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Leah's avatar

Lane’s double-book review was fantastic. Thanks for sharing.

Also “seeking to right the hefty reproductive ship” could be part of your bio. I laughed at the phrase and its imagery. As always, I appreciate the compilation and your comments!

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Haley Baumeister's avatar

It is kind of funny now that I see it written out again. Gotta laugh to keep from crying in frustration, amiright.

Lane brought so many fantastic angles to her reading of it. It's fascinating to see how many different threads, emphases, and perspectives can be brought to a review of the same book.

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Leah's avatar

Ha! Christ is risen! We can rejoice even when times are frustrating. He righted THE ship, we just pray and work for faith to become sight (one day it will!). I like your word-picture.

Like Lane wrote, it is faith in the unseen that changes how we live in this visible, tangible world. Being content to live the unseen glory is a gift to the world which it will never comprehend. But you know!

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Kate's avatar

Loved reading the story of how you and Jakob ended up together! What a crazy couple of years there haha.

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Haley Baumeister's avatar

Yeah, would not really recommend... It's why I mostly keep any dating tips to myself. lol

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Cassandra's avatar

OK, for an herb growing tip: I could never get parsley to grow from seed until last year. Plant the seeds in a container with moist seed starting mix, cover, and place in your fridge for a few weeks. Then just place the container in the window sill. No need for a heating mat. Once the parsley sprouts, uncover and leave in the window sill until you're ready to transplant it into bigger pots or the garden.

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Haley Baumeister's avatar

THANK YOU, do you mostly have success with other herbs?

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Cassandra's avatar

A lot of herbs such as lemon balm, chives, calendula, chamomile, and borage do well directly planted from seed outside. For sage and rosemary, I've had more success buying a transplant from the nursery-- but once those are in the ground, they thrive on neglect and come back every year. Basil loves heat and therefore not my cool and short summers.

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Stacy Bronec's avatar

I've never read any of Flannery O'Connor's books, which I feel is terrible to admit as a writer. Haha. I put one of her books on hold at the library so I can at least attempt to read one. ;)

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Haley Baumeister's avatar

Woohoo. Her novels are bascially longer versions of the weirdness in her short stories, but either way find some sort of literary guides! People often hate her stuff without at least *something* to ground the reading with. haha Whether something Prof. Jessica Hooten Wilson has written or lectured about, or someone else (like the Codex Cantina guys on youtube, they have some great conversations about her work).

The biography "The Terrible Speed of Mercy" is also a wonderful look at her as a person, which is hard to seperate from her work!

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Sara Dietz's avatar

"We highly recommend marriage. The friendship, the romance, the spreadsheets, the opportunity to be used in specific and unique ways for the kingdom, the reasons are endless. For us it’s been natural in a way that seems inexplicable. We are happy to receive such a gift, and use and share it well. And laugh a whole lot while doing so." WEEPING HALEY IT'S FINE

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Haley Baumeister's avatar

No fervor like that of a newlywed writing about marriage!! But seriously, it was such a blessedly good time in our life for many reasons. I think I needed to write that to look back on years later and see how a lot of the goodness is the same, even if the hard parts are different.

(I'm already starting to enter that stage of looking back on newlywed bliss for anyone, or myself, in a somewhat cynical way and I haaaate it. It is rightly a special time! We can bring it with us as things change drastically and the work between a couple looks different. The whole spectrum is part and parcel of the whole marriage experience.) <3

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Kerri Christopher's avatar

Well that love story was a good one! This resonated with me so very, very much:

“Long distance dating is a little bit of the worst logistically, but a little bit of a marvel when it comes to developing a friendship around conveying thoughts and ideas, sharing witty banter and discussion, and answering and asking good questions.”

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Haley Baumeister's avatar

Yeah, it's possible to miss out big time on a shared community to hold the both of you together while dating. But somehow it worked out? And we made up for it during engagement.

Did you date long-distance for a time? I thought I remembered that being mentioned somewhere.

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Kerri Christopher's avatar

Basically the whole time! I was so excited to be in the same time zone, let alone the same room, when we finally got married. :)

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Haley Baumeister's avatar

hahaha Oh I feel that in my bones. Went from never living in the same state to me living across the apartment complex parking lot, with a girl he knew from church. Like "okay, I guess this means we're getting married sometime soon."

Always glad to hear stories of making it in marriage when the dating/engagement period was kind of..... strange. :')

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Elise Boratenski's avatar

Thank you for the Flannery resources-I did her short stories last year and definitely need help haha

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Haley Baumeister's avatar

The Codex Cantina guys on YouTube also have a Flannery playlist. I’ve watched someone of their commentary over time - very helpful.

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Sarah Greene's avatar

Yay for Flannery O Connor! I hope you enjoy it more this time around.

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Haley Baumeister's avatar

It was a worthwhile group of stories - I remembered most of them from the complete collection. But yeah, unless one has a general idea of Flannery's approach, a lot of people stop at "this is... weird." lol

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Shannon Hood's avatar

This is why I am so reticent to try reading Flannery. I've even heard that her intended audience was *non*-Christian, so I just have no idea where to start with her.

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Haley Baumeister's avatar

Understandable! Her short stories are low-stakes. She has two or three novels that are also intriguing, I've read them a couple times each in the past. But it certainly helps to have some literary guides! I love Prof. Jessica Hooten Wilson on Flannery - she's written and talked a ton as her biggest literary hype girl. haha

The biography "The Terrible Speed of Mercy" is also a wonderful look at her as a person, which is hard to seperate from her work!

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Shannon Hood's avatar

Well maybe I'll start with her biography, then!

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Sarah Greene's avatar

Exactly! They aren’t easy to read and you need some context but are so worth it. A Good Man is Hard to Find is a bit easier as an entry point. The Everything That Rises Must Converge collection is much darker but the religious themes are much more obvious.

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Adsum Try Ravenhill's avatar

Thanks for your kind words about my comment. I love this format by the way, the consistency is remarkable. I wonder what Week 8 (1251) would have looked like.

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