Megan Tietz :: SortaCrunchy

SortaCrunchy Featured Sponsor: Mama Pepper Designs

I am so happy to introduce you to my featured sponsor for June - Elayne Slevin of Mama Pepper Designs.

Well, actually, you've already met Elayne.  She's the "heart mom" who shared her stories and resources for other families affected by congenital heart disease back in February.  Through that post, you got to know Elayne as a compassionate and helpful mama, but now you can get to know her as Mama Pepper.

Elayne is an incredibly vibrant, funny, and enthusiastic person.  She is one of those people who loves to share with others what she knows about the topics that drive her enthusiasm.  Opening a store to showcase her favorite products that support a natural living lifestyle is a move that makes perfect sense.

At Mama Pepper Designs, you can find fun favorites like I Am Not a Paper Cup.  Look at it!  Isn't it cute?  SO handy to have, too. 

And as it just so happens, Elayne and I share the same taste in cloth diapers.  She loves Fuzzi Bunz Perfect Size Diapers so much, she decided to carry them in her store.  Fuzzi Bunz always made up the bulk of our cloth diaper stash and was definitely our go-to trustworthy diaper.

Now, here's what you need to know about Elayne.  She is an incredibly talented woman.  She can rock a sewing machine like nobody's business.  She makes these fabulous cloth wipes.  Truly, TRULY luxury.  And I know my cloth wipes.  The ones we have from Mama Pepper Designs are always the first to disappear from the clean wipes basket in the bathroom. 

Lean in close, though, because this next part is kind of a secret.  What Elayne is really known for are her original creations such as her HoBags.  Click on over to her gallery and you'll see what I'm talking about.  I happen to have a MPD HoBag and I love it!  I get tons of compliments on it.  The design is so well-thought out and it is IMPECCABLY constructed.

But here's why it's a little bit of a secret - Elayne isn't currently stocking HoBags or any of the other designs you see in her gallery because selling her creations at the local Farmer's Market keeps her quite busy.  BUT, she does send out alerts every now and again to let fans of hers know when a custom slot comes open.  And she'll be sewing up many more goodies when the fall comes around!

But for now, it's a beautiful Sunday in June, so if you have a few minutes, pop on over to Mama Pepper Designs to find out more about Elayne, shop her in-stock, and ask her how to get in on the alerts when custom slots become available.  Oh, and you can also connect with her on Facebook and Twitter as well!

I'm so thankful for the support of Mama Pepper Designs this month at SortaCrunchy!  And it's an absolute pleasure to introduce her to all of you.

When I Feel Brittle

 

I love our pottery so much.  It makes me happy.  We use it every day.

The thing about pottery is that it gets brittle over time.  The more we use it, the more easily it chips.  That's just how it is.  I would a lot rather have well-loved pottery to serve my family on than stacks of pretty, un-chipped dishes collecting dust on a shelf somewhere.

Earlier this week, Stephanie wrote at Adventures in Babywearing about having cake and eating it, too, and I sighed a big relief.

I can so completely, easily relate to the feeling of unraveling.

Some days I tell Kyle I feel like my entire being is one throbbing, raw nerve. (Those are the worst days.)

But more often there are days when I just feel brittle.

You know brittle, right?

easily broken, cracked, or snapped
easily disrupted, overthrown, or damaged
easily hurt or offended
lacking warmth, depth, or generosity of spirit

Precisely.

(And as I always say when I share these things, it's nothing except that which is common to woman, to mothering, to partnering, to community-ing that brings me to this place.  No special circumstance.  Nothing extraordinary.  Just the business of living.)

Some days it's just the flies dive-bombing the kitchen and the wet swimsuits and towels mildewing on the laundry room floor and the toddler meltdown that arrives at 5 o'clock every day like, well, clockwork and the five year-old falling apart a mind-boggling number of times in one day.  Some days I don't even answer my phone because it's all too rarely, hey girl, I was just thinking of you and it's all too often hey Megan, do you think you could . . . ?

* * * * *

Do you know why brittleness sets in?  It happens when there's an absence of regeneration. 

Did you see this coming?

My most brittle days are the ones where I fly out of bed and into the cyclone of activity without pausing to regenerate or to restore or to receive.

Oh, it's so hard to receive.  When I am the most brittle, I conjure this image of God in my mind - my Heavenly Father describing me in this way:

"Oh, that Megan.  We've worked with her so much to encourage her to live up to her potential.  I don't know where we went wrong." And then, with an barely perceptible tsk, "Such a disappointment."

I know that's not true, but when I get to that place of easily broken that is always the direct result of a lack of renewal, it's easier to buy into that deception rather than fight hard for the truth.  And those are the times when I am simply in no mood for the sweet tea and daisies that so many devotionals for women seem to offer.  I need something real.

And that's why I have been so incredibly blessed by the newest release from Jen Hatmaker - Out of the Spin Cycle: Devotions to Lighten Your Mother Load.

The thing about Jen is that she is absolutely the real deal.  She knows what it is to have little ones running around, tugging at every inch of you all day long.  She is far enough ahead of me on the parenting path to be able to offer some much-needed perspective, but no so far ahead that she condescends to patting me on the head with a "this too shall pass, dear."

With devotionals with chapters titled "Chick-Fil-A, Group Baths, and Other Survival Techniques," "Egg Salad Sandwich Disorder and Road Rage," and "Our Own Little Sweatshop," you know you are listening to the wisdom of a friend who is as hilarious as she is insightful.  Her humor, sometimes sarcastic, did raise my eyebrows a few times, but that happens so rarely in the neatly sanitized devotionals I am accustomed to reading that I have to applaud her for her authenticity.

These devotionals are exactly what I need in this season of life - a perfect blend of practical advice and meditations on Scripture.  She brings the person of Christ to life on the pages of this book in a way that is utterly approachable while being extremely challenging.

These forty short devotions (each are three or four pages long) speak to women in my season (mothering in the trenches) and touch on the real issues of my life - teaching children to think of others, finding and clinging to sanity, bringing sexy back to marriage, and jealously guarding time alone with God.

Those brittle days?  Find rejuvenation with reminders from Jen like this:

"The adoration you feel when you watch your sleeping cherubs?  God has it for you.  Your pleasure at fulfilling one of their little dreams?  Jesus shares that feeling with you.  Your bursting heart when your kids laugh?  God feels the same way about your joy." (p. 105)

I need that truth to wash over my mind, to smooth off the ragged edge, to tend to and nurture my easily broken heart.  If your looking for some light-hearted but poignant perspectives for renewing your mind daily, well, I know you'll be blessed by Out of the Spin Cycle.

(Baker Publishing sent me a copy of Out of the Spin Cycle for the purposes of review.  This post is part of the Out of the Spin Cycle blog tour.  Out of the Spin Cycle is available June 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.)

The Birthday Road Trip

First things first: Today at Simple Mom, I have a column up discussing 7 Ideas for Screen-Free Travel with Kids.  There are some great comments already.  If you have a few moments, I would love it if you stopped by to add to the discussion.

In fact, that would be a great birthday present to me.  Because did I mention?  TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY!  The big, symmetrical 33! 

Your suggestions on the road trip playlist last week were wonderful.  Thanks for humoring me with that!  My sister Emily and I had an incredible trip.

Here's the rundown:

* On Thursday, I dropped the girls off at their grandparents' where they were so happily ensconced in playing in the yard that they barely looked up to tell me goodbye.

* I headed south on I-35 until I got to north Texas where Emily lives and goes to grad school.  We had fun tootling around town - shopping, eating, and seeing friends.  We talked about ninety miles an hour, and I am confident we annoyed all those around us with our frequent outbursts of laughter.  We then proceeded to stay up way too late, as is our custom.

* Friday morning, we shuffled around and finally hit the road for Austin around noon.  That means we were ready for nourishment just about the time we hit West, Texas - home of the best kolaches ever in the history of man.  My favorites come from The Czech Stop:

 

Then it was back on the road for us!  

Traffic in Austin on a Friday night can get a little gnarly (even worse than usual) but we actually made it to RunTex Riverside in plenty of time for me to pick up my running packet for The Race.

And then - AND THEN! - we headed over to The Shady Grove for dinner with my friend (and Simple Organic editor) Katie Fox!  I called to let her know we were on our way over and told her to look for me - that I would be wearing a green t-shirt and white skirt.  Emily was a little confused.  "Do you think she's forgotten what you look like?"  Um, not so much forgotten - we had never met!  But we've "known" each other for nearly three year through blogging.

Katie (and her hubby and precious daughter) were so much fun.  My friend Melissa also joined us for dinner there, and we stayed for hours and I feel like we could have kept right on talking for hours.

* We drove south out of town a little ways to the home of my friend Angela who had graciously offered to host us.  Catching up with her was the perfect end to an incredible day.

* Saturday morning, we got up bright and early with the sun and drove out to Blanco, Texas, for the Texas Lavender Women's 5K and 10K.  I wish I could have take pictures of the incredible scenery that driving through the Texas Hill Country offers.  It was stunning and just what I needed to settle my nerves before the big 10K.

There were hundreds of women participating in the race, and the atmosphere was awesome!  Everything was so well organized.  If you live in Texas and enjoy running, I HIGHLY recommend running in the annual Texas Women's run at least once!  

 
The race course took us along a gentle road through lavender country, but I had a hard time enjoying the scenery because OHMYGOSH, the heat.  The race started at 8:30 AM and the temps were already rising.  But worse - oh so much worse - than the heat was the humidity.  When the sweat can't evaporate off of your skin because of the humidity, it makes for a miserable race.  My morning runs end as the sun is coming up, so my body was not even a little bit used to running in that kind of weather.  I was disappointed that I had to walk most of the last two miles of the race, but overall, I was happy to have completed it!

While I was on the course, my sister (the artist) thoroughly enjoyed all the art and artisans who were participating in the Lavender Festival.  She got some of the best shots of the trip:

 

 

   

 

* After the race, we drove down into San Marcos - another absolutely breathtaking part of the trip.  There is a big, big part of my heart in the Texas Hill Country, and time spent there was one of the best birthday presents I've ever had.

* Some of my closest friends from our San Marcos days met us for lunch - and again, I could have stayed and talked for hours.  I was reminded of how with such dear friends, it's so easy to pick up right where you left off.  SUCH a treat.

* We ended the day with dinner with Emily's friend (and Austin expert) Patton at Trudy's and a trip out to The Oasis for live music and relaxing.  We stayed in Austin that night - along with nearly a quarter of a million bikers who were in town for the ROT rally.  So that was interesting.

* Sunday morning, we slept in ('til 8:45!  It was glorious!) and made one last stop before we headed northward.  H-E-B is arguably the best grocery store chain IN THE UNIVERSE.  Since neither Emily nor I can shop there anymore, we actually did some grocery shopping as part of our road trip.  I loaded up on Kyle's favorite salsa (we've been unable to locate decent salsa in the Sooner State) and other little goodies.

* One last stop in West - this time, upon recommendation from a friend, at a different bakery.  The kolaches were slightly different, but still scrumptious.  And look at that!  Some Texas-sized cinnamon rolls jumped in the box, too!

 

I arrived home to two sweet girls who were almost as anxious to see me as I was to see them, and my sweet hubby who graciously made this whole trip possible.

Once we reach our thirties, it becomes a challenge to carve out celebrations, doesn't it?  Or is that just me?  It's easy to let a birthday pass by in the season of diapers and Dora and PB&J and constant clutter patrol.  That's what I'm doing today on my actual birthday.  A trip to the library for story time, cleaning house, preparing dinner for our small group tonight . . . just the business of life. 

But I am stopping to pause and remember and treasure the memories of the grown-up road trip.  I feel so incredibly well-celebrated.