I saw this recipe originally on Pinterest and it sounded too good to be true. Could I really bake artisan bread so easily, without kneading?
The original author suggested using a Le Creuset, enamel coated cast iron pot. I showed my husband the photo on Pinterest and he said, "Buy one." Yes, the appearance of this bread alone holds power.
With his blessing, I went to order a beautiful, blue Le Creuset online, then stopped dead in my tracks. HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS FOR A POT???!!!
I thought about finding a cheaper version until I learned my mother in law had one of these precious Le Creuset pots. She received it as a farewell gift when she retired.
I don't know how I'm not going to tear into this loaf of heaven before the husband returns home. Something tells me I'll be stirring up another loaf tonight, to bake in the morning.
I've been given the opportunity to learn how to function while in extreme pain. The clinical diagnosis is trigeminal neuralia. I know soon, my general practitioner will be referring me to a neurologist because the prescription medicine doesn't appear to be working for me.
At any given moment, without a warning, without a trigger, the left side of my face screams out in electrical, sharp, paralyzing pain. It also attacks the left side of my tongue. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the worst imaginable, my pain level often reaches 9, and I find myself in the fetal position consumed in misery. Its a pain I wouldn't wish on my enemy.
When I'm not being attacked, I walk around in fear, wondering when the next assault will happen. Will I be home and able to lay down? Will I be at work and have to fight through it to keep a smile on my face for customers? To look at me, you cannot see anything wrong with me.
There is a high rate of suicide among people afflicted with trigeminal neuralgia. Doctors say this is one of the most painful conditions known to man.
I'm praying I will be cured. I'm praying I will be delivered from this pain. I'm praying I will not fall further into the depression I am now slipping into.
I'm posting two videos below, mostly for my future reference as I navigate this new challenge in my life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYpWgeC3K-s&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypckUpTtXPs&feature=related
These are suppose to be cucumbers. Our area is going through a drought, so I've been watering everyday. Unfortunately, we're on a city water system, and I believe they add too much chlorine. I have several plants that have gone from thriving to dying even though I've been watering faithfully.
If it wasn't the drought, it was pests. I was trying to be organic and not use chemicals. I attempted to pick off most of the bugs I could by hand, but they just got too numerous for me to keep up with. I know bunnies ate my broccoli, but that wouldn't have grown to maturity in this hot weather.
Its very discouraging, and I find myself questioning whether its worth it to garden. Something inside of me doesn't want to give up though. I did all I could. The weather just didn't cooperate this year.
I plan on reworking the beds and trying for some fall, salad type crops. I can always hope for better weather.
My 16 year old son wiped off the table we had just finished eating at in Taco Bell. He didn't wipe it off because I asked him to. He didn't wipe it off because he was fearful I would take his cheese & lettuce crumbs and make him do a chore to get them back. (Wait, I'm guessing the "toys for ransom" method of teaching responsibility would backfire when it comes to food crumbles.)
He witnessed how busy the Taco Bell worker was trying to keep up with the register and cleaning tables. He chose to wipe down the table as a gesture of caring and respect.
Not once while raising him did we ever have to hold his toys hostage. Instead my husband & I modeled how you wipe down a table at home because it leaves it clean for the next time you need it.
Sometimes, he leaves his hoodie on the couch. I'll gladly hang it on his hoodie hook in his room. Sometimes I leave my water glass on the end table. He carries it to the sink for me. I will fold the clothes from the dryer, but sometimes my back doesn't allow me to carry it upstairs. If I leave the basket at the bottom of the stairs, the next person in my nest always brings it up, without comment or complaint. He decides to head out and ride his bike. He'll bring in the mail before he closes the garage door after he's returned. Cat drops a bomb, first one who smells it scoops it because we all know, Yumi can't flush.
Maintenance in our Sleepyhouse is shared by all who live here because we love and respect each other. Our children learned this because we modeled love and respect. It was easy. We didn't have to motivate them using fear of punishment.
Other parents may think Mom's hostage toy bin is a wonderful idea, but I prefer to have my children make noble decisions because it is what is righteous, not because they fear loss or fear getting into trouble.
A supermom I know has written an excellent blog post on this debate. She covers every valid point and in my opinion, wins this debate hands down. Click here to read it.
My mom taught me the golden rule. Do unto others as you would have done unto you. Its not that difficult to raise responsible children using this method.
I have been knitting hats on a circle loom in memory of a beloved little guy who tragically has drown. His mama has always been a very inspiring woman to me, and my heart was broken when I heard of her loss. I cried, I prayed, but until my fingers reached for my yarn stash, I felt so helpless.
Elijah's mama loves the color red. She wears it often, and it was her favorite color to dress little Elijah in. The color red has a special meaning to me as well. When I visualize God comforting me, he wraps me up in a red blanket of love.
I decided to turn my grief to action and knit hats with red pom poms. My hope is people will buy them from me, and I can donate 100% of the money to the Elijah Rainbow Memorial Fund. Click here to see the Facebook page. There is a Mycause site where you are able to donate as well, click here.
I have no experience with Etsy or with selling anything ever online. I have no idea how I will be able to sell my hats, but I'm hoping and praying those details will work themselves out, and I will soon be able to bless this family who has suffered such a terrible loss.
I know what it feels like to not be able to hold your little one in your arms because they're in heaven. I also know the love and support we can share with each other will help us through, until we can once again wrap our arms around those we love in heaven.
If you are interested in purchasing a hat, please contact me. I have infant, child and adult sizes and a few other colors if you'd like something other than turquoise & navy. Each hat will have a red pom pom in memory of Eljiah Rainbow, but that can be removed if you prefer not to have a pom pom.
(I'd also appreciate anyone who can advise me on how, and where I can sell my Elijah Rainbow hats.)
Thank you. 
The Dirty Girl Run is a 5K mud run obstacle course. I had such a wonderful time! It was awesome to be supported by most of my family and having all my sisters there either participating with me or supporting me made it even more special. I can't wait to do it again!
We signed up last March and decided to name our team, The Mudtinis Skaken Not Stirred. I built up my endurance, walking up to 3+ miles several times a week. I knew I could go the distance, but I was worried about our extreme hot weather. Turns out all that mud really does keep you cooled off. Elephants really are smart.
The Course:
The first obstacle was the hay bales. They were stacked up maybe 15-20 feet high. Climbing over them was a little unnerving because they were starting to fall apart. Depending on where you stepped, you could find yourself sinking in. When we were on the course, it was late morning. I don't think those bales made it through the day.
Next came several muddy water pits. These were cool and refreshing but my knees got scraped up. Little bits of gravel from the mud had settled on the bottom. Next time, I'm wearing knee pads.
The one obstacle I didn't do was the wall. There was a huge line of women, waiting for their turn to try and get over it. None of my sisters wanted to wait so we walked around it.
They had several water stations throughout the course and given the temperature was in the 90's with a heat index around 100, I made a point to drink at every water station whether I thought I needed it or not. I covered my head with a bandana so my scalp wouldn't burn and my skin was covered by several layers of sunscreen.
The walk itself we took slow and steady. The ground was very hard and dry with ruts all over. I have no idea how anyone could run without turning an ankle. Most everyone doing the "run" was actually walking.
There was a huge dirt hill with a steep way up and down. They had ropes to help you climb up and repel down with. I wasn't sure I could do it, but I did! When I got to the top, it didn't feel so difficult after all. Repelling down went smooth as well. It was really mind over matter.
We ran through tires both on the ground and another obstacle where they were hanging up.
We climbed through stretchy ropes that had you feeling you were going to get stuck as if some giant spider was waiting for a meal.
There were sandy, dirty hills a dirt bike would love, but your human knees, not so much. The last hill was pretty steep, and just as I thought I wouldn't make it, another event participant, a complete stranger, turned and offered me her hand. This event had that girl power spirit. We were all there to help each other through it.
I had made up my mind I was going to master the cargo net climb. I have a fear of heights and this obstacle was pretty high, but after the steep hill with the ropes, I decided this course was mostly mental, not physical. I attacked it focusing on grabbing securely with each hand and really planting my foot on each step. The cargo net was covered in mud, and I didn't want to slip. I never thought about how high I was, and I made it up and over. The entire time I could hear my niece, Raven, cheering me on. It was emotional and awesome! DH said he was proud of how I just kept going and never stopped. He said he was worried if I did stop, I would freeze up. I know focusing on each hand grip and foot plant, never stopping to actually think about where I was, helped me get through this obstacle so smoothly.
My least favorite obstacle was the sticky mud army crawl. This mud obstacle didn't have much water. The mud was thick and sticky. The kind that would pull off your shoe. The cargo net was so low, you had no choice but to crawl through on your belly, like a snake. The mud was so slippery it was difficult to grab a hold and move forward. Afterward, I heard another woman had rolled across. I wish I had known about that technique. I slithered like a snake, trying really hard not to have to put my face it in. For a brief moment, my claustrophobia kicked in, but I quieted my fear by just telling myself, Keep Going! You will get through this and not be stuck. The mud was so thick, it tore off my race bib. I was grateful my shirt didn't rip.
When we were through the entire course. I felt like I could have done it a second time right then and there. I wasn't as tired as I thought I would be. I didn't even feel hot. Covered in all the mud really helped.
The uncomfortable experiences for me came afterward. The rinse off stations were pumping out ice cold water that took your breath away. I couldn't stand in them for more than a few seconds or I was going to hyperventilate trying to breathe. It was very difficult to try and get all the mud off.
The changing area was so crowded, there was no room. I decided to change in a handicap sized Port O Potty. Yuck! I did my best to remove as much mud as I could with the towels I had brought. Next time, I'm bringing an old sheet to wrap up in and just driving home to clean up.
When I do this again, I'm bringing baby wipes or camping wipes. I'm also not wearing a t-shirt. A sports bra and tank top would have been much more easy to pull over my head. I'm putting conditioner in my hair and letting it stay there to help my hair absorb less mud. I'll also be scheduling a manicure and pedicure for the day after. After 3 rinse off/showers my feet still have dirt around my toe nails. But it was all so worth it! I had a fantastic time with my sisters and my family cheering us on!
I saw this recipe originally on Pinterest and it sounded too good to be true. Could I really bake artisan bread so easily, without kneading? 
