2016 Holiday Letter

2016 Holiday Letter

Dear Readers, Friends, and Loved Ones, Happy Holidays from Loja, Ecuador!  When I wrote the first draft of this holiday letter, less than two weeks ago, I had no idea that a few days later I’d be on a flight to South America!   Let me back up to the beginning of the year and…

Taking a Blogging Sabbatical

Taking a Blogging Sabbatical

Do you ever go grocery shopping and then try to unload everything all at once so you don’t have to make multiple trips from the car to the house?  You stagger up the steps, struggle at the doorway with all your bags and fumble around to find your keys while the heavy sacks cut into your wrists, restricting your…

2015 Holiday Letter

2015 Holiday Letter

Dear Readers, As I write this, we’re in the final days of 2015. How was your year? I know for many of my loved ones, 2015 brought a large share of challenges. Difficult and costly projects, lost loved ones, health problems, hearts broken… For others, it was a year of joy and new beginnings. Weddings,…

2016 Goals

2016 Goals

In last week’s post, I wrote my overview of 2015, looking back at what went well and what didn’t go so well. This week I share my goals looking forward to 2016. Following the basic format outlined by Chris Guillebeau, I write down the major goal categories and set several specific, measurable goals for each….

Fire!

Fire!

I had an exciting day yesterday. It was unseasonably warm for Veteran’s Day—71°F and partly cloudy, but terrifically windy! Day before yesterday my sister-in-law, Denise, and I had spent all day plastering the walls of the earthbag house with papercrete. So yesterday I thought maybe I should take a few photos of our progress. With my camera…