Maxwell 55: Anna and Mary Adventures at ABC - Freedom!

[church_of_dog]

I live in an area known for its very cold winters and super-short summers.  I always said I would never have A/C just on environmental principle.  

When I remodeled my house I super-insulated it, including double-thick exterior walls, triple glazed windows, and way overdoing the attic and underfloor recommended R values.  It did make a huge difference in moderating both hot and cold temperatures.

But this year I bought an A/C.  Small, really sized for a large room rather than a house, but it does the trick taking the edge off, when we've had enough hot days in a row that even my hyperinsulated house can't fend off the heat.  I figured it's only going to get worse in future years, and my own bodily heat tolerance is only going down as I get older.

 

My sense of household aesthetics is useless, so I have no comment along those lines about the design or decor of Sarah's new home.  But I was surprised to see a ceiling fan directly in the kitchen -- isn't that a recipe (sorry, no pun intended 🤣) for dust in your food?  

I mean, I know the Maxwells are famous for cleaning ceiling fans, but wow, in my area those fan blades would have to be cleaned every single day and even then I still don't think I'd want them turning directly over my salad bowl or dinner plate or cutting board.

[JermajestyDuggar]

12 minutes ago, church_of_dog said:

I live in an area known for its very cold winters and super-short summers.  I always said I would never have A/C just on environmental principle.  

When I remodeled my house I super-insulated it, including double-thick exterior walls, triple glazed windows, and way overdoing the attic and underfloor recommended R values.  It did make a huge difference in moderating both hot and cold temperatures.

But this year I bought an A/C.  Small, really sized for a large room rather than a house, but it does the trick taking the edge off, when we've had enough hot days in a row that even my hyperinsulated house can't fend off the heat.  I figured it's only going to get worse in future years, and my own bodily heat tolerance is only going down as I get older.

 

My sense of household aesthetics is useless, so I have no comment along those lines about the design or decor of Sarah's new home.  But I was surprised to see a ceiling fan directly in the kitchen -- isn't that a recipe (sorry, no pun intended 🤣) for dust in your food?  

I mean, I know the Maxwells are famous for cleaning ceiling fans, but wow, in my area those fan blades would have to be cleaned every single day and even then I still don't think I'd want them turning directly over my salad bowl or dinner plate or cutting board.

When we moved into our house, there was a ceiling fan in our eat in kitchen. I decided to keep it. There’s an exhaust fan above the stove/oven but it doesn’t do enough in my opinion. The fan really helps when I burn toast or it gets really hot in there. I do try to keep it clean. It’s hard though. I guess I just have to take the cons with the pros. 

[Alisamer]

56 minutes ago, Loveday said:

You're going to have so much fun with that house! If you do get some Christmas decorating done, I hope you'll share a photo or two with us! 😍

 

Oh I definitely will! I need to find my gimbal for my phone because I think the first thing we'll do when we get the keys is do a "before" video tour of the house. We got a quick walk-through during the estate sale, but the bathrooms and closets were closed off so we actually haven't seen the bathrooms since right before I started high school. I'm hoping they aren't horrific. They were all ceramic tile last I saw, so I'm considering re-glazing instead of remodeling if they are in decent condition otherwise. One bathroom was avocado green, the other was blue. If they're looking good I might lean in on the 70's style, but that seems unlikely.

I think we will probably resurrect our long-neglected youtube channel for house renovation stuff. 

My family has a history of over-the-top Christmas decorating, and it'll be awesome to have actual ROOM to put things. If this year isn't ready for full decorating, the next year definitely will be. For Halloween, too. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

13 minutes ago, Alisamer said:

Oh I definitely will! I need to find my gimbal for my phone because I think the first thing we'll do when we get the keys is do a "before" video tour of the house. We got a quick walk-through during the estate sale, but the bathrooms and closets were closed off so we actually haven't seen the bathrooms since right before I started high school. I'm hoping they aren't horrific. They were all ceramic tile last I saw, so I'm considering re-glazing instead of remodeling if they are in decent condition otherwise. One bathroom was avocado green, the other was blue. If they're looking good I might lean in on the 70's style, but that seems unlikely.

I think we will probably resurrect our long-neglected youtube channel for house renovation stuff. 

My family has a history of over-the-top Christmas decorating, and it'll be awesome to have actual ROOM to put things. If this year isn't ready for full decorating, the next year definitely will be. For Halloween, too. 

Look at “vintage bathroom love” Instagram for some inspirations. They lean into all the vintage tile. Even the 60s and 70s. Although there is a ton of 20s/30s tile. That was probably the best time for tile. Especially out west. 

[Maggie Mae]

1 hour ago, Loveday said:

Our new house has a gorgeous corner fireplace--that's only for show. 😕 You flip a switch and lovely flickering firelight appears, with zero heat. Well...I did detect a faint bit of weak warmth when I turned it on over the holidays last year, but you had to put your hand on the glass to feel it. So I don't know if it's meant to radiate heat into the room and it's just not working at the mo, or if it's not meant to have heat and I was just imagining the little that I felt.

You might want to look around for a remote, or google the name of the fireplace to see if there are settings you can change. Some of them allow heat to radiate, but you can only change it with the remote, not the panel on the unit. Just my experience. 

[Loveday]

10 minutes ago, Maggie Mae said:

You might want to look around for a remote, or google the name of the fireplace to see if there are settings you can change. Some of them allow heat to radiate, but you can only change it with the remote, not the panel on the unit. Just my experience. 

No remote, just an on/off switch on the wall. 😕 

 

[Bluebirdbluebell]

6 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

It’s a lot easier to date there than at home at least. 

It never occurred to me that she would move back in with her parents after college. I think after college she will get a job and have her own place like Sarah. Maybe with like-minded roommates or maybe on her own.

ABC is a big step up for the Maxwell women, but it's still extremely restrictive and controlling. The student handbook very strict rules, and I assume there's strict rules in place for staff, especially unmarried women.

I know she's enjoying ABC, but like most college students, she'll be ready to move on when she graduates. I think leaving ABC would be good for her.

[JermajestyDuggar]

8 minutes ago, Bluebirdbluebell said:

It never occurred to me that she would move back in with her parents after college. I think after college she will get a job and have her own place like Sarah. Maybe with like-minded roommates or maybe on her own.

ABC is a big step up for the Maxwell women, but it's still extremely restrictive and controlling. The student handbook very strict rules, and I assume there's strict rules in place for staff, especially unmarried women.

I know she's enjoying ABC, but like most college students, she'll be ready to move on when she graduates. I think leaving ABC would be good for her.

But it’s completely different from her own home. Even if it’s still strict. I personally think she would have completely floundered at a state university. It’s like a stepping stone. She can be more independent without going from 0 to 1000 overnight. 

[Bluebirdbluebell]

21 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

But it’s completely different from her own home. Even if it’s still strict. I personally think she would have completely floundered at a state university. It’s like a stepping stone. She can be more independent without going from 0 to 1000 overnight. 

Yes, right now it's a good place for her, and after graduation she can move on to the next phase.

[JermajestyDuggar]

11 minutes ago, Bluebirdbluebell said:

Yes, right now it's a good place for her, and after graduation she can move on to the next phase.

I think that if she did move back home, she would end up becoming depressed. She’s experienced the world much more at ABC. She had fun. She had a little more freedom. Not everything was a total drag. She had lots of friends around. So if she made the mistake of moving home, I think she would decide to move out on her own after that. 

[Bluebirdbluebell]

56 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

I think that if she did move back home, she would end up becoming depressed. She’s experienced the world much more at ABC. She had fun. She had a little more freedom. Not everything was a total drag. She had lots of friends around. So if she made the mistake of moving home, I think she would decide to move out on her own after that. 

Right she can get her own place after graduation. I don't want her to move home. I think after graduation she will be ready for her own place. ABC is a step stone to getting her own place. She's done missioncations before ABC and she was a summer camp counselor (summer 2022). By the time she graduates, she will probably be ready to either live on her own or with roommates, and be ready to leave college.

I think it's wonderful that she and Mary can go to college. But ABC seems like a very controlling place and I hope move on from there once she graduates.

Edited September 15, 2022 by Bluebirdbluebell

[fundiewatch]

I mean, there would be nothing wrong with her working for admissions or taking a year round position at the Alpine outdoorsy side. That campus delivered them from Steve! Anna could meet a lovely staff member and find love that way too. I don’t think any of these women are heading back to Leavenworth and that is golden!

[Caroline]

23 hours ago, theologygeek said:

I can't.  LOL  This never gets old...

AM I GOING TO COLLEGE?

I am writing this post in response to some who have asked in blog comments what I’m doing after high-school graduation and whether I will be going to college. First let me take a moment to share with you what the Lord has done in my heart toward college.

As I seek to draw closer to the Lord, I am always evaluating my decisions based on what the Bible says and also the fruit of a certain decision that I can observe in other people’s lives. In addition, I take heed my parents’ counsel. College would be what most would consider the next big step in my life.

“For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.” (Luke 6:44)

As I thought about college and saw the negative fruit in the lives of many who have gone there, it was obvious to me that there were dangers and pitfalls in college that I would prefer to avoid. Seldom, if ever that I can recall, have I seen a young person go off to college and return exhibiting a higher level of spiritual maturity, or even the same level, at which he entered. Usually he has slid backwards – a lot or a little. It is my desire to stay pure, to wholly follow Him, and to not knowingly put myself in any place where I might fall. We have seen many young people go to college and come out totally different in a negative sense.

“A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.” (Proverbs 27:12)

Applying this verse to college, I see the dangers at college, and I want to protect myself from them.

“…wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.” (Romans 16:19)

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” (Galatians 6:7)

In colleges – even Christian colleges – so much of what is being taught is ungodly. It may seem harmless to read something that is unbiblical, thinking that I will just let it slide out of my mind. However it seems to me that in reality this is sowing bad seed with equally bad fruit. I don’t want to learn the things that are being taught in colleges. At home, I can learn what will profit me for my future and what will lead to my spiritual growth.

In our family, we are insatiable learners. Even after high school, we are constantly learning. Graduation is just a way point on the path of learning. We are always eager for new opportunities to grow our knowledge. We look for ways to serve, and many times God stretches us out of our comfort zone, which might involve learning something we would never have thought ourselves capable of learning. So, I may not go to college, but in every step of my life I am continuing to learn.

It also seems kind of silly for me to go to college, because I am so grateful that Mom and Dad saved me from many worldly influences by homeschooling me. Why would I then choose to expose myself to those influences my parents protected me from? We have seen young people who go to college and while in college they fall away from their faith and turn to the world. It is with much pleasure that I can thank Dad and Mom for blessing me with a wonderful education, an excellent teacher, and a pure environment to learn in. I am so blessed to be able to be in a family where they welcome and encourage us to stay at home after we graduate from high school!

All the above are reason enough for me not to want go to college, but I will add that it is my desire, if the Lord wills, to be a stay-at-home wife and mother someday.

“To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.” (Titus 2:5)

I don’t feel that a college degree would help me toward this desire. In fact, we have heard from some moms that their degree hindered them, in the beginning, from choosing to be a wife and mother. They went into college with a stay-at-home mindset, but then graduated and started to work. After all, they had invested heavily with their time and finances in a career-specific education and didn’t feel they wanted to waste that investment. In hindsight, they have shared their regrets with this detour from the direction they felt the Lord would have had for their lives.

Another reason why I am not attending college is because of the huge financial cost of college. It seems that it would be a waste of the Lord’s finances for me to go to college when I have no need for a college degree. I certainly wouldn’t want to go into debt for a degree. I have seen one of my sisters and four of my brothers excel in their adult professional lives without a college degree and without debt. I wish to follow in their foot steps.

“Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.” (Romans 13:8)

The Lord has filled what I have to do with my time so that it is flowing over the brim. I am busy helping with Titus2 order fulfillment plus learning Titus2 bookkeeping and other aspects of our ministry. I’m also helping at home, cleaning for my grandparents, assisting my brother’s family as needed, sewing, doing bookkeeping for Joseph and John’s business, practicing music, tackling other projects that come up, and have a couple of other things right now that I want to study as time allows!

“Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:16)

All of this to say I am not going to college but staying at home to bless my family and others in whatever way I can, grow spiritually, and learn in areas that will be useful for my future!

In Christ,
Anna

And people like the Maxwells think that public school kids are brainwashed!  This could have been written by Teri or Steve.  Just like the 'book report' written by the Max granddaughter.  

[theologygeek]

5 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

But it’s completely different from her own home. Even if it’s still strict. I personally think she would have completely floundered at a state university. It’s like a stepping stone. She can be more independent without going from 0 to 1000 overnight. 

That's very true.  Her parents screwed up her head her whole life.  When a baby learns how to walk, you don't put them in the yard unsupervised. Baby steps.  Rome wasn't built in a day.  I don't think she would have done well in a university either.  She would have gone running back home.  The girls are glowing at their college.  It's better than nothing and they are happy.  

[rosamundi]

On 9/14/2022 at 12:45 AM, FloraDoraDolly said:

And I hate, hate, HATE gray! As soon as I see gray cabinets or gray floors in a house, I'm like, "Nope."

Grey is a trend in the UK at the moment. It's a really silly choice, if you ask me. Why would you willingly live inside a cloudy day? If you want to look at grey just look out the window in winter!

And looking at houses on rightmove which have been decorated in shades of grey just shows how very dated they are already starting to look.

[ElizaB]

When I was in college I would usually return home for the summer. My parents were not strict at all; however, I remember feeling extremely stifled at their house. It felt like I was a child again. In would go out and someone would ask where I was going (probably simply out of curiosity) but this irked me. I wasn’t used to this. I cannot imagine what a summer for them back home would be like. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

10 minutes ago, ElizaB said:

When I was in college I would usually return home for the summer. My parents were not strict at all; however, I remember feeling extremely stifled at their house. It felt like I was a child again. In would go out and someone would ask where I was going (probably simply out of curiosity) but this irked me. I wasn’t used to this. I cannot imagine what a summer for them back home would be like. 

Thankfully they seemed to remedy that problem. Mary went on a mission trip and Anna worked for the camp. Maybe they both knew how awful it would be back home all summer and planned accordingly. 

[freejugar]

Anna seems to really enjoy anything to do with children and physical activity. I hope she can pursue a job in that area after graduation if she wants. She can also work for her brothers and live on her own like Sarah.

What degree are Anna and Mary getting? I forgot

[JermajestyDuggar]

17 minutes ago, freejugar said:

Anna seems to really enjoy anything to do with children and physical activity. I hope she can pursue a job in that area after graduation if she wants. She can also work for her brothers and live on her own like Sarah.

What degree are Anna and Mary getting? I forgot

She would be a good coach or physical Ed teacher. Imagine how mad Steve would be about coaching. He pulled his kids from organized sports when the kids were only little. 

[Foursquare]

I hope the staff at ABC will counsel Anna on her strengths and how she can best use them. 

[Alisamer]

5 hours ago, rosamundi said:

Grey is a trend in the UK at the moment. It's a really silly choice, if you ask me. Why would you willingly live inside a cloudy day? If you want to look at grey just look out the window in winter!

And looking at houses on rightmove which have been decorated in shades of grey just shows how very dated they are already starting to look.

Yeah I feel like gray at first was a refreshing change from white, but at a point it starts looking like the interior of a battleship. My current house is a sandy warm yellow in most of the rooms and terracotta orange in one of the bathrooms. I'm not sure what I'll be doing in the new house but I'm kind of leaning toward lilac with glitter in it for the master bedroom, leaving the walls white in the art studio (where I may eventually paint things on them), white for the hallway since I plan to hang art there, and I haven't decided for the living room and den yet. Not gray, probably. Or if it is gray it'll be a pale silvery gray or something. I may fall back on a sandy warm color though. I can't wear warm colors with my skin tone, but they look really inviting on walls, IMO. Warms up the space and makes it look homey without being claustrophobic. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

I don’t mind gray as long as there are plenty of other colors. I actually have a very light gray walled bathroom but it’s not the only color. There is also white, beige, brown, green and a bit of orange. The problem with gray is when almost everything is gray and white. But if you add some warmth and color accents, it’s much better. I’m also not a fan of everything being white (Ex: Kim Kardashian’s house) or all shades of brown. 

[Alisamer]

7 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

I don’t mind gray as long as there are plenty of other colors. I actually have a very light gray walled bathroom but it’s not the only color. There is also white, beige, brown, green and a bit of orange. The problem with gray is when almost everything is gray and white. But if you add some warmth and color accents, it’s much better. I’m also not a fan of everything being white (Ex: Kim Kardashian’s house) or all shades of brown. 

Same. Like, gray is a nice neutral, but not the best as the whole color scheme for a room. Or house. Kim Kardashian's house is just freaking weird. Like, it would be really cool with accents of nice art (and she can afford some GOOD art)... but it's so empty looking. Like it echoes. 

I'm having fun right now scouring Craigslist for free and cheap stuff and brainstorming ideas for the new house. I hope Sarah (after her honeymoon) is having the same kind of fun. And I hope she's also watching Kory's favorite movies and discovering new music and having a grand time doing all sorts of things that Steve would cry about. 

[Melissa1977]

Beige is the new grey!

I recently bought a new home and I'm renovating it in white (windows, doors, kitchen cabinets) because I loooove it. Furniture and decor is wooden/grey/beige.

I don't care about fashion. But I need my home to be relaxing. Being sorrounded by white/beige/grey and plants is my definition of quietness.

[SassyPants]

25 minutes ago, Melissa1977 said:

Beige is the new grey!

I recently bought a new home and I'm renovating it in white (windows, doors, kitchen cabinets) because I loooove it. Furniture and decor is wooden/grey/beige.

I don't care about fashion. But I need my home to be relaxing. Being sorrounded by white/beige/grey and plants is my definition of quietness.

I love the white look, but not the high maintenance aspect of upkeep and cleaning.