Dirty Life wrap up

I recently finished The Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming, Food, and Love by Kristin Kemball. At first I reluctantly fell in love with the book. I didn't expect to like but I delved in delighted with my findings. The author recounts how she (a journalist from the city) met & fell in love with her husband (a farmer who believes in a self-sustaining-little-to-no-electricity farm). There were almost at opposite ends of the spectrum. The came together and started/built a farm together. As I read more of the book, I found myself getting a little frustrated with the author's ADD-like style of writing. She tended to jump around from one topic to another too much and it took me out of the story. I believe the jumping around was meant to add more depth or explanation of events and feelings that took place, but it ended up becoming increasingly annoying for me. For the most part, I did like the book but don't know that I will recommend it to many people and I wish I had checked it out from the library as opposed to buying it. I don't think I'll read it again.

A Million Miles Wrap up

I finished A Million Miles in a Thousand Day by Donald Miller. I fell in love with this book and its message. I also must say that I am intrigued about his memoir and the movie (based on the memoir) that is  coming out in the next month. The book is basically about creating a better life story or stories; more memorable scenes with your friends and family.

Through co-writing the screen play for the movie, Donald Miller, in essence re-wrote his life and in more ways than one. Through this venture he found that any good story is about 'a character who wants something and must overcome conflict to achieve or obtain his/her want'. Miller states that most anybody loves a great story but there are not many who want to put forth the effort and work to obtain it. However, "joy costs pain." How true this is. You can plan and plan all you want but without putting it into action the plan is meaningless. I am a good planner but I often have a hard time acting on my plans, I always have good intentions but that just isn't enough. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years inspires you to live the stories (life) you want to live. Have adventures and take time to be silly!

"We teach our children good or bad stories, what is worth living for and what is worth dying for, what is worth pursuing, and the dignity with which a character engages his/her own narrative." This statement really hit home. Am I living a good story that show my children what is worth living, dying and pursuing? Am I engaging my own story with dignity so that my children can learn from me? Children always learn more from actions than words. If you are saying one thing but doing another, they're going to follow what you do more often than not.

God has graced Miller with a great deal of wisdom in the experiences that he has had and through the people he has met and I think the wisdom shared in this book is valuable beyond measure and should not be taken lightly.

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for more to life. May you make many, many memorable scenes!

Quiet Beauty Before the Storm

As I sat down to eat dinner, my grandfather calls me to come with him on an excursion through the fields of the farm. "You need to see this," he says, "and bring your camera!"

As we arrive at the of a hill, I see the reason for this mirthful adventure. It's evening and just before a storm; the clouds are beginning to roll in. The sky is filled with the steel blue of the on coming storm, though a drop has yet to fall. There was an excitement in the air as the darkness of the sky seemed to kindle a brilliance in the trees that made their new spring coast glitter with excitement. It was as if the trees were trying to tell you a secret before the darkness caught up with them.

Yet there was also a calmness in the air the that breathed peace into your very soul as the steel blue contrasted with the beautiful iridescence of spring. The sun kissed the earth as if God reached down to caress His creation just before sending the cleansing rain waters. The scene cried out to me and I felt God's strength and love through my grandfather and in his voice while we sat in his John Deer Gator riding around the farm witnessing God's majestic canvas! It was a surreal moment filled with quiet excitement.

Then drop by drop the rain came to soothe the soul and quench the earth so that it could give birth life and bring forth more beauty of spring. Thank you my Saviour and my God for this day and the  many blessings You have given me!

Body Clutter Wrap-up

I finished Body Clutter and I must say that I did enjoy the read and the journey. I learned many things about myself and I appreciated both authors and their honesty. Body Clutter isn't a diet book; it is more about understanding yourself and your relationship with food so that you can make better and healthier life choices by making small changes and taking baby steps. The three main areas of Body Clutter discussed in the book: food, attitude, & movement. The ultimate goal is to FLY (Finally Love Yourself).
I will share a few quotes with you from the book that I enjoyed and/or found helpful:
"It's [your attitude] either a good one that blesses your families, or a sticky one that reeks and smells up the whole house."
"An unexamined life is not worth living." -Socrates
"Life is difficult." -Ben Franklin

I would definitely recommend this book. It is a helpful and I believe it will work for anyone. It is not asking you to make drastic changes and deprive yourself, but instead to take slow, steady and consistent baby steps to a healthier and happier you. Happy reading all!

Monthly Reading Post

This month I being rather ambitious! I am trying to read four books (one left over from last month) all while  working part and being a mom and wife full time!
So the books I am reading this month are: Tempted by the Cast girls, Body Clutter by Marla Cilley and Leanne Ely, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller, and 48 Days to the Work you Love by Dan Miller.

Tempted is written by a mother and daughter team, which I think is pretty cool anyway, and it is the 6th in the House of Night series about vampires. The authors are P.C. and Kristin Cast. In the series, some people have a "vampire gene" and will inevitably become a vampire. The person is "marked" as a teenager and have a short amount of time from the time they are marked to get to the closest school of night where there are adult vampires to help them through the "change" from human to vampire. The heroine (Zoey) of the story has been blessed with great powers and has all kinds of crazy conflicts to overcome not to mention a good bit of teen drama. Zoey is also a bit boy crazy which often gets her into trouble. I like the authors' take on vampires and the fact that it's kind of a mesh of vampire and witch lore melded together. At any rate it is a fun read. In this book Zoey has some serious decisions to make and some really serious temptation to overcome, including the allure of a dark immortal. That fate of the world or at least her world and her friends lives may rest on her courage to resist temptation.

Body Clutter is written by Cilley and Ely who are maybe more commonly known as the FlyLady and the Dinner Diva or Dinner Saving Mom. I actually started this book at the end of the month last month but didn't finish it. I am almost finished with it now and I must say it had opened my eyes in many ways. It's not just about getting into a better lifestyle and making better decisions about what you are eating but it is also about understanding why you have made previous decision so that you can correct them going forward. Both authors emphasize using baby steps get to a healthier you. You didn't get to the weight you are over night or even within a day or week, and you can't make it disappear overnight or even within a week. It is about taking small steps and changing your relationship with food to a healthy relationship. This book has been very helpful and I have come to some new understanding about myself.

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller is the book of the month for the BOOKING IT CLUB organized by blogger of Life as a Mom. I am only about a quarter of the way through this one, but I am really liking it. I think this is a book that I am going to LOVE! It is about a guy who has wrote a memoir that a couple of movie producers think will make a good movie but they need to tweak it. At first the author is a feeling jilted because his life is too boring as it is, but then he realizes through the process of making the movie he can "edit" his life and make it a better story. Like I say I still pretty early in the book but it is bringing to light so many things that I either didn't realize or that I've taken for granted. I and excited about the rest of the book!

The last book I am reading is Dan Miller's 48 Days to the Work you Love. I literally just started this one today but I am looking forward to it and what things I might learn about working and myself. I am a big DR (Dave Ramsey) fan and he not only recommends this book but also wrote the forward!

Enjoy reading everyone!!

Tried "No-Poo" & Oil Cleansing

So I tried out the "No-Poo" method for my hair. This is where you use a water and baking soda mixture to wash your hair and a apple cider vinegar and water mixture as conditioner. It's cheap and easy and works for many people. However, I tried it for about two weeks and my hair went from being in okay shape to horrible. It was wiry, rough, and dry with no shine at all. I decided that I had had it and this method just didn't work for me. Before trying this method I had switched to Avalon organic products and wasn't happy with the result. After trying the "No-Poo" method I was almost hating my hair.
I have since tried Giovanni Organic Hair Care. I have been using this for about three weeks now and I LOOOVE it!!! I am current using the tea tree shampoo and the leave in conditioner. I also use the frizz hair serum, but only when I straighten my hair. My hair feels light and healthy. There is also a softness and a shine to my hair that I haven't seen in quite sometime! I will admit though that the Giovanni Organic Hair products are a bit on the pricey side at about $8 to $9 per bottle for the shampoo and conditioner (8.5 ounces each). The no frizz serum was about $12 or $13 (I think) for a 2.75 ounce bottle. However, I am willing to pay a higher price for good quality hair products that don't have a bunch of crap in them.
Now for the oil cleansing. This sounds crazy and I got the recipe for Tsh Oxenreider's book. Her recipe uses a mix of olive oil and caster oil; I also add a few drops of essential oils.  Depending on how oily or dry your skin is you adjust the ratio of olive oil and caster oil; for dry skin you add more olive oil and less caster. I have been doing this for about a month and I really like it! It is simple and makes my skin feel surprisingly clean and great. Some days I do have to add a little bit of virgin coconut oil as a moisturizer but most day I just oil cleanse.
All in all I am glad that I tried both of these methods they are both relatively cheap, however, only one of them worked out for me. I am always willing to try something new though especially if it happens to be both healthy and inexpensive! I highly recommend trying these, just because the "no-poo" method didn't work for me doesn't mean it won't work for you (many people love it).

Book review on Money Saving Mom's Budget

The Money Saving Mom’s Budget by Crystal Paine is the second book in the BookingIt Club from the Blogger LifeAsMom. I have enjoyed Paine sound advice, occasionally I found myself saying, “Of course!...I knew that!” or “Why didn’t I think of that!” I also found some of her previous experiences she wrote about in the book parallels some of my current experiences. This has given me a renewed strength just knowing (or reading about) someone who has overcome some not-so-fun situations in life.

I agree that you have to organize your house and your finances before you can implement other practices to save money. Like you can’t organize your bills if have can’t find them in the clutter of your house.

I have been couponing on and off for a few years now and have been researching strategies and ‘how tos’ but I felt like the advice she gives about integrating coupons and the “drugstore game” into your budget and shopping is more helpful to me than most other strategies and advice I have found. Basically don’t jump in over you head. If you drown yourself in saving money strategies then after you have factored in your time you are not really coming out ahead. Instead you just end up burned out and frustrated then you go back to spending more money or too much money, which is the opposite of your original purpose. Speaking of coupons, has anyone tried the Couponizer? It sounded and looked like a great tool!

I also really like Paine’s last chapter on finding contentment in your current situation not matter what it is. It is hard to get into a better situation in life if you are so caught up how bad you’ve got it. It’s like not being able to see the trees for the forest. If you can find contentment it is easier to relax a little and then when your are relaxed you can think more clearly about how to find/make a little extra money here or there, which leads to more enjoyment and encourages more creativity. It’s like a positive cycle.

I have really enjoyed this book and will definitely recommend it to my friends!