My Homekeeping Notebook Pt 1

I began working on my own version of a Homekeeping Notebook about a year ago. It's a wonder of organization, and I don't know what I would do without it. Yes, it can be a temptation to spend more time playing with the notebook than using it, but I am glad to say that it has been a truly useful tool.

Here are the sections of my notebook:

Schedule

Menus & Shopping

Health

Pregnancy Planning

Devotions & Prayer

Children

Home

Finances

Information

Holidays

Recipes

Gardening

Beware the Time Eater!

I have to mention this one, because today it got me! The internet is a great resource, and I'm not at all technologically backward, but today again, I was reminded that the internet can be such a great time-waster. We homemakers are blessed that we don't have a boss breathing down are necks keeping track of our computers everyday, but that makes it especially important that we keep track of ourselves. Whether it's facebook or those killer forums, keep the internet for what it's good for: research, recipes, keeping up with friends (but there's no need to keep up with allll 479 facebook friends), learning new skills, keeping track of finances and banking, earning extra money, learning/education etc. and stay away from those time-eaters!!

What makes a cozy home?

My sister and I talk about pretty much everything. It was several years ago that we began discussing this topic of a cozy home, and it may very well have been my first journey down the road of homemaking. I think this was before I met my husband, so we would have both been single at the time, which, by the way, is a still a great time to consider and begin making a home. What a wonderful ministry of hospitality ladies, whether married or single, can have when their home is a welcoming, cozy place to be.

This conversation of a cozy home has continued and evolved over the years and we still continue to discuss it today, but never fear, we have made some headway. One thing we did was identify the homes we felt had this mysterious element, and one home above all others came to mind as we talked - our grandmother's house. Grandma is an amazing lady - fiesty, strong, talented, and much to our chagrin, a woman with fewer wrinkles than her 20's and 30's grandchildren. Sad indeed. But along with all this, every home she makes is a cozy place to hang your hat and hang out. Another home is my husband's grandparent's home. The interesting thing is, these two homes are entirely different, yet both extremely cozy.

I sat down one day and actually wrote out a list of the elements of each of these two homes. My grandmother's homes are all bright and colorful - though the colors do seem to change from house to house, with coordinated furniture and decorations, and fairly up-to-date in design. She has a number of handmade items, but they are not nick-nack types. My grandfather does woodworking, so the house usually has a wooden element in its decorations. And then there's the ruffles. In her family days, she used to sew drapes for a living, and I'm guessing they all had ruffles. Now, I hate ruffles, but I can't deny that they do play a part in the coziness. My husband's grandparents have such a different home. The carpet is flower patterned, hand sewn tapestries hang on the walls, the furniture is from another era, there's a bowl of fruit in the living room, and a romantic coal fire in the fire place, yet a moment in that home and it is impossible to feel anything but "at home." It's not exactly the decor, or even the attitudes of the ladies, as they have very different personalities, so it must be a combination of the two as well as something else - some indescribable quality. What on earth is it?

About Me

I am an extremely blessed woman. I have enjoyed many wonderful life experiences: I grew up in a loving family, attended a good Christian college where I earned a degree in math, then moved to Hawaii and taught school for four years. I've had my share of adventure, of education, of quiet, of loneliness, of work, and of fun.

Three years ago, I embarked on a new and life-changing adventure. I met a handsome Welshman and moved to the UK to become his wife. We were married in December 2007. A year later, in February 2009, we found out that we were expecting the first little addition to our family. I am a wife; I am a mother; I am a Christian; I am a servant; I am a leader. I am a woman.

One thing of note about me is that I am still learning everyday. What I share here are the things I have already learned, some of which have already had a great impact on the climate of our little family home. I find that on the topic of homemaking, the majority of books and blogs focus almost entirely on organization and cleaning. These are two wonderful areas of consideration for any homemaker, but you can have the most wonderfully organized home, or the most spotless, but have an entirely miserable family. What I want to capture, and what I have spent most of my time contemplating and working toward is that intangible quality of a loving, welcoming, cozy refuge from the outside world. Here we will explore this together.

Campaigning for the Beauty and Dignity of Womanhood

We live in the modern age. Technology abounds. Careers are high-tech, high-powered, and high-stress. Multi-tasking is in; family dinners are out. Even the definition of family is up for debate. The lines between male and female are blurred, and sadly, with this, the respect of the occupation "homemaker" has largely diminished.

Homemaking is not a "lost art." It is not a societal frill. It is a dire necessity, one whose value is vastly underestimated and as a result is on the verge of extinction. The future of our families, our societies, and by extension the human race, largely depends upon the quiet, loving lives of women guiding the home and raising the next generation.