Mr. Who?

It began in the beginning...

Our honeymoon.  I knew I was in for a lifetime of this:

Even Jake bore the brunt of it:


An interesting one...give it some thought and it actually makes sense!

Here we see exhibited two common errors; the second capital and the classic Mr. Butt:

My all-time favorite. This was on my luggage at a hotel in Vegas:

Extra Crunchy

This year we purchased pastured pork and beef from wonderful people at Snake River Farm.  We joined them in January for their lard rendering and bobsledding day and it was delightful!  Marek loved the horses and Matt really enjoyed chatting while helping strain the lard.  We ate the most delicious cookies made with the crackling from lard rendering as well as donuts, fries, soups, and meats all from the farm.  My favorite part was learning how to make soap and lotion from beef tallow.  I didn't realize that soap making is something that we could do on a small scale at home.  Matt and are excited to try it out soon and I'll be sure to post about it.  Last night I deep fried sweet potatoes in the lard and it was fantastic.  We usually make roasted sweet potato "French fries" at least once a week but these were the real deal!  Eggs cooked in lard are fantastic.  It's so cheap and delicious and healthy.  We will definitely continue to make and use this product in our family.  It's nothing new but it's new to us!

The tallow balm seemed like a very simple process to make.  Reading more about it, I discovered that it is very good for your skin, especially in winter and especially for eczema. It is "bioavailable," to our skin, absorbing easily and fairly non-greasy.  I decided to try it out.  I purchased two pounds of ground tallow from the meat market, rendered it, whipped it up with olive and essential oils and viola!  The smell is distinct but not unpleasant.  Eau de beef fat is the new patchouli. I've been using it on my face for a few nights and it feel amazingly rich and smooth. 

 

I am trying to phase out most of the household products we use/buy that are synthetic and trying out homemade/natural replacements.  I've purchased everything to make laundry detergent, all-purpose cleaner, and some personal products like lip balm, lotion, and deodorant.  It's fairly inexpensive and I'm having fun with it!  My secondary intention is to simply use less of everything (cleaning products, makeup, FOOD, etc.).  That's also a great way to be natural and save money ;)

A Stirring in My Soul

This week on Facebook, I linked back to a blog post that I wrote two summers ago.  I've thought about that summer often over the past year or so.  I remember how good I felt and in a lull, it has helped to heed my own words and pull strength from my "happy" list.  Again, I have been feeling a stirring in my soul.  I've been talking to Matt about it a lot but I'm not quite sure what it is.  It's not that I feel like something is missing.  I have enough, too much even, in my life to make me feel secure.  He thinks it's that I need a hobby, something to do without the kids.  That could be it.  The time doesn't quite feel right to start anything big (i.e. my dream to have my own pottery studio) but I have picked up some hobbies that keep me stimulated and excited.  I have made some goals related to them; I want to make my first quilt and run another long race.  I think it definitely has something to do with helping others.  I'm exploring some volunteer opportunities.  It also has a lot to do with God and bringing Him into clearer focus in our family.  That's probably because Marek is growing in his understanding of life and I want Jesus to be the center of it.  I'm also trying to open myself to help from others.  It hasn't been difficult to pray for God's guidance but it's an entirely different thing to actually move over and let Him take control!  Having child #2 has seem to change me more than first becoming a mother had.  In my experience, two has been loads easier than one!  It's because I've relaxed.  I feel so much more confident in making my own decisions about parenting my children and worrying less about other's input.  I've also realized that I had been making the mistake of assuming all other moms, especially moms with multiple children, have it all figured out.  It's reassuring knowing that we are all doing are best and figuring it out day-to-day.

One of the biggest struggles I have in my life has been a feeling of utter panic when one of my assumptions is upturned.  The earliest recollection I have of this is in kindergarten.  I asked the teacher, "what is the last number."  She told me there was no end but didn't exactly explain the theory behind it, as if I should have known this all along.  I panicked, I still remember the feeling!  How could I have been such a fool? I should have known!  Why didn't anyone ever tell me?  I'm so confused!  It's happened a number of times in my life and each time, I struggle to figure out what went wrong with my understanding. I've found it happening a lot with parenting.  So much so that I am wondering if much of what I have believed my whole life is somehow wrong.  No, that can't be right.  But it has brought me to a point where I believe the mature thing to do is at least examine my beliefs, one by one, and make sure I'm always questioning, always striving to be better.

In an effort to sort through these emotions, I am going to try to blog more or at least write down more snippets of thoughts throughout my days.  Maybe I'll come out the other end with some answers to who I am and what God wants me to be doing with this precious time on earth!

I also have many more recipes to post.  It'll be a mixed bag ;)