Maxwell 12: Eleven years of blogging, still got nothing to say

[nomoxian]

7 hours ago, Dark Matters said:

In case you were looking for that perfect chocolate syrup recipe for your coffee/mocha, Sarah provides.

Most chocolate related recipes I see call for 2 parts sugar to 1 part cocoa, but I find 1 - 1 parts is sufficient. I guess the vanilla she adds would make it even sweeter.

3 hours ago, Jana814 said:

As a dog walker I have gone into so many oddly layed out houses. At a condo community I dog walk in their is a layout where the master bedroom is right next to the front door. I don't like that because sometimes I have to go into the room to get the dogs and I feel weird going into someone's person room space. 

Maybe they're using what was meant to be the living room as the bedroom? I did that in a place I lived in, and rented out the bedroom on AirBNB to cover the rent. The layout was perfect (for me at least) because the main door opened to a long hall, with the living room at the far end.

[Jana814]

4 minutes ago, nomoxian said:

 

Maybe they're using what was meant to be the living room as the bedroom? I did that in a place I lived in, and rented out the bedroom on AirBNB to cover the rent. The layout was perfect (for me at least) because the main door opened to a long hall, with the living room at the far end.

They don't. I have a few clients with that same layout in the condo community and everyone uses as a bedroom. 

[fundiefan]

21 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

My issue is that most of the planet is allowed to leave the house alone if they want some private time (well I mean if they are old enough). Fundies aren't even allowed to leave the house by themselves so I would hope they could find some private time in a large yard or at least a larger home. It's all just sad. 

Most kids also leave the house for activities separate from the family, whether it's school or clubs or sports or countless number of things. The strict, Maxwell like fundies, never, ever leave the fold. And, if you're sharing a bedroom with 3 or more of your siblings, you seriously can't do anything but go to the bathroom alone, with your own thoughts, your own anything.

I realize that is entirely the point with major fundies but it's appalling.

My mom spent her younger childhood years in a 2 bedroom, 1 bath house with  4 siblings. There were 7 people in that house. All 5 kids shared a room, girls & boys, and my grandparents slept on a sleeper-sofa in the other bedroom that was also used as storage. Neither she nor my aunts & uncles has any complaints about it. While they were all happy when my grandparents built a 3 bedroom house, I still don't recall anything bad any of them has said about their smaller quarters. 

That was, in part, because they were outside all the time, with kids in the neighborhood. They went to school. They were on sport and drama teams. They were home, inside the house, to eat and sleep. 

I don't think a big house is necessary for a comfortable life, but LIFE is necessary. People, interests, communities, experiences, opportunities...

It's not the size that matters, it's how it's used. Maxwellian fundies use it as a prison. Other, more normal families, use it as a home. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

I totally agree @fundiefan I would say that a lot of Americans have more space than they actively use and could downsize. Fundies have such a lifestyle that I think they need more square footage than average compared to your average family. I think the Nogs neglect the hell out of their kids but at least they have room outside to play and be alone. 

[Snarfblatt]

I actually made Sarah's chocolate syrup this morning to put in my coffee because I have no milk/cream or creamer but I do have the ingredients for the chocolate syrup. It's not that I couldn't have found a chocolate syrup recipe on the internet but if I had't read Sarah's blog post it probably wouldn't have occurred to me to do it. 

Yes I'm going to the grocery store to buy milk. I just like being fed and caffeinated before I go to the grocery store. I am less likely to buy things I do not need this way. 

[Foudeb]

I think there's also a big difference between little kids, who often like sharing bedrooms (less afraid of the dark when there's company, can play with each other in the morning before the parents wake up) and older children, who need a bit more privacy - peace and quiet to do their homework, more autonomy about bedtime and waking up time etc. That's what's always puzzled me with fundies (Shupes, Duggars, Maxwells etc) - they seem to think their teens and young adults are perfectly happy living in the same conditions as when they were toddlers.

[JermajestyDuggar]

42 minutes ago, Foudeb said:

I think there's also a big difference between little kids, who often like sharing bedrooms (less afraid of the dark when there's company, can play with each other in the morning before the parents wake up) and older children, who need a bit more privacy - peace and quiet to do their homework, more autonomy about bedtime and waking up time etc. That's what's always puzzled me with fundies (Shupes, Duggars, Maxwells etc) - they seem to think their teens and young adults are perfectly happy living in the same conditions as when they were toddlers.

I have always thought about that as well. Jill Rod is the worst when it comes to space. She has five teens and she crams 14 people into the RV on a regular basis. 

I have always assumed that the kids stay out of that RV as much as possible when they are parked. Meaning they probably linger in the churches as long as they are allowed and stay in the homes of their hosts as long as possible. And only go back to the RV when it's bedtime and pile in. 

[anjulibai]

When fundies think of the future, I don't think they really think about their children growing up. They just think about their children as small. That's why so many don't really prepare their teenagers for careers. 

[littlehouse]

We have what I consider to be a small house.  950 sq feet.  For two adults, three children, and five cats.  Two bedrooms, and 1 1/2 bathrooms.  It is small, and cramped.  I can not wait till we can build our new home.  Tiny homes are cute, but I am done.

[JermajestyDuggar]

This response tells us John has an office outside of the house which is t a surprise. However I wonder if John is even living in the house at all. Is he living at the fixer upper home while he's renovating it? Otherwise she would have mentioned he does work on his laptop around the house. Right? 

A reader also mentioned seeing them at Family Camp this past week. The Bontragers and Bowers were also there. 

[mango_fandango]

If John's had that house only six weeks, then he'll be married by the end of the year, maybe even by November. Maxwell relationships from courtship to marriage are even shorter than Duggar ones. A Maxwell courtship-to-wedding can last as long as a Duggar courtship OR engagement. Although I don't know if that's changed after the failed Munck relationship. The Maxwells also seem to do a "getting-to-know-you" thing, I think there were photos captioned to this effect after Joseph and Elissa got married.

[JermajestyDuggar]

The Wissmans also go to the annual family camp and have a couple unmarried adult daughters. So I guess they are a possibility too. 

[anjulibai]

I don't know. John is a "rebel", relatively speaking. He's bucked a lot of the Maxhell rules for years now. I don't think this house necessarily means a courtship. It could just mean that he's going to try his hand at flipping houses. We will see, though, it's hard to say with him. 

[Captain Obvious]

1 hour ago, anjulibai said:

I don't think this house necessarily means a courtship. It could just mean that he's going to try his hand at flipping houses. We will see, though, it's hard to say with him. 

True, but we all know that when the Maxwell boys look for houses to settle down in, they look for cheap fixer-uppers less than a mile from the Fathership. There can't be many such houses available, so it would be somewhat surprising for them to buy one and then let it go.

Perhaps another possibility is that John is indeed not planning marriage, but couldn't resist buying the house when it became available. He could always renovate and then rent it out if not intending to live in it.

[Odd1Out]

3 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

The Wissmans also go to the annual family camp and have a couple unmarried adult daughters. So I guess they are a possibility too. 

I doubt it. I follow some of the Wissman blogs and instagrams. The girls sometimes wear pants to work or hike and the married ones wear them quite a bit. The family has a lot of fun together and with lots of friends. I doubt any of them would want to be stuck in the fuddy duddy Maxwell clan. Plus they seem to travel constantly to see each other. Maxwell wives don't appear to get to travel to see their families much (but who really knows). And they attend sporting events. 

[nomoxian]

If one of the Maxsons wanted to break free from their daddys mini cult, marrying someone who liked to travel or go to sporting events might be a way to do that. I can hope at least!!

[Coconutwater]

He could have also bought the house for Jesse and renovating it for him to throw everyone off or maybe John has a leg up with his real estate background to find a better deal than Jesse doing it himself. Like @anjulibai said, hey may be trying to flip houses. 

[Corntree]

I was looking at some really old articles from Steve and Teri about Teri's depression and the vasectomy and later reversal. I'm feeling worse about that whole situation. I think most of us know the basics, but what I didn't know until now is that Teri said she stopped suffering from depression in 1992, which means she still had depression when they started having the reversal babies. In fact, she was pregnant with or had recently given birth to Anna, her third reversal baby, when the depression finally went away. If she hadn't been able to cope with three kids, how did she cope with 5 kids and one on the way? Maybe it had gotten somewhat better at the time, but still, bleh. Also, she had been suffering from depression since 1977, when Nathan was a baby, which makes me think it was triggered by having kids (she said the depression was worst during the time she was nursing a baby), so if I were her I would've been wary of having a bunch of kids. Steve said truly valuing children means you don't refuse God giving you more, but I think you need to especially value the children you already have and consider if they would be negatively affected by you having more. I don't think Teri was really mentally ready to deal with more kids.

(As an aside, I find this funny: she said the main reason she didn't use medication to treat her depression b/c she wanted her healing to be from the Lord, but she also swore by the progesterone cream and vitamins.)

[JermajestyDuggar]

10 hours ago, Odd1Out said:

I doubt it. I follow some of the Wissman blogs and instagrams. The girls sometimes wear pants to work or hike and the married ones wear them quite a bit. The family has a lot of fun together and with lots of friends. I doubt any of them would want to be stuck in the fuddy duddy Maxwell clan. Plus they seem to travel constantly to see each other. Maxwell wives don't appear to get to travel to see their families much (but who really knows). And they attend sporting events. 

I agree. The Wissmans are even less likely than a Bontrager girl. I'm just thinking of all the families they know with SAHDs in their 20s. But I would love it if he pulled a Zack Bates and found a regular old Christian girl working in town. Because Steve would go fucking batshit on the inside and pretend to keep it together for "the brand."

[Captain Obvious]

10 hours ago, Odd1Out said:

I doubt it. I follow some of the Wissman blogs and instagrams. The girls sometimes wear pants to work or hike and the married ones wear them quite a bit. The family has a lot of fun together and with lots of friends. I doubt any of them would want to be stuck in the fuddy duddy Maxwell clan. Plus they seem to travel constantly to see each other. Maxwell wives don't appear to get to travel to see their families much (but who really knows). And they attend sporting events. 

There definitely is some connection with the Wissmans though - Christopher photographed 2 of the family's weddings. So they definitely met the modesty standards as far as weddings are concerned.

Also, it's really hard to say anything about the social lives of the Maxwells, based on what Steve allows to be published on the blog.  Most of what we have been able to figure out about the Maxwells' possible social circles - at least their connections with the Bontragers, Duggars and IBLP families - has been from people spotting them in photos/footage on other blogs/websites, not from anything they've revealed themselves. Hell, when Ellisa married Joe they didn't even reveal Elissa's family name or the names of any of her family members until FJers figured it out. 

I'm not arguing that the Maxwell kidults and especially the girls have a vast social life but it's obviously bigger than what's portrayed on the blog, since the blog shows nothing. And it shows even less about the lives of the married families, unless it involves birth announcements or socialising with the Fathership family. We just don't know what they do or don't do, and I'm sure that's just how Steve wants it. Nothing to sully the image he wants to uphold of them, then.

[Alicepooh]

It's weird that Sarah is posting two replies to comments... This may be because the first comment was posted by someone else, or because she is not the smartest blogger after all...

[Odd1Out]

I'm trying to figure what the mental status would be for someone like Steve, if the family truly is very different than what they portray on their blog. If you wanted everyone to believe your family was one way just to sell people books and get them to raise their families under his set of rules? I just think if the girls actually wore pants at times, they would at least do it while hiking and just say it's for safety purposes. You would think someone that knew them in real life would see them out doing normal things. If they know about the Maxwell blog and how they present themselves and looked them up, it wouldn't take but a few seconds to find this site and say something about it. 

I do think they probably play more games and socialize with a few more people than they show on the blog but that's probably about it. I think their still very insular and think they're above everyone else. 

[MamaJunebug]

On 9/15/2017 at 9:27 AM, JermajestyDuggar said:

I'm definitely not a fan of most split levels because I hate the ones with a stair case right when you walk in. You either go up or down right when you walk in. I HATE that. But I have a friend with a split level that doesn't force you to go up or down stairs immediately when you walk in. You just walk into the living room.  So hers is much more tolerable. 

When I was young that was called a "tri-level." I still like 'em, the "split foyers," not at all. 

On 9/15/2017 at 1:27 PM, nomoxian said:

Most chocolate related recipes I see call for 2 parts sugar to 1 part cocoa, but I find 1 - 1 parts is sufficient. I guess the vanilla she adds would make it even sweeter.

Maybe they're using what was meant to be the living room as the bedroom? I did that in a place I lived in, and rented out the bedroom on AirBNB to cover the rent. The layout was perfect (for me at least) because the main door opened to a long hall, with the living room at the far end.

I've been in a house like that. Don't like it at all, in large part because the bedroom windows open onto the front porch. But the owners are not front-porch people (they are also snooty), so I guess it's never a problem. 

On 9/15/2017 at 6:01 PM, fundiefan said:

That was, in part, because they were outside all the time, with kids in the neighborhood. They went to school. They were on sport and drama teams. They were home, inside the house, to eat and sleep. 

I don't think a big house is necessary for a comfortable life, but LIFE is necessary. People, interests, communities, experiences, opportunities...

I was genuinely intrigued gen I found out a coworker had 13 kids, all at home. Three-bedroom house, and he shrugged, "The bedrooms are just for sleeping. They do everything at school or church or the library or outside."  Nice people, just fecund. 

[MamaJunebug]

6 hours ago, Corntree said:

As an aside, I find this funny: she said the main reason she didn't use medication to treat her depression b/c she wanted her healing to be from the Lord, but she also swore by the progesterone cream and vitamins.)

Oh, hahaha!!! I knew this but til just now I hadn't equated Terified and her embrace of creams & Vitamins with people I know who choose weed to get high "because it's natural, unlike alcohol which is manmade."

Does Terified think that progesterone cream and vitamins are plucked from the loamy earth by wee sprites and fairy folk ?  What would she do to see a processing plant and realize it's the source of her creams and vitamins? Hahahaha oh Teri, you poor goon.

[Corntree]

14 hours ago, MamaJunebug said:

What would she do to see a processing plant and realize it's the source of her creams and vitamins?

Yes, I thought the same thing. Also, the Wikipedia article on topical progesterone says this:

Quote

...these topical formulations of progesterone are not regulated and have not been adequately clinically tested, with often little being known about their pharmacokinetics. In addition, absorption of topical progesterone may differ significantly from formulation to formulation due to widely varying ingredients. Moreover, the effectiveness of topical progesterone in conferring therapeutically relevant progestogenic effects and in particular sufficient endometrial protection from unopposed estrogen is controversial.

So antidepressants are bad, untested semi-woo is a-ok.