Lady Lovestead

Good morning sweet friends, Today is a typical winter day here in Iowa. The past few years, I feel like God has been peeling away layers of myself that do not represent who He created me to be. He is also allowing the truest parts of myself I've hidden away in a dark part of my soul to tip-toe out into the open and breath fresh air, feel the sunshine. One of these parts of myself is the way I identify as a hyper-feminine woman. There are a lot of questions about how I define my femininity and how it fits into a larger conversation on gender identity. I do have a background in women's and gender studies so I'm not without some substantive ideas on the topic.  For the purpose of this post, I want to focus on how I define my own femininity. This isn't reflective of how others identify their own femininity nor is it an assumption about what femininity or masculinity is or should be at large. This me and how I identify.  The cornerstones of my femininity are gentl

Good morning sweet friends, It’s time you meet some of the most important living beings in my life. My dogs. My dogs are so important to me. I can honestly say, I am still alive today because of my dogs. More on this later. For now, I’d like to introduce you to my three little loves. 1. Orlando Orlando is my first dog, my first little love. I adopted him September 1, 2012. The veterinarian estimated him to be around one year old. I don’t know his full back story, but it can’t have been good. When I saw him at the shelter, he was trembling in his kennel. When I picked him up, he snuggled under my neck, sighed, and stopped trembling. Shelter staff said that it was the first time he’d stopped trembling since being there. I knew then that he had chosen me and he became a member of my family. Orlando is an anxious, high-strung dog. Over the years he has grown more confident and comfortable, but he is still scared of new people. He has come around to loving other dogs though

( Image Source ) Good morning, sweet friends! Today I've been thinking a lot about one of the most important lessons I've learned in the past few years: stewardship. Shortly after I became a Christian, God did what God does--he started pruning. In Christianity we call this sanctification . It's when God begins to work on you, to form you into someone who is more like Christ.  There is a misconception about sanctification. Some people claim that sanctification happens when we receive the holy spirit and are saved. This implies that it is a one time deal and :: poof :: we're made new. The reality for a lot of us (if  not the majority of us) is that sanctification is a process ongoing for our lifetime. ↠↞   My first big lesson in sanctification was about how I wasn't being a good steward, in so many ways. The holy spirit convicted me that I wasn't being a good steward of my time, my home, my body, my mind, or my relationships. I use the word &qu

Good morning sweet friends,  I don't know what the weather is like where you live this time of year, but here in Iowa is frigid with temperatures below zero, winds that make a winter coat feel like a thin bed sheet, and snow topping ice-covered ground. There is no chance for outdoor gardening in these winters, so I keep my green thumb satisfied by growing indoor plants.  Below are three of my favorite (of many) houseplants.  ↠↞ 1. Golden Pothos Golden Pothos are super easy plants to grow. This was the first plant to join my collection way back in 2003. Golden Pothos is easy to prorate. I actually keep a Pothos in the hang-on-back filter of most of my fish tanks. Since it is a fast-growing vine, it soaks up nitrates in the tank water and helps keep water parameters health for fish. The grow in a variety of light and humidity situations too because they are generally hardy plants. They are toxic to dogs and cats so if you chose to bring one into your home, make sure to keep

( Photo by  Dollar Gill  on  Unsplash ) Good morning sweet friends, I come to you on this January morning, snuggled up with Dinah, a book, and a hot cup of coffee.  The past year was a strange year of reading. It was a year of putting down books halfway through. There were a lot of duds on my reading list. I tried to explore outside my usual reading preferences by trying new genres and new writers. This lead me to disliking a lot of what I read! I guess we read what we read for a reason, huh?  ↠↞ I don't think exploring new writers or genres is a bad thing AT ALL and it is something I'll continue doing. It is important that we push ourselves to read books that challenge us in different ways. That's when you discover them gem--the book that changes your life. I just don't plan to dedicate an entire year to exploration. There have to be some tried-and-trues in the mix as well. It's all about balance! ↠↞ Without further ado, my favorite b

( Photo by  zhengtao tang  on  Unsplash ) Good morning sweet friends, Today I start talking about one of my passions: fancy goldfish! While there is some controversy around whether breeding these fish, I absolutely love these fat little carp. Below, I kick off my goldfish series with three reasons why I love the kingyo.  ↠↞ 1. The Tradition Goldfish keeping goes back centuries and spans across many continents. Fancy goldfish breeding started before 1000 A.D. in China. The tradition spans across multiple countries with a majority of the goldfish varieties coming from China, Japan, and Thailand.  ↠↞ 2. The Varieties Because fancy goldfish keeping historically took place across several countries, there are many different varieties to appreciate. Each variety has their own set of breeding standards and qualities. Some of my favorite varieties include Crown Pearscales, Chinese Ranchu, Japanese Tosakin, and Short-Tailed Ryukin. In addition to breed varieties, there are sc