Embracing Hippy-dom

i just succumbed to the shaving process again- my underarms and legs, that is. it was so long and beautiful but my preconceived notion of societal pressure wore me down with this warm, shorts weather.

plus, grant was kind of freaked.

i with i could get to a place of confidence where i could embrace that granola part of myself and not feel self-conscious.

i was a very prissy little girl...just ask my mother or see the pictures. matchy-matchy, giant hair bows, sleeping in curlers for kindergarten, the whole shebang. but as i got older it became less important for me to match my underwear to my outerwear and more important for me to find comfort in my own skin.

then i started going to concerts and missions work and even later having my babies with help from midwives. see the connection?

at these concerts there was always the group of grungy hippies off to the side, girls in long handmade skirts, dreaded hair pushed bag with a bandanna, barefoot, tank tops with sewn on patches. in the mission field i found women going natural as a necessity and at times to fit in with their surrounding culture. and then i met a mid-wife in training when i was pregnant with zola who embodied total hippy-dom- brewing sun tea in ball jars, giving second hand books as birthday presents, long hair, gentle spirit, beautiful. and she had the most amazing arm pit hair i've ever seen. (please don't feel embarrassed for me that i just admitted that, i'm not! it was seriously amazing!) and it was so soft! she hugged me one day while wearing a sleeveless shirt and if felt like the softest blanket imaginable was on my arm.

and i must add in, linda. the first woman i knew, loved, respected and admired who was a wife and mom in a generally uptight community who didn't shave and was okay with it. gives me hope of being a hippy within streamlined culture.

i've been through the princess woman phase of delicate jewelry and pearl earrings. i've worn ann taylor business attire and panty hose for work. i own a very traditional little black dress. i did the college-age jeans and a t-shirt thing for a while. i've been down the traditional maternity-wear route. and the post-pregnancy i can only fit into sweatpants and my husband's t-shirts routine.

and while these were all personality off-shoots of who i was at the time, i think it's time to ring in my season of the hippy.

i'm ready to try it on and see how it fits me.

i'm so glad my ever-consistent husband loves me because i can't commit to anything (except for him and my daughters) and not in spite of it.

A recent photo of me i like to call: Emily of the Barn.



And a little shout out to Jen over at Raising a Green Family for posting first and giving me the confidence to confess all of this hairy mess. Glad we are friends.

29 Things to do Before I turn 29 next January

I didn't make a list last year. Niva was born in December and by January I was in the throes of post-partum depression and could barely imagine making it through the day much less a list of fun things to do in the next 12 months. But we did all make it through! And today I am smiling and excited about the next year!

Here are a few things I'll be working on:


1. Blog more- shouldn’t be hard since I only had 12 posts last year.

2. Bake something with yeast. I am terrified of yeast. There have been disastrous results in the past…

3. Explore home school curriculums

4. Open an Etsy shop - this feels overwhelming and stressful but I don’t think it should. I just need to make a few things, take pictures and post them. I get freaked because I make myself feel like this would have to be my entire life’s work outside of raising my kids of course.

5. Organize my thread

6. Go on a date with Grant

7. Make living room curtains- with the fabric I’ve had that’s just waiting for me to cut into it…peach and green and brown…

8. Knit something, anything…it could be a potholder…I just want to give it a try.

9. Make the girls matching Summer outfits.

10. Read at least half of the Newberry Award winners since 1922.

11. Read the newest Dexter book and any subsequent books that may come out this year.

12. Homeschool the girls- I guess this kind of a gimme since we are planning on doing this anyway…but I need something on this list that I know I will finish!

13. Buy more second-hand instead of new stuff.

14. Do the Financial Peace University stuff with Grant.

15. Buy less stuff. Don’t buy anything just because it’s a ‘good deal.’ No bargain bins, dollar shelves, clearance stickers. If you don’t LOVE it or NEED it, don’t buy it.

16. Have less clutter at home- see above.

17. Get a fun summer haircut. (sorry Grant.. The 2-year long-hair stint is almost over)

18. Figure how to make a buttonhole with my sewing machine.

19. Make something for my new nephew! (to be born in May!)

20. Frame and hang photos of the girls in our main living space.

21. Tie-Dye!

22. Teach Zola to sew

23. Paint Grandma Boyle’s chair a pinkish redish color

24. Cover Grandma Boyle’s chair in the green and blue fabric

25. Finish Stevie’s owl and mail it to her

26. Finish Rachel’s owl and mail it to her

27. Try a bottle of the Middle Sister wine that I found at Target but haven’t purchased.

28. Make a reusable calendar to teach Zola about months, days, etc.

29. Start a garden.