Life: Mommy's Helper and My Dad's Accident

Hello, people! My blog shows I've been active (thanks to scheduled posts) but to be honest I've been very quiet on the blogging world all of April.

And that's because I've been gone! Kinda... I went to help my friend after the birth of her new baby, Elizabeth, for a month. 

Basically, I was her live-in slave for one month. ;D Cook, clean, help with little girls. Give her 

conversation. I've been keeping up with rewrites for A Series of Thoughts, but besides that it was life with my friend! FANTASTIC LIFE. 

Here's a glimpse of what life was... 

Flying to Kentucky! 

I fly a lot. But I hate it. 

The flying part isn't so bad. But security hates me. They literally always have to pat down my left ankle! Almost always. This time around was no exception.

And running to my connecting flight makes stress have the time of my life. HAHA. Stress and I are thriving buddies, though. So no big deal.

This time I really didn't need to worry though. Because once my first plane landed... my second was cancelled due to weather. And I wasn't able to get another plane until the next day. So arriving barely in time to board my second plane really didn't matter as it wasn't leaving anyways until 5am the next morning.

When they announced our canceled flight many people got mad. One lady holding a small baby started screaming and crying, saying the f-word over and over and frightening her poor baby into tears, too.

I could have left the airport and bought a discounted hotel. 

But... 

1. Discounted isn't free

2. Who wants to go through security again!?

So... I just stayed at the airport, walking around. I caught up with some writing and beta reading. I found new writing spots, took selfies. 

Around midnight I found a chair to sleep in. After a bit a lady that worked at the airport brought me a mat, a lap blanket, and flimsy pillow which didn't matter to me as I never use pillows anyways. I used this pillow to block the light from my eyes.

Still, I slept for maybe two or three hours?

My plane left at 5am. I had a bit of a hard time finding my plane (a lady from Japan joined me on the search) as part of our gate was shut down due to construction.

I will say I was happy to sleep on the plane. And finally arrive in Kentucky.

Yay for bathroom selfies! 

A night at the airport? Hey, no problem ;D 

Hello, Friends!

Most of what I have now is pictures with story captions!

Quick introductions: Mary has been my friend since we were fifteen. She married Caleb when she was eighteen - I got to be Mary's maid of honor :)  Annalise is two. And Elizabeth was born March 31. 

Annalise likes doing "Keturah splits" with me :D 

"What are you doing here?" ~ Elizabeth

Mary and her babies.

Mary and I had to take a fun selife of Halo Top icecream to post on IG... Halo Top comments on many of the posts when you tag them in it ;D 

Food

I did a lot of cooking in KY. Here are some pictures I took :)

I'd bought this chocolate for my whole trip.. but being stuck at the airport with only this and a couple protein bars I ate all of it ;D

Stuffed peppers.

Crock-pot roast, all ready to start cooking.

Chicken cut up and half stuffed with celery, onions, and spices. Potato and carrots made up the sides. 

(I like buying unique fruits) Ugli Fruit... 

Tasted like a sour orange or a sweet grapefruit. I liked it, Mary didn't.

Papaya (left) and mango (right)

Papaya seeds taste like black pepper.
They are actually really good for you, so Mary and I saved
them and added them to our milk shakes. 

This looked pretty and tasted great!

Opening cans with knives was a new experience .

Cauliflower soup.

Texas Beef Skillet.

Bananas with peanut butter + cottage cheese berry whip. The berry whip is one of my favorite things! Look it up and you'll find many easy recipes for it.

Stuffed peppers made with cauliflower instead of rice.

Breyers ice-cream, especially Rocky Road, is my favorite! 

The green cabbage
doesn't show it's

colors very well ;/
 But it was super yummy.
Part of below dish...

Cabbage and quinoa with chicken. I made a soy-like
sauce for the cabbage and quinoa. So yummy! 

Quiche.

Fried deviled eggs.

Don't Forget to Knit! 

Someday in the future (probably a ways off) I'm going to tell you all about a quilt I'm making for my hope chest! It's full of knitted lace, hand embroidery, and hand quilting. I took my knitting along with me, hoping to get a little done. Instead I got a lot done! In fact I knitted all the lace I need right now... two strips each 110 inches long!  I already had one knitted, three strips done totally now ;)

Hiking for Sweet William

One day Mary's father-in-law decided we should all go on a beautiful hike called "Natural Bridge". So we did. On the way we found my favorite flower, Sweet William - and I got in trouble with a park ranger for picking them ;/ But it was so worth it!

These used to grow everywhere where I grew up at in Missouri. Sadly I've seen little wild Sweet William in Montana.

Not only are the flowers gorgeous, they have the best scent in the world. And an extremely long vase life. I keep hoping that some day I'll find a perfume that smells just like these flowers. Until then I'm content with getting in trouble with park rangers.

You can see part of the natural formation in the rock behind us - forming a natural bridge or arch.

Anni found a friend and grabbed her hand and wouldn't let go of her for a long time.

I literally love Sweet William so much ;D 

Always Time To Sew, Too! 

Mary and I both sew, though she loves it more than I do. At one time she did a lot of sewing and I called her a dreamstress (she likes dreaming, too).

We found the time to make matching dresses while I was at her house!

We each designed our own dresses. She made the patterns.

It started with me seeing this fabric at Walmart. Only $2.50 a yard for beautiful Rayon... of course I had to buy two whole bolts! And then Mary and I decided to make matching dresses.

I did my button holes by hand. I'm quite happy with how they came out.

We wore our dressed to a church tea party! 

People kept telling us we looked like sisters (before we wore the matching dresses). To be honest neither of us understand why. What about you? Do you think we look alike?

One of Mary's friends, Alyssa. So sweet and took pictures for us!

Just another fun mirror selfie ;D 

"Really? More Selfies???"

Can't ever have too many.

Baby hair is everywhere.

Ya know where a TV is meant to be? Outside as a selfie prop. 

Recognize art, Capture art.

Like this stuff.

Sunny walks and wild flowers.

New pens for journaling. 

Ready for town.

Sometimes kids don't selfies quite like the rest of us do.

"Don't Forget, I Wanna Laugh."

Been keeping my A Cleaning Gal page alive and strong. Decided to make a twitter page ;D 

Twitter handle is @a_cleaning_gal

I mostly post cleaning selfies with my own hashtag #amcleaning 

About a year and a half ago Mary and I started this comedy page called Ironic Skillet on facebook and instagram. 

Jolly face on top the pot of beans ;D 

I saw this written on a bathroom stall at the airport. I thought... this is not #facts. What is true?  “Earth is Earth and it’s all the same: stupid but home.” It was the one of the few times I've been tempted to do graffiti. But I had no marker ;D

Me: *sees sign* Oh, yay! We can get buggy rides ahead.
Mary: That's not what that sign means...
Me: sure what else does it mean?
*We both laugh*
Later, Mary: I'll never see that sign the same again.

Time To Say Goodbye ;/ 

A few more things and then this long post shall be over... 

First I had the honor of witnessing Mary be baptized!!! 

I think she was very happy. Though she is always happy ;) 

Two days before I came home I found out my dad was in a car accident, totaling the truck he was driving. He was life flighted to a hospital. His legs and an arm are broken along with twelve ribs. His spleen and liver burst. He's been going through surgery and has had a lot of blood and plasma transfusions.

I finally got to see him after flying home a couple days later (security only needed to pat down my right ankle and lower back ;b). He'd already had some surgery and was really swollen - he had breathing/ feeding tubes in, too. Looked rather sad.

People keep asking me if I'm worried... to be honest I haven't been? I've been sleeping fine, and haven't needed to cry... there's no need. I actually don't understand why others' think I'd be upset -- he's alive. He's healing.

Here's what I wrote to try and explain why my siblings and I are "weird" about this:

I continue to see mostly good, it’s so strange how I’ve not felt worried and upset. Just peaceful. All my siblings say the same thing.

The bad thing has happened. Now it can only be good from here on out.

While it’s good to keep praying for my Dad here are some things to thank Yahweh for!

•That my Dad wasn’t found dead in the truck.
•That none of my siblings were with him - he almost always has kids with him.
•That no one else was hurt (other strangers)
•That Dad will be able to walk again.
•That Dad will heal.
•That Dad will “have” to stay home a while 😉 He’s gone a bit too much.
•That the owners to the truck Dad was driving have been super supportive! 💚
•That my Grandma and Aunts are coming to visit!
•And that so many people have been encouraging and offering help!

It’s amazing how there’s so much to be positive about despite everything


 Well, did I overwhelm you with pictures? Do you have a favorite picture? Anything make you smile or laugh or make you hungry and ready to cook?

And thank you for praying for my dad and family as we figure out what this next year is going to be like, and get over the hospital phase!