Simple Living Momma

Oh My Poor Little Blog...

2008-07-03T22:40:00.002-04:00

I have neglected my blog. There it is for all the world to see. Almost one year since I last visited and posted. But I do have things to say...both big and little. Hang on to your puters, this may be a bumpy ride.

I am crabby...

2007-08-06T15:21:00.001-04:00

enough said.

Peaceful Places

2007-07-10T17:40:00.000-04:00

That is the name of my new business. I am starting my dream business of helping people organize, simplify, and downsize their homes. I currently am working with a couple whose parents passed away. They are moving into the parents home which was full to the brim, as was their own. We are going thru both families possessions and making it all into one simple, functioning, organized home. I've had to be tough with them at times. Some things we deal with are emotional. Some things psychological. Some things are simply things, nothing more or less. At the same time my best friend bought her new home and we are decorating it. She is also combining her home with her elderly fathers. Neither of the two have a tremendous amount of stuff, but plenty. We have been focusing on painting, light fixtures, curtains. You know, the fun stuff!! Her partner has been wonderful about getting things hung for us. He is such a sweet guy! Thanks Chris! It is SO exciting to see things come together.

If anyone out there is in need of help in your home let me know. I am not a cleaning service. I do organizing, downsizing, simplifying and decorating. Oh and a little therapy mixed in! I live in Central Missouri but for the right job I would travel.

RV Envy

2007-06-22T17:30:00.000-04:00

I am so jealous. Sara from the blog www.walkslowlylivewildly.com has really taken the plunge. She and her husband, Matt, and daughter, Bella have decided to tour the US in their own RV for the next year!! I have always wanted to do this. As homeschoolers this would be the ultimate way for my kids to "see the country" and really experience history. I love change and adventure. Wouldn't it be fun to plot your path across the great US of A. The blog to follow this trip is www.livelightlytour.com . They also converted their RV to run on vegetable oil, free mind you. Happy trails Janssen family!!

You know you are a 1970's child if...

2007-06-09T12:05:00.000-04:00

you remember the following:

rollerskates with pom-poms
Bonnie Bell Lipsmackers lip gloss in soda flavors
friendship pins you wore on the laces of your tennis shoes
thinking Chrissy Snow had cute hair
REO Speedwagon
BeeGees
Nikes were "new"
Jordache jeans
banana seat bikes
eight tracks
thongs were shoes
Loves Baby Soft
GeeYourHairSmellsTerrific shampoo
Atari
Baby Oil as your "sunscreen"
SunIn hair lightener
Fonzi was hot
MASH
Dukes of Hazzard
The Waltons
Judy Blume
American Bandstand
Disco
Farrah Fawcett hair
Charlies Angels

Please add on so we can continue the trip down 70's lane.

house hunting

2007-06-07T21:15:00.000-04:00

My best friend is house hunting. I love to go through houses. Not because I wanna look thru their personal belongings, just how folks decorate, the layout of the house. You know just basic noseyness. If I had lots of extra time on my hands I'd go to every open house in my area. However, since I don't have that time I am enjoying going with her. Two days ago she found the perfect one. It is so cute!! I'd buy it in a heartbeat. But dang it why did she have to find it so quick!! She went and ruined my fun.

blondness

2007-06-05T18:14:00.000-04:00

Well I am a blond. Its been quite awhile since I was this blond. I have to say I really like it. Now my kids look like they belong with me. Prior to today Rob & I were both dark headed. All three of the boys are blond-dishwater blond. No one realizes as a child I was very blond with blue eyes. I will post some pics on flickr as soon as I find the camera.

randomness

2007-06-04T15:43:00.000-04:00

I have fell head over heels in love with a new blog. Under the Laundry Pile. Link to left. After reading it I realized I don't have to have some long, important thought to blog, just share whatever. That's good because my long, important thoughts come so rarely these days I might not blog for months at a time!!

In the past two weeks we have had extra shifts to work, an extra doggie we were babysitting, new carpet in the living room, a broken and still not fixed mini van, several fishing trips and soon to come a new hair color on mommy. This period of busy has no immediate end in sight. Next week Adam has horse camp for eight hours a day monday-friday. It is 50 miles round trip to drop off and pick up. Umm thank goodness gas is cheap right now, rriiiggghhttt. We have a week off then Caleb goes. Two days later we leave for Colorado for 10days. July 15th or 16th we start back with lessons. Thank goodness I have made use of all my "free time" and most of next years textbooks/workbooks are ready to go.
Tomorrow I have a hair appointment. I really like to color my hair. Never been brave enough to add blue or green but lots of other colors. This time I am going either golden brown or lots of gold highlights. We will soon see.

Butter making

2007-05-21T13:43:00.000-04:00

In my attempt to have well rounded children I am introducing different types of housekeeping that most folks no longer participate in. This weekend we made strawberry jam from the berries we picked in our backyard. We also hang out as much of our laundry as possible. Today the project is butter making. We are blessed with being friends of a family with LOTS of dairy heifers. They milk everyday of their lives. They are generous enough that they are going to give us several gallons of raw milk to make butter. I haven't made butter in 25 yrs. We have my Granny's butter churn. Also off the butter will come buttermilk, from which I am going to make something yummy. I am not sure what to do with the leftover milk that comes when you seperate the cream off the milk. I need to check into pasteurizing it to drink. We could also keep some of the cream in it and make homemade ice cream. So many projects. Projects=happiness.

Books that make ya think

2007-05-16T19:38:00.000-04:00

I was recently reading one of my favorite blogs www.walkslowlylivewildly.com and Sara the owner discussed a book by Elizabeth George called A Woman After God's Own Heart. It perked my interest as most of what she says does. However, Sara stated it radically changed how she viewed her husband and marriage. While I have an amazing hubby and our marriage is wonderful...I am always looking to better myself, which in turn betters our marriage. So I went to my favorite bookstore online and ordered it. True to her word it is thought provoking and challenging. It makes women look inside ourselves and our true strengthens and weaknesses. It also spends a lot of time on submission and putting your hubby first in your life, right behind God. For moms I think putting our spouses in front of kids is hard. The author points out it is vital. Get the book and check it out. While I never take a book and agree with every word in it, this one has a lot of really good things to say.
Also in the mail today came The Other Side of The Garden. I remember when it came out in the early 90's there was very mixed emotions on it. Up until now I have never read it. Guess what its also about submission and a Godly marriage. I have read the first 50 pages and so far nothing over the top. I'll let you know when I finish the book.
What are you reading?

Proverbs 31

2007-05-02T21:41:00.000-04:00

A recent post on a favorite blog of mine is quite thought provoking. Click on www.walkslowlylivewildly.com and check out Sara's latest post on the Proverbs 31 woman. It is a lot to mull over. I would be interested in your take on it. I agree with most everything she has to say about this bible verse. Please read the comments (there were over 70 last I checked) on it also. Peace and blessings.

Oprah

2007-04-21T21:15:00.000-04:00

Did anyone see Oprah on Friday April 20th? Her show was about Green living. FINALLY. I personally like Oprah. She is a kind, generous woman. She is someone I would love to drink some tea with. She has covered so many topics in her 20yrs of television. I am so happy to see her tackle this one. And the folks at Shaklee seemed guininely seemed to care about their son and his health problems related to the chemicals they had previously put in their home. In case you missed the program you can go on www.oprah.com and link in for the info. Also you can order from Shaklee with a special discount. They have a home starter kit that makes me drool!! Its basically everything you need for house and laundry and get this...the whole kit is 88$!! I think thats a great investment. I also have allergy prone kids. I have gotten back in the groove (see previous post) and am back to using 7th generation and Method. However, I think Shaklee would be awesome. I am hoping to find it locally instead of always online. I hope each of you will take a look at the products you are putting in your house, on your clothes and body. Happy Green!

YUM

2007-04-14T12:56:00.000-04:00

Melissa's Chicken

8-10 boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins
1-2 T seasame oil
1-2 T curry yellow
Garlic to taste
Black pepper to taste
1 can full fat coconut milk
3 T. soy sauce or more
1 T creamy peanut butter
2-3 green onion stalks, greens only diced
White bean noodles found in asian section. Fry according to package directions. They also are made with a rice base, either is fine.

Brown chicken in oil. Add curry, garlic and pepper. We like LOTS of both, many may not. Add in milk & soy sauce, heat slowly, stir in peanut butter, add gr onions, cover and simmer. While simmering, cook bean noodles. Put chicken in each bowl and top with noodles. May add more soy if necessary. YUM.

This is the current fav in our house. Ready in 10-15 minutes, no prep ahead of time.

the loud thump you heard

2007-04-11T10:05:00.000-04:00

was me falling off the natural cleaning wagon. I went out and bought Clorox CleanUp, Tide with bleach and downy!! Oh yeah and PineSol lemon. Oy. I was SO proud of myself when I broke these habits. But in my mind things weren't "clean". They probably were clean but not in my mainstream mind. I went to MDC and confessed my sins. The women there gave me lots of good ideas. Over time I am going to implement the natural cleaners using this information. So if anyone else out there has been thru this same thing, of breaking your mainstream practices, I would love to hear from you.

What a great day!

2007-04-02T12:29:00.000-04:00

Rob & I are celebrating our 16th anniversary on April 6th. We decided to take a day for "us" and celebrate early. My gracious sister in-law and her hubby took the boys for an entire afternoon. The day was gorgeous, sun shining and in the low 70's. First we went to our favorite restaurant Les Bourgeois Bistro and winery. We have been going here for years for anniversaries. We feasted on Gorgonzola cheesecake (garlicy, warm, pesto sauce, toasted bread on which to smear it), then Rob had a salmon cobb salad and I had beef medallions with white cheese smashed potatoes and we finished it off with apple cinnamon creme brulee. Oh my goodness. Everything was perfect. After we ate we decided we better walk! The restaurant is located in Rocheport, MO. There are the neatest shops in old historic homes. I scored big time!

What a sweet card. It is handpainted watercolor by the shop owner's sister. I am going to frame it along with the other one I bought.
At another store I found the perfect piece of fabric to sew into two pillows for my sofa. It is feedsack material in mint condition.
Then I found the sweetest little momma robin to look over the eggs and nest I had at home.
And last but certainly not least this is the neatest book/magazine holder. I am SO excited about this find.
It was such a fun afternoon. We definetly need more dates.

Why aren't you in school?

2007-03-15T16:46:00.000-04:00

As homeschoolers this is a question we hear frequently when out and about during public school hours. Most of the time, we simply answer "we're homeschoolers" and go on. Rob is getting more fed up with it and will frequently answer "they don't go to school" and walk away. He says you can visibly see the wheels in their heads turning while they try and figure that out. Sometimes I would like to answer back "Why aren't you at work?" to these adults. However, I wouldn't because its not any more my business what they are doing than it is theirs what we are doing. We love homeschooling. There is a growing number of folks around the world homeschooling. It isn't a new thing. Many homeschooling parents were homeschooled as children. Open up a paper folks, NO not the California Democrat, a real paper once in awhile. Its a big wide world with lots of ideas floating around. Lets worry about the big stuff. You know North Korea nuclear arms issue, the Iraq war, lack of healthcare for many Americans, poverty, child abuse, chemical dependencies, etc. The fact my children are getting a sound education in their own homes should be of little concern. It is my concern. It is Robs concern. But no one else's thank you very much. Oh yeah, and for what it is worth the reason we are in a store during "school hours" is because we are studying money and its use. What a novel idea to go to a store, figure out how much money you have, what items you need, check out, count out the money to the clerk, double check your change and see how much you now have available. I tell you, those crazy homeschoolers, what are they thinking?

The food beast

2007-03-05T23:37:00.000-05:00

OK I am here to confess. I reached an all time high of money spent on groceries today. We were by no means without food. We just didn't have the right food. You know, where every recipe you'd like to make you don't have half the ingredients. And nothing sounds good together. So I forced myself with three kids in tow to make a two SHOPPING CARTS FULL grocery trip. 378$ later we had a fully stocked freezer, pantry and refrigerator. While the amount of money makes me shudder, as my oldest son said "you gotta eat". I will now be good, other than milk and fresh produce, for an entire month. The only drawback?? Now I can't use the "well there wasn't anything good to eat" line to justify eating out. Now I gotta COOK...what was I thinking??????

Teeny, tiny houses

2007-03-01T18:53:00.000-05:00

My home isn't teeny, tiny. It isn't a McMansion either. We live in about 1500 sq ft plus unfinished basement. We live in a 100 yr old house. It oozes charm and lacks many conveniences. We don't have a bathroom upstairs at all. We have a nice bathroom on the main level, but only one. Then we have a 1/2 bath in our bedroom. Our laundry is in our basement. We don't have an attached garage. However, we DO have a huge front porch with swing, gorgeous trim and doors, huge windows, hardwood floors, history and its built to last. We are a family of five. Four of the five are active men/boys. Do we need 1500 sq ft? In my opinion NO. I would be more than happy in about 900 sq ft. Why would anyone want less space you might ask? STUFF. As you know stuff is my arch nemesis. The more space you have the more stuff you can accumulate. Also I think a smaller home is just cozier. Easier to clean. Less overall maintainence. Easier to cool/heat. While we aren't moving anywhere, anytime soon I love to look at small spaces. Someday one of our sons will probably want to buy this house from us. When they do we are going LITTLE. When we are older I do not want to be to vested in a house. If we want to take a month long roadtrip, I want to throw some clothes in a bag, the dog in the car and go. I do not want our children to be burdened with our STUFF. Both my inlaws and my parents have an enourmous amount of stuff. Not just any old drop it off at Goodwill stuff. Antiques, pricey furniture, big screen TV's, weekend homes, timeshares, you name it they have it. It is over whelming to think about what the future will hold when we have to deal with all of it. Remind me to schedule their checkups!!
Here is my idea of a neat house. www.tumbleweedhouses.com Not the 100 sq fters. I want to stay married ha ha. More like the 600 sq fter. Check out this site. Also you might check out www.apartmenttherapy.com it is also awesome for small space pics. Small isn't for everyone. You might also like these pics www.flickr.com/photos/happyjanssens/sets/72157594309114341/ they are of the cutest little apartment. The folks who own it have since moved to an even smaller house. They are putting up pics later this month after renovations.
Even if a small home isn't for you its something to consider.

Score

2007-02-19T21:35:00.000-05:00

Karma. Good Karma. You gotta love it. As you know I am seriously downsizing and decluttering. And you know the enormous amount that has went to charity. Well today the good karma came back my way.
We were in Jefferson City today, eating Mexican food, hitting the health food store, generally bumming around. Decided to check out Goodwill for some t-shirts. OMG! (that is oh my goodness to me lol) Hit the jackpot. 3 Gap never been even washed T's, a Banana Republic T, a Coldwater Creek long sleeved T and 2 head wraps. I have all I need for spring and summer. All for 17$!! And it is so fun. I love a good bargain hunt. Consignment, thrift or Goodwill are the best. I am ashamed of all the money I wasted over the years, while feeding the consumer cycle in the process. NO MORE! I am still in search of some good shoes for spring and summer. Won't do second on those though. I am on my feet to much and prefer my shoes fit correctly. As said previously no undies, socks or shoes second hand. 75% used is the goal. The 25% is for above items. If you haven't checked out your local Goodwill, Salvation army, etc lately I encourage you to do so. You may be shocked at the amazing buys.
In keeping with the downsizing out went 4 items for every one I purchased. Guess where it will go to? Peace.

7 things continued...

2007-02-15T20:03:00.000-05:00

I have joined the seven things ring. I talked briefly about it in previous post. Last December I started my decluttering. With the seven things ring the commitment is to rid your home of 7 items per week by donating them, regifting, selling, freecycling or at the worst trashing. At the end of a year you will have removed 364 items if my mental math is working. I have probably already did that 1 and 1/2 times. However, no matter how conscious we are about our homes, stuff gets in!! Be it newspapers you haven't gotten out to recycling, or the size 6 jeans in the back of the closet. I keep thinking how will I come up with that much more when I've already done so much. Then today I found my collection (sheepish look on face) of shower curtains. I've picked up a couple at garage sales and a couple on clearance racks. A few weeks ago I found a curtain I LOVE. It is the one I had been searching for when I purchased all these others that were only so-so. Today I loaded up 3 or 4 into the Goodwill box. I am only keeping the one I love. I am not buying another one for at least 3 years. I am making a stand against STUFF. Nobody with one full bath needs 4 shower curtains.
I still have to much. I know that. Last week I sold a basket, part of a set of china & some linens. I kept a 6 piece place setting of the china. I don't even need that but it is family pieces. My kitchen dishes are stoneware and take up to much space. Corelle ware is a goal of mine. But only if I get it second hand and donate my old set of dishes to Goodwill. I am thinking 8 pieces. I could go with 6 and perhaps I will.
I keep a rubbermaid tub in the back of the van at all times. Each piece that needs to leave is promptly put in the tub, no second thoughts. Once a week we make a recycling stop and Goodwill. My children see this and participate fully. What better to instill in my kids than the beauty of giving to needy and loving mother earth.

Dreads...

2007-02-14T00:52:00.000-05:00

I have a fascination with dreads. I have never had dreads or hair long enough to dread for years. And I live smack in the middle of the bible belt, where I haven't seen one person who isn't African-American with them. Should that stop me from someday having dreads? No it shouldn't, but will it? Maybe. Is it that I am afraid to stand out? Afraid to be different? Afraid of other people's opinions? Those questions are difficult to admit the answer, because it shows my weakness. I am not yet strong enough to totally be on the outside who I am on the inside. I am 30something and still wonder "what would people think".
Last night I had a dream about dreads. I was dreading my hair. There were several other folks around (faceless people you know those dreams) me having their hair braided or dreaded. I remember I was backcombing and twirling this one piece of hair over and over. Then I woke up disappointed to still have short undreaded hair. Do you think this is a sign? Or do you think I have just spent a lot of time thinking about dreads?
Rob works with a diverse group of people. One of his best "work buddies" is an African-American lady who is in her 50's. She currently has her hair straightened. I told him to ask her about dreads. He hasn't been as exposed to them as much as I have. We haven't had a chance to sit down and talk about his take on them. Will his opinion matter? Of course he is my husband. He is my friend.
If anyone reading has dreads or thinking of having dreads or has had them in the past I would love to hear about your experience. I would love to know about that moment when you knew without a doubt you were ready. Or the moment you decided against them. Eventually I feel like I will have dreads. My hair has a lot of growing to do before then. But then again so do I.

Its outta here...

2007-02-13T13:53:00.000-05:00

Nasty, smelly, bad for you cleaners have left my home. Last evening the boys & I took every single cleaning product we own and placed it on our table. We then took a good hard look at what was there. OY!! Double OY!! I am embarrassed to even admit some of the stuff I had accumulated. Here is what I kept:
Method hardwood floor cleaner-when its used up there won't be more though.
Dr Bronners-wonderful, safe cleaner you can use on your home and your body.
Feed & Clean-a mix of beeswax and orange oil to really deep down clean wood and get moisture back into it.
Essential oils-I love these on so many levels.
Baking soda-this is a wonderful thing for cleaning, laundry and cooking.
Vinegar-No home should be without. Its not just for cooking anymore.
Lemon Pine Sol-I will use up what I have and not replace.
It is so freeing to limit the cleaners you use in your home. I mixed up the following for cleaning and put in spray bottles:
Floor-vinegar, water and lemon EO
Windows-alcohol, water and lemon EO
General cleaning-Dr Bronners, water and EO

I am also on a quest to reduce "products" I use on our bodies. So far I have switched to the following:
Apple cider vinegar and water to rinse hair and condition it. It works great and my fine hair looks so much better.
Honey to wash my face. Yes it really works, and my skin is loving it.
We get tons of Dove soap and Caress soap from where Rob works for free. I am frugal enough that we will continue to use these products.
Limit makeup use. And I switched to Bare Essentials. It is SO much nicer than anything I've ever used. I put it on maybe 1-4 times a month.
No gels, mousse or other hair junk. I use a little drop of almond oil in my hands and massage into hair for shine and control. I still use hairspray. This needs to stop. I am in the process of growing out my hair, so once it has some length to it I am not buying any more.
Shaving is something I am not comfortable giving up. However, I am using soap and water only, no shave cream. The bathtub stays a heck of a lot cleaner. Disposable razors are bad for the environment. I need to think and research alternatives for this. Hairy pits and legs are not an alternative LOL.
I want to get a good recipe for lip balm and lotion of some type. I also need to rethink my deodorant, not rethink wearing it just what kind I'm wearing.
This is the beginning of natural living for our family. I am trying to learn all I can and educate my kids. Hopefully by the time they have their own homes and families Green will be the norm, not the exception.

If you can't say something nice...

2007-02-10T14:10:00.000-05:00

don't say anything at all. My momma must have said that about a million times. It's dang good advice. I frequent a blog which is amazing. The blogger truely wants nothing more than to educate people about Green living and does it only to glorify Jesus. She has no hidden agenda so far as I can tell. Yet people come to her blog and jump her case about her postings. What in the world? They took her to task over a reference to a website.
Folks, its really OK to be quiet. Not everything has to be debated, broken down, hashed out and taken to task. Its Ok not to agree with someone. But unless it is an attack on your person, your family or religion its perfectly fine to agree to disagree. MENTALLY. You might think to yourself, I couldn't disagree more, but unless you are passionate about it, is it really worth it?
My kids have taught me a valuable lesson. Pick your battles wisely. Otherwise you diminish the value of what you really want to fight for. Many times I was seconds to taking them to task for something and realized its not that important. In the long run does this really make a difference? Most of the time no it doesn't. We have general rules in our home. They know the rules. I know the rules. Outside of those rules are grey areas. When we venture out into the grey I have to decide to leave it grey or make it black and white. Most of the time grey is just fine.
In adulthood we get so hung up on black and white. Why can't some things be left grey? Or be left unsaid. Remember what momma always said.

Family tree...

2007-02-09T14:58:00.000-05:00

First off let me say I think my family tree if put into an actual tree would be...well not a tree. I tried and tried to think of a tree that would best decribe my family. The closest I could come up with is a Pecan tree. Mainly because we all talk kinda 6th generation southern and its filled with nuts. I also thought of a burning bush, because someone's temper is usually flaring somewhere within, but that's a bush. I am unable to ever fill in the cute trees that are in the front of my children's baby books. Why? Do you really want to try and understand? Ok remember you asked. Let me give you a run down on this mess.

My great-grandparents (mothers side) were Joe & Mary Albert. Yes Mary and Joseph, don't even go there. They were married for over 50 years. Had three daughters, my grandmother one of them. Her name is Mary Jo. After Joe died my great grandmother remarried a man named George. And as all in her generation do took his last name and became Mary Rex. My grandmother Mary Jo, who by the way usually goes by Jody, married my grandfather Lowell Stinson. From this came my mother Linda Stinson. When my mother was in her early teens her parents divorced and both remarried. Now Jody becomes Jody Flippin. Now I have a step great grandfather, a step grandmother and a step grandfather. My grandfather Lowell and his wife had a baby when I was 5. I am now older than my UNCLE. My mother had me without being married. So I had her name of Stinson. Then she married Gene Brooks. Now I have added a step father. I am now a flight of steps. Now she is Linda Brooks, I am Melissa Stinson, my grandmother is Jody FLippin, my grandfather is Lowell Stinson, my great grandmother is Mary Rex. Then I went, got married and became Melissa Weis. Did you catch all that? Don't worry I didn't even get it in chronological order, just the proper connections.

Now here is another twist in the bush, er tree. I have absolutely no idea any of my biological fathers family history. My mother and he split when I was very young, never had married and went their seperate ways. And he is now dead. I know his name and that's it. THAT IS ENOUGH. If anyone reading this knows all this history on him and his family bush, er tree KEEP IT TO YOURSELF. I don't have the energy to try and understand that part of the tree. Just getting the past three generations of my mothers family down pat took 30 odd years.

Imagine introducing your family and trying to explain to your future in-laws who they all are. It goes something like this.
"This is my great-grandmother Mary. Her maiden name was York. Now its Rex. Umm, no Rex wasn't my grandfathers name it was Albert. Rex is her second husband. No he's dead to"
"This is my grandmother Jody. Her maiden name is Albert. Now its Flippin. No my mothers maiden name isn't Flippin. It's Stinson. Yes the same as my last name. My grandmother was married to a Stinson prior to being a Flippin. No my grandfather didn't die until AFTER she'd remarried. Well her real name is Mary Jo"
"This is my mother Linda. Her maiden name is Stinson, same as my current last name. She's married to Gene and is now a Brooks"

I am writing this down as a promise: Should my husband ever divorce me or die before me I will not change my name. Thank goodness I know with every bone in my body the first will not happen. And if he dies, I WILL NOT remarry. And if during some moment of insanity I did I am not changing my name. Some day my kids will have kids and try to fill in the tree in the baby book.

Who knew?

2007-02-06T11:25:00.000-05:00

I frequent Mothering.com. I love MDC. I have grown because of the discussion boards. It is a group of like-minded folks who gather to share information, ask for help and general yacking about stuff. Going for Green living is a common thread. Boy did I figure out I know very little about this subject. There is a quiz I think every person should take.

www.myfootprint.org/

It is an eye opener. According to this quiz if everyone lived like me we would need 2.8 earths to sustain us. And I thought I was doing pretty well. Since then I have been trying so hard to be mindful of how we live. I have taken to task the following:

Decluttering-How is decluttering "green" you may ask. First and foremost I realized what a crazy consumeristic person I had evolved into. My accumulation of stuff was well, embarrassing. I bought the book "Material World" and read it cover to cover in a few days. If you haven't read this book go and buy one. Yes this is one time I am encouraging being a consumer. Basically it goes around the world and has families who are the "norm" for that area take everything out of their house, place it out on blankets and see how much "stuff" they own. It also gives you interesting facts and figures about the area in which they live. EYE OPENING. After reading that and spending lots of time on the MDC board "decluttering, organizing and simplifying" I knew a change was coming in our home. I have gotten drastic about my reduction in "stuff". I have donated at least 500-600 items out of my house in the last 60 days. And there's more where that came from. With less stuff you know exactly what you have. You spend a heck of a lot less time cleaning and trying to cram stuff into closets and drawers. And I don't miss a single thing.

Family cloth-For those of you new to green, family cloth is basically using nice soft flannel and serpa cloth in place of toilet paper. See picture at top for our setup. You were wondering why there was a pic of our toilet up there, huh? The existing paper TP is for our guests, who aren't required by momma law to participate. We only have the setup in one bathroom. In the other bath we have went thru 1 roll of paper this week. It was one a day at least. I will expand on this concept later (I know you can't wait for that one).

Plastic is outta here-I am trying to get rid of all plastic in our home. There is studies indicating there MAY be a link between plastic leaking into food as we heat in it and cancers. I don't care if its in stone or not, MAY is good enough for me. I have since switched to glass food storage. And glass makes you not pull some gross old leftovers outta the back of the frig and pitch the whole thing in the trash. I am not gonna pitch my nice glass dish, I will clean it out and scrub it. Hence, less plastic sitting (not rotting) away in landfills. I am ready to switch the milk over to the glass bottles they now carry at the local market. Its more expensive but it tastes better in glass and you turn the bottles back in when you buy a new jug. I have also purchased inexpensive glass jars to keep tea and koolaid in the frig. Bye-bye tupperware pitchers. Off to donation pile. I haven't figured out how to send Rob's lunches for work without using plastic as they have to use a microwave to reheat and he always takes leftovers. But I will.

Second hand shopping-I have always liked antique shopping. My new passion is second hand clothes. I have managed to get 6 Landsend sweaters that look brand new from Goodwill and cosignment shops for 34 dollars this winter (that's total folks). They will last for years, are warm and I didn't feed the consumer cycle to get them. My goal is to get at least 75% of our clothes second hand. I won't do shoes, undies or socks second hand. The rest you betcha.

Cloth grocery bags-I am researching this. There is no doubt its better for the environment. I just have to decide which bags to purchase, from where and the logistics of using them.

I am just at the tip of the iceburg of Green living. It is a long journey. I have many future goals in this area. I'll keep you updated as we progress. God Bless.

Seven things...

2007-02-05T23:26:00.000-05:00

There is a group of folks who have commited themselves to removing 7 things a week from their homes. NO its not all going in the trash/landfill. They are giving them to friends/family, donating them to charity, selling them and only as a last resort does it get trashed. You will note the link to the right.
Even before I found out about the group I started removing. My group needs to be called 7 things a day. WHERE did all this stuff come from may I ask? There's no need for YOU to ask because I haven't a clue. We moved here 5 yrs ago and I thought I had removed many, many things at that time. No one ever explained that even books can reproduce when you aren't looking. Apparently there are male books and female books. If you aren't careful of the order you arrange the books on your bookshelves (all males on one shelf, females on another) they will "hook up" when you aren't looking and produce an entire new SERIES of books. I am not kidding. Since downsizing the sheer amount of the these, I have taken precautions for this never to happen again by placing each male book in a plastic zip loc bag. You get the idea.
Another sneaky group in my house is VHS/DVDs. I had to sit these guys down and lay down the rules. JUST because I placed "Legally Blond" next to "The Fast and the Furious" was no reason to behave like rabbits. How did they multiply so fast?
If anyone else is having trouble in these areas of your homes beware. You never know "What goes on behind closed (entertainment center)doors"

Twice in one day I did it

2007-02-05T22:23:00.000-05:00

Wow I managed to get all the info transferred off the old blog to here. Now I can quit fussing.

Changes...
Many times when folks are faced with changes, they dig in their heels and fight it for all its worth. Other folks embrace change, in fact they may be the changing factor most of the time. I am one of the latter. I love change. Change makes me thrive. Rob, is not one for change. If he could he would cement both our heels in the ground. He is no longer surprised when the living room furniture is rearranged, the kitchen is painted a new color or my hair has suddenly went from brown to red to blond and back to brown. Does he enjoy this? Heck no! But I have over time convinced him of this...I promise to leave the yard and garage alone if he will let me have reign over the house. Our yard is 40 acres mind you, he came out WAY ahead in square footage control. When we moved into our home we had white walls. A little background here. Our house has been in his family for several generations. His mother's parents lived here, with his great-grandmother starting in the 40's, then in 80 his parents bought it from them, in 2002 we bought it from them. So prior to "us" living here, "he" had lived here a long time. "He" had it in his mind it would always be the same. "I" had no intention of living in a house with white walls. White walls annoy me. White ceilings are fine, walls forget it. So we hired a painter, because the walls did need a new fresh coat of paint and they were white. Did I mention I think white walls are annoying? We have 6 rooms, 1 1/2 baths and a basement. So when I came home from the paint store with 8 paint colors (a different one for each room) he had to lay down. A year later I thought the hall was dull and sponge painted it gold and fushia (yes I really did and it looked like crap). A year later it was Pepto Bismal pink. A year later it was blue. It has remained blue for two years. For some odd reason I am content with it. During this time he did a lot of head shaking, checkbook figuring and mumbling.Next came the vendetta against the kitchen cabinets. I painted them blood red. This I will even admit was a serious mistake. They are back to white. The walls went from yellow to spicey orange, which I LOVE.Last week the living room went from sagey green to dusky purple. He didn't even bat an eye. He is growing. Does he embrace change more now than he did when I married him 16 yrs ago? Heck no. Does he embrace the fact he loves his wife and he needs to accept her quirky behavior and go with the flow? Mostly. Just leave his boat and garage alone and no one will get divorced.

Copy and pasted all by myself

2007-02-05T22:19:00.000-05:00

Somehow I copied and pasted this from the old blog.
My first blog post...
Welcome to my blog. I am somewhat of a blog addict. So after some soul searching and life changes I decided to jump in the pool. This blog is dedicated to my children. Because of them I strive daily to be a better person. Because of them I fail and succeed daily. Because of them each day I strive to make positive changes, both inside and outside of our home. And inside of myself. This blog is a record of our journey. The most important part of a journey isn't where it ends but the trip there. So fasten your seatbelts, grab a cup of your favorite beverage and come along...I promise twists, turns, smoothness and bumps along the way.
Posted by simple living momma at 11:51 AM 0 comments
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Changes...
My first blog post...

Anyhoo...

2007-02-05T20:30:00.000-05:00

Now back to the story. Does anyone remember that line? It seems to remind me of Sunday night Wonderful World of Disney movies from my childhood. Was that where I heard it? Remember those Sunday nights so many decades ago? Before every family in America had a home library of VHS/DVD movies they could view at a whim. Now for the laziest of us there is Netflix. We can sit in our lazy boy with our laptop and click away for the movies we want to see. In a mere 24-48 hours, poof, they arrive in our mailbox. We then only have to rise from our chair, walk to the mailbox and take out the exact movie we knew would be there. We no longer even have to drive to Blockbuster and back. But is it as wonderful as it used to be? Sunday nights at 6pm. There I was in flannel Lanz ankle length nightgown, with the scent of strawberry shampoo in my hair, and Bonnie Bell lipsmackers gloss in root beer flavor on my lips. A fresh bowl of popcorn (popped in a popcorn popper with oil, lots of butter and salt), note I said bowl not microwave bag and a glass bottle of Pepsi. To make sure you didn't miss a thing you turned on the TV 5 minutes early for warm up and turned the dial to the right station. And there she was. Tinkerbell sprinkling her magic dust all over the Disney castle. And without further ado...MAGIC. Oh for that magic to appear again on Sunday nights. When families came together and watched wholesome, sweet movies. And the endings were sure to leave you with a smile and prompt happy dreams. Later that night, curled under your warm covers you knew not everything in life is like those movies. But it sure was nice for a couple of hours every Sunday night.

Please see link at the bottom of page...

2007-02-05T20:26:00.000-05:00

OK I know I have computer issues. And no, its not the actual computer, its the operator. I started this wonderful blog today. www.simplelivingmomma.blogspot.com/ NOW I am unable to reaccess it to add new posts. Only I can do such a thing. So please head on over there, read those pearls of wisdom and get back over here. In fact, come back QUICK or I might lose this one too.