Jerusalem Jackson Greer's Blog, page 36

a friday hodgepodge round up

It has been a while since I posted a round-up, and I thought going into the weekend might be a good time to do so.


On the Pinterest:


Love this mixtureIt fits in my farm-one-room-school-house-industrial style sensibilities.

House of Belonging House TourI just love Tif.And her house. OMG.To die for.For instance, this dresser makes me soooo happy.


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Camping Cute There are some things in the works in regards to camping cute and craft retreats and A Homemade Year. Once everything is ready to go, you will be the first to know all the details!Stay tuned!




Magic Corn- this really works
Seriously. It's magic. We did this last night.
My only notes would be to roll the corn over halfway through cooking.


On the nightstand:
So here is the thing. Sometimes I just need books that are fun. That are not too serious or too thought provoking or too real. For that reason, I love Sarah-Lynch Kate. Her books are full of colorful characters, always have a hint of whimsy, generally take place in a lovely foreign location, have a hint of romance, and often feature some sort of food as a main character (bread, cheese, wine, biscotti...) and the theme of "found family."  And though they are light and entertaining reads, I do not feel as if I am losing brain cells with every page turn.
I am soon going to run out of Sarah-Kate's books, so I am giving a few books that were "readers who liked those like these" picks a try. The first up is this book- The Secret Lives of Dresses. I will keep you posted.


On the interwebs:

My C Word
I cannot even count the ways I love this post.

Happy in My Shoes My friend shares her heart and I adore it.



What Christians Need to Know About Mental Health Having suffered from depression, and having loved ones in my life who suffer from mental health issues, I am continually amazed by the stigma associated with mental health and the options for intervention and treatment  among the Christian community. I am proud of each and every person who works to remove shame and secrecy from this issue.

So these are the things that I have been reading, checking out, mulling over recently.
What about you?

Lucky Number 7: A Blogiversary

This is the very picture I posted on this blog.I didn't even write a post.I just posted this picture with the following question for the title: Wishes or weeds? What do you see?
That was 7 years ago.And so very, very much has changed.But not the things I thought would change.Which continues to be the pattern of my life.The same question is asked daily of me:What do you see? Wishes or weeds?Hope or disappointment?Laughter or tears?
Both.I see both.


I took this picture last week.In our front yard, around each of our huge oak trees, there is a small ring of daffodils.Daffodils that the boys and I planted with the help of my friend Andrea and her girls.Andrea is a gardener.I am not.When Andrea looks at a map of the USA she sees gardening zones.When I look at a map of the USA I see Ikea locations.
These flowers are the first things, in my 38 years, that I remember ever having planted,And they lived.They pushed through the very cold earth and sprouted and bloomed. And they are lovely.
This is no small thing.We planted these flowers last fall, before winter, but after the temperatures had changed.We planted them when I was having a low day, or week, or month, about having not sold our house the previous summer.About having not bought the farm we had dreamed of for two years.
So Andrea helped me plant these flowers in good faith.Faith that I would still be in this house to see them bloom, and that in seeing them bloom, I would see a little bit of beauty in our remaining here, despite all my plans to be elsewhere.
For the most part it worked. I have loved seeing the flowers bloom, I love the color and the cheerfulness they bring.
But life is not all daffodils And from time to time, I still have, what I now refer to as, "farm fever" days.Especially right now, as we are nearing the anniversary of the sale of our house being called off.I have moments where my chest is tight and my eyes are leaky.And it doesn't make a lick of sense, this attachment I have, this affection for someplace I have never lived. But there it is anyway. Hanging out in little hidden parts of my heart, jumping out from behind doors and surprising me with it's ability to reduce me to an irrational puddle after all this time.
But life is not all weeds either. And I am beyond excited and humbled by every bit of the last 7 days. Between Ree's post, the Hootenanny and raising money for Gogo's House things have been a bit of a wonderful whirlwind this past week, and I am so grateful for every bit of love and light that has been sent my way. Truly. Walking into a store and seeing my book on the shelf, or reading a blog post or comment from a reader who has found a moment of grace and love because of the book- well those moments are golden!  There is nothing better than feeling like your words are making a difference.

So, after 7 years of blogging, and of asking the question over and over, I think maybe this is the answer:It is both. It is wishes and weeds.Beauty and heartache.Faith and confusion. Hope and disappointment.Dandelions and Daffodils.
I can be sad about the farm and excited beyond belief about the book all at once.And I can hold both in the same hand. They do not cancel each other out-because both are true.And I can open my hand and offer them both up,  over and over, with a grateful heart.Because neither of them should be the defining thing about me. They are each part of my story, but they are not my whole story.My story-like yours- is a continual work in progress.Which is why I reckon I will keep blogging.I gotta see how this all shakes out.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Whether you have been here for 7 years, 7 months or 7 minutes, thank you so very much for reading this little experiment. Thank you for showing up, for being interested, for cheering me on, for holding my hand, for laughing, for loving, for helping and for sticking it out. I know some days are like wishes around here and others are full of weeds. Thank you for staying with be despite both.
All my love-Jerusalem


PS- We sent $520 to Africa today for Gogo's House Fund!! I will keep you posted on the progress!
PSS- For a limited time I am selling autographed copies of A Homemade Year in my online shoppe-they make great Mother's Day Gifts!

hootenanny fun

Saturday night was the big night for the book. The official book launch party, the Homemade Hootenanny.I do not think words, or even pictures, can do justice to how fun this night was. How honored and humbled and excited I felt all evening. Each hug I received, each book purchase I signed, each time I heard laughter, or heard one of my favorite songs played- each of those moments felt like a thousand tiny blessings being rained down over me.
The night was a crazy rush of faces and signings and stories and I never got to take a single picture - so I asked all my sweet friends who were there to share their favorites, and I have compiled them below.
So without further adieu,  here it is in snapshots: The Homemade Hootenanny 


With so much going on leading up to the party, I knew that I needed someone else to handle the details- the styling, the setting up and tearing down.My friend Christen Bufford of Moi et Toi events  was the perfect person to make this party happen.For weeks I pinned ideas to the an secret "launch party" board and then she took all my ideas and made them happen.

The party venue was hosted by my friends at The Shoppes on Woodlawn.  The Shoppes are in a 100 year old house in the shopping district of a historic neighborhood. The lawn is covered with sprawling trees and azalea bushes.A million years ago, Jeanetta and I had our own little shoppe there in the parlor.So for all those reasons and more. I knew that this would be the perfect place for a Homemade Hootenanny.
The book made it's presence known through the the entire party was the book- from the menu items, to the much of the decor.For instance, Christen hung this doily bunting is from  Chapter 20, the Michaelmas chapter.And the candles in the left hand corner are from the Easter chapter.This cozy spot is where I sat most of the night and signed books and greeted guest. (How is this my life again?)

Because the party theme was a "church social hijacked by a bootlegger," Christen asked me for my favorite hymns and bluegrass songs. Then she painted three amazing signs from those lyrics.How perfect is this? It's my theme song after all!I have already found homes in my house for all three songs.So much fun!

Gingham is one of the common design threads running throughout  A Homemade Year, so it was only right that gingham run throughout all the party decor as well.
What is more southern than gingham?
Okay, maybe monogramming is more Southern.
But nothing is more Southern Church Picnic than gingham, so there- Take that, monogramming!

The food was completely amazing.
I have to give my MIL Mary and Sweet Man a big shout-out for all the amazing cooking they did.
GranMary made her world famous Angel Biscuits -which were long gone before I could get a bite of them! And Nathan made a breakfast casserole and the Farmers Market Bread Pudding from  Chapter 20 (Chapter 20 got a lot of love at this hootenanny, what can I say.)



My now infamous Southern Voodoo Punch was served (thank you Jeanetta for naming it!) for the grown-ups and regular punch was served for the kiddos. To make, mix equal parts chilled:ChampagneBoones Farm Fuzzy NavelPink Grapefruit Juice
So fruity, refreshing and pink. Perfect for spring and summer events.And it punches a little voodoo punch if you are not careful.

After sunset, all the twinkle lights shown, and everything was magical.



I loved the combination of fairy lights and paper chain garland.Christen did a great job at making several Pinterest inspired ideas come to life. Sweet Man's band Monkhouse (well, 3/4ths of them,) played a mix of southern hymns, bluegrass, folk and roots music. Plus lots of my favorites including Wild Flower by Tom Petty and Harvest Moon by Neil Young.
And of course Keep on the Sunny Side.
Sweet Man has had several bands in our 17 years together, and I have to say that this is far and away my favorite- especially when they go acoustic. Be still my heart.


Looking back at all the pictures, I cannot believe how many people came out to support me and the book. Every picture I find I see something I missed before.
And it is so great to see all my worlds collide.
Friends from each stage of life, coming together to eat pie and celebrate this book- which really was a community effort.


A couple of people asked me if the Hootenanny would be kid-friendly.
I honestly don't know if I know how to throw any other kind of party anymore.
I think this is how I recreate the large and loud family experience from my childhood.
I love  to be in a kitchen cooking with five other people, everyone having to bend, shuffle and climb over each other, while the kids run wild circles in and out of the house, doors slamming, people hollering, laughter ringing loud.
I feel most at home in these moments. I feel as if LIFE is bubbling up all around me.
I want to just stand still and soak it all up- all that crazy, all that laughter, all that community.
So yes, for future reference, our parties are always kid friendly. If you can keep them out of the spiked punch.


Petit Jean Meats donated ham, bacon and sausage to the event. And let me tell you, it was the HIT of the party. Especially that bacon. I don't ever think I can eat another brand ever again.
We served samples of the Spicy Breakfast Casserole, ( featured in Chapter 15, Pentecost Sunday,) that included the Petit Jean sausage and bacon. And we served the ham with Angel Biscuits (Chapter 20.)
Our sweet friends Dan and Camille baked the Mug-o-Pies in tin ramekins (also featured in Chapter 20.)  They were  a huge hit and the individual portions made it easy to serve a crowd. So yummy, and perfect for warmer months because of the hint of lemon they have.
Also, those gals in that top left hand corner? They are my angels here on earth, angels who helped slay the dragon of isolation and loneliness from my life... But you will have to read Chapter 20 for more of that story.


Did I mention how great it was to see my friends? New and old?Like the adorable Sarah Orsborn and Kim Roth.Sarah is wearing a homemade dress and Kim is wearing a homemade broach- how cute are they to come dressed for the theme??And did you see preacher lady Ann Russ and her precious daughter before that?
I am pretty sure I could not have pulled that look off at her age even if Rachel Zoe was my stylist!
Adorable!

Here Kim and I in our stripes.I love road tripping with this gal and can't wait to do it again soon.She talked me down many a ledge, over sushi and teriyaki lunches, throughout the whole book process.She is the one who reminded me again and again, that I was enough just as I was, book or no book.Everyone should have at least one person- if not a truckload-who reminds them of these sorts of truths over and over.I hope I am this person for Kim and others.

Here I am with Jeanetta, who I roped into being my cashier.Which I felt bad about.Sorda.Mostly I was grateful for the excuse to have her by my side all evening. Out of everyone at the party, with the exception of my siblings, she has known me the longest, and she still loves me despite it.I could not have traveled this journey without her willingness to do whatever was needed-from drawing patterns, to making jelly, to sitting for pictures along with her constant assurance that everything would be okay.She is my sister from another mother and I love her dearly.
I was also so excited to see my friend Christine, who helped edit the very first chapters I ever wrote for the book, the original proposal, and many chapters after that.Christine and my other editor-in-waiting, Amy Brawner-Bishop, were ruthless and honest and gentle and my very best cheerleaders throughout the entire process.Christine was there when this idea was born, and she held my hand through all of the beginning months and some of the final ones as well.I honestly can say, that without her help, I am not sure if this little seed of an idea I had would have ever germinated and blossomed into the book it is now.After the party she said "authorship suits you."I think that is the best compliment ever.

This girl right here always believed I had a book in me. That my story and my creativity where worth sharing, and that sharing them was worth pursuing. That I had a voice that needed to be heard.
We have spent many nights and days and weekends dissecting our assumptions about faith, humanity, marriage, relationships, parenting and the myth of balance. Together we learn again and again  how to accept and pour out grace for others -and ourselves.
She is the truest kind of friend.

These girls right here are the "Zendejas" as we called ourselves in college, and can be found in Chapter 2. But this is only 50% of them. Joanne in glasses, Me, Shari in yellow, and Jeanetta.This August will be our 20 anniversary of having met as college freshman. Do we look old enough to have been freshman 20 years ago? (I guess we do. But barely, right?)And how does 20 years fly by so quickly?


Here are some of the Zendeja's children. Mini-Zens we call them. There are more of them running around Seattle, Blytheville AR, Clarksville, TN,  Round Rock, TX and South Carolina. One of my great goals is to figure out how to get everyone in the same location sooner rather than later. Or at least hopefully before the first Mini-Zen enters college.Which is only 4 years away.Okay, now I need a good, stiff, sip of Southern Voodoo Punch.Seriously.
Thank you for letting me show you these snapshots of one of the best nights of my life.Part of the reason this blog exist is so that I can look back and remember.And this is definitely a night I never want to forget.

the after-party {ps-YOU DID IT!}

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This morning I said this, and then the always awesome Judea Jackson (aka youngest sister, aka photographer extraordinaire of the book) whipped up this little diddy up.
Today we are taking it easy.The Homemade Hootenanny was AMAZING.And now we are recovering.I will posting pics from the event soon. I wish you could have been there.
P-Dub did me a solid and my Amazon ranking has been going a little crazy.I just can't even believe this is my life.
But best of all. You did it.You raised enough money to build Gogo her house.In less than a week.
My friends, you are unbelievably generous and kind and I am so honored to share this little bit of real estate in Blogland with you.
OK. I am going to go drink some more coffee and try to process all the blessings that have been pouring out this weekend.
I love you all.

Homemade Hootenanny & P-Dub

If you have been following me on the Twitters or Facebook you may have heard something about a little Hootenanny we are having this weekend to celebrate the launch of A Homemade Year. If you are not from the South you may not know what a hootenanny even is. Well, I like to explain that it is like a church picnic that got hijacked by a bootlegger. Maybe that isn't your version of a hootenanny, but that is mine.Which is pretty much the only way to celebrate this book. Which is also a little bit like a church picnic was highjacked by a bootlegger. Or at least a tasty bottle of Boones Farm Fuzzy Navel.We are keeping it classy people!




To celebrate this party weekend (cause you know the celebration will actually last for the whole weekend, right?) I asked Ree Drummond (aka P-Dub, aka The Pioneer Woman) to kick things off for us.
Cause I am pretty sure she is the nationally appointed Master of Ceremonies for all Hootenannys.
I mean look at her and her sweet family goofing it up.I think she gets where I am coming from- Fuzzy Navel and all.

Today Ree has generously posted about AHY on her blog. And is GIVING AWAY 10 Copies!And I am just gobsmacked. 
Because she also wrote this amazing blurb endorsing my little book:
"I began reading A Homemade Year one afternoon when I had no fewer than a thousand things going on in my house. Almost immediately, I was drawn into Jerusalem Greer's beautiful writing and became fascinated with her journey through an entire year of liturgical celebrations---some of which (Advent, Epiphany) I celebrate in my own home, but some of which I never knew about before. Two hours later, I was still reading, happily resigned to letting my plans for the day slide. Jerusalem so clearly conveys the significance and beauty of liturgical tradition, and her celebration-specific recipes and crafts are sweet and meaningful, while at the same time completely "do-able" for everyone. This book is an absolute treasure. I want to share it with everyone I know!"-Ree Drummond, #1 New York Times Bestselling author of The Pioneer Woman Cooks

You don't know how much her blurb means to me. You also don't know how nervous I was to email her about my book in the first place.
Writing this book was a huge jump of faith and adventure.
Maybe more so so was sending each email to each blurber and blog tour host asking them to read and review the book. Myself.

Sending your baby out into the universe to be handled and critique by people you respect...wow. It is slightly nerve wracking at best.

So when I read each blurb that came in, and now reading each post, and I see and hear that people are getting what the book is about- the intersection of faith, mess, beauty, and family - I am beyond amazed and humbled. And I feel grateful to know that  I am not alone.



And that is how I feel about Ree.
She gets it. She is one of us.

But of course she gets it.
Look at that cake of hers.
Could there be a better image to show the intersection of messy and beautiful? Of  faith and humanity? Of juggling family life and work life and that third life going on in our heads?



If by some chance you have never gotten a chance to know Ree, her Marlboro Man and her adorable, funny kids, then hop on over to her site, or grab one of her books, or even set your DVR for her Food Network show. You will love her, I just know it.
And if you are feeling just a twinge of "how does she do it all?" envy. Please don't.A few years ago, before she was my P-Dub, I heard Ree speak at the Arkansas Literary Festival.And someone asked her this quesiton- "How do you do it all?" And she said, quite frankly, "I don't. I have help. I am blessed that I have someone who cleans my house for me for instance."The sigh of relief that flowed over the crowd was audiable.And I loved her instantly. So much for keeping up the super-woman rep.
See, not even PW can do it all alone. None of us can. 
As I get ready to celebrate the launch of A Homemade Year this weekend, I too want to say a huge thanks for all the help I have had over the past two years. This book- and my life- do not happen in a self-contained vacuum. And tomorrow night I am going to celebrate that-and each of the people who have made this adventure possible. I am going to say THANK YOU as loud as I can, and together we are going to celebrate the beauty of doing life in community, and the blessings that come from cooking, crafting and coming together.
See you at the Homemade Hootenanny!

Breakfast Bread Pudding {and a Gogo update!}

Have I told you lately that I love you? 
Well I do!
All of you.
Pinkie swear.


Thanks to all of your generosity, we are over halfway to getting Gogo her house! 
In just one day!
If you have not had a chance to get in on the action-no worries. There is still time. Also, I added a Donate button on the original post, so now you can donate any amount you want, from $1-100. There is NO donation too small to help build Gogo's house!
So whether you donate or buy a book to build a house know that your gift will be a HUGE blessing!

Here is an update today from Ian and Jenn for everyone:
We went to see the site yesterday and it is going to be a challenge but the Lord will work it out. Her land is off a dirt road and then for a mile up a cart track in the mountains, so getting the equipment to the site will be an interesting project. Gogo was very excited and explained the land was hers,it had been a long time since she lived there.
Thank you for blessing this lady- through you she will see the love of Jesus.
I will keep you all posted on how things are going!
have a blessed daylove jenn 




I may have a bread pudding problem.
In that I keep making it.
In different forms.
Or maybe this is a good thing?
What do you think?



I made this latest concoction for the Easter brunch at our church.  I used what I had on hand because Easter weekend was one of those weekends where every time I turned around we had another social engagement that I couldn't turn down.A blessed problem to have, yes. But still.There is only so much time in a day, and I just did not have a grocery store run left in me by Saturday night.So I did some looking at what I had in my refrigerator and then some looking at various bread pudding recipes on Pinterest and came up with this little diddy.Which turned out quite yummy if I do say so myself.


 Breakfast Bread Pudding7 cups (about 9 ounces) cubed raisin bread6 large eggs¼ cup sugar2 tsp teaspoons vanilla extract1/2 teaspoon cinnamon1/4 teaspoon nutmeg1 teaspoon salt2 cups milk1 cup half and half, cream, or milk1 apple, peeled and finely diced

1 cup chopped walnuts¼ cup of butter, cubed

DirectionsLightly grease a 9" x 13" baking dish.Place bread in baking dish.
Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Add the sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt, and whisk until thoroughly combined. Add the milk and half and half, continuing to whisk. Add apples and mix in.

Pour mixture over bread, and make sure all the bread gets covered (you may have to press bread down some.)Let stand for at least 30 minutes. You can also leave in the fridge overnight. Before placing in oven, dot top of mixture with cubes of butter and sprinkle walnuts over top of whole dish.
Bake for 45 (for the 9" x 13" pan) to 60 minutes in a 325 degree pre-heated oven, until the pudding is puffed, lightly browned, and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the pudding cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.
ENJOY!

Could we- and by we, I mean you and me- build a house?

Today I had a thought. I wondered if we-you and me and maybe some of our friends- could build a house.  Together.For someone else.Someone we have never met.


This is Gogo Mandatshane Masinga and she needs a house, a home, an abode.
And it would cost us $500 American dollars. That's it.You can't even buy a decent swing set for that amount a money in the US, let alone a house.
Gogo is a 78 years old woman from Mafucula, Swaziland. She is the age of many of our grandmother's and some of our mother's.
 She is unable to work due to chronic pain in her knees, and must walk everywhere with her cane. The only financial aid she receives is the $10 elderly grant per month from the government. Her home fell down two years ago and she has been living with neighbors/friends, basically whoever can take her in for a short while, and relies on donations of food and clothes for her basic needs.  
I have learned of Gogo's situation through my friends Ian and Jenn Stephens whose official work in Swaziland is with the orphans and vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS. But really, their work is there to love on people. To be the tangible hands and feet of Christ to any and everyone they encounter-including Gogo.
So, Gogo needs a home. But she has no immediate family to care for her.But she has us.
So here is the plan and the challenge-for all of us:
(photo of Melissa's copy from  the Homemade Collection on fb!)
Mother's Day is coming up, as are many weddings,graduations, and baby showers. What better time to give a copy of a personally signed and autographed copy of A Homemade Year and help build Gogo's house at the same time? 
For every copy of A Homemade Year, sold through this link-the Gogo's House Paypal Link below- we will donate $5 to Gogo's House. 
That's 100 books to build a house. 
I will sign, pack and mail your books to whom ever you want. You can buy one or ten or twenty. 
I will write my name untill my wrist falls off. I will mail them to your cousin, aunt, best friend and your best friends dog. I will include a special note from you to them if you would like.

And I will be honest. I have no idea if this will work. This may be a nutty idea. But what if it isn't?
What if we could build a house together?








PS-If you like this idea, please share it!
*To learn more about the work Ian and Jenn are doing, visit their blog. http://projectinghopeforswaziland.blogspot.com/

open hand, doodle, breathe, repeat

When I was kid I sat next to my friends in church and doodled. It was the highlight of the whole service. We drew notes and pictures and funny faces, passing the Sunday bulletin back and forth between us.Whole conversations happened on those pages. They had no beginning and no end, they were a continuum of our verbal conversations, our shared lives.
This weekend I sat next to God and doodled.
I meant to start my Praying in Color practice during Lent. And I did. Sort of. Towards the end.I kept thinking that I should have more markers, or more crayons, handy to do it right. And time. I should have more time.
And a proper sketchbook.
But then things got desperate.
So I threw all my shoulds out the window and just started with what I had on hand:
My regular little lined notebook that I carry around and fill up with everything from shopping list to journal entries and work meeting notes.
Whatever pen I had on hand. Usually blue. Sometimes red.

See, when you get down to it, the  practice of praying in color is also the practice of praying in doodles.
And doodling I can do.

When I was around the age of four or five, there was a commercial for M & M's where the catch line was "melt in your mouth, not in your hand."
My four-or-five year old mind found that line to be odd and troubling. I would lie awake in bed at night, after prayers, wondering things like "What sort of chocolate would melt in my mouth but not in my hand? How was this possible? And why hadn't I noticed before? Surely I was missing something. Or were the M & M people stupid or worse-lying?"
(I am the type of person that can overthink things easily.)

The next time I found myself in proximity to what seemed to be an unlimited supply of  these magical candies, I decided to test this theory this for myself.
First, I grabbed a handful of those tasty candy coated morsels to shove into my mouth, and then I grabbed another handful to hold on to the rest of the night.
Sometime later that evening, excited, and fairly discquested by, the outcome of my expirment, I showed my opened, chocolate covered, sticky hand to my mother. 
Look! It melted! They lied!

I don't remember what my mother said, but I do remember that she wasn't angry with me, perhaps slightly annoyed, but not angry.
I also recall that she helped me wash my hand clean,  that I wasn't allowed to have any more M&M's that night, and that my previously held  hook-line-and-sinker belief that commercials could be trusted completely was forever erased.

But it did not erase my fist clinching habit.

Over and over I seem to return to the clenched-fist state of mind.
I gather up all my worries, doubts, fears,and anxieties,pack them tightly into the palm of my hand, and then clutch my fingers around them as tight as I can.
The more worried I am, the tighter I squeeze. The more I squeeze, the harder it becomes to breathe.
Or think. Or pray.

Where to start?
This weekend I started by opening my hand and picking up a red pen, lying on my bedside table.
On the middle of a notebook page I wrote the word  Worried.
And then I drew all these lines shooting out from it.
At the end of each line I confessed something I had been clenching in my fist lately- last week, that weekend, that day, five minutes before.
No matter how big or how small. How self-absorbed or how silly.
I took each of my worries out of their dark hiding place inside my fist, and one by one, brought them into the light, naming them as I doodled.

And then I begin to breathe again.


It is a rule in yoga, that whatever you do to one side of your body, you do to the other side as well. This keeps you from being lopsided. Keeps one arm from hanging loser than the other.I think the same may be true in prayer.Or maybe just doodling and prayer.
After I had stretched open my Worried hand, I decided I had best open my Thankful hand as well.And so I did.
But I couldn't help but notice, that this prayer came out slower. Where my worries shot from my mind to my pen to the page in mad a rush, my thankfulness only trickled out in small drops, following winding, looping, curling strandsAnd so I sat there with Thankfulness a bit longer.Waving self-condemnation for not being thankful enough away, shooing it off like an annoying  house fly.Instead I decided to be gentle with myself. And patient.So I sat and waited. And listened.And then, slowly, I began folding back one finger at a time, gently coaxing out the the words for specific people, places and things that I am particularly thankful for lately. And  the words began to take form, and to float up and out and onto the page. 

When I was finished, both my hands were open; palms facing upward, outstretched, ready.

happy, blessed, famille

Remember how I said that having a book was similar to having a baby in that your normal life still keeps going?Um, yep.So yesterday I had the most awful 24 hour stomach virus ever.I have not been that sick since I was pregnant with Miles.There are places on my sides that hurt from the straining.And all the while friends where posting right and left on my Facebook page, pictures of their books arriving. So there was part of me that was all "yay!" and then part of me that was all ... You get the idea.Thankfully all three of my fellas took great care of me through it all.

Tomorrow is my big local book signing event at WordsWorth Books in Little Rock. The event is from 1-3pm, and I will be selling and signing books the whole time. So if you live local come on over and see me. Jeanetta is going to be my wing-gal for this event, and hopefully we will get to do a little thrifting before the event. Due to holidays and illness I have not had the chance to set foot in a flea market since before Lent.The time has come.

I do have to say though, that giving up shopping for our home for Lent went really well, and was quite meaningful. I came away realizing just how often -sadly-that I self-soothe or distract myself by buying even the smallest decorative item for our house. How I turn to Target, or the thrift store down the street, to calm my worries, or to create a feeling of excitement, when I am bored or antsy.I also remembered that I have the capability to say "no," or "not now," or "perhaps later." And that  I already have enough-more than enough- and that I am blessed beyond measure.

I finally figured out what I wanted to display on my screen window by using what I had on hand:
A vintage chalk-boardVintage french/english flash cardsFunky crochet garland





A daily reminder of what we should give thanks for each and every day, and what we need cherish, and what we need to fight to protect.

Holy Saturday crack up

One of the very first chapters I wrote for A Homemade Year , was the Holy Saturday chapter. Holy Saturday is the the day between Good Friday and Easter, and unless you attend a community Saturday Easter Egg Hunt or an Easter-eve Vigil, there is nothing really "official" about this day. It is pretty much just an inbetween day.
But for our family Holy Saturday is almost as big a deal as Easter.
We go to my grandparents house on the lake.
We boil and dye eggs.
We eat homemade piminto cheese and kettle potato chips for lunch, and Granny Mary's Kitchen Sink Soup, and Presbyterian Slaw for dinner (those last two recipes are in the book.)
And everyone dyes the eggs, not just the kids.

Here is a little recap of this years gathering.


First, let me tell you, that my grandmother is the original thrifty lady. The original recycle, reuse, restoring mama.
I don't know how long she has had this bottle, (that she fills, as the label clearly states, with white vinigar,) in her windwsill. Maybe 20 years?
I love it.


Every year we boil more eggs than we can eat. And we make up the dye in the same coffee mugs.
We cover the table with newspaper, break out the rubberband collection (carefully maintained by saving all of the sunday paper rubber bands,) grab a few crayons, and get to work.


The Morton Salt Girl mugs are my very favorite.


My brother now lives with my grandparents and helps them with the larger chores, running errands, and some of the cooking. Since he gave my grandmother a good chunk of her white hair during his younger days, we figure he owes them.
Okay, we don't really think that.
Mostly we think that he is the most stand-up guy ever.
We all sleep a little better at night, knowing he is there.



The coffee pot earns it's keep when all invade.It stays on a permanant cycle of making and refilling. I am pretty sure that the common love and dependancy on coffee is one of the ways our family stays close.No one, excpet maybe the Gilmores and the Stones adore coffee quite as much as us.

I told my mother I was going to post a picture of her in curlers and she just shrugged.Those curlers might be as old as the vinegar bottle.Hi, Mom!!

I was trying to go for the crackle effect with this egg.Instead I just got cracked.Insert deep voice here "this is your brain. this is brain before coffee. any questions?"
You just think teenagers never look up from their devices. This one could give them a run for their money.



It rained almost all Easter day. These eggs never made it outside for a hunt and I was NOT about to hide them indoors.Also, I am quite grateful that Wylie likes boiled eggs about as much as he likes chocolate.
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The Homemade Fun continues!Check out these other blog post featuring some Homemade Year love
Breaking Up with Photography
On the Bookshelf
Homemade Twisted Company