Learning Together

 If you’re a Facebook user come like my page concerning essential oils. It’s a good way to start a conversation if you’re interested in essential oils (and if you’re interested in a healthy lifestyle, you are probably interested in essential oils. You just might not know it yet!) I will post regular tips and information regarding the oils and how to use them.If you’re like me, you are constantly learning and this page will give us the opportunity to learn side by side. You can click below to like the page or follow the link in the menu above.

Can’t wait to see what we find!

~Cate 

Tuesday Morning Musings

I’ve been meaning to write something for a while now. I tried numerous times before, but either I (or my writing) was never focused enough. This morning, however, I was sitting out on our back porch because I was drawn early out of bed by unknown forces. I sat for a while listening to the peaceful birds, watching the peaceful lake and feeling inside similar to a tornado of hummingbirds. My mind would not settle on any one thing but hopped from one flower-thought to another, leaving destruction in the wake. I began to write to relieve some pressure and something okay-ish emerged.

It went like this:

I am trying to sit here on the porch and slow down. But I am freaking out inside. My mind is on all the things I want—“need” to be doing. Clean the house, travel, spend time with family, read the many books lying around my room, organize my stuff, get my head together, FIGURE IT OUT. That last one is the biggest, the most difficult. Figure out where I’m going, what I’m doing, why I feel this or that . . . Understand more, discover more.  

Part of the reason being nineteen is so scary is that I’m old enough to start “figuring out” what to believe, what’s right and true. But I’m also young enough to keep changing and reinventing and redefining my not-so-solid beliefs, values and ideals.

That’s not even the scariest part, though. The scariest part is that when I was nine, I was sure that by now things would be much clearer. Things would be worked out and, I would know exactly what to do, who to choose, which path to take.

But in reality I don’t even know where I’m walking, and even if there were road signs, I probably wouldn’t know how to read them. The scariest part is looking ahead and realizing if I live as I intend to, I will need to keep redefining my ideas so that they don’t get dusty and make people sneeze. Yes, I will have a core of beliefs that remain constant, but mostly my ideas about “the way things are” will constantly be changing. That means I will probably feel nineteen at twenty-nine, at thirty-nine and probably even ninety-nine. (Maybe I’ll have it figured out by one hundred.)

From there, I have a set of choices.

One choice is to descend into a steady stream of hopelessness; nothing will ever change. Another choice is to turn to a false wall. Pour cement over the things I think I know and don’t let anyone tell me that I am wrong.

The choice I hope I always choose is mostly an option because of what I do believe. My belief in God helps me to feel secure in the knowledge that I will never be sure, not really. Although I try to figure God out, he is constantly growing out of the cardboard box I try to tuck Him into. My final choice is that I could move forward. I could open myself up to not knowing yet, not understanding just now. Then I could be okay with that.

Perhaps this is not applicable to anyone else, and this is simply a diary entry born from a phase in my life. I have a sneaking suspicion, however, that I’m not the only one who doesn’t know what I am doing, and I for one will probably never figure it out. Sometimes knowing someone else doesn’t have life all sorted out either is a priceless comfort. So I will take what I have—the lake, the birds, the peace—and be okay.      

My Road to Gettysburg

My mother, father and three siblings are from sunny central Florida and I am living in Gettysburg, PA.

Life is an adventure, and I am constantly bombarded with the reality of how unpredictable and amazing it can be.

On a hike through the Appalachian Trail. 

I am spending the summer in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania with David and Junko Young and their four sons. It has been an amazing, crazy and unpredictable adventure.

Florida, where my family lives, is a long way from Gettysburg, it's true. It's a pretty good story of how I migrated north.

I had just graduated from high school. I knew I wanted to do something amazing but I wasn't sure what it would be. I wasn't ready for college, not yet knowing where my passion lay. Having been home-schooled and one of four children in a close-knit family had molded me into a person with different qualities than my peers. I was faced with the question of what I would do with these mismatched talents cultivated in me. I was praying for an adventure where I could use them.

In the fall, I took a trip with my family to our hometown in New Jersey. It was a great trip. On our way south, we stopped at Gettysburg. I had been there a handful of times since I was a kid, and I had always wanted to live there in an offhand kind of way.

All along US 15 are signs on bicycles advertising "The Lion Potter". The signs are quirky, inviting conversation as you drive along. We had visited The Lion Potter every time we went to Gettysburg and loved it. Naturally we went this time as well to introduce my dad to David Young, the potter. David engaged us in conversation, and it happened to come up that he and his wife were working on the concept of a healthy rest stop. He related how much they were doing and all the things they were working on. I was intrigued.

That spirit within me prodded me to ask, "Do you need help with this?"

Of course, I didn't know that just that morning David and Junko had made it a point to pray for an extra hand. They thought it would be coming from Japan where Junko is originally from but instead it was little old me.

I reached out again after I went home and ended up in Gettysburg in December for a two week trial and loved it. I've been living in Pennsylvania full-time since February.  

At first it was scary and hard to explain to people. However, I am learning so much and gaining so much experience that it's not hard to explain anymore. I'm on an adventure, and I am exactly where God wants me.

Wheat croissant experiment for cafe menu. Success? I think so. 

 I have always loved to cook, but I am cultivating a style and learning from Junko and David. We eat three sit-down meals every day, so there is always opportunity to make a meal.

We are working on taking the rest stop from an idea to a reality (read more about that here or here). I am mostly in charge of any online work.

The four boys are home-schooled, and I help teach them and give input from my years of being taught at home.


I have been learning about natural healing methods, whole eating and methods of being self-sufficient that I had never thought of before.

It's been spectacular, and I try something new every day.

I wanted to share because it amazes me again all the time how things can work out for a marvelous purpose.

-Cate    

The four boys and me. Some of the greatest guys I know!   

Days 30 & 31

       Of course, I couldn't be expected to ACTUALLY write the last posts on time could I? Oh, well. My last two days were pretty uneventful. There was the fourth of July prep and then the day itself. Prep included cleaning the house and cooking.
       Cleaning the house with a two year old at my heels, that is. The cooking was just me. Colin is a very independent two year old who didn't give me any trouble while I cleaned except for one thing. I was cleaning the tub as I usually do, spraying scrubbing bubbles, sprinkling baking soda and scrubbing away and then turning on the shower to wash all the muck down. Colin came up and stuck his hand in the stream of water while I scrubbed the rest out and then he disappeared for a moment. By some muted instinct I knew what was coming next but did nothing to stop it. All of a sudden he was in the shower I was trying to clean, grinning at me through the water. The little booger. I merely had time to instruct that he was NOT to pee in my clean tub.
     
       The fourth was fun and fairly relaxing. We cooked, cleaned and decorated (a little) until a few friends arrived later. We played a lot of spoons, ate a lot of s'mores and then piled into the car and inched our way downtown to watch the fireworks.
       It was really beautiful, actually. Everyone in my family said it was the best display we've seen in Florida since we've moved. In our small town in New Jersey, we got the parade and fireworks and it was generally more organized. But here, we haven't found any good parades and the fireworks are hard to find and to get to. So this time we got a perfect spot at the edge of the lake and sat on top of the car to watch (with plenty of OFF handy). They were really great and I always say that the older I get the more I like fireworks. Plus, over the lake you not only see the local display, but also the ones way across. Basically, you're surrounded by fireworks. It's pretty beautiful.

       So, this marks the end of my 31 days. It's been fun to write, even if I'm not exactly the most consistent of bloggers. My next project on this blog will be 10 days of DIY Pinterest Projects. We'll see how that goes!    

Twenty-Nine

       Ugh . . . I am exhausted! That kind of exhausted where you know you ought to get rest but you still have things to do and you're hung up on the fact that you still have to get up at 7 AM tomorrow. UGH!

       And here I am writing but I'm SO CLOSE to 31, I can feel it. Well, today was nothing special but I'll write about it anyway. I woke up early (sob) dragged myself away from some dreams and kick started my day with a reeses. Wow, I have a serious problem. Oh well, if I'm living according to the great wisdom of "Friends" 'the diet starts tomorrow' anyway. Later, we took Colin to visit Devyn and go swimming and he informed me I should "always swim with a buddy". The kid could kill with his cuteness.
       We dropped bubba off on the way home (puke free, woo hoo!) and stopped to pick up groceries where I was NOT picked on by any creepy old guys. Look at that, things do get better. At home I made dinner, ate dinner, cleaned up from dinner and sat down to watch "Warm Bodies" with my family. It was the second time I've seen it and it's still a really great movie.
       Although it's summed up and looks rather boring written out, that was my day. It's always nice to have a busy day, I just hope I get a little downtime this weekend. I feel like I haven't stopped going for at least a week now. Tomorrow should be a little slower. Let's hope!