the brew*crew adventure

Here I am with my honey:

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

~ Ecclesiastes 3.11

Over the years, this has become a favorite Scripture of mine, as I've learned that truly, we never do know what each day holds, nor can we ever comprehend the Mind of God, yet I do know that no matter what, good times and bad, I am blessed and touched by the Hand of a Loving Creator who gives beauty for ashes... I love that verse because it speaks so deeply to me of TRUST. In the face of uncertainty and questioning doubt... I am learning to trust Him.

My Lord is continually surprising me with wonderful newness of life as my family and I adventure forth in the Way, as He leads us. Truly His mercies have been new every morning, and there is a time for everything under heaven.

I write to relax, to hear, to think, to share, to remember and to better understand... to continue the process that began so many years ago when I discovered my love for thoughts framed with words. Over the  years, I have been humbly delighted at the network of friends, support and inspiration I have found among my fellow bloggers on the web. I believe that the sentiments of William Makepeace Thackeray say it perfectly:

There are a thousand thoughts lying within a man that he does not know till he takes up a pen to write.

This is basicly just a writing and photo journal of my days, musings, hopes, fears, faith and falterings as I adventure with my family through this amazing gift of life I've been given. My prayer is that this blog of mine would somehow bless those who happen upon it and meander within... Shalom, and welcome. Thanks for reading!

header photo., etc.:

The header photograph for this blog was taken by me in the Spring of 2008, with my Canon PowerShot S2 IS. These are apple blossoms that bloomed on our tree in May (looks like we'll have lots of apples this year!). This and all other photography shared on my blog is property of me or my family members, unless otherwise noted. Please do not copy or use it without getting my permission first. Thanks. You may email me anytime at brewcrew95 at charter dot net.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 License

35 things:

This year I'll turn 35, so I thought that I'd share 35 random things about myself with those who care to know more...

1. First and foremost, I am a redeemed sinner, and I love my Messiah and King passionately.
2. I have been married for almost 14 years now to my soulmate and best friend, Christopher.
3. The first five years of our marriage were the hardest... on so many levels. Now it just gets better every year. We are deeply in love (something we've learned is a choice~ true, undying commitment~ the feelings follow the choice, and they will come and go), and trust each other explicitly, something that I don't take for granted. When we do argue or fight, it's usually about really stupid stuff- more like what we call "squabbling", and mostly because we're stressed out.
4. As a little girl I dreamed of getting married and being a Mommy... and that hope that slowly faded for a period of many rocky, lost years has now come true and is a greater, more fulfilling blessing than I ever could have imagined.
5. I became pregnant with our eldest, our son, whose name means "given of God", quite unexpectedly - only two months into our marriage- and truly he is a gift from our Father in heaven. He is now 12!?

1. I am also blessed to be "Momma" to our beautiful 9 year old daughter, our precious baby Judah, who is in heaven already, and our precious baby girl, S, who arrived in August of 2007, right on her due date. Babies Judah and S are both our vasectomy reversal miracle babies.
2. So far I've accomplished my goal of delivering all of our babies naturally, although I must admit that had it not been for Chris's steady support and encouragement, I probably would have wimped out and gotten pain meds. during those throes of labor that color one's perception and can certainly weaken one's resolve. My last labor was the best.
3. I breastfed our first two babies until they were 8 months old. I am going to nurse baby S as long as I can, hoping for at least two years. I also wear her everywhere and she co-sleeps with Chris and I.
4. I used to have a super high metabolism rate and could eat anything without gaining a single pound, but once I turned 30 it slowed down and I've gradually gained some unwanted weight (which I'm working on losing). A friend had warned me that this would happen, and I scoffed. *sighs* I've started exercising more, want to stay healthy for my family.

5. I am loving learning with my kids as we spend time together homeschooling... there's nothing I'd rather be doing each day. This is our eighth year homeschooling, and I really do think that I get as much out of it as our kids. I'm learning way more than I ever did in my own formal education, even in college, probably mostly because I'm actually interested now. That's my main goal in educating our kids: to instill in them a love for learning, and to share a full life with them, made of rich memories and a solid foundation from which to fulfill their own life goals/missions.

6. Over the last seven years, as we've had a few interstate moves and lots of other adventures- like babysitting more kids, our homeschool has seen many seasons of unschooling, but mostly "relaxed eclectic" would probably better describe our approach thusfar (or would it better be described as "structured unschooling"? hmmm, a conundrum), with Charlotte Mason aspirations and more structure as N and T are getting older and I'm learning how to best implement CM's methods in a meaningful way for us. I'm slowly reading through Miss Mason's Homeschooling Series.

7. I love to write, which the past few years has included a lot of blogging.

8. I love the immediate creativity of taking pictures as well, and am learning more about photography (hoping to do more with it in the future). There's just something magical about capturing moments in time, memories in images.
9. In college I majored in fine art and sold most of my artwork (wish now that I hadn't, but needed the $, starving artist and all. heh.)... mostly bronze sculptures and acrylic paintings. I fell in love with sculpture and pottery those years. I'm still an art student... maybe I'll be a professional artist one day too.
10. I plan to draw/paint my childrens' portraits this year...as a first step towards doing my art seriously again.
11. I quit college to run off and get married, after only three months of knowing him... everyone thought we were nuts, and we were, and still are, but together! And look at what a life we've created together! Somehow we really saw each other's cores and just knew. There have been times I've regretted not finishing my degree, but I've never regretted where the choice has brought me. Does that make sense?
12. I like to scrapbook, but hardly seem to find the time to do it much... am still working on my kids' baby albums. It's a relaxing hobby, and I like to scrap with my daughter and our scrappy friends at our once upon a time monthly crop-club get-togethers, though this past year has been so busy for everyone that it hasn't happened much. I used to be snobby about *crafty* things (something I picked up from the "fine art" crowd I guess). Now I'm not. I've since learned that crafting is creating and creating is soul food, in all its forms. However someone finds they can and do create- it is always good medicine. I've found the same cathartic satisfaction in piecing and sewing a quilt, or intuitively timing all the dishes of a splendid home-cooked meal to be done at the same time, or growing and eating our own organic produce, or designing a beautiful scrapbook page layout, or learning knitting, or witnessing my kids assimilate new knowledge in meaningful ways, or facilitating their accomplishments, or discovering a bit more about myself as I write out my thoughts, or beading a perfect necklace as I ever did in painting the likeness of a landscape or fashioning a figure of wax and casting it in bronze. I've learned that living, really living, IS art!
13. I like to read to my kids and sing them lullabies at night. My 12 and 9 year old still ask for their lullabies... and I love that. I almost always oblige, knowing that someday they won't ask. Besides, they actually think I can sing!
14. My favorite color is blue, and secondly, green, along with lots of earthy browns, with all their various shades and combinations.
15. I've been learning to knit and crochet this year, it's something I'd like to do more of. How I drool over the beautifully rich yarns and patterns that my knitty friends are creating homespun textiles with right now. Need. More. Time.
16. I love to cook, bake and just create in the kitchen. Watching cooking shows is big fun for me (and my 12yo son N has caught the bug, which has huge payoff).
17. Over the years I've become very interested in health and nutrition and have read, experimented and learned a lot. I've been gradually implementing what I learn into our family's daily living habits. The kids have actually gotten used to kefir smoothies for breakfast, and like seaweed in their soup.
18. In the Fall of 2006 I did a two week colon/liver/gallbladder and parasite cleanse, including a whole week of juice fasting, preceded and followed by a week of eating raw vegan foods only. It was an amazing experience that I plan to do again every year that I'm able (not nursing or pregnant, like last year). This Fall, since I'm still nursing baby S, I'll do a modified juice cleanse (without all of the strong herbs). I'd like to eventually do a Spring cleanse as well as a Fall one. I've written probably way more than you'd want to know about that here.
19. We've been learning a bit more about organic gardening every year... right now we're reaping the harvest of our fifth summer garden. I'm better at the planning and planting part than I am at the maintenance and harvesting part (when it's hotter outside), but each year I'm getting better at that as well, and the kids are getting bigger and more helpful too. We've done some raised beds this year, along with a sister garden of corn, squash and pole beans, which is working quite well.
20. I love long road trips, always have... they somehow offer time to reflect upon where we've been and recalibrate, to plan and anticipate the future and where I'm headed... not to mention the nostalgia they offer from years gone by. Soul food, ya know.
21. I've found myself collecting silver and turquoise jewelry over the years, love it. Heard recently that it's "the traveler's stone... go figure..."
22. I hope the Lord blesses us with another baby someday... but for now, I'm so busy and just content with the children we have. The thought of more still overwhelms me, even though I know that the Lord gives us grace as needed. I see N and T growing up so fast, and I don't want to miss a moment.
23. I love to dance with my kids, and with my husband, but especially in worship before my Lord. I took an Irish tap dancing class with my kids for awhile, at our church, and loved it. In the Fall I'll be taking an adult ballet class (with emphasis on basic technique and interpretive worship) at our church. Hebraic folk dancing is another form of dancing that I've had the pleasure of learning a bit of.
24. I like my coffee strong with a lot of cream. I used to drink way too much coffee, but now only have it here and there for a treat or with friends. For health reasons, I've recently converted to drinking teeccino instead, or hot herbal tea now. I am however, sometimes tempted to believe that coffee is good for me! Yeah, if only... my own heart-rate and blood pressure tell me otherwise.
25. I love wearing flip-flops and sandals, and like to buy a new pair or two every summer.
26. Chris and I dream of moving further out into the country, buying more land. He wants to be a farmer. We plan to have dairy cows (for our raw milk co-op) and breed/sell quail. I think it's so cool how we've both grown and changed so much over the years, yet we've stayed in sync with one another and share the same convictions, passions, goals and inclinations, a vision for our family. Meanwhile we have a couple of goats, a dozen laying hens and various other critters here on our 2 acres...
27. After moving around a lot in my life, I'm thankful to have found a place where I feel at home, and I feel my roots growing deeper here in NE TN every year. But then, knowing myself pretty well by now, gypsy soul that I am, I realize that I'd probably jump at the chance to move again if need be, and could/would make myself at home most anywhere.
28. I am fascinated by the Hebrew language and all things Hebraic, and have wanted to learn Hebrew for many years. I am convinced that in its most ancient form it was the original language Yahweh Himself must have spoken to Adam and Eve in as they strolled through the garden... Now I am so excited that I'll be beginning to learn Hebrew (along with Chris) soon, possibly under the tutelage and guidance of a friend who speaks and reads it fluently.
29. I really, really love good books... I find myself collecting them, drawn to them in antique and thrift shops, used book stores, on ebay, and at other people's houses.
30. I like to keep my toe nails painted during the summer-time, but never my finger nails. A friend of mine from FL, Barbara Ann, gave T and I both french pedicures while she was visiting last month, and I felt so glamorous while it lasted. I have the stuff to do it again, and will have to give my sis one mean pedicure when she visits for Thanksgiving (since I just found out that she's never had one). Heh!

Where I'm from...

I am from the backseat of endless drives down interstates to the tune of “Strawberry Fields Forever” playing on the 8-track, rest stops and picking up hitchhikers in “Clyde” - the old Chevy van (who “ran on dinosaur blood”) we kids had helped our Dad to paint camoflauged. I’m from camping out with my sister and brothers in the back of “Bonnie”, the winged station wagon who carried us from Mississippi to the great NW, in search of something more. I am from canned mackerel on plain bread sandwiches passed back, which tasted so good to hungry children.

I’m from knowing that we’d always be moving soon and not thinking about it much, except that I hated new schools. I am from miles of wide open road, wondering over how the moon traveled with us always, and how the dew glistened on the spiders’ webs in the sparkling morning light as I stepped outside of our wet little tent, eager to discover what adventures awaited me… reminding my Mother of Alice in Wonderland, from freezing one snowy winter night spent on the lip of the Grand Canyon, forgetting myself as I took in the awesome morning sight…

 

Click here to read more of my remembrances of where I am from.

My new place @ My Space... shoot me a note if you want to connect.

Favorite Movies: Fiddler on the Roof, Bleak House, Les Miserables, Braveheart, The Sound of Music, Little Women, Mary Poppins, The Black Stallion, Black Beauty, Dreamer, Because of Winn Dixie, Ben Hur, El Cid, The Princess Bride, Pride & Prejudice, Emma, Anne of Green Gables (the whole series), Love Comes Softly, Phantom of the Opera (the new one), Life is Beautiful, The Chosen, Sarah Plain & Tall, Secondhand Lions, Four Feathers

Favorite Books: The Book of Psalms & Hebrews, Bible, Pilgrim's Progress by Bunyan, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, Song of Songs by Watchman Nee, The Miracle of the Scarlet Thread by Booker, The Original Homeschooling Series by Charlotte Mason, For the Children's Sake by Macaulay, Follow the River by Thom, Christy by Catherine Marshall, The Fisherman's Lady by George MacDonald, The Baronet's Song by G. MacDonald, The Tutor's First Love by G. MacDonald, Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers, First Light by Bodie & Brock Thoene, The Book of Sorrows & The Dun Cow by Walter Wangerin, Jr.

Music: Well, that's everchanging, but I'm always especially fond of folk music, enjoying learning classical composers with the kids (part of our AO studies), jazz, worship, Messianic, some contemporary Christian, some classic rock, alternative, some oldies, etc., etc.

Song

Stay, stay at home, my heart, and rest;
Home-keeping hearts are happiest,
For those that wander they know not where
Are full of trouble and full of care;
To stay at home is best.

Weary and homesick and distressed,
They wander east, they wander west,
And are baffled and beaten and blown about
By the winds of the wilderness of doubt;
To stay at home is best.

Then stay at home, my heart, and rest;
The bird is safest in its nest;
O'er all that flutter their wings and fly
A hawk is hovering in the sky;
To stay at home is best.

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

  

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