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Showing posts from January, 2017

Psalm 1 Recitation

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I have made it a goal to memorize   twelve Psalms this year .   I plan to share my progress here via video for the sake of accountability, motivation, and fun. I think these videos will also provide me with a sense of perfection in a very traditional sense of the word, meaning that my task will be  totally   complete and   in the past tense.        I drew a little sketch in my journal that illustrates the Psalm and commemorates the occasion for me (and my supportive husband was a good enough to take the video.)    This is the first of the twelve I have memorized well enough to say throughout the day at any time without reviewing or having any prompts of any kind; Psalm 1.  

Curiosity Abounds

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In an effort to steward the gift that God has given me in this new home, I've allowed myself time to take walks. As a result, I've got a growing fascination with the mosses, fungi, and lichens that grow in the woods around me.  Painted with infinite shades of one or two colors, they are each glorious in their own right.  So I am arming myself with the appropriate field guides.  I can't wait to be able to call these beauties by their names and discover details about how they work.  

A Gentle Word on Goal-Setting

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I made it a goal to read The One Year Chronological Bible in 2017.  I tried this last year, but I failed to stay with it.  The Bible in this format as compared to the other One Year Bible is more difficult without a doubt; No inspirational Psalms;  No convicting Proverbs. But that's not really why I didn't accomplish this last year. I just I hated being so far behind, so then I just gave up trying to catch up. But I wanted to try again this year. I felt like there was something there, something important in that failure that I needed to confront, something that God wanted to show me.   So I started again on January 1, 2017 and did well for like three days. Then I got behind almost immediately, not able to read the Bible every single consecutive morning, because... life.     But this morning, I had a little more time than usual, so I caught up.   Now I am set to read January 15 tomorrow and all is right with the world.   But seriously. When

Bag Work

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I got a chance to fill up my punching bag and hit and kick on it last week. It had been in storage for many months during the move. It felt great to have it again.  

Do-Dad

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This little cast iron do-dad was left in our house when we bought it.  I wasn't sure what it was supposed to be for... Was it a candle holder?  No, it was too big for a tea light, too small for other typical candle sizes. Was it a spoon rest of some kind?  No, it was too small to hold cooking utensils and it's rim was too high to be used for tea spoons. I couldn't figure it out, but it was interesting to me. So I kept it, cleaning it, then putting it in the kitchen cabinet. Then the other day, I was making gumbo and I needed to taste the broth... That's when I thought of this do-dad!  It occurred to me that it is the perfect design for tasting broths, etc. So I tried it as a tasting spoon.  I scooped up some broth and gave it a look and then a taste! It was the perfect shape for dipping, swirling, and then drinking! Of course, I am not really sure this is actually what it is for, because I haven't seen a tasting spoon in this shape. Most look more l

Easy Gumbo

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I call this recipe easy, because the only thing I really ever need to buy for it is kielbasa and okra, because I usually have all the other ingredients in my cabinets, fridge, or freezer at all times. It's also easy, because I have left out ingredients altogether, like zucchini or worcestershire sauce. I have also swapped out fresh flavorings for powdered ones, onion powder in place of chopped onion, for example, and it always tastes great no matter. Ingredients: Extra Virgin olive oil Water (or thawed chicken or beef bone broth- approx. 4 cups) Corn flour Beef kielbasa sausage Two chicken breasts Zucchini One bag frozen, chopped okra One large can chopped tomatoes Minced Garlic Spices: Onion Powder (or fresh onions if you feel like chopping them) Kosher Salt Worcestershire Sauce Dried parsley (or fresh parsley, of course, if you have it) Optional: Jalapeno Powder Drizzle a lot of olive oil in the bottom of a deep pot and turn it on medium-high heat.  (

Simple Avocado and Pepper Salad

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Chop up one ripe avocado and one fresh bell pepper (red, yellow, or orange). Sprinkle with garlic salt and jalapeƱo powder, toss, and enjoy!  This is one of my favorite snacks right now.

How A Simple Writing Assignment Quickly Becomes So Much More

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I had my oldest read the book My Brother Sam is Dead with me.  It's a historical novel set in Redding, our new community. All the sites are within walking distance of our new house, and apparently, while the characters are fictitious, the events in the book are based on original sources the author could find and as accurate as can be. We practiced some of the writing skills we are learning in Challenge A to discuss the book together. It's Christmas break, so we have some time to do this extra reading and this will function as a sort of review for the things we are learning in The Lost Tools of Writing, the writing program we are using. *Spoiler alert* The title of the book might give you some idea of what may happen in the story, but if you want to read the book My Brother Sam is Dead , don't read below, because there will be spoilers. I asked my daughter to choose between two issues: "Whether Sam should have stolen his father's gun" or "Wheth