Eating Clean for 30 Days

My husband and I have started a challenge for the month of September. We are "eating clean" for thirty days: no processed foods, no dairy, and no gluten. It's only day 6 and I feel like I've been doing this for a year! It's fun and challenging. And who knows, maybe we'll stick with the diet change even after September is over! :)

Container Gardening

I am so excited! I have tiny tomatoes growing! I am a successful container gardener!!

Flowers

I'm having a blast this spring and thought I'd share a couple pretty pictures.

This was taken at Zion National Park.

This one is from my parents' front yard.

I wish I had some pictures of the flowering trees I've seen around town. Just breath taking!

My Balcony Clothesline

I'm an apartment dweller and was recently aware of a huge con of this. No clothesline! And no where to put one. I'm stuck using the dryer (bad for the environment and my checking account) or hanging my wet duds from chairs. While I have done both methods, I was determined to have a clothesline. And when you put your mind to something, you can accomplish anything, right? Or perhaps when you have a father who is a genius at building things.

I do have a private balcony that would be perfect for drying clothes - if only I could construct something to hang them on. Originally, I visualized a balcony clothesline contrived out of PVC, but was steered towards reusing old lumber provided by my dear old dad.

I (with a lot help of my dad) constructed it in just one day. It works by clamping the railing of my balcony. No holes or screws drilled into any rented property!!

Check out the pictures and let me know what you think! 

There is a board on the other side that acts as a clamp.

And it's just high enough so that the screen door can open!

And now my clothes dry blissfully (and cheaply) in the warm sun. Life is good.

I'm working on texting posts via phone. It works, except I can't seem to send pics. No pictures!?! Not good.

Going No 'Poo

I recently abandoned my Suave shampoo and conditioner for a more environmental and wallet friendly washing method. I used a baking soda and water paste to wash my hair and then sprayed apple cider vinegar diluted with water on my hair for conditioner.

I must say, it did take some time to adjust to using this concoction. A number of times I jumped into the shower and then realized I had forgotten my baking soda. All the preparation aside, it worked wonderfully. As long as I scrubbed my entire scalp with the baking soda, my hair felt very clean and not greasy.

The real kicker was the vinegar. Yes, it did smell when I applied it, but then I rinsed it out. Other blogs and articles promised that I would not smell like a salad all day long. And they were right. When my hair dried, you could not smell the apple cider vinegar. However, when my hair got wet - like while I was working out at the gym - the smell came back.

I could handle that, but my husband wasn't too keen on the vinegar smell. He did have to put up with working out next to me and using the vinegarized bathroom after I was done, so I see his point. I've switched to Nature's Gate shampoo and conditioner. It's an organic and vegan product line. I'm hoping it's a winner.

Jewelry Holder - Check it out!

I have finally uploaded a picture of my DIY jewelry holder that I was talking about before. Here it is!! I actually made two - one for my necklaces and one for my earrings. I love it!! It was so easy and fun and I'm so very, very happy with it.

Life Changes

I'm embracing voluntary simplicity and going green!!

First, living simply. It all started with the book Affluenza. I read it once in high school and had the urge to read it again. The authors bring to light how shackled to consumerism Americans really are. How we buy, buy, buy and are still never happy or satisfied. After that, the dam broke loose.

I read all sorts of books on decluttering and living simply. It was like an addiction. I decluttered my apartment and vowed to live simply. Reading those books let me to other topics such as sustainability and earth-friendly living. I was hooked. There are so many books, articles and blogs about these topics! I devoured all I could. Currently, I'm reading Walden.

So, what steps have I taken?

• I decluttered. Big time. I went through my closet and gave away bags of clothes, make up, hair stuff and other miscellaneous stuff that we all seem to accumulate. Then I moved on to the kitchen. I sold some items on Craigslist and gave away what was left. Then I went through my desk and my files - I recycled a lot of old papers!!
• I bought organic food.  Not much, just apples and carrots, but it's a start!
• I built a balcony clothesline. When it gets warmer, I'm going to dry my clothes outside. I'm so excited for this because I never thought I could have a clothesline since I'm living in an apartment. 
• I read and journal more.  And I Facebook a lot less. I actually use a timer when I'm surfing the web. Seriously.
• I doubled my recycling efforts. I even considered making a compost bucket to recycle my food waste. But unfortunately, it turned out to be more work than it is worth. When I have my own yard, I'll definitely start my compost pile. 
• I am making a huge effort to eat less fast food.  One idea I've discovered that helps is writing out our weekly menu, then going grocery shopping for just what we need that week. This is only the second week and it has been wonderful. We have everything we need and we know what we're going to eat each night. Genius!
• I've started biking to work. It's four miles to work, eight miles round trip. I've only biked four days in the past couple weeks because the weather has been cold and/or rainy. But I'm looking forward to the warmer temps!
• I clean my hair naturally.  I use baking soda and water to wash and apple cider vinegar to condition. It's too soon for me to say how well it's working, but I'm optimistic. 

Okay, so these are some of the big things I've been doing. But really, it's a mental change too. Especially living simply. You can declutter and not buy more stuff but then what? You need to know what you are all about! I'm on my way; I'll keep you posted. 

Spring Break

I have fallen way behind again! Oh dear. I really want to do better.

I just want to share a couple of pictures from my recent trip out West. I went with my husband and my brother road tripping to the Great Sand Dune National Park in Colorado, the Grand Canyon in Arizona, and finally Zion National Park in Utah. It was a wonderful, memorable, amazing trip that I'm going to remember forever. I love road trips!!

Great Sand Dune National Park

Sand Dunes

Three awesome people at the Dunes!

The Grand Canyon

Zion National Park

Zion

A beautiful array of cairns at Zion

Beautiful, just beautiful. I loved it. I'm looking forward to my next road trip!!

Homemade Bread

I'm so excited for this!! I'm making my own homemade bread this weekend!!! :D

Here's the recipe I'm going to follow:

1/4 cup milk
5 teaspoons sugar (or 1 1/2 tablespoons)
1 teaspoons salt
5 teaspoons butter (or 1 1/2 tablespoons)
1 package active dry yeast (you can get yeast near the flour at your local grocery store)
2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups flour (get unbleached white for your first attempt)
Corn starch or nonstick cooking spray (just to prevent the bread from sticking to the bowl or pan)


It's from The Silver Dollar. 


I'll let you know how it goes!

DIY Jewelry Holder

I've been doing some spring cleaning and I've realized I need a better way to store my necklaces and earrings. So I did some google searching....and I found some beautiful ideas!! Here is one and here is the other. I just need to find a frame and some netting and then bam, I have an inexpensive yet lovely way of hanging my jewelry!

Book Across the Bay

This past weekend I participated in Book Across the Bay in Ashland, WI. Originally, the plan was to hike the 6 miles of frozen water wearing snowshoes. But with the warm weather, there was no snow covering the ice and thus no reason to wear snowshoes. It was sad, really, because I love my snowshoes. So, my husband Chad and I bought some YakTrax, which are similar to ice cleats, and we walked our way across the bay. 

It was delightful! Along the six mile route, there were ten rest points. Each one had a big fire going and volunteers were handing out water. I'm so thankful for volunteers! They make the world go round. Some stops offered cookies and music and pretty lights. 

Pretty lights at the rest stop

At the finish line!

We're hoping to compete again next year as well.

Beargrease Sled Dog Race

The Beargrease trip was a bunch of fun. We went snowshoeing at Hartley Nature Center, voted in the cutest puppy contest at the mall, and watched the racers take off. 

 

Neglect

I've been away. And I've been neglecting my blog. But I have an excuse!! It was my birthday week and I went to see the start of the Beargrease sled dog race in Duluth, MN!! I'll post some pictures soon!! :)

Death to the journal!

Yes, this blog is killing my journal. My beautifully tended journal. Or at least it was. It haven't journaled since January 4th. And I'm blaming it on this blog. Bah!

This past weekend was great. Family came to visit!! It was my first time hosting a big get together. Cooking and serving eight is challenging and fun. :) It was a blast. We watched the Packer game and played horse race games throughout the afternoon. And then I opened birthday presents!! What a wonderful day! I love family.

Texting!!

I have a new phone! And I have unlimited texting. Oh my. I'm so excited! :D

Pizza

I made pizza tonight. Not that ordinary frozen pizza. No, sir. Homemade pizza!! And, though I risk sounding quite full of myself, I must say it was the best homemade pizza I have ever had. No, it still doesn't compare to Domino's, but what could?

So, I'm going to be a doll and share this wonderiferous recipe with you, my dear readers!

You need:
1 package pizza crust mix, I used the Walmart brand
7 oz pizza sauce
2 cups mozzarella cheese
pepperoni (or any toppings!)
1/2 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon basil
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon parsley
3/4 cup hot water
flour

This is what you do:
Mix the herbs (oregano, basil, garlic, parsley) with the crust mix and then add the hot water. Mix and then cover for 5 minutes. Then stir again and add about 1/2 cup of flour. Add more if the dough is too sticky to work with. Then, put that dough on the pan! Flatten it out and cover the pan - no need to get picky. Dump your sauce on and spread it out. Put on your layer of cheese and then slap on whatever toppings you'd like. Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes. It's going to smell and taste delicious!!


Everyone, enjoy! Chad, feel free to correct me where I am wrong. Amber, yes, I did steal wonderiferous from you. Ha!

Quilting

I started my quilt today!!! I cut the blues and the greens...and then I ran out of my yellows. I sewed together what little I could until I acquire more yellow fabric.

But let me tell you, a rotary cutter and a cutting mat are a quilter's dream come true. I love mine!!! No more measuring with a ruler and attempting to draw a straight line on the fabric and then trying to cut the straight line!! Hallelujah for efficient tools!!

Terrarium

I was browsing some other blogs the other day and I came across a blog called That's Happy and I found the cutest little terrariums!! I instantly fell in love.

So, now I want my own terrarium!! I found a glass globe with a cork stopper at the free table at work. It's about as big as a kid's size basketball, but I think it'll work out great for this project. I just bought the soil tonight...now I need to determine which plants I want and/or need. And then I'll put it all together and watch my little terrarium come to life!!

Karaoke Revolution is the BOMB!

There is something therapeutic about singing. Even if you sound like a box of nails. Tonight I played karaoke revolution for about two hours. I sounded quite awful, but I feel great! It was so much fun to laugh at the silliness of trying to sing the right notes. Ah, I love karaoke revolution!








Also, Spot It may be my new favorite game to play.
It is SO much fun!!! And easy to play. :)

TGIF!!!

Thank goodness for Fridays!!!!

I have a good friend visiting this weekend. :) She is the reason I met Chad...so she is pretty special. We had a good night tonight just catching up and tomorrow we're looking forward to tubing!!

Yay for friends!!

Snowshoes!

Our snowshoes have arrived! I'm so excited!!!! I went out to Hoffman Hills with Chad and tried them out. They're nice. It was a lovely late afternoon trek. The sun was setting and light, fluffy snowflakes were falling. Check out the pictures!

Anyways, I'm super happy that Chad and I finally have our own snowshoes. No more borrowing. :) And I'm really looking forward to participating in Book Across the Bay next month!!

Early Night

Ah, what a day. I finally signed up for my gym membership! I'm so excited to get back into working out again....at a gym. :)

Yay!

Suitcase Cat Bed

I finally completed my suitcase cat bed today. I acquired the suitcase from my mother and picked up the rest of the supplies today at Fleet Farm.

Neiko is checking out the new luggage. 

It is a fairly simple process. You take your suitcase and remove the top half. Then you screw in some premade legs. And then you fill your suitcase with padding and fluffy material. I used a fleece blanket and some fuzzy carpet. Quite easy. I was actually hoping for a more involved project - no sewing involved for this!

So far, the kitties will sleep in the new bed for a bit, but the old pillow still trumps the wobbly suitcase. I'm not surprised. But I do hope that they venture to sleep in it more!

Catch up

Bummer. I missed a day of posting. Oh well. It was worth it. I watched Inception with my husband and baked ginger cookies last night. What a great night! :)

Here's the link to the recipe for the ginger cookies. They are so yummy! We only have half of the cookies left because they are so delicious. 

What did I think about Inception? It was a great movie. Kind of intense, so don't watch it if you feel like sleeping through parts of it. I would definitely recommend it to the thinkers out there. 

Homemade Potato Soup

I love cream of potato soup. It is right up there with my mom's venison stew. And so, I made cream of potato soup tonight. Well, it was mostly homemade. I used canned soup...so does that still count as being homemade? Anyway, it was good, not stellar, but edible. I didn't have bacon on hand...so I'm thinking that was the main missing ingredient. Here's the recipe I used. I got it from cooks.com.

CREAM OF POTATO SOUP

8 slices bacon 1 med. onion, chopped 12 med. potatoes, peeled & diced 2 cans cream of chicken soup 2 cans milk Parsley flakes In large soup pan, fry bacon. When crisp, remove bacon but leave drippings in pan. Add onions and saute until tender. Then add diced potatoes with just enough water to cover potatoes. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer until potatoes are tender. Add cream of chicken soup, milk, crumbled bacon bits and parsley flakes. Heat until it begins to bubble. Enjoy!

I'm going to attempt another batch soon. So...I'm looking for recommendations. Any tried and true recipes for potato soup? If so, send them my way.

Memories

 Just went through some photos tonight while cleaning out my desk. Good memories.

These are from a spring break trip to Glacier National Park with a bunch of crazy guys. We snowshoed up and down some awesome mountains! It was great. The mountains were beautiful. The snow was pristine, having never been touched by humans.
We drove through a blizzard the first night and ended up staying at an Indian reservation. I saw my life flash before my eyes several times during that trip. But we made it home alive and I'm thankful for the experience.

Everything was covered in feet of snow. 

The view from our campsite. 

Also...

I learned some interesting facts today. First, the lammergeier is a bird that has a wingspan of 10 feet. Wow!! Talk about a big bird. And it can soar for miles!!!

`

Second, there are these white pelicans who normally eat fish, but since their habitat has been overfished, they have found a new source of food....baby chicks from a nearby (30 miles) nest. I was taken aback. It seems so evil, but thus is the way of life. 

And one more tidbit - a bowerbird builds a bower for his mate. It is so cool!! He builds a hut from sticks and decorates the inside with all sorts of different stuff he can find. The more interesting the stuff, the more likely the female will choose him. Cheers to the bowerbird - cleaning and decorating the house to impress his lady!!

In case you are wondering, dear readers, I learned all of this from the Life series, narrated by Oprah Winfrey. You should check it out. Great series. I would recommend it. Along with Planet Earth. Definitely. 

Scrabble

I rock at Scrabble. Which is why I own a Scrabble shirt. I am the champion!!

And my husband (Chad) has the audacity to claim the title as his own. It's on. Along with anyone else who is up for the challenge.

Movie Review

I watched a movie today and I'd like to share my thoughts. The movie was Bridge to Terabithia. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being awesome, I give this movie a 2. It was a disappointment. I borrowed the movie from a friend at work. The cover and the title caught my eye. As you can see in the picture, the movie case displays flying creatures, a giant, a beautiful castle, and other fantastical scenes. This is what I was expecting to see. Unfortunately, the movie contained very little fantasy. The story is about an unpopular boy at school who meets an eccentric new girl in his class who happens to be his neighbor. To escape the stress of being bullied at school, together they image a new world: Terabithia. However, we only see glimpses of this world. I wanted to be immersed in this world. SPOILER ALRET: And to top it all off, the girl dies. Barely any fantasy in the movie and it ends up being horribly depressing. 

Now, of course, if you weren't expecting a fantasy laden story, you may enjoy this movie. There were some good parts. I can't completely shut it down!

Cookies!

Yay for baking! And yay for my lovely husband who bakes (and eats!) with me!! We collectively ate over a dozen cookies tonight. Not very healthy, but very enjoyable. :)

I love baking.

Resolutions

Ah, the new year. It sure is nice to have a time when everyone strives to make changes. I've been thinking today about my resolutions. I always want to make so many resolutions. So many that I end up not fulfilling any. So, here is my list for this year. I tried to keep it short!

1. Do the sun salutation every day.
2. Write daily.
3. Get back into my fitness routine.
4. Take my multivitamin daily.
5. Run the Point Bock run - no walking!
6. Make a queen sized quilt.

Hmm. We'll see how I do. Cheers to everyone for making resolutions! You can do anything you set your mind to.