Cereal 4 Supper

Square Foot Garden (take 2)

jnanevans — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 16:30:05 +0000

We tried a raised garden last year, and it failed miserably. We got a few sad carrots, some basil, and a little bit of lettuce.

So……..

we are going to try again this year.

I moved the bed to another location on the other side of the porch that I think gets more sunlight. I also followed the directions in Square Foot Gardening for the soil mixture to see if that makes a difference.

Last night the boys and I planted: cherry tomatoes, regular tomatoes, basil, oregano, a few flowers, beans, carrots, beets, two kinds of lettuce, and strawberries.

Habit #1

jnanevans — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 03:56:15 +0000

Ok. As I wrote earlier, there are all kinds of habits I would like to embrace, so I just picked one that I thought would have impact on several areas in my life.

Declutter for five minutes each day

I have been doing it for a week now and so far so good. In no particular order–large and small projects:

~~sun room~~
~~living room bookcase~~
~~kitchen top cabinets~~
~~kitchen base cabinets~~
~~countertops~~
~~junk drawer~~
~~key basket~~
linen closet
toys
hall bath closet
closet
~~tops of dressers~~
~~nightstands~~
~~fireplace bookshelves~~
~~boys clothes~~
~~dresser~~
~~basement countertop~~
~~spare room closet~~
office
basement bookshelves
desk
~~kitchen utensil drawer~~

2012 Habits

jnanevans — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 14:35:26 +0000

I have been influenced lately by the blog Zen Habits, especially by recent posts about decluttering and about relinquishing the perceived need to establish goals.

This post puts forth the idea that setting goals is basically fruitless; whereas, the creation of habits focuses on enjoying the process. The author offers four practices that helped him: get up early, over commit, talk to strangers, and practice generosity.

Like many people, last year, I made a list of things I wanted to accomplish during the year. This year I’m going to focus on making space in my life and creating habits in the following areas:

Finances
Household
Healthy Eating
Exercising
Career/Hobby
Spirituality/Relationships

So…..if I am thinking about this correctly, a goal would be: lose ten pounds; exercising on a regular basis would be the habit.

For me, I have so many things that I want to accomplish. It is often difficult to stay focused. I want to sew more, travel more, blog more. These are all things I love and want more of in my life. I want to declutter the house, exercise on a regular basis, build stronger friendships, study the Bible, eat healthier, and stay on top of our finances.

The key, as outlined in this post, is to tackle one habit at a time, start small, and do something you enjoy.

What habit should I start first?

Book Giveaway

jnanevans — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 13:44:31 +0000

I dropped off two boxes of books yesterday at the used bookstore Blue Plate Books. I have been meaning for years to stop by this store and finally made it, and I can’t believe what a gem I have been missing–super nice owner, clean, well organized store.

With the exception of buying books for the kids, I have definitely moved away from purchasing books in recent years, favoring the library. For Christmas, I bought E several early readers. I wish I had visited Blue Plate Books where I could have gotten virtually new books for a third of the price.

The owner took about half of the books, paying me $18.00. Not a huge amount of money but more than what they were doing for me on the shelf. The other half he will take to the library for its large book sale.

Most of the books were my college books from English literature and history. It was hard giving them away. Those books symbolize a happy time in my life and activities that I don’t do much of anymore (reading literature and intellectual conversation). I loved going to class and learning. As corny as it sounds though, I felt like it was time though to let the books back into the world, so they could bring someone else joy, leaving space on those shelves for something new in my life.

Toys Galore!

jnanevans — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 02:39:51 +0000

The toys in the house had taken over and were just a mess. Parts to toys were spread all over in different rooms of the house, and it was all overwhelming for me and the boys. Over the last few days I tackled the issue, and it was much larger of a project than I first thought!

To start with I drug all of the toys from every place in the house and put them in one place in the basement.

Then I:

threw away all of the broken toys
pulled out all of the baby toys they had outgrown
grouped all of the like items together
reunited the pieces of toys with each other

After I got all of that accomplished, I filled one bin of toys and put it in the storage room to be swapped out in a few weeks with the toys that are out now. I moved a selection of toys into their room for easy access. Selection being the operative word there as I really limited what was out at one time. I threw away one whole bag of trash and broken toys and donated one box of toys to my sister for the families with whom she works. We had a huge number of trucks and other play vehicles, so I picked out a few of their favorites and put the rest in the large toy box for cycling in and out different items.

I’m excited about the improvement and hope that I can maintain it. The trick will be to keep the toys fresh by shifting them in and out of service rather than having everything out all at once. I also invested in some higher quality handmade toys from Etsy for Christmas which can replace some of the boys’ existing things.

BEFORE

AFTER

What a day!

jnanevans — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 02:46:24 +0000

L and I left the house this morning at 10:30 and didn’t get back until 5:30. We dropped some items off at the thrift store and then Wear It Again Kid consignment shop. They had tagged some of the clothes from an earlier drop off, and it was weird to see our items hanging on the clothes racks. I consigned the crib set as well as the baby sling and the winter car seat cover–hard to let go of that stuff even though I know we don’t want to have anymore kids. There was so much time and energy in selecting just the right items and lovingly caring for them and the baby.

L was quite a trooper today as we made our way around various shops. The real quicker though was when I got home and realized that one of the bags was missing. We headed back to the mall, and thankfully a gentleman had returned it to the store. Yeah!

I did a ton of online shopping this year–probably about half of everything. I LOVE Etsy. I got so many great handmade items from there. Can’t wait to get them an hope they are as good as I think they will be. Handmade wooden bowling pins–a hand stamped silver necklace–wooden sorting bowl and balls–handmade journal with deer stamped on the cover–storytelling telling dice and journal–all kinds of things!

With a few exceptions most shopping is complete although I do need to order the cards. Awesome!

SP Purification–Day 21

jnanevans — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 04:50:47 +0000

Well, I made it, but just barely. I fell apart on the last day since it was our family’s Thanksgiving meal in the evening. Actually, falling apart really isn’t quite strong enough. I totally bombed–cranberry sauce with sugar, corn pudding, pecan and pumpkin pie with whipped cream. Ah, the dairy and sugar galore! Today, I was just as bad–Halloween candy, ham, mashed potatoes, and other kinds of formerly forbidden foods.

SP Purification-Days 15-18

jnanevans — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 01:08:19 +0000

Not much to report. Feel about the same. No weight loss. Ready for it to be over and looking forward to eating eggs again.

SP Purification-Days 13 and 14

jnanevans — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 01:30:54 +0000

Well, week 2 is drawing toward a close. I never thought of myself as much of a carnivore, but I sure am glad to have a little bit of meat with a meal now.

I made a delicious ratatouille last night, and I did find that quite filling. I still really miss eggs. I made scrambled eggs for the kids and it was all that I could do to not take a bite.

Another week to go….not quite sure what I am going to do after that.

SP Purification-Day 12

jnanevans — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 02:21:26 +0000

Chicken has never tasted so good.

Started off the day in a bit of a rush, so I forgot to take my supplements. I still must not be packing enough to eat for lunch and snacks because I was super hungry today. There only so many carrots a girl can eat.

I had a delicious supper though–small piece of grilled chicken, fresh green beans, and grilled portobello mushrooms–yum. Finished it off with a pear, banana, nutmeg smoothie. It is a totally different mindset to think of the meal as vegetables with a side of meat rather than the protein being the centerpiece.

Feeling good this evening. Not as tired as I usually am this time of day. Could be the chiropractic adjustment today as well.