Spring Things

• Spring peepers.
• Lions teeth on the banks.
• Easter dinner.
• Crocuses.
• Daffodils.
• Rain.
• Kids dressed up in the obligatory Easter dresses or Easter suits.
• Mint starting to come up from the mud and last year's dead grass and twigs.
• Wind.
• Curled up ferns.
• Drain pipes.
• The love song of the Chickadee.
• Cinders on the asphalt.
• Mud.
• Robin red breasts.
• Puddles.
• Hanging out sheets on the clothesline on windy days.
• Early nightfall.
• The beginnings of skunk cabbage, poking up green in marshy spots.
• Return of the birds.
• Malted milk easter egg candies.
• Forsythia with snow on it.
• Spring cleaning.
• Big, splashy waterfalls with all the snow-melt.
• Road work.
• Light blue skies.
• Really wanting a tomato from your own garden.
• Cold.
• Seed packet displays at stores.
• Not wearing a jacket.
• Having a stuffy head.
• The first dandelion.
• Chicks and ducklings at feed stores, balls of fluff on sawdust and under heat lamps.
• Getting out the bikes and checking the tires.
• Hyacinths.
• Feeling suddenly closer to the ground because all the insulation that snow provided is gone.
• Buds on the apple trees.
• Buying sunflower seeds to plant when it gets just a tad warmer.
• Suddenly really wanting bright colors.
• Hiking and not being able to sit down because everything's muddy.
• Overflowing creek beds.
• College kids coming home for the summer.
• Picking up branches in the yard.
• Wondering if the lawn mower still works after sitting still all winter.
• Farmers complaining about there being too much rain to fix fence and let the cows out.
• Spring beauties (tiny, stripey flowers.)
• The first trip to the park with the kids.
• The first hot day.
• Dyeing Easter eggs with kids, making a multicolored mess of the kitchen.
• Cleaning out/vacuuming the car.
• The ice cream shop opening up for the season.
• Putting away the heavy blankets and feeling organized and then being cold & digging them out again.
• Finding a teaberry patch in the woods.
• Mother's Day.
• Ramps. Ramp dinners at the fire halls. Ramps and potatoes. Ramps and bacon. Ramps and cheese.
• Being able to see houses and things that you can't see in summer because of the leaves in the way.
• Opening stuck windows.
• Not starting up a fire in the woodstove because you don't really need it.
• Perfectionist people raking gravel and cinders out of their yards and back into the road.
• Counting down to the last day of school.
• Starting to think about a summer vacation.
• The first firefly.
• Gaither music.
• Burning sticks that fell off of trees during the snow, having a bonfire and s'mores.
• Mandarin orange cake.
• Putting out hummingbird feeders, cooking up hummingbird juice with sugar, water, & red coloring.
• Storing away the winter coats and digging out the hoodies and jackets and rain coats.
• Farmers perking up.
• Icicles dripping from the eaves as they melt.
• Letting winter calves out to pasture for the first time, watching them run and play.
• Shearing sheep, shearing alpacas.
• Customer appreciation days at greenhouses.
• Baby goats (there's not much in the world that's cuter.)
• When the ducks and the geese come back to the lake.
• "Here Comes The Sun," by The Beatles, played on repeat.
• Redbuds along the highway.
• Taking the cars through an undercarriage wash to get all the salt off and stop the rusting.
• Old time Easter hymns.
• St. Patrick's Day, which is also my sister's birthday.
• Cleaning up all the flower pots, getting rid of old leaves and sticks, getting ready to plant.
• Rainbows
• Thawing slush and ice.

Things I Am Legitimately Scared Of

Big ocean creatures.

Someone being in or under my car when I get into it.

Uncovered windows at night, gaping darkness housing possibly big ocean creatures.

Barky dogs of all sizes.

Large birds like swans, turkeys, etc.

Falling off something tall that I'm standing on, like the edge of a rock cliff or the edge of a building.

Falling off a dock into the water.

Food and drinks being too hot and burning me.

Going off the side of the road into the ditch while driving (there's not much berm in most of WV)

Bees and wasps and such.


These are all things that I'm afraid of more than I rationally should be, and I don't know why. There's, of course, the more complicated fears like fear of disappointing my parents or fear of not being able to support myself financially or fear of losing people that I love, but the fears listed above should not be that scary to me. I shouldn't be scared of a tiny dog barking or of one wasp at a picnic or of going into the ditch when I know I'm driving right where I should be. But I am. I wonder why, sometimes. Genetics? Some code in my brain that I don't know about? Traumatic experiences as a kid that sank into my survival instincts and then I forgot about them? Maybe it's a universal mystery, why we fear things we don't need to.

My Favorite Luxuries & Luxuries I Don't Care About

1. Movie marathons.
2. Wearing pajamas all day.
3. Having multiple drinks with the same meal (e.g. coffee, orange juice, and water with breakfast.)
4. Long car rides where I can sit alone in the back with a book, headphones, pillow, big hoodie, etc.
5. Buying books at full price from bookstores instead of online.
6. Being home alone (I have a family of 11, this is a luxury.)
7. Driving really far to go to a second hand bookstore (likely doesn't save money due to gas, but still.)
8. Ice cream with peanut butter.
9. Riding on the back of a motorcycle.
10. Spending the night in a hotel.
11. Fresh, seasonal fruit.
12. Burning candles.
13. Really long showers.
14. Doritos and sour cream.
15. Sugar-mash strawberries.
16. Driving around aimlessly for way too long and listening to music.
17. Fresh flowers.
18. Afternoon naps.
19. Pretty stationery.
20. Nice spices and oils and cooking sauces/flavorings.
21. A/C in the summer, enough to get down under the 80s.
22. Real maple syrup, raw honey.
23. Spotify.
24. Having all the proper layers of bedding (pillow protector and pillow case, mattress pad, etc.)
25. Heat in winter, enough to get above the 70s, or the 60s at night.
26. Going to movies in the theater.
27. Getting food at the theater, specifically swedish fish. :)
28. Buying books to read at leisure instead of checking them out at the library.
29. Good quality beef hot dogs, instead of the cheaper chicken ones.
30. Good work shoes that are kind to my feet.
31. Sleeping in with no alarm, then fixing a giant brunch.
32. Putting sour cream on my food (like eggs, beans, etc.)
33. Real vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste.
34. Second ferment kombucha- it's a luxury for me because of the time involved and fridge space.
35. Staying up late. I'm a night owl but it does suck the next day so it = luxury.
36. Having patina-d and/or durable furniture/floors/house stuff so I don't have to worry about keeping it nice.
37. Carbonated drinks and drinks with straws.
38. Glass drinking glasses and ceramic dishes-I grew up with stainless steel so thrift store dishes are an artistic luxury.
39. Getting the oil changed on the car at Walmart or wherever, instead of doing it myself.
40. Framed photos of my family and friends.
41. The right B&B pickles: best is Mt. Olive, then Great Value, then Sweet Gherkins, then all the others.
42. Big parking spots, driveways with a loop to pull around. (Country life; space isn't an issue.)

Stuff I Don't Care That Much About And Can Happily Thrift Or Go Without:

1. Fancy refrigerators with ice/water thingies in the doors.
2. Name brand clothes/new clothes.
3. Jewelry - I'll lose it eventually, so quality is not a thing for me, I just like something shiny. :)
4. New cars/nice interiors on cars. As long as it has decent mileage and safe tires, I'm good.
5. Amusement parks/concerts/other loud things that are confusing and really loud and peopley.
6. The beach. Seriously, I could have just as good a vacation in a mountain in a motel somewhere.
7. Nice furniture. I solemnly swear I will never own a coaster. Coasters decrease quality of life.
8. Coffee. Maxwell House does it for me, if I buy a drink in town it's a luxury as a time saver.
9. Nice quality silverware. Seriously could not care less.
10. Quality of bath towels and sheets. As long as they're clean and plentiful, I don't care what type.
11. Purses. If they work and are versatile enough to go anywhere, I'm happy with hand me downs/thrifts.
12. Makeup. Cheap mascara is honestly just as good, the rest I don't care about or wear much.
13. TVs, Sound systems, headphones, video game systems. Really don't care. I kinda like radio.
14. Cable TV, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Magazine/Newspaper subscriptions, etc.
15. Having really nice social media accounts. It's my life. I post what I want, not what you want.
16. Polished windows. I mean, within reason. But fingerprints should not matter. See the coasters, above.
17. Manicured lawns and flower beds. I mean, honestly. Flowers happen-yay! Hours with the weedeater...nah.
18. Canned beans. Dried are just as good, WAY cheaper, and not that hard to prep.
19. Coconut oil. It's my generation's crisco. It's a solid fat. I'm not spending extra for it.
20. Fancy salt. Sea salt, himalayan pink salt, gray salt - good grief. It's sodium. Get it with iodine to avoid goiters.
21. Fancy flooring. I actually prefer plywood, tile, or linoleum, it's cheaper and less upkeep/less pain to replace.
22. Clorox wipes; gimmicky cleaning products. Soft scrub, Murphy's Oil, and apple cider vinegar are good enough.
23. Hot tubs/pools. I cannot relax in a hot tub. I have tried. I am a 'reads by the pool' type.
24. Nice camping gear. Army surplus is good enough. Bivy Saks and Alice packs with frames: good to go.
25. Complete sets of dishes, etc. that are ruined if one breaks. Hodgepodge is better because of the peace of mind.
26. New books for the sake of looks. If I buy them new it's a luxury because of the time/location.
27. Seasonal decor beyond the staples (Christmas tree, maybe a fall centerpiece, etc.)
28. Collectible stuff, signed stuff, stuff like that. Not worth the $. I mean, if it's your thing, that's cool. But, meh.
29. Any media that costs money, with the two exceptions of: Spotify and books. There's SO MANY free options.
30. Umbrellas. I am not water soluble, I will not melt.

6 Guest Bathroom Essentials

1. A fan.

A fan in a bathroom is just a good idea, especially if you've got a window to point it towards. In addition to the benefit of air circulation, it can also provide some much-appreciated sound insulation for guests and residents alike.

2. A candle or wax melter.

A candle, or if you have younger guests, a plug in wax melter will make your bathroom smell nice while providing an odor mask, which can be appreciated in a bathroom. Plus, there's just something about candles that provide a sense of a well-kept home.

3. Plenty of toilet paper and towels-where your guests can find them!

If you're anything like me, it can be uncomfortable to have to snoop in someone else's drawers and cabinets for what I need, even if they've assured that it's ok to do so. Do your guests a favor, and if you don't store extra staples like toilet paper, towels, and perhaps even some basic toiletries in plain sight, at least put up some cute labels on drawers or baskets to point them in the right direction.

4. A lock on the door.

Most bathrooms have locks on the doors, but I'm sure we've all had the experience of using a restroom in someone else's home and discovering that the door does not lock. If it's your home, it's probably not something you even think about-especially if your co-residents are accustomed to knocking-but  if it's not your home, it can be a bit of an anxiety factor. A simple hook and eye set costs only a few dollars and is a cinch to install, and believe me when I say that it will make your guest bathroom much more comfortable for your visitors.

5. A trash can. With a liner.

This is pretty self-explanatory. It's a bathroom and there may be items that need thrown away from baby diapers to used tissues, etc. Please don't make your guests ask you where to throw things away or feel that they need to smuggle dirty diapers home in their diaper bag. Just provide a can, with a bag, and maybe even a lid for good measure.

6. A Hamper for used towels.

If your guests are going to be using your shower, please do provide a place for them to put their towels when they are done. Leaving them on hooks and towel racks always feels a little awkward if you don't know someone else's system. Don't forget to make it obvious that this is what the hamper is for, again with the cute little labels. :)

I Live In A Metal Box Of Death

Note: this is a complainy post that I wrote last summer and never published,  I found and read it just now and it made me laugh so I thought I'd share it. You're welcome.

After about three months of non-stop, drizzly, thundery rain (and one weird snowstorm in the middle of May), we have been "blessed" with an entire week of hot, humid, sunshine-and-blue-skies, sweat soaked summer.

And when I say sweat soaked, I am not talking about pretty little sparkles on foreheads. I'm talking about drenched. I'm talking about shirts that stick to peoples backs and shimmering mirages on the pavement and a sudden spike in ice cream sales in the surrounding four counties. Survival of the fittest, folks!

I live in a renovated school bus, AKA a metal box of death when it gets above 76 degrees Fahrenheit.

I got a window fan, but I guess window fans aren't made to fit the windows of school buses, so it's kind of propped up on my desk pointing straight at me. There's also a little fan that was installed to circulate air by the bed area, but it's stuck pointing in one direction so it's pretty useless unless you stand in the hallway with your head at a weird angle.

Also, I have no fridge currently. I talked to a lady named Sharon that I met over the pillow bin at the local Goodwill and we hit it off and she said she had a mini fridge I could have for free, if I wanted to pick it up. But then she had to leave before we finished talking. I gave her my phone number, so we'll see if she calls.

Anyways, here I sit. Drinking lukewarm coffee and dreaming about air conditioning.

It's even worse at work, because I work in a bakery where the convection ovens (Convection means 'blows hot air around inside') are vented into the kitchen. Saves money on heating for the owners in winter, but in the summer it sucks to be the rest of us. Even with all the possible windows and doors open and both fans they have running, it just blows hot air around. Bleh.

I mowed grass the other day for a few hours and got sun burned so bad that it hurts to wear clothes. I'm thinking I should maybe join a nudist hippie commune. I already have the school bus! ;)

Dave Barnes-Carry Me Through [Song of the Day]

The Giant Kids Books List

This is my current list of books that I enjoyed in my childhood and books that I have since read/bought for the kids in my life and would recommend to anyone looking to build up a children's library. Without further ado:

• Smoky The Cow Horse by Will James

• The Hank The Cowdog series by John R. Erickson

• Love You Forever by Robert Munsch and Sheila McGraw

• The Sandra Boynton board books

• Listen To My Dream by Debi Pearl

• Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton

• The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister

• Are You My Mother? by P. D. Eastman

• "Let's Make Jesus Happy" by Mack Thomas (illustrations by Bruce Day)

• The Amelia Bedelia books by Peggy Parish and Fritz Seibel

• The Paddington books by Michael Bond

• The House With Two Grandmothers by Rebecca Martin

• Winnie-The-Pooh by A. A. Milne

• The Frog and Toad books by Arnold Lobel

• Treasures of The Snow by Patricia St. John

• Stuart Little by E. B. White

• Captive Treasure by Milly Howard

• The Twenty One Balloons by William Penne Du Bois

• The Tin Tin books by Herge, translated

• The Girl Who Listened To Sinks by Justine Rendall

• Stop That Ball! by Mike McClintock

• The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss

• The Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems

• The kids books by Dr. Suess

• The Morris The Moose books by B. Wiseman

• If You Give A Pig A Pancake by Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond

• The Bunny Book, a little golden book

• The Bears of Blue River by Charles Major

• Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski

• The Great Molasses Flood by Beth Wagner Brust

• Katy and The Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton

• Oh, The Places You'll Go by Dr. Suess

• Katie and The Lemon Tree by Esther Bender

• Wagon Wheels by Barbara Brenner and Don Bolognese

• The Princess Academy trilogy by Shannon Hale

• When The Soldiers Were Gone by Vera W. Propp

• The Little Horse series by Betsy Byars (good for early readers who are getting bored)

• Listen For The Whippoorwill by Dave and Neta Jackson

• Tikki Tikki Tembo retold by Arlene Mosel and Blair Lent

• Sarah Plain and Tall, Skylark, and Caleb's Story by Patricia MacLachlan

• Charlotte's Web by E. B. White

• The Tanglewoods Secret by Patricia St. John

• The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton

• The Cabin Faced West by Jean Fritz

• Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans

• The Mildred Keith Books, a Life of Faith series, based on the books by Martha Finley

• The Golly Sisters books by Betsy Byars and Sue Truesdell

• Mandy by Julie Andrews Edwards

• The Boyhood of Grace Jones by Jane Langton

• The Song of The Winns trilogy by Frances Watts

• The Grandma's Attic series by Arleta Richardson

• The Boxcar Children series by Gertrude Chandler Warner

• Wind In The Willows by Kenneth Grahame

• The Sign of The Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare

• The Great Redwall Feast by Brian Jacques, illustrated by Christopher Denise

• The Anne of Green Gables series by Lucy Maud Montgomery

• Blueberries For Sal by Robert McCloskey

• My Side of The Mountain by Jean Craighead George

• You Are Special by Max Lucado

• The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss

• Take Me To The River by Will Hobbs

• Star of Light by Patricia St. John

• The Rose Years book series by Roger Lea McBride

• The Mouse And The Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary

• Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile and series by Bernard Waber

• The Poppleton books by Cynthia Rylant and Mark Teague

• The Sugarcreek Gang series by Paul Hutchens

• The Hank Zipzer series by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver

• The Caddie Woodlawn books by Carol Ryrie Brink

• Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes

• The Iris and Walter series by Elissa Haden Guest and Christine Davenier

• Caps For Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina

• Look Through My Window by Jean Little

• The Moffat books by Eleanor Estes

• The Mandie Books by Lois Gladys Leppard

• Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham

• Where The River Begins by Patricia St. John

• The True Princess by Angela Elwell Hunt, illustrated by Diana Magnusen

• Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

• Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes

• Baby Island by Carol Ryrie Brink

• The How To Train Your Dragon series by Cressida Cowell

• Rainbow Garden by Patricia St. John

• The Original Complete Sherlock Holmes Series by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

• Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

• The Little House Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder

• The Secret at Pheasant Cottage by Patricia St. John

Taking Stock #6

Making: beaded earrings.
Cooking: ciabatta bread.
Drinking: lots of french press coffee.
Reading: The Girl In The Red Rubber Boots blog by Emily Smucker.
Wanting: to love people around me more and more.
Looking: at Instagram a lot.
Playing: lots of Spit and Hearts and Mafia. (card games)
Deciding: gosh, tons of stuff!!! So many little things and big things.
Wishing: I somehow knew exactly what to do and when to do it, to get where I want to be in the fall.
Enjoying: the Castbox podcast app.
Waiting: to hear back from college applications.
Liking: my family and my friends.
Wondering: how long my car is going to hold out before I need to shop for another.
Loving: life.
Pondering: how to explain/show the love/acceptance of God to those around me in a secular society.
Listening: to The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian with my youngest brother, also spring peepers. :)
Considering: signing up for either martial arts or dance classes.
Watching: Numb3rs on Amazon Prime with my sister, L.
Hoping: to find a good apartment.
Marveling: over how much changes in such a short time.
Needing: a job in the town I'm moving into.
Smelling: vanilla bean noel lotion.
Wearing: my favorite winter boots before spring comes.
Following: Dear Hank and John Podcast.
Noticing: the beauty of flowers.
Knowing: that I'm not afraid or alone, and those things are always going to be pretty certain b/c God.
Thinking: about college and adulting.
Feeling: apprehensive/looking-forward-to-things/content/slow/happy/alive/grounded.
Admiring: my parents' approach on parenting teens and adults.
Sorting: all my old journals and papers.
Buying: photo prints to have when I move away and to send to my grandmother in NJ.
Getting: caught up on sleep.
Bookmarking: "My Family And Other Animals," book by Gerald Durrell (great, funny book!)
Opening: windows when the sun comes out and it briefly feels like summer.
Disliking: romance novels disguised as non-romance novels (lookin' at you, The Little Paris Bookshop).
Giggling: at Ron Swanson quotes.