Tag: tradition

30 Things I Love: Christmas Music

Christmas Music

I love Christmas music! Every year, I cannot wait until the local radio stations, and Sirius Satellite radio start playing Christmas selections.

The music in the photo is just a tiny representation of my collection. I love listening to winter songs, Christmas songs, and carols performed by many different groups and in different styles. Maybe it’s the lyrics that are always positive…no one is dying, except when Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer, relationships are flourishing or being mended, and how can you not be inspired by a capella renditions Silent Night or O Holy Night?

When I am stressed, I listen to music which helps to calm me. Before my first experience flying on an airplane without Jonathan, I needed to redo my playlist on my iPod so I would have relaxing music during my flight. Looking at what music was available, I decided to put Christmas music on there. In August. The jazz of Vince Guaraldi’s soundtrack for “A Charlie Brown Christmas” is so soothingly familiar, and brings happy memories of watching the Charlie Brown specials on TV when I was little. The sounds of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra go from a mellow synthesized orchestral sound to rock. Mannheim Steamrollers sound is also good for calming me. Who knows…when I need to fly in 2015, I may still have Christmas music on my headphones!

I also love singing Christmas choral arrangements with the church choir. The older madrigal style pieces really challenge us, but they are some of my favorite songs because of the harmonies. I always look forward to the candlelight Christmas Eve service, and singing Silent Night in harmony. Most years I have goosebumps, and some years, there are tears. It is such an emotional time. I love when we end that service with the singing of Joy to the World. It sets the tone for the rest of our Christmas celebrations. I love how Christmas music makes me feel!

What are some of your favorite Christmas songs or albums?

We made it to the last day of the 30 Things I Love! Thank you for coming on this little journey with me!

The complete list of the 30 Things is listed here:

Day 1: Pizza

Day 2: Shoes

Day 3: Shout Stain Remover

Day 4: The Ability to Vote

Day 5: My Heritage

Day 6: NASCAR

Day 7: Black Velvet for Photography

Day 8: Strong Coffee and Strong Hairspray

Day 9: Peacefulness

Day 10: Winter’s First Snow

Day 11: Freedom

Day 12: Dairy

Day 13: Jonathan

Day 14: Coffee

Day 15: Seasons

Day 16: Scones

Day 17: #AgNerds

Day 18: Playing in the Dirt

Day 19: Friends

Day 20: My Church Choir Family

Day 21: OxyClean

Day 22: Small Town Celebrations

Day 23: Clouds

Day 24: Thanksgiving

Day 25: Sisters

Day 26: My Minivan

Day 27: My Daughters

Day 28: Viktoria

Day 29: Agriculture Organizations

Day 30: Christmas Music

30 Things I Love: Winter’s First Snow

First Snow

I love the first snow of the season. It is so magical! I remember as a kid, going to bed like any other autumn night, and waking up to a different, distinctive kind of light coming in the window. I would jump out of bed, and look out of the window, and be so excited that my world had transformed overnight.

After Jonathan and I were married, we lived in a little house across the section from where we live now. We tried to wait to turn on the old fuel oil furnace for as long as possible. That first year, the house was so cold, so I baked some Christmas cookies to heat it up. A tradition was born. There have been years (like this one) where the cookies may wait a day due to other things going on, but they always get baked! This year, I’ll be once again be making one of my favorites: Peanut Blossoms!

Peanut Blossoms

For my birthday this year, I received a GoPro Hero4 video camera. My plan is to use it one farm equipment once spring work starts, but in the meantime, I’m having a little fun with it. This afternoon, Jonathan and I went out on the 4-wheeler and the Ranger to play in the snow a little bit. We had a blast! The GoPro was attached to the front push bumper on the ranger, and it did really well considering the temperatures. I’m still learning the best settings for the camera, and how to edit a lot of footage down to the length of a song. This is the result from today’s adventure:

I know some don’t like the snow as much as I do, but I hope we can all take a little time to appreciate the magic of the first snow.

What is your favorite “first” in a season? Do you find magic in the first snow, or do you dread every aspect of winter?

Day 1: Pizza

Day 2: Shoes

Day 3: Shout Stain Remover

Day 4: The Ability to Vote

Day 5: My Heritage

Day 6: NASCAR

Day 7: Black Velvet for Photography

Day 8: Strong Coffee and Strong Hairspray

Day 9: Peacefulness

Day 10: Winter’s First Snow

Click here to go to Holly Spangler’s blog, and see the link for other 30 Day Challenge Bloggers

 

Throwback Thursday – County Fair Days

This is the second year that we have not had a daughter in 4-H. It still seems weird not being at the county fairgrounds every day, all day, while taking care of their goats and horses. Parts of me is thankful we don’t have the stress of show day, but part of me misses it as well. Showing animals at the county fair teaches kids so many things about life…and about agvocating.

Here is a photo from one of the last years that all three girls showed goats.

Anna, Laura, and Christina following the goat show , 2009
Anna, Laura, and Christina following the goat show , 2009

 

30 Days of Thanksgiving – Day 30: Christmas

CarolynCares Christmas

What is your favorite thing about Christmas? For me, it is the memories of Christmases past, and the wonder and excitement as we remember the miracle of Jesus’ birth. Sometimes I think we get so caught up in looking forward that we gloss over the true miracles and wonder of the first Christmas.

Some of my favorite memories are not of the gifts received, but of the traditions we had for decorating. We had one of those huge stereos that were major furniture pieces. We would play Christmas records (you know, the vinyl records that required a record player with a needle) while we put the artificial tree together, strung the lights, and placed the ornaments on the tree. When I hear certain songs, I can smell the dusty plastic of the old tree, and see exactly where it was standing in our living room. We each had the opportunity to pick an album to listen to. My favorite had to be Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians “Twas the Night Before Christmas” – the version with the Norman Rockwell cover.

When I married and had the opportunity to start my own traditions, playing music while decorating is one thing I kept from my childhood. We tried to incorporate some of the traditions from Jonathan’s side as well, such as hanging a large lighted star on the windmill. The lutefisk on Christmas Eve wasn’t one that carried over, though!  Starting new traditions with our daughters wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. Not all of my ideas turned out to be great ones. It is fun to hear what they remember most about Christmases when they were younger. Everyone remembers things so differently.

Today we’ll be setting up our Christmas tree. I’ll be playing some of my favorite Christmas CD’s (still a little sad that my favorite album didn’t get remastered for CD release), and probably making a few Christmas cookies for the girls to take back to school. I am thankful for the memories made on days like this. I am also thankful for the December snows, the happy Christmas greetings shared between friends and strangers alike, and the wonder of the Christmas story.

Thank you so much for following along on my 30 Days of Thanksgiving! I’ll still be writing, but not every day. Just for fun, I’ll leave you with this…

Want to see other 30 Day Challenge blogs? Head over to Holly Spangler’s blog to find the link!

30 Days of Thanksgiving – Day 13: Baking

CarolynCares Baking

I love baking, and I’m so thankful for that talent! I used to save the heavy baking for the holidays, but this year, I tried something new. Starting at the beginning of July, I was a vendor at the brand new Central Park Market in our town. It is a farmer’s market with the usual produce stands, along with baked goods, jams & jellies, home decor, a meal served by a non-profit group, and live music. All baked goods sold at the farmers market need to be made from scratch. I loved the challenge of baking four dozen caramel rolls at a time, and trying different scone and pound cake recipes. Baking became my therapy. If my day started out rough, or I woke up feeling grumpy, I would just start baking. By the time I was done, my mood would be considerably better. There were times when I was running behind (I really think that is a gene I inherited from my Grandma – she was late to pretty much everything), and stressed myself out with how long packaging was taking, but by the end of the night, all that was forgotten. It’s pretty impossible to stay grumpy or frazzled when you are in the midst of a festive atmosphere!

The Market ended in early October, and to be honest, I haven’t done much baking beside the caramel rolls that go to Jonathan’s Sunday School class every week. That may have more to do with harvest happening than with being tired of baking. I have been planning out what types of cookies I want to make for Christmas, and contemplating what goodies I should make for Thanksgiving weekend. Our oldest daughter is bringing home a boy to meet the family over Thanksgiving. We will also be celebrating her birthday, which falls on Thanksgiving day this year. When that happens, we sometimes replace the traditional pies with birthday cake, or a dessert of her choice. Just thinking about the dessert possibilities is making me happy!

During the Advent season this year, I plan on baking treats to give to some of the older members of our congregation. Good things do come to those who bake, but better things come to those who share!

Want to read more 30 Day Challenge blogs? Head over to Holly Spangler’s blog, and check out her list of current blog challenge participants.

Throwback Thursday – A Bit of Old Family Fun

I’m pretty thankful for the humor that has been passed down from generation to generation in the Olson family. I came from a long line of pun loving people, and married into a family that enjoys laughter as much as I. It makes life a lot more pleasant when you can laugh at your mistakes, or just simply enjoy a good joke.

This photo is of Jonathan’s Uncle Bob, Aunt Fern, and his dad, Kenny. Kenny is the little one in the bicycle basket. I love this photo. The look of joy on all the faces, and the fact that the baby brother is in the basket is not at all surprising if you had the privilege to know their mom, Jonathan’s Grandma Myrtle. She was a fun loving, spunky lady.

Uncle Bob, Aunt Fern, and Kenny
Uncle Bob, Aunt Fern, and Kenny

So, if you get tired of us having a Pollyanna attitude, or of us joking around, I’m not totally sorry. I invite you to join in on the fun! Life if much better when you can laugh.

Throwback Thursday – School Starts Soon!

All three of our daughters are in college, so the rush to buy school supplies has ended for us. That doesn’t mean I don’t like shopping for notebooks, folders, pens, and pencils. Truth is, I love when stores set out their school supplies! Running errands this week made me very happy, and reminded me of going school shopping with my mom when I was little.

This photo is from my second day of kindergarten. The bus forgot to pick up the kids in our neighborhood on the first day, so my mom had to drive us to school! I miss the days of eating Spagettios and watching Captain Kangaroo before getting on the bus for afternoon kindergarten. Life was so much simpler then.

Hopping on the Anoka-Hennepin Dist 11 bus
Hopping on the Anoka-Hennepin Dist 11 bus

Fun Fact Friday – John Deere Runs in our Blood

This was supposed to have been written yesterday afternoon (Friday), but we had a few waves of severe weather that put us in the basement for awhile. We’re all okay, and our crops look decent despite a bit of hail. Today is our Century Farm Appreciation Party! We are so thankful for the support from family and friends, and all those we do business with. Planning this event has been an exercise in counting our blessings.

Our daughter, Anna, has been putting together a PowerPoint slide show for part of our display. We noticed a trend when it comes to equipment…99% of it is John Deere!  Here are a few photos that show the history of our harvesting equipment.

machinery 13

machinery 6

machinery 8

 

machinery 1
45

 

machinery 5
4400

 

machinery 18
7720

 

DSC_0283b
9600

 

9650
9650

I’m not certain on what the correct order is for the first three photos, but I will be asking some of our local experts. That is the other fun part of this journey. Asking questions of our more seasoned generation, and watching their eyes light up as they talk about using the different pieces of machinery when they were young. Most of the gentlemen I have talked with are either retired, or are getting close to retirement. They all have passed the usual retirement age, but they still love to farm, so they have not yet fully retired. That says something, I think. What other job has you wanting to stay there even after you’ve reached your mid-70’s?

Next week, I’ll give a recap of our Appreciation Party. In the meantime, I have some salads to make.

 

Fun Fact Friday – Some Things Never Change

In a past blog, I’ve talked about how we are following in Grandpa’s footsteps by raising seed. As we look at the history of our farm, and the men who have built it to what it is today, we find little gems that make us squeal with delight.

I may or may not have jumped up and down like a little girl when we found a newspaper article featuring Grandpa Nuel, and Uncle Bob. The article talks about what it takes to raise seed, and why they do it. It also talks about why Bob built the shop that still stands at our place.

The shop that Bob built
The shop that Bob built

When I first read the newspaper article, the thing that struck me is how similar the seed production requirements are today as they were back in that time (we’re estimating the article was written around 1950). The author does a great job of explaining the whole process from planting, to harvest, to storage.

We live in a world where everything has to be the latest and greatest. If it is shiny, updated, loaded with features, we will do what we have to in order to get it. We “need” the software that organizes everything, the farm apps that keep cropping and livestock records, and iAnything to make our lives run efficiently. I will freely admit that I love my electronics!

Sometimes, though, we get little reminders that the “old” way isn’t as outdated as we thought. While our field inspectors may record things on their laptops, we still need the inspectors’ feet in the dirt, looking for things that could prevent us from selling our crop for seed. The process, as a whole, is solid. While we may have an easier time tracking lot numbers and field information with computers (and let’s be honest, hello printing capabilities! I can’t imagine hand writing out tags for 3000 bushels of seed!), the steps to go from seed to plant to grow to harvest to seed is still pretty good.

Like Grandpa is quoted as saying in the article below, we enjoy producing high quality seed. Some things never change.

(Click on the article to make it bigger)

Nuel article a

Nuel article b