Power of your Mind...

The day has come...Friday. I love this day, not only means the weekend is here but that my husband is coming home. When we fell into this schedule, I'm not really sure...seems like months ago. I don't really mind Lance being out of town so much. It does gets old being a "single mom" of three sometimes. But, I have also found more time to do the things I enjoy, from painting to taking the tap class that I have missed for years. I have also found more time to read, devouring the books that have been waiting for me. (I need to get in gear on my knitting too...Christmas is right around the corner!)

One of the books I enjoy is The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. I had listened to this as an audio and loved it instantly. Falls into place in many ways. For instance, I had been thinking about how to change my career. Wanting to be more creative in my daily work. My husband and I had been discussing this quite a bit, as he knows I am ready for a change. Not too long after I had been really thinking it over and how to take the first step, my chiropractor called. He knew from all my adjustments that I worked texture and loved to faux paint. From that phone call and texture/paint job I have many people asking for my work!
I believe in the law of attraction and encourage everyone who is not aware of this concept to read up on it. The idea has been around for centuries and the law is forever working.
I don't want to seem like some pushy know-it-all. I do want to share what I deem as profound and at the same time, so simple. So many teachers of the past have been aware of the law of attraction and have tried to share it. Of course, like many things, you don't see what is right in front of you until you ready.
I have found these words to be inspiring and would like to share them with you...

"All that we are is a result of what we have thought" -Buddha

"The predominate thought or the mental attitude is the magnet, and the law is that like attracts like, consequently, the mental attitude will invariably attract such conditions as correspond to its nature"

"The real secret of power is consciousness of power"

"The vibrations of mental forces are the finest and consequently the most powerful in existence" -Charles Haanel (1866-1949)

"Every thought of yours is a real thing - a force" -Prentice Mulford (1834-1891)

"The secret is the answer to all that has been, all that is, and all that will ever be" -Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, either way you are right." -Henry Ford (1863-1947)

"Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions." -Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

"We all possess more power and greater possibilities than we realize, and visualizing is one of the greatest of these powers."-Genevieve Behrend

"If you have any lack, if you are prey to poverty or disease, it is because you do not believe or do not understand the power that is yours. It is not a question of the Universal giving to you. It offers everything to everyone -there is no partiality." -Robert Collier (1885-1950)

I am going to end this post with another quote from Robert Collier. I hope I have inspired you to take charge of your life, at the very least -look into your thoughts with a keener eye.

"The essence of this law is that you must think abundance, feel abundance, believe abundance. Let no thought of limitation enter you mind." -Robert Collier


Image from web, Reminds me that everything is in constant balance.

There is a better Choice

Lunapads...What are they you ask. I am surprised at how many people are not aware of this choice. We're talking menstrual cycles here...

Like recycling bottles and newspapers, washing Lunapads or rinsing out the DivaCup is a little more work than throwing away your used pads and tampons. But with over 14 billion pads, tampons and applicators going into North American landfills every year, it’s a small but important way of taking personal responsibility for a massive environmental problem.It may sound strange if you’re new to the idea, but after using your new natural menstrual products over time, they start to feel like old friends. There is something very gentle, intimate and comforting about using them every month. After a while, the idea of going to a drugstore to buy pads or tampons seems like an unimaginable waste of time and money, when you could just be spending time taking care of yourself instead.

Info found at Lunapads.com

My Tofu Dog...

I made my first dish with tofu last night. VERY YUMMY! My kids even liked it, which is saying a lot! I figured any recipe with ginger, fresh lime, curry paste and lots of colorful veggies had to be a winner...and I was right. As we were cleaning up, I gave Rogue a taste of plain tofu...he loved it! Need to read up on this as I am not sure about tofu in his diet, but hey...little bit can't hurt...Crazy Tofu Dog!

More Sonja Lily...

Just too cute to keep to myself! Olivia Sunflower and her new baby sister, Sonja Lily. Love their names...

Photos from their Mama

Small Steps...

Another small step in our world of reducing: Ice, I am a sucker for ready made ice. With our goal of less plastic, out it goes. Back to those plastic, refillable ice cube trays. Doesn't it seem ironic that we are replacing plastic with plastic? I thought so too. I take comfort in knowing that the trays are reusable. I have glanced at other types, but that is not reducing. Yes...this is small, but it is a plastic bag that I am not purchasing anymore. Saving in more ways than one.

Box Canyon...

Ya...Lance won, we went to Box Canyon. Glad we did, it is always beautiful. A lot of people in this area probably have no idea it is there. I would not want to be caught wandering around at night in the desert, you just might fall in and never know what hit you...It basically looks like nothing is there -until you are right up on the canyon rim. Crystal-clear water bubbles up and flows down the canyon, making an unexpected 20-foot waterfall as it weaves it's way to the river. An amazing 180,000 gallons of water per minute pour into the Snake River, ranking it as the 11th largest spring in North America. Very Cool!

What's up with the last picture you ask...Well, when the girls fight with each other, they get to hold hands. Works like a dream. Although I never had any sisters, I think I will get enough of the "sister fights" through my own daughters.


Reply to previous comment made by Crunchy: The "Kramer" is a classic. When I found him on Art.com, I just had to have him. I call it my comic relief for the day. Any time I walk by him, I smile...how can you not?! (at this time, he hangs in my laundry/dog room)

August 23rd...

Happy Birthday Lance! In keeping our pledge to not eat beef, I made a yummy birthday dinner of baked salmon, cornbread pudding, grilled portabella mushrooms and eggplant. Of course we had Lance's favorite cake, German Chocolate. Love you Lance, perhaps I won't trade in for a newer model after all...Ha Ha Ha

Notice Roxie not in the picture? She zonked out before we had dinner, missing the whole darn thing. Bummer.

Yes, we are BIG Mets fans...M E T S go Mets!!!

Let The Sun Shine...

Let the sun shine down on me...and my new clothes line! I love it! Thank you Danny...

Progress...

Demolishing an old bathroom is a messy job...

Lunapads

Need I say more?
Check where you are on this issue, and then think again. I did and I'm so happy to change my ways. It's all about your choices.
OK, I did say more...

Dragonfly...

The girls have been taking turns camping with Mimi this summer. Just them and Mimi (Grandma). This week it was Roxie's turn. Man, I missed my baby! (yes...she is 3) While camping, Roxie found this injured dragonfly and brought it home. I was thinking her first show-and-tell item, Lance thought differently. You see, it was still alive and Lance said it should die with dignity. My heartbroken Roxie watched as he put it on a branch to die. "Wait for him to die and then you can have him" was of no consolation to my three year old. Oh, the woes of being three...

Yep, you read right...Lance is home!!! He came home a day early...We were all so excited to see our man Lance. Looking forward to our long weekend together. I am wanting to go to the City of Rocks, Lance wants to go to Box Canyon. I mentioned Yellowstone for a quick trip (thanks to Crunchy's previous post for this idea)

Lance says, "Yah- into the fires"
Then I reply, "Firemen!"
Lance says, "Should have seen that coming"

What does he expect? He started this fascination with those fine firemen. Good to have him home, my family is whole again and I can breathe easier.

NovaCrasher...

These guys always make me smile. Life is fun...Now get up and dance! (you know you want to)

How About More...

How about more great reducing. Our laundry soap has been replaced with Maggie's Soap Nuts. I think there is a lot to be said for this product. Read on and learn more great uses...

Maggie’s Soap Nuts liquid is great concentrated cleaner. Use it for washing humans and pets, fruit and vegetables, spot treating laundry, hand washing delicates, cleaning kitchens and bathrooms, washing cars and plants, repelling pests, cleaning jewelry, even sparkling windows.
Go to maggiespureland.com for more on this fantastic find.

Not only are we using a very Earth friendly product, we are reducing our plastic and not supporting those large companies that keep polluting our world. Win Win scenario if you ask me.

Plastic? No Thank You...

Finding more ways to say good-bye to plastic. I recycle our fabric softener bottles, but in our effort to reduce, the most important of the three "R"s, it is out of my shopping cart for good.

"Fabric softener: How I love thee...Let me count the ways...You make my laundry lavender fresh and "Oh so soft" off the line. I bid you fare well. I will miss you and your smelly goodness. (But the feeling I get from knowing I am doing my part will forever outnumber you!)"

How about another? Has anyone ever used "Maggie's Soap Nuts"? I like the fact that it does not involve a large plastic container and it is a natural way to keep clean, in more ways than one! Found at betterlifegoods.com

One 10.5 oz. box of Maggie's Soap Nuts, a 100% natural laundry soap that grows on trees. Contains enough nuts for 35 - 50 loads of laundry and includes a cotton bag to hold them in the wash. Sustainably harvested from India and Indonesia using no chemicals or pesticides. Soap nuts are environmentally friendly and contain absolutely no synthetic chemicals, fragrances or fillers. Made purely by nature. Replaces all laundry soaps and fabric softeners.

Yet another. I pack my kid's school lunches. Can you imagine the amount of sandwich plastic bags two kids run through during a school year? Not anymore, not in my house. I bought some cute little sandwich containers to reuse and reuse and reuse.


Good luck in your search for a plastic-free life. There is plastic all around you, how will you choose?

Power Tools are Empowering!

Yah...that's me with the saw! The amount of confidence that comes with using a big power tool can never be known -until you do it...it's fantastic! I may be silly, but I don't really care!!!

We have been super busy this weekend. Took a break from the master bath, trying to get a few projects done before Lance comes home. Actually, these are Lance's projects. It's all a big surprise!
Danny and I worked on the "too short of fence" dog kennel all day yesterday. (Bailee can jump 3-4 feet without even thinking about it) I am proud to say, I cut the pickets to size and screwed them all in myself! You can see we left the shorter fence in front and put the taller pickets inside the kennel. We also left large spaces between the pickets so the dogs can see out when my daycare kids are around. Bailee will not be teaching Rogue to jump/climb the fence anymore (Rogue hasn't tried yet). Plus, when Rogue is 100 plus pounds, the fence will be much stronger to withstand his heft.
Danny also put my new clothesline posts in the ground, just waiting for the cement to dry to finish it up. Until now, my clothesline was strung up from the deck post to the swing set, not too great on the swing set.
That's what our weekend is about, looking forward to Lance coming home and doing chores -pretty much sums it up.

Ausha took the picture of me with the saw, the last picture is inside the dog kennel. I wouldn't even try it Bailee! (We call her Houdini)

Happenings...

Rogue is getting over the bug (Giardia -yep, dogs can get it too) he picked up on our camp trip. He is so big for a 17 week old, big and clumsy...

Roxie Shea talking to her Daddy. She is having a hard time of it this week. Lance is working ten days in WY so he can have four off. (the four days off fall on my extra days off) I would love to go hiking at the City of Rocks. I haven't been there in years. Guess I'll just have to wait and see what the Bday boy (Lance) wants to do...

More bathroom demolishing! Good-bye old, gross shower stall! Gotta make way for my new slate, double shower...

Another thought...I use canvas bags at the grocery store, have for a while. But what about the little veggie bags? In trying to rid our lives of extra plastic, I am putting all my veggies and such into one canvas bag. These seem like such small worries. But when you start to shift your perspective, it's not just about polluting with plastic. You see a bigger picture, always looking for another way to reduce our footprint...My next step, limiting our meat intake -this is going to be a hard one for us. I am checking into "Quorn". Seems like a pretty cool product.

A bit of info I found on quorn.com
You can depend on Quorn products to always be meat-free and soy-free. There are believed to be over 600,000 varieties of fungi in the world, some of which are the most sought after foods like varieties of mushrooms, truffles and morels. The principle ingredient in all Quorn products is mycoprotein (“myco” is Greek for “fungi”). The mycoprotein comes from Fusarium venenatum, which was originally discovered growing in a field in Buckinghamshire, England. In the late 1960s, initial product development began, soon recognizing mycoprotein’s potential as an efficient and nutritious protein source.

Plant Your Seeds...

"Your life is a fertile field in which you can plant any seeds you wish, creating a harvest of your own design" -Living Wabi Sabi

Ya...So Anyways...

Ya...so anyways, after posting my last post -I figured I had better be more honest with ya all. It's not all beer smelling around here. We started our master bath project last night. I should say Danny started it. I don't really jump into the scene, without my camera that is, until it is time for me to tape, texture and paint. Danny is the man on the job. (for those who do not know -Danny is my cousin) He is helping us to flip our house for a nice profit (fingers crossed). With his help we WILL obtain our goal: building a straw bale home. This goal includes teaching our children, and ourselves, how to live on the earth without leaving such a large footprint. Our children are our future and our hope. Education is key. A few years ago, my girls were fighting with each other and I asked them both to tell me what they were thankful for. They start naming off the obvious...Mom, Dad, each other and so forth. Then one of them stated "Thank you Fred Meyer for my food" I'll tell you- it hit home pretty hard. Lance and I had had our goal of more wholesome living for a while, but when you hear things like this from your children -it makes it feel so urgent. EXTREMELY URGENT! Needing to stop the cycle of unawareness. Where do we begin? Big question, but I think the answer is a simple one. Start with each choice you make, especially if you have children- they are ALWAYS watching (kinda scary huh). With all that said, a bit more than I planned, here are a few pictures of the old bathroom today....

Another Beer Please...

I have been out of sorts this summer. So many ideas and thoughts running through my head. So many things I want to do, it can feel overwhelming. Most of the time I just crack another beer and enjoy watching my kids and pups play. It's summer, that's my excuse, it only lasts so long ya know. For now I have decided that that's OK....
I want to encourage everyone to stop and smell the roses, or beer -whichever the case, and remember that the kids grow and the world changes much too fast at times. So just stop...and enjoy it. Everything we all "need to do" will still be there tomorrow -whenever tomorrow happens to come. Happy smelling!
(This beer talk is making me thirsty!)

Yourself...

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Garrett...

Garrett is four!!! Happy Birthday big guy!!!

Canvas Bags...

Saw this as a post on Four Mugs and a Crock. (Thanks Hazel Nut) Spread the word...JUST SAY NO TO PLASTIC!
Right On Tim Minchin!

August 10th...

Two special friends are having a birthday today...
Happy 13th Adee! Happy 2nd Rocco!
We love you both!!

Paintjam Dan Dunn

WOW! This guy is painting with Passion!! Worth the 5 minutes of your time for sure.....Can you guess what he is painting before he is done?

Gone, but not Forgotten...

Jerome John (Jerry) Garcia...August 1, 1942 - August 9, 1995

"There is a road, no simple highway, between the dawn and the dark of night, and if you go, no one may follow, that path is for your steps alone." (Jerry Garcia)

(Photo found on web)

More Paint...

Yes, I do love to paint. Not too keen on trim, but it's kinda a package deal. I just finished up the main bathroom. Decided to put a bit of a kid spin on it -bought a fun shower curtain with monkeys. Danny is getting ready to demolish the master bath, looking forward to laying out the slate and deciding which goes where...my kinda fun! Oh wait...more paint colors...yummy!!