tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29054119974000081642024-03-13T01:24:34.072-07:00Our silly old livesIt's just us. Silly people.AKmamaOf7http://www.blogger.com/profile/10167349040853234835noreply@blogger.comBlogger179125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2905411997400008164.post-22756053788854407092018-12-12T22:39:00.000-08:002018-12-12T22:39:14.790-08:00Grandma Lourie's Molasses Cookies<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My mother made these each Christmas and they are my go-to cookies for Advent since there are no eggs in this recipe. They use a lot of molasses per recipe so I buy it buy the gallon now from Azurestandard.com where I get a lot of organic and bulk grains and things.<br />
<br />
"Grandma" is my mother's grandmother who she was near growing up in Vermont. Her grandma would bake these cookies every Monday and the grand kids would visit and knew they were allowed one cookie each upon their visit. There was a very special old lunch box she kept them in inside her pantry and one of the cousins bought Grandma's old house last year and is working to fix it after it fell to an owner who didn't take care of it. I believe that that old lunch box is back in it's proper place and if you visit Grandma's old house I have a feeling that our sweet cousin will be sure there are cookies available in that box. <br />
<br />
Tomorrow is the feast of St. Herman of Alaska and many of us American Orthodox make cookies on his day (I'm not sure why we also have made pretzels on his feast day). Today I made stars (for his nickname the North Star) and spruce trees since he lived on Spruce Island out of Grandma's recipe this evening. <br />
<br />
1c. sugar<br />
1 c. shortening (I like the butter flavored Crisco)<br />
1 c. molasses (not blackstrap. I use the first boiling: Barbados old fashioned aka light, but the second boiling: full or dark are fine)<br />
<br />
I take these three and mix them in my mixer very well. Then <b>slowly</b> add:<br />
<br />
1c. hot water (keep the mixer on low or there will be a big mess! ask me how I know!)<br />
<br />
7 cups flour (may need a tad more but this should be enough, need more for rolling them out too, my mom's recipe says 6 cups but that's never been enough for me I always add at least 7)<br />
4 tsp baking soda<br />
2 tsp cinnamon<br />
1 tsp ginger<br />
1 tsp salt<br />
<br />
Mix all together, don't add too much flour. Put dough into large pieces of saran wrap, flatten them a bit and put in the refrigerator until chilled. Then roll, shape with cookie cutters and bake about 8-10 minutes in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven.<br />
<br />
Picture won't upload now...maybe later!<br />
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AKmamaOf7http://www.blogger.com/profile/10167349040853234835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2905411997400008164.post-83217507851864193502018-08-15T22:27:00.000-07:002019-03-14T14:54:44.248-07:00Sprouted Refried Beans (Sooooo good!)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I love sprouting! I often forget to sprout ahead of when I want the actual sprouted bean, but sometimes I remember. I wanted to cook some of our 25 pound bag of pinto beans I'd picked up at Costco a few months ago. My friend gave me the best recipe for vegan refried beans and my kids DEVOUR them at coffee hour when ever she brings them, so I got the recipe and it's InstantPot friendly and I got one of those last year and love it. I decided on an 8 quart InstantPot last summer after researching my brains out. Because my year has been so busy I haven't learned how to use it much yet... The Instapot and I are still dating and not in a full time committed relationship yet. But this recipe has helped me warm up to him quite a bit.<br />
<br />
I use this sprouting method for all of my beans and our favorite is lentils because they sprout even faster. I have to use this bowl/strainer set up pictured below all the time now. I used to use jars more when we didn't have as many hungry teenagers.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Q59_wsNpQ_9AeeztISzwNKwzIBlCv4cUzb55S_pAW0EAmhiqYsOM-XX89Yd6HZDWM8fOzVeRCiIif5i5hGarTlLcCWf_VF5b_y69_AK2YSAPnkaVnpfJRbFZXTu5pnp46LCjy7IPEBs/s1600/20180815_132706.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Q59_wsNpQ_9AeeztISzwNKwzIBlCv4cUzb55S_pAW0EAmhiqYsOM-XX89Yd6HZDWM8fOzVeRCiIif5i5hGarTlLcCWf_VF5b_y69_AK2YSAPnkaVnpfJRbFZXTu5pnp46LCjy7IPEBs/s400/20180815_132706.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My sprouting set up. The first night I soak beans in a big bowl of water. <br />
In the morning I dump them into my spaghetti strainer and rinse them. <br />
Then I put them into the bowl and put a random lid or a plastic plate <br />
or saran wrap on top to trap in some of the moisture. <br />
I also use <a href="https://amzn.to/2MNSmpH">sprouting jars (2 qt jars)</a> and a <a href="https://amzn.to/2KW4u6g">sprouting screen</a> if I'm doing smaller batches.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGqR4dYlrG4h1Kyk1WfxaPgYkF6LKeJ26k_vX2VKevQGKwpno0Mo0dv72L1CFApuxPlsSuAgNIZemGP9JA6xS6mx0LWe-uH5Xfoem4af1GgKAtdlEwF2uDR3UgZGmWZN4s4vd5taacPa0/s1600/20180815_132727.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGqR4dYlrG4h1Kyk1WfxaPgYkF6LKeJ26k_vX2VKevQGKwpno0Mo0dv72L1CFApuxPlsSuAgNIZemGP9JA6xS6mx0LWe-uH5Xfoem4af1GgKAtdlEwF2uDR3UgZGmWZN4s4vd5taacPa0/s400/20180815_132727.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can you see the tiny sprouts right in the middle?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I soaked about 5 1/2 cups of beans on Monday night (I think?) and today is Wednesday. This makes a LOT, you won't want this many if you have a smaller family. It nearly fills up my 8 qt pot once they are all cooked up. I knew I'd like to have a fasting/vegan food on Wednesday that the kids would gobble up and this is CHEAP and good for them especially when sprouted. When you sprout grains and legumes it removes the bad stuff (I forget the science name) on the outside that naturally preserves the grain and beans from bugs...but it doesn't let our bodies absorb the vitamins in the grain. So if you ONLY soak them for 12 hours you're helping your family out a ton. Sprouting it it starts to change the chemistry and turns it from grain/legume into a vegetable and makes it much healthier, upping the vitamins, nutrients and sometimes the protein. Amazing stuff.<br />
<br />
Anytime after the initial 12 hour soak you can cook your beans, but if you rinse them once in the morning and once at night they'll start growing and then you can cook them as healthy little plants! You'll notice a considerable reduction in gas in the family if you eat a lot of beans and some people who can't eat beans at all because of gastrointestinal issues can eat these just fine. After you sprout you can cook any of your beans any way. But we love this way!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOG6n-tG6xRCvkwO-N2pDTd6V66fPD_Obn-hRUrSQtBcfL-oVoeBrgtQtaVqkEuzq2hYH2BTGZqLAhqqhdn6mU3hjcS49NfAoiyWpeXj97dHA8T6bOXfiee4lXuCg982dfX5T7SGYG19Y/s1600/20180815_134103.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOG6n-tG6xRCvkwO-N2pDTd6V66fPD_Obn-hRUrSQtBcfL-oVoeBrgtQtaVqkEuzq2hYH2BTGZqLAhqqhdn6mU3hjcS49NfAoiyWpeXj97dHA8T6bOXfiee4lXuCg982dfX5T7SGYG19Y/s400/20180815_134103.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The handsome 8 qt InstantPot containing the beans, onions, <br />
cumin and salt. Does not yet have salsa or water.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtTq87h4fp8-PvmTArb_4lzZT9WtwFVxb9utqIGHS-iLrkHD_UkWtzVikLYUZk1JGnJMKJfnO1qp7gDhYqG-IIjPIoKN8ked9LaZu581nTZQ-iBFP5y2ZBtm-wx-gBxnBsEWt-iD_uklk/s1600/20180815_134417.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtTq87h4fp8-PvmTArb_4lzZT9WtwFVxb9utqIGHS-iLrkHD_UkWtzVikLYUZk1JGnJMKJfnO1qp7gDhYqG-IIjPIoKN8ked9LaZu581nTZQ-iBFP5y2ZBtm-wx-gBxnBsEWt-iD_uklk/s400/20180815_134417.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Turning it on is no small feat! I use the beans setting and put it for 20 minutes. <br />
I think it should work for any soaked beans. This will PRESSURE COOK your beans...<br />
so if you don't have a handsome InstantPot you can cook them on the stove <br />
in a traditional manner in a normal pot for a much longer number of minutes...<br />
you'll have to figure that one out. Basically you don't want them crunchy.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ1wDYEgZOJeiFJuuxOaYnxf12vw1jgQ7KH2fAyuweAjM4MXtyh0VymtlLvISU1lo-LfhF8cMfDI75UZebvDj2ZEolTWX1KxvO1PlmWhF0jfzf0oUpVLjxeLW3d4zePsP-dEH1Ywwvn_A/s1600/20180815_134438.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ1wDYEgZOJeiFJuuxOaYnxf12vw1jgQ7KH2fAyuweAjM4MXtyh0VymtlLvISU1lo-LfhF8cMfDI75UZebvDj2ZEolTWX1KxvO1PlmWhF0jfzf0oUpVLjxeLW3d4zePsP-dEH1Ywwvn_A/s400/20180815_134438.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Note, my fingers are pushing the lever into the "pressurized" position. <br />
Don't let this recipe sit on venting or it won't cook <br />
in 20 minutes and it'll spit a lot at you.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>Sprouted Vegan Refried Beans</b><br />
<br />
5 cups pinto beans - soak and sprout 2 days in advance or do quick soak or overnight soak method as stated on the package<br />
Put beans into the cooking pot then add: <br />
1/4c minced dried onions<br />
2 T garlic salt<br />
2 T cumin<br />
Water up to right UNDER the beans for sprouted beans...and just over for soaked beans. <br />
<br />
Cook in your InstantPot on pressure cook for 20 minutes, then let the pressure slowly dissipate on it's own. Set your valve to pressure. Should take around 45 minutes in all. Carefully check your valve and carefully move it to venting with a wooden spoon. Close again if pressure starts bursting out and wait. Once it does not vent anymore you can remove the lid. If using a normal pot, cook as normal on the stove.<br />
<br />
2-3 cups salsa-medium<br />
<br />
1/2c. corn oil<br />
<br />
Heat up oil in 8 qt dutch oven or other heavy bottom pot.<br />
<br />
Carefully pour in beans into the hot oil. Let them fry for a bit then mash them up with an immersion blender or potato masher.<br />
<br />
You can eat immediately with chips or tortillas. The next day they have set up firmly in the fridge and also the flavors have blended nicely. Use for burritos, tacos, quesadillas or freeze in 1 qt yogurt containers. If you freeze: thaw and fry your pre-frozen beans in a small frying pan (like with eggs, in oil or not) to get rid of the excess water that seems to come with freezing beans.<br />
<br />
Enjoy!<br />
<br />
Shop this post.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Instant-Pot-Programmable-Pressure-Steamer/dp/B01B1VC13K/ref=as_li_ss_il?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1534396873&sr=1-4&keywords=8+qt+instant+pot&linkCode=li2&tag=oursillyoldli-20&linkId=a175e1e789add07f2778f1232916dec1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="200" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B01B1VC13K&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=oursillyoldli-20" width="191" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is the 8 quart InstantPot but people love the 6 quart also.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<img alt="" border="0" height="1" hidden="" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=oursillyoldli-20&l=li2&o=1&a=B01B1VC13K" style="border: medium none; display: none !important; margin: 0px;" width="1" /><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Mueller-Ultra-Stick-Immersion-Multi-Purpose-Attachment/dp/B075X1KPLZ/ref=as_li_ss_il?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1534396756&sr=1-4&keywords=immersion+blender&linkCode=li2&tag=oursillyoldli-20&linkId=b4a95ec763be5e071d56dbe81821226a" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="200" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B075X1KPLZ&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=oursillyoldli-20" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is not the same immersion blender that <br />
I have but it gets great reviews for the price!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<img alt="" border="0" height="1" hidden="" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=oursillyoldli-20&l=li2&o=1&a=B075X1KPLZ" style="border: medium none; display: none !important; margin: 0px;" width="1" /><br />
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</div>
<img alt="" border="0" height="1" hidden="" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=oursillyoldli-20&l=li2&o=1&a=B07DJ2VZGV" style="border: medium none; display: none !important; margin: 0px;" width="1" /><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ball-Quart-Wide-Mouth-Canning/dp/B01M6BHWOX/ref=as_li_ss_il?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1534395053&sr=1-2&keywords=2+qt+jar&linkCode=li2&tag=oursillyoldli-20&linkId=b779b45c77734df25331ea48f9d8e6fc" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="150" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B01M6BHWOX&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=oursillyoldli-20" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I use my 1/2 gallon jars regularly. <br />
To store grains, sprout grains, store goat milk, homemade juice...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<img alt="" border="0" height="1" hidden="" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=oursillyoldli-20&l=li2&o=1&a=B01M6BHWOX" style="border: medium none; display: none !important; margin: 0px;" width="1" /><br />
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<img alt="" border="0" height="1" hidden="" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=oursillyoldli-20&l=li2&o=1&a=B07873PTL6" style="border: medium none; display: none !important; margin: 0px;" width="1" /><br />
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AKmamaOf7http://www.blogger.com/profile/10167349040853234835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2905411997400008164.post-51577422259656215642018-08-15T18:42:00.001-07:002018-08-16T11:51:47.445-07:00Waste Not Want Not<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Before we first got chickens I was oblivious to how much food we were wasting. I would scrape things into the trash regularly and not think twice. <br />
<br />
When we got chickens we discovered a new found appreciation for food. Especially our hen's eggs, but it had a trickle down effect into all of our other foods. When we realized how much time, energy and money we put into raising hens...and all of a sudden eggs became our most expensive and most precious food item.<br />
<br />
Fast forward 10 years after raising meat and egg chickens, fishing, hunting moose and caribou, raising goats for milk and for meat and having a decent garden....and also having 7 kids. Food is now a huge deal and we do NOT waste food!!!!!!!! (well I sure try not to anyway)<br />
<br />
We don't have chickens yet in Washington, we have been talking about getting them and my son just literally offered to build me a chicken coop! So he's doing it as a learning/helping mama project and I could not be more proud! I see chickens much nearer in our future now.<br />
<br />
Today my daughter requested potato soup...and by that she means for me to cheat dinner (always a favorite of mine) and use a <a href="https://amzn.to/2nG3IBh">Bear Creek Potato Soup</a> mix and then if I'm feeling ambitious I add potatoes from the pantry. I didn't know what to cook in addition to the very last Alaskan salmon fillet we had in the freezer and soup was a nice fit to make dinner stretch. That reminded me I hadn't checked on my stash of potatoes lately and I didn't want any rotten ones in there spoiling the whole bunch...sure enough there were 4 that were turning and *the smell* had just begun. So I was able to salvage 4 potatoes to add to the soup making it stretch even farther. We were also recently gifted 3 large boxes of frozen peas...that equaled 18 gallon zip lock bags full! I've shared a few with church friends but still have a large stock pile of frozen free peas. I am very thankful when we are gifted free food and it happens in this very poor town REGULARLY....(It's like God is taking care of the poor people here or something....). I've realized that God is providing for us so generously and that free food is just as precious to me as the food we buy with our hard earned money or raise out of the garden or barnyard. Typically I add peas to this soup anyway so I also added 2 cups of frozen peas.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWyoR8rkIj7SrrM1dL_Vi5UJQ5OJLSnqC-80b-s_fqhz39_6Pm0ATJH8RO1BATsEhSbJFPvihwwRMhOA9i4rPwyp6-cc-ToZJ9MJLecStf4TSWI_u8aIC_PjRENd_Mlm_bdd-ztdBjgw8/s1600/20180811_165345.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWyoR8rkIj7SrrM1dL_Vi5UJQ5OJLSnqC-80b-s_fqhz39_6Pm0ATJH8RO1BATsEhSbJFPvihwwRMhOA9i4rPwyp6-cc-ToZJ9MJLecStf4TSWI_u8aIC_PjRENd_Mlm_bdd-ztdBjgw8/s400/20180811_165345.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Potato pile...are they good or not? Can you spot the bad ones?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht2N8QnB__C0V7FqF_Mrk1OHeI45ctZWje_BSMksqB_Z0lEzRwBAEj1k1woYGs0qb4_OgI_XeeWu6OR9ZvmvVSLY7MgnxHn-AvHSfHOyCZ1x63SA1L-HdMDn8lnn9Mf9KGvBYFKxgtbsg/s1600/20180811_165716.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht2N8QnB__C0V7FqF_Mrk1OHeI45ctZWje_BSMksqB_Z0lEzRwBAEj1k1woYGs0qb4_OgI_XeeWu6OR9ZvmvVSLY7MgnxHn-AvHSfHOyCZ1x63SA1L-HdMDn8lnn9Mf9KGvBYFKxgtbsg/s400/20180811_165716.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The four bad boys...they are not good influence on the rest of the nice potatoes.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju13JrC2s76oF8S-CVC9-5_ENgkSETX8wWRscx04R4S9oYebgDo5M1SZdRGK9oc8kNMTk9m3CUmnjCvX6uoSpolGwExikUyCxNqQhzICKVZXKFLLe9p91f7NyjAJcRhSi8kuIGAO_vkBo/s1600/20180811_171422.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju13JrC2s76oF8S-CVC9-5_ENgkSETX8wWRscx04R4S9oYebgDo5M1SZdRGK9oc8kNMTk9m3CUmnjCvX6uoSpolGwExikUyCxNqQhzICKVZXKFLLe9p91f7NyjAJcRhSi8kuIGAO_vkBo/s400/20180811_171422.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I don't compost potatoes, the bad parts will go into the trash can. The rest of the good parts are diced up fairly small and go into the cold water measured out for the easy-peasy soup.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh03wqStja6VG2CnPdHrQdX5vt6knG3ofpzC4xkTT42tI2D4vkzJYV4LYmFWrTAuFffMC5qm8MUfrvoxiP30b3KohdaHf2QkzkCa957oovp4r4pge72jsn9Du9v2TW2j6_O3rClOhwoF0I/s1600/20180811_172733.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh03wqStja6VG2CnPdHrQdX5vt6knG3ofpzC4xkTT42tI2D4vkzJYV4LYmFWrTAuFffMC5qm8MUfrvoxiP30b3KohdaHf2QkzkCa957oovp4r4pge72jsn9Du9v2TW2j6_O3rClOhwoF0I/s400/20180811_172733.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We fell in love with <a href="https://amzn.to/2nG3IBh">Bear Creek Potato soup</a> when Costco used to sell it in large vats. I now find it online at Walmart.com for the best price. The local grocery store carries it too. So from $3.50 to $5 per pack it provides an easy meal especially if you stretch it with more veggies or make it loaded with bacon, cheese and sour cream!!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_MW_gSLPW44MxAV13d6luQ0OktWvsjKAmQ8VyH_6I7x17_1FMhMIIpqCh1NkLWzrpJbR6ek0gbHx-iwseXSKjoPrupHlvXNnBCGxIFmWp3k3Txr-sAPPKQjMbnW8bJO6gxQAJdXwKQn8/s1600/20180811_173202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_MW_gSLPW44MxAV13d6luQ0OktWvsjKAmQ8VyH_6I7x17_1FMhMIIpqCh1NkLWzrpJbR6ek0gbHx-iwseXSKjoPrupHlvXNnBCGxIFmWp3k3Txr-sAPPKQjMbnW8bJO6gxQAJdXwKQn8/s400/20180811_173202.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gallons of peas, for the win!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiuU0ZicRkA-1-rP6xAxvpmxFOIXqhp6Bio7YsFe6vCRhVfrS8N3LfEz6mwsN7B3upEetgfQiPXDyhE6zciY7py5k9n3QYPs0PQc7fP3u7eFuvzZd7V6YM_FzBZDmr_xAhGfB0c7f0it4/s1600/20180811_174759.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiuU0ZicRkA-1-rP6xAxvpmxFOIXqhp6Bio7YsFe6vCRhVfrS8N3LfEz6mwsN7B3upEetgfQiPXDyhE6zciY7py5k9n3QYPs0PQc7fP3u7eFuvzZd7V6YM_FzBZDmr_xAhGfB0c7f0it4/s400/20180811_174759.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finished soup in my <a href="https://amzn.to/2PhZlsK">favorite pot</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhEabkm14HJ71HAlQI5i8F5DaVZ_xyeRfh-G1qG4rJnIKOyZ_7p7vswGuqOjHPfb-lsfGyOe_zQck-WPx-bwHlulGQg1NkkigczgYGEgKqLyYvX-Cx7HwM1gyidcu8fur88oXjLksvYfE/s1600/20180811_175630.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhEabkm14HJ71HAlQI5i8F5DaVZ_xyeRfh-G1qG4rJnIKOyZ_7p7vswGuqOjHPfb-lsfGyOe_zQck-WPx-bwHlulGQg1NkkigczgYGEgKqLyYvX-Cx7HwM1gyidcu8fur88oXjLksvYfE/s400/20180811_175630.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The special girls requested soup...found a lovely view to eat.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The last three years I haven't really been myself...I missed Alaska for a while, but then it's taken me a while to get back into the groove of life. That includes being a homemaker again. Cooking more and making better use of our grocery money by buying in bulk again and building up our stock of grains, legumes, nuts and foodie type things. <br />
<br />
I realized we were tossing too many leftovers that had gone bad out of the fridge and it really started eating at me...realizing it's my duty to eat or freeze the leftovers or make it appetizing for the kids or hubby to eat and stop wasting so much food! Since I hadn't eaten much I took the leftover "company rice" as my mom calls it and made us last week, the left over peas and a handful of peanuts to tide me over until dinner. I also discovered 5 lonely shrimp in a bag in the bottom of the freezer and I ate those too.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKTvZ0jhAnsuvmLtcJFeAXNsY3XWv-zQQjjV9JOfb8hAQ_uWir8bLuBG5LLTfqmQAOI789xE-WD5zl56ougC1W_FQbOE5rXzio3hGOIUE3VWycFQtVjUSvHFBvHCDy_Xfh9MEwyWkj5gY/s1600/20180811_173102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKTvZ0jhAnsuvmLtcJFeAXNsY3XWv-zQQjjV9JOfb8hAQ_uWir8bLuBG5LLTfqmQAOI789xE-WD5zl56ougC1W_FQbOE5rXzio3hGOIUE3VWycFQtVjUSvHFBvHCDy_Xfh9MEwyWkj5gY/s400/20180811_173102.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shrimp cooking in my <a href="https://amzn.to/2BfeXtZ">favorite little toaster oven</a> ever. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW1_DI1_LOTkNecariycljBwq76p9rmuvPR0Qpa8KBADmFAGN5uc79g5PcFp-18AT1vC5mQxravWHmML3lsv3kpQcKtoQpj6kXI2Gy7AiZPfVicF13Ye9NPCV8jGxEW1apddfr3rMhdCE/s1600/20180811_173446%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW1_DI1_LOTkNecariycljBwq76p9rmuvPR0Qpa8KBADmFAGN5uc79g5PcFp-18AT1vC5mQxravWHmML3lsv3kpQcKtoQpj6kXI2Gy7AiZPfVicF13Ye9NPCV8jGxEW1apddfr3rMhdCE/s400/20180811_173446%25281%2529.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leftover company rice (wild rice with Crazins and onions) peas and peanuts. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Something else to mention is that I don't throw away my egg shells either, I don't compost them with the regular compost anymore. I found out that they can really help keep bugs off of the plants if you put them around the plants when they are little. They act like shards of glass and after a while the calcium just adds good minerals to the soil for the root growth. So I'm doing this now and I didn't loose as many baby plants to bugs as I did last spring. I'm guessing that it's due to better soil structure from adding compost for the last couple of years and because of the egg shells. I also have heard that the pine needles will also be "pokey" to bugs and they don't like them. That's the primary ingredient in my compost...and even after breaking down for 4 years there are still plenty of very long Ponderosa Pine needles in my garden beds but the plants are much happier and healthier this summer!!!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvn4V5dVjwJmCMq22vTia49IP8b3yYIhoLckPy2bjQb2d4ZrXInKldtmB9s69hkC-gLemn8x49znhIgNKjQK8OapYnJ7nKRuTVupK550PaVd0GeFMwiVVScqpt7aMTS0vW8HasblocqRY/s1600/20180811_171927.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvn4V5dVjwJmCMq22vTia49IP8b3yYIhoLckPy2bjQb2d4ZrXInKldtmB9s69hkC-gLemn8x49znhIgNKjQK8OapYnJ7nKRuTVupK550PaVd0GeFMwiVVScqpt7aMTS0vW8HasblocqRY/s400/20180811_171927.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Egg shells rinsed and drying a bit. (washing them helps to not attract bugs, it's not a must). When we moved here I finally bought a <a href="https://amzn.to/2ODYils">proper compost bucket</a> (in the back) and I LOVE it. I don't know why I didn't get one for so long.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfXz3pObCFTjsThgiEGS9x9Hbgsc_m0561LV2hiHoxYTlqYzfBPR5B_D_5r7hmKX8iFdCki5xYCkqJqkTwWaOFZj5yRkB-sJq12ZQnAzukHOKDi_BF2lAibVzVpDkHxfs1fI_33K8zB1E/s1600/20180811_172447.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfXz3pObCFTjsThgiEGS9x9Hbgsc_m0561LV2hiHoxYTlqYzfBPR5B_D_5r7hmKX8iFdCki5xYCkqJqkTwWaOFZj5yRkB-sJq12ZQnAzukHOKDi_BF2lAibVzVpDkHxfs1fI_33K8zB1E/s400/20180811_172447.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They finish drying in the ice cream bucket with the others. When it's full-ish I just crush them down...it's surprisingly satisfying to crush little brittle eggs shells.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Also, this may seem silly to most. But hey! My blog is our silly old lives and I'm allowed to post silly stuff!!!!! I hate throwing away containers just because nothing squeezes out anymore! That's my pet peeve. My daughter was going to throw away this <a href="https://amzn.to/2MNP71s">Just Chipotle Gold</a>! I adore this stuff...it's vegan (fasting) and I love all the <a href="https://amzn.to/2BffJqW">Just Mayo</a> things. Anyway, I got at least 2 tablespoons out of the bottle as seen on this plate and there's still another two left inside the bottle at least! I find this at Fred Meyer but I just discovered Amazon beats their price on this dressing by at least $1.50 per bottle, that's pretty big. I'm used to spending around $4.50 a bottle at Freds.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwSvN5yZwtSLSxJ3vKiKmNAE4Un2z8l3W9FFFnyFgmwoMTbue_GdwwI7Y2wnhVd8e1ub7c-TdU0uGUSgflRmi4R2Z5QGclCu0Y5UdwU2EyW10XwAhxWmhyphenhyphenPSNnp0NIea68Zmq-GEdtfIo/s1600/20180815_134642.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwSvN5yZwtSLSxJ3vKiKmNAE4Un2z8l3W9FFFnyFgmwoMTbue_GdwwI7Y2wnhVd8e1ub7c-TdU0uGUSgflRmi4R2Z5QGclCu0Y5UdwU2EyW10XwAhxWmhyphenhyphenPSNnp0NIea68Zmq-GEdtfIo/s400/20180815_134642.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taking the time to scrape out the jar will save money and ease your conscience!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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There are all sorts of other ways to save food and money. I love to make a game out of it and I have realized that being a good homemaker actually saves money for the family. What are your favorite ways to save and conserve??<br />
<br />
Shop this post.<br />
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AKmamaOf7http://www.blogger.com/profile/10167349040853234835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2905411997400008164.post-34757770276529542272018-08-10T22:32:00.002-07:002018-08-11T15:46:02.502-07:00Exercise in Futility<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Tonight my kids were playing out in the 85 degree evening during the sun set and discovered TWO baby birds being carried around by our big cat, Bear. They younger three are 12, 10 and 4 now and they immediately had to rescue the birds...what else could they do?!<br />
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They begged me to let them keep them in a box in their room and since I was busy writing a blog post I said, "oh sure, girls, but you know they WILL die...so be prepared". I couldn't stop them from being their little compassionate selves. It's a part of growing up. Trying to save a bird and it dying. Also the 10-year-old is a veracious reader. She remembered the instructions that she read in her "how to take care of your cat" book and remembered how to even care for the birds the cats try killing...so really, who am I to argue?<br />
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My husband asked me why I let them, since they will die. I basically said, "I don't know! I couldn't tell them no!" (hands over face and also not mentioning that I wasn't paying super close attention...) He said, "this is an exercise in futility". I love that he says such smart things like this in just regular everyday conversation. He told the girls that he tried doing the same thing as a boy but they must prepare themselves for the death of these birds.<br />
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We just went though this ourselves just two months ago. One of our cats had a little of kittens and one of them was stupid and fell out of a tree one evening. Well the darn thing broke it's leg and, as long as we have been married, have always vowed to never spend money on pets/mousers/working animals. But when that darn vet was getting ready to inject him and put him down with out really letting me make the decision, I said, "can I just call my husband first please?!" Hubby and I decided to let the doc amputate the leg which would have been the cheapest option of helping it live but the doctor decided to put a pin in and assured me it wouldn't cost extra. Well after the leg healed a month, there was a major blockage in his little intestine and he couldn't be saved. We finally had to let him go and we buried him in our yard.<br />
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In retrospect our case was also an exercise in futility, but what else were we to do?! God has given us the means to pay for a not outrageously expensive little baby cat surgery and God gave us that sweet little baby kitty. Neither one of us felt right about putting him down immediately with out giving him a chance. If we were poor then sure...we shouldn't spend the money. But we're not poor and we decided to try saving the little booger...but it just didn't work out. I cried when I said by to him. I had allowed myself to get attached after we decided to fix his leg. He was going to be our little indoor house cat buddy and my husband and I both loved his temperament. He loved to cuddle with him and me. We both pretended like it was a burden to pay for and keep this silly kitten, but inside we were both looking forward to loving him for a long time. We got one month. So I'm thankful for that. But writing this is making me teary again...but it's probably good to finally have closure.<br />
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I didn't want to get attached to animals after I had my kids. They die too fast. It's sad to loose them. I hate the book <a href="https://amzn.to/2BdMzsn">Old Yeller</a>, who writes these things?! I actually hated the movie and refused to read the book....I talked to the girls about it just today...why read a book so sad? I think I'm extra sensitive, I'm not sure. It's ok though. I tried being tough for a lot of years but that didn't work out well...I'm trying to be who God made me. And that's a sensitive person and that's ok.<br />
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I'm sure this won't be the last exercise in futility the girls make, but that's ok too. They're my sweet girls and it's better to be compassionate and hopeful than to immediately write the creatures off as dead and discard them in the woods or let the cat have them for his supper. At least that's what I think.<br />
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AKmamaOf7http://www.blogger.com/profile/10167349040853234835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2905411997400008164.post-22194933019680184822017-08-28T00:19:00.000-07:002017-08-28T00:19:22.866-07:00Gravity Love <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I suppose it's been my whole life, but lately, more so... The examples in the creation that God put on this earth and in the cosmos, to show us examples of His divine goodness and essence simply astound me.<br />
<br />
Recently we drove south to experience the full total eclipse in Idaho. It was amazing. Imagining the sun being blotted out after Christ was crucified. How utterly terrifying if you didn't know to expect it. To see the world, the horizon, the stars, the bugs, the birds, the everything completely differently for over two minutes, not to mention the temperature significantly drop.... and it all happened so very fast. It simply reminds you of who really controls things. How our large spinning ball we call Earth is held up by His mercy. How perfectly He holds up the Sun each and every day. How the Sun reminds us of His exceeding brightness and strength. How the moon so elegantly decorates the night sky and how even it is an example of how we can be bright spots that can reflect God's love into the world if we so choose.<br />
<br />
To see the moon blot out the sun. That was something else. I don't think I've had enough time to ponder that...it's only been a week. <br />
<br />
Gravity has been on my mind this year as a great example of God's abounding love for all of mankind...not just the "good" ones. Gravity doesn't choose favorites. It holds us all down to earth at it's own choosing and all equally. It "loves" each and every one of us. Whether we choose to dislike gravity or not. We are "loved" by it equally and perfectly. It stabilizes us. It does not waiver on whether it is having a good day or a bad day. We aren't subject to it's daily mood swings. Some days it does not treat us badly and hold us accountable and make us very heavy... And other some days it does not let us lighten our load and be a few pounds lighter because we behaved well. It's just the same, never changing, always consistent.<br />
<br />
We humans subconsciously relate God to our parents, it's a natural thing to do. We decide that God loves us only if we are good because that's how our parents (imperfect humans) usually show their love to us. They are happy when we behave well and upset if we behave badly. It's only natural we would assume God thinks this way as well. This is why many of us are stuck in the, "well, if I'm good then God will love me better." so we go through the motions, follow all the rules, but we still miss the mark. God loves us regardless of our actions. Gravity holds us down whether we are alcoholics, good mothers, bad mothers, thieves, priests (good or bad), or innocent children.<br />
<br />
We have the choice, however, to turn to His love in thanks and awe or to turn away from it in disbelief and annoyance. The fact that it exists, however, still remains. The love is there whether we like it or not...grounding us, literally. <br />
<br />
God grant us eyes to see our transgressions and strength to bring them into the perfect light that You shine so that we can repent and turn our darkened faces toward Your brightness. <br />
<br />
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AKmamaOf7http://www.blogger.com/profile/10167349040853234835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2905411997400008164.post-44681165043181152502017-08-01T13:50:00.001-07:002018-08-16T11:37:18.346-07:00Fantastic Curried Lentils (no turmeric)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My mother is an amazing cook. I never appreciated her cooking when I was a kid, but now-a-days I wish she'd be my live-in cook and just feed me breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. She has run her own bed and breakfast in our Alaska home when I was a teenager. She would bring home stray church guests almost every Sunday and feed them a big hearty Alaskan sourdough pancake meal with real Vermont maple syrup. Not to mention that she cooked us a full dinner from scratch every. single. night even though she worked as a school teacher. We always had a salad, a vegetable some grain and a main dish. When my dad was finally willing to retire they were asked to come run an Inn in Hawaii for two years where they would cook a fancy breakfast about half of the time for people staying there. My dad became a master of Hawaiian fruit platters and my mom would whip up amazing casseroles, scones, killer oatmeal, apparently amazing gluten free things for her special needs guests as well. I visited them there once for about a week, just me and my little 1-year-old and I thoroughly enjoyed getting spoiled by her cooking and relaxing by the pool.<br />
<br />
As you probably know by now we are Orthodox Christians and we fast for about half the year, this means that we eat a vegan diet on our fast days. (We are allowed shrimp, scallops and other shell fish as well on those days.) Needless to say, we very much appreciate the Internet and all the vegans out there in the world publishing their delicious recipes. It has given our generation a lot of access to the cuisine of other countries and their favorite recipes. I have discovered that we really love Indian and much of the Thai food in addition to the Chinese (obviously). Growing up my mom would make Curried Lentils, but I was never a fan, it had turmeric in it and I realized I just don't love turmeric. It's the classic bottle of curry powder that you buy at the store, it is always yellow. Once I realized that Indian food didn't have to contain turmeric I started enjoying it far more. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curry">(What Wikipedia says about curry.)</a><br />
<br />
My mom brought out dinner to our house a few years ago on a fasting Sunday afternoon. She was cooking for my sister's family and my family. Our husbands tend to struggle with the amount of legumes, rice, potatoes and general non-meat dishes that us wives prepare. Of course, like any wife who cooks often, we fall into bad grooves and finally our husbands have to beg us not to cook that dish ever, ever again. She brought us Curried Lentils and of course my first reaction was the yellow lentils as a child that I would have to eat and endure and in my mind ask my mother never to make them ever, ever again. I think she sensed my lack of excitement and explained that this was a new recipe she'd found in Good Housekeeping (Jan 2014) and she'd even add some shrimp for the extra meat and protein. Well, we all fell in love with it, but none more than our husbands. My husband and my sister's husband were in fasting-food heaven. I asked for the recipe and have made it quite a few times. Coconut milk seems to be that amazing secret ingredient in so many of our new favorite recipes these days...It makes the most basic ingredients creamy and fantastic. I have started buying the canned goodness online by the case, because I get the best deal and can keep it on hand. It's not cheap at the grocery store, usually between $3-$4 per can.<br />
<br />
<b>Curried Lentils</b><br />
Makes about 6 main-dish servings<br />
<br />
Blend in food processor your curry spices paste:<br />
2 med. shallots, quartered (I never have shallots, I always use onions)<br />
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste<br />
1 jalapeno chili, stemmed (I typically have jalapeno slices in a jar that I use)<br />
4 thick slices peeled ginger (I buy the ginger in the tubes in the produce section, it's quick and lasts quite a long time)<br />
2 cloves garlic, peeled<br />
2 tsp ground cumin<br />
2 tsp ground coriander<br />
1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper<br />
-Blend these until mostly smooth, transfer to a slow cooker or thick bottomed pot. Be sure to use an 8 quart if doubling this recipe.-<br />
<br />
Then add:<br />
2 c. Vegetable broth<br />
1 1/2 c. lentils, picked over<br />
1 can (15 oz) light coconut milk (I usually use reg, not light)<br />
3 c. large cauliflower florets, placed on top nicely after everything else is combined<br />
-let this all cook for an hour on the stove on low or 5 hours on high in the crock pot or 8 hours on low-<br />
<br />
Before serving add:<br />
1 c. frozen peas, thawed<br />
1 Tbsp lime juice<br />
1 lb of shrimp-optional <br />
1/4 tsp salt (taste it, be sure it's enough)<br />
<br />
Serve over rice, garnish with pistachios if you like. You could also garnish with shredded coconut...my mom just served me the curried shrimp with the turmeric powder when I was visiting her 2 weeks ago. She had chopped apples, shredded coconut, raisins and cashews to put on top, it was so yummy and fun to eat! I think that would be a fun addition to this recipe as well.<br />
<br />
If you want to get really fancy you could <a href="http://oursillyoldlives.blogspot.com/2018/08/sprouted-refried-beans-i-love-sprouting.html">sprout your lentils</a> one or two days ahead. You won't need nearly as much liquid, so back off on the broth when you cook them. This seriously upps the protein in your grain and it's fin to eat little lentils with cute tails on them. It's also better for our bodies if we presoak our grains but especially when they're sprouted.<br />
<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgom6TSeH8s4_4KaBegiGDRHV7vbyoQwg-FxWlqytaW6sK1dAi-DAhijSp175JcN227vwIpdaOFbUj9WTzTbRAxWh7wglWyY_JSwCFazOfxXrrKQaBisfrkWKN9q1qpftfFGoES3RduO4g/s1600/2016-01-18+18.24.20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgom6TSeH8s4_4KaBegiGDRHV7vbyoQwg-FxWlqytaW6sK1dAi-DAhijSp175JcN227vwIpdaOFbUj9WTzTbRAxWh7wglWyY_JSwCFazOfxXrrKQaBisfrkWKN9q1qpftfFGoES3RduO4g/s400/2016-01-18+18.24.20.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My last night in Hawaii with my parents.</td></tr>
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AKmamaOf7http://www.blogger.com/profile/10167349040853234835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2905411997400008164.post-21837138531494164822017-03-27T21:55:00.000-07:002017-03-27T21:58:19.788-07:00Sweet and Sour Anything<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The first time I ever ate this a young woman, who was a budding brilliant cook, brought this over for dinner when I had my son who is almost 17 now. It was love at first bite. She used chicken in her recipe. It's one that I for some reason forget about, you need to have canned pineapple, and that's not something I normally keep. But if I have it, I'll make this cheap and delicious meal.<br />
<br />
Here's Christine's recipe she wrote out for me 17 years ago.<br />
<br />
<b>Sweet and Sour Chicken serves 4-6</b><br />
<br />
Fry in frying pan with oil: <br />
4 pieces boneless chicken breast<br />
1 egg, 2 Tbsp. cornstarch<br />
cube chicken and mix in egg and cornstarch <br />
<br />
Mix in a large saucepan:<br />
1/2 c. vinegar<br />
1/2 c. white sugar<br />
pineapple juice from the sm. can of pineapple chunks<br />
Boil, then add:<br />
pineapple chunks (what's left in the can)<br />
2-3 Tbsp. soy sauce (to taste)<br />
<br />
Mix in a little bowl:<br />
1/4 c water<br />
2 Tbsp. cornstarch<br />
then add to the pineapple mixture<br />
<br />
Add chicken once sauce has thickened and let simmer for 5 minutes.<br />
<br />
Serve over rice. I usually double this recipe for our large family.<br />
<br />
Vegetables:<br />
I add peppers and onions to as much as I can now, also celery is cheap and easy to throw in too. Carrots are good as well as most "stir fry" veggies...those stir fry frozen vegetable bags would work for this. If we're fasting then I'll cook the sauce in a separate saucepan and fry up my veg in a large pan, then add the sauce on top. Don't overcook your vegetables! Only cook a short time then add your sauce, you want them still a bit firm like in a stir-fry.<br />
<br />
For Tofu:<br />
If I use tofu I fry that ahead of time with no egg or cornstarch in a non-stick pan. I have been using peanut oil lately for frying things and that worked nicely tonight. I use the firm tofu that come in little boxes that you have to cut open. This way they are shelf stable and don't have to refrigerate. Also, when you open them up I dab off as much water as I can. I slice the block in half and dab it more. Then cube it up and add to a hot pan with oil. I used 2 boxes tonight for my family of 8.<br />
<br />
Shrimp:<br />
This I'll just add to the vegetables. Shrimp cooks fast, add this last then the sauce.<br />
<br />
Cheating recipe:<br />
What I did tonight was instead of buying pineapple and making sauce, I actually bought two 15oz cans of Carnation sweet & sour sauce at the store. This was plenty to cover my vegetables and tofu and I got to skip making the sauce. I bought it for a night that I was tight on time and that was tonight. I prepared my tofu and vegetables and made my rice before church, then when we got home I fried the veg and tofu for about 5 minutes then let them cook in sauce for 5 min. Then served. Easy! I have a feeling that the Carnation sauce has all sorts of unhealthy things that I wouldn't have put into mine. But it was good.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs0zEnPCphr45SOXUYH_c-fkj0sw4grc34DlDDQUVAEpzjTEbvPhf40uHWwZoqN3A-PSiiLgv5ZZdzJZ2TEJUZXTm9-dBYtpmwbYxGzlkhYO35AdGWQheqbzGj94m6kRCnxLIFdnM7N3E/s1600/IMG_20170327_205527_280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs0zEnPCphr45SOXUYH_c-fkj0sw4grc34DlDDQUVAEpzjTEbvPhf40uHWwZoqN3A-PSiiLgv5ZZdzJZ2TEJUZXTm9-dBYtpmwbYxGzlkhYO35AdGWQheqbzGj94m6kRCnxLIFdnM7N3E/s400/IMG_20170327_205527_280.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tofu, celery, onion, peppers before adding sauce.</td></tr>
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AKmamaOf7http://www.blogger.com/profile/10167349040853234835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2905411997400008164.post-29900359934461563622016-12-09T20:37:00.000-08:002016-12-12T12:32:22.925-08:00Vegan Pumpkin Bread or Muffins<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I really wanted a spiced pumpkin bread today with all of the snow outside and the pretty Christmas tree set up and pretty decor inside. I found a nice vegan recipe and changed it a bit. I'm writing it here so I don't loose it. Not having zucchini in the garden this year I'm using up some of the cans of pumpkin puree that have been collecting years of dust in the pantry. I'm posting a doubled recipe here for two loaf pans.<br />
<br />
The kids love it and I think it's great. I went way light on the sugar (I just did 1 cup brown) and think it could use that extra 1/2 cup of white or brown sugar to it so I put it into this recipe. You could also toss in an extra banana to sweeten it more too. It's VERY spicy, so if you don't like so much of the spice you could pair it down, the cloves are strong. <br />
<br />
<b>Vegan Pumpkin Bread</b><br />
<br />
-preheat oven to 350, grease 2 loaf pans-<br />
-mix dry ingredients in lg bowl-<br />
2 c white flour<br />
1 1/2 c wheat flour<br />
(if you have flax seed, sneak in 1/4c in here) <br />
1 c dark brown sugar<br />
1/2 c sugar<br />
2 tsp baking soda<br />
1 tsp baking powder<br />
1 tsp salt<br />
1 tsp nutmeg<br />
1 tsp cinnamon<br />
1 tsp allspice<br />
1/2 tsp cloves<br />
<br />
-whisk wet ingredients in medium bowl- <br />
2 c or 1 15 oz can pumpkin puree<br />
1 mashed banana in a 1 cup measure cup<br />
fill the measure cup up with oil<br />
1/2 c maple syrup<br />
1/3 c water<br />
<br />
Instructions:<br />
Combine wet into the dry ingredients, stir until just mixed, don't over mix. It's a thick batter.<br />
Add 1 cup walnuts if desired.<br />
Bake 45-50 minutes. Let cool for about 20 minutes, then loosen bread from sides with butter knife and pop out onto a cooling rack.<br />
<br />
Enjoy!<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
AKmamaOf7http://www.blogger.com/profile/10167349040853234835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2905411997400008164.post-21913060803687004632016-10-12T17:16:00.000-07:002016-10-12T20:00:30.567-07:00The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. My Orthodox Christian take on Marie Kondo's book.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Last week our family was at a book store. My kids were all absorbed in different exciting
titles when a little turquoise book caught my eye.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“<i>The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up</i>” by Marie Kondo. "I
think I have actually heard of this book," I thought. (Which is a small miracle in and of itself, as
my head has been buried in the sand for almost two years now.) "Is this the one my mom had just told me about?" I
had just turned 40 two days before and decided to buy it for my birthday
present. I have been trying to learn how to find joy in the last few years, and one way is to buy myself a birthday present that I like. In this way I can empower myself to not become bitter if I don't receive something to my liking. It's still a broken process for a broken woman, but for now it's helping me. Regardless, about the book...I figured, how could it hurt? Maybe it will actually inspire me to
keep my house clean once and for all! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am almost finished reading the book. Let me first say that Marie, is NOT a Christian. She is from Japan and visits shrines, Buddhists
temples, and is a pagan worshiper, she discusses that briefly in her book. One
of the opening lines in the book is quoting from her fans and one of them says
that they were SO helped that not only did she get rid of all of her clutter
but she also got rid of her husband and divorced him. Um, yikes. My 18-year-old
scolded me when she read that part of the book wondering what sort of crazy
trash her mother had purchased. Good for her, she’s my fiery child and keeps me
honest. I decided to be rebellious and read it anyway.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was antsy to do some of her recommendations, but I didn’t
want to dive right in and do it in her correct order. (my rebellious side rearing it's ugly head) In hindsight I now see
why she lays down the law so-to-speak, it can create issues if you go about tidying
in the incorrect manner.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The other evening I decided to tackle some of my husband's clothes. I folded his laundry the Marie Kondo way, put it all
nicely away in his drawer. I discarded some socks and shirts that had holes in
them and “kondo-ed” his main large top drawer. I asked him about this nice pair
of pants that I bought him a few years ago. Mainly I was asking if we could get
rid of them since I didn’t see him wear them, I was trying to be true to Marie
saying that you can’t just get rid of other people’s things. In my mind, I thought that getting rid of them by asking him first was perfectly fine, but in reality it wasn't. He
reluctantly said, “Well, fine, I guess.” He was clearly annoyed, so I re-asked,
“Well, do you like them? Do you wear them a lot?” He replied, “Well, I do like
them, but I don’t wear them a lot.” I realized that I had been too pushy, I
re-asked, “Well, I don’t have to get rid of them, it’s ok, I don’t want you to
be annoyed.” He replied, “Well, I am annoyed, but I already said that you could
get rid of them, so take me at my word and just do it.” Ouch. I still didn’t
see, really, what was going on there…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This morning I was walking around in our bedroom, making the
bed, admiring his clean side of the room that I had worked on tidying up. I
then walked around my suitcase on my side of the bed, and got dressed. I picked up
the t-shirt off of our chair and put that on, the jeans that were also on the
chair, I put those on, I picked up the socks that were on the floor and put those
on. Not one item did I remove from my tidy closet as I have my clothes “stored”
on the chair and on the floor around it and on the comfortable couch. It’s easy
for me to get dressed when the clothes aren’t put away. My error hit me like a
painless loud slap across the face.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Look at you,” I thought. “Look at your clothes messily draped
on the only chair in the bedroom so that neither of us can sit there, look at
the pile of clothes that fell off of the couch. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look at the opened suitcase that you haven’t
bothered to unpack after being home for 7 days, look at the box of stuff just
sitting on the floor there that you don’t know what to do with, that has been
there for over a month now. No wonder my poor husband was annoyed at me, I’d
rather clean and sort his things rather than my own. The whole time I was asking him about his one pair of pants he was looking at more than 20 pieces of my clothing strewn about behind me. How much are my sins that
are the same way? How often have I done this to him in our twenty years of
marriage? How does he stand it? How often do I look straight past my own
clutter and sins and look at his? How blind I have been?! How selfish and
pretentious.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our soul is often referred to as a room. We have to clean
out the room of our soul in order for Christ to have a place to sit. My husband
literally doesn’t have a place to sit in our room because of MY clothes, how much more
do I need to take a closer look at my soul so that Christ (and even my husband)
has a place to sit? What sort of little sins have I allowed through my front
door? Sins can grow just like our piles of clothes can. It sits on the couch
and before you know it the pile is covering the whole thing…just as sin will
grow into a giant beast and getting rid of it is much harder than getting rid of a cute little harmless baby sin. How do we get rid of these? Frighteningly, the only way I
can see is with fierce violence. “From the days of John the Baptist until now
the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent men take it by force.” (Matthew
11:12) My unwillingness to look not only at the clothes in front of my face nor
my sins reminds me of how weak and lukewarm I really am. I remind myself of that frog
that’s in the pot that is slowly being boiled alive. How often do I make
excuses every single day for the sins that I commit? The Lord says, “Because
thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of My mouth.”
(Revelations 3:16)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are so many similarities in the way Marie approaches decluttering
to the way that we must approach the spiritual life. Marie says, “To quietly
work away at disposing of your own excess is actually the best way of dealing
with a family that doesn’t tidy.” Woah, that sounds familiar. Compare this with our own spiritual
struggles. How many times have we been told to quit looking at your neighbor’s
sins and concentrate on your own?! “As if drawn into your wake, they will begin
weeding out unnecessary belongings and tidying without your having to utter a
single complaint. It may sound incredible, but when someone starts tidying it
sets off a chain reaction.” (Marie Kondo pp. 52) The funny thing is that the
other book that I’m currently reading is, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Our
Thoughts Determine Our Lives</i>” by Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica. I literally
just read the part, “It is of great significance if there is a person who truly
prays in a family. Prayer attracts God’s Grace and all the members of the
family feel it. Even those whose hearts have grown cold. Pray always.” (#14 in
Chapter On family life) How amazing the similarities of these two statements…our
families and friends don’t need us to fix their ways, they need us to fix
ourselves. Clean up our own hearts and our own bedrooms and only then can we, with true humility and meekness, help them to clean up theirs.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The other thing that Marie harps on is making sure that the
things you keep spark joy, you must purge those things from your life that drag
you down, but in order to do that you must find the things that give you peace,
joy and comfort. How badly do we need this also in our every day life? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Finding joy is not always easy, but that is what God truly
wants from us. He desires us to be fulfilled, joyful, grateful... He gives us
roofs over our heads, money in our wallet, food in our belly, and we complain.
Why?? Well, we have people that we love who have died, we might have house in dis-repair, we might have a mean boss or even spouse. These hardships, like the thorns of a rose, bring us to our knees. On our knees we can repent of our sins and ask God to help us get up again. These hardships bring us closer to our Father who deeply loves us beyond measure. Our job is that we must be thankful
always and joyful always. It is our duty. We must look at the roses rather than their thorns. Remembering
that the money we possess, the house we own, the car we drive are not ours, but
gifts from our Creator and the lover of mankind. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For me this reminder from Elder Thaddeus was helpful and may indeed help me on my tidying up journey, “Any work we do here on
earth is God’s work. However we always work with reservation, without
sincerity. Not only can God not bear that, but no human being can. We know that
the universe belongs to God, that the Earth is God’s planet, and that everything
belongs to God, no matter what type of work we do.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m thankful that I’m reading Marie’s book while reading
Elder Thaddeus. He keeps things real. I realize now that my job, the one that
God gave me, is to focus on my family, my husband and my children. I’m supposed
to keep a tidy house, to cook good meals for them. I always wanted this job
while I was a kid and after 20 years of marriage I’m finally waking up and
realizing what my actual job is. God gave me my heart's desire and I have spent so much of that time being miserable in the work that He gave to me out of His deep love for me. I took a left turn somewhere along the way. Let’s pray that I can have the strength and courage to stay on track.<br />
<br />
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I appreciate Marie’s book and her attitude to look at all
items with extreme scrutiny. She encourages you to thank each item
for its purpose that it had in your life and then give it away or
discard it. With the sin that we face we will not give it that gratitude like
we do with our things. We must spit on it when we shove it out the door. If we
treat it with kindness and love, then we still love that sin more than God and
we are not really getting rid of it. Just like I have taught my kids to tidy up
their room, you start with the largest items taking up the most floor space
first, you get a cleaner room in a much faster way. We will do likewise and
tackle the big sins first, not those little ones. If we first uproot the large
beasts from their comfy chair we can more easily see and then deal with the
smaller sins that remain. I wish that tidying our hearts was as easy as tidying our homes. It. Will. Be. Hard. But, it is do-able. We CAN uproot the
sins that keep us from drawing closer to our families, our husbands and our God.
Maybe decluttering my heart will help me to start dealing with some of my physical
clutter, and maybe decluttering my house will allow me to face the past, thank
my struggles for teaching me valuable lessons and then move forward on the path
towards Christ. I know that it’s far more important to declutter my soul than my house, but with Christ’s help, I can end up doing both in this
process.</div>
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Glory be to God for all things!!!<br />
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AKmamaOf7http://www.blogger.com/profile/10167349040853234835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2905411997400008164.post-61632832348005170432016-08-04T00:51:00.005-07:002016-08-04T01:17:53.695-07:00Every Day Miracles, a couple of ours<div>
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<div>
<b>Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns,
for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable to Him than they are? </b><br />
<b>Matthew 6:26</b></div>
<br />
I
think it's time to tell some stories about this last year.<br />
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Today I was
inspired to do so a couple of times due to a book I was reading called,
Athonite Fathers and Athonite Matters...don't let the book title fool
you. It's quite fun to read. It's written by Elder (now Saint) Paisios
who only just died in 1994. He died about 2 months after I graduated
high school, a very short 22 years ago. I have read a couple of books
that had mentioned him lately, and he sounds like the most precious,
loving human who ever lived. I saw this book was written by him and it
immediately sucked me in by his self deprecating and lovely personality.<br />
<br /></div>
The first thing that convinced me was the very first
paragraph where he bemoaned the fact that he didn't take the time to
write down more of the miracles that happened on the Holy Mountain while
he lived there. He had to write the book on memory alone and he wished
that he had taken more notes. But as he mentioned, these miracles
happened so often that one hardly wrote them down because they would
have to write a lot. How similar is this to being a parent?! Our
children do miraculous things on a daily basis! They sit up, they roll
over, they crawl, they walk, they climb up, they say two words in a row,
they sing the alphabet, the list goes on forever!!! I know I'm often
feeling guilty for not writing down enough of the fantastic things that
are mile-stones in my seven precious children's lives. </div>
<br />
I
then read about the very simple minded monk who thought that the
Ascension was a saint. He would pray to, "Saint Ascension". He received a
sick monk one day at his monastery and didn't have any nutritious food
to feed the sick man. He went to the cellar that contained such limited
food supply and stuck his hand out the window that was on cliffs high
above the Mediterranean Sea. He prayed, "Saint Ascension, please give me
some food so that I might feed this man." And into his hand jumped a
fish. He gave glory to God and made the sick monk a fish.<br />
</div>
Rewind
to last week. One of our kids threw up in our room last Wednesday, then
on Friday night I caught the bug but managed to avoid the throw-up part
(thank God!) On Sunday night the real fun began when the baby got sick
and the roller coaster has not stopped yet. The 24 hour stomach bug is
much more serious and lasts longer when hitting a family of nine.<br />
</div>
Tonight,
at dinner time, a family from the church drove into our driveway.
Fortunately I had gotten dressed by this point, that is a small miracle
in and of itself. I answered the door and they happily handed me a bag
of pre-made food. They had some leftovers from the soup kitchen they had
served tonight. A gallon of lentil soup and a box of sandwiches. Wow. I
felt like Saint Ascension had just placed a fish in my hand. God
certainly uses what ever means to take good care of us...and in spite of
my lack of faith, God handed us dinner tonight. This sort of thing
could be called coincidental, but is it really? I needed a break, and
this was just what I needed.<br />
</div>
The last year is literally a
blur. I know that it was very hard and so hard in fact, that I literally
had to give over any semblance of control over my life into the hands
of God. This has really changed me and now that the hard year is over
and we have had some really nice few months of breathing room, I'm
extremely thankful for it all. There are a few miracles to note. I'll
try to write one or two of them down now.<br />
</div>
After we got here
we had only our nine seat Yukon. It was a nice car that we had bought only
the year before. We had to sell both our beater car and our beater
truck in Alaska, they weren't worth bringing to Washington. But now we
only had one car and very often my husband has to be to church an hour
or two before I do if we go up to the Monastery for church. We were
trying to figure out how to afford a second car. We realized that we may
have to sell the Yukon to afford a second car or hope that God could
drop a good beater car into our lap. The bummer is is that the Monastery
is much further away than our church in Alaska was and it's up a major
highway 15 minutes, and it's up in the mountains another thousand feet
up and in the winter here the roads are more sketchy than in Alaska, so
the reality is that we needed a second reliable and hopefully
four-wheel-drive car. We had no idea how we were going to afford it.<br />
</div>
About
two nights later our Yukon was stolen out of our driveway because
brilliant me left the keys in the ignition and left the doors unlocked.
They took it out, rallied it very hard, it had branches stuck in it.
Basically they beat it all to hell. Then they returned it to our
driveway and went and stole two other cars that same night. It was
exactly one year ago tonight. My husband woke me up on August 4th (our
daughter's birthday) and asked me if I had gotten into a wreck the day
before and had forgotten to tell me. I tried to recall and strangely had
a dream about being in the back of our car while going over a huge jump
and the boys driving it were having a grand time...but I realized that
that had been a dream and I just couldn't remember crashing the car the
day before. Boy, that was a headache, but at that point so much other
stuff had happened that this was like no big deal. It was a big deal but
it was comical at that point at how much "temptation" had been thrown
at us by this point. I don't really know another way to phrase it other
than as temptation, but I could also call it part of our struggle of
moving here.<br />
</div>
We had just paid off the Yukon with the money
from selling the house. My husband was convinced that he had just taken
the insurance off of it and that we only had liability. Even if we had
full coverage State Farm would surely not cover this theft when we left
the keys in the car. I told him I'd call them anyway just to check. We
had insurance, full coverage with a $500 deductible. And apparently they
still cover it if the crazy wife leaves the keys in the car. I didn't
hide that. <br />
<br />
State Farm offered us a settlement of about $13,000,
this was a much lower number than I thought it should be. (I figured I'd
just share the car prices since it makes it easier to follow). I
decided to do the work of taking all of their cars that they compared
ours to, a list of about 30 and go through the list with a fine-toothed
comb to be sure that the comps were valid and in-line with what is
reasonable to comp us with. I found many errors on their part. With the VIN they provided me I could actually look up the comp vehicle
that was for sale to see if they were correct with their pricing and
list of amenities our car had versus the others. Remember, this was a
NICE Yukon with decent miles...not the middle-of-the road one. It had
taken me about 3 weeks of research before we decided on this Yukon the
previous year. It had even just had a new transmission installed in it
at 80K miles. <br />
<br />
I read some articles written by insurance
adjusters saying that they want to please the insured, but it is their
job to offer a too-low of a bid to see if they can get off easy. They
encourage the insured to do their own research, so I researched my tail
off. I followed one of the fellow's advice and came up with one perfect
comp and asked for that exact number. I finally got a different person
on the phone after playing phone-tag with them for about 10 days. She
had been doing this a while and was happy with my number. I asked for
$17,376 (the number was more than what I had paid in Anchorage, but the
reality was is that is what I *needed* in order to replace it with a
comparable car). This even included the extra 8% tax that I asked for
because you must pay sales tax on cars in Washington and the insurance
is supposed to pay that. They also added in extra to cover the new
license and registration fee of a new car. In the end we got about two
thousand dollars more than what we had paid for it a year before that. I
was stunned. <br />
<br />
With all of the research I was doing on replacing
the car and how expensive and virtually impossible it really would be to
find one exactly like ours, I was very pleased to hear that the fellow
that owned the body shop right in town was selling his Suburban. Also
black. And he wanted $3000 and was happy to change out all of the seats in order to make it fit nine people. He liked his Suburban just fine but wanted a newer one
for his family. I wasn't sure weather to trust him or to be leery of
the car since it was older and had a lot more mileage...but it just felt
like such a good match. The mechanic that I had become acquainted with
worked on this Suburban and knew the owner. He assured me that it was a
fine car and we shouldn't be afraid to buy it. In general it wasn't as
nice, but for $3000 and it being generally the same vehicle? It was hard
to ignore the fact that God was handing us our solution. This left us
with $14,000 to find a good daily driver and leave the Suburban at home
for the most part...just take it out for family outings like church, but
there was no reason I couldn't normally drive the newer, smaller car to run errands while the kids stayed home. <br />
<br />
So,
to complete this story, I agreed to my husbands long-standing wish of buying a new
Subaru. I was usually the scrooge of the family especially with cars. With this sort of down payment
it was hard to say no. I don't mind researching cars or haggling over
them, so I found a good deal on a 2015 Forrester in the color we both
liked that was on sale to get ready for the new 2016 models. I asked them to lower the price and they bumped it down another thousand dollars In all honesty, I could not find a used Subaru for a better deal,
less money, sure, but the miles get wracked up on them so fast that it
didn't end up being worth it. We now have an affordable car payment and
it will be paid off in 4 years (well more like 3 years now). We have had
zero buyers remorse on either vehicle and it's exactly what our family
needed exactly when we needed it. It was a bit hairy of a way to get
there, but hey, Glory to God!<br />
</div>
Another big miracle was when our rental house caught on fire. I'll have to share that another time as it's late.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV4baN13O89ttakOLAW4oaaS7OUVAYtyrgr76otzRlo9amkqbv4nAdbamFtOe2usbDvfMrjfAb448mHe0iXJ8H4tygKw1ZDkWQaI8w5-fDFlmws17kE87hZs74UEWA0JkJDERqH0jNgRQ/s1600/2015-08-04+10.23.59.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV4baN13O89ttakOLAW4oaaS7OUVAYtyrgr76otzRlo9amkqbv4nAdbamFtOe2usbDvfMrjfAb448mHe0iXJ8H4tygKw1ZDkWQaI8w5-fDFlmws17kE87hZs74UEWA0JkJDERqH0jNgRQ/s400/2015-08-04+10.23.59.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Yukon the day we found it totaled.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0QqBbOxuhDgvYmGt4F9VwowVVI5LIyfw8nsJu3hW6m0WT6UoUZYe_23Gm3zir0TJDCKA7SpqF2x3RN987NWqFc3NXg8u6jZwA-aKmFT8qmPxE85fAUSwn7jvBG0CODZk3Xss28_vf56Q/s1600/2015-08-04+10.26.02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0QqBbOxuhDgvYmGt4F9VwowVVI5LIyfw8nsJu3hW6m0WT6UoUZYe_23Gm3zir0TJDCKA7SpqF2x3RN987NWqFc3NXg8u6jZwA-aKmFT8qmPxE85fAUSwn7jvBG0CODZk3Xss28_vf56Q/s400/2015-08-04+10.26.02.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Officer taking prints.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBhfvYVgI9TsDtQ-4KkLybxxyPcjQ1B9A9RRDAvpV5RYMH9gv-EbcId6kCW46SKEOdkIV2QKvQTlMWKvcaHw-AOn6hVwmX7oxzMZYRnW1xziPwXUe7Qsd2mg443-XBgRIZKg2fMksAb9s/s1600/enhance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBhfvYVgI9TsDtQ-4KkLybxxyPcjQ1B9A9RRDAvpV5RYMH9gv-EbcId6kCW46SKEOdkIV2QKvQTlMWKvcaHw-AOn6hVwmX7oxzMZYRnW1xziPwXUe7Qsd2mg443-XBgRIZKg2fMksAb9s/s400/enhance.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our newer Suburban. Can you tell the difference? He even put my nice tires on it.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />AKmamaOf7http://www.blogger.com/profile/10167349040853234835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2905411997400008164.post-62555224455166559492016-03-11T14:14:00.000-08:002016-03-12T00:52:34.748-08:00Our thoughts and feelings are not us!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I think there are re-occurring themes in our life. I believe there is a reason. You hear it once, it goes in one ear and out the other. You hear it again and think, "that's strange, I just heard something similar..." You hear it a third time and you take notice..."I see a pattern here." We probably don't consciously see that God is poking at us, but He probably is. <br />
<br />
One thing that I have heard lately is, "Our thoughts are not us." Yes, it is true that Elder Thaddeus wrote a book called, "Out thoughts determine our lives." That is also true...but what thoughts? That's where the real tricky work begins, separating out those pesky thoughts...the bad ones and the good ones. What we give over to, the thoughts that we choose...<b>those</b> are what determine our lives.<br />
<br />
A larger theme that was in this post has been re-occurring in the last four years of my life. "God loves me." This one is huge. If you don't get it, you just don't get it... I'm just at the beginning stages of getting it. This concept is crazy with how different this makes E.V.R.Y. L.I.T.T.L.E. T.H.I.N.G. in your life sooooo different/better/amazing/simple/awesome.<br />
<br />
We recently were given the name Ss. Joachim and Anna for our new little mission parish here in Goldendale, WA. Our mission is right on Main Street in a store front building in Goldendale. Just 10 minutes up the mountain on highway 97, almost to the top of Satus Pass, lies the most wonderful Greek Orthodox women's monastery, St. John the Forerunner. They just celebrated their 20th year! I could talk for days about the nuns and the monastery and how integral it has been in our lives, so God putting us here at the mission next door is incredible...how God loves us! <br />
<br />
I have loved Saint Anna since I was a kid. After all, she shares my name. Often, I would wish that I was closer to her...knowing that she must have been a wonderful and wise mother. I could learn a lot from her, if only I prayed to her more, then I could get to know her better.<br />
<br />
I thought (somewhat selfishly) it would be quite fitting to have wonderful married saints as a supportive parish right next door to the monastery church. Both monastic and married are so important in the life of the church and I was cheering on these saints to be our patrons. It also, just literally dawned on me, that Saint Anna was St. Elizabeth's aunt...Elizabeth the mother of St. John the Baptist. Ss. Joachim and Anna were Saint John's aunt and uncle!<br />
<br />
My husband called me up one afternoon in January, with the good news, while my 15-year-old son was driving us into town. I started weeping with joy, my poor son didn't know what was the matter. Metropolitan JOSEPH had written us a letter telling us that Ss. Joachim and Anna were going to be our saints and that they have always been dear to his heart. What a wonderful gift! God is so good and loves us so much!<br />
<br />
In doing research about their life tonight, I stumbled upon a blog called, "Holy Nativity Orthodox Church" and an old post from 2010 called "<a href="http://holynativity.blogspot.com/2010/09/poor.html">The Poor</a>" where the priest talks about Ss. Joachim and Anna's charitable donations, giving a third of their money to the local temple, keeping one third to live on and giving one third to the poor.<br />
<br />
Liking how the author wrote and the words he said rung true, I followed the blog to it's new home on Ancient Faith Radio's blogs called, "Praying in the Rain." The priest is Fr. Michael Gillis from Langley, BC. I know I have heard his name before, but I'm not sure where from. Now that we're in the Pacific Northwest, there are a lot of new priests to meet! We're not so secluded as we were in Alaska, and now I hear names in passing but they don't stick...probably not 'till I hear them a third time...<br />
<br />
One of the newer posts he wrote caught my eye, "<a href="http://blogs.ancientfaith.com/prayingintherain/2016/01/1666/">The Almost blind leading the blind</a>." That has been another theme recently (the blind leading the blind)...so I clicked on it. One of the other themes popped up in the post. "Our thoughts and feelings are not us." Where he explains to a new Orthodox person who is just now discovering for the first time, that those thoughts that pop into our heads do NOT belong to us and we have a choice on weather to listen to them or not. We can talk to those thoughts, let them control us, or we can slam the door in their face. We can smack them away like a mosquito.<br />
<br />
She asked him four questions. He answered "I don't know." to two of them and focused on the first and fourth. (Don't you appreciate people who can just say,"I don't know", when they don't know?! I love that kind of honesty.) The fourth issue she had is not currently a theme of mine, so I won't even mention it but he will mention it briefly, since they are related. She wrote this about her thoughts: “I find myself stopping before I move on to a secondary emotional
state…. I am able to pause after the impulse reaction before engaging
with the secondary emotions/thoughts that usually perpetuate
frustration/anger/etc. or provide distraction from what is truly being
revealed.” <br />
<br />
He responds with these following paragraphs... (the bold part in the second paragraph is crazy, yes, yes, yes!!!)<br />
<br />
"Beginning with question #1, noticing thoughts and feelings before
they get into that secondary state is very important. <b>When you do this,
you realize that you are not your thoughts and feelings.</b> You have
those thoughts and feelings, but you decide what to do with them—if you
can notice them before they take on a life of their own. As you
continue the practice of noticing thoughts and feelings, and then
controlling yourself and/or channeling the thoughts and feelings in a
healthy way, then the Holy Spirit will teach you deeper things. The
Holy Spirit will teach you about your own darkness (which is connected
to your question #4) and you will learn to accept Light in those dark
areas. <b>What I mean is that you will learn to hold both your brokenness
and God’s love for you in your heart at the same time.</b> This will not be
easy; or rather,<b> this will be painful</b>, it really doesn’t have anything
to do with easy or not easy."<br />
<br />
"It will be painful because we all wish we could offer God a better
offering than who we really are, but part of our salvation is realizing
that we have only our broken selves to offer God—only the two widow’s
mites, only the precious myrrh earned by prostitution of some sort, only
the brokenness of a prodigal who has wasted all of her Father’s gifts.
As we know this more deeply, two things happen.<br />
First, the amazing extent of God’s love becomes more real to
us. When I see myself as a basically good person who merely makes
mistakes, then it doesn’t take a very big God to love me. <b>But when I
begin to see the depths of my darkness, then God grows exponentially in
my eyes. </b> <b>It takes a very great God to love such a broken person as me.</b>
A corollary of this realization is that <b>if God loves this much someone
as broken as me, then God must be able to love everyone, no matter how
broken they are</b>, just as much as God loves me. Seeing and accepting
both your own brokenness and God’s love for you also helps you
understand and not judge the brokenness of others: especially the
brokenness of those in the Church or of the sins and mistakes Church
itself both today and throughout history."<br />
<br />
"The Fathers talk about three stages or aspects of our salvation: (1)
purification, (2) illumination and (3) theosis. Purification has at
least partly to do with your question #1. As we purify our nous by
prayerfully attending to our thoughts, we put ourselves in a position in
which illumination is more conducive (we are better able to notice the
light of illumination because we are cleaning up the inner noise and
garbage running rampant in our thoughts and feelings). And this then
leads to theosis, actual transformation, becoming more like Christ.
However, transformation, or theosis, is not something we can see in
ourselves (as a student doesn’t realize her growing knowledge, but only
how much more there is to learn than she ever imagined before—but it is
her very growth in knowledge that enables her to realize how much she
doesn’t know). So for most people, especially those living in the
world, our experience of theosis is mostly in area #1, purification of
the nous by attending to and managing thoughts and feelings through
prayerful attention (often by practicing the Jesus Prayer). Then, as we
do this, we have moments of awareness, #2 illumination. But what is
illumined is what had been in the dark, often something we didn’t want
to see, often something ugly about ourselves. Here is where the verse
comes in, “Agree with your adversary quickly while you are on the way
with him.” Our “adversary” here is the Holy Spirit illuminating
something we don’t want to see in ourselves. <b>But rather than trying to
justify ourselves, we agree (which is, by the way, what ‘to confess’
means)</b>."<br />
<br />
"However, we can only agree if we are secure in God’s love. Remember
the verse, “with the same measure you use, it will be measured to you”?
When we judge others harshly, it becomes difficult for us to accept
God’s love for us as we are illumined by the Holy Spirit to see how
broken and dark we really are. In these cases, we either fall into
depression or arrogant delusion. But if we are generous in our
judgement of others, it is easier for us to accept God’s love for us
when we experience moments of illumination. That is, we end up judging
ourselves as harshly or as mercifully as we judge others."<br />
<br />
"The resulting fruit of this process is transformation, or (3)
theosis, which we can never see in ourselves. As I said, what we mostly
see is the “spiritual warfare” of the battle to be aware of and control
our own thoughts."<br />
<br />
Wow. Ok, so some of this went over my head, I'm clearly not at the the third paragraph...but that's ok. The parts in bold were the ones that got me...they seem to be re-occurring themes in our house lately, or at least in my mind. I will never be a big reader, so thank God for priests (and smart Deacon husbands) like this who read and take the time to teach via blogs and home discussions with me and the kids. Because, every now and again, God finds a way to poke me with what I need to hear that day.<br />
<br />
Most Holy Saints Joachim and Anna, pray to God for us! (Already I'm praying to her more! Glory to God!)<br />
<br />
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AKmamaOf7http://www.blogger.com/profile/10167349040853234835noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2905411997400008164.post-30900558277530691112016-03-01T20:49:00.008-08:002018-08-16T16:03:42.567-07:00Let's get this show on the road<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Update: Today is 8/16/18 and I discovered this post written up but left in draft format and not published. I had published it for a very short time but then removed it. I think it's kind of raw and maybe I was feeling vulnerable so I took it down. But I'm re-publishing it today. I think it's nice to see how difficult life can be sometimes. The move to WA was brutal but life is getting back to normal and I'm trying to get back to my blog again. If you see something that's simply not appropriate just let me know. I'm not the best editor especially of my own stuff and I love people who can tell me when I made a typo, bad grammar or generally said something really stupid.........<br />
<br />
In 3 days time, it will have been 8 months since our family of nine boarded a plane, having only one-way tickets, for Portland, Oregon. We would not be returning to Alaska any time soon. We were moving away. I videoed the take off and wept as the plane sped up, the trees whizzed by and the wheels pulled up into the belly of that plane. Nobody noticed the tears streaming down my cheeks. Nobody else on that flight knew that we were moving. It was a normal Thursday, June 4th for everyone else. But not for us. Not for me.<br />
<br />
I have spent 8 months being tired, being frustrated, being overwhelmed, feeling lost, feeling raw, and eating too much crap. I didn't not like it here. I wasn't regretting moving. But it was like my brain had to be turned inside out, and that is generally uncomfortable.<br />
<br />
I mentioned two posts ago that I was ready to <a href="http://oursillyoldlives.blogspot.com/2015/10/finding-me.html">find me again</a>. Well, me is back. She is overweight, tired of feeling tired, and ready to rock and roll. She is overwhelmed because God has given the family an amazing house. The reality is, is that this house was chosen because it seemed to be being offered up on a silver platter to us. I essentially gave in to my husband on this one. I "sacrificed" my own will for his will and that of the will of God on this one. That's a huge deal for me. I like being in control. I like to say that my husband wears the pants in the family...but as they say. The man is the head and the woman is the neck. He loves me and wants me to be happy, so he typically gives in to me on most things. He would have let me pass on this house, we actually did once earlier in the summer. He didn't push it, it was ultimately something I decided to choose to be happy with because I knew how much he loved it, but it had to be my decision too. The reality is, if I really have the ability to choose to be happy anywhere God puts us, then why would this house be any different? It was structurally sound, beautiful in my husbands eyes and I knew that I could grow to love it. I have one photo of him in the living room just grinning, the most contented grin, from when they were showing us the house. I kept coming back to that picture. I knew he would be happy here and I knew I could be too. <br />
<br />
We were allowed to move in 2 weeks before Christmas and since the bank was not ready for us to close the owners let us rent. The oven didn't work and they did their best to replace it. We closed on the house January 1st. We finally got a working oven 2 weeks ago and we got a lot more unpacking done in February too. January was crazy and we weren't really settled in 'till February.<br />
<br />
Today is a landmark day for me. It's March 1st. We are doing our very first canning session since moving here. (I'm teaching E the <a href="http://oursillyoldlives.blogspot.com/2015/02/canning-beans-my-way.html">canning beans my way</a> method, it's been almost exactly one year since we canned beans last.) I made a new chore chart for the kids last week and they were actually excited. Hubby talked to me yesterday about eating more healthy and how he wants to try it and it was perfect timing! I'm sooo tired of being overweight, Lent starts in 2 weeks and I'm excited that he's also ready for a change! Last night we had green salad and roasted asparagus with dinner and tonight we're making chicken and roasted Brussels sprouts and broccoli. Hubby has started cooking more too and though we just got him a fryer I think he's more inspired to get away from the vegetable oils and stick to animal fats. That's good with me too, it seems like a more natural choice for eating.<br />
<br />
Anyway, just wanted to report on our silly old lives thus far.<br />
<br />
A few updates that have happened in the last 8 months:<br />
-Oldest daughter bought a car (Feb)<br />
-Oldest daughter and oldest son got lifeguard training last summer and will be lifeguards this summer.<br />
-Oldest daughter started working at McDonalds and is officially graduated from high-school. She's still trying to decide what to do with her life but is earning money for now.<br />
-Our car was stolen at our other house on youngest daughter's birthday. It was rallied, totaled and returned to our driveway. I haggled hard with State Farm and they paid out an acceptable sum of money. We had only had that car for a little over a year since I had gotten rear ended in 2014 in Wasilla and that totaled our minivan. It gave us enough money to buy a much older Suburban and get all the seats transferred over from our Yukon so that it would fit all nine of us. Also for a hefty down payment on a new Subaru Forester.<br />
-We started attending the mission here in the funeral home. My Deacon husband hunted for a rental and found one, a stinky old building on Main Street with leaks that had been vacant for 3 years because the land lords didn't take great care of it. He re-wrote the rental contract, got them to fix a ton of stuff before we would move in and negotiated the rent payments down on a one year lease. He got the non-profit organization status for the church finalized. He submitted names for our church to the Metropolitan and my favorite name was chosen, Ss. Joachim and Anna. I could not be more elated. It seemed so fitting for being just down the street from the Orthodox Monastery. Our mission is here for married couples, for people who want a parish life but who like to live close to a monastery. We are here for converts and plan on converting the town! The men stumbled upon a great piece of property that was for sale out by the main highway. It is 8 acres and though the man selling it got a higher offer from someone else, he said that he preferred that it go to our church and is giving us a very good deal on it. We closed on that in January and begin making payments next month. This is a poor town and there is much chatter about how will we receive enough funds to build a church...but as our priest says, "God owns all of the money in the universe. Do not worry about money." I love that.<br />
-K will turn 18 in May, A turned 15 in June, M turned 14 in February, E turned 12 in December, F turned 10 in February, S turned 7 in August, TT turned 1 in August.<br />
-Our last house was infested with box elder bugs. That was terrible.<br />
-Our last house was not heated very well, 2 of the kids bedrooms and the office didn't have any heat source. That was also terrible.<br />
<br />
Mostly I have become generally more thankful and a lot more prone to saying the Jesus Prayer (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner!). Thank God for that, right?! I have needed to cling to something that I know, and I know that no matter where we move, no matter if someone dies. Our Christ God will be the constant in this crazy life that we live. We are on an ocean with waves crashing around and He is our rock. Clinging to Him has helped me so much and drawn me closer to Him. If that is all that I got out of this move, that would be the most important. I am amazed at the gifts He has poured out onto us. I am amazed that this house was actually built for our family 50 years ago...for us. Every day that I live here, there is something else I discover that is so perfect for us.<br />
<br />
Thank God. I'm back. I'm ready to re-boot this life of mine. Thank God. <br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjenHFhestjxoXNvY_a618UWYvyZZEeyZ2NMaNUkLJKjVmyc6sFV0ZKdrNGqAvOJENJmLAFbB-jfNr30LieWBPhn4PfcYRv6iXSHHiS3RVG5_FqcG6LrQxCqrlFp3cKEyEF9CgRMqvnNdg/s1600/index.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjenHFhestjxoXNvY_a618UWYvyZZEeyZ2NMaNUkLJKjVmyc6sFV0ZKdrNGqAvOJENJmLAFbB-jfNr30LieWBPhn4PfcYRv6iXSHHiS3RVG5_FqcG6LrQxCqrlFp3cKEyEF9CgRMqvnNdg/s320/index.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Canning beans with E.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6bP7SviAyCitHGSYzV5VNq6PalA5xqWQxQu5inRAxeCj1A1u7LuVAeOymc7B4NqZWH6C3Y6T5TADH3DtEtRaa5F-haoZM_RcOXAcbMe50NmhwDAlfXRAi23mSFdwB8zhLQO333h8wAxc/s1600/deer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6bP7SviAyCitHGSYzV5VNq6PalA5xqWQxQu5inRAxeCj1A1u7LuVAeOymc7B4NqZWH6C3Y6T5TADH3DtEtRaa5F-haoZM_RcOXAcbMe50NmhwDAlfXRAi23mSFdwB8zhLQO333h8wAxc/s320/deer.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There are so many deer around here.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbd6_s0mrzsACDJxMwElugaaQrFZ5f0ZBBFAUWU7kchyChwe_pKGM4qz1kMUlUK-r_mDFRA544ED6Pmspx2UDZylzs-2w5h57UTljesEWVrH0cR3ZQbnbwo1IcvWM_ernZLGpAK8UyfLw/s1600/house.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbd6_s0mrzsACDJxMwElugaaQrFZ5f0ZBBFAUWU7kchyChwe_pKGM4qz1kMUlUK-r_mDFRA544ED6Pmspx2UDZylzs-2w5h57UTljesEWVrH0cR3ZQbnbwo1IcvWM_ernZLGpAK8UyfLw/s400/house.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our beautiful house. A frame houses apparently look good on me.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEituxGIokifpglk-i18dXjrkWGn_XiGYFXNpYLjJ9Isvr7meyUVYTc6afCYY-RFLWfSPrOqKTvzXfJWYxXF1ffNiY33UyGD9_3NCMPlux11GM7DXXCEE3Q4qd6xEBKWayA-4ySK7o7BNTI/s1600/sus+and+baby.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEituxGIokifpglk-i18dXjrkWGn_XiGYFXNpYLjJ9Isvr7meyUVYTc6afCYY-RFLWfSPrOqKTvzXfJWYxXF1ffNiY33UyGD9_3NCMPlux11GM7DXXCEE3Q4qd6xEBKWayA-4ySK7o7BNTI/s320/sus+and+baby.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These two. So funny. Looking at deer.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSrHKaDklOkvMAeZJLm9cbvs4lt96xLE0FfognlcwYR3Rm1ExvJty1tjPE2FsGT9oI5h4i6I6NVwOWTMQVJGEc6cTU0DKLOTEHC8cyROEURgrLSwdi_XBy2BMsrKgKiRcnJ59NdVKDG6c/s1600/sus+vacuum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSrHKaDklOkvMAeZJLm9cbvs4lt96xLE0FfognlcwYR3Rm1ExvJty1tjPE2FsGT9oI5h4i6I6NVwOWTMQVJGEc6cTU0DKLOTEHC8cyROEURgrLSwdi_XBy2BMsrKgKiRcnJ59NdVKDG6c/s320/sus+vacuum.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chore time, this girl is a good worker.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2etreSkl19mnvfJ9x7cTjvoNUhQsavZ2ko2h96ngnNjeu0mPLLPTp4UQOHfX9hRFPK8I6PMQO9ds4UQZwmyWix2nEls8FooMtEZWr0BPW7itk7k9BgcdPrz14rdTwMTtFzZ2PhM_ZUBc/s1600/croped+living+room.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2etreSkl19mnvfJ9x7cTjvoNUhQsavZ2ko2h96ngnNjeu0mPLLPTp4UQOHfX9hRFPK8I6PMQO9ds4UQZwmyWix2nEls8FooMtEZWr0BPW7itk7k9BgcdPrz14rdTwMTtFzZ2PhM_ZUBc/s400/croped+living+room.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The convincing photo.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
AKmamaOf7http://www.blogger.com/profile/10167349040853234835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2905411997400008164.post-52991551226884783992016-02-10T01:29:00.001-08:002017-03-28T14:31:08.514-07:00The real reason everyone loves Fixer Upper<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Fixer Upper...have you noticed? The next Martha Steward has arrived. Everyone is talking about this show... their stuff is all over pinterest, even phone conversations. Men even like it?! Why? What is it that makes this show so great?<br />
<br />
I love the cased openings and french doors, I mean, let's get real. Joanna Gaines has great taste. But why am I only in the middle of the 2nd season and re-watching the first season on Netflix? (Thank goodness for Netflix, because like the Gaines, we don't have TV either!) It's because I'm waiting for my husband to come home from his trip to finish watching the 2nd season with me, he won't let me watch the new episodes without him. Why does my husband like it so much? This is the first-ever HGTV show he has ever actually wanted to watch... <br />
<br />
I realized last night while I was watching the episode in the first season, episode 4, when they are making a home for the single mother. There was a lot of extra sweetness in this episode, more than usual. And something that Chip said struck me, I can't recall it exactly, but it was something like, "When I make Joanna happy I feel like I can take on the whole world." And then proceeded to do his fake superman ripping off his shirt thing. What husband usually has a wife who makes him feel that way? I think this is the first TV show since Leave it to Beaver (or something similar, since I am too young for that one) where the wife strives to be respectful of her husband. And if she messes<br />
up (like we all do) she quickly digs herself out of her cute, tiny, ship lap hole and makes up for it correcting what she said or saying, "But you're so cute!" And that magically makes up for everything. You can see it on his face, the sparkle in his eye and his big crooked-toothed grin. It says, "It's ok, she loves me and appreciates me."<br />
<br />
I realized that (despite Chips name) Chip and Joanna are lacking of chips on their shoulders. They are well rounded, confident and secure in their love for each other. How many couples do you know, right now, in the real world or on TV who actually love each other that way and respect each other like that? It is something that we don't see. He was obviously well loved as a child as was she. It really shows. They have something that we all crave, love.<br />
<br />
Their Texas accents are nice, Chip's hair is great, Joanna's outfits are to die for. But anyone you stick on TV can get those things. You can't make up real love. Not even in a well rehearsed reality TV show....and theirs definitely isn't. I don't think the cue cards read, "Now Chip shows us his belly and makes Joanna snort." I just have this feeling it's not there.<br />
<br />
Joanna clearly isn't a feminist, but she clearly isn't afraid to take charge. THANK YOU!!! Women can be perfectly strong and wonderful and amazing with out having to declare their women-strength at all times and go around telling everyone how strong she is because she's a "strong" woman. A real woman says to her kids, "Look how strong Daddy is!" when talking about her husband. A real woman asks her manly husband nicely, "Honey, can you please look under the house for me and see how bad that rot is?" "Thank you so much." Thank you, she says thank you to her husband. How many husbands yearn for a wife that asks nicely then says thank you. For good measure she tells him he is strong and cute and if he's really helpful she offers to make him a ham sandwich. Men aren't complicated, they only need a few things...appreciation, food, and snuggle-in-bed time. <br />
<br />
I really hope the people who make this show wake up and smell the coffee. I'm sick of seeing the men made fun of on TV shows. Sitcoms, dramas, you name it, the woman is the hero and the man is a zero. It's ridiculous. I would love for this man-hating society that we live in to pull their head out of their bottoms and wake up to who people want to watch. Back to the roots, real marriages like the Gaines. <br />
<br />
<br />
To, Chip and Joanna (if you ever read this),<br />
<br />
Thank you for being a good example to us. Thank you for helping us to learn how to be a better wife and a better husband. Thank you for reminding us in such a fun way that loving is giving of yourself to another person. For reminding us to be kind and thank our spouse and to lift them up in this difficult culture that we face. Thank you, Joanna for being firm but kind and an excellent example for how wives should treat their husbands. For not beating Chip over the head for his silliness and allowing him to be who he is. Thank you, Chip, for realizing your that your wife was so talented and pushing her to her potential and being that safe harbor that every woman yearns for. Clearly you are Christ loving people and teaching many by example.<br />
<br />
Oh, and you make beautiful babies and houses too.<br />
<br />
-Anna, mother of 7, wife of almost 20 years, striving to be a better wife and mother and striving to love Christ<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl0coAWTMqQoT6lBEt24Ig1EXZhycZSYo91trxEJiX5xdJ54N-HtbKC_lvYyLFm68vRz4sQQeGvms46OWpvJdNLg27Vy5pp_k_294uoal-KiNsZgFhRD4b7CD_5d1qZ5jQ9ws1Yg-jh_o/s1600/BP_HFXUP306H_hosts-Chip-and-Joanna-Gaines_cr_195736_652668-1201525.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.616.616.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl0coAWTMqQoT6lBEt24Ig1EXZhycZSYo91trxEJiX5xdJ54N-HtbKC_lvYyLFm68vRz4sQQeGvms46OWpvJdNLg27Vy5pp_k_294uoal-KiNsZgFhRD4b7CD_5d1qZ5jQ9ws1Yg-jh_o/s400/BP_HFXUP306H_hosts-Chip-and-Joanna-Gaines_cr_195736_652668-1201525.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.616.616.jpeg" width="398" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thanks, <a href="http://www.hgtv.com/design-blog/shows/a-fixer-upper-gift-for-you">HGTV</a>, for introducing us to such a good example of a marriage.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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AKmamaOf7http://www.blogger.com/profile/10167349040853234835noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2905411997400008164.post-87309937087475812492015-10-27T21:42:00.001-07:002015-10-27T21:49:51.302-07:00Finding Me<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
One thing that I had in Alaska was a sense knowledge in everything there was to know about what needed knowing. If I didn't know how to do it, Google was right there to help me figure it out. High speed internet and Youtube videos have been utilized to their fullest extent at our house. You name it, I could do it. Were you looking for someone to do a great repair on your home? I knew the guy. Looking for the you-pick farm and the best deals on produce? I knew where to send you. Looking for that lady who sells hay and straw for half the price of the feed store? I have her number too. Need amazing garlic that grows in Alaska? I have that for you in my gardening lair and I can even teach you how to grow it. There's a lot of pride and joy that come from being a know-it-all and I was that person, full of pride, full of joy and full of know.<br />
<br />
That woman is gone. <br />
<br />
I mentioned about the woe-is-me-ness in the last post that I wrote. I lost my shoes, I lost my blanket, my home is gone and now me...Me is gone. I miss Me.<br />
<br />
I realized something just this week. I need my own home. My own domain where I don't have to be beholden to a property manager to repair the heating ducts or the back door that doesn't close. I need my closet to be just so, so that I actually know where my clothes go because otherwise they get draped on the broken rocking chair in our bedroom. My JOB is being a wife, mother, baker, cook and I have failed miserably in the last 5 months. I have been trying to stay strong in this lovely, cold, bug filled home that God has provided. I know that our 9 person family needed temporary shelter and this home is big enough. But I can't be Me here and Me needs to come back...my family needs Me.<br />
<br />
We may be buying a home here in about a month. It's no sure thing, we have been through this once already since we moved here. But I'm hopeful and looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. Having a good oven that doesn't overcook, cooking more meals and possibly doing some canning. <br />
<br />
I thank God for this house we are in. I got to mope around here for 5 months, gain a bunch of weight while I sat around eating Doritos and Costco pumpkin muffins feeling sad about missing Me. I want to go home and by that I don't mean Alaska, I mean to a home where my family lives and is content. Where my husband can fix things with out getting permission from the land-lord and he can feel manly and useful and we can be joyful. Where I can re-learn how to garden in a much warmer climate, find a peach farmer, grow a different kind of garlic, buy goat milk from the cool nuns down the road, tell everyone about Gary-the-amazing-plumber and get my head back into the knowledge game.<br />
<br />
Me is coming home soon. I can't wait to see her again.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbBHRWVmwZ1IZW3GgAJFy3xi_l-5HzbDE2GtNRc9Whr6iwbfcfCb70oqZYgv_kOeqvImZXFziCVv1RIQq9YDBAaNITUk_4_cLplgCG5Y527rGWgY90dnD9rCE715w3pHhh0KeqKIVoR_g/s1600/ry%25253D480.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbBHRWVmwZ1IZW3GgAJFy3xi_l-5HzbDE2GtNRc9Whr6iwbfcfCb70oqZYgv_kOeqvImZXFziCVv1RIQq9YDBAaNITUk_4_cLplgCG5Y527rGWgY90dnD9rCE715w3pHhh0KeqKIVoR_g/s640/ry%25253D480.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just lounging on the cool porch.</td></tr>
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AKmamaOf7http://www.blogger.com/profile/10167349040853234835noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2905411997400008164.post-55641472019544483612015-09-19T00:02:00.000-07:002015-10-27T21:43:37.816-07:00One Good Friend<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Often times lately I feel sorry for myself. "Woe is me," I say.<br />
<br />
Today I was feeling especially woeful. My sister and her husband made the yearly late fall trek to Girdwood, Alaska. My husband and I have been going with them for the last three years and we have such a grand time...no kids, just adult time with two of the best people in the world. We were invited to go with them again, but getting tickets back to Alaska at the last minute and juggling what to do with our children proved too much at this time. They left for Girdwood last night and today she sent me a beautiful photo of the two of them at the top of the mountain surrounded by snow and bright blue sky and they looked so lovely. I love and miss them so much. I cried. Woe is me.<br />
<br />
We all do that sometimes...right? We take turns feeling sorry for ourselves. A little indulgence into the passion of self pity. We allow it from time to time, some allow it to take a firm hold for a long time, sometimes a lifetime... some can combat it entirely. I fall to this temptation too often. Woe is me.<br />
<br />
I was making a list in my head of all of the things that I have lost (misplaced?) during the move...not people that I have lost. Things. My tennis shoes, my shirt that I really like, an old comforter that my son likes, my fall boots, my garden clogs. Wracking my brain, I don't know where they went. Woe is me.<br />
<br />
Then a car pulls into my driveway. Up walks my new friend that I met after moving here. She is a good soul, kind, loving, non-judgmental, giving. She has lost so much. Not just things but also many people. She has endured much suffering, she still goes through such suffering. My problems are nothing compared to hers. When I saw her I knew that she would see my pain and ask if I was ok. She would care enough to ask and I would probably cry when she did.<br />
<br />
I tried to stay strong, to put on a good face. I failed. She asked. I cried. She hugged me. I felt so silly but she comforted me and told me how hard it must be to be in my shoes. She cared, really cared, and loved me.<br />
<br />
Thank you, God, for this friend. How many people have a friend such as this? Someone who has suffered beyond anything I could ever imagine. Thank you for my tiny cross that I bear and for helping me to see how small it is. Thank you for loving me so much that you sent this woman that I did not know three months ago into my life exactly when I needed her and when she needed me. What a loving Father you are, how much you love us is unmeasurable and overwhelming.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBaSnz2ye1eNHv8vNDokFrAPLhht5Qca_O1F1iGRVQFNzYYwvg4fm-nmTZxX7QFEY9CIdl5fHn5i1jFDGTemK6JxK8TnEIYk6JAG7ArjpB_i9dFzeaKJJDmPesA1h50a6-WXYG7MOy8DQ/s1600/20150918_132413-1+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBaSnz2ye1eNHv8vNDokFrAPLhht5Qca_O1F1iGRVQFNzYYwvg4fm-nmTZxX7QFEY9CIdl5fHn5i1jFDGTemK6JxK8TnEIYk6JAG7ArjpB_i9dFzeaKJJDmPesA1h50a6-WXYG7MOy8DQ/s400/20150918_132413-1+%25282%2529.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ahhh, what lovely people. Miss you guys.</td></tr>
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AKmamaOf7http://www.blogger.com/profile/10167349040853234835noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2905411997400008164.post-60832965140389778902015-06-22T23:07:00.000-07:002015-06-22T23:07:38.144-07:00Life Changer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I am 38 years old and never lived anywhere but Alaska.<br />
<br />
We moved to Washington state 3 weeks ago. What the heck?<br />
<br />
We sold. A lot. Including our animals. I finally got everything just right in the yard, fencing, apple trees, berry bushes...then poof, we leave. <br />
<br />
Everyone asks me how I feel about this, am I sad am I excited? I don't get depressed or excited easily. I am at peace about it and trying to wrap my mind around it. I know myself well enough to know that I will be fine here. I will adjust. God wanted us here for His own reasons, we aren't sure of all of them but think we may have some ideas of why. It has been a hard journey that we started in February, really considering it. Many things have gone wrong but more things have gone right to make it possible to move.<br />
<br />
We moved mainly because there is a new parish starting in the small town of Goldendale, WA. My husband is a deacon and our parish in Alaska had grown to a nice size where we weren't needed like we used to be. (Wanted sure, but not needed.) Leaving our parish was extremely difficult and more-so considering the history our parish had with people, especially clergy, moving away, we know the abandoned feeling all too well. This time it was us that was doing the abandoning. That was really terrible.<br />
<br />
There isn't clergy here in this town to get a new parish up and running, and when presented with this as an option for us vs staying in Alaska it just felt so right for us both. Once the decision was made, the kids were told, our families were told, tears were shed...the work of moving began. <br />
<br />
Moving=horrible.<br />
<br />
If you have moved you know. If you have tried selling your house you know. If you haven't, read up on it on the internet and learn what you can, then hang on for a bumpy ride. If you have any money in savings, it will go bye bye. If you have a credit card, it will get maxed. If you're moving because God wants you to, be prepared for a lot to go wrong. Get into the back of God's car and just sit back and watch the drama out the window. He's in control, let it go.<br />
<br />
My husband can keep his job and work at home like he has for the last 14 years. My business didn't sell, so I'm attempting to run it from here. My sister was looking for a work-at-home job and as she's the best worker I've ever known, I was happy she was willing to work for me. <br />
<br />
Our house is still not sold. I don't know if it will. It was supposed to close June 2nd and they buyer's house still hasn't closed and we aren't sure ours will go smoothly now either after theirs sells... I'm thankful that we got plane tickets out of Alaska because I'm sure our car would have broken down had we tried driving. Either that or the nine of us would have killed each other on the way down. A 3 1/2 hour plane ride was definitely worth it. <br />
<br />
When we got here most of the active parish was very sick, one boy had mono, another two families had whooping cough. Another has a simple surgery then gets sepsis and almost dies. What?<br />
<br />
God did provide us with a beautiful rental house here. It's one of the old Victorian houses in the town and rent is very reasonable. Someone put in a very pretty yard and nice fences all the way around. There is even a koi pond with fish. I have always wanted a Victorian house and this way I get to have my cake and eat it too. I get to live in it but not be responsible for the major work that goes into owing one.<br />
<br />
I don't have time to mess with a lot of pictures tonight but I've been posting some on Instagram: <a href="https://instagram.com/akmamaof7/">https://instagram.com/akmamaof7/</a><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd1qERIwJyPYNZIUAgUYTBznqplNFWiPDWbEOC-JY-v2C2UFzF0x4L6Jgj-uFqd-PfETjsSl42xv6bbuDFf7o6T2lWgnqV7GU5Dp3CcIXcHCNRKy6hB70jBXBuEisw7Gcnzc1TC9thsYA/s1600/2015-06-05+13.05.22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd1qERIwJyPYNZIUAgUYTBznqplNFWiPDWbEOC-JY-v2C2UFzF0x4L6Jgj-uFqd-PfETjsSl42xv6bbuDFf7o6T2lWgnqV7GU5Dp3CcIXcHCNRKy6hB70jBXBuEisw7Gcnzc1TC9thsYA/s400/2015-06-05+13.05.22.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
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AKmamaOf7http://www.blogger.com/profile/10167349040853234835noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2905411997400008164.post-84000736162682315762015-02-27T16:42:00.000-08:002015-02-27T17:06:07.803-08:00Canning Beans My Way<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This is NOT the proper canning method recommended by extension service or Ball Blue Book, but it is what I use.<br />
<br />
I presoak the beans in their individual jars the night before and I do not cook them for 30 minutes recommended time. This is much faster (for me) and gives me perfectly non-mushy beans (at least for the chick peas, my current favorite beans to can so I can make my <a href="http://oursillyoldlives.blogspot.com/2013/11/chick-pea-love.html">hummus</a>.)<br />
<br />
1/2 cup dry beans per pint, 1 cup dry per quart.<br />
Soak in water overnight. I like it in the jars but you can do this in a bowl to make the rinse faster.<br />
Rinse beans the following day.<br />
1/2 tsp salt per pint, 1 tsp salt per quart<br />
pour boiling water over rinsed beans and salt, secure lids, place in pressure canner<br />
<br />
Can using following proper canning procedure, this is a VERY quick step-by-step:<br />
<br />
2 inches of water in the pressure canner, hot jars in, lock on lid, heat up, let steam vent for 10 minutes, put on 10 or 15 lb weight depending on elevation, then start timer...<br />
<br />
1 hour 15 minutes for pints (75 min)<br />
1 hour 30 minutes for quarts (90 min) <br />
<br />
Turn off heat, let pressure go down to zero, remove weight, remove lid (carefully! hot steam!) remove hot jars with jar lifter and put onto a dish towel on the counter, if using tattler lids, CAREFULLY tighten down rings, DON'T do this with metal non-reusable lids. Let cool completely, if using tattler, check for no seal. Any that did not seal I will use right away for <a href="http://oursillyoldlives.blogspot.com/2013/11/chick-pea-love.html">hummus</a>. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLTUXuyCx-Q5brJUCUNNewJfCKC0d0e0C8Pnrl4unHOfy8QZVAs9sW0wHy76MgMB3RsqOpV9NHT4dG4iACvddHD8osmRt2O2ZrCSbO_0xgXN8V0IaYr9YyiSG_A1-ugLboYCtQhfxKU-A/s1600/10933848_10206151978348180_2316419984473640741_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLTUXuyCx-Q5brJUCUNNewJfCKC0d0e0C8Pnrl4unHOfy8QZVAs9sW0wHy76MgMB3RsqOpV9NHT4dG4iACvddHD8osmRt2O2ZrCSbO_0xgXN8V0IaYr9YyiSG_A1-ugLboYCtQhfxKU-A/s1600/10933848_10206151978348180_2316419984473640741_n.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beans on right just came out of canner, on left are ready to go in.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
If you love hummus like I do then you will love the GoRemy <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIybz6axr1Q">Hummus: The Rap</a> or maybe their new one, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLGUFaizAHs">All About The Paste</a>. But I really dig their <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSEamixCr7s">Falafel Song</a>, but don't use canned beans when making your Falafels! Only soaked overnight, see the recipe <a href="http://oursillyoldlives.blogspot.com/2013/11/chick-pea-love.html">here</a>.</div>
AKmamaOf7http://www.blogger.com/profile/10167349040853234835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2905411997400008164.post-74299008749783872412014-11-02T22:03:00.000-08:002014-11-02T22:03:50.914-08:00Steph's Cheesy Grits<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I have never thought to propose to another woman, that would be weird.<br />
<br />
Until now.<br />
<br />
Now I understand why men propose to women who can cook. There is so much joy in eating good homeade food, something like Stephanie's Cheesy Grits could move one to ask her to marry you. I did ask her to marry me, but she declined.<br />
<br />
I think the secret ingredient is the bacon or ham that are not mentioned in the title, but this pot of goodness really hits the spot on a cold Sunday afternoon...or on Pascha at 2am. This dish has become a break-fast tradition in our small parish. This Christmas Steph will be gone and I just don't know what I will do without her grits. Perhaps I can make them...but they just don't taste the same.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b> Steph's Cheesy Grits</b><br />
8 c salted broth, my homeade broth usually needs more salt<br />
-heat until bubbly-<br />
2 c polenta <br />
-whisk into broth, stir a lot for about 20 minutes until it's thick and no longer crunchy-<br />
about 10 drops Tabasco sauce<br />
1/4 tsp mustard powder<br />
1/2 tsp pepper <br />
1/2 stick butter<br />
8 oz cream cheese<br />
1/2 c sharp cheddar or other cheese (more if mild)<br />
1 lb cooked, cooled and broken up bacon or diced ham<br />
-serve immediately, Steph puts hers in a crock pot and keeps it warm until after the church service and we indulge after 40 days of fasting- <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9rJJRpnwOxhH9-KyiRE1p1iIBs9f6uhTa5leGX-Y17A_Q4Mb4YO2Nk9QiX20Qg7S_AlCqLuF60OTq7Ux46xMLpmc6rI5VGMguhjoOjJe_mQzC6FLGLpt7XjeMW5mtEBTlZC1QATL1brY/s1600/10646644_10205175635660223_7352400622929699959_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9rJJRpnwOxhH9-KyiRE1p1iIBs9f6uhTa5leGX-Y17A_Q4Mb4YO2Nk9QiX20Qg7S_AlCqLuF60OTq7Ux46xMLpmc6rI5VGMguhjoOjJe_mQzC6FLGLpt7XjeMW5mtEBTlZC1QATL1brY/s1600/10646644_10205175635660223_7352400622929699959_n.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cheesy Grits looking dapper </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Missing you, Steph. Come home soon.<br />
</div>
AKmamaOf7http://www.blogger.com/profile/10167349040853234835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2905411997400008164.post-73786192135872183152014-10-27T22:42:00.001-07:002014-10-27T22:42:25.606-07:00Overwhelmed<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
Overwhelmed by the beauty of this place.<br />
Overwhelmed by the work to be finished.<br />
Overwhelmed by the kindness of children.<br />
Overwhelmed by the selfishness of others.<br />
<br />
So much pain. The priest who left us, took his wife and beautiful children...left. <br />
So many temptations.The boy whom I met, who was sweet...killed himself...left.<br />
So much sickness. The woman, whom I love, who left her family, left her four small children, her sick husband....left.<br />
So many snares. The other woman, whom I love, who left her husband of 35 years....left.<br />
So much sickness, so much pain. So much.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
AKmamaOf7http://www.blogger.com/profile/10167349040853234835noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2905411997400008164.post-1127798492767280572014-09-16T00:45:00.001-07:002016-09-12T16:53:35.344-07:00Stock season<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
'Tis the season for making stocks. These recipes were created by what I have on hand and what my garden and freezer are spewing out at me. Many recipes call for broth or stock, this is such a great and actually easy and rewarding thing to make. If you're not afraid to pressure can things, it's my preferred method to store it. But you can just make a small batch if you know you'll need it for a pot of soup, or you can easily freeze it in gallon or quart sized ziplock bags.<br />
<br />
<b>Vegetable Stock </b><br />
yields 7 quarts<br />
<br />
basic stock ingredients:<br />
2 large onions quartered, skins on<br />
6 ish medium carrots (and or zucchini or squash, something sweeter)<br />
6 ish celery stalks and leaves<br />
small bunch fresh parsley<br />
1 Tbl peppercorns<br />
2 bay leaves<br />
<br />
Optional: <br />
2 sprigs fresh thyme<br />
~20 leaves of beet greens<br />
~20 leaves of mustard greens<br />
~20 medium kale leaves and stems<br />
some people don't recommend kale or cabbage, but others said some was ok, and to balance it out, I was pleased with the flavor.<br />
salt optional, not recommended in stocks where you will salt your dish later <br />
8 quarts warm water<br />
<br />
Let simmer an hour or two. Most broths I leave overnight but I didn't see anyone doing that with veggie broth so I only did it for a few hours. Add salt and use in soup or can in quart jars at 10 lbs pressure for 35 minutes.<br />
<br />
<b>Beef/Pork Stock</b><br />
<br />
Make this the same way, just with bones. I'm making mine now, it will simmer overnight and I will can it tomorrow. I read that you can substitute squash for carrots and I have a monster zucchini and not as many carrots this year, so I added a bunch of zucchini my beef/pork stock.<br />
<br />
<b>Turkey Stock</b><br />
<br />
Later this week I'll make the turkey I pulled out of the freezer yesterday (yes I cleaned out the freezer, thus the stock making rush). I'll combine my turkey bones and my chicken bones that are frozen waiting for stock and can that up as well. I go through a lot of canned stock.<br />
<br />
<b>Fish Stock/ Shrimp Stock </b><br />
<b> </b><br />
I also love making salmon stock, just use all of your excess heads, spines, bones, etc and throw them in with the same basic ingredients. I do the same thing with all of my shrimp peelings, throw them into a broth to extract any nutrients that are left.<br />
<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-DxCxbYxqFWpFMbwihEnqFJU5F-WgaVYBX3GvyjG5ySgLolYF-yVCDCV8FREJ3nYR5NsoQ9tCS0h9lH59DfmaNa3q9brRwAXzM-Yx7Jp6vxbvfas8saJMGx9UqbTWvllfpfnFllYn1nU/s1600/10678483_10204780901432114_9041805972959947190_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-DxCxbYxqFWpFMbwihEnqFJU5F-WgaVYBX3GvyjG5ySgLolYF-yVCDCV8FREJ3nYR5NsoQ9tCS0h9lH59DfmaNa3q9brRwAXzM-Yx7Jp6vxbvfas8saJMGx9UqbTWvllfpfnFllYn1nU/s1600/10678483_10204780901432114_9041805972959947190_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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AKmamaOf7http://www.blogger.com/profile/10167349040853234835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2905411997400008164.post-89016843813185808232014-08-31T22:27:00.002-07:002014-08-31T22:27:34.417-07:00Cabbage Rolls<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
The main reason for this post is to keep tabs on the cabbage rolls I made today. Also to show off my produce because it's so pretty and I love looking at it. The kids picked this on Friday for me. I made my <a href="http://oursillyoldlives.blogspot.com/2013/03/yummy-lentil-soup.html">Yum Lentil</a> soup and <a href="http://oursillyoldlives.blogspot.com/2013/08/our-sauerkraut.html">sauerkraut</a> and ate a bunch of celery with peanut butter, good celery!<br />
<br />
It's hard to see it but in the back right is a very large cabbage. My husband loves cabbage rolls and I wanted an easier recipe. I found <a href="http://www.jennycancook.com/recipes/cabbage-rolls/">this one</a> and liked the looks of it because the rice goes into the meat with out pre-cooking it. I was afraid she didn't add enough liquid but not only was my rice cooked (I used white rice) but there was some liquid still in the pan. Very delicious! I also used tomato soup instead of the canned tomato puree, because that's what I had. I did lesson the salt too. I also used a can of mushrooms in place of fresh. I did double the recipe, I pretty much have to on everything now, and I used one <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savoy_cabbage">Savoy cabbage</a> to roll for one pan and a regular cabbage for the other. I LOVE savoy cabbage leaves!!! They are perfectly perfect, come apart easily, and have fewer slugs. Yay!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk-_HlYSIjJlymNgTmP401F2neI2FbLb2Tg4Q5X6A_MFqOIq-D1IF_Js-gtJY0w3On8qhyphenhyphenJhkoGNszMcwlWmoFVD311poE-kLtTDZXbrDZlpHS9Ojgjz7TEvv_zCFr4Uj5XJYbjv5BUcg/s1600/1521997_10204645933457999_8791153506334842603_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk-_HlYSIjJlymNgTmP401F2neI2FbLb2Tg4Q5X6A_MFqOIq-D1IF_Js-gtJY0w3On8qhyphenhyphenJhkoGNszMcwlWmoFVD311poE-kLtTDZXbrDZlpHS9Ojgjz7TEvv_zCFr4Uj5XJYbjv5BUcg/s1600/1521997_10204645933457999_8791153506334842603_n.jpg" height="400" width="336" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just a portion of what our garden grew this year. New for me: celery, music garlic, green beans, multi colored carrots.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br /></div>
AKmamaOf7http://www.blogger.com/profile/10167349040853234835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2905411997400008164.post-87596887500553689652014-08-31T12:46:00.000-07:002014-08-31T22:08:50.481-07:00Our 40 day gift<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Mental Retardation</b></div>
<br />
After having a baby it can feel as if your world is coming apart. Like you just can't handle things. And, well, frankly, we can't...and we shouldn't have to.<br />
<br />
I just had my seventh child. And yes, things are easier for me because I have older kids and teenagers to help with chores. But as I get older (I'm 37) the hormones go more and more crazy and I seem to be able to handle less and less with each child. My postpartum silliness kicks up and it is not fun.<br />
<br />
I had my sixth child six years ago. After her it was the worst of all. I was not mentally prepared for my absolute mental breakdown and neither was my husband. We determined after her that I needed more rest, more food, less people coming and going from my house and less of me "needing" to do things such as grocery shopping and errands. <br />
<br />
After this little guy things have been better here at home. My husband anticipated my mental retardation (for the most part). My mother came to stay nearby for 12 days after I had him, making meals and taking little girls overnight in her small apartment. My midwife came a week after he was born and told me to spend more time in bed and less time trying to "do what I needed to do" and instead do what I <b>did </b>need to do and that was to rest and hold my baby. She reminded me that women basically turn back into teenagers, with all the crazy hormones that don't make sense, but with those hormones stays the responsibilities of being a wife, mother, homemaker, businesswoman, gardener, and cook.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>The Gift</b></div>
<br />
The 40 day churching prayers are said for the mother coming back to the Orthodox Church after her 40 days. In many cultures (many of them Orthodox or Catholic) they strictly observe the 40 days. No church, no town, not even baby check up appointments. Some have no visitors except their doula or helper that has been asked to come and help with chores in the home. I absolutely LOVE this tradition. Do I feel oppressed by it, like the church doesn't want me bleeding all over the place there? Heck no! I am so thankful that I am encouraged to stay in my bed, my nest, my safe place for that long. Because even if I feel that I might be able to handle going to church after three weeks, I'm probably wrong. Going to church, or anywhere, takes a lot out of you. And honestly, church takes a ton out of me. My husband is a deacon and has always served the church, so he has always gone two hours early. That leaves me getting the kids there alone. Even though we are spoiled and live next door to the church I still do have to be sure they get up, get dressed, hair brushed (sometimes) and out the door to get there semi-on-time. Then I just cross my fingers and hope they are somewhat behaved with out me there...my church family loves me... Just that is exhausting. And for the last 3 out of 4 Sundays since I had my bundle I've been a wreck those days. And I'm NOT EVEN GOING TO CHURCH. This is my last Sunday I'm staying home for my 40 days. Next week I'm on coffee hour duty with my sister and the regular church duties will be calling. I'm so happy to have been on forced leave of absence in just one aspect of my life.<br />
<br />
There are some women who don't observe the 40 days. They say, "You can't tell me to stay home for 40 days!" and they go to church. Good for them. My priest would be just fine if I wanted to come back early...he's no dummy, he does NOT want to mess with me in my postpartum state of crazy. Most priests and churches don't enforce this, they would be nuts to in today's culture of woman who do what they please. But, really, give me a break. Women need this for their own sake. It's not to make them feel downtrodden or guilty because they had a baby. It's for their physical and mental health. It's been this way since Adam and Eve. There's nothing new here.<br />
<br />
It's a reminder from the Church, who loves us and wants what is best for
us, to take it easy. I appreciate this gift. Even if everything else in my life is insane and won't stop...at least my church understands that I need to stay home more often.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Take a step back</b></div>
<b><br /></b>Postpartum mamas have a gaping hole bleeding inside of us,
literally. We have afterbirth pains that stop us in our tracks and we scream quietly with pain. We have cracked nipples, sometimes accompanied by infections from feeding our babies. I typically have thrush as well and if you have had it, you know how it feels... Who wants to be wearing bras or leaking milk in public? Frankly, who wants to see us leaking milk in public? We should not just jump back into action. We should have a 40-day-wearing-pajamas-only period. We should have
someone making us steaks and broccoli (yes my husband has done this a couple of times). We should be watching HGTV and crying at those people when they get a surprise home makeover because that <b>is </b>the best-thing-ever.<br />
<br />
When people used to live as extended families the mothers and grandmothers would be there helping, shooing away toddlers, cooking the meals, tending the garden and on and on. It is sad that this is lost in our American culture. Single family dwellings are the norm now. Mothers and daughters rarely get along. Women are told they can and should do it all<b> </b>and then when they can't they feel like failures. Our American dream is dashed one woman at a time. Because it's a lie. It's a lie that women can do it all. Why should we have to? Why can't we be good at being mothers OR working. Men don't have babies, so they're not expected to be good at both. Why has that burden been placed on us? It's not fair. Cry me a river... So we mothers need to realize this. <b>We</b> need to say, "No, I can't pick up your kids on Tuesday, I just had a baby for crying out loud!!!" and not feel ashamed or guilty about that. My husband has helped me see this, to say no. For his own sake! When I go try to do everything for everyone who ends up pays the price? My family does. I'm grouchy with them, not my friends...and that's not fair to them.<br />
<br />
Take a step back. Take a break. Force yourself. Procrastinate. Your baby, your kids and your husband all need you to do this. Don't worry, you can do it all...just do it all later.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzFLEMCxlGuNkghS2ErEQSbp4XPfi_o2TqMBT-GUZxTOYsVYMxu_4pqjcSDW2oF0eG79ZdoedHZ3LpzLAZj2uKMy34LvVAQjyFm8mscCVvDeS4Bh9GC-SfdTDh2AWP8P4HAKAVg87fAPM/s1600/10616316_10204662604314760_7722233847297651617_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzFLEMCxlGuNkghS2ErEQSbp4XPfi_o2TqMBT-GUZxTOYsVYMxu_4pqjcSDW2oF0eG79ZdoedHZ3LpzLAZj2uKMy34LvVAQjyFm8mscCVvDeS4Bh9GC-SfdTDh2AWP8P4HAKAVg87fAPM/s1600/10616316_10204662604314760_7722233847297651617_n.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My precious. 34 days old.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
More info:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.babycenter.in/a1047926/a-guide-to-your-first-40-days-as-a-mother">First 40 days as a mother</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.peggyomara.com/2014/01/22/ayurvedic-postpartum/">Ayurvedic Postpartum</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/goog_1333207359"><br /></a>
<a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/witw/articles/2013/08/15/america-s-postpartum-practices.html">Why Are America's Postpartum Practices So Rough on New Mothers?</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://themarathonmom.com/preparing-for-birth-freezer-cooking.htm">Preparing for Birth: Freezer Cooking</a><br />
<br />
<br /></div>
AKmamaOf7http://www.blogger.com/profile/10167349040853234835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2905411997400008164.post-7260576097070045632014-07-08T00:54:00.000-07:002014-07-08T00:54:06.355-07:00Baby is coming...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Feeling compelled to write this evening after finding a cool blog by a fellow Orthodox homeschool mama and mother-of-seven. Lovely <a href="http://seamlesskatherine.com/">blog</a> she has.<br />
<br />
I have snapped just a few photos recently and wanted to share.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ytma05dPFr3PG20No3Q9Z0qeFRdHVtTVTGLfqUYaF_pfukk8yOQ5waCAdu_Vu_lHxpnpt5NBMD33XxMPkOK7tm0iySGqfaXkfXpX-p2l_JihWe0n3WtjYLxHi7OAe77S4ZavUSLC0AU/s1600/1536622_10204170573414295_4130163039208312849_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ytma05dPFr3PG20No3Q9Z0qeFRdHVtTVTGLfqUYaF_pfukk8yOQ5waCAdu_Vu_lHxpnpt5NBMD33XxMPkOK7tm0iySGqfaXkfXpX-p2l_JihWe0n3WtjYLxHi7OAe77S4ZavUSLC0AU/s1600/1536622_10204170573414295_4130163039208312849_n.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's my fridge. I know it's a little barren, but LOOK at how much is homegrown or homeade!!! I'm just really proud of myself. Even the lemonade is organic...hehe.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8BYUC43FoW5q4a5F2D4TWbHAlToKJFgi6zvii-IvzKXkr2fqgR0J4MiT6O4iJZqWc6S0D3bOexKJaRd86v-30EbWPzlVzTXnGGHl7vFufN5WGxqrxWqkpI2jatee7N-9fKPH52M0klhQ/s1600/10271506_10204168321437997_4642218057239612399_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8BYUC43FoW5q4a5F2D4TWbHAlToKJFgi6zvii-IvzKXkr2fqgR0J4MiT6O4iJZqWc6S0D3bOexKJaRd86v-30EbWPzlVzTXnGGHl7vFufN5WGxqrxWqkpI2jatee7N-9fKPH52M0klhQ/s1600/10271506_10204168321437997_4642218057239612399_n.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This building is my midwives birth center. I literally could have my baby in a barn...but we're going to have it at home like the last 3. :) I just love this old Colony barn, it's such a beautiful birth center too.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmM4cbIwrJHrHzhOn37JotOFc_yXiMsB6OxOXWsJDaHGyM5o2_EQTToEbYzaJ-s7X0-VllSFc0L-ZN8-d3b-7qqTaYOQMSAdnT2qD0w_4aX3OJ1_CBxqPcGlR1exhn8W8mZoSqIfsht4k/s1600/10384824_10204171793524797_2981246306836069211_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmM4cbIwrJHrHzhOn37JotOFc_yXiMsB6OxOXWsJDaHGyM5o2_EQTToEbYzaJ-s7X0-VllSFc0L-ZN8-d3b-7qqTaYOQMSAdnT2qD0w_4aX3OJ1_CBxqPcGlR1exhn8W8mZoSqIfsht4k/s1600/10384824_10204171793524797_2981246306836069211_n.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My precious girls the other night with their papa at Home Depot. Trying to find the playground section. Our 14-yr-old playground died, it's time to replace her. I love how colorful my girls are.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitKj0t_mCg5QtqGWECAeP1-TmTZoO51vEnnYYxJL77m5Tq2oNbPsn1UxIH2nhZfKRck98BrkAJFNCYCNpKpPlDZ6mYMftEJpbRa1ToCTOC3LjIEB6k762EiWjrp705MwQ-ftLPKxP25mE/s1600/10425043_10204171826525622_8004643324991696422_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitKj0t_mCg5QtqGWECAeP1-TmTZoO51vEnnYYxJL77m5Tq2oNbPsn1UxIH2nhZfKRck98BrkAJFNCYCNpKpPlDZ6mYMftEJpbRa1ToCTOC3LjIEB6k762EiWjrp705MwQ-ftLPKxP25mE/s1600/10425043_10204171826525622_8004643324991696422_n.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me! </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNRiq_OpEqtXl2Je0hpIMknQfGs9QLIO5iYeOgfI436SXfb0IXzipyk_AVN_vwqwMoBUafyjhPbquUsHvdCDuMLiAV6JsoMPwWhKJjloMa5qltCPCJYU4MIRteivTB9-gMuc-zxjeTxfE/s1600/10460123_10204184494402311_2386845677208405571_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNRiq_OpEqtXl2Je0hpIMknQfGs9QLIO5iYeOgfI436SXfb0IXzipyk_AVN_vwqwMoBUafyjhPbquUsHvdCDuMLiAV6JsoMPwWhKJjloMa5qltCPCJYU4MIRteivTB9-gMuc-zxjeTxfE/s1600/10460123_10204184494402311_2386845677208405571_n.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our sweet mama kitty had another batch of kittens. Kittens are soooooo fun for the kids (and adults too). Their big sister cat I think wants to eat them, we'll try to keep them safe. That's their mama in the background, she's such a good mama.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCLDAXtG_-w01TXydP7lpEG0YUgcLUh-9eoXGDpn580h_e0yAPFVfO63yGthdjSsaYDahTWDjkCo58vy8Nf78FCoeZ1vjmCIftGyRsrhblljrtmJ_SDC1UJkrEZ-4wyQYTIBEWggOYT4o/s1600/10511328_10204184521642992_6817385928956858089_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCLDAXtG_-w01TXydP7lpEG0YUgcLUh-9eoXGDpn580h_e0yAPFVfO63yGthdjSsaYDahTWDjkCo58vy8Nf78FCoeZ1vjmCIftGyRsrhblljrtmJ_SDC1UJkrEZ-4wyQYTIBEWggOYT4o/s1600/10511328_10204184521642992_6817385928956858089_n.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our neighbor's Scottish Highland cow had a cute little calf! It's so fun to be next door to them. The white one is supposed to calf soon too. This was taken around 10:30 in the evening next to our driveway, they were visiting us. Love Alaska summers.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjELzt3oF3erJ8Aqeta9h9liRjFEvVS8W4IcdWGwrh_vxsVuR5D2fprMeOGIQReGCCQgt1P4VPPTHuud-ve-aTQZRYeeAbDkciw710nqBHY_PhNfbTby1xsvukfbqIk9ttP5g9VeFE3pQU/s1600/10530759_10204232915532809_8191370647469257898_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjELzt3oF3erJ8Aqeta9h9liRjFEvVS8W4IcdWGwrh_vxsVuR5D2fprMeOGIQReGCCQgt1P4VPPTHuud-ve-aTQZRYeeAbDkciw710nqBHY_PhNfbTby1xsvukfbqIk9ttP5g9VeFE3pQU/s1600/10530759_10204232915532809_8191370647469257898_n.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pooped after church on Sunday, so the kittens insisted that I sit down with some coffee and let them nap on me. My sister came over to keep us company for a bit. Rainy afternoons can be so refreshing.</td></tr>
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I snapped some of the garden the other day, but haven't uploaded them yet. It's looking lovely and tucked in under a nice layer of mulch.<br /><br />I doubt I'll blog again 'till after I have this baby. This month is packed. My little brother flew up for his friend's wedding, so tomorrow we get to see him and sister for a little bbq. This will be our first family gathering since my parents moved to Hawaii, that will be strange for them not to be there. Our two older kids fly to Seattle to attend St. Mary's camp in two days and visit friends in Ellensburg and hopefully squeeze a short trip to the monastery at Goldendale, they will be gone for 10 days. I have to call in for jury duty this whole month. My 20th high school class reunion is literally on my due date. The "fish guy" should call us on Thursday with our fish (salmon) order of the year, so we'll be gutting/cleaning them late into the night. Three of the kids have swimming lessons for the next two weeks, so that means driving to town every day. While daughter is gone I have to get the 10 & 12 year olds to milk the goats, not a fun task. While son is gone I have to get the 10 & 12 year olds to care for the chickens, walk the neighbor's dog and get the neighbor boy to do his church lawn mowing job for him. Our LaMancha goat is due with her baby a week before I am. I still have not "nested" either, so I really need to go through the old baby stuff and pitch half of it and keep just some. I bought 4 flowering trees that I still need to plant, teens are leaving... so I may hire the neighbor boy to help me. Farmers are cutting hay in Palmer, so I have to get hopefully 40-50 bales to last us 'till next summer, since there was a hay shortage last year, I have to get on this quickly before it's gone. I still have to run my business, always very busy during the summer. Thank goodness school is mostly over and what we are still doing is minimal and always excused if we went to town that day or if there was just the need to play instead. Those are just the things I'm remembering about.<br />
<br />
I know we can do this, it'll just be crazy busy...Alaska doesn't allow one to sit still during the summer. However, I do plan on doing a lot of sitting, snuggling, resting during August. I'm looking forward to the down time.<br />
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Baby is coming. <br />
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AKmamaOf7http://www.blogger.com/profile/10167349040853234835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2905411997400008164.post-54351377081577585862014-06-03T20:16:00.000-07:002014-06-03T20:16:46.447-07:00Eye Candy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Every year for the past 4 years we have had a Country Fair at our parish as a fund raiser for all of our crazy building projects we have to work on... This year I asked my friend, who's a professional photographer, to take some pictures for us. It was a horribly wet day, the temp was around 42 degrees, and the wind kept kicking up....so it was COLD! But we still had a great turn out. She showed up with her sweet boy and took some great pics, I couldn't be happier. Some are definitely Pinterest worthy, especially the cake picture, so I wanted to post some on here. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWXIdtFReK1dCntndMR82_CMLnjVskpbTpdOPD61Nke8ukWjTxnOtq-1Mi00lC9hnFSQabTO6qO0KK9MxkVP0JWyVqsdZG9KW5ebCrwvguoJmgzF76TDraAfQJY_EtWCQ6o31g7bSSOHc/s1600/10346513_243622855761992_6880718495975090037_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWXIdtFReK1dCntndMR82_CMLnjVskpbTpdOPD61Nke8ukWjTxnOtq-1Mi00lC9hnFSQabTO6qO0KK9MxkVP0JWyVqsdZG9KW5ebCrwvguoJmgzF76TDraAfQJY_EtWCQ6o31g7bSSOHc/s1600/10346513_243622855761992_6880718495975090037_n.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our sweet Nubians in the petting zoo.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsZwwM7tUfvZTKgHU_PzLB2GZg9LzErA4Z9Qc4HAt5XTWJKkwd7kLONenuwC7eV7xxKObJMD2rMdVE-suPW87TYmRaOh2cgDmexIKXgPYm-xWZJxy2rimYu7V5V5dKVwd3tkZ0BAJxlJc/s1600/10359173_243622822428662_3393076448270068790_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsZwwM7tUfvZTKgHU_PzLB2GZg9LzErA4Z9Qc4HAt5XTWJKkwd7kLONenuwC7eV7xxKObJMD2rMdVE-suPW87TYmRaOh2cgDmexIKXgPYm-xWZJxy2rimYu7V5V5dKVwd3tkZ0BAJxlJc/s1600/10359173_243622822428662_3393076448270068790_n.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My daughter ran the petting zoo, this is one of our doelings.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5YmisGibTRhp79Rvflv1dUrdKjHQPfvdm7l2Q67VYuKrnmjbe45zEyWqkDuorSAujVCrVLBP-OPtg7YIGemh1gX4HZW7Mc4u0h9DkBC8DNqbYdXrNexDqrLFEF9r-RuTWC3y_ycqqwKA/s1600/10360614_243623072428637_3916035589766032464_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5YmisGibTRhp79Rvflv1dUrdKjHQPfvdm7l2Q67VYuKrnmjbe45zEyWqkDuorSAujVCrVLBP-OPtg7YIGemh1gX4HZW7Mc4u0h9DkBC8DNqbYdXrNexDqrLFEF9r-RuTWC3y_ycqqwKA/s1600/10360614_243623072428637_3916035589766032464_n.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The star in Stephanie's Sweet Shoppe.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT00wlkhUDBQOtPxeWoar-YrGKfdEITPmEbWbSwxk6vATScuDlqi5zt6usjneNbK_iA1JKu3QRVBvLCtDH0CSJQPKiMYcKCskamfGcoDa_7SNSOnS0fI95aaAmCCVugAebKxF1k8tF3Gs/s1600/10367710_243623372428607_1619766937046283616_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT00wlkhUDBQOtPxeWoar-YrGKfdEITPmEbWbSwxk6vATScuDlqi5zt6usjneNbK_iA1JKu3QRVBvLCtDH0CSJQPKiMYcKCskamfGcoDa_7SNSOnS0fI95aaAmCCVugAebKxF1k8tF3Gs/s1600/10367710_243623372428607_1619766937046283616_n.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My adorable nephew.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3waA7mHBXeXu3IpQNs_8LxNXYGxd78NrXkumJawv46eVg15wpxXermoOim6Qh65-aKwRXvbJx-kXkAY1Npp7aNdw6mhJYaasurGq0TR1KQhdd7cZTFMonsYju1wDH2oyQC_2YVHXgTyM/s1600/10416969_243623289095282_749970573376042749_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3waA7mHBXeXu3IpQNs_8LxNXYGxd78NrXkumJawv46eVg15wpxXermoOim6Qh65-aKwRXvbJx-kXkAY1Npp7aNdw6mhJYaasurGq0TR1KQhdd7cZTFMonsYju1wDH2oyQC_2YVHXgTyM/s1600/10416969_243623289095282_749970573376042749_n.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My daughter's partner in the egg toss...daughter got the better end of this deal...hehe.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGQ3MlEPxrNZGmHkc6MbOwyQQgD5S4IZkjnQW7Hkp5iqtS-sTP_RvnzVl0HPrQgyL3s6ReRDijyQO2SN321BfTCzQX-TBm-zjbEit0VcN-3vfDN_4LP_WEWJu_eT-rtx10w6fu9jnbNzU/s1600/10426629_243623122428632_6431797163271630973_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGQ3MlEPxrNZGmHkc6MbOwyQQgD5S4IZkjnQW7Hkp5iqtS-sTP_RvnzVl0HPrQgyL3s6ReRDijyQO2SN321BfTCzQX-TBm-zjbEit0VcN-3vfDN_4LP_WEWJu_eT-rtx10w6fu9jnbNzU/s1600/10426629_243623122428632_6431797163271630973_n.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Potato sack race, hard core.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgekubdWifiUNGKlReheSsASTmg8BtEq4yRbSw22AZwDUc1yq65du1do32XxnpCKBFuhEVigQpK2Zj2U79I09vmWXcWk8S4A5wDhBUQgq1dG8iIZUGqmBDIAsX5WFy3arx2MdbahVTA8hE/s1600/10155722_243623172428627_5813007669253551587_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgekubdWifiUNGKlReheSsASTmg8BtEq4yRbSw22AZwDUc1yq65du1do32XxnpCKBFuhEVigQpK2Zj2U79I09vmWXcWk8S4A5wDhBUQgq1dG8iIZUGqmBDIAsX5WFy3arx2MdbahVTA8hE/s1600/10155722_243623172428627_5813007669253551587_n.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Three legged race.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivpjh2dMI82aqHEzmxkgyCKtA8MpF3rNhPOeLCzsVhpNq4G_L2vGJL-lfaYNhwCfNE8yDd4j9N6xM6ukhSKeaEmHuS99m6KtiV7zvBES70CqzNxuxZHwHhhqbFqkIg2Vp346njtb9qkuw/s1600/10430826_243623325761945_6242019639048536118_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivpjh2dMI82aqHEzmxkgyCKtA8MpF3rNhPOeLCzsVhpNq4G_L2vGJL-lfaYNhwCfNE8yDd4j9N6xM6ukhSKeaEmHuS99m6KtiV7zvBES70CqzNxuxZHwHhhqbFqkIg2Vp346njtb9qkuw/s1600/10430826_243623325761945_6242019639048536118_n.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Manly girls tugging.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoxcxlLigiCC05ue7XKuD_KoENSBI7FUoebvaebSFWZf_-QKMX4sxadBIyw1UFh2BcQov_toObOJ-kGyQDiJJ7gx8c367RYQwx535CwAVPRJoF7jO9S902fE60Ek7MTj_A2FJZ45dFPk8/s1600/10440999_243623322428612_3438452313203037725_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoxcxlLigiCC05ue7XKuD_KoENSBI7FUoebvaebSFWZf_-QKMX4sxadBIyw1UFh2BcQov_toObOJ-kGyQDiJJ7gx8c367RYQwx535CwAVPRJoF7jO9S902fE60Ek7MTj_A2FJZ45dFPk8/s1600/10440999_243623322428612_3438452313203037725_n.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What's a country fair with out a tug-of-war?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhURl4qx43gBRl9VCx4ydEJsJNeKjRFPvFT7hlCZLbDz61dnQviLm31-GWVGUPDZfY9v6mlEOphE41gISy4gMCUFQ1VoZV3-_MQtYKPL1epLcmr4zk7HjrDo57F6et2dGO0e3X0YARmquY/s1600/10325720_243622905761987_7412366879992393376_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhURl4qx43gBRl9VCx4ydEJsJNeKjRFPvFT7hlCZLbDz61dnQviLm31-GWVGUPDZfY9v6mlEOphE41gISy4gMCUFQ1VoZV3-_MQtYKPL1epLcmr4zk7HjrDo57F6et2dGO0e3X0YARmquY/s1600/10325720_243622905761987_7412366879992393376_n.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My awesome husband running the chicken fling game, one of the most popular games every year.</td></tr>
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Here's Juliana's photography page on facebook, thank you again! <a href="https://www.facebook.com/JulianaAdelePhotography">Juliana Adele Photography</a><br />
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AKmamaOf7http://www.blogger.com/profile/10167349040853234835noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2905411997400008164.post-20253755270616255262014-05-23T22:51:00.000-07:002014-05-23T22:51:48.262-07:00Early Summer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Well, it may be another scorcher this year. The unusual thing is that May in 2013 we had snow and that darn snow did a lot of damage to trees...not good!<br />
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This whole winter has been ultra mild, hardly any snow, and a very early spring. We even had thaw and perennials start growing back in January. Crazy!!! So spring is basically over now and summer is coming along nicely. The birch tree allergies that I normally have in June have almost gone away now and June is still more than a week away. I'm thrilled. <br />
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I just wanted to post a few pics. I know I have not written much. I still have been very tired during this pregnancy. 2 more months to go!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAH_Na_FsjQZe-jgpZGUtpmMei0VArK7zx6yf6BzfDC3CAC4uYU-S83Td4YvaBhr5Obqk0KWyh6JMaclzlnVPmMEUSegx_ceaKsZcQDHXDuuvlwgF0AgYmGr8s9rvH5pBBrFyC4RM5gUA/s1600/1451602_10202390173265404_1694519467_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAH_Na_FsjQZe-jgpZGUtpmMei0VArK7zx6yf6BzfDC3CAC4uYU-S83Td4YvaBhr5Obqk0KWyh6JMaclzlnVPmMEUSegx_ceaKsZcQDHXDuuvlwgF0AgYmGr8s9rvH5pBBrFyC4RM5gUA/s1600/1451602_10202390173265404_1694519467_.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Today my front porch got a makeover. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUZRf36OEE6dTMrUUYwXguFZjz3ZiUWYQi_WsrVZeNOq6cF3APMrwbHenwYntwvU7fYtoUmZQlQcqO3f-b7l9_fD2fRfGLeEXD-efKwFgkwdd89KBdIDLwWcXjozgfA5mo-N_tD1Y5a0U/s1600/1972423_10203867283712242_4348993178400949159_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUZRf36OEE6dTMrUUYwXguFZjz3ZiUWYQi_WsrVZeNOq6cF3APMrwbHenwYntwvU7fYtoUmZQlQcqO3f-b7l9_fD2fRfGLeEXD-efKwFgkwdd89KBdIDLwWcXjozgfA5mo-N_tD1Y5a0U/s1600/1972423_10203867283712242_4348993178400949159_n.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Teenager eye selfie. She hates that word. Selfie. She's almost 16 *gasp*!!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOq5VEZLzSuixANQfOCcqklK7zxnd0ug2QH3RX0BYDwiHxPLkvDrSZz_dAedzvuB-cjxZ9P9FQP8vQjmiyawuzYB02quCXI6sUC3ZbnpG8Hs-rYQ1DsA6oODe6LO2Kc5VrMh5JIB91jYI/s1600/10174862_10203763186709882_1022540954815884885_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOq5VEZLzSuixANQfOCcqklK7zxnd0ug2QH3RX0BYDwiHxPLkvDrSZz_dAedzvuB-cjxZ9P9FQP8vQjmiyawuzYB02quCXI6sUC3ZbnpG8Hs-rYQ1DsA6oODe6LO2Kc5VrMh5JIB91jYI/s1600/10174862_10203763186709882_1022540954815884885_n.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Springtime tulips I got me for mothers day. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaQSAOwbl3u-OcnBb746LxSQTey7pW9NMBh4TrQSpl4OSyylAkRE6rs2gKVdcfRm3vQMQqXV4n05Sll_6NoHt8WnIkRwecbqD2yvhhUQAfSW13MIfCp_5aIUo2dHWMFzzwb7XWbyrga2o/s1600/10247390_10203867279112127_2433841478588858971_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaQSAOwbl3u-OcnBb746LxSQTey7pW9NMBh4TrQSpl4OSyylAkRE6rs2gKVdcfRm3vQMQqXV4n05Sll_6NoHt8WnIkRwecbqD2yvhhUQAfSW13MIfCp_5aIUo2dHWMFzzwb7XWbyrga2o/s1600/10247390_10203867279112127_2433841478588858971_n.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sweet Sus enjoying the drive out to the goat farm. That day the new babies were getting de-horned.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilBiTeDOK1YaqjL02bUcTZlyO4ocu5aGNIijFHpoiJY_fbH8Cd0KxK3Ul3dH_wmTp9xETbkzB4ed6AP4x4vENT-nGdXsxiZa0ARi9lbrC08Nh6BnxPaNh3biVtms2caxPQhwuqrzP80YY/s1600/10271641_10203874138123598_2745925425931090912_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilBiTeDOK1YaqjL02bUcTZlyO4ocu5aGNIijFHpoiJY_fbH8Cd0KxK3Ul3dH_wmTp9xETbkzB4ed6AP4x4vENT-nGdXsxiZa0ARi9lbrC08Nh6BnxPaNh3biVtms2caxPQhwuqrzP80YY/s1600/10271641_10203874138123598_2745925425931090912_n.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mama swallow guarding her nest at 11pm the other night.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigaIzSWc0ipulf9SXXgohwAQ8yVSnVM3E11JMDCZPDTAM23oqPaFIHfY_eufAmtbQj088AMqCpxQgDf1_smFMsOAK5GeNEVIyWB-y_xxNxAjxmmSN2Gs8QkSw-HEjaLgye4yb9iFiFEdY/s1600/10378009_10203874154564009_1261940763368771681_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigaIzSWc0ipulf9SXXgohwAQ8yVSnVM3E11JMDCZPDTAM23oqPaFIHfY_eufAmtbQj088AMqCpxQgDf1_smFMsOAK5GeNEVIyWB-y_xxNxAjxmmSN2Gs8QkSw-HEjaLgye4yb9iFiFEdY/s1600/10378009_10203874154564009_1261940763368771681_n.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Papa and son fixing our door at 11pm the other night. Love that man.</td></tr>
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AKmamaOf7http://www.blogger.com/profile/10167349040853234835noreply@blogger.com0