{Helpmeet In Training} Grown-Up Birthday

You know you're growing up when you get this as a birthday present and you're thrilled! =D

I'm in the midst of the final week before moving, and it's crazy! Packing, making lists, cleaning, painting my dresser.......yeah, I'm busy.

But, on Sunday my family had a get-together to celebrate my brother's and my birthdays. Two of the presents I received were that basket full of kitchen items, and an ironing board! When you're getting ready to set up a house for the first time, it's all those practical household items that make you happy!

{One Step At A Time} Two Extremes

This past week has been a weird jogging week. The first day, I set a new record at 1.6 miles, but the third day, I was only able to go .7 miles! I've been fighting a cold, which I don't think has helped, but it's still been strange. I've been finding it difficult to even get to .9 miles, and I first made that distance about 2 or 3 weeks ago. I don't know if I'm jogging faster, or if it's just because I'm sick, or what. But it has been strange, and a bit discouraging. Any more experienced runners know what might be going on?

One nice thing is that I've gotten into a good routine time-wise. I usually pass the same people who are also out walking, many of them with their dogs. It's nice to see familiar faces, even if we only say good-morning in passing.


Total mileage this week: 5.3 miles
Longest distance non-stop: 1.6 miles
Total mileage since 4/13/13: 11.6 miles 

{Works With Her Hands} Organizing

In preparation for moving on the 4th, most of my week has been spent organizing, going through my closet and dresser drawers, deciding what to keep and what to get rid of.

Now, I have one of those oh-so-mondern-and-trendy, screams-that-its-from-Target black cube bookselves. When I got it, I didn't want to spend $7 a piece to get 8 pre-made collapsible cubes to use in it. So, although the bookshelf definitely serves its purpose and holds a bunch of stuff, it kind of looks awful and entirely not organized. Right now it is my closet, so it's not a big deal. But at the new place, it will have to be out in my bedroom, and I don't really want to see clutter all the time.

In light of this, I decided to try to make my own collapsible cubes. I found this tutorial on Pinterest; it looked easy enough, so I gave it a go. While it was a little tricky sewing the bottom in, and my binding is kind of sloppy, I think it turned out well over-all. I used a very light-weight cardboard for this one, and it still works well, but the rest of them will be made using a slightly heavier cardboard. I plan on making 7 mores of these to fill all 8 shelves; it's going to be a little tricky, though, because as a quilter I tend to have small scraps of fabric instead of large pieces.

Anyways, here are some pictures.

I love this yellow print I found!

The bottom has a removable cardboard base so that it can fold up:

When not in use, it all folds up nice and neatly.

And look....it fits perfectly and hides and holds the clutter!

The last great thing about this is that it provides yet another place in which to have color!!!

{Helpmeet In Training} A Big Change

I've heard it said that change is a good thing; perhaps it may be. I also know that change is a scary thing. Whether we find change to be a fun adventure or a terrifying monster, it will always come. And right now, Change is knocking on my front door.

Why? Well, because I'm moving out of my parents house! Crazy, isn't it? But, I have the opportunity to move into an apartment with a friend from work. It's a nice little place, and within my limited budget. So, in less than two weeks, I'll be packing up and moving to Caledonia!

I'm looking forward to it, and scared of it all at the same time. There's just so much to think about. But, I believe I'm doing the right thing, and I know God is working in all of this. So, say a prayer and wish me luck!

{One Step At A Time} Love Living

Well, another week has come and gone, and I can't say I've really made much progress in jogging. But, I think the fact that I'm still actually doing it is a pretty big deal for me; I do not form habits easily, especially not ones that are less-than-wonderful. I saw this picture a while back, and it's so true.

Often times when I'm in the middle of jogging, I ask myself why I'm putting myself through this. I don't really LOVE jogging. But, jogging is helping me to actually feel alive. To feel more energized throughout the day, to be goofier and happier, to actually want to get outside and move. Even something just as simple as the fact that it makes me get up early in the morning instead of sleeping in every day. It's good....even when it stinks.

On that note, my mileage totals.


Total mileage this week: 3 miles
Longest distance non-stop: 1.2 miles
Total mileage since 4/13/13: 6.3 miles

{Works With Her Hands} Garden Girls

I've been extremely busy this past week, so I really haven't had much time for crafting or working on projects. However, I did find a little bit of time to make some markers for my "flower-pot garden". This year, I'll only have space to grow some herbs and flowers in a few pots; with so few things growing, I don't think I'll actually forget which plant is in which pot. However, any chance to had color and whimsy is a must.

I was originally planning on using large wooden craft sticks, until I realized that I had none. After a little digging, I found some wooden peg clothes-pins. I started by painting one for each color of the rainbow (like I said last week, I have an obsession with rainbow-order), but really wasn't sure what else I would do. Soon, however, these little darlings came to be:

I tried to make them look the way I envisioned a girl named after the herb would look. Here is Basil; my seed package called it Sweet Basil, so I tried to make her look like a sweet little girl. Thus, blond hair, blue eyes, and a pink bow in her hair:

Here is Sage :

This is Oregano; the name oregano just sounds spicy and foreign to me, so I tried to give her a little extra zest.

I was going to take pictures of all of them individually, but my camera batteries ran out. Ah well. In the main picture, Rosemary is in the red, and Lavender is in yellow and purple. I love my little Garden Girls!

{Helpmeet In Training} Keep On Living

I recently had a conversation with My Man about the future of our country and government which really got me thinking. I don't know about you, but I've always dreamed of what I guess could be called a relatively comfortable future. I've always assumed I would be living a good life full of freedom and prosperity.

Now, I'm not trying to be doom and gloom, but in all honesty, our country is not headed down a happy path. Between attacks on Christianity, homeschooling, and personal liberty, my future is not looking very friendly. I've even had many older adults tell me that they feel bad for me and my children because we're going to have a rough go of it. Thinking about these things makes me want to curl up in a hole and never come out again. Why keep living when your future looks so dismal?

That question actually prompts another: why am I living in the first place? Am I living for my own pleasure, happiness, and comfort? Or am I living to glorify, obey, and serve Christ? I've grown up in the church, so "living for Christ" is a phrase that I've heard bandied around my entire life. But what does it really mean?

I'm not going to attempt describe what it means, because I don't even have a full grasp on it yet. But I do know this much; if I'm living to glorify Christ, it may or may not change what I already do, but it most certainly will change my motives for what I do. And motives are a big deal. If I'm living just for my own pleasure, then quite frankly there's not much of a reason to keep living in light of the rough future foreseen. But, if I'm living to glorify Christ, then I have great reason to keep on living, because I can do that no matter what happens in my future.

{One Step At A Time} Building Stamina

Back in March, My Man and I decided to start exercising every day; not to lose weight, but to gain strength. My Man is planning on going to a semester-long camp in the Adirondaks which involves a lot of physical activity, and I'm just plain weak and out-of-shape. Plus, it's always more fun to do these things together.

Consequently, I have started taking morning jogs/walks. My route is 2 miles, and my goal is to be able to jog the entire thing. When I started this, I could only jog .2 miles before needing a break; but my stamina has been building, and faster than I had expected, too! Here are the stats of mileage that I have jogged.

Total mileage this week: 3.3 miles
Longest distance non-stop: 1.2 miles

{Works With Her Hands} A Quilt And Planner

Anybody who knows me well knows that I always have to have several projects going at once. Well, this week, my projects included making a planner and quilting.

I decided I need a planner because I realized that although I have a well-used calendar on my computer at home, there were many times when I needed access to it away from home. So, here it is:

I chose to put a sun on the outside because My Man always calls me his Sunshine, so whenever I see it I will be reminded to be his cheerful Sunshine.

I put pockets on the inside of both covers, and the front cover has some elastic to hold the planner shut.

The days of the week gave me room to satisfy my never-ending desire for rainbow-ordered colors. I also painted a little picture corresponding to the month in the corner.

I used the coptic stitch to bind it all together.

My other big project has been working on a quilt. I am in the quilting stage, which means lots of hand-stitching. And lots of hand-stitching means lots of audio books. This week alone I've made it through "Pride and Prejudice" and "Northanger Abbey". I embroidered some flowers in the empty spaces of the quilt, and I used a guide to the Victorian language of flowers to look up their meanings. I'm quilting in a basket weave pattern around the flowers.

{Helpmeet In Training} - What I Do

I have been reading the book Created To Be His Helpmeet by Debbie Pearl on and off for the past few months. I read it the first time in 2010, but I am learning ever so much more this time around.

Several people have asked me why I would read that book, when it's written to married women, and I'm sure there are many other people who think I'm nuts, yet have simply had the good grace to let it pass. I read it because, though I am not yet a married woman, I consider myself a "helpmeet in training".

I look at it this way. Let's say I wanted to become a nurse. If I just went to my local hospital and asked for a job as a nurse, saying that I would "learn as I go", everybody would think I was insane. No, they would want me to learn as much as I could about nursing BEFORE I got the job. People's health and lives would be on the line, so I could not afford to make all the mistakes that would come with learning as I go.

Seems to me that we should apply the same logic to marriage. Granted, there are plenty of things which cannot be put into practice and cannot be learned until I'm actually married, but why not learn as much as I can now? My future husband and children's health and lives are on the line, both physically and spiritually speaking. It's a big deal.

And so I read. And I put what I can into practice. And I observe others, some who are and some who are not practicing these principles. I watch and learn and read and practice. Because I want to be the very best helpmeet that I can be for My Man.

Back At It

I'm not much of a writer. In school, I always hated my writing assignments. Maybe that's why I've never been diligent in keeping up with journals, or blogs. It's been three months since my last post, and several people have commented that they wish I would post more.

Well, about a month ago, a friend posted on her own blog a review for a blog planning kit. I had never thought about the idea of planning blog posts. But, plans helps me. Structure and order and routine are the only way for me to continuously do something. So, I've made some plans.

Starting next week, I'm going to try blogging three times a week, once for each of three categories. We'll see how it goes. In the mean time, I added some freshness to the blog with a new, created-by-me background.