By Nicole

I have this pair of Gap sweats that I have had for years... over ten years to be exact.  They are slowly, yet surely, falling apart.  The waistband is tearing, so the elastic and drawstring are falling out.  The hems are non-existent.  Yet, I keep them.  I keep pulling them out and wearing them.  I lounge in them, clean in them, blog in them.  I'm wearing them right now. When I wear them, I remember the day I found them on super clearance at the Gap in Texas.  I remember wearing them through all my pregnancies and post-partum months (okay, fine, years!).  They are a pair of pants that never let me down. They always fit.  I don't want to donate them or get rid of them because they hold all these memories.  Forget that they have a tendency to fall down and it's a little ridiculous how threadbare they are.  I just can't let go. Do you have things that you can't let go of?  Things that are silly to keep, but that you don't think you'll ever get rid of? I h

For the first half of this story, check out this post .  I am following my version of a multigrain bread recipe from Mother Earth News . Whew.  This was way harder than throwing stuff in the bread machine.  So we ended last time with the soakers soaking and the sponges hanging out in the fridge. I took step by step pictures so that I could write less  provide a better visual guideline.  Well, almost step by step.  I couldn't some of the time because my hands were all gooey or had oven mitts or flour on them.  You understand... So, first I took out the sponges and let them get to room temperature.  I matched up my gooier (is that a word?) first sponge with the thicker looking buttermilk soaker.  It took longer than an hour, and I got sidetracked doing other things.  By the time I got around to making bread... they were good and ready. Then, I got everything else I needed out.  Mainly yeast, butter, flour, honey, and some warm water.  I also grabbed the olive oil

So, for the last four or five months, I've been thinking I was all fancy and awesome because I've been making homemade bread for everything.  The kids beg for store bought bread, but I ignore them and smugly think that they'll thank me someday for being made to suffer through healthy foods as children.  I remember feeling the same way as a kid, but I'm also thankful as an adult that I would never dream of buying or eating Wonder bread.  My plan is to also torture my children into being health-conscious adults through homemade bread, granola, whatever. Separate, but related story.  My husband is a Mother Earth News lover.  He has gotten a subscription for the last two years as a Christmas present because it makes him that happy.  He's always reading those things and getting apocalyptic homesteading ideas .  That's how he tortures me.  But, it must be wearing off.  Because the other day, I opened up to the bread article in this month's issue .  And I felt

Back in the day, I always wanted the "cool" tennis shoes.  Which as I remember were Reeboks and Jordans... Well, if I didn't have the money on my own, I didn't get them.  I remember my dad telling me one time that he would buy my shoes for me if I would pick a pair of Saucony or New Balance. "They're the only shoes made in America, and I'm not paying money for any !@#$% shoes."  Okay, Dad. Well, needless to say, I just found the money myself because back then, those shoes were old people shoes and definitely NOT cool. Well, not only do I think they are cool today.  I LOVE them.  I love them for more than the fact that New Balance shoes are still mostly made in America.  I love them because they are great running shoes.  Take the story of my trail shoes for example. April 2012.  I buy fast, flat trail shoes. Minimal, Vibram sole.  New Balance awesomeness.  They were all mine! I even Facebooked this exciting moment . They were my new, fast,

Today at Sunday School, we had a wonderful guest speaker.  Her message was about rocks and how they have impacted her life, and not just because she loves to collect them.  Her interest in them has caused references to rocks in the Bible to stand out as key verses in her life.  Psalm 18:2 - The Lord is my Rock and my fortress.  God is a Rock.  Rocks were used to solidify covenants, build fortresses, to kill giants and to be shelter in the storms.  When Jesus entered Jerusalem and his disciples were loudly praising Him, the Pharisees told Jesus to rebuke them.  Instead, He turned to the Pharisees and said, "If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." (Luke 19:40) Not only was her testimony beautiful, she also gave us all a rock.  That doesn't sound really special when I say it like that, but it really was.  She brought a basket of rocks and had us pass them around and pick one that spoke to us.  These weren't just any old rocks out of a driveway either.  There were

Call of a Coward: The God of Moses and the Middle Class House-Wife  by Marcia Moston This book has to be one of my favorites.  I was immediately drawn into their story.  Marcia writes so well and so candidly about her experience, I couldn't help but try to put myself in her shoes at times.   I love how she has set up each chapter of their story with a word of truth and Bible verses that go along with what they faced.  I admire this family for being completely open and willing to answer the call of God, even when it was exactly the opposite of what they may have wanted for themselves.   Marcia used every experience to highlight what God completed not only in their lives, but in the lives of those around them.  Even the most ordinary, mundane things held meaning and a purpose.  My favorite quote was this, "It's a noble thing to say you would lay down your life for a loved one.  It's quite another if you are called upon unexpectedly to share your last bit

Okay, I know Thanksgiving is over.  And I'm way behind the curve with this kind of post.  I spent most of November reading everyone's daily Facebook posts about what they were thankful for.  Almost every time I read one, I thought, 'I should do that this year.'  And then I blinked and forgot.  It's not that I'm not thankful... I just haven't taken the time to really write it all down.  And when I try, I almost feel insincere. There are the usual things... my family, my friends, my kids' health and humor and manners.  I'm thankful for our home and our jobs and our cars and our stuff.  I'm thankful for pets and our garden and our abilities.  I'm thankful for the Internet... for blogging and social media and email.  I'm thankful for our church, for the kids I work with, for the great programs that my kids get to be involved in. I'm thankful for my health and mobility, that I can run and play with my kids and get around (relatively) pai

"I've got a river of life flowing out of me.  Makes the lame to walk and the blind to see. Opens prison doors, sets the captives free. I've got a river of life flowing out of me!" A song many of us remember from childhood Sunday School classes speaks much deeper to me today. But few of us (at least I didn't), know the second verse: I’ve got a river of life flowing within me; It started gushing up when God set me free. That I keep the flow is my only plea. I’ve got a river of life springing within me. Source:  http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/ns/37#ixzz2II78cAJM That I keep the flow is my only plea...   Yet, how often do we lose that gushing?  That flow of the Spirit that pours out God's love?  The desire to grow and respond to the move of God? At what point did we stop growing and just start existing in our own little space-time continuum as Christians?  We're not ashamed of the title necessarily.  We'll even admit we are Christians.  Th

Today is a long awaited day!  I received an email this afternoon that I had  been accepted as a Sweat Pink Ambassador!  I am really excited and will be working on my bio and "aha" moment story for my profile page. It is going to be a long weekend... we are helping my mother-in-law move.  Hopefully I will be able to find a bit of free time. Until then, click the badge in my sidebar to see what this is all about!