This week the I Heart Faces challenge is all about kisses. So far, I haven’t taken many photos of kisses. This one is from the archives. The lovely Angie and Amy have challenged me to capture the kisses a little more often, though.

Freezing is a great way to keep fruit! About once, maybe twice, a summer Strawberries will go down to about .99¢ a carton. (Price will vary from area to area. Just try to find the lowest price.) When they go down like that we buy a whole bunch, wash them, pull the leaves off, and freeze them. To prevent them from freezing in clumps, put them on a wax paper-lined cookie sheet. Then put them into freezer bags.

You can use this method with all sorts of berries and fruit! In our area, it is cheeper to do this than to buy them already frozen. I don’t know about you, but my family can eat some fruit! You can use this method whether you buy the fruit from a store, pick them yourself, or grow and pick yourself.

My family and I are also trying to eat a bit healthier. For sweeteners, we try our best to use Agave nectar and raw honey instead of white sugar. We do like us some ice cream, though. We have found a nice alternative for that- smoothies. I don’t mean thin smoothies, though. I mean thick like ice cream. The secret to getting a very thick, ice cream-like smoothie is not blending too much. Here’s the {not so} secret recipe.

Ice Cream Strawberry Smoothies

Ingredients:

about 2 – 2 1/4 cups of frozen solid strawberries

about 1 – 1 1/2 cups of plain yogurt

sweetener to taste

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Quickly chop the frozen strawberries in a blender. Add the yogurt and sweetener. Blend very quickly. Pour into glasses and serve immediately.

Recipe notes: If you aren’t going to serve this immediately, put the smoothie glasses in the freezer. You can leave them there as long as they don’t freeze solid. You can also add a Banana or two. The key to thickness is being very quick!

If you have any tips on keeping fruit or any favorite recipes, I’d love to hear about them in the comments! Enjoy~

I remember sitting on their back screened-in porch.

It was the middle off summer and the cold orange sherbet felt so good sliding down my throat. I remember how it dripped down my chin and the spoon became sticky. Mrs. Glenda always told us how much Mr. Bill liked it. It was the reason she kept it around.

I remember how there were always some roses in a vase on the table. Mrs. Glenda loved her roses. She had them in all colors and varieties. The big, full blooms filled many a vase about her house.

I remember how Mr. Bill would come home from work in the dead of summer. I remember how he would drag his lawn mower out and mow ’till Mrs. Glenda called him for supper.

I remember running through that grass barefoot to visit them. It felt soft and abnormally short to my cubby little girl toes and feet. I remember running across that grass to embrace Mrs. Glenda. I remember how she showed me her roses and we would caress them.

I remember everything. I hope to never forget those memories. I hope I’m like they were.

There is quite a bit of work going on. Things like Blissdom ‘11. So, while I’m getting stuff taken care of and squared away, go spend time with your family and enjoy your weekend! I’ll see you back here on Monday~

It was Spring of 2006. Almost half a decade ago. At that point in time I only read one good friend’s blog. {I know! Crazy, right?} Like I am prone to do, I got a crazy inspiration to start a blog out of the blue. (’Cause I have my daddy’s visionary dreamer gene like that.)

My parents always said I should host a talk radio show. I am serious. I announced my bright blog idea to my parents that night. My parents agreed and said I could start one, but they wanted me to keep a consistent journal first. I agreed and complied with their request.

My humble little blog started May 18, 2006 when I set up an account with Homeschool Blogger. It didn’t even have a name. I honestly don’t think I had a clue what I was in for, though. I didn’t even know how to blog.

Like most first time bloggers, my first posts consisted of one line that was posted once every week. I had no idea how to create content, what “SEO” meant, or how much fun reviews could be. I didn’t have a clue.

That next year was quite a learning curve. That’s when I learned the very basics of blogging. It’s a whole different language! It was when I discovered the gift of writing that God gave me. I learned basic language, worked it, and it was time to spread out and grow. That is when I moved to Wordpress.

You will have to be a blogger to understand this, but going from a very basic to a high-tech is intense. My jump from Homeschool Blogger to Wordpress was a pain. There. I said it. Growing that much at once hurts.

Right after my leap, the FTC cracked it’s whip on bloggers. The disclosure, the taxes- it was everywhere. It was on Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, and the news. Blogging suddenly became more complicated and turned into a business. I didn’t like that fact and I still don’t.

I broke under the pressure of the new FTC regulations and quit reviewing and giveaways. I didn’t want to have to worry about legal stuff all the time. I just wanted to stay out of trouble and blog. A couple months afterward, I began to miss the people and small businesses. I missed connecting like that. It was fun for me. So, I opened the giveaway and product review doors back up.

Blogging has opened so many doors up for me. God has used it incredibly.

I just really feel like God wants me to have a heart to heart with y’all today. Girls, we face a lot of the same challenges, questions, and concerns. The following is like a peek inside my journal. It is my heart on the plan after high school.

So… After high school us girls are expected to go strait to college. Personally, that is hard for me to accept because my last Government school experience was horrible. I felt insecure, pressured, stressed out, disconnected from my family, and worst of all I was only in first and second grades. I hated it. I played hooky just to get time with my mom.

That fact about going to a college doesn’t even appeal to me because of my past experience, my desires, and my dreams. My deepest and utmost desire is to have babies, a husband, and take care of a home. The idea is so counter culture it’s hard to explain to people around you.

Does that sound like any one of you? Can you relate?

I would love to take some classes and apprentice under someone! I think that would be a great way to further the gifts and talents God has given me. It is just not on the top of my priority list to go and get a four year degree, nor is it in my budget. I want to prepare myself to be a mother, a wife, and entrepreneur as described in Proverbs 31.

I would honestly like your opinion and beliefs on this; from guys and girls. Actually, if you are a guy, your thoughts and beliefs are more than welcome. I want to know what you would like to see, concerning this matter, in your sisters and future wife. It is a very controversial topic, but it can’t be left to the side because of that. Please share and pass this along to friends and family and encourage them to share their opinion.

My friend Holley Gerth is having a 21 day challenge in writing your story. These are my answers to this week’s questions.

Tuesday’s Question: Here’s a light-hearted look at different ways we approach our stories…

The Princess – She wants her story to be perfect and strives to make it so. She’s got a pen and she’s not afraid to use it!

The Procrastinator – She’s waiting for “happily ever after” to come. You can often hear her saying, “When X happens then I’ll….”

The Planner – She prefers lists to stilly stories. If it can’t be planned and checked off, why bother including it in the plot?

My Answer: You know, I think I’d be The Princess, but I don’t want to make my story perfect. It is in no way perfect and I don’t what to make it seem so. I am, however, like her in the way that I am not afraid to use my pen.

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Wednesday’s Question: Who shares your life right now? Especially, who is a “heart relationship” for you?

My Answer: My heart relationships are with my dear parents, my 2 sisters, 2 brothers, and God. Those are the people who mean the very most to me. I am so thankful I can be with them all day everyday!

My personal relationships are most certainly with the people in my very close knit house church group. That handful of families is so very near and dear to my heart! They have encouraged me, laughed with me, prayed with me, and are most certainly my best friends outside of family.

My functional relationships are with my blog friends. They are such sweet ladies and I appreciate them very much! It’s hard to believe I wouldn’t have met them if I didn’t blog.

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Thursday’s Question: What’s one little thing that helps you give God the red pen and make peace with who you are?

My Answer: Because I know that once He has the red pen, I know my story can be more beautiful than I can fathom. Yes, at times I would like to have the red pen, but then I remember what he has done for me and how my story is beautiful because of Him.

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Friday’s Question: What’s a S.T.E.P in your story?

My Answer: A first S.T.E.P in my story would probably be thinking through, processing, and praying about it.

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Saturday’s Question: What’s a meaningful memory in your story?

My Answer: I remember walking into that tiny little classroom full of noisy 1st graders. The teacher’s perfume wafted through the air as I found my place at the smooth desks. Tears stung my face. It was not what I expected it to be. I didn’t see what the big deal about it was. I felt insecure about myself. I played hooky just to see my Mama.

Those two years in that school are bad memories for me, but I have learned from that experience. It has shaped me into who I am.

before

after

My Edits:

1) My 3 in 30 (sharpen, lighten, bump up the contrast)

2) rounded the corners

3) put a black border on it to make the color pop

Speaking of I Heart Faces, I am going to their Nashville Photo Walk. How cool is that? I am super excited about it! It is my first “official” photo walk and I can’t wait to meet and shoot with all the super cool photographers!

I’m not a big fan of spending enormous amounts of time editing my images. I would much rather have a really great shot SOOC. (Strait Out Of the Camera) No one has time to spend hours on that stuff. The following are 3 basic edits I do to my photos.

1) Lighten it a bit.

2) Bump up the contrast.

3) Sharpen

Depending on the photo and the look I want it to have, I will sometimes add a few other effects. That list above is my basic 3. I love life and love capturing the little moments with my camera. I don’t like to make my photos seem unrealistic or fake. In the editing process I stay true to that.

Chubby fingers, wrinkled noses, and little toes are the best. They don’t stay for long, but when they are here I take joy and capture them forever. They are forever on the walls hearts and homes. That’s where life begins- the home- and I love it.