Flowers and Co-Ops

My sweet Valentine sent me beautiful flowers for Valentine's Day.

Can we just talk about the fact I told him tulips were my favorite flower in a random conversation a while ago, and he remembered it. Such a sweet man I have. I recently found a pin on Pinterest that sums up my Valentine.

"If he makes...makes you laugh, kisses your forehead, says he's sorry, makes an effort, holds your hand, works hard and attempts to understand you. Then, believe it or not, he's quite perfect."

And he does/has done all those things for me. I'm a lucky girl.

But enough of the mushy girl talk...Let's talk about how Redneck I am. (Is redneck a proper noun? I think not...But who's gonna stop me? Nobody.)

I may or may not have carried my coffee to work in a Tervis tumbler covered in Saran wrap.

And by that I meant I did do that this morning. And I'm totally not ashamed. To be completely honest with you, this Tervis tumbler kept my coffee warmer than any other coffee carrier I've ever used. Now that's big news. But to keep the Redneckness at bay, I'll need to get a special lid for my cup for next time.

On a completely different note, I've discovered something pretty amazing after writing yesterday's post. I've been seeing a lot of blogs promoting food co-ops for local farmers. After watching those two documentaries Monday night, I browsed one of the movies' Web sites to see what kind of resources it provided for people looking to support local farmers.

Little Rock has a local food co-op, meaning that anyone who signs up for a membership can get locally grown fruits and vegetables, among other things, each week. It's called the Little Rock Local Food Club. And I couldn't be more thrilled about it.

Unlike other food co-ops, Little Rock Local Food Club allows you to pick what goes in your box each week. Most co-ops just give you whatever, and you don't know what you get until you pick up your box each week.

Y'all this is seriously cool. And I feel like nobody knows about it. Now the Web site is not very fancy, but I feel like it's a start for Arkansas' move to sustainable living.


Our mission is to foster the local food economy and sustainable development by connecting Arkansas Farmers and Artisans with our membership. Our core values reflect that mission:
• We believe that small, diverse, family-owned farms contribute to a society’s overall health.
• We believe that Little Rock citizens should have access to local, responsibly-produced foods and artisanal products.
• We believe that it is important that farmers reestablish relationships with their customers and help them reconnect with their food supply.
• We believe that a community that respects its food sources is a community that is more connected to and caring for its environment.
• We believe that local, environmentally-friendly food systems help provide economic and environmental stability by keeping local dollars in the local economy and decreasing dependence on and consumption of non-renewable resources.
• We believe that agricultural practices should work with nature, not against it. Farming practices should rebuild topsoil and preserve fresh water.
• We believe in the humane treatment of livestock. Livestock should have access to fresh air, sunlight, and grass, with adequate space to move and interact with members of the herd/flock.
• We believe that farming practices should be transparent. Customers should know how the food they consume was produced.
• We believe that farmers should be able to earn a “living” wage and that local, responsibly produced food should be reasonably priced.

(per)

I am going to sign up for a membership. I want to help support local farmers. I want the freshest produce I can get. I want to know where my food comes from. So go follow the Arkansas Sustainability Network on Facebook and Twitter. See what they do. And it maybe something you want to get involved in.

What are your thoughts on supporting local farmers by joining a food co-op?

Never in a Million Years

First, I have a confession. I have only ran once this week, and I have done zero yoga. Sigh. In my defense (not that it really matters), I have been doing fridiculous amounts of homework in the evenings. With my birthday falling on a Monday and having something to do every night last weekend, homework took a serious backseat, which is not the norm. No worries. I'm caught up.

I'm unfortunately not caught up on grocery shopping, but I did find some good things to throw into a stir fry last night.

In this mix was short grain brown rice, steamed broccoli, corn, edamame and one egg. I threw the egg in on a whim (trying to be like my mom), and it was pretty tasty. And it gave me some added protein.

On a different note, I've been feeling pretty stressed this week. With the birthday, extreme amounts of homework and stressful projects at work, I feel like I've spread myself pretty thin the past few weeks. I'm finding myself with tense shoulders, a furrowed brow and more frequent break-outs. Why does the face always break out when stress sets in? Makes me more stressed, which fuels the vicious cycle of tension, forehead wrinkles and break-outs.

As I was perusing the World Wide Web, I came across this verse from the Message Bible.

"Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life." Philippians 4:6-7

I'm thinking it should be my new mantra whenever I feel stressed, or just all the time.

Switching gears: We all know my least favorite Holiday is approaching *ahem Valentine's Day.* Even though I'll actually have a Valentine this year, I'm still not sure how I feel about the whole required-to-show-affection day. My heart is with the single people of the world, I guess.

I am going to make a little something special for my Valentine, and we will be seeing each other this weekend. But as a little treat, I thought we could all look back to last year's Valentine's Day post to see exactly what I think about it.

I'm still have no idea what to get a guy for Valentine's Day. And I still loathe conversation hearts and creepy stuffed animals. And I still really dislike the idea of feeling forced to conform to society's "love day." And I still think the actual story of St. Valentine is better than any modern day love story.

But maybe my Valentine can help sway my train of thought away from such pessimism. Like I said a year ago, I am a hopeless romantic, and I do like to be wooed. But wooing shouldn't take place on a designated day.

More on this Valentine's thing later. For all I know, I could be completely wooed and made to love Valentine's Day....We shall see. Whatever happens, I know this Valentine's Day will be different than all previous Valentine's Days, which I'm most excited about.

I am handcrafting a little something, and I may or may not be flexing my baking skills (which I never in a million years thought I would do around Valentine's Day..and by that I mean crafting something for a special someone.) Who am I?

Tell me about your Valentine's history. Good or bad, I want to know.

What does one get a boy for Valentine's Day?

Wherefore art thou, Valentine?

Well it has been a while. It snowed here in Arkansas, which makes roads not safe for motorists...due to motorists not knowing how to drive in the great white abyss. So needlesstosay, no posts since I wasn't at work.

I was blessed with two amazing snow days, which gave me a six day weekend. I spent most of it doing extreme amounts of homework and watching Season 6 of House. Let's just say I'm totally hooked. I think Jesus blessed me with two days out of school and a six day weekend so I could have a make-up birthday. It was an amazing and much needed break.

The only downfall to this awesome weekend was it ended with Valentine's Day. I am a true hater of all things Valentine. It makes me feel sick. I guess it's me just being jealous of my happy friends with significant others. There's a reality check.

But really. I don't see all the hype in Valentine's Day. People go out and buy silly cards professing their love to another poor soul. Guys pay huge amounts of money for flowers. Girls stress over what to get their guy for the big day...since guys don't ususally get flowers or chocolates. Girls really get the short end of the Valentine stick. Corporate America needs to come up with a go-to guy Valentine gift because I can't figure it out.

Now don't get me wrong, I am a total hopeless romantic. I can't wait to have a real Valentine. I look forward to the days of flowers and mushy cards. I just hope my Valentine will be more creative. It would be better to make the gifts/cards more personal than what Hallmark can come up with that year.

Valentine's Day has really lost its true meaning. I think it is in there somewhere, but it is definitely buried under 98475245 pounds of conversation hearts and ugly stuffed animals. So let's get down to it.

St. Valentine was a priest who was arrested for performing marriage ceremonies for Christian couples. Apparently, during the 1400s it was a crime to help Christians do anything. But Valentine didn't care, and he kept marrying people.

 So Valentine was sentenced to death by way of clubs and stones. But after they beat him and threw stones, Valentine was still hanging in there. So the head hancho had him beheaded on February 14. And Valentine's Day was born...some many years later.

Sad story. Valentine's Day should be about doing something good for other people. That doesn't necessarily mean a significant other. While it is nice, it is not a requirement.

I am still trying to decide who I want my Valentine to be. I will find someone I can help out. Someone who deserves some pure undiluted love and affection.

It's like the Beatles said "All you need is love. Love is all you need."

It's like the Bible says "Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."


Spread the love all over, not just to the one, or ones, you already love.

Until next time...