Letters to Candace

Letter 41 {A Week of Monday}

September 1, 2018 by Rachel

Dear Candace,

Monday morning, this is how it went:

I drop Caleb off at his Algebra 2 class. Not wanting to spend unnecessary driving to and from home, I plan on spending time at a nearby Starbucks to do some work before picking him up. After settling in, I learn their Wifi isn’t working, and hasn’t been for a week. A WEEK. This is the modern age! That’s simply inconceivable (and yes, I do know what that word means). I do a quick maps search and realize a St. Louis county library branch is within a mile. Perfect. I can use a study room there. I show up at the Library only to learn-it’s closed, for some reason I did not investigate.

Okay Monday, I get it. You’re having fun with me. But guess what? I am young and adventurous and also behind on email, and I can find another Starbucks since St. Louis is literally littered with them. They can’t all be out of wifi.

I am not ashamed of carrying my iced americano from Starbucks #1 into Starbucks #2. Starbucks understands.

…

Letter 40 {6 quick things on turning 36}

June 9, 2018 by Rachel

Dear Candace,

Now that I’m 36, I’m living in the fullness of myself and have come to terms with a few things.

One, I still forget to switch the laundry to the dryer.

Two, giving myself a manicure is an arduous task requiring a ridiculous amount of Q-tips and toxic polish remover, and I still end up with nails that look like they were done by a 6 year old.

Three, pie is my always and forever weakness and a crust made with lard makes my knees buckle. I could eat pie every day of my life and never, not once, feel guilty. Pie is life….

Letter 39 {Farm Life & Casseroles}

May 16, 2018 by Rachel

Friday, May 11th

Dear Candace,

Another weekend at the farm! Only this time, instead of passing through, we’re here to help host the biggest event of the year: the Boys’ Jamboree.

An adventure-packed campout for young boys ages 9-13. The boys will be divided into teams with godly young men as leaders, and go through a series of activities designed to challenge them physically and spiritually. It is our desire that this would be a time of fun, excitement, and bonding, that will push the boys to Christ. Activities include:

Giant Rope Swing
Shooting Guns
Hiking
Airsoft
Caving
Throwing Ninja Stars
Field Games
Obstacle Course
Campout

Tom is helping with the rope swing, Caleb is an assistant team leader, Drew is a camper, Hosanna is an assistant to the directors, and I am an assistant to Hosanna. Which makes me an assistant to the assistant.

Image result for assistant to the assistant manager memes

Here are a couple things I’ve done:

Ferried people up and down the driveway before the event started. Fetched a watch. Fetched a bunch of Kleenex because pollen season, and everyone suddenly has allergies. Brought Hosanna a La Croix. Brought Hosanna sunscreen. Sat and held my 3 month old nephew for two hours. I don’t take my responsibilities lightly, you know.

This past week has been a whirlwind! Every night we’ve had a commitment-mainly having to do with Caleb’s volleyball league. The season is almost over, and while its been fun to watch him play with a great group of guys, I’m ready to have my evenings back. We’ve also not properly celebrated Hosanna’s 17th birthday as a family, so it will be nice to have a relaxing evening to do that.

I just finished: I’ll Be Gone In the Dark, by Michelle McNamara. I waited weeks and weeks for this to become available at the library-there were so many holds-and after the news of the Golden State Killer’s arrest I finally got the notice it was on my holdshelf. Somehow, I managed to read it this past week while waiting at the doctor’s office, for the kids to be done with lessons, during waits in the van or before games…always having a book with me helps to get bits of reading time in. Anyway, reading it knowing the elusive criminal has now been captured made it a) less scary and b) satisfying to know that after 40 years of investigations and research, criminal justice has now been set in motion. I kept googling information as I read the book!

Sunday, May 12

Happy Mother’s Day! Life at the farm is often a revolving door of activity; adding to that is my parents’ move from our farmhouse and helping them unload a U-Haul and begin making the transition to their new home. Everyone is sore and tired from all the jamboree activities plus loading and unloading boxes and furniture. To make breakfast easy on this hallowed occasion, I made two overnight dishes and they turned out delicious:

Blueberry Lemon Overnight French Toast Bake (gluten & dairy free)

Fully-Loaded Cheesy Breakfast Casserole

How have I forgotten how wonderful overnight breakfasts casseroles are? They are life!! The family can make me breakfast in bed another day this week. 😀

purple irises next to trees and a pond

My mother-in-law’s beautiful flowers at the farm spring-fed pond!

Love and sunshine,

Rachel

Letter 38 {Short(s) Thoughts}

Letter 40 {6 Quick Things On Turning 36}

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Letter 38 {Short(s) Thoughts}

May 5, 2018 by Rachel

Dear Candace,

I’m writing to you from the lumpy comfort of one of the farm beds. I’m here but not here for the weekend. Staying tonight and then running down to Silver Dollar City tomorrow for the day with Hosanna, my mom, and a mix of sisters! This weekend is all about celebrating Hosanna’s 17th birthday, enjoying Keturah’s quick visit-we never get her; school and work keep her so busy in Indy-and soaking in all the sunshine we can.

For real. I’ll be wearing shorts at the park tomorrow and hopefully no small children will be frightened. Shorts are hard for me, you know. I haven’t quite hit on the perfect style and length. They tend to be either too long or too, well, short. I’d like a lovely distressed pair for the summer, but I haven’t found it yet.

…

Letter 37 {Baby Walks}

April 29, 2018 by Rachel

Dear Candace,

I have just said goodbye to one of the most adorable babies I have ever met. Six month old Bennett, who I’ve not seen since he was a few weeks old, visited us from Denver like traveling royalty. Ever affable, generously indulging us fawning peasants with smiles and charm, he pretty much had our obeisance from the moment he arrived. There’s just something about having a baby in a house of big kids that changes the tone of everything, coloring our days with sweetness and a lot more drool and laughing.

Here is what I know about babies:

-nothing, because it’s been over a decade since I’ve had one and I either question all my methods of raising them or don’t remember how I did it because, #sleepdeprived…

Letter 36 {Oven Rice}

April 21, 2018 by Rachel

Dear Candace,

I have rice cooking in the oven right now, because it seems like the easiest way for me to make a large amount of it without any tragedy. Those days of almost or always burning it on the stove-top are long gone for me, thanks to this method and my instant pot. I used to have a rice maker but it wasn’t the greatest and would stick something awful. Baking it in the oven also means you don’t need any fancy appliances! {I generally do 4 cups rice with 8 cups water or broth in a large glass rectangular dish.}

The other day when I was at Target, I noticed a professionally dressed woman, about my age, strolling with her daughter. I immediately felt drawn to her not in a creepy way, but in a I-have-found-my-kind way. She wasn’t wearing hose with her pencil skirt and heels, and her white legs matched her white arms and white face which also matched mine. She was rocking the not-tan look, meanwhile I have been contemplating the merits of gradual tan lotion. I don’t see many others like me in the wild (case in point-at yoga that same day everybody looked fresh from the beach while I looked fresh from the depths of a cave).

I felt in the mood for something entirely different in my reading life, so when Madeleine from Top Shelf Text mentioned The Lace Reader as an excellent, riveting novel with a big plot twist, I immediately requested it from the library. The unreliable narrator (I love a good unreliable narrator!) has returned to her childhood home in Salem, Massachusetts after the disappearance of her aunt. This New York Times bestseller serves up realism with a thread of natural magic, the untimely death of a twin sister, forgotten memories, and tea-making. I’m a few chapters in and it’s obviously the kind of book I’ll be tempted to forego sleep to finish…

I need to majorly empty and revamp my closet. I thought I did pretty well at keeping it contained this winter, but when I was going through my hanging clothes recently I realized there were several things I hadn’t worn in over a year, and many more that just didn’t fit properly or needed to be replaced. So I plan on doing two things at once over the next few weeks-work on rounding out my winter wardrobe with clearance items even as I pack (most) of it away in storage, and figure out what I need to purchase for spring and summer. Since you have so much time on your hands, idling away the days with five children, surely you would like to do this for me? I trust your taste implicitly.

Love,

Rachel

Letter 35 {Netflix & Patio Tacos}

Letter 37 {Baby Walks}

Photo by Natalia Y on Unsplash

Letter 35 {Netflix & Patio Tacos}

April 14, 2018 by Rachel

Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them. -Lemony Snicket

Dear Candace,

We are slowly making our way through Netflix’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, season two, and by “we” I do mean our entire family, together, of an evening. As you know, Tom is not a T.V. person* and it’s rare that he’ll watch a movie (however, this past Christmas he was stuck with the rest of us in a Star Wars marathon, haha!) but this show has reeled him in. {Or maybe he’s just humoring the rest of us.} In our 18 years of marriage, I can’t think of any other T.V. series we’ve watched together as a couple or with the family (and I don’t count Andy Griffith played on repeat when the kids were small).

…

Letter 34 {The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow}

April 3, 2018 by Rachel

Dear Candace,

This letter could also be titled, “when you are waiting for spring and feeling very Eeyorish.”

Rain, sleet, spring snow, thunderstorms…this is the Midwest! {tagline: variety is the spice of life}

I try not to whine about rain-it’s a blessing, I know. Rain is fine. I’ll adjust. Especially if I’m in London-my plan is always go to the nearest Tesco for an umbrella and then walk arm in arm with my sister to a cozy tea room. Rain in London is delightful.

I didn’t promise to never complain about cloudy grey days, though. One needs to complain about something.

What I’m telling myself is this: buck up, buttercup- when it does stop raining and greying for a moment, it’s going to be so green and bright my eyes will hurt from all the color and it will all be worth it.

…

Letter 33 {Wedding, Donuts}

March 26, 2018 by Rachel

Dear Candace,

Thursday, March 22:

I’m writing to you from Indy, where spring has been welcomed with fluffy snow and strong winds. Naomi’s wedding on Saturday will probably feature temps below freezing and more precipitation. Remember that proverb about March?

In like a lion, out like a lamb.

False. OPPOSITE.

However, this is not dampening our spirits in the least and we are enjoying every minute of preparation and time spent together this week! Many important tasks have already been accomplished, such as last-minute shoe shopping for certain unnamed member of the family, the purchase of chalkboards from Michael’s, flower petal accumulation (for the send-off), getting our nails done, and eating of Thai food.

…

Letter 32 {Don’t be Rash}

March 16, 2018 by Rachel

Dear Candace,

For the past week I’ve been afflicted by, as I call it, a body rash. I won’t go into detail on this public forum, but suffice it to say that large portions of my epidermis have been covered in a blotchy, slightly bumpy, incredibly annoying, very ridiculous rash.

Before I get yelled at to go to the doctor, allow me to explain that I don’t have any other symptoms which would warrant an immediate visit to the urgent care, and I’ve been conferring with my doctor (who is, of course, on spring break) and getting advice from nurse friends who have some insight to give me.

As it turns out, rashes are a dark and mysterious, often unexplainable entity. I don’t have hives, shingles, or poison ivy (thanks, nurse friends). According to Google, I have no less than 50 diseases. Feeling in the mood to be terrified? Here, just search “rashes and their causes” on Google images. You’re welcome. Sweet dreams.

Benadryl and creams of all sorts have been helping me cope. Thankfully, a week in and I’m almost over it, I think. Could it be viral, or a reaction to something I was newly prescribed? Yes. There’s also a high chance I’ve been experimented on by aliens. Turns out they don’t want me.

You can’t ignore a rash like this. Its become a part of me, of my identity. “Hi, my name is Rachel and I have a Rash.” At a department store recently, while getting fitted and surveyed for proper formal attire, I blurted out my rash story in an apology voice. The lady with the measuring tape just grunted. To my relief, it didn’t seem to bother her. As I looked at myself in the mirror, wearing the dress I’ll probably have on at my sister’s wedding next week, a commentary ran through my mind:

“This is our sister Rash Rachel, featuring a neck rash of epic proportions vying with her necklace for the biggest statement.”

“What was she like before the rash? We can’t remember, but we think her skin was very white.”

I took an oatmeal bath during the peak of my rash season, since Google and everybody else recommended it for its “skin-soothing properties.” The oats were in a fine mesh bag so they didn’t make a mess in the tub; the water turned a resulting milky oat color. I couldn’t tell any difference in my skin afterwards, though squeezing oat slime out of the bag was kind of fun, plus once I put coconut oil in my hair I smelled like granola.

I ran across this funny cartoon during all my investigations-

Doctor, to his over-large patient: “It’s not a rash, it’s moss. You need to start being more active than a tree.”

That’s the more likely explanation in my case. Maybe I’ll walk today.

Wishing for clear skies and clear skin,

Rachel

Letter 31 {A Return}

Letter 33 {Wedding, Donuts}

Photo by Andrea Tummons on Unsplash