Etiquette: Sitting like a Lady

  Etiquette is the lost art of social mannerisms. Less than 60 years ago, the idea of a young lady tromping around in blue jean pants acting like a gentleman wouldn't dare was preposterous, but now it is common place. Unlike sitting like a proper lady.

  Now-a-days, it is common place to see young ladies slouched over in skin tight blue jeans, dark eye cosmetics, and plunging necklines on off the shoulder shirts, barely paying attention to any of their surroundings, except their phone or MP3 player. But 60 short years ago, you would have found them sitting with backs straight, elbows off the table, and alert to their surroundings, probably wearing a tea-length skirt and some sort of blouse. Her hair would have been neat and tidy, and if she were wearing cosmetics, they would have been light and natural colors like soft pinks, oranges, and beiges, not the rich blacks, blues, and greens we now see. So what has happened to this picture of serenity? Nothing short of Women's 'Liberation.' What can we do to bring it back? By returning to simple aspects young ladies used to follow, perhaps we can make a small difference in this world on social indifferences.

  One such thing you can do is simply sitting like the lady you could be! There are a two easy things to change that will command respect, even from those who don't really care about etiquette. So how do you sit like a lady?

Keep your legs together!

So many young ladies sit with their legs widely spread apart, or one ankle propped on the other knee; a very unfeminine way to sit. By simply changing how you sit from spread all over, you will command respect from those around you.

So how SHOULD you place you legs?

Always keep your legs together. Acceptable ways to sit include with your legs extended slightly in front of you, with your ankles crossed, feet flipped back towards your chair, ankles crossed, knees crossed, and feet pointed in, or knees bent at a 90 degree angle and feet together.

Keep your back straight!

There is nothing that says low-class like slouching over in your chair. And yet we see it every single day. Some young lady, or even older ladies, are completely slouched, sometimes with her head below the back of the chair! I am thinking of a young lady I saw a church last Saturday night. She had a slouchie beanie on, a very low cut, very tight tee shirt, and extremely tight skinny jeans. I honestly don't even know how she put them on. As my grandfather would say, 'They were so tight, the surely must've been painted on!' She was covered in black eye makeup, sparkly navy blue eyeshadow, blood red lipstick, and the rest of her skin looked like white paper. She was so slouched over, her bottom was sliding out of the chair, and she actually fell out! She then rolled over on her back, sat like that for a moment, to finish the text she was sending. Finally, she stood up, then sat in the exact same position!

So how can you sit properly?

Just keep your back straight! That's all there it to it! I'm not saying you have to How your back against a yard stick or something all the time, but for heavens sake, don't slouch so much. If you can feel like you are bent, you need to quite literally 'straighten up!' Keep your shoulders back. Sit like you were leaning across the back of a chair, but do it on a stool!

Modesty in Difficult Situations

  Okay, here's a question for you. How do you keep modest when you need to help around the ranch? Maybe riding (horseback) during roundup or branding. Or maybe you don't have a car, or it is broken, and you need to ride a bicycle somewhere? Let's say the wind is howling! Your skirt won't stay down! Then what? Or you are going camping? Surely a long skirt won't do! What can you do?

  Well, if you are going to have to 'spread your legs,' if you will (i.e. horseback riding, bicycle riding, etc), culottes are always an excellent choice. They are somewhere between a skirt and pants. They were originally developed for ladies when side saddles were not available in the West. Basically, it is a skirt, split down the middle. Although not a good idea for a bicycle, as it could get caught, a full circle skirt with leggings is very beneficial when riding astride, horseback.

  But what if the wind is just howling?! I don't know about you, but I hardly consider the 'Betty-Boop' effect to be flattering or lady like. However, this has a very simple fix. Next time you are at a large supercenter, such as Walmart or Target, pick up a pack of curtain weights. Sew one ever 4-5 inches in the bottom of your skirt hem (closer, if the wind is especially terrible where you live, like it is here). Alternatively, a long, demin skirt or equally heavy fabric will be most helpful to keep this under control.

  When camping, fishing, or hunting, my favorite thing to wear is a knee-length denim skirt, with mid calf to long leggings and hiking or Ariat boots. This will protect your ankles, but prevent the dreaded blue jeans. A tightly knit cotton button up with a camisole underneath serves nicely as a top. With that, if it is cool in the evening, you can uncuff the sleeves, or cuff them during the day to keep cooler.

The Importance of Modesty

  Proverbs 31:10, "Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies."

I suppose this is more of a rant than my usual posts, but I'm going to post it anyways, because it really does need to be said.

   I am so sick of seeing women online with way too much cleavage or wearing really short shorts. Is this honorable to you? Glorifying to God? Do you think that your future husband would appreciate you putting half naked pictures online to float around the internet? What about everyone else on the internet? I guarantee you, if they appreciate that sort of thing, they are definitely not worth your time! Until you are married that is for your eyes, and yours alone. I think that, even if you see nothing wrong with it, and you don't care if the Bible says to dress modestly, stop for the sake of others! I do not want to be defiled by things you put up, and I know others who don't want to be either. So I'm here to say that when ever I see this stuff, I do and have blocked it immediately, and intend to continue doing so. I really hope you do too.

   Also, I am really sick of men, young and old, "Showing off their muscles." As a lady, I do not enjoy finding these things in my social media homepages, or anywhere else where and have already blocked several people from showing up on my social media homepages. If not for your future wife's sake, stop for all of the ladies on your friends list. We do not want to be defiled by the lack of gentlemanly manners!

  Dressing immodestly is like rolling in mud. Of course you will get attention, but it will only be from pigs. Why a person would want to sell themselves so cheaply to others is beyond me! I have never understood it, and probably never will. I can only hope and pray that you will begin to see the problems in this, and realize that you are worth so much more than those short shorts, that tight low cut shirt, those skin gripping jeans. You are worth so much more! I do not understand your problems, I don't even know you, but I know that if you become a biblical, God-fearing young woman, you will be worth more than rubies! I can only pray that I can become such.

  Another reason you should dress modestly is, as it says in First Corinthians 6:19-20 KJV, "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?  ²⁰ For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." Now let's use an example. If you were to borrow your best friend's laptop, wouldn't you be really careful with it, and want it to stay in it's case where it couldn't get broken? It's the same way God is with us! God has "loaned us our bodies," but He expects us to take good care of them! He doesn't want us to wear sleazy clothes, because we could get hurt! Unfortunately, too may people are willing to take advantage of women who do not respect themselves, especially when it is reflected in their attire.

  Now I can only offer my humble prayer that you have gained something from this. I really hope the Lord blesses you through this post, and maybe you have learned something! Also, please share this with people who you think could use it!

4 Ways to Keep Cool while Staying Modest

 The summer months are coming (sooner or later, right?), and who doesn't enjoy walking down the beach with a cool summer breeze blowing? But sometimes, we lose this joy, because of our modest outfits. They can be so hot and sticky. But they don't have to be! When choosing your clothes, there are specific things to look for to keep cool.

#1: Forget the leggings.

Leggings are like adding another layer of skin, and therefore insulation. Great in the winter, but forget about it in the summer months. Even if you are usually accustomed to wearing leggings, they just aren't a good idea in the summer.

#2: Wear light colors.

Time to pack away the dark green, blues, blacks, and purples! Instead, embrace lavender, pinks, reds, yellow, oranges, and lights greens. Pastels are a great choice too.

#3: Skirt Length.

Unless you feel it is necessary to always wear full skirts, wear shorter ones. Now, obviously don't go for a miniskirt, but wear something between knee-length, and mid-calf. (Of course, if you are going to be outside all day and it is windy, something longer might be better.)

#4: Material.

Some materials are better than others for keeping cool. Cotton, polyester, rayon, silk and others are great for keeping cool. Materials to avoid are fleece, felt, wool and other heavy or tight knit fabrics.

Once you get the hang of it, dressing modestly to stay cool is easy! I hope these simple steps will help you on the quest to stay modest.

How can I become more modest? I can't afford a new wardrobe!

  This can be a tough question to answer. What I do with most of my clothes is alter them. Sometimes when I am at the second hand store, I see this really cute ____________. I really like it, but it is way too short/low cut. So what do I do? I buy it, but them head down stairs to their material bin. Then I pick a piece that compliments the colors/pattern well (This is often a simple black or white. If they do not have any material, you can look for an old shirt or skirt from the 80s that will work. Make sure you dump those huge shoulder pads!)

If it is a shirt: Put it on, and measure across the opening, and to the bottom of it (So horizontally across it, and vertically through where the horizontal measurement lies.) Then add one inch to each measurement to make up for hems. Cut your fabric according to your measurements. Now is when a sewing machine is really handy. Whir! whir! whir! Hemming? Check.  Pin it into your shirt where you intend to place it. Whir! Whir! Whir! Now your done! Tada! All done!

If it is a skirt: This is a little more simple than a shirt. Measure the bottom hem of your skirt, then decide how much length is necessary to make it modest! Make sure it goes to your knees! Once you have your measurements, add about 3 inches to cover hems and such. Again, a sewing machine will make it really easy. Hem first, then stitch it into the bottom of the skirt. you will no doubt want to pin it in, just to be safe that you keep it straight. Zoom! Now you have a awesome, modest skirt! Perfect!

Now my general rule of thumb to see if something is modest goes as follows:

1) If you bend over with your arms together (like when you are passing in volleyball) and can see down your shirt, or any cleavage, the shirt hem needs to go up!

2) If you can't raise your arms straight above your head without your belly showing, do not wear it.

3) If your skirt does not go to your knees, do not wear it without leggings.

4) If your skirt is shorter than lower mid thigh, do not wear it at all, even with leggings. (I do not wear skirts like this personally, but I see nothing wrong with it.)

5) If your jeans are to tight to touch your toes in, get a size larger. It won't kill you, really!

6) If your shirt is tightly form fitting, do not wear it.

7) If you can't run in it, sit in it, stand in it, breathe in it, stretch in it, etc. Do not wear it. Ever.

Unfortunately, I do not know how to alter jeans. I am sure their are DIY tutorials out there, though!

  So you have a shirt that is too tight/form fitting? This is an easy fix. Determine how much more space is necessary to make it modest, and cut a piece of fabric that stretches from below the arm to the bottom. Cut it in a wedge so it tapers into the under arm and does not make a big wrinkly mess. Believe me. It must be tapered!

Hope this helps! :)

CROCKPOT SPECIAL: Sweet and Sour Sriracha Chicken Teriyaki

1 cup pineapple juice
1 cup coconut aminos (or soy sauce)
1 1/2 cups cola
1 small onion, diced
2 T. sriracha chili sauce
1 cup loosely packed dark brown sugar
2 tsp. ginger powder
2 tsp. garlic powder
4 T. raw ACV
2 lbs. diced chicken, cooked (can be raw if you have all day)

 Whisk together everything except the chicken and onion. Place in crock pot. Add chicken and onion. Cook on high for two hours, then low for 4-6 hours longer, or until done. This recipe I developed myself, and everyone loves it! Instant favorite here! :)