Happy Independence Day

233 Years ago today, our nations founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence.
Following is an excerpt from the beginning of this important document...
Some of the phrases that jump off the page for me are:

• Endowed by their Creator
• All men are created equal
  
• Unalienable Rights
• Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness
• Consent of the Governed

On this day, I am very grateful to the men that forged this document, and the countless men, boys, and citizens of the 13 colonies that fought and died for my freedom to be able to celebrate today.

How are you enjoying your freedom today? Leave me a comment, I'd love to hear what you're doing! We're working in the yard ;0) Whatever you're doing, going to a parade, picnic, watching the fireworks tonight, I hope you will enjoy it to the fullest, and remember the courageous convictions and bravery, of all those that have stood for freedom!

Legendary Plants

Earlier this spring I decided that I wanted to grow Castor Bean Plants. (Well, really it was my mom's idea, and I just joined in.) If you're not familiar with these plants, they are very large plants. I mean GIANT! They can grow anywhere from 6-8 ft in one growing season, and they start with a seed about 1/2" long. My daughter would call this a family tradition. All the women in my family have grown these monsters, and it was about time for me to take my place in the lineage of the Castor Bean Planters.

So shortly after Mother's Day my friend K gave me some of his seed pods and we split them up with Mom. The kids and I got them planted sometime around the middle of May. As of this morning here's our progress...

At this point I'm getting a little nervous. Keep in mind these are supposed to grow as tall as the house, and as of now they don't even reach my boy's knees. I was just at Mom's house earlier this week and hers are a little taller than this.

But here's the kicker. My great grandmother (Granny) grew these plants and they were the stuff Legends were made of. (Actually Mom's were too, but I don't have any photos of hers) Granny would plant these Castor Bean Plants in the same spot every year. Just take a look, and you'll see I'm not kidding...
That's me and my little brother c. 1970.

Oh man, I've got some work to do! I'm off to give my little Castor Bean babies some food...

Important Lives

It has been a really sad week hasn't it? The loss of three "cultural icons" this week seems to be the main topic of discussion in the last few days. Although it may be necessary to mention the passing of these celebrities here, I tend to think the news media is doing their usual job of keeping these headlines alive. They don't need my comments added to keep the stories going. And while Ed McMahon, Farah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson may have been important people to our culture, and will be missed, I think it is important for our family to keep things in perspective.

There were countless other people in our country that fought and lost brave battles this week. There were also many others that left us too soon, and we are still in shock of the suddenness of their passing. We may, or may not know their names, or have relationships with their families, but their lives were important as well.

Our community of Brownsburg Indiana lost a few important lives this week. Their families will be greatly impacted, and our little town will be as well. The two young Warnock girls watched as their estranged father crept into their house and ended their mother's life in front of them. The Ophoff family lost a teenage daughter to an auto accident, and another young man lost his life in a fast burning fire. These three lives were important. . . equally important as the three celebrities that passed this week, maybe just not as well known. In the eyes of The Lord, all lives are cherished and important.

So after looking at the 9000th photo of Michael Jackson and "Thriller" tonight I just wanted to say to the Warnock girls, the Ophoff family, and the family of the teenage boy in the fire, on this night you are being remembered by our family. We are thinking of you, missing you, and praying for you. Your loved ones lives were important.

A Little Story For Father's Day

A Father's Day Story in pictures. . .
Once upon a time, ok not THAT long ago, I was born. That's me and my dad. c. 1964. I was the first born, and was loved very much by Dad and Mom. It wasn't long however, before the truth about the plans my dad had for me started to come out. Here's proof:
Do you see that? He was planning early on to show me the love of what I affectionately call "dirty work" You know what I mean, yard stuff, raking leaves, picking up sticks etc. He has always had a tremendous work ethic, and still does to this day. So I know deep down, he was just trying to pass this on to me like all good dads do. My Grandpa even joined in on the action!
(By the way, at the age of 12 or 13 I wasn't allowed to mow the grass anymore. I would mow about 5 feet away from the trees and Dad would just have to re do what I did. Smart huh?!)

So I grew and a couple of years passed and Dad continued his quest to teach me the value of hard work. Not only did I have to learn by watching his example, I had to actually DO the work in order to get the full effect. Unfortunately, the opposite reaction started to take effect

Do you see that look on my face? That was the expression I had throughout much of my childhood everytime I had to go outside and "help" with some "dirty work" By the time I was in my teens, I had a great system going, where after I had worked for awhile I would say, "I have to go to the bathroom" and hurry back into the house until he caught me, and made me go back out again. My skill was legendary, and our family still talks about it today. I thought no one would ever match up to my finesse of getting out of work. . . Then this happened
Meet my oldest son. The ultimate shirker of hard work. I just know this child is my payback for all those trips back in the house to get out of my duties!

All I can say is that I'm so glad my brother came along a couple of years after me.
He likes all that dirty stuff! He even wrestled in mud to try and catch a pig and a cow once. But that's a story for another day. Here's my Dad and Brother more recently
They are farmers, fathers, and very hard workers and I couldn't be more proud of them!

I asked my kids to tell their Dad today some of the things they had learned from him. Their answer was lame. . . "How to mow the grass"

Here are some things and famous phrases I learned from my dad

• Don't turn your back on a Ram sheep (ouch)
• Dragging and throwing branches on a brush pile, and splitting wood in the dead of winter didn't kill me after all
• School work is important
• Girls aren't supposed to call boys. The boys are supposed to call the girls!
• "Nobody said it would be easy" (the main one I heard in college)
• And, "Don't pick the first apartment you look at!" (and I did, every time!)

In all seriousness, I have really learned some of the most important life lessons from my dad. He showed me what a great husband was (and I have one), and he taught me how to "think" and be smart. He is often silent and really thinks things through before acting. I'm so glad to have inherited this trait from him. It has served me well throughout my adulthood. And about that work ethic, this week I worked about 60 hours in order to get all my work done. So I guess some of his efforts sunk in after all!

So Dad, when you read this, I hope you are relaxing, not working too hard today, and are having a great Father's Day. I love you, and wish I could be there with you! Happy Father's Day!

What's that you say, "No blog posts since March?"
Well all I can say for myself is that like most things in my life, I'm just hit and miss. I get going on one project then skip from one thing to the next leaving a trail of unfinished, not updated things in my wake. As always, I'll try to be better at posting more often. Now, on to better things...

One week ago today was a pretty tough one here at the Boyles homestead. Oh, it was nothing that serious, just one of those early summer days that starts out great then goes downhill as it progresses. I had made a couple of big blunders that impacted the whole family and made for some pretty ugly inconveniences for all of us. By that evening, I was ready for the whole day to be over. Keep in mind that the first week that school is out for the summer is always challenging. The kids fight over everything, I'm not used to them being home and wanting my attention every waking minute, it's just a whole mess of trying to get re-adjusted to each other.

So when Mr Boyles came home and said, "JJ, you've got to come outside and see this," my first thought was, "oh great, now what!" I dragged myself outside to the front porch to see what was so important. Well, the night before, we (he) had divided up our Morning Glory plants and tied strings to the pillars where they are supposed to be climbing. I knew they were ready to start vining and needed the strings, but I didn't know it would be that soon! There they were, little tiny vines, timidly making their way up the strings. That was surely a good sign our (his) efforts were worthwhile. AND, as if that wasn't enough, I turned around to check on the other plants we're growing and immediately saw this-




In that instant, the whole rotten day was transformed! (Actually my first thought was to hurry and get the camera before this lovely sight disappeared!) We called all the kids out to see it, because who wants to miss a Rainbow! After sufficient ooohs and aaahs everyone went back inside, but I stayed out for a little longer. As special as a rainbow is, this one was definitely more significant for me than other ones in recent memory. To me, it was my very own personal reminder that the Lord was watching over us through our whole crazy day. Really I had known that all along, but to have a tangible reminder was.... well, I can't really put it into words. Whenever I see a rainbow, I'm always reminded of Noah,

"And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come. I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth"
Genesis 1:12-16

What a beautiful display of His love and Grace! So now when the days get rough, or I have another big blunder (I'm certain there will be more!) I'm going to look at this photo I've put up on my wall and tell myself, "It's only money," or "the kids won't grow into adulthood fighting like this." I'll be gently reminded that The Lord is always with me, no matter what.

Have a great Thursday!
Julie

Writing To Relieve Stress. . . . sounds like exercise doesn't it? You know, you hear it from the doctor, on tv. . . eat less, exercise more (blah, blah blah) So the last thing you want to hear from me is that you should start writing stuff down to help you with your stress level! Well, humor me for a little bit, and I'll give you some good reasons to do it, and also some easy tips to get started, or to start writing regularly!

First of all I hope you won't be intimidated by the thought of keeping a journal. It isn't nearly as scary or as boring as it sounds. My journal, which you saw in the last post is a whole mish mash of stuff. I'm probably the only one in the world that could decipher it (which is as it should be!). I started keeping a journal because I was so frustrated with all the little scraps of paper I had lying around that had phone messages, notes for my calendar, to do lists, and on and on. So I made myself a journal and have been using one ever since. You might associate keeping a journal with the old "Dear Diary" days of your youth. Mine certainly isn't like that! Only every once in a while will I write a "heartfelt" entry where I write about something for a whole page or more.
That's where the benefits of keeping a journal comes in.

An article written by Griff, April 2007 states:
"A new report in the news today will interest all writers out there. According to a new study just released, writing can reduce stress.

The study says if you are having stressful experiences, you should not keep them locked up inside. Instead, you should pick up a pen and notebook, and let it all out on paper. The researchers found that by writing about their lives, people tended to visit their doctor less, sleep better, and had a stronger immune system. The idea of writing about things in your life that are causing stress is called expressive writing"

You can read the whole article here. (It's a good one!)

So, writing can help to relieve stress, especially if you don't let the writing itself stress you out! It's not about pouring your heart out every day on paper. That could be very difficult and cause stress in itself. It's about having an outlet available for when you DO need to pour your heart out! I'll be posting more about this subject and some good journaling tips I've found, in the next week.

But in the meantime, I'll bet you want to know what the second part of the big announcement is don't you!

My "Write It Down Special Event" doesn't just include those special leather journals I made, I've got something else to give you. (drumroll, please. . . )

A spare journal to share! My hope is to spread this stress relief as far as it can go, so I'm sending you an extra journal with your order of the special "Write It Down" journal. You are welcome to keep this extra journal, OR, you might just know someone that is going through a rough patch and think they could use something to write in. This little bonus is yours to keep, or give away, it's up to you!

These envelope style journals measure 5 3/4" x 4 1/2" and have 80 pages in them if you count both sides of the page. None of them will be this exact print, each one will vary in color and print. They are bound with a ribbon and have an envelope closure. If you're thinking of giving this little journal to a man, please let me know. Alot of the prints lean toward the feminine side, but I can include a more masculine one if that is your choice.

So there you go! A great "Write It Down" special leather journal AND an envelope journal to share! These journals will go on sale in my Etsy shop, Monday March 9 at 9:00AM. I will have available 13 black leather journals, and 2 burgundy ones. I hope to see you then!

I would love to hear from you in the comments, if you have anything to add on this subject or if you have any great journaling suggestions!

Until Monday! Have a great weekend!

Thoughts on Writing AND a Big Announcement

Can you see it on people's faces? -Stress- As I go about my daily errands, I'm keenly aware that the facial expressions on the people around me have changed recently. Furrowed lines on brows and foreheads reflect worry or concentration and there just aren't as many folks smiling as before. You can even see it on my face as I go through the grocery store with my carefully prepared list. Oh, I start out pretty friendly looking, but as I go through aisle after aisle adding up my items on my phone calculator, I know my demeanor gets more somber.

The fact is that we just can't ignore what is happening in our country. It's all around us. I truly think that for the most part, we try to stay positive and hopeful. But, when we have a friend, loved one, or even ourselves out of work, or afraid of losing our jobs or home, the stress will eventually take it's toll.

As I was thinking about all of this last week, it occurred to me that during difficult times in my life, it has always helped me to write about it. Whenever I've had a problem in my life, like most people, I go through many ways of trying to deal with it. I'll mull it over in my mind for days, talk about it with my friends -ad nauseum- and even play out solution scenarios in my mind. When I finally get desperate enough, I'll go to my journal and Write It Down! This always helps! Usually this simple act helps so much, the anger/ worry/ intensity of the problem will seem a lot easier to deal with. It helps to clear my mind and set a course of action.

I began doing some research and found some really interesting articles on the advantages of journaling. Over the next few days I would like to share with you some of the things I've learned.

I've also been thinking that there must be something I can do to ease some of this pressure even if it's in my own small way! I started digging around in my supplies, made some sketches, did some calculations and came up with something pretty special!

A couple of months ago I got a great deal on some very nice black leather. I've been kind of holding it back for a time when it was really needed, and now is that time! I've designed and made a limited number of this lovely black journal and will be offering them at a very special price while they last. I used the whole hide of leather so there are about 13 black ones, and I threw in a couple of burgundy leather ones that I will have for sale. I am going to be offering them for sale in my Etsy shop beginning Monday, March 9 at 9:00 AM, and will be selling them for $20.00 each. After those are gone, I will be using this design in other leathers like the latigo and dyed leather, but they will sell for $31. so this is a significant savings.

The journal is made of Black, premium grade, thick utility leather and has a wonderful feel to it. I've filled it with 240 pages of a nice weight brown Kraft paper. If you haven't written on Kraft paper, you really should try it. . . it's great! There is a self attached wrap piece that comes around to the front of the journal and is held together with an antique brass snap. The leather cover and wrap around is all one piece which will make it durable and help protect the pages. The size is approximately 6" x 4" x 1 1/2" thick. It really is a great journal, and I've been so excited making them all week, and also so glad that I can offer them to you at this really good price!

BUT WAIT! There's more! I've got a little bit more to add to this special event, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see it! I'm going to keep you in suspense! In the meantime, take a look at some of the other views of this great journal!

Until tomorrow!