Chapter 3: Minimalism & Simple Living

As green living proliferated our daily lives we naturally chose to live without many products available in the marketplace. Did our quality-of-life decrease? Most definitely not. Instead with each change made, lessening our dependence on products and the number of possessions around us we felt more liberated.

My husband claims I was once an organized hoarder. Okay so maybe I was, clipping coupons and stacking items on the shelf that we wouldn't use for years to come. I love to organize: time, books, my dresser drawers. You name it, I've probably organized it. Down to the nuts, screws and bolts in my husbands shed. By the way, he was a hoarder too, except for the organized part. 

After years have gone by I am just finishing using up the items that I collected from my habits. I get quite a thrill using the last drop of product in the bottle. At the same time I am troubled from constantly shuffling all of the extra possessions around our home, needlessly using my time to move items from here to there, there to here to clean around them. Do you ever feel that your life is just about things? Mundane, unimportant things? Extra books, clothes, just plain old clutter?

Our changes in life style and interest  lead us to uncharted territory, the subject of minimalism. A topic I now adore. Why do we feel the absolute necessity to surround ourselves with excess? How much is really too much? I look forward to sharing our lessons learned and hearing yours!

Show Your Plastic Challenge - July Week 3 Update

WEEK 3 SHOW YOUR PLASTIC CHALLENGE

   TOTAL –  44 PIECES, 14.1 OZ

Plastic Free July - Week 3

Okay, so I thought that I was making some progress this week. My collection bag wasn’t overflowing on Friday and I was starting to feel some accomplishment. Then all at once – POOF! – it filled up and was spilling out. We made some accomplishments this week by choosing to be more mindful grocery shoppers. While we didn’t refuse all plastic free items yet, we did refuse to buy some of the gluten free grocery items that have been our regular purchases. We did limit our plastic purchases this week.

Without further ado, here are our pictures for this week…   

        Non-Recyclables  

        

Recyclables

                                                                              

Before I talk about our conclusions and goals for this week (i.e. problems) let’s talk about the progress that we were able to make this week (i.e. success). Accentuate the positive first, right?

PLASTIC FREE PROGRESS:

• Made 29 choices on Catalogchoice.org to refuse catalogs and choose to shop online if needed. Saved 1 tree, 329 lbs greenhouse gases, 117 lbs solid waste, and 789 gallons of water. WOW!
• Plastic Free Mindful Grocery Shopping Trip
• Researched new sources for recycling our waste (or even better do without them): aseptic milk containers, Tom’s of Maine toothpaste tubes, Plastic Bottle Caps
• Dropped of all #5 Plastic Containers at Whole Foods for Gimme 5 Preserve Recycling Program

SUMMARY:

Week 1 Totals – 52 items, 13 oz

Week 2 Totals – 59 items, 18 oz

Week 3 Totals – 44 items, 13.1 oz

At this rate our family will produce over 48 pounds of plastic garbage this year. Fourty-eight pounds of non-biodegradable refuse that will be on our planet FOREVER….

GOALS:

•  Complete a Grocery Substitution Worksheet from Beth Terry’s book Plastic Free – How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too with ideas for plastic free substitutes of my top 20 grocery items. From the pictures you can obviously see that the majority of our plastic waste is from food.
• Implement one or two plastic free changes from the Grocery Substitution Worksheet. I’m leaning toward bread and cereal this week.
• Focus on refusing convenience items. This week I slipped up several times. These were things that I forgot or was too embarrassed or just flat out too lazy to refuse. They shouldn’t have happened.

We must remind ourselves that it’s not possible to change everything at once. 

Inch by Inch = Cinch. Mile by Mile = Trial.

The Funny Farm Continued

Upon establishing the Funny Farm on our new homestead I realized that my limited knowledge of gardening and livestock husbandry left much to be desired. The small local newspaper is the go to for connecting with others in our rural community. Yes actual ink and paper! I was reading the paper regularly to learn about the community that we had newly joined. The 'back to the land' movement is still very strong in the community. Many people pride themselves in being off-grid and self sufficient. Again another daydream of our household..

I happened to stumble upon an advertisement of a local, organic gardener who was seeking help in exchange for produce and plants. This being only a few months after moving into our new home. I accepted her invitation to work. The arrangement proved to be a small scale CSA - Community Supported Agriculture. I gained a wealth of knowledge by being willing to exchange my time & energy. I learned about native plants and the local growing season while being introduced to like minded individuals. 

One of my first plants that I enjoyed from the CSA was echinacea. It is beautiful in our garden from May to July each year.

My gardening mentor lives a very simple, minimalist lifestyle. I love how contented she is with basic things: eating mostly wild foods foraged and produce grown by their household, trading for things desired or needed with their surplus produced. Both husband and wife support themselves with crafts: wood carving and weaving. I am fortunate to have wooden carved spoons and a hemp woven piece made by my mentor and her husband. 

When living such a simple life, minimal income is required. Truly "when your eye is simple, the whole body will be bright." This is an idea that has much appeal. They are not slaves to their work to support a consumption based lifestyle. They do what they love and enjoy it. It is simple and fulfilling.

I seek everyday to ask myself the question, "Is my life simple or cluttered?"

Plastic Free Grocery Shopping - Possible?

The day began at 9:00 am as we loaded our family of five into the Toyota Prius, three car seats in the back. The 100 mile journey to reach our first destination is our norm to acquire our allergy friendly, natural foods.

Obtaining groceries for a family of five minus plastic packaging is not easy but with some thought is possible. Our favorite first stop is Dempsey Bakery in Little Rock, a gluten free bakery that specializes in allergy friendly foods. The owner Paula Dempsey is always willing to accommodate my plastic free requests filling my bags with delicious gluten, egg, dairy, soy and nut free products. I crave the death by chocolate layer cake. After the recent birth of our son, my husband had an entire cake delivered to my room from Dempsey's Bakery.

Dempsey Bakery - Plastic Free Display
My Favorite "Everyone's Bread"

By choosing to shop at local specialty stores we are able to obtain higher quality products from business owners who commonly are willing to accommodate our plastic free packaging requests. 

In some cities, packaging free grocers are popping up such as In.gredients in Austin Texas. I love the business model of these establishments. It just makes sense. Packaging used to be designed to be reused for another purpose instead of immediately disposed of. Eliminating this source of modern waste should make the producer more profitable. 

While we have farmers markets, bakeries, butchers, cheese shops, etc. that we can purchase directly from to minimize plastic packaging, we don't yet enjoy a entirely bulk, packaging free grocer.

After a day of store hopping, our last stop to end the day is Whole Foods. By this time, 8:00 pm, my brain is exhausted. The synapses that recognize plastic packaging have shorted out. I asked the kids to be on the look out to remind me if I pick up any plastic packaging. We selected our produce. I brought my reusable containers to the butcher counter. We combed the aisles carefully with my four year old catching my hand putting something blacklisted in the cart. Then I realize that I want to purchase Applegate Farms lunch meat for our upcoming trip. I cannot have the deli counter slice and package without plastic due to cross contamination on the slicer. What to do? Pre-packaged portions? This is one convenience food We are not ready to give up yet. My husband began conversing with the man behind the counter, "Why not purchase the entire  unopened package of meat and freeze it in portions?" The individually packaged portions would certainly amount to a lot more packaging. Should I do it? It seems obsessive to walk away with a huge stick of pepperoni - 3.5 pounds. But I did it. Applegate Pepperoni will be enjoyed in our house almost packaging free for some time. An added bonus, the clerk took off a lot of weight for a packaging discount. When it was all said and done, we saved 22% by thinking out of the box and eliminating packaging.

After our pepperoni triumph, I requested a couple smoothies to made fresh to drink on our late night travel home. When they were handed to me in two plastic cups complete with lids and straws I was slapped in the face with my lapse in memory. It was too late, I had forgotten. After all of my efforts throughout the day my tiredness got the better of me.

Make Plastic Water Bottles Extinct!

One part of our family's plastic free daily routine is our reusable water bottles. It is one part that we have down pat!  See our weekly plastic free update for this week here. Plastic water bottles are extinct in our family. Each person is accountable for their own Kleen Kanteen bottle - all the way down to the four year old. They have different color lids to distinguish whose bottle is whose.

Kleen Kanteen Reusable Bottles

When the plastic free version of Kleen Kanteen's product came out, I immediately ordered two. We had been using Swiss made Sigg bottles but I learned about the questionable lining that was used in the inside coating of the bottle and chose to discontinue our use. Goodbye Sigg, hello Kleen Kanteen.

Our local water source is not the most tasty - we filter our water. When we're out for a long day we will sometimes stop at a filtered water station for refillable gallon bottles and refill our individual water bottles. To the children it is a fun experience. They ask, "Can I refill my jug?" It makes me smile every time. 

With my clumsiness, the bottles have been dropped a few times ( okay maybe more than a few) but minus a few small dents, they are unharmed. It just adds character, right? At times if I have left my bottle somewhere I've been known to grab any glass jar to carry around with me. Repurpose a glass pasta sauce or peanut butter jar. Whatever you have available instead of buying a disposable water bottle. Who really knows what chemical compounds are lurking in the water you are about to consume. 

Think it over. You are what you eat or drink.

Show Your Plastic Challenge - Plastic Free July Week 2

SHOW YOUR PLASTIC CHALLENGE 

Plastic Free July Week 2

July Week 2 - 18 ounces,  59 items

Week 2 of our Show Your Plastic Challenge has come to a close and I have now realized that July will not be plastic free for our family of five. We continue to be swimming in a plastic sea of garbage. This week sees an increase in weight and volume of plastic items that we consumed from items already purchased. However, it has certainly raised our awareness of the amount of plastic we continue to consume despite our efforts to cut back. I am looking at each purchase through different eyes - those of a prudent consumer. By the end of the month I hope to see less convenience foods in the weekly count. 

Both of the older children participated in the tally and were inspired to 'play with the trash' by upcycling some of the plastic into robots. Today was a no television day for our family - proof that with a little imagintion (and less over stimulation) anything can become a toy.

Plastic Free Progress:

We are now using baking soda with a few drops of tea tree essential oil for our deodorant. It works like a charm. It is applied using a circular pad that I crocheted from yarn I made from upcycled t-shirts. One less plastic health & beauty product to purchase and consume.

Summary:

July Week 1 - 13 ounces, 52 items

July Week 2 - 18 ounces, 59 items

Goals:

We are preparing for a week away from home and tomorrow will be traveling the 250 miles round trip to gather our groceries for the next few weeks. While most of you could be dining out plastic free while away from home, our family is not safely able to do so due to food allergies. A small kitchen and some groceries must travel along with us. We take to the road in an Airstream bunkhouse. Tight quarters but we love it.  We find ourselves outdoors more enjoying the sunshine. 

I am going challenge myself to avoid any single use disposables during our travels. Each member of our family already carries a Kleen Kanteen water bottle daily. Where I get tripped up is forgetting our metal straws & bamboo utensils. Can we do it?

Remember small steps add up to BIG changes. Until next week...

Zero Waste Food Preservation

I returned to harvest from our friend's garden and reaped even more vegetables than I did the first time. Today involved canning 21 half-pints of blackberry jam and 8 pints of salsa. Yesterday found eight quarts of whole tomatoes canned and five gallons of green beans dehydrated. I am fortunate to enjoy using an Excalibur dehydrator to preserve the summer's bounty.

Here in the country woods of Arkansas we seem to lose electricity a lot. Once after a large ice storm we lived "off grid" involuntarily for 21 days. While both my husband & I have both dreamed of living an off-grid lifestyle, we were not setup for such or prepared to do so. Everything in our chest deep-freeze was lost during the prolonged power outage. While I do enjoy canning, limited experience and storage room prevent heavy reliance on this method of food preservation. My preference is to dehydrate our produce when possible since it requires minimal storage room and no energy to prevent spoilage. The dehydrated produce is then stored in glass containers.

Dehydrated Green Beans

The simple blackberry jam is lovingly being contained in beautiful Weck jars. There is a sense of accomplishment knowing that there is no BPA in the rubber rings used to seal the glass lidded jars. Being able to reuse the rubber gaskets contributes to the experience being zero waste.

Blackberry Jam in Weck Jars

The whole Funny Farm is running in zero-waste mode today. The chickens appreciate the flurry of kitchen activity since they will be upcycling the produce scraps into delicious free range eggs tomorrow.

Summer abounds with opportunities to be plastic free with zero waste. A little extra effort is required - but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Begin with a small step: grow a small herb garden in a window sill or try your hand at canning a couple of half-pint jars with fresh seasonal produce from the farmers market. Here's a great reference I found at the local library this week: Preserving by the Pint: Quick Seasonal Canning for Small Spaces by Marrisa McClellan.

Up next, preserving peaches, okra, squash & cucumbers. I've never made pickles or relish before. This will be an experiment..

What is your favorite zero waste food preservation tip?

Plastic Free Technology?

We all use technology everyday. It's a necessary component of our modern life. Have you ever stopped to think about how much plastic is consumed in your technological routine? I have. It's too much for my personal taste. 

While most tech companies utilize plastics as a basic component, have you noticed how Apple Computers & devices utilize less?

What about your iPhone & iPad case? I hate how much plastic they're made of and the packaging used is commonly plastic. Check out my iPhone cover - Zebrawood!

I love it. It's made by Root Cases. When I put it to my face everyday I take comfort in knowing its a natural product and I can compost it when it breaks! The packaging was also cardboard. In a great sustainable initative they plant a tree for every case sold. Gotta love it!

Homemade Almond Milk & Gluten Free Vegan Almond Pulp Cookies

I'm writing this post on the fly at the request of several of my twitter followers, so pics will have to follow later. In our family, our diet requires that almost all of our food be homemade. We have allergies to milk, egg, soy and most of all - gluten.

Twice a week, we prepare almond milk for our family by soaking 1 cups of raw, organic almonds in 4 cups of water overnight or 6-8 hours in our Vitamix (similar blender). In the morning, we blend the water and the whole, soaked almonds in the Vitamix for 60 seconds on high. The milk is completed by straining the mix through a cheesecloth or a nut milk bag. The liquid yields 4 cups of fresh, delicious almond milk. Refrigerate immediately.

The leftover pulp is used in the following single bowl recipe:

3/4 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup potato starch
1/4 cup tapioca starch/flour
2 t Xanthan gum
Pulp from one recipe of almond milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup grapeseed oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 TB vanilla extract
1 cup Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

Mix all ingredients together by hand thoroughly in a single bowl. Form balls by the TB and flatten with your palm. Bake at 350 degrees in a pre-heated over for 12-15 minutes.

I hope to take a picture of my next batch to share with you. For now, enjoy experimenting with the almonds in your own kitchen! It's super easy and delicious!

Plastic Free Produce with Friends

Today was a day filled with pleasantries. Our family spent the afternoon harvesting blackberries and green beans at a friend's bountiful garden followed by a brief effort to forage chantrelle mushrooms at the home of another friend.

My efforts to garden are wildly surpassed by individuals who possess such skill with cultivating the earth. I try...with what little time I buy out, to teach my children where our food comes from. I have met with some success with my hobby gardening. Our six year old has titled himself a "fruititarian" since he was three years old, preferring raw fruits and vegetables to meat or processed dishes. Most of the vegetables that he loves are ones that he has watched grow in small quantities in our garden: kale, spinach, cherry tomatoes, sugar snap peas, green beans, bell peppers, cucumbers, and more. Our four year old daughter is becoming more brave with time, although not as broad in her food preferences. She responded to her brother's adopted title by calling herself a "meatitarian."

My aspirations to homestead are a dream...a daydream for which I continue at times to dwell on but quickly come back to reality. Reality is that I am a self-employed professional who home schools two children (with the help of my husband) and is a breastfeeding mother of a 7 week old infant. My time is better spent with those whom I love - family and friends. Pursuing relationships and keeping life simple now proves to be the most rewarding. It is better to share what we have and build relationships than to cultivate all crops on our own and have cultivated no friendships. Look at the generous bounty that was shared with us today!

A blessing indeed.

Summer's Bounty - Generously Shared With Us

Chantrelle Mushrooms

Chapter 2: Homesteading - The Funny Farm

After having our first child we moved to a 12 acre parcel of land with a fixer-upper house three miles down a dirt road. This was a enormous change for my husband who lived in large cities for most of his life.

Neither of us had any experience with farm animals or homesteading. Despite our lack of experience I was intrigued by the idea. My curiosity gave birth to what we lovingly called, The Funny Farm. For our 10th wedding anniversary my husband gifted me the first farm additions - three chickens he named Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. He built a chicken tractor that he repurposed from old pallets & tin to house the birds. We use the tractor to this day to house any new chicks in our flock.

I was inspired by reading the book Made From Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life by Jenna Woginrich. She described watching the animal's antics as "farm TV." I learned by watching our chickens how to enjoy the simplest form of entertainment, nature.

Meet Our 1st Rooster - Dinner

Show Your Plastic Challenge - Plastic Free July Week 1

TOTAL - 13 ounces, 52 pieces

The moment of truth is not too pretty.

July Week 1 - 13 oz, 52 pieces

Ok, so I know that our family cannot be entirely plastic free, but I thought we had made more progress in our journey beginning 18 months ago.  Since the last trimester of my pregnancy began I knew that we slid backwards. My husband took over alot of the food preparation and he is not as passionate about limiting plastic consumption as I am. While he is supportive, this my gig for the family. He is the kind contributor of the polystyrene cup, lid and straw seen in the picture this week. Yes, I still love you sweetheart!

I have spent the week having a pep talk with my children reinvigorating their plastic free vision. They seem on board at this point. Time will tell. As I began this week's tally my daughter excitedly paticipated while "Mama played with the trash." She loves this part! The tally makes me both excited and disgusted. I can't imagine how much plastic the average household puts on the curb each week. We don't even use a municipal garbage service. Our single bag every 2-4 weeks isn't worth it.

Should I be dissappointed in our results for this week? Some would say yes, some no. Perhaps a review of some of the changes made since the journey began will be encouraging and keep me from giving up. Each week I will share one or more changes we have successfully implemented. Perhaps that will give me impatus to continue changing.

One of the first changes we (husband and I) made was changing to a metal razor with stainless blades. My husband has been using a razor purchased at a local antique/second hand shop. He found  stainless steel blades from Astra on Amazon. They are manufactured in Russia. I was so impressed and surprised to see that each blade is packaged without any plastic. They are wrapped in tiny envelopes of wax paper and another layer of paper. Each plastic free blade cost only $0.09.

PLASTIC FREE PROGRESS:

We are still using our first shipment of blades purchased in January 2013. A total of under $20.00 US was spent on this plastic free purchase. I have gifted several similar razors to friends and family since to inspire living without this single use disposable. This is one single use disposable that we can definitely live without.

GOALS:

This week I want to lessen the amount of convenience foods that we have reverted back to using as of late. We live 100 miles from the grocery store that we purchase most of our gluten free, allergen freindly foods from. I do have a stockpile of products on hand that will undoubtedly be consumed and will be included in the posts to come. I will lessen the new purchases going forward. That is my goal.

Remember small steps add up to BIG CHANGES.

Why Buy Berries in a Clamshell? Make a Memory Instead

This time of year our country roads are lined with a spectacular sight: blackberries and beautiful sunsets!

In the evenings before sunset when the temperature cools off, our family has made it a tradition during the end of June and beginning of July to enjoy the simple pleasure of wild berry picking. Our two older children are 4 and 6 and look forward to the experience. It can be the middle of winter and they'll ask, "Can we go pick berries today?" Last night my 6 year old son stopped to savor the sunset on the hillside without any prompting. It melted my heart to hear his expression of simple gratitude.

I still have very fond memories of picking wild blackberries with my father close to 30 years ago while enjoying the sounds of the birds chirping in the distance. Sweat on my brow, I sported a long-sleeve flannel shirt and leather gloves that were too big for my little hands.

We all love berries of any kind, as you'll see in my consumed plastic post next week. We had already purchased some in June that will show up. *Smile. We're not perfect...when your family has four different food allergens to deal with finding plastic free snacks & produce can be difficult, especially when the mother is sleep deprived with a newborn. Excuses aside, look at the plastic free bounty that we will be enjoying in the days to come.

Who needs a clamshell? Make a memory instead.

Wild Blackberries

Show Your Plastic Challenge Re-visited During Plastic Free July

At the beginning of 2013 I decided to become a more mindful consumer of plastic products. We undertook the Show Your Plastic Challenge for 12 weeks and documented our progress. The results were published on my sister's blog, The Frugal Greenish Mama. I hope to republish these posts here in the near future. This was a picture from our first week of shame...

I was so excited and determined to change our behavior after seeing first hand the affects that plastics have on our bodies and on the environment. So many issues result from the endocrine disruptors that are found in plastic products we surround ourselves with.

I recently gave birth to my third child and in preparing for the baby shower, I paced the aisles of a major department store attempting to register for items that would be conveniently available for my dear friends. My eyes were reopened to the shocking reality of how much plastic the typical parent surrounds there beautiful baby with. Absolutely everything, minus a few cotton textiles, was plastic. I was mortified at the idea of what lay before me. Thus, my registry list was very short. We cloth diaper our babies and exclusively breastfeed so he didn't require much. Our wonderful friends & family renewed my cloth diaper supply to add to ones that I made from repurposed materials. Blog post to come on DIY cloth diapers.

The timing of the birth of this blog is perfect to revisit our awareness of our family's plastic consumption.  It corresponds with Plastic Free July, an initiative to join the world's population in consuming less plastic for a month. Join me and thousands of others this month in raising your awareness to the amount of plastic you consume regularly. I'll be posting weekly updates of our family's goals to reduce our consumption and once again be part of the Show Your Plastic Challenge.

What plastic can you live without this month?

My Dental Check-up: Plastic Free?

I wish that I could answer with a resounding YES. Unfortunately the answer is no. 

Every prior visit to the dentist I've taken their little plastic bag full of goodies (brush, toothpaste & floss) without a thought. This week, I got up the courage to say no thank you to the bag, travel size floss and toothpaste. I did however bring home the toothbrush for myself & husband. Three out of four is improvement, right? There's still guilt lingering. See the picture of the cute travel size dental floss container from my last dental checkup? Is it recyclable? No. Neither are the toothbrushes. I've never contemplated what to do with a empty dental floss container other than toss it. As soon as I throw it in the garbage my kids will say, "But Mom we can reuse it! It can be this, and this and this." I decided to look for ideas to reuse floss containers. I found a good article from Rebecca Rockafeller on Trash Backwards.

I think I might use mine to store small safety pins in my sewing kit for now. Maybe my husband can thread some fishing line on one for a pocket for emergency use. I found some cute ideas on Pinterest for repurposing a floss container into a travel sewing kit. 

Since I refused the floss at the dentist I'm waiting on a package of new Eco-Dent floss to arrive from Vitacost this week. They claim plastic free packaging. What would be superb is if the floss itself could be composted. That would be zero waste! 

Empty Piece of Non-Recyclable Waste

Chapter 1: The Green Beginning

Once upon a time there was a man and woman who married and began their life together and they lived happily ever after.

THE END. 

If only life was that simple, right? We all find ourselves living in a complicated, polluted world. After five years of marriage and living a "normal," consumption based life, we found ourselves enduring allergies of all kinds. I can't recall how many steroids and allergy medications that we were prescribed at the time. It was an absurd number. Here I was in my mid-20s and I was using special prescription shampoos, creams, drops, ointments and oral pills for various inflammation symptoms that I was experiencing at the time. Fed up I decided to start researching possible causes on my own. At the time I didn't anticpate that the symptoms could have been food related but felt empowered to make changes. 

We decided to embark on a month long experiment - eating only organic food made at home with minimally processed ingredients. The verdict? At the end of the month, we no longer needed the majority of our prescriptions. My inflamation had decreased all over my body and my husbands allergy symptoms had all but disappeared. We were sold! More research ensued and thus began a decade of changes. That was 2004.

Ten years and three children later here we are. What I thought would be virtually impossible has been a joy to experience. One small change at a time. Everyday I continue to learn as life changes. I look forward to sharing some of my (our) experiments and experiences with you from the past and present. Perhaps I can inspire a small change that improves your quality life. That is my hope.

INCH BY INCH IS A CINCH. MILE BY MILE IS A TRIAL.

Opening Credits

As a little girl I kept a paper journal where i recorded my innermost desires and complaints. My passions and fears were all recorded within the pages of my journal. At some point where responsibility replaced daydreams I discontinued my writing as most girls do. I married and mainstream life took over. How I enjoyed all the new exciting tasks that required my time. 

While recreating myself as an adult the thought occurred to me several times to begin journaling my thoughts and experiences again. I love the crisp pages of a new journal or notebook and have several failed attempts at beginning the journaling process again. In my 20s, I was a perfectionist with over abundant ideas of all the passions that I wanted to conquer not realizing how quickly life would pass by. It's has been 15 years now since I stopped writing and while I have a mind full of memories, I have forgotten so much.

I wrote a series of posts on plastic free living for my sister's blog, The Frugal Greenish Mama, at the begnning of 2013 and realized how much I missed writing. Although my love for paper will have to be supressed while writing in this technologically advanced world, I found a lost love...writing. Expressions of my thoughts and experiences were down in black and white and releasing them felt so invigorating. Thus, this blog has been born. The subject content will vary but is intended to be centered around my efforts to create an eco-friendly, allergy free, simple home for my family that rebels against consumerism.

Welcome!