Criticism. To most of us, it’s an ugly word. We’re doing the best we can, we think, and yet people dare to pick apart our best efforts. Our defenses bristle out so quickly that within just a few moments of hearing the first words of criticism aimed at us, we look like irate hedgehogs. Why is this? Why do we…
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Baby J is turning one! It’s so hard to believe that this year has gone by so quickly! I’ve been looking up sugar-free cakes and other desserts for his first birthday, with a little help from my friend Mandi. It turns out that there are lots of recipes for sugar-free cakes. There are fewer for naturally sweetened desserts (no “fake…
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This year has been my year of biographies. I’ve been immersed in the lives of colonial Americans, Germans and Jews before and during World War II, Puritans, African Americans during and after the Civil War, a self-proclaimed “hillbilly,” and missionaries in Papua New Guinea, China, the Amazon River basin, and the Middle East. I’m busily taking notes (both mental and…
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If you’ve been following our story for a while, you know that I used to teach ESL (English as a Second Language). I still have a passion for it and hope to tutor or teach again in some capacity while staying at home with Baby J. Within the last year, several people have asked me for recommendations for games and…
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Showing hospitality can be difficult enough, and when your friends have food allergies it becomes more difficult to prepare a meal. You want to serve them something that won’t make them sick, but you may not be sure how. To make matters worse, there is the “cool kids don’t eat gluten” idea–the fake allergy syndrome. When some people just say…
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