Scraps of parchment, batches of soap

Well, we are still here in Dallas! We have been here over two weeks now! I looked at the day and was surprised that it is already the 5th of September! How the time has flown! Nate's classes keep him busy, but he is doing well with juggling between reading in the library and reading next to me on the couch. It's funny to hear him practicing Greek, and he asks me to help him memorize bible verses to get extra credit for classes (just in case!). It is also nice that he comes home for meals as well. He is looking for part time work to help support the baby and me when the time comes. I hope that he doesn't get overwhelmed with all that is piling on his plate! I have been finding ways to keep busy. I make bread once a week, and plan out our meals in advance for grocery shopping thriftiness. I have been making a pillow for our couch to match the afghan that I finished. It is made from the same yarn, so it sort of matches, but I have been improvising, and so it has that look of improvisation. As much as I want to tear it apart and start over, I find just a little pillow at my lower back makes sitting so much more comfortable. So I am just trying to finish it and then maybe make a nicer couch pillow for later.

Saturday, I distracted Nate from his studies to help me make soap. We've made soap in the past, and we really enjoy doing it. For some reason, though, taking a year from soap making really threw us off. We couldn't find the recipe, we weren't agreeing on pots and mixers to use, and we couldn't agree on when the soap reached trace. I was always saying, "it's there! It's ready!" and Nate would patiently say, "Not yet, not yet...". It's a slightly nerve-wracking process, since you are dealing with lye. Lye can burn skin and eyes until it reacts with the oils and saponifies, so to ensure we didn't expose the baby to any chemicals, Nate was doing the measuring and the pouring of lye. And when we finally got the soap in the molds, I was worn out! Later, to our chagrin, we discovered the soap we placed in individual molds were stuck in tight, because we did not grease them. Who would've guessed that soap would stick to plastic? I was despairing that we would have to cut the molds to pieces to get the soap out, but Nate saved the day, remembering we could rebatch the soap by cutting the soap out of the molds, heating it up in the microwave to melt it down again, and then put it back in the molds, which I heavily greased this time! The soap, doesn't look as smooth as if we had poured it into the molds, but at least we salvaged the soap and spared the molds from mutilation. We will probably make another batch again before the baby comes, just to make sure we remember what to do. It's cheap to make, typically fun to make, and we like that we know exactly what's in it. All you really need is a few different household oils, like olive oil or coconut oil, lye which is a drain opener, and water to get started! You can get the recipe from this blog, which I enjoy reading from time to time : http://down---to---earth.blogspot.co.uk/2007/07/how-to-make-cold-pressed-soap.html

On Monday, Nate and I went with a group of DTS students to a nearby seminary to look at the collection of Dead Sea Scrolls they had on display. It was so exciting! They had fragments from Leviticus and Isaiah that dated back to 250 BC! Isn't that incredible that something that old has been preserved for that long?! How often do we try to preserve something only to see it destroyed? I certainly felt blessed that we had the opportunity to see those pieces. Even if though I couldn't read them, I still couldn't get over how precious and valuable they are to mankind.
We also got to meet some other students from DTS, and I was happy for that, too. This week, I meet up with my "nurturing group" for bible study. I'm looking forward to that as well! I hope everyone has a great rest of their week!

-Erin

- Posted with the help of my iPad!

Location:Swiss Ave,Dallas,United States