We have a winner!

This morning, I had to giggle when I read Musings of a Housewife's post about choosing her giveaway winner. I also had originally planned to write out all the entrants and post really cute pics of D drawing a name out of a ballcap or something equally precious and ohsounique, but once my comments spilled over the one hundred mark, I began looking for a different solution.

Like dcrmom, I turned to the random integer generator at Random.Org. The Lord, He had mercy on me this morning . . . the number selected by random was number 44! Far, far easier than counting into the two-hundreds, yessir.

So, Sunny Kristi at Sunny Pond Home, it's your lucky day! I look forward to your BIG (hee hee) shopping spree at Northern Essence.

In which I prepare to do some serious drooling

One beautiful aspect of the second and third trimester of pregnancy is that food tastes. so. good. This sorta explains why my first child was nearly ten pounds, and why, judging by the looks of things, Little Sister is well on her way to topping out the nursery scales as well.

Even when not pregnant, I do love to eat. Love. And so I am so excited that darling Megan at FriedOkra is hosting a Meals Make Memories Day next Tuesday, July 31st.





With a name like FriedOkra, you know her food related memories are going to be good! I can't wait to read what everyone else has to contribute. And what food-based memory shall I choose?! My mind swims with possibilities.

Now listen, sweet friends, I know some of you are supreme kitchen goddesses. You don't get to that level of kitchen prowess by accident - you've got some stories to tell. I can't wait to hear them all!

Next Tuesday. FriedOkra. Get there early so you can get a seat at the grown-up table.

Recovering

I'll spare you the gory details, but last night at the SortaCrunchy house was not a pretty scene. D came down with a tummy bug and there was throw-up . . . lots and lots of throw-up. So today will be about cleaning up, scrubbing down, and airing out.

And I'll probably need to lay down a little bit, too.

If all goes well and neither Mommy nor Daddy comes down with this short-lived but violent plague, then I may be able to post something of substance.

If not, then I will definitely be back tomorrow for the Northern Essence giveaway drawing and my first natural living spotlight!

Hope all is well and vomit-free for each of you today.

Wordless Wednesday - The Backyardigans

(The Coach would be highly irritated if I didn't clarify that this is our next door neighbor's backyard. He would never, no not ever, let our grass grow that high.)

Comments, commenting, and fostering discussion in blogland

I had a whole 'nother post in mind for today, but honestly, this discussion prompted by Jeana at Days to Come is much more interesting to me.

The question that spawned the discussion is this: What is the purpose of comments?

Jeana makes great points in her original post regarding how, when, and why the comment section of a blog can be used. I won't restate all of her ideas here (as it really is worth a few minutes of your time to read for yourself), but I think she sums it up nicely in this sentence: "The comment section is a good place to hold a discussion, add relevant points, express that you can relate, or bring up a different side of what is being discussed." Jeana goes on to speak to the idea of using discretion in evaluating a blogger's overall tone and purpose of the post in specific, as well as the blog in general, before leaving a comment for the author. Again, I agree with her on all of this, and so I thought it would be interesting to take the idea a step further.

My question is, what stimulates you - a blog reader - to leave a comment on a post you have read?

In other words, how would you describe your commenting personality?

Are you one who enjoys reading for the sake of reading and rarely leaves a comment anywhere? Do you prefer to wait for a post to come along that really gets you fired up before you say anything? Would you say you that although you read a diverse selection of blogs, you are more prone to comment on the blogs of people with whom you have established a relationship, or are you more likely to just comment as the mood strikes? Do the limitations of time affect what you say and where?

I look forward to hearing what you have to say because I am a bit obsessive over my audience. Notice I didn't say over comments . . . but I do think long and hard about my audience before I post anything. I suppose it goes back to my days as an English major where every. single. piece of writing was evaluated (at least in part) by how well it spoke to the intended audience. For me, comments are a reflection as to whether or not I spoke to my audience in that particular post. I have discovered that within my unique audience, some topics like baby names and extended breastfeeding tend to elicit more of a response from my readers than, say, poetic attempts inspired by a day at the playground. Does that sway what I decide to post here? Certainly! But not to the point where I am going to focus solely on controversial or inflammatory topics out of a desperate need for comments.

As for my own commenting personality - this is an area I struggle with because again, it all goes back to audience for me. When I subscribe to a blog's feed, I feel that I am volunteering to be that writer's audience. Hence, if that writer posts something, I am driven, compelled, to say something. Just as if she called me on the phone to share a new recipe with me, or tell me the cutest thing her son did that day, or tell me about her crappy day at work . . . I would never just listen and hang up without a word. Obviously, these are two different forms of communication and don't require the same manner of response, but I think it is that writer/audience relationship that drives my need to say something after a read a post, even if it doesn't actually accomplish a purpose of furthering the conversation. Just so long as I say something.

Alas, I am a human who operates under the confines of time and don't get to say nearly all that I want to to everyone who shares their thoughts with me via their blog. And because of that, I am a perpetually frustrated commenter.

And double alas - I have gone on (and on) about myself more than I had intended! I so desire to hear from all manner of blog readers on this idea - both my usual, wonderful, precious crew and anyone who clicks over here from Days to Come.

What role do you play in furthering discussion in blogland?

Dog Days of Summer Bloggy Giveaway!

DETAILS - I am not so good with them. I will close comments for entry at 7 am on Friday, July 27th. Winner will be drawn around 9 am on Friday morning. Best of luck! Thanks for stopping by!

Hooray! The day has arrived to kick-off Shannon's Dog Days of Summer Bloggy Giveaway!

I am excited to offer to you the chance to do a little shopping at one of my favorite natural products companies - Northern Essence! Northern Essence is a Work At Home Mom business that creates and carries all kinds of great natural products. Stuff for moms, stuff for babes, even stuff for the man in your life! The winner of my giveaway will choose up to $15 in products from Northern Essence, email me your order, and I will place the order for you so I can cover shipping. Your order will come shipped directly to you. Giveaway offer open to residents of the USA and Canada.

To enter, simply leave a comment on this post. I will randomly select a winner on Friday, July 27th. Good luck! Happy Giveaway Week!

Menu Plan Monday - July 23rd

*** UPDATED WITH CORN BREAD SALAD RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM! ***



Thanks, as always, to Laura for hosting!

Veggies for the week depend on what looks good at the Farmer's Market Tuesday afternoon. I will be happy to post recipes on request.

Monday: Steak Soup (didn't make yesterday), cornbread

Tuesday: Chicken fajitas, Granny's Low-Fat bean dip, salad

Wednesday: Burgers grilled out, chips, veggies

Thursday: Tex Mex Red Beans and Rice, salad

Friday: Corn Bread Salad

Saturday: Colorful Hamburger Rice, pudding parfaits

Sunday: Just me and D, so probably sandwiches

Hope everyone has a great week!


PER REQUEST, here is the recipe for Corn Bread Salad. I found this in the Taste of Home Ground Beef Cookbook, 1999.

From Sherry E., Camden, Arkansas

Corn Bread Salad
3/4 lb ground beef
1-1/2 c. crumbled corn bread (if you like to use an 8.5 oz mix like Jiffy Cornbread mix - my fave! - then 1-1/2 c is about half of what the 8.5 oz mix will make)
1 15 oz can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
4 medium tomatoes, chopped

Topping:
1-1/3 c. mayonnaise
2 t. sugar
2 t. vinegar

In a skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain and cool slightly. In a large bowl, layer corn bread, beans, celery, onion, and tomotoes. In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sugar, and vinegar; mix well. Sppon beef over tomato layer. Spread topping over salad. (Do not toss.) Yield: 8 servings

Haven't made this one yet, but I will let you know next week how it turns out!

For the weekend: a poll, an auction, and giveaways galore!

Check my sidebar! I am taking advantage of Blogger's newest sidebar addition - the POLL.

I would like to start including a weekly Friday feature - a natural living highlight of the week. This feature will include information on natural family living philosophies, products, and practices. But what shall I call it? The fact that Little Sister remains nameless might shed insight on why I need reader feedback to decide on a name for a blog feature. I am totally open to other suggestions by way of comments or email, too!

Two things you want to remember for this coming Monday -
1) The Baby Blanket Auction that Megan at FriedOkra is creating as a Random Act of Kindness. Make sure to check it out - and you won't want to miss some of her other highly enjoyable writing while you are there! (Skin is a must read!)

2) Monday is the kick-off for the Dog Days of Summer Bloggy Giveaway hosted by Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer! I'm excited to be offering a little something and really excited to see what everyone else comes up with!

Ya'll have a great weekend and I'll see ya back here Monday!

See the fine lady upon the high horse . . .

(Very quick follow-up to some of the skeptical comments regarding the amount of sugar in our sweet tea . . . I shared these with The Coach and he told me to tell ya'll that if you think that's too much sugar, then you don't really want sweet tea. You want iced tea with some sweet in it; we like ours to be sweet with a little tea . . .)

Four days into my first real teaching position, I did a crazy thing. I asked my students to write me a note with comments and suggestions on how our first week of school was going. I have never gotten over what one of my students wrote to me:

You're doing a great job and all, but I think you need to get down off of your high horse and realize we are high school students and we like to have a little fun . . . (it's been a few years and I can't remember the rest of his critique)

Once I recovered from the sting of a high school junior telling me to get off my high horse, I took some time to reflect on the truth in the message. Not surprisingly, it wasn't the first time I had been told I needed to get off my high horse. When the exact same phrase comes up again and again in relation to how people experience you, Lady Wisdom invites you to pause and reflect.

The truth is, I do struggle with a judgmental spirit. The truth is I have confessed this many times, yet still find myself getting a little too big for my britches. (And I gotta tell ya, size large maternity britches are pretty darn big, so you can just imagine . . .) The truth is I know God is opening my eyes to this same struggle once again by way of Scripture, sermons, and even blog entries like this one from BooMama.

So today I offer a Thursday Thirteen that is mostly a reminder to myself that there are many, many areas of my life that offer a big helping of humility . . . more than enough to keep me away from the "well, at least I don't do that" buffet in my mind.

1. I lack self-control. I am well on my way to gaining even more weight with this pregnancy than I did with D. And it's not because I am just one of those women who gains a lot of weight while pregnant; it's because as soon as the stick shows a positive, I abandon all I know to be true about good nutrition and overindulge with chocolate, cookies, and all manner of fats. I suppose the sweet tea doesn't help either.
2. I lack gratitude. Even though I have declared that I want to be responsible with sending thank you notes for every gift I receive in the next year, I have yet to write a single note of gratitude for any birthday gift I received last month.
3. I am dishonest. Though the Lord has brought about much victory in this area for me, I confess that when a situation comes up that I don't want to deal with, my very first reaction is to make up an excuse to get out of or around it.
4. I am a lawbreaker. There is rarely a time you will find me driving the speed limit on the interstate. It's nearly always just a hair over.
5. I am selfish. I have been known to contrive and manipulate situations to my advantage, even and especially within my own family.
6. I am a bad citizen. I haven't voted in an election since 2000. And I don't return my shopping carts to the parking lot corrals at Big Mart.
7. I don't live up to my own ideals. Though I am a passionate advocate of cloth diapers for the health of our planet and the health of my child, D has been in disposables since a month before we moved because I am just too tired to get her cloth diapers out and use them.
8. I am lazy. I haven't exercised regularly since two weeks after I found out I was pregnant. With D.
9. I am materialistic. I like stuff.
10. I lack focus. I am leading a Bible study this summer that I participated in last fall, and I decided to be frugal cheap and just use the same book this summer. Since all of the answers are already filled in, I feel like I have been phoning it in for the homework part of this Bible study instead of investing in discovering new answers and insights.
11. I am a worrier. I have more faith in my fear than in my God.
12. Have I mentioned I have a judgmental spirit?
13. I haven't had a haircut in six months.

Now, lest you misunderstand, this is not intended to be a "woe is me! I am so flawed, so broken, so unworthy" kind of post. The last thing I want to do is share this in a spirit of self-deprecation cloaked in false humility as a twisted way of boosting my self-esteem. Nor would I want in any way to dishonor the vast amounts of work God has done in this heart of mine. (In fact, maybe next week I will share thirteen victories that all give glory to God.) Nope, this is just a note to self. Having grown up in Oklahoma, I know there are two ways down from any horse - the hard way and the easy way. The easy way allows you to keep most of your dignity intact, not to mention keeping your clothes clean. The hard way hurts and usually involves a splash in a puddle of mud. As much as it has rained here this summer, the mud puddles are fresh and plentiful around here, so me and my too-tight riding britches are getting down from this high horse of my own volition. Besides, I think I heard someone ringing the dinner bell over at the chuck wagon. Wonder if they have any sweet tea . . .

WFMW: Texas Sweet Tea

Okay, so I am playing a little fast-and-loose with the title TEXAS sweet tea. I know there are plenty of Texans out there who might beg to differ with me that this is how Texans make sweet tea. So let me just say that this is how we in the SortaCrunchy household (firmly planted in Texas) make us some sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet tea.

(We also don't have a recipe handed down to us from a great-great-grandmother who made the original sweet tea. Our concoction is a melding together of many recipes we have come across; we have tinkered and made it our own!)

Recipe for one gallon of sweet tea:

1 gallon of water (divided; tap will do fine)
3 or 4 cups of sugar (how much do you love your dentist?)
12 Luzianne iced tea bags

In a large pot, bring 2 quarts (half a gallon) of water and all of your sugar to a boil. When the water comes to a boil, remove pot from heat and add the tea bags. Cover and let sit. (I'd say at least half an hour, but we let ours sit up to two hours sometimes.) After tea has steeped, remove tea bags and pour tea into a gallon sized container. Fill with two more quarts of water (to make a gallon - the magic of math and measurements!). Chill and serve over ice. I like a lemon wedge or two in mine to cut the sweetness, but The Coach prefers his straight up.

A gallon makes a LOT of tea, so unless you are having company over for a grill-out, you may want to make just half a gallon. Tea (sweet and otherwise) tastes funny to me after it's been in the fridge for three or more days.

Enjoy!

For more Works For Me Wednesday tips, pour a glass of tea and drop by Rocks in My Dryer!

Wordless Wednesday - Showered!

Stoked! And some link love

I don't say the word stoked very often. But I have to tell ya'll I am stoked about the Dog Days of Summer Giveaway carnival that Shannon is hosting next week! Check it:


Doesn't that just look like the most fun?! Yep, stoked I tell ya! I was already planning to do some kind of little giveaway but felt kind of shy about when to do it and how to get the word out. Then presto! Shannon to the rescue! I haven't quite decided what I am giving away yet, but I have a few ideas a'cookin. Stay tuned!

A few links I wanted to mention:

Melissa at Little Woolgatherings is starting the neatest thing - Craftacular Tuesdays! Now, I have nary a crafty bone in my body, but I have plenty o' crafty friends who absolutely need to be participating. (Don't make me call you out!)

I sure do love reading Megan at Velveteen Mind. Take a few minutes, if you would, and go read her Johnny Depp-tastic post and the follow-up reflections for at-home moms . . .

Finally, and oh-so-importantly, I wanted to send you over to yet another Megan's blog (FriedOkra) because I know you will want to read about her upcoming Baby Blanket Auction benefiting Princess Teagan. Please take just a minute to read Teagan's story and consider participating in this Random Act of Kindness for this family.

SortaCrunchy Philosophy and Policies

SortaCrunchy Philosophy

Though I feel it is through natural living practices that I have been able to more fully live out what I have always believed, my identity is not grounded in the world of natural living. My identity is first and foremost in Christ Jesus. I love the Word of God and believe it is ultimate truth. I also believe that many natural living beliefs and practices speak to and echo many passages in Scripture. It is my hope that my life would have a gentle impact on the people and resources around me; that though I am a stranger in this land, I would not pass through this world detached from and uncaring of all that God has entrusted to me. I want to be invested and intentional in the words I speak (here and beyond the confines of electronic communication) and in the choices I make for myself and my family.

Mission Statement

My desire is for the SortaCrunchy blog to be a place of discussion and dialogue at the intersection of faith and a life more natural.

Comment Policy

I welcome comments from any reader at any time! I encourage my readers to offer agreement, disagreement, correction, support, and related resources. Additionally, I reserve the right to moderate and, if needed, delete comments that I deem to be inappropriate, intentionally inflammatory, or disrespectful to myself or my readers.

Blogroll Policy

I enjoy reading many blogs and commenting as much as possible. I am not as diligent as I would like to be in updating my blogroll, but I am happy to add the blogs of SortaCrunchy readers upon request. I reserve the right to decline a request to be added.
The blogs I read and list on my blogroll are diverse and may not reflect my own personal beliefs.

Crunchy Resources

Within the Crunchy Resources, I have included a mixture of non-profit organizations and natural living product vendors. I try to find resources that offer helpful information to anyone interested in natural living. I welcome suggestions for new sites and resources to be added.


Reviews

Are you a vendor of a product related to natural living or to parenting? I would be happy to do a review for you. Please contact me through email for further details.

Menu Plan Monday

Thank you, Laura, for hosting!

Well, The Coach went back to work this morning after a couple of weeks of vacation. We have gotten so much done around here! And by "we," I mostly mean "he!" The man built and installed and replaced and trimmed and cooked (well, grilled actually - but that's cooking, right?) and shopped . . . I am confident he was glad to be back at work today so he could take a break from the past month! Anyway, with the hubby back at work, I am hoping D and I can back into our regular routines as well, and that means an actual menu plan for the week!

We are some grilling fools here in the SortaCrunchy home. Our grill lay wasting away in exile in the garage of some friends of ours while we were in the apartment. Now that it has made its glorious return, we have been grilling three, four, and sometimes five nights a week!

If ya'll haven't had grilled bananas, you are truly missing out. Lay the bananas (in their complete skin) on the grill for a few minutes on each side. When you open them, they will be hot and sweet and need only some brown sugar, cinnamon, and maybe a little splash of vanilla to make them the perfect (and perfectly easy) summer dessert. Yum!

Monday - grilled chicken breasts, Grilled Mustard Potato Salad, mixed green salad

Tuesday - cheeseburger mac, broccoli (baby shower night for Mama! So fast and easy dinner for D and her daddy)

Wednesday - Slow Cooker Tender and Yummy Round Steak, fresh veggies (depending on what we find at the Farmer's Market)

Thursday - Bobcat Bash! (annual fundraiser and catfish fry)

Friday - taco night with all the fixings

Saturday - grilled sirloin steak, Quick Sesame Green Beans, garlic bread

Sunday - steak soup (made with leftovers from the steak this week), cornbread, veggies

Head over to I'm An Organizing Junkie for more great menu plans!

Blessings! And a little housekeeping . . .

Oh, how happy I am that proverbs31 at Bringing Good Home shared about this great giveaway at Fina' Drea! This darling little (Texas-based!) company called Blessed Baby is giving away one of the precious, faith-inspired onesies from their sweet little collection. I am all about cute and funny clothes on babies, but this is the first company I have come across that blends cute with a great message. Don't ya'll think Little Sister needs one of the Love is Patient onesies? I surely do. Lots of you sweet friends are growing some blessed babies right now, so I know you will want to head over to Fina' Drea to enter!

Now, a quick housekeeping note. I am doing some changing and shuffling around in my sidebar, and over the weekend, I am hoping to get a post up regarding some SortaCrunchy policies. Just wanted to give you the heads-up, but I truly hope that over the weekend each of you are out and about and enjoying July somewhere with some fresh air. Or at least some air conditioning.