Oh My Poor Little Blog...

I have neglected my blog. There it is for all the world to see. Almost one year since I last visited and posted. But I do have things to say...both big and little. Hang on to your puters, this may be a bumpy ride.

I am crabby...

enough said.

Peaceful Places

That is the name of my new business. I am starting my dream business of helping people organize, simplify, and downsize their homes. I currently am working with a couple whose parents passed away. They are moving into the parents home which was full to the brim, as was their own. We are going thru both families possessions and making it all into one simple, functioning, organized home. I've had to be tough with them at times. Some things we deal with are emotional. Some things psychological. Some things are simply things, nothing more or less. At the same time my best friend bought her new home and we are decorating it. She is also combining her home with her elderly fathers. Neither of the two have a tremendous amount of stuff, but plenty. We have been focusing on painting, light fixtures, curtains. You know, the fun stuff!! Her partner has been wonderful about getting things hung for us. He is such a sweet guy! Thanks Chris! It is SO exciting to see things come together.

If anyone out there is in need of help in your home let me know. I am not a cleaning service. I do organizing, downsizing, simplifying and decorating. Oh and a little therapy mixed in! I live in Central Missouri but for the right job I would travel.

RV Envy

I am so jealous. Sara from the blog www.walkslowlylivewildly.com has really taken the plunge. She and her husband, Matt, and daughter, Bella have decided to tour the US in their own RV for the next year!! I have always wanted to do this. As homeschoolers this would be the ultimate way for my kids to "see the country" and really experience history. I love change and adventure. Wouldn't it be fun to plot your path across the great US of A. The blog to follow this trip is www.livelightlytour.com . They also converted their RV to run on vegetable oil, free mind you. Happy trails Janssen family!!

You know you are a 1970's child if...

you remember the following:

• rollerskates with pom-poms
• Bonnie Bell Lipsmackers lip gloss in soda flavors
• friendship pins you wore on the laces of your tennis shoes
• thinking Chrissy Snow had cute hair
• REO Speedwagon
• BeeGees
• Nikes were "new"
• Jordache jeans
• banana seat bikes
• eight tracks
• thongs were shoes
• Loves Baby Soft
• GeeYourHairSmellsTerrific shampoo
• Atari
• Baby Oil as your "sunscreen"
• SunIn hair lightener
• Fonzi was hot
• MASH
• Dukes of Hazzard
• The Waltons
• Judy Blume
• American Bandstand
• Disco
• Farrah Fawcett hair
• Charlies Angels

Please add on so we can continue the trip down 70's lane.

house hunting

My best friend is house hunting. I love to go through houses. Not because I wanna look thru their personal belongings, just how folks decorate, the layout of the house. You know just basic noseyness. If I had lots of extra time on my hands I'd go to every open house in my area. However, since I don't have that time I am enjoying going with her. Two days ago she found the perfect one. It is so cute!! I'd buy it in a heartbeat. But dang it why did she have to find it so quick!! She went and ruined my fun.

blondness

Well I am a blond. Its been quite awhile since I was this blond. I have to say I really like it. Now my kids look like they belong with me. Prior to today Rob & I were both dark headed. All three of the boys are blond-dishwater blond. No one realizes as a child I was very blond with blue eyes. I will post some pics on flickr as soon as I find the camera.

randomness

I have fell head over heels in love with a new blog. Under the Laundry Pile. Link to left. After reading it I realized I don't have to have some long, important thought to blog, just share whatever. That's good because my long, important thoughts come so rarely these days I might not blog for months at a time!!

In the past two weeks we have had extra shifts to work, an extra doggie we were babysitting, new carpet in the living room, a broken and still not fixed mini van, several fishing trips and soon to come a new hair color on mommy. This period of busy has no immediate end in sight. Next week Adam has horse camp for eight hours a day monday-friday. It is 50 miles round trip to drop off and pick up. Umm thank goodness gas is cheap right now, rriiiggghhttt. We have a week off then Caleb goes. Two days later we leave for Colorado for 10days. July 15th or 16th we start back with lessons. Thank goodness I have made use of all my "free time" and most of next years textbooks/workbooks are ready to go.
Tomorrow I have a hair appointment. I really like to color my hair. Never been brave enough to add blue or green but lots of other colors. This time I am going either golden brown or lots of gold highlights. We will soon see.

Butter making

In my attempt to have well rounded children I am introducing different types of housekeeping that most folks no longer participate in. This weekend we made strawberry jam from the berries we picked in our backyard. We also hang out as much of our laundry as possible. Today the project is butter making. We are blessed with being friends of a family with LOTS of dairy heifers. They milk everyday of their lives. They are generous enough that they are going to give us several gallons of raw milk to make butter. I haven't made butter in 25 yrs. We have my Granny's butter churn. Also off the butter will come buttermilk, from which I am going to make something yummy. I am not sure what to do with the leftover milk that comes when you seperate the cream off the milk. I need to check into pasteurizing it to drink. We could also keep some of the cream in it and make homemade ice cream. So many projects. Projects=happiness.

Books that make ya think

I was recently reading one of my favorite blogs www.walkslowlylivewildly.com and Sara the owner discussed a book by Elizabeth George called A Woman After God's Own Heart. It perked my interest as most of what she says does. However, Sara stated it radically changed how she viewed her husband and marriage. While I have an amazing hubby and our marriage is wonderful...I am always looking to better myself, which in turn betters our marriage. So I went to my favorite bookstore online and ordered it. True to her word it is thought provoking and challenging. It makes women look inside ourselves and our true strengthens and weaknesses. It also spends a lot of time on submission and putting your hubby first in your life, right behind God. For moms I think putting our spouses in front of kids is hard. The author points out it is vital. Get the book and check it out. While I never take a book and agree with every word in it, this one has a lot of really good things to say.
Also in the mail today came The Other Side of The Garden. I remember when it came out in the early 90's there was very mixed emotions on it. Up until now I have never read it. Guess what its also about submission and a Godly marriage. I have read the first 50 pages and so far nothing over the top. I'll let you know when I finish the book.
What are you reading?

Proverbs 31

A recent post on a favorite blog of mine is quite thought provoking. Click on www.walkslowlylivewildly.com and check out Sara's latest post on the Proverbs 31 woman. It is a lot to mull over. I would be interested in your take on it. I agree with most everything she has to say about this bible verse. Please read the comments (there were over 70 last I checked) on it also. Peace and blessings.

Oprah

Did anyone see Oprah on Friday April 20th? Her show was about Green living. FINALLY. I personally like Oprah. She is a kind, generous woman. She is someone I would love to drink some tea with. She has covered so many topics in her 20yrs of television. I am so happy to see her tackle this one. And the folks at Shaklee seemed guininely seemed to care about their son and his health problems related to the chemicals they had previously put in their home. In case you missed the program you can go on www.oprah.com and link in for the info. Also you can order from Shaklee with a special discount. They have a home starter kit that makes me drool!! Its basically everything you need for house and laundry and get this...the whole kit is 88$!! I think thats a great investment. I also have allergy prone kids. I have gotten back in the groove (see previous post) and am back to using 7th generation and Method. However, I think Shaklee would be awesome. I am hoping to find it locally instead of always online. I hope each of you will take a look at the products you are putting in your house, on your clothes and body. Happy Green!

YUM

Melissa's Chicken

8-10 boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins
1-2 T seasame oil
1-2 T curry yellow
Garlic to taste
Black pepper to taste
1 can full fat coconut milk
3 T. soy sauce or more
1 T creamy peanut butter
2-3 green onion stalks, greens only diced
White bean noodles found in asian section. Fry according to package directions. They also are made with a rice base, either is fine.

Brown chicken in oil. Add curry, garlic and pepper. We like LOTS of both, many may not. Add in milk & soy sauce, heat slowly, stir in peanut butter, add gr onions, cover and simmer. While simmering, cook bean noodles. Put chicken in each bowl and top with noodles. May add more soy if necessary. YUM.

This is the current fav in our house. Ready in 10-15 minutes, no prep ahead of time.

the loud thump you heard

was me falling off the natural cleaning wagon. I went out and bought Clorox CleanUp, Tide with bleach and downy!! Oh yeah and PineSol lemon. Oy. I was SO proud of myself when I broke these habits. But in my mind things weren't "clean". They probably were clean but not in my mainstream mind. I went to MDC and confessed my sins. The women there gave me lots of good ideas. Over time I am going to implement the natural cleaners using this information. So if anyone else out there has been thru this same thing, of breaking your mainstream practices, I would love to hear from you.

What a great day!

Rob & I are celebrating our 16th anniversary on April 6th. We decided to take a day for "us" and celebrate early. My gracious sister in-law and her hubby took the boys for an entire afternoon. The day was gorgeous, sun shining and in the low 70's. First we went to our favorite restaurant Les Bourgeois Bistro and winery. We have been going here for years for anniversaries. We feasted on Gorgonzola cheesecake (garlicy, warm, pesto sauce, toasted bread on which to smear it), then Rob had a salmon cobb salad and I had beef medallions with white cheese smashed potatoes and we finished it off with apple cinnamon creme brulee. Oh my goodness. Everything was perfect. After we ate we decided we better walk! The restaurant is located in Rocheport, MO. There are the neatest shops in old historic homes. I scored big time!

What a sweet card. It is handpainted watercolor by the shop owner's sister. I am going to frame it along with the other one I bought.
At another store I found the perfect piece of fabric to sew into two pillows for my sofa. It is feedsack material in mint condition.
Then I found the sweetest little momma robin to look over the eggs and nest I had at home.
And last but certainly not least this is the neatest book/magazine holder. I am SO excited about this find.
It was such a fun afternoon. We definetly need more dates.