Living Outside the Box

2013 is the 200th anniversary of the publication of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.  To celebrate, our local library hosted a reading of her work.  Excerpts from Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Persuasion were read by a group of about 7-8 people. It was delightful fun!  The girls and I were, I'm quite certain, the youngest in age of anyone there, with Kyra and Maddy being the only teenagers in the audience.  :)

It makes me smile inside to have daughters who aren't typical teens.  Such a fun mixture of geeky, talented, beautiful, crafty, brilliant, and kind.  Some days they sit around drinking tea and knitting lovely things, usually watching something nerdly like the BBC's Sherlock or Merlin.  They are adept at channeling their inner old ladies, enjoying Shakespeare, reading at coffee shops while sipping snobby organic fair trade coffee (dark roast, of course), upcycling thrift store finds, hosting geeky parties for their friends (such a party is happening at our house tomorrow), reading and re-reading Harry Potter, baking, sewing, taking photos, or painting. Other days you might see them do something completely the opposite--like shooting a gun, riding a dirt bike, fishing with Jay, or hiking through the woods.  Ha!  I love them! 

Both of my girls have their own sense of style, not caring what the "normal" trends are for most girls their age. Naturally lovely, they don't care too much (or in Maddy's case, at all) about make-up.  It makes me happy.  Kyra is my little bohemian with a heart for the poor and downtrodden.  Maddy has a keen sense of justice and a wonderful heart free of judgement and condemnation.  It has been incredible to watch them as they are discovering who God created them to be and are seeking His path for them. These girls will do great things.

I suppose I should point out that they aren't perfect. Just in case you were wondering. :)  I am constantly giving them the Mom Lecture about their rooms, which seem to always look like something barfed yarn, clothing, books, water glasses, and who-knows-what-else, all over the place. Certainly there are days when they have to be reminded to get busy and do their schoolwork. Having three girls in the house, there are emotional days and grumpy days, days when we'd just as soon be 100 miles away from each other. You know how it goes.  I'm pretty sure it's just the same as any other family. Thankfully, those days are far outnumbered by good ones.

I am one blessed mama.  Thank you, Jesus, for granting me the honor of being mom to these amazing young women.

A few things that I love

I thought I would share a few things that I really love.  Granted, I'm no Oprah...but here you go anyway. :-)

Tulsi Tea is from the holy basil plant.  Lots of health benefits.  I usually only drink one cup of coffee in the morning, so on days when it's cold outside and a warm drink seems called for, I usually drink a cup of tea.

Kevita drinks are a new discovery of mine.  I happened upon them at the Co-op a few weeks ago.  I love them!  Loaded with good for you stuff like probiotics, it's a no guilt treat. That's the best.

Green Smoothies! I drink one every morning after my workout.  Looooove!  They are the best way to start your day.

I love to make purchases from The Hunger Site.  Every purchase you make goes to help feed the hungry. Check it out!  http://www.thehungersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=1&link=ctg_ths_home_from_ths_home_leftnav_logo

While I don't typically wear much makeup, I do love the tinted moisturizer from 100%Pure.  Kyra and I use their products, including the mascara.  It's nice to know that you aren't putting chemical laden crap on your face every time you put on your makeup.

And last but not least...the Bible app from YouVersion.  Jay has it on his Blackberry and I have it on my Droid phone.  We both love it.  It has pretty much every version of the Bible on there, so it's great to use for comparisons or you can just choose the version you like and use that.  It's really easy to use, which is fortunate for me as I am technologically challenged.  Added bonus...it's free!

So there it is...a few things that I quite enjoy.