A Quiet Simple Life

Life around our home

May 19, 2013

Now that spring has finally made her appearance, we’ve been busy enjoying all that it entails. Yesterday we took our annual trip to the next small town over to buy our garden plants. We’ve found a little place owned by an octogenarian lady where we can get great plants at a wonderful price. Her “nursery” is full of old, dilapidated buildings, but there is something really charming and small-townish about it. We’re glad to give our business to her.

We moved our two square foot gardens out of the yard and up onto the huge lower deck. (We have two decks and are not deck people at all.) We made them several years ago with stands so we can stand next to them and use them. I can now look out my kitchen window and see little lettuce and spinach plants growing along with cucumbers, green beans, red peppers, yellow peppers, zucchini, rosemary, thyme, sage, chives, and other things that escape me at the moment.

And speaking of life around our home… We just celebrated our second anniversary of living in Cute Little Town! Amazing to think we have been here two years already. We still love our home and Cute Little Town.

We also celebrated our sixth annual It’s A Girl Day. Can you believe Caroline will be seven in a few months?

And David had his own milestone birthday. We had an open house for close family a few weeks ago to celebrate the Big 50.

Do you remember my goals for 2013? I’m still working on them although in ways I hadn’t anticipated. (Isn’t that like God?) One of my goals was to lose a size and a half this year. I’m happy to report that I’ve lost about fifteen pounds in the past six weeks or so. I really can’t take credit for it though. I’ve done no exercise at all. It is all the result of drastically changing my eating habits due to the suspicion I have silent reflux (see comments).

So that has meant the elimination of carbonated beverages, coffee, peppermint, chocolate, and tomato-based products since those were the things I suspected were the biggest triggers for me. I haven’t completely eliminated coffee, but I’ve gone from 3-4 cups a day to a third of a cup in the morning (mainly to keep the caffeine withdrawal at bay). I’ve also drastically reduced my dairy and gluten but still eat them every day. The only elimination that has been truly hard has been the tomato-based products. It is kind of ironic because I don’t even like fresh tomatoes. Cannot stand them, in fact. But I eat so many products with tomatoes in them – pizza, sloppy joes, chili, Italian, etc. This has been by far the most disruptive part. The rest of the items I’ve had to give up aren’t that good for me anyway so I know it is a good thing. Thankfully I did find a recipe for low-acid tomato sauce which I made up last weekend. I was then able to make homemade pizza which tasted so good after not having pizza for a few weeks. (I love pizza!) I froze a bunch of the tomato sauce and will start cooking with it soon.

So we have been eating drastically different the past month and a half. Almost no eating out, carrying in, or driving through. With the exception of pizza and Starbucks, we didn’t do it much anyway, but there is something about knowing you really can’t easily do those things that makes it harder. I’ve been spending more time cooking and looking for recipes these recent weeks. I did discover Vanilla Bean Frappacinos at Starbucks and I’ve had a few of those. But since they don’t have coffee they just aren’t the same. It did satisfy the craving for something frozen and slushy, but they aren’t wonderful enough to be a great temptation. I took a sip of David’s Cinnamon Dolce Frappachino this weekend and it tasted awful to me. I think I’ve finally broken my Starbucks habit and I’m glad of it, truth be told.

So if anyone reading this really wants to lose weight… There you go. I would just about guarantee if you give up those items and cut way back on the others you will lose weight. In reading about silent reflux online I’ve learned that most people with it lose 20-30 pounds simply through the necessary diet changes. I have a diagnostic procedure with a specialist coming up soon and then I should have a definitive answer. Even if he says I don’t have it, I plan to continue with the diet changes.

I’ve been spending a lot of my free time working on product development for my TPT store and learning blog. It’s a lot of fun and I only wish I had more time to work on it every day.

We’ll be finishing up our school year soon. I can’t even wrap my brain around planning for next year yet, but that is just around the corner. I’m not sure if we’ll continue being semi-structured unschoolers or if we will adopt a specific curriculum. I have a post about that in the works.

I added a widget in my sidebar with quick links to all the places I’m doing “stuff” online. Feel free to stop by any of them anytime. I do share a lot of links in the other places so if you like my links, you should check them out. I accept almost all Facebook friend requests so feel free to send me an invite. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know more about some of you the past several weeks since I went on Facebook. It’s fun to get to know the people behind the comments!

Enjoy your Sunday!

Posted in Home Life | Leave a comment

Animal School or How Students Fail to Fit into School Environments

May 15, 2013

Apparently this has been around a long time, but today was the first time I’ve seen it. What do you think?

(Feel free to also stop by my Facebook page, my Learning site, and my Facebook learning page that I just launched yesterday. And my women in the church theology blog. Or my Pinterest boards. Or my TPT store. I have lots of fun irons in the fire right now!)

Posted in Education and Learning, Thinking Hard | 4 Comments

We know not what we should pray for (Rom. 8:26) – Streams in the Desert

May 14, 2013

“We know not what we should pray for as we ought” (Rom. 8:26).

Much that perplexes us in our Christian experience is but the answer to our prayers. We pray for patience, and our Father sends those who tax us to the utmost; for “tribulation worketh patience.”

We pray for submission, and God sends sufferings; for “we learn obedience by the things we suffer.”

We pray for unselfishness, and God gives us opportunities to sacrifice ourselves by thinking on the things of others, and by laying down our lives for the brethren.

We pray for strength and humility, and some messenger of Satan torments us until we lie in the dust crying for its removal.

We pray, “Lord, increase our faith,” and money takes wings; or the children are alarmingly ill; or a servant comes who is careless, extravagant, untidy or slow, or some hitherto unknown trial calls for an increase of faith along a line where we have not needed to exercise much faith before.

We pray for the Lamb-life, and are given a portion of lowly service, or we are injured and must seek no redress; for “he was led as a lamb to the slaughter and opened not his mouth.”

We pray for gentleness, and there comes a perfect storm of temptation to harshness and irritability.

We pray for quietness, and every nerve is strung to the utmost tension, so that looking to Him we may learn that when He giveth quietness, no one can make trouble.

We pray for love, and God sends peculiar suffering and puts us with apparently unlovely people, and lets them say things which rasp the nerves and lacerate the heart; for love suffereth long and is kind, love is not impolite, love is not provoked. LOVE BEARETH ALL THINGS, believeth, hopeth and endureth, love never faileth. We pray for likeness to Jesus, and the answer is, “I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.” “Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong?” “Are ye able?”

The way to peace and victory is to accept every circumstance, every trial, straight from the hand of a loving Father; and to live up in the heavenly places, above the clouds, in the very presence of the Throne, and to look down from the Glory upon our environment as lovingly and divinely appointed. –Selected

I prayed for strength, and then I lost awhile
All sense of nearness, human and divine;
The love I leaned on failed and pierced my heart,
The hands I clung to loosed themselves from mine;
But while I swayed, weak, trembling, and alone,
The everlasting arms upheld my own.

I prayed for light; the sun went down in clouds,
The moon was darkened by a misty doubt,
The stars of heaven were dimmed by earthly fears,
And all my little candle flames burned out;
But while I sat in shadow, wrapped in night,
The face of Christ made all the darkness bright.

I prayed for peace, and dreamed of restful ease,
A slumber drugged from pain, a hushed repose;
Above my head the skies were black with storm,
And fiercer grew the onslaught of my foes;
But while the battle raged, and wild winds blew,
I heard His voice and Perfect peace I knew.

I thank Thee, Lord, Thou wert too wise to heed
My feeble prayers, and answer as I sought,
Since these rich gifts Thy bounty has bestowed
Have brought me more than all I asked or thought;
Giver of good, so answer each request
With Thine own giving, better than my best.
–Annie Johnson Flint

Posted in Streams in the Desert, Walking Faithfully | 2 Comments

Free Kindle ebooks for May 9, 2013

May 9, 2013

Looking for some good (and inexpensive!) summertime reading? Want to learn something new? Here’s a bunch of ebooks that are free today on Amazon. If you don’t have a Kindle, you can download a free app and read them on your computer (like me!) (One of these days I WILL get a Kindle!)

The Calling of Emily Evans

Tea With Emma

13 Chicken Coop Plans and Designs – Small and Large Coops – Portable Chicken Coops

A Beginners Guide to Keeping Backyard Chickens – Breeds Guide, Chicken Tractors & Coops, Hatching & Raising Chicks Plus More…

Let’s Talk About Feeling Angry

Nifty Fifty State Facts for Fun! Book 2

Posted in Books, Free Kindle Books | Leave a comment

“Motherhood: Being Grounded in Christ” Bible Study from IVP

May 9, 2013

When I saw Motherhood: Being Grounded in Christ in the IVP catalog I knew I had to request it. I was thrilled to see a Bible study about motherhood that didn’t look like it was going to revolve around Titus 2, Proverbs 31 and 1 Timothy 2. I am happy to say that none of the lessons feature those passages.

Why in the world would I be thrilled with that? Because who we are as Christian women in general and mothers specifically is so much more than a few difficult to interpret passages. We are above all else in Christ. Our identity is based in Christ, not being women or being mothers. When being women and/or mothers is reduced to a couple of passages in the Bible, we are missing out on so much of what Christ offers us!

The Bible study guide has the following lessons.

The Secure Mother: Finding Our Identity in Christ (Ephesians 1:3-14)
The Healing Mother: Acknowledging Our Own Issues (Mark 5:12-43)
The Trusting Mother: Depending on God (Matthew 6:25-34)
The Wonder-Filled Mother: Gaining Perspective (Psalm 139:1-18)
The Growing Mother: Nurturing Ourselves (Romans 12:1-8)
The Free Mother: Letting Go of Expectations (Psalm 131)
The Humble Mother: Walking in Grace (Luke 18:9-14)
The Concerned Mother: Finding Community (Colossians 3:1-17)
The Influencing Mother: Leaving a Legacy (1 Thessalonians 2:1-12)
The Joyful Mother: Living in Gratitude (Philippians 4:4-9)

I am only just starting it myself, but I didn’t want to wait until I had finished the Bible study before getting the word out. If you cannot stomach one more Bible study on the standard “women’s passages,” please check it out. If you are looking for a fresh perspective on motherhood, please check it out. And if you are going to be leading a Bible study in the fall or even just participating, check it out as a potential book for your group!

I received this book for free from IVP in return for my review. All opinions and content are my own.

Posted in Bible Study, Christ-Centered Living, Christian Issues, Thinking Hard: Motherhood | Leave a comment

Links for a Friday evening

May 3, 2013

Here’s some interesting reading for your weekend. I hope you find something you enjoy!

A Rendezvous with Death: Blanche Debar Booth, Enid, and the Mystery Surrounding John Wilkes Booth’s Death from Wade Burleson

When You’re Spiritually Numb from Encouraging Words

17 Parenting Lessons From ‘Downton Abbey’ from Huffington Post

Here’s a blog for all you fellow Anglophiles: Laurence Barber’s Wiltshire

Existential depression in gifted individuals from SENG Gifted

Inverary Castle, ancestral home of the Duke of Argyll, Chief of the Clan Campbell

4 Sex Lies That College Students Believe from Faith on Campus

5 Reasons Why the ‘Sex Before Marriage’ Conversation Is Such A Big Deal from Faith on Campus

A Visceral, Overwhelming Empathy from Voices for Vaccines

Posted in Links | 5 Comments

New links on my INFJ page

May 1, 2013

I’ve updated my INFJ page for the INFJs who read here. Here are the links I’ve added with a few pull quotes that make me chuckle because they are so dead on. Which ones jump out at you?

Top 10 Things Every INFJ Wants You to Know

Prolonged solitude kills us

While some introverts can be all by themselves for every second of the day and feel nothing but contentment, an INFJ needs to be around people. Though we still need time in solitude in order to recharge ourselves, too much time alone can leave us feeling drained, lonely and depressed. INFJs thrive on the emotions of others. We live for bettering others to better ourselves. We cannot do this if we are always by ourselves.

Our label means a lot to us

While every person can be pinpointed as a specific Myers-Briggs Personality Type, INFJs tend to cling to our label as soon as we discover it. As we are the rarest personality type, making up an approximate 2% of the population, we spend most of our lives feeling lost and misunderstood. Once we learn that we are not alone and that there is an explanation as to why we have always felt different, we feel overjoyed and almost “normal.”

Even if the description of an INFJ does not fit us 100%, it still usually offers us a lot of information for which we have spent the majority of our lives searching. Those four little letters can be life-changing to an INFJ.

Our intuition is real

INFJs are known for being the most intuitive personality type. We “just know” a lot of information that we can never fully explain. Many sensing types and a few intuitive types cannot fully grasp our level of intuition and easily discredit our knowledge. Without any explanation as to why, we can feel the feelings of everyone around us as deeply as though they were our own.

As An Anonymous INFJ states: “In my experience, the most misunderstood part of an INFJ is how we feel everything those around us feel. We do not sympathize. We do not empathize. We literally feel exactly what you feel. Even if you are trying to hide it or don’t express your feelings, somehow we still know.”

An aside related to this… I have had to start leaving my Bible study during the prayer request time. Sometimes I make it through the sharing of the requests and sometimes not. But I never make it through the sharing and praying. I find myself overwhelmed by the emotions of all the requests being shared. I totally get what An Anonymous INFJ is saying here. Sometimes I feel like Deanna Troi from Star Trek – The Next Generation.

Everything or Nothing: An Ode to the INFJ

Probably because we are so interested in people and concerned with the state of the world, we seek connection and interaction with others, unlike many other introverted types. We love learning about people, we love figuring them out.

I can’t tell you how many times people I barely know have chosen to share their secrets with me. Speak truths they have never spoken. I don’t know what it is that I do, but there is something about me that invites confidences.

Yes, I hide in the bathroom at networking events. Yes, I’ve taken off early from parties without saying goodbye to anyone.

“Was that really me?” – How Stress Brings Out the INFJ’s Hidden Personality

INFJ Type Profile

INFJ Careers, Jobs and Majors

How to Love Your INFJ?

INFJ: A Potentially Brilliant Diamond

Posted in INFJ, Introverts | 5 Comments

Birth plans, post-partum depression and getting real about being a successful mother

April 30, 2013

I was blessed in many ways to be spared the idealism of planning the perfect birth experience six and a half years ago when I had Caroline. Although I had wanted a baby since I was a teenager, I had never been romantic about the delivery process. I’m not big on pain and no matter how anyone spins it… birth involves pain. I was interested in the child. The delivery process was just an unavoidable necessity (if I’m going to be truly frank).

Over the years numerous doctors told me that I would likely not be able to deliver naturally and so when I did become pregnant and my OB/GYN told me the same thing, I was not terribly surprised. I had a planned c-section after a high risk pregnancy. The c-section turned out rather traumatic and my first days of motherhood were not really blissful. But I had a baby. And my baby and I were both healthy and safe. That was really all that mattered to me.

I wrote Caroline’s birth story and shared it here about a month after I had Caroline. I don’t really think about it much because, frankly, it isn’t necessarily a memory I want to revisit. In fact, when Christian shared her birth story with Little Sister (complete with lots of pictures), I was surprised by how much it stressed me out. I seriously had to walk away from the computer and stop reading. I could feel my blood pressure and stress rising with each sentence. The images and story had too much in common with my own.

In Put Down Your Birth Plans: How Idealizing Motherhood is Causing Post-Partum Depression, Lauren Lund discusses how both the culture and the church have created a bit of a monster when it comes to motherhood. She writes:

Even the Church has gotten in on the baby-glamour action. Many religious circles over-correct the push for women in the workplace by putting too much emphasis on affirming ladies to have and rear children. The Church is supposed to be a place of community, vulnerability, and support. By idealizing motherhood, the Church can actually cause mothers to compete rather than support one another. It can also set up women who don’t want to, or can’t, have babies to become the object of inappropriate judgment. Life is always a good thing, and having children is a cause for celebration. But it is also hard, and it is not for everyone.

Lund goes on to write about her own experience with post-partum depression (PPD). She writes that once she realized what was going on, she talked to other women who overwhelmingly shared their own difficult stories. Unfortunately many women suffer alone out of shame or fear of being judged.

I am thankful that David worked at home when I had Caroline. I believe God knew that I could not handle alone what was coming. Looking back, I think David and I both suffered from depression the first six to nine months. We were both home all day with a demanding high need baby and shared the challenges of understanding this spirited infant who didn’t follow the advice we received from every direction. I truly believe that if David had been working full-time away from home I would have ended up with severe PPD. It was hard enough with both of us there. If I had been alone… God knew me better than I could know myself and in His infinite grace he put David at home to be there with me. Between the two of us we muddled through in sharing the parenting duties and, yes, even shared the depression.

I measure my success as a mother in terms of the big picture, not what kind of a birth experience I had. I am a steward of Caroline’s life until she is old enough to assume control of it herself. Caroline is a gift. It’s my privilege to take care of the gift, nurture the gift, and present the gift back to God. He has purposes for her life that I can’t imagine. In stewarding this gift I’ve been given I ask God to direct my choices that impact Caroline. I study her. I try to figure out what makes her tick. I try to discern what God might be trying to do with her so I can cooperate with Him and His loving plans. I define my success as a mother by my willingness to work with God where Caroline is concerned.

The birth was just a brief blip in the span of my life. It was a brief sixty minutes when God presented me with a precious gift I had waited literally a lifetime for. But the birth was not the defining moment for me as a woman. I could probably list a hundred other things in my lifetime that have frankly defined me more as a woman and person in Christ.

I find it incredibly sad that there are women right now who feel like failures because of a failed birth plan. We are so much more than a birthing process. Birth does not define us. It is a miracle to be sure. But it is only a tiny moment in this grand life that Christ offers us.

Posted in Babies, Caroline, Christian Issues, Thinking Hard: Motherhood | 12 Comments

The best way to live life by Laura Ingalls Wilder

April 25, 2013

It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with the simple pleasures and to be cheerful and have courage when things go wrong.