My Favorite Lunch Lately

This is just a simple thing, but I've really been enjoying it lately.  I guess it would be called a waldorf salad?  What I do is chop up one apple and 2 celery ribs and put into a bowl.  Then I grate a carrot into it, toss in a handful of raisins and a handful of slivered almonds, add a big dollop of vanilla yogurt and a few pinches of cinnamon and toss all together.  It's really yummy!  I sometimes use dried cranberries, and you could use any kind of nuts you like.  My only issue with this is that it doesn't fill me up for long, so it may be a good idea to have something else to eat alongside it.

Enjoy!

Homestead Update!

Hi everyone!  I am excited that things are progressing well on our homestead, and I am loving it so much!

It's been almost a year since we received our two (free) female goats.  I have been praying since then for a free buck, or at least a remotely affordable one.  As most of you know our financial situation, you probably know that "affordable" for us would be a very, very small amount.  But we've been hanging in there....waiting, praying.  We've been wanting to breed our does so we could have goat milk.

And then...Saturday night I looked on craigslist and there was an ad for two free bucks, that were actually intact (this had been the hardest part of finding a buck), at a location just an hour away.  The ad had only been up for about 30 minutes, so I replied right away, and was thrilled to find out that they were still available.  So yesterday morning, we loaded up the trailer with straw and set out to pick up our bucks!  We hadn't planned on getting two, but they are brothers that are very attached, and the owner would only give them away togethter.  They are the sweetest things!  I've heard so many stories about problems with bucks, but these two were bottle fed and are extremely friendly.  We already love them a lot.  I haven't taken pictures yet, but will post them soon after I take some.

I have a lot to learn about breeding, and milking etc, but I have a good book and I'm excited to learn.  I'll also need to buy some equipment.  That is on my list of items to buy for our homestead.  But next up, a few more hens for our flock, and some ducks.  I am excited to sell duck eggs to bring in some money.  I've been selling chicken eggs, but duck eggs sell for twice as much.

Our garden is coming along great!  I took a trip to the store today, and came back with: a blueberry plant, a tomato plant, a catnip plant (AnnaMarie's project--for the kitty, of course!), onion starts, and seeds: beet, carrot, beans, zucchini, and yellow squash.  The onion starts went right into the ground; the seeds will go in soon.  Tomorrow....I plant peas!

As you can probably tell, I am excited about all of this. I LOVE homesteading!  I am also excited to find ways to bring in some income from home.  Selling eggs, and making items to sell from goat's milk: cheese, soap, etc...these are ways that I can make some income but still be at home where I belong.

As I mentioned previously, through these extremely difficult financial times, when my husband has had no work, I have periodically gone through crises of faith.  I can't tell you how many times I've gone on craigslist and looked for work for me.  (Shhhh....don't tell anyone...I'm embarrassed to admit it!)  Nothing ever became of it, of course, and I'm sure God's hand was in that!  But as I was telling my pastor recently, when people look in on us and our situation, I'm sure there are many who think that it does not make any sense that I haven't gone to work.  But I have been standing firm on faith, believing that I am doing what God has called me to do, and that I am going to obey Him no matter what, and TRUST that He will provide.  And He always does!  I certainly don't have everything I want, but we always have what we need!

Things have been looking up some in the financial department also.  My husband got some help with his resume, and his mom helped him get re-licensed, bonded, and insured, which will help a ton with getting work.  He is currently on a job, and has another one after.  Now if he could get some medical help, THAT would be great!

Anyway, back to homesteading...I also was able to acquire a couple more items from my list.  For my birthday, I got a pressure canner, and the hand cranked coffee grinder I really wanted.  Yay!  More reasons to be excited!

God bless you all!

This post is linked up at:

Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways
Simply Living Wednesday Link-Up

Menu Plan

I apologize that I haven't been posting my menu plans lately, but my method of planning has changed due to circumstances, and I don't always have a concrete 7 days of meals planned.  Because of our finances, and my need to be extremely frugal, I've been keeping a running list of cheap meals that I will use in the coming days.  Sometimes I wait to see what will be on sale next, or what I will find at the food bank, and then plan around that.  I'll sometimes decide for sure what to make a day or two ahead of the actual day, depending.  I'm not sure if this is making sense or not!  I used to plan meals, then shop for what I needed.  Now, I shop sales and have to use the food bank, or sometimes someone blesses us with food, then I see what I have and plan from that.  Anyway, I sketched out a rough plan of what I will be serving for dinner next week, Monday-Sunday.  I'm not totally sure what day each one will be on, but here is what I have:

Burritos
Crockpot Rice and Beans with cornbread and salad
Pasta with salad and bread
Burgers and baked beans
Shepherd's pie and salad
Salmon, potatoes, veggie, and salad
Chicken a la king with rice, biscuits

With that menu, the only items that I will have to buy is some ground beef and a pack of tortillas, and probably some more lettuce and tomatoes for salads.  Everything else, I already have in the house!

May the Lord bless your day!

Apostasy

On the heels of my post yesterday, please read this: http://raptureready.com/featured/graham/g228.html

May the Lord bless you!

Please Stand Firm on the TRUTH!!!

I write this post with fear and trembling.  I am so saddened and terribly concerned about the state of today's church.  People, we are living in the last days.  These are the days in which there is a great falling away of the church.  Deception is sneaking in and being taught as truth, and people are accepting it.  This is scary!  Scarier still is that I am watching people that I know and love be sucked into it.

Please read this article by Answers in Genesis about the book titled "The Evolution of Adam".  This troubles me greatly.  I may not be popular for writing this post, but I am genuinely concerned for the state of the church, and I am warning people...STAND ON TRUTH!!!  Do not be swayed by all of the "scholars" out there telling you that you can't take the Bible literally, or that it needs to be re-translated, or whatever.  This is the same old deception of satan that has been going on for thousands of years, starting back at the Garden of Eden (that YES I believe literally existed)...."did God really say...???"

I look forward to your comments!

2 Timothy 4:2-4- "² Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. ³ For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. ⁴ They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."

2 Peter 3:

³ Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. ⁴ They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” ⁵ But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. ⁶ By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. ⁷ By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
⁸ But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.
¹¹ Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives ¹² as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.  That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. ¹³ But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
¹⁴ So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. ¹⁵ Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. ¹⁶ He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
¹⁷ Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. ¹⁸ But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

Isaiah 24

I am not meaning this to be a doom and gloom post by posting this chapter.  But, I am sick to death of the fact that people around me are so focused on the temporal things of this earth.  People don't understand that we don't have much time left on this earth.  So many things don't matter.  My focus is on obeying the Lord, seeking Him, readying myself for His return, and making darn sure that spiritual matters are the number one focus of what my children are learning.  Academics will not matter someday (YES, I teach academics, but unlike many they are NOT my primary focus), soccer games will disappear, careers will be over.  MAKE SURE YOU ARE OBEYING GOD'S WORD!

Isaiah 24:

Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty and makes it waste,
Distorts its surface
And scatters abroad its inhabitants.
² And it shall be:
As with the people, so with the priest;
As with the servant, so with his master;
As with the maid, so with her mistress;
As with the buyer, so with the seller;
As with the lender, so with the borrower;
As with the creditor, so with the debtor.
³ The land shall be entirely emptied and utterly plundered,
For the Lord has spoken this word.

⁴ The earth mourns and fades away,
The world languishes and fades away;
The haughty people of the earth languish.
⁵ The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants,
Because they have transgressed the laws,
Changed the ordinance,
Broken the everlasting covenant.
⁶ Therefore the curse has devoured the earth,
And those who dwell in it are desolate.
Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned,
And few men are left.

⁷ The new wine fails, the vine languishes,
All the merry-hearted sigh.
⁸ The mirth of the tambourine ceases,
The noise of the jubilant ends,
The joy of the harp ceases.
⁹ They shall not drink wine with a song;
Strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.
¹⁰ The city of confusion is broken down;
Every house is shut up, so that none may go in.
¹¹ There is a cry for wine in the streets,
All joy is darkened,
The mirth of the land is gone.
¹² In the city desolation is left,
And the gate is stricken with destruction.
¹³ When it shall be thus in the midst of the land among the people,
It shall be like the shaking of an olive tree,
Like the gleaning of grapes when the vintage is done.

¹⁴ They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing;
For the majesty of the Lord
They shall cry aloud from the sea.
¹⁵ Therefore glorify the Lord in the dawning light,
The name of the Lord God of Israel in the coastlands of the sea.
¹⁶ From the ends of the earth we have heard songs:
“Glory to the righteous!”
But I said, “I am ruined, ruined!
Woe to me!
The treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously,
Indeed, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.”

¹⁷ Fear and the pit and the snare
Are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth.
¹⁸ And it shall be
That he who flees from the noise of the fear
Shall fall into the pit,
And he who comes up from the midst of the pit
Shall be caught in the snare;
For the windows from on high are open,
And the foundations of the earth are shaken.

¹⁹ The earth is violently broken,
The earth is split open,
The earth is shaken exceedingly.
²⁰ The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard,
And shall totter like a hut;
Its transgression shall be heavy upon it,
And it will fall, and not rise again.

²¹ It shall come to pass in that day
That the Lord will punish on high the host of exalted ones,
And on the earth the kings of the earth.
²² They will be gathered together,
As prisoners are gathered in the pit,
And will be shut up in the prison;
After many days they will be punished.
²³ Then the moon will be disgraced
And the sun ashamed;
For the Lord of hosts will reign
On Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
And before His elders, gloriously.

Easter Menu

My Easter Menu:

• Crock pot Ham with marmalade glaze
• Au gratin potatoes
• Holiday yams
• Corn
• Spinach salad
• Strawberries
• Rolls

I'm keeping it somewhat simple in order to save money.  I didn't have to spend very much to come up with this!  I had one more ham left in the freezer from our pigs, I always have potatoes and corn in the house, and I already had rolls in the freezer.  So, I just had to buy 5 yams (on sale), spinach salad ingredients, and strawberries (on sale).  I guess the spinach salad was my "splurge" because that's what I spent the most on (a little too much, but I didn't spend much on anything else!).  We are having friends from church over, and they are bringing dessert.

I hope you all have a blessed Easter celebrating our risen Lord!!

Happy Good Friday

Don't forget to remember what Jesus did for us.  Thank you, Jesus!  We love you!

Emergency D&C!

Wow, what a day!  I woke up thinking it was just an ordinary day...got Adam up and made a cup of coffee.  But then, I started bleeding heavily and passing some large clots. It kept going and going and soon I was bleeding way too much. Again.  Didn't I just go through this? (If you missed my last miscarriage, you can read about it here.)

So, once again, I was taken to the ER.  This time my husband was home, which was nice, and he was able to take me there.  From here on, it was like I was in the movie Groundhog Day. (Have you seen that?) It was like someone pushed a "repeat" button and did my last miscarriage all over again.  There were slight differences, but overall it was basically the same experience again.

First I was hooked up to an IV, then an ultrasound was done.  The ultrasound showed--sure enough--that the sac was still in my uterus, and there was a hemorrhage around it.  Then the ER doctor came in and did a pelvic exam, and told me that my cervix was closed.  Meanwhile, they were continually monitoring my heart rate (because it was racing), blood pressure, and hematocrit (red blood cell count).  I layed there for a few hours being monitored, while the medical staff (slowly--the ER was busy) worked through getting all the information to all of the important people who needed to know.  Eventually, my OB's partner (my OB was on call at a different hospital) showed up and came in to talk you me.  Fortunately I really liked her!  She came in and did yet another pelvic exam (I think I've had just about enough of THOSE for awhile!), and proceeded to tell me that my uterus was super tiny, the bleeding had slowed way down, and since I had passed some more tissue when I went to the bathroom at the hospital, she was sure that I was done and had passed everything.  She then told me what the options were for what to do next: do a d&c, though I may not need one, try some medication to help pass everything, or just send me home since I was probably done.  I immediately declined the medication, and then told her that I was skeptical that I had passed everything, because last time the doctor said the same thing and I still had a big piece left in there.  I asked if I could please have another ultrasound before making a decision, because that would tell us for sure if anything was in there (seemed the simplest way to me, and I was surprised that they didn't suggest it).  She said that was fine, but she would be shocked if I had anything in there.

So, she did the ultrasound, and what do you know...the sac was still there!  My body is just plain dumb, and it just doesn't know how to do things it seems.  I had been bleeding SO much, passing huge clots, and the sac was just sitting there like it never intended to leave.  At this point, I had been bleeding so much, and my hematocrit was dropping more than they like to see, so they sent me right up to the OR for a D&C.  It hadn't technically been long enough since I had eaten, but they worked around that, because it was a bigger concern that I was losing so much blood.

So there you have it--my day today.  I am home from the hospital now, and glad it's done.  I sure wish I had been able to grocery shop before all this happened though, because we are out of so many things, and my family is trying to pull together meals from...well, not much.

Thanks for listening to my drama.  God bless!