• The Homestead Weekly

    The Homestead Weekly, The Goodbye Edition

    July 28, 2020 - By 

    Now, to clarify, this is not a goodbye to the blog, of course—this will just be the last edition that fully takes place in our first little homestead. I don’t know if I will continue the series while we’re staying at my mom and stepdad’s place, but I do plan to start it back up again once we have another place of our own. But in the meantime, still keep checking the blog as I have lots of other kinds of posts I have planned! Note: There are affiliate links to products mentioned below, which means I may get a…

  • The Homestead Weekly

    The Homestead Weekly, 19 July 2020

    July 19, 2020 - By 

    We are officially T-minus 12 days away from Moving Day, and things are finally starting to sink in—I am forwarding mail, sending packages to my mom and stepdad’s house (where we’ll be living for the next few months until we find our next house) in case shipping times are delayed, returning things to neighbors, and trying to pack…always trying to pack… I’ve started unofficially saying goodbye to people, or at least telling them that we’ll miss them and that we’re sad we’re moving away. I am checking real estate sites probably no fewer than a dozen times a day to…

  • On feeling nourished
    Simple Living

    On Feeling Nourished.

    July 12, 2020 - By 

    On the face of it, it seems strange that on this of all weeks, I have felt a deep and resonant nourishment in both body and soul. It’s been a week when the pandemic finally hit home, when family members (not in our household) have been affected. It’s been a week of changing plans, as I lean towards homeschooling my oldest rather than sending her to kindergarten, largely because our housing situation over the next several months is so up in the air. It’s been a week when we received the news that Matt’s uncle had passed away in the…

  • No-Soak Beans and Rice in the Instant Pot
    Main Dish - Recipes

    Instant Pot No-Soak Black Beans + Rice

    July 8, 2020 - By 

    When I was 22, I lived for six weeks in Guatemala, at the Missionary Training Center (MTC). Each meal, we went down to eat in the small cafeteria and were served steaming bowls of native Guatemalan dishes by smiling señoras who spoke only Spanish, and who I couldn’t converse with much until the very end of my time there. I roomed with the other hermanas (sister missionaries) on the third floor of the compound, and each morning we were awakened by smells—fragrant cinnamon-and-vanilla avena (hot cereal), the slight cornmeal smell of atol, but most often, the pungent onion and humidity…

  • The Homestead Weekly

    The Homestead Weekly, 5 July 2020

    July 7, 2020 - By 

    I won’t lie to you–I treated this whole week like I was on holiday. No packing, minimal cleaning…it was like my whole self revolted against the packing and cleaning and staging frenzy that was last week, and just said, “All I’m okay with this week is reading. And maybe watching a few shows.” I mean, some important phone calls were made and emails were sent and plans were discussed. But by and large, we took it easy over here. And we have no regrets. In the Kitchen My body, in addition to just wanting to relax and read, also was…