Catalyst or Bust

I'm very excited to go to Catalyst with the staff of PRF! We're taking a road trip to ATL. I hope to have some great pictures and stories when we return!

The Organic Garden Adventure Begins!

Al and I have begun to dig the weeds and roots from our old garden patch. We're excited that the weather will begin to cool off next month and we'll be able to grow some veggies. It's been quite some time since we ventured into gardening. The last time was during a hectic time when we had young children and a dog in the same area with no fence. I was working outside the home and had a family of four to keep up with. The fire ants were taking over and I decided to give up. Now, It's just Al and I and we see Emily occasionally between her many social engagements. We have baby Logan visiting most early evenings after I get home form work, so it's a great time to be outside.
Last night I was clearing up some weeds around our tiny "pond" and was nearly eaten alive by mosquitos. I wore repelent, but they didn't care. A bat box is on my list of things for Al to build for our new garden. I'm hoping the bats that used to inhabit our neighborhood will come back and eat all the stinking mosquitos! So far, fire ants have not been as much of a problen, but now that we've moved the weeds out and exposed the sandy soil, they'll find us. I have an organic plan of attack this time, so we'll see if it works. Stay tuned. You may see some green from our patch of dirt. I'll keep you posted.

Angel Food Coop Trial Run

Today I ventured out to pick up my very first Angel Food order. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Angel Food is a coop that allows anyone to buy units of food, starting with a basic box of food for $30. It's distributed through a non-profit organization and handed out by volunteers. here's what the order looked like when I recieved it. Everthing appears to be great quality. The people a the church where picked it up were really great, too.
I opted to add two optional boxes, one with meat and the other fresh vegetables.
All of this was just $66! http://www.angelfoodministries.com/
With some recipes from my favorite food site http://www.recipezaar.com/ and a few things like bread and cheese. This is really going to stretch my budget.

Thanks to the genuis behind the program an the folks at Christ Comunity Church in Deland.

I've already started planning for next month's order of the basic order, grill box, and vegetable/fruit box. I've collected some recipes together of recipezaar if you're interested. Here it is:
http://www.recipezaar.com/menu/19731

Do You Remember When

My friend, Sandy, and I got talking about some of these great memories that we share. If you're older than 35, then you might remember some of these things, too.

• Ray Steven's songs like "Spider & Snakes" and "The Streak"


• The first solar calculator (it was the size of a laptop!)


• Black & White TV (The Munsters, I love Lucy)


• Playing outside until the street lights came on


• Orange Crush in the bottle (sometimes from a machine where you had to pull the bottle out)


• The Jackson Five cartoons


• Our form of texting the neighborhood kids: Knocking on thier bedroom window.


• Handwriting class


• Using the oven for afternoon snacks (what microwave?)


• Your first bag of microwave popcorn


• American Bandstand on Saturday morning (until noon when you had to clean your room).


• Walking the neighborhood to find friends.


• Candy: Bottle Caps, dippers, licorice ropes, Razzles, Pop Rocks, Good & Plendies, Mike & Ikes, Zero bars, Laffy Taffy, Fruit Stipe Gum and Black Jack Gum, and Bubble Gum with a cartoon inside.


• Cracker Jacks with a toy inside


• Sunday drives with your family that usually ended at the icecream stand.


• $1 movies


• Tigerbeat Magazine


• Aren't they times when you here "Blinded by the Light" or some other summer song and you're instantly brought back to a hot summer day.

I know some of this may sound like I'm very old to some of you - but to those who share my memories - Here's to YOU!

Cooperative Living

How do people make it in this world without other people? I've been spending a lot of time lately being greatful for the people who are around me, helping me, supporting me through the good and the bad. I've had the chance to meet some people lately who have no one around them, either physically close or in thier lives to help them through.

I can't help but wonder if we all were willing to help our extended families, neighbors, and people who have needs wherever they are, if the world wouldn't become a better place to live for everyone. Not in a hippie-commune kind of sharing, but in a "putting someone else before self" sort of way.

I'm getting a glimpse of what this looks like. I've started participating in a local food coop called Angel Food www.angelfoodministries.com
This is my first chance to be involved in a food co-op and it's an exciting idea.
I've always been one to stick close to family;
relizing in my young adulthood how important that family support was. I've also been blessed with good friends that are there for me and a church that's made up of people that have serving hearts; hearts like Jesus.

I encourage you to begin to think how the way you live and the things you do may effect the people around you or the world you live in. Also imaging your life if everyone around you was willing to do what they could to make your life better.

I'm inspired by this scripture:

All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. Acts 4:32

I'm a tree hugger

I've always been a little green - not the color, the attitude. When I was a young mother, I couldn't imagine giving my kids anything unhealthy. I was known for my "honey, molasses, bran, lecithin" type cookies. My family tells me that even the dog wouldn't eat them. I made this attempt too difficult - I planned to plant and can everything we ate. I didn't succeed. Hundreds of pounds of sugar later, my kids are still fine.

Recently, I've begun to simplify my life; cleaning out and giving away, palnning to own just what I need, planning to make the things I own last longer; appreciating what I have. Simplifying was a a natural progression for me since I got my spiritual life in order. I NEED LESS to be happy. I now recycle more and live a life that's more in balance with the world. The more I learn about our overconsumption and how it affects others and the earth we live in, the more intent I am to increase my awareness of our impact on the world.

A recent trip to Maine and the White Mountains of New Hampshire confirmed for me that now I am more and more my true self.

My inspiration today:
The Lord God put the man in the garden of Eden to care for it and work it. - Genesis 2:15

Travel Adventure 2008

My first blog post ever

So I guess a blog is a public diary, somethig that we do to share our thoughts witht the world. That's a scary thought. I'd like to think that I concentrate on all good thoughts (Philipians 4:8), so my blog might sound a like I see life through rose colored glasses. I know from experience that if I concentrate on the negative, I get so down that I don't live a full life. I hope you'll be inspred to life a full life, too. I supose you;ll see me blogging about my interests:
God
Family (including two grown kids, thier best friends/future spouses and Baby Logan)
Simple Living
Travel
Fashion
Dogs

Peace!
Vonnie