2014 Simple Living Goals

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Christmas surrounded by loved ones. It was nice to have a relaxing day. I kept loosing track of time. Luckily I remembered to get the turkey on in time!

The old year is coming to a close. A new year opens up like a clean page waiting for us to make our mark. As I reflect upon what impact I want to make on 2014 it gives me a chance to see what my current priorities are and what priorities may need to change. There are so many good things to do or to be. The challenge is to figure out what are the best things to do or be. A talk that was given my a man named Dallin H. Oaks entitled Good, Better, Best, sort of sums up how we need to view how we spend our time. What is best is different for everyone. We all have unique circumstances and need to figure it out for ourselves.

This year my family is going to make preparedness our focus, both financial and food storage.

Our Goals

• To have one years worth of food storage. My church has been advising us to do this for years. My parents always had a huge food stash and though I do have food on hand, it is not a years worth. Since being married we have collected some things but never made it a priority. This year is the year.
• To have 3 months of costs saved up. This means to cover our current financial obligations (mortgage and normal bills). For us that is around $9000. I know that other sites/experts recommend 6 months, and we do want to get there, but we need to think smaller for now. Saving up this money was really brought home when we had an unexpected brake repair that we were not completely prepared for. Man did we feel the pinch. I do not want to feel that again.

The more prepared you are the easier it is to help others and not worry about material things. These goals will hopefully help us reduce our consumption, think about purchases and plan ahead. I will let you know how I am doing.

Have you done food storage or a savings goal? What did you do to be successful? What are some of your simple living goals for 2014?

Christmas Is Here!

 Well, I can say without a shadow of a doubt the Christmas season is truly upon us. Last week was a whirlwind of ballet recitals, skating parties, and a kindergarten Christmas serenade. It was not definitely not a slowdown type of week, but it was fun!

On Friday my sister came over and taught me how to make homemade caramels. They are going to be gifts for my daughters' teachers. Man are they yummy. I think I will have to make another batch this weekend. Delectable. The recipe came from the Betty Crocker's Big Red Cookbook. You can also get the recipe here. Even though the recipe says to cut them in 1" squares, I would not make them that big. They are so rich, smaller is better.

My oldest daughter and I then wrapped them up in foil. I hope the teachers like them.

 On Saturday we got a steady falling of snow. In the morning I braved going out to run a few errands. I would say over the course of the day we got about a foot of snow! It meant a lot of shoveling, but I don't mind that. I like shoveling the snow. It is a full body workout. It is also nice and methodical, walking back and forth and throwing the snow on an ever increasing pile. My kids love climbing the snow mountains. Their winter games are so much fun.

 Sunday was spent getting ready for my middle daughter's Christmas Craft Day! She wanted a play date with a few of her friends. So I decided, why not a craft morning and treat day. All the crafts were really kid friendly and the treats were yummy. A big shout out goes to pinterest for some of the craft ideas. I tweaked them slightly, but it was great fun. The kids had a blast and the other moms had a great time too. It was a check for the awesome mom list. We need those every once and a while.

 Of course now my older daughter wants a craft day with her friends. I think I will want until after Christmas and then figure something out. It is hard having multiple kids, and making sure that they each get to do something fun. Of course they never remember all the great things they get to do when they see their sibling doing something fun. It can be frustrating, but I love them and we will work things out. Do any of you have ways that you keep both kids happy and feeling the love?

 Here are some pictures of the treat table. I made the flower arrangement myself at a church activity. It looks pretty nice for a first attempt if I do say so myself. The pine is real and smells heavenly! Also, here is a view from my wintry backyard.

Have a very Merry Christmas next week. Enjoy this time with family and friends! I will see you Boxing Day!

THE JUNK - Time Waster No More!

Though this might not deal with de-cluttering a space per se, a planner is an essential tool to de-clutter our time and prioritize where are energies will be focused.

I am really good at organizing big life events. Vacations, camping trips, birthday parties, baby blessings, are all planned to the exacting detail. My own day to day life... well that is a different story. A whole week can go by and I don't do any of the projects I wanted to do. I then get frustrated that they aren't done and that I have wasted a weeks worth of time. The old saying, "out of sight, out of mind" definitely applies to me. As well, let's admit it. It is much easier to sit and be lazy than to have to actually move and tackle a mountain of work.

Well, my planner has changed that. I am still not perfect at using it, it is only useful if I know where it is, but I do get a lot of things accomplished when I actually use it. Even just seeing the cover is a reminder to me to get off my duff and do something. It is my one stop shop for helping me feel organized, well organized with my time, remember don't open up any of my closets.

Planners are not a one fit all type of tool. There are so many on the market that you have to find one that really fits you and your lifestyle. A planner can be a purchased book, a high tech gadget, or a simple piece of paper outlining your day. It can be divided into hours, days, weeks etc. It can have spots to put your goals, or addresses or notes, or just simply be for organizing your time. The combinations seem endless.

I prefer something tangible that I do not have to rely on my computer for, so a purchased book planner is the one for me. Since I am not super busy everyday. and don't want to feel compelled to do household items at a certain time, I do not need a planner that divides my day up by the hour. So, I get a planner with a week spreading over two pages. It is nice to see a week at a glance.

The planner I use is called the Polestar Family Calendar. My mom started using them over twenty years ago and every Christmas she gives me my own copy and I love it! Each week starts with Monday and then each day is divided into three columns entitled family appointments, meals/kitchen, home. There is also a places in the margins for a to do list and a to buy list. These make it easy to plan meals and household tasks, especially since the shopping list is right there. There is also a month at a glance at the beginning of each month, which makes it nice for writing goals for the month and things around the house that need to get done that month. (I am not getting any kind of compensation from polestar calendars. I just really love their product!) 

A planner is good for people who are not list people. Just schedule things into your day. It is not a list, just appointments with yourself.

So, whether you like planners or not, they can be a useful tool to organize your thoughts and make your dreams into realities. It is essential to find a planner that fits you and your thought process, but for me the Polestar Family Calendar fits the bill. It helps me organize my life and and helps me know that I do have things to do and not just empty swaths of time. A planner is a wonderful tool that helps me live my simple life. 

Finding Contentment

I was talking with some friends the other day. They alluded to having a sense of not being happy or full of joy. They desired and craved after this but felt it was not coming to them. As we were talking this thought came to me. If we can't be joyful or if we don't know what will make us happy, we need to settle for being content.

What makes us content is different for every person. Some people find contentment in a nice herbal tea, or a good hot shower. For me being content is having a roof over my head, food in my belly, clothes on my back and my family safe and sound. Anything more than that is an added bonus. The more we find contentment in our small simple blessings the easier joy can infiltrate our being. If we are always discontent how is joy going to dwell there?

As we continued talking it also became evident that feelings of discontentment creep in when we compare ourselves to others. Comparison can be a good thing when it lifts us up to do better without feelings of guilt or discouragement. Yet, what we usually see from others has elements of falsehoods or untruths. People do their best to present their best selves. I know I want to present my best self (so when you come over to my house please don't open closet doors, an avalanche might fall on you). On blogs we never see the failed attempts to get things perfect or the practice it took to complete a craft or sewing project or whatever. We don't see the mountain of dishes in the kitchen to produce a yummy meal, or the other household tasks left undone or stories to children not being read as we do our other projects. We just see the end result that is usually picture perfect. We can't compare ourselves to these misrepresentations or feel we are not good enough if we can't replicate it on our first go. These are impossible ideals. So if you use comparisons make sure they drive you to reach to be better, not lead you to despair and self-loathing.

I think a lot of these joyless feelings come from the stress of perfection which we know is an impossible ideal. And this idea of perfection comes from comparisons, as illustrated above.

One way I get out of my joyless funks is by being kind to others. It feels so good and satisfying to do something for someone when they can't do it for themselves, or even when they can. Being able to be that helping hand means you are of worth and of value. And I think everyone wants to feel of worth.

Of course feelings of unhappiness could be symptoms of something more serious and appropriate counseling my be needed. But, in both cases, a general joyless funk, or a mores serious situation, a loving support system is so important. When you are able to surround yourself with love it makes even the darkest sky seem a bit brighter. It makes it easier for you to get your contentment back.

So, I hope during this time of crazy consumerism and holiday parties and festivities, you are able to take a moment to reflect on what makes you content and focus on that. This contentment will carry you through times when joy seems like an impossibility. When you feel really content joy is but a step away.

The Junk - Clothing

I don't know about you but clothes seems to always be an issue in our house. I just can't seem to get a handle on it. Laundry getting in the hamper is not usually an issue, unless my girls decide under the bed is better than the hamper. The problem is once the clothes are washed and folded, they just don't seem to want to back in the drawers from whence they came. So they end up as piles on the floor that get knocked over and mixed up.

Then, there are the outgrown clothes. Since I have all girls I save all the still nice looking clothes to pass down the line. So, I have totes with labels of different sizes, which house the said sized clothes. Not a problem. The step that seems to be crazy is I will wash the clothes that need to be stored, and somehow instead of ending up in the tote, the end up back in the drawers. And then, I get to deal with them all over again. It seems to be a vicious cycle.

I am still coming up with a sure fire method to this clothing madness. There are some tips that have helped me. Here they are.

1. Minimize the amount of clothes

We live in a time where clothes are fairly cheap. I can buy shirts and pants for $4. As well, they are making kids clothing so darn cute that you want to buy everything you see to make your child the cutest ever.

Another problem, is that many of us don't know how many articles of clothing our children actually need, so we keep buying because we figure that they need it. My brother in-law sat down and made a list of the bare minimum his kids needed to get through the week/seasons. I have tweaked the list a little to better suit my children, but it is nice to have a starting point. The following list is for girls, but it will give you an idea of what you need and should be fairly easy to change to make it work for boys.

• 1 Snow Suit
• 1 Spring/Fall Jacket
• 1 Rain Coat
• 1 pair Winter Boots
• 1 pair Rain Boots
• 4 Shoes/Sandals (this include running shoes, and dress shoes)
• 2 Winter Hats
• 2 Mittens
• 2 Summer Hats
• 2 Bathing Suits
• 1 pair Sunglasses
• 7 T-shirts
• 2 Sweaters
• 7 Long sleeved shirts
• 1 Nice White Shirt
• 5 Pants
• 4 Skirts/Dresses
• 5 Shorts/Capris
• 8 Socks
• 8 Underwear
• 3 Tights
• 3 Warm Pyjamas
• 3 Cool Pyjamas

This doesn't mean that you can't have more clothing, but hopefully this will help you avoid buying clothes unnecessarily.

2. Don't store totes in children's room

Part of my clothing in tote problem is that sometimes the totes are in the girls' closets. It is nice to have them close to where they will be needed, but at the same time, you can open them and not close them properly, or you might just place the clothes on top instead of putting them actually in the tote, or the kids are napping and you don't want to disturb them so you end up not putting the clothes in the totes at all.

It is much easier to keep the totes in the garage or other storage area that is independent of the children's room. That way they are still easy to access, but they are not dependent on the rooms being unoccupied. Also you will actually lift the lid and put the clothes in the tote as you don't want clothes randomly floating around with power tools.

3. Help children put away clothes or at least be in the room with them

You may not have to do this with older children, or teenagers, but with younger children it is essential. I know that my 6 year old can open the drawers of her dresser herself and that she knows which drawer each different item goes in. But, if she had a choice between putting her clothes away and playing with her toys or coming up with a cool game with her sister, well I think we all know what she will do.

By being in the room you can encourage, help if needed, and make sure they haven't missed anything, before the playing starts. You may think that there are other household chores you could be doing at that moment, since it seems redundant to be sitting there but, if you don't want to have to deal with THE JUNK that is clothing, it is worth the five minutes.

So hopefully some of these tips will help you tackle THE JUNK of clothing. I am still working on other ways to keep the clothing at bay. If you have any tips or insights let me know!

Homemade Granola Bars

I know this is not a normal posting day but I had two people in the past 24 hours ask me about home made granola bars. So, I figured that it was sign to do a post about it.

As part of my crusade to create a more simple life I have come to the conclusion that I need to make more things instead of buying them. One of those things are granola bars.

Ah yes, the granola bar. The thing you grab in the morning as a quick breakfast as you run out the door or get lunches ready for children, or you are making everyone else's breakfast. A lot of the store bought ones are dry, too sweet, or full of ingredients I don't know how to pronounce. They also cost a bunch. I knew I had to make  my own. That way I could stretch my dollars and provide something for my family that was healthier and not so full of unpronounceable ingredients.

So I turned to the glorious internet to solve my problem and I found this recipe. This was a great base but there were somethings I wanted to change, so I did. I was able to tweak it to meet my families needs and likes. This is such a versatile recipe. If there is something you don't like, leave it out, if you want to add something go ahead.

So the following is my family's version that I love. And, most importantly, my husband and children love. I hope you love it too. The only negative about this recipe is that it is so yummy you will want to eat the whole pan! (But is that really bad?)

In a large bowl combine
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat flour (all-purpose is fine)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup flax seeds
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup chocolate chips (it is a heaping cup full)
2 Tbsp raw sunflower seeds
2 Tbsp raw pumpkin seeds (I sometimes leave the seeds out, my four year old is not always partial to them)
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp sea salt (I usually just measure it in my 1 tsp measuring spoon and have just a bit less than full.)

In a smaller bowl combine
1/3 cup melted unsalted butter
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 banana mashed
1 egg, well beaten
2 tsp vanilla

Mix the wet and dry ingredients together until mixture is moist throughout. Put into a greased 9"x13" pan and bake in a 350F preheated oven for 24 minutes. These freeze well, though we usually go through the pan before freezing them would be necessary.

Tips

• put ripe or over ripe bananas in the freezer. You can put them straight in, no need to wrap them. The peel will turn brown, so don't worry. When you are ready to use them just set them on the counter to thaw, in a pinch you can thaw them in the microwave. The banana will turn squishy and will be easier to mash. It eliminates waste and helps you always have bananas on hand for recipes.
• If you don't want to use bananas you can substitute applesauce. I use 1/2 cup of applesauce. I prefer to use the banana because the granola bars seem more moist, but sometimes I forget to buy bananas and replenish my freezer supply.
• The original recipe called for honey. I prefer to use maple syrup. You can exchange maple syrup for honey in any recipe using a ration of 1:1. I buy my maple syrup in 4L bottles from the mennonites who live around Waterloo. If you can't find a bulk supplier in your location, you can use the honey or another type of liquid sweetener, you may just have to play with the amounts.
• If you buy bulk maple syrup you can store it in the freezer with no ill effects. I usually have two 4L bottles in my freezer at any given time and then I use them to refill the bottle I keep in the refrigerator for day to day use.

The Junk - Loot bags

Kids seem to come with a lot of junk. Everywhere you turn kids get more and more junky toys and crafts. Restaurants, community activities, school, and the notorious party loot bag. Oh how I loath the loot bag. Tiny plastic craziness.

Now don't get me wrong. I love bringing joy to children with a loot bag but, the cheapy stuff from the dollar store that breaks, doesn't work well and just plain sucks... NO THANKS! (I love the dollar store for many other things.)

It was refreshing to me when my daughter came home from a birthday party with a tomato plant seedling. The party was held in mid-march and the seedling was an inch or so high. My daughter watered it faithfully. She made sure it had enough sunlight and, when the time was right, planted it into a bigger container for the summer. She watched in anticipation as her plant continued to grow and thrive. She squealed with delight when the yellow flowers appeared and was in awe when she saw the green tomatoes start to ripen.

This simple loot bag idea kept giving and giving. It showed thoughtfulness, as the birthday parent would have had to start the seeds in advance of the party, and it taught their own child about gardening and seeds. Super awesome! My daughter was thrilled with the plant and didn't come home asking, "where are the toys?"

My last loot bag was homemade play dough and chocolate. (Two of my children have birthdays in late April. Hello Easter candy sales!) Both items are consumable and will not add to "the junk". (If the play dough was not wanted it can be put in the compost or a green bin as it is homemade.)

So this is my plea. Say no to the itsy bitsy toys of plastic. They may look cute but they really suck. Kids love them, parents don't. They add to the clutter of our homes and the clutter of the earth, as they are most likely to end up in the landfill. Quality is much better than the quantity of toys. Give loot bags that will give an experience. Though the tomatoes are gone, the memory of the plant is still there, and my daughter is already planning our garden for next spring.