A few posts back I mentioned how difficult 'special days' seem to be in our home, and how I am trying to make things better; keep the day calm, find some patience, take time for fun things, be more flexible with the kids, be more willing to teach gently, and show my husband some extra kindness. I think I'm failing in some of those areas. And now comes the biggest of all the 'special days'; Christmas. I have so many fond memories of Christmas's...

Gleaning is when you collect excess food or usable items/plants from neighbors, nature, etc.  I have gleaned a bit here and there at various times in my life, got comfortable talking with neighbors and other's when I'm curious to see how flexible they are with their goods.  Now that we have our own home and I can experiment a little more, I think gleaning and trading will come in great use, especially since we live in a semi-rural area...

I made the last minute decision to go on a hike on Saturday, just a quick one close by at Antelope Island, so Tim and I grabbed our Osprey kid backpack for hiking and prepped both kids, some snacks, water, and of course a bowl and water for our puppy Zoey as well.  We had never been to Antelope Island, despite it being about ten minutes down the street from us, and luckily we brought the $15 cash needed to get to the island, (there was a payment...

Sorry, this post is a little bit of a downer, but I felt the need to write about it, let it out a touch.  If you're having a hard time with depression or something please don't read this.  It won't help, it's not a boost.  I'm having a hard time just writing it and being willing to share it with ANYONE else because people have this opinion of me that I'm always happy, or that life is fine for me, or that I don't get depressed or sad...

Large leafed indoor plants are some of my favorites; I have several varieties, and a list of others I would like to add to my collection, but there is one that I have loved for some time now, and have found it the most difficult of plants for me to keep.  Calathea Orbifolia. To be honest, all calatheas have been difficult for me actually, including the Calathea Warscewiczii that I inherited from my sister (THANK YOU FOR THE...

Rain makes me sooooo happy! Some people might attribute that to my growing up in the Pacific Northwest, others might say they love a good thunderstorm too. I'm talking about a deeper love.Most people I've met say they don't like the rain, that it's dreary or cold or makes it hard to do things outside, or that they don't mind it as long as it doesn't stick around. I'm not like them. I really love rain!When the clouds roll in, the breeze picks...

You know all those 'special days' that we all look forward to? That we spend money and time on? Or that we're, in general, supposed to enjoy? I'll name off a few to clarify;Christmas, Thanksgiving, 4th of July, birthdays, family photo days, get togethers with others, weddings, and a whole bunch of others, including Halloween and Sundays for us church goers.Which Halloween fell on a Sunday. So double whammy.Well, I gotta say, they are the hardest...

One of the hardest things I think I deal with is my anxiety; I always have a list of things that need-to-get-done, a list of pretty-much-needs-to-get-done, and a list of you-wish-you-could-get-these-done. All of them are important, but what they take is a lot of time and at least a little bit of energy for each thing, if not more. Well, unfortunately as the day goes on I find my energy level does okay, but then takes a terrible drop in the afternoon....

This is just a recap of our bay-window bench and bookshelves we've been installing ourselves. Once we bought our house we realized right away that there wasn't much sitting space, not a lot of room for furniture other then a few basics, and we didn't want to over cram our little home with bulky furniture, so a bay-window bench just felt perfect!  We came up with a basic...