Tag Archives: family

Chocolate Bunnies, Colored Eggs and Hotdogs

by nebraskawheatie

The day actually started the night before.

Brooklyn and Jillian came to our house to color eggs with the girls – minus Jamie and Curt – on Easter Eve. Once again…a tradition that started a LONG time ago! I remember sitting in my Harvest Grandma’s little kitchen (which actually seemed REALLY big as a little girl) coloring Easter eggs with her. I have a picture of the two of us somewhere and would love to find it.  The girls try to make each egg different from the others by using crayons, rubber bands and great imaginations. The artistic abilities come out in full force. Sometimes, the artistry is so good that it’s hard for me to even throw those eggs away after they’ve been sitting out for days (and beginning to smell). By the time all five dozen eggs were colored, we had multi colored, polka-dotted, a bumble bee, a Mocking Jay (Hunger Games), a cross, and many, many more.

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Leaving A Mark On His World

by nebraskawheatie

WOW! I just watched a video produced for the USDA about Norman Borlaug and what he did for our world. I had no idea!

In 1923, Borlaug witnessed a demonstration in the streets of Minneapolis, MN  where starving people were chasing  a cart while men were dumping milk in protest of high prices. These starving people were just hoping to be given a portion of what was being thrown away.  “Extreme hunger had more than just the stomach in its clutches…it strongly influenced the mind”. Norman knew he HAD to do something. And he DID.

While learning how he genetically changed the way wheat was grown and produced, all I could think about was the uneducated people of this country crying out about the GMO’s of today. If Norman had lived in this time, his research would be criticized to no end. An interesting statement that I read recently on another internet site stated the wheat that’s grown today “is not real wheat”. What the heck is it? The wheat that Mr. Borlaug “engineered” must not be “real” wheat either. At what point does wheat go from “real” wheat to “unreal” wheat?

“By 2050 the world’s population will reach 9.1 billion, 34 percent higher than today. Nearly all of this population increase will occur in developing countries. Urbanization will continue at an accelerated pace, and about 70 percent of the world’s population will be urban (compared to 49 percent today). Income levels will be many multiples of what they are now. In order to feed this larger, more urban and richer population, food production (net of food used for biofuels) must increase by 70 percent. Annual cereal production will need to rise to about 3 billion tonnes from 2.1 billion today and annual meat production will need to rise by over 200 million tonnes to reach 470 million tonnes.” (How to Feed the world in 2050)

How will this happen? By itself? No, it will take the same kind of passion and caring that was displayed by Norman Borlaug after he realized what hunger was doing to the people of this great country. Hunger…is it something that we’ll be witnessing yet in our generation? What about our children’s?

In 1970, Mr. Borlaug was presented with the Nobel Peach Prize. The Committee Chairman said, while handing him his award, “More than any other single person of his age he has helped to provide bread to a hungry world”.  He left the world a better place than what he found it. What’s your story? How will YOU make a difference?

Spring? or Summer?

by nebraskawheatie

It’s 2 degrees short of being HOT today in Eastern NE. The past three days the temp has reached at or near 90 degrees. Although I am loving this heat, the flowers that I have waited for a year to return are not. When it’s spring, the flowers like the cool weather so much better. With the past three days of heat and wind, the flowers are suffering. The crabapple trees, cherry tree, apple tree and the redbuds are nearly done gracing us with their beauty. There’s been previous years where the flowers last quite some time before drying up and blowing away.

 A few of my most favorite flowers are beginning to “pop” – the iris. The miniature guys are first to show their beauty and the intermediate are beginning to sprout their bloom stocks.

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NOT “just a dog”

by nebraskawheatie

Today marks a sad day for me and the rest of the Zeorian’s – the first anniversary of the death of the very BEST dog in the whole wide world and the 7th member of our family. I STILL look for you when I go outside to hang up clothes, or in the garden or just walking to the post office. I miss you like crazy, Jordan, and think about you all the time!

“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”  Dr. Seuss (thanks Matt!)

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Wheat Harvest Preps

by nebraskawheatie

Well, as I’ve mentioned in prior posts, our family seems to view the year by events rather than days on the calendar. The harvest convention is nearly a month ago and Easter is right around the corner. The weather has been stupendous and our little piece of the world is beginning to take on colors – green trees and grass…yellow/red/pink and purple flowers are in the mix throughout the yard. My very FAVORITE season!! I love driving through the countryside and watching the baby calves run, jump and play with each other. The winter world is waking up in full force this year – about a month early.

The past couple of days I’ve heard a noise that I haven’t heard since last fall…lawn mowers. Jim’s mowing our yard as we “speak”. USUALLY, we don’t even think about mowing until Jenna’s birthday (April 23). The last sign of spring that I am oh so anxiously awaiting is the distinct sound of the house wren. When I hear her shrill song (which sounds more like scolding than singing) I know spring has arrived!

Along with this kind of weather comes the beginnings of the wheat harvest preparations. Jim is done working his “real” job and is now spending time thinking about what needs to be done to the trucks and combine in preparation of the 2012 harvest season. Trucks will start showing up in the yard and it will become a “mini” farm/equipment dealership. We don’t farm and we don’t own a shed of our own so it’s a lot easier for Jim if his equipment is right outside the backdoor. Unfortunately, when it rains, there’s not much he can do and the day is spent doing other things. How I wish we would have just bought some land and built a shed 20 years ago. Life happens too fast!

Our “summer cottage on wheels” has been purchased and is in the process of being built. It should be coming off the line around April 10… hopefully. Somehow, I have a feeling we’ll still be biting our nails wondering when it’s going to be in the driveway so we can get it packed.  Am I anxious? YES! Harvest is always something our family looks forward to each year. We’re ready to go – but for now, the daily preparations and the beginnings of pre-harvest stress are about to begin. Stay tuned…

When Community Comes Together

by nebraskawheatie

Last night was THE social event of our area and was due to the love of one person by so many!

On November 19, 2011, Jim and I attended Marcy and Eric’s wedding. It was a beautiful evening and attended by many of their family and friends. Exactly two months to the day, Marcy found out she was about to begin a battle with stage 4 cancer. Tests revealed malignant masses in her colon and a spot on her liver.  Marcy will celebrate her 36th birthday on April 2. Through all that she’s been through, Marcy has remained positive and her outlook on life is simply amazing and something we could all learn from.  Marcy’s journey has been recorded through her Caringbridge.org website (marcyjamesonplautz) which allows the reader to keep up with her progress.

Last night, I was honored to be a part of an event that was organized by Mark and Candi Rathe  and several  of Marcy’s and Eric’s friends. The many hours they lovingly poured into this fundraiser paid off! The Weeping Water and surrounding communities came together to help support one of their own and I was blown away by the number of attendees! There were more members of our surrounding communities together in one place than I have ever experienced – EVER! (The pictures will tell the story) The food was amazing, the bands outstanding (and local), and the raffle, silent auction and live auction were eagerly participated by all. The result? Approximately $50,000 was donated to Marcy and Eric to help cover some of the huge medical expenses they’ll be staring at before Marcy WINS this battle! This example of small town living and community is THE BEST reason to live in the Midwest!

If you are a part of my community and weren’t able to participate in last night’s event or would simply like to help with Marcy’s expenses, please email me at jz45239@windstream.net   I’ll make sure you’re pointed in the right direction as to how to make it happen.  With that, I will leave you with a few pictures of the evening:

Some of the many donated desserts.

The Roger Roberts’ Three Piece Blue Grass band. LOVED them!!

 Hours of usage for a brand new New Holland tractor was auctioned during the live auction.

Selling raffle tickets.

The food lines.

The busy workers in the kitchen!

 

Jillian helping draw numbers for the raffle.

Taylor and Evan.

Dave and Dolly Crandall during the live auction.

 Nick & Taylor.

Callie, Jamie and Curt.

Brooklyn and her friend dancing the night away to the music of “The Legends” – the same band that played at Curt and Jamie’s party in October. Gee it’s nice having great local music!

Boredom produces old harvest picture gallery

by nebraskawheatie

gpa-gma-h-001Grandpa & Grandma Hancock (not sure of the date)

I finished getting my numbers together for the tax man. It was too early to go to bed, I didn’t want to clean my house (yet), and it was too early to pack for the US Custom Harvesters convention. So…now what? Hmmm, let’s go through this “old memory” drawer. The “old memory” drawer holds little keepsakes my Grandma gave me before she passed away. I found some loose old pictures and decided it would be fun to go through them. These were pictures she had saved in a wooden cigar box. When I started looking, it made the ‘ole tears start. The first few I saw were of Grandma as a young woman. She did so many things and went so many places! I am in awe of all she did. She was definitely not scared to go on her own. She was 19 in the following pictures. She took a train by herself to California to stay with her Uncle in San Diego. While there, she visited Tijuana, Old Mexico. This was in 1938

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gma4-001 Now I know where my love for fishing came from.

 Then I started seeing old harvest pictures and decided I needed to share.

harvest-001It was in this combine and in the corn field that I remember standing in the cab with Grandpa and “helping”. I was little enough I would take a nap on the ledge behind the seat.

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harvest5-001Notice who’s “helping” on the header? Yep, that’s me. 🙂

harvest6-001And this very skinny young man is the guy I later married.

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harvest13-001Me and Grandma posing for a newspaper article while in Lodgepole, NE. She looks a whole lot more excited about doing it than I do!

harvest8-001In 1989, Jamie, Jenna and I visited the harvesters in Lodgepole, NE. Jamie would have been 3 and Jenna 16 mos.

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harvest11-001Our first year on the road as Zeorian Harvesting & Trucking. 1990 – Lodgepole, NE

harvest12-001Jenna helping her Daddy.

Another yearly event is about to come and go. The US Custom Harvesters convention is next week. As I’ve said before, our family counts down events ’til harvest rather than months and days. So, we’re nearly through them all. After we’ve celebrated Jenna’s birthday, the next thing to do will be pack the trailer to get ready to head south. When the convention is here, harvest is right around the corner! Are you ready to follow the adventure?

Being a mom to many at #D2S2012

by nebraskawheatie

“Our children will also serve him. Future generations will hear about the wonders of the Lord. His righteous acts will be told to those not yet born.   They will hear about everything he has done.” (Psalm 22:30, 31 NLT)

This was the fifth year I’ve been to the Dare2Share event in Lincoln, NE.  The first year I went, Cindy and I took approximately ten kids. The year before, she only took three. This year…we took nearly 30 kids and 6 adult sponsors. OUTSTANDING! Especially if you knew how small our church is. However, the kids of the community are HUNGRY for what Greg Stier and the people of Dare2Share are offering them – the GOSPEL. It’s pretty straight forward and blunt but it’s the TRUTH spoken with a great amount of passion and love for the next generation.

I’ve seen it before in years past…the ones who have never participated in the event will hold back and take it all in with some hesitation and quite a bit of intimidation. By the time Saturday night rolls around, these same kids are on fire! They are on fire for the Lord and are ready to take Him into their world. Don’t you dare tell them they CAN’T do something! It does my heart good to see them pumped and ready to take THE cause (to multiply disciples globally) to their mission field – their schools. According to what I learned from Greg, Scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have found that when just 10 percent of the population holds an unshakeable belief, their belief will always be adopted by the majority of society. – Science Daily, July 26, 2011.  The auditorium held 5,000+ jr. and sr. high students ready to fight the good fight. These kids come from all parts of the midwest and from different churches to worship the ONE true God. They learned it’s not about a religion…it’s about a relationship. Know what’s interesting? The kids that went this year represents 10% of the number of kids in our jr./sr. high school. God is good!

Can I just say…these kids got it! Thank you, Greg Stier, and all the others that make this event work.  They teach and equip our children with the tools they need to fight as they head into a world waiting to gobble them up! My one prayer for all the kids who attended would be they could remain on that mountain top long enough to make the difference in their world.  “God will gain a maximum of armies by using NOBODYS.” Greg Stier

When the end came on Saturday night, I was the one who was blessed! It’s one thing to be a youth leader and talk and talk and talk. It’s another when you get to witness something so powerful and so good. I was able to see the fire that was lit in each of those kids in our group. I would be willing to bet they will take what they learned and will share it with SOMEONE in their school this week. They’ll surely suffer rejection and be made fun of, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:11-12  My prayer for them is they do not quit…not now…not ever!

I feel like such a proud mamma!

our “Little House on the Prairie” evening

by nebraskawheatie

I wrote this little diddy back in 2012 (February 5 to be exact). Its been nearly three years ago already but I remember the night as if it were tonight. It’s times like this that you aren’t expecting but when they happen, it turns into one of those memories that just never go away. The girls and I had a wonderful evening due to the heavy snowfall! I think we all three slept in our bed to keep warm. Jim was doing snow removal. Sometimes…it’s the little things that just mean the most! And, to top it off, I’m certain we had a snow day the next day rather than school!

Lost power again about 5:30 last night. What do you do then? Well, start out with finding as many blankets as you can. Next, was the kerosene lamps. From there, whatever you can find to do by the light of the lamps:

Made soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for supper.

The camera flash gave us a few seconds of light 🙂

Callie reading “The Hunger Games” to me…just enough to get me hooked!

Our wintery wonderland!

P.S. We got our electricity back about 3:00 a.m. Heard some places around here will be without any power for up to 3 days. Glad it’s not us!

Winter…it found us.

by nebraskawheatie

Hello from very snowy Nebraska!

Almost exactly one month ago today, I wrote about how Eastern Nebraska has lucked out with the winter cold and snow. I had a feeling it was too good to be true.  For the past several days, the weatherman has been warning us of the impending snow storm coming from Colorado headed right for Eastern Nebraska before continuing its trek Eastward. My Grandpa always said that when we experience a strong wind from the East we should be watching for a bad storm. He was certainly right! The wind blew like crazy yesterday – straight out of the East. Branches that had been protected from previous winds found their way to the ground. Because I knew the storm was headed our way, I took a picture from the kitchen window to show you what it looked like prior to the storm. I couldn’t take a picture from the exact spot this morning because the window was wet from the snow.

We woke up to 12+ inches of snow. More than we’ve had all winter.  And no power.  The house was a little on the chilly side! Good thing the temperature outside wasn’t  below zero. What do you do when there’s no way to make coffee? Improvise. We’re lucky enough to have gas appliances in this old house so I heated some water for hot chocolate and instant coffee.

Callie’s enjoying her cup of hot chocolate.

Right after this picture was taken, the power came back on – for a short period of time. Then, it went back off again. Rather than sitting in here trying to stay warm, Callie and I went outside and shoveled for a while. The snow is wet and heavy – perfect for a snowman!