100th Post

Well, after almost two years of blogging, I finally reached my 100th post! I guess when you get to 100, you're supposed to write 100 things about yourself, so here goes nothing. Sorry if it's long!

1. Blog. I started this blog September 2006 right before we lost Samuel.

2. Birth “out of” Control. The original title of this blog was Birth “out of” Control since we unexpectedly got pregnant on our honeymoon.

3. Not My Will... I changed the title to Not My Will… after we lost Samuel. The original title was fitting in that Samuel's birth was out of our control. However, it was not out of the Lord’s control. We truly want the Lord’s will in our lives and not our own as He truly knows what's best.

4. Birth. I was born February 3rd, 1984 in Boone, IA.

5. I was 9lbs 6oz and 20 inches long – pretty chunky baby.

6. My mom was worried when I was born as the cord was wrapped around my neck and I was blue. It took a little while for me to pink up.

7. Family. My parent's names are Andy and Lois and I have two brothers and two sister: Alan (30), Heidi (28), Rebekah (22), and Joshua (18). I am right in the middle (24).

8. I have 7 nieces, 3 nephews and one more on the way (that I know of ☺)

9. I have 8 brother-in-laws and 5 sister-in-laws.

10. Home Schooled. I was home schooled all the way through high school.

11. Jenny School. In addition to being taught at home, a group of us home schoolers would meet together once a week to be taught subjects like Spanish, French, Literature, History, and Science. Jenny was a great teacher. I learned so much from my time with her. She was so generous and patient to spend her time pouring into us. I have great memories from this time.

12. Europe. Jenny took a group of us to Spain and France my sophomore year of high school. It was a great experience and I would love to go back some day!

13. The Farm. We lived in Stratford, IA on a farm until I was 11.

14. I absolutely LOVED living on the farm, all the animals, the free space to roam around, fresh cherries, apples, green beans, corn etc…

15. Bottle Calves. We had bottle calves growing up and I loved to feed them.

16. Chickens. Another one of my favorite memories on the farm was when we would get a new batch of baby chicks. My sister and I would pick out which ones were “ours.” It was sad when they got bigger and we had to take them to the butchers…

17. Lambs. We also raised a few lambs over the time we lived on the farm: Blackie, Snowball, I know there was another but I can’t remember the name…

18. Blackie. We sold Blackie to a Muslim

19. “Is this Blackie?” I posed this question as we ate our traditional Christmas Eve dinner. Sadly the answer was yes. Apparently according to the Muslim faith you must slit the lamb’s throat as opposed to shooting it in the head (which we didn’t know). Also, the man’s wife we were going to sell it to was pregnant and had been craving lamb brain, so we proceeded to eat our dearly loved pet…

20. Lilac Bush. We had a big Lilac bush and would pick them fresh everyday in the spring time.

21. Snakes. One day when my sister (Bekah) and I were picking fresh lilacs we found two snakes and decided to name them Slippery and Sandy. We visited them in the bush for several days until one day they were gone. A sad day.

22. The Barn. My older brother, Alan, and my cousin, John, would make the BEST hay forts – tunnels and all! We would play Hide and Go Seek and Sardines for hours.

23. We also had a rope swing in the barn and loved to swing down and land in a bed of hay.

24. Morel Mushrooms. I loved to mushroom hunt every spring for Morrel Mushrooms. We would go out and look for old oak trees since that is where you would often find a “gold mine” of mushrooms. They really were a gold mine as they sold for about $20 a lb. Oh and they were delicious! I didn’t get any this past year :(

25. Stairs. One of our favorite things to do was find the slipperiest blanket we had and gather every pillow we had and slide to the bottom of the steps and land in the pile of pillows, then open the door and all of us would spill out.

26. Attic. We had a little attic room at the top of the steps and we would play office in with our collections of paint color samples and office accessories. Some of the names I went by when we’d play were Lisa, Megan, and Jessica.

27. Saved! I was saved at this house one night in my parents bedroom after realizing my need for the Savior. I think I was five.

28. The Move. We moved into Boone (about 15 miles south of where we were) when I was 11.

29. We were all sad to leave the farm.

30. The Red House. We lived in a house that we called “The Red House” for obvious reasons.

31. My grandmother (dad’s mom) had lived there but had recently moved to an apartment so we took over the place.

32. Florida. We would go to Florida every year to visit my grandma and grandpa (mom’s parents). We so looked forward to these trips – gummy bears from grandma, flea markets, the beach, seagulls, shells – it was the highlight of each year.

33. The trips down to Florida were fun too. We would stop to see the sites: caves, waterfalls, little towns, etc…

34. Farmer’s Markets. I would often spend my Thursdays and Fridays out at my aunt and uncles picking vegetables to sell for Saturday markets.

35. I loved going to Farmer’s Market most every Saturday. I enjoyed talking to the customers, eating all the yummy food, and listening to the music there. I miss those days.

36. Detassling. I detassled corn every summer for all my teenage years.

37. Scruff McGruff. I got a rash on my face from the corn and when the dirt stuck to it, it looked like I had a little grunge. Zach came up with the nickname, Scruff Mcgruff or Scruffy.

38. Zach. A good friend, Zach, died in a car accident right after detassling one year. He was 19. I remember one of our last conversations was in the corn field. I asked him if he had any regrets in life and he said, no, that he had learned from them all and they had made him to be who he was. He was such an example in his love for the Lord and joy through any circumstances.

39. Emmaus. I went to Emmaus Bible College for two years. The Lord taught me a lot while I was there.

40. I was on the basketball team. I loved traveling with the team. We only won 3 games (I think) while I was on the team.

41. I met one of my best friends, Janelle, there.

42. I served as a Resident Assistant my second year.

43. My dad, older brother, and both sisters have also gone to Emmaus and my younger brother is planning on going this year.

44. Seth. I met my husband, Seth, detassling when I was 17.

45. I saw his true character out there – a real gem!

46. On May 20th, 2006 I married the man of my dreams Adrian Seth (he goes by Seth)

47. We honeymooned in Kauaii. It was beautiful!

48. Pregnancy. I have been pregnant for more of our marriage than not (14 months pregnant and 12 months not so far).

49. I loved feeling the movement during my pregnancies.

50. I loved hearing the heartbeats during my pregnancies.

51. Samuel & Landon. I have two sons: Samuel (with the Lord) and Landon.

52. I got pregnant on our honeymoon and was pregnant for 20 weeks 4 days with our son, Samuel. He was born and died on October 14th, 2006.

53. We named him Samuel James because of the meanings of the names. I loved the picture of Hannah in the Bible, how she dedicated her son, Samuel, to the Lord and we did the same that night before I went in for the c-section. Seth chose the name, James, as it meant “steady” reminding us of the Lord’s faithfulness.

54. The Lord gave me a verse a few days before we found out anything was wrong with my pregnancy. It was the verse of the day on someone’s blog (never underestimate how the Lord can use what you write on your blog). Proverbs 19:21 “Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.” I clung to this verse throughout my hospital stay.

55. I have a box of the few memories we have of Samuel’s short life – pictures of him, ultrasound images, hospital bracelets, verses, etc... I look through this box when I’m missing him.

56. I also have a shadow box that Brooke gave me. In it are molds of his tiny hands (about an inch tall), I’m always amazed at how long his fingers were every time I hold them.

57. Peace Lilies remind me of Samuel and became my favorite plant after we lost him. I still have two that were given to me when we lost him.

58. I miss Samuel and so look forward to meeting him in heaven.

59. Landon John was born May 10th 2008. I love him more than I can express and am so thankful the Lord has blessed us with him.

60. We named him Landon because we liked it and John after Seth’s grandpa and my dad (his middle name as well) and we loved how it meant, “God is gracious.”

61. The brown and white striped blanket that you see Landon with in many of his pictures Shawna gave to me while I was pregnant with Samuel. I love using it with Landon as I see it as a hand-me-down from his big brother.

62. Marshmallows. I love marshmallows, especially melted ones, golden brown with chocolate and graham crackers (smores) – yummy!

63. My grandma (mom’s mom) would always pick up strawberry and chocolate marshmallows and give them to me. She had just sent some down when I had Landon.

64. Grandma (mom’s mom). My grandma moved into our house with us when I was 15 or so shortly after my grandpa died.

65. We loved hearing her many stories of Norway and her childhood.

66. I loved going garage-sailing with her.

67. She just passed away June 29th, 2008. I will miss her dearly.

68. It makes me happy picturing her holding Samuel ☺

69. Peanut M & Ms. These are probably my favorite candy, especially the dark chocolate ones.

70. My dad got me hooked on these. We always got them for his birthdays, Christmas, and Father’s Day. When I was little I remember offering them to him and he told me he didn’t want them and if I gave them to him he would throw them up. I didn’t believe him and gave them to him and sure enough he threw them in the air and they landed in his mouth – not what I was expecting.

71. Sunsets. I so appreciate seeing the Lord’s beauty and faithfulness through watching a sunset. Our God is such an amazing artist!

72. Thrifty. I love a good deal. It is so hard for me to pay full price for anything.

73. Walgreens. I love getting free stuff at Walgreens.

74. I just recently got three packs of diapers for essentially $5.50. The breakdown as follows: $5.99 each for a total of 17.97 got $2.50 off each using a coupon from the Walgreen’s Easysaver booklet. So, I paid $10.50 then got a $5.00 coupon for my next purchase. Great deal!

75. Garage Sales. As I said before my grandma got me hooked on these. My mom and sister, Rebekah love them too.

76. Last week I found a nice pair of Express jeans for $1 and kids water skis for $1

77. E-Bay. I really like selling things that I get for free on E-bay. I just sold a box of White Strips I got for free at Walgreens for $15.

78. Family Vacations. I love to travel! My mom and dad got me hooked on it as we would travel often growing up.

79. Went to Colorado a couple times.

80. Canada once.

81. Florida several times

82. Osage Beach in MO waterskiing and boating. We are going again this year with my entire immediate family.

83. My dad finds water leaks all over the states so we would go with him many times.

84. Arizona once

85. California a couple times

86. Campfires. We had many campfires my teen years, at parks, friends houses, by the river, etc… – so many good memories that word brings.

87. Camps. I love camps, being a camper and counseling.

88. Storybook – camp in Minnisota. Spent a couple family camps here, teen camp, counseled junior campers, and of course winter retreat all my teen years.

89. Day Spring – camp in Missouri. Spent a couple weeks counseling at this camp one summer.

90. Kansas Bible Camp – camp in Kansas (obviously). Spent a couple weeks counseling hone summer. This was the camp Seth grew up and spent a few summers at. He actually got saved one summer at this camp.

91. Hidden Acres – Camp in Iowa. Spent every 4th of July weekend at this camp since I can remember. We just returned from a great weekend there.

92. Pranks. I used to love playing pranks on people.

93. One of my favorites was in my first days at Emmaus. They had 3-way calling on the phones that I figured out quickly. I picked a random guy’s name off our phone list and told him to hang on a second, dialed a random girl and listened as the two awkwardly had a couple minute conversation (each wondering when the other would get to the point of why they called), it was great!

94. College. I have three Associates Degrees. Bible, Associates in Science, Cardiac Sonography.

95. I occasionally work as an Echo Tech (I do ultrasounds of the heart).

96. I also do ultrasounds at a crisis pregnancy center where I show moms (who are considering abortion) the beautiful life growing inside them.

97. Music. I love music. There is something about relating to the words that I am able to connect to my emotions more fully.

98. Worrier. One of my biggest struggles is worrying. I can’t tell you how many times I check to see if Landon is still breathing! (I’ve heard all mom’s do this)

99. Online. Some of my favorite websites/blogs right now: Money Saving Mom, Babycenter, Bring the Rain, Hot Coupon World.

100. Life. I love my little life, what it has been and what it is now. The Lord is so good and has truly blessed me with a wonderful family, friends, and life experiences.