Being Honest, Screw Blogger Perfection

I have a confession.  

I'm not one of those perfect bloggers you follow elsewhere on the internet.

Sure i strive for perfection but i always fall very short.  It's just how life is.  We all can't be Martha Stewart (who doesn't do it all on her own either, she has a whole team that comes up with her ideas and makes them for her, she just does the final presentation for everyone to see.

But anyways, i believe in being real.  I believe in not putting on a fake face.  I have favorite blogs out there, but after following them for a while, i normally feel down and like a failure.  I never look as great as they do, my child is not as well behaved, my house NEVER looks perfect and i feel like loosing it most of the time.

But blogger world is not real world.  In the real world messes happen.  Kids throw fits.  Moms loose their temper.

We try our best, and some days are completely awesome.  

But we shouldn't feel bad for the real days.

They happen to everyone.

So here is me, being real.

My toddler watches an average 2-3 hours of TV a day.

We eat fast food at least 2-3 times a week for some kind of meal.  Some weeks it's much more than that.

I get frustrated, a lot.  I tend to yell a lot, and yes, i have spanked (i do not like doing it, and i'm trying to change that).  I do give lots of loves and apologize about it and i am trying to do better.

Our dishes do not get done every day.  Sometimes it's a whole week before they are done.  Paper plates rock (we use the compostible kind). 

Sometimes my daughter stays in the same outfit for 3 days.

I love hot dogs.

I don't shower every day.

My house can be spottless one day, and a disaster the next.  

This is how my bathroom normally looks.  Lots of clutter and lots of hair in the sink.

Sure, every now and then the bed gets made and it looks great.  But 90% of the time this is how the bedroom looks. 

This stuff has been in the hall probably close to 4 months now LOL! 

This is the kitchen on a GOOD day. 

Yep, a good day for the kitchen.  Like my 1/2 swept pile in the corner?  Been there a week now LOL

Everyday life in the laundry room.

This is normally how the laundry room looks.

Stuff in the living room waiting for a home on top of the shelf. 

This is actually the living room looking *good*.  I actually picked up the kitchen table last night!

I like my daughter's expression.  Like 'douh mommy!'.  Again, this is pretty dang good for the living room!

My office, the only relatively clean thing right now.  You should have seen it just last week though for the last 2 years...EEEK!

Yeah.  Our house is hardly perfect.  But who really cares?  We have fun, we do things, we have a life.  And our house shows that. 

Lets stop with all the fakeness.  Lets just be real with each other.  I think our self esteem will be A LOT better if we all would :)

So what are your confessions?  Are you ready to be real with the world?

Spring E-Book Sale on must have titles!

As a reader reminded me, i promised to do better on posting and would try to post once a month.  I guess that month is up! lol  I've been a bit busy.  At the beginning of the month i actually traveled across the country to visit a new friend and her new little one.  It was great to see her, and great to have a mini vacation (10 day!), but it is good to be home again.

I don't have much time to talk though because i'm getting ready to do a Green Family Expo tomorrow (My booth will be H2O at Home which i STILL need to talk about). 

BUT i did want to share a great deal that i found with all of you.  Right now there is a sale going on until TUESDAY the 23rd.  You can get 30 e-books for only $39!  And they all sound pretty awesome!  I just ordered mine and i just need to dowload them now.  You can read them on your computer and you can send them to your e-reader (like the Kindle) for reading on the go. 

So go to Village Green Network and order yours now!

Here are the titles and descriptions of the books included in this sale (which is 90% savings!)

Grain-free Breads, Snacks & Desserts
Jill Tieman of Real Food Forager

Learn how to bake with gluten-free, grain-free flours in place of wheat. Properly prepare nuts and seeds for easy digestion. Make yummy snacks and treats that actually provide nutrients and are a positive addition to the diet.

The Eczema Cure
Emily Bartlett of Holistic Squid

Learn how to heal eczema from the inside out with real food. How to "put out the fire" that causes your itchy, red, oozing rash -- and step-by-step guidelines for how to get started. Includes detoxifying recipes!

DIY Natural Household Cleaners
Matt & Betsy Jabs of DIY Natural

Learn how to make all your own homemade cleaning products using simple, natural ingredients. These green cleaning recipes take the guesswork out of using essential oils so you can finally utilize their beneficial cleaning properties. Over 60 natural cleaning recipes for every room in your home!

Get Your Fats Straight
Sarah Pope of The Healthy Home Economist

Sarah identifies how the low-fat movement got its start and the devastating effects it is having today. She beats back the arguments for eating low-fat and presents simple, practical advice on what you need to do to regain your health.

Nourished Baby (Completely Revised)
Heather Dessinger of Mommypotamus

Did you know that feeding our children "sacred foods" often prevents the need for braces and can heal cavities? This completely redesigned book features 15+ brand new baby/toddler-friendly recipes including healthy chicken nuggets and bunless sloppy joes!

Skintervention
Liz Wolfe of Cave Girl Eats

All you need to know about healing and beautifying skin, hair, nails, teeth, and everything in between. Whether you deal with acne, eczema, or weak hair or nails, or you simply want to know what to use and why, this guide can help you. It's about taking care of yourself from the outside-in AND the inside-out.

Real Food Nutrition FOR KIDS!
Kristen Michaelis of Food Renegade

Want to teach your kids about real food? Child-friendly lessons inspired by the work of Weston A. Price. A beautiful book full of fun illustrations, coloring pages and activities for younger children.

 

Awaken: 30+ Egg-Free and Grain-Free Breakfasts
Karen Sorenson of Living Low Carb One Day At a Time

Breakfast ideas for those with egg allergies -– perfect for low carb, Paleo, Primal, gluten-free, grain-free, egg-free or dairy-free diets. Takes the guess work out of stocking your grain-free pantry.

Eat For Heat
Matt Stone of 180 Degree Health

Are you tired all the time? Have cold hands and feet? Lost your sex drive? Eat for Heat teaches you how to feel better by reducing beverage consumption, and to overcome your phobias about salt and sugar.

Diet Recovery 2 (Completely Revised)
Matt Stone of 180 Degree Health

Can "eating healthy" make you sick? Diet Recovery 2 is the completely revised guide to breaking free from the empty hunt for the perfect diet and the counterproductive pursuit of losing weight. Learn how to ditch dieting, relax and "eat the food" -- and balance your metabolism and get healthy.

Real Food For Real Life
Emily Benfit of Butter Believer

If you're feeling overwhelmed by all the "food rules" out there, you'll love this brand new book about eating healthy, without letting food take over your life. Real food is supposed to be simple! Get back to the basics and check perfectionism at the door, while learning the hows and whys of feeding yourself and your family healthy, whole nutritious foods.

Indulge and Heal: 40 Treats Without Grains, Dairy, Nuts and Refined SugarLauren Geersten of Empowered Sustenance

Discover new grain-free recipes for the SCD, GAPS, and Paleo Diet! Resources and tools for natural healing -- and support and encouragement for a holistic lifestyle.

The Homemade Handbook
Lindsey Gremont of Homemade Mommy

If you want to be inspired to learn to cook real food and to have the courage to experiment in your kitchen with new flavors and techniques, this e-book is for you! Packed with real food cooking tips and techniques from roasting to fermenting + 60 real food food recipes to get you started and test your new skills
 

Fast Paleo Top 100 of 2012
James Gregory of Fast Paleo

The 100 absolute best Paleo and Primal recipes from Paleo bloggers and enthusiasts around the web in one great e-cookbook. Fast Paleo Top 100 of 2012 includes everything from breakfast to slow cooker meals to baked goods and desserts.

From Your Freezer To Your Family: Slow Cooker Freezer Recipes eCookbook
Stephanie Brandt Cornais of Mama & Baby Love

This e-cookbook is full of great recipes that go straight from the freezer to the crockpot. It's also a complete beginner’s guide to real food. All recipes are 95% grain-free, gluten-free and dairy-free.

The Nourished Metabolism
Elizabeth Walling of The Nourished Life

Want healthy hormones? Learn why you should stop dieting TODAY, how to balance nutrients and energy for the optimal metabolism, a balanced eating plan that doesn’t restrict food groups, myths about sugar, salt and water -- and much more!


 

Real Food Ingredient Guide
Kelly the Kitchen Kop

Do you want to use more nutritious ingredients in your kitchen, but feel confused about which ones to choose? Do you need help deciphering food labels at the store, or knowing which foods to buy at your local farm? Get Kelly's help in this eye-opening, handy referenece manual.

Real Food 101
Kendahl Millecam of Our Nourishing Roots

Are you new to real food? Real Food 101 is a visual companion to Nourishing Traditions-style foods full of step-by-step tutorials with color photos that will teach you how to prepare real food easily and confidently!

The Almond Flour Sweet Treats Cookbook
Stacey Duncan of Nourished For Free

More than 100 delicious and Paleo-friendly sweet recipes using almond flour, coconut flour, natural sweeteners such as raw honey, coconut sugar, stevia, dried and fresh fruits... pastured eggs, coconut oil, coconut milk, fresh and dried coconut, grassfed raw butter, milk, and cream, sprouted nuts and seeds.

Toxic Free: 70 Recipes for a
Toxic-free Home
Robin Konie of Thank Your Body

Many of the ingredients found in commercial cleaning and personal care products have been linked to health problems. From infertility to cancer, the toxic chemicals that threaten our health are some of the most common things we put directly on our skin! Are you ready to ditch the toxic garbage for good?

Nourishing Our Children
Sandrine Love of Nourishing Our Children

Based on the nutritional principles of Dr. Weston A. Price, this book covers dietary principles for parents before and after conception, problems associated with modern processed foods, and vital information about water and fluoride, traditional fats and oils, milk, soy, vital nutrients, and healthy meal preparation.

Indulge: 70 Grain-free Desserts
Carol Lovett of Ditch the Wheat

Take all the guesswork out of making scrumptious baked goods that are grain-free, dairy-free, cane sugar free, and Paleo/Primal friendly. Over 70 + recipes and 162 pages of content. All recipes are dairy free and adhere to Paleo principles.

Simple Natural Health

Nina Nelson of Shalom Mama

A simple, comprehensive guide to natural health: nourishing your body with herbs, nutrition and fitness. Use herbs for upset tummies, sore throats and a whole host of other ailments – and in conjunction with diet to prevent illness.

Afternoon Tea: Grain, Nut, Dairy and Refined Sugar-Free

Suzanne Perazzini of Strands of My Life

107 pages of beautifully photographed treats that are all grain-free, nut-free, dairy-free with no refined sugar. Every recipe includes two photographs alongside clear and easy to follow instructions.

Toadally Primal Smoothies

Todd Dosenberry of Primal Toad

Do you enjoy smoothies? Do want to feel awesome and be able to do the impossible? Toadally Primal Smoothies contains 150 mouth-watering, healthy smoothies that follow Primal/Paleo/WAPF eating guidelines, including 70 low carb smoothies.

Garden and Preservation Planner

Brenda Scott of Well Fed Homestead

Planning, planting, growing, weeding, tending and harvesting a garden is a lot of work! This guide will help you think through what you really need to grow, where to grow it, how to grow it, and how to preserve it.

Restocking the Pantry

Kresha Faber of Nourishing Joy

Make your favorite condiments at home -- without sacrificing the store-bought flavor you love! Avoid high fructose corn syrup, preservatives, and food additives. Save money, have fun, and teach your children how to cook. These recipes are all easy to make & kid-approved!

The Grain Free Lunch Box

Jolene Sloam of Yummy Inspirations

Lunch Box Nutrition – what to include plus tons of tips. Lunch Box Organization & Planning – strategies to keep you organized. 50+ Grain, Gluten, Nut, Dairy & Refined Sugar Free Recipes – kid-approved meat, chicken, fish, egg recipes and a rainbow of vegetable and fruit ideas and delicious baked treats.

It's been a long weary journey

Hello followers!

  I wanted to make a quick blog post just to say that no, i did not die :)  Good new huh?  But of course, i have not been posting much, in fact, my last post was about 6 months ago.  Pretty pathetic.  Yes, life has been busy, as it always is, but that is no excuse not to post.  I promise, i will really try to do better, at least one good post a month (at least!).

So what's been going on in our neck of the woods?  Mostly a lot of self improvement.  The last year or so i've been dealing with a lot of depression (my post here explains it more) and working through my grief.  I know that my grief will never completely be over, but it has gotten much better.  I will always miss our daughter, but the pain has gotten easier to bare.  Giving myself actual time to work through my emotions, and having the support of those close in my life really helped.  I think that is what helped the most, to know those closest to me were no longer judging me and allowing me to be me.

Progress was slow, but it came.  One day while driving home from a party i was flipping through the radio looking for something to listen to.  I normally listen to pop, hip hop tops songs type stuff.  But i stopped on a station and started listening.  As the miles wore on (it was a 2 hour drive) i started to feel better and better.  The station i found was K-Love.  It made me feel amazing.  The music was so uplifting and the message i heard was just what i needed.  The DJs would come on between songs and just talk about how Jesus loved ME.  ME. I really needed to hear that, and hear it from someone other than my leader or my mother.  It was as if it was Christ's way of telling me himself.  That he cared about me, loved me and wanted me to succeed.

Since that drive K-Love and Positive Life Radio is what i listen to in the car 95% of the time.  I listen to it at home as well, but i also listen to the music on this blog or this blog.  The change in how i feel has been amazing.  There are time i'll listen to something else, some of the 'hits' and it's interesting how fast i feel crummy.  I don't like to feel crummy.  I love feeling positive and happy.  So i think i'll be sticking to my happy music :)

That was the turning point it seemed though.  From there i've been improving in all the other points of my life.  We no longer eat out 3-5 times a week but instead i am actually cooking homemade meal!  I know right!  I signed up for EMeals (Paleo plan) and it has been great.  No 'what's for dinner tonight' and everything tastes so good.  I've also been using essential oils to help uplift my mood.  I just put them in my diffuser, or place them in my hand and breathe deep.  So uplifting and refreshing!  Another things that has really helped me this last month has been i've started taking Juice Plus+.  And it has really been this last month i've seen some of the best changes.  I have energy, motivation and actually a pretty clear head.  My thoughts don't get muddled and i can see what i need to get done, and i have the motivation to do it, it's been great!  I have tried other "supplements" from other companies but nothing has helped me a much as the Juice Plus+, and i think it's because it's whole food nutrition from actual fruits and vegetables (they are juiced and then put into capsules).  I also preordered the book "Beautiful Babies" by Kristen Michaelis and because of preordering it, i got a lifetime membership to her online course worth $199! 

"In Beautiful Babies, nutrition educator Kristen Michaelis reveals the truth about diet and pregnancy. Based on her research of the nutrient-rich diets of healthy and fertile populations around the world, she lays out exactly what you should and shouldn't eat when trying to conceive, during pregnancy, and while breast-feeding. In the first half of the book she explains the ways industrialized foods can prevent pregnancy, how a low-fat diet can increase your likelihood of infertility by 85 percent, what to do if breast-feeding doesn't work for you, why babies can't digest cereal, and gives step-by-step instructions on how and when to introduce your baby's first foods. In the second half of the book she equips you with more than 50 recipes for incorporating traditional fertility-boosting foods into your diet. Beautiful Babies provides you with everything you need to know about having a healthy pregnancy and nourishing your growing baby."
If you would like to preorder and get the free course, just email your purchase receipt (i emailed the confirmation email) to booklaunch@foodrenegade.com.  So far the lessons i've watched/read have been amazing and i'm looking forward to learning more.

But every day now has been really good.  I wake up in a good mood, i have energy, i put on my music, dance around with my daughter and let the sun shine into our home.  It's all baby steps.  I know i have a long way to go still, but how much i've come is amazing.  I want to continue to eat better, i am going to be looking into MTHFR and see if it's something i have, i've going to work on reading my scriptures and saying my prayers, and being a better, more involved mother and a better wife. 

I really feel like there has been a change in my life.  It hasn't been easy, but it's happening.  I hope others can see the changes as much as i can.  but if they cannot, that's ok, what matter is that my daughter and husband can, and that Christ can.

And that is what matters.

Spring is in the Air!

*breaths in deeply*
Ahhhhhhhh, spring is in the air!  At least here it is! 

With spring comes all sorts of thoughts of what we want to do in our yard.  We bought our house the middle of last summer, but most of our work went into the house, not the yard.  But with the warming of the days comes the itch to get in the dirt and DO SOMETHING!

I have so many plans swirling around my head!

I have very large plans for our garden this year along with things to be more self-reliant.  I'm in the process of cutting out beds on the edges of our yard for garden beds and also making our existing raised beds larger.  I also want to make a patio, move our clothes line back some, make our compost pile better, build some privacy screens around our patio for things to grow on, do some AWESOME paths, build our chicken house, build some rabbit hutches (this might happen next year), and grow a variety of food including:
raspberries

 blueberries

strawberries

grapes

 apple and perhaps peaches

 asparagus

 lettuce

 spinach

 Kale

chard

 onions

artichoke

 carrots

 radishes

 tomatoes

 squash

 pumpkin

watermelon

 peas

 beans

 cucumbers

peppers

potato

mint

oregano

basil

tyme

rosemery

chives

cilantro

And we'll see if i add to the list. 

It's a lot, but i'm so excited.  And i'm excited to be able to do this all on a lot that is only .11 acres and has a 1,200 sqft house on it WITH a car port.  I will have to be creative and really utilize the square foot/intensive gardening technique, but i know i can do it :)

And now some pictures of the awesome things swirling in my head....

This is the best set up for sprouting seeds i've ever seen!  I actually purchased the supplies last night and have mine set up in our living room! SOURCE

Use your old bottles to water your plants down at the ROOTS where they need it most! SOURCE

Build a fence using wood pallets that you can normally find for FREE! SOURCE

a privacy fence that we could grow our grapes on SOURCE

Using ikea storage bins as nesting boxes for your chickens.  Easy to gather eggs and clean! SOURCE

a raised bed made from pallets.  You can find pallets for free all the time!  Just make sure they have HT printed on the side for 'heat treated'.  Others can be treated with chemicals which would leech into your garden.

Patio furniture made from pallets.  Again, could be made for nearly FREE!

Yet another way to use pallets in your garden.  can you tell i love pallets? SOURCE

square foot gardening.  Grow more food in less space! SOURCE

So i think that is it for now, at least for what i can find pictures for.  I'm very excited for the days ahead, it's just going to be a lot of work. 

If anyone has pallets, spare wood or glass bottles they are not using, i will gladly take them off your hands!

What are your plans for this spring/summer in your yard/garden?
Happy digging everyone!

Life gets busy, but busy is good

So our life has been a little hectic lately and i'm really looking forward to the future.  *Hopefully* by the end of this month if everything goes well my husband and i will be purchasing our first home (ok, so we won't own it, the mortgage company who is giving us the loan will, but you know what i mean).  This decision came out of left field but we are very excited.  We have always felt that before we would/could buy a house we needed to pay off our student loans (about $9,000) and then save up as close to 20% of a down payment as we could.  Needless to say our loans are not paid off an we only have about a 4% down payment...

But we've put a lot of though into this decision.  To rent a 3 bedroom home where we live is around $1,000-$2,000 + utilities.  Our price range is about $800.  This would maybe get us a run down 2 bedroom which would be ok for now but not for the growing family we want.  One thing i HATE in life is moving.  I cannot stand it!  And so to get a place for only a year or two and then have to move again is NOT my idea of a good time.  So we looked into buying a house.

We decided on what would be a comfortable monthly payment after the mortgage, property taxes, PMI (private mortgage insurance since we do not have the 20% down) and all that other lovely stuff and then that decided our maximum price for a home.  Then we searched for houses online we though we'd like and drove to each house and looked and the neighborhood and the outside of the house.  If we didn't like what we saw we threw the listing out and never thought of it again.  Then we went with our relator and looked at the houses we did like and in the end we found the house we our buying :)

It's a lovely 3 bed 1 bath home around 1,150sqft.  It is listed for $120,000 so our monthly mortgage payment will be $850 and then we have utilities and maintenance on top of that.  Not bad at all for owning our own place since we couldn't come near a deal like that if we were renting :)  It is an adorable little house that has new vinyl windows, new vinyl siding, central air and heat, a new water heater, insulation in the attic and it has 7 raised garden beds and a clothes line in the yard along with a garden shed and covered carport and a fully fenced yard.  Just what we were looking for.

I am so excited to finally get settled into our own home.  Before we move in we are going to have to have the house rewired since nothing in the house is grounded (it's all 2-wiring).  And then i'm going to paint and i also want to pull up the carpets (which are a lovely *pink* color) and re-finish the wood floors underneath.  It will be a lot of work but i think in the end i'm gonna love it and it will be worth it.

Hopefully if everything goes well we'll be able to sign papers next week but for sure by the end of the month.

So needless to day i am very excited.  I've been pouring endlessly over blogs and book for decorating ideas and i have non stop thoughts of things i would like to do.  I cannot *wait* to have my own yard that i can tend to.  Our own garden to grown delicious healthy food.  And have our own chickens with fresh eggs!  oh that will be so much fun!! (we already have 2 hens that i got from a friend).

  I really cannot wait.  So here's to crossing our fingers!