Author Archive
Book giveaway!
Posted on: July 5, 2010
- In: Life
- 2 Comments
We have family in town, so the blog has taken back seat these last few days. However, I wanted to pass along a wonderful book giveaway my friend Andrea is doing {PLUS, it’s her first ever giveaway!}.
The book is titled, Safely Home, and is a realistic fiction on the underground church in China. Read here for more information.
Be sure to enter, you have until Saturday! And when you do, tell Andrea I sent ya!
The night we ran out of diapers
Posted on: July 1, 2010
- In: Life
- 6 Comments
Because of some mama laziness forgetfulness, we didn’t have any disposable diapers for Hannah on Tuesday night. See, we’ve never done cloth over night with the girls, only disposables. Originally, with Julia we didn’t want anything else {wet cloth diaper} contributing her already bad sleeping habits. And with Hannah, well it’s just easier. That is, until you forget to buy diapers.
Which is why I love cloth diapers. No matter what, I always have them. I can reuse them. They go through multiple children. And depending on what style you get, they last the same child for their whole diapering life. Not to mention, they are really cute. You’d be surprised at how many people compliment us on Hannah’s wraps.
Especially the cow prints {which happen to be my favorite}.
We made it through Tuesday night without issue. And again Wednesday night. I still haven’t gotten disposables. I’m getting hooked on using cloth overnight and not planning to turn back any time soon. Eek!
For more TILT, visit Jill at Diaper Diaries.
- In: Life
- 3 Comments
12 month photo project is a challenge started by Tara Whitney. Here’s what you do:
- Take a photo of your family once a month.
- Write a few things about that month.
- Make it into a book at the end of the year.
June just might be my favorite month. Well, actually, I have 4 favorite months and June just happens to be one of the four.
Hannah turned 1 two weeks ago. It was an amazing time of fellowship with our friends and family. Having her turn 1 seems far more surreal than with Julia. Now that Hannah is getting older, that just means Julia is getting even older. A very bittersweet feeling. As for The Bear, she’s a walking machine. From her first step, it took her a few weeks to really gain confidence – but now – now she wiggles out of my arms until I put her down so she can walk. She refuses to wear shoes, which doesn’t surprise me in the least given Julia’s original reaction to them.
As for Julia Mabel, we are getting some where in the “Why?” department. Last week I started a new rule that she needs to ask full sentence questions {“Mama, why are we going for a walk?”} to help 1) stop her asking so many why’s and 2) make her think through her questions. Oddly enough, the full sentences haven’t slowed her down nearly as much. They did for a couple of days, but not any more. But, I think we’re both less frustrated by the question/answer conversations because we are having just that, a conversation. Secretly I wish there were a way to get paid every time she asks “why?”. I think I could easy use that money to pay for both girls to go to an Ivy League university.
Jonathan officially left his PhD program. He had resigned in May, but after some processing, decided that perhaps he needed to stay in the program after all. As it was, he was enrolled in the Department of Engineering {DE} but doing research under the School of Library and Information Science {SLIS}. Jon regularly sees his advisor from SLIS but never from DE. When he went to speak to his DE advisor, he was informed that too much time had lapsed between his comprehensive exams and dissertation so he would need to retake the comprehensive exams {and a few classes?}. Well, long story short, he decided enough was enough and he left the program. It was hard on him at first, but as time goes on he’s feeling like he made the right decision.
It seems like every month goes by faster. It’s been a joy to reflect back each month a really take everything in.
A few weeks back, Leah posted about her strawberry patch and beginning harvest. Since she’s had such abundance she’s been sharing with all her friends. She gave me a call one morning to tell me I could come pick some strawberries if I’d like. Oh yeah. We headed over after naps. I spent all of 15 minutes picking berries and came home with this:
Funny enough, that’s actually only half of what I picked. For every 2 I put in, Julia ate 3. I’m not even joking. Notice the quickly abandoned graham cracker at the bottom of the strainer? I’d given it to her at the beginning as bribe for not eating the berries. It didn’t work.
Once we got home, the Windhamettes and I sat outside in the hot summer air eating fresh picked strawberries and whipped cream.
Hannah was especially delighted.
Going Green – What did I just eat?!
Posted on: June 28, 2010
- In: Life
- 7 Comments
Most Americans don’t like talking about the meats we eat. We prefer to not associate our chicken sandwich with having ever been a chicken. I’m in that same category. I love meat. I love burgers, steaks and roasts. But, I love animals. Yet, even though I love looking at cows in the pasture, I don’t need to see that cow in between pasture and my plate. For a while I’ve flirted with the idea of being vegetarian, but my love of steaks trumped my love of cows.
Then I read The Compassionate Carnivore by Catherine Friend. Now, compassionate and carnivore might prove to be an oxymoron, but for this meat loving gal I didn’t think so. Friend talks about how it’s not wrong to eat meat – but that we need to consider where our meat comes from and how it gets to us. She places strong emphasis on buying local meats that are free range and “happy”. Granted, no animal is happy about being slaughtered for food, but the idea that you can choose for your meat to be raised and slaughtered in a caring environment.
Here’s what we have done to be more compassionate carnivores:
1. Buy local meats – We bought a quarter buffalo about 2 months ago. We liked the farmer’s hands-off approach to raising the herds and his emphasis on having them killed in-field rather than undergo stress in transit to a abattoir. I’d suggest this site for more information: Eat Wild
2. Eat vegetarian when we eat out – Ok, this one is hit or miss. I make every effort to eat vegetarian when I can’t ensure that the animal was free range, but we’ve also let it slide a few times. I’m ok with that, since this is a slow process and is taking time to adapt I don’t expect us to give up old habits that quickly.
3. Read, read, read – The more you know, the better decisions you’ll make. Get a good understand of how animals are suppose to be raised {that chickens actually aren’t vegetarians} so that you can make more informed choices for yourself and family.
4. Practice grace – Seems odd to talk about giving grace to others because of your food choices. But you’d be surprised out how black and white this issue can become. We said early on, we aren’t going to choose our self-made diet over loving people. Which means – you serve it, we’ll eat it. If given the choice, we’d request our preferences. But, if someone has gone out of their way to prepare me a meal, I will consume it with delight.
What about you? How are ways that you practice being a compassionate carnivore?
- In: Life
- 2 Comments
Whew, I feel like I’ve been in a bloggy fog for all this week. We have a pretty busy weekend ahead so I’ll be taking off a few days. But don’t worry, I hope to have some pretty good posts to show for it coming up to make up for it.
My friend, Emily, over at The Adventures of Miss Mommy, is hosting another one of her fantastic giveaways. She’s giving away a green, energy-saving, environmentally friendly power strip! Now, you might not be like my family, who owns a bizzillion and one power strips, but these things are awesome.
This new product “goes green” by using a master socket that controls the other outlets on the The Energy Saver Green Power Strip. Meaning when the device such as a TV is plugged into the master socket is turned on, the other sockets with your cable box, DVD player, and sound system will then be powered on. The reverse happens when you power down your TV turning off the power to the other sockets. This saves you on electricity and therefore money.
What an easy way to help the environment and your pocket book! Win-win for everyone!
Make sure to enter over at Miss Mommy and tell her I sent you!
- In: Life
- 2 Comments
Andrea!
Congratulations! I just sent you an email so be sure to check it!
I just want to give a BIG thanks to everyone for participating and helping to make my giveaway a success. I couldn’t do it without you!
Summer dresses and life is good
Posted on: June 24, 2010
- In: Life
- 9 Comments
{Be sure to enter my Darcy Mystery book giveaway!}
Despite being a Southern girl, spending most summers in West Texas and the rest in sweltering Tennessee humidity, I am not well adjusted to heat. And the whole “Southern women don’t sweat, they glisten” is a far cry from the truth. The fact that I love jeans and t-shirts does not help my fight against the heat – so what’s a gal to do?
Dresses. Nothing beats a good cotton summer dress.
{Notice the awesome heels?}
I love nice, simple, cotton dresses for so many reasons. They are easy keep-up {hello machine washable!}; they are relaxed but can be jazzed up with a few accessories; they are normally inexpensive, so I don’t feel all that bad if one succumbs to the “dangers” of mamahood. For a little less than $25, I’ve managed to collect a week’s worth of dresses to wear this summer.
For more TILT visit Jill at Diaper Diaries.
- In: Life
- 27 Comments
What a great way to kick off your summer – with a new book!
Thanks to Emily’s prompting, I’ve decided to host a giveaway of Pride and Prescience (Or A Truth Universally Acknowledged) A Mr. and Mrs. Darcy Mystery!!
Book description: Mr. & Mrs. Darcy, the joyous newlyweds from Pride and Prejudice, have not even left for their honeymoon when they find themselves embroiled in a mystery involving one of their wedding guests. The lovely Caroline Bingley is engaged to marry a rich and charismatic American. Unfortunately this windswept courtship is marred by many strange events such as nocturnal wanderings, spooked horses, carriage accidents, and atypical incidents of mortal consequence. Soon the whole Bingley family seems the target of a sinister plot, with only the Darcys recognizing the danger.
Here’s how you enter:
1. Leave a comment.
2. Blog about it, linking back to this post (then leave me a comment letting me know you did).
3. Facebook or Tweet it (then leave me a comment letting me know you did).
4. Refer a friend who leaves a comment.
Even my UK friends can enter. I’ll be ordering the book and shipping it to the winner through Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk {respectively}.
You have until Friday, June 25 at 5:00PM CST to enter!
You can get up to 4 entries to increase your chances of winning! I’ll be using Random.org to select the winner.
Jane Austen meets mystery novel
Posted on: June 22, 2010
- In: Life
- 9 Comments
I have a deep love for Jane Austen. Since high school I’ve read and re-read several of her books. Obviously, like most Jane Austen lovers, Pride and Prejudice has been my favorite. So when I was at the library last Friday, this caught my attention:
Pride and Prescience begins at the wedding of Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth Darcy. It weaves a mystery surrounding Elizabeth’s new sister-in-law, Caroline Bingley. Caroline, who gets married right after Elizabeth, is entangled in horrific happenings. If you’ve read the original or seen the movie(s), then you might feel little sympathy for Caroline {who proves to be just as self -centered in this story as the original}. But once the other characters become involved, it draws you in even more. I won’t go into detail about the plot, since I’ve had a least one reader voice their desire to read it and I’d hate to ruin it for them.
Two things I loved about the book were:
1. I already had a “relationship” established with the main characters {Darcy and Elizabeth} making it easy to start the book.
2. It was written in the fashion of Austen, so there was no “inappropriate” scenes.
Since having had the girls, it takes me a good long while to finish any book. But, I devoured all 287 pages in four days {partly due to Friday’s power outage and lack of internet distractions}. I’d say that’s a testament of a good book.
A Wife Loved Like The Church 
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