Blog has moved!!

Hey everyone!
So my blog has moved. Head on over to http://www.thesproutinghomemaker.com/ to check out my new blog!

Mrs. Erin Brashears

Hello fellow bloggers!
I have so missed my blogging. So much has been going on in life-wonderful things. I will try to catch you up on what's been going on since I last posted.
Well let's see......where to begin.....

On July 31st, 2014 I entered into a courtship with Kenneth Brashears. We had met at our church in Claremore and I was and am really good friends with his sister and brother-in-law's family. He is in the Army and was deployed to Afghanistan when we really began to get to know each other. Let's just say I am very thankful for Skype. haha. In October, he came home and took a month's leave so we could spend a lot of time together. There was not a day that month that we were apart. About halfway through that month, he (with of course my father's permission) popped the question. It was the perfect day. He planned it for when we were working at Fort Rock (the Christian family camp I volunteer at in Arkansas) (fortrock.org). He asked me in front of the entire camp at my favorite location with a gorgeous view overlooking the beautiful Ozarks. That day, October 18th, I said I would spend the rest of my life with him.
He had to head back to his base during the first week in November. We decided on December 19th for the big day. That was a long month before we were able to see each other again. He was able to come home a few days before the wedding. I (with our chaperone) went to pick him up from the airport. He had flown in so that we could make the drive to TN together. I'll post pics below of the wedding. Thank you to Christopher Maxwell for the AMAZING shots! If you need a photographer, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND him! Here's his website: http://www.christophermaxwell.com/weddings/galleries.htm

So now, we reside in TN. He doesn't have much longer in-about a year and a half-after which we plan on moving back to our homeland of Oklahoma to be near family and friends.

Not only have I been getting used to the adjustments of married life, moving away from family/friends, living in the middle of a city about 15 times the size I'm used to (yes I said 15. My hometown is about 9,000 and our town here in TN is about 142,000!!!), settling into my own home, but I am now preparing for the next step....motherhood. Yes, that's right, we are expecting! We expect our little one to arrive the end of September/beginning of October. My due date is actually on my momma's birthday-September 26th! We are super excited and can't wait to meet or little gift from Heaven. If you'd like to see how we announced on social media, watch our home video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bilGNUS1xCs . I really want to keep up with my blogging and post pregnancy updates.

So needless to say, these last several months have been crazy. But when I say crazy, I mean that in a good way. I have an amazing husband, and I can't imagine my life without him. I am so thankful to God for him. He is always to patient with me, especially right now as I am trying to get through this fun first tri-mester sickness. lol.

Anyway, if I could, I ask that you would help pray for us as we enter into this next phase of life. We are praying for a happy, healthy pregnancy and baby!

We saved our first kiss for the alter

My Daddy walking me down the aisle 

My handsome groom

 Obviously, this photo was taken after the ceremony. lol

Me and my momma 

My Daddy and Kenneth

 

Me and my sister (she was my maid of honor)

 

We did our photos before the ceremony, so we did a first look

 

1800's Prairie Dance Quickly Approaching

Time has flown by this year!! I can't believe the year is already over halfway gone.
This means that the 1800's Prairie Dance is just around the corner. It will be on October 4th. Deadline to purchase tickets is August 15th. But if you purchase your tickets by August 1st, you will be entered to win 1 of 5 tickets that will be given away!!
Check out more info here: http://thecivilwarball.blogspot.com/


https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Civil-War-Ball/147792865374303

No Greater Joy Ministries

I just wanted to take a minute to say how grateful I am for Michael and Debi Pearl's No Greater Joy Ministry. They are such a sweet couple and I really enjoy getting to hear them speak. If you haven't heard of their ministry before, you need to check out the link here. I promise you, it will be a huge encouragement in your life and family. They are all about helping to strengthen the family and teaching how the man is the head of the household and how God made woman to be a help meet for him. They have many good books but I'm going to take a guess that some of their most read books are Created to Need a Help Meet, Created to Be His Help Meet, In Search of a Help Meet, and Preparing to Be a Help Meet. These are great books that help to outline what a Christ-focused marriage and family should look like. Also another one of Mr. Pearl's well known books is To Train Up a Child.
Although I am not a wife nor a mother yet, I still think it's important, as a single Christian young lady to prepare for this time in the future. It's always great to receive advice from people that have been there and know what struggles might come.

Our family has also been to a couple of the NGJ Shindigs. It was so nice to be surrounded by a couple thousand other people who were pretty like-minded with our family's beliefs and convictions. I am so thankful that they saw the need for such an event and put so much work into making it all happen.

They also have a great channel on YouTube with many many videos. I highly recommend looking them up!

I feel it's very important to support ministries such as NGJ. One way to help is by supporting them with your purchases on Amazon. When you shop on Amazon Smile, Amazon will donate .5% to No Greater Joy Ministries. Here's the link: https://smile.amazon.com/ch/62-1855964?utm_source=ngj.me&utm_campaign=AmazonSmile

Anyway, I just felt it on my heart to share a little about this very amazing ministry.
I pray everyone has a great weekend!

Change

Wow, I can not believe it is already June 4th!! Time is passing by so fast it seems. I have volunteered at Fort Rock several times already this year. We have had great turnouts so far. This last camp was at max capacity. It was an American History Family Camp and we were happy to have guest speaker Mr. William Federer.

So far I've been busy with my vinyl decal business, volunteering at camps, gardening, and just normal everyday housework. I have to admit, I'm not looking forward to this warmer weather that's about to begin. I'm a cold-weather, cool mountain air, jacket-wearing kind of girl. But none the less, the heat always comes. I just pray it isn't too terribly bad this year.

So lately I've been thinking a lot about change. It's something that is inevitable in life. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad. Here a while back I was visiting with a friend about when I graduated from homeschool high school and it occurred to me that it has been 5 years since my graduation. Where in the world has time gone? I used to think that adults were crazy when they said that time goes faster as you get older. Now that I'm an adult, I see exactly what they mean. I know lately in my life, I've been having some changes take place. All good, just things happening and going on that are different and out of the ordinary for my everyday life.. It really gets a person to thinking-how am I using my life to make a difference for Christ. We are only on this earth for but a blink of an eye, and how are we spending that time? We all have different phases of life: childhood, the teen years, young adult life, married life, parenthood, becoming grand parents, etc. Sometimes it seems that when you feel you are ready for your next phase, it couldn't come quicker. Then when you reach it, you wonder where the time went. Or at least, that's how I feel sometimes. I've been making sure that I am really stopping and enjoying the phase of life I'm in right now, whatever that might be. It's really great to know that God has me in the phase in life that he wants me in because He knows best. And I'm ready for whatever it is that He brings my way! It's a great feeling to know that I don't have to worry about it, just trust in Him. Stop and smell the roses and enjoy every second, moment, and every hour of my days. Whether that be doing laundry, baking bread, having a Braums's ice-cream with the family, or Skyping with a friend.


Well I hope everyone is having a great start to their summer!!

Giveaway!!

We're doing a giveaway over on our Buttons and Curls page. If we can reach 80 likes by May 16th, one person will be drawn by random to receive one of our products! So invite all your friends to like our page. Click Here

Egg Shell Planters

So if you do much gardening, you probably know that it's best to start your seeds inside, before planting them. Our family is trying out a new technique this year. As always, we've procrastinated getting our tomatoes started, but we shouldn't be too terribly far behind. We're using egg shells as our "planters". They are chalk full of calcium, which is a vital nutrient for a good plant to grow strong and healthy.

So here's how we do it:

For any meal that we use eggs in, we save the shell. We're very careful when cracking them, to try and make it as clean of a break in the middle of the shell as possible. This way one egg shell can make 2 planters. We wash out the shell really well and make sure we get the membrane all out of the inside. This ensures bacteria won't grow. Then we lay them upside down on a paper towel until dry.

Now pull out an empty egg carton and place one half shell into each space. Now fill them with potting soil (we prefer organic non GMO). Place one seed in each shell of whatever seed you're planting. Cover up with a little more soil. Water thoroughly, without drowning the seed.

Water daily, or as needed

The plants do not need to be placed in the sunlight until you see them begin to peak their leaves above the soil. Make sure and keep your lid to your egg carton closed, this makes the perfect miniature green house. As soon as they begin sprouting, you need to sit them in a sunny location inside such as a window sill and open the lid.

*Note: If you use the cardboard egg cartons, it will absorb all of the moisture up

 

 

As soon as your seedlings are big enough to go outside (when your plant grows it's first set of true leaves), you can take each egg shell out and plant them.(crush up the egg shell with each plant to keep the great source of calcium near the roots)

 

Happy Gardening!