Destash

Green Love Giveaway!

Follow the link below to enter a drawing for some organic bath products! Great quality, good packaging...they'd make a great gift for a special someone or even to spoil yourself :)

http://greenlovestore.blogspot.com/

Been Farming...

It's that time of year where I get to go up to Baese Organics and do some farming...here are a few pictures of the work that's been going on...

"Family Bonding"-Sorting cows

"Where's the Cattle Prod?!"-to use on my brother Will


"Lots-O-Dirt"-after an evening of disking

Not an April Fools joke

I'm planning to run a 5K at the end of June. It'll be the first race I've ever run, not including any I may have run for high school gym, so it should be an interesting experience. I've got plenty of time to gear up for it and I'm quite excited to make it happen.

Wish me luck!

Without further delay...

Sometimes life just gets away from you and it's made me beyond late for announcing the winner of the drawing. So, I've decided to give away two aprons and another little surprise will be sent out with them for the winners.

And the winners are...

#10: Bekah
and
#15: thelittlegreenhouse

If you two could email me your addresses I will get the prizes mailed out to you!

Thank you to all who participated, I found a few new fun websites to visit :)

Apron Drawing Extension

I'm extending the apron drawing to Wednesday night. I'll have my niece choose a name and an apron and I'll post the winner by Friday morning.

Apron Giveaway!

I have this habit, maybe a little OCD, with my sewing...I'll cut out a bunch of one thing, ie. aprons, burp cloths, quilt squares, and then they'll sit in a bag for several months until I go on a sewing spree. I just finished up a bunch of aprons and don't know what I'm going to do with them yet so I figured I'd start out by giving one away. This is a random give away, what the apron will look like will be a surprise.

To enter just share with me your current favorite website. I'll leave this open for a week, maybe longer if there doesn't seem to be much response. Good luck!

Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price-Movie Recomendation

Have you seen this movie?! I was just lucky to catch it one morning while I was at work and it just awed me! I know that most big box stores have similar overseas factory practices so even though that part was horrible it didn't hit me quite as hard...though the thought that Wal-Mart most likely added the most fuel to the fire to keep those conditions so bad because of their demand for such low prices really does bother me. But I really was appalled at the way they treat the workers in their stores, how they don't allow full time and decent benefits, etc. Beyond that I am also very surprised at how much money towns/cities will give to Wal-Mart to open a store in their community...in some cases millions of dollars to come in and essentially shut down all of the locally owned businesses because of the "cheap" goods Wal-Mart sells. One would think that these towns and cities could find much better things to do with that money. The end did give me hope though because they showed places that the community stood up and said no, they wouldn't put up with a Wal-Mart there and actually stopped it from going through. It's amazing what a few people, compared to a giant like Wal-Mart, can do!

I don't know that I can ever step foot in a Wal-Mart again, it honestly sickened me that much. I'm also having a hard time going into any big box store now because I know that, if nothing else, they probably have at least some of the same overseas factory situations. I have been thinking about ways to save more money and this movie might have just done the trick for me!

I'm not looking for a fight, I do know some people have seriously considered all of their options-buying less, etc.-but may not have any other choice to shop there...if it is someone's last hope I don't begrudge them that. I just hope that the people that do have a choice and choose to shop there will maybe check out this movie and searously consider what they are putting their money into. I also wanted to see if anyone else had seen the movie and was moved as much as I am as well as recomend it to anyone else that hasn't seen it.

Here's a link to the website for more information: http://www.walmartmovie.com/

More down...

I've lost 5 more pounds! Happy, happy, joy, joy!

Baese's Harvest Party-Bonfire and Hayride

When: October 4, 2008
Time: 5pm-Whenever
Where: The Baese Farm

Hotdogs and drinks provided-bring a dish to pass-BYOB

If you have any questions, need directions just message me!

It's Almost Fall!

Whew! It's been awhile... Work has been keeping me fairly busy and with the kids back to school it's made things a little more interesting. I've been here and there between work, Christine's place and The Farm. I feel a bit like a nomad and it's starting to get a little old.

Facebook has been keeping me quite busy for the last few days as I've found and been found by some old friends. It's been fun catching up with them and seeing where life has taken them.

Working on plans for the girls weekend in Chicago in November. We're considering staying at the hostel downtown, if anyone has any experience staying there please share. The girls want to have dinner at The Village at Italian Village Restaurants again. We had such a good time their on our trip last year. Next week I'll post some photos from that trip.

Blessings!

Some Pictures

The Big 3-0!

It's my birthday! It's my birthday! Woo hoo!

I've been asked a few times if I feel 30 or is it hard to be turning 30 but really it's not been a big deal for me. I did have a little bit of an issue, a 1/4 life crisis I suppose, when I turned 25 but this year just isn't setting anything off. I feel like I just don't have anything to prove right now. I feel comfortable with myself and where I'm at in my life. Life changes and I just don't mind that, I've always been kind of a go with the flow person and it's just being enhanced the older I get. Oh, don't get me wrong, there are still things that bother me or that I let get me down more than necessary but that's a part of life too. I just don't seem to hang on to them as much and have been figuring out how to not sweat the small stuff.
So, thank you to everyone that has wished me well! And if you've got a moment tell me at what age, if any, you stressed out about the number and if you've gotten beyond that share a pearl of wisdom, or 2 or 3, that you've learned.

Business Plan

Well, I've decided to write up a business plan for the hardware even though it's not likely to happen. Just so that I can say I've done it and tryed something new.

If anyone's got any tips on writing a business plan I'm open to reading them.

Pipe Dream

I've got a pipe dream...I'd like to buy the hardware store in my "hometown" and move back up there to run it. I have a sister that would be able to help me out on the business end and a friend that would be able to help out with knowledge of a hardware so that'd be all set. What makes it a pipe dream? I'd never be able to afford it unless I won the lottery or some ailing relative decided to will me their large estate...lol I have always thought it would be neat to own some kind of store and in a small town like that it could be quite interesting too. I would condense the store down to be more like what it used to be and use the extra space for a community kitchen where people could come in and do their canning or cook/bake something they'd sell at a store or farmers market. It would be so fun and I love the idea of being able to help the people in the community like that. So if anyone finds it within themselves to fund my pipe dream just email me ;)

What's your pipe dream? You know, that thing that you'd love to do but unless a miracle happened or you all of a sudden came into a massive amount of money it isn't likely to happen.

Changes...

Well, the weather is one very noticeable change! Went from quite a chilly spring to a hot and humid one. There've been some thunder storms blowing through and the sky has got that haze that just screams moisture in the air. I do enjoy it being warm because it's nicer to swim then and I love to swim!

I'm a little slow on updating with what's been happening but a big update is my new niece is here! Her name is Clarissa and she's a darling, aren't most babies ;)


Here's me with the little cutie!

Arlexis is quite taken with her, especially since she's a girl, and that's fun to watch. Clarissa hasn't spit up on her yet though so we'll see what happens then because it's bound to happen one of these days. She's just over two weeks old and it's quite amazing how much she's changed already!

No big plans for the summer. I've got the last two weeks of this month off because th nanny family are going on vacation and I'm hoping to fill in some of that time by going up north and some with babysitting to earn some extra money.

I have been looking into going to massage school. There is a very good one down here and I think having something like that would really help to solidify where I'm headed with life. I think after I got through with that I might be able to move back north and get training to be a doula which would add another dimension to my skills. We'll see...

Blessings!

Muffins

I've decided I'd like to do more cooking/baking so I can work on getting more of the whole grains and other goodness I need to be more healthy. This weekend I made up these very tasty muffins and figured I'd share the recipe so that you all could enjoy the healthy, yummy goodness for yourselves. I made these with spelt flour, both the regular and whole grain, and I made two batches using the buttermilk for one and the yougurt (fat free vanilla) for the other-I think the buttermilk is a little more smooth but really they both taste great. I think that this could easily be adapted using another kind of fruit instead of apples so you can use whatever you've got fresh at the time. Enjoy!

whole wheat apple muffins
(adapted from king arthur flour)
1 cup (4 ounces) whole wheat flour
1 cup (4 1/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup (8 ounces) buttermilk or yogurt
2 large apples, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped
Preheat the oven to 450°F. Grease and flour an 18 cup muffin tin and set aside.
Mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, and set aside. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and add the granulated sugar and 1/4 cup of the brown sugar. Beat until fluffy. Add the egg and mix well; stop once to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Mix in the buttermilk gently (If you over-mix, the buttermilk will cause the mixture to curdle.) Stir in the dry ingredients and fold in the apple chunks.
Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, sprinkling the remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar on top. Bake for 10 minutes, turn the heat down to 400°F, and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool the muffins for 5 minutes in the tin, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Auntie

Well, I'm going to be an auntie again before too long here. Will and Renee, who were married last July, will be having their baby soon. The due date is May 13, at her appointment last week the doctor told her she was looking good and could go at anytime.

Arlexis had some misgivings about welcoming her new cousin when she first found out that they were having a baby but I think she has settled in and will do just fine with him/her. I can see how she would struggle a little with having a new baby around since she is an only child and has been the only niece/grandchild on our side of the family for almost 13 years. I think it helps that I live down here near her, though with grandma and grandpa living so much closer to the baby she might still feel a bit bummed about sharing them.

Will and Renee decided not to find out what they were having so there have been all sorts of predictions. Renee thinks she's having a girl but my mom and I think she's having a boy...Arlexis was hoping for a girl but I think she doesn't care so much anymore. Based on the Chinese Zodiac she is having a boy and they tried the pin on the string thing a couple of weeks ago and once it was a girl and once it was a boy. So we're all still waiting to find out what it'll be...lol

Some Pictures...

I've been uploading a back log of pictures and wanted to share some of them...

Arlexis after she had her hair chopped off

Renee, Will and their first baby Dixie

Arlexis with her cousin Dixie

Me and Mom working on the farm

On our road trip in Kentucky