December

Wow, December has whirled by and 2013 is nearly upon us! I haven't been able to get anything posted until now because I've just been too tired to get around to it! Clint has been on break for the whole month, so I picked up extra shifts at work. It was really great to get extra work, but it sure wore me out!

Towards the end of November, I finally finished my niece Briella's quilt and was able to send it back to her with my parents when they visited for Thanksgiving. Overall, I'm really happy with the way it turned out, and I hope "The Belle" enjoys it for a very long time!

This is my sweetie pie niece laying on her quilt. Could she be any cuter?

I was also able to whip out some stockings just in time for Christmas. I'm happy with the way they turned out too, although I admit that they're not very useful. They're so long and skinny that not much fits into them.

Vivian's is on the left, Clint's in the middle, and mine is on the right.

Speaking of Christmas, it is so much more fun with a baby! Vivian really is the delight of our lives, and we absolutely loved sharing such a special time with her.

Caught in action giving her endless pounder a good whack with the hammer.

Studying her new toy.

I like to wrap things in plain brown paper and twine. It's so much nicer than all the glitz and glamor.

A Christmas morning fire. My heart could burst.

Also this month, as part of my Re-education, I've been slowly reading Bleak House by Charles Dickens. I'm only about 1/3 of the way through, so I'm still suspending judgment, but I will say that so far I don't love it, I don't hate it . . . it's just very interesting. I've never read an author like Dickens before. Anyone out there have any opinions on Bleak House or Dickens?

Lastly, I want to share with you something that I'm absolutely over the moon about. This month Clint and I began sponsoring Molika through Transitions Global's Project EveryGirl. Many of you know that the issue of human trafficking is very near and dear to my heart, and that in the past I've been deeply involved in working against it. For the past few years however, I haven't been a part of any direct action, but have been eagerly on the lookout for the right opportunity. When Clint and I heard about Project EveryGirl and the chance to sponsor an individual girl in her process of restoration with Transitions Global (an organization we visited while in Cambodia), we knew we had discovered just the thing. After visiting Transitions Global, touring their home, and learning about their program, we were deeply impressed with the organization and really wanted to find a way to be a part of the amazing work they're doing. More than four years after our visit, we're finally getting that chance! If you also want to make a direct impact in the lives of those devastated by human trafficking, I can't recommend Transitions Global enough. They have an amazing program and are making a real, lasting difference in the lives of a lot of young women. Below is Molika's profile. There are many other girls needing sponsors too. I encourage you to check out the website to see which one inspires you!

A Very Bookish Birthday

Yesterday Clint and I celebrated our 32nd and 26th birthdays, respectively. If the day was an indication of the year to come, then I'm liking the look of 26. I'm liking it a lot. My birthday was filled with so much love that I'm positively overflowing from it all.

I told my sister that my one birthday wish was for Vivian and I to Skype with her and Briella, my brand new niece! Briella Ann was born on October 7th, but since we live exactly 724.06 miles away from each other, Skype is the closest I can get to this little sweetheart for now! Getting to see her was a wonderful birthday gift. Isn't she absolutely beautiful and just as sweet as could be? Vivian was so excited to "meet" her cousin! She got really hyper and turned into a little wild woman. I could barely keep her contained. She wanted Briella to come over and play!

Clint came home early from work, and while Vivian was taking an extra long afternoon nap for us we shared our free birthday entree from Moe's - yum! Then we exchanged gifts with each other. I had gotten Clint a nice new pair of wool socks, and he gave me . . .

. . . a book about making my own clothes that has been on my wish list for ages! Since my parents got me a sewing machine for my birthday, he couldn't have picked out a better gift! I can't wait to get into it and start experimenting, but I'm forcing myself to finish Briella's quilt and some long overdue birthday gifts before I embark on any other projects. Clint is a really good gift-giver. He puts a lot of thought into it and always comes up with exactly the right way to say, "I love you."

My mother-in-law gave me a little money to buy myself something, so I marched myself and Vivian right down to our local independent bookstore, Avid, and just happened to catch them on their one year anniversary! I finally picked up a copy of one of my all-time favorite books, To Kill a Mockingbird, and also chose Wendell Berry's Bringing it to the Table. For Vivian I picked out a simple animal board book and also another BabyLit board book, Dracula. I thought it was fitting with Halloween just around the corner. Have you seen these BabyLit books yet? They're amazing! They are board book versions of classics. Our first one was Jane Eyre (another all-time favorite book of mine, and is probably Viv's favorite book too), and we also have Alice in Wonderland. I'm planning on A Christmas Carol for a stocking stuffer, and the other two current BabyLit books are Pride and Prejudice and Romeo and Juliet. And I hear three new one are due out in the spring. I'm not excited or anything.

I also received a completely unexpected package in the mail from my dear Sharon.

Three board books for Vivian about famous artists (how amazing is that?! I especially adore the van Gogh one) and an awesome quilting book for me! This is another book I'm refusing to let myself get into until I finish some of my lingering projects! The package also included some amazing fabric, selections that are just exactly my taste. (Sharon is another really good gift-giver.) They will be included in the quilt Sharon, Maggy, and I are all sewing our own versions of together. And check out that handmade card! It's easily my favorite thing from the whole package. So creative and full of love! And I literally had to pick my jaw up off the floor when I opened it. She included TWO unbelievably beautiful pendants from her etsy shop Wrought. I was blown away by her generosity, creativity, and friendship.

I also received sweet cards, texts, and facebook posts from other friends and family. I was totally feeling all the love!

And finally, I'll include a few photos from our hike up Tray Mountain on the day before our birthday. What more could I wish for than to spend a beautiful fall day in the mountains with my two favorite people in the world? Nothing, there is nothing more I could wish for.

Pre-hike. Just before setting off!

At the summit! Viv sure does love her dad.

Standing tall on the highest point of the mountain.

Vivian has started pointing at everything. I just can't help but squeeze her and kiss those sweet cheeks!

The Bernette 20

Would you pause just for a second and take a good look at this beauty? Notice the sparkle. Notice the 60 different stitches. Notice all of the other features that I don't even have names for. Isn't it absolutely lovely? My parents bought this shiny new sewing machine for me as a combined birthday/Christmas present. My dear friend Sharon helped me pick it out and was just as excited about it as me I think. I call it my second baby, and it's part of the reason that yet another month has flown by since I've blogged. Every free second I get I've been whipping things up with it! The first thing I did was to finally finish the ring sling I had started before Vivian was even born. My old sewing machine piddled out on literally the last step before it was complete. All the layers I was trying to sew through were just too much for the old dame. But the Bernette sliced through those layers like butter! It was a beautiful thing. I used this tutorial in case you're interested in making one for yourself. It was super easy and fun! Vivian and I love it!

I also made a fabric high chair for the Viv using this tutorial. We were feeding her on the floor in her Bumbo, but that got old pretty quickly. Now she can sit at the table with us to eat! Can you tell that she loves it? Another quick, easy, and fun project.

For my next project I'm currently cutting endless mounds of fabric for a 'quilt' I'm making for my niece who is due to arrive in early October! I have a about half of the cutting part done so far and am working double time to try to have it finished by the time she's born! I can't wait to share photos of that once it's finished, and then to continue blazing through my "To Stitch" list. There are about a million things on it. What about you? Are you stitching anything exciting? Have any favorite tutorials to share? I'm going to try to blog a bit more regularly. No promises though. So until next time, happy stitching!

Easy Homemade Beauty Products!

Here on Ear to the Earth, we mostly talk about what goes into your body and the importance of a whole foods plant based diet, but today I want to discuss a few things that, although we don't eat them, end up inside our bodies all the same. As I'm sure we all know by now, our skin isn't an impenetrable barrier between us and the outside world; it is, in fact, permeable, and much of what our skin comes in contact with is absorbed straight into the bloodstream! I've been slowly transitioning the few beauty and personal care products I use from the creepy chemical-laden store bought brands to clean, safe, and simple homemade ones for some time now, but then one day I thought, "I kiss Viv's chunky little cheeks about 50 million times a day. I do NOT want to be plastering her with all these creepy toxins!" And so the great clean out has begun. I started with products I use on my face, since that's what comes in contact with her the most, and will move on to hair next. Until then, let me share with you these simple (but important!) changes I've made.

One of the only bits of makeup I wear is blush, and the only thing you need to make your own is a beet! I got the instructions from my favorite blog, YumUniverse, and I encourage you to toss whatever blush you're currently using and make your own beet blush today. It has such a nice subtle and natural color that I just love and can feel so good about applying to my skin.

I don't really use eyeliner, but sometimes for special occasions (like my wedding) I do use eyeshadow. Here is a super simple way to make your own eyeshadow/eyeliner from activated charcoal capsules, which you can find for less than $10 at your local health food store, and it works so well! Much better than any other eyeshadow or eyeliner I've ever used.

And finally, the lip balm. This is the one product I use all the time. Right after Vivian was born, the only things I wanted were water and my lip balm - ha ha! This recipe is marvelous, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to make enough to have one tin in every room of the house. It really is that good! Here's how to make it:

1t beeswax
1T coconut oil
1T grapeseed oil
6 drops orange essential oil (You can substitute other essential oils here; just be sure they're safe to apply to the skin!)

• Heat beeswax and oils together in oven (on lowest temperature setting possible) till melted.
• Remove from oven and add essential oil.
• Pour into 2 lip balm tins, cap, and allow to cool.

These three things are so easy and inexpensive to make on your own, and the finished products are well worth the small bit of effort required. If you try any of them, I'd love to hear how they turn out!

THINK!

I had a conversation recently that really saddened me. It was a conversation with someone I care about, and it was about a subject that's frequently discussed on this blog. I'll be the first to say that the topics on here aren't necessarily "conventional" (What would be the fun in that?), and I'm used to being received with strange looks when I bring them up! Things like babywearing, minimalist living, extended breastfeeding, whole foods plant based diets, natural remedies, elimination communication, composting, making your own clothes, alternative vaccine decisions, growing your own food, and even yoga aren't widely embraced in our society. And that's ok! I don't expect anyone to have the same opinions as me or to agree with me about all of these things. But what saddened me about this conversation I had was the absolute, blind, and uninformed closed-mindedness of the other person. Instead of looking at the subject honestly, it was incorrectly stereotyped and flippantly dismissed in a ridiculing way. Ouch. Ouch not that I was made fun of, but that this person who is important to me so brazenly and intentionally discarded evidence-based truth in favor of a (literally) toxic norm, for no reason other than that what I think is "weird," and outside the status quo. A different opinion based on scientific evidence and logical reasoning would have been most welcome! But this was based on nothing. I am no expert in anything discussed on this blog and am hopefully always learning and open to ideas that seem foreign to me. But a different opinion based on nothing other than what's considered "normal" in this country that is anything BUT normal in comparison to the rest of the world, is sad. I say all of that to say that I hope Ear to the Earth is an environment where THINKING for ourselves is encouraged, topics are considered critically, and positive change is encouraged! Isn't there always room for improvement? Aren't there always more questions than answers? Wouldn't we be foolish to assume that just because something is normal, it's right? Let's encourage each other to honestly explore all types of various issues, think critically about them, and then put what we learn into practice! Who's with me?!  :)

Handmade

Last Thursday I met my long lost cousin Cami for breakfast at Ike & Jane. She lives pretty close to us and wanted to meet up to give me my baby shower gift, and what a gift it was! She gave me seven cloth diapers that she made by hand! (Check out the facebook page for the business she and another mom run selling handmade children's clothing and cloth diapers.) I knew I was getting these from her, and I was excited, but I didn't realize just how excited I really should have been. They are just as high quality as the other top dollar bumGenius and GroVia diapers I received at my shower, and they're extra cute on top of that. And since they're handmade, there is such a variety of color and pattern. But enough talk, just take a look at them and see for yourself!

The seven diapers in all their cuteness

I'm not typically an animal prints person, but a white diaper with zebra lining? Yes please!

Orange snaps and colorful whale lining - adorable!

There are so many reasons that cloth diapering is superior to disposables, and I'll write a separate post about that some other time, but aside from all the health, financial, and environmental benefits, there's no denying that cloth diapers are just plain cute and so much fun! After falling in love with these, I'm now determined to learn to make my own. Stay tuned for that adventure!

The day Irene blew my best friend to my doorstep

The first time I met Maggy was when she showed up on my front porch to move in with us. She had recently gotten back from Ghana and her long hair was still in braids-turned-almost-dreadlocks. She had about one suitcase and one box for her bedroom, and the rest of her car was packed full of plants and kitchen supplies, including peaches she had canned herself and other things that seemed weird to me at the time. The only other thing I knew about her was that her favorite color was pink, and in light of what I was seeing as she moved in, I wasn't all too sure I was going to like her very much. Well, to make a long story short, we became the best of friends in the three short months we lived in the same state, and have been ever since.

Now she lives in Virginia Beach, and last weekend she and her husband were mandatorily evacuated from Fort Monroe as Hurricane Irene made its way straight toward them. They were conveniently evacuated straight to my house! We spent a glorious day and a half visiting all my favorite spots in Athens, eating as much good food as we could stuff ourselves with, and talking pregnancy and babies, since she is also pregnant and due in little more than a month! And, as usual, she bestowed on me all sorts of little things she had been gathering over time, including this way too adorable stuffed elephant that she made. I seriously can't stand its cuteness, and she made me a matching burp cloth to go with it.

Thankfully, Irene didn't cause much damage at all to their neighborhood, but because it didn't, her husband was called back to duty after it seemed they had barely arrived, and they were whisked away again as quickly as they had come. As short as our time together was, I couldn't be more thankful for those invaluable moments we got to spend together. Having a friend like Maggy is a rare thing. I consider myself supremely blessed for the honor of having her in my life!

An August Monday

Clint and I had this quick and easy salmon for dinner last night. It's quite tasty and quite good for you.

One of my favorite things to eat for breakfast right now is oatmeal with yogurt mixed in. Add walnuts and dried cherries and it tastes like pie! Yum.

I made this dress yesterday. There's no use trying to hide the baby bump any longer!

It's all repurposed: The bottom was an old dress; the waistband was a hair band, and the top used to be an old tank top! All sitting un-used and unworn in storage. Not anymore!

Clint's students are giving their first speeches in class today. They have to introduce a classmate. It will be his first time grading anything. Can't wait to hear how it goes!

The baby is moving more and more every day! I'm now always aware of my constant little companion.

I have long wanted to make string gardens. This website just about tips me over the edge with possibilities. I must make oodles of these, and soon! (And here is a good tutorial if you want to make some too.)

A Baby Shower!

Here's  a small picture preview of the sweet baby shower my sister and friend threw for me today.

The gorgeous setting for the shower. The weather was perfect to top it all off.

My sister made me wear a badge that said, "Mom to Be."

A huge box of spotless secondhand clothes from my mom!

A baby sack! Made by a lady from my grandma's church

Finger puppets from my dear friend Sharon

Secondhand exersaucer, blanket, and Boppy pillow and cover from my aunt

My loves Lex and Sharon

A Smidgeon of Creativity

The past week or so has brought about a tiny influx in my daily energy levels, and I can't express how entirely grateful I am about it! You know how you feel extra good after getting over an illness? Well, this first trimester has felt like a very long illness, so this tiny improvement has felt like new life! I have finally had a bit of creativity along with this new found energy, and I would like to share three small projects with you from this past week.

1. This one is a long time coming, but I have finally recovered the seat cushion of my granny chairs I blogged about here. This is what they look like currently. It's a big improvement, but I still want to paint them turquoise, the same color I painted my lamp table that I posted a picture of in that same previous post.

2. I got to bring home an awesome centerpiece from my sister's wedding. She had these branches in a smaller glass cylinder, but I moved them to a crystal vase that's been empty since we received it as a wedding present almost three years ago. Then I added tillandsia (air plants) to the branches! I love love love my air plants. I've wanted some for quite some time and finally found some closeout ones on etsy for about $1 each. They apparently have something wrong with them (that's why they were on closeout), but I think they're absolutely perfect. I still think it needs more color, but it's on its way to being something super cool.

3. My amazing, wise, kind, and generous mentor gave me a kindle on Sunday as a goodbye gift! I really still can't believe it even though I haven't let it out of my sight since then. Well, the first thing I did was make a cover for it! (I found a free tutorial online and modified it a tiny bit.) I used leftover fabric from the first dress I made, a scrap of fabric I cut from a decorative pillowcase I was never going to use, another random scrap, and a green hair tie. It still needs a button sewn on to hold it shut, and I have one picked out that I've had laying around for ages. I have to say that I love my homemade cover more than any other I could have purchased. I really enjoy sewing things, and I would do it much more often if I could get my hands on more fabric.

There are plenty more ideas rolling around in my head, but energy, time, and money force me to pace myself :)  I also want to wait for some of them till we've moved because it's frivolous to create even more things to transport and keep track of during a move. Over these next few weeks I'm going to try to channel my meager energy into clearing out so that we have less to move.

A quick photo update

I finally took a photo of the dress I made! Without further ado, here it is:

I had to take it with Photo Booth, so sorry that it's not the greatest photo, but I will point out my little avocado plant that Maggy gave me on the ledge all the way to the right and the cool chair toward the left of the photo that I got for $12 at a weird second-hand type store. Making the dress was so fun and almost too easy. I can't wait to make more clothes! I have so much inspiration and motivation right now, the only thing I'm lacking is the money for the material :)

I also have to post a picture of the necklace Clint got me. I absolutely adore it and wear it all the time even if it doesn't match. He is so good at picking stuff out for me and puts a lot of thought into it. This necklace is hands down my most prized possession.

Speaking of possessions, I gave away half of my book collection yesterday. I've recently read a tiny little bit about minimalism from one of my favorite blogs in the world, and I came across this quote: "Have nothing in your homes that you do not know to be useful of believe to be beautiful." -William Morris, 1834. With that philosophy in mind, I'm taking a second look at everything I own. I started with my books because those were easy - I can go to the library for any of the books I gave away - but I'm anxious to do a more thorough and deep minimizing in my apartment. For more great minimalist quotes, go here.

Well, there's so much more I want to tell you about, but I have to get to work. Until next time!