Gardening Newbie: Looking Forward
This is the second year that Andrea and I have gardened together after being married and we have loved the learning process- already full of successes and failures! As I read the MARVELOUS Peruvian cookbook Andina: The Heart of Peruvian Food by Martin Morales, I am craving the food of my 21, 22, 23, 24, 25-year-old life in Arequipa, Peru with visits to my aunt, uncle, and cousin in Lima, Peru.
Here’s what’s in my Midwestern Amazon cart as I fully intend (maybe one year from now) to recreate recipes more authentically by cultivating the actual plants and buying the real products (click for Amazon product link, I’m not being paid or sponsored):
Physalis pruinosa (aguaymanto)
Organic heirloom tarragon seeds
Giant white corn (choclo) seeds
Fava bean seeds: non-GMO, heirloom
Noni tree seeds (okay, not Peruvian, but a definite health fruit)
Basics for Peruvian recipes we don’t have yet in pantry:
Organic smoked paprika (all produce is organic in Peru)
Yacon syrup (research is amazing: a natural, root vegetable-based sweetener with nutrients and prebiotics that reduces type II diabetes, osteoporosis, and makes calcium and magnesium more available- and tastes AMAZING).
Rocoto pepper paste(important for Arequipan recipes)
Yellow hot pepper paste (aji amarillo)
Black mint paste (pasta de Huacatay)
Botija olives (aceitunas de botija peruanas)
«Artists Give People Something They Didn’t Know They Were Missing.»
Quote above attributed to Daniel Pink (of whom I have not yet researched or know anything about more than desiring to share this quote for its sake alone!).
More quotes that are inspiring me to get off the couch and go keep trying with my current artsy projects (piecing together amazing floral hoops for Etsy shop, choosing prints for baby’s nursery, a few acrylic art pieces to paint for the baby’s nursery, finding and editing legal music for wedding film; drawing and painting of the Cathedral of Saint Paul, Minnesota; setting up an interview for Andrea for the wedding video to be finished up; creating lots of DIY Montessori Method infant mobiles to be prepared ahead; creating a crib skirt based on the tutorial found below, as I am very new at sewing; practicing some hand therapy splinting patterns in felt)…there you have it!
«A master artist is a beginner who kept beginning.»
Love this too:
«If you are willing to do something that might not work, you’re closer to being an artist.»
-Seth Godin
I’ve also been enjoying the initial discovery of becoming a couple of Montessori parents for our home and God willing, for our childcare team in general:
HUGE gold mine of material and resources: http://www.michaelolaf.net/
This makes me smile because I know a certain dad who would squeeze his orange juice every morning with a sweet little toddler:
«Children are like flowers…there can never be to many in the world»
The roughly quoted title is from Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who spent her life serving Jesus in His distressing disguise of the vulnerable.
I am so thankful that these women have shared such difficult stories, their intention to give the best they could to their children is good, but the actions flowing from that intention are not only misguided, but morally impermissible:
To just read a magazine article or newspaper opinion editorial on a controversial topic looks like this:
«I didn’t want her to suffer.»
«I didn’t want my child to suffer.»
«Every situation is so unique…that you can’t have some hard-line rule [about abortion].»
This is a response that has more to digest when considering the above video and its testimonies:
2 more days to study (..!)
A nice video to share info about pediatrics OT:
Side Note: Break from Studying
I am beginning to realize that women that desire peace, compassion, goodness, respect, freedom (as defined by natural law), and kindness towards one another are searching for answers daily. Answers are easy to find though good ones are more often than not hidden and unspoken for average girls that go to good, average schools, average churches, and average social events. I have been that girl for enough of my life, and I am built for more. It’s always a temptation to be brilliantly average.
I would like to put my neck out so that many other women can find this to be the new normal. Going against the grain has become so normal for me…literally with Celiac disease (puns, yes), natural family planning (and even which method of NFP used), working so many hours in a high-responsibility (sometimes stressful) environment, then managing a heavy commute to return home to beautiful responsibilities of the home as a wife, undergoing many years of education at a high cost for a career that pays much less than typical doctor/lawyer/etc., traveling to do much service work instead of staying right there in my neighborhood to get that service work done, struggling to find service work locally that fits my work and home obligations, struggling to find friends in a new city and figure out what friendships can be maintained from an old home city, marrying someone from a very distant culture than my own (literally and figuratively), struggling at times with cultural differences but always choosing to love each other and foster the sacrament of matrimony even when the glass is past half empty and it’s hard-going, not believing in divorce but giving my respect for human dignity and love to all those who suffer from it (same goes for abortion and other situations of choosing death without dignity), living in a manner that reflects Christian values from where it all started when Christ started His Church without compromise precisely for today’s convenience and relativism. Think about it: God saw all this coming. He knew how to set up His Church to battle and easily win.
Other items that I receive push-back on are simple yet so challenging to navigate: eating up every new health fad because it’s fascinating and watching for the research often follow years later, such as building a DIY near-UV-light sauna downstairs for about $300 total, celery juice for mornings, lemon water and weird tea, herbs in my smoothies, reading Whole 30, Plant Paradox, Mercola stuff, Kimberly Snyder stuff, etc., etc., etc. Believing that as a wife, it is my duty to make myself presentable and as healthy as reasonably possible for my husband and family who depend on me, and putting myself first and «being selfish» to make this happen when push comes to shove in a busy schedule over-filled with lesser commitments (and sometimes with greater commitments, so then no work out, obviously- I see you, hour of Adoration!). Insisting on nine hours of sleep on most nights, and buying black-out curtains, a sleep mask, and earplugs to get there. Praying the rosary almost daily (God willing ALWAYS daily soon). Daily Mass. Confession at least monthly. Painting, reading, praying, spiritual anything instead of owning a TV. Still watching The Crown on Netflix though…yes we’ve got Netflix still (receiving no push-back there!). Budgeting to save money like crazy as guided by my brilliant husband in a manner that may appear unnecessary to others- such as literally toiling to figure out heating bills. Donating money as much as we can without looking back (or looking at what we could have bought for ourselves in the meantime, because I’m materialistic and that list is long, so it’s a process). Look up financial independence…it’s becoming a movement (50% of yearly earnings saved and invested, if described in only a few words).
I have been hiding these things away for so long because they can’t be known, right?
Babies in the womb are dying because women aren’t speaking up about their unique (sometimes eccentric, always imperfect) lifestyles that do not validate everyone’s life choices. Some life choices are bad, the end (the end can be sweet with God’s mercy). Such is sin that is followed by true repentance and change of heart AND action (and God does not despair, so why should we? We just need to sprint toward Him). Women need to acknowledge this and live from its freeing implications.
I’ll leave this post here for today, so thank goodness my rambling is over for now until I go forward with more prayer over this post, but instead read this:
Click on the title: ‘Luxury beliefs’ are latest status symbol for rich Americans.
Praying for all reading, and have a great day.
1 week to go until exam
For stages of dementia via Reisburg: click here on this word: global
-Re-read chapters in Pedretti concerning traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and neurogenerative disorders.
-Looked at handouts from my last semester in class, reviewed some Pediatric class materials.
-Took my first of three TherapyEd exams; scored 66% overall, which scared me until I read forums from other OT students on the topic, then I felt actually very content with this score!
UH, WOW:
https://www.nationalcmv.org/overview/cmv-pregnancy
Stages of chewing of kids:
Stages of play for kids:
To watch these in the evening after one long day of studying (!!!):
Always More to Study
Part 2: NBCOT Exam Studying Prep
I utilized the following study videos:
Boards. Studying. 8 hours. Daily. 3 weeks. Non-stop.
Here’s what I’m placing out there as a reference list of most of the videos I’ve been watching as refreshers on some concepts I’ve learned in grad school over the past 1.5 years in occupational therapy:
Salmo 63 // Psalm 63 