Happy Birthday Grandpa Lee

October 1, Grandpa Lee Jensen would be 74 years young.

He passed away in January of 1998 2 weeks after an accident. He was riding his doonbuggy :) out on the lake (like we had been doing all Christmas weekend) when he hit a soft spot on the ice and went under. Thankfully, the tires kept the buggy floating for him to get out. Two weeks later, he collapsed outside of his restaurant while talking to a friend. They think he had had a MI when he hit the ice and then it weakend his heart muscle and threw off the electrical part of it and he went into a lethal rhythm and died.

He was an AMAZING man who loved the Lord with his heart, mind and life. He was an incredible example of what it means to be a servant to others. He cared for people and everyone in Storm Lake knew Lee Jensen. He was so fun to be around and always created some sort of adventure for us (like taking the doonbuggy on the ice and pulling the sleds).

He loved us all so much and it's bittersweet still. He's with the Lord worshipping our God, but at the same time we selfishly want him here with us.

I miss him as much now as I did when he first passed away and not a week goes by where I don't think about him.

So Happy Birthday, Grandpa. I love you.

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6 months down. 4 months to go.

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up and down. over and around. this way and that...SERIOUSLY

People joke about pregnancy, hormones and emotions. I completely get it now. I cry at the silliest things. I cry over commercials for pete's sake. I get upset over things that really aren't a big deal, but at the time they are all that matter and I can't think about anything else until it's fixed or resolved. It's totally not me, but I CAN'T HELP IT!
The other evening, I was getting ready to go to work. I had woken up super excited to eat my Honey Nut Cheerios for supper. I got up and went downstairs all super excited to eat....there was no milk. Now, normally I wouldn't have cared.....I would have found something else to eat. However, this was the end of the world. I couldn't help myself. I wanted Cheerios so bad it was all I could think about. Why didn't you eat them dry you ask? They didn't taste as good. I. Wanted. Milk. With. My. Cheerios. Why didn't you just go to the store you ask? Good question. I didn't want to. I hadn't showered yet. I had my time frame figured out before I had to leave for work and going to the store would cut into it. In comes my hero husband. He comes upstairs and immediately knows I'm in the middle of a "hormonal whirlwind". I was so irritated by this point that I was just ready to go upstairs and shower. Forget eating. Even though I was so hungry, I was boycotting for my Cheerios. He eventually talks it out of me and says "Are you going to eat if you don't get your cereal with milk". "No", I reply. Without another word he grabs his keys and walks out the door. Minutes later he is back with milk and saves the day.
Now, the whole time this is going on, I know I'm being ridiculous but I cannot help it. Like this other person is taking over.
I have lots of stories like these. Like tonight. I came home and the only thing I wanted to wear was his blue sweatpants. I can wear my own lounge pants fine, but his are so huge and roomy that I've sort of taken them over.....I come home.....go upstairs to change. I can't find the pants. "Nick, where are your sweatpants?" By this point he knows exactly which ones I am talking about. "I'm wearing them" He says. "what? take them off. switch me", I say. "Are you kidding me?". "No". "Fine, bring me down another pair". I bring down his Adidas pants and he switches me. "I should get husband of the year award", he says. "I know you should", I say.

I'm so thankful for a husband who has been so patient with me through these ridiculous moments. I know it's not easy for him, but he has been so wonderful. He doesn't let me get away with it when I'm being super ridiculous....but he's good at picking his battles too. At the same time, he LOVINGLY reminds me to sit, breathe and relax when I start getting weepy or silly things. I really appreciate him and I'm thankful that God has given him the strength and patience to put up with me when I'm know I'm being difficult. (But I seriously cannot seem to stop it sometimes!)
I know this makes me sound like a constant emotional wreck.....thankfully it's not as often as one would think......but I'm ready for these emotional times to be over with. I'm tired of literally crying over empty milk jugs.

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woops

So the last 2 weeks have been the first time that people who don't know I'm pregnant are asking me "when are you due?" or "how far along are you?"...it's only took just under 6 months...but still, I'm excited that people are FINALLY noticing...
I was talking with some coworkers about it last night and the whole conversation turned into talking about moments where people weren't sure if someone was pregnant or not, so they didn't want to say anything...the whole conversation got me thinking of probably my most awful "foot in my mouth" moment. Let me share...
When I was still in nursing school, I was working as a tech on a telemetry floor at Lutheran Hospital. One night, I was filling in as secretary and was just sitting chatting with the nurses after they were done passing report to the next shift. One of the nurses asked another nurse, Carrie, how much longer she had. She said, "too long". Now, Carrie is a very tall, large boned woman. I looked at her and asked "are you pregnant?". She looked at me like I was insane and said "yes". I said "how far along are you". She replies "8 MONTHS".
I about died. I felt so bad. I didn't even know what to say. Thankfully, she turned right back around the the conversation she was previously involved in. The other nurses laughed and were like "nice job, Abby". From then on they never let me forget it.
Since then, I don't ask unless I am 100% sure.....OR I just don't comment at all. :)

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um...why?

So Nick and I decided before we even got pregnant that were not going to do a nursery in our spare room. We like having room for guests...we don't want to spend the money...and seriously, the kid won't know the difference! We are just going to get rid of the "office" side of the room and put a nice pack-n-play and glider in there...then when she's outgrown the crib, she can have the guest bed and we'll put those cool rail thingies on there so she doesn't fall out of the bed...
Apparently Nick's co-workers are not keen on this idea and have told him it's "dumb" and "weird". He even told them it was his idea and not mine (which I did bring it up) so they would think he's the weirdo and not me. :)
But seriously, why do they care? We're saving money--I mean, I just finished decorating the guest room before our little surprise came along--and saving time.
I don't know why this is bothering me so much (hormones and lack of sleep perhaps?)...I just wanted to toss my "why" out there...

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Congratulations Nate and Natalie!

We are so excited for Nate and Natalie Klauser! They adopted a BEAUTIFUL baby girl, Elyse Irene. She was born September 8, 2008 in California. They have been through so much and this little girl is such a blessing and answer to prayer! We are so happy for them.....what awesome parents they are going to be! Congratulations, Nate and Natalie. The blog posts of her are so fun...thank you for sharing such amazing moments. :)

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a real moment...

This morning at church, I noticed that Nick was irritated with me. I went through events of the morning and for the life of me I could not figure out what was bothering him. I asked him what was wrong. He replied "I'm frustrated with you". I asked why. He said to me "you are a different person at church. It's like you're trying to be religious or something".
I was shocked. I had no idea what he was talking about. The only thing I had done was said hi to people and walked in to find my seat. Needless to say, this hurt so bad I spent the rest of the service crying (and trying to hide it from everyone around us). The entire time I was trying to figure out what I had did that would make him say something like that.
When church was over, we went straight for the door and went home. I was still trying to stop crying (hormones were part of it, I think)...by this point I was so hurt I was angry. The last 2 years had been a struggle for me to come out of my shell and meet people...I feel I had made some great strides the last few months...I have met some amazing women and am finally excited about where we are at in our relationship to our church...his saying those words crushed that and I could feel myself crawling backwards into my shell.
We didn't talk for a few hours after we were home....he was doing some work in the garage and I fell asleep on the couch. I don't think either of us knew where to start. About 2:30pm I was reading a book and he comes into the room and sits down next to me and says "I'm sorry". I really appreciated it, but I wanted to know what I had done for him to say those words to me. He said that he didn't know. He was just frustrated and said the first thing that had come to his mind....there was no basis for what he said and he was sorry.
After a bit more talking we reconciled and I felt a little better. The whole "religious" comment bothered me b/c that is the last thing I want to portray at church. I don't want to walk into church with a smile on my face and say words that will impress people and let them think I'm doing okay when I'm not. I don't think I do that....I think that we do a pretty good job of letting people see how we really are...but I know that there are times too when I've been in a horrible mood and have covered it up when we are around other people...more so so I don't embarass my husband with my crabby mood.... :)
Anyway...I feel like I'm starting to ramble now...but I really want to stress that I want to be real. I think it's good for people to see other believers having a hard day....or in a bad mood... because everyone has their moments and it's nice to feel like you are not the only one.
As for right now...Nick's words were hurtful, but we both came away from it with some thoughts and we were able to learn together. It's through days like today that our marriage has been strengthened and I know by the grace of God it will continue to be that way. I'm thankfujl that we are able to share what we learn (and how we learned it) with other people so that they can see the grace of God in our life...

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