Growing Like Trees

On beyond colors

2011-08-20T21:40:00.000-05:00

Not that I've figured out the color thing. Au contraire. But I have made a good deal of progress in otherwise defining my style. (In reality, I've made good progress in figuring out color too, I'm just still a good ways away....) And I wanted to take the time to share with you a checklist that I found really helpful. She does a terrific job in the video and in the post (which is long),

Question of the Day

2011-08-04T10:24:00.000-05:00

Do browns look professional? Can a brown suit, for example have the same impact as a black one, or a charcoal gray one? How about a Little-Brown-Dress? Do you have any pictures or links to places that this color really works in a professions type dress? Just curious. If I find some, I'll post them here.

2011-07-29T14:35:00.001-05:00

I found this old photo of myself a few days ago. I love this photo. It makes me nostalgic. And it reminds me to pray for this dear dear group of friends in New Jersey, (almost all of whom tried to marry me off to their grown sons, ha!). And it makes me want to go shopping in an Indian market again! I still have this sari, by the way. The bodice doesn't fit any more (twelve years and five

How to find colors that look good on you (style blogging continued)

2011-07-28T15:12:00.001-05:00

If you read Pioneer Woman, you know that occasionally she goes through phases where the blogs on a topic, or in a particular style for a few weeks, just to get it out of her system. I think that's what style blogging is for me. So bear with me while I indulge and get it out of my system. So here goes. The Color me Beautiful system, like a personality survey, works because many people do in

In which I pretend to be a style blogger

2011-07-23T22:43:00.000-05:00

Since this site has been sorely neglected for over two years now, I figure you won't mind if I update with random things. It's never really had a theme anyway, it's just more of a journal. (And I apologize for the blabbery style tonight -- we've been listening to Anne of Green Gables audiobook, and I'm in blabber mode, I guess.) A little history: Almost two years ago, in a bout of insanity, I

Mulberries are ripe!

2011-06-16T12:56:00.000-05:00

Can you guess what we did this morning?

The great closet declutter

2011-03-11T07:48:00.000-06:00

I was reading Simple Mom this week (wow, I need to read her more often), and noticed that she's running a Spring decluttering series. It took me about .03 seconds to decide that I really should join in. This week's assignment was the closet. I haven't really done anything in my closet for about 1.5 years. So I knew it would be a big job. Here's the before: There's a chair in there, that I

Crazy easy Felt slippers

2011-02-19T10:35:00.001-06:00

This winter, my trusty hand-knitted and felted wool slippers finally wore through (after four years of use). So I've been thinking for a while that I should make myself a replacement pair. Yesterday I finally got the motivation (thanks Mom!), and dug up some felted sweaters to use. These couldn't be easier. I used this pattern. Since the heel calls for elastic, (and felted sweaters are

The cure for a Bad Attitude

2011-02-16T14:39:00.000-06:00

Today is a Mom day. That means that I don't work for money, but instead focus primarily on raising kids. And homeschooling, cleaning the house and such. Things were going swell until, oh, maybe 10:00 am. Most of the morning chores were done, and Bennet was done with his reading. Tommy was being a total pill, and I couldn't get the dishes finished because he was constantly needing attention.

Saving money off the beaten path

2011-02-15T11:36:00.000-06:00

Eventually, in the course of trying to save money, you're going to hit a wall. You don't buy things unnecessarily, you don't allow yourself very many frivolities, and yet you need to cut down expenses more. It's time to start re-thinking what's actually a necessity. What helps me when we come to this is to think about what the "olden days" were like. How did they survive before everything was

Giving in to the easy way

2011-02-14T23:19:00.001-06:00

Sometimes my pride makes me stubborn. I feel like that's been the case with a gratitude journal the past couple of weeks. I've been reading "One Thousand Gifts" along with about a million other people (mostly women) on incourage, and this week's chapter was on starting the gift list. I've already started mine, but haven't been super motivated to continue it. I realized today that this is, in

One Thousand Gifts and Hezekiah

2011-02-07T20:00:00.001-06:00

I began reading One Thousand gifts this afternoon. I like Ann's writing in book form even better (much better) than on her blog. And it's good there, don't get me wrong. But here, it's, well, almost perfect. I'll warn you that I'm generally the intellectual, not the emotional (perhaps that's why I work well in computer programming for the Structural Steel world). And so what sticks out to me

Life in an Emergency

2011-02-06T21:53:00.001-06:00

I was extra-blessed this past week to receive a free copy of One Thousand Gifts, by Ann Voskamp. The copy was part of a give-away by Day Spring. Thank you! The book is accompanied by a series of interviews with the author, and yesterday I watched the trailer and the introduction interview. The trailer blew me away. It was exactly what I would expect from reading Ann's blog, full, rich, with

House rules

2011-02-05T20:23:00.000-06:00

Lisel decided that we need some rules around here, so she wrote some. They read: "DONT HIT" "DONT PUNCH" "DONT FIT" (fight) "DONT WIP WITH NECLISES" (whip with necklaces) Not a bad list.

A theme for the new year

2011-01-27T22:51:00.000-06:00

A year ago, not far from this time, I heard on K-Love about choosing one word for the new year. They were all doing it, and I thought it was weird and cheesy. I most particularly didn't want to choose a word theme for the new year. And yet, I was strangely attracted to the idea of having a theme for the year, and kept pondering that if I WERE to name the year, what would a good name be? Then

Snow Sunday

2011-01-23T12:26:00.000-06:00

It's a snow day today. Church is closed, leaving us with an open, unplanned day ahead of us. Outside is below zero, covered in pristine snow. And while the sky was the most opaque white-gray yesterday, today it's an icy clear blue. The kids, after being brokenhearted last night over canceled church, are excited for our "Sunday school at home", reminding me of the different things we've done

Thousand gifts, part 8

2011-01-13T22:08:00.000-06:00

A start of a new year brings the freshness of snow, and the relived memories of building snow forts, making snow ice cream, and shoveling. This time, I'm the Mom, introducing my kids to the delicacy. Sure, some of them remember it from this time last year. But it's still a super special treat. Bennet has grown up enough since last year that he doesn't even ask if I want him to shovel. I go

My experience with herbal remedies for depression

2011-01-12T22:29:00.000-06:00

If you've known me very long, or read this blog much, you know that I tend to prefer the home remedy (that is ideally also natural) to visiting the doctor. We have a standing joke at our home that I don't take a sick kid to the doctor unless I honestly believe that they might not fully recover. So it follows that I would do research on depression. In reality, I think most of my research on

Staying crazy in a depressing world

2011-01-08T22:51:00.002-06:00

I wanted to call this post "Staying sane in a crazy world" But then I realized that not many who know me would actually consider me not crazy. As one who has struggled with post-partum depression, I thought I'd share a few of the things that I've used over the past four (nearly five now) years to avoid re-entering depression. They're things you'd probably find on any site talking about

What I've been up to

2010-10-30T21:28:00.008-05:00

So, I know, I know. It's been forever. I'm sorry.Here's a few of the things I've been busy with in my absence.Sewing a wedding dress for my sister-in-law.The hem was a little wavy. Wish I knew how to prevent that. But overall, I was happy with it. I learned a lot in the process.I also made a Mondrian dress.I love this dress, and am really proud of the way it turned out, even though the lines

The Jesus Song

2010-08-31T18:42:00.007-05:00

I like family rituals. And we have many of them.One of my favorites is the bedtime ritual. Each day, at bedtime, after the kids are theoretically ready for bed, we gather together in the living room. Then each child in turn says the verse for the week and picks a song that we as a family sing. Finally, we pray and the kids are off to bed.The other night, Josephine was the first to say the

Thousand Gifts, part 6

2010-08-23T12:00:00.000-05:00

61. A gentle father, teaching his son to mow the yard62. A son, eager to learn and contribute to the household63. Men teaching boys to love hard work64. Sweet Sunday, once again sweet65. (and the namesake meets again, little Tommy)66. wide smiles67. curly tops68. guitar lessons69. pleasant, filling fellowship70. Calm tummies, even after eating too many sweet rolls and sweet corn71. Young love72.

Thousand gifts, Part 5

2010-08-08T22:09:00.002-05:00

41. round green blooms on the onions42. twinkling stars on a clear night43. Tommy's first birthday44. that he lived through those first few preemie weeks, through the H1N1 flu, and on to today, his Birthday45. how he learned to sign "please" when we fed him Birthday ice cream46. The other kids, insisting that they, too, get to give him a birthday present47. Tommy learning to drink through a

2010-08-02T14:25:00.003-05:00

31. So many shades of green in the summer tree tops32. Hazy water, evaporating from sprinklers33. One more chicken than last week (we mis-counted last week, I guess!)34. Ladies and families that serve our church every week by cooking breakfast for all who come35. Three different people that were kind enough to jump our van36. Stores open late on a Sunday evening, that carry new batteries for cars

Thousand Gifts, part 3

2010-07-30T14:39:00.006-05:00

21. Partial fencing around a yard that keeps an escaped chicken from really escaping.22. Bennet isn't afraid to catch such a chicken.23. Neighbors all use their air conditioning and haven't noticed the crowing of that particular chicken, who is almost certainly a rooter, not a hen like we thought.24. Husband's coming home after a bit away for work.25. Restaurants to celebrate such a return.26.