The Social Porcupine

One of my friends wrote this really neat blog post about how to ice dye . So, of course I had to try it out. I won't teach how to ice dye in this post, as my friend's post I linked to above is more than adequate. But I will say that ice dyeing is a fun form of tie dyeing.  The first time I did it, I decided to teach a handful of girls while I was learning myself ;D  (Every other Tuesday afternoon I have a "Girls' Afternoon" at my home. I teach the girls some small, fun thing, then have some sort of Bible study.) Anyways, I didn't have shirts, so we dyed tea towels. I was happy with how my towel turned out. It has an eye in the center ;)  This is an awkward picture... but there are some of my girls, and on the table you can see all of our towels going through the process of dyeing.  But I enjoyed the dyeing so much, I had to do it again. So, when the little boy I babysit turned 5, we did a morning of dyeing shirts for his birth...

A lot of girls see babies and are like, "Oh!!!! Baby!! Have to hold, have to kiss, have to squish!"  It's as if they can't control themselves from going crazy over any baby - because it's just too cute. BabiesBabiesBabiesBabies I've never been like this. Babies are just babies to me.  And I've never felt the urge that I just had to have a baby. Baby-crazy girl: "Don't you just want a kid?" Me: "No... I think I'd prefer to get married, first." For a while I thought I may have been weird as most girls love little kids. But my sisters are just like me in this. Then I  thought the reason may have been partly because I have ten younger siblings and I'm just accustomed to babies and kids. I see and hold and kiss babies all the time. So, maybe another baby wasn't new to me. - Even though I was always excited for another baby sibling. But then I saw other girls, part of large ...

I love to argue/debate. But I don't like to make enemies. For me it's about stretching my mind, or maybe helping the world see things better. It's rarely about me trying to be right – actually, that's not true. I do like to be right. Lol. Who doesn’t? But I like to have fun, too. I like peace. I don't want to make the other person mad (permanently). And for that reason I refrain from resorting to insults, and I laugh off the ones directed towards me. Or try to ;)  Trashy words of insignificance do no good. They only take the focus off the point. And when I'm arguing I like to stay on topic, not get personal . But a while back an insult directed towards me actually made me think. “You're just dogmatic.” We were talking proofs for God's existence. And that was the name I was called. Dogmatic. What all bad, hard willed, unrelenting Christians are called. I almost laughed it off, and continued on to my next point, but inst...

Who'd know… it's 2017! Life moves a long so fast, one year to the next. These last few years have been so full, of very good times (and very hard times). Yet, even though so much has happened, the time that has passed has been nothing. My family: December 2016.  Just looking back over it all. Trying to figure out how I got to where I am today. Considering all of it. It's truly amazing – it's awe-striking. Life is just too good to not love. Even the difficult times I would never change – for they are very much a part of making everything what it is in my life. 2016 was an amazing year. I spent several months volunteering for Above Rubies . I watched several of my friends marry – Esther, Meadow , and Shelby. I was there for most of Rashida's pregnancy, and got to meet little Ezzie. I had my horse accident – which was not fun, but it happened, lol. I learned more about confidence and friendships. So much more. ...

Every now and then some tags just make you super excited. Like this one that Alexa nominated me in. Only thing: Why is it a book sacrifice? Because all the books I'm about to mention, doing this thing to them would be no sacrifice to me. AT. ALL. It would be my pleasure to take such a hand in their demise. *evil and satisfied laughter*  I present to you the: An Over-Hyped Book Situation: You are in a bookstore when the zombies attack. Over the loudspeaker, you hear the military informing you that over-hyped books are the zombies’ only weakness. What over-hyped book will you chuck at the zombies? Christian romances better labeled "garbage for the mind." LOL. First off, just about any book in a book store is over-hyped - all the good ones take a lot more work to find. Ya' know, the things worthwhile (doing or reading) in life aren't acquired easily. It all takes time and effort... But I'd probably choose a Janett...

Hello, all!! I believe in this post I promised to tell you all more how NaNo went for me. First of all it went . (Like literally, November is over, guys). Second of all I, uh, won. I guess that's what they call it when you complete NaNo, though I don't understand why. What did I win? Lol... the feeling of accomplishment???  I don't really call completing a challenge winning. Contests are for (one) winners and (lots of) losers. Challenges are for the many who achieve to do the impossible: stretch their mind for the mere sake of stretching. It's the time to hold yourself accountable to yourself. The thing about challenges is when you fail there are no real consequences, but when you succeed the victory is sweeter than any reward! Rant finished: I am a NaNo completer!!!!! Now for my story of how it actually went. The last couple weeks of October I spent doing a lot of thinking... "talking" to my ch...

I am really excited to share about a project I just finished. Also, keep in mind that I do custom orders. About five years ago I saw the most gorgeous scarf in our local co-op. It was 100% Rayon, covered with beautiful embroidery. But the price was far above what I was willing to pay. So, I went to Joann's and bought some nice looking off white rayon. I bought enough to make two scarfs. One for me, and one for my mom. I hemmed them both up, and unraveled the ends creating the tassel. And then I forgot about them ;D Until this last August. After being home awhile, and finally rested from traveling so much, I decided to take up my hand work again. I went through my sewing, knitting, and embroidery things, organizing all my projects. And found the unfinished scarves. And, so, I started embroidering the one for my mom. It took several months of constant work. I just finished it mid-November. Oh, and I used 100% rayon satin floss... so this w...