Kristen Blog

I’ve been thinking a lot about “perspective” this week. -My dad turned 70...old is perspective. -My chicken (Big Mama) died...so did an old friend’s child ...heartache is perspective. -I am disgusted with so many things about myself...and a child tells me, “You are the best!”...my value is perspective. There is rarely any truth in the perspectives of this world, and I am struggling to hang on to the hope of an exponentially better eternity...because sometimes that just doesn’t do much to help me through NOW. I can only make so much lemonade. I am running out of sugar, and we seem to be drowning in lemons. But...even when I am struggling and there are ABSOLUTELY NO ANSWERS, I will cling to my faith...if not solely because I’ve been dramatically convinced...then also because I am stubborn and REFUSE to be bested. Today, I tried to treat my parents to something uniquely special. It didn’t go as planned.  We were completely forgotten by the obviously overwhelmed (and probably new) wai

  We capped off a very tough week with a wonderful weekend, and I am ever so grateful. I’m all about finding beauty...even in the hard times...but you’d better believe I appreciate the good when it’s good! (I didn’t always...I used to waste those precious moments worrying about when the weather would turn.) This week I experienced a happy accident and a really odd “miracle.” They will both go down in the books of my gratitude awareness. I was trying to capture this beautiful moment...when our frigid world warmed a bit and we finally got our house-bound boys outside.   We took a walk to the park...it was a hike, actually, as we had to trudge through the snow. So, we let them play (pics to follow...) for a bit and treated them to the shortcut home.   We generally do not take the shortcut, but it is such a fun (though short...hence the name) experience...a little uphill path cut out through the trees. And, as we broke into the clearing (and our neighborhood), it was so lovely a view -

It's been a bit!!  I'm trying to focus my energies over here, and as is typical of Kristen Shanna...we got a lot going on.  Our new puppy, for example (big, long, drawn-out, exhausted sigh).  I've been helping out a lot, as I expected, but yesterday, when I just about keeled over with depressed exhaustion, I had to officially turn the reigns over to XO.  Today, she is having culture shock.  Eight a.m. is a hello lot earlier than her typical 2-4pm wake up.  I could tell she'd just about had it with the pup this morning, and I have to admit I felt a little bit sorry for little Jesse. Yep...we finally named him.  We picked him up on December 22, after about a 7 week wait, which was good timing, since I was on official Winter Break vacation time.  I knew I would be essential in helping set the initial routine for potty training, feeding and simple commands.  Jesse is a shelter mix who was rescued from Memphis, Tennessee.  He was apparently on a euthanasia list, along with h

Oh, dear sugar snap peas!  My dear, dear sugar snaps.  In all the time I've been growing food in our suburban farm days (approximately 10 years now!), I have to say that snap peas have been one of the most successful plants I've grown.   I started growing and harvesting peas when we purchased a home with a huge backyard.  That was about 10 years ago.  We ordered some seeds from one of our favorite heirloom seed companies, Baker Creek .  I bought sugar snap seeds one time, and I've never had to buy them again. Honestly, I never have planted many sugar snaps.  I usually put about 12-20 snap pea seeds in the ground, and that is more than enough.  My daughter loves to eat them pod and all early harvest, snow pea style.  Up until this year, I have only harvested peas early as snow peas, because she is the main consumer.  I've typically let the rest grow and dry on the plant, so I can harvest them as next years sugar snap seeds.  And I ALWAYS have a plethora of pea seeds! Thi

SKIP AND PRINT SIMPLIFIED INSTRUCTIONS We have what I like to call a little "suburban farm."  It includes 5 chickens, a french angora rabbit, and LOTS of garden...right smack dab in the middle of your typical suburban, cul-de-sac neighborhood.  It embarrasses my teenagers.  Their friends love to tease them about "the farm."   The thing is...I LOVE natural and making things from scratch.  (When I was a kid, I used to pretend the tall grass in the overgrown field next to my house was wheat.  I would pick it and grind it in the concrete rain gutter splash block.  Then, I would go inside and throw a frozen chimichanga into the microwave and pretend it was homegrown. 😂 I am currently living the legacy of my childhood imaginations.  Well...kind of... I have long since realized I can NOT do everything from scratch AND live in modern civilization.  I grew up in a small, rural town.  After about nineteen years of feeling constantly lonely and excessively bored, I realized I