1.22.2011

Fort Collins

Mike took a half of a day off on Friday so we could go to Fort Collins for the day.  We went on the New Belgium Brewery Tour.  I found a couple types of beer that I like and I would totally work for the brewery.  It was so beautiful on the inside and I loved the core values of the company.
After the tour, we wandered around the downtown for awhile.  We found a great fabric shop that I spent a lot of time in.  I only bought some construction fabric for Hudson because I couldn't make up my mind and it was a bit pricey.  There also was this fantastic kids store that was fun to walk around and drool.
The real reason we went to Fort Collins was for a CD release party for The Blackthorn Project and The Emporiums. (Random thing-Karla Adolphe had a baby last February and his name is Hudson!)  It was Hudson's first concert and he did pretty good.  I tried to get him to fall asleep but he just wanted to stay awake and listen to the music.  What a great day!










coupons

I think I may have ripped off the grocery store. I got all of this for $6.50.
Toothpaste-free w/ coupon
Cereal-0.70 each w/ coupon
Toilet Paper-1.00 each w/ coupon
Tortillas-1.00 each
Taco Seasoning-1.00 each
Frozen Veggies-0.30 each
Here is where it get's sketchy....
The salsa and queso was buy one get one free at the store. The queso had buy this and get a free salsa stickies on top and I also had a $1.50 off one coupon. The store took all three coupons so I'm pretty sure I paid $0.50 for all 4 containers.
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love

I love these 3 babies.
(this picture wouldn't show up on H's blog)
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1.12.2011

am I radical?

Product DetailsWhen I picked up Radical Homemakers from the library, I think I thought it was a different book.  I'm pretty sure that before reading it I thought it was about bringing glory to God through the way you take care of your house.  Not so much.  It's really about a call to return to the art of homemaking and being more self-sufficient and less dependent on our current economy.
I had a hard time getting into the book at first because it seemed very textbooky.  Took me back to my sociology days.  I pushed through and really got into it.  The first half explains how our society has evolved from a predominantly agricultural society to the consumer society we have today.  There were very similar themes to the movie Food, Inc.  The second half of the book told the stories of individuals and couples who were trying to be "radical".  I thought it would be more practical with more how-tos but it was still good to read their stories.
As I was reading this book, we were driving across Nebraska so I was ready to go live on a farm and grow our own food and raise chickens.  Then I got home and went to Walmart twice and Target who knows how many times within the first week.  So much for change.  I did think about some small steps I would like to try to make this year.
1. Make all bread products by the end of the year or get them from Great Harvest (they grind their own flour at the store).
2. Find a source for local eggs
3. Buy all of our produce this summer from the farmers markets so we have to eat more seasonally
4. Re-purpose clothes as inspired by Jess
5.  Buy meat that has been raised humainly

It seems so hard to balance living frugally and living sustainably.  When I can get a box of cereal for $0.79 that seems like such a deal, but I'm sure if I took the time I could make granola for cheaper.  So much to think about.  This book has definitely sparked some good conversations between Mike and I.

1.07.2011

projects

It always seems like the new year is a good time to tackle some projects.  I was feeling the need to clean and purge before we went to Wisconsin for Christmas and got a little done and tackled some more things this week.  Here was my to-do list:

1. Reorganize Hudson's closet and put away swing and bouncy seat
2. Clean out closet
3. Clean out build in dresser in room
4. Clean out bathroom organizer and move into Hudson's room
5. Clean off desk and make it a sewing table
6. Clean out extra utensils drawer and make it a Hudson drawer
7. Outlet covers and cabinet locks
8. Buy and install diaper sprayer

I think I'm doing pretty good since it's January 7th.

1.02.2011

advent

Growing up we always had a felt advent calendar to count down until Christmas.  I spent a lot of time looking online for one, but they all looked pretty cheesy.  My mom didn't have ours any more so I decided to make one for Mike & Hudson as my Christmas present to them. 
I used several sites to get ideas, but Homemade By Jill was the most helpful.  Instead of just doing ornaments to count down, I wanted to make it more meaningful so I tied it in with a Jesse Tree Devotional from Ann Voskamp.  I loved how it turned out.  I'm so excited to make this a part of our Christmas traditions.






1.01.2011

food

So Hudson is supposed to eating food now.  Or at least that's what our families all think.  We've decided to do things a little bit different than the usual rice cereal and purees.  We've waited until he is 6 1/2 months old and are going to follow Baby-led weaning.  Since I had never heard of this, I wanted to read a book about it. Product Details
Baby-led Weaning was an excellent resource and really explained the principles well.  I think the best way to describe it is a lase-fair approach to feeding your baby.  Pretty much, if he eats, great and if he doesn't, no big deal.  We will offer him lots of different foods that he can pick up and gnaw on and eventually he'll learn how to eat.
I'm excited to try this because it doesn't seem very stressful.  The book said that at the beginning if they go a few days without eat, it's not a big deal because it's really just play and exploration at first.  I also think that it's going to make Mike & I look at what we're eating because we're supposed to give Hudson the same stuff we're having for dinner.
I think my favorite part of the book was the part about giving your baby meat.  The authors said that it's great to give your baby a chicken bone to gnaw on or a piece of red meat to suck on because they will get a lot of nutrients from the juices (blood!).  I got these crazy pictures of Hudson sitting at the table with a turkey leg in his hand just munching away.

memory

I didn't do so well with memory monday.  Since it's a new year, I'm going to try something new.  Beth Moore has a Siesta Scripture Memory Team and I'm going to join.  We memorize two verses a month, which seems a lot more manageable.  I will be posting a comment on her blog and here on the 1st and 15th of each month.

Here's the first verse I'm going to memorize:
You crown the year with a bountiful harvest; even the hard pathways overflow with abundance.  Psalm 65:11 NLT

I'm hoping that this verse will set the tone for 2011.  I want to recognize God's blessings, even in the hard times.