Sea of Faces

Warren, after trying MySpace and rejecting it for it's ad content, finally tried out Facebook the night before last. He loved it so much, that I joined up too. So we have been very busy since then exploring all the options and finding friends and family. I am very pleased, but the house is a mess so I better go.

See you on Facebook,
Verity

Snow, Beautiful Snow

When the sun finally came up this morning we could see a lot of new snow. I guessed that it was at least three inches. Sure enough, when measured it with my longest finger later, it came out to over three inches. What fun, now we can go sled. If only we had skis.

Playing out,
Verity

Sara's 1st Logic Problem

In their logic books the girls have recently been introduced to logic (grid) problems. Here is Sara's original - no parental input at all! I am having her type it as well-- I will have her do her own editing.

There were three friends, they each need coats. So they went to the store to get coats. They each got two coats. Each friend had two colors;red and orange blue and green and pink and yellow
The three girls were named:Lolly Becky and Betsy. There was two ten- year-olds,and a six-year-old.Find out who got red and orange, pink and yellow, and blue and green, and how old they were.

Clues:

1. Becky didn't get blue and green.
2. The six-year-old wasn't named Becky.
3. Lolly didn't get blue and green.
4. Betsy wasn't Lolly's twin.
5. Lolly wasn't ten.
6. Becky got red and orange.

Have a logically good time,
Verity and Sara

Heaven on earth?

Lately I have been coming across a collection of ideas about life that are appealing to me.
Voluntary Simplicity. No Buy Month. Buy locally produced goods. Alternative energy. Unschooling. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Slow Food. Organic Farming.

We are as close as we can be to these ideas. I have been an avid fan of my Complete Tightwad Gazette for years. We are increasingly reticent to spend on ourselves and are putting off buying even little things we don't really have to have, so we may have No Buy months frequently, but it's hard to be sure. Buying local is something I would like to try, but it isn't available here except for native clothing or decorative items. Warren is currently in the process of installing mini-windmills on our roof. True unschooling allowed too much control by the child for us, but school is a lot more relaxed this year. We have significantly reduced our processed foods since moving here, so now we only buy a dozen or less multi-ingredient product, half of them condiments and spreads. Instead we are using more rice and legume based meals centering around this week's box of organic produce from our CSA.

But the underlying philosophy of the people advocating these wonderful sounding ideas was something that kept bothering me. New Age shows up frequently and their ideas about government are much different than mine. I went for a walk to clear my head and as I was out and reciting Psalm 84 to myself (I am trying to memorize it) I realized what was bothering me.

These philosophies are focused on personal pleasure and creating a perfect world. That will never happen-- we will never get heaven on earth until Jesus returns. Taking a winter walk in the
Arctic while knowing another person has just died and you will attend another funeral within the week was ample evidence of that to me. The news is replete with more evidence. So we choose not to focus on creating a self-sustaining life for ourselves. It would be so easy to go and find a place where our family could take care of ourselves. But we choose not to. We are trying to give away more to others who are starving either temporally or spiritually. We are more interested in caring for others than for ourselves. Psalms 37:24 says "Yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken or his seed begging for bread." After all, "Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?" Matthew 6:25

Awaiting Heaven,
Verity

A new view of school

I have seriously considered unschooling or delight-directed learning, which taken to it's ultimate conclusion, lets children decide whatever they want to learn. I still agree that the teacher can not decide what a student will learn or when or how, and that learning does happens best when the student is excited and finds it relevant. However I found it difficult to drop "school" altogether, so now I am doing the three R's and Inupiaq. I have a storytime every day that works for our science/social studies/history. Warren also reads some more stories after evening worship. Since our return from Washington, after encouragement from an old friend, added to my own thoughts I found time in our schedule for music and exercise again. The girls seem really ready this time.

Isn't learning fun,
Verity

On the Move

In the last year I have begun to have some new inner urges. I have never been the athletic type, but now I really long to be moving. I am starting to hate sitting still most of my day. I want to move, it 's wonderful feeling to exercise. Sara loves to be active and outside. Abby, born in Alaska though she is, can be a real drag on a family walk if you know what I mean. Miriam seems to have the spirit though. She is always ready to go outside. Yesterday she really showed her stuff when she walked nearly the whole length of the village (at least half a mile). Abby and I just let her lead us, curious how far she would go. Then Abby was begging Miriam to go home but she still wanted to continue her walk. Happily for Abby we were offered a ride home.

Gotta run,
Verity

Wishing you were here...

In Praise of Arms

Valentine's Day is the day that everyone's thoughts turn to love, especially romantic love. But today, one Selawik elder, May is grieving the loss of her husband. In fact, they just brought home his body this morning. Though he had been ill for sometime and was ready to rest, she misses him terribly. When I visited my friend Pauline and mentioned May, she affirmed May's feeling, saying it was like having your arm cut off. She shared how hard it was to lose her own husband.

As I listened, I knew that I can do more to appreciate all that Warren is. May and Pauline have given me a start in that direction. I want to bless my family by my presence in their lives. They are not here to please me, my life was given to me to enrich others. God gave me Warren and my life is so much richer because of him.

Before we married, I committed to myself that I would never say anything negative about Warren to anyone and that I would never use that terrible d-word.These have helped a lot. But it is hard to keep up the passion here without a babysitter, especially in the winter. I plan to be more committed to taking evening walks together. I have been convicted that I have focused too much of myself on our girls. God has gradually been gaining his proper first place in my priorities. But Warren deserves more than he has received from me.

Marriage is so precious; it is the deepest human love we can know. If you are married, I entreat you to do whatever it takes to make your marriage strong in Jesus. If you are not married, be sure all your relationships are guided with prayer.

In love,

Verity

On a Journey with Jesus

Lately I have been feeling discouraged because my life is not in line with what I want to be. But today I was encouraged reading Steps to Christ - a great manual on what it means to journey with Jesus. Being sorry when your life is out of line with Jesus means you are still on the right track. It means he is still working with you. Don't give up. Becoming more a person of love and balance is a passion with me. I don't want to stay the person that I am.

I haven't always understood what is means to be a Christian. I used to be a very frustrated wife and mother who spend my days mostly alternating between wasting time and sleeping late. I am gradually overcoming thirty years of a undisciplined life so I shouldn't be surprised that I still fall short in this area. But I like being on a schedule now, life is definitely improving.

My life began to change after my first miscarriage and Sara's cataract discovery. I had to decide how I really felt about God. I decided that I would stay with God, I didn't want to miss the chance to be reunited the baby I lost. Yet I still did not know how to be a true Christian. I had committed myself to God, but I still had not changed direction.

The next step came when my dad gave me the book Empowered Living by Jim Hohnberger. This book started to open my eyes to how I could become the mother and wife that I wanted to be. The process was continued when I read Parenting by the Spirit written by Sally Hohnberger. Even if you are not married or a parent the principles I learned still apply to you. They also have other books and free online resources. Living as Jesus created us to really is having life more abundantly. How could we settle for anything less?
Here is the testimony of Michelle Brinkman who has a similar passion for the beautiful things of God. The reason I have chosen to get religious on my family blog is the same as hers. I want to see you all in heaven at end of the journey.

Joy,
Verity

To the Universal Recipe and Beyond: A Cook's Odyssey

To be honest, when I began my voyage into cooking for myself, I did know how to cook without a recipe. But if I had a good recipe I followed it exactly. However, my repertoire of favorite recipes was rather small, and I did most of my cooking by memory, i.e. noodles, noodles and more noodles. I knew of a few universal recipes (they provide ingredient categories, suggestions, and proportions, you provide the ingredients) but I felt no need for a recipe in those categories. I already had recipes I liked thank you. I was stuck in orbit although I considered myself a good cook. However, as I have become more faithful in caring for my family, I inched toward an understanding of cooking as an art.

One day, my neighbor causally shared with me how a recipe I gave her could be changed in a variety of ways. This was a major revelation to me. The first time I remember changing a recipe was several years ago when I decided that the oatmeal cookie recipe I had was dry. I tried reducing the oats in the recipe and I was quite pleased with myself because I didn't need to find a better recipe anymore. Later, waiting at some doctor's office, I read an article on Rachael Ray, the “hip” food talk show. She was quoted saying cooking “is not rocket science” when asked about measuring for a recipe. I was getting ready to move out of orbit.

After moving to bush Alaska I have become a lot more money smart about my cooking. We filled our pantry with staples and few processed foods such as spaghetti sauce, crackers, and jam. We eat hot cereal every morning, make all our own bread, and spend very little time food shopping. Subscribing to Full Circle Farm in November, though, is when I really began to see how far I could go in my cooking. In order to have a the greatest variety of food, we decided to become familiar with all vegetables they have to offer. I compare a number of recipes at Allrecipes and other sources and choose what sounds best based on what we have that week. Now I base our meals on beans, rice, potatoes, and our weekly Full Circle Farms box.

The proof that I have discovered a new galaxy came when I compared cookie recipes to create my own universal recipe so I could save time on my Christmas baking. And the critics loved it. I know some of you may have been born in this galaxy, so please forgive my excitement at discovering it. For those of you who are still in orbit, perhaps I will meet you here soon.

Food Explorer,

Verity

BTW: If you are wanting a cooking tip, soak your beans in water that has been brought to a boil, then freeze to dramatically reduce their cooking time.

Our Little Lady

The First Shall Be Last ....to wake up that is.

The World's Smallest Balloon (or is it just a little hot air?)

Miriam in Hats

Of Mice and Miriam