Introduction
My name is April, and this is my blog. (I think that sentence might give "It was a dark and stormy night" a run for its money as the lamest opener.)
For the past five years I have lived in a very small, rural town in the heartlands of the US. I experienced a lot of culture shock my first couple of years here as I adjusted to the isolation - emotional and geographical - of my new home. The closest Wal-Mart is a 35 minute drive away. Target is closer to an hour. Our doctor's office (and the Emergency Room we prefer) is also 35 minutes away. When I grocery shop, I can never be certain that the item I am after will be in stock, or that the employees in the store have even heard of it. The post office window is closed on Saturdays. Nothing is open after 6 PM. Everything is closed on Sunday. And because my kids are the kids of rural church pastors, they always get sick on Saturday night. The closest urgent care is an hour drive.
Living where I do has inspired me to make many things that I used to buy. It has also challenged me to pursue my creative interests more intentionally.
Now for some bullet points about me and what you might find on my blog:
*In the past few years I have grown in my cooking and baking abilities. For about six months I ate totally gluten-free and shared recipes on my blog. They are listed under the "Gluten-Free Recipes" tab. I still make some of my food gluten-free, and I am happy to take your requests for foods you miss and want a recipe for. I'll help out if I can!
*At the moment I am fixating on baking whole wheat bagels and creating new flavors. I've got about 10 flavors so far. I hope to share these in some capacity soon!
*I serve as a co-pastor with my husband at one of the two churches in our town. Theological topics strike my fancy on occasion, and when they do I post entries over at the blog I write with my husband, The Co-Lectors.
*I make crochet creations. Many of them are stuffed, 3D critters from original patterns. I got started on these when my son requested that I crochet dinosaurs. I had no idea how to do it, couldn't find patterns, and decided to create my own. I've been commissioned to make a set of 9 Super Mario Brothers characters, and am currently working on a set of 7 Sonic the Hedgehog characters.
*I write. I self-published a young adult fantasy novel called Seeking Solace, and it has done about as well as I expected it to with no promotion whatsoever and no clue what I was doing (not well at all - haha!). I hope to do more with my writing in the future. I have several fiction pieces in the rough draft phase, and I am in the research phase of a novel about a mountain cabin that used to be in my family.
*I recently took up running. I'm in the process of training for my first race - a 5K mid-July. Occasionally I'll share my progress.
*I am inspired on a daily basis by my family. I am a mom of two, small kids, and I've been married for ten years to the same amazing guy. I couldn't do half of what I do if I didn't have his support and encouragement.
I have such a variety of interests (can you tell?!) that I have titled this blog "An April a Day." This blog is all about my family, my interests, and will have quite a variety of content - just like I do! :)
