Gardening Journal - May

 This Spring has been a cold and wet one which has definitely been affecting the garden. We even started the month off with the first ever recorded snowfall in May! The past couple weeks have been warm though and I was (finally!) able to get my tomato plants into the ground. But now I'm having problems with the birds eating them!! Anyone have any advice for this? I think we might either buy bird tape or one of those balls that are supposed to scare them away. At first I thought it was slugs, but then I saw a bird literally ripping limbs off of my poor plants! Makes me sooo mad!!

Anyway, our garden is finally all planted and mulched. We have four 4ft wide sections with paths in between. This section has our potatoes, onions and peas. 

This section has tomatoes, peppers, sweet potatoes and okra. 

And this section is all tomatoes.

And this last section has our corn and beans. You can also see some of our strawberry plants on the far left. I've been picking small handfuls every few days. 

Okra:

Sweet potato:

Bell Pepper:

Pimento Pepper:

Tomato:

That's about it for now. 

I can't wait to start harvesting everything! 

What's growing in your garden?

The Blessed Woman - A Review

I just finished reading The Blessed Woman: Learning About Grace From the Women of the Bible by Debbie Morris. In each chapter, Debbie looks at a different woman from the bible and applies their strengths and struggles to our modern day lives. The author uses each biblical character as a mentor to guide her readers and give them wisdom in their Christian walk. She addresses topics such as insecurity, finding purpose, establishing priorities, letting go, and waiting. She also tells stories of her own life and how these biblical characters have helped to shape her outlook.

I enjoyed this book because she looked at several biblical characters that aren't studied as much such as Jael, Hagar, Zipporah, Miriam, etc. I always enjoy learning about biblical characters and looking at any wisdom I might glean from their timeless stories. This book takes an in depth look at many of the women in the bible and I would recommend it to anyone looking to learn more about these characters and how their stories might apply to their own modern day lives. 

Click here to read chapter one of this book. 

I received this book for free from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. 

My Wavy Hair Routine (Learning to Embrace What God Gave Me!)

My hair is naturally thick and slightly wavy/straight. I have to admit that my waves look pretty good today compared to normal so that's why I'm posting pictures. :)

Anyway, I'm a girl who likes simple including my hair routine. I've always wished that my hair was a little curlier so I could just wear it that way everyday without having to blow it out and straighten it. 

I've been trying to wear my hair natural lately since it's so much easier to work with my hair than against it. I thought I would share my wavy hair routine with y'all just in case you were interested. I know every one's hair is different, but I like to pick up tips from other women with similar hair so maybe you can pick up a tip from me today.

People always say not to brush your hair when it's curly/wavy, but this drives me nuts because my hair ends up frizzy and crazy looking. So normally I will wash my hair at night and comb it in the shower. I try to "scrunch" the water out of my hair instead of wrapping it in a towel which can cause frizz. Then in the morning I (gasp) brush or comb it again so that I'm starting with a smooth head of hair. This probably affects my waves some, but I think my hair looks more polished this way. 

After that I spray it down with a water bottle (not soaking wet, but wet enough to get some extra waves). Then I apply a generous amount of curl creme (I use TRESemme flawless curls.) I prefer a creme to a spray or mousse because it leaves my hair soft almost like I didn't use any product at all. Then I let it air dry and I'm done!

Simple, right?

So I'm hoping that wearing my hair natural more often will encourage it to be more wavy than straight. What do you think?

Teach Me Tuesdays

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What I Wore

Our good camera is still broke so I only have one picture to share because the rest of them are way too bright. Anyway, this is what I wore to church on Sunday. It's a little more dressy than I normally wear, but I like it. Even when I'm dressy I'm still pretty casual. I just can't seem to get away from it! :)

Shirt - Thrifted

Skirt - Thrifted

Necklace - Versona

Shoes - Teva

Also, I french braided one side of my hair up. What do you think? I normally either wear my hair down or in a pony tail which gets boring so I'm trying some new styles out lately. 

Have a great day!

Modest Mondays
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No Soda for One Year - 4 Month Update

**In case you didn't know, my husband and I have given up soda and sweet tea for one year. You can read about our reasons here and about our first soda free month here. 

So it's been four months since I've had a Dr. Pepper (my drink of choice) and I can honestly say that it hasn't been that hard. I guess I'm so far into this that not having soda has become (almost) a non issue.  For the most part, it has been easy, however I do have my weak moments where I wonder why on earth I came up with this crazy idea!! But those moments are few and far between(ish). It helps tremendously that my husband is doing this with me. If he was constantly drinking soda around me I know I would have caved by now. 

 I do have to confess that I drank Sprite when I got horribly sick (twice) this past winter. I know I could have survived without them, but they made me feel better. So there. 

Anyway, while giving up soda hasn't been easy per se, it hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be. I actually enjoy drinking unsweet tea now. :)

Better Mom Mondays
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Freedom from Insecurity

Thinking back to my childhood I was free. Free from insecurities. Free from social pressure. Free from judgement. I was who I was and in my innocence, didn't think twice about it. 

Then somewhere along the way things started to change and little by little I learned how to act a certain way to be accepted by others. 

Now, as an adult, I know that my worth isn't found in the acceptance of others, but in my identity in Christ. 

God gave me my personality and my desires for a specific reason. He wants to use them to Glorify Himself and be a light to a very dark world. 

So who am I to selfishly hide behind my insecurities when God wants to use me for His Glory?

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. "

-Romans 12:2

"Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

Matthew 5:16

Better Mom Mondays
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What I Wore

I've realized lately that 90% of my closet is black, gray or brown. Does anyone else have this problem? I normally stick to neutrals when buying clothes because they tend to go farther in my wardrobe and are more classic. Anyway, I've been trying to add more light colors for the spring and this is the outfit I came up with for church Sunday:

Shirt - Studio Y (used to be my sister's)

Undershirt - Target

Skirt - Speigel (Thrifted)

Locket - Vintage Avon

Shoes - Target

We just got our nice camera fixed (it's been broken since before Walker was born!). Anyway, hopefully I can get some better quality pictures with it soon.

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