Places to Visit

Our friends, the Long girls, from Marie Madeline Studio let Sheridan model their latest release-- the lovely Tessa Bloomers!

I am excited about these bloomers and think the Long girls will be very successful as they market these "split skirts", featuring the practicality of pants and the look of a skirt! To see sweet little Sheridan modeling the new Tessa Bloomers on their blog, click here.

Also, click here to read Elliott's excellent graduation letter on our family blog. I am so proud of the godly, hardworking young man he is. On a side note, he got his driver's license last week so we're all pretty excited about that too!

Finally, I wanted to share the link for The Little Tait Fund. In late 2007, I posted a prayer request for my blogging friend Lauren's baby sister, Katelyn Grace. I enjoyed reading Lauren's blog and watching as her courtship and engagement unfolded, and then learning that shortly after she and Tait Zimmerman married last May, she became pregnant with their first baby! In November, Tait Zimmerman Jr. was born-- three month prematurely. Because little Tait Jr. was born so early, he had to spend the first three months of his life in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, but thankfully, he was able to come home recently. As one can imagine, there are many financial needs that have to be met due to little Tait's three month stay in the NICU. My heart goes out to this sweet, young family (now expecting their 2nd baby!) and I encourage you to please visit www.littletait.com to learn more about the Zimmermans and prayerfully consider giving to help with their financial needs as they try to meet a June deadline for one of the larger hospital bills.

Photo courtesy of Esther Zimmerman

Article for Magazine

This week I had the priviledge of preparing an article about my experience as an older daughter living at home and my home-based business endeavors for Shining Stars Magazine, a magazine dedicated to encouraging young ladies striving to serve their families. Some of what I wrote came from old blog entries, so it may seem a bit familiar!

I am a homeschool graduate living at home with my parents, four younger brothers, and two year old sister on our organic farm in Virginia. It is my desire to one day be a godly wife and mother committed to furthering my husband's vision and supporting him in his endeavors, training our children to honor and follow God, creating a cozy home for my family, and exhibiting characteristics similar to the woman described in Proverbs 31:10-31. I believe that the greatest preparation for this life-long occupation can be obtained by "training on the battleground"- my own home- as a single young woman. My focus is to spend these unmarried years developing necessary skills that will one day be a blessing to my future family.

During this deliberate and purposeful time of hands-on training and preparation, many aspects of home and business management are covered on a regular basis. My daily responsibilities include overseeing all household chores, tending to the kitchen and the preparation of meals, homeschooling my 2nd and 4th grade brothers, as well as a host of jobs related to our family's farm and other businesses. I wash returned milk jars, fill farm product orders, do farm deliveries, prepare baked and canned goods to sell to our customers and at farmers markets, respond to email inquiries, prepare bank deposits, and occasionally milk cows and slaughter chickens. In addition, I handle all of the marketing and bookkeeping for my family's tractor business, and spend a large part of my summer driving tractors and cutting grass on undeveloped lots.

In my free time, I also run several small businesses. I create coastal photograph note cards that have sold in a gift shop and an art gallery, and in the future I hope to expand to sell on an online website. I also enjoy baking cheesecakes for a restaurant. Seasonally, I sell clothing and other items on eBay. During the holidays, I operate a peanut gift box company.

I've always enjoyed helping my family with our real estate ventures, so during my senior year of high school, I completed the courses necessary to acquire my real estate brokers' license and I am currently the listing agent on several properties. Through money I saved since I was 15 from working for my family's lot cutting business, I purchased, at 19, my first investment property through a foreclosure sale and sold it a year later. Last summer I used the profit from that investment to buy another property and I am in the process of preparing to sell it as well. I have no desire to work full-time as a real estate broker, but I do see real estate as a way I can be like the woman in Proverbs 31, who "considers a field and buys it" (Proverbs 31:16). I hope to continue to buy and sell properties when I am married, but I plan to be very careful as to not allow my real estate pursuits to undermine my husband's financial leadership or threaten to cause me to shift my focus from my primary life's work as a help meet to my husband.

I am so grateful for God's calling on my life, centered around home and family. I love being an at-home daughter and greatly look forward to one day, Lord willing, transitioning to being an at-home wife and mother. With my home as my main domain, I have had so many opportunities to pursue infinitely more avenues than I would if I were confined to a a full-time career.

Another reason I am thankful to live at home with my family during my unmarried years is because I am given the daily opportunity to strive to serve my parents and five siblings. Although I have so much to learn about selflessly serving others, I am confident that God is using these years of singleness to challenge, sharpen, and prepare me for one day serving my husband and children. I am learning that true fulfillment is found in following Christ's example by pouring my life into others.

A favorite verse of mine is 1 Peter 4:10: "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." It is my prayer that I will use the gifts God has given me to serve my family so that He may be glorified through my life.

Reflections on Proverbs and Accepting Criticism

Lately I've been studying the concept of humbly accepting correction and criticism, partly because it is an area in which I could use improvement and also because I have found that the theme of accepting criticism is heavily emphasized throughout the book of Proverbs.

I try to read the "Proverb of the day" every day (i.e. March 26 = Proverbs 26), and have been doing so for almost four years. I enjoy finding new truths in the verses I read again and again every month. The book of Proverbs is among my favorites because it is so relevant! Of course "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." (2 Timothy 3:16-17), but the book of Proverbs is so rich with much-needed wisdom regarding the situations we face every day in relationships, business transactions, and so much more.

Throughout the book of Proverbs, wisdom calls out for us to listen to correction and heed instruction. The following verses are a challenge to me:

"People who accept discipline are on the pathway to life, but those who ignore correction will go astray." Proverbs 10:17

"So don’t bother correcting mockers; they will only hate you. But correct the wise, and they will love you. Instruct the wise, and they will be even wiser. Teach the righteous, and they will learn even more." Proverbs 9:8-9

"The wise are glad to be instructed, but babbling fools fall flat on their faces." Proverbs 10:8

"To learn, you must love discipline; it is stupid to hate correction." Proverbs 12:1

"Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others." Proverbs 12:15

"A wise child accepts a parent’s discipline; a mocker refuses to listen to correction" Proverbs 13:1

"People who despise advice are asking for trouble; those who respect a command will succeed." Proverbs 13:13

"The instruction of the wise is like a life-giving fountain; those who accept it avoid the snares of death." Proverbs 13:14

"If you ignore criticism, you will end in poverty and disgrace; if you accept correction, you will be honored." Proverbs 13:18

"Only a fool despises a parent’s discipline; whoever learns from correction is wise." Proverbs 15:5

"Whoever abandons the right path will be severely disciplined; whoever hates correction will die." Proverbs 15:10

"Mockers hate to be corrected, so they stay away from the wise." Proverbs 15:12

"If you listen to constructive criticism, you will be at home among the wise. If you reject discipline, you only harm yourself; but if you listen to correction, you grow in understanding." Proverbs 15:31-32

"Those who listen to instruction will prosper; those who trust the Lord will be joyful." Proverbs 16:20

"Get all the advice and instruction you can, so you will be wise the rest of your life." Proverbs 19:20

"If you punish a mocker, the simpleminded will learn a lesson; if you correct the wise, they will be all the wiser." Proverbs 19:25

"If you stop listening to instruction, my child, you will turn your back on knowledge." Proverbs 19:27

"To one who listens, valid criticism is like a gold earring or other gold jewelry." Proverbs 25:12

"Whoever stubbornly refuses to accept criticism will suddenly be destroyed beyond recovery." Proverbs 29:1

What I Love About Spring & Summer...

Strawberry season. Searching for ripe, juicy berries out in the field. Canning strawberry jam at my great-grandmother's home on the edge of the strawberry field. Baking lots of strawberry pies and selling them at Farmers Markets. Driving down the back roads with the windows down. The excitement of getting new tractor service clients. Daddy always buying me a cold Mountain Dew whenever we do tractor service work together. Finding reasons to "need to go to Hertford" for a 60 cent butter pecan ice cream cone at Woodard's Pharmacy. Watching the sunset on the river as I hurry to finish bushhogging for the night. Early mornings on the river. Putting our jet-skis out in the river. Cleaning up and then going to 3 Amigos for a late supper.

Flowing, feminine skirts. Cute pastel colored outfits. White sundresses. Flip flops. Painted toe nails. Salads with freshly picked produce from the garden.

Occasional family outings. Going to the beach as a family. Vacations. Cookouts. Freshly cut flowers. Happy first week of spring!

NCAA Tournament 1st & 2nd Rounds

On Thursday and Saturday, Daddy and I went down to Greensboro for the 1st and 2nd rounds of the NCAA Tournament. I love college basketball and my favorite team, Duke, as well as UNC, which is also a great team, were both going to be in Greensboro for the first rounds of March Madness. On Thursday, we watched the first four games: LSU vs. Butler, UNC vs. Radford, Texas vs. Minnesota, and Duke vs. Binghamton. Duke beat Binghamton by over 20 points:
I bought the least expensive tickets I could find, so they weren't exactly first class, but we still had a very good view. We were exactly at mid court, except almost as high as the stadium went. The seating at the Greensboro Coliseum is very steep though, so it wasn't too far from the court. As we rose for the National Anthem prior to one of the games, Daddy joked that he didn't think he had ever had to look down to the American flag hanging from the rafters-- that's how high we were!
As with most college basketball tournaments in NC, the stadium was a sea of Carolina blue, with many more UNC fans than Duke fans, so as Duke entered the court each time the crowd erupted into booing!!! So, of course it's a little weird to be standing in the midst of it, with my Duke t-shirt on, and clapping for Duke, but I think that is one of the reasons I have always liked Duke. Everyone seems to hate the best. ;) During the shoot around prior to the game:LSU, UNC, Duke, and Texas won the first round games, so on Saturday we drove back to Greensboro to see UNC vs. LSU and Duke vs. Texas. I was so worried for my Duke team because Texas played really well and it was very close at times. The final score was Duke 74 - Texas 69. I definitely got my money's worth for slightly stressful entertainment!
I'm so happy it worked out for us to go! I had such a great time. Even though I'll be watching from home on TV, I am very eager for next weekend's games!

My Homeschool Graduation

As "graduation season" draws near, I thought I would share what I did for my graduation three years ago. We, like most homeschooling families, came to the end of my formal education wondering how to best recognize my completion of studies. We knew some homeschoolers who opted for the traditional cap and gown ceremony, often with a large group of other homeschoolers or within their church. We considered this avenue, but decided we wanted it to be a little more personal.

We (when I say "we", I mean Mama and I-- my dad and brothers could care less about these types of things!) wanted to focus on making the day an enjoyable event for the guests, and not just like another typical graduation ceremony, so we decided to have a Mother-Daughter Tea to commemorate the occasion.

There is a beautifully restored tea parlor and restaurant, The Nicholson House, a few miles from where we were living at the time, so we decided to have the event there. Few people travel through tiny Belvidere, NC, but if you ever find yourself in the area, I highly encourage you to visit The Nicholson House! It is owned by a dear Christian family, and I bake the restaurant's cheesecakes.

Once the location was finalized, we prepared invitations and worked out the details with the owner. Since many of our guests had to travel 1+ hours to attend, we didn't figure very many would actually come. We were SO blessed and encouraged as more and more friends RSVP'd (I think it ended up being about 90 mothers and daughters), and eventually we had to use the entire restaurant, even including the "hunting room", which is usually just used for locals, and not for an afternoon tea!

The event began with a lovely tea inside The Nicholson House. The Nicholson House provided small treats appropriate for a tea for the mothers and daughters to enjoy with their tea.

The little girls dressed up in beautiful dresses!

We prayed for good weather and the Lord blessed us with a beautiful spring day! My very sweet little friends, Emily and Ashleigh...

After the tea, everyone went outdoors to the garden sitting area, where my mother and grandmother both spoke. After they spoke, we visited with our friends and invited everyone to enjoy the homemade carrot cakes, variety of cheesecakes, and other treats I had prepared...

My scrapbooks and book review book were on display for the guests to browse through...

The following picture is of me with most of the younger girls that came. I have this picture framed in my room because it reminds me of the important responsibility I have to set a good example.

It was such a memorable day! I was so encouraged by the presence of so many of our dear friends and family!

Last Week and This Week...

Last week was spent getting back into the swing of things with Daddy and Mama back from their trip. I am hopeful that this week will be very productive because I have a lot to accomplish!

I am so eager for the spring and summer to get here. I get so inspired to complete projects and begin new endeavors as spring gets closer.

The restaurant I bake for ordered six cheesecakes last week, so I spent a lot of one day and a part of a second day preparing those.

I spent a good part of another day hiking around my property with Daddy and Oliver. We've been out there several times trying to find exactly where the property lines are located and where the easement is (if an easement exists). Since I bought this land through a tax foreclosure sale, I didn't have a survey prior to closing on it, so I'm really thankful for Daddy's help in trying to find exactly what I own. I'm very eager to quickly sell this land. I have run into so many problems compared to my last property. In this economy, their are so many opportunities to buy properties for extremely low prices so I really want to sell this and move on to different properties.

I've already signed up two new full season clients for the new tractor service season! I am anxious to send out our first marketing postcard to potential clients. We thought of a new incentive program to hopefully drum up more business... We are offering one month of free lot maintenance for every referral we receive. Hopefully that will encourage our regular clients to tell their neighbors about our services. I love being down in Hertford during the summer working for the tractor service, so I guess that's why it's my favorite business to market!

We are in the process of sorting through many applicants for a farm hand position. Between the normal milkings, 15 hours of weekly milk deliveries, washing many jars, and filling orders, plus the added summer responsibilities including planting, weeding, and picking our gardens, canning and freezing our produce, preparing for the farmers markets, and processing poultry, the summers can be very hard. We're hoping that, by having an extra helper around, our summer work load will lessen somewhat.

We are also pulling together the details for Elliott's hoedown, pig-pickin', square dance graduation celebration next month and are getting very excited about that.

In my spare time, I've been trying to complete two quilts. As unsightly as it sounds, I've set up a "sewing table" in our foyer, of all places (it will definitely have to relocate if we have any visitors!), so I don't have to get everything out on the kitchen table and put everything away so often. Also, as I mentioned in my last post, Daddy and I have been watching a lot of basketball. Of course I'm almost always multi-tasking while I'm watching basketball- sewing, reading, catching up on paperwork, blogging, etc.! I'm very much looking forward to going to the games in Greensboro on Thursday and Saturday.

Currently, I am in the middle of a huge project in my room. My closet rack holding almost all of my clothes came out of the wall and fell, so all of my clothes are on the floor. Nobody here is very sympathetic though; they say it's just because I have too much clothing! That is actually the main reason I am writing this long post... I am really just dreading finishing my bedroom. I just keep stalling, but I really need to tackle that project!

March Madness Has Arrived

I know that not many girls share my excitement about college basketball, but I just have to share this news, so if you don't have any appreciation for the craziness of March Madness, you are welcome to just skip this post. :)

Throughout the weekend, Daddy and I have been watching the ACC Tournament. After watching the Selection Sunday results for the upcoming NCAA Tournament, Daddy asked how much the tickets were selling for the 1st and 2nd rounds of the tournament (about 2.5 hours away in Greensboro). Daddy said he'd pay for the fuel if I'd pay for our tickets, so we're going to the six games this upcoming Thursday and Saturday! Provided their aren't any major upsets, we'll get to see Duke play twice, UNC play twice, as well as Texas, LSU, Minnesota, and several other teams play once or twice. I'm so thrilled that it's going to work out for us!

Daddy and I at the 2008 ACC Tournament...

Beautiful Handmade Pottery

Mama bought me this beautiful, handmade pasta bowl in Puerto Vallarto, Mexico last week. I love all of the handpainted detail and especially the white and blue colors inside the bowl (I love white and blue together). The picture really doesn't do it justice!

Life Is Back To Normal (written by Mama)

Although Timmy and I returned from our extraordinary 25th wedding anniversary vacation just yesterday and there is much to do in the way of catching up, I feel I must steal some late night moments to record my thoughts before they slip away. Today (Monday) was like most days in this new life of farming and pulls my mind in so many directions that if I don't preserve memories quickly, they'll fade into oblivion.

Our first day home began as eventful as many others. Meredith and Oliver chose to bless me by delivering the milk but before they had driven more than a few miles, Meredith called to say the truck was overheating and she was turning around.

As they quickly moved hundreds of pounds of milk from the truck to the van, I attempted to readjust the delivery schedule to facilitate what would be a late delivery. (Meredith later commented that this ended up being a blessing in disguise because somehow one of the jars had broken before they ever returned to switch vehicles and they had no extra milk. So when they did the vehicle switch, they were able to grab an extra gallon.)

Soon after details were ironed out and the kids were back on the road, Meredith called again. She began the conversation, "We're okay, but...." (This is never good, is it?!) She continued to explain that she and a dump truck grazed eachother on a very narrow road and both shattered their side view mirrors. I tried to compose myself and simply said that we can only thank God for their safety and we'd discuss the damage later.

Calling a bit later, Meredith said that the commercial fridge where she was delivering couldn't hold all the milk this week since we added on another shareholder to that drop site. I scratched my head as I tried to figure out what we'd do with the shareholder's milk that wouldn't fit this week. A solution found, they continued on the route and finally arrived home safely.

We enjoyed a quick, late lunch, then rejoiced with Elliott as his birthday present arrived.

Within an hour or so, we hung our heads as we learned that one of the puppies ran under the van wheel and was in the process of being buried.

Oddly enough, this is a normal day for us - trials mixed with laughter and happiness.

The day closed with a pan of Meredith's delicious brownies, little ones staying up later than they should, and Oliver playing tunes on the harmonica as I relished God's goodness in allowing us to all be in the same family. This is a good life God has chosen for us. Hard, but good! I am so blessed to spend my days with the precious people in which He has surrounding me called "family".

Happy 18th Birthday Elliott!

Yesterday Elliott turned 18!For a combined birthday and graduation present, he got a very nice chicken scalder! It will help him a lot with chicken processing when that starts back up in early May. He has recently taken over the poultry operation of the farm, and is investing his money into the chicken expenses, deciding how many to raise throughout the year, choosing which farmers markets will be best for his products, and a host of other responsibilities related to the chickens, in addition to his other jobs around the farm. Also, he is working hard finishing up his school work since he is graduating this year. Elliott is such a hard worker. He never complains about work. I have never heard him complain about milking the cows, and he has to do this job every morning and every evening nearly every day of the year.
Happy Birthday Elliott!

Home Sweet Home

Two weeks ago, on February 22, Daddy and Mama left to celebrate their 25th anniversary! They spent one week skiing in Colorado, and then they flew to Los Angeles, where they boarded a cruise ship bound for the Mexican Riviera for the second week.
We didn't mention that they were out of town on the blogs (for safety), but the 11'' of snow, the milk deliveries on icy roads, and the electricity losses were occurring with only us kids running the farm, which made it all the more challenging. Through our difficulties, we had a lot of opportunities to pray and ask God for His help and guidance. He helped us through the many milk deliveries, the farm-related responsibilities, and the normal, everyday housework. My greatest concern was the milk deliveries (I had deliveries every day of the week except Tuesdays and Saturdays), but through the Lord's help, they all went very smoothly. Excluding the minor problems here and there (mostly caused by the snow) everything went extremely well!

We are so happy that Daddy and Mama are back home! We missed them so much. We are eager for life to return to "normal". Today we are enjoying a relaxing day together at home as a family. We slept in, played a game of Balderdash, Daddy and I watched the Duke vs. UNC game, the boys played outside, and it also happens to be Elliott's 18th birthday, so we are celebrating with pizza and ice cream cake later.

Farm Video

Elliott, Oliver, and I had so much fun creating this silly little video of life on our farm!

March...

Definitely came in like a lion! I'm not one who particularly loves snow and is eager to see it fall. Maybe once every winter, but my one allotted snow for 2009 has already come and gone so I was not thrilled to see 11 inches of snow when I woke up this morning. I don't think I've ever seen that much of an accumulation except for at ski resorts. Actually, we measured 11'' this morning, but it snowed throughout the morning and until about 3 PM, so it was even more than 11''.

To make matters worse, our electricity has been off for 12 hours, on for 3, off for 20 minutes, on for 40 minutes, off for two hours, and now it has been on for about an hour and a half so we're praying that it will stay on. Not because I want to update my blog, but because we have cows to milk, rescheduled milk deliveries to prepare for, and a host of other things that are difficult to accomplish without electricity or water (we're on a well, so when our electricity is out, our water is too). Plus, we realized that we have run out of fuel for the generator (the barn has to stay powered by the generator when we don't have electricity because we have 3 day old chicks that need heat and the cows have to be milked with an electronic milking machine), so someone is going to have to brave the icy roads to get fuel if the power goes out again. So, needless to say, we're really praying the power stays on!

I am SO ready for spring! During the winter months, I truly miss being out on the tractor doing work for our tractor service, so I am looking forward to beginning marketing at the end of this month and then bushhogging at the end of next month. Another reason I am glad March has arrived is because of March Madness. My team (Duke) is doing pretty well so far. Also during this month, I am hoping to finish up my "winter of quilting" by completing the five quilts I've begun! I know, five is a bit of a lofty goal, but I am well underway on several of them. Also, I recently bought an embroidery machine (I hope to post pictures of some of the things I am working on soon!) and am enjoying figuring out how to monogram on different items. Last of all, I've run into numerous problems with the piece of land I purchased last summer and am very eager to get it listed for sale on the market... hopefully also this month! I have so many goals for March!

Last week, the boys and I worked on a farm video to post on my blog and the family blog. We are in the process of editing it, but hope to post it sometime very soon. Highlights include a tour of the farm and Oliver riding a pig into a tree (he thought it would be cool to show how he can ride a pig, but he had no idea that the pig would run him into a tree... it made great footage).

Well, the electricity is still on, so I should be accomplishing something more productive than this rambling "life-update" post!