Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Dana Manchan!!!

Dana Manchan (tevschic, #562) has received a certificate of achievement in Each Other for earning a Beginner & Intermediate Level Families Forever Merit Badge!

“My children and I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling together as part of our homeschool day. Also, we started playing board games during our weekly Family Home Evenings. Some of the games included Operation, Mouse Trap, and Monopoly. Our favorite was a game called Camp which tests our knowledge of plants and wildlife as we move around the board trying to get back to the “campfire.”

This was a very fun merit badge to work on. I had forgotten how much fun our family has when we play games together. We will definitely hold on to this tradition!

I typed up a chart to keep track of our TV viewing habits for one week, did some extraordinary math to figure out what 20% less would be (the new goal was 47 hours and 40 minutes), and then tracked our habits for the next week.

I grew up on TV, so it was no surprise to me that in the first week, we had watched almost 59 hours, but seeing that number was a slap in the face. So, the next week, we spent a little more time reading or playing outside, and reduced the number to 45.5 hours. We already were careful about what types of shows we watch, so we didn’t adjust anything about what we watched; we just watched less.”

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The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 7,387 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—10,656 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! ~MaryJane 

For this week’s Cleaning Up/Energize Me Beginner Level Young Cultivator Merit Badge, Andy and I went on a tour of his house, pen and paper at the ready. We were List-maker Extraordinaires already, and now we were putting our skillz to good use: counting everything around the house that uses energy, how our food is kept cold, how the car starts, even how we need and collect energy and keep warm ourselves.

We started off by counting the things that plug in. In five minutes, we had run out of fingers and toes to keep track of our counting, and had to rely on tally marks in our notebook. Guess how many things we found plugged in (not counting other things that use electricity but weren’t plugged in at the moment, like the blender in the cupboard or the hair dryer in the bathroom)?

29!!

It was fairly shocking. Get it? Shocking? Hahaha, just a little electricity humor for ya. Back to the show. Ahem.

Next, we lovingly gave the hardworking refrigerator a hug (and snacked on some cheese slices to keep our own energy levels up) and lowered the thermostat a degree for conservations sake. Then we flipped over to the next page of our notebook and began noticing and counting the lightbulbs in the house.

Guess how many? No, really, go ahead and guess. I’ll wait.

If you said 32, you would be frighteningly good at this. Or perhaps your electrician wired your house as well as Andy’s. Of course, eight of those were in the dining room chandelier, but still. That’s a lot of bulbs! Then we remembered the garage … more bulbs, not to mention the electric garage door opener and the two cars themselves.

I was starting to get a bit bummed out at the carbon footprint we were leaving, so we ate some more cheese while we lowered the thermostat one more degree. We turned the topic of discussion to our own energy levels and degrees of warm fuzzies.

What do we need, as people, to keep our energy up?

Jane’s List of Must Haves for Healthy Energy Levels:

• Coffee and/or tea. Preferably organic and fresh. Hot in the winter, icy cold in the summer.

• A good slice of sharp Cheddar.

• A hand-knit sweater.

• A high protein and fiber breakfast.

• Snacks.

• Brisk walks in the cool air.

• A seaside trip each year.

• Snowball fights.

• Pets.

• Walking instead of driving when possible.

• Writing letters to friends.

• Holiday traditions.

• Good books.

• Baking bread.

• Hobbies.

• Occasional naps (I like mine on Sundays).

• Fresh air.

• Dates with Mr. Wonderful.

Andy’s Must Haves for High Energy Levels:

• Soccer practices.

• Lots of sleep.

• Smoothies with fresh fruit and honey and whipped cream.

• Headstands.

• Somersaults.

• Spaghetti with meatballs at least once per week.

• Pizza with extra cheese.

• Trail mix.

• Ninja practice.

• Bugging and pestering little sisters.

• Homework.

• Bedtime stories.

• Kick the can, basketball, and street hockey with neighbor kids.

• Climbing trees.

• Fort building.

• Arm wrestling.

• More spaghetti and meatballs.

• Midnight snacks.

This wasn’t part of the badge earning, but we decided to swap lists for the next week.

After all, who couldn’t use a bit more somersaulting and headstands in their lives?

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The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 7,387 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—10,656 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! ~MaryJane 

Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life …  

For this week’s Each Other/Calligraphy Beginner Level Merit Badge, I bought myself a brand, spankin’ new notebook journal. I also invested in a nifty calligraphy pen. Then I tackled a skill my third-grade teacher wished I had applied myself to tackling quite a long time ago …

Penmanship.

In other words, I should’ve been a doctor. My autograph is a thing of legend. And by legend, of course I mean, unintelligible and incomprehensible scrawling. My handwritten letters to my Irish pen pal look as though perhaps my hen, Miss Toile, scratched them out with her toes. While balancing on one wing. Intoxicated. And upside down.

But, as I always say, go big or go home. In other words, learn calligraphy if you can’t print well.

I was able to read through—and get inspired by—Modern Calligraphy: Everything You Need to Know to Get Started in Script Calligraphy by Molly Suber Thorpe. (The book required for this badge is available on loan from MaryJanesFarm; contact library@maryjanesfarm.org.)

It was all so pretty and soothing to the eye. But appreciating it and actually learning it are two different things. (Ask me how I know. Go ahead. Because I have earned a badge or two in my time, that’s how.)

I’ve always had a thing for markers and pens and pencils and Sharpies. Ahhh, Sharpies, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways …

1. Decorating pumpkins for Halloween when I can’t find my good carving knife.
2. Addressing envelopes in a colorful manner.
3. Labeling personal items when vacationing or camping in a group.
4. Labeling my lunch at work (get away from my Chicken Burrito Bowl, this means you!).
5. Coloring in those neato coloring books they make for grown-ups.
6. Hiding a scuff in my good black pumps.
7. Countless arts and crafts projects.

I knew I would learn to love my new calligraphy pen at least as much as my collection of Sharpies. We just had to get to know one another …

… she said, as she put the first stroke to paper …

Well, it wasn’t love at first sight, me and calligraphy, but all new relationships must survive a little test of fire, right? Ours wasn’t fire per se, but more like smudging, errors, creases, and one spilt beverage. That’s okay, I turned the page (literally), and began again.

I moved at approximately the speed of turtles after a turkey and pasta dinner, but I did manage to get through the whole alphabet.

photo by .angels. via Flickr.com

And, I must say, my calligraphy was rather lovely to look upon! I mean, I’m no Niels Shoe Meulman (inventor of Calligraphiti, the merging of calligraphy with graffiti), or Yazan Halwani (one of the youngest Arabic calligraphers around), or Edward Johnston (the father of modern calligraphy), or Wen Zhengming (Ming dynasty painter and calligrapher).

But, hey, I am Jane, Farmgirl Extraordinaire, Merit Badge earner, and the best calligrapher in my house!

Miss Toile notwithstanding.

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Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Debbie Klann!!!

Debbie Klann (debbieklann, #770) has received a certificate of achievement in Garden Gate for earning a Beginner Level Bee Good to Your Mother Earth Merit Badge!

“I am not known for having a green thumb; it’s more like a brown thumb! I also don’t have a lot of garden space anymore, but I decided last summer to start small and tuck in a few plants here and there where I could. I decided on zucchini and heirloom tomatoes.

Surprisingly, we had zucchini and tomatoes, and how delicious! I also found 3 organic sprays that I can mix to control aphids and mites, which I will use this year. I didn’t use any pest control last year, but I will have some ready in case this summer is different. I’m planning on using it on all of my roses. I also read the book, Montrose and enjoyed it. I don’t think I could ever garden on a scale such as that!”

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Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Ginger Dawn Harman!!!

Ginger Dawn Harman (Ginger Dawn, 6451) has received a certificate of achievement in Each Other for earning a Beginner Level Farmgirl Gratitude Merit Badge!

“I was gifted a lovely gratitude journal by my penpal, Mamey Brown. I wrote in it every day for a month with

I am grateful for

1.

2.

3.

What I learned today…

I am learning to…

The Best Part of Today was…

I am still writing in this journal and have discovered that I feel more positive and less stressed during the day.

I am also really enjoying The Book Of Awesome by Neil Pasricha, I was shocked at how fast MaryJane’s librarian sent the book! I am almost finished with the book, and it has really made me laugh and ponder simple things. In a way, I wanted to simplify my life a bit more because of this book, so I deleted my blog and the rest of my social media! Yes, even Pinterest.

I want to make my connections more meaningful and really enjoy every present moment of my life.

The hardest part of this badge at the beginning was to not repeat what you are grateful for, but after a week, it came to me rather easy.

Honestly, we have so much to be grateful for, and when we open our hearts and become aware of this, our lives are much fuller!”

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Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Erin McBride!!!

Erin McBride (notathreatinsight, #3762) has received a certificate of achievement in Stitching & Crafting for earning a Beginner Level Mosaics Merit Badge!

“I made this stepping stone along with another one about 5 years ago. I used precut stone, but I cut the glass myself from a 12×12 tile. It was fun learning how to cut glass. I love the stone mixed with the glass, because the glass gives it some reflection, but not too much.

This was my first mosaic project, and I enjoyed it so much I’ve mosaiced many things since.”

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Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Bridgette Friedman!!!

Bridgette Friedman (Bridge, #7277) has received a certificate of achievement in Cleaning Up for earning a Beginner Level Shopping Green Merit Badge!

“I try to always use my reusable bags when shopping. I have the little teal fold-up shopping bag and I keep this folded and in my handbag. Because the hardest part of using reusable bags is remembering to take them in the store. It is also really great for those times you are in a shop browsing and pick up an impulse purchase.

I also found the big canvas bag at the thrift store a few years back and it is awesome!! I think it is a Lands End, but it is heavy duty, has pockets around the entire interior, and a clip for your keys.

We have a local store, Ruler, that you have to bring your own bags or pay for bags. I always seem to have a bag when I go there, lol. I wish all stores would do this. It would reduce the excess trash of all the plastic bags. It would also change the mindset and people would bring their own bags.

I love using my reusable bags, because I know I am reducing waste. I also like not having the clutter of all the plastic bags.”

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