New Friendships

So, yesterday I got some Amish Friendship Bread Starter from a nice lady on Freecycle. I'm super excited to bake some bread with this stuff in three more days. I'm learning all about it via my new Freecycle friend. Apparently you have to follow strict guidelines (ok, not THAT strict) for ten days....stirring some days (but only with a wooden spoon, no metal can touch this stuff). Then on certain days, you add a cup of flour, a cup of sugar, and a cup of milk. And this stuff just grows and grows. I think it's like kefir and kombucha...a live culture thingy that grows and grows, and is really good bacteria for you. I haven't read that yet, it's still to be confirmed, but that's my feeling anyway. hmmmm....

So, once I have it, I'm supposed to give two new starters to two friends of mine. Since I just moved here, it made me think..."Do I have two friends?" And guess what? I do! Let me tell you about them. I'm super excited about them, actually. One girl I met at a BBQ our first weekend here. Her name's Joanna. She has two girls, 4 & 6. The Princess is as big as her four year old, as an aside. She passed down some clothes and shoes for me, and they were too small. heehee. But I digress...

So, Joanna is a therapist for girls who struggle with eating disorders. She's a super intentional mama, and is constantly learning how to be a better parent. I love it! We have soooo much to talk about....all the things we're reading about in our parenting books, etc. It helps that she has a similar parenting philosophy of gentle discipline, too.

Then, there's Rachael. She's older, loves Jesus, practices Attachment Parenting and Gentle Discipline with her kids, 10 &14. She also is totally into natural healing and eating. She and I have shared natural remedies with each other, kefir recipes, and more. It's been really fun getting to know her. I got hooked up with her when I asked Mark's aunt for a pediatrician recommendation who would be open to Attachment Parenting. Since she didn't know who to recommend, she connected me with Rachael, who recommended a total AP pediatrician! Woo-hoo!

And my third friend is Christina. I met her in the cry room at church two weeks ago. She heard me say that it was my first time at the church, and she invited me to dinner at their house (which we did last night). She has two boys, 11& 8, and a surprise one year old daughter. She parents a little differently than I do, but she and I connect in other ways. Today she and her kids came over and she helped me sew. She also took some pictures of Little Brother (she couldn't get over seeing the fattest baby she'd ever seen). She's a photographer too. Oh, and a sign language interpreter, which is fun, since we do sign language with The Princess. Her family is raising chickens, and her boys loved climbing in our new chicken pen, and coop (ooops...forgot to blog about that).

So, now that I've journaled (sorry for the long post!), it's time to go. Christina invited me to a girls night out movie night with her girlfriends tonight. Gotta run!