Homemaker Portrait | Teri Hall - The Art of Home: A Podcast for Homemakers

Episode Transcript
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Allison (00:00):
Mom, I can't find my ballet slippers. Honey, have you
seen my keys? I am so late.
Where's the diaper bag? If youdon't get those shoes on in the
next five seconds, I am going tolose my mind.
Sound familiar? Then you don'twant to miss today's episode of
The Art of home. Hello,homemakers. And welcome to the

(00:23):
art of home podcast where we areexploring how homemakers
cultivate a place to belong. I'myour host Allison Weeks. I'm a
wife. I am a mom to four grownkids and I've been a homemaker
for over 29 years. Now if you'rea regular listener, welcome
back. We are so thankful for youand if you've just found us, we
are so glad you're here. The Artof home is here to provide

(00:45):
encouragement and inspirationfor you to practice homemaking
as an art with confidence,skill, joy and creativity. We
want to elevate the work of thehome in the eyes of the
homemaker and of the culture. Webelieve that homemaking practice
as an art exchange is drudgeryfor dignity, and brings beauty
and great value to the ordinarytasks of life. In today's

(01:06):
homemaker portrait, we aretalking to Teri Hall, who has
been keeping home for 40 years.
Teri explains how she sees thehome as a launching pad and a
landing pad, and how thediscipline of establishing order
through her making can helpfacilitate peaceful, happy daily
launches and landings in thehome. she's learned not to hold

(01:27):
on too tightly to her plansbecause they're probably going
to change and be challenged bythe unexpected and well just by
life in general. We talked abouther early years and the
exhaustion of caring for a newbaby and a home at the same
time. We talk about how shelearned how to read her audience
when showing hospitality. AndTeri graciously shared with us

(01:48):
about her recent cancerdiagnosis and how it affected
her homemaking journey. Throughit all she has learned to cease
striving for what she wants orthinks she needs and to be
comfortable in her own journey.
learning to love the things thatmust be done. So whether you are
canning some applesauce orcommuting to work, we know you

(02:11):
will enjoy Teri's story of home.
I am here with my friend TeriHall. And Teri, before we go
back to the beginning of yourhomemaker story, why don't you
tell us a little bit about whoyou are today.

Teri (02:22):
who I am today? Well, my husband, Bill and I have been we
just celebrated 40 years ofmarriage in we have three grown
children who are all married.
And we have five grandchildren.
And I currently am working fulltime at my local church as the

(02:49):
administration lead and myhusband is semi retired from a
lifelong career of high schoolfootball and teaching so which
was became a part of my life toyou know, being his, his, his
mate so so we're just in aseason of say, you know, a

(03:15):
season of just grandchildren andlooking forward to full
retirement in the years ahead so

Allison (03:22):
so I bet you guys miss the Friday Night Lights
experience. Do you stilloccasionally go hang out and
watch a game?

Teri (03:31):
At the beginning we did, I had the hardest time with his
retirement then he did ofcourse, because Friday nights,
they were part of my life. And Iwas a bleacher mom and raise my
kids in the bleachers and and itwas who we were and I love being

(03:52):
a part of that it was anenvironment that I love. I love
watching my husband coach. Andjust the the impact he had on
kids and just being a part ofall that excitement. So when
that season came, I was I igrieved over it. And just even
saying, Man, this is suchbeautiful weather. I feel like

(04:13):
it should be at a football game.
And so it was the season that itwas not easy. We did go back we
have gone to a few games, butit's different. Yeah. When it's
when it's not your husband, yourteam. You know I enjoy it, but
it's a little bit different

Allison (04:31):
But you have exciting things ahead. Alright, let's go
back to the beginning. When didyou first become a homemaker?

Teri (04:41):
So I was a very young mom or wife I should say not mom. I
married at the age of 20. Myhusband and I were highschool
sweethearts. We went todifferent colleges and his we
hadn't intended on marrying at20. But he was 21. I was 20. My

(05:06):
husband was playing collegefootball. His dad had been
killed in a car accident goinghome that weekend after a game.
And so it just kind of spedthings up for us. He was the
youngest of six and a lot, a lotof age difference between him
and his siblings. They were allmarried, had families. So we
decided we were ready to startour family. And I, like I said,

(05:31):
we were both in college, Itransferred to where he was and,
and we got married after myjunior year. And so I started
life as a homemaker at 20. And,and I absolutely loved it. So
yeah, yeah, we lived in alittle, little single wide

(05:53):
mobile home. But yes, we made itour home. And I very much
enjoyed being married and havingmy own home. So that's
interesting.

Allison (06:03):
We have a lot in common in that because I was married
really young, too. And we livedin a single wide mobile home.
While we were finishing upschool,

Teri (06:11):
yeah, yeah, that's what we did for that short season. And
it was real special just to makeit our own.

Allison (06:18):
Well, when you went into homemaking at the young age
of 20, did you have any skills?

Teri (06:24):
I was blessed to have some skills. My mom would teach us
how to cook. And plus I just hadan interest in it. And so I
loved recipes. So I would oftenget her permission to..."Mom,
can I try this recipe?" Can Icook tonight, you know, and make
unique things like homemaderavioli, or something that

(06:46):
wasn't typical of the, of whatwe normally ate, just wanting to
try new things. And so that wassomething I always had an
interest in. And my husband, heloved to eat homemade cooking.
So of course that, you know,definitely inspired me to keep
wanting to do better and beskilled at that.

Allison (07:09):
Which skill Did you have a learning curve for when
you started homemaking, what wasespecially challenging for you
as a homemaker, when you firststarted out?

Teri (07:18):
For me, I would say time management. We I didn't juggle
we were both college students Iwas working part time. Plus, I,
you worked really hard at my, atmy subject level, and spent a
lot of time studying, preparing,you know, for any exams I'd be

(07:39):
having. And time management waslike, we'd be tired, I'd cook
dinner, but I wouldn't clean upright away. And then it would
sit. And then we'd we had kindof a funny thing I'd be studying
my husband was like studyingwhat studying and he's like

(07:59):
honey to bed. He just did tellme "to bed Fred." And just as it
rhymes. So then I kind of gotthe nickname with him, Fred, but
as being college students, butI'm like, Oh my gosh, no, I
can't go to bed. Look, it's 10o'clock, and I still have dirty
dishes. And I need to cleanthose up. So I had to learn time
management and not lettingthings sit. You know, you'd eat

(08:23):
and then you'd kind of put itaside and go do something else.
And then they come back and Oh,there it is. Yeah, I didn't do
that.

Allison (08:31):
Right. I think that's a big challenge for people. So you
did work and went to school whenyou were first married. Did you
ever work outside the home afterthat period?

Teri (08:46):
I did, I was blessed with a great career right before
having children. I was theDirector of Student Financial
Aid at university Mary hardenBaylor and love that it was a
caught that college environmentbeing a part of that scene was a
lot of fun. And just helpingstudents do that. But it was a

(09:08):
very demanding job and had avery hard season, just like my
husband's football seasons.
Summers were my heaviest time ofgetting everybody's financial
aid packages ready for fallregistration. So when I became
pregnant, I just wasn't a lifethat I longed for for myself, I
knew myself well that I wouldn'tbe able to juggle it all. So I

(09:31):
stepped out of that role andbecame a full time mom. And so
that season was short and thefull time mom was a much longer
season. There were times that Iwould take on some part time
jobs and roles that I could doeither from my home and during

(09:53):
that season, and I continuedoing doing that until our
youngest was in high school inthrough her high school years I
can I did some part time thingsbut full time Not until my kids
were out of the home so

Allison (10:12):
right okay, well let's talk a little bit about balance
and scheduling and things yousaid that was a learning curve
for you in the beginning So atwhat point did you feel like you
sort of had mastered that andwhat were some of the things
that you did as a homemaker tobalance all the things and make
sure you got done what needed toget done?

Teri (10:30):
So growing you know with the growing family um, what I
because that was beingdistracted is something that
would often happen for me andnot staying on task and focus
and I had a T shirt back in theday that it said Oh, forget
housework, I'm busy beingcreative. And so I'm like yes,

(10:54):
that's me. So little things likethat. But I found I found a book
or my mom introduced a book tome called the sentimental messy
and that was me because I wouldlook at things like oh I can see
a possibility in this I coulduse this to make this or I could

(11:15):
you know craft something withthis or I might need this
someday. And or it's special tome that was grandma's or and so
I threw her tools of you know, Ilearned how to start calling out
and increase in carving time andthings that I've learned along
the way that I still use is Itry to keep like a three week

(11:40):
menu plan to where we tend torotate a lot of what we eat and
so that it's not weekly, but wedo it for three weeks and so I
tried to have at least 21 mealsyou know, kind of in my pocket
to where I can easily get thosehave those ingredients on hand

(12:03):
and so I learned that from thatbook, and that kind of stuck
with me and has stayed with me.
Other things I learned along theway even though I wasn't working
outside the home but just caringfor kids all day and in
sometimes I even had otherpeople's children in my home
that I cared for it was learningto prep for the evening mail

(12:23):
early in the day start gettingthings done because I'm a
morning person in my energyreally starts to lag in the
afternoons and by the time yourhusband walks in the door and
there's no stuff I'm working andthings and then it's bedtime and
then I don't have the energy tobe them nice mommy a bedtime. So

(12:47):
because I'm tired so I learnedfrom another mom that lived in
our neighborhood. Now I didn'tmaster it like her but when her
her children got off the bus shefed them their supper. They were
always hungry right afterschool. And then so she kind of

(13:07):
flipped things. A lot of peoplewould do a snack-that's how I
was raised- you'd have a snackwhen you got home and then
supper would come later. But shewould have dinner ready for them
and then she would clean up andthen if they wanted a snack they
could do that before bedtime,have a snack. But wow her

(13:27):
kitchen was immaculate her homewas immaculate and you know I
just thought because her kidswere always at my house when I
was fixing dinner and I'm like,"Don't you need to go home" and
they'd g, "Oh no, we alreadyate. We ate as soon as we got
off the bus." And I'm like oh,and so I kind of learned her

(13:47):
secret.

Allison (13:49):
Well so did she and her husband eat at the same time as
the kids or did they? I'm tryingto figure out how that works
logistically

Teri (13:55):
exactly and you know what i don't i don't think so because
I thought of that later thisweek. I was thinking about
remembering that memory and I'mlike when did he eat? so I think
she must have set a plate asidefor him and when he came in.
because I don't think he camehome that early you know like at

Allison (14:14):
So did you ever try that?
four o'clock so but for her shefound that was her strength
she'd have it done, her kitchenwas clean and the evening was
free. You know to the kitchenwas behind her.

Teri (14:29):
I didn't. I couldn't do that because we all sat down
together as a family. So what Idid was I started doing
everything I could ahead of time. I did it early so that once he
did come in the door we atepretty quickly. Now during
football season he would come inlate so a plate was always saved

(14:50):
for him. We didn't, we couldn'twait till eight or nine o'clock
at night. But yeah, I found thatI was a better person. If I just
prepped early and didn't leaveso much for myself right at the
time when we're all hangry andit's meal time and it's not
getting done quick enough

Allison (15:09):
That is such good advice. I don't do this often
anymore because we're just thetwo of us now but whenever I
would have the foresight and thewisdom to do a crock pot meal
and start it in the morning, myfuture self always thanked my
past self for having the energyand the wherewithal to do that

(15:31):
because by the time six o'clockrolled around, I was tired and
it was just so nice to alreadyhave that done. So that's really
good advice.
Yes, just do what you can earlyit pays in dividends in the end.
Absolutely. Well, how aboutexpectations and homemaking? We
go into homemaking thinking it'sgoing to look a certain way and
be a certain way and thensometimes it is but sometimes

(15:54):
it's not and we might besurprised by what it actually
ends up looking like. How wasthat for you?
I think for me um, justinterruptions you know. And so
what we used to say, "lifehappens" and things come up that
you think you have your dayplanned and it doesn't happen

(16:15):
that way. So once again tryingto just redirect myself time
management wise. Those were Ididn't expect that are just
being a homemaker and then bigtime repairs come and then the
funds are and you're like whatand so maybe your washer quits

(16:36):
working and all of a suddenyou're having to find the local
laundromat and loading up youryour kids and heading out the
door with tubs of laundry sothose kind of interruptions for
me we kind of picture somethingbeing a certain way and then you
don't realize Yeah, life happensand it doesn't always turn out

(16:58):
that way. So don't hold on toyour your plans too tightly
because it's probably going tochange.
Exactly, exactly. Well did youface any special challenges as a
homemaker and how did you learnto manage those challenges?
I didn't really have hardchallenges I think for me were

(17:24):
not when I had my first child Iwas like shocked at how
exhausting that can be in towhere I had a sweet friend she
was had been a co worker thereat the college where you know
where I had been employed andshe came over to see me to see

(17:45):
the new baby and I I'm sure shesaw the the baskets of laundry
or just things that were sittingaround and and I had to learn
she just quietly just said youknow you can just you know she
was giving me little tipsbecause to me caring for a home
and caring for a baby all of asudden felt very overwhelming.

(18:06):
Yeah and and so I had to learnhow to incorporate my kids into
my home and to bring themalongside me instead of waiting
for nap time. Yeah and thenOkay, so what if they don't take
a long nap? Yeah, and it's 30minutes later they're up in

(18:27):
there crying and that all thatstuff you had planned in that
two hour time span did not getdone so I had to learn this is
not working so I need to justincorporate them into my day and
bring them alongside me and andthat's what was a challenge for
me early on to learn and just toto continue to do that but that

(18:50):
once I got that realization youknow, then that came became
easier, right? So right,I had a listener ask if we could
ask this question, wanting tounderstand how did you how did
you manage your spiritual growthand your walk in the midst of
like you said just theexhaustion of caring for

(19:12):
children and caring for a homeHow did you make keep your
spiritual growth a priority inyour life and make time for
that?
Well, so I usually tried to doit in the morning, and it wasn't
every morning, and often I wouldget up and I'm like, Okay, I'm

(19:37):
the first one because I likebeing the first one up while
it's quiet. And and so I I wouldhave my spot where I'd sit and
then a child would wake up,mommy. Oh, oh, Honey, what are
you doing up already and in soand just even though they were

(19:59):
kind of groggy, I just kind oftuck them next to my side. I
have to be honest, was I alittle irritated? Yes I was
because my focus right then withwith you know, separated from
what I was doing and in justhaving to realize okay this is

(20:20):
not going to last as long as Ithought it was going to today
but I know him I knew in myheart It was good for her to see
that mommy sitting here andshe's looking at her Bible and
she's reading and even though Ididn't spend a lot of time doing
that once you know my littlechild arrived to sit with me I

(20:41):
knew that was a lesson initself.
Yeah, just that's a greatanswer. Well, let's talk a
little bit about hospitality. Wewant to cultivate an atmosphere
of belonging and welcome to thepeople who visit and the people
who live in your home so how didyou cultivate that sense of

(21:04):
belonging for your familymembers when they were here when
you were all living hereSo I like I always feel like
order brings peace and I kind ofsee the home being like a
launching pad and a landing pad.
And if as they depart out thedoor you know how if it's a good

(21:30):
launch, you can say all thethings you wanted to say "bye, I
love you," that kind of thing.
Instead of "where's my keys" andbla bla and "I can't find this
and that" and you know, and thenit's all frazzled and
everybody's frazzled. Guilty!I've been there. And just trying
to establish a sense of orderyou know where things are

(21:50):
because I know in the moment ofwhen we're trying to leave the
house if I didn't put my keyswhere I'm supposed to and then
there's this frantic looking forthem, Order brings peace, so
it's nothing to be afraid of itreally does help and so I try to
provide that for my family forthose in my home. And then when

(22:14):
they come home just try to havethe home picked up as much as
possible when your husband walksin the door. Granted that it
wasn't always that way. But Itried to and I think the thing
that helped me even with my ownfamily is there was a season of
time that I did before-schoolcare and after-school after

(22:37):
school care for some friends.
And the fact that someone wasgoing to have to come to my door
and pick up their kids okay wasa motivator that hey let's get
this picked up because I didn'twant that mom to think that what
it looked like five minutes agowith toys everywhere and so that

(22:59):
was always a motivator for meand just would keep me keeping
that picked up each morning thatwhen they those children arrived
My home is picked up possiblyfrom the night before or maybe I
got up earlier that morning andpicked it up before they arrived
just so that when that thosechildren walked in the door
there was order and peace andstuff wasn't just everywhere.

(23:24):
Yeah, I love that. How you'vedescribed this as a launching
pad and a landing pad andthere's value in having the the
order and the peace on bothends. That's a really great way
of looking at it and like youYes, I am also motivated by
having people over to keepthings tidy and neat and it's
part of it is probably somepride in their you know, I don't

(23:46):
want them to think I'm a slob.
But also I want them to feelcomfortable when they walk in my
house not like they've walkedinto a tornado, you know, peace
and order do help people feelmore comfortable in a space. So
that's a really greatdescription of that. Thank you.
What about hospitality to otherpeople, were there any
particular things that you didor like to do to show

(24:09):
hospitality to others when theycome here?

Teri (24:13):
So I've, I've learned some things along the way. It used to
be that I would set out mynicest dishes, and I loved to
have a beautiful tablescape withall the layers. And I learned
along the way that not everybodythat comes in your home is

(24:36):
comfortable with that. And, so Imean just a story. I my daughter
had a childhood friend that ourgirls would get together and
play but we were totallydifferent moms. This mom had her
home was all the living room wasturned into a wonderful child's

(25:00):
play area and which my kidsabsolutely loved. Yet you came
into my home of course you hadthe traditional couch and stuff
so I I invited her over becausenormally the kids her daughter's
just came over to play and wejust met through the local
school and our community is howwe had met with with each other

(25:24):
but I invited her in for hotcocoa with the cute little
pedestal mugs and all of thatand just on a cute little tray
sitting on the coffee table andI instantly could tell she's not
comfortable with this. Oh Whydid I do this? Because all this
show and yeah, it was for showand in many ways I wanted a nice

(25:45):
presentation you know. And eventhough and I wanted her to feel
special, it was not comfortable.
So I've had to learn over theyears to learn my audience not
everybody is comfortable withthat. And so out come the paper
plates you know just more casualhospitality. Now for holidays I

(26:09):
still do the dishes and in thefiner things my my kids they
will humor me and but we havethat but they know because they
know mom loves to decorate atable and have it looks pretty
and I'll try to do that a weekor two prior to like
Thanksgiving and have the tablealready really set with it just

(26:32):
being Bill and I we don't sit atthe dining room table except for
when we have company. But onelittle neat story that we had we
during our coaching years we ofcourse we moved around, but in
one of our stays we were livingin the Rio Grande Valley and

(26:53):
this house that we rentedactually had a maid's quarters
Now we could not afford make.
But we rented out this onelittle bedroom efficiency
apartment that was off thekitchen to an exchange teacher.
I didn't know that existed, buthe was from Germany. And he was

(27:16):
a delightful man. And so we justfell in love with him. And he
walked everywhere. And oftensometimes I would take him to
the grocery store to get hisgroceries but we he had was only
going to be there for a year.
And his he had met and married awoman from the San Antonio area
and they had two children. Sosomehow he had to work this out

(27:38):
where he he would go home everyweekend in San Antonio. Well,
one of those times when he wason, I guess a holiday break. You
know the Christmas holidays. Ourtravels took us to San Antonio
as well. We weren't living in inthat area then. And we want I
wanted to look him up meet hisfamily. And because he had

(28:01):
become a part of our family. Andso we arrived they were so
delighted they lived in a modestapartment. And they were so
delighted. delighted to have usthere. We entered their home.
And it was very simple. I thinkmaybe one couch and they had a

(28:23):
sit on the couch. And shebrought out of a plate with
saltine crackers and somelemonade. That's all she had.
And I'm like, I feel so blessedright now just like royalty
because she is sharing her homewith me. And something as simple
as lemonade and saltine crackerswas I've never forgotten it was

(28:47):
beautiful. So you don't have tohave a lot of fine things you
don't have to have tea cakes andall you know you just because I
was guilty of that I was guiltyof always wanting to make an
impression. And and so just hersimple hospitality and the warm
that just filled that room leftleft, you know a memory etched

(29:12):
on my heart forever. So

Allison (29:16):
that was a really that's a really beautiful story.
And I love the way you pointedout that we need to know our
audience, when when we showhospitality, knowing that that
woman who came over was notcomfortable with the lovely
little set that you brought outwith all the cute things and
that's I would have been thesame way I would have done the
same thing. Because I value thatit's important to me I love to

(29:39):
have these beautiful things andI was drooling over your
transferware collection beforewe started recording. We have a
lot of the same tastes. And thatis what we feel comfortable
with. But a big part ofhospitality is we're really
wanting the other person to feelcomfortable and so that is such
good advice to really know theperson that you're asking to

(30:01):
come into your space and do whatmakes them feel welcome, and
what they're comfortable with.
Really great. Thank you forsharing that.
We'll get back to Teri's storyin just a few minutes. Right now
it's time for historicalhomemaker hints. This is the
part of the podcast where wehighlight some of the helpful
and not so helpful hints doledout to homemakers throughout

(30:23):
history. Today's hints come frompractical suggestions for mother
and housewife. By Marion MillsMiller, published in 1910.
Marion was into bento boxlunches before it was even cool.
The luncheon put up for schoolchildren may consist chiefly of
sandwiches, preferably severalsmall ones of different kinds,

(30:45):
rather than one or two largeones. biscuit sandwiches are
generally more palatable to achild than plain bread ones.
Besides those made of cold meat,there should be at least one
cheese, or one salad and nutsandwich and one jelly sandwich.
A hard boiled egg. Preferablyone that has been cooked for
some time and water kept underthe boiling point will vary this

(31:07):
diet. Of course fruit such as anapple and orange or banana forms
the best dessert. Occasionallycake, gingerbread sweet biscuit
or a piece of milk chocolate maybe put in the basket for a
pleasant surprise. For many ofus, it's time to put the garden
to bed for the winter. Well,Miss Mills has some advice for
drying herbs. The right way indrying herbs for your kitchen,

(31:31):
and possible medicinal use is togather them as soon as they
begin to open their flowers andlay them on some netting and a
dry shed or room where the airwill get at them on all sides.
Be sure they're dry and notmoist when you cut or pick them
and free them from dirt anddecayed leaves. After they have
entirely dried out put them inpaper bags upon which you have
written the name of the herb andthe date of tying them up. Hang

(31:55):
them where the air is dry andthere is no chance of their
moldings. And finally, do youhave an abundance of pears?
Marion makes the followingsuggestion for keeping the pears
fresh longer. Lay the pears on ashelf in a dry cool place. Set
them stems up and so far apartthat they do not touch one
another. Allow the air to movefreely in the room in which they

(32:16):
live. layers of paper or strawmake a soft bed but the less the
pair touches the shelf orresting place the better for its
keeping. So I checked on thisone for you. And while Marion's
advice is still use to storepears, long term and cold rooms
or sellers, you do need to besure you're storing a winter
variety that's meant for longterm storage. Also pears seem to

(32:38):
be pretty finicky abouttemperature and humidity levels.
So be sure to keep a close eyeon that. But if you're not into
babysitting your pears allwinter, they are great for
canning either whole sliced ormade into pear butter. Enjoy.
Well that's it for today'shistorical homemaker hints. As
always, please remember thissegment is for entertainment

(33:00):
purposes only. And I leave it toyou the listener to determine
the safety and soundness of thisadvice. Now back to Teri's
story.
All right, let's talk a littlebit about homemaking seasons. So
how would you say your role as ahomemaker has changed over time?
Well, now that we're emptynesters, but when I wasn't

(33:24):
working full time, like I am nowit it almost I mean
surprisingly, it almost seemedlike managing my home was a
little easier. And because I'mworking full time, and I don't
have all the kids around, butI'm not I'm older and I don't
have the energy like I used to.
So even then in it seasons, I'vehad to find tools to help me.

(33:48):
And the time management thing issaying focus is still always
there. A tool that I tapped intoprobably in the early 2000s was
of late it was a program calledfly lady.

(34:09):
Oh yeah,I forgot the name of the lady
who who started that. That flystands for finally loving
yourself. And she just had in atthe time back then it was like
emails that would come remindingyou to do this and just steps
and and I bought some of hertools and things like that. That

(34:30):
is now she has an app and Istill pull that out sometimes if
I just need something to kind ofmotivate me. Yeah, and stay on
task. And she has like a weeklyhome blessing hour. And there
are six things that you do for10 minutes. And it is amazing
what you can get done in 10minutes. Yeah. And so those

(34:54):
little games I have to kind ofplay with myself. To help keep
me focused yeah and so thingsthat I learned as a homemaker
being at home with my kids stillcarry on have carried on over
into this season of my life too.
Yeah. So I know the fly lady isvery popular with a lot of

(35:15):
people so yeah, insome of her stuff is dated like
one of her things. clean outyour magazine rack and I'm like
who has magazines? So you canedit them, delete them make it
your own, and but it does help alot.
Yeah. Well, what was a hardtransition for you as a

(35:36):
homemaker? What was a seasonfrom one season to another? You
know, for some it's the emptynest for some it's bringing home
that first baby you did alludeto that that was challenging
bring a new first baby home. Wasthere anything else that sticks
out to you as a difficulttransition?
No, I don't think even in duringan empty nest. I like leftovers.

(36:00):
So hey, now have more. Noproblem. Yeah, exactly. And my
husband thankfully doesn't mindleftovers. Maybe after the third
time eating the same thing.
Okay, that's his limit. But I'mkind of boring. I could probably
eat the same thing every day.
If, you know, if it's making mylife easier. I'm happy, right?
So, um, but I would say though,just having having the having

(36:27):
children in my home, and thenall of a sudden not, you know,
having the energy that I used tohave, yeah, and the freedom. And
so yeah, yeah, but I can't thinkof another season where it was
like an interruption. And I hadto really learn, I don't buy the
same way, you know, back whenthe kids were home, I would buy

(36:47):
in bulk at your, you know, yourbig box stores. I don't do that
anymore. I just buy pretty muchwhat I need, because it will go
bad. You know, three or fivepounds of carrots is not gonna
Yes, that's a great buy. Butit's not a great buy, if you

(37:08):
have to throw them away actuallywent bad. I Exactly. So I've had
to learn, I've had to adjust mybuying down. And so and not
worry so much about the per unitper can savings on this. Yeah.
Or, you know, things like that.
So,are there ways that you're still
challenging yourself to grow andyour homemaking?

(37:31):
I think for now, I'm reallyembracing this, this YouTube
university we have out there.
And in using it as a motivatorto maybe if it's fixing
something in my home, or justdecluttering and reorganizing,

(37:52):
during COVID, you know, I wasblessed to still be able to
work. And so but a lot ofpeople, you know, either they
lost their jobs and had thatseason. And they would be doing
all these wonderful things,these projects that they had
taken on, and I'm like, man, Iwant to do that. And so I, I did

(38:13):
get to do a few things ofreorganizing. And that brought a
lot of satisfaction, not onlyjust having the organization,
but I like beauty andsimplicity. And in so to bring
that element into some of thatorganization was fun. And just
to make it my own, that this hasbeen kind of a fun season. You

(38:37):
know, I have certain people thatI follow,
What's your favorite YouTubechannel or one or two of them
that you like?

Unknown (38:48):
so I like Clutter Bug, she's got her show, Cass, on
Hulu. I like the minimal mom.
And those are two that I followprobably the most. I'm not a
minimalist. I mean, it'ssomething maybe I'd like to

(39:08):
strive to worktowards--minimalizing--but right
now my goal is mainly just todeclutter and make my life a
little simpler, you know, inorganization.

Allison (39:25):
That's really that's fun. So how are you
intentionally passing on yourknowledge to younger women who
are coming behind you?
You know, we live in an agewhere there's so much
information out there, right?
That even that you can almostfeel like well what new thing Do

(39:46):
I have to share because there'sso much out there and that I I
have to be honest, I'm a littlebit hesitant sometimes you feel
like Well, I don't know if Ihave any nuggets. So Usually I
wait till I'm asked and thenI'll say well this is what I did
and it helped me but I cansometimes feel a little bit

(40:08):
intimidated by all that that'sout there that I feel like well
they probably heard that fromsomeone already. So I don't need
to be the one to tell them andbut mainly just some of the
things that I shared you know,just allow yourself time to
start early in the day, youknow, don't let it build and

(40:29):
pile up on you because you'llsuffer and then those around
you'll suffer if you're ifyou're frustrated. So yeah,
that's good advice. So I knowthat you went through a season
fairly recently with cancer. AndI just want to give you an

(40:49):
opportunity to talk about that alittle bit and how that affected
your homemaking life and whatsort of challenges did that
present to you and how did youovercome them

Unknown (40:59):
so it's been about three years now that I found out
I had cancer and because it wasa rare cancer, my ENT, the
doctor I was seeing in SanAntonio, had highly recommended
that I'd go to MD Anderson inHouston which is over three

(41:19):
hours away and so we wanted todo that because the the surgery
itself was going to be a verydelicate surgery involving my
facial nerves. And I ended uphaving three surgeons with
different levels of expertiseperformed my surgery that day.

(41:46):
We felt very comfortable withthe MD Anderson experience I
mean it was a long ways fromhome so we opted to go ahead and
do the that my radiationtreatments there which was a six
week period okay. And so itrequired thankfully they were

(42:10):
with me because it's hard to beaway from home that was a hard
decision to make but you know,you kind of feel like well,
these doctors even with theradiation oncologist they all
work in tandem with my surgeonsand so you know, we just felt
maybe that would be the bestroute Yeah, but in that I missed

(42:33):
home I love home so they workedit out to where my last session
on Friday would be like early inthe morning like 715 and then we
would be free to go home andthen the my first session on it

(42:54):
on a Monday would be in thelater afternoon. And so the
longer amount of time I was athome was very it was very
special for me. And then itallowed my husband because he
has flexibility with what hedoes right now in this season of
his life you know to be able totake care of those things but
allow me to be home now I didfind that your energy wanes you

(43:21):
know with radiation I didoverall well, but you start to
see I'm not the same person youknow, and it has taken time I'm
still not the same person. Ihave to be careful that even on
a weekend, I don't have too manyeven if it's family commitments,
or social commitments. I can't Ican't accept them all because I

(43:46):
have to have that that day ofrest or just of not having to be
going and I mean to the pointAllison I had one of those
little iRobot vacuums that nevergot.. it died during my cancer
because we were gone so much.
Did you know that if you leaveit on the charger for so long,

(44:09):
it can kill it?So that in myseason I killed my vaccuum
because we I didn't even thinkabout when I'd come home to even
tell it to go go vacuum Yeah,and so I just was not fully
present and but I guess thebeauty of that is I didn't have

(44:32):
to come home to a lot I didn'thave family to really be caring
for. I could just spend thattime in resting so it was a
different season for me and I'velearned even energy level like
just not being able to pick upheavier things changed for me.
And I'm getting some of thatback which is wonderful, but I

(44:56):
did have to pace myselfdifferently with cancer? So that
definitely was the season werehomemaking for me did make a
change.

Allison (45:08):
Yeah. Was that something that sort of was
motivating to you now becauseyou said you're interested in
doing more decluttering maybegetting rid of some things and
just simplifying was that sortof the catalyst for that you
think?

Teri (45:22):
It is. And you know, there's been times that my
husband said you know, why don'tyou just hire someone to come in
and I'm too prideful for them tosee my areas where I hide and I
have clutter that I don't dealwith because they feel
overwhelming and and I know allthe answers I know I need to

(45:42):
just start and it helps and sobut yes, I'm thankful for those
people that I had mentionedearlier that I follow that have
motivated me to to get startedand to do that well so

Allison (46:00):
well, all we can do is just start
right that's right, that'sright. And all those minutes do
count. Yeah, they really make adifference so I do
well, thanks for sharing yourstory about that. Well, we're
going to talk about homemakingtasks in the form of some rapid
fire quick answer questions hereokay. You can do a quick yes or

(46:21):
no answer or give me a quickanswer or you could tell me a
story if you would like eitherway alright, so a homemaking
task that you loveit kind of odd but I actually
love washing dishes I've lovedthe feeling of my hands in the
warm water now I like to washhim with my scene full of more
modern not where you just haveit in your being I like to have

(46:42):
them in there. It I just lovethe way it feels. I like the way
it feels on my hands and and Ihave my system you know so
dishes is not a problem for meso that's something that I love
and I like to make sure they'redried and put away because I

(47:03):
don't like things set out andthen getting spots on them from
the hard water sooh yeah we do. What's your
favorite dish soap to use oryour favorite scent?

Unknown (47:17):
Well I don't have a favorite scent that I love it. I
usually use Dawn. I do mainlybecause that's my husband's
favorite. I do love the Myersyou know I do love their
products and so scents are kindof hard for me right now and

(47:38):
they can trigger like headachesand things for me. So I have to
pretty much go mild on on sincethat are out there so I'm not
able to actually explore thatmarket and get some fun scents
because a lot of time it cantrigger a headache for me

Allison (47:54):
All right one task that you hate

Teri (47:57):
the tasks that I hate. Um we have concrete floors and so
when you the stain concrete andso when you do your floors, not
you have to do on twice back inthe day when you just vacuumed
and it was once and done. Nowit's you vacuum and then you
mop. And so that has been that'snot really my favorite having to

(48:20):
do it double.

Allison (48:21):
I know, I know they're beautiful floors, though. All
right, how about a task that yougrew to love.

Teri (48:29):
I would say laundry when I set off to I was the oldest
child in my family and my momwas very intentional to make
sure I knew how to store clothesproperly and I would be doing my
own laundry as I was off atcollege and and it's something

(48:49):
that I've actually grew to loveand I'm kind of let's see anal
about it. My family would tellyou I'm very conscientious about
colors and separating. And onelittle tip I've learned along

(49:09):
the way is don't overload yourwashing machine and dryer. Yeah,
because give it room especiallyin the dryer, it needs room to
breathe and move otherwiseyou're just everything's all
going to be wrinkled when itcomes out and I hate wrinkles.
So laundry. I I've grown to lovelaundry. And and, and the fact

(49:32):
when you do divide it up intosmaller loads, yes. Hey, when it
comes time to take it out ofdryer, it's not a huge amount
and then you you'll do it rightbecause it won't take you
forever because I would getoverwhelmed with that too. I
know a lot of people strugglewith laundry and it's sitting in
baskets. And you just go andgrab your clean shirt out of the
basket. I hang up, I have tohang up because I everything has

(49:56):
to be hung otherwise I'm turningit again and getting those
wrinkles out. Because I don'twant to use I don't want to have
darn yeah and and another tipI've learned with laundry is a
steamer. My girls turned me onto getting a handheld steamer
that is so huge so the ironingboard hardly ever comes out
anymore

Allison (50:15):
Do you like your steamer? I've thought about
getting one and I haven't Ihaven't ever looked into what
well how do you know which oneto get or whatever

Teri (50:22):
I do like it and thankfully I have you know grown
daughters who have them andthey've kind of helped me pick
out one and I've enjoyed it so

Allison (50:32):
did you hang the clothing item like on a hook or
something and then you and thenyou just go to town with the
steamer?

Teri (50:37):
Yes. Okay. And most of the things that I wash don't have
need a steamer but there are afew things that you'll get that
you know if it's a linen,something linen or things like
that. Is it

Allison (50:49):
is it as effective as ironing. Pretty close. Yes.
Okay. That's a good tip. Yeah,thanks. Well, how about your
worst homemaking fail?

Teri (51:01):
You know, when I looked at these questions, Allison I could
not I told my husband what wasmy worst homemaking and I
couldn't think of one thing Ithink when for me failing was
just allowing my emotions totake over because I didn't

(51:22):
really handle the events of theday. Well yeah, if I if I've
lost my temper with my kids aremy husband. Yeah, that would
that's a fail for me. Yeah. SoSo pinpointing it to one moment
of no unfortunately there werebeen many moments, you know,
that I would learn along theway. So

Allison (51:45):
that's good. Good answer. Good answer. Well, how
about a memorable homemakingachievement?

Teri (51:52):
So a homemaking achievement that I did remember
and because I chose to be a stayat home mom and we we were
living off of a football teacherfootball coach's salary which
wasn't a lot but I wasdetermined to make it happen I

(52:12):
grew up in a family where my momwas at home and we didn't have a
lot either and it was reallythrough that experience that I
learned a lot you know even as ateenager I learned how to make
my own clothes and so so we hada season you know, at the time I

(52:33):
think we only had two kids I waspregnant probably with with our
youngest and I Something musthave come up some one of those
major home repairs or somethingSomething came up that because
my husband only got paid once amonth and that took those funds

(52:53):
that that we needed these fundsand it left us with $50 for two
weeks oh wow for gas orgroceries anything goodness and
I'm like Lord Okay, we can dothis I can do this so I we made
it in two weeks time we wedidn't have to borrow I never

(53:13):
borrowed money from my parentsever never add we never asked
for help and we made it and thatwas a huge for me a personal
accomplishment but I will haveto tell you there's something
kind of fun about that and it'snot a season that you want to
live in all the time but we'vebeen there my husband and I we

(53:34):
were eating out recently saidremember how this used to be
such a hard time for us eatingout and looking at everything
very closely on the menu and hesaid we don't have to do that
and I'm like I know it's veryfreeing but you don't ever
forget where you've been that'swhen you know you can do it and
that's what I told him becauseif something ever happened I

(53:56):
know we can do that and it ithappened I brought up that
memory you know we we made it on$50 for two weeks How did you
get paid How did

Allison (54:04):
you do that? Can you remember some of the things you
did to sort of make it throughthat time period Yeah,

Teri (54:09):
so you of course you take your calculator now you have it
on your phone to the store withyou but you and you learn to
look in your pantry and seewhat's there might be surprised
at what you can actually makethat you've already got in your
pantry Yeah, and use what youhave and you don't have to go

(54:30):
out and buy always becausesometimes and now with the tools
of the internet I mean you canput in your ingredients and
it'll give you a recipe yeah youknow and so it's pretty cool but
using what we had and then justfinding low costs things to fix.
breakfast first dinner is ischeaper cheap eggs you know? Are

(54:53):
chalupas using beans and canneryfried beans, you know in corn
tortillas and things like that.
I mean you find you can find LowCost menus and in basically it
was just making it happen butlike I said sometimes even when
those kind of interruptions comeand you know you've got your
backs up against the wall I'mlike okay, I'm gonna make we're
going to do this yeah, we'regonna make it happen

Allison (55:17):
and that is a great accomplish very good
achievement. Well let's hearyour top three homemaking tips

Teri (55:27):
Okay, top three I think I gave one about the laundry.
Yeah, don't don't overfill yourlaundry never fail I have for
many reasons because yourclothes, they come out nicer. So
your work is really less andthen and and the loads less so

Allison (55:45):
yeah, and it's less energy. It's like, especially
with the dryer. It doesn't haveto work so hard. Yes, cram it
full clothes, it's gonna have togo that much longer to get those
clothes dry so

Teri (55:57):
right, so it goes faster.
Another homemaking tip. Um, onething I learned along the way
making a pot of rice a lot ofpeople are afraid of rice
because it sticks Yeah, there isa tip that when you're cooking
your rice and you check it andit's done but you notice it on

(56:17):
the bottom it's all stuck to thepan. It doesn't have to stay
stuck to the pan the only thingyou have to do is put the lid on
it. Put the lid put a lid on itwalk away for about five to 10
minutes probably closer to 10minutes and when you take that
lid off all that rice that wason the bottom has loosened up

(56:37):
something about the steam thatpressure loosens all that up and
it works every time and you'renot discouraged like man I love
rice but it always has this likean inch layer on the bottom that
just sticks in it will totallyloosen up from the pan so so
you're

Allison (56:56):
done cooking the rice you take it off the heat, set it
off on a trivet or something andput the lid on and let it steam
there for five minutes or so per10 minutes. Okay, yeah, good
tip.

Teri (57:09):
Yeah, and you don't even have to set it on a trivet you
can just have on your stove andput the lid on and walk away
make sure yeah make sure makesure the heat is off

Allison (57:17):
okay

Teri (57:17):
yes got it because the steam the heat in there will
help release it from the pan.
Good to know Yeah, and that hasbeen a game changer for me over
the years yeah. And not sodiscouraging. Let's see a third
tip I would say probably where Isaid earlier just start early Do
what you can early because younever know what the day is going

(57:39):
to bring in just those fewminutes of time that you took
earlier in the day will beyou'll be so glad you did.
Absolutely yeah like you saidyour future self thinks your
past self right. I love thatExactly.

Allison (57:54):
Okay, those are great tips. Thank you. Okay, so we're
going to end our time reflectingon the art of home okay. How do
you see homemaking as an art?

Unknown (58:07):
hmm I like you know now I'm guilty of I'm not my mom was
one of those that would and Iadmire that she would change a
room around change the way itwas set up when we were younger
I would see her doing that andI'm thinking on it so cool I
love how you move the couch overhere you know did that and I've

(58:28):
known people who would have dothat I'm kind of once it's there
it stays there and and so but Ido love creating a palette of
art and pleasing things thathave kind of that may change his
Id like to have you know freshflowers when I can I do have my

(58:51):
go to vases that I use it justkind of live there. And I tend
to buy the cheaper ones thatlast for two weeks. You know the
those that are have a long lifein your vase and so not having
to replenish so often. Andbasically just creating a

(59:18):
palette of a beauty butsimplicity of learning to be
simple. Learning to be simple.
And and I like that.

Allison (59:28):
Yeah. Well how can we find beauty in homemaking, when
a lot of what we do is notreally beautiful and it can be
mundane and you know it can bemonotonous work or sort of ugly
work. Where can we find beautyin that?

Teri (59:47):
Well, one thing because I'm guilty of comparing myself
to people and feeling like Idon't measure up and And there's
even to the point like, and I'm,I'm a fan of all those shows,
you know, fixer upper shows Yes,and, and on like, Wow, that's so

(01:00:13):
cool. And then you look aroundat your space and like, Wow, my
house is so dated. And peoplewouldn't totally want to come in
and redo everything that I'vedone. I'm so obsolete and but
I'm not changing. It's who I amin this is reflection of who I
am. So and I'm comfortable withthat. And but I've had to kind

(01:00:35):
of shut those voices off andrealize I'm not going to be that
person or pleased that I don'tknow, demographic or whatever. I
just need to be comfortable withwhat makes me feel happy in my
home. And in as far as themundane things that we find that

(01:00:58):
are boring. I have I recentlyread a book by Jay and Katherine
Wolf called Suffer Strong. Andfor me, when I saw it, my one of
my daughters recommended it tome. But of course, when you look
at the woman on there,Katherine, she's paralyzed, and

(01:01:22):
her face looks like mine. And myface is paralyzed from my cancer
on the right side. So of course,I was drawn to that. But I've
been drawn to their ministry,they have a ministry called Hope
Heals. But in their book, Jay,he was writing a chapter where
he shared a quote, and I lovedit. And it's just called see

(01:01:47):
striving for what you want. Butlearn to love. Wait, what must
be done, learn to love what mustbe done. So just like through
those seasons of homemaking,right, you can learn to love
washing dishes or learn to lovelaundry, and he talks about a
segment on laundry in thatchapter because his life changed

(01:02:09):
drastically. And he is now doingthe laundry for for his family
and his boys and in just how helooks at each piece when he's
handling it carefully and justin it with different eyes,
because he can find it as adrudgery. Yeah, and we all can

(01:02:31):
write because it repeats everysingle day, you know, the dishes
are always there, or you know,weekly things. So I love that I
embrace that that cease strivingfor what you want. And for all
of us what we want could besomething totally different. We
know what it is that maybe ourhearts longed for. But learn to

(01:02:52):
love what must be done and in tofind beauty and joy in that. And
I think it's just learning tofind contentment in Where are
you planted. So

Allison (01:03:02):
that's really great advice. Really good. Well, what
word of advice would you give toa young homemaker who might be
listening today?

Teri (01:03:13):
What I often hear and I see with young homemakers is
they kind of want what we haveis seasoned homemakers. But they
don't realize that it took us along time to get there. Yeah.
And in some of it can bematerial things that they they
want that nice home. But you andI talked about that in the

(01:03:37):
beginning, we both lived in asingle wide trailer early in our
marriage, we were young, we areexpatiate, our expectations
weren't set too high. And, andso I would say don't set your
expectation so high that youcan't even live there, you know
that you're both striving sohard to have a habit, habit all

(01:03:58):
that you can't really enjoy it.
And so because you look at thosearound you, and maybe older,
they didn't have it either whenthey were starting out at all,
and probably even whole lot lessthan you. And so be content with
what you have and learn that intime. You enjoy that season that
you're in, in in time thosethings those other things will

(01:04:23):
come. They will come but don't.
Don't get in a hurry trying to,to, you know, have the American
Dream set before you rightwithin your first two years of
marriage.

Allison (01:04:39):
That is very good advice. Very wise. Well, thank
you very much for being with ustoday. It's been a joy to hear
your story. I really appreciateyou sharing with us.

Teri (01:04:49):
Thank you, Allison for having me. I'm honored.

Allison (01:04:53):
Thank you so much for joining us today for this
homemaker portrait of Teri Hall.
So I think my favorite thingfrom this conversation was
Teri's perspective on thelaunching and the landing from
the home. I love how she viewedher ongoing efforts of getting
organized and maintaining orderas a means towards more peaceful
launches, and more peacefullandings in her home. That is

(01:05:14):
such a great perspective. Sohere's our challenge for this
week, let's spend the next fewdays just observing. All I want
you to do is observe, how doyour launches and your landings
typically go? Are they peaceful?
Or are they more chaotic,frantic? stressful? Do you find

(01:05:35):
yourself getting frustrated andangry every time you try to walk
out the door, or maybe it's whenyou come home, you're maybe
dreading coming home because youknow, there's a gigantic pile of
dishes in the sink, or there'sjust gonna be chaos when you
walk in the door. So afteryou've done some observations,
maybe take a couple of notes, ormaybe not, just do the

(01:05:55):
observations. Let's think of onething, just one thing that we
can do to help change our launchor, and or our landing into the
home. And keep it practical.
Don't overthink it. Think of avery practical thing you can do-
a very actionable and measurablething that you can do. And it
might be something so simple,like if you find that you're

(01:06:17):
constantly looking for your keysbefore you can leave the house.
Maybe it's just put a littlehook on the wall right by the
door and start training yourselfto hang your keys on that hook
every time you come in thehouse. So don't overthink it.
Just make some observations. Andthen think of a practical thing
you can do and let us know. Ifyou do put some hooks by the

(01:06:38):
door. Take a take a photo andtag us over on Instagram at the
art of home podcast. I wouldlove to hear what sort of
actionable things you're doingto help create more peaceful and
joyful launching and landing. Ifthis episode was helpful, would
you pass it on to a homemakeryou know who could use some of
this encouragement, they can godirectly to our website to

(01:06:59):
listen, the art of home podcastcomm forward slash podcast or
they can listen on any of thedirectories where podcasts can
be found. Apple, Spotify, Googlepodcasts or all of them. So
maybe you know which one theylistened to, and you can send
them a direct link. This wouldhelp us tremendously just to
start growing our audience andgetting these stories out to

(01:07:20):
more homemakers all over theworld. That's who we're doing
this for and that's who we wantto hear these episodes and you
can help us spread the word bysharing with a homemaker that
you know, so thank you, you canconnect with us on social. All
the links to our platforms aredown below in the show notes and
you can contact us by emailcontact at the art of home
podcast.com resources mentionedin this episode including Teri's

(01:07:43):
top three tips are listed belowin the show notes and on our
website. And don't forget, youcan see inside Teri's home with
a few snapshots will be postedover on the blog. Just click on
link to season three episodefour, a homemaker portrait with
Teri Hall. Until next time, keeppracticing your art of making

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Homemaker Portrait | Teri Hall

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Homemaker Portrait | Teri Hall