22 Sep

The Backstory After we moved back to the United States from Hong Kong, I started noticing that drinking milk made me feel uncomfortable. It progressively got worse to the point where I would get bloated and be in pain. I decided to give up drinking glasses of milk or eating bowls of cereal with milk, but I still wanted to have milk in my tea and coffee. So I tried the alternatives - almond milk was fine, oat milk pretty good. But in the end I went with lactose-free milk because I still wanted the milk taste. We also went with...

09:36 / Featured / Instagram / Stewardship
17 Sep

I compiled this list of things I didn't used to know about chickens. For most of my early life (i.e. before Nick), all I knew was what I saw on my plate. But my in-laws have had backyard chickens for about 15 years, and I have learned a lot from them. I've helped care for their flock and even brooded a few chicks myself, which we moved to my their coop when they got bigger. Now, I am a huge proponent for backyard chickens. We currently rent a house where the HOA restricts livestock & chickens, but I look forward...

22:45 / Featured / Land / Stewardship
10 Sep

Over the summer, I was able to tackle one of the projects that I had been wanting to try for a while - building an at-home vermicompost bin. Vermicomposting is the process of using worms to naturally turn our organic garbage (kitchen scraps) into nutrient rich compost that is one of the best possible fertilizers for gardens. Background I first heard about vermicomposting in one of my favorite movies, The Biggest Little Farm. The film features the beautiful story of Apricot Lane Farms, a regenerative, biodynamic farm based in Southern California. When the owners, John & Holly, were first trying to...

15:19 / Featured / Land / Stewardship
08 Sep

Things with our cabin have been moving s l o w l y. There's nothing quite like the frustration and stress when schedules don't pan out the way you planned - not just once, but over and over and over again. Due to a combination of COVID, a sudden surge in people wanting to move to the mountains but not having enough skilled tradesmen, and some other things (that I won't discuss here), our cabin is still not ready to get an approval for occupancy.

15:41 / Featured / Instagram / Photos / The Build / The Cabin
03 Sep

Eunice, my amazing friend & someone I consider a mentor to me, made this video about the words we speak over our kids, others, and even ourselves. Check out her YouTube Channel, Motherhood Minutes here. And here's the link to the The Journey Home, Eunice & her husband, Chris' ministry. "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits." - Proverbs 18:21 ...

10:20 / Featured / Healing / Heart Things / Instagram
02 Sep

School this year looks nothing like anything we have ever experienced in history. I've been reflecting on how stressful it has been as the one-day a week homeschool program that my boys are attending has already changed their supply list THREE times in the past two weeks to try to prepare for anything that might happen with COVID. I was driving home from the school drop off today and praying for my mom friends, all of whom have had to make difficult decisions of what to do with their children's education this year. Some have chosen to fully homeschool, some...

10:44 / Featured / Heart Things / Instagram / Parenting / Stewardship
01 Sep

Recently in a small group, we were talking about how the Lord disciplines us because He loves us (Hebrews 12:6). One person in the group brought up how so often, just when we think we've gotten to a pretty good spot in our spiritual walks, it seems that new testing comes, and new struggles from within are brought to the surface through which the Lord is able to discipline us. The Lord brought something up in my heart. In my experience, this recurring testing, to me, is a reflection of the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord. Many of us, myself...

21:27 / Featured / Healing / Heart Things / Instagram