the blog

I'm always on the hunt for ways to save money and cut harmful "stuff" out of our home. When I get both it's a huge win! We switched to making our own laundry detergent a year or two ago and haven't looked back. I started with the simplest recipe I could find, thinking it would add or change along the way, but all I changed was the ratio of ingredients. Now it takes 10 minutes to mix it all up and we get 2 months of clean clothes without harmful ingredients for well under $14.  Here's how to make it...

There is always that comforting relief of a house clear from all the Christmas things, but it never seems to last long. The winter blahs follow close behind when everything outside is brown, it gets dark at 2:00 PM and it’s just stupid cold. It’s easy to ignore around Christmas when the pretty decorations warm everything up but a few weeks into January and it’s like it never even happened.   Wow. I sound pretty doom and gloom, but that is just the not so pretty side of winter that has me ready for spring every year! But never fear, I’ve...

  November 1st. October is over. The write 31 days challenge is over. Did I finish it? Yes and no. I failed to post all 31 days, but I wrote 18 real posts which is probably more that all of last year and I call that a huge improvement. But more than just 18 posts, I’ve learned so much, so today, as my favorite Emily P. Freeman started, I’m listing what I’ve learned I October through the Write 31 Days project.  Doing something is empowering. I like to think and overthink before I take action. And while I planned and...

Now that you’ve had a little time to process your tour from yesterday, I want you to zero in on those spots you love the most and compare them to the ones that caused you a little stress. I think it’s safe to say that 99% of the time, the stress is because of too much stuff or stuff in the wrong place.    We need to edit. The Nester calls this “quieting the space” and she actually recommends taking everything not totally necessary (i.e. beds, couch, etc) out of the space and living like that for awhile to reorient...

  True Confession: It’s Monday, October 29th and all I want to do is decorate for Christmas. Blame the new house screaming to be Christmas-ed up, or Christmas on the brain thanks to all the prep we’ve been doing,  or just the fact that I heart Christmas so much… whatever the cause, I have the fever and I have it bad. We still have pumpkins and I might put out our few halloween things for the day of but there is that awkward time between Halloween and Thanksgiving that fall decor is still acceptable but I’m also ready for the...