My Health Care Rant

I have a feeling this post is not going to be very eloquently written, but can I just rant for a moment?  The health care decision yesterday frustrated me, as I'm sure it did a lot of you.  But even aside from that, health care has angered me lately.

Isn't it true that "back in the day", doctors were truly there to help people?  It wasn't about money, it was about helping the sick, and keeping people healthy.  Doctors didn't make much money. They truly cared and genuinely wanted to help.  I'm not saying that doctors today don't want to help people, but really, think about it....

It is ridiculous how much it costs to go to a doctor these days, and how much it costs for health insurance.   And, I'm sorry, but if someone is sick and doesn't have money to pay...help them anyway!  A person's health is more important than the money someone will make off of a doctor's visit!  Doctor's visits, health insurance, prescriptions....they ALL. COST. TOO. MUCH.  If doctors and drug companies and health insurance companies would get off their high horses and reach out to people, forget about a large salary, and focus on helping others....how wonderful that would be.

I told you this would be a rant.  Personally I think health insurance is dumb.  If someone is sick, HELP them.  Greed annoys me.

Thanks for listening!  Your thoughts?

Garden Update

I've been so excited for my garden!  However, it has taken forever to warm up around here, and there hasn't been much sun, soooo....it's been slow going.  But things are coming up.  I thought I would share some pictures of how it is going so far.  I wish I had a better camera, but I don't, so these pictures will have to do!  Here ya go:

Facing north on the east side of the garden. My back is against the entry gate, and our house is behind me. Across the road there are the pig pens and goat pen.

Beets

Carrots

One of the pole beans mounds (we have two).

Northeast corner of the garden: bean mounds in the front, then strawberries/raspberries, then squash mounds behind that.

Strawberries

Lots of green strawberries!

Zucchini

One of the zucchini mounds

Yellow squash

Garlic

Corn starting to pop up!

Blueberries

Facing east: the carrot and beet rows

Snap peas on the left; peas on the right

Onions and peas.  Something keep nibbling my onions--grrrrr!!!

We also have potatoes growing in a barrel that I forgot to take a picture of, and a tomato plant. We actually are not done with the garden yet.  I'm going to put in a couple more squash starts, and more blueberry bushes.  We also are putting in more soil to fill in the rest of the garden area on the west side, and then I'm going to throw in some more potatoes and onions.  We have a short growing season around here, so hopefully it is not too late, but we are going to try!  Next year, that whole northeast corner is going to be berries!

I hope you enjoyed the tour of my garden!

This post is linked up at:
The Homestead Barn Hop

Andrew's Graduation Party

Hi everyone, we have a GREAT time last weekend celebrating Andrew's graduation!  We had a full house, with a lot of family and some friends.  And Andrew was doubly happy because he also got his driver's license on the day that he graduated!  He is one happy guy and I am proud of him.  Today he is celebrating his 17th birthday.

I was going to take a picture of his diploma, but it is too hard to show you without showing my last name and location, which I keep private on this blog.  So, here is a link to the wording that we used, that I was very pleased with: http://www.homeschooldiploma.com/diploma-wording-3.html  I wanted to be sure that the glory goes to God!

Here are some pictures from the party, though the lighting was poor so they did not turn out really well:

Love this cake!

Table set up

Baby pics, etc of Andrew

The happy graduate

Andrew and his youth pastor, Brock

Me getting Adam out of trouble, my dad, my stepson Everett

Our Pastor Pete, Andrew, AnnaMarie

Hubby and Me

Graduating my Oldest!

Well, it's official...tomorrow my oldest finishes up his high school home education and I graduate him!  It's so exciting!  I am so proud of him and so thankful to the Lord for seeing us through this process.  For without Him, it would not be possible.  To God be the glory!

I want to encourage those of you who may be contemplating homeschooling high school, but may be skeptical and/or afraid.  It's very possible.  It CAN be done and it is NOT hard.  Before you decide that it's too scary and you can't do it, please seek the Lord and look into all of the wonderful resources that are out there.  I will probably need to do a whole 'nother post on this topic, but for this post I want to share the resources I am using for high school graduation:

For making a transcript, I use Donna Young's website.

For having a diploma made, I use http://www.homeschooldiploma.com/.  They also have caps and gowns if you are wanting to do a ceremony.  My son opted out of a ceremony, so those weren't necessary for us.  But the diploma is beautiful!  I will post a picture of it in an upcoming post.

For a sort of "yearbook" I created a memory book at Kodak gallery, but they have since been bought out by Shutterfly, so I'm not sure if you can do it through them anymore.  The book contains some childhood pictures, and some more recent pictures, as well as pictures of family and friends.  It will be out during his graduation party for people to write in.

The graduation party is this Saturday!  I am desperately praying for sunshine so the party can partially be outdoors, but so far it doesn't look promising.  So a lot of people may be squished into our humble little home, but we will make do.

To God be the glory!

A Great Read!

This is an amazing article posted at Your Sacred Calling.  It is everything that I have tried to express lately; Stacey has said it so well!

Don't Walk as the Gentiles

Blessings,
April

I have a confession...

I feel compelled to write this post, knowing that many of you will not agree with me...but that's okay.  I want to be sure that I am being open and honest about the person that I am.  Awhile back, I wrote a few posts about how I was considering switching to dresses/skirts only...then shortly after I informed you all that I had made the switch.

Well, I confess....I switched back.  Yes, I admit it,  I WEAR PANTS.  And I'm fine with it.

Why, you may ask?   Well, I have found the following to be true: you can dress modestly in pants, and you can dress immodestly in a dress or skirt.  It's all in how you do it.  It turns out that I just have way too much farm girl in me, and I am just happy as a clam in my jeans and boots.  And I feel the Lord is fine with that, as long as I am still careful to be modest.

I really just wanted to share that because I had written the previous post about how I had made the switch, and I was feeling like I was being deceptive now that I had switched back and not informed anyone.  I know a lot of you that read my blog are dresses only and won't agree with me.  I highly, highly respect your decision to do that, and I think it is absolutely wonderful!  It's just not working for ME. 

Thank you for listening and understanding where I'm coming from.  God bless you!

Content...With So Much Less

Someone posted this webpage on Facebook and I found it quite fascinating.  It shows pictures of people and places during the Great Depression.  Even more fascinating to me was the following comment that someone left:

"Amazing, outstanding pictures! Although I grew up in the 50’s my family was so poor they lived in places much like some shown in these photos. My earliest memories include living in a tiny wood shack on an acreage, with up to 8 people at a time living in it. No electricity, phone, or plumbing. My mom hauled water from a well in summer, and melted snow in winter (on our wood stove) to get water. She re-made clothes for us kids out of others’ old castoffs, on a Singer sewing machine that ran by operating a foot pedal. We had a wood-burning heater in the living room to give us some warmth in the winters. We couldn’t afford toilet paper for our outhouse, and used others’ tossed out newspapers, or old catalogues, for paper. We ate supper by the light of oil lamps. There were two very tiny bedrooms in the shack, which my father turned into four by dividing the rooms with sheets of plywood. With two “beds” in each room,there was no room for much else. Most of our furniture was made out of old apple crates. My Mom did wash on a washboard and hung it on a line to dry. But, there was a lot of love there and we always had food on the table, no matter what. Thanks for the memories. Those were the happiest days of my life." Lois Hamlett, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

I don't know about you, but I was just amazed by that comment!  She gives the description of how she grew up as a poor person, and then goes on to say that those were the happiest days of her life.  Think of the details of her childhood, and then compare that to how the average person in America lives right now.  We have got it GOOD, and yet, so many people are not content in spite of that.  It is just crazy to me how much people expect these days...what they think they deserve (THAT is a entire topic for another post!)...and how they pout and complain when they don't get what they think they should.

God never promised we'd have whatever we want, and I don't think God wants us to want so many things.  The Bible promises us that we will have what we need.  Lois Hamlett, in the comment above, had her needs met, although it doesn't look like what most people think it should.

This post is linked up at:
Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways

No Mother's Day?

I am beyond disgusted and sick to my stomach.  I can't believe this person is for real!  Just one more incident that shows how far away from the truth our country (and world) has fallen.

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/supermodel-ignore-your-kids-on-no-mothers-day-to-support-global-abortion-ac

New Additions to Our Homestead!

Well, here are the pictures of the goats that I promised, along with pictures of our four new ducks and four new hens:

Jake

Josh

Rouen Ducks

Blessings to you!

This post is linked up at:
Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways