Catching Up and Brand New Things

For the past three weeks I have ventured into the world of Pinterest which turned me on to making homemade soap. I just sat down at my computer and thought to myself, " I should write a blog about soap". I googled free blogs and low and behold an old blog of mine popped up. How funny that I was thinking the same thing two years ago when I started my initial blog. It has definitely been a while, but here is a re-cap of major events and then onto the fun.

 
A lot has happened since the last time I wrote: mom passed away last march, so yes I guess you could say I am an orphan. I read my old blog and thought it was funny that my friends previously referred to me as a pillar of strength, when my husband told me the very same thing after losing my mother. I guess if enough people are considering me that I should take some of it to heart. Again, I still consider myself as plain old Lindsey, but I have a feeling there is something special in me that people see and I am just now opening my eyes to. Here is me and mom...



School is almost finished and I am once again without a job. Funny that I left the bar for similar reasons that I left the corporate job. I sometimes wish God would just place a big sign in front of my face as to what I am supposed to do with my life.

  I will say that my husband told me these last three weeks of being home he has seen a positive change in my attitude, so I guess this is also a blessing in disguise. I like the concept of writing because it allows you to get things out of your head, and believe me, there is a ton in there!

Now let me get back to the whole soap idea; I absolutely love it! Making soap makes me feel like I am fulfilling some type of a roll. It is weird that something like this could be so fulfilling but I absolutely love it. I feel the same way about baking, but with soap it seems like the possibilities are endless.  I was so proud of my first few batches, but I must confess looking back on them and the stuff I am producing now makes me giggle a bit. You see, I did not know you were supposed to grind things like oatmeal up prior to putting them in, otherwise you get a coarse soap, which is only good for exfoliating.  I have been experimenting a lot with melt and pour soaps but actually got up enough nerve to make my first batch of lye soap today! I am tickled pink and cannot wait to take it out of the mold tomorrow! there is so much time, love and craftsmanship that goes into making homemade soap, that it brings me such joy!

The creative juices have really been flowing! So Far I have made: (Coconut), (oatmeal with brown sugar and cinnamon), (yarrow root, elder flower, spearmint, and goats milk), (clove, eucalyptus), (Frankincense, tea tree, goat milk, and lavender), (Patchouli, goats milk, Shea butter), ( fresh mint), (strawberry), (lemon verbena, and lemon zest), (oatmeal, goats milk, and sweet almond oil), (lavender, and elder flower), and finally my lye blend of soybean, olive, canola, and coconut oils, Shea and cocoa butter, goats milk, cinnamon, coconut essential oil, and sweet almond oil!. I know that was a lot to absorb, but I am so excited! I really hope and pray that this takes off and I can master the art so I can give people the gift of using all natural products :)

The one in the mold is my first batch of Lye Soap! My friends were over and I let her husband pick the flavor-oatmeal-coconut-cinnamon-sweet almond!! Sounds good enough to eat! Tomorrow I do the un-molding of the breakfast bar so stay tuned for more soap fun from Lindsey :)

New Beginnings

My Name is Lindsey. I am a newlywed, twenty nine years old and have just figured out what I DON'T want to do with my life. Twenty nine is not so bad; I figure it takes some folks years and years to decide what they want to be when they grow up. I know what I do not want to be, which is half of the battle!

Let me start with a little history. I hail from Orange County, California. Daddy died when I was six years old, which left my mother with three mouths to feed. Never fear, God was with us all along. I was fortunate to grow up in a loving Lutheran household. I am what they call a "biological Lutheran"; this is Lutheran from in the womb! In addition to being fortunate enough to have Christ in the center, I have always had an amazing family, both immediate and extended. They are very close and extremely supportive.

After my dad died, I told my mom I wanted to be a doctor, because I wanted to cure cancer. Unfortunately, Life happened along the way and I did not accomplish that childhood dream. I did however, grow to have a genuine care for people and listening to their problems. I love to help people and I think sometimes people just want someone to genuinely actively listen to them. Even though I miss dad, I feel God taking him was a blessing because it made me who I am today. I have been through so much at such a young age that it allows me to truly be empathetic with everyone I meet. My friends back home call me a pillar of strength. I do not see it. To me, I am just down to earth Lindsey.

I recently relocated to a suburb of Nashville, Tennessee. When I say recent, I mean I just hit the two year mark! God had a hand in this as well! He is always putting us in the most random places isn't he? I was vacationing here in May of 2009 and visiting my step-dad( this is a whole different blog). While I was here, I was introduced to a family from his church with two single boys ( I think you can guess where I am going with this). To be really honest, I was not interested in them, but they were very nice to show me around town while visiting.

 The truth is, I loved Tennessee upon visiting. It was so different than the hussel bussel of Orange County that I was used to. People mow their lawns and randomly wave, and the scenery is like God's perfect picture! I was sucked in from the get go. I felt like there was nothing left for me in California. Much of my family was moving out of town and friends were settling down and having families of their own, and I was partying a little too much, which is NOT what I wanted or needed to be doing. I decided to pray. Fervently I prayed for six months "God, I feel like California is not the place for me anymore, if it be your will, please close doors and make it easy for me to walk away". After six months of solid prayer, I lost my job of five years. Talk about the big guy upstairs slamming the door!

A couple months later, I loaded up my truck and drove to Tennessee. This is where my story gets good! At the time I had been talking to some guy I met online. We actually had been talking during the six month period of fervent prayer. He lived in Georgia and I was ready to drive straight down there and meet him right when I unloaded in Tennessee, but my God had different plans for this girl! The day I got here, I reconnected with the family from my parents' church. I went out to play pool with the two sons. I Started dating one of them the very next day and we were inseparable for two weeks straight! We were engaged after two and a half weeks and married six months later. We got married on June 6, 2010, which is also the 22nd anniversary of my dad's death. God brought me to Tennessee and to my wonderful loving husband and new family.

Now that you have a brief history, let me get to the point I wanted to make in my initial paragraph. For the last year I have had a corporate job in which money was the sole purpose. After a year of working there, I began to get worn down and almost depressed. In addition to being a full-time student working toward my bachelors, I was dealing with a stress level that is unimaginable at work. I never felt fulfilled because ever since I was a little girl I wanted to help people ( remember the whole doctor thing after daddy died?). My job was not helping people except those that had their expensive suits and two hundred dollar purses. I wanted to be in a position in which I could truly help people. Money began to be less important and family came first.  I prayed fervently once again for God to guide me and after several months, I put in my notice of resignation. No one could believe that I was quitting such a good job with great benefits, but I have faith that my heavenly Father has great plans for me.

 I picked up a part-time gig as a bartender, which works with my school schedule and allows for quality time with my husband. In the meantime, I figured there are individuals out there that may find my life as a sort of an inspiration. I pray that with God's help, I can be an inspiration to my readers, an inspiration to have faith like Job, and no matter what live in God's grace.

 I know that great things are in my future which is why I chose to have the screen name of Joshua 1:9. This was my confirmation verse: Be strong and courageous, Do Not be afraid, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Thanks for stopping by to read my first post!
Stay tuned next time and I will tell you how I planned a GORGEOUS Wedding on a budget of $2500.00!!! Including the dress, invitations, photography, venue, etc!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Until Next Time, Keep the faith!

-Lindsey