Our House in the Middle of Our Street

I am not an auditory learner. I like to read and write, and I learn best by sitting in the front of the class, reading the chapters I'll  be quizzed on, and answering the study questions for practice. So when a friend of mine told me she likes to listen to podcasts while she's doing chores around the home, my first inclination was, "well, I can't do that. I wouldn't be able to pay attention". I thought my visual stimulation would take over and cloud the audio, and I wouldn't be able to keep up.  After awhile, she convinced me to try one out. I also found out that Stefan was listening to a favorite pastor of ours on a weekly podcast he signed up for. Since I'm an information junkie, I was totally hooked after one stretch of 37 minutes. I had always hated radio personalities, I found their conversation uninteresting and a waste of my time. Once I found podcasts that were relevant to me, then I was hooked. Why yes, I would love to hear intervie

Stanley Park on a clear January day This month was a good reading and knitting month. I had high hopes of finishing my daughter's Christmas 'wear' present before, ahem, Christmas, but it didn't happen. I lost steam. The project had been sitting for a few weeks and I picked it up again with a determined pace and now I'm nearly done. I have a few more hours. I'll post the pictures once she's wearing it. It's probably my best clothing item yet. Anyway. Books! That's was the other half of my free time in January. Here are my takes on the titles I finished this month.  * The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence This little pocket book was picked up at my favorite bookstore back in my hometown of Lincoln, Indigo Bridge Books . I had a $20 gift certificate to spend there. I had heard of Brother Lawrence before, mostly as someone who seems to be quoted a lot in the book genre I read the most. This tiny book was no more than 100 p

I am a connoisseur of salads. I like just about all salads, whether they are pasta, green, veggie, bean or otherwise. Let's just say I'm an equal opportunity salad eater. This recipe must be a regional salad, because I have never seen it nor heard of it before moving out to the Pacific Northwest. I have lost for 27 years of eating this salad, so of course now I make it a lot, gaining lost time. This salad has everything: flavor, health factor, color, and of course, bacon. You can skip the bacon for a vegetarian side-dish, and making it even healthier, but who wants to skip bacon?! I have sampled this salad from two different delis, and I like my own version of the two best. This is a simple, fresh, and crunchy salad with great flavor. Pea Crunch Salad Ingredients *2 small (or 1 large) bag of frozen peas, thawed, uncooked *3 celery stalks, chopped finely *3-4 green onion stalks, chopped *1/3 cup cheddar cheese *1/4 - 1/2 lb bacon, cooked and crumb

The Tougas family is doing something amazing in 2014, and they're going to share it with anyone who wants a piece of the pie. This homeschooling family of five who I love to follow on their life story blog, FIMBY , is planning a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. In other words--the whole Megillah. I have been faithfully reading FIMBY for over two years, and I can honestly say it's one of my top three favorites.  I read a lot of blogs, but this is one of the very few I click over to. That's blog-speak for Very   Important . I forfeited my annual homeschool conference money to have Renee homeschool coach me, and it was a fabulous experience; worth my investment. When they officially announced their Kickstarter campaign , I was impressed with their options for support. When you help a kickstarter campaign by donating money, the way it works is that you get something because you're taking part in the financial aspect. For example, in supporting an album of a

I already have a hefty book list for this year, and I'm not afraid to tell you it'll look completely different by the time December rolls around. I usually hit about 50% of my lists, and because it's only January, I know there will be a lot of books that I want to read and add to this list as the year goes on. So many books, so little time! Thank goodness I've already got a good start so far. * Pastrix by Nadia Bolz-Weber * The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence * The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease *Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson *The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier (current read) *Pain Parties Work: Sylvia Plath in New York, Summer 1953 by Elizabeth Winder *Notes from a Blue Bike by Tsh Oxenreider *The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce *The Namesake by Jhumpa Lairi *State of Wonder by Ann Patchett *Sacred Rythms by Ruth Hayley Barton *A Circle of Quiet by Madeline L'Engle

We are well into 2014 and I would like to get the last few book reviews out of my system before starting in on my 2014 list. The last book review post I did was four months ago exactly. Whoa. I hope I can remember all of the books I finished between that time.  *I am a long time fan of the Eldredge clan out in Colorado, and have read many of John's books. I saw that Stasi had another coming out, Becoming Myself , and I wanted to read it. It seemed to be more of a memoir from the dust jacket blurb, so I was excited to read it. To tell the truth I liked her first book, Captivating more, but this book made me think about a lot of deep and heavy things from my past that I wouldn't have if not for the topics within. For that reason alone, I'm glad I read it. * An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor might be my favorite read of 2013. I was enamored with this book, and it took me a long time to read it (about three weeks) just because I wanted to savor the

From our family's trip back to the Midwest for Christmas, I only had snapped a handful of pictures, these being the (even fewer still) usable ones.  Lukka and Anikka are sharing a hot chocolate and a 'newspape' before another long day of driving.  I got to greet and feed one of my best friend's horses and see her new barn.  We enjoyed Nebraska City with my mom and step-father for a few days, and got out in the harsh cold for a walk.  I don't even have enough pictures to make a round 10, finishing up the December Photo Project 2013. I'm even slightly irritated at myself for posting this in 2014. Happy New Year, by the way.  I meant to complete the project. I meant to post the pictures before December was over. It just didn't happen. I was too busy living my life, visiting family and friends, and celebrating another year gone by. Soon enough, I'll get to those goal-setting exercises. I'm not in a rush and I alway