May Recap + What I’m Looking Forward to in June

These past 4 weeks have flown by! Here’s a recap of the month of May, plus a peek ahead at June!

May Recap:

Planting season is in full swing! Basically, scheduling anything on the calendar in May or June is usually hard for a farming family, haha. Because you never know when the weather will be good and you’ll have to be in the field!! By the time this blog post goes live, we’ll have a good amount of our soybeans planted. I heard on the radio the other day that Minnesota’s soybeans are about 83% planted. The weather always plays a big role in farming, obviously, and it’s been a bit tricky to get in the field this spring — not only because Bjorn had a lot of army training recently, but also because of rain!

^^ The field we’re farming this year is on the left in this picture. ^^

Bjorn did a lot of planting last weekend in the 100-degree heat index. It was such a hot weekend. I’m so, so proud of him. It takes a special kind of strength and energy to teach all day long, then hop in a tractor and farm the rest of the evening. And all weekend. (He’s even had a couple mornings where he got up before 5 am to farm a couple hours before the school day started!) During busy farming seasons, Sophie and I have the job of being on call for anyone who needs rides (farming involves a lot more shuffling around of equipment than you’d think – there’s so much logistics involved!), and providing meals and drinks! So, while we’ve definitely had a more low-key time than Bjorn, we’re still busy in the sense that we have to be ready to drop everything, hop in the car, and get out to Bjorn when he calls! 🙂 Farming certainly is a family endeavor, and there are difficulties but still a kind of beauty in that.

^^ Remember when we thought Minnesota’s winter would never end? Haha! ^^

Bjorn had more army commitments this month. He had regular army drill the first weekend of May, but then also had an additional 2 weekends of army commitments! So… every weekend of May except Memorial Day weekend, haha. That’s partly why we hadn’t gotten all of our beans planted yet! I don’t think many people understand that the Army Reserve is not just a one-weekend-a-month commitment! Especially if you’re an officer or a commander like Bjorn is. The army is a huge part of our life, even though we’re not active duty or living on base. Now that Bjorn is the commander of his unit, he has additional responsibilities, too, including extra meetings, and extra trainings and travel. I should note that Bjorn truly loves EVERYTHING that he’s involved in! He never complains about anything. He doesn’t complain about army, about teaching, or about farming (or being mayor). I just wanted to emphasize that being in the Army Reserve is not a tiny thing! It sure keeps us busy! This school year especially. But there is some ebb and flow in these commitments. This school year, it just felt like a lot came all at once, especially in May!

My brother graduated from college! Tyler graduated with a B.S. in Computer Science. We’re so proud of him! And he even had a job lined up before graduating – woo hoo! Bjorn had army that weekend, but Sophie and I were able to attend the ceremony. It was an evening ceremony that went till almost 10 pm, but Sophie did an awesome job staying up past her bedtime! I’m stealing a couple of my dad’s photos here. 🙂 Sophie kept trying to grab Tyler’s diploma during photos!

My sister flew up from Texas for the graduation, too! We 3 “kids” plus Sophie had a fun time together that weekend – outings to area restaurants and walking around the mall, since it was a bit too chilly outside!

Bjorn and I got to go on a fancy date!! We’ve kind of been on a break from date nights lately, with all that’s been going on. Additionally, Sophie has recently been extra aware of when Bjorn and I are out of the room, causing some tears. So, even though we went on some dates back when Sophie was quite little, we haven’t been on a date night in a while these past few months! But on a Saturday evening this month, we made it happen! (And Sophie did an awesome job hanging out with my mom that evening!)

For our anniversary at the end of March, my parents had given us a gift certificate to a really nice restaurant in downtown St. Paul! We were so thrilled that we finally had the chance to use it! Bjorn got done with army early enough one Saturday, and I had called to make a 5:00 reservation (the other choice was a 7:45 pm supper, no thanks!). The restaurant is called W.A. Frost and it is so, so classy! It had a dimly lit, historic mansion feel to it – right up our alley! We got appetizers, an entire cheese course, entrees, and dessert. It was special time together, and it solidified in us that one of our favorite types of dates to go on is supper at a fancy restaurant!

I finally combated my shoe organizing woes. I’ve hated the way I stored our shoes for a long, long time! I just hadn’t come up with a great solution yet. But one day, I found our Target gift cards and got an idea – I wanted to get one of those cube organizers! I ordered a white Threshold brand organizer from Target and the 4 gray fabric baskets from Amazon. The organizer was quite easy to assemble – I did it during Sophie’s afternoon nap one day – and the baskets look so gorgeous in it! The best part? I was able to fit Bjorn’s essential shoes in the right two bins, and my essential shoes in the left bins. I moved a mirror we had above the piano to sit on the organizer, added a plant, and voila! I’m so pleased with it. It’s visible from a lot of angles downstairs in our place, and every time I see it, it brightens my day. The living room area just looks so much more clean and put together.

I’m wrapping up a couple of fun collaborations! One of my favorite parts of blogging is the chance to work with a variety of different brands! This has been a neat way to discover companies I didn’t know about, but then I fall in love with them, too! As always, I only share brands with you that I actually like. I don’t sell out just to get money or products. I choose to go the honest or more ethical route, even though it means saying no to brands quite a bit. This month, I’ve really enjoyed the collaborations I’ve had – it’s always fun to wrap them up successfully! Recently, I’ve been introduced to Smile Brilliant for awesome at-home teeth whitening, and Sleepgram pillows (they are so luxurious and comfortable!). And I’ve got a couple more collaborations coming up in the next month or so, as well. It’s exciting for me to share these brands with you!

PS – you can still enter the Smile Brilliant giveaway HERE!! I can’t wait for one of you to win!

I’ve started to make some homemade baby food. My friend Jordan recommended this book to me (aff. link) and I love it! I’ve already done one of the 3 hour-long food making sessions. I can’t wait for Sophie to try all of these yummy, nutritious foods!

Sophie got a baby pool! It was $20 on Amazon, and she loves it. This is the one we got! I love that it has a shade roof built in. Bjorn and I sat with her as she played in it the other night. It was so sweet, and it really made me look forward to summer evenings!

^^ Sophie and Mama, Mother’s Day 2018 ^^

I celebrated my first Mother’s Day. Well, we technically celebrated last year, too, when I was expecting Sophie – but this year was extra special. It was such a gift to get to cuddle my baby girl this year!

My leave of absence has been extended. I’ll be home with Sophie again next school year. I requested an additional year of childcare leave to be at home with Sophie, and the school board approved that request at their meeting this month. I’m so grateful for the gift of staying home with her. As these months with Sophie fly by at a faster and faster pace, I’m freshly reminded of the fact that I can’t ever get this time back. I’m glad that it’s something we can do financially, and that Bjorn and I both feel the same way about this decision. We’ll see what the future holds…but for now, I’m soaking up being a stay-at-home mom with our little girl!

BSF ended for the school year…and I’m signed up for next year! I’ve mentioned this before, but I really loved participating in Bible Study Fellowship this spring. I was part of a pilot group for their new virtual discussion groups, and it worked out so well! I love the fact that I can still be in a Bible study with other women, even if the nearest BSF class is over an hour away. I can’t wait for next year! This year’s topic was the book of Romans; next year’s is called People of the Promised Land, and we’ll explore more of the Old Testament next year. I feel I’m not as knowledgeable when it comes to the Old Testament, so I’m looking forward to expanding my understanding a bit!

Our nearby county park opened! I’ve been looking forward to taking Sophie ever since I was expecting her, but the county park near us didn’t open until the first week of May. The first day it was open for the season, I took Sophie there and we enjoyed the sunshine and the wind rustling in the trees. I’m excited to take her back there a few more times this summer! It’s a beautiful hidden gem in this rural landscape of farm fields! In case you thought it was 100% flat fields around here. 😉

We got our “porch swing” set up! We don’t actually have a front porch, but we do have a great swing that Bjorn bought for me a couple summers ago. We’ve set it up in the backyard in the past, but we’ve found we like it in the front yard more! It really lends itself to a front porch feel. 🙂 Sophie likes it, too!

I like to sit out there and rock with Sophie a couple times a day if the weather’s nice.

Our local drive-in diner is open for the season! I’ve already eaten there at least a few times! They make awesome burgers and fries, and you just have to get a big frosty mug of root beer each time! I love places like these. They make the summer season even more special.

We bought our first piece of farming equipment! This was so exciting! We bought a drill for planting soybeans, and got an amazing deal on it. Bjorn’s already been using it to plant our beans this year.

Oh! And I just have to add this: we were so excited when we found our last name on Coke bottles!!! I have to document it here. 🙂 Bjorn even found his name! (His first name is actually Christian, by the way, in case you’re confused, haha.) It was so fun to finally find our names! And then we desperately searched the other bottles for the names “Hannah” or “Sophie,” but no luck.

What I’m Looking Forward To In June:

• Summer! It just feels like once you hit June, summer is stretched out before you with all of its adventures ahead! This is when I especially start to look at my summer bucket list and get extra excited about it!

• Bjorn’s sister Signe is graduating! Unfortunately, with planting season, we aren’t able to attend her graduation (which is out of town), but we’re cheering her on from here!
• A small Bible study at an area church. I don’t think I know anyone in this Bible study yet, but I’m still excited to do some studying of the Bible with other women over the summer.
• Anticipation and celebration for Bjorn’s sister Amy, who is expecting her first little one in August! Sophie’s going to have her first ever cousin so soon!!
• Our first little family “vacation!” Bjorn has some army training this month, and Sophie and I get to come along. The road trip out and back is always a fun vacation to enjoy together. I’m really looking forward to it!

How was your month of May? Did it just fly by for you, too? What are you looking forward to in the month of June?