Dreaming of my Prince....Before I had met him!

Four year old Todd Douglas Sapp

Todd Douglas Sapp

My husband has a milestone birthday on Thursday!  Yup, my husband is turning 50 years old!  That seems quite unbelievable.  In fact, when we ask strangers how old they think Todd is, they almost always guess that he is in his 30s.  A few months ago, Todd and I were out to eat and he was actually carded!  Someone thought he might be under 21.  That totally made his night!  It's hard for me to fathom that he could be turning 50.  But, I suppose that has something to do with the fact that I am 36.  Yup, my husband and I are 13 years apart.  And, we both had to live through an awful lot of life before finding each other.  There are times we notice that we were raised in different decades.  Little pieces of trivia pop up that we expect each other to know and are surprised when we don't.  But, those things are trivial.  They don't matter.  We are soul mates and we cherish our days together.      
      I had to wait 30 years before I met the man of my dreams.  I was praying for Todd years and years before I met him.  I was dreaming of the man God had chosen for me long before that man was free and available and ready to be loved by me.  I had to be patient and wait for God's perfect timing.  And, that was hard.  In 2002, about five years before I met Todd, I wrote about my hopes and dreams for my future husband.  I love reading it now and seeing all the ways my dreams came true through Todd.  I thank God every day for bringing me my wonderful husband.  I never, ever want to take him for granted.  So, here is what I wrote:

Jesus Is My King....I'm Dreaming of My Prince

(written in July of 2002)

     I am going to marry the most amazing man!  He will be amazing in my eyes.  I will look at him with admiration and love.  I will be inspired by him and encouraged by him and accepted the way I am - Jennifer Ann!  Our eyes will light up when the other walks into the room.  Together we will do wonderful things.

     My husband and I will skip!

     Perhaps we'll watch lightning storms and then lightning storms will be something special instead of something to be afraid of.  We will go for hikes and bike rides.  We'll look at the stars and watch sunsets.  We'll travel together all over the country or world.  We'll see new places and do new things - together!

     We'll read books together and then discuss them.  We'll read the Bible aloud to each other.  We can memorize scriptures together and help keep each other accountable in remembering those scriptures.  

     Perhaps he'll play guitar or piano and we can sing together.  we can praise our Lord together in song.  We can attend concerts together and listen to great music.  

     We will be prayer partners - for life!  I want to pray every day with my husband.  We'll pray about everything.  I can hardly wait to see God in action!

     We can do good things together like helping others - we'll be involved in church together.  Perhaps we'll go visit the elderly together or help with Vacation Bible Schools.  We'll play with kids together.  Perhaps he'll read books to kids and they'll all be around - each one wanting to sit on our laps.

     My husband and I will laugh a lot.  We'll laugh so hard together that it will make me cry.  My husband will think I'm funny.  He'll love the way my eyes glow when I'm happy.  I'll love the way his smile lights up his whole face.

     My husband can help me when I'm not so brave.  He'll kill all the spiders and get rid of mouse traps and he'll fix the cars and help put up storm windows and screens.  He'll love to mow the lawn and while he's mowing I'll be making him a special dessert - perhaps chocolate cake is his favorite too, or brownies, or pies?  I'll do special things for my husband.

     Everyday I will tell my husband I love him.  I will not let a day pass when I do not tell him I love him.  When he's away and we can only talk by phone, I'll tell him I love him right over the telephone.  He and I will talk about everything.  When I'm sad, he'll listen and he'll say what's right.  We'll pray about each struggle.  We'll be flexible and we'll make compromises.  My husband will respect me and adore me and delight in making me happy.  I will delight in making him happy and together we'll just be the cutest, smilyest, happiest couple around!

     Jesus Christ will be at the center of our marriage.  That's one of the biggest reasons why I'm so excited to marry my prince - through my prince I will better get to know my King.  We will learn from one another, encourage one another, and grow together closer to Jesus.  What could be better?

     I'm praying for my prince.  I'm praying that God is preparing him for our life together.  I'm praying that wherever he is, he is close to Jesus.  I'm praying that God will send him to me soon and that he will be the kind of prince that will pursue my heart with integrity, grace, and unconditional love.  May Jesus be his role model.   Amen

Mr. and Mrs. Todd Douglas Sapp (in 2013)

A New Weigh of Life

Poutine = YUM!

     1) I love to eat!  I love chocolate ice cream, chocolate fudge, monster cookies, Reese's peanut butter cups, Cheetohs, Wheat Thins, Life cereal, cinnamon rolls, sweet potato fries, canadian bacon and pineapple pizza, sweet and sour chicken, Applebee's Crispy Orange Chicken Bowl, Dr. Pepper, mint hot cocoa... get the picture?  I have always been this way.  I have always loved to eat!  I have always loved sugar!  I have always struggled with overeating.
     2) I am an emotional person.  I struggle with anxiety.  I put pressure on myself to be perfect.  I want to please everyone.  I'm an introvert living the life of an extrovert and I get depleted.  So, how do I cope?  I eat.  And, it's usually not carrot sticks!
      3) I am NOT an athlete.  I have never been an athlete.  I have never had much strength or endurance.  I am an expert at excuses NOT to exercise.  You get the idea.
      Add together these three factors and what do you get?  An overweight gal with health issues.  I've been on blood pressure medication for years and have been told to lose weight (about 20 pounds).  I've tried and failed many, many times.  A year ago I was told my cholesterol was too high, so my husband and I quit eating ice cream and I hardly ever ate bread.  I was positive my doctor would be telling me I'd made some great improvements when I saw her in July.  Nope, my cholesterol and tryglicerides had skyrocketed!  Something had to be done.  So, my doctor prescribed Lipitor.
      I was on Lipitor for 10 days.  It was one of the worst experiences of my life!  I couldn't sleep, or if I did I had crazy weird dreams.  I was dizzy all the time and felt sick to my stomach.  I couldn't think straight or make decisions.  My head hurt.  I had zero energy.  And, worst of all, everything made me cry.  I was miserable and scared.
      So, my husband and I made the decision that I needed to consider the poor quality of life I was experiencing and simply quit the medication.  It took days to get back to normal.  It also jump started in me a deep desire to get healthy.  I was determined to finally lose those 20 extra pounds!  I felt driven to exercise every day.  I steered clear of anything sweet or fattening.  My friend Sheryl called it being in "emergency mode."
      I made an appointment with a nutritionist at the St. Cloud Hospital.  She told me about a wonderful resource called plant sterols.  Certain vegetables have plant sterols in them, but a person would have to eat pounds and pounds of them to get any benefit.  So, some smart scientists have infused large amounts of plant sterols into certain foods (specifically Promise Activ margarine, Kashi Heart to Heart crackers, and Village Farm oatmeal).  If a person eats two grams of plant sterols a day, they can improve their cholesterol numbers by 10 to 17 percent!  Sounds good to me!
      In addition to plant sterols, my nutritionist suggested I start eating two tablespoons of ground flax seed meal every day.  I put it on my toast, my oatmeal, and my yogurt.  Plus, she wants me to eat an ounce of nuts a day.  Cashews are my favorite, but almonds and walnuts work well too.  I try to eat only whole grains (instead of white rice and pasta).  I eat organic, sprouted, low sodium Ezekiel bread.  I eat lettuce salads (with my ounce of walnuts) almost every day.  I eat more turkey, fish, and chicken (and less beef).  And, I gave up sugary drinks.  Someone told me that lemon water cleanses your liver, so I have lemon water every day.
      My goal is to exercise an hour a day.  I do a warm up and then walk and run on the treadmill, ride my Aerodyne bike, or follow a Leslie Sansone fitness aerobic walk video.  I have 5 pound weights I lift regularly to try to tone my "Gustin arms".  And, I end with a cool down.  I still don't like to exercise; I'd rather spend my time doing other things.  But, I feel good when I exercise.  Those positive endorphins rushing to my brain make me happier!  So, once I get myself started, I'm ALWAYS glad I did.        
     Remember "emergency mode?"  Well, that lasted for a good two months and I lost eleven pounds!  Woo Hoo!  Then school began.  Once again I was surrounded by snack foods I shouldn't eat.  Once again the stress and anxiety of being a teacher overwhelmed me.  And, once again I let other things get in the way of my exercise time.  September was rough.  October has been rougher.  I have to get back on track or my health will deteriorate more and more.  I need to get to that 20 pound loss goal!
     So, I'm going to write down some tips and statements that have helped me in the past.  Hopefully they will inspire me to get back on track toward success.  And, if you're reading this, maybe these ideas can help you too!

1.  Water, Water, Water!  Drinking water truly does make a difference.  I feel cleaner, healthier, and more energetic when I drink enough water.  I get headaches when I don't drink enough water.  And, drinking water helps prepare me for my afternoon workout session.  Leslie Sansone says it's important to drink water about a half hour before you exercise so that the water can infuse into the muscle before you start working it.  Nikki Carlson has set a goal for herself that she must drink her goal amount of water for the day before she can drink anything fun or sugary.   Bob Harper suggests that everyone drink a large glass of water before every meal.

2.  Practice resistance in your life.  We are a culture so used to getting what we want immediately.  It's okay to deny ourselves what we want!  Hebrews 12:11 says, "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained in it."  I try to keep myself disciplined in other areas of my life besides just my struggle with food.  Some examples:  not hitting the snooze button in the morning, practicing piano or violin regularly, exercising regularly, correcting student homework on Friday afternoons instead of Sunday nights and not looking at Facebook when I have other things that need to be done.
     Portion control is also a huge part of resisting to what we want.  After seeing my nutritionist, I was amazed at how SMALL most serving sizes truly are.  Lysa Terkeurst suggests that we talk to God when we are struggling with this issue.  He can be our daily portion.  She tells about a time when she wanted a brownie so badly that she shut herself up in the closet and just cried to God until the feeling went away.  I've never done that.  But, I believe He cares enough that He would fill me up and satisfy my craving.  I just need the discipline to go to Him and not to food.  Psalm 34:8 says, "Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him."

3.  Life is full of second chances, of starting over, of starting fresh.  I have to be okay with that in my weight loss journey.  I may have an Oops day or even an Oops week, but that doesn't mean I should give up!  I need to start anew.  I may get injured or be sick for a while and need to take a break from my exercise routine.  Getting started again, for me, is incredibly hard.  But, the only thing to do is start again, start fresh, start over.  "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," Philippians 4:13.

4.  Watch out for mindless eating!  Candace Cameron Bure suggests that we ask ourselves these questions next time we are considering eating something in a mindless manner.  Am I:  hungry, angry, lonely, tired, depressed, guilty, PMS, thirsty, stressed, dicouraged, wounded?  Sometimes defining how we are feeling will help us steer clear of eating to cope.  Also, concerning mindless eating, never eat in front of the TV or computer, especially not with an open un-portioned bag of something!  When I binge on cookies or chips, it's usually in front of the TV or computer.  No more!

5.  Be prepared.  It's always easier to grab an unhealthy snack when you're hungry.  So, be prepared with healthy snacks throughout your day.  Clean Eating experts suggest that we eat every 2 to 3 hours.  Weight Watchers suggests that when you come home from the store, you wash and chop your lettuce, clean your vegetables and chop them up and put fruits and vegetables near the front of the fridge so it is the first thing you see when you open your fridge door.
     Along with being prepared, how about just don't have the temptations in your home?  We still have a teenager at home, so I have felt it necessary to have some junk food around, but we have considerably less than we've had in the past.  Sometimes if there is something tempting, I ask him to keep it in his room.  I know that I would never go in his room to take food.  

6.  Protect your exercise time.  I have found that the best time for me to exercise is from 3:30 to 4:30 every day.  I rush home from school and get right into my exercise clothes, not even stopping to read my mail.  Some days I simply can't get home that early, and then my plan is to exercise from 6:30 to 7:30 in the evening.  That means supper has to be early enough to be digested before I start jumping around!  It's all a balancing act.  But, it's important.  I have found that when I exercise regularly, I make better food choices.  Hebrews 12: 1-2 says, "Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."  Nikki Carlson suggests that a person figure out the night ahead when he/she is going to exercise, and write it on a calendar and not let anything get in the way of that plan.

7.  The scale can only tell you a number.  Lysa Terkeurst writes, "We can step on the scale and accept the numbers for what they are - an indication of how much our body weighs - and not an indication of our worth."  Our worth is measured by who we are in Christ.  I am a child of The One True King!  If I let myself get discouraged by the numbers on the scale, I spiral down and make poor food choices.  I am beautiful just the way I am.  I know many beautiful, wonderful people who would probably love to lose a pound or two and I don't think any less of them.  Why do I think less of myself when success is slow?  1 Corinthian 6:19-20 says, "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own; you were bought at a price.  Therefore honor God with your body."   

Some helpful resources I've used:
Made to Crave book and devotional by Lysa Terkeurst
Reshaping It All by Candace Cameron Bure
The Skinny Rules by Bob Harper
First Place by Carole Lewis
Thin Within weight loss program
Weight Watchers magazines
Hungry Girl cookbooks by Lisa Lillien
Clean Eating cookbooks and blogs
www.myfitnesspal.com

John Balguy wrote, "Contentment is a pearl of great price, and whoever procures it at the expense of ten thousand desires makes a wise and a happy purchase."

10 pounds lighter and lovin' life

 
             
        

CD Blessings

      CD Blessings:
Earlier this year I wrote a blog about the positive experience my Mom and I had creating a CD of violin and piano music together.  You can find that blog at http://journalingjennifer.blogspot.com/2013/04/recording-cd.html

Heading out to make the CD!

   I continue to cherish our experience and the finished product!  Todd and I enjoy listening to it together and I have played the CD for my students in my classroom. 
   Another blessing has been seeing the way that our CD has touched our listeners.  I am writing this blog about some of the encouraging words I've had from friends after listening to the CD.  I want to remember and be encouraged years from now by the words of this blog.
   Mom and I both wanted to be able to give copies of our CD to friends and family members.  I love knowing that my nieces and nephews have this piece of their Grandma Iverson and Aunt Jen to save forever!  I enjoyed being able to give CDs to friends all over the globe!  Angie has one in Spain, Carey has one in Thailand, Anette has one in Norway and her parents have one in Germany, Julia has one in Cherkassy, Ukraine and Pastor Pavel and Tamara have one at our Sister Church in Vatutino, Ukraine!  It can be heard in North Dakota by Pauline or in Colorado by Kathy.  Christin could be playing it in Connecticut while Patty could be enjoying it in Wisconsin!  Exciting! 

   Ladies from our church who have my CD have been so encouraging.  Jan Miller wrote to me, "I was sewing this afternoon and listening to the most beautiful music!!  Thanks to you and your mom.  Love it!"
   Virginia Johnson wrote, "Thanks so much for the CD.  It was so peaceful and familiar songs make it special.  Thanks for all you do for BBC and the Lord."
   Vernelle Stoesz wrote two separate times.  She wrote, "First a BIG thank you for the CD.  We simply LOVE it.  I will listen over and over."  She keeps it in her car so she can listen over and over without having to start at the beginning each time.  Later she wrote, "So enjoyed your CD driving to Elk River and back today.  You and your mom are amazing.  Thanks so much for making it and sharing with me."
   My newest friend, Shannon Lunser wrote, "Thank you for the CD - I'm listening to it right now and LOVE it.  It's such beautiful music."
   Linda Strater (who recently lost her Dad) wrote, "I DID receive your beautiful CD and card!  My brother and I just met on Monday night to finish opening cards and memorials from Dad's funeral.  While we did that, I played your incredible music in the background!  I can't thank you enough for this special gift you gave to me.  I listen to it every night as it brings tremendous peace to me."
   Denise Straw, Elizabeth Norgaard, Becky Kollman, Bekki House, and Terri Mason were all given a copy along with Pastor Rob and Caroline (for Pastor Appreciation Month).  I was so happy to be able to give.
   My friend Amy's mom Cindy was given a copy and wrote, "Jen, thank you so much for the CD.  What a treasured memory for you and your mom.  We listened to it tonight.  I especially like your version of "When the Roll is Called Up Yonder."  All beautiful music...such talent."
   I enjoyed being able to give my CD to Amy, Becca, Jess, and Shawrene as they are regular prayer warriors and friends in my life.  Julie, LuAnn, Tasha, and Sheryl hold special spots in my heart too and I'm glad I could give them a piece of my heart through this CD.
   Todd wanted to give a copy to his parents and to a couple named Alfred and Irene Korfe.  Alfred and Irene had a very positive impact on Todd's faith life as he was growing up.  We hope the music will bless them.
    As mentioned earlier, my CD is in Ukraine with my friend, Julia.  She wrote, "The CD is gorgeous.  It has become my morning music which I listen to while getting ready for work."
   Kathy, in Colorado wrote, "Thank you so much for the awesome CD!  I am completely amazed by your playing - it sounds professional!  I love so many of the songs you did too!  The Gift of Love is the same tune as one of the hymns we sang at our wedding, so it was really cool to hear that one."
   Christin, in Connecticut wrote," Thank you for the CD!  It's great!  You and your mom sound wonderful and must have had a good time recording together.  How fun - thanks!
   What a delightful way to share music and share God's love and share the "something special" that mothers and daughters can have when they create music together.  I'm thankful for my Mom and all the years she has spent helping me practice and accompanying me and taking time to play music "just for fun" with me.  I feel blessed! 

Providing music at a wedding in April

Norman Floyd Iverson, 1910 - 2002

Norman

Norman

My grandpa, Norman Floyd Iverson, was born on October 19th, 1910 in Lignite, North Dakota.  His parents owned a general store and were very prominent people in Lignite.  They were the first to have a radio and the first to own a Ford touring car.  Norman lived in the house he was born in until he left for college.  The concrete house dated back to 1807 and was heated by a furnace using Lignite coal and wood.  The furnace exploded one day when Norman was standing right in front of it.  He was covered in flame and dust and smoke.  He got quite a few burns.  Iversons used gas lamps until getting electric lights.  In an interview done in the 1990s, my grandpa described what it was like for them to get electricity.  He said, "It was very, very exciting!  Electric is much brighter than those little kerosene or gas lights.  And, it was so much easier to see things in a room.  You might go from one room to another, but not have to carry a lamp with you.  But, it was quite expensive to run the lights."

Chorus (Norman is on the right)

Chums (Norman is in the back)

     Music has always been a very important part of Norman's life.  He played saxophone, clarinet, and piano and he sang in a quartet with his friends from across the street.
     Norman loved to hunt and fish with his dad and uncles.  And, he could often be found at baseball games either watching or playing on a team himself.  

Norman is on the left

    Each summer Norman went with his parents to Watson, Minnesota to visit his Norwegian  grandparents and to Noonan, North Dakota to visit his mother's relatives who were farmers.    
     After high school, Norman left Lignite to attend college.  He and his friends from across the street were the first people in Lignite to attend college.  So, from 1928 to 1932 Norman attended Jamestown Presbyterian College, majoring in math, social studies, and music.

Playing saxophone at home

Norman was very involved in the musical productions, including an opera every year.  He played saxophone in the jazz band which played for roller skating events rather than dances.  Dances were not allowed at Jamestown College.  Chapel attendance was required of all students.  Someone always took roll call at chapel.  Sometimes that was Norman's responsibility.  Norman was also the manager of the Chorus.  He had to get the permission of the college president for the Chorus to go on tour each year.  They stayed with host families and sang in beautiful churches across North Dakota.  

Fishing with his dad

Hunting with his friends

     Norman remembers the Stock Market Crash happening while he was in college.  He father was running the general store in Lignite and sales were very low at that time.  He explained, "Many days we got as little as $10 sales the entire day.  Oftentimes that wasn't all money.  Some of it was trade.  For instance, someone would come in with half a dozen eggs and trade it for a quarter pound of sugar or other necessities.  Dad provided food free for a lot of people because they couldn't afford it.  We did stay in business but didn't make any money during that period of years.  We charged to many people and were never paid."

Jamestown College

   The Depression left a deep impact on Norman.  he said, "You never knew what was going to happen the next day.  It was an experience I hope you never have to go through."
     Norman was a teacher during part of the time of the Depression.  He stayed in a place for $3 a month for board and room.  His lowest salary was $90 a month.  During that time he was principal of the high school and taught six or seven subjects in addition to teaching singing.
     Norman was a teacher in Max, North Dakota for three years and then was a teacher, principal, and superintendent of schools in White Earth, North Dakota for two years after that after that.  The following three years he taught Chorus and general business in Minot, North Dakota for three years.
     Norman decided he wanted to get his Master's Degree, so he ventured over to Missoula, Montana one summer where he met the love of his life, Winnifred Bale.  The two of them were married on July 27th, 1940.

Norman and Winnifred Iverson

       The couple settled in Glendive, Montana where Norman continued to teach.  They enjoyed playing in card clubs with other couples.  One summer they went to New York and got to see Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig on the New York Yankees.  

       While in Glendive, Norman taught general business and vocal music.  The only trouble was that only 16 students signed up for Chorus!  Norman was supposed to have five sections of Chorus.  So, Norman taught his choir the most popular song of the day, "Roll Out the Barrel" and they sang it everywhere they could.  They went into study halls and went to football practice and tried to get people to join.  By Christmas time, the Chorus had 300 members!

        Norman was very dedicated to his teaching and his music.  In fact, his son, Robert, was born while Norman was at school working with a music group.  It was March 14th, 1942.  At first Norman had been told that Winnifred had a girl, so he sent telegrams with the news.  Later, he went to the hospital to see his wife and baby and found out that he had a son!  He sent a new telegram that said, "Sorry, I made a mistake, I'm a boy, Robert Iver Iverson."  Everyone in town heard about the mixup.

       When Robert was two years old, Iversons moved to Terry, Montana for a year where Norman had a superintendent job.  Next, they moved to Fairview, Montana for the next ten years.  Norman was a superintendent and a vocal music teacher and a math teacher.  

       In 1947 Norman and Winnifred had a little girl named Patty.  Sadly, she died of Leukemia when she was almost three years old.  

       In 1949 Karen Jean was born and then in 1953 Mary Florence was born.  

Proud parents of an Eagle Scout

Family of Five

   When Robert was in sixth grade, Karen four years old, and Mary four months old, the family moved

Norman with his folks and kids

to Dickinson, North Dakota.  Norman wanted to open a music store.  He had gotten upset with changes he'd seen in education.  He encountered many parents with poor attitudes in addition to increased discipline problems with students.  He was ready to try something new.
  The Music Store became a huge part of the Iverson's life.  Winnifred helped at the store on weekends.  She was teaching school during the week.  Robert made deliveries and helped in the store.  After a family vacation to Alaska, Robert made a nice looking window display that included elk and caribou antlers from their trip.

Dickinson Music Store

Dickinson Music Store

   While owning the Music Store, Norman became involved in helping the music department at Dickinson State College.  The college would borrow instruments and pianos from the store.  Norman was also very involved with the Tri-State Music Festival held every November in Dickinson.  The festival grew to be quite large and was recognized nationally as being on the cutting edge of music education.  Norman attended the National Association of Music Merchants Convention in Chicago every year.

Dickinson Music Store

Dickinson Music Store

       Norman had a passion for music.  He wanted to help others feel more comfortable with their singing voices too.  So, he would offer classes to help people learn to sing.  He worked with groups of kids who were singing off-key and taught them to listen and read notes.  

       Norman also enjoyed singing in Barbershop Quartets, even into his 80s!

       Norman was a busy man!  In addition to raising his family, running the store, helping people learn to sing, and being involved in the Dickinson State College Music Department, Norman was also an assistant leader for the Boy Scouts, and a member of The Lions, The Masonic Lodge, Eastern Star, Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, and the United Methodist Church.  He was the choir director at church and the Sunday School Superintendent for junior high, high school, and college students.  

With his first grandchild (Patty)

     Norman and Winnifred retired in Dickinson, North Dakota.  They continued to enjoy their community involvement.  They grew a large garden and spent time working with rocks by polishing them into jewelry.  They enjoyed their ten grandchildren.  Grandpa could often be heard boasting about them, much to the embarrassment of the kids themselves!  He was famous for his long speeches he'd give to anyone who would listen.  

Grandpa and me!

Grandpa and Grandma with me on my graduation day

     I'm thankful to have had my Grandpa be an important part of my life.  He believed in me and all the things I could accomplish.  He had high standards and expected me to work hard to try to reach those standards.  He loved to take pictures and appreciated the beautiful scenery around him.  He was proud to be from North Dakota and proud to be an American.  He had a firm handshake and I always knew he was someone important.  Even as Grandpa was living his last days in 2002, he would greet people by looking them in the eye and giving a firm handshake.  That was engrained in him.  I strive to do that now.  A smile and confident handshake.....  I look forward to smiles and handshakes from my Grandpa when I see him again in Heaven someday.      

Tracing the Family Roots

       My husband and I just returned home from a trip to Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia.  We met a group of French Acadians there who work at a Historic Acadian Village.  Each of them are direct descendants of the original people who founded the village.  These people are building dory boats the way their ancestors did.  They are fishing for lobster using the same techniques.  They are walking upon the same ground as the people who dreamed of having children and great-grandchildren walked.  They know where they came from.  That experience got us to talking.  Where do we come from?  How far back do we know our own history?  Time to trace the family roots.....

Mary Bearfield

Samuel Bale

      Let's start with my dad's side of the family.  His mom, my Grandma (Winnifred) was the ninth of eleven children.  Her parents were Mary and Samuel.  Samuel was born in 1856 in England.  He grew up on a farm and became a farmer.  He loved to read and talk about politics.  He read books about law and helped people  the way a lawyer would.  He had sixteen children, five by his first marriage and then eleven after he married Mary Bearfield in January of 1899.  Samuel was a strict father who demanded silence on Sunday afternoons.  He was seldom home because he was busy working.  He and Mary had a home in town and a home on the farm.  Some of the time, Samuel lived alone on the farm while his wife and children lived in town.
     Mary Bearfield was born in 1876.  She had been a teacher before meeting her husband and she taught again later when her children were in school.  She did needlework, sewing, and quilting.  She helped tutor the neighbors in math and foreign languages.  Mary was also a poet.  She was very close to her sister Minnie who never married.  Minnie's nickname for Mary was Frankie.
      Mary and Samuel had eleven children:  Dwight, Gertrude, Helen, Sanford, Katherine, Edith, Stanley, Robert, Winnifred, Constance, and Mills.  Here is a picture of Mary and Samuel later in life. 

Samuel and Mary Bale

     My dad's dad (Norman) was an only child to his parents Florence and Iver.  Florence's parents came from Bienne, Switzerland.  Their names were Fred and Marion Wissbrod.  They came to America in 1865 in a sailboat.  They lived in Breckenridge, Minnesota and then in 1871 they moved to Erhard, Minnesota.  They came to America to homestead available land.  Fred and Marion had thirteen children and Florence was the eighth child.  Florence was born in Erhard on January 28th, 1881.
     Iver Iverson was born in Watson, Minnesota.  His parents were Norwegian.  Both he and his future wife Florence moved from Minnesota to North Dakota before they met.  They both attained land through the Homestead Act near Flaxton, North Dakota.  Their land was eight miles apart.  Iver ran a restaurant in Flaxton and Florence worked for him there.  Florence lived with her sisters Martha and Bertha before she and Iver were married on March 6th, 1907.  
     Iver and Florence bought a general store in 1909 and ran that for many years.  Iver was very dedicated to that store.  He also loved to hunt and fish.  Florence enjoyed baking, sewing, quilting, and tending to her flower and vegetable garden. 

Iver is on the far left.  Norman is in the back.

Iver and Norman loved music!



   

Florence and Iver Iverson

Coming soon.... 

Information about my mom's side of the family.  Tracing the family roots....

  

Winnifred Ruth Bale Iverson, 1914 - 2001

Winnifred Ruth Bale

Photos from an old scrapbook

   My grandma, Winnfred Ruth Bale was born on October 17th, 1914 in Lisbon, North Dakota.  She was the ninth of eleven children.  She and her family lived in town until Winnifred was nine years old and then they moved out to the farm.  The house in town was large and had running water, electricity, a cookstove, and steam heat radiators.  The house at the farm did not have indoor plumbing, but it did have running water and gas lamps.  Both houses had telephones, but only the house in town had a piano.  The family used a horse-drawn buggy or lumber wagon to get around until the family got a car (when Winnifred was in eighth grade).
    When I was a girl, growing up in the 1980s, Grandma used to tell me stories about her childhood.  She remembers living in town and kicking her heels on the wall of the front porch and listening to it echo across the valley.  She'd sing and yell and listen to the echo.  She remembers going to the playground that was just a block away and swinging as high as the treetops on the board-seat swings.  She remembers pulling her little brother into town on the wagon one day.  They were quite dirty from playing and when Winnifred's older siblings saw them in town, they were embarrassed.
     When Winnifred was in second grade, she looked forward to gathering around the cookstove each afternoon with her siblings to tell her mother about the school day.  One day her older siblings were talking about someone who had "played hooky" from school.  Winnifred thought it sounded like fun, so she tried it herself.  She went to visit her Aunt Ora, who promptly called Winnifred's mother, who wasted no time in punishing Winnifred.  After that, the older siblings would spell their stories around the cookstove when they didn't want to influence Winnifred.
     Winnifred's family loved to tell stories.  Sometimes they would play a game where one person started a story and then the story would be passed along and added on to.  Some evenings after supper, the family would sit around the dinner table for 30 - 40 minutes and tap out rhythms to songs.  Everyone else would try to guess the song.  Winnifred's family played card games, Dominoes, and Monopoly too.  The girls enjoyed singing songs in harmony together as they did the dishes.

Winnifred, Age 14

     The only time the Bale family was quiet and somber was on Sunday afternoons after church.  Winnifred's mother did not even cook on Sundays.  Winnifred loved to hear the choir sing at church.  But, once she moved to the farm, Winnifred did not go to church anymore because she struggled from motion sickness and the 12 miles into town was too much for her.
     The transition from school in town to country school was rough on Winnifred.  Her classmates would tease her for not knowing farm-related things such as what a harness was.  But, Winnifred soon excelled, especially in spelling.  The year she was in fifth grade, Winnifred's mother was the country school teacher!  She wasn't always easy on Winnifred, either.      
     Winnifred was 15 years old when the Great Depression changed American life.  In an interview I did with her in the 1990s, she told me that the beginnings of the depression didn't affect her father's farm very much because most of the children were already on their own.  She said, "We were living off of milk and cream and chickens.  We had no money, just what the farm was able to provide.  We didn't lose the farm, but the farm was not so productive because of the drought.  We kept everything.  I remember the grasshoppers.  Clouds of grasshoppers stripped the grain right out of the field."


     When Winnifred was a freshman in high school, she and her brother Robert went to Lisbon to live with their sister Helen and Helen's husband.  Then her sophomore year, she moved to Minot to live with her sister Gertrude.  She had to walk a mile to school each day.  Winnifred's last two years of high school were spent in Valley City, living with Helen and Helen's husband who had moved there.  Winnifred's senior year, she was able to take college classes instead of high school classes because she had completed her sixteen credits and was an honor student.

My beautiful Grandma

   The summer after her senior year, Winnifred went right to Valley City College for summer sessions.  She had one year and another summer at college and had her Second Grade Professional Degree, which qualified her to teach.  She lived at home and taught in a country school for seventeen kids in all grades but eighth grade.  In addition to teaching, she had to start the stove each morning and sweep and clean up the school each day.  She was paid $45 a month that year (1933).
   After her first year of teaching, Winnifred joined her sister Edith and brother Sanford in Baldwin (which was 25 miles from Valley City) where she taught for two more years.  She lived in the teacherage with Sanford and his wife.  She was paid $65 a month, but had to pay Sanford $20 a month for meals.  Winnifred taught grades 1-3 and typing.  After her two years of teaching in Baldwin, Winnifred went back to college and got her four-year teaching degree.
    A small German-Russian community named Kulm was the town Winnifred moved to next.  She taught first and second grade there for two years while living with a couple housemates.  The housemates got along so well, that they decided to move together to Montana, where teacher salaries were better.  Winnifred attended a few classes at the University of Missoula that summer to prepare her to teach in Montana.
    While going to the University, Winnifred attended a picnic for people from North Dakota.  There was a young man there named Norman Iverson who also attended the University.  They were on opposing teams for a volleyball game.  Winnifred fell into a gopher hole when Norman hit her with the volleyball.  Winnifred liked to tell people that she "fell for him."
     Winnifred and Norman were interested in the same things and enjoyed spending time together.  They both liked concerts, choral groups, and singing together.  Sometimes they got hamburgers for 25 cents near campus.  Norman was working on his Master's Thesis and Winnifred typed all of it for him.  Before parting after the summer together at school, Norman gave Winnifred his picture and they wrote letters to each other.
    Winnifred taught 23 children in first through fourth grade in the small town of Moccasin, Montana that fall.  The following year, she taught in Sidney.  Sometimes Norman would come visit Winnifred in Sidney and they would go pheasant hunting or watch birds together.  Norman liked to say that Winnifred was a good birddog!  It was on one of these excursions that Norman asked Winnifred to marry him.  They were married on July 27th, 1940.

Norman and Winnifred Iverson

    The marriage ceremony was a small family wedding at the home of Winnifred's sister, Gertrude.  Winnifred's father had died, the farm was sold, and Winnifred's mother was living with daughter Katherine.  Winnifred wore a $50 peach dress from Billings and Norman wore his best suit.  Helen's husband sang "O Promise Me" and "The Lord's Prayer."  The couple went to Yellowstone Park for their honeymoon and then settled in Glendive.
   Norman was a vocal music and general business teacher in Glendive, but Winnifred could not teach, because at that time, female teachers could not be married.  Winnifred missed teaching.  They lived in Glendive for four years.  On March 14th, 1942, their first child was born:  Robert Iver  (my dad)!  Then in February of 1947, Patricia Ann was born.

Winnifred with Robert

The family of four

    

    After Glendive, the family lived in Terry for a year and then in Fairview for ten years after that. Unfortunately, it was during that time (in 1950) that Winnifred had to experience something that no mother should ever have to experience.  Her daughter Patty died of leukemia.  I cannot imagine the pain and grief she went through.
    God blessed Winnifred and Norman with two more daughters.  Karen Jean was born on October 12th, 1949 in Sidney, Montana and then Mary Florence was born on January 31st, 1953, also in Sidney.  Then when Robert was in sixth grade, Karen four years old, and Mary four months old, the family moved to Dickinson, North Dakota.

Family of Five

    

     Thanks to Women's Suffrage, Winnifred was able to teach again!  She taught for 25 years in Dickinson.  Her first class had 33 first graders in it.  In addition to teaching and raising her family, Winnifred helped Norman in the music store that they owned.  She cleaned things and sorted music.  Winnifred also joined the Zonta Society for women in the business world.

Winnifred Iverson

     Winnifred's family grew up and eventually Norman and Winnifred retired in Dickinson.  They enjoyed their community activities and their trips in their motorhome.  Winnifred enjoyed being Grandma to 10 grandchildren!  

     I consider myself lucky to have had Grandma be a part of my life.  She encouraged creativity and reading.  She liked my writing and listened to me practice music.  She wanted me to work hard in school and she was pleased that I connected so well with children.  She introduced me to arts and crafts projects and helped me appreciate the beauty of North Dakota.  I always felt that she was one of my biggest fans.  I liked spending time with my Grandma.  I became a teacher in 2000 and my last conversation with my grandma was about teaching.  I have always loved that Grandma was a teacher.  I feel a connection with her.  

  

  

Grandma died in 2001.  Grandpa followed soon after in 2002.  I like knowing they are in Heaven together.  I like knowing that they were only apart for a matter of months.  I look forward to seeing them again some day.  I bet Grandma will enjoy hearing some of my teaching stories!  What a beautiful reunion that will be!

Atlantic Provinces Adventures

Prince Edward Island, Canada

      My husband, Todd and I just returned home to Minnesota from traveling 6,400 miles with our pickup and camper to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, Canada.  We were gone for 26 days.  In May we celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary, so one could say this was our anniversary trip.  I had been to Prince Edward Island ten years prior with my good friends Amy and Jessica, but had been wanting to go back with my best friend, Todd.  We had a fabulous time.  Each day was wonderful!  I am going to attempt to share with you some of what our adventure was like.

Our pickup and camper

One of our amazing campsites

 

     Camping in our camper was a big part of our trip.  I appreciate having my temporary home with me wherever I go.  We slept for free in busy Wal-Mart Parking lots and at noisy truck stops (they have super clean showers!).  We stayed at woodsy, mosquito-infested campgrounds and at campgrounds with amazing waterfront views.  I got used to having ear plugs in my ears and a mask over my eyes.  Surprisingly, I slept quite well.  One of the best parts about having our camper along was that we could make our own meals.  Todd was the sea food chef!  He made scallops, oysters, salmon, tilapia, sole, and lobster!  He was also the master of blueberry pancakes!

     Music was a big part of our trip too.  As we drove, we listened to CDs of Kendra MacGillivray fiddling, The Rankin Family chanting out lilting Gaelic melodies,  The Ennis Sisters singing sweet Celtic harmonies, and Natalie MacMaster fiddling out her Cape Breton roots.  We stopped at the Celtic Music Interpretive Center where both Todd and I got to try out the fiddles.  We attended a magnificent Troy MacGillivray fiddling concert with the audience stomping their feet and shouting out "Yips" and "Whoops."  We stopped to see the impressive giant violin in Sydney on Cape Breton Island.  We saw step dancing and heard bagpipes practicing together for an upcoming performance at the College of Piping in Summerside.  Everywhere we went people talked about the "Ceilidhs" that would be starting up in July.  Ceilidhs are kitchen parties that always involve music, storytelling, and highland dancing.  They are usually in a concert setting for the public.  Although we missed the Ceilidh season, we did get to hear some musicians performing traditional seafaring songs at a restaurant where we stopped.  While in Charlottetown, we attended a musical that told the love story of Anne and Gilbert.  It was excellent.

Troy MacGillivray!

The giant violin in Sydney

        

Todd trying his hand at fiddling!

Anne and Gilbert, the Musical

     If one is intrigued by historic villages, then Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island are the place to go!  Todd and I stopped at about five of them on our trip.  We saw two farming villages still being run as if it was the 1800s.  We visited a Scottish Gaelic Village that told of the struggle to create new lives in Nova Scotia after the hardships of Scotland.  A French Acadian Village inhabited by people re-enacting their own ancestors' way of life of boat-building, lobster fishing, and wool making was one of our favorites.  And, a village that the producer of "Road to Avonlea" based much of his Avonlea village on was exciting to see.  We met blacksmiths and dory-boat makers and spinning-wheel operators and women baking cookies over an old-fashioned hot stove.  I got to pretend to be the teacher of many one-room school houses and Todd and I sang "Amazing Grace" in harmony at more than one old time church!  

I'm sitting on the cupboard bed in a Scottish hut!

Cracking the whip in a one-room school house!

Farm Machinery from days gone by!

We had a great conversation with this blacksmith before he made us a nail!

     Biking and hiking was a fun part of our trip.  We kept our bikes in the back of our camper, so every time we had to get in and out, we either had to crawl around them or take them out!  We biked the infamous Confederation Trail on Prince Edward Island (an old railroad bed).  We biked through Charlottetown and Victoria and Summerside.  We hiked the Skyline Trail on Cape Breton Island and hiked to waterfalls and hiked almost everywhere we went!

     Water was an important part of our trip!  We had to get around the Great Lakes to get from Minnesota to the Atlantic Provinces and home again.  We drove along the Atlantic Ocean, the Bay of Fundy, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence.  We watched tides go in and out.  We walked along beaches.  We hiked for hours to get to a waterfall!  We visited too many ship harbors to count!  We saw whales, seals, jellyfish, starfish, trout, mussels, and even the shell of a razor fish!   

   

And, who could forget the farm fields of red dirt, the red sand along the beach, and the red roads everywhere you turn?  A photograph just doesn't do it justice!

My favorite kind of building on the Atlantic Provinces (Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and Labrador) is cedar shingled grey with red trim.  And, there were a lot of them!  We noticed that very few people had garages and that many people liked to put a star on the front of their house for decoration.  Most everyone had a wooden barrel at the end of his/her driveway for trash pickup.  And, there were many beautiful gardens!  We saw some other intriguing architecture along the way too.  Here are a few examples:

When people asked if we had been to the Atlantic Provinces before, I liked to tell them that when I was here with my friends we did "Everything Anne that was possible."  Then I'd tell them that Todd and I were focusing more on the culture, the scenery, and the seafood.  Despite that, Todd and I did indulge in a few Anne of Green Gables sites, including viewing "The White Sands Hotel" and "Green Gables."  We tried Raspberry Cordial and visited the make-believe village of Avonlea.  We saw where L.M. Montgomery was born and gazed at "The Lake of Shining Waters."  We hiked "The Haunted Wood" and "Lover's Lane."  And, I often thought of Anne and Diana while enjoying the red cliffs and sand dunes along the beach.  

And, who could visit Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island without appreciating the occasional lighthouse?  We went inside one, but most had an admission fee.  We saw the oldest lighthouse on the island and the only round lighthouse (Point Prim).  We saw the most photographed lighthouse in the world (Peggy's Cove).  We saw lighthouses that were falling apart and some that had been turned into resorts.  Some of the lighthouses were still being used as lighthouses.  We encountered a lot of fog, but never did hear a foghorn, despite how much Todd yearned to hear one!

When it was time to leave Prince Edward Island, we took the nine mile Confederation Bridge.  

Just as every sunset each night was bitter-sweet, so was the end of our time on vacation.  We had such a wonderful time, it was like a dream.  And, yet, home is good too.  Home to Minnesota to our family and friends and the life we have carved out there.