How quickly time passes

It has been almost an entire year since I have posted. It is amazing how much can happen in that length of time. I still live in MN, but we have made a significant move from the city to the country... and a move out of our comfort zone to get us here. It has been a life long dream of mine to live on a farm; have some chickens, goats, a great big garden. I never could have imagined a more beautiful place than our new (circa 1900) farmstead.

I'm so thankful that my husband shared the same dream as I. Neither of us would be described as "risk takers"... infact, I would put us at the opposite end of the spectrum. I would say that if anything, we would go out of our way to keep things the same... keep things safe and comfortable. But with all growth, there is some discomfort and even pain. Out of that discomfort though we experience so much more than we could have ever expected.

Shortly after we moved here this last spring, I found myself having difficulties remembering living anywhere else. I had to really think hard about what it felt like living anywhere else but here. This place... was home. I felt a strong sense of feeling pulled here. I do believe that this is where God wants us to be.

Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful...

It's really quite typical of January weather. The high tomorrow is supposed to be 7-10 degrees below zero. There is usually a good week or so where the weather gets really cold. We have had such a mild winter that I think people have just forgotten that it really does get this cold in Minnesota in January.

I remember the winter of 96-97. John and I were just married and we had driven to South Dakota for a late Christmas/New Year's with my grandma. We had just pulled over to switch drivers and stretch our legs when the back window of our car just shattered. It made a loud crash too. John was standing behind the car, so I thought he was being funny and had thrown a snowball at the car. It is conceivable that there might have been a small rock embedded in the snow... But he swore he didn't do anything. It was just so cold, that it shattered. I guess it can do that. Everything was closed so we drove 45 minutes to my grandma's. We had to wait until the following Monday to get the window fixed and we had to drive the 45 minutes in 17 degrees below zero...Believe me it seemed much colder with the wind whipping through the car! I figure if I could handle that, I can handle driving in a warmed up car with my cell phone handy!

As for the freezing weather tomorrow... We won't let the cold stop us from what it is we choose to do...After all, we do live in Minnesota.

Stuff the Stockings Full of Stuff

I am seriously thinking of eliminating our traditional Christmas gift giving practices. As I look at the piles of unrapped presents waiting to find homes, I find myself defeated. I have even found a few things that never found a place in our home from last Christmas! I try so hard not to bring uneccesary things into my already full home. Do we really need all this "STUFF"? That's what it is... just stuff. Nice stuff, pretty stuff... necessary stuff?

Next year I want to adopt a family who really needs stuff... and celebrate Christmas gift giving in a different and much more meaningful way. I think about all the broken and grieving families affected by the Tsunami and how great their needs are compared to my life. It doesn't take a devastating event to put people in need either. There are people in need in my very own community.

It's such a throw-away society that we live in today. I shop almost exclusively at thrift stores for things we need. I hate to see perfectly good items being tossed aside. There are many people who will just toss unwanted things away because it is too much of an effort to bring it somewhere where it can be recycled. It is such a waste...and I don't understand. I feel like I'm doing my part by shopping at the thrift stores... I'm not adding myself to the supply and demand equation.

Cooking under Pressure

A funny thing happened just now. I was making soup in my pressure cooker (this is about the fourth time I have used it). Being a bit hasty I let the steam out instead of letting it coold down (I didn't want the veggies too soft)... but not enough! It exploded out of the pot and all over the floor. Thankfully I was being cautious and held it away from me or it wouldn't be a funny story, rather a tragic one that I wouldn't be able to share because my hands would be covered in second and third degree burns...I believe I am blessed! Now I get the insane job of cleaning up. Yippee!!!

January 10th, 2005

Here we go...

I have always like the idea of keeping a journal, diary, log, or in this case blog... and I have started various forms many times. I have never been able to keep them on a consistent basis. So here I am... one more attempt to make it work. I try not to make New Year's Resolutions... just by nature they seem doomed for failure. It just so happens that I ran across the blogspot website near the beginning of the year.

I didn't have much thought into the title. The first one I chose was taken and I wanted to get started, so I might change it at a later date. It is a fairly good title and does suit me, but I have always struggled with labels. There is much more to me than my clutter.

I have tasted some success with regard to the clutter that accumulates daily (sometimes hourly... I have a lovely little four year old daughter!). I have learned that you just have to plug away and to not be discouraged from the set backs. Speaking of plugging away... I must get to the kitchen and plug away at the dishes that magically appeared!