If you want to keep up with the reads that give me pause all week long, follow my Reads and Recipes board on Pinterest. If you want to follow along with my personal life, you can follow me on Instagram. Subscribe to our newsletter to not miss a post!
Reads I Loved This Week
11 Sunscreens to Avoid This Summer (and 6 Safe Alternatives) @ Mothering.com
For my personal thoughts on sunscreen, check out a series I wrote a few years ago, “Safe in the Sun.” You can also check out Lexie’s safe homemade sunscreen recipe or a round-up of 5 non-toxic sunscreen recipes.
5 Ways to Ruin Your Day @ Money Saving Mom
This post reminded me of the post I wrote a while back called “A Sure-Fire Way to Sabotage Your Morning Routine.” I have definitely succumbed to the 5 ways Crystal mentions in her post. She is spot on!
Why We’re Staying in Our Small Home @ Intentionally Simple
LOVE this post! We had a great guest post this week on a similar topic. Natalie of Messy Mom shared how her family of 5 lives in an 800 square foot apartment!
10 Steps to Stretching Meat at Home @ Don’t Waste the Crumbs
Yes! These tips are awesome & will save you money!
And posts on Charleston & Racism in America:
I wrote a post last weekend on racism in America. It’s a topic very near to my heart; I want to combat racism. However, I received some very threatening comments and an email which led me to take the post down. These are some other posts that speak volumes, however–
The Cross and The Confederate Flag @ The Gospel Coalition
What It’s Like for a White Woman to Love a Black Man in America @ Bows, Bottles, and a Briefcase
Confederate Treason @ Seth Haines
A Bow to Charleston @ Wall Street Journal
What’s on my Nightstand
I finished You Are a Writer while on the plane on Monday, and I’m now re-reading the exercise chapters in Trim Healthy Mama. I REALLY want to get back to a better exercise routine once we get home! I am excited to have a new Fit Bit to track my steps. I was blown away to see that I was really sedentary on my work days! We are walking a lot more in Costa Rica, and I am excited to see all the steps add up!
What I’m Cooking
We are cooking most of our own food here in Costa Rica to cut down on costs. I’m keeping meals really simple, like basic stir-frys and some of my favorites from my friend Leigh Ann’s eCookbook, 20 Minute Meals.
Posts This Week
Small Space Living for Big Families
Why We’ve Made Too Big of a Deal Out of the Phrase “It Looks Like Your Hands Are Full.”
Blue Apron: A Healthy Alternative to Take-Out
I have no idea if they have gotten 50 redemptions yet, but they were giving two free meal servings to the first 50 people who signed up! Click here to get it.
5 Reasons Why We Are Taking Our Kids to Costa Rica for 5 Weeks This Summer
Costa Rica Recap, Week 1
Monday: We arrived and got settled into our apartment!
Tuesday: We took a public bus downtown and exposed the girls to the largest city in Costa Rica! We then enjoyed a dinner visit with our good friend Pablo and his wife Natalia and their three kids. Pablo was one of our dear friends here when we lived in Costa Rica, and he was on our ministry team. He was in our wedding in 2005, but I had not seen him since then!
Wednesday: We participated in an Operation Christmas Child shoebox distribution in Cartago, Costa Rica! I hope to write more about this on Monday!
Thursday: We hiked to some waterfalls and a butterfly farm.
Friday: We took the girls to a national park, where we hiked to the top of a volcano through the cloud forest. It was too cloudy and rainy to see the crater, but it was still fun! On our way down the mountain, we stopped by a coffee plantation to take some pictures and show the girls the plants. We then spent the evening with Pablo and his family, including his parents and brother, who were also on our ministry team while we were here back in 2002-2004!
This was one of two “vacation-y” weeks we will have this summer.
Today, we leave for the language school and ministry portion of our trip!
A teenage girl from our church will be traveling on Monday to meet us in our new location. She has a huge heart for missions, and her parents approached us about her joining us. She has babysat for us a few times, and the girls absolutely ADORE her. (The funny thing is that she had reddish hair and could totally pass as my daughter or younger sister!) Please pray for her travels on Monday and that the Lord will work in and through her during her time with us!
Keep up-to-date on our trip via Instagram and Periscope!
If you want to keep up with the reads that give me pause all week long, follow my Reads and Recipes board on Pinterest. If you want to follow along with my personal life, you can follow me on Instagram. Subscribe to our newsletter to not miss a post!
Claire
I’m so sorry that you had to take down your post about racism, and I hope my email wasn’t the one that lead you to do that. I meant to be encouraging, and I apologize if it didn’t come across that way.
Erin @ The Humbled Homemaker
Oh no, Claire–not at ALL! Your email was SO encouraging!! (I am just behind on emails, so I haven’t replied yet.) It was another email that was scary. Thank you SO much for your support!! ❤️
Claire
Well, I’m glad it wasn’t my email, but I’m so sorry to hear that you received a scary email. That’s horrible. Hopefully being in Cost Rica will be a good source of renewal.