To be...

A while back I was asked what kind of woman I want to be. And frankly, I've thought about it here and there, but when I actually sat down to write it, I was surprised at how much like my mother I want to be. So here's to you Mumsie, for raising a daughter that could only wish to live in your shadow.

"I've always wanted to be an "artsy" person, and considering I've already achieved that, :P I hope to have it transferred into several aspects of my life.

I want to be the kind of wife/woman who decorates her home and her life with color, joy, and a love for all things living. I like the color green, because it represents living things. It's vibrant and clean.

I want to use it all throughout my home.

But I also want to BE green. Sorry if that's cheesy, but I see no reason with using fewer chemicals and rating organically.

I want to be healthy and fit, spontaneous and playful for my husband.

I want to cook for and with him, take long walks and have tickle fights.

I want to do little things for him all day long that brighten his day.

I want to cherish, honor, and respect him.

I want to have a big family and raise my children inter fear and admonition of the Lord.

I want them to be free to be themselves.

I want them to not have to live the way I did middle school, obsessed with what people thought of me, and whether or not I was worthy.

I want to show them what an amazing gift each if them are in the sight of the Lord and their parents.
I want to bake home made bread like mom.

I want to have a bug herb garden.

I want to have picnics in the backyard for no reason.

I want to build tents with all the quilts.

I want to let my little girls go out to eat in tutus and feather boas.

I want to make mud pies with my little boys.

I want to take then to reenactments and see then run around in breeches and petticoats.

I want to be what mom is to me: my closest confidant and biggest encourager.

I want to write stories for their bedtimes and stay up late with them drinking cocoa and reading books on Christmas.

I want to have family game nights that end with entire family pillow fights.

I want to serve, my church, my community, my world. I want to be a woman that gives, gives, and gives again.

I want to instill that passion for missions into my kids, and show them how much God loves his people.

I want to have a constantly full cookie jar.

I want music to be constantly playing. Whether I'm singing at the top of my lungs (and horribly out of tune) or someone playing an instrument.

I want dirty footprints and cotton curtains, open doors and windows, and jars full of butterflies.

I want to my children to know the Lord at a young age, and to LIVE their faith from a young age, and to not have waited to let the Lord do something in their lives until they were "older".

I might homeschool, I might not. But whatever I do, I want my kids to know their faith and to be fearless and to stand up for what they believe.

I want to the mother that all my kids' friends love and hang out at my house.

I want to be crazy in love with my husband and to wake up every morning to his face.

I want to spend time with him in the morning on the back porch, watching the sunrise, drinking my tea and digging deep in His word.

I'm an idealist, and I don't want the picket fence, but I want my country cottage and a man who lives the Lord and me, and children who follow the example of their father.

I want to love, be loved, and give love."

Thursday Tidbits

Just a few things to note.

1. Incase anyone was wondering, I got contacts this week. Apparently, the glasses aren't doing their job, which is rather a let down.

[I thought they were rather awesome, in my humble opinion.]

But as Dr. Bestwinna let me know, my right eye is 4 times worse than before. Yeah. Shocked me too. Didn't think I would get my parents' eyes so early. :P

[Love you mom and dad!]

And now I am no longer a cyclops. My left eye needs them now too. Great. Oh, and to top it all off the right one has astigmatism. Lovely. SO. I have contacts. And since I had them for a short time before, [in the right eye only, since the left one was fine two years ago] the right eye's contact fits fine, and I don't notice. The left however....oh dear. I can't seem to get used to it. I'm beginning to wonder if I have it in wrong. >_> It hurts and my eye is leaking like Niagara Falls. Which, believe me, isn't pleasant.

At all.

[See? It's red. Like MY EYE.]

But the contacts look nice on me. :D And I don't have black rims around everything anymore!

2. Numéro deux.

[That's French for Number two.]

The Rebelution tour is coming to Nashvegas! Huzzah! If you've never heard of the Rebelution, check this out:

Wanna come? Sign up here!

I'll be at the door, registering people. So..I guess if you want to see me too, sign up. :P Cause I'm such an amazing draw.

[Sarcasm, anyone?]

3. Update on my reading list.

Currently reading:

-Twelfth Night by The Lovely Shakespeare

and

-Radical by David Platt

Twelth Night is almost finished [after which, I have to write a few papers and answer questions. Good times. :D], and I'm entering the fourth chapter in Radical. Radical is slower to read, but much more challenging, mentally and spiritually. And also more rewarding.

[Twelfth Night is just fun.]

I noticed something. No one is joining me in reading even one of the books on my list.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!

I know, I know. I'm some freak who LOVES to read. Get over it. You should too. It's fun. And rewarding. And ... learn-i-ish. I love made up words. :D

But seriously. Huckleberry Finn is not hard to read. For that matter, neither is Shakespeare. Despite what your 8th grade English Class taught you years ago. You CAN love Shakespeare. Trust me. I'm not the only one who does. :P

[I'm pointing to you, you writers I know that follow my blog. You traitors of all things bookish.]

[Can you see my lovely sense of the dramatic here?]

So. GO. READ. JOIN ME. PLEASE. Do you think I enjoy explaining all of Shakespeare puns with Mumsie Dearest? I thought not.

I leave you with this. Simply cause I find it horridly ironic and it's one of my favorite verses to quote. Especially when Dad starts egging on me to study for the ACT. Again.

[Which is rather a smart thing to do, but don't tell anyone I admitted to it.

I mean, I can trust the World Wide Web, right?]

Here it is:

{But regarding anything beyond this, dear friend, go easy. There's no end to the publishing of books, and constant study wears you out so you're no good for anything else.}

-Ecclesiastes 12:12 MSG

Monday, Monday, Monday.....(said with a deep voice that rumbles)

So yes, I have a long post comin' your way today, cause it's Monday. :D Which happens to include pics. Huzzah!

1. KA trip.

Which was awesome. Here's some stuff from it.

Me, trying to get some last minute editing done! I like this pic. It's funny and cute. And my hair looks awesome. :P In case you were wondering, yes I cut it. Again. I can't help it! I love it short!

Lunch on Saturday, I have the grey hat on. Oh, how I miss you guys!

Some of us goofing of as Pirates vs. Ninjas. XD I was a Pirate!

Samii, StoryGirl and me! *Sorry SG! I forgot your name! Eyi!

2. A new book.

Yup. And you have to buy it. It's just too amazing. Here's a vid on what it's all about.

This book has changed my life, and I'm only in the third chapter. Here's a tid bit for ya.

It's easy for American Christians to forget how jesus said his followers would actually live, what thier new lifestyle would actually look like. They would, he said, leave behind security, money, convenience, even family for him. They would abandon everything for the sake of the gospel. They would take up their crosses daily....

But who do you know that lives like that? Do you?

3. Discussion

Last night Mom, Dad, Janessa and I had some powerful discussion on what we (as a family) believe as Baptists. It was challenging, encouraging, and heartening to be fed the truth. Time after time, we pulled out our copies of God's Word and checked what we believe to what we know the Bible says. How amazing is it to know that God has an answer to everything? Whether or not he decides to make it known to us...

Here's a bit that was especially powerful for me.

God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.

Romans 8:28-30

I don't know how to keep going on miscellaneous things today. Today is just too thoughtful to fill with random musings. Last night's talk left too big an imprint on me to be spouting off about Sharpies and shopping sprees....and after that video..I don't know if I want to. God has a bigger calling on our lives than the best deals at the grocery store. Are we responding to it? And I leave you with this. A video that did more than change my life...it's changed my future.

Miscellany Monday

I found this amazing blog the other day.

Actually, I take that back. I've been following it for weeks and absolutely love it!

So I decided to link up and do their Miscellany Mondays for fun. Who knows? Maybe I'll get more followers. ;)

So here we go.

1. Have I ever mentioned how awesome my dad is? Well he is.

Saturday evening, I was bored (how in the world I have no idea, since I had a good book to read, a book to write and plenty of friends to chat with) and wanted to see the movie, Prince of Persia. So did Ness. And Mumsie. But they were seeing it on Monday (today) with some friends. Who aren't my age. Bummer. Daddy was exhausted from work and decided to see it Monday.

Well, typical me, I had a pity party for myself (yes, the good 'ol fashioned Janae pity party). I wanted a date THAT night with Daddy and at NIGHT. Not during the day like everyone else on Monday. Why? Cause it doesn't seem like a date, that's why! I got over it eventurally.

But guess what? Daddy surprised me today. Instead of going with everyone else, he's taking me to the showing at 9:35 pm. A Date. At Night.

Isn't he awesome? I love you Daddy.

2. I have to find raisins. I promised my friend Jared I'd make him oatmeal raisin cookies (seriously) in return for reading one of his novels early. And we don't have raisins. Kroger here I come.

3. My lavender plant finally has roots! YES! I've been working on a cutting of it and the poor thing would not root! Well, today I was commenting on how pitiful it looked and low and behold, there was a root. Herb garden, thou shalt be complete!

4. Sweet Tea is the nectar of the gods. I'm dead serious. I live off of that stuff. I think I went through a gallon and a half today. And no, I wasn't doing anything strenuous to deserve so much liquid. I was reading.

What!? It makes me thirsty!

5. Happy Memorial Day. Even with my extensive vocabulary and penchant for words (yes, yes I know, please don't applaud), nothing I could say could sum it up quite as perfectly for me as the song they sang in church yesterday.

"...this is the land of the Free, because of the Brave..."

My name is Janae....NOT JanEa.

Anyone who knows me knows that my name is almost ALWAYS mispronounced. And this is rather grating. Sometimes I wonder if it would have been easier to have a common name like "Sarah" or "Emma".

But then I remember what my name means and why it was given to me.

You see, I was a surprise. That's right. Big 'ol surprise baby commin' right up! Highfives to all you surprise babies out there.

But you know what? Mom and Dad thought that was the coolest thing to have a little girl ten years after two boys. And what did they name me? Janae. Which means "God's Gracious Gift".

So my name is both a pleasing and a curse. Why? Because no one gets it right. There is a poor child named JanEa who refuses to answer to roll call for her Stanford Achievement Tests. Poor her. So are Janie, Janna, Jenna, and Jeannie.

But Janae is sitting there waiting. And when I think about how much my parents loved me to give me a name so rare and beautiful, I'm glad I'm not a Sarah. Or an Emma. I'm glad I'm Janae.

And one day, if God decides to bless me with a beautiful surprise baby girl, I'll name her Janae.

I'll just spell it differently. ;)

Updates galore! Part 2

Oh for the love of butter! Well, Spring Encampment was a blast and my main employment was in the making (and cleaning) of butter. Sam and her sister Marci were my main helpers. Here's how it works.

I churned the butter for about an hour. Depending on the temperature outside, it takes anywhere from 15 minutes to and hour and a half (from my own experience) to make the butter separate from the butter milk.
Luckily, I had plenty of friends to keep me company while I churned. The giant apron I'm wearing was made with the sole purpose of making butter with it. It's wide skirt completely covers my petticoats and the bib keeps the butter cream from splashing up on my jacket front. Making butter isn't the cleanest occupation. ;)

When we finished, I scooped the butter out and ran water over it in the colander, until the water drained out clear. We then filled the bigger mold (in the background) and began to fill the smaller mold which Sam is holding. The bigger one can be seen in the background. The bowl in front is an 18th century pottery colander. We used it to wash the butter.

Pushing it out!

Popping the larger butter cake out of the mold. Marci was such a good helper!

Releasing the first mold. This one was kinda messy as the larger mold wasn't as good quality as the smaller one.
Getting the second layer out of the mold. This one was trickier because the suction was better. Sam's other sister, Vanessa is in the foreground.
Putting the two layers together...
Molding the butter.
Rubbing the two butter cakes together...
Picking up left over pieces of butter to fill in the cracks...
Here Sam explains to Marci how the butter mold works.
Smoothing extra butter around the edges...

Marci learned a lot about churning that day..

TADA! Butter! Here we are draining excess water off the plate before replacing the butter cake.
Getting all the butter off our hands...
Cleaning the butter molds. That's Lee in the background.
Washing the dishes...and ourselves! :D
Drying off our hands on my huge butter churning apron...

Mumsie had made several loaves of bread in the bake oven and between my butter and her bread, we fed plenty of people that weekend! By Sunday, the butter was entirely gone!

Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed that little instruction as to 18th century butter making!

Peplum Jacket

Well, I finally got around to making my peplum jacket for Spring Encampment. After getting lucky with a gorgeous piece of fabric, I decided against making another polonaise (having too many, and chose a fitted jacket, with peplum. I love the peplum and it looks wonderful flared out over petticoats.

So far, Mumsie and I have made the mock up. Unfortunately, the pattern made the jacket terribly small in the waist and way to short for myself with a longer torso. Altering the pattern, and then combining it with another, I drew up the finished idea on butcher paper and hope to attack it tonight.

But, since it has been a while from the last time I posted, I thought I'd give you a little tid bit. Here's the mock up, and my lovely fabric! Enjoy!

I took the pics with my webcam, so I apologize for the poor quality. Also, I went ahead and wore my shift, then pinned the jacket to it so you could see how it fits. The edges are raw, since it's just a mock up, and we didn't line it like we will for the real thing. The jacket is supposed to laceacross the front over a stomacher. Here is the back. Notice the peplum in the middle and at the sides.

Here's a side view. I wanted to include a pic of the sleeves, because they are different than any I've ever done. They cup over the elbow, ensuring modesty in the 1700's. ;)

Here's a side view. Notice the slits and peplum on the sides. This gives it a smooth finish over the torso, while keeping it flared over the hips.

And lastly a front view. See how open it is in the front.

And lastly, my lovely fabric. It's a red and blue cornflower on a cream background. Some friends of ours were renovating a house, and the curtains were made of this lovely Williamsburg print, 100% cotton, and ten yards of it!!! I squealed so much! They let us have it...since they had no better use for it and were going to throw it away. Thank goodness we spotted it!

So, hope that keeps you satisfied until I can post the final product! Until then!

Part V: OHIO

When I hear the word "Ohio" I think of that patriotic song they make you learn the states to in elementary school where they go..." Ohhh-Hyyyy-Yo!".

Anywho, sorry for keeping you guys waiting for so long. Been really busy. But today I have a triple installment because a lot has happened since June 15th. (That was appearently the last day I posted in case you were wondering, which you weren't. So I should shut up now.)

For you lovely education (of nothing inparticular) I will provide you with some marvelous pictures of my time in Ohio. Meet my wonderlous (yes, I ended that with "-lous") family.

Here are two of my adorable cousins (the one on the left is taken, sorry). Andrew (left) is the second oldest and Stephen (right) is the baby. He graduated from highschool this year. (That's why we went to Ohio)
Here they are with their parents: (l to r) Andrew, Aunt Marilyn, Stephen, Uncle Martin. Uncle Martin is my mother's older brother.
Here they are again: (l to r) Uncle Martin, Stephen, Mumsie, and Aunt Charlotte, Mumsie's sister.
And here we are. SHOCKER!!!!! Janae got her hair cut!!! Yes, if you haven't already seen me, I got my hair cut in Ohio. It's a cute little bob and it feels great. Now back to the pic. Me, Stephen, and Janessa.

And this pic, I just couldn't resist!!!!! This is Lizz, Andrew and Stephen's sister (she's in between them in age) She is a hairdresser and is the one who cut my hair there. This is at a Relay for Life event we went to and that Lizz participated in. Our grandmother died from cancer. Her shirt says "Running With Scissors" since she ran with a bunch of hair dressers. We had just eaten a frozen custard/slushi thing and our tongues were, obviously, blue. Lizz is awesome!!!!

More to come.

Part IV: The Creation Science Museum

Okay, this place was absolutly amazing!!! If you have never been, you have to go! We went the week after the camping trip on our way to Ohio. Here are some pics.


This is Daddy and Janessa at the Garden of Eden part. (Adam and Eve are in the background.)
Here is the exhibit of the Ark. This was pretty cool! The men are supposed to be building the ark but their voice over hears them complaining about the work and saying that it's never gonna rain. :)

Here are some of the most important figures in the Old Testament: Abraham, Moses, and King David.
Dear Reader,
We are terribly sorry to say that soona fter this picture was taken, my dear sister, Janessa, was unfortunately, consumed by the terrible beast shown in the above picture. We feel this lose deeply as we ourselves only barely escaped with our lives. Funeral Services will be held some time in the near future and donations can be made in place of flowers, at the Foundation for Better Safety Against Pre-historic Animals or the F.B.S.A.P.A.