Archive for January, 2009

And the winner is…comment #95:

“That is the cutest thing ever- I need ) okay, want) a verse purse!! That is much, much better than all my sticky notes!! Your blogs are just the BOMB, Sara and I get such valuable information reading about your life! I wish you and your (growing) family many blessings in your new home!!”

Susan

Congratulations Susan! I will be emailing you to get your mailing address. Enjoy your new verse purse! For those of you who didn’t win…be sure to head on over to Palmetto Handmade and place your order with Kristi! She is taking custom orders right now for shipment on Feb. 13.

Here are a few books for you to check out if you’ve joined The James Challenge. I will be posting discussion questions from both on the Yahoo! group.

“Be Mature: Growing Up In Christ”
by Warren Wiersbe

This book is extremely well written and I’m really enjoying digging into it. It is a commentary, with a few questions at the end of each section. And believe me, Wiersbe knows his stuff! If you really want to dissect the book of James, pick this one up.

“James”
by Max Lucado

We are currently studying James in the small group that we hold at our house, and this is the book we’re using for our 12-week study. It’s mostly discussion questions…with a little commentary along the way.

“I know of no other single practice in the Christian life more rewarding, practically speaking, than memorizing Scripture. . . .
No other single exercise pays greater spiritual dividends! Your prayer life will be strengthened. Your witnessing will be sharper and much more effective. Your attitudes and outlook will begin to change. Your mind will become alert and observant.
Your confidence and assurance will be enhanced.
Your faith will be solidified.”
- Chuck Swindoll

Almost one year ago, I felt God tugging at my heart to challenge the readers of my blog to start memorizing scripture. I spoke with people who have done it successfully…I read articles about how to do it…I pondered it…for….well, a YEAR! So with no more delaying, I am excited to announce the start of “The James Challenge”.

My personal goal by the end of 2009 is to memorize the entire book of James. In 2001, Matt and I saw a good friend recite an entire book of the Bible by memory (Philippians) at a retreat … and I was mesmerized! It was so much more than just the fact that he did it…it was that he had the living word of God implanted in his heart. He could pull those words to mind whenever he needed them. Now that is powerful! Also, a very close friend of mine from my military days spent time ministering with the Navigators (who believe strongly in the power of scripture memory). When we were together, I would hear her recite these verses from heart…and I was blown away. Not only was it powerful for her as the one memorizing them, but it was a huge encouragement to ME just to hear those words come from her mouth.

Now before you click to the next blog in your reader…hear me out. Even if you have never been good at memorizing things, I truly believe that with God’s power, through prayer, and a little perseverance that ANYONE can memorize scripture. We memorize phone numbers, songs, quotes, etc. all the time…it is possible to do this!

I chose James because it’s a sort of “mini-handbook for Christian living”. Plus, it only has 5 chapters Not too daunting. However, I am not out to make MY goal your goal. This is not something that I want you to jump into lightly just because I’m doing it. After the excitement wears off, it’s just straight out, old fashioned discipline that is going to carry you through to completion. Memorizing the entire book is not necessary either. You could go through the book and pick out 10 verses that really speak to you and memorize those. This challenge is just to help you get started on your own journey…the path to implanting God’s word in your heart.

So you’re thinking, “Sara, I have a Bible. I can read it anytime I want to. Why do I need to memorize it?”.  Let’s explore a few verses and find out what God thinks about this (bolded text is mine):

Proverbs 3:1-6
My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity. Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t even remember where I put my keys, much less what I read in my Bible just a few hours ago. And here, God is telling me to NOT FORGET His teaching. And he even tells me how I can not forget: keep His commands in my heart. Now to me, keeping them in my heart means to memorize. That would be why we say “I know it by heart!”.  When you memorize scripture, it also becomes much easier to “lean not on your own understanding”…because you are able to quickly remember what God’s word says about a particular subject/situation.

Psalms 40:8
I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.

Yet another heart verse. When God’s law is IN your heart and not just on the page, it becomes much easier to desire God’s will.

Pslam 119: 9-16 (The Message)
How can a young person live a clean life? By carefully reading the map of your Word. I’m single-minded in pursuit of you; don’t let me miss the road signs you’ve posted. I’ve banked your promises in the vault of my heart so I won’t sin myself bankrupt. Be blessed, God; train me in your ways of wise living.

I’ll transfer to my lips all the counsel that comes from your mouth; I delight far more in what you tell me about living than in gathering a pile of riches. I ponder every morsel of wisdom from you, I attentively watch how you’ve done it. I relish everything you’ve told me of life, I won’t forget a word of it.

I really love how The Message can help me to see a passage of the Bible in a new light…and this one is no different. It’s so rich with encouragement and promises…and I want to live like this! I want to live a clean life…one with a single-minded pursuit of Christ. I want to live wisely. And the greatest thing is that it tells me how to get these things: by carefully reading the Bible, saying it out loud, and not forgetting a word of it!

Over and over, I’ve read that the key to effective memorization is developing discipline of your mind and your heart. You might be thinking…”but  I’m not disciplined in any other areas of my life…how am I going to do this?!” You’re going to pray for discipline…a lot. And then watch as your scripture memorization starts to affect EVERY area of your life for the better. Your relationships, your work, your thought life, along with your general attitude and outlook.

Here are some thoughts on memorization from some cool guys (from John Piper’s article on why we should memorize scripture):

Dr. Howard Hendricks of Dallas Seminary once made the statement (and I paraphrase) that if it were his decision, every student graduating from Dallas Theological Seminary would be required to learn one thousand verses word perfect before they graduated.

Dallas Willard, professor of Philosophy at the University of Southern California, wrote, “Bible memorization is absolutely fundamental to spiritual formation. If I had to choose between all the disciplines of the spiritual life, I would choose Bible memorization, because it is a fundamental way of filling our minds with what it needs. This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth. That’s where you need it! How does it get in your mouth? Memorization.”

And from John Piper’s challenge to his congregation to memorize scripture:

“You may doubt that you can do this, especially if you are older. But ask yourself this question, If I offered you $1,000 for every verse you memorized in the next week, how many do you think you could memorize? Yet God says of his word in Psalm 19:10-11, “They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them Thy servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward.” The real value of the word is far greater than $1,000 a verse. The question is, Do you believe this? Believing this will be the crucial motivation you need.”

Repetition:
There are a lot of opinions out there on the best way to memorize. Tim LaHaye, in his book, How To Study The Bible for Yourself, says it’s best to memorize 3 verses per week…dedicating about 30 minutes of the day to it. John Piper recommends setting aside 10 minutes a day, and memorizing as much as you can in that time. In his method, you take one verse and read it out loud 10 times. Then, put it away and say it 10 times. The next day, do the same thing, but then add another verse to it, and so on. And then he adds, “this is not mechanical memorization…this is to fight the battle!” Amen brother!

I really think that you have to employ the method that works the best for YOU. Not everyone will learn the same way or retain scripture at the same speed.

There are differing opinions on whether or not it’s important to know the reference (chapter/verse). Personally, I don’t think it’s absolutely critical, but it could be helpful in certain situations. If I know approximately where to find it, that is good enough for me! Of course, memorizing an entire book is a little different than memorizing individual verses. When you’re doing a book, it’s more like a narrative…a story. Breaking it up with verses would be silly. When I memorize individual verses (i.e. a topical study, etc)…knowing the verse is beneficial.

Reviewing:
You must review, review, review! Once you have a verse committed to memory, don’t stop reviewing it. You don’t need to review it as much, but keep it fresh in your mind.

Keep your verses in places that you can review them easily:
•    The bathroom (for those of you with lots of children, this might be your only peace and quiet during the day!)
•    In your purse
•    On your bed stand

Accountability:
I can’t stress this enough…you need someone to be accountable to. For best results, find someone who is excited to memorize scripture along with you. This person doesn’t necessarily need to live in the same town…phone accountability can work just as well. You should both be memorizing the same version of the Bible (i.e. NIV, NASB, etc.). I am using the NIV version for it’s ease of speech/conversational tone. Call each other once a day or once a week…it’s up to you. Recite your verses to each other, share your joys and sorrows…and get excited! It’s so much easier to stay on track with a friend.  Everything is better in community.

Speaking of community…let’s spread the word about The James Challenge! Here is a little button for you to add to your own blog to let people know that you are participating. You should be able to post this code to your site, wherever you want to put it
and it will link back to this post:

<a href=”http://walkslowlylivewildly.com/2009/01/25/the-james-challenge/”><img class=”alignnone” title=”The James Challenge” src=”http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3376/3227123143_ed75fd23dc_t.jpg” alt=”The James Challenge” width=”100″ height=”100″ /></a>

This is HTML code, so some of you will need to switch “views” in the upper corner of where you write on your blog post to “HTML” instead of  “Visual”. Copy and paste the code there and then switch it back to Visual. Those terms are WordPress terms, it will be different for other platforms. If you want it in your sidebar, add a widget. If you need help, let me know!

Here is The James Challenge Yahoo group that I started so that we can discuss and dissect what we’re learning. I look forward to seeing what He has been teaching you! Be sure to join if you decide to join us in this challenge.

Keeping Your Verses Accessible:
And now for the fun part! You might be wondering the best way to write down your verses, what you should keep them in, etc. Well, there are several suggested methods. I will start with my personal favorite.

Introducing…the “verse purse”! Isn’t it great? My dear friend, Kristi (Good Like a Medicine), has a fabulous Etsy store called Palmetto Handmade where she sells these adorable creations. She has the most fun fabric and she even designs her own fabric (she will also do custom orders for you). They are just $13.50…and she is all ready to send out your cards with the scriptures from James. She will have each chapter available individually (one chapter pack is included in the price, $2.50 for each additional set). You can also order the individual set with your choice of verses. Kristi will be listing more verse purses within the next week…if you want one, but don’t see any available, go ahead and place a custom order to get on her list.

And the best part?! This cute little polka-dot number is up for grabs! Yes, that’s right…try to contain your excitement! I will choose a random commenter on Friday, January 30, 2009 as the winner. Weeeeee! Just leave a comment that you are interested in committing to the challenge and you’ll automatically be entered.

I have my own verse purse, and I love it. I carry it with me when I’m out and about…this way, I can review my verses while I’m waiting in lines, while I sit and wait for Bella to be done with ballet, etc. At home, I have two different wire bound note card sets (you can get them at most office supply stores or drug stores) with the verses written out on them. One for my bed stand and one for the bathroom. I’m really big into making it EASY for myself! I want to have my verses accessible everywhere without having to track down my ONE set.

So with memorizing the entire book as my personal goal, I plan on memorizing 3 verses a week with a schedule looking something like this:

James 1: 1-27
9 weeks

James 2: 1-26
9 weeks

James 3: 1-18
4 weeks

James 4: 1-17
4 weeks

James 5: 1-20
7 weeks

I’m not going to set out a specific schedule because it’s too hard for me to work around the birth and all that craziness But this is approximately how long I *think* it will take me to accomplish this goal.

God’s word is powerful and ALIVE…let’s encourage each other in this journey and watch as our knowledge is refreshed, our minds sharpened, and our lives transformed!

Additional Resources:
Thy Word I Have Treasured in My Heart
Ryan Ferguson’s interview on scripture memory (with a video of him reciting)
Scripture Memory Booklet by Andrew Davis
Kids and Scripture Memory (a listing of good verses by age group)
Scripture Memory Songs

Hello everyone…
For some reason, comments were turned off on my “Q & A: Round Two” post. Just wanted to let you know that I opened it back up for discussion if you wish. If that ever happens again…somebody let me know!

Thanks!

Alicia Caine is a homeschooling Christian mother of 4 children under the age of 7…and is also is a photographer friend of mine from Bozeman. She has developed a coaching program for fellow photographers to help them build their business. She is a very talented marketer and is the “pricing guru” (and who out there hasn’t struggled over setting prices!?). Here is a description of the new program in her own words:

“I have had the huge privilege of mentoring over 40 photographers in the last year using pricing information that I have accumulated since the start of my business. I developed a program where it could work for any photographer no matter where they were at in their business and where they wanted to go with it. I call it ‘common sense pricing’ because once you learn it- it just clicks— it makes so much sense! Some people are naturals with these kind of things, while others dread this part of their business. It was my desire to remove the trial and error and give something that would take the pain out of the process.”

Today, she is launching her brand new site, Easy As Pie…which offers her methods and ideas in a this simple program. She has agreed to give readers of my blog a $25 discount..making the price of her program and also her blog subscription $153 (PDF Cookbook + Blog Pantry). If you only want the program and not the blog subscription, it’s $129. If you are a professional photographer (or aspiring to be)…this is a great investment in your business. Use the code “OneDayOnly” to get the $25 off. This offer is good TODAY ONLY.

Here is round two of the Q & A..thanks to all of you for the great questions!

Molly asked:
“Now that you are living “larger” than before (though still not “large” by any means), how do you resist the temptation to over accumulate?”

The one thing that keeps my desires to buy, buy, buy in check…is staying on a cash budget. I mentioned this in the last Q & A post, but it’s worth saying again! When I have an exact amount of cash that I can spend that week, I turn into the most frugal girl around! I take out cash for 3 things: groceries, dining out/coffee (we go out once a week after church as a family tradition), and misc. expenses. The rest is automatically debited from our checking (all bills, etc.). I write checks for a few things…like rent and tithing. I also try to stay out of places that I know are tempting for me…Target, Pier 1, World Market…ETSY! I still love pretty things…and believe that it’s my job as a wife and mother to create an inviting and warm home for my family. It’s just a matter of planning, budgeting, buying used, etc. It also helps that I seem to have gotten a lot of my “spend” mentality out of my system in my early college years. I racked up a crazy amount of credit card debt on silly things and it was very difficult to pay off. I never want to have to go through that again! We don’t have any credit cards at all…and if we do take out a loan for something, it’s with great deliberation and prayer.

We also believe that everything we have is God’s…and that it’s just on loan to us. That includes our paychecks! It’s a much different way of thinking when you are just taking care of God’s resources for Him…that they were never yours to begin with.

Lindsay asked:
“I would love to hear about how you and Matt are able to have such a good relationship.”

I attribute our healthy relationship to three things:

1. Our love of God and our desire to glorify Him by following a scriptural view of marriage (Ephesians 5:22-33)
   For us, this means that Matt is the head of the household and I am his helper. He is ultimately responsible to God for the spiritual, financial, and emotional health of our family…and I release him into that role by submitting to him. When I say submitting, it doesn’t mean that we aren’t a team. We have mutual respect for each other, but when it comes down to it, I will always defer to him. In any decision that we make, we will discuss it together and hear each others views and go from there. If we are still having trouble deciding, HE is the one who will have to make the decision and be accountable for it. This is not always easy…because I have a more “dominant” personality … compared to Matt’s easy-going demeanor But it is absolutely the best way for us…when there are “two bosses” , life gets rather difficult!
2. We spend A LOT of time together.
   Matt and I are best friends…and it’s been that way since we met 10 years ago. I LOVE being with him…he’s funny, charming, generous, and resourceful. We have lived in very small spaces together…which helps you to either love or hate someone! Obviously, we came out on the love side. We know each others quirks and rhythms like we know our own. And most importantly, we never go to bed angry! I can’t even remember a time when we’ve stayed upset at each other for more than 5 minutes. So…we talk, we laugh, we plan, we dream…TOGETHER.
3. We kiss…and stuff.
   Physical touch is extremely important to a marriage and it is THE WAY that men feel valued and loved. For women, it’s usually different. Talking and connection emotionally is more important than touch. I try very hard to be available to Matt whenever he wants to be physical with me, because I know that is so important to his self-esteem and also his perception of our relationship. It’s also biblical! See 1 Corinthians 7:5. This is a topic that I could go on and on about…but just know this: when we aren’t making love on a regular basis for whatever reason, we don’t have a very happy home life. God created us for intimacy with our spouse and it’s an amazing gift…not one that we use to manipulate with, but one that we can enjoy together.

Sarah D. asked:
“What do you do for health insurance?”

The last time we had health insurance was when we were working full time in the corporate world (2006). Since then, we haven’t had any. To some, this may be foolish…but for us, it’s the right decision. We have looked into several options for “catastrophic” insurance…the kind that would cover you if you had a huge medical bill, but for nothing else. But even that monthly payment was more than we wanted to spend. We have a chosen a more pro-active approach to our health care…eating a clean vegetarian diet, being active, chiropractic care, sleeping , washing our hands a lot, etc … all things that help a person stay out of the doctor’s office. And it’s worked for now. I don’t even remember the last time we went to the doctor for an illness. Of course, we know that doing these things is not a guarantee that we will avoid a serious car accident or some other unforeseen chronic or terminal illness…but if something like that happened, we would deal with it.  I just have a real problem paying thousands of dollars a year to a corrupt insurance system…just IN CASE something might happen. Consider these findings from a 2005 Harvard study on bankruptcies related to medical bills:

The study estimates that medical bankruptcies affect about 2 million Americans annually — counting debtors and their dependents, including about 700,000 children. Surprisingly, most of those bankrupted by illness had health insurance. More than three-quarters were insured at the start of the bankrupting illness. However, 38 percent had lost coverage at least temporarily by the time they filed for bankruptcy.

Today’s health insurance policies — with high deductibles, co-pays, and many exclusions — offer little protection during a serious illness. The paradox is that the costliest health system in the world performs so poorly. We waste one-third of every health care dollar on insurance bureaucracy and profits while two million people go bankrupt annually and we leave 45 million uninsured. said Dr. Quentin Young, national coordinator of Physicians for a National Health Program.

After reading about these types of findings…I don’t put too much confidence in having insurance for preventative measures. I do realize that we are very blessed to not have any serious health issues that we need to take daily medications for…something that like that would obviously change how we would handle this issue. But for now, we will continue to pay out of pocket for any needs that arise (i.e. homebirth, etc.). On another note…we DO have pretty substantial life insurance for both of us and have had that since we got married.

I love music. Whenever I am home…I love to have music playing in the background. It’s soothing, inspiring, and can completely change my mood from cranky to uplifted in a matter of minutes. I would love to hear what you are listening to right now…because I’ve been stuck on my same ‘ol playlists for a LONG time! Here is a sampling of some of my favorites:

Shane and Shane
Sufjan Stevens
Shawn McDonald
Hillsong worship stuff
Waterdeep
Ani DiFranco
Alana Davis
Damian Rice
Ingrid Michaelson
Jack Johnson
Rascal Flatts
Moby
Sarah McLaughlin
Neil Young

What’s on your favorite playlist that you play over and over?

A big thanks to everyone who contributed ideas for blog posts in 2009…I’m excited to talk to you more about homebirth, unschooling, cloth diapering, my faith, and living green! Here is the first round of Q & A…there will be several more in the coming weeks.

Sheri asked:
“What does your typical day look like?”

We don’t really have  a “typical” day around our house, but we do have a loose rhythm that we follow. We are blessed in that Matt runs his own business and I work from home (20-25 hrs a week), so we are able to have a pretty flexible schedule. One thing that I am working on changing is my bedtime lately…I tend to stay up late to get stuff done that I didn’t have a chance to do during the day, and end up staying up too late. Which affects my mood in the morning My goal right now is to get to bed early and rise early (as in around 5am)…but it’s an ongoing battle!

7:30-8:00 am:
We all wake up…Matt usually goes to start the fire while Bella and I snuggle in bed.
8:00-9:00 am:
Breakfast together, read Bible, read newspaper, check email.
9:00-10:00 am:
Getting dressed and ready for the day.
10:00-1:00pm:
Depending on what day it is, we have ballet lessons, women’s Bible study, story time, prenatal yoga class, etc.
1:00-5:00 pm:
Home time…Matt might take care of Bella while I work if he’s between job sites, we might do some arts and
crafts, work on reading skills, watch cartoons or a movie, have a tea party, play outside, etc.
5:00-7:00 pm:
Supper prep, family supper, clean up. On Tues. we have small group Bible study at our house.
7:00 pm:
Bella takes a bath and gets her pajamas on.
7:30-8:00 pm:
Matt and I take turns putting Bella to bed each night.
8:00-10:00pm:
Alone time with Matt…usually hanging out in bed with our computers, watching a movie or TV.
10:00-11:00pm:
Goodnight!

LaLibertad asked:
“Were you raised in a religious household and how has your faith changed over time?”

I was definitely raised in a “religious” household…but it was mostly just a Sunday thing and not a relationship with living Savior.  I grew up and was confirmed in a Methodist church and went to youth group, etc. mostly to socialize, see the boys, etc It wasn’t until the 8th grade that I really started to “get it”. We moved to a new town and my best friend, Heather (some of you might know her from The Laundry Pile), went to this “weird church” where they put their hands up in the air when they sang and everyone had TONS of kids There was just something so different about their family and their community of friends and I loved being around it. I started going there with her (even though my own family stayed at the Methodist church), and slowly, I came into a more authentic relationship with Christ. We moved again when I was in 10th grade, and my faith wavered a bit. I stopped following wholeheartedly and tended to look to PEOPLE and THINGS to fulfill my needs instead of Jesus. That continued into college…I dated some non-Christian guys and really got off the right path for awhile. But then I met Matt and everything changed. With him, it was so easy to be who Christ had created me to be. He is an incredible man of God and encourages me daily. After that point 10 years ago, I’ve never looked back. This is not to say that I don’t have highs and lows in my faith…I absolutely do. I am not perfect by any means. But God is faithful and is also full of mercy…he sees my faults, but loves me unconditionally, as a father loves his child. I am so thankful for my relationship with Jesus…it’s a source of daily joy and a shelter in the storms of life.

Jeannine asked:
“How did you began your “green” path?”

You can read about my “story” here.

Cassandra asked:
“How are you and your family going to deal with the economic crisis and how do you budget, etc??”

I guess I don’t feel like there is much to “deal” with … we don’t own a home, we don’t have any stocks, and we have a somewhat stable income. We have been living frugally for so long now, it’s just second nature to buy everything used, budget, meal plan, etc. Those things would probably seem like “cutting back” to some, but they are common for us. As far as budgeting, we follow Dave Ramsey’s methods. We LOVE the cash budgeting system and find this is the only way for us to stay on track. I will be doing a post about that in the coming months. God is still sovereign…He is still in control of all things, including the economy. And my hope is not in the economy…it’s in a coming Savior! Times are hard, but God is good and will not leave us in times of trouble. Even if we lost everything…we still have hope and the joy of our salvation.

Heather asked:
“What does your family think of your chosen lifestyle?”

My family and Matt’s family are super supportive of us in everything that we do (which is a blessing!). They will ask the hard questions when we are dreaming up something new (like when we decided to sell everything and travel the country)…but they have been nothing but wonderful throughout this process. When I first decided to have a homebirth with Bella, there were  lots of questions…but after I explained the process, etc…they understood my reasoning and were behind it 100%. I do have 3 younger brothers who like to pick on me about not eating meat…which can be annoying at times…but it’s usually just playful bantering back and forth. They all know their sister is a “crazy hippie” (their own words) and they’re cool with that. I guess I don’t even remember most of the time that how we live is different than anyone else It’s just normal life for us.

Elizabeth asked:
“Are you still eating mostly raw…now that you are in such cold country?”

I talk a little about that here. But no…for the time being, I am not eating “mostly raw”. During  the first trimester of this pregnancy, it was physically impossible for me to do green smoothies…but now I have been working it back in. They are sooooo cold though! It’s hard to motivate myself to make one when I wake up in a cold house (waiting for the fire to get going). Plus, my midwife has recommend that I gravitate towards “warming foods”…which doesn’t always mean hot foods, but I’m sticking mostly with warm soups, eggs, sandwiches, hot teas, etc. I usually eat the raw kale avocado salad several times a week. I am obsessed with it. The problem is that it tends to give me heartburn while pregnant, but most of the time I just don’t care! We eats lots of fresh fruits and veggies, and eat homemade, whole foods as a general rule. I avoid caffeine, high fructose corn syrups, trans fats, food dyes, preservatives, etc. We still have a very clean diet, it’s just not completely raw anymore and we’re ok with that Eating raw tends to be more expensive as well, and we’re trying to work within a pretty tight budget. I’m looking forward to the summer months, when I can sit down and eat an entire (in season) watermelon! I LOVE the raw diet and believe that it’s the optimal diet for me, but right now in this season of life, it’s been modified a bit.

And EVERYONE asked:
“When do we get to see photos of your new place?!”

Soon…soon…soon! This week we’ve finally gotten some stuff on the walls and are making some steps towards completion. I still have a lot of little projects to do, but I won’t make you wait until those happen…because it could be awhile! I will try to have some photos up in a few weeks, if not sooner.

Another year has gone by…a year of seeing AMAZING sights, meeting INSPIRING people, and LIVING life to the fullest. Let me just say…I’m so glad I didn’t have to do my hair for any of it! Ok, well, I take that back. I did “do” my hair for my sister’s wedding and that was fun. But other than that, my hair didn’t slow me down or cause me any strife. I love my dreads. But they are definitely still in process. I’m waiting for the magical three year mark, which is the time when other dreadies have said they really started to enjoy them.

My dreads are constantly changing. There is a lot of loose hair and new growth, particularly around the crown of my head, and then those hairs just pick a dread to attach themselves to or they start a new little dread on their own. I’m not one to mess around much with my new growth…I figure it will just do it’s own thing. I have several dreads around my face that seem to be hanging on by just a few hairs, so I may intentionally join those with some other hair to reinforce them. But it’s pretty crazy how strong just a few strands of hair can be!

They are definitely mature dreads…I don’t do anything to them except for wash them about once a week with Dr. Bronner’s and then rinse with a dliuted solution of apple cider vinegar. They take about 18 hours to dry, so I will occasionally use a blow dryer to get that process started. No need to have ice in my hair as I run out into the Montana chill. They stay a bit “fluffier” that way too it seems.

Although I love to be “au natural”…I’ve never been so happy as when I dyed my dreads blonde this summer. They felt so much more like me after that! I had them done in Eugene, OR at an “alternative” hair salon. I didn’t really love the bright, barbie-like color at first, but it toned itself down after awhile. There was a little miscommunication with the stylist I dyed them again at an Aveda salon right before my sister’s wedding. I’m letting them go through this pregnancy and then will dye them again right before the baby is born.

I still love to put little beadies and peyote stitches in the “decorate” them. My dear friend, Becky…the one who put my dreads in for me…sent me a fun green and white one at Christmastime (as seen in the photo above). Yay! The colorful hemp string that she put in last year is still hanging on with no signs of coming out anytime soon. It’s fun to see how much they’ve grown since she tied that in.

Speaking of growth…yes, they’re longer. But not long enough! The thing is that they are all different lengths because my haircut at the time of putting them in was layered. If I had to go back and do it all over, I would probably wait until my hair was the same length before putting them in. Makes things a lot easier! I still have really short pieces all around my face, and then long in the back. Kind of a dread mullet if you will. I’m hoping all this good eatin’ and prenatal vitamins will help them grow, grow, grow this year.

When I’m out of the house, I ALWAYS have them in a bandana, headband, or wrap. It’s not that I’m too self-conscious to wear them down, they just get in my way. Those short pieces around my face aren’t quite long enough to keep themselves tucked behind my ears…so they hang right in my eyes. I actually like using some bobby pins to pin the front back, but I don’t often do that. It’s so much easier to just throw something on them and go. At home, I let them down and relax a bit more.

I’ve had the privilege of meeting so many really cool dready mamas (and papas!) while we’ve been on the road…and have put dreads into several people’s hair as well Some have left them in…and some haven’t. And that’s why I love dreads. They allow you to explore parts of your inner being…things that you never knew existed…feelings surface that you never knew you had…and you come out the other side a changed person. Whether you HAVE dreads now, HAD dreads, or WANT dreads…they will always stay with you. Ahhhhh…the journeys of life. Here’s to another good year!

Click here to see the entire process, including a couple of other 2 year photos.

Commenter #54: Christine at LiveToLearn

Congratulations Christine…I will contact you for your address and Prairieland Herbs will send you your goodies directly. Christine will get good use from this giveaway…because she is pregnant with her 6th little one….Yay!

Thanks so much to all 161 of you who commented…I loved reading your “favorite things”! Be sure to bookmark the Prairieland Herbs website for pure and natural body products (and pet products too!). And don’t forget to tell them you saw them on my blog…they’ll throw in extra goodies