What an amazing trip we had! There's way too much to say about it, so I'll try to convey it with pictures… Day 1: We flew into Phoenix from Seattle, got our rental car, and drove up to Flagstaff, marveling at the cactus' of the Sonoran Desert, and the vastly changing scenery as we headed …
5 years ago…
… I married my best friend, my incredible, patient, generous, loving husband Ryan. I can't believe how fast five years goes by! It has been an adventure-filled five years, full of twists and turns I never anticipated. Challenges, yes, but even more so, abundant blessings and the kind, providential hand of God so evident throughout. …
Living Simply Saturdays: We’re back!
Mildly travel weary, surrounded by laundry, yet so happy to be home and full of wonderful memories made together, we're back from vacation! I promise I'll tell you all about it and share some pictures from our trip next week! For now, Lindsay of Passionate Homemaking has so generously agreed to host the Living Simply …
Natural Living- A Beginner’s Approach
May I just say that I love, love, love this gust post from fellow blogger Katie? When I read it, I laughed and nodded and completely, totally related. Why, you ask? Because this is exactly how I began my own natural living journey, over 6 years ago. Small steps, changing things little by little, knowing …
Passionate about all the wrong things?
Last week I read a comment on one of my favorite blogs, that I've been mulling over and can't quite get out of my head: Say that you rail and your rail with your children about all kinds of things: drugs and rock music and Christian music and weak Christianity and sugar and white bread …
Come Unto Me
Guest poster Gina eloquently shares about a struggle I know full well… whether to trust fully in Jesus and go to Him for all that I need, day in and day out, or to foolishly attempt to do life on my own meager strength. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, …
How not to buy organic
I wish I had my camera. It was a fantastic photo opportunity, although I'm not so sure that the lady in line in front of me at the grocery store would have been so keen on the idea. Tonight I saw firsthand a perfect example of how not to buy organic food. What, you say??? …
The Stay at Home Mom and Evangelism
What a great reminder of the opportunities that we have to share the love of Christ, even as we are centered in our homes. I appreciate guest poster Sandra’s focus on intentionality, and her encouragement to focus on the possibilities we have to share in the midst of everyday situations. Guest Post by Sandra As …
Living Simply Saturday: Enjoying my vacation!
If you're looking for the Living Simply Saturday carnival, it's still happening, just not here. I am simply enjoying my family and nothing more! Head on over to Passionate Homemaking, where the carnival is being hosted both this week and next!
Good Choices
I think this guest post from Manda will resonate with all of us who struggle as we attempt to make the best possible choices for our families, while knowing that we cannot do everything and some compromises must be made. Making choices between frugality and toxins, convenience and nutrition, and everything else in between, is …
Living Simply Saturday… but you won’t find it here!
In light of the fact that I am blissfully on vacation, you should all know that the Living Simply Saturday carnival will indeed be taking place, both this Saturday and the next, but I will not be hosting either of them. For those who will be participating or just love perusing their way through the …
Living Simply Saturday… but you won’t find it here!Read More
Having children a selfish act?
On Saturday, when my blog was down, my husband and I read this incredibly sad and disturbing article, and I’ve been mulling over a post about it ever since. Here are some of the “highlights”: Had Toni Vernelli gone ahead with her pregnancy ten years ago, she would know at first hand what it is …
The Walk of a Weary Woman
This refreshing guest post from Stephanie spoke deeply to me, as I know that it will to you, too. It needs no other introduction, so just read on… For many years I have struggled under my own expectations, or a list of what I “thought” I was to do to flourish as a wife, mother …
Why Should Christians Support Sustainable Agriculture?
I’m excited to bring you this first guest post, from Kimberly, who is a Weston Price chapter leader, as well as publicist for Sally Fallon, the author of Nourishing Traditions (a much referenced book on this blog!). This is a excellent look at another element of Christian stewardship, and she says it so much better …
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Life without a microwave
When faced with a serious illness. it's amazing how much easier it becomes to give up certain things. Our microwave was one of those things. When my husband was diagnosed with cancer last spring, it was one of the first things to go. We had already been in the process of changing a lot of …
Living Simply Saturday: Stop and Savour
This week I found my life hectic and busy, and seemingly not very simple! Preparing everything for us to go on this trip, while leaving my garden during a late-arriving harvest time and committing to leave my blog for two full weeks, made for a very full schedule. For my children’s sake, I made a …
And we’re off…
I'm so excited to finally be leaving for our two week family vacation! We'll start with 4 1/2 days in Seattle, visiting with my husband's family, reading, going to the zoo, and just relaxing. Then next Wednesday morning, we'll be catching a plane bright and early to fly down to Phoenix, Arizona. The first day …
Living with PCOS: Why nutrition really matters
If you've missed the first posts in this series, you can read them here: The beginning of my story and then Taking a step back. When I was first diagnosed with PCOS, I was lightyears from the place of health and nutrition consciousness that I am now. In fact, it was my diagnosis that spurred …
simplicity in a busy season
There are days, weeks, even months and years in life, where I think that it may feel next to impossible to achieve what we might think of as "simple living". Seasons when life is one hectic blur of busyness and responsibility. For me, a really challenging example of a season like that was last summer, …
Natural solutions for cleaning tough stuff
Just in time for my massive house cleaning day tomorrow (before I go on vacation, I always like to try to leave my house spic and span, because it's just so much more restful to come home to!), the perfect Green Guide newsletter dropped into my inbox. Their article on Furry Foes offered a natural …
Nutritional Foundations- Making the best of the regular grocery store, Part 3
Let's continue on with our tour of the conventional grocery store, and how to do the best we can with what's available to us… Dairy This is a tough one. The dairy at our local grocery store has unfortunately been dealt with rather poorly. First off, it has been pasteurized: Pasteurization destroys enzymes, diminishes vitamin …
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Q&A: Avoiding wheat
Hi Stephanie, I saw a comment of yours on another blog, stating that you don't use wheat at all. I was just curious about that. Does your family have sensitivities, or are you trying to avoid a problem in the future, or is it because it is engineered? Or another reason? I use a lot …
Canning Resources
(Jars of the most delicious wild blackberry jam I made last week!) As I am only in my second year of canning, I don't feel quite ready to start giving lots of advice and tutorials quite yet, but I've been fortunate to find so many great resources this year, so I thought I would pass …
So much to do!
A few quick comments first off… thank you so much again for the respectful comments on my latest post on birth control. I have really appreciate the kindly worded comments on this potentially volatile topic. It's always a blessing to share with you ladies! Secondly, what a great response to the very first Living Simply …