I Met My Younger Self for Coffee

 What is one thing you'd tell your younger self?

Easy Strawberry Shortcake

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3 Things I've Learned This Harvest

It is the first of November and this is when I always talk about Comments for a Cause.  Last month I shared about the organization Farm Rescue, which provides labor and equipment to farmers in need.  And since my life has revolved around harvesting our own corn and soybeans this last month, I've decided to continue supporting Farm Rescue again this month by donating $0.50 for every comment made in November on my blog, along with October's 43 comments.

We hopefully, knock on wood, have just a couple more weeks left of harvest and then hope to finish all of our field work by Thanksgiving.  But over the last month, I learned a few things this year:

#1 Always Take Care of Yourself

You know the saying when you're on an airplane that "in the event of an emergency, please put on your oxygen mask before assisting others"?  Well, the same goes for the hustle and bustle and excitement of harvest.

A couple weeks ago I started to not feel well while out in the field doing what I love, driving tractor.  But I carried on, taking breaks whenever I was ahead of the combine.  Well, I ended up pushing myself too much and ended up needing to get help from my doctor because my body couldn't catch up.  Rather than being out for just a couple days for the flu, I ended up being out of the field for a week.

Sometimes being a Mom I feel like I can, or that I should, be doing everything, and as a Farmer, there is a crunch time during harvest where I don't want to slow down.  Well, I learned the hard way that I can't do it all, and this is the first big take away I'll remember from this harvest.

#2 Instagram Stories Are So Much Fun!

So I never got into Snapchat because I never really understood it.  But this fall I have fallen in love with Instagram Stories.  Between sharing little videos, or fun photos with the kids, or happenings out in the field, I've really enjoyed making my own stories and checking out other people's stories.  Instagram Stories have been great to engage with my followers and I love the authenticity of the Stories feature.  If you don't follow me on Instagram yet be sure to follow me and check out my Stories (like the one from earlier today posted above).  You can find me at plaggeval.

#3 The Tractor is the Best Place to be in the Fall

Simply put, there is no place I'd rather spend my days in the fall, then behind the wheel of a tractor, helping bring in our corn and soybean harvest.  Driving a tractor has been something I just simply have loved since I first learned when I was 10 years old.  Maybe it is the cool factor of driving a big piece of equipment, or the inclusion aspect of being a part of my family's harvest crew, or the excitement of bringing in the "fruits of labor" from the past year.  Whatever the reason, out in the field is my favorite place to be.  I've had a great time over the last month helping with the harvest and look forward to our last couple of weeks.

What questions do you have about my family's corn and soybean harvest?  Remember to Comment for a Cause and help out Farm Rescue, who is helping farmers in need harvest during this time of year.

Comments for a Cause - Love Your Melon

Happy February 1st and Happy New Comments for a Cause Day!  Before I share February's new cause, let me share about January's numbers.  In January I had 66 comments, creating a $33 donation to Cupid's Undie Run Mason City. Thank you to everyone that commented and I'll be sure to share about the February 13th race later this month!


In the month of February, I am excited to be donating $0.50 for every comment made on my blog to Love Your Melon.

I've been inspired with Comments for a Cause organizations and causes from a number of places - family, friends, lemonade stands, and now social media.  You know, I'm kind of surprised I haven't been influenced by social media more in the past, but this month's cause all came from an Instagram post from the Iowa Nice Guy - Scot Siepker, wearing a stocking cap.  Now it isn't unusual to see people take selfies wearing stocking caps, especially Iowans during the winter, but this stocking cap was something special.  It was a Love Your Melon stocking cap.

Love You Melon was founded in an entrepreneurship class in the Fall of 2012 at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota by two friends and classmates, Zach and Brian.  There mission has stayed true since the start and it is to "improve the lives of children battling cancer."  Their simple solution to this was and is to put a hat on every child battling cancer in America.

Founder Zach said, "We founded the organization while we were sophomores in college.  We wanted to help those in need.  The hats that we made were popular enough to sell out the first weekend.  On December 18th, 2012, we got to go to our first hospital donation event and it was then that we knew how cool this idea was.  Seeing the smiles on the kids faces that day was incredible so we kept making the hats."

After taking the campaign on a couple nationwide tours, the program has now worked to establish a network of college students of over 7,500 attending over 500 different schools across the nation.  These students are ambassadors who sell and donate hats.  The original program of "buying a hat, giving a hat" has promised more than 45,000 hats to children battling cancer in the United States.  These hats are donated in person at hospitals nationally by the college ambassadors who dress up as superheroes.

Now the program is partnering with the Pinky Swear Foundation and the CureSearch for Children's Cancer.  The new program model has 50% of the net proceeds of every Love Your Melon product sold donated to these two organizations.  This new program will continue to give hats to all kids battling cancer, as well as to fund research to beat childhood cancer.

So help me put a hat on a child cancer patient by commenting all month long.  You can personally check out the Love Your Melon merchandise shop and make a donation by modeling a new hat this winter.  Remember to Comment for a Cause!