Cherries

Well, I'm in the middle of pitting (to freeze) about 40 pounds of cherries. 

Just thought I'd share. :) I probably won't eat cherries for awhile now. Haha... but they are yummy!

A bit of randomness

Sometimes you have days where you try to conquer too many things.

My brain is tired. I am grateful tomorrow will be a new day. So here I sit with a cup of (herbal) tea, trying to deflate.

My sister leaves for China in the morning, so I gave her a back massage to start her trip right. I probably need one, too. :-P

Thankfully we can still laugh - we laughed super-hard before she went to bed.

Some days you just have to laugh more.

I love my cousins. 

In other news, Homeschool Performing Arts officially announced their season. So now I can publicly declare I'm looking forward to assistant directing...

Watch out, world. The McDaniel sisters are BOTH involved this year. There's no telling what may happen. :)

Oh - I might pick and freeze blackberries in a couple days. Yum.

I think I'm ready to sleep now. Good night, world. :)

Homemade deoderant?

So, has anyone had any success with making homemade deoderant sans baking soda?

Aluminum is something I have tried to avoid putting in my body. Partly because once it gets in, it doesn't come out and partly because controversy exists about aluminum's link to Alzheimers, breast cancer and the list goes on. Besides aluminum, in almost all deoderants I've found triclosan, propylene glycol, parabens and other sketchy ingredients. Personallly, I don't want these concoctions of toxins daily slathered on one of the most sensitive areas of a person's body (and I just sounded like Dr. Seuss... brilliant...).

I did try making deoderant last winter - aluminum-free baking soda, coconut oil and a couple drops of lavender oil. It worked, but after a few days of application, the baking soda was irritating my skin - and honestly, who wants irritated skin there? Constant friction and my poor skin would be red and irritated for several days. I used it all, slowly. After trying to put up with the constant red, I tried putting it on every other day (using a commercial deoderant or a salt crystal on the opposite days). However, it still wasn't idea. So I've searched around internet world. Kitchen Stewardship blog has a great article here about homemade deoderant, but it seems very similar to my recipe. Perhaps I'll try less baking soda next time. 

Does anyone know of any recipes for homemade deoderant that do not include baking soda? 

4th of July

Happy 4th, everyone. Grilling out, fireworks, family time and relaxing in the sun is on the menu today (with Mom's famous cinnamon rolls and homemade buttercream frosting). However, we won't forget this celebration would not be possible without my ancestors, grandfathers, uncles, cousins and friends.

Although I am what I would consider a patriotic American, on this day I am always reminded of our spiritual freedom we have been given through Christ's life, death and resurrection as well. The LORD has truly been good to us and given us far more than we could ever imagine. Happy 4th of July, everyone, and I pray we may always remember that freedom is a most precious gift!

Hello, world.

I decided it's been way too long since I've blogged regularly. :) This is my humble attempt at re-starting at least somewhat regularlyposting. I think my blog is going to begin taking shape and focusing on home-building and Judeo-Christian holidays. Influences include my grandmother and mother, Karey Swan, Abby Warmington and Sally Clarkson.

I'm marrying a farmer in November! Wow. Life has certainly changed for me in the past 6 months. I got a text message from a friend this New Year's day that offered up a prayer for God to have "many great blessings up His sleeve" for me this year. If you could have told me that day that I would be engaged by June, I think I would have laughed... rather like Sarai. God's plans certainly aren't our own. While I was trying to cry/laugh/kill dreams/make new dreams about how I would live as a single person for the foreseeable future, He was smiling and preparing my heart for a much different path than I was beginning to envision.

My fiance is an incredible man of the Lord who loves and pursues me with his whole heart. He's goofy, passionate, raw, sensitive, honest, hard-working, patient and many other wonderful things. His downfall is chocolate and ice cream... I think we've gotten along rather well on those points, though. :) We have made our semi-long-distance relationship (50 miles) work, thanks to cell phones and vehicles. He calls me his treasure and we are growing in our love for the Lord and one another. I look forward to seeing how the Lord continues to grow us and lead in our journey of paths uniting. November 19th is coming soon!

One of our biggest physical hurdles right now is a dwelling place. We have looked at a few houses and discovered a LOT in a short amount of time. This week we're scheduling a showing at a house in Lake O which we're both kind of excited about. Some pros: it has an acre+ of land (bonfires and gardening opportunities!), a basement which they actually took pictures of for the website (big bonus, trust me), brand new copper plumbing and electrical wiring AND a one-year home warranty. Some cons: no trees in the yard, I don't like some of the paint/carpeting, and there's not a garage. These "cons" all seem pretty feasible to modify in time... unlike a basement that's crawling or permanently flooded... you get the idea.

One smaller hurdle we are currently crossing is purchasing a freezer to fill with produce for the winter! I think Tom is purchasing this one tomorrow, thanks for a 4th of July sale.

My first contribution: strawberry jam. I researched and found a pectin that needs WAY less sugar (Pomona's Universal Pectin) - for 6 quarts of freezer jam, I only used 3 cups of sugar. Hallelujah! The color is beautiful and Tom definitely approved on the initial taste-test. It's about $4.80 a box at Harvest Health. 1 box probably makes between 3-4 quarts of jam - using only 1-2 cups of sugar (my favorite Certo recipe calls for 2 1/2 cups of fruit and 4 1/2 cups of sugar - you do the math). You can also use honey as a sweetener - which I wasn't quite brave enough to do on my trial run, but I would probably try it now, at least with certain kinds of fruit (peaches?).

Needless to say, I will be patronizing Pomona's for quite some time (thank you, Harvest Health!). I am very excited to fill a freezer with jam and other good things for my home.

See you all again soon!

Seasons - Part 1

Like the skintone of summer, sunkissed and glowing

Warmed by the moments of passion and longing

But whirlwind romance wouldn't last mid-September

Soon all the leaves fell away

And love only lasted a day...

October winds came with lengthening evening

Chilled by memories both empty and haunting

Even though pain found each hour of the day

When the heart threatened to break

Hope still whispered to wait...

2010

January
Voices of Light x2
PTC

February
26
Ice skating
Swing dancing

March
Superboy and the Invisible Girl
Window of His Love
KAT performance
Dad's knee surgery

April
Seussical x4
Trinitas

May
River Bank Run
Miami + Jean-Rejouis wedding
Seattle

June
Camp Narnia x2
HPA camp x1

July
Middleton wedding
HPA camps x2
sister in China

August
Secret Garden
Stephen Schwartz
HPA auditions x3
MSVMA

September
Exploding schedule
CITA conference
Veen Observatory

October
More exploding schedule
Lord of the Rings x2

November
HPA Kids x3
KAT performance
Carmina Burana x2
Sunday night dancing
THANKSGIVING

December
Advent
Chicago/Paul Caldwell
Holiday Pops x5
Holiday Pops caroling x8
The Sing-Off
Christmas

Performances (participant): at least 29
Performances (directed): at least 18

Facebook says I have 956 "friends" - debating a clean out.

Lost my uncle and mourned with one of my communities. Death is terrible.

Ran 6 miles straight.

Watched love blossom and grow in many friends.

Sang. A lot.

Danced.

Discovered more places I love in America.

Discovered more artists I love around the world.

Given a dream, to watch it be killed, to be resuscitated, to be killed again. Maybe next year.

Put almost 20,000 miles on my car.

Has been in rehearsals for a fun show coming your way in February.

Loved. So much.

Laughed, cried and stayed up late more than ever.

Blessed beyond measure.