Soon after our August 9, 1975 wedding, I attended a community school bread-making class in Anchorage. My mother fattened us with homemade white cinnamon rolls. That must have sparked my interest in bread, as I always pictured bread-making as the perfect way to nourish my family. My poor husband suffered through years of hand kneaded, sunken loaves of Stone Buhr flour failures. Each week I'd tell him what I would do differently to come up with the 'perfect' loaf.

When we moved across the street from a lady with a stone mill, she would grind up enough flour for a batch. This was one key to my quest for nourishing, delicious bread. Some time later, I used some PFD $ for the closest thing I could find to a breadmaker, a Cuisinart Food Processor with a 'dough hook.' The bread improved, but was far from wonderful. One day with the dough still in the bowl, the dough hook stuck on the center post. I had to return it to the company for repair. This was not the ideal bread machine. Not long after, a lady at my son's preschool handed me a perfect loaf of bread. Barbara described her Bosch. Another key appeared. It produced 5 perfect loaves at one time, and came with a blender & whips. What a DREAM MACHINE!! If she could make this light, fluffy delicacy, so could I. How do I pay for it? I advertised my Cuisinart, my commercial Oster blender, my Sunbeam Mixmaster and an electric fry pan in the freebies. They all sold immediately. I purchased the Bosch with the Slicer/Shredder on July 15, 1987.

WOW!! What a difference. It was so fast & easy. Since I all ready owned an obnoxiously loud Magic Mill, I felt ready to be a serious bread maker.

Since selling & promoting flows in my genes, I knew the Bosch was what I wanted to market. I can only sell what I believe in. The gal who sold me my Bosch moved, but one day in the Penney's parking garage I saw a car advertising Bosch & Magic Mills. I followed the driver & told her I wanted to join up. On Feb. 11, 1988, it was official. Those first few years were VERY slow.

I usually purchased grain from Natural Pantry. At the State Fair in 1993, my eyes zeroed in on a grain display table. This man offered bread samples made from Prairie Gold, grown at Wheat Montana Farms. The Farm also offered a wide variety of other certified chemical free grains. WOW!! Here was the final key to the 'perfect loaf of bread.' Dana told me he was looking for a grain 'depot' in the area, would I like to do it? What a perfect plan!! I could now supply the best grains to use in the best machines!! God gave me the Wholy Living name, the format for the newsletter, excitement to jump in, and my husband's approval!! I think the first grain order only totaled 1000 lbs., but I was excited. With only a handful of customers, we didn't need much. By the spring of '95, we had a few more friends on board. We ordered up 4400 lbs. When we moved from Chugiak out to Palmer in the fall of '96, my mailing list was the front side of a ruled notebook paper. God blessed and 'enlarged our coasts.' Now we provide drop shipment service to friends in Juneau, Fairbanks, the Peninsula, & the Copper Valley as well as the locals in South central AK. We have the grain dropped off at a convenient location with an energetic family in charge of disbursing the orders. In Fairbanks area, contact Lalena Leigh at 457-5763. In Juneau, contact Heather Ramseth at 789-4917. Katie Helkenn services the Copper Valley ~ 822-3469. Laurel Coombes takes care of the Peninsula ~ 262-2173.  In Delta Junction, contact Kathy Lambert at 895-5117.  In Kodiak, contact JoAnn Alvarez at 486-6246. We also mail out bags, pails & boxes to Bush customers.

In the fall of 2002, Kitchen Resource, the Bosch Company, invited John & me to join them for an informative seminar in California. KR put on quite the demonstrations for us. That inspired me to do Bosch II classes as well as the bread-making class. We learned to appreciate Robert Bosch & his vision for excellence, as he is always seeking to improve products & services. They also introduced the Nutrimill as the most innovative, quiet electric mill on the market. We are excited to be partners with such reputable suppliers as Kitchen Resources & Wheat Montana Farms.

Along the way, we expanded the product line to include unique items ~ things not found in bulk at Sam's or Costco, a whole batch of informative books & our daughter's gorgeous Christian music CDs. Today we contact well over 600 families each fall & spring with our newsletter & order information. Our Wholy Living Team looks forward to seeing everyone as they come out to pick up their orders. We counts it a privilege to serve you. To God be the Glory!!

The Loews ~ The Leighs ~ The Ramseths ~ The Helkenns ~ The Coombes ~ The Lamberts ~ The Alvarezes 

Ps 147:14
He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat.    KJV