Tina The Storyteller

Which book do you want to know more about? As some of you know, I am a Jesus Freak and I've been itching lately to start an online Bible study to share the Bible and to grow with others. Each of these books is so different. Acts tells the story of the Holy Spirit and the beginning of the church; John is one of my favorite gospels with lots of great stories about women; Genesis is the beginning and has lots of stories we learned as kids; and James, well James is like the how to of Christian living in my opinion. Let me know which one you're most interested in.

I'm thankful that I got a chance to stop by and think about what I'm thankful for, even if it wasn't first thing in the morning. I'm thankful for new ideas and the ability to do something about them (think online bible study!!) I'm thankful for clothes that are easy to put on after a day of cleaning and there's a store run that needs to be made. I'm thankful for a daughter that tolerates me reading out loud to her even though she's "too old" for it. (She's not, but she will be soon! AUGH!!) I'm thankful for my husband and how much he cares for me. He's always looking out for what's best for us. What are you thankful for?

I seriously thought that I would be dusting off one of my cookbooks to review for you this week, but instead, this little surprise showed up and it took me on a weekend adventure. Catching the Wind by Melanie Dobson is the story of a young woman, Quenby Vaughn, who is a journalist that has been hired to find a young girl that has been missing for over 70 years. During World War II, Dietmar and Brigitte escaped Germany and found their way to England where they were separated. Each never gave up the hope of finding the other, but after 70 years and many investigators, Dietmar, now Daniel King, has put his final hopes in Quenby. She along with Knight's attorney, Lucas Hough, one of England's most eligible bachelors, discover the story of Brigitte. Some well-developed themes in the book include God's ability to redeem the past, especially when the past is painful and requires forgiveness on our part. Another is the ability of God to work things out in perfect timing, ev...

About five years ago, I did our first Veg Bad challenge on the blog. I really helped my family increase the number of veggies we eat on a regular basis. What's the deal with the strange name? Well, it just so happened to coincide with Wallace and Gromit's The Curse of the Wererabbit, in which Wallace tried to pump the thought "Veg Bad" into the minds of rabbits so that they would stop eating the local gardens. I loved the idea of veg bad so much, the challenge was born! So for the next 90 days, I am taking the Veg Bad Challenge, if you'd like to go along with me, here are the original guidelines!   Who out there is willing to join me in The Veg Bad Challenge?  Here are the guidelines: 1. Commit to increasing the amount of vegetables that you are currently eating over the next 90 days. (Hey if you aren't eating any, then one will be an increase, right?) 2. Invite your family to join in with you because it's more fun with company and you w...

Show of hands, who here has ever dealt with depression. I'm not talking about being down in the dumps because your favorite show got canceled, I mean honest to goodness clinical depression? Me for one. It's been a long time since I've had a full blown case, but this past year has had its ups and downs, especially this past winter. So this mess tip isn't actually for depression, but to help keep it at bay when you see it coming on. Like taking Excedrin when you feel a migraine starting. With that said, I don't have any answers for you today, just a reminder that you don't have to believe what your emotions tell you. And the fastest way to getting over your lack of desire to do anything is to do something, anything. One of my exercises, when I start to get down, is to do one thing a day that I know I enjoy, even if it takes ever bit of energy and gumption to do it. After awhile, they eventually get easier, I mean it is stuff that I enjoy after all. I believe tha...

I'm thankful for a few days this week with my husband home and my dad around. It has been a good week. I'm thankful for new beginnings, even if they're tied to old starts. I'm thankful for public libraries and all the amazing things they're able to accomplish. I'm thankful for a beautiful daughter that sings Easter hymns by heart. I'm thankful for hard working teammates that get the job done with style. I'm thankful that sometimes I can make wrong things right before they go too wrong to be turned back. What are you thankful for?

It's Holy Week, I'm giving myself permission to not be here for a week, maybe even two weeks. But I've also got a plan. When I come back, we're going to do a Veg Bad challenge! Dust off your veggie recipes, it's about to get awesome!

I'm thankful for the gray rainy day that we seem to have in front of us. I'm also thankful for a warm cozy house to look at the rain. I'm thankful for leftovers. I'm thankful for warm beverages and people to share them with. I'm thankful that even when hugs are no longer wanted, kisses can still be given. (Yes, my tween has officially grown out of hugs for the time being. I'm hoping that's short lived.) I'm thankful for libraries that have things like Wii video games that we can play as a family. I'm thankful for snail mail and postal collection boxes that are on the way to where I'm going. I'm thankful for y'all. I'm glad that I'm not just writing to myself. I'm thankful for new spiritual practices. Last night, we did a meditation using a self-selected picture of a door as our starting point. Lots of great things bubbled up, but I think there are even more that can be discovered. Hanging out with God is al...

To be clear, I read the version released in 2007 in 2010. The latest copy was updated in 2013 . Now that the dates are out of the way, let me tell you about living in a house that cleans itself for the past 7 years. Actually, two houses. You can check my archives for some before and after pictures of when this whole thing started. Our house was obviously a mess most of the time. We lived in our home full time, meaning that it was never alone because we were homeschooling or relaxing and only one person was working full-time. You would think that would make it easier to keep a clean home, but it doesn't because you're making more meals, creating more art, and enjoying your space. There's stuff everywhere. It was bad when we first got started. It took well over a year and never even got to the yard which at that point was a courtyard that we never went into except to grill. But once it got to the place that it was cleaning itself, things pretty much stayed that way. We...

Normally, when I make strawberry jam, there is no recipe. This is the close as you're going to get for a recipe from me. Here's the deal though, this stuff is delicious, like don't underestimate the power of a fresh strawberry cooked down with some sugar and a splash of lemon juice. Step 1: Get some strawberries. Local if possible, if not then as close to local as you can get. Step 2: Trim the tops and rinse.  step 2a: Stop take pictures because pretty red berries. Step 3: Throw berries in a large pot, and a dash of lemon juice, and some sugar. How much depends on how sweet your berries are. You can also do this with honey, though I wouldn't suggest it, because honey is precious and it's best drizzled over the top of fresh berries instead of used to cook with in this situation.  Step 4: Turn the heat on Medium Low. Once it starts to form a liquid get out your masher and do some mashing, not too much, you want folks to find a whole str...

What if I told you that your bathroom could get squeaky clean without the use of harsh chemicals? Would you believe me? Check out the video to see how. Drop me a line if you want to get rid of the chemicals in your bathroom.

Head on over to my Facebook page and join in the squeaky clean fun that we're having this week! I'll be sharing a new video here on the blog on Monday, but tons of other things going on over on Facebook, so don't miss out!