Rustic or Refined, Oklahoma Soap Makers Are Something Special

Soaps by Colleen Thornton, Farmer and Owner of Heaven Sent Food and Fiber

I’ve always loved a really good bar of soap.  I have been rummaging around the soap shelves and “close out” sections of Tuesday Morning, TJ Maxx, Ross Dress for Less, and any other nook or cranny where there is a happenstance possibility of finding an imported, French-milled box of soaps for years.  And, when I find a box of Shea Butter, Lavender, or Evelyn and Crabtree triple milled Goat Milk soap – well, I just stand there and sniff it for a while.  Then, I take it home and wait until my previous bar is all gone.  Days when I get to open a new bar of soap are days where my happiness factor is multiplied many times.

Colleen Thornton with one of her little "babies."

I had one of those days…times about ten a few weeks ago when a box from Heaven Sent Food and Fiber arrived, full of soaps.  Colleen Thornton, the soap maker and owner of the company, had sent them my way.  We gave away four bars on our Facebook page last week, and I played with the remaining treasures.  Here’s a quick idea if you want to give Oklahoma-made soaps away as special hostess or holiday gifts… Continue reading Rustic or Refined, Oklahoma Soap Makers Are Something Special

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On the Horizon: On Being a Football Referree

As a sports mom, I’ve always had a tendency to either blame or yell at the refs on the field of play. But after doing this week’s story, I have a new found respect for those hard working men (and occasionally women). They are asked to make calls about things happening on the field that those of us in the stands can’t always see with a discerning eye and get upset about if the call is against our team. We get all uppity if we feel the call has been made wrong only we didn’t necessarily really see what happened. The refs on the other hand have a close up view of what is really going on. Now they might get a call wrong every now and then but they are much closer to getting it right than those of us in the stands and most of the time, don’t get upset back at us when we yell about something we didn’t like. So remember that the next time you get upset with a call made by a ref and maybe pause and think before you say something..

In this week’s video blog, I hope you will fall in love like I did with the two long-time friends who have been refs for many years and could possibly have even been a ref at one of your kids’ games.

Alisa Hines

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Fun Costumes, Cute Kids and Free Candy

Free Candy. I'm for it.

Halloween is here and it’s time for free candy. Is that a bad thing?  Thirty years ago my wife and I committed ourselves to raise our children in a Christian home. We wanted to “do it right.”As very young parents we heard a lot about the observance of Halloween and its sordid connection to all things evil. We didn’t allow our kids to trick-or-treat because of our church’s teaching about the nefarious nature of the holiday.

We heard a very one-sided view of Halloween and all of its association with witches, the demonic, goblins, ghosts, and black magic. We heard sensationalized stories that scared the 4311 out of us.

“I think we ought to close Halloween down. Do you want your children to dress up as witches? The Druids used to dress up like this when they were doing human sacrifice…[The children] are acting out Satanic rituals and participating in it, and don’t even realize it.”–Pat Robertson, “The 700 Club,” 1982-OCT-29

Many years later I would do my own research concerning All Saints Eve, Reformation Day, cultural traditions, and a history of more moderate responses to the Halloween season. My philosophy holds that we should engage our culture bothintellectually and spiritually, (in fact, I would argue that these are one in the same). Intellectually we should think with a sound mind, not fearfully; we can be fully engaged, spiritually reasonable. For example, we know that the names for our months and days of the week are named after Roman deities and Norse gods, but that doesn’t prevent us from having a calendar.

I suppose there are some wiccans and druids who get pretty fired up about Halloween. Continue reading Fun Costumes, Cute Kids and Free Candy

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Not So Newlyweds: Friendship, Love, and Baseball

Luke & Julianna in 2006, ready for the "Cards" game.

We just celebrated our 5-year dating anniversary. I know, I know, once you get married, you’re supposed to focus more on the wedding anniversary than the dating one, but my theory is that without the dating anniversary, there wouldn’t be a wedding anniversary.

Five years ago was the fall of 2006. Luke and I were in school at OSU, and we were in the middle of a heated Major League Baseball playoff season. A truly diehard St. Louis Cardinals fan, Luke’s contagious enthusiasm for the sport had won me over to watching some of the TV coverage and even convinced me to go with him to a game in St. Louis that September. We had a blast, and it was the beginning of the end of our “just” friendship.

Backing up a little, I don’t actually remember meeting Luke. We grew up in the same church, but because of a bit of age difference, we were never more than casual acquaintances until we were both at OSU. We “met” when his mom sent a few items with me to give Luke at the end of a weekend I had been home. One thing led to another, as they say, and suddenly he was a staple in my daily plans. Along with an amazing group of friends, we had study “parties,” took road trips, and participated in Dessert Club, in which our friends gathered at restaurants for the sole purpose of ordering dessert. Those were such good times, and almost imperceptibly, moments built upon each other until we realized we wanted our time together to outweigh our time apart. So after the trip to St. Louis that September, we had some good talks, experimented with hugs and hand-holding, and decided to start a relationship. Continue reading Not So Newlyweds: Friendship, Love, and Baseball

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What Do You Get When You Add Celebrities To The Twitterverse?

The answer, my friends, is unadulterated magic.

Before I share the rest of my article, I have to warn you that reading beyond this point may actually kill perfectly good brain cells. Proceed at your own risk.

The day I realized Kirk Cameron had a life as someone other than Mike Seaver was the day I became a pop culture addict. I’m not so sure addiction is the right word to use, as I categorize my uncanny ability to remember obscure details about television shows, movies, and celebrities as a talent. I can tell you the plot of the show JAG, although I’ve never watched it. I know Lady Gaga’s real name. I’ve seen pictures of Fergie when she was just a little tyke on “Kids Incorporated.”

For whatever reason, my senses are attuned to all things pop culture. Perhaps one day I’ll find myself being held at gunpoint by a mad man who says he will abandon his plans to blow up a building if someone can tell him the name of Balki Bartokomous’s love interest on “Perfect Strangers.” You will all thank me when I disarm him with the confident shout of “MARY ANNE!” Continue reading What Do You Get When You Add Celebrities To The Twitterverse?

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Showcasing Red Dirt culture ~ authored and managed by contributors with connections to the great state of Oklahoma.