Tuesday, November 30, 2010

on marriage

Great thoughts from our friend and financial pastor, Amie Streater.

P.S. Buy her book!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

5 Questions for...MY Friday. :)

1. What's the last thing you cooked?

2. What color is the thing closest to your left hand (other than the computer)?

3. What is your favorite Christmas Carol?

4. How many times have you watched the Thanksgiving Charlie Brown movie?

5. Favorite Thanksgiving dish?


Not much time for blogging lately. Life has been crazy, and full of details that aren't good for posting in blogs. However, God is faithful, my children are healthy, my husband is terrific, and I can't wait for rest and time with our family this holiday season. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! God bless!

Friday, November 12, 2010

Wisdom for mothers from 1905

This made me smile today. Funny how many things we used to know, but have to rediscover with every generation. Maybe we should start passing on these types of wisdom?

5 Questions for Friday

1. Did your family have any Thanksgiving traditions when you were growing up?

2. What's your favorite Disney movie?

3. What's the last article of clothing you bought? Was it a good purchase?

4. Favorite Christmas cookie?

5. Have you ever gotten a speeding ticket? If yes, please tell the story. :)

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

In Hiding

I have a peculiar habit when I get overwhelmed - I go into hiding.

I'm by no means unhappy right now. We are enjoying our new house, the kids are doing well, things are looking up. But I feel like I have so much to do that it's hard for me to play or even talk much. The curse of being "Martha" at heart? I suppose. Though I also think there are seasons for this. Stabilizing. Creating routine and structure. Accomplishing things around the house. Forming family culture without outside influences.

Of course, if we did this long-term, it wouldn't be healthy. And it won't last forever. For the time being, I'm finding myself looking forward to doing laundry and putting it away clean. To hanging pictures and deciding where to store DVDs. To reading Little House on the Prairie and memorizing Bible verses for Wednesday nights at church. To bringing in yet more boxes from the garage and rediscovering things we haven't seen in a few months.

Life is quiet. I'm grateful.

Friday, November 5, 2010

5 Questions for Friday

1. Favorite music to drive to?

2. Have you ever driven your dream car?

3. What's your Starbucks drink?

4. What's the song in your head?

5. Where did you meet your best friend?

Monday, November 1, 2010

Classes at my house

Starting this month, I'm going to be hosting classes at my house, about how to go Gluten Free (gluten free 101) and about how to make water kefir sodas. Because you, my friends, make the time to regularly read my ramblings, I figured you might be interested in my heart behind this. In no particular order...

Reason #1 - These are things I get asked about a lot. Like, several times a week most of the time. As much as I would like to (and as much as I've tried), I simply cannot walk people through these subjects individually and do it well. So if you've contacted me about these types of things and received a short answer that was incomplete, that's why. :) I'm not holding out on you, but aside from replying with a form letter, I honestly am afraid to broach the subject because of how much there is to communicate about them. They are HUGE subjects, that can take months and years to learn about. (And for me, they have. I have put hours and weeks and months into learning these things)

Reason #2 - Teaching these things in a physical class, where you can touch, see, hear, taste and smell works infinitely better than just reading an email. I can let you smell kefir that's gone too long, so when that happens to you, you know exactly what's wrong with it and how to fix it. Since I can't (usually) come personally smell your kefir, I want you to know what it should smell like. :)

Reason #3 - I believe in having people in my home, and in encouraging each other emotionally and spiritually, as well as physically in the area of health. Women need each other. We need to live in healthy community. I think sometimes out of fear, we don't spend enough time in each other's homes. And Facebook is not a substitute for this genuine community. I'm interested in the lives of the people who would seek out this information. I want to teach them what I know and encourage them to pursue answers for their own health.

Reason #4 - If I can, I want to use the hours of research I've done and the circumstances our family has experienced, to help pay off debt and make life more comfortable for our family. We are very blessed, but we also have massive student loans that we need to pay off in...oh...less than 30 years. Charging a little for the classes also ensures people will show up. In this age of too many FB invites, even requests for RSVP'ing aren't taken very seriously. I will put time and energy into these classes and make them worth your time and money, but I don't want to waste that energy.

My disclaimer is that I'm not a health professional of any kind. I have no certifications. I am a teacher though, and the things I've learned have come through my own research and experience for my own family. Each person needs to take responsibility for their own health and not rely on any individual for their health answers - doctor or otherwise. All I can do is tell you what I know and what has worked for us. It's up to you to decide if it will work for your circumstances.

So, with that said, works in progress:

Gluten Free Classes
Water Kefir Classes
Classes at Sara's on FB