strawberries part 2!

Well, today has been extremely eventful. I was able to get a ton of stuff at the farmers market, which I am always happy about, and also got all of my many pounds of strawberries processed. Here is the breakdown:

4 quarts whole strawberries in the freezer (I love smoothies, pop a couple strawberries some oj a banana and some plain nonfat yogurt...yum!)
3 quarts sliced strawberries in sugar, also in the freezer
3 pints sliced strawberries in syrup, again, in the freezer
18 pints of strawberry jam, on my counter hanging out
1 big bowl of fresh strawberries left, which will be used for strawberry shortcake tomorrow (my mom's b-day) and for snacking the rest of the week.

And to top it all off?! My husband is cleaning up because I have been working hard all day :-) Love him!

strawberries!

Yay for strawberry picking!

container garden update

OK, so here it is the end of June and my container garden has taken over the upstairs deck. I love it! I don't have anything that I can eat yet, but I feel by the end of the summer I am going to have more than enough tomatoes, cukes and peppers to do whatever canning I attempt :-) I am so excited about how well they are doing, and I am just praying that whatever I am doing keeps working. Actually, I must confess, all I am doing is watering the plants. I think that because they are in direct sunlight all day long is what really works for them, and being on an upstairs deck away from any pests...and woodchucks (we have a lovely family living next door) also helps :-)


My little herb experiment is working out quite nicely as well. I have plenty of basil, parsley, and cilantro. I end up picking the basil every couple days and then making paninis or this fresh tomato sauce: chopped tomatoes, garlic, basil, mushrooms, mozzarella cheese cubed, olive oil and salt. I like to heat it in the microwave a bit to get the cheese to melt some, and then I eat it plain. Matt puts it over his pasta, and it is sooooo good :-) I did make some guacamole the other day with our cilantro and I couldn't get over how amazing it smelled! I love the smell of freshly cut herbs!


So here are some pictures, they didn't come out great, but it gives you all an idea of how my container garden experiment is going :-)



my first green pepper!



Roma tomato plant...I think anyways...long and skinny looks like a roma to me :-)



My pepper plants being taken over by cucumbers. I didn't get the memo about spacing requirements for planting a garden :-/



All the herbs seemed to grow towards one side of the pot...and I thought I planted them in the middle...oh well, they still taste yummy!

Tomato plants

Some more tomato plants...I planted a lot of tomatoes :-)

My first cherry tomato, can you see it? It's like the size of a pea or something...

ramblings

It's amazing to me how much time goes by without me actually accomplishing anything. Does anyone else have this problem? It seems like I will just sort of go along with my day to day stuff, and forget to actually enjoy what is in front of me. I am one of those people that is always looking to the next goal, what will be accomplished next, how fast can I get there etc. Of course, I forget along the way to actually be in the now.

In college I had to do an outward bound type trip called La Vida. I spent 2 weeks kayaking through upstate New York. It was awesome, and challenging...and I hated most of it while I was there, mainly because it was 45 degrees and raining for 12 days straight...but, there was one important lesson to be learned: Be in the now. Don't continue to think about tomorrow because today could be your last.

Now that isn't a really uplifting thing to think about, today could be your last. But, I really do believe that you can take away that you should live everyday to the fullest. Make yourself happy, choose to enjoy your life. Don't let it just pass you by. I think that I need to start instilling those thoughts in my mind. Obviously I don't live in a bubble. I would like to look at the outside more. Enjoy God's creation. Realize all that I have in my life currently without being so dissatisfied with little things.

I have a home, a loving husband, a great job. There are so many blessings in my life, yet a lot of the time I can't see them. Instead I am bitter at ridiculous situations and make myself miserable in the process. Now what fun is that? How crazy is one to just let themselves be unhappy and in denial about all the good in their lives.

I guess I have been reading a lot of Job lately, so of course I think about these bizarre things. It is just interesting to think about how fast time flies past you, and how much you are able to accomplish one day at a time, enjoying every minute of it.

Job

I have been reading Job the past few days. What an inspiring book of the Bible. It's amazing to me that Job lost all of his riches, his children and ended up with nothing but boils on his skin, yet he was still praising God. I think that Job demonstrates a need to simplify our lives. He had nothing, and was sick, and still praised God. Why is it so hard for me to do the same?

I'm not asking for sickness, believe me I have had my fair share, but definitely getting rid of the "stuff" in my life should be easy. And I think that having less stuff equals more time to concentrate on God, and what he has in store for my life.

It is kind of funny, now that I am trying to reduce my impact on the earth, all the passages I read seem to speak to me on some level about reducing the things I have in my life, looking to God more, and spending more time reading the Bible, and just being content with less. It is great! I do feel more fulfilled, not as bogged down. I can't tell you how many times I watched the news when we were down in Mass and there was another murder in Dorchester...actually that was everyday. Now I don't even watch the Maine news, and I am happier for it.

I do still check in online to make sure I haven't missed some huge piece of news, but for the most part, I am better off not knowing all the troubles that are going on in the world. It makes for a happier, more peaceful existence, and that is definitely my goal right now.

I'm not sure if I wrote this yet or not, but Sara at Walk Slowly, Live Wildly is going on a trek around the country to make people more aware of being green. She and her husband are converting an RV to run on veggie oil. How cool is that?! She is extremely inspirational to me, although I just don't know if I could do all that she does! She is definitely simplifying her lifestyle, and I think we could all learn a little bit from her about what is important and what isn't.

I shall leave you with a quote from the book of Job:

Job 2:10a

"Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?"

One Local Summer Week 1

Yay! I did it! I made my first local meal...of course I guess I better start with what I consider local. I consider Maine local, as well as part of NH, and VT, well at least for this meal :-) My flour is from VT, but as of Sunday I have found a wonderful organic wheat flour that is milled in Maine, and for me, that works!

OK, so here goes :-) I grilled pork chops with some onion salt, garlic salt and pepper. I made a salad with fresh baby spinach, mesclun mix, peas, tomatoes, and some wonderful feta made from sheep's milk. And the biscuits I made myself also...first time! Yay! We were even able to have a lovely local beer from Gritty McDuff's.



Here is the breakdown:

organic pork chops - 15 miles
baby spinach - 2 miles
mesclun mix - 2 miles
peas - 37 miles
tomatoes - 52 miles
sheep's milk feta - 2 miles
flour for biscuits - 220 miles
milk for biscuits - 150 miles
butter - 45 miles
beer - 45 miles

non-local ingredients:

baking powder, salt, onion salt, garlic salt, pepper, olive oil, vinegar

Overall the entire meal was great! Matt really liked everything as well. And it wasn't even that hard, I guess I could have omitted the biscuits and had a completely 100 mile or less meal. But, I had the biscuits left over from strawberry shortcake we made last night, finally was able to pick up some fresh strawberries at the Farmer's Market and I had to take advantage. I can't wait to see what everyone else made. And next time I think I will clean off my kitchen table before taking a picture ;-) And some garnish perhaps?

Warm up OLS

OK, so I made a practice OLS meal...and I didn't use local onions. I couldn't wait to make it until this weekend AFTER I went to the Farmer's Market for some green onions, which I could have used in place of the onion I had from who knows where. But, everything else was local! Spinach from W. Gardiner, 3 miles away; butter from OOB, 50 miles away; Chicken from Monmouth, 13 miles away; Tomatoes...well they are from somewhere in Maine, and I count Maine as local. I was pretty happy with how it turned out...not so happy with the picture, but so is life I guess. Oh, spices and olive oil definitely not local, but since those are allowed, I think I did pretty well for my practice meal.






And I also made bread, which I already wrote about I think. I am very happy with how it tuned out. Mostly local, since the flour is from VT, butter from OOB, water from the tap. Yeast and brown sugar...not local. Not sure what I would sub for that either...may have to research that...oh and the oatmeal was not local either. I will get there eventually though!




That is about all for now. I am heading to the Farmer's Market in a little while, and hopefully will be able to find all kinds of good things for the week. Oh! And, I have my first pepper growing, it is about the size of a dime right now, but it's something! Now if I could just remember which type of pepper plant it was...yeah...definitely didn't keep those little description tags. Next year I guess ;-)

electric bill

It's amazing what turning off some lights will do! Matt and I got our electric bill for the month and it was 1/3 of what we actually budgeted! I can't believe it! That definitely makes me happy. We are really in the process of trying to cut as many bills down as possible. For me I thought electricity should be a good place to start, since it is summer and we aren't using the oil (except for the hot water.)

This entire past month I have been taking advantage of the fact that it is light out so early, and stays light so late. I rarely have been turning the lights on at all, and have been after Matt to keep them off as well. We also have been drying a lot of our stuff on a clothes rack, and when we use the dryer we haven't been using a heat setting, just air dry. Now, I don't know if that actually makes a difference, just using air dry instead of a heat setting, but it appears to be doing the trick.

We both have laptops, so I know they don't use quite the same amount of energy as a desktop. We also got rid of the cable, which has to save us some in electrical usage. No more TiVo, no more digital box, both plugged in constantly. Now, we haven't all together gotten rid of the TV, we have an antenna, in case there is something important on the news.

The next step is to start replacing the lightbulbs in the house with those CFL bulbs. They are expensive up front, but are supposed to save you money in the long run. Unfortunately we are going to have to buy one at a time, because we just can't afford to replace all the bulbs right off. Hopefully our cash flow will get a little better sooner rather than later. Anyways, I was just so excited about it!

In other news, I made oatmeal bread last night from scratch, not even using a bread machine! I have never made bread before, and I was so proud of myself. I would say about half the ingredients were local too, yay! Although we have already gone through an entire loaf...I may need to start making it every other day! Pictures to come soon!

craziness!

Apparently Liz over at pocketfarm.com has been bombarded with entries for One Local Summer! So she has actually had to shut down the registration. That is nuts to me. All of a sudden there are all these people that want to join! I think it is great :-) To know that so many people are willing to make the commitment to eat locally this summer, well for at least one dinner a week.

I am still nervous though. I love cooking and making fancy meals, but will they be pretty enough to take pictures of and post for all to see? And will I be able to find all the ingredients locally? That is a big one. Last night I was thinking about what my first meal could be, and I thought about this Israeli Spice Rub Chicken, that I absolutely love. Chicken local? Check! Tomatoes local? Check! Onion local? Nope...I don't even know when I can buy an onion in Maine. Apparently I have a lot to learn about when things are in season. So do I modify my recipe? No, the tomato salsa definitely needs the onion, but I can put it in the back of my mind for later in the year. And the tomatoes...well they are local "Backyard Beauties." But, they aren't *really* in season. Now I am kind of at a loss as to what I will make. I'm sure it will still be chicken of some sort...but what kind of chicken...and if I use tons of spices are people going to get mad? The stress! And about something like food?! Just breathe Heather...everything will be fine :-)

Another in season question, when the heck can I pick strawberries? My mom is going to show me how to make strawberry jam...so I need to make sure I have tons and tons of strawberries. It must be about time by now. I guess I will have to keep my eyes open for signs on the streets for Pick Your Own. I love my mom's strawberry jam, my brother and I used to take it out of the freezer and eat it by the spoonful when we were growing up, yum!

old soul

A friend of mine at work yesterday called me an old soul. I was surprised by that comment because to me I feel like my life is utter chaos and I am always going a mile a minute. Apparently I am a good actress :-) It got me to thinking though, what exactly is an "old soul?"

For me, I guess an old soul is someone who is always looking for those answers. What purpose does God have for my life? Why isn't it easier to figure out? And why is it that nothing seems to work out the way I plan? Well, that last one is easy. I think that if I consulted God more, before just deciding what was going to happen, I would be much better off. But, really, where is the fun in that?!

Before we started renovating the house, Matt (affectionately described as "the husband" previously) and I started going through "the Purpose Driven Life." We didn't make it that far into it, unfortunately the house was calling...even though there was that little contract at the beginning...nevertheless, we did not complete it. However, I feel like it was definitely working in our favor to go through that book. I plan to pick it up again soon and finish it.

So what is my purpose in life? I have been asking myself this since I was 15. I was in a horrible car accident when I was 15, and really should have been dead. But, I didn't die. In fact, I made it out of the hospital faster then the Dr.'s ever said I would. Why? Well obviously God has a specific purpose for me. And so for the past 11 years I have been waiting to find out what that purpose is. And , just as I was 11 years ago, I still have no clue.

I guess my purpose could be that I am to be a good steward to God's creation. I like that purpose, but is it the only one? Most likely not. So here I am again, sitting with many many questions, one of which is why my friend would see me as an old soul, wise beyond my years. I ask her, and she tells me that I know what I am doing, I am not searching, I already have a belief system.

That made me think. I guess to the non-Christian it may look like I know what is going on. Even though, there is always going to be searching, I already know that there is a God, and Jesus died for me. It really is amazing the perspective that some people can bring into your life. I really appreciate this friend, more than she realizes. She makes me think harder about the questions that I had answers to long ago. She makes me want to learn more so I can share it with her.

I still don't know my purpose, and have no idea if I ever will know what my purpose really is. Do we, as Christians, go through life not really knowing our purpose? And when we do get to heaven, will our purpose be revealed to us then? Sometimes I wonder if the way I lead my life is my purpose, and if that is the case, I need to reconsider many of the ways I lead it. And now I have even more questions then when I started. Funny how God works sometimes...

Proverbs 31

I have read a lot recently about a "Proverbs 31 Woman." I must say that I don't ever remember reading this passage in the Bible before. I'm sure at some point I had heard about this passage, and what it means, but I couldn't think of it when I heard about it recently. So, I turned to my trusty Bible, opened up to Proverbs 31, and here is what is written:

Proverbs 31

The words of King Lemuel, the utterance which his mother taught him:
What, my Son?
And what, son of my womb?
And what, son of my vows?
Do not give your strength to women,
Nor your ways to that which destroys kings.

It is not for kings, O Lemuel,
It is not for kings to drink wine,
Nor for princes intoxicating drink;
Lest they drink and forget the law,
And pervert the justice of all the afflicted.
Give strong drink to him who is perishing,
And wine to those who are bitter of heart.
Let him drink and forget his poverty,
And remember his misery no more.

Open your mouth for the speechless,
In the cause of all who are appointed to die.
Open your mouth, judge righteously,
And plead the case of the poor and needy.

Who can find a virtuous wife?
For her worth is far above rubies.
The heart of her husband safely trusts her;
So he will have no lack of gain.
She does him good and not evil
All the days of her life.
She seeks wool and flax,
And willingly works with her hands.
She is like the merchant ships,
She brings her food from afar.
She also rises while it is yet night,
And provides food for her household,
And a portion for her maidservants.
She considers a field and buys it;
From her profits she plants a vineyard.
She girds herself with strength,
And strengthens her arms.
She perceives that her merchandise is good,
And her lamp does not go out by night.
She stretches out her hands to the distaff,
And her hand holds the spindle.
She extends her hand to the poor,
Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.
She is not afraid of snow for her household,
For all her household is clothed with scarlet.
She makes tapestry for herself;
Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
Her husband is known in the gates,
When he sits among the elders of the land.
She makes linen garments and sells them,
And supplies sashes for the merchants.
Strength and honor are her clothing;
She shall rejoice in time to come.
She opens her mouth with wisdom,
And on her tongue is the law of kindness.
She watches over the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praises her:
"Many daughters have done well,
But you excel them all."
Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.
Give her of the fruit of her hands,
And let her own works praise her in the gates.


What a powerful message this is to all women. I think that it gives something to strive for. This is what I want to be. I want to be able to do all the things above. Whether or not I will ever achieve the title "Proverbs 31 Woman," I have no idea, but I have to at least try. Over the next few months I hope to look at each verse more closely, and figure out what it all means. I am excited for this study, and hope that others find it as interesting as I do.

Farmer's Market

So Saturday the husband and I went to 2 farmer's markets. It was a lot of fun to see what people had available, which isn't all that much unfortunately right now. I heard one of the ladies say that the vegetables have been really slow this year. I think it is the lack of rain, and the cold temps at night. Well, just my opinion anyways. Here is the run down of what we were able to pick up:

1 big bag baby spinach
1 big bag regular spinach
1 bunch of swiss chard
1 lb honey
1 jar strawberry rhubarb jam
a dozen free range eggs
a lb of boneless chicken breast
2 lbs of blade chops

So I think that we did quite well to tell you the truth. All of the above is organic, which makes me happy. The price of everything...well the produce was comparable to the regular grocery store, since I typically buy organic there. The meat...well that was a tad on the expensive side. And now I realize it makes much more sense for me to just buy the entire chicken, rather then chicken breast. Much cheaper per pound. I think that we will have plenty to have our "preparation week" for One Local Summer.

I also went to the regular grocery store and bought tons of baking stuff. I found some nice unbleached flour from VT, whether or not it is that good, well it is yet to be seen. I have a bunch of organic bananas in the freezer, so I plan to make some muffins. I also am planning on making some granola for the husband to take to work with him. Since he is in carpentry, he tends to eat A LOT of food :-) I am just trying to find ways for it to be a little more cost effective. Baking bread seems to be one of the ways, now if I can just find the time to bake the bread, that would be lovely.

homesteading

I would like to be a homesteader. Is that possible? I have no idea. I guess I just keep telling myself that I need to take baby steps. The husband and I have taken some gigantic leaps in the last year. We bought a nice 2 acre plot of land...then we bought a cute new car - a Toyota Yaris which gets 42 miles to the gallon, not quite a Prius, but also half as expensive. Then when my father in law broke his back, the husband and I decided to back off on our plans for taking out a ridiculous mortgage to build a home that wasn't even going to be our dream home. Then a house on the same street I grew up on went on the market...and here we are...in that home...in town...and on .22 acres of land. We still own the land, but now are getting a little nervous about how we can continue paying for all of this stuff when I would like to be at home after we have kids.

So this summer I started my own little "urban homestead" project. I decided to do some container gardening. Well container gardening took on a life of it's own. I have 12 tomato plants, a jalapeno plant, a red pepper plant, green pepper plant, 3 cuke plants, basil, cilantro, and parsley. It is kind of crazy to look at the steps going to the upstairs, and then the little deck up there, completely covered with pots of plants. I am hoping that I can get something from the tomato plants, and figured the more I plant, the better chance I have :-)

Now, I would really love to have goats. I used to be in 4-H when I was little and had goats at that time. They never lived at my house, but I went and took care of them everyday. I milked them and showed them at the Windsor Fair. It was a lot of fun. However, I don't think they will let you have goats in town anymore. So, I thought, well maybe we can get some chickens. I can get a few, enough for keeping us supplied with eggs. Nope, the town won't let you keep chickens either. I haven't figured out why yet, but I am sure they have some "good" reason.

That leaves me with just the gardening, which maybe a good thing at this point. I tend to jump in full throttle without really knowing what I am doing. I think my little container garden is a good start. And to satisfy my need for animals, I think that we will get a dog in the fall :-) My hope is that I can take a lot of the produce that I *hopefully* get from my plants, and learn how to can.

I love tomatoes. They are in just about every recipe that I make. I can't get enough of them. I always make huge pots of chili, or meat sauce, or veg sauce. I love to have it in my house. I love to make pico de gallo. I love salsa, and will put it on most everything. I like them in sandwiches and raw and in soup. So because of all this, and because of the ridiculous amount of money I spend on tomato products each week, I am hoping that I can can a lot of tomatoes. And I guess that if my plants don't produce enough fruit, I will hit up the farmer's markets and just buy as many as I can :-)

I am sure this post was all over the place, but that's where I am at right now with my little projects. I am hoping for big outcomes, but preparing for big losses :-) Now I just feel like I need to make a list of things that I am currently doing to cut my energy consumption, and what I would like to do down the road. Maybe that is later though, since I really can't think this early in the morning!

One Local Summer

Well, I guess I didn't even think about others finding my blog...but then I went and posted some links, and of course people can track links. You would think that I would think of things like that before I just put it all out there, but maybe it is better this way. It can be a way of keeping myself accountable.

Speaking of accountability, Liz left a comment to see if I would do One Local Summer. I can't really think of a good reason not to, to tell you the truth. Although I don't have nearly as much knowledge of local food as Liz, I have to be able to find one meal a week that is local. So I will do One Local Summer, and hope for the best.

Now, hopefully people won't view me as crazy and fanatical if they do happen upon my little blog. It is still in it's beginning stages, and like I said, I have so many thoughts going through my mind, I just can't keep up with at all. So, thank you again Liz for pulling me out of the woodwork :-) I will gladly do your One Local Summer, and hope to not fail miserably. Now off to post a comment on her site to really sign myself up :-)

gossip

I am a gossip. There I said it. I gossip and I thrive on it. It is the worst thing that I do deliberately. I talk about people. I like to know everything that is going on. I am able to contribute to mean discussions with ease. My tongue is that of Satan. And I don't know how to change it.

This morning while I was reading the Bible, I realized that I gossip a lot. That at work I am the first to jump on the "oh, what's going on?!" bandwagon. It is a horrible habit. I said to myself this morning, "self, today you will try very hard not to gossip." And what happens? I immediately ask what is going on with that person and who is saying what about whom. I think that part of my problem today was that I didn't consult God, I didn't ask him for the strength to NOT talk about people today.

My tongue is a horrible issue. I need to work on it a lot, and I need to be in constant prayer about changing my thoughts and my voice. I say that I am a Christian, but how am I showing it to the non-Christians that I work with? How am I showing God's love by instigating bad talk, and listening to it when I know I shouldn't be?

All mighty God in Heaven, thank you for your many blessings on my life, thank you for your patience with me as a lowly servant in this sinful world. Lord God, please help me to be a better Christian. Help me to not gossip. Heal my tongue from the awful words that come from within. And in turn heal my heart for this is the true root of evil that is coming from my tongue. Fill me with your spirit God, and enable me to be strong in such a sinful world.

changes

I have been looking at so many blogs lately, it is making my head spin. There are so many women out there doing what I would like to do, raise a family and be a homemaker. But, since I don't have any kids, I guess I really can't do that right now. But, these women seem to be fearless. They are strong in their convictions, strong in their relationship with God, and strong in their place in their homes. How amazing these women are, and how much I strive to be like them. Someday.

I would like to start reading my Bible more. Since we moved into the house I have been diligent to get up with the husband, he wakes up at 5am so he can leave for work at 6am, and read my Bible during the week. I feel like it isn't enough though. I sit and read, and just want to keep reading, only to realize that it is 6:30 and I have to start getting ready for work. I have gotten my morning routine down to about 25 minutes so that I can sit down again and read more of the Bible and meditate on the words. I want more though. I am hungry for more.

I decided a while back that I really wanted to read through the entire Bible. I haven't done it before, and I can't figure out why. I went to a Christian college, took Bible courses, but never managed to get through the entire thing. Well, I think that my main problem was the Old Testament. Especially Leveticus, Numbers, I & II Kings, I & II Chronicles. Most of the other books seem to be very easy. But, some of the names of people and the extensive rules are hard to swallow. I need to pray hard to get through those books. Well, luckily I have just finished I Chronicles, and tomorrow will begin II Chronicles.

It is awesome to be reading God's word everyday. I feel more alive, more at peace, and understand more of His message to me. It is amazing how peaceful that can be. At the same time, I am by no means doing a good job, and know that I can do so much more. I tend to read more then study the Bible, I don't memorize verses the way I should, and I don't pray like I should. Instead, I tend to have a somewhat pointless (on my part) tangent filled prayer life. I struggle between having a personal relationship with Jesus and giving God the glory he deserves. Maybe that sounds silly, but when I pray I tend to go off on tangents, and then catch myself thinking, why in the world would I bother God with that. But, at the same time, I do feel like I can talk to God about anything, and want to be able to talk to Him like a friend. Maybe I am doing fine.

So let's say the way I pray is fine. But what about the time I spend praying? Aren't we as Christians supposed to be constantly in prayer? That is not how I am at all. In fact, I find that I just don't pray, not because I don't want to, but because I don't think about it. It needs to be more prevelant in my life, it needs to be at the forefront of my thoughts. How is it that I can call myself a Christian when I am not in constant communication with my maker? These are all questions that I struggle with daily, and assume I will continue to struggle about.

Overall, I need to STUDY my Bible, not just read it, I need to be in CONSTANT PRAYER, and I need to praise and honor God through my actions...but how do I go about changing when I am such a sinful person?

the House

I have been trying to make little lists here and there about the stuff that we still need to do to finish the house. However, I don't think they are accurate. They sugar coat the amount of work that still needs to be done. Part of my reason for starting this blog was to help me stay accountable. And how can I stay accountable if I am lying to myself about what needs to be done? Not just with the house, but my attitude, my relationship with God, my relationship with food, ick. There is a lot that needs to be done...so cheers to my first list!

Downstairs:

Bedroom:
-quarter round around flooring
-patch around ceiling decoration (still little holes around the outside)
-put up crown moulding
-get a door, and hang it
-finish converting TV armoires to clothing armoires (why the heck don't they have old fashioned armoires for clothes anymore? Instead it seems they are all for TV's!)
-get fabric to make curtains for windows (ask mom how to make curtains)
-paint one more coat on the door trim, so the yucky blue color doesn't still show through
-put baseboard heater covers on

Bathroom:
-paint all trim and baseboards
-sand and paint weird gray door
-get another pole for a real shower curtain (not just the plastic one that keeps the water in the shower)
-build shelves so that we can get rid of the tall white bookcase (this is much later down the road)
-repair flooring that the delivery men ripped up when putting the washer and dryer in the bathroom

Entryway:
-paint trim and baseboards
-patch hole by door
-get a new door without a window in it, or paint the one we have and make a curtain for the window
-replace the locks on the doors (including upstairs entry and front door)
-build box for radiator so my little niece and nephew don't burn themselves
-build box for pipes that run heat to upstairs
-build pantry/coat closet

Kitchen:
-finish prep work for trim and wainscoting
-prime and paint said trim and wainscoting
-put up top trim pieces of window/2 doorways
-put baseboard heater covers on

Living Room:
-paint walls
-prime and paint trim and baseboards
-lay new flooring (currently only sub floor)
-put up crown moulding
-put baseboard heater covers on
-make curtains for windows
-get living room furniture
-get a wood stove (this is also way down the line, but something I would really like, oil is too expensive!)

Dining Room:
-finish prep work on ceiling
-finish priming ceiling
-paint ceiling
-prime and paint walls
-prime and paint built in bookcase/trim/baseboards
-lay new flooring (again only sub floor)
-put baseboard heater covers on
-make curtains
-get new door/hang new door for basement entry
-knock hole through dining room wall so that we can connect the upstairs and downstairs (house was a duplex...sort of)

OK, well I was going to write about the upstairs too, but as this post turned into a very very long list, I think little separation could be a good thing...for my sanity. Until next time then!

Lists

I love lists. I think that I make a list at least once a day, whether or not I stick to them. They help me to set my priorities, to figure out what needs to be done, to know if I have forgotten anything. Lists help me process, and that is why I love them. I can't figure out what type of writing will end up here. I think my blog title is more then forgiving for my soon to be constant ramblings on life, love, being green, eating locally, and living for God. I hope that these lists will help me with my journey, and if not, at least it will help with my stress level :-)

Lurking and such

I am a lurker. I go to other blogs religiously. I love to read all about their trials, what they are doing to simplify their lives, pretty much any and all information. I don't know why I never leave a comment. Well, that isn't true, sometimes when someone's blog has really touched me or shown me something I consider of great importance, I do comment, but usually in the form of an e-mail to the blog author.

I tend to be a private person. I am constantly living in fear that I will do or say the wrong thing on a public forum, and it will come to bite me later on. I guess the reason for that is because my tongue is sharper then a knife. I could probably cut one person down to nothing in five minutes. Now that is definitely not something to be proud of, and it is something that I need to desperately work on. That is for another post though.

I love the anonymity of lurking. I am able to go to a blog, read as much as I want and not have to answer to anyone, or tell anyone my opinion of the post. It really is wonderful. Plus, I have had the pleasure of reading some of the most spiritually uplifting blogs as of late, that I feel I need to share my lurking with other readers, not that I have any readers, but someday I may :-) So in no particular order:

Pocket Farm

That's Swell

Carla's Country Living

I hope to be able to have Liz's prowess over a garden, Megan's wits regarding making and keeping a budget, and Carla's intentional living for God, as well as all three's wonderful strides towards living a much simpler and greener existence.

The Beginning

Wow, I have done it, I have gone and created yet ANOTHER blog. Blogger and I have been good friends now since our introduction in 2000. Of course, I have deleted most of my old blogs, blame it on my youth I guess :-)

Let's start with an introduction, shall we? My name is Heather, I am 26 and am married to the most wonderful man in the world, we will just call him husband until I get his permission to actually use his name here :-) I am an accountant and love it. We just bought a house, and are in the process of remodeling it...and it is taking a very long time. During all of the hoopla I got to thinking more about where my food comes from, why I, as a Christian, am not doing all I possibly can to preserve the wonderful creation that our God has given us, and just thinking in general about how I can simplify my life.

I guess it all started way back when I was still in college, can I say way back? Sometimes I feel like it has been forever since I was in college, but I'm not that old! Let's say that I love TV, and especially reality TV. Well, one day, while I am in my apartment and flipping through the channels, I come to PBS. Now, just an aside (one of many I'm sure), I really enjoy the programming on PBS. It is always educational, and considering the amount of TV I used to watch, a little education now and again is a good thing :-). OK, so I come to a show called "Frontier House." It is about 3 families who travel back in time, not literally, to the 1880's when people were going out west to stake their claim on a nice chunk of land. It was interesting to see people from present day America travel to this completely foreign idea of living. It was awesome to see people baking and taking care of the animals, and living in such a natural way. Of course, when the show came to a close, I went back to my accounting classes, going out to eat every other day, buying whatever electronics I could get my hands on, and generally not conserving anything. I didn't even attempt recycling. I was completely at odds with the world, and could have cared less.

Now, let's fast forward here to February, 2007. The husband and I are in the process of remodeling...extensively. We are eating frozen meals just about everyday, which totally sucks since I LOVE TO COOK. I mean obsessively love cooking. There had been a bunch of recalls recently on food, baby spinach, cat and dog food, salmonella in peanut butter. Then there was one that didn't get as much attention, which I thought it should, Earth's Best Organic Baby Food. Apparently the baby food may have been contaminated and contain Clostridium botulinum which can cause botulism. Are you kidding me?! Even ORGANIC food was dangerous. OK, so that is not usually the case, but it still freaked me out.

When all of this happened I started researching like crazy. People at work call me the google queen, although I do use blackle.com now because it is supposed to use less energy due to the black screen. I found out that each ingredient in my meals traveled an average of 1200 miles to get to my plate. Then I found out that amazingly enough I had a local AND organic farm just 2 miles down the road from where I live, and a local AND organic meat farm just a couple miles from where I work. Amazing what information the internet provides someone.

Now I am starting this journey of self discovery. I am trying to be closer to my creator and also making my home healthier for my husband and me. There are so many things that I want to do, but I don't even know where to begin. I find that writing helps me find the path. I guess it maybe some type of prayer to God, and listening to Him. I hope that I can make the changes that I so desperately want to make...but as I continue to research and make goals, I realize I can only take baby steps. Welcome to my journey.