What I've been reading

I love to read what others are reading. So, I assume you do too!

Here's what I've been reading the last couple months:

• The Egg and I by Betty MacDonald
• Making Your Small Farm Profitable by Ron Macher
• Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow
• Her Mother's Hope and Her Daughter's Dream both by Francine Rivers
• Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult
• Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
• Fearless by Max Lucado
• Lydia's Charm by Wanda Brunstetter

I also follow several blogs and have downloaded several e-books I can't wait to read.

My parents, both excellent writers, say that reading is a major part of good writing. So here's to reading!

Comment and let me know of any good books you've read lately. I'm always on the look-out!

 

myhouseisamess.com

Do you think real farmer's wives (back in the day) allowed their houses to be a pig sty? Surely not. Surely every house was filled with peace and free of clutter. Right?

For the sake of personal motivation, I am going to say that things back then while not perfect were definitely a lot more peaceful than today's version of messy. Simply speaking — and I am going to generalize the entire population of "back then" when I say — people had less stuff. Less stuff = less mess. Less mess = more peace. More peace = more time. More time to build relationships.

Up with the sun....

All the journals I've read from women of the past have been clear on this subject matter: A good farm wife is up with the sun and continues in an up-right position until said sun goes to bed. Ugh.

My nature, my genes, my will and everything else that makes me me desires to go to bed late and get up late. Oh, and I LOVE to nap. I realize how luxuriously lazy I sound, but I typically get a second wind between 9 and 11 p.m. and have accomplished many things during these late hours.

How to be a "real" farmer

After living on the farm for five years, I've decided it's high time I learned what in the heck I am doing. Or, to be more exact, what it takes to be a farmer. A real one.

I have always admired stories of women of ago who worked their fingers to the bone from sun-up to sun down ... survivors, these gals, and I feel like such a wimp, slug, prissy gal when compared.

But I do live in 2012. And I do have electricity, indoor plumbing, freezers, Internet, Jiffy Mix, etc. etc., and most of these things I do not desire to live without. So what do I want to be? How do I want to be?

Train up a child...

The other day as I was lamenting over the length of my to-do list and the kids were running around like mad men, it hit me. “Why aren’t these kids helping out more?
We give them shelter. We give them food, clothes, etc. etc. And none of it is free. None of it comes without sacrifice, without work. But that’s how life is and we know it. They don’t. They are just kids.
Soon, God willing, they will be adults and I guess that switch in their brains will flip at a certain age and they will understand (and accept) that life is work, sacrifice.

Freaks on the farm

Our cat is a dog.
Not in some weird science fictional way, but I promise to everything, that animal is con-fused!
There is much evidence to support my theory.
Patrick Star (that’s his name) is a sock stealer. If I leave socks on the kids’ dressers for the next morning or if a sock drawer is even cracked, he will have those socks strung out all over, chewing on them, growling and then eventually hiding them for later.
He also loves water. Now, when Patrick Star began joining people in the shower I began to seriously question his mental stability.

DUGGAR MANIA!!!!!!!!!!!!

I MET THE DUGGARS!!!

I MET THE DUGGARS!!!

I MET THE DUGGARS!!!

And while a few weeks have already passed, I am still totally stoked about it!

The Duggar family (you know, the family from Arkansas with 19 kids and one on the way ?) were guests at the Fresh Grounded Faith conference held in Springfield Nov. 11-12.

When I heard they were going to be so close, I snatched a group of tickets so I could take some pals with me to meet my favorite T.V. stars.