On the twelfth day of Christmas in 1979, I arrived, the first-born to my young parents which makes me 37 years old today. I told my parents on my 18th birthday I was pregnant with Hunter. I knew he would graduate from high school when I was 37 years old. It sounded like a really old, boring person’s age. Here…
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Resolve to Give Our Rural Communities More Tomorrows
Filed Under: Small Town Living Tagged With: North Dakota, prairie life, rural life 1 Comment
On a recent Friday night, my daughters and I sat in our kitchen peeling eggs to make deviled eggs. Sounds like exciting Friday night entertainment, right? Have you ever sat and just listened to a conversation between a six- and an eight-year-old, though? I relish in those moments when I’m merely a bystander. Anika, the youngest, talked of her dreams…
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The smile I saw on New Year’s Day
Filed Under: Family Values Tagged With: kids, motherhood, small town sports 3 Comments
It’s 2016, a year I’ve thought about since I gave birth to our son Hunter in 1997. It was the year I graduated from high school and certainly not the year I had dreamed or planned to have a baby. I counted out what year my baby would graduate from high school. 2016. I felt like we would be living…
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How will you spend your time in 2016?
Filed Under: Family Values 1 Comment
By now you’re stuffed from Christmas and catching your breath before celebrating again to ring in the New Year. Your pants might be tight, but your calendar probably has some wiggle room. Hunter and Nathan playing together in our family Christmas Eve program at the farm with four generations of family. This time of year, I indulge on my mom…
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The gift of presence (not presents)
Filed Under: Family Values Tagged With: family, family fun, holidays 1 Comment
When my mother-in-law and I were headed to my son’s first basketball game in Ellendale, N.D., we struck up a conversation about Christmas celebrations gone by. Both her dad and mom’s families came to the U.S. on boats from German Russian roots. The first-generation Americans settled near Kulm and Wishek, N.D. With limited resources and numerous children and grandchildren, not…
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