Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Etsy Shop Launch



It's been a long time coming, but we finally opened our Etsy shop for business today. Erin has been collecting a ton of vintage, retro, mid century goods over the past year and a half with this plan in mind. We have been talking about it for months, consulting friends, doing some research, etc, etc. It's definitely far from being polished and pretty, but we decided to go with what we have and spruce it up along the way. We've only posted a small fraction of what we've collected and have plenty of description writing yet to do. This has been a learning experience for sure trying to understand the ins and outs of Paypal and Etsy.

Crazy thing is within less than 10 minutes of making it public we had our first sale. Talk about motivation! I had just brewed some coffee and then BAM! Sale!...and a good one too. So we were all excited until we realized we now have to ship this rather awkwardly large floor lamp. We'll see how that goes tomorrow as we learn the ins and outs of the UPS and the USPS. The picture above is the lamp we sold today. We are hoping there will be plenty more sales to come and that our first sale is not just a fluke.

Please check out our store here! Tell your friends! Tell your grandmothers, aunts, and cousins...you get the picture:) Let us know if you have any suggestions as we are looking for ways to improve. A shop banner is in the works, and we'll be improving the organization and fine print as well. We will constantly be updating the shop with new items and our latest finds. Thanks for your support!

Friday, April 15, 2011

Before and After


 before.....

I have been wanting to do something with this window up in the playroom for a long time now. I had my eye on this fabric at Ikea for what seemed like forever. I just knew it would be perfect for this window,  but every time we would go to Ikea to get the fabric they would be out of stock, and you can't order fabric online which is really frustrating. Finally, a little over a year ago, I was able to get my hands on the fabric. I was so excited to finally have it. I did one small project using the fabric for Little Girl's play kitchen and then the fabric just sat up in the playroom waiting to be used for it's original purpose for over a year now. Ha-ha! I guess we were just waiting for the perfect rainy day when there were no other more pressing projects that needed to be done. That day finally came and Gerald and I (mainly Gerald) knocked this out in about three hours. We were in such a hurry to get it done while the kids were napping that we forgot to take pictures of the whole process. There are tons of tutorials you can find online on how to make a window valance, and it really is very easy. So I don't feel too bad that I didn't take lots of pictures of the process. I did remember to get a before and after picture though! That counts for something...right?



after...

I'm loving the extra pop of color that the fabric adds to the room and it all just feels more finished now that the window is finally done. I'm planning on making some pillows out of the same fabric for the futon that is in this room as well. Maybe this time I'll remember to take pictures of the process =)

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Early Garden Update



The early garden seems to be going well to date. Above is the first bunch of radishes I was able to harvest just a couple days ago. They're always fun to plant, since they mature so quickly. My dad planted radishes with me when I was just a little guy for that very reason. I remember being pumped as a child when we got to pull them up, even though I don't remember ever eating them. In fact, as much as I am trying to involve little girl in the garden, I noticed these were ready when I was checking the garden after work. And yeh, I went ahead and pulled them up without even thinking about going inside and getting her to help. Guess it's the little kid in me. We've got some more that are ready, so I'll get her on those. So far everything is looking great including the carrots, lettuces, spinach, and potatoes. The broccoli seems kinda small so far, so I'm not holding out on getting much there. Well, here's what we did with the radishes.





And no, those aren't my carrots...I wish. We took the radishes and some garlic, ground them up, and mixed them in some creme cheese. Made a pretty good dip for the carrots that lasted us a couple days. Not sure what I'm going to do with the tons of radishes I have left to pull up over the next couple weeks. Going to scour the internet for new recipes. Should be fun. I've got my way-too-late spring break next week, so I've promised little girl I'd take her to County Boys to buy our summer garden plants. I'll hopefully update with those events next week.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Get Well Juice


I have been really sick the past week and a half. Fever, chills, aching all over, sore throat, terrible sinus pressure, constant coughing...the whole nine yards. I have tried anything and everything I can think of  to try to kick this sickness out of my system. I have been to the Doctor, been on antibiotics, tried 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar mixed with 1 tablespoon of honey twice a day. Made a tea that had cayenne pepper, lemon, ginger, and apple cider vinegar in it. Drank countless cups of throat coat tea and a tea that says it is good for colds. Slathered myself in Vick's vapor rub and also have Vick's in a crock pot in my room so the whole room smells like the stuff. Gargled with salt water several times a day. Used my Netti pot twice a day. Eaten chicken noodle soup with cayenne pepper in it. Taken loads of vitamin C, vitamin D, and garlic pills. Drank lots of kefir, and downed several cups of aloe juice.

When none of this seemed to be helping me and most of it tasted terrible, I decided to get my juicer out. I use to juice a lot, but then I got pregnant with Little Man and just the thought of veggie juice made me gag, so it has been over a year since I last used my trusty juicer.

As soon as I got the juicer out Little Girl got all excited and Emma (our dog) started jumping around like she was a little puppy again ( if you don't know...our dog LOVES any vegetable and any fruit...nothing makes her run into the kitchen faster than the sounds of the colander and the cutting board coming out of the cabinet. Yeah, I know....she's strange). I've been juicing for the past five days and I'm finally feeling better. You can call it a coincidence that I'm finally feeling better, but I'm going to stand by my theory that this juice is what finally did the trick!




Little Girl begs me to make this juice for her and is such a good helper. She takes her job of handing the carrots to me very seriously.



  She doesn't come up for air when she is drinking this and she usually asks for another cup.



The juice in all it's glory. I drink about 16 ounces a day.



Here's what I usually juice:

Organic carrots
Red delicious apples
Cucumbers
Ginger (sometimes)
Romain lettuce
Kale


If you want to feel younger, healthier, more alive, and have skin that glows, then I recommend you start juicing. When else are you going to eat all those vegetable...I mean, could you imagine putting all those vegetables on a plate and actually trying to eat them all? So why not get it all over with in one glass of goodness. Oh, and it actually tastes good! I'll be honest, I didn't always like the way it tasted. In fact, I use to hate it,  but I just kept making myself drink it until I finally starting liking it, and now I can honestly say that I love it.

Another benefit of juicing is that I can give the pulp from the vegetables to our dog and our bird and they love it, and then I can compost the rest. So, dust off those juicers sitting in the back of your cabinets and start juicing again, and if you don't have a juicer then go get one. Ours only cost about 50 bucks. I've used it a lot in the three years we've had it, and I think it does a pretty good job!

Okay, I just reread this post and I've decided that I sound like an infomercial...ha-ha! Maybe I have a future in television marketing?? =)

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Tired



No...I'm not complaining about being physically tired. Sure...I do a lot. I work two jobs, both of which are at their busiest for the next two months. Yeah..., I've got two small children and try to be an involved and active parent. No doubt I'm married and try to be a loving husband who takes care of his wife. Of course there are those everyday responsibilities. But, that is not what I'm tired of.

I'm tired of "the man!"

I kinda say that with a lot of oomph and slight laughter. I don't mean to sound like the radical anarchist or the old man who's just tired of paying taxes on property he has already paid for. I'm tired of being fed the American lie. Seems the American dream has turned from freedom to slavery. We are constantly fed the idea that if we work hard or play it smart we can have this or that and if we don't we can always borrow money (go into debt) for it. It's always something we never needed before but now must have. Something to make life a little easier or more convenient. I'm sick of it! I'm tired of being told how I need to get money so I can have this or that, or how what I've got now is old and not good enough anymore and how I now need something "better."

But don't quit on me yet! I'm not putting up this post to whine and complain. There's enough of that happening all the time. I'm writing to say I want to do something about it! No, I'm not aiming to do anything extreme crazy. Counter culture, maybe...but not loose-my-mind insane. I'm not telling Erin she can't wear makeup, has to cook all day, and can't leave the house...yet (just kidding).

Really though, the question of what I can do to break away from the typical American/Western mindset has been plaguing my mind for quite sometime. It probably started when I thought I'd train to teach in order to make a positive impact on society, and found out via pay schedules how little society sees education as important. Then, over time realizing that in order to live a just barely middle class income American life, I've gotta work two jobs to keep my wife at home and that my family has to eat processed and unhealthy food to keep the grocery bill halfway reasonable, while still occasionally having to go into some debt to make it work. 

Time to turn this thing around...for real! I'm slowly realizing that I don't have to have everything I think I need. I've never been a huge spender. I'm not going to say I've never bought something I didn't need or spent a little more on something I could have spent less on. I'm not foolish enough to make out my situation to be a total consequence of someone else's bad idea. But I can do with less. And probably in most cases I can do better with less. And not only can I do without certain things that are normally expected, but I can do a lot for myself without relying on "the man" to take care of it for me.

There is a definite movement in America in this direction. It seems that a lot of people are trying to be self-sufficient and self-sustaining. I want myself and my family to be a part of this movement. We've been slowly heading in this direction for sometime, but in the past couple weeks my mind has been churning on how to amp it up. This is the third year we've had a garden. While I enjoy it to a degree, it's not for the sake of a hobby that I'm trying to grow our own vegetables. I'm truly endeavoring to provide wholesome food for my family without paying extra hours of side work away from my family in the process.

Gardening is just the start. Overtime, I hope we as a family will slowly find ways to cut our spending and provide for ourselves as much as possible regarding our food and other resources. Our next project is installing a clothes line in the backyard (know the neighbors will love that). For years I've been wanting to get our recycling act together. That begins this week when I purchase some bins to get it organized. Also, we've reset out thermostat to allow a greater variance in temperature and are using windows and fans to compensate. Any other ideas are more than welcome. My dream would be to own a couple acres and have a mini-farm/homestead that's off the grid. While that dream is probably a ways away, I want to do what I can to move in that direction starting with the smallest changes. It's going to be a growing process, but I know we'll be better for it.

I'm hoping not to compare myself personally with other people. There will be those of you who read this post who make less money than I do, or who do without in ways I haven't experienced. Others look at my little bit of gardening and say, "really, is that all you're doing?"

With knowledge comes responsibility. While the cliche states that "you can't believe anything you hear and only half of what you see," it's obvious that the choices we've made to make our lives more "convenient" have most often negatively impacted the environment, the economy, our families, and ourselves. I truly hope to turn that around for my family as much as possible. I hope that this blog will provide a good outlet of what we're doing to move in that direction. Small steps in the right direction are better than no steps at all.

-g

Picture courtesy of Wind Power Authority

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Chocolate Caramel Crackers


Warning: the following recipe is extremely addicting. You will definitely want to take these to a party or have a group of people over rather than making a whole batch of them for yourself. Take it from somebody who has been there and learned her lesson. These guys will literally sit on your counter and scream your name every time you walk by them until you finally give in and eat Every. Last. One.

I was first introduced to these little guys at a Super Bowl party a couple of months ago. A friend of mine brought them and since then I have not been able to get them out of my mind. I just had to look up the recipe and make them myself. So I did. And now I'm going to put the link to the recipe on here so you can be just as addicted as me...ha-ha!


You can read the full tutorial and recipe I followed over at Smitten Kitchen. I used saltines instead of Matzo since I had the saltines on hand. Give it a try...I promise you'll love them!

Day Trip


We took a day trip to one of our favorite places to go last week...Hendersonville, North Carolina. Gerald and I have been going up to Hendersonville since we first started dating about 10 years ago (good grief, I feel old now). Whenever I think about a fun, relaxing, scenic getaway, my first thought is to take a trip to the Hendersonville area. So it wasn't hard to figure out where we should go when we realized we had a day to spend together as a family.




Little Girl and me at Jump Off Rock enjoying the scenery. We packed a picnic lunch and were planning on doing some hiking but it was freezing cold and super windy up there and we were totally unprepared. We left our house in 70 degree weather and got up here and it was 40 degrees! We still had our picnic like champs but we decided to save the hike for some other time.








My baby and me. He's such a sweet cuddly little guy and I am eating up every moment of it because I know it won't last long. Right now, I am his favorite and I like it that way =)





I was taking some pictures of the scenery and these two thought it would be funny to sneak into the picture.





Some pretty daffodils that were just begging me for a picture




Little Girl with the pretty flowers



After our freezing cold picnic we headed back down the mountain to one of our favorite coffee shops on Main Street to try to warm ourselves up. Little girl really wanted some hot tea so we let her have a cup and she was so proud of herself and was acting like she was big stuff with her hot drink.



We actually had a nice relaxing time in the coffee shop with two kids which was amazing. Little Man slept in Gerald's arms most of the time and Little Girl entertained herself so we we able to just sit and relax and enjoy our coffee...it was a little miracle (if you have kids you know what I mean) and it provided some much needed down time for both of us.




Me posing on my all time favorite road. It's actually a private drive to a house. But aren't those trees amazing??? I always imagine that these trees and this road must lead to a magical land...ha-ha! For real though, it is gorgeous and this picture doesn't even begin to do it justice. You'll just have to go see for yourself.  The gate is usually locked but for some reason this day it wasn't. So we pulled in and Gerald snapped a few pictures of me.



I threw this one in for fun. This picture was taken in 2006 at Jump Off Rock. We were newly married and had not a care in the world. Just look at those innocent/naive faces =)



And this is Gerald and me five years later taken in almost the exact same spot.  A little wiser (I hope) but still so in love. And I have to say...I think we look pretty good for having added 2 kids and a house in those five years ;-)