Some days it seems all I do all day is manage bodily functions. Jesse’s wetting his pants. Claire’s distraction leading to 20 min. toilet runs. Seth’s stinky diapers. And my own frequent needs–fed by the goal of drinking a gallon of water per day for the sake of my kidneys–requiring multiple runs up the stairs for myself…
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Dear Me…{a letter to my teenage self}
First, girl–you totally need to learn to relax. You take everything so seriously! That stress you let build about every little thing in your life, especially all that worrying about what people think about you? It’s gonna put you in the ER when you’re 25. So, please! Start believing now that your worth is not…
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“Life was like a Missionary Bootcamp”
In my teens I often imagined that God had put me on the homestead as preparation for a call to a primitive mission field. I read missionary biographies and marveled at the similarities and how familiar their daily routines sounded to me. My life was like Missionary Boot Camp: Hauling water, gathering fuel for cooking…
Continue ReadingGod, Mountains, and How I Met My Husband, Part 5
We all have mountains in our lives, right? Things too big for us to move, that we have to trust God about. This is my personal story of how God moved one of the biggest mountains in my life. Here’s the previous installments of this cliff-hanging serial… Part One In which we meet the Mountain…
Continue ReadingThe Better Writer Challenge
I blog because I’m a writer. Or do I? It’s so easy to get sucked into the trap of blogging for acceptance, rather than excellence. I’ve spent plenty of time in that uncomfortable cage myself. Thankfully, my friend, Kristina, is stepping up to the challenge to call out us closet writers, distracted writers, and insecure…
Continue ReadingGod, Mountains, and How I Met My Husband, Part Fourth
So, I’ve been telling you about My Mountain. I told you about Tom, the pilot who use to buzz over our homestead every few weeks in the summer. And how one Sunday my family drove (without me) over an hour to visit his Church. Well, that day they met a family who would turn out…
Continue ReadingFive Minute Fridays: Vivid
Vivid When I think back to my most vivid memories of the homestead — those not triggered by the 2 dimensional aid of a photograph — I can almost feel the goosebumps. There were moments (ok, hours) of intense cold. That second winter when Joel and I crawled around under the log cabin in February…
Continue ReadingWhen I see a Chicken…
I walk to the fridge, pull out a chicken. Do what I’ve at least 47 times since I learned how to roast a chicken. I rinse it (habit), throw out the giblets (gross) and dab it dry with paper towels. Next comes butter, smeared liberally over the breast, and plenty of salt and pepper –…
Continue ReadingGod, Mountains, and How I met my Husband, Part Second
Our God is a Mountain Mover, People. Here’s my personal testimony to that effect. Read Part First Here. We’d been on the homestead for about two months now. We were still living in the tipi (it hadn’t blown away yet), while Dad and my brothers were busy every day learning how to get the horse…
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Seen and Overheard
I was all over the internet last week – several guest posts I’d written and some other stuff all got posted at the same time. I noticed post getting published barely in time to share them on facebook, so I decided to recap with my blog readers here, in case you missed them. Read about…
Continue ReadingMoving Day
Well, remember that sweet purse coupon deal I told you about two weeks ago? And then I came back to tell you it was not so sweet, that I had misunderstood the promotion? Well. I am here to say, there is still good customer service in this world. Apparently, I was not the only one…
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Of Pancake Zoos and Native Accomidations
Our road trip last month was another chance to relive some fond memories and experiences from the homestead. Considering the bus’ difficulty keeping us cool at times, we cooked outside as much as possible. Thankfully, I don’t mind cooking over an open fire. Apparently, neither does my father-in-law. His specialty is shaped pancakes, which thrills…
Continue ReadingEmpathy
From that day on, I was terrified of the wind. I sat in the rocker in the small, cleared space in the center of the tipi, rocking steadily in an effort to soothe myself. My hands covered my ears trying to block out the rush of the wind as it roared from the west and…
Continue ReadingA day in the life of a tipi-dweller
Wow! It’s been literally years since the last installment of my tipi tales! I have so little time anymore when my mind is empty enough and the house is quiet enough for focused writing. But, oh, how I love the journeys back in time as I tell these stories. I wrote this early in the…
Continue ReadingHow to Take a Bath in Your Fridge
This is one of those memories from the homestead that we were able to laugh about afterward. Many wondered how we handled life’s necessities in our primitive living conditions, living in a tipi for 8 months, and then a small log cabin with no running water. Here is how we took a bath… Bath day…
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Exploring the Land
Once again, sleeplessness is the impetuous for another Tipi Tales post! Indigestion is my least-favorite pregnancy side effect, and has me unable to fall asleep tonight. So, here you go – sorry it’s been so long since I wrote one of these! If you haven’t read one of these yet, you should go back and…
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