Could I do a no-spend challenge for the whole month? The idea came to me in August. Earlier this year, I started a monthly budget, with allotted amounts for expenses, but with most of my income going towards savings. I track everything on a spreadsheet. In August, I had some extra bills but I realized that if I combined August and September, I could reach my savings goals for the two month-period, as long as I didn't buy anything extra during the month of September. Some months this would … [Read more...] about No-Spend September
Camping at Muddy Run
A bee attack. A tree branch crashes into the ground near the campfire. Rain. Chiggers. The annual family camping trip. Two weeks ago, instead of camping at the river as we did the last two years, we rented a primitive campsite at Muddy Run Park in southern Lancaster Country. Not a tiny campground campsite. Instead, this campsite is on a remote hillside surrounded by trees and next to wetlands, without any other tents or RVs in sight. There's a spring, a creek, and two bridges. (We could … [Read more...] about Camping at Muddy Run
Literature Camp: Writing, Reading, and the Castle Oil Built
Why literature? Why poetry? Why a literature camp in a castle? For years, friends raved about the annual "Lit Camp", and last weekend I attended for the first time. We left at 11:30 a.m. on Friday. I drove, and with me were two sisters from New Holland, Dorcas and Annetta. None of us had ever been to Lit Camp before. The trip to western Pennsylvania took five hours. I hope this is worth it, I thought. The details were sketchy: a mansion in Franklin, PA, lots of great bookish … [Read more...] about Literature Camp: Writing, Reading, and the Castle Oil Built
A July Day at Cape May
Hot sand toasted my feet, butterfly kite bobbed in the Atlantic Ocean breeze. I hadn't flown a kite in years, and never at the beach, but from now, a kite will be as essential as sunscreen and flip-flops when I go to the seashore. One of the best parts of living in Lancaster is being only a few hours away from the ocean. On Wednesday, my mother, sister Brenda, five teenaged nieces, one niece's friend, and I went to Cape May, New Jersey, just a one-day girls' trip to the beach. The day came … [Read more...] about A July Day at Cape May
Christian Writers and Artists’ Conference in Dayton, Virginia
"It's taken me four years to get to this conference," Lovina said as we pulled into the parking lot of Hickory Hollow School last Thursday. "Now I'm finally here." Christian Light Publications (CLP), a large conservative Mennonite publisher, has hosted the annual Christian Writers and Artists' Conference in Dayton, Virginia, for the past fifty years. The planners invite well-known authors from the Mennonite ecosystem, as well as teachers and editors, to lecture on writing, poetry, music … [Read more...] about Christian Writers and Artists’ Conference in Dayton, Virginia