ISO 100, 50mm, f/4.0, 1/100 sec, dogwood blossoms in Yosemite National Park, April 2013
Tackle It on Tuesday: Books
I know, I know...today is Wednesday, not Tuesday. But sometimes, you just have busy days and don't have a chance to type out a blog post. So this one is a day late...anyway...last week, I started to tackle just one book case in our home.
Now you have to know, it is very hard for me to part with books. I am not your typical girl. I really hate to shop for clothes, make-up, shoes, jewelry, etc. But let me spend hours in a bookstore, and I am in heaven!! I love the look of books, the feel of books, the stories you can learn from books. I have been known to read well-loved stories over and over again.
Because we have book cases in almost every room in our home, I thought it was about time to start selling at least some of the reference books we have referred to over the years when my children were younger in our homeschool journey. Not only that, by selling some of these, I can add some cash to my Compassion Colombia fund!
Progress!
I am so happy that I made some good progress on clearing out this one book case. Now to try to sell what I have! If you are interested, I would be happy to send you a list if you are searching for some great reference books for your home library.
So in addition to finding homes for quite a few books, my new task for this week is to try a new laundry soap recipe.
Trying a new laundry soap recipe
For a couple of years now, I have been making a homemade liquid laundry detergent recipe, but you know what? There are times when I really don't feel like making 5 gallons of laundry detergent!! So I was excited to see this recipe for a powder laundry detergent and uses all the same ingredients! I will be putting this together and giving it a try over the next week.
Do you use homemade laundry detergent? What project are you tackling this week?
This is the day
ISO 100, 55mm, f/10, 1/400 sec - photo taken of the hills to the west of us, January 2013
The Dollar Twenty-Five Challenge
How much money do you have in your pocket or wallet right now? I know many of us don't carry much cash these days, but for a child living in extreme poverty, just $1.25 per day goes a long way. Some people are so overwhelmed with the thought of poverty and need in the world that they get stuck there and don't/won't do anything about it. And that is a shame!
We live in the richest country in the world. There are choices we can make each day that allow us to put aside just $1.25 per day, so that each month we can sponsor a child living in another country who needs to hear about Jesus. You don't even have to leave your home to spread the Gospel! And the Gospel will spread if you take that step to sponsor a child today.
The child you sponsor will hear about Jesus when they attend the child development center in their area. That child will tell his/her family about Jesus. So not only are you making an impact on one child, you are making an impact on an entire family! Yes, you! Sitting in your home here in the United States, without even leaving your hometown, can make an impact on an entire family!
Still not sure if you can afford to sponsor a child? I issue you this challenge then: 1. set out a jar to collect your spare change for the month; 2. at the end of the month, count up your spare change; 3. do you have at least $38 in spare change? If the answer is yes, sponsor a child! If the answer is no, donate what you have collected to Compassion's unsponsored child fund.
Will you accept this challenge?
Tackle It on Tuesday: Civil War Event Photos
My first camera was a Kodak Brownie, a sweet little film camera that I took to Outdoor Education Camp in the fifth grade. Since that time, I have owned many other cameras and have learned a lot about photography. A couple of weekends ago, our family attended a Civil War event at my favorite location just west of Yosemite. The location is absolutely beautiful!
On Saturday, one of the battles took place during twilight when the light was amazing. Since we are members of the group, I was able to gain access to hang out by a tree on the battlefield during this twilight battle to take pictures. I won't bombard you with a lot of photos, but I will share a few of my favorites:
ISO 100, 55mm, f/4.0, 1/160 sec
See what I mean? So incredibly beautiful here!
ISO 100, 55mm, f/4.0, 1/200 sec
I had to include this photo because my son is in this one. He is the fourth one from the left.
ISO 100, 200mm, f/5.6, 1/15 sec
I haven't finished editing all of the photos I took that weekend, since I did take over 300 pictures. This is one reason why I take quite a few photos, so I might capture one like this...
ISO 800, 85mm, f/4.2, 1/125 sec
...or like this one...
ISO 800, 145mm, f/5.0, 1/20 sec
...and like this one.
So I didn't quite finish tackling all of the photos I intended to edit, but I did delete over 200 pictures. After editing about 20 pictures, I have another 50 to edit to finish this project. And I really need to finish editing these photos since I am going to be paid for some of them! Yay!
For this next week, I want to start going through some of our bookcases. This is just one of many full bookcases we have in our home.
Time to unload some books!
It has been a while since I have homeschooled little ones, so it is probably time for me to clear out some of my younger age books. But it is so hard for me to get rid of books! So I wonder how many books from this bookcase I can let go of? Be sure to check back next week...