tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-247277312012-02-12T20:20:58.750-08:00Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.comBlogger2691100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-39286540907118534932012-02-12T20:20:00.000-08:002012-02-12T20:20:58.762-08:00

I previously introduced you to my great-great grandmother, Jessie Lyman Eckert.  You can read the first post here, and subsequent post are filed under Jessie Lyman's diary. Jessie Lyman was born January 2, 1877.  She graduated from Westport High School (Westport, MO, now part of Kansas City) in 1897 at the head of her class.  From what I have read of her diaries so far, it appears she went on

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-46885623253971160712012-02-10T17:38:00.000-08:002012-02-10T17:38:30.273-08:00

So, you all know (probably) that I make Christmas stockings. And sometimes I make them out of old quilts. These quilts are the ones that have been used to death and have popping seams and worn-through patches and fraying edges.  [They look approximately like this.] [The stockings, not the quilts.] Well I just got some new (old) quilts, and I thought I might as well start cutting them up

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-49240800252543235712012-02-03T17:50:00.000-08:002012-02-03T17:50:54.133-08:00

We were at the thrift store today (a common Friday activity), and the particular one we were at is having a 50% off everything sale.  Now when everything is on sale, it makes me look a little closer at everything to see if anything has hidden potential.  I'm pretty sure the rolls of calculator paper have been there since I've been here; that is, since August.  Regularly $5.50 for a pack of 8

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-53116878318402002152012-01-10T20:34:00.000-08:002012-01-10T20:34:52.216-08:00

And by "new", of course, I mean that I've lived here and had the room put together for 5 months but I'm just now getting around to posting photos.   [Car. Driveway.] My fabulous husband insists that I have a crafting room*.  A family of three should normally be able to get along just fine in a two-bedroom, but not us!  We picked this house because it has a nice double living room (all the way

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-24533797461745101092012-01-08T22:07:00.001-08:002012-01-08T22:15:57.022-08:00

I previously introduced you to my great-great grandmother, Jessie Lyman Eckert.  You can read the first post here, and subsequent post are filed under Jessie Lyman's diary. Jessie Lyman was born January 2, 1877.  She graduated from Westport High School (Westport, MO, now part of Kansas City) in 1897 at the head of her class.  From what I have read of her diaries so far, it appears she went on

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-33960386400940567152012-01-06T22:45:00.000-08:002012-01-06T22:45:20.948-08:00

A couple months ago, Lucy kept talking about eating cookies for dinner.  I suspect it had something to do with watching Sesame Street every day.  But it got me thinking -- wouldn't that be fun? To have cookies for dinner?  So I asked my Facebook friends what kind of well-rounded foods could be made to look like cookies, and I got some great responses.  And I filed them away (in my brain). Well,

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-7319890966852690482012-01-02T15:38:00.000-08:002012-01-08T22:10:38.744-08:00

I previously introduced you to my great-great grandmother, Jessie Lyman Eckert.  You can read the first post here, and subsequent post are filed under Jessie Lyman's diary. Jessie Lyman was born January 2, 1877.  She graduated from Westport High School (Westport, MO, now part of Kansas City) in 1897 at the head of her class.  From what I have read of her diaries so far, it appears she went on

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-71338611350707629962011-12-31T17:20:00.000-08:002011-12-31T17:20:30.580-08:00

I just wanted to share here a follow-up to last year's post about New Year's resolutions.  Last year I said that, although I'm not much of one for New Year's resolutions, I would be trying for the third time to read through the Bible in one year. Well, I did it!  I'm super proud of myself.  How many of us know the guilt of going however many years as a Christian without having read the whole

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-52467879716976106702011-12-11T21:40:00.001-08:002011-12-11T22:18:48.552-08:00

I previously introduced you to my great-great grandmother, Jessie Lyman Eckert.  You can read the first post here, and subsequent post are filed under Jessie Lyman's diary. Jessie Lyman was born January 2, 1877.  She graduated from Westport High School (Westport, MO, now part of Kansas City) in 1897 at the head of her class.  From what I have read of her diaries so far, it appears she went on

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-40610428825795583162011-12-05T13:36:00.001-08:002011-12-05T14:31:49.101-08:00

I previously introduced you to my great-great grandmother, Jessie Lyman Eckert.  You can read the first post here, and subsequent post are filed under Jessie Lyman's diary. Jessie Lyman was born January 2, 1877.  She graduated from Westport High School (Westport, MO, now part of Kansas City) in 1897 at the head of her class.  From what I have read of her diaries so far, it appears she went on

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-46770000420543915902011-12-02T10:23:00.001-08:002011-12-02T14:10:53.462-08:00

Hahahahahahahaha... OK, not really.  I'm just trying to eat a little better and move a little more.  I had an epiphany the other day, which was that if I want to have another baby, I'd better lose this extra weight I've got hanging on before I get pregnant, or it'll be as good as stuck there for a while.  I got back down to pre-baby weight at some point during Lucy's life (it was at that point

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-32326033247221612072011-11-27T21:23:00.001-08:002011-11-27T22:03:15.158-08:00

I previously introduced you to my great-great grandmother, Jessie Lyman Eckert.  You can read the first post here, and subsequent post are filed under Jessie Lyman's diary. Jessie Lyman was born January 2, 1877.  She graduated from Westport High School (Westport, MO, now part of Kansas City) in 1897 at the head of her class.  From what I have read of her diaries so far, it appears she went

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-54280102683625731812011-11-26T17:09:00.001-08:002011-11-26T17:23:25.771-08:00

I just found this great deal over at VitaCost.com!  You shop through this link, you get a $10 coupon for anything on the site!  Seriously -- no strings.  I moseyed on over there and picked up 4 packages of these fancy rice crackers that we always buy for Lucy.  Well, they're cheaper at VitaCost than they are at the store here anyway, but I put 4 in my cart: $11.64 + $4.99 s/h - $10 coupon =

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-38281709389985077872011-11-25T11:53:00.001-08:002011-11-25T12:25:54.317-08:00

Another Thanksgiving, come and gone. This one was perfect for us homebodies. (And by "us" I mean Norman and me -- I don't think Lucy could ever be misconstrued for a homebody.)  It was just the three of us, but enough food to feed... 8?  10?  A lot. [The spread] I made the soft pretzels (!!!) on Wednesday.  I hadn't made these in a while, and my bread kneading skills are much better than

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-65817019722443489962011-11-20T19:46:00.001-08:002011-11-20T20:47:12.120-08:00

I previously introduced you to my great-great grandmother, Jessie Lyman Eckert.  You can read the first post here, and subsequent post are filed under Jessie Lyman's diary. Jessie Lyman was born January 2, 1877.  She graduated from Westport High School (Westport, MO, now part of Kansas City) in 1897 at the head of her class.  From what I have read of her diaries so far, it appears she went

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-62855708475972727202011-11-18T19:18:00.001-08:002011-11-18T19:27:38.922-08:00

I found this at the thrift store today.  (The same store I found the breastfeeding poster -- fabulous place.) I paid a whole 35 cents for this beauty.  I still haven't decided whether to keep it, sell it on Etsy, or send it to my mom!   I think Norman's vote is to hang it in our kitchen. I also found, in keeping with my ridiculous good luck and perfect timing where thrift stores are

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-49897895745148630112011-11-14T13:10:00.001-08:002011-11-14T13:33:22.290-08:00

Last week I introduced you to my great-great grandmother, Jessie Lyman Eckert.  You can read the first post here. Jessie Lyman was born January 2, 1877.  She graduated from Westport High School (Westport, MO, now part of Kansas City) in 1897 at the head of her class.  From what I have read of her diaries so far, it appears she went on to teach school for a couple years in Columbia, MO.  She

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-75015501519294959832011-11-06T16:16:00.001-08:002011-11-20T20:03:25.005-08:00

I was sorting through some things on my desk last night, and I realized that while I am in possession of my great-great grandmother's diaries, I have never read them.  What??  This is craziness.  As I started reading them, I thought about how interesting, and strange, and personal, and impersonal having something from an ancestor is.  I never knew her, but she is part of my story, and I was named

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-88418081507955079022011-11-04T15:33:00.000-07:002011-11-04T15:33:42.824-07:00

"And here's what my booth looked like this time!"  Oy.  Are we like so totally over the photos of my various craft booths?  If you are, I apologize. I showed up to the Harvest Festival with no idea what was going on or where I was going to be.  The lady in charge was supposed to call me the week before, but Saturday morning came and I had heard nothing.  Usually this would make me crazy, but I

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-50970231713354916912011-11-01T01:00:00.000-07:002011-11-01T01:00:04.128-07:00

  Ah, another Halloween come and gone.  I had a very ambiguous relationship with Halloween growing up.  Some years my mom made fabulous, elaborate costumes for us (I was once a pink crayon; another year, Samantha, the American Girl), some years we pulled stuff together for ourselves (like when I was a "gypsy", i.e., long skirt, head-kerchief, lots of jewelry). Some years we went

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-19383216767617440542011-10-28T01:00:00.000-07:002011-10-28T01:00:11.366-07:00

I've lived in my current town for nearly 3 months, and I still have no Facebook friends who also live here.  This strikes as very weird, but it seems people here just aren't big on the internet.  I think they might be busy doing other things like hiking, gardening, and eating good food.  Weirdos.  (Please note the sarcasm.) So it is with a slightly wistful sigh that I post the following, knowing

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-7001888246579166962011-10-25T01:00:00.000-07:002011-10-25T01:00:08.238-07:00

Nope, not whether or not to celebrate. Not whether or not to going trick-or-treating. No, as a confirmed real food hippie, my yearly Halloween conundrum is -- what do I hand out?? [Spoiler alert: It's these!] Last year I was really on top of things, and I bought glow stick bracelets super-cheap on eBay to hand out instead of candy.  This year I pretty much forgot about it until....

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-47991166743585659122011-10-21T17:11:00.001-07:002011-10-21T17:11:50.641-07:00

Before we moved across country, I got rid of a lot of fabric.  Most of my collections of denim and felt went, as did a bunch of my cotton fabric, fleece, and flannel.  But I refused to get rid of a single swatch of my corduroy.  I kept all of it.  There is a lot.  Right now it's all stuffed into three under-the-bed containers. A good deal of the more interesting stuff came from a garage sale

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-44691541294853545762011-10-18T14:47:00.001-07:002011-10-18T14:47:31.968-07:00

There's something you should probably know about me: I like to get things done.  It's not just that I like to be able to check things off my to-do list (although I do really like doing that), it's that while I'm trying to get something done, I'm focused solely on getting it done as quickly as possible.  No dawdling.  I do this even with things I like doing.  I just want to get it done and move on

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-31015826349403890802011-10-14T14:02:00.000-07:002011-10-14T14:02:05.627-07:00

'Twas a good day for thrifting.  Lucy and I went on/in the bike/trailer, so it was very exciting getting everything we bought to fit.  Luckily, our bike trailer has a trunk, if you can believe it.  (Still the best $90 I've ever spent.)  The recycling center has a thrift store (which is awesome, because I had a dream about that once...).  Mostly they carry tools and building

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-85184552862069316252011-09-30T02:00:00.000-07:002011-09-30T02:00:06.764-07:00

And now for something completely different... I don't remember how this idea occurred to me, but I'm really excited about it.  It's unique and fun and manly, which is important.  It's so tough to shop for guys! Cedar sachets!  Sachet is a really girly word, isn't it?  Well I don't know what else to call these, because they're stuffed with something that smells good, and their job is

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-71409615870507531102011-09-27T08:25:00.000-07:002011-09-27T08:25:31.981-07:00

 Last day!  (Or, I suppose, the first day, depending on your point of view... So deep.)  It's only 5-6 hours from the San Francisco area to Arcata, which is why we felt completely comfortable taking some time out of our day to drive through a tree. No really.  The trees are so big and so old that you can carve a hole the size of a car out of the middle of one, and it will still be

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-89361928139547745212011-09-23T19:23:00.002-07:002011-09-23T19:23:29.514-07:00

Yesterday I showed you the not-enough-bread-loaf-pans solution, pre-baking.  Wellll..... Here is the loaf of bread from the one normal loaf pan:  [Mmm... Loafy...] And here are the other three loaves: They're shaped exactly like loaves of bread!  Hooray!  But as you may or may not be able to see, the sides were not so much actually done.  Still doughy, in fact.  (On all of them, even

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-11616428647198068682011-09-22T14:55:00.000-07:002011-09-22T14:55:39.580-07:00

("Kludge" being defined by urbandictionary.com as "a quick, messy but functional fix or workaround to a problem.") I'm trying this tip from The Tightwad Gazette for when you don't own enough loaf pans.  Come back tomorrow to see how this works out... (Bread recipe here. More time consuming than bread machine bread, but very tasty, and all whole wheat!)

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-9892819971214223392011-09-20T15:41:00.000-07:002011-09-20T15:42:21.359-07:00

Goodness!  I hope none of you were holding your breath to find out how the move ended up!  I'm back a mere 3 weeks later to let you know about my favorite day of the trip.  The day we wound up in San Francisco.  I didn't realize until the day of that I was so excited to see it.  Back story: The Christmas break of my senior year of college I started (and finished) all 58 episodes of the TV

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-65751178267781203742011-08-26T09:38:00.005-07:002011-08-26T10:15:38.631-07:00

And then we kept driving. Again. We came across this. Norman thinks it needs a ",Batman!" added to the bottom, while I thought it sounded like the name of a fat, corrupt Southern politician. Then we got to California, which is very large. And the Pacific Time Zone, which we had kinda already been in, because Arizona does not observe Daylight Saving Time. We had to stop, get inspected, and

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-89418996230444238492011-08-23T13:30:00.005-07:002011-08-23T14:08:39.664-07:00

OK, to be honest, all the driving days are now starting to run together. So I'll just have to go off the extant documents -- the photos. In New Mexico (I guess) we saw some really cool dust devils! My arm seems a lot longer inside the car. (And I did a lot of twisting and reaching to accommodate backward-facing whiny child.) The drive up to the Grand Canyon from Flagstaff looked like this,

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-25423194396984669172011-08-19T18:55:00.006-07:002011-08-19T19:25:37.604-07:00

Day One of driving also dawned bright and early. (Actually, you can just assume that all the days were bright and early from here on out.) We packed everything in the car (barely), and took one last look around before locking our keys inside the house. It felt weird to be without a house key, and therefore technically homeless. We stopped off at Norman's family's house on the way out of OKC.

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-14169477257058578572011-08-16T10:40:00.005-07:002011-08-16T13:01:13.663-07:00

I debated about this, but finally decided, yes, I should write a series of blog posts about my family's recent epic cross-country move, if only so that we have a record of it. A few short weeks ago we moved from Oklahoma to far northern California (job related, of course). We gave our stuff to a freight company and set out in our car: Husband (driver), me (navigator), Toddler (alternating

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-66218843137761043822011-07-25T16:52:00.003-07:002011-07-25T16:56:42.432-07:00

Currently reconsidering crystal ownership as a lifestyle choice...(Extremely helpful and detailed packing instructions found here.)

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-53270266719336991092011-06-28T04:00:00.002-07:002011-06-28T04:00:02.067-07:00

I hosted a baby shower over the weekend. My church is indefatigable in its baby-and-bridal-shower-throwing. Every engaged lady and every pregnant woman (for every kid) gets a shower. It's pretty awesome, actually. This was my first time as the main hostess at one of these shindigs, although I've co-hosted before. Besides the contributions of my organizational and watermelon-bowl-making

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-41153361674933146632011-06-24T13:58:00.004-07:002011-06-24T14:25:37.331-07:00

Why yes, yes there is!Last Tuesday, the man of the house defended his dissertation, which, aside from some paperwork, makes him officially a Doctor of Philosophy in the area of Economics. Woohoo! It's been a semi-long 5 years. I'm so proud of him. He's worked hard, and he's the first in his extended family to hold any kind of advanced degree (as far as anyone can remember).So of course this

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-1576985525369006642011-05-27T06:46:00.002-07:002011-11-21T14:21:57.855-08:00

I wrote a post a while back about movies and TV shows that are not necessarily aimed at kids, but that have great lessons to teach. I waxed on about Ratatouille, 50 First Dates, Accepted, and Hairspray. But even as I did so, I knew I was leaving one out -- I just couldn't think of what it was. It has since come to me: That Thing You Do. Now bear with me, because this is going to get a little

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-49092906030315978462011-05-21T09:47:00.004-07:002011-05-21T10:00:22.501-07:00

Oh, there are so many words. Moving is... annoying, hard, exciting, expensive, liberating, time-consuming, crazy-making. For those who missed the news, my husband got a teaching job in far northern California for this next school year. That is a long way away. So, we're purging. Not only do I not want to have to pay more to move all this junk, and take the time to pack all of it, but we'll

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-89679079473309805352011-04-29T10:56:00.007-07:002011-04-29T11:54:01.394-07:00

I almost feel silly putting this up. I'm sure everyone is over Easter by now, but we had some fun this last Saturday before I came down deathly ill (don't worry, I'm better now), so I wanted to share.I haven't really "done Easter" since I started college. I do Lent pretty regularly, but I just don't throw a big bash for Easter. I think this is because while I find the whole Easter Bunny,

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-42326573733030543482011-04-26T08:12:00.003-07:002011-04-26T08:21:21.853-07:00

How is it possible that you started out like this...and moved on to this...and now look like this...and that someday, if God wills, I'll be putting up photos of you driving cars and getting married?Happy 2nd Birthday, Lucy! We make a great team.

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-70949620437586119112011-04-19T13:22:00.005-07:002011-04-19T13:45:40.151-07:00

Lucy's 2nd birthday party happened. How have I already thrown 2 of these things? Despite my creeping nostalgia, a lovely time was had by all! The weather shaped up perfectly, despite it having been crazy windy the day before.[Random present- opening photo]We had it in the front yard. Partly because there's an insane dog next door, partly because the front yard is easier than the back yard to

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-66309163565834897752011-04-15T10:42:00.004-07:002011-04-15T10:55:46.479-07:00

Lucy turns 2 in about a week and a half! Her party is early, though, to avoid Easter problems. Last year, the birthday theme (if you can even call it that) was polka dots. This year it is "outside". So I made these invitations![The chaos of the craft room mid-project][Pieces ready for assembly][Ta da!][The inside]This was all using stuff I had. I used a "2" cookie cutter as a stencil for the

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-85451515472277485322011-03-18T12:08:00.006-07:002011-03-18T12:36:59.877-07:00

I go to thrift stores on Thursdays. Not every Thursday. Probably 2 out of 3 Thursdays on average. I don't always buy something, but I usually do. (This might be part of the reason that the hypothetical prospect of living in a basement-less, garage-less 2-bedroom apartment is freaking me out a little...)This week we checked out the new Goodwill store in Norman. It's at E 12th and Alameda,

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-40447074558500788922011-03-08T11:08:00.004-08:002011-03-08T12:03:39.410-08:00

Today is International Woman's Day! It's a holiday celebrated worldwide to honor women and the contributions they make to society. As far as I can tell, it's largely unheard of in the US. I had never heard of it until it was mentioned in my second-year Russian class in college. But I like the idea. I readily admit to not being so good with women. On the whole, I am much more comfortable

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-1872315658081630482011-02-25T08:14:00.004-08:002011-02-25T14:28:16.227-08:00

I take a lot of photos. I make a lot of stuff, and I also sell a lot of stuff that I didn't make, and I have a one year old, so that adds up to lots of photos.What I really need is a dedicated space in my craft studio (preferably near a large window) to set up a professional-grade lightbox with some professional-grade lamps and lightbulbs, a tripod, and a copy of Photoshop. I have none of these

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-22838482707157180042011-02-22T12:47:00.005-08:002011-02-22T15:49:37.901-08:00

Saturday was Homemade Fast Food night at our house. This was the first one, but it will certainly not be the last. (Maybe it needs a better name? Suggestions?) There are two reasons that people eat fast food, don't you agree? 1.) You want cheap food that you don't have to cook, or 2.) You like the taste of the fast food. Some days we want #1. And those are the days we usually go to

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-59901142474258456792011-02-15T04:00:00.001-08:002011-02-15T04:00:08.691-08:00

It's been about 10 or 12 years now that I've loathed and despised Valentine's Day. Yep, I'm one of those. I spent a long time (or what seemed like a long time to me) being single, and the day is pretty crappy if you're young and single. Once you get past elementary school with the boxes and the candy and the cards for everyone whether you like them or not, it's just not much fun without a

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-84232242178950008422011-02-12T06:08:00.006-08:002011-02-12T06:17:46.247-08:00

What do these three things have in common?[Toaster][Wii-mote] [Nursing tank top]Give up? Well, in the mind of a 21-month-old girl......they all look like the clasp on a nursing bra, which results in said toddler signing "milk!!" quite emphatically.(Also I'm having too much fun with the macro setting on my camera.)

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-35149924300973800142011-01-14T18:10:00.002-08:002011-01-14T18:38:07.646-08:00

Well, that's it. I'm never showing up to estate sales after the first 30 minutes ever again. Today was the first time I'd hit one up right when it opened, and I found FIVE things I'd been planning to buy.[A new large, good quality cutting mat][A carpet sweeper][The book Once-a-Month Cooking. Note: Not my freezer. Yet.] [A garlic press] [A mandoline slicer -- Pampered Chef, no less!]Also a

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-78393789393310245342011-01-07T20:17:00.004-08:002011-11-21T14:20:44.578-08:00

[Children's Book of Virtues: a classic.] I was thinking the other day that there are some really good movies and TV shows out there. ("Duh, Jessie.") No, I mean really good -- like morally good. Not the stuff they sell at Mardel. Real, secular movies, that happen to contain fabulous lessons. Lessons I want my daughter to learn. But they're not kids movies. ("But Ratatouille is a kids...")

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-24341523869780580062011-01-01T06:29:00.004-08:002011-01-01T08:01:53.292-08:00

I don't really believe in New Year's resolutions. That's probably partly because, generally speaking, I don't like to do things that everyone else likes to do. (Let's not mention that stretch of Backstreet Boys fandom back in the 10th grade, mmkay?) But I think it's mostly because the difference between December 31st and January 1st just isn't that big. It's so arbitrary. For as long as I

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-33934771565569710162010-12-28T14:18:00.007-08:002010-12-28T17:30:26.941-08:00

[Christmas Eve]Time for the Christmas present wrap up! You already read about the rocking chair I fixed up for Lucy. Now time to see the rest of the goods!Every year, Norman and I decided on a certain amount of money to spend on each other for Christmas presents. It's a relatively low amount (you can read some about why that is here). It's kind of like a fun challenge to see how awesome the

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-89493366508198856332010-12-25T14:13:00.004-08:002010-12-25T14:22:14.666-08:00

I hope today has been everything you wanted it to be, and that anything extra is nothing but a welcome surprise!

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-10915770436856101482010-12-24T04:00:00.001-08:002010-12-24T04:00:13.137-08:00

As I write this, it's Christmas Eve Eve. And as you read this, it is Christmas Eve (or later). So I haven't given this present to Lucy yet. It's still in the garage (which is where I revamped it, so excuse the horrible lighting in the following photos). But since Lucy is not a regular reader of my blog, I figured I was safe. :-)I found this wooden child's rocking chair in the dumpster by our

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-24029646556697410622010-12-21T18:13:00.005-08:002010-12-21T18:38:46.391-08:00

Today I was planning on sharing with you some photos of some Christmas gifts I made for some of my friends and family. But I'm not entirely sure if all those gifts have reached their destinations and/or been opened, and I don't want to ruin the surprise for those who haven't received/opened.Then I was planning on showing you photos of the rocking chair I'm revamping for one of Lucy's Christmas

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-60348616463787497912010-12-14T09:08:00.004-08:002010-12-14T09:41:43.282-08:00

[My booth was next the Crafty Katie's booth]...and that was probably the last one I'll attend and/or sell at. That makes me kind of sad. But not too sad. There will be other opportunities wherever we end up (In case you don't know what I'm talking about, my husband is almost done with his PhD, he has applied to a ton of jobs, and only one of them is in-state. Chances are we'll be moving far

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-84111686664196225072010-12-10T04:00:00.003-08:002010-12-10T06:42:36.652-08:00

[My Deluxe booth in 2008 (pregnant!)]My favorite craft show is tomorrow. It's called Deluxe, and it is so fun! I'll be there with all my wares. You know who else will be there? About 70 other vendors and a whole bunch of Oklahomans hungry for some indie crafty goodness.Come join us, won't you?[My booth from last year.]Deluxe Indie Craft BazaarCentennial Building - OKC FairgroundsSaturday,

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-49206832242595113022010-12-07T04:00:00.001-08:002010-12-07T04:00:13.054-08:00

I've lived in Oklahoma my whole life. Aside from a few assorted summers spent in Kentucky and Minnesota, it's been Oklahoma. I know a lot of people who have lived in Oklahoma their whole lives, and they are damn proud of it. They love it here. They might die for Oklahoma.I'm not one of those people. I've actually been trying to escape for the last 9 years. It looks like I'll (probably)

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-91731490499622435822010-12-03T17:08:00.005-08:002010-12-03T17:31:19.166-08:00

We're not doing a Christmas tree this year. You all know that I love Christmas trees, but it just wasn't in the cards this year. The tree we had last year, we had gotten for free, so we didn't feel too bad about giving it away after Christmas. It was going to take up a lot of room in our garage. And we have an extra piece of furniture in our dining room this year, so the space where the tree

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-2342348979498864682010-11-30T04:00:00.002-08:002010-11-30T04:00:04.499-08:00

I was reading this post over at SortaCrunchy, and I was saddened. It's about how the holidays can be really stressful for some people (although it seems most of those people are American women). I love the holidays, and aside from times during my school career when I had tough finals to worry about, they've never really stressed me out. The holidays mean so many good things: Christmas music,

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-7039673026238260262010-11-26T04:00:00.001-08:002010-11-26T04:00:06.630-08:00

This post is going to be super boring because I forgot to take photos -- AGAIN. I just really get in the zone when I'm working on something (like setting up for a home show, or cooking fancy dinner for in-laws), and I completely space on the photos. And of course while I'm busy not taking photos, Husband is busy watching Toddler, so he doesn't remember either.OK, Thanksgiving. There were seven

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-5097368560912070722010-11-23T04:00:00.006-08:002011-11-18T19:56:28.277-08:00

[My drawer of packing and tagging supplies] This is a post on how I do shipping. I will not blame you if, as a person who neither runs an Etsy shop nor ships anything on a regular basis, you just skip this post and come back for the next one. If, however, you are an Etsy seller, or you do ship things fairly often, you might want to pay attention. I don't want to toot my own horn or anything,

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-81742240220565021062010-11-19T04:00:00.002-08:002010-11-29T18:08:07.588-08:00

Several years ago -- and I'm not exactly sure how it happened -- a couple young ladies in our church started making Communion bread for the congregation, so that we didn't all have to endure the saltines and matzoh that, in my experience, most evangelical churches serve during Communion. Blech. This was a great success, but we were only taking Communion once a month. When we switched to taking

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-40740113637480019672010-11-16T04:00:00.001-08:002010-11-16T04:00:07.085-08:00

This was the fourth year for my annual holiday home show. It was also the FIRST year that I remembered to take photos. (Which I would not even have remembered to do if my sister-in-law hadn't reminded me!)We had a great time! Hot spiced cider, chocolate cookies, great chats with good friends, and plenty of the selling of the wares. And of course, my favorite part -- when people look at my stuff

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-33142267300690143482010-11-12T04:00:00.002-08:002010-11-12T04:00:03.786-08:00

A friend recently asked me what kinds of things our family eats for dinner. It was really easy for me to put a list together for her, because I keep a list of dinners to make menu planning easier. [Every Sunday evening I put together a menu and grocery list for the week. We grocery shop on Tuesday mornings.] The friend thanked me for the list and said I should write a blog post about it. So..

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-41895394681018429092010-11-09T04:00:00.001-08:002010-11-09T04:00:04.139-08:00

It's that time of year again! This will be the 4th year for my Holiday Home Show/Open House/Tiny Craft Fair/I Never Know What to Call It. (See my post here for why I have so much fun doing them.) It's this Thursday evening, and this year, it's shaping up to be a lot more like a Tiny Craft Fair than anything else! We've got the crafty goodness of FIVE different ladies to show off!Taryn makes

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-49671416437368543962010-11-05T04:00:00.003-07:002010-11-29T18:09:12.738-08:00

Lucy loves music. Lucy loves music so much. She's always asking to listen to music or watch her Nick Jr. shows that are full of music or watch her playlist of YouTube videos. Or she's playing our full-size guitar and singing.That's part of why I decided that for her second Halloween on the outside of me, she should be a Double Rainbow. (If you don't know about the Double Rainbow video, you

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-11929618729062507492010-10-22T21:18:00.005-07:002010-11-29T18:09:40.240-08:00

Thursday evening I went to the Norman Public Library's book sale. It was the pre-pre-sale, as I had paid my dues in the form of 4 volunteer hours in order to get in on Thursday.In that stack are the books I bought (a few of them are from the JBF sale last week). I also bought 4 toddler books and a giant collection of A.A. Milne. I was surprised by the stack. I thought of how 8 years ago as a

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-80626316760206650682010-10-08T11:50:00.004-07:002010-10-08T11:55:53.021-07:00

You all know that I make my own chicken broth. I talk about it here. (Only this time I made it in the crock pot overnight. So easy!) Well, today when I pulled my latest batch out of the fridge, I was met with a pleasant surprise:[Note to self: Keep sink and stovetop clean, because you never know when you might suddenly need to record an emergency jiggly chicken broth video for the entire

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-1225042652106051432010-10-05T19:27:00.006-07:002010-11-29T18:11:01.208-08:00

It's that time of year. No, not the time for cooler weather, pumpkin spice lattes, or football. Though it is also those times. It's time for more garbatrage! (For the uninitiated, "garbatrage" is our fancy made-up word for curb shopping.)This fall we're doing something different. We're working around Lucy's routine, which ends up with everyone being happier, even if we end up with fewer

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-23786044705497502472010-09-21T04:00:00.002-07:002010-09-21T09:12:51.889-07:00

It's been almost 3 years since I refined my design for a travel jewelry organizer, which I call the "jewelry scroll". (You can read all about it and see how it works here.)It's refined from the original, which I made for my college roommate. She had a lot of fun jewelry, and she spent a lot of weekends out of town, dressing up fancy. She told me she was going to look for a good jewelry

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-79406496634760359802010-09-07T04:00:00.002-07:002010-09-08T05:42:41.136-07:00

Today I put an electric grill/griddle on my Wist. This prompted me to start listing for my husband all the other small kitchen appliance we own, which I am pretty sure is every kitchen appliance known to man besides an electric griddle and an electric can opener. And then my husband said I should write a blog post about it.[They hide in every nook and cranny of my kitchen.]So, without further

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-34563554465331504492010-09-03T07:06:00.005-07:002010-11-29T18:11:39.594-08:00

OK, y'all. This is information you need to have. Well, only if you like pumpkin spice flavored coffee drinks, I guess. Or if your wife/husband/girlfriend/boyfriend/mother/father likes them. Then you could be super-considerate and make one for them sometime this fall.I'd seen this DIY recipe before, but it's kinda complicated. They want you to use canned pumpkin and a whisk. I don't usually

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-52035461759837918252010-08-31T04:00:00.002-07:002010-09-01T09:53:22.366-07:00

[This post is included in this week's Real Food Wednesday, hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop!]As I mentioned, Saturday was my birthday. For the occasion, I decided to try out a new, made up recipe to "fix" the old family recipe of "sticky rolls". They are a staple at holiday gatherings, and a large part of what my childhood tastes like. But they're usually made with canned biscuits and lots of

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-69395833952135897172010-08-27T11:16:00.004-07:002010-08-27T11:33:08.257-07:00

I'm neglecting my blog, that's what!I just don't have all that much to talk about, ya know? I mean, if you're here with me, I'll talk your ear off (probably about Lucy). But not a lot of posting material.For about the last month, I've been spending any and all crafting time make more of these.They seem to take forever to make, but I'm so proud of the design, I want to be able to share them with

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-23480225306079760632010-08-06T06:26:00.006-07:002010-08-06T12:22:05.092-07:00

On Thursday Norman, Lucy, and I took a field trip to the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. We went because they have a traveling exhibit of movie costumes called Sketch to Screen. It's leaving August 15, so we just barely made it!Unfortunately for everyone, the museum did not allow any photography in the Sketch to Screen exhibit. (Booooo!) Otherwise, trust me, you'd be looking at the photos right

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-59051055337246111042010-07-16T04:00:00.002-07:002010-07-16T04:00:10.010-07:00

I've been in a very de-stash-y kinda mood lately. I just want to get rid of stuff. This week I went through our bookshelves and found about 30 books to give away, and this was after going through them two months ago for the garage sale. You see, my husband will be finishing up his PhD this next year and going on the job market. So in a year we'll be moving literally God knows where. And then

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-22214465654058396352010-07-09T18:58:00.005-07:002010-07-09T19:23:55.618-07:00

I found out this morning (after Norman had left for work) that today is "Cow Appreciation Day", at least according to the marketing department at Chic-fil-A. (Which I tend to call "Chic-a-Fil", because that's what my mom calls it, because that's what my Crazy Aunt Janet calls it.) ("Crazy Aunt Janet" is her official title.) That means if you dress up like a cow, they will give you free food.

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-71893090937936984572010-07-02T09:01:00.008-07:002010-07-02T09:39:08.173-07:00

Confession: I am the world's laziest gardener. Really. Remember this? Oh, it all started so promisingly, didn't it?I had tilled up a patch of the backyard. I didn't put anything in it. I mean, no fertilizer, no compost, no store-bought soil. Mistake.I was thoroughly spoiled at my former residence. There, I (really!) just stuck a half-dead tomato plant in the ground, and several months

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-44238633985165040112010-06-15T04:00:00.000-07:002010-06-15T04:00:00.559-07:00

(The title is from Bedazzled -- again -- but I couldn't find a YouTube clip of it. Just do yourself a favor and watch the whole movie. Hilarious.)We went on vacation! It was the vacationiest vacation we've ever been on. Well, it was certainly the longest in any case. A whole week!My (very generous) father rented a condo on Table Rock Lake for the family. We got to hang out for the week in a

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-75993833224780042982010-06-01T04:00:00.001-07:002010-06-01T04:00:11.663-07:00

This Tale from the Sale starts with me -- me in high school and college. As you may or may not know, I have a bachelor's degree in Linguistics, which I chose to pursue after seeing the overlooked Disney film Atlantis when it came out in 2001. I had always found grammar and foreign languages interesting, and since I had to get a degree in something, I figured that would be a fun way to do it.

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-6738233293231149152010-05-28T17:00:00.001-07:002010-05-28T17:24:33.897-07:00

[photo by cinefil_]"Tales from the Sale" -- do you like that? I just made it up. It may or may not be a series. But you see a lot of things when hundreds of people tromp across your lawn over a two-day period.After approximately 10 hours of watching people pay for things at our garage sale, I couldn't help but marvel at all the different ways people keep track of their money. Not in a

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-56140620218125690782010-05-25T05:43:00.003-07:002010-05-25T06:18:19.744-07:00

[The sale on Saturday morning. That's the second day. Plenty left!]As you know, last week I was organizing and running a garage sale to raise money for our church building fund. Many people asked about the church and the building, so I'll tell you what I told them: We're a church of about 200 people, and we've never owned a building. We're currently meeting at a cheesy wedding chapel (two

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-41445488554555113352010-05-18T04:00:00.003-07:002010-11-29T18:14:45.065-08:00

On Sunday, I finished reading a book called Hungry Planet: What the World Eats by Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio. I loved it. As soon as I read about it (and saw some of the photos from it), I wanted a copy. Almost immediately I found one at a children's consignment sale for $6.00! (Not really sure what it was doing there, but I'll take it!)It is a large coffee-table-type book of photos of

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-3093261978573112102010-05-11T18:55:00.004-07:002010-05-11T19:04:52.385-07:00

Remember that garage sale I told you I was going to have?Well, it kinda morphed into this crazy-ginormous church-wide building fundraiser garage sale. To be held on my front lawn. With me in charge.This is what my garage looks like at the moment. Donations will continue pouring in this week (including, I just learned, 2 dorm fridges and 2 microwaves!).Then next week an army (hopefully) of

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-63385703513397598462010-04-26T04:00:00.000-07:002010-04-26T04:00:07.129-07:00

Today is Lucy's first birthday. I can't believe it. A year?? It's been a year since I had my giant tummy? A year since I started breastfeeding? A year since the last time I slept a night without a baby on or next to me? Doesn't seem possible.So, in honor of this momentous occasion, I thought I'd maybe, oh I don't know, write her birth story down. Yeah. I haven't yet. This is it. I've

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-9908762805664468692010-04-22T20:19:00.009-07:002010-11-29T18:15:33.118-08:00

Whew! The 1st Birthday Party is officially over and done with. It was such great fun!We had grand schemes of an outdoor party. We were going to hang the Happy Birthday Banner and the Felt Party Garland on the outside of the house, set up tables with festive floral bedsheet tablecloths, lay out blankets... But, it rained. Which is fine. It always rains on our important days. It rained on our

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-71970149076741962032010-04-20T04:00:00.000-07:002010-04-20T04:00:09.126-07:00

In addition to the new Maynard Family Happy Birthday Banner, I also made a Maynard Family Happy Birthday Garland. It is meant to replace crepe paper as a birthday decoration.I cut out a bunch of felt circles in three different sizes.[10 different colors!]Then I sewed them all together in one long string.[Do not be confused by pink-striped puffy thing. It's a hammer.]I have a lot of felt.I strung

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-73385342609625733422010-04-14T20:05:00.002-07:002010-04-14T20:58:56.307-07:00

(photo by gwenwasley)Yesterday we went to the grocery store to buy food for Lucy's 1st birthday party (and for my mom to eat while she's staying with us). Our cart was very full of lots of things we don't usually buy. As I was loading things onto the conveyor belt at the register, I thought about telling the cashier "We're having a party!" because I'm a friendly sort around members of the service

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-85619370330371549262010-03-23T04:00:00.002-07:002010-11-29T18:16:02.995-08:00

The 13th was my husband Norman's birthday. We keep birthdays fairly low-key around here, but I always like to make them at least a little special. A few presents, a homemade treat of some sort, a whole lot of "Oh, let me do that! It's your birthday!" and "You pick! It's your birthday!" I supposed I do it this way because that's what I want people to do for me on my birthday.So, Norman's

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-46309544673226893372010-03-19T04:00:00.000-07:002010-03-19T04:00:05.467-07:00

It's not anyone's birthday today. Well, not it my family anyway.Last week I finished the brand new Maynard Family Happy Birthday Banner. It debuts next month at Lucy's first birthday party. The plan is to make a family tradition of putting it up for every birthday in the house.I made an isosceles triangle pattern, and cut 13 triangles out of different bright colors of felt. I had them in

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-70704955858674481652010-03-16T04:00:00.003-07:002010-11-29T18:16:43.065-08:00

[Pots of potting soil waiting to be watered.]Gardening! Gardening is, to me, a very tedious way to get cheap food. Occasionally there are moments of joy and discovery ("Pumpkin flowers are gorgeous!" "Wow, if you plant a strawberry plant, eventually you'll get strawberries! And they're so tasty!"), but mostly I do it to get food. That's why I don't plant flowers or do any... landscaping.(

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-4743505128455209192010-03-12T04:00:00.002-08:002010-11-29T18:17:16.500-08:00

Once upon a time, my husband shared his recipe for brown rice on his blog. He worked very hard and did a lot of research to get it just right. Fluffy brown rice -- can you imagine?Well, although his recipe makes very tasty rice, it takes upwards of an hour to complete. And friends, I just don't want to wait that long for dinner.So these days, I make brown rice a little differently.I follow one

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-15099781940146073262010-03-09T04:00:00.000-08:002010-03-09T04:00:01.548-08:00

Remember those wooden puzzles I found while curb shopping? And recall how I said I would make each of them a drawstring bag so we could keep the board and the pieces together?Ta da! (Only 5 months later. That's pretty good, actually.)[Zippers instead of drawstrings][My stop light is upside down. Oops.][Remember? There are two number puzzles. One for a boy, one for a girl!][Breakfast!][This

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-56006190307560917292010-03-05T09:22:00.006-08:002010-11-29T18:17:58.089-08:00

My brother was visiting us recently, and he asked me, "So...What do you do all day?" I didn't give him a very good answer. I internalized the skepticism and scorn in his tone. I bought into it -- into the thinking that if you don't have a job, you have it easy, you're lazy, you just lounge around all day. That's wrong.I was reminded of this reading this blog post by a new friend of mine. I've

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-46586354112582954432010-02-26T13:44:00.007-08:002010-02-26T14:48:28.960-08:00

[7 months pregnant]About a year ago, I put up this post. About a year ago I was 7 months pregnant.Today that little person is a little bigger and celebrating her 10-month-iversary.That's 10 months of drinking breastmilk straight from the source.Ten months of wearing boy clothes on occasion.Ten months of nomming everything in sight.Ten months of not getting shots.Ten months of watching too much

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-76862803071972180312010-02-19T06:00:00.001-08:002010-02-20T08:02:29.550-08:00

[Norman's and mine, photographed on our wedding day]There's a tradition in my extended family. My great-grandmother (we all called her Grams) made a wedding needlepoint sampler similar to the one above for her two daughters, and she made a pretty good run at making one for every one of her grandchildren. She was quite old and ill when my mom's youngest brother got married, but I remember my mom

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-62197971204097512682010-02-16T06:00:00.001-08:002010-02-16T06:00:09.914-08:00

I made these the other evening. Lucy goes to bed and I can do anything I want. And I decided to do some more cooking. Hmm. But I just couldn't take another day without bagels.I made bagels once before. They didn't turn out so great. I'm just now learning what it means to do things like knead. Or let rise.I followed the recipe here. (Yep, this is the same lady whose sourdough recipe I follow

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24727731.post-83407295281338168952010-02-13T12:15:00.003-08:002010-02-13T12:18:28.705-08:00

...I don't let Lucy have toys that take batteries.[from our local thrift store]

Jessiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09461435143872441097noreply@blogger.com3