Finally Dawned on Me

One of my dreams has always been to start my own business. Lately I've been thinking that this will have to be one of the things I do once our children (I hope!) are graduated from high school and moved on and out. My priorities are my husband and family; there will be plenty of time for starting my own business later on in life (and if there isn't time, or time is cut short, then I will be glad that I didn't spend all my years busy with a business when my top priority was my family).
I used to say that I wanted to run a coffee shop, especially after such a good time working here. Love the idea of creating a space for people to meet with friends, or work on their own projects while enjoying a hot beverage. BUT, unless you are a major coffee chain, it doesn't seem like the best business plan, to open a shop where people spend hours of their time and only $3 from their pocket. That hardly pays to keep the lights on, or to have a barista to make the drinks. Most Ma&Pa coffee shops that I know have to do other things in order to keep afloat (sell other merchandise in their shop, or include a lunch menu, or cater, or, or, or, or). I also thought it would be fun to have a bookstore, but we all know how well bookstores are doing these days, sadly.
Another idea that I have thought of is a slow-food restaurant. Where you come in, order off of the limited and changing menu, and then I make you your meal from scratch. The menu would probably contain all of my comfort foods (soups, sandwiches, pizzas, pastas, bread, cheese, etc). There would be a greenhouse attached to the back of the kitchen that grew some of our produce. And in both of these dreams we would roast our own coffee, of course. But I've always thought it would be too stressful to run a restaurant. So many regulations, and as always working with perishable items seems risky to me. Order too much and you end up wasting. Order not enough, and you're constantly running out of food and running out of customers. I do like the idea of restaurants who are only open until they run out of food each day. That does ensure a freshness, and probably less waste, I would guess.
Another idea I've more recently had, that doesn't include perishable items (at least not very many) would be a handicraft shop, that would provide three services.
1. It would sell handmade items made by myself and other local people.
2. It would sell crafting supplies.
3. It would provide space for people to work on their projects.

Fun, right? Maybe that is how I will spend my retirement?

And then it dawned on me. I can do all these things without having to try to figure out the business-side of things AND while making my family my first priority (well, actually Jesus is my first priority, but that is regardless of whether I have a family or a job or where I live or what I do. It is a given for me).
In raising a family, I definitely can plan and make healthy and from-scratch meals and work on whatever my craft is to benefit my family. I can support my husband in his work and ministry by opening our home and providing space for people to meet with a friend, read a book, drink a hot beverage, eat a good meal, be creative, study, think, etc. You guys, in just a shade over half a year, we will have the privilege of working with 20-30 young adults in a new Discipleship Program. Why is this just now dawning on me? Perhaps this is what all these dreams are about?

Here is a promotional video for the new discipleship program. Perhaps you know of someone who would be interested in applying? They should go here to find out more information and apply!

One more brief break

Hello again. I know I should spread these breaks out a bit, but I'm sitting here now. Want to get these done while the baby sleeps.

I made some coffee soap again last weekend! The last time I made it (nearly a year and a half ago), I stuck to the recipe and added the coffee grounds and walnuts to the mix. Well, it turned out to be TOO MUCH FOR MY PRINCESS SKIN to have all of those exfoliants in one bar of soap. It feels nice if you're washing the bottom of your feet, but not as an everyday soap (my opinion).

So this time around I left out the walnuts, and only added the coffee grounds to the top (so that each bar has a little exfoliation option). We will find out in another month if they are any good, and if my idea to put the coffee grounds on top was a good one. Until then, they look pretty enough to eat! But that would be gross. Don't eat soap. Unless you have a potty mouth.

lovely brick of soap, about to be cut into bars. coffee grounds swirled about on top.

pretty little bars all in a row

it was a big batch of soap

In other news, it would appear (based only on the words in the links, I didn't click on them to double check) that there are some questionable sites that are sending people to this blog. Sorry (not sorry) people. You won't find porn here. Although, I suppose...is it better to be looking for porn and stumble across some Lent verses, or to be looking for Lent verses and accidentally find some porn? Gross.

Productivity

I'm working on a project...a Lent project! It will look verrrry similar to my Advent/Christmas/Epiphany project, and will start, Lord willing, on February 10: Transfiguration Sunday! Ash Wednesday isn't until the 13th of February, but like the other project, sometimes it's nice to get started a couple days in advance.

As always, I hope you enjoy (and even if you don't, I enjoy. So this is what you get, dear blog reader!).

Daily verses to last you a couple years or so

As always, I am working on a project. No pictures yet, because it is all in my head right now.

It might be epic.

Anyway, if it ever works I will post about it here. Until then, here are some links that I am using for it, that I don't want to lose, and are also good to share.

Enjoy.

Daily readings year A
Daily readings year B
Daily readings year C

A hint as to what I'm working on.

The start of a project

I've been getting some ideas via Pinterest for some DIY baby decor. A mobile, to be specific. After combining a bunch of ideas, I decided to try my hand at making some felt owls of various colors that will hang from the mobile. Here are some pictures of the first one:

Going for complementary colors.

With wings.

Just need to sew the back on and add a little stuffing.

Perhaps a picture when the whole project is done. Don't hold your breath though, I'm hand-sewing these bad boys, and I am SLOW at it. Might be a few days.

Deodorant is Made.

If you have the cooking skills of a hot day, you can make your own deodorant.

The hardest part was all the time spent trying to figure out what some of the ingredients were, and where on earth to find them.

The recipe and instructions and benefits of making your own deodorant can be found here.

And, though it took some looking, I was able to find all the ingredients without having to buy them online. Bonus. Lots of them I already had, either because of soap-making, or because they are pretty normal kitchen type things to have.

Here's the quick list of ingredients, and where I found them:
2 TBSP Arrowroot Powder (found this at Health Hut....apparently it is a sort of starch that you use to thicken fruit sauces...or you could make cookies with it. Glad to know I have options if the deodorant doesn't work out).
2 TBSP Baking Soda (already had)
2.5 TBSP Coconut Oil (already had for soap...you can find this almost any place that sells groceries, next to the other cooking oils and shortenings).
1 Heaping TBSP Beeswax (preferably pellets, for ease of measuring and melting, the recipe says. This was the hardest one to find...had to make some calls, but finally found it at Pat Catans).
8 Drops of Tea Tree Essential Oil (this and all other essential oils I got at Health Hut).
8 Drops of Lavender Essential Oil.
2 Drops of Castor Oil (also already had this for soap-making...you can find it in the pharmacy section of most stores...or at an actual pharmacy. It is a laxative for its day job).
8-10 Drops of any other essential oil for scent.


Anyway, as I type this, it is sitting for a couple hours (or, really, overnight). I have no idea if it will work or not, but am willing to try it. I may smell earthy from here on out, people.
Here are some pictures of the making of the deodorant.

Ingreds.

All of the ingreds before adding heat and stirring.

Stirring. I was afraid that it didn't have enough liquid.

But given some time, nearly everything melted. The beeswax pellets took the longest.

At the sudden time it reached the temperature where beeswax melts, everything looked like this.

Dumped it into a recently washed out deodorant container. I was worried about what to do in the event that it overflowed, but it turns out that it didn't even fill it up.

About 3/4 full. After it hardens up a bit (which it probably already has), I can twist the bottom and smooth out the top.

Trying it tomorrow! There are no other options in the apartment for me, so hopefully it doesn't suck (though apparently it takes the body a little bit of time to adjust to the lack of chemicals that you are putting on it). We shall see!

Done.

Just. Turned in. My last assignment for the semester. All that's left is a presentation on Monday (pending a snowstorm that's apparently looming), and attending the last few class sessions. But papers are written. Projects are complete. And if they are done well (or well enough), I will graduate on May 12th (consider yourself invited!). What will I do in the meantime? I mean, once I get over the shock of not having to be doing schoolwork every minute, I will need something to occupy my time between now and graduation.

Here's what I can think of so far:

1. Get a haircut. The last time I had a haircut was early January, which is actually still fairly recent, considering I can count the number of haircuts I've had in the last 5 years using only 7 fingers. But I feel like my hair has grown a mile since January, and summer is a-coming. I have a pinterest board dedicated to ideas.

2. Clean out the fridge. I am estimating that over half of the items in there are expired or no longer edible. If I'm feeling up to it, I will keep some statistics and let you know how it goes.

3. Clean up the guest room, to make it nice for graduation guests. Currently it looks like Monica's secret closet, so I have some work ahead of me. I would've posted it here so you could watch it right on the blog. But youtube won't let me. Instead, you have to click here.

4. Get more stars on Angry Birds, my latest addiction. I only need 23 more stars before I have them all (Easter levels included).

5. Utilize my free rental from Family Video.

6. Read these two books for fun (Steve just got them...early graduation gift!).

7. Make my own deodorant. That is, if I can find all the ingredients in Beaver County. So excited about this!

8. Make up an itinerary for graduation visitors. I have so many fun things in mind for when our parents come for graduation! Also, it will be nice to have both of our mothers here for Mother's Day!

9. Send a couple of care packages that I've been meaning to send.

10. Mail/Give out some graduation invitations. I was given 25 invitations for free...and while I can't think of 25 people that will be able to go out of their way to drive/fly to Pittsburgh for a weekend, I can probably think of 25 people that would like to at least put an invitation on their fridge. Plus it will be a nice time to catch up on my correspondence. 

Some recent soap pictures

Recently acquired a cute little green plate that I intend to use as a soap dish. Luckily I have a ton of soap laying around just waiting to be photographed.

The ever-scrubby coffee and walnut soap that I posted about a couple of months ago.

Just this afternoon I went ahead and ordered a silicone mini-loaf baking pan to use as a soap mold. Did you know those things are nearly impossible to find in stores? Me neither until just recently.

To show size.

Some cinnamon and coffee soap, specially ordered!

Small bars. Good for washing hands. Kind of looks like MN.

Some oddly shaped cinnamon and coffee soaps. I still like them. The silicon mold will help me with consistently shaped bars of soap. Hopefully.

My favorite picture. An accident of sorts.

Too big for the soap plate. This is a recipe I invented...one of my favorites so far!

Some of my faves from Gettysburg

Made some pictures this past weekend. More pictures are on Facebook with people in them....these are just a few of my favorites as far as pictures go.

Silohuettes. Devil's Den.

A kid wearing a cowboy hat.

I don't know these people. But I like this picture.

One of my favorites.

Took a long time to get this. I couldn't sit still enough because I was worried that there might be snakes in the grass.

Canon. Shot by a Canon camera.

Me and my doors.

A statue representing hand-to-hand combat...and using the gun like a club.

Flags.

Brilliant Autumn Colors on the way home.

Coffee and Walnut Soap

Made another batch of soap today. I have a list of reasons I like making soap, and some pictures, but first I have to give a shout out to this website, where I found this particular recipe, and Aldi, where you can buy groceries at verrrry nice prices.

Top 5 reasons I like to make the soap:

1. The more soap you make, the more cost effective it is! 
2. It combines so many fun things: science, art, home economics, etc
3. It takes all the things I like about baking, and all the things I wish were involved in baking, and combines them (preparing, measuring, and mixing ingredients.....and then leaving the project to sit for 24+ hours, and then cutting it up and then letting it sit for a few more weeks...and then using it. And the product not only doesn't expire, it gets better the longer it sits).
4. Safety goggles and rubber gloves are very in style in our apartment right now.
5. The possibilities are endless when it comes to different soap recipes, and learning/inventing them (I am not to the point where I know enough to invent a recipe).

This evening Steve was around and took some pictures of me making soap. The captions are to give you an idea about the process, but are in no way meant to be instructional.

All of the ingredients are edible....except the lye (or, Sodium Hydroxide, or caustic soda...or, as you can see, drain opener....they're all the same. You don't want to eat this. This is the reason for the safety goggles and rubber gloves).

Thank God for immersion blenders. Basically all soap is lye mixed with some sort of fat/oil. This particular recipe also has brewed coffee. Coffee acts as a deodorant, so if you're chopping onions and garlic, apparently it would be a good idea to wash your hands with this soap. We shall see!

Also added some ground coffee and ground walnuts, as exfoliants.

I just liked the motion and color in this one.

Don't be deceived! This will not taste as good as it looks. There is a reason why washing your mouth out with soap should not be a pleasant experience. After the soap is the proper consistency, and additives are added in, pour it into whatever you have designated as a soap mold and let it sit for a while. 1-2 days, depending on the recipe.

No peaking until tomorrow!

Never buying soap again.

Well people. When you plant an idea in my head, and it starts to grow, sometimes I just have to run with it. I know I said just two weeks ago that my soap hobby would have to start at a later date (because I had all of these legit excuses), but I couldn't stop thinking about it.....and....I may have gone out and ordered a couple more soap books that are wayyy better than the original that cultivated the seed of soap making that was planted earlier this year.
And....
I may have made a batch of soap yesterday.
And...
Today I took it out of the make-shift soap mold (the box that the immersion blender came in. I'm frugal)...and cut some bars....
And....
Now I have to wait somewhere between a couple and a few weeks before I can try these bad boys out (they need to dry a little more, and the lye needs to become milder).
They are a recipe that one of my books said was a good starter recipe. Very simple. No fragrances or additives. Just a simple bar of soap. Vegetarian, if you're interested (Olive oil, coconut oil, water, lye).
I can't wait to try them out!

I made a big cube and cut it into bars. Looks like cheese!

Gloves as a safety precaution....and a fashion statement. 

My cutting tool.

Ten bars of soap!

Again. Next time I think I will add things like cinnamon and coffee.

Fresh soap.

On introversion and irony and enigma

It is no secret, I am an introvert. I get overwhelmed by large groups of people (especially if I don't know them, but not limited), and I think an evening alone with my thoughts and a book is energizing.  Don't get me wrong, I love people. I'm still not an extrovert. People are complex. Don't let dictionary.com tell you that being an introvert and being shy are the same thing, they're not! At least, in my mind they aren't. Anyway, this isn't really about being an introvert. Not completely. When I feel I've been "peopled out" I tend to find an excuse to withdraw for a while, just to recharge.

An illustration. Because I haven't made too many pictures in a while, and therefore haven't posted any for a while. For shame....but I made this one all by myself using a handful of coffee beans and the stove top!

Lately I've been wondering, though, if it is really accurate to put the umbrella of introversion over all the times I feel like being withdrawn. Coincidentally, I've been doing a lot of thinking and reading about the enneagram (well more thinking. I read over the summer). I think that I am a type 4, one of the types that withdraws to get what they want (they disengage from others to deal with their needs) (page 63)*. Sometimes, I think....and this is hard to admit, I withdraw from people not to recharge, but out of insecurity. I think, "people must be tired of me by now," (or, if I don't know them that well, I expect that they probably don't remember who I am) and preemptively avoid them. I do this passive-aggressively in the social media world by taking posting-sabbaticals and unfriending** people left and right. I do it in the real world by saying "no" to invites to hanging out/attending events (though, I love to be invited. Please don't give up on me if I say no a lot...I've been better at trying to say yes to things lately. I do crave community, I just don't want to overstay my welcome....and I've also been trying to be protective of my time...though both of these are just sort of lame excuses).
Sometimes I also wonder if this is due to moving every two years for the past few. We are starting our second year here (for the second time***), and I am trying hard not to get into the mindset of saying goodbye to everything and everyone (though it's difficult when you are constantly in an educational environment...people are always moving on). Perhaps, too, in getting used to this way of life, it becomes more foreign territory to be a part of a community for longer than a couple of years. It is a frightening and exciting thing.
Anyway, as a 4, I am aware that I can be enigmatic, so to add to all this, I resonate most with the Social Variant (of the enneagram's instinctual variants....Social variants are not necessarily the life of the party...it is the much more fundamental desire to be known and liked...the ability to adapt well to whatever environment we are in. Social variants tend to be "big picture" people, and like to make connections with others).
Anyway. Just some thoughts I've been thinking. To complete what has turned into an enneagram blogpost, I might as well also say that I'm a 4 with a 5 wing. The bohemian. It really doesn't have to do with the title of the post, but it does have to do with the content.
Please don't have the misconception that I'm depressed. I really am not. Just very aware of the pros and cons of my personality/tendencies.  Some positive things about introverts are that we are usually among the intelligent and gifted. Some positive things about type 4s are that we are creative and unique and honest and appreciative of beauty and intuitive and have a great sense of humor. To name a few :)
Have you ever taken the Enneagram? What type are you?















*Wouldn't it be great if all documentation were this easy? Perhaps in the future.
**Most of the time my criteria for unfriending is based on how long it has been since I've seen them (and if I think I will ever see them again) and whether or not I would wish them Happy Birthday if facebook told me to....or if I saw them in a grocery store would I go up and talk to them, or just wave, or go to another aisle and pray they didn't see me.
***Isn't it funny when you tell God you'll go anywhere, and He sends you to Western PA twice?!

Dreamy

Awhile back, I read this story. And I was thinking about it again today, or the last couple of days, because I recently acquired a book about Soap-making at a local antique/consignment mall (so small, so new, so local that they don't have a website, not even a social media page...but if you come and visit me, I will take you there).

This book, actually. It was just under three dollars. Score.

After reading through this book, I really wish that I had the space to make some soap! It seems like the perfect pairing of science and creativity...as well as frugality.  I think I will do a little more research though, and wait a while before I start my soap hobby.  For one, I am back at school and need to devote my brain to homework. Two, our kitchen is small-ish, and I feel that I would need more space to work on/let my soap sit for the necessary length of time. Three, after reading the reviews for this book, I  think I will have to get another more up to date book on soap-making. For one, I'm not necessarily into making highly scented bars of soap that look like various shapes (shells, flowers, etc), I'm more into fragrance-free (or naturally scented) rectangles of soap. And for two, there are some dangerous errors in my edition of the book that I would not have known about, had it not been for the warnings on amazon.  For example, in the book it says to pour water into lye. In actuality, that would cause an explosion. Luckily someone caught these, and other errors before I experimented with making my own soap.

Here are the other corrections, in case you ran out and bought this book before finishing reading this blog post:

From the Publisher

CORRECTIONS to The Complete Soapmaker, by Norma ConeyNote to the reader: the changes on page 34 are particularly important and should be noted for reasons of safety.

On page 34, step 5 should read:

5. Make sure that the pitcher with water in it is resting on a protected surface. Carefully and slowly pour the lye into the water. Use your wooden spoon to lessen any splashing of the lye solution caused by chunks of lye dropping into the pitcher. Don’t make the mistake of adding the water to the lye.

On page 34, the first sentence of step 6 should read:

6. After you’ve added all the lye to the water, stir the solution gently with a wooden spoon until you’re sure that all the lye has dissolved.

On page 50, the first sentence of step 6 should read:

6. Continue to stir periodically until the soap has reached a pudding-like consistency.

On page 50, the first sentence of step 7 should read:

7. When the soap has reached a pudding-like consistency, remove it from the heat and stir it gently as it cools. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
___
Anyway, error-full book or not, go back and read the etsy article, in the link above. How can you not be inspired?!

Homemade matching pillows for our eclectic furniture. A picture story.

Pillow forms, because I am a beginner.

Some essential supplies.

Lots of pinning happened.  I should also mention that lots of rethreading and threading the bobbin happened.  Sewing would be a lot better if machines just did that on their own.

The first completed pillow!!

The back of the first completed pillow.  It's like an envelope. You can take the covers off and wash them as needed (or replace them during the holiday season with red and green pillow covers.  Or whatever).

All four are done!  I love our pink couch.

Stack of completed pillows.

Now people can nap how God intended.

This is the couch where the pillows are actually a must.