Getting It Together {a review}

December 31, 2012 ~ Emily ~ Leave a comment

Among many other things I loved about Tsh Oxenreider’s book, Organized Simplicity, I was drawn to the home management notebook idea. I’m kind of OCD about organizing anyways, and the thought of having a binder full of important documents, schedules, and spreadsheets for just about everything was thrilling to my love of structure.

I never acted on Tsh’s good idea. Meals seemed to get planned and the house was kept clean. Bills were paid and, thanks to Facebook, I remembered 89% of people’s birthdays. As Tim and I adjusted to our new environs and the holidays arrived, we began to eat more meals out of a blue box than I’d like to admit. I couldn’t remember if I paid the student loan bill and our bathrooms suffered the consequences of utter neglect.

Then, I got wind of Kayse Pratt’s new e-book, Getting It Together. Yes, that sounds about right!

A home management system that can be explained in under 50 pages? Sign me up. Stir in the fact that Kayse kept me smiling with her honest reflections about her own home management attempts and I knew this was an attainable approach to home organization.

Plus, Kayse somehow knew that I’d be more likely to use a binder if it was pretty. She provides simple instructions and ideas to make your binder visually appealing on top of having 30 cute printables!

Some of the printables weren’t applicable since I don’t have kids, however, I made copies of five in particular:

Financial Goals
Auto Maintenance Log
Monthly Meal Planning
Perpetual Calendars
My Shopping List

Tim could attest that grocery shopping does nothing to enhance my mood. My stress level escalates the longer I wander around trying to find everything on my list. I end up leaving unhappy and huffy, never wanting to set foot in a produce section ever again.

I’ve always thought grouping items by location would be the answer to my problems (in addition to avoiding Fred Meyer on a Saturday afternoon), but I didn’t want to bother with the initial break down of grocery store departments.

Kayse did it for me! With tons of food to purchase before Christmas, the shopping list printable was such a time saver. I wasn’t pushing my cart back and forth across the store or buying things I didn’t need. One loop around the store and I was in the check-out line.

Thanks to Getting It Together, there is hope for a home management binder becoming a reality.

Hop on over to Kayse’s blog to grab a copy and we can get it together, together!

Here’s even more ways to to get Getting It Together:

Subscribe to Kayse’s newsletter.
Purchase as a PDF for just $3.99!
Purchase for Kindle on Amazon.

A Twitter party {#gettingittogether} is happening on Thursday, January 3rd at 7pm. Connect with others trying to get it together and discuss New Year’s resolutions, home management tips and tricks, and the ups and downs of keeping our homes running smoothly!

Kayse is also giving away one set of custom printables!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Read Along The Road {e-books}

December 28, 2012 ~ Emily ~ Leave a comment

Generally, I’m a flip pages, hard-bound in hand kind of girl, but I’ve recently discovered the joys of reading e-books. My idle down time is now spent chipping away at my reading list instead of playing iPhone games. I have a Nook Color and use the Kindle app on my phone so all my e-reading bases are covered.

I devoured a few e-books in the the past couple weeks using the read-while-your-waiting-for-anything and read-while-your-crossing-the-street methods. I thought two, in particular, were worth passing along. I happened to score both of mine for free at one time or another, but e-books are generally inexpensive (and offered for free quite often!).

E-Books Worth Reading

Finding The Core of Your Story by Jordan Smith

I’ve heard of taglines, but until I read Jordan’s entertaining book, I had never heard of a logline. Loglines are one-sentence summaries used to explain the essence of a movie or novel. In one sentence you can introduce the hook and key ingredients of a story and succinctly leave people wanting more.

Jordan has a screen-writing/fiction perspective on loglines, but the ability to give an elevator (short enough for an elevator ride) description of whatever project you’re working on is a valuable skill to learn. It also gives your writing focus and purpose.

Though I write non-fiction, I love the elevator speech concept and plan on applying Jordan’s logline principles to keep blog posts on point and develop a confident reply when people ask what Primitive Roads is all about.

You can get an overview on crafting loglines from a blog series Jordan wrote.

Community Wins: 21 Thoughts on Building a Thriving Online Tribe by Bryan Allain

Bryan’s book was the exact kick-in-the-blogging-community-pants I needed. I read it once through and was overloaded (in a good way) with ways to grow a healthy community. I’m looking forward to the re-read so I can make good on his suggested action steps.

His approach to building a community – around your writing, your art, your message, your anything – relies on the ability to push past perfectionism which happens to be one of my bigest obstacles Time wasted is progress lost forever. Bryan is honest about the ups and downs of this process, but it’s like he was whispering in my ear, “That book won’t write itself, Emily,” and that’s just the message I needed to hear.

I especially liked his “love/like” time management system:

The key is to avoid spending downtime on things you merely like so you CAN spend it on the things you love and still be productive. [Kindle Locations 610-611]

If you’re wanting to be more intentional about supporting and growing your community, Community Wins is a great place to start. Bryan’s personal experience, combined with practical exercises, will get you well on your way to building that thriving online tribe.

Have you read a good e-book lately? Do share!

Listen up, it’s Luke!

December 24, 2012 ~ Emily ~ 2 Comments

I like Luke.

He’s a doctor – always a plus.

He’s a details guy – and isn’t ashamed of his knack for keeping facts straight.

He’s confident – not ashamed to share his gifts.

In a letter to Theophilus, he makes a bold statement:

It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very frist, to write to you an orderly account…that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed. {Luke 1:3-4}

I don’t know about Theophilus, but I’m paying attention!

With that type of introduction, you better believe I’m going to note every detail Luke records.

Luke doesn’t begin his Gospel account with Jesus, but with the birth narrative of John the Baptist. I picture John’s soon-to-be parents, Zacharias and Elizabeth, as the older couple at church who immediately give you grandparent vibes. Their faith was time tested and earnest, their hearts full of a genuine love for God.

But, they didn’t have kids. Children seemed like a dream of the past since they were both pretty old. God performs a miracle in Elizabeth’s barren womb and she gives birth to the man who would “go before [Jesus] in the spirit and power of Elijah…to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

In just a few paragraphs, Luke shares these happenings and I’m struck by the details he deems important enough to include. Luke pays attention to the circumstances surrounding Gabriel, an angel of the the Lord, appearing to Zacharias to tell him the news of Elizabeth’s pregnancy- therefore, so do I.

“So it was, that while he was serving…” (1:8) – Zacharias was fulfilling his priestly duties. He was actively doing what God had called him to do – serve in the temple. I may not be a priest, but I am certainly called to serve God, serve the body of Christ, and serve my family. Am I doing that actively, regardless of my current circumstances?

“And the whole multitude of people was praying outside…” (1:10) – Last time I checked, a multitude was a whole ton of people. This large group of people weren’t chatting or sitting idly, they were praying. God is visible through prayer. I need to pray. We need to pray. Do I live a lifestyle of prayer? Am I encouraging my community to pray?

Luke used 15 percent of this story to communicate these actions. He could have focused on Elizabeth’s feelings or the town’s reaction. Instead, he devotes space in his narrative to emphasize the power of service and prayer.

Seasons {a mom’s reflection}

December 21, 2012 ~ Emily ~ 2 Comments

I thought of many ways to introduce this post.

I could talk about how much I love my mom. I could talk about how moms have this uncanny way of knowing exactly what you need to hear. I could talk about how this message made me cry, the words meeting me and traveling with me on this primitive road.

But, the simplest thing to do is just explain.

My mom knew that I was struggling with the cold, struggling with Christmas, struggling with adjusting to this new season of life. She sent me an email yesterday. This is what it said:

Sovereign in all seasons. I have been contemplating that theme for awhile. It was a particularly meaningful/challenging/powerful meditation as I decorated the Christmas tree on Sunday afternoon. I’d put it off for over a week, having put the lights on a week ago. Finallly decided I’d better just go for it, anticipating a significant emotional challenge: in 56 years, I have NEVER decorated a Christmas tree by myself.

SO… I put on the Christmas music, Greg had lit a fire and brought in the ornament box, and I prayerfully committed to choose joy and thanksgiving in this new season. It was a constant recommitment, that choosing, as I remembered with so much love the significance of special decorations.

One of my recurrent thoughts, when I felt myself slipping into sorrow, was “What would I want to be different?” My children living at home forever, never experiencing the joy of having a spouse and children of their own? To everything there IS a season, and a time for EVERY purpose under heaven. Amen and Amen.

I was genuinely comforted and experienced a quiet joy knowing that my loving Father is, indeed, designer of all my seasons.

His blessings in the springtime of babies and toddlers, storybooks and puddlejumping; an amazing summer of growing children and a growing faith, Bagelry breakfasts and dinnertime laughter… I’m certain that the God of those precious times and memories will continue to reign in my autumn, orchestrating blazing colors and harvest blessings in my life.

May I not limit His purposes with my fear of the unknown or lack of trust in His sovereignty, love, and care.

That’s my prayer and that was my thought process for a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon. Absolutely earnestly praying for you, my springtime Cria, as you walk with your Abba through your own change of seasons.

Seasons, by nature, are ever changing. When one passes, another arrives, bringing its own unique changes and challenges.

My instinct is to rush through each season in hopes of eliminating discomfort. These words reminded me to slow down and embrace the joy in each season.

Crockpot Apple Butter

December 20, 2012 ~ Emily ~ 2 Comments

Slowcooker Apple Butter

Simple.

4 ingredients.

Crockpot.

Have I convinced you yet?

Homemade apple butter always seemed complicated until my mom discovered this crockpot method.

Crockpot Apple Butter

Peel and chop enough apples to fill your crockpot. Cook on low for 8 hours. Add vanilla extract and brown sugar (or maple syrup for no-sugar peeps) and let it cook some more. The result is a thick apple spread with intense flavor.

Now, I have no excuse not to have copious amounts of this versatile condiment in my refrigerator. Now, please excuse me while I dip my finger in the jar…

Crockpot Apple Butter

Author: Emily C. Gardner

Four simple ingredients transform into an intensely flavorful condiment you’ll want to have all year around. Use maple syrup or honey for a spread with no refined sugar.

Ingredients

10-15 apples (Amount depends on the size of your crockpot. Use a variety. I like a mix of Golden Delicious, Fuji, and Braeburn.)
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/3 cup maple syrup or 1/2 cup brown sugar

Instructions

Peel and core apples.
Chop each apple into 8 pieces.
Fill your crockpot to the brim with apple pieces. My 6-quart crockpot holds 12ish medium apples.
Turn crockpot on low and cook for 8 hours. I let mine cook overnight.
When you wake up, give the apples (now brown) a stir. Add vanilla, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Mix to combine.
Let the apple mixture cook, uncovered, in the crockpot until it has reduced to your desired thickness. Mine usually takes a couple more hours.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge or can it for later consumption.