Fri-22-Aug-2008 - Conveniences
I’m not here to argue about if you should use electricity or keep a gas-powered mower. What I do what to do it look at the many, numerous, taken-for-granted conveniences in our lives and how we use them.
Now, I don’t have a microwave. For some, it’s a life-line that makes life easier and everything more convenient. For me, there is simplicity in using only my stove that might totally stress other people out!
I remember working for a widow before Samuel was in my womb. She let me barrow books, and one of them was “The Family No One Wanted”. It was the story of this couple who couldn’t have children and adopted a lovely dozen of all different shades of brown. In the time era it was practically unheard of to adopt a different skin shade, hence the ‘family no one wanted’.
This family eventually came to the attention of Reader’s Digest and the magazine decided to bring this family into the 20th century by hooking up the house with all kinds of appliances. A dishwasher, a laundry machine, a dryer, a microwave. I don’t recall but they may have had to hook the house up to electricity as well!
One thing that stands vividly in my mind was the mother’s response to her new “conveniences”. She was so happy, she exclaimed that with all the time saved she could easily have twice as many children!
Unlike the mom I read about, most of us don’t do laundry by hand. Most of us take for granted wall-to-wall carpeting and the electric thing that cleans known as a vacuum. When we don’t go somewhere, our vehicle sits quietly in the driveway. We don’t have to muck out a stall, or feed and water our car or van twice a day.
We are very blessed by conveniences. What do we do with our time? Something worthwhile? Something that will benefit others?
Is our extra time eaten up by the pursuit of more money? Do we spend the time we save when we turn a knob instead of hauling buckets of water from a distance on the computer or watching TV? To cook breakfast I don’t have to haul wood to my stove. I’m not raising my own cotton for clothing and tending sheep for wool.
What am I doing with my extra time?
We have more labor saving devices than ever before. Libraries are at our fingertips with the aid of a computer. We can “chat” without lifting the phone or picking up a pen and thinking too deeply about what to say.
I just think about this sometimes and think about the responsibility I have to use my time wisely. Children will always take work, but I really can’t complain. I don’t have to do my dishes by hand and throw the dishwater out the back door. I don’t empty the bathtub water with a bucket! I can go to Goodwill and buy clothing for $2 unless I want to make it. I live in a much larger house than would have been normal a hundred years ago, climate-controlled as well with the touch of a button . . . .
We tell ourselves that if I just had more time I would read my Bible more. I’d take time to pray. I’d spend more time with my children. I’d learn to make candles like I’ve always dreamed of.
We have the same amount of time, a 24 hour a day that our ancestors had. Frankly I think they did more with their time - they had so much more to do!
The question remains - are we doing something worthwhile with our time?
Just some more food for thought. 
~Ashley~
[All images from allposters.com]
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Mon-18-Aug-2008 - A "new" kitchen!
I'm getting all kinds of new things in my kitchen!
The sink I have is very shallow, and while it's stainless steel it costs less than $50.
Our (plastic) reverse osmosis facuet has leaked since we installed it over a year ago due to some internal flaw and it was getting worse, so Jonathan wanted to get a different facuet for that, plus a different kitchen faucet because that's a real cheap plastic, leaking mess too! Then we got to thinking about new fixtures with our old sink, and decided we needed a new sink as well!
Jonathan has also said that he is going to tile the kitchen/laundry AND make a tiled dining area (we eat on carpet) and I'm sooooo excited. I'm so tired of scrubbing food stains out of the carpet!!! The tile will probably happen in a month or two, but we bought the sink & stuff yesterday. Together, I really hope it makes the kitchen look more classy.
We ended up with a beautiful white sink that is 9.5" deep. 
Needless to say, I'm thrilled! The new faucet took forever to pick out... 
The stainless reverse osmosis faucet (it's so cute!!!) was $50 but they MATCH!!! LOL I may not be big on matching furniture but I'm tickled that the sink faucets are all matching, hehe!
I'm a bit in awe of the main kitchen faucet we picked out ... I hope it all comes together looking okay!!!! I will post before and after pics!
Oh, and this is a picture of exactly what we bought for the new kitchen sink:
I'll be back with more pictures soon!
~Ashley~
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Wed-13-Aug-2008 - Change....
The other night, with the boys tucked in bed and Jonathan working on our $5 dresser in the garage, I cleaned up the dining area. In a way, it felt like I was cleaning up a diner! Over the course of the evening, the boys had spread snack food around, so I wiped and dried surfaces and vacuumed and did the dishes and mulled over how life changes. Not much more than five years ago, I was wondering if I would ever marry and almost any meal I cooked was for a family of six people. Then after a whirlwind courtship I was married and I learned to scale down my recipes. I had to reduce them by 2/3rd’s, which wasn't easy for a fledgling cook! Downsizing was still a work in progress, and then we had Samuel. And then Elijah . . . . Now I actually cook for all four of us, and I find it incredibly satisfying to watch my growing family eat. It’s such a surreal feeling at times, to realize that our family has doubled in size and grown up so much already . . . . . . . . I just had Samuel, oh, a few months ago. Okay . . . a year ago. It doesn’t feel like he can be 3yo in 7 more months. A 3yo? I can’t be a mama to a 3yo already . . . . Elijah, my tiny baby. He eats more than his big brother? How can this be? He’s still my little nursling . . . . right? What did you say, dear? That I should freeze 3 cups of corn per meal instead of 2 cups? Wait, how did this happen? When did my little, helpless babies leave my arms and start eating so much that it began to effect the size of a meal? So many plans, hopes and dreams lay behind me already . . . . Will I really be 27yo the end of this year? That close to 30? Me? How life has changed . . . . all for the better! ~Ashley~
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