| Just give me Jesus |
shampoo bar soapWanna hear some good news? I am not going to shave my head again! See it all started about 3 years ago. well, 4 really.Around Christmas I noticed that I had really bad dandruff. I had never had dandruff before, but this was awful! Flakes as large as a quarter were coming off my head from the area behind and slightly above my ears. I went to see my dear friend who is also a beautician. I asked her what was going on, and she cut my hair shorter (at the time it was mid-back length, the longest mine has ever grown) to my shoulders. I normally did this every 2 years anyway, so it wasn't a big change. She also looked at my head and pointed out that this "dandruff" was only in these two areas behind and slightly above my ears. About this same time, I noticed dry, flake-y skin in, uh, other places I had hair. We (dh went with me) went to a dermatologist, he said it was psoriasis or excema, he didn't seem to know the difference. He gave me chemically-laden shampoos, creams, etc. they worked for a while, but I was not supposed to nurse or be pregnant with them, and they quit working. We tried apple cider vinegar, I put olive oil on my head at night (I felt like a salad!). We quit the medical professionals - they did not seem to be able to give us a firm diagnosis (they sounded as confused as us!) and their "solutions" were bandaids, not fix the problem. During all of this, the patches got bigger and spread to the top of my head. Sometimes, if I scratched, it would ooze, not blood but something else. Finally, 3 years ago in July, I went back to my friend and told her to shave my head. Oh, we had read that one "prescription" for some types of psoriasis was to expose the body to a machine with certain types of ultraviolet rays. So, we thought, If I expose my scalp to sunlight and air, maybe that will help the problem. I was very self-conscious. For about 2 months, then, I got over it, and it was my head, and my haircut. (besides, it bothered my appearance-centered parents and sister - always a slight bonus! you need to know them!) The sunlight and air thing did not work. But, with no hair, the oils I put on my scalp stayed ON my scalp, not in my hair. and that helped if only because I wouldn't scratch and make it worse. Then I got pregnant. Suddenly, the patch on my other hair went away. And on my head, it started shrinking and healing to normal healthy skin. By the time my daughter was born, one whole side of my head was healed completely and the other was smaller than it had been since the first time my friend had looked. and it was just pinkish red skin, not cracked and oozing. It has been two years since my daughter was born, and 4 months since I got pregnant again. The remaining patch has shrunk until it is a line maybe an inch long under my hairline and above my ear. Not even a finger-width wide. I think it is gone for good. If I can get rid of this before my new baby is born. Pregnancy hormones are good for me! So, now back to the title of this post. Now that I am growing my hair back, I want to switch to a shampoo bar instead of store-bought shampoo. All of these skin problems were the reason I started making soap in the first place, and I want to expand my recipe collection to shampoo bars. Does anyone have a good recipe for a shampoo bar that they use and like? 12:55 PM - Monday, October 13, 2008 - comments {5} - post commentMusings on being a "frumpy" homeschoolerIt has been many years, but I *was* one. So I wanted to try to share my personal angle. I believe there was something going on this weekend in Homesteadblog-dom that had to do with homeschooling, but I have no idea what that was as I wasn't online. A comment I left last week made me think about the past. It's distant enough not to be painful anymore, still fresh enough to be vivid. And it's a part of who I am. So, I'm blogging it, but the timing of this post might be sorta bad, so don't take it personal in light of . . . whatever it was that happened this weekend! Yes, I'm pretty confident that if you had known me, you would agree that I was an ugly duckling . . . . I wasn't so much shy as I recognized at a glace that me and you would have had very, very little in common. I would probably have had an easier time talking to your mom, or your siblings, or even your twin brother, just about anyone besides a girl my own age! But I was probably perceived quite often as shy and backwards. The few times I opened up to female peers, I was usually stared at, then told "You sound like you were raised like my grandma." AKA, "I can't relate to you." Which is almost teen code for "You're weird." I could smell pity a mile away. I didn't need or want it from anyone! Let alone for something as superficial as my looks! I grew up butchering chickens, milking cows, and at 14yo I bought a 2yo, untrained Quarter Horse mare. I spent two years saving up for half the cost, and two years paying the rest off. I didn't get my driver's license until I was 18yo because I had not interests in the mall or movies (I didn't have the money for the mall after I fed my animals and we rented movies. What was the big deal?) I could drive 4 miles to the town library and that was as far as my interests really went! The older you get, the more acceptable it is to have an "odd" upbringing. People like to hear about it. They admire your "strength" and that you know how to do these things and wish they had learned. Hahaha! Right. As a teen you were probably grumbling about mowing the lawn instead of watching cartoons, let alone being handed a knife and told to put up fifty fryers. I used to wonder what it would have been like to be born when everyone's grandmas were, so that I could have fit in more. When nobody watched cartoons and hard work was more respected. At a time when most of the girls I knew could carry on a half hour conversation about nail polish and lip gloss (or so it seemed to me!) and 'cute' guys (I always thought that term insulting to the masucline gender), I was more interested in if a young man was a hard worker and what kind of daddy he would be than how he looked in jeans or if he was a football player or homecoming king. I wanted to be appreciated, but mostly I wanted a husband I could really respect - that was such a high priority for me! It was also very important to me to know if he would hit or throw things when he was very, very angry. I wanted to know how he would react when he had to change a tire in the rain. Most of the girls I knew would have been so annoyed by brothers 4yo, 8yo, and 10yo younger than they. For me, they were my "clique" and I *wanted* to hang out with them! I was strong, I was inventive, and I was funny - I was the 'perfect girl' to them. My brothers were my peers, and as such I was influenced not to be "too girly". Yes, I would have looked different, shabby and messy to the standards of highschoolers. And it would smart - but only around peers! At the same time it was deeply ingrained in me that the right man would love me for my heart, not my looks. I used to look into the mirror and pray that someone would take the time to get to know me enough to see past the exterior I didn't know how to frame to be "fashionable". Most of the time, riding my horse on the prairie or hunting with my younger brothers, it just didn't matter what I looked like. Today, the pictures I have from that era frame some of the happiest, most innocent moments of my life, but I would never, ever ever show them to anyone. Simply because of what I'm wearing in them. Vanity, I know! The summer before I turned 19yo, I got my first job off the farm and was enrolled at a local, junior college. If I left my peers alone, they left me alone. For the first semester, as I got my footing, that was fine at college. In the shoe department in a retail store, I blossomed. I love to help people! And I got paid to do it! Besides, at college it was hard to find the kind of guy I had set myself up for. Most didn't seem to be hard-working, epitomes of virtue. It only took a curse word or two to make me lose all interest in a pretty face. And did I mention everyone cursed? Just about? My Sunday School class gave me more hope. I desperately wanted to fit in there - here were other Christian young people! Perhaps not raised like I was, but fellow followers of Christ. They must have thought I was so weird to take my younger brother to get-togethers and such. The events always sounded like so much fun that I wanted to include one of my best friends! It was at Sunday School that a young man that I respected asked me to "please repeate that in English". After reading book after book growing up - and I had the vocabulary to prove it. However, after that comment, I spent years rephrasing things in my mind, dumbing it down, forgetting words I decided no one used but me. I picked up slang, and invested in the many ways to entone grunts, sighs, and other non-words. Working in retail, I finally learned how to dress, how to walk, how to flirt. I went off of comments I recieved and stares. In a way, I had spent most of my life praying for a young man to see past my shabbiness, now I was realizing that I was still going to have to hope for a young man to really get to know me past my attractivness! Instead of fashion dropping the last barrier to my happiness, I found that I was attracting (by the droves) the wrong kind of guy. These seemed to possess even less virtue! By the time I met Jonathan, I was working my way out the other side of my adventure and searching for balance. I was still dressing mainly to attract attention, but I was longing for something modest and attractive. I still had a very long way to go before I would find again where I was comfortable. I had decided I was different and that I didn't mind that. I was done apologizing for "me". The only thing I can figure, is that when Jonathan and I met, it was a meeting of our spirits. I think both of us were moving, in tiny steps, towards the same thing. I had gigantic subwoofers in the back of my car, I wore makeup in layers and listened to bands like Demon Hunter. Jonathan was obsessed with sports and at first I thought him ambition-less! There was very little to indicate that this was a man who would appreciate homemade soap or that I would ever make an effort to learn how to cook from scratch. Anyway, I just wanted to share my own personal story of transformation . . . from ugly duckling into something a bit more attractive! So the next time you see a "poor" homeschooler . . . save your pity. Spare them your judgement based on their looks, and maybe they will do the same! You never know what you could learn from each other! ~Ashley~ 10:56 - Mon-13-Oct-2008 - comments {4} - post commentThe Simple Woman's Daybook
FOR TODAY,
Monday, October 13th, 2008 Outside My Window...a very chilly and clear morning
I am thinking...I need to get my taxes done, things are piling up and I am getting anxious!
I am thankful for...God providing work for my husband.
From the kitchen...Breakfast: cinnamon raisin bread, Lunch: sack-lunch to take with us on a field trip, Dinner: BBQ Chicken Casserole and rolls
I am wearing...black capris and a black t-shirt, barefoot
I am creating...a healthy food environment in my kitchen so I'm not tempted
I am going...to meet with friends and then to the community college's farm for a field trip and get veggies
I am reading...Lord of the Rings and The History of the World in Six Glasses
I am hoping...to get all my paperwork done
I am hearing...the kids eating breakfast
Around the house...still deep-cleaning and de-cluttering, getting the chicken coop rebuilt for winter
One of my favorite things...a warm house on a freezing day
A Few Plans For This Week: Work-outs, school, son testing for his next rank in jujitsu,starting a weightloss contest with friends, getting my hair done
Here is a picture thought I am sharing...
 My current computer background
11:28 - Monday, October 13, 2008 - comments {0} - post commentMonday Our Homeschool is taking the week off. Praise The Lord. We have completed our second 6th week. It is time for a "short" break to do some other things. I have a list of things to be accomplished this week. DD and I have some projects that we are working to complete. Our quilt, learning to knit, and a clay nativity scene. I will try and post pictures when we complete all of our projects. This will be a lot of fun working on our projects. That is not work. On my list is to clean out my closet and room. More stuff will go to the Salvation Army this week. Hopefully that will be all for a while. Maybe until the next 6 weeks are complete. I need to switch Summer and Winter clothes. This always takes up some time. DS only has one pair of jeans (down from the attic) that fit his waist. Skinny waist and longer legs. I have to go and finish some chores. Hope you have a blessed day. I 08:58 - Monday, October 13, 2008 - comments {0}Its Like Hitting the Nail on the Head...or is that the FootI must confess that amongst all the crazy things I have done, this one is the most painful. Saturday while helping a friend from church tear down her old well house(it was caving in) I managed to step on a rusty nail...Yikes Although for the most part it didnt hurt just more of a Ahh man I gotta go get a tetnus shot(20 years since I last had one, and that too was for a nail in the foot)... I resorted to being driven to the hospital but not with out hitting the drive thru at sonic for their happy hour drink specials.... ha haha Go orange juice slushes, and a caramel java chiller!... Now before you go and scold me, I am most glad we got me the drinks as it would be 3 hours in the ER before I was to be released... During that time though my friend was happy as she got to watch the OU vs Texas college football game on the big screen tv they had in the ER room...With one Tetnus shot, a few X rays, and a couple of Meds later I was out the door and ready to conquer some more of the well house....Only to have our Pastor(who lives not far from up the road from either of my friend and I, tell us no more ladies until you can get the following materials to re build this well house  . What a bummer.Now the pain, where is the pain you maybe asking for my foot, after all it was a puncture wound....Well the pain didnt come until Sunday, and boy does it HURT...its a constant dull throbbing pain and it will be nice when it heals. Now amongst all this I am wondering what in the world or better yet how in the world am I going to move along in the cleaning with this house of mine.... and still get the school lessons done... Tada a new plan! Well actually its a plan that I have thought about for a few days now, and with the inspiration I got from looking at other folks schedules I thought I could prayerfully consider and ask if it would be ok to make some of those mine as well... But as I can see I am already running over my computer time limit, so I will have to share with you the schedule at another time....Until we meet again.....Have a Great Day.... 08:16 - Monday, October 13, 2008 - comments {4} - post commentBagel recipe! Also, more yogurt misadventuresHere is the website where I found the recipe for the bagels I made the other night:http://hubpages.com/hub/Homemade_bagel_recipe_Make_great_nadrolled_water_bagels__its_as_easy_as_baking_a_loaf_of_bread A ridiculously long link, I know, but for some reason I can't figure out how to make proper hyperlinks (can anyone tell me how to do this? The ol' "a href" thing doesn't seem to work on this site, does it?), so you'll have to copy and paste for now. It's worth it - the bagels are amazing! I cannot WAIT to make them again. Actually, I'm home alone tonight so I may go bake to keep myself occupied. I want to try cinnamon raison! MM! Also, the recipe uses a surprisingly small amount of flour. I'm sure if I wanted to use less yeast, too, I could let it work overnight, which would probably yield something of a sourdough taste. I'll have to experiment. If anyone makes these, let me know! I'm pretty much ridiculously excited about it. (Can you tell? X-D) My yogurt efforts, however, are still not doing very well. >.< I tried another batch with a different recipe, and this time let it incubate on a towel-covered heating pad under a glass mixing bowl with a sweater over it (as I was setting up this contraption, both my husband and my hedgehog were giving me very odd looks), so I know it was plenty warm. The results were almost identical to my first attempt: definitely yogurt, but in liquid form, with no body to it to speak of. GRR. However, I refuse to be vanquished. When I was glancing at the ingredient list of the cup of commercial yogurt I was using as a starter, I noticed the one ingredient I lacked in my own yogurt: pectin!! I wonder if this is the missing link in my quest for perfect, thick yogurt? I have no experience whatsoever with pectin, but I figure now is as good a time as any to learn. Is it heat activated? If so, I imagine I could just toss some in when I'm heating the milk and see what happens. Worst case scenario, we just have funny-tasting milk over our cereal tomorrow morning. :-p Other quick updates: Franklin's foot is healing nicely; he has a follow-up vet's appointment this Thursday to make sure that everything is going as planned. He finished his antibiotics, for which we are both grateful (there's nothing quite like wrestling a *hedgehog*, of all creatures, into letting you stick a syringe in his mouth and squirting sticky pink stuff down his throat twice a day. Ouch!). Also, Todd and I are continuing to work on that research project at Harvard, the one for his uncle's book. We haven't had much time yet to really devote to it, but this week we are going to crack down and put in some good library time (our main project is tracking down letters exchanged between Theodore Roosevelt and one of Todd's uncle's ancestors over a twenty-year period, bringing them into the best focus possible on the microfilm machine, and then burning them to CD). It took us most of this time figuring out just how to get into Lamont Library, since technically only Harvard students and faculty are supposed to be allowed into the Harvard libraries, but we did it! Since the TR letter collection belongs to the government, they technically had to let us in if we wanted to see them. I felt so sneaky running around that library when we were there yesterday. :-) Alright. I think I'm going to putter around online a bit longer and then go make BAGELS! Yay! 05:36 - Sunday, October 12, 2008 - comments {2} - post commentRough WeekPotty training is NOT fun. I feel that I could stand on a chair and start screaming!!!!!!!!!!! I am off one of my meds for my thyroid. Need I say more. It has been horrible. I could cry and scream at the same time. The new stuff is working but it will take a long time. (Maybe 6 months. Yikes) I am trying to listen to my body. Hypothyroidism is hard on your body. I feel like I am crashing into a brick wall. I am trying to take a short nap when this happens. Oh well. Hope everyone is having a wonderful day. God Bless. I 02:23 - Sunday, October 12, 2008 - comments {1}Photo's From The Pumpkin PatchOk...there are alot of photo's in this one, so bear with me if they load slow. We have an ancient dial-up connection here and trust me...they might load slowly for you, but that's nothing compared to uploading them on my end!First off, Saturday we visited a pumpkin patch with the handful of children from our church. No, we don't do the whole halloween thing at all. Honestly, you can dress a pig in pretty clothes and take him to church, but it's still just a pig and he simply doesn't belong there....still, we went. I'm a hypocrit, I guess. The 'patch' was a large farm with several fields of pumpkins you could select from yourself (do you know how long it takes children to select their own pumpkin???? It's a loonnggg time, trust me!) They had a large, inflatible slide thing, a race track set up with peddle cars and tricycles and such, a ring for pony rides, a few animals for the petting zoo and a hay bale maze in a small barn. We played a short while, then took the hay wagon out to the fields and everyone got a pumpkin to bring home -- we'll be canning ours this week. I'll just share the pictures and you can look around with our family...  Here's my group...sitting on top inside the inflatible bouncer slide...they are trying to decide who gets to be the brave one and head out first. There's Jacob, David, Matthew turned around backwards and Miss KatiAnne (and Hunter, our Pastor's grandson). I noticed that most of the 'city kids' waited very patiently while the strange "amish" children tested themselves here. LOL...what those poor folks must have been thinking! I know...we do need to get out and about more, don't we?The first ones out? Wild Child, of course...and Miss KatiAnne...   It was David's birthday and he was convinced the whole day was for him. The inflatible slide posed some issues for him, though. He simply doesn't have the weight to keep him on it -- he would bound over the top and begin to slide down, just to bounce most of the way down because it was more 'springy' than he was 'weighty'      And what happens when, as D at As Simply As We Can mentioned on her blog, when country goes to town?   The poor country children are duped by the city folk into milking a wooden cow....yes, apparently my children need to get out a bit more. I said that, didn't I? These are those moments when you do need a bit more of being 'of' the world and not just 'in' it I think ;o) Here is eldest and youngest daughters, Miss Jennifer and Miss Emily. They look so impressed with the converted cotton wagon ride to the field, don't they? Honestly, Miss Emily about fell asleep with the motion of the wagon across those fields -- both on the way out and coming back in! It is a good picture of the two of them, though, even if Miss Jennifer didn't want her's taken.  And poor Miss Emily in the field...she was looking at me as though I had abandoned her to carry her pumpkin alone so I could take pictures of her misery. Note to other parents: Ok, I sort of did...but *Dad* wanted to see lots of pictures of the day...I had to be just a by-stander! He made me do it. It's all Dad's fault :o) Besides, doesn't carrying your own pumpkin, by yourself, across the whole field, promote character or something?She made it about 5 steps toting that pumpkin before she put it back down and said she was too heavy to carry it.     Here is KatiAnne with her pumpkin, Johanna with her choice, and way out there is Matthew, trying to help Miss Ashley from church select hers so he can help her carry it back to the wagon. Now, Miss Ashley comes from rather stout farm raised Southern stock...she really didn't need help carrying a pumpkin, but Matthew, well...always the gentleman :o) After the pumpkin field, we stopped back at the farm kitchen and got some drinks before heading home. The children all played in the race track section. They had several different bicycles and tricycles and such. Miss KatiAnne grabbed one of the large tricycles and took off -- with Abigail behind her telling her she needed to pick a different racer so her peddling wouldn't lift her skirt above her knees! She was right -- KatiAnne made about half a round on that track, with constant pulling on her skirt and apron, and chose a different ride. No one listens when Mom says to wear their bloomers.....       That was about it for the day. They had some huge, nice looking mum plants set out for sale...bright yellows, deep reds, oranges and some purple-shades. I almost bought a couple, but then I remembered the dogs...who would waste little time in dragging them off the porch; And the cats...who would waste little time in using them for a new litter box out there. They were better left where they were. All in all, the day was fun for everyone. And I put gas in the van before heading out and paid $3.05 a gallon. Not a bad price, considering, but we get over to Blue Mountain and their gas was already down to $2.52 a gallon!!! I could have gotten 15 gallons instead of the 12 gallons I got for my $40. Ugh, ugh and ugh!!!! Still...all considered, the $3.05 was better than the $3.18 it was on Thursday, so I didn't suffer too terribly much. And those little 12 gallons was far more gas than my van has seen in a good 3 months now, so all was well. 10:43 - Sunday, October 12, 2008 - comments {5} - post commentTeaching the WordThe Lord is really, really stretching me right now. It's good. Somewhat painful, but good. I'd like to write about it but haven't seemed to be able to make time. Maybe I'm not suppose to share it yet. In the meantime, I thought I'd post this letter I wrote today to a friend who's "officially begun homeschooling" (though I suspect she started the day her first was born). She asked me about my particular method of teaching the Bible. 1"Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, 2"that you may fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. 3"Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you—'a land flowing with milk and honey.' 05:28 - Saturday, October 11, 2008 - comments {2} - post commentA homemade yogurt experience!!!I had so much fun last night - I made bagels and yogurt!The bagels were an absolute snap to make - I had no idea it was so easy. I make all of my own bread so I'm sure it was easier for me than it would be for someone without that experience, but still, it took only a little over an hour (including rising! Part of it is that they don't really rise, just rest). And it was so much fun to roll them and get creative with toppings (I dipped some in cinnamon sugar, some in cornmeal, and made some plain), and they were SO. SO. DELICIOUS. I would recommend it for anyone! Probably the best part, though, was seeing the look of amazement on the faces of Todd and my roommates and hearing them say, "Bagels!?? Don't you need a factory to make those?" X-D Hee hee! The yogurt recipe is one I got from one of my favorite, FAVORITE websites, hillbillyhousewife.com (if you've never heard of it, please go there IMMEDIATELY!). You can view the recipe here. I've never made yogurt before, so it was definitely a learning experience!! I followed the directions to a tee and set up the batch to incubate in our toaster oven overnight. The lowest setting it has is 200', so I set it halfway between OFF and 200', right when the light clicks on. I'm not sure it was actually making any heat, however. :-S In the morning, I definitely had yogurt - it tasted like yogurt and was a bit goopy. However, it hadn't set up. :-( It wasn't a total failure, as it did in fact have the taste and basic texture, it was just quite runny. Todd and I mixed it with frozen berries and wheat germ this morning for a *splendid* yogurt drink. MMM. Overall, it was a fun experience and I can't wait to try it again! I am determined to become an expert on this homemade yogurt business. We love yogurt, so it will save us a good amount of money, and I thought it tasted fabulous - very sweet, with just a hint of sour. I like the sour yogurt from the store, but I love this one, too. Does anyone know why it didn't set up, though? Do we think it was too cold? I know it didn't overheat, because I was careful about that. I didn't kill the bacteria, because it did in fact turn into yogurt. What's the difference between runny yogurt and thick yogurt if it's still yogurt? I don't fully understand the science yet. Any comments and critiques from experienced (or beginning!) yogurt-makers would be most welcome!! What other incubation methods should I try? I have a heat pad for our hedgehog, but I don't know if it would be too hot. I think it hangs out around 120 degrees. If I put a towel over it, the yogurt on that, and a bowl over the whole contraption, would the heat be less concentrated and more even? (My next project will be to see how many times I can use the word 'yogurt' in just one blog post... >.<) 01:43 - Saturday, October 11, 2008 - comments {2} - post comment
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Description 1 Timothy 1:15-16 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. Home User Profile Archives Friends Holy Days or holidays? Are you Pretending? ONCE SAVED.........ALWAYS SAVED!!!! Recent Entries - Big plans, Big ambitions! - College process, FASFA.......what is that???? - The Economic Situation. How its destroying humans. - Interesting blog on home schooling........... - Test the Spirits |
Cleaning will be at the top of the list today. Deep cleaning will continue this week but will be spaced through the week.
I think for Supper today, we will have left overs. No use in cooking when I have several things in the frig.