Friday, August 31, 2018


Cue the music!  "Be Still My Soul" by Kari Jobe, or if you prefer, an acapella version by Eclipse 6.  Either way, you can't beat the encouraging words and Sibelius' tune to bring peace into your day.


1)  Sally Clarkson's blog and podcasts.  I love her heartbeat for the home!  Here's just the tip of the iceberg from her blog bio:  "Home is the place where the whispers of God’s love are heard regularly, the touch of His hands is given intentionally throughout the day, the words of His encouragement and affirmation pointed to lay the foundation of loving relationships where the mother conducts the beauty of this life within its walls."

2)  Groceries that you can order ahead and then go pick up.  This means that during the girls' piano lessons, I can drive over to the grocery store and grab exactly what I need.  I don't get distracted by looking at all the pretty things or buy anything that isn't on my list.  Huge time and money saver, and I count this as good stewardship!


3)  The Techie Teacher.  For somebody like me who is totally clueless about technology, this website is a great tool!  I often feel like I'm just getting the hang of things about the time we leave America and return overseas, so this website is going to serve as some serious professional development for me.  We used her post about e-mail for children to guide us toward a good choice for Katherine so she can do some things for homeschool.

4)  Vitamins.  Our family works to be intentional about good nutrition.  It helps that we just really like to eat!  I'll admit, I've been skeptical about many of the products out there, especially ones targeted toward specialty groups.  But there have been a few supplements that have really benefitted me over the last year, and now I'm willing to be cautiously optimistic about taking supplements.

The first one that really helped me was taking iron.  When we were overseas, I craved red meat (which is terribly expensive) and leafy greens and struggled with energy.  Taking slow-release iron boosted that energy level noticeably.

Another helpful extra was turmeric.  My knees were hurting something awful, but losing quite a bit of weight plus adding the turmeric capsules has erased the pain (but not the rice crispies sounds).

I read that One a Day vitamins had increased their Biotin in the women's multivitamin.  According to their website:  "The biotin level was increased to help support healthy hair, smooth skin and strong nails which are important to women.  Biotin is an essential nutrient important for the metabolism of carbohydrates, fat and protein.For the women’s tablets, we increased the Biotin level from 300 mcg to 1000 mcg per serving."  I started taking biotin during the school year because I noticed my nails flaking like crazy.  As a cellist, I don't really want long nails, but all of the sudden, they are strong and healthy like never before.

The vitamins I'm not convinced about are the ones targeted for teens.  I've got three teens in the house, but the ingredients don't look that different from other multivitamins.  Anybody want to weigh in on this one?

Ok so it's Friday Favorite Four.  And that's okay :-)

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