Your Questions Answered: Encouragement in the Kitchen

QUESTION:
it seems like you really enjoy cooking. It is definitely something i have a desire to learn, but it seems really overwhelming. my mother wasn't a cook and she never taught me. i try to read recipes online, but i get really stressed out. and i also think most recipes are a waste to make for just one person. i suppose i should cook for my boyfriend, but i'm too nervous! i was wondering if you might have any tips for the kitchen or helpful resources you have used to learn. thanks so much!

ANSWER:
I can definitely relate to your feelings regarding cooking, although I didn't really develop a desire to learn until I was married, which made the process even more stressful!

It's definitely gotten easier for me, and part of that has been finding recipes that work for me. I am not into gourmet recipes and if they include more than one or two ingredients I don't keep on hand regularly, I usually go on and pass them up. And that's OK!

One thing I would suggest is to break up cooking into small goals. I decided to try one new recipe a week for awhile that helped me find my groove in menu planning.

Also, since it's just you, what I would suggest is finding recipes and halving them. Most recipes are made to serve 4 people, so half the recipe and you'll have dinner for tonight and leftovers for tomorrow. Plus, if the recipe is a flop, then you won't have wasted as much food!

Another tip I would suggest is being aware that you can freeze stuff. When I first started cooking, I balked at the idea of buying a whole box of chicken stock for a recipe that I only needed a 1/4 cup for (since, of course, I'm a big fan of cutting recipes down into more manageable sizes!). What I soon learned is that there are a LOT of things you can easily freeze to keep your waste down. When in doubt, just do a quick online search to see if you can freeze something. You can also do this with food you've already cooked, like baked lasagna or cooked ground beef, etc.

As for finding recipes, I have had the best luck pulling from fellow bloggers, but it definitely is a gamble. I can't say that I've found one source that always has stellar recipes; I've had to pull from all over to amass my favorites. You might want to browse through this site which has collected a massive list of their favorite food blogs with summaries about each.

Finally, if there's an older woman in your life who is a good (or even just half-way decent!) cook, you could always ask her if you could come over sometime and help her make dinner, so that you can learn from her. Most people would be flattered by that, and it could be a good way to ease your way into the cooking sphere until you feel comfortable going at it alone!

If you have any other questions for me, just let me know! Feel free to browse all the questions I've tackled in my Q&A series.

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Your Questions Answered: Tattoos and Taboos

QUESTION: What is your stance on tattoos and the religious taboo associated with them?

I usually stray away from controversy, but since you asked, I’m happy to share my thoughts, though I’d like to stress that last component: These are the opinions I’ve formed regarding tattoos, however, I know that there are some religious traditions and Christian denominations that don’t agree with me.

I personally do not have any tattoos of my own—but it is not for religious reasons. I don’t believe tattoos are in and of themselves evil or sinful. My decision is based solely on the awareness that my aesthetic tastes are ever-changing and I doubt that when I’m a grandmother, I’ll still want a tattoo peeping out, however symbolic it was to me decades earlier.

Why don't I believe that tattoos are inherently bad? Well, we must remember that even Jesus said that it’s how pure our hearts are on the inside, rather than how pure we might look from the outside—appearances can be quite deceiving. I think we can get hung up on the wrong things when we start worrying too much about our outward appearances and neglect the state of our hearts.


Having said that, I also don't think tattoos are automatically right for a given Christian, either.

Instead, I feel like tattoos can be one of those subjects that falls into what I like to call “the eating meat” category, à la what Paul talks about in Romans: “One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.” (Romans 14:5-6)

Essentially, when it comes to eating meat—and what I feel like also pertains to tattoos—each Christian is free to eat or not eat meat according to his own conscience, but either choice ought to lead to giving thanks to God. 

While I don't believe that a tattoo in and of itself will defile you, I do believe you should seek God about it and move forward only when you have "the peace of God, which transcends all understanding" regarding it and are "fully convinced in [your] own mind." In other words, for some it might be right for them to get a tattoo, but for others it could be wrong. It is here where folks must exercise wisdom and seek God.

For instance, I know there believers who are able to use their tattoos as a witnessing tool, where people will ask them what it means and they can share the Gospel. And for other believers, their tattoos are simply a personal reminder to them of God’s love and presence in their lives and a permanent encouragement to them of their faith.

However, I got in touch with one of my friends who plans to be a foreign missionary in the future and has a Bible verse tattoo. I asked her about this and she provided another perspective to consider—not whether tattoos are evil or sinful, but how they might be a stumbling block to others in sharing the gospel: "Just knowing that there can actually be people who would be turned off to the gospel that I preach because I have markings on my body, this has given me conviction to not get anymore tattoos," she said.

Then there are those, who see tattoos as defiling our bodies, what we ought to treat as God’s Holy Temple.
Obviously, the subject is wrought with varying opinions that all present valid points to the discussion.

Whichever choice you make—to tattoo or not to tattoo—it ought to bring you to glorify God. I also believe that if you do get a tattoo, consider how the tattoo itself might glorify God. Not that it has to be a cross or Bible verse, but, given that it is permanent and likely highly visible, it it should be (in image and body placement) intentional, tasteful, pleasing to the Lord and approached thoughtfully and prayerfully.

In essence, whether it’s tattoos or anything else, we must not lose sight of what is the utmost importance, and that is point to Jesus and his sacrificial love.

What Other Questions Do You Have For Me?

Recently, I invited you to ask me any questions you might have that I could answer in upcoming posts, whether it's follow-up regarding anything I've written about in the past, curiosities regarding any of my personal experiences, or your general blogging questions. In the following weeks I will continue to respond to your questions, so please feel free to ask any that come to mind in the comments below or send me an email. 
 

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Your Questions Answered: Cooking Tips and Recipes

QUESTION: I've recently started using dried beans, but I haven't been able
to figure out the ratios of dried to cooked beans. Any rough estimates on that?

I am a big fan of dried of beans, and I don’t think I’ve used canned beans in well over a year!

Typically, what I do is soak and cook* a whole bag of beans at a time. This will make a hefty amount of beans, which I’ll then let cool and then I’ll freeze** and store for later. Then, whenever I need some, I’ll just measure out the amount by using my digital kitchen scale. As a rule of thumb, most cans of beans are 15 ounces, so I weigh out that amount of beans. It’s best if you let them thaw before measuring, but I usually just weigh them while they’re still frozen and my recipes have all turned out fine.

Things do get a little more difficult if you don’t have a kitchen scale. But I did some research and found that about 1½ cups of dried beans that have already been cooked equal one 15-ounce can of beans, according to the American Dry Bean Board. Or, if you’re starting with dried beans, you’ll need to measure out 2/3 cup of the dried beans so that, once cooked, they’ll be about 1½ cups.

* For some more information, here's a previous post I made to walk readers through cooking dried beans.

** To make freezing easier, make sure your beans are cooled and drained, then spread them out in a single layer on a wax piece of paper on a large cookie sheet. Let them freeze for about an hour, then you can pull them out, pop them off the wax paper and store them in a freezer bag. You might have to do this in batches depending on how many beans you’ve cooked. Then, when you want to use them, you just heat them up in the microwave or stovetop and, since they’re already cooked, they’re ready in minutes!

QUESTION: I’m trying to get away from Splenda in my coffee. I see
you are using a simple syrup that you make. What is your recipe?

Yes, I do make my own simple syrup, which, like its name suggests, is really simple to make! I just made a new batch this morning.

All you do is put 1 cup of water into a sauce pan. Add 1 cup of sugar. Turn the heat on and stir occasionally until all the sugar dissolves. There's your simple syrup! Then, I just store mine in a small jar that’s easy to pour from and add it to my coffee each morning with a little half and half!

I know you can also add flavorings and once I added some vanilla extract, but I couldn't tell the difference so now I just keep it this straightforward. Let me know if you try it out!

What Other Questions Do You Have For Me?
Recently, I invited you to ask me any questions you might have that I could answer in upcoming posts, whether it's follow-up regarding anything I've written about in the past, curiosities regarding any of my personal experiences, or your general blogging questions.

In the following weeks I will continue to respond to your questions, so please feel free to ask any that come to mind in the comments below or send me an email. I have some questions in the queue regarding my thoughts on tattoos and some kitchen insights, so those and more to come! 

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Your Questions Answered: Encouragement for the Season of Waiting to Find Your Spouse (Part 2)

QUESTION: If there are any books or passages of scripture you recommend that truly spoke to you during your season of waiting [to meet your husband], definitely let me know.

Yesterday, I shared some of the specific resources that I found helpful during my time of waiting. Today, I decided to take a look back into my old journals and share, in my own words, what really was encouraging me during this period of waiting. What was strengthening my heart and my hope in the Lord’s timing?

While flipping through my journal entries, I came across this prayer that I'd written during the early months of 2008:

I’m feeling emboldened in my quest for the ultimate human love (toward a husband)–not that there are any nearby or possible prospects, but that I believe that marriage is something You want for me and that is in my cards.

So right now I’m preparing.

I’m learning more and more what to look for in a husband, and praying for it. I’m trying to learn to treat others in a way that will allow me to be a better wife/mother (nonjudgmental, more encouraging, listening, prodding more questions to spur contemplation, generosity with time, etc). I’m trying to practice my nurturing spirit now, as I volunteer with the youth group and learn to guide the young women without demands or directives, but through suggestion and spiritual challenges.

And I believe that You will act and that You will bless and that You will guide. And that’s what satisfies me right now, that’s what keeps me joyful and looking up and forward.

This idea crept up again and again in my entries: to see my time as a single woman as an opportunity for investment rather than a chain around my neck. I began to realize that God had given me this time alone for a reason. Perhaps it’s because I’m not yet ready to meet the godly man he has in mind? Perhaps he would like me to work on some things now that will only benefit our relationship later? Later, I copied a quote from an online article I read that spoke to this, saying: “But if I am not happy now, if I am not content in my present situation, will a new career or a relationship really change anything for me at a heart level?”

I also was encouraged during this time by the expectation that God will come through on his promises. That I can give him what I have in my hands and he will multiply and bless it. This is incredibly evident in the story of Abraham and Isaac when Abraham trusts that God will provide an alternate sacrifice, even though he's already been commanded to sacrifice Isaac. God will provide, and we must learn to trust him, even when the odds look impossible! That is when he gets the greatest glory, because only he can overcome the impossible! So perhaps when things look impossible, we must stop thinking that they really are that way but learn to trust that this is an opportunity for us to watch the Lord work his wonders.

Later in my journal, from April 24, 2008, I found this prophetic nugget: “also, as far as my future goes, i really do feel like God has it under control and feel comfortable that i’ll be at that “married” point in 2 years, that perhaps this summer he will bring that certain someone into my life and set us up for a future. i see this happening as i prepare to move–that maybe if i end up in grand rapids, that’s where that will fall into place and stand as a moment that validates those decisions. something (whether it’s peace from God or my own brand of wishful thinking) tells me that that’s on the horizon and that I don’t need to fret. i like that kind of comfort and trust. i still fidget in my seat waiting for it to come to pass, but i feel it approaching. i just hope that when it does, that i can weather and balance it well.”

Discovering these words just blew my mind because this was exactly how my marriage transpired: Later that summer I did meet my husband (not until the end of June, though) and we started dating just as I was moving off to Grand Rapids. The following summer (less than two years later), we were married. This is proof that the Lord does speak! The Lord is good and does not lead us astray! Listen to what he is whispering to your heart!

What Other Questions Do You Have For Me?

Recently, I invited you to ask me any questions you might have that I could answer in upcoming posts, whether it's follow-up regarding anything I've written about in the past, curiosities regarding any of my personal experiences, or your general blogging questions. In the following weeks I will continue to respond to your questions, so please feel free to ask any that come to mind in the comments below or send me an email. 

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Your Questions Answered: Encouragement for the Season of Waiting to Find Your Spouse (Part 1)

QUESTION: If there are any books or passages of scripture you recommend that truly spoke to you during your season of waiting [to meet your husband], definitely let me know.

Waiting is one of the most difficult lessons in life, especially when it involves something that is incredibly near and dear to your heart, as finding a loving spouse is for so many women. I know the fears and frustrations that come along with it all too well.

So I'm going to address this question in two parts. Today, I'm going to list out some of the specific resources that I sought during my season of waiting. Tomorrow, I'm going to look back into some of my journal entries from that period and share them with you to give an upclose look at how I was encouraged.

In my experience, there was a huge variety of things that swirled together to do those things—a Scripture here, an article here, a wise word there. Slowly, slowly those things all worked together to give me the confidence to wait on the Lord in this area and trust him to deliver my heart to someone who might treasure it—and to forgo the others who wouldn’t.

I’ve mentioned before that one of the most encouraging books I read during this time (and trust me, I read many others, but none were as impactful as this) was Get Married by Candice Watters. (I shared some of my notes here as well as some bullet-point notes on my old blog.)

One of her main encouragements is to be bold in praying for a godly husband. I remember that much of the Scripture that I feasted on during this period of time was in regards to God encouraging us to ask him. I went through the Bible and marked each passage I could find where we’re told to Ask and ye shall receive with a big, inky question mark. This might seem disjointed from the pursuit of waiting for marriage, but for me, it was nourishing to know that God compelled me to ask for his gifts, of which marriage is one. This heartened my time of waiting and made it one of expectation rather than discouragement.

I also found solace in Tara Leigh Cobble's memoir, Here's to Hindsight, because here was a godly woman who also experienced heartache in regards to dating. In those moments when it's easy to feel like the whole world is against you, it's a good reminder that there are others who know what you're feeling and are journeying down this same frustrating path, as well.

Other resources that gave me special encouragement during this time of preparation also included podcasts and articles from Boundless.org, which often included godly wisdom regarding dating. Those really grounded my search and expectations and behavior toward dating, in a way that I don’t believe much else of contemporary Christian culture does. They really set the bar high and challenged me to realign what dating was going to look like in my life—and, most importantly, what it wasn’t.

Finally, I also was incredibly encouraged by other Christian couples I knew who were the real deal. I’m talking about the couples who really loved the Lord together and were a light. That inspired me and rather than stoked envy, because I saw with my own two eyes that it was really possible for two people to come together and use marriage as a tool to bring glory to God. This desire in my heart could really happen!

Tomorrow, I'll share some thoughts and insights from my journal entries during my time in waiting...

What Other Questions Do You Have For Me?

Recently, I invited you to ask me any questions you might have that I could answer in upcoming posts, whether it's follow-up regarding anything I've written about in the past, curiosities regarding any of my personal experiences, or your general blogging questions. In the following weeks I will continue to respond to your questions, so please feel free to ask any that come to mind in the comments below or send me an email. 

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Your Questions Answered: More About My Baking-Soda Shampoo

In my last Q&A, I answered some of your questions regarding using my baking soda shampoo. As it turns out, you had even more questions about making and using your own homemade shampoo! So, here's Part 2...

Q: You mentioned in your first post that you use herbs. Do you use fresh or dried and how much? Also what type of herbs do you use since I have a similar hair type...

Well, the first couple times around that I made my baking-soda shampoo, I did include herbs, specifically dried rosemary, which is supposed to help if you have dry scalp. The first time, I just dumped some dried herbs into the mixture, but that ended up turning the water a brownish color and ended up stuffing up my pump at times.

Then, I decided to try to make a little sachet, putting about a teaspoon of dried rosemary into a square of gauzy fabric and tying it at the ends so the herbs couldn’t fall out. Then I submerged it into the mixture. That worked better at keeping the herbs from clumping in the pump, but after a few times it seemed like a bit more work than I felt like, so I’ve since stopped including rosemary at all.

After all this, someone recommended using essential oils instead of the herb itself, and just add a drop or two to the mixture. That way you take advantage of the natural properties of the herb without the mess of the herb itself. I have yet to pick up some essential oil and try it, myself, though.

Q: Did you miss having the lovely smell of highly fragranced shampoo? What does your hair smell like now? I am curious since if I skip a day of washing, my hair has this oily smell that I do not like.

Well, to be honest, I don’t think my hair smells like anything other than hair! I’ve never put much of a priority on how my shampoo smells, anyway though, so the lack of a strong fragrance doesn’t bother me at all. I care more about how well the shampoo actually works!

However, if you do miss a perfume-y smell, you can also try experimenting with adding essential oils to your mixture. As I mentioned before, I haven’t tried adding essential oils, but it seems like a great way to personalize and perfect the smell you want, using natural fragrances rather than synthetic ones.

Have you tried adding essential oils to your baking-soda shampoo? If so, please share your suggestions or combinations of ones to try in the comments!

Q: Does your husband wash his hair with this solution too?

Good question, because the answer is that, no, he does not use my baking-soda shampoo! He keeps his hair pretty short with a closely cropped buzz-cut, so he doesn’t really need to use shampoo at all. Instead, he just uses Dr. Bronner’s castile soap, which we use as our body wash of choice, as well. I think for him, it’s just easier to keep using that.

What Other Questions Do You Have For Me?
Recently, I invited you to ask me any questions you might have that I could answer in upcoming posts, whether it's follow-up regarding anything I've written about in the past, curiosities regarding any of my personal experiences, or your general blogging questions.

In the following weeks I will continue to respond to your questions, so please feel free to ask any that come to mind in the comments below or send me an email. I have some questions in the queue regarding my thoughts on tattoos and some kitchen insights, so those and more to come!

READ FULL POST >>

Your Questions Answered: My Baking Soda Shampoo

Q: I have been wanting try your baking soda shampoo! Are you still using it? What are the results? I have thin/fine slightly oily hair and I cannot imagine washing it every other day!

I first posted about using my baking-soda shampoo back in June, when I’d been using it consistently for about two months. It’s now December, and I’m still using it as my sole shampoo. I went to the salon a few weeks ago, and the stylist raved over how healthy my hair looked—the first time in my life I’ve ever received that compliment! I give all the credit to the baking-soda shampoo!

When I first started, I was almost immediately able to drop down to washing my hair every other day. (I documented my experience over the first couple of weeks here.) Like you, I tend to have thin, fine and oily hair, and had never imagined I could go more than a day without washing my hair! (I shared a little bit about that in my intro to the shampoo.) Since the shampoo is so simple to make and hardly takes any resources at all (just a tablespoon of baking soda!!), I’d really recommend you at least give it a shot and see if it works for you. I was able to see results even by day 2.

I was curious how this would affect other hair types. The other day, I received a glowing comment from someone with thick, curly hair who has also had great luck switching to a baking-soda shampoo. She said, “I have difficult curly/wavy hair and since washing my hair this way I finally like my hair. Wish I had tried this in high school. I never have a bad hair day now, and my hair is less frizzy, less greasy! It's been a year and a half and I don't think I'll ever shampoo my hair again.”

(I have read that those with thicker hair are recommended to use an apple-cider rinse as a conditioner. But I haven’t had a need to use it myself. Some have asked about using this—does anyone have any insights on how and how much to use? If so, please leave your insights in the comments! A few people have also asked about whether the baking soda shampoo is suitable for color-treated hair. Anyone know? I haven't dyed my hair in almost a decade, so I have no clue!)

A couple people have said that they've tried baking soda shampoo in the past without not-so-great results, but it seems that the overall consensus (from what I've read in the original post comments) is that people are finding that the baking soda shampoo works well for them. So, I figure, what's to lose?! If you want to give it a try, here’s the link to my experience using the baking soda shampoo and directions for making it yourself.

Q:I had a random question about how you "apply" your baking soda shampoo to your hair. I think my method ends up wasting a lot of it and I'm not even sure I'm getting the right amount on, so I was curious how you did it. I've just mixed it up in a cup and then poured some into my cupped hand and tossed it onto my head, flinging a lot of it over my head at the same time. Then I tried cleaning out an old hair spray bottle so that I could spray it onto my hair, but after my first attempt with that I realized that I didn't get the bottle completely free of hair spray. So...before I make my next attempt, I thought I would ask you!

I do find that I go through the baking-soda liquid pretty quickly (maybe every two weeks?), because I would much rather make sure that I'm getting enough on my hair rather than too little! But I use a little squirt bottle (a repurposed bottle with a pump head that used to hold face wash, see photo below). I just made sure I rinsed it well, and then ran it through the dishwasher (top shelf) for extra measure.

I’ve found that using the squirt bottle has been really helpful, because it controls how much of the liquid comes out and does keep a lot from going to waste. When it comes time to apply it, I just pump the baking soda solution on various parts of my hair; I’m guessing about 10 squirts per application.

That might be a lot, but since it is runny, I like to make sure I’m getting a good covering all over! I also like to keep an extra batch made up and ready in the shower so that when my first bottle runs out, I’ve already got a back-up waiting. Do a little digging around and I’ll bet you can find containers or bottles perfect to repurpose for your shampoo!

What Other Questions Do You Have For Me?
Recently, I invited you to ask me any questions you might have that I could answer in upcoming posts, whether it's follow-up regarding anything I've written about in the past, curiosities regarding any of my personal experiences, or your general blogging questions.

In the following weeks I will continue to respond to your questions, so please feel free to ask any that come to mind in the comments below or send me an email. I have some questions in the queue regarding my thoughts on tattoos and some kitchen insights, so those and more to come!

READ FULL POST >>

Your Questions Answered: How I Knew My Husband Was "The One"

QUESTION: Well, I do have a question and I hope it's not too personal. What confirmation did you receive that your husband was the one God had for you?

one of our engagement photos by fyrefly photography

I don’t think this is too personal at all, and in fact I think this is one of my favorite questions I’ve received yet! Probably mostly because I love sharing how God has directed decisions and circumstances in my life, as well as a good chance to brag on my husband, but also because I appreciate the chance to dispel any—for lack of a better word—misconceptions that I think can sometimes crop up when we start talking about finding “the one.”

When I was single, I really hoped that God would make it especially clear to me who I should marry. I had heard of people who had dreams that directed them to date a certain person to marry. I don’t doubt that God does work in those miraculous sorts of ways, but that was not the case for me. Instead, it was a pretty ordinary chain of events where I got to see more and more of my husband’s heart and trust that it was rooted in the Lord. And through those glimpses, I knew that I could trust him with my own heart.

If you’ve read the back story on what was going on in my life around the time that I first met my now-husband (here ya go, if you need to catch up), you know that at this time, I had just finished reading a very insightful and encouraging book from a biblical perspective called Get Married by Candice Watters and was passionately praying that the Lord would prepare me for my husband and would bring us together.

I’ll start off by saying that I think this aspect—prayer and preparing of the heart—is probably one of the first elements of recognizing that my husband was right for me. During the season of singleness leading up to meeting him, I was especially learning about the role of a Christian wife and actively trying to live out the virtues set forth in by the wife in Proverbs 31. It’s what Watters calls “live like you’re going to be married,” despite what circumstances (ie, singleness) might otherwise suggest. This active pursuit really went a long way in helping me see what mattered in a man—not his looks, job, salary, or (ahem) age. (Didjaknow? My husband is four years younger than me!) I realized that what really mattered was his heart for the Lord, and from that single facet, all else would fall into place.

I know people who make all sorts of list and qualifications to choose a husband. But I think there only has to be one: That he loves the Lord more than I do. When my husband and I were dating, that was the quality that stuck out to me so much. I couldn’t believe how much he read his Bible and how well he knew it. He loved the Word! Talking about God was one of the main topics of conversation from when we first started dating and it was that thread that drew us together.

Later as we dated, we had to learn how to deal with conflict. I remember one argument that we had very vividly. I was exasperated because I couldn’t get him to change his mind on a subject that I felt very strongly about. Then I realized that it’s not my job to make him change his mind, the only one who can do that is the Holy Spirit. So I stopped trying and instead started praying and decided to trust the Holy Spirit to speak to him. About an hour later, I got a phone call from him, with a softer heart, and we were able to smooth out the conversation. That interchange was a breakthrough in our relationship because it proved one thing: I could trust him to listen to the Holy Spirit. I knew that if he was obedient to God above all else, then I had nothing else to worry about. I could trust my heart to one who listened to and heeded the Lord!

I should also add that I don't necessarily believe there is only "one" person out there for anyone (though some are definitely better than others!). That being said, I can't imagine anyone better suited for me than my husband. Every day I am in more and more awe over this fact when I think about how kind and gentle and comforting my husband is with me. He is not perfect, but he is perfect for me.

What Other Questions Do You Have For Me?
Recently, I invited you to ask me any questions you might have that I could answer in upcoming posts, whether it's follow-up regarding anything I've written about in the past, curiosities regarding any of my personal experiences, or your general blogging questions.

In the following weeks I will continue to respond to your questions, so please feel free to ask any that come to mind in the comments below or send me an email. I have some questions in the queue regarding my thoughts on faith, cooking advice, and how my baking soda shampoo is doing, so those and more to come!

(If you missed last week's Q&A, it was in regards to my decorating plans for the holidays.)   

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Your Questions Answered: Holiday Decorating

I would like to know your decorating plans for Christmas.

Oh, boy. I hate to say it but I am not a very festive decorator. It’s not that I’m against it or anything, but I just don’t really think to do it. I guess it doesn’t seem worth all the hubbub to me and, honestly, the red-and-green really clashes with the color scheme I’ve already going on in our décor!

However, I am trying, bit by bit, to adopt more of a holiday spirit. Which is why a couple of years ago, I picked up a silver miniature Christmas tree and some matching ornaments at an after-Christmas sale. And last year, I pulled out a nativity scene my parents had given me. And displayed some other festive odds and ends I’ve collected, slowly over the years. You can see my decorating from last year, which I chronicled in this post.

This year, I’m not sure what I’m going to do. It likely will be pretty close to what I did last year, although I think I would like to do a more woodsy theme (think white, green, and brown featuring branches, pine cones and acorns) than the traditional red-and-green. (Those of you who know me well in real-life are probably not surprised by that at all! For everyone else, I really love woodsy things. Remember the artwork over our couch? So much so that my favorite Halloween costume a couple years back was as a garden gnome, and I used to have a collection of miniature “woodland creatures” on my desk at work.) 

I’ve started collecting some ideas for easy decorating ideas that can last longer than just the month of December but be fitting for the entire winter season. (Gotta get your effort's worth out of the decorating, if you ask me!)

When I was in Anthropologie a couple of weeks ago, they had jars filled with acorns and wrapped with pretty ribbon that I thought I could co-opt. I’ve also had a hankering to try my hand at a tiny terrarium-esque display. And the blogsphere has been overflowing with cute, crafty ideas for homemade wreaths made of everything from yarn to book pages.

Here are some of my favorite holiday decorating posts that I've read online recently that have kick-started my inspiration or given me something poignant to think about:

• "The Use-What-We-Have Christmas" from Small Notebook (this really spells out my approach holiday decorating!)
• "DIY Holiday Wreaths" from Creature Comforts (TONS of crafty ideas!)
• "10 DIY Christmas Projects" from a.toodle.lee.do (including the book-pages wreath)

• "Emily Thompson Wreaths" from Design*Sponge (more wreath ideas using twigs, pine cones and bright ribbons, like the one pictured above)

• "Holiday Inspiration" pages that Marta Writes has collected from various magazines
• "Gifted Magazine" from Creature Comforts (this is an online magazine that features all sorts of holiday-related inspiration from gifts to fashion to decorating; definitely check it out!)

In all honesty, I probably won’t get around to decorating for another week or two, but this question has given me a good kick toward thinking more about my decorating ideas, which I obviously could use!

Do you have any other holiday-decorating resources or ideas to share? If so, link them up in the comments!

What Other Questions Do You Have For Me?
Recently, I invited you to ask me any questions you might have that I could answer in upcoming posts, whether it's follow-up regarding anything I've written about in the past, curiosities regarding any of my personal experiences, or your general blogging questions.

In the following weeks I will continue to respond to your questions, so please feel free to ask any that come to mind in the comments below or send me an email. I have some questions in the queue regarding my thoughts on faith, how I knew my husband was "the one," and how my baking soda shampoo is doing, so those and more to come!

(If you missed last week's Q&A, they were in regards to the fonts I use on my blog.)  

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Answering Your Questions: Fonts on My Blog

Q: I was wondering how you were able to change your fonts on Blogger? I love the fact that its free, but I can seem to find the right template for me nor any wiggle room for changing the font or making it look nicer.

I mentioned before that I’m currently using the “Simple” template that Blogger offers, under the “Template Designer” option from your dashboard. When you get in there, under the Advanced options, you can tweak your fonts, including the size and face of the font for your text, post titles, date, widgets, etc. Now, there isn’t a huge variety of font choices to choose from, mostly just your standard Arial, Georgia, Courier, Trebuchet, Times New Roman, etc. While that does limit some creativity, you can’t really go crazy with your fonts because not every computer has the same fonts loaded on it, which can cause even more design problems! So in most cases, it’s better to stick to the tried-and-true fonts that are standard on nearly every computer out there.

One way around this, though, is to follow the tutorial posted on Kevin and Amanda, which my blog friend Emma tipped me off about! I used this tutorial to get the cool, curlicue font that shows up in the title for each post on my blog. (She also offers a tutorial to change the fonts in your entire blog, but I was happy just bringing some life to the titles!) Make sure you follow the tutorial very closely (I went through it super slowly to make sure I did each step correctly!), because if you leave any step out or mess up just a little, it won’t work. But the directions are solid and give you the ability to bring a bit more customization to your fonts. Amanda creates tons of unique fonts, which she posts for free, and for my titles, I'm using the font she created called, Pea Aimee.

The final way that I bring customization to my fonts is to create them in my design program on my computer and save and upload them onto my blog as an image. (Scan through my sidebar, and you’ll see this is what I did for the links in my sidebar that fall under “Topics of Conversation” and “Some of My Favorite Posts.”) This makes them static and can slow down my loading time, but it’s an easy way to play with your fonts and guarantee that your reader will be able to see them! If all else fails, try this! (I gave some more detailed instructions in last week's Q&A regarding this, which you can read here.)

Q: I also want to know about the fonts! I really like the corkboard travel map you made, and I think some of the fonts you used there are your blog's fonts.

Yes—you have a great eye! Two of the fonts I used in making my corkboard travel map are mainstays in my blog design. My aesthetics often carry over from one project to another, whether that’s decorating my kitchen, picking out a new sweater or designing my blog!

The fonts that I used for the map, in particular, are: Honey Script (the type used for “our” on the map), Simon Script (“adventures”) and Gungsuh (“together”). Gungsuh is a font that came standard with my laptop. The other two, however, are ones I downloaded from Dafont.com, a resource I recommended last week. You can download Honey Script font here, and you can download Simon Script font here.


What Other Questions Do You Have For Me?
Recently, I invited you to ask me any questions you might have that I could answer in upcoming posts, whether it's follow-up regarding anything I've written about in the past, curiosities regarding any of my personal experiences, or your general blogging questions.

In the following weeks I will continue to respond to your questions, so please feel free to ask any that come to mind in the comments below or send me an email. I have some questions in the queue regarding my holiday decorations, thoughts on faith and how my baking soda shampoo is doing, so those and more to come!

(If you missed last week's Q&A, they were in regards to tweaking out your blog's design.)

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Answering Your Questions: Blog Design

Recently, I invited you to ask me any questions you might have that I could answer in upcoming posts, whether it's follow-up regarding anything I've written about in the past, curiosities regarding any of my personal experiences, or your general blogging questions.

Here's my second installment of answers to two questions I received, which revolve around configuring your blog layout. (If you missed last week's Q&A, they were in regards to figuring out your blog's layout.) In the following weeks I will continue to respond to your questions, so please feel free to ask any that come to mind in the comments below or send me an email.

How do you create your blog banners, layouts, text (fonts). etc?

Well, I am no design whiz by any means. But I have had the great fortune of knowing and being exposed to tons of great design. Aside from a single magazine design class I took in college that taught me intro to Photoshop, almost all of my digital design abilities has been self-taught and (like my HTML knowledge) trial-by-error.

I will have to say that the one key for me and making my design look decent has been using the program Corel PaintShop Pro, which is like a light/affordable version of Photoshop. It came with me when I bought my Dell laptop a couple of years ago, and while I don’t know all the bells and whistles, it has treated me pretty well and works really well with layering, adding text, some standard photo-editing (although Photoshop blows it away!). So I use PaintShop Pro to edit all my images (whether it’s a photo to accompany a post or any of the images used in my design). (Here's a link to the version that I use, but they've since released newer ones that you can also check out.)

I know there are some free photo-editing sites online, like Picasa (which The Frugal Girl wrote about) and Picnik (which Jessica used on her redesign), but I haven’t tried either one yet. The one photo-related freebie I do love using is my Poladroid, which is a little application I downloaded that will turn any photo into a Polaroid (like my “about me” photo in the right-hand column). It’s a fun tool and not always predictable, much like real-life Polaroid pictures.

As far as fonts, I love discovering and downloading new fonts. (Probably rubbed off on me from my years working at a design magazine and continually being impressed by all the beautiful design work I was exposed to daily!) I usually find my fonts on freebie sites like 1001freefonts.com or DaFont.com, although sometimes I’ll run across an article or blog post that lists “the top fonts of the year” or something like that (Design*Sponge recently posted some finds), which will tip me off to some great additions to my burgeoning collection!

I’ve received a couple of other questions about fonts, so I’ll answer them—and dive into fonts more in-depth—in my next Q&A!

Would you share how you got different fonts on your sidebar (ie, TOPICS OF CONVERSATION)? I changed my fonts on my posts, but am clueless as to adding fonts to the blog.

Basically, the fonts in my side bar are ones that I have downloaded specially from font-design websites (see recommendations above). However, they are not loaded directly onto my website, because websites can generally only support standard fonts like Arial, Georgia, Courier, Trebuchet, Times New Roman, etc, that people already have loaded onto their computers.

Instead, what I do is I open up my image-editing software (like I mentioned above, I use the program Corel PaintShop Pro). In the program, I just open a new document, type in the words I want to show up in the font that I've chosen and save it as a web-ready JPG.

Then, I upload the image onto my blog. While this makes them static and can slow down my loading time, it’s an easy way to play with your fonts and guarantee that your reader will be able to see them! This is what I've done for nearly every element on my blog that shows up in a non-standard font, from the categories in my sidebar to the text I use in many of the images that accompany my blog posts.

Like I mentioned, I’ve received a couple of other questions about fonts, so I’ll answer them—and dive into fonts more in-depth—in my next Q&A!

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Answering Your Questions: Blog Layout

Recently, I invited you to ask me any questions you might have that I could answer in upcoming posts, whether it's follow-up regarding anything I've written about in the past, curiosities regarding any of my personal experiences, or your general blogging questions.

Here's my second installment of answers to two questions I received, which revolve around configuring your blog layout. (If you missed last week's Q&A, they were in regards to starting a blog.) In the following weeks I will continue to respond to your questions, so please feel free to ask any that come to mind in the comments below or send me an email.

A while ago, I decided I wanted to blog, and I never really did more than the initial set up. I'm just curious, your design is incredible and I was wondering how you do it with blogspot. Is there a program you suggest or are you a secret HTML/CSS code expert? Thank you for any help/advice, I really appreciate it!

Haha! I love the choice of words here (although I'd totally beg to differ!) but since my blog design is pretty much DIY, I really appreciate the kind words!!

I’ve gone through a couple of blog designs in the past year that I’ve been blogging, and normally when I’m in the mood for a design overhaul, one of the first things I start with is picking a template to use. For my previous designs, I normally would search online for a pre-made template to use (like you can find on sites like this).

But the one I'm using currently is actually a standard Blogger template that I’m pretty happy with. If you want to check it out for yourself, go into your Blogger dashboard, find the link that says design > template designer, and it’s the template called "Simple." :) Fitting, huh? I like Blogger’s template designer, because it makes it pretty easy to tweak a lot of the design without having to open up the HTML file.

Other than that, I do know some pretty basic HTML (took a class more than 10 years ago that's still getting me by today!) that I've found especially helpful when it comes to formatting the individual posts or page layout. I still really want to learn advanced HTML and CSS (it’s on my list of things to learn this year…whoops!), but haven’t really taken the time yet to wrap my head around it.

If there's something I really want to do with my site that I can’t figure out on my own, I usually just end up trying to find some cheat-sheet online with instructions or free downloads. It's very trial-and-error that takes a lot longer than it probably should (and a lot of Swagbucks-ing!), but it is a fun creative challenge!

On your right sidebar, how do you get it to where whenever you write an entry, you can "tag" it to where it shows up when a reader clicks on a specific category (my faith, love + marriage, etc)?

The labels that appear in the sidebar of my blog (which I like to think of as my "table of contents" or "blog directory") are not through any standard widget offered by Blogger. Instead, it’s some pretty simple HTML coding I wrote, making use of the “category tags” that Blogger provides. Here’s how it works:

First, you want to set up your categories. These are the descriptions such as “my faith” or “recipes” that the posts will be lumped into. You can set these up when you open a post in Blogger (a new or a previously published one): At the bottom of each post, there is a little box where you can enter your category tags for that post. Then, once you post an entry with that category tag, it turns into a link, which you can click on and it will search your site for all posts that fall into that category. (For instance, I’ve tagged this post to fall in the category “questions and answers.”)

Click on that link that’s at the bottom of the published post, it will pull up a search page of all the posts that include that category tag. Now, you can link that search page (which will automatically include all posts, starting with the most recent, that fall under a specific entry) to your blog to serve as a makeshift table of contents or directory.

To do that, I used a blank widget, which in blogger is the "HTML/Java Script" choice on the widget screen, and opens up a blank document that you can add any text or HTML you want to it. (Anyone else think “widget” is such a weird word? I feel like a goof just saying it over and over again!)

Then, in that window, you can link the URL of the search page either to text or to an image. (I like to use images, such as "about me," "love + marriage," etc.,  and upload them to Photobucket.com. Here's a website that offers some pretty basic instructions on how to link images, if you don’t already know how.)

Save the widget, and you’re all set!

Do you have any more questions? In my next Q&A, I'll tackle some of the specific design questions I've been asked, so feel free to chime in and make sure I touch on yours! You can add any new questions to the comments section of this post or send me an email. Thanks!

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Your Questions Answered: Starting a Blog

Last week, I invited you to ask me any questions you might have that I could answer in upcoming posts, whether it's follow-up regarding anything I've written about in the past, curiosities regarding any of my personal experiences, or your general blogging questions.

Here's my first installment of answers to two questions I received, which both revolve around starting a blog. In the following weeks I will continue to respond to your questions, so please feel free to ask any that come to mind in the comments below or on the original post.

Q: Lately, I had been thinking about starting my own blog but I was unsure of which website to use. I noticed that you did your old blog on Wordpress and your new one on Blogger.  I was just wondering which one you think is better?

I did look at different platforms to host Life Blessons on and, while I know many other bloggers do prefer Wordpress, I ultimately decided that Blogger was a better choice for me. Especially after having used Wordpress for a year, I found that Blogger was more customization-friendly, which if you're into tweaking your design like I am (which I'll talk more about in a future post!), this is a key to take into account. I think you can do more tweaking on Wordpress if you upgrade to a paying member, but I saw no reason to have to pay for something I could get elsewhere for free! As I'll share below, there were some slight sacrifices as well as additional benefits that did come with choosing Blogger over Wordpress.

When I originally started this blog with Blogger, there were some features that Wordpress blogs had that Blogger ones lacked. Fortunately though, it seems that Blogger has been slowly been improving many features, even just over the past year that I’ve had this blog. When I first started, you couldn’t create separate pages, but they’ve since added that feature (à la my “About Me” page). They also continue to add standard blog templates and recently debuted their “Template Designer” where you can do a bit more tweaking without having to play directly in the HTML file.

However, I still would like to see more variety of widgets available from Blogger, and Wordpress does offer some great ones. But because people are continuously hacking codes to make similar ones work on Blogger and because Blogger does slowly seem to be adding more options (most recently one that will display your most popular posts), I don’t feel like this has hindered my blogging, which is why the trade-offs of a Blogger account outweighed a Wordpress one for me when I started up Life Blessons just over a year ago.

One of the other perks I found for using Blogger (and I don't think this is available on a freebie Wordpress blog) is the ability to integrate Google Analytics. I like having access to the Google Analytics info because it gives you great insight into how people get to your site, what search words they use, how many visitors you get, etc. I think Wordpress has their own version of this (as does Blogger), which both give a good at-a-glance vantage point, however the Google one drills down deeper to give you a customizable and comparative view that the others can't really rival.

Q: I was wondering about your reviewing of books. Is that the official job you had or is that more of a hobby? I’ve thought about starting a blog and might want to consider reviewing books, too.

As far as reviewing books, it's completely a hobby, although I wouldn't mind making it a career! I love getting the chance to learn new insights and perspectives from a variety of authors and a new book always holds such promise and potential, even if it sometimes fails to deliver that in the end! But you never know until you read it and there's usually always something you can glean from the pages.

If you want to get started doing book reviews, what I would recommend first is to sign up for my favorite blogger review programs from two Christian publishers, which I've linked to here. Both of these programs will accept any blogger; the only caveat is that you can only request and review one book at a time. Until you post that review, you can't get another book. But it keeps you motivated and reading!

I'd also recommend reviewing books you're already reading or can recommend so that you can build up a repertoire of reviews on your blog. Alternatively, you can also go to the library and find new books that you can review, which is what I did with the book The Jesus I Never Knew that I shared in posts like this one.

Then, once you have a handful of reviews posted, you can try to email publishers directly and ask for a copy of their book that you can review on your blog, which is how I got my copy of Canning and Preserving that I reviewed here. I've had decent luck doing this; some publishers don't really think blog reviews are helpful and some are pretty open to it. But it's worth a try!

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Ask Me Anything! Submit Your Questions

UPDATE: I've started responding to some of your questions in a new Q&A series. If you'd like to keep up with the latest of the Q&As I've posted, click here.

One of the things I like best about blogging is the back-and-forth that happens between me and those who read this little blog of mine. Occasionally I've received a few comments and emails asking more about a specific topic I've blogged on, my experience regarding different situations, or blogging advice.

Normally, I just write back directly, answering these questions as best I can. But I thought that perhaps more people could benefit from the questions asked and my attempts to answer them.

So I wanted to officially invite any questions you might have—whether it's follow-up regarding anything I've written about in the past, situations or advice, or your general blogging questions. Then, in the coming weeks, I'll start to answer them in regular blog posts.

Feel free to ask your questions anonymously if you like; there's an option in the comments below to post anonymously or you can privately send me a question anonymously via my email form (just type "anonymous" and "anonymous@anonymous.com" into the name and email fields). If you'd like your name/blog associated with your questions, that's fine, too! Just let me know and I'll happily include that attribution.

I'm looking forward to the questions you all have up your sleeves and appreciate you taking the time to send them my way!

Click here to view the latest questions readers have asked me, and my responses.

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