Why try Gluten Free?

Earlier I wrote a post about doing a gluten free trial and some of my thoughts as well as a few things I have read about gluten from various sources that all had a very similar message.  Cut the wheat to improve your health.  It will allow your body to do what it was built to do which is to heal itself when things go wrong with it.  I told you I would discuss with you the reasons for our gluten free trial later this week, so here it is.

We actually have many contributing factors that I think reflect much of what is going on in the rest of America as well.  Brain fog, inability to loose weight, joint pain, hypothyroidism, prediabetic, IBS, low energy levels, bladder issues, ADD, headaches, acid reflux, depression, I could go on and on.

I have been trying to lose weight for years, but I haven't successfully been able to do so since 13 years ago before my daughter was born.  Did I suddenly forget how to exercise and eat healthy?  Well, if you listen to the medical community that is the obvious fact.  I have been told to quit eating so many cookies, to be more active, eat healthier foods, and on and on.  I don't know about you, but I hate being lectured about things I already know.  It's even worse when you are trying to do these things but no one believes you and judges you to be a fat, lazy slob.  They have looked at my food journals and basically said I was lying and I must have forgotten to write down a bunch of food.  Seriously.  Then the medical community wonders why WE have so little faith in THEM?

My son has been a 3 sport athlete for 4 years.  At first the weight just fell off.  Being so active and lifting weights brought about a bit transformation in him.  But he totally stalled out when it came to weight loss for wrestling season this year.  None of our prior weight loss ideas has helped him a bit this year either.  What happened?

I could go on and on giving the back stories behind all of the symptoms listed above, but I think you get the point here.  I have been thinking and thinking about this and it just doesn't add up.  Is it the chemicals and preservatives in processed foods?  Overuse of prescription medications?  What gives?

Several years ago I began by cutting out the ready to eat processed foods that we used to buy from the store.  I began canning, dehydrating, and freezing foods that I grew myself or bought on sale and in season from farmers and grocery stores alike.  It does make more work for me, but it has helped some with things like ADD, but it hasn't completely solved all of our issues.  I continued to search for answers to our health dilemmas.

While studying natural remedies to replace some of the prescription and OTC medications we have been taking I kept coming up with the same information.  Our bodies have natural abilities to heal themselves.  Not that we will ever be able to stop everything completely, but it is a nice goal to wish for.  I began to wonder though, what was stopping my body from reaching it's full potential to heal itself?  The search continued.  I began seeing a chiropractor which has helped to increase my energy levels and clear the brain fog, but I still haven't been able to achieve much in the way of weight loss.

Now comes in the gluten free option.  I read the book Wheat Belly which I saw both on Dr. Oz and a few of my friends were trying it and seeing great results.  That book dealt with EVERYTHING on our list, plus others that weren't even on there.  Wow.  I think it's worth a try.  I mean, after examining our regular diet I noticed that we ate ALL of the no-no foods on a regular basis.  ESPECIALLY wheat.  Really.  Wow.  I never imagined that could cause so many issues, but it really does make sense.  When you overload so much on one particular category of foods, I suppose that is what you get.  I just can't help but wonder why wheat is in everything we eat.  I guess I'll be making MORE of our own stuff.

So, what did we like to eat before going gluten free?  Well, some of our favorite meals include burgers, chicken dumpling soup with a loaf of bread, grilled cheese and tomato soup, spaghetti, pizza, brats, breaded chicken baked in the oven, battered fish, ...  Notice what they all have in common?  Yup.  Wheat in every item there.  Guess who's in for a total meal make over?  Yup.  That's my next post.  So far we have tried a few items that I want to share with you.  I did manage to lose a couple of pounds so far so things are moving in the right direction for me.  Once I can get the rest of the family to jump on the bandwagon it won't be so hard to resist the temptations they keep presenting.

Thank you for stopping by to chat with me. Please leave me a message, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Cindy

Living on One Income

It is hard to believe in this day and age that it can be done, but it has been.  By many people.  How do we do it?  And  why would we want to?

Ever since I could remember I had worked.  When I was 11 I got my first job, a paper route.  I helped my parents clean and paint the apartments we managed after we moved and I could no longer have a paper route. I babysat the neighbor's kids and I helped teach tae kwon do classes.  When I was 16 I got a job at the local Holiday station store.  I worked my way through college working 32 hour work weeks and some quarters I carried 18-20 credits when a full load was 12-16.  I have always worked hard and enjoyed having money to buy things I wanted, why would I want to change the way I lived?

As soon as I graduated from college I found out I was pregnant and went full time where I had worked my way through college.  When my son was born, I only got to spend 6 weeks at home with him.  It broke my heart.  Between all of the hours he worked and never being able to spend much time together as a family, it really started to get to me.  He stayed with his grandparents while I worked, so it was somewhat of a comfort to me that he was cared for my people who loved him so I soldiered on in my full time career.

When he was almost 2 I had to take over paying for the care of my son while I was at work because   his grandparents weren't available any more.  Between having an educational background and the discount I would get on child care I decided there would be nothing better than working at a day care.  I was even the teacher in his room and I got paid to spend the day with him.  What could be better than working with your kids???

I proceeded to have another child and would have probably been content to stay there but for the fact that I wasn't appreciated and my son was going to be starting kindergarten in the next town over in a few months.  I didn't get the pay raise I was expecting so I decided to stop paying all that money to drive where I wasn't appreciated when I would earn a whole weeks' worth of income in 2 days using my teaching license to sub.  So I put in my notice and quit my full time job.

At first I started finding ways to save money since teachers don't work during the summer.  I mean, I had already made my daughter's solid baby foods, finding new ways to save money was intriguing.  Growing our own veggies, making bread, sewing clothes, it was an adventure every day.  The more I learned, the more I wanted to learn.

The more ways I found to save, the more I started to wonder if I could really afford to stay at home with my kids.  I mean, as a stay at home mom the kids would always have someone who could come to watch their concerts, volunteer for their field trips, attend all of their sporting events, there was no end to the amount of time a SAHM could spend with her children.

We quit buying expensive Christmas gifts, we started making gifts for others instead of buying them, didn't spend large amounts of money sending kids to camp, less eating out, stock up on bargains to save future money,...   Yes, we made some major sacrifices, but I really don't think that we missed out on much.

I keep coming back to the  same questions.  Do we need all of the latest clothing styles?  Will my kids suffer if they can't go to art camp?  Are name brands and impressing people worth the extra effort and the time away from family?  The more I think about it, the less I think I am really giving up.  After all, if people just like us for what we wear then they are not worth knowing if you ask me.

The more I think about it, the more I think working outside the home costs a family.  As a working mom, you need nice work clothes, you are tired from working all day so you buy a bunch of convenience foods and dinners out that a SAHM doesn't need to buy, you feel guilty for not having time to spend with your children so many compensate with material possessions which really teaches kids the wrong message.

As an added bonus cutting out the dinners out and prepackaged foods has done so much for our health saving us trips to the doctors too.  Now I just can, freeze, and dehydrate all my own stuff.  After all, I only use recognizable ingredients that I know how to pronounce and it's still fast and easy for those busy nights.

Thank you for stopping by to chat with me. Please leave me a message, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Cindy

Our Home Spun Christmas, Part 2. Easy, Frugal Christmas Ornaments

          Most of us like to mix a variety into our lives, you know, to spice things up a bit.  What better way to not only add a variety to your Christmas decor, but also create memories with your loved ones than to sit down and make decorations with them?  These all cost less than $5 each, most of them cost less than $1 per project!  They may even be free if you have the right "junk" laying around your house.  They can be for your own tree, or even a gift for someone you love.


 The first project involves a whole lot of buttons in a variety of sizes.  I had bought a giant can of buttons to make a garland with, and even after 3 projects it is still half full.  These trees each used about 8 buttons or so.  I looked for a variety of colors too in order to make them pop.  Simply stack and string.  I ran a piece of green embroidery floss through 2 of each button's holes to add a little stability.  You may tie between each button to make your tree more secure, but it makes the tree look a bit lopsided when set on a flat surface.  Tie the thread at the top of the button tree, and top with a star bead.  Tie again to secure the bead in place.  Mine were free because I had them laying around the house from other projects.
Same idea for this tree.  I used a brown pipe cleaner as a trunk, in place of the sting in the previous project.  It also anchors the tree in the pot, I simply folded up a bit of the leftover pipe cleaner to fit the container. The wooden pot was a 30 cent find in a clearance bin at one of the local craft stores.  String buttons on pipe cleaner and line up the buttons.  It may be trickier to find buttons for this project since the button holes need to be big enough to fit the pipe cleaner.


        Speaking of pipe cleaners, aren't these adorable?  Each pipe cleaner comes in a 12  inch length.  You can buy variety packs of these with several different colors in them and they sell for less than $1 for the whole bag.  If you snip a pipe cleaner into 3 equal lengths at 4 inches each, you can get a dozen ornaments out of 6 pipe cleaners.  These literally took me about 2 minutes to make from cutting to twisting.  Pipe cleaners can be snipped with scissors if you must, but it will be much harder to cut with them than if you use a tool meant for the job.
        I measured each length with a ruler and snipped right at the 4 inch mark.  Begin twisting the red and white piper cleaners equally or you will have a leftover section of pipe cleaner at the end.  They can be tightly twisted like this one or loosely twisted.  I think they would also be cute if a bow was tied on these.  Bend over the top inch or so into a hook shape.  The great thing is they are already ready to hang on the tree too, no hanger needed!
        Buttons and twine are inexpensive crafting materials that many people already have laying around their house.  I made a garland for our Christmas tree with these materials.
         I cut the twine to measure a 9 foot length (a standard measure for many garlands it seems).  Every 6 inches, I tied a button onto the twine, first making a knot around the twine to secure the string to the twine, then tying the button on.  I used a crisscross pattern to secure the buttons to the twine making my knots on the back side of the button.  It should be noted that if you use a finer stringing material you may not need to use two different materials, but that would make a flimsier garland.  I also want to note, that if you will not be using this garland right away please securely wrap it around an empty paper towel tube or section of newspaper as it tangles easily.  Buttons tend to be a bit heavy, so you may want to tie one onto both sides of the garland.
  

        Doll pins come in packs with multiple pins in them.  They may also be labeled old fashioned clothes pins.  No matter what you call them, they make the cutest ornaments ever.  I got my pack of these MANY years ago at a garage sale or something so I can't accurately quote you a price on these, but I made these with my Sunday School kids when my son was in first grade as part of the Christmas story.  That was 8 years ago...  If I recall correctly they took about 10-15 minutes to make.
        Anyway, you need scraps of felt, yarn, tag board, and twine, hot glue, paint or permanent markers, and some doll pins.  If desired, you may also choose a material you would like to use for a halo for the angel.  I used a gold metallic pipe cleaner.  The felt scraps, angel winds, and halos were pre-made for this project because of the time constraints of our crafting time, so those may affect the amount of time this project takes you to make.
     First, measure a scrap of felt to fit the bottom length of the doll pin and cut it out.  If you don't have felt scraps, a 8x10 piece of felt costs about 20 cents.  Hot glue the clothing on your pin, pressing firmly onto the glue immediately.  This will be hot, so if you have youngsters working with you an adult may want to fill this function.  Tie on a belt if desired.  Add wings if desired, securing with hot glue.
        Next, select your hair.  This may be either yarn or a head covering like my Shepard is wearing.  Secure with hot glue.  Add your halo also securing with hot glue at this time, if desired.
        Hot glue your ornament hanger onto the back of the head of your  ornament.
       Draw or paint your face last unless it can sit quite some time prior to gluing the hanger onto the back of the head, as it may smudge otherwise.


            Another fun use for old fashioned pins is the reindeer.  This one is a really quick and easy project that even the littlest kids can make.  I made these with the toddlers I did daycare with about 12 or 13 years ago.  I had the children paint the clothes pin.  If you have time constraints you can always just use markers, though I would never advise giving a permanent marker to a toddler, they do work well to color wooden pieces.
        Let it dry, then gave them the pieces to glue onto it.  Some of them had noses and eyes in very interesting locations.   This was a one on one project so I could make sure the eyes and noses did not get swallowed.  I told them what it was, "this is the reindeer's nose", let them place it, then glued it myself with regular school glue.  All of my pieces were made out of felt for safety purposes, though tiny pompoms, google eyes, or paint with small paint brushes would work well for older individuals.  The hangers were added by myself while the children were having nap time and placed in small paper bags that the children had decorated as gifts to their parents for Christmas.
          The last item is a gift I made for each of the toddlers when my daughter was in the toddler room as their Christmas gift.  I had 25 toddlers (though never more than 21 at any given time)
          I cut tree shapes out of green felt, hot glued strips of rickrack on in bright colors, and placed sequins and bows as the ornaments also securing with hot glue.  The hanger was also hot glued on.  I used a small strip if metallic thread.  I placed one into a card that I gave to each family.  I am sure a toddler would easily dismantle these if allowed to, so I am hoping the parents just took care of them.
         I hope I gave you some fun, inexpensive project ideas to make with the children in your life!  Enjoy, and have a very Merry Christmas!

        Thank you for stopping by to chat with me. Please leave me a message, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Cindy

Self Sufficiency Update

Okay, okay. I haven't been blogging much recently so I doubt I have any "regular" followers left, but just in case I thought I'd post an update on our attempt to be self sufficient. My new life style has left me much busier than I ever thought I would be!

Several years ago (was it 2008 or 2009?) we started planting some fruit trees and shrubs that we are beginning to get some fruit from. We have expanded our orchard from just a couple of trees in our side yard to so many trees it is hard to keep track of them all. Our orchard has expanded into our front and back yard. Once we filled those areas, we expanded to the area along the front of our tree line up by the road in front of our house. This year we added 2 plum trees as well as a pear and a couple more varieties of apples (like we needed more of those, lol).

My square foot gardens have continued producing a ton of produce to can each year. I have become fairly comfortable with the canning skills I gained from reading library books, blog posts, and other things several years ago. We are getting enough to have to begin making additional areas to store all of our canned goods. Each time I pluck some edibles from the yard I feel so richly blessed.

In 2010 my wonderful hubby built me a grape arbor that has been heavily planted with grape vines that have also begun producing fruit this year. It looks wonderful. On the decorative top cross braces we have hung those topsy turvy bags which provided us with so many tomatoes last year I'm not really sure that we needed to plant more tomato plants this year.

We have begun working on an area in the back yard where we are moving our strawberries, raspberries, asparagus, and rhubarb to so they get more sunlight. That will be a lot of work. It had been difficult this year to have enough cool days to do such intensive labor, but I am still hoping to get it done this year.

Another venture I began last summer was to add a bunch of herbs to my garden. This year I began drying them for future use. I have even added them to my containers as accent plants instead of the traditional varieties that we have used in the past.

The negotiations continue for getting bunnies and chickens.

Thank you for stopping by to chat with me. Please leave me a message, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cindy

I Think our Ancestors Had it Right

The more I have gone through in recent years, the more it has gotten me to thinking about the way we run our lives in modern society. Every thought that I have always seems to lead me back to the same conclusion, ancient folks had it right. Why are we losing so much of their knowledge and skill?

They had no mortgages. Their homes with their own two hands or carved them out of the earth. Who wouldn't like to have that 30% of our income to spend on something else?

They worked for themselves. There weren't huge corporations out there driving them to work 60 hours per week and forcing them to move place to place. Whatever they did, they did because they chose to and for the benefit of themselves, their family, or their neighbors. They had time to help each other.

They knew their neighbors. It is very easy with our hectic lives filled with modern day conveniences not to have ever talked to our neighbors. I am guilty as charged. Living on a 2 acre plot of land out in the country I have never had the need to go to the neighbors and they have never come here. People used to depend on their neighbors and help each other out. There were communities that stood strong together. I don't know about you, but I certainly don't feel that same sense of community where I live. No one will stand up and speak out against someone being treated poorly, no one will lend a helping hand, no one cares what happens to anyone else. So many people are wrapped up in their own little world worrying about their own little worries and nothing else matters.

They didn't need power to entertain themselves. They were creative and used their many talents to occupy their free time. Those extra talents probably earned them a little extra income too. We waste so much time glued to the television watching non sense, seeing ads that don't speak the truth. Our young are being brought up to think there is always going to be someone or something there to tell us the answers. There isn't!

They thought for themselves. As I said before, we watch so much TV that many people lack the mental skill to figure anything out for themselves. When is the last time you added something up without a calculator? Be honest now... They could figure out the exact angle they needed to hit an animal with a rock in order to take it down. They couldn't wait for someone else to tell them, if they did their dinner would be running the other direction.

They bartered for goods and services. Come on, we all know that money isn't everything. If they didn't have the money to pay their doctor bill they didn't set up accounts and pay on a monthly basis $40 per month until the bill was paid off. They fixed his toilet for him or gave him a chicken or some eggs.

They heated their own homes. Many relied on fire, but some discovered the power of the earth's internal heating and cooling systems and sun's heat. They didn't pay large heating and cooling bills to giant electric and gas corporations.

They saved up for the hard times. Who hasn't had a tough go of it in the last few years? I know we have had several times where we have struggled. Unfortunately circumstances didn't allow us to save extra cash to pay for higher medical insurance bills and such. It used to be that when times were plentiful they dried extra beans and meat and stored it up for when the food wasn't so plentiful. What could be more practical than that?

They helped each other. In times past, they helped people who needed help. They didn't ask how much their home was worth, how much they had in their 401K account, tell them to go apply for assistance else where, or anything of the sort. They didn't say that they made $300 more than the income level that they can help you at and close the door in their face. They saw a need and they helped, plain and simple.

I think I'd like to go back to simpler times and live a few of the lessons people from the not so distant past could teach so many of us today.

Thank you for stopping by to chat with me. Please leave me a message, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Cindy

It Makes No Sense

Ten years ago both my husband and I worked full time. We owned a house and had 2 kids, owned two cars and lived in a nice house in the suburbs. He worked an average of 50.61 hours per week and both of us had a 15 minute commute. We made $11,000 less per year then than we do now, but we lived a better quality of life. We had money to enroll our children in activities (well, okay it was daycare but I also had to buy diapers so that counts, right?), we didn't feel the strain of not being able to pay our bills, we had a healthy savings account, retirement account, and owed more money on our house than we owe on the one we are living in now.

Fast forward to today, I am not working. Hubby works an average of 57.05 hours per week. Our savings has been depleted by various events in our lives, we have more bills than we ever have, we never do anything or go anywhere that doesn't involve our son and his school sports, I make tons of our own cleaning and health products, grow and can lots of our food, and home decor items, and people feel they can take advantage of us and tell me what they think I can afford to do. No one seems to think I know what I'm talking about when I tell them about our circumstances, they look at me like I'm an alien life form or that I am talking gibberish. They think they know my finances better than I do? WTH?

Has inflation really increased so much? What is wrong with this picture? Now when I mention any difficulty to anyone they tell me all I need to do is get a job. Should I really have to? What is wrong with everyone? They are saying that I am the problem? Ugh! It drives me absolutely mad!!!

Thank you for stopping by to chat with me. Please leave me a message, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Cindy

I Cried Today

I am not an overly emotional person. I am not in touch with my feelings. It is easy for me to put distance between my thoughts and my feelings. I keep drama out of my life at all costs. It is easy for me to keep people an arms' length away. I do not share my thoughts and feelings with many people, especially not those whom they should be shared with. I am not sure how I got to be this way.

I have searched for ways to connect more with both my feelings and other people, with little success. I barely cried at my dad's funeral, until I saw one of my friends from high school that I felt really comfortable with. The only times I can recall crying, aside from funerals and sad movies, are times that I tie into my depression. What made me cry? All I know is that this time it wasn't just because of my depression and this isn't any spilled milk we're crying about here. Or is it?

I madly started swiping the tears away with the backs of my hands. Why can't I stop crying? Thoughts and possibilities swirled through my head. Past events, circumstances, times I have just let people walk over both myself and my family. My insecurities surfaced and I could not quiet the voices that were telling me I would never and could never be good enough. Things I feel I have no control over, things I feel that I can not change, and people who won't hear me or don't care about my circumstances just frustrate me so much. Anchors I have tied my life to are slipping through my fingers. I have always thought having faith, dedication, perseverance, and making smart decisions were all I needed to get through this life in one piece, but now our life is so far off course, so far from what we tried to plan for ourselves I don't know which way to go. Storm clouds keep rolling through my life and I can not do anything to make them go away. It's all I can do to try to stay out of the pouring rains. I cry out to God, but he doesn't seem to be able to hear me. Where is that megaphone?

Why must life be so hard? It is obvious to me that I am supposed to learn a lesson in this, but what is that lesson? I am still searching. What choices am I supposed to make? What changes am I supposed to make? Is there such a thing as being too open to change? I refuse to give up. I will keep pushing on, pressing forward, and hoping and praying for God to show me the way.

God, please come and take me by the hand and lead me to whatever it is that you want from me. I can not find my way to the sheltered harbor without you. Please do not leave me to drown. Instead, give me the faith I need to get out of the boat and to walk on the water towards you through the scary storms of life.

Thank you for stopping by to chat with me. Please leave me a message, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Cindy

The New American Middle Class

It used to be that people in the middle class owned their own home, had money to buy all of the necessities that their families needed, had decent saving accounts, 401K's, didn't need to live paycheck to paycheck, and were able to take a family vacation every year even if it was just going to a nearby campground just to get away. It seems that picture has done a whole lot of changing over the last few years and I am not really liking the direction that our country is heading. Families do not leave their homes, pack lunches for every family member every day, wear the same clothes year after year even after they are tattered and stained, there is no room for any emergencies as saving have been eaten up by increased expenses, homes are on the brink of foreclosure, there is a lot of deficit spending just to keep the same lifestyle we have always led.

Now more than ever we are all finding ourselves struggling. Some of us have never had to put up with some of the situations we are finding ourselves in, and it can be a scary place to be. We are needing to be creative and make some major cutbacks in our lifestyle in order to keep the same standard of living that we have always had. Some are clueless as to how they can do this and are petrified of having to change their lives.

What lead to this state of affairs? No pay raises for years at a time, increasing costs of living, forced job transfers, not being able to sell our homes, decreased credit availability, declining home values, foreclosures, increased taxes and medical expenses, businesses who have no regard for positions people are finding themselves in, banks who are unwilling to help struggling homeowners, job losses, increased disease caused by new stresses that we are not used to dealing with, shrinking 401Ks as well as other savings avenues, and reduced work hours available are just some of the problems that have contributed to this new reality.

It seems like this problem is insurmountable. It looks like a giant mountain that we are both unwilling and unable to climb and conquer. What is there to do but to throw our hands into the air and give up? Now, more than ever, we need to pull together and make some sacrifices. We need to help those that are in need of help even though we may not think they need it. We need to band together and take care of each other. We need to have less focus on our short term profits and more focus on the gains that can be made in the long term.

Being just one person, what can we do to make the world a better place? I will give you some ideas of things that we have done as well as things that could be done if people weren't so hung up on following the highest profit line they can get. Some of these ideas are things that we can do to help ourselves, while others are ideas that we can use to help those around us which may indirectly benefit us as well.

When I found myself with less cash flow than we have traditionally had, I found ways to stretch our budget. I switched out all of our regular light bulbs for CFLs, turn on less lights at night, turn down the thermostat when no one is home, and run all of our televisions and other electronics on power strips so they do not use electricity when they are not turned on. Instead of buying clothes at the retail stores I used to frequent I found myself buying them at garage sale or thrift shops, same with other household necessities such as plates, books, and pot. Recreating clothing that we already own is a great way to save money. Why not make that shirt with the stains on it into an art project that your children can proudly wear to school? Those pants that are too short can easily be turned into a jean skirt or jean shorts. Making our own foods from our homegrown garden has also been a Godsend to our budget woes. Sugar free blackberry jam in the stores was $5 per jar. Picking the blackberries from the woods and making our own saves us a lot of cash. That $5 easily buys enough pectin to make at least a dozen jars of jam if not more. Who ever thought before this all began that I would learn how to make my own green cleaners, sausage, dog food, canned veggies, frozen soups, broths, and dried herbs?

Businesses can help people too. If you can't afford to give them a discount, at least work with them so they can fit your goods and/or services into their budget. If they say they can't afford the bill and try to arrange things to make everything more affordable for them, believe them. Charge an affordable interest rate and don't change all kinds of extra fees just to add to their misery and to your bottom line. Then the business will not loose customers and the customers can still afford services on an affordable payment plan. I think it is despicable when a business tells a person to sell their home at a large loss or spend all of their life savings just to get paid sooner. What will they do the next time? There IS going to be a next time, you DO know that, right? Why can't we spend more time helping others who are also struggling to get their feet under them so they can then pay that kindness forward? If they can afford the payment then you will not have to worry about these customers declaring bankruptcy costing you even more money either.

Banks can lower a current customer's interest rate. If they are already your customer and they are paying their bills in a timely manner why not try to help them make their payment more affordable if they request your assistance? This will free up some of their cash so they can spend it to help stimulate the economy. This will indirectly help a bank as they have invested their customer's money into various stock markets. Increased spending will increase the value of those holdings earning the bank more income thereby helping the bank as well as it's customers.

Insurance companies don't need to keep adding a 10% increase to their customer's charges every year either. If people feel less taken advantage of they will be less likely to take advantage of others.

I also feel that fraud and lawsuits are destroying our country. People seem to be looking for a quick profit around every corner. Taking people to court costs everyone money, as does charging for services not actually provided. Even those of us who aren't even involved in the situation. That is how prices got as over inflated as they have. Businesses don't eat the cost of these lawsuits and payouts themselves, they divide the cost and spread it out as increases to all of the other customers weather it's insurance or some other business. Why do you think our cost of insurance has risen so dramatically over the last 15 years? Certainly not because the equipment is that much better. Think about it. How much does it cost to go to the vet vs going to the doctor? Both went to the same amount of school, but there isn't insurance in most veterinary practices. What about the dentist? I still pay close to the same amount now as I did 13 years ago when we got our dental insurance. Why? Because people are not abusing the dental insurance plans in the same way as they are abusing the other insurance companies. My health insurance cost on the other hand has increased more than 250% over the same amount of time. Are we REALLY that much less healthy?

Start seeing the sanity and refusing to take the easy road, instead take the road less traveled. Help yourself, help others, stop being greedy, and together we will make it through the rough times.

Thank you for stopping by to chat with me. Please leave me a message, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Cindy

Helping Each Other

In recent days I have been making further attempts to lower my monthly payments so we can get back on track after all of the recent upheaval. I have learned a great many lessons in these attempts and it puzzles me what some places are thinking. Here is my story...

When I was told that I met the qualifications to get a loan modification from our current bank I was extremely happy, because that 6.875% interest rate is killing us. I was told by a great many places that we would not qualify to refinance because of the foreclosure we had in 2008, my bank said a loan modification would be the only way they could lower my interest rate. Fine, I understand with a score of 640 I can see not wanting to take a risk (although I have both a first and second with them both of which have always been paid on time. Well, except that once when I skipped a payment on purpose because their responses when I asked for help was to say I wasn't struggling since I was making on time payments. Besides why wouldn't I pay on time, we do need to keep a roof over our heads.)

If I had a lower house payment, I could pay my husband's commuting expenses monthly instead of each time he gets a bonus from his work. I HATE having to rely on credit cards as they have this habit of checking your credit report and dropping your credit line even if you always pay them on time. I'm not sure how we would survive if my last credit card did the same thing that all of the others have, what bills would I have to skip paying in order to buy him gas? He has been driving this 110 mile per day commute for 2 years now and frankly I am tired of not having the money in each pay check to cover the expense. No one is buying houses in our price range right now if it is not on a lake, so after a year on the market we took it back off.

I follow every rule during each modification period, I keep meticulous records, I pay the bill with plenty of time to spare so it gets there before it is due, and I do everything that their employees ask me to usually involving sending a more recent fax of pay info or an updated hardship letter. I am not sure what it is they decide between the time the modification starts and when it's over but they keep coming up with excuses as to why I don't qualify in the end. I report my expenses, my bank statements back up my financial worksheets and everything. The first excuse was that I don't pay more than 31% of my income on housing and that I can afford to keep my house, the second excuse was that I can just get cheaper health insurance so I don't need a modification (huh?), the third time I can't afford my house and I need to run a short sale on it, this last attempt I finally got them to approve the modification but they will keep the interest rate the same as it was to begin with and lower my payment just a few dollars. Not sure how putting me through 9 months of hell gets me into a better place than I was to start out with, but whatever. I guess I could say at least I passed this time, but it doesn't help free up the money I need for daily living expenses. Apparently though when it's over they have promised to fix my credit back to showing the on time payments that I have been making. I guess we'll see if that's yet another lie that their employees place in front of me while they try to steal our house out from under us.

I think the refusals come down to corporate greed. They don't want to loose any of their precious money that they get each month from my higher interest rates, so they only want to go with a government sponsored program that will pay them to do the right thing. It's just crazy! Since when is it the government's job to pay a business to make their borrowers into better borrowers? Wouldn't they rather a borrower has the foresight to see a problem arising and try to head it off before the bank has to deal with it directly in the way of a foreclosure? Why can't they take the proof provided and not make up monthly income that we do not receive? Why can't they just help a person who needs help? Don't they see that freeing up some of the money I pay to them in interest rate charges could be freed up to help spur the market into economic recovery?

I have run into that very same problem in the health care industry. Our deductibles make us pay thousands of dollars out of pocket every year before they cover any expenses. We have accounts with 2 different clinics that we are paying monthly payments to from previous years of medical bills, they each have an arrangement with the same bill collection agency to get 10% interest to stretch the payments over 3 years. We currently pay $78 to one of the clinics, and $40 to the other. Each is trying to say adding our new balance to the old one will "only" raise our monthly payment $6-12. That's all fine and good, but my husband has not had an hourly pay raise since either the late 90's or early 00's, I told them we can't afford to pay more on a monthly basis. They asked me to send in bank statements, monthly paystubs, and all kinds of other stuff which all back up what I am saying. Instead of looking at what we bring home each month, one of them looked at the amount he gets per year with the once yearly bonus. We use the bonus to pay down our debt, we no longer have that to pay extra bills with. They say we make plenty of money so we don't need their aid in getting our bill paid, I need to arrange with them to pay the bill in full. Apparently they can only help people who fall into guidelines set forth to them by the government. Ah, another place looking to get paid to do the right thing. Don't they think I know our finances better than they do? I am hopeful that I don't run into this same situation with the other clinic since my son has a surgery scheduled there for December.

My husband has also recently been informed that our work sponsored health insurance cost is going to increase another $40 per month to cost us $661.12 total for the 4 of us. That's more than 10% of our gross yearly income and I think that is outrageous. There is NO way we are going to be able to afford that. Since other attempts at less expensive health care has turned out no one willing or able to help us simply because of my weight, I decided see if I qualify for the Wisconsin sponsored health care insurance. Apparently I not only qualify for that, but also for reduced price meals for the kids, food share, and help with our utility bills during the winter months. I only pray that we get an answer fast enough so we can drop the insurance before the open enrollment period is up.

How is it that government can see a need and offer assistance to someone that businesses deem unworthy of helping? Is my doing the right thing and paying my bills on time the thing that makes me unworthy of their assistance? If so, that is totally messed up. It is my opinion that people should always try and do the right thing if it is in their power to do so. I have cut back in every other area of my life, we rarely go anywhere, I only buy clothes off of clearance racks at Goodwill or garage sales, I can and make my own foods, I have one little lamp on at night with a cfl light bulb, turn the heat down at night and when the rest of the family isn't home, my kids can't even afford to eat school lunches so I pack everyone's meals daily before sending them off, I make my own soaps and cleaning supplies,... Housing expenses and health care are the only places I can seek shelter in until our other debts are paid off. I am praying to God that he helps these business people to see reason and they help people who request their aid, not only for myself but for anyone else who is standing in my shoes in similar circumstances. We can't all rely solely on the government to get through this crisis, if we all can do something small in the life of another person we can change the world and make it a better place for everyone to live in.

Why shouldn't we stop and help someone less fortunate than ourselves? Why not buy the homeless person a cup of coffee? Why not donate our kids' used toys to the someone who will use and appreciate them? After all, we don't want to end up like Scrooge do we?

Thank you for stopping by to chat with me. Please leave me a message, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Cindy

Stepping Slowly Toward Self Sufficiency

When we moved here almost four years ago I had no hopes or aspirations of trying to produce anything of my own except beautiful plants and flowers to landscape my yard with. It sure is funny how time can change our attitudes.

I am used to being a city girl, I've lived in town my whole life. I never dreamed or imagined how so many things that we use are made, they just came to our house from the grocery store shelf. Well, obviously we all know that's not true. It seemed like such hard work and really we should leave cheesemaking to the experts, right?

As I've lived in the country new insights have come to me through many avenues including nature, new friendships, and checking out books from the local library. Our health has continued on a gradual decline and I have begun to search for alternatives that do not include taking pills for the rest of our lives.

It occurred to me as I was reading one of the many diet books from my own personal library that many people are declining in health, and it's not just the unhealthy people either. What's the cause? I am no scientist, nor have I done any experiments to confirm my theory, but the more I think about it the more I feel that chemicals in our every day products are part of the blame.

What better way to begin thinking about self sufficiency? It's not a program that a bunch of hippies are attempting to implement going back to the 1800's, but it's a way to provide some things for ourselves and to know what's in the products that we consume.

When we moved here we found that we had an abundance of wild blackberries, blueberries, and strawberries growing in the fringes of the woods surrounding our house. It was a nice bonus since my children tend to prefer sweeter fruits to the healthier vegetables. We have since added plenty more plants to help provide us with inexpensive, chemical free food. (To see a list please check out my side bar.) Last year I decided to take it a step further and planted a veggie garden. After much research, I combined a bunch of different organically based garden styles into one with which I had tremendous success. It was so successful that I added two more beds which I just finished filling with dirt this spring. Unfortunately it doesn't appear that this dirt was as rich as the last batch that I used, but I will continue to enrich it and hope for more future successes.

My nine year old daughter has begun to "bud" as well. This perplexes me since no one in our family was early to develop that I can recall. I was talking with a bunch of mothers on one of my many recent field trips about this fact. We came to the conclusion that it's probably due to the growth hormones given to animals whose meat and milk we consume. These same animals are also fed lots of antibiotics which we feel is contributing to the antibiotic resistance that we hear so much about these days. These conversations got me wanting to raise my own meat and milk products as well. I know that this can't happen anytime soon since we can not have livestock in our development, but once we move I think I may just have to look into the possibilities.

While I will never produce my own beer (I hate the stuff and don't feel that it's worth the effort), I can see myself doing many other things on our little homestead. What's even better about this approach to living is the fact that we can all do little things that fit into the lives we want to lead and we don't have to wait for any government's slow wheels to bring a change about.

Thank you for stopping by to chat with me. Please leave me a message, I'd love to hear your thoughts!Cindy

Please Read My Other Blog

I don't usually plug my other blog, but I really think I need to today. In it I write about spiritual matters that may make some of my readers a bit uncomfortable.

This weekend we found out some information that concerns us all greatly. I wrote a story about it on my other blog. If you're prone to praying and don't get turned off by spirituality I request that you pop over and read it and pray for my eldest niece and nephew.

The blog is called I Cannot Live on Bread Alone. (Just check my profile if you can't find it in my sidebar blogs.)

I appreciate any additional prayers they can get. Their court date is supposed to be this Thursday. I forgot to mention this on my other blog, but my sister is acting as her own lawyer and can't afford to physically go to MN to attend court so will do it over the phone. She needs a whole lot of help! Thanks.

Thank you for stopping by to chat with me. Please leave me a message, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cindy

The Best Mother's Day Gifts Don't Cost A Thing

Mother's Day is such a wonderful day for me. I enjoy it tremendously. In fact, I'd have to say that it's my favorite non-Christian holiday. Not because of the expensive gifts some people give, the dinners at fancy dinner establishments, $5 greeting cards covered with glitter, or the gourmet chocolate candies. (Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't turn my nose up at those things.) I enjoy it for the simple pleasures in life.

It is the one day of the year when I know I will not get a headache from my children's incessant arguing that normally seems to last 24/7. There is peace and quite in my house. They both played on the same side in our 2 on 1 tennis match today and I didn't hear one complaint about how the other child missed the ball!

There is only one day a year that the children will jump up and do whatever I ask them to do the first time. No "bad" hearing, ignoring, or outright disobeying occurs on Mother's Day. I speak and they obey, no questions asked. They were even ready for church and outside waiting for me at the appointed time without one single reminder! That NEVER happens any other day of the year.

They do things they wouldn't normally do like prepare meals and make my bed without me even requesting it of them. Thank you Peanut, I enjoyed my peanut butter toast for breakfast. Son plans on making dinner tonight. They both decided to fold the laundry and clean up after meals too. I've got the best kids in the world!

Let's not forget the thoughtful gifts and cards they make. It's not the expense of the gift that really matters, it's the simple thought of them making something with their own precious hands just for my pleasure and delight.

Days like these are heavenly, aren't they?

Thank you for stopping by to chat with me. Please leave me a message, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cindy

Why Did We Move to Rhinelander?

I loved living near my family and long time friends. It never occurred to me to want to move from the area that I call my hometown. Sure, we moved three miles away from there, but that's nothing nowadays and I felt content for quite a while. We finally had our dream home, lush gardens, great schools for our kids, a wonderful and extremely supportive church home, lots of friends and family living near us, a nice job. What more could we want?

Sure, the usual things weighed on me, but everyone has problems. Finances, kids teasing my son, and I wasn't feeling well and was often too tired to do much of anything. The doctors said that happens as you age and didn't feel that there was really anything wrong with me. There wasn't really anything that I could do about any of those problems though. We were generally pretty happy, so why rock the boat?

Shortly before my father died this small voice inside of me grew louder and more insistent. I guess it had been there before but I never listened to it. I thought it was greed driving me to ask my husband to look for a promotion. We always lived beyond our means so getting a promotion wouldn't make things any easier anyway, right?

One day, I started listening to it. I prayed that God would show us the direction that we should take. I talked to my husband about it. We gave it a lot of prayerful consideration. Son would be moving to a new school this year, his good friends would be sent to the school across town and the kids that lived in our neighborhood and teased him so much that he never wanted to play outside would be going to his school. Peanut would be starting kindergarten. Dad was making plans to move to Ohio to live near my sister who was studying to be a nurse.

We called several different real tors over to look at our house. We didn't want to make the move if all of the elements didn't fit. They all commented that our house was immaculate, it wouldn't be a problem to sell, and we could get $230,000 for it. That was more than enough to pay off the mortgage we owed and pay a good down payment on a new home. It was the perfect time to move.

We both agreed. Cheeshead decided to start actively looking for a good place to move our family. As the openings showed up, I researched the areas, the schools, and costs of living for each of the openings. Cheesehead put in for the towns we were interested in. I prayed that God would give us a great new town to call home.

One day a job in Rhinelander showed up. I had heard of it since it's not far from where my husband's dad grew up. Some of FIL's family still lives within 45 minutes of our house. We really were never very close to any of them since they don't venture far from home. I barely even knew many of them, but it would be a great opportunity to get to know them better.

He got an interview at the store in Rhinelander. It isn't any further from his parent's house than we already lived, so they volunteered to watch the kids while we checked the area out.

The town was a relaxed pace, not much traffic, and the people we met were extremely friendly which was a plus coming from the bustling suburbs of the Twin Cities. There were a few stores and restaurants, but not so many that I'd be tempted to go shopping as an almost daily hobby and overindulge in eating out which had become bad habit for us. We drove by the YMCA and saw many nice little schools neatly tucked into neighborhoods. That was nice compared to the sprawling schools in the area we came from. Lovely historic homes lined the streets. It seemed like there was a church on just about every corner of town that we drove by. It really was a perfect fit for us, God had helped us to find the perfect town to raise our family in.

The night before the interview, we stopped in to see the store. We wandered the aisles checking things out. We checked the distance from the hotel to the store so he wouldn't be late the next day. As we wandered the aisles he saw the store manager and introduced himself. We chatted for a while with him before heading off.

There was one other person who interviewed for the job after my husband's interview. He felt pretty confident about it, but we had to wait for the results. The other candidate hadn't interviewed yet. We shouldn't count our chickens before they're hatched.

I just wrote this story on my "new" blog and decided to share it here with you too. So far, so good. We love it in our new home even more than we did our old home.

Thank you for stopping by. Please leave me a message. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cindy

What's in There?

As I read a book that I checked out from our local library, I was horrified by some of the things that were revealed through their writings. It includes common sense observations as well as scientific studies although those studies were from America, England, and Australia. I assume it's because other languages were not readable by them, but I can't be one hundred percent sure. I'm sure that similar studies must have been done in other countries and simply were not used because of the language barrier.

The book is called "What's in This Stuff?" by Patricia Thomas. In it, she discusses what is in the foods we eat, cosmetics, cleaning products and more. Did you know that there are no tests or certifications required for our cosmetics and household cleaners? While I am not saying that's wrong, I share that fact because I am sure that many people believed, like I did, that everything we use is safe for us to use.

Did you know that these manufacturers are also not required to list all of the ingredients on an ingredient label? Okay, that definitely should be required, don't you think?

What's more, when chemicals are tested they are tested individually, not in combination with other chemicals which can result in a cocktail effect. Look at the ingredients in your products, are any chemicals used individually? I would venture to say there are very few that are based on the survey of chemicals in my house. For more information on this type of thing, please read the book.

She also discusses the alarming rise in diseases such as cancers and diabetes, among many other diseases. I believe their implications are correct when they tie our chemical usage to those products, it just makes sense to me that the rise in usage of chemicals corresponds with the rise in the rates of these diseases. While they do not claim that these chemicals are the sole cause of the rise in these diseases, I too have been suspecting their involvement in some of our family's heath issues as of late.

I am planning on trying to cut as many chemicals as I possibly can from being used in our house. Luckily I am already doing many of the suggestions in the book such as using makeup and hairspray only occasionally so it won't be a huge lifestyle change. I will make use of more natural cleaners and air fresheners.

They have many wonderful alternatives included in the book. I think I'll be saving a lot of money by not buying this junk any more so it's an added bonus in our tough economy. We can save money and live a healthier lifestyle too!

My husband thinks that this is crazy, and the only way to really get things clean is to use commercial cleaners. I will not throw them out, so he can use them if he chooses to clean. I refuse to use them anymore.

I wonder if he'll go along with the natural deodorants that they are talking about.

Thank you for stopping by. Please leave me a message. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cindy

There's No Lye and That's No Lie!

Attempting to live a more organic and natural life style, I have been researching how to make our own soap. The process doesn't look too difficult and I've already got my tallow made for the pioneer recipe of soap I was going to try making first. I got really motivated to get going on this after reading the book "What's In This Stuff?" and seeing all of the chemical effects that may be tied to using conventional cleaners and preservative laden foods. (More on the book during a different post.)

My tallow was actually finished before Christmas and looks to be quite satisfactory, but I've never done this before so I can't be completely sure. It was made from strained meat fats which I have saved after cooking turkey, hamburger, bacon, chicken,... Any meat really. I saved those fats in a covered bucket in the fridge until it was ready to be made into tallow. The fats were chopped up into small pieces and boiled together with water and it now sits in the fridge waiting to be made into soap.

Attempting to keep the costs of the project down, I was going to make my own lye. All that's needed to make lye are wood ashes and water. How do I know? We had an incident at church a few years ago and a fun song was written to rib our pastor and elders about it after the fact. (I'll tell you that story at a later date.)

I live in the woods, so I have plenty of wood laying around to burn. Since we live mostly among pine trees there are many pine branches that we have gathered over that last couple of years. I am assuming that may be why the lye didn't turn out. After doing some research I found out that soft wood such as pine should NOT be used to make lye. I wish I had known that before I wasted my time.

After my attempt to make my own lye failed miserably, I decided that I would just buy some from a store to get my project on track.

I went to town planning to buy some lye. First I looked at hubby's regional large retail store. No luck. I trudged back to the van through the slushy melting snow in the parking lot thinking I'd find some on my next stop for sure. My next stop was a large national chain store in town. There was none to be found there either. I checked the craft department, cleaning supplies, and plumbing. My third stop was a locally owned hardware store who also didn't carry it. Off I went to check the organic store that I know of in town. I was sure I'd find it this time. Wonderful scents assailed my nostrils as I wandered around the store. Nope, none there. Grrr! I also checked the local grocery store in town. It was suggested by one of the many people I asked that I try a feed store in town, but I didn't bother. I may make a phone call later. I was too annoyed to continue my search.

All I want to do is make some stinking soap for Pete's sake! It's not like that activity is illegal or anything. All those stupid meth manufacturers have made people afraid to even sell things that can be used to make meth. That really throws a monkey wrench into the ability of the rest of us to be able to get our hands on lye that is not mixed into a drain cleaner. Somehow I don't think it would be advisable to use drain cleaner in an organic soap....

I was filled in on how to make meth by several experts when I sat on a jury once (yet another thing I'll share sometime), but I just don't understand why someone would want to make something like that. It could really ruin a person's life in more ways than one. (Crafter's lives too though I'm sure that kind of thing isn't taken into consideration when those decisions were made.)

After all of my attempts to hunt down lye failed, I tried to console myself with some shopping at Goodwill. Apparently everyone else had the same idea. I didn't find anything to buy today, though there was an interesting looking organic cookbook for 49 cents.

Back to the drawing board. I'll get that soap made yet! Maybe I'll see if I can scrounge some hard wood ash from someone who has a wood burning stove or fireplace. I suppose I'll have to ask around. Failing that I guess I could try to check the craft stores in Wausau next time I head down that way. SIGH!

Thank you for stopping by. Please leave me a message. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cindy

The Year in Review- 2008

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before? Played a Wii

2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't do resolutions, that way I can't possibly fail.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Family wise my sister did, but I don't know that I could neccessarily call her "close".

4. Did anyone close to you die? Does MIL's sister in Iowa count?

5. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? The ability to pay off our debts.

6. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Building the shed and finishing our basement.

7. What was your biggest failure? The memorial rock garden in the back yard.

8. Did you suffer illness or injury? Who didn't? I can't remember what all parts I injured though....

9. What was the best thing you bought? Wii for the kids.

10. Where did most of your money go? House payments, credit card bills, and car expenses.

12. What did you get really, really, really excited about? ancestry discoveries

13. What song will always remind you of 2008? ummm....?

14. Compared to this time last year, are you a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer? Happier/Same/Same

15. What do you wish you’d done more of? Taking care of my family and myself.

16. What do you wish you’d done less of? complaining.

17. What was your favorite TV program? House and Ghost Whisperer

18. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate last year? The bank I've done business with for 20 years.

19. What was the best book you read this year? Laura Ingalls series

20. What was your greatest musical discovery? I can't think of anything new...

21. What was your favorite film this year? Kit Kitteridge: An American Girl (okay, I don't get to see adult movies)

22. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Not worrying so much

23. What kept you sane? Am I?

24. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Who cares, are celebrities more important than the rest of us?

25. What political issue stirred you the most? Where do we start? Too many to think of off the top of my head.

26. Who was the best new person you met? My blogging buddies!

27. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008. Don't listen to a person just because they're an "authority". Go with your gut instincts too.

28. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. I will praise you in this storm

Thank you for stopping by. Please leave me a message. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cindy

Christmas Blessings

The last few days I've been consumed with the "bad" things that came with our Christmas celebration this year. I need to make a concerted effort not to be so negative, I know.

I just wanted to take a minute to share with you some of the wonderful blessings we have received while the kids have been on vacation.

1. GOD- He has given us so much that we could not have without his outpouring of love to us. I won't go into too much detail here, but I will tell you that God answers prayers.

2. FUN- I took them sledding at Seroka field. I even took a couple of turns down the hill. I forgot how cold that snow spray can be. Brrr!

3. FAMILY- MIL and BIL were able to come and spend Christmas with us this year. Unfortunately mom had to work on Christmas and Cheesehead worked both the day before and the day after so we couldn't travel. Thanks God for the telephone, even if we couldn't spend the day together we could still catch up over the wires.

4. FRIENDS- While we didn't get to spend time with any of them on Christmas I cherish the memories of times passed with them. They have helped me through so much and supported me when I didn't think I could go on.

5. FOOD- Some people are not lucky enough to be able to eat their fill. While there may be times that the kids don't like what I have made we still have enough for all of us to eat if they choose to eat it. It's easier to choose to be hungry than to have it forced upon us.

6. SHELTER- We have a protected, secure place for us to live and sleep in. We feel safe here too. Could we ask for more?

7. CLOTHING- Even if we can't afford all of the latest fashions we have clothes to wear and protect us from the elements. We can't all be fashion plates, can we?

8. WARMTH- Not everyone can afford the things they need to stay warm. Some people aren't even fortunate enough to have a warm place to take shelter in, warm blankets, or a fire to warm them. While we may complain about the high costs of heating and having to lower the thermostat at times, we are not out in the cold.

9. HEALTH- Okay, maybe we aren't the picture of perfect health. There are definately things we can do to stay healthy and reduce our risks for heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. The point is we have every opportunity to lead a long and healthy life, all we have to do is reach out and embrace the opportunities that abound.

10. GIFTS- Santa was VERY good to us this year. We got everything on our wishlist, well except the camera but I'll survive. We are so very lucky! We didn't even have to finance anything this year. Cheesehead and I didn't exchange gifts with each other so we could afford to help Santa with the expensive gift the kids wanted.

We also got all 3 appliances that we wished for, now if my garden provides an abundance of food next year we'll be all set (except for figuring out how to work with our new "toys"). Cheesehead got two pairs of pants and a brand new pair of shoes too. I don't think we could have asked for more.

Thank you for stopping by. Please leave me a message. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cindy

Life's Greatest Lessons

All of the recent ancestry research paired with the reading of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books has really helped me to identify with my ancestors. Some people may scoff and jeer at a woman of my age reading a "kid's" book, but I feel that it gives us a great insight into the way life used to be.

It shows us a way of living that most people don't choose to live anymore because it was too hard to make our own stuff. I suppose that it is easier to go to the store and buy a jar of apple sauce and to throw all of our gargage into the landfill instead of being creative with it's uses.

I can't help but think though how we can improve our soil with our garbage instead of putting it into a plastic bag. Those bones that most people like to toss in the garbage could be put to good use too once we boil the meat off. Wouldn't it make much cheaper bone meal for us if we were to use it instead of toss it? That meat that was boiled off the bone could be used in a soup too, a double bonus for a family that is struggling in our current economic crisis. The spoiled fruits and vegetable that would be thrown into the same plastic bag can be added to compost to add additional nutrients to our soil so that money wouldn't be completely wasted at least....

It's amazing how wasteful our society has become. Our older generations don't show us these frugal ways of living because so many of us prefer the easy way of living. Most of our parents aren't even aware of the ways our grandparents and great grandparents lived. It's too bad really.

Looking back over time I also can't help but wonder why the sudden onsurge of cancer, diabetes, and disease. These problems didn't used to exist at all. Why? I'd have to say that it's because of the additives, chemicals, and unnatural ways of eating that is all the craze in our country. I haven't done any scientific experiments to back up my claims, but if we just use our common sense I just can't help but thinking that my hunch is correct.

If we go back to the ways our grandparents and great grandparents used to live, our society wouldn't be such big consumers of goods and services either. Is that the reason for our struggling economy? It may be. Many people seem to be rediscovering the once lost wonders of our ancestors. Is that a bad thing? I can't help but think that it may not be so bad for us to live within our means rather than beyond them. It may be bad for our retirement accounts in the short term, but if we only spend what we have and figure out ways to save money on common every day items it will ultimately lead to a richer more fulfilling life.

I can't help but think that our pioneering ancestors had the right idea on how to live. Thank you for providing such a great example for us lazy Americans who live in such a prosperous nation that it may not even occur to them that it's possible to make our own soap.

I think I am going to try to follow that example more closely and I hope that my readers will too.

Thank you for stopping by. Please leave me a message and a backlink. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cindy

Book Tag Fun

I love to read so imagine my delite when two of my favorite blogs (Nola at Alamo North and Dee from Red Dirt Ramblings) were both playing a rowsing game of book tag. I think it was Kathi that tagged me a while back, too but I procrastinated as usual. Sorry but I've been a bit busy lately. Never too busy to read though, just too busy to write about it!

What am I reading now? I am in the midst of reading about 5 books right now. I bet some of you probably may think that makes me just a bit crazy, but you never know what you'll be in the mood to read at any given time so I like to read a variety. I have three books on the couch by me right now. Two of them were in a pile together so it was a toss up of which one to choose.

For the games Kathi and Dee were playing we're supposed to open the book to page 56 and write down the 5th sentence as well as the next 2-3 sentences to give the readers some context of what is going on.

I actually grabbed the one on top of the pile Your Country Kitchen by Jocasta Innes first. When I opened it to page 56 and picked the 5th paragraph I decided there really wasn't enough context to get the idea of what was going on even after adding the next 2 or 3 sentences as directed. What was it talking about? Making your own beer.

I grabbed the other book in the pile which was titled Landscaping with Herbs by Jim Wilson. Only three sentences on that page captioning pictures. Hmm, I guess I'm not doing very well! I suppose I could just turn further in the book, but would that be considered following the directions then? Next book, please!

The last book on the couch is These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Let's hope this one works out better than the other two! Jackpot. Here's what the book says. Tommy smiled, so she gave him a spelling book and a new piece of chalk. When he had copied his lesson, she praised his writing and told him that he could now study his spelling from the board. She gave the spelling book to Ruby.

Nola's game of book tag asks us to say 7 random book facts about us, so here goes!
1. This is the last of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books I have to read.
2. I didn't read them all in order, I read the ones I owned first.
3. This one is borrowed from the local library as are the other two books on the couch. I own the other two books I'm currently reading, one is in my subbing bag out in the van and the other is on my bedside table.
4. I like to read books about Star Wars. Except the x wing squadron books, for some reason I can't get into those. I have a large library of Star Wars books.
5. I use receipts as book marks in the books I read even though we own a bazillion book marks. I never seem to be near a bookmark when I need one, but receipts are usually very close by. Most of those receipts are really the printout slip reminding me of when the book is due back though so I suppose I shouldn't really call them receipts.
6. When we buy books I tend to buy used books. They're cheaper than new and the funds usually benefit a good cause so it's a double bonus.
7. I don't really have a favorite type of book to read. I'm an ecclectic type of person and my book choices reflect that fact. I tend to choose mostly spiritual, self help, diy, gardening, crafting, home decorating, non-fiction, science fiction, education, and children's books.

We're supposed to tag 5 (or 7) people but I am going to just tell whoever want to play to go right ahead and play along.

Thank you for stopping by. Please leave me a message and a backlink. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cindy

A Nice Little Diversion

Nola @ alamo north had this on her blog and I decided to join in on the fun. Here are my answers, please take it and fill in yours...

1. Where is your cell phone. In my purse.

2. Where is your significant other? In the Kitchen

3. Your hair color? Blonde

4. Your Mother? In MN

5. Your Father? In heaven

6. Your favorite thing? Reading, crafting, gardening, blogging, shopping

7. Your dream last night? That my dad was alive again

8. Your dream goal? Loose about 75 pounds

9. The room you're in? Living Room

10. Your hobby? DIY projects, photography, scrapbooking

11. Your fear? Not sure

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Right where I am now!

13. Where were you last night? At home

14. What you are not? Thin

15. One of your wish list items? Travel and visit the places my ancestors lived

16. Where you grew up? ALbert Lea MN, Sioux City IA, Mapleton IA, Brainerd MN, and Monticello MN.

17. The last thing you did? Turned on the computer

18. What are you wearing? Long sleeved shirt and long skirt

19. Your TV? Living room, kitchen, bedroom, bedroom, bedroom, bedroom, family room, and garage

20. Your Pets? 2 cats and technically a dog but she doesn't live with us

21. Your computer? One that's crashed and a laptop

22. Your Mood? Hungry

23. Missing someone? Dad

24. Your car? Tortise Shell and domestic tabby

25. Something you're not wearing? Shoes

26. Favorite Store? Menards

27. Your summer? Warm and perfect

28. Love someone? Lots of people

29. Your favorite colors? Pastels, Earth Colors, and Jewel Tones

30. When was the last time you laughed? Today

31. When was the last time you cried? Watching a movie

Thank you for stopping by. Please leave me a message and a backlink. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cindy