loves my whole wheat cinnamon rolls, cookies and such, but I am a sucker for chocolate and peanut butter.

Who said I love you first? That would be TJ. He made up his mind way before I did.
Who is taller? TJ is 5’ 9” and I am about 5’ 7.5”

Who can sing better? I don’t know for sure. TJ likes to sing, but doesn’t sing loud enough to hear very well in public.

Who does the laundry? Laundry, who does laundry? When I am not pregnant, that would be me. I am prepping David to be the coolie in a few more years. TJ helps with the heavy lifting and I do the rest.

Who pays the bills? That stressful job goes to me. TJ really prefers to not have to worry about such things.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me again, although I don’t really know why. I think it may have had something to do with the light and the plug in the wall being conveniently located on that side. More of that reading stuff 

Who mows the lawn? What lawn? I enjoy gardening work, but I also learned from my mother, so I never touch the lawn when we have one. TJ has worked as a yard maintenance person quite a bit, so he is good at that kind of thing, trimming trees, edging, etc.

Who cooks dinner? I usually cook dinner although TJ is a good cook, and he cooks some great meals once in awhile. He has been cooking more often lately since standing in the kitchen is hard on my back.

Who drives? Me! TJ is not a good navigator and drives like an old woman.

Who is more stubborn? This is a good question. TJ and I both come from a long line of stubborn people. This was really interesting in the beginning, but I have learned that if I want TJ to agree with me on an important subject, the way to do that is to say ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about it and let someone else talk to him. Then he will realize I am right before I have to tell him. Lol!! (Remember Hogan’s Heroes? the sergeant is always saying, “nothing, I know Nothing!” when asked about latest fiasco by prisoner’s) I have to practice that phrase a lot in my house.

Who kissed who first? TJ kissed me of course, but I gave him a hug first.

Who asked who out first? It was a blind date for both of us by mutual friends. Although, the friends weren’t sure if I would show up, so they were pretty vague with TJ on the details. Meaning, I knew what was going on but TJ did not. Very sneaky friends. 

Who proposed? TJ proposed. Several times in fact. I wasn’t in the mood to be married after dealing with ex for 6 years. TJ had to convince me.

Who has more siblings? Does anyone have more siblings than me? I have 4 sisters and 6 brothers for 11 of us altogether. TJ is the oldest of three, one brother and one sister.

Who wears the pants? I would have to say TJ, although he might disagree.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Well, so far classes are going well.

My chemistry instructor sent the class a note last week letting us know that someone needed a note taker for the class. Apparently no one volunteered for the job for a few days, so I went and checked it out. When I went in, I found out that I got paid for it and on top of that, the lady at the recource center asked me if I wanted to or could tutor at all for her.

So, it turns out they are in big need of tutors. Lucky me. :-) I am an official tutor for several different classes now. A+P I and II, Human Biology, General Biology I + II and also Life Science Chemisty. So far no one has asked for tutoring for the Chemistry class. I am crossing my fingers that no one does either. It is NOT my favorite subject, in case you couldn't tell.

Anyway, I did it for one class last spring and it wasn't a big deal. I only tutored a few times for a few people. This time, I am booked for 7 hours a week for different people. It is a good thing, since I find I always learn more when I teach it, but sometimes I feel a tad inadequate.

David is enjoying school, but as usual, I am less than pleased with the reading results. He is only learning to recognize pictures and isn't really learning to read at all. I have determined to spend at least 4 hours a week with him just on the reading portion of school. He is too bright to have his options in life limited because of poor vocabulary and comprehension skills.

Of course, as a mother I am allowed to think he is bright, so I may be a little biased. ;-)

First week of School

Well, I have almost made it through the first week.

I am trying not to obsess just yet about later this year when the baby will be born, but it is pretty hard. He is due December 4th, but that still leaves me with three more weeks of school and finals. I think I will be just fine in two of my classes. It is just the Chemistry class that could break me. The math part of it is where I trip up. I can do Algebra, but I need to have lots of quiet and plenty of time to work it out.

David starts school on Tuesday next week, so we are going to try and all be on the same schedule for the school year. That way, hopefully, we can have plenty of Family time for each other.

Pickled Vegetables

The pickled vegetables look great. I ended up with 11 pints. Now, we just need to wait a few more days before we taste them. I will post a photo later. . . .

Ooooo! Pretty.

School starts and the money burns

Yikes, I am suffering from major sticker shock.

Between the three of us, we are all going to school. So, after getting school supplies for all of us, I fear my bank account is ready to burst into flames.

I tried hard not to look at my Book costs, since I know they are always outrageous, but this time I accidentally saw the price for just my books. $250.00 for just two classes. Fortunately, I already had the textbook for my Biology class otherwise it would have been another $100.00

David gets home

David will be home this Friday. Now comes back to school shopping and organizing. I will also be getting my books this week.

He hasn't been to church pretty much all summer so I am worried how he will adjust back to that routine. I hope the primary here treats him well.

harvest work starts

Well, I planted three kinds of peppers this spring and they all seem to be growing pretty well. Except for perhaps the Bell pepper for some reason.

My mom called and let me know that the sweet banana peppers are covered with nice yellow peppers that are ready to pick. I want to use them in a pickled vegetable mix with carrots, cauliflower and maybe some yellow beans.

The Corno Di Toro pepper that I have growing here is also doing very well. I have about 7 or 8 peppers, all still green but looking good and about 6 inches long. When they start turning red I will try and stuff them. Usually I use red or yellow bell peppers, but these are supposed to be good for stuffing as well. TJ likes my stuffed peppers and so do I. Now I just need to convince David. :-)

As for the rest of the garden, well, sometimes we have misses. I think I will have plenty of green beans or yellow wax beans and perhaps some tomatoes, but the corn looks like it will be a bust.

Spring Planting

These are some of the peppers that did survive. They are doing great outside now and some are about three feet tall.

Tomatoes that did not survive. I was very upset but it was my fault because I did not get them into the ground fast enough.

Late Spring Snowstorm Aftermath

This is TJ with David in late April in our parking lot.

David in late April with birthday present from Grandma Elaine.

Another humid day in Minnesota. The plants are loving it and my tomatoes and peppers look great. I might even get some peppers this year. So far there is no summer squash, but it looks like blossoms are there so I expect something to appear soon. Because of the real heavy spring rains, I had to replant my squash 3 times. It was kind of weird.

Tj's mom is in the hospital again, so any prayers will be welcome. She should be fine, but he is a little worried.

First Post

I thought I should get in on the sharing the family secrets tradition. So, this may take a while but I will eventually get some photos and whatnot up for family and friends to see.

On the home front, some good news finally from the Minnesota courts. We are safe for another two years from requests for change of custody. All of Derek's motions were dismissed, so that was cause for celebration.

We are expecting a baby boy and he is due around Dec. 4th. I think over Thanksgiving vacation is a perfect time to be born, so we are shooting for that. That way, mom can recover a bit before resuming classes for this semester. I'll let you know how that works out. :-)

Now, to find my camera.