So I have been feeling pretty terrible this week, finally got super sick Thursday night and even missed work on Friday. thought that was a better option than throwing up all over little old ladies. Shane has Fridays off now because the winter is slower, so he was home to take care of me and I just laid in bed drinking peppermint tea and loading up on echinacea, ginger, and grapefruit seed extract. I feel much better today, still trying to take it easy though.

Today I went into town and invested some more money in dried herbs and supplies to make my own first aid, medicinal and cosmetic items. A friend of mine bestowed some oils on me that really helped get me going and save me a lot of money, and I found a couple of really good places to buy herbs in bulk for not too expensive. Last week I made honey lip balm! It was really exciting. You should try it. Here is the recipe:


Home-made Honey Lip Balm

1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used a combination of jojoba, palm, and almond oil)
1/4 ounce beeswax, shaved thin (you can usually find this at a health food store)
1/4 teaspoon honey
10 drops essential oil (something like orange or lemon)

Directions: Slowly heat oil and add beeswax bit by bit until it is melted. Stir in honey and essential oil and pour into containers while it is still warm but not too hot (if you are using plastic containers, you want to be sure the mixture is not too hot to melt the containers). And that is it!


Next week I might try to make lotion...

Had a good time in Texas. Our drive was long and our stay too short, I got to see almost everyone I wanted to but only a small amount of time with each.

Highlights:

I spent the day in Denton/Dallas with two of my best friends in the world...
...got lost on the way home and drove through po-dunk Texas on a Saturday night through a sea of police (you have to have driven in Texas to understand)...
...playing apples to apples in delirium and laughing so hard I cried...
...a baby that slept almost the entire ride to and from Texas...
...seeing my friend have an amazing time with her family, meeting them, and eating delicious home made food...

There are probably more but that is what comes to mind right now.

Green tomato pie was fantastic and Shane and I ate almost the whole thing.

Yesterday I had my first knitting lesson and wow what I made is really wretched looking but although I want to be a master I guess that's a little high hopes for my first time out. I work with the girl who is teaching me and it is kind of nice to get to know her outside of work. I know our beliefs and convictions about life and our faith are dramatically different, and I knew from the get-go that she must be dying to ask me why I don't go to church. I was encouraged by her attitude to understand and not just point fingers, though I know she doesn't agree with me. I hope I came across the same way. I know it is good to talk about what I believe, and I want to, but since I don't always have a willing audience (other than those who readily agree with me) it was a little hard to articulate what I think.

Also, earlier that day I had been thinking how I feel like such an odd sheep sometimes and maybe it is even that many of my fellow believers can't even see me as such because of this one thing (or perhaps others, too)...and then it dawned on me that maybe sometimes I do that to them, too...so it really helped me to put where they are into perspective. I also know that not too long ago I was probably even where they are, so I need to have the same grace with them that I would have expected and do hope for even now. Recently the biggest lessons I have been learning is when I look at things I disagree with introspectively and search myself to see if perhaps I am doing the very same thing. I think this happens much more often than we admit or care to realize.

Anyway, I am having a hard time thinking because I am at work in the cafeteria and that stupid gigantic mixer is squeaking away so I will wind this up for now, hope you will write to me soon and that we can catch up.

I'm still alive. I feel really bad that I never have time to read anyone's blogs, but I can barely keep up with my emails these days not having internet at home. We have just decided to not get it, it is too much hassle and an added expense.

Anyway, I will update quickly...Shane and I are doing fabulous. We are now going to a small group and growing in relationship with people around here. I really like living in this area. I really like my job, and the people I work with. I started going to the chiropractor that Shane went to when he hurt his back over Christmas. The chiropractor took X-rays of my back and found several areas out of place but he is hopeful I will recover from them. I really like the methods he uses and feel pretty hopeful myself that I will get better soon.

Shane and I are planning to go to Texas at the time of the Alumni Reunion for Teen Mania...so you can plan on us being there.

I don't think there is anything else earth-shattering going on right now. Hope to hear from you soon...