happy at home

LIVE LIGHTLY!Check out Sara's documentation of their time here in Statesboro. It was such a wonderful time and I learned so much from her. Just a few of my favorite "take aways" from their visit...

-Learning about raw food. I was interested in incorporating more raw foods into my diet, but my mind really drew a blank after smoothies and salads. Sara was so generous with her knowledge and her food...she made me so many delicious raw things to eat, as well as loaning me many of her raw foods cookbooks to read while they were here. By the end of the week, I was ready to eat raw all the time. I am eating about 85% raw right now, and have seen a HUGE difference in my body in the last two weeks. I dropped five pounds the first week, my skin is much clearer, and I have so much more energy! My children are eating a lot more raw foods too and they love the green smoothies. Caedmon actually turned down cheetos the other day, in favor of an orange. Nothing short of miraculous! To learn more about raw food, check out Sara's raw food blog, happy foody.

-Babywearing. I am a big, big fan of babywearing. I have a wrap that I made when Bauer was first born, and it has been wonderful. But he is getting a little big for the particular one that I use, and it was such fun to try on all her different style wraps (12 in all!), to see which I liked best. Sara was so helpful and even Matt and Bella got in on the action. My friend Stacy has a new lease on life, now that she has a wrap for her newborn, Murray!

-Veggie Oil. After spending time with Matt, my hubby, Matt took the plunge and purchased a 1981 Mercedes 240 Diesel, which he will be running on veggie oil from the restaurants he sells food to. Converting to used veggie oil is going to save us about $250 a month (Matt drives about 500 miles a week). I am super excited, because I absolutely LOVE old Mercedes. My last car was an old Mercedes station wagon, and I was so sad to sell it.

-A new friendship. Sara embodies so many of the things that I am interested in, want to be, admire, etc. It was SUCH a pleasure to spend time with her preparing food, playing with the children, and talking, talking, talking. I love her sweet RV (it is adorably decorated!) and admire how much she has simplified her life. The thing I was most surprised about was how non-judgemental she was. She was loving and accepting of us, just the way we were (Cheetos and all!!). She was happy to offer suggestions and ideas when I asked for them, but she was not pushy. I really appreciated that about her and want to be more that way myself. Also, she has such a generous spirit. She was so quick to share her resources with me...her food, her wraps, her books, and many more things. After downsizing so severely, I expected her to be really frugal with their remaining possessions, but she seemed to be just the opposite. As though, by giving away so much, she was now less tied to what she still owned...she saw their value, but was not defined by what she owned. This was a big "ah ha" for me. I truly want to have this generous spirit.
It is so easy for me to try to hide behind my "stuff". I think this is why I had such a hard time driving a minivan. I felt that people would label me, based on what I drove. I know, I know, it is very shallow! I am slowly learning to let go of my preconceived ideas of who people are, based on their things. It is a hard thing to do, and I catch myself making assumptions about people based on what they own all the time. We are so much more than what we own and I really appreciated how quick Sara was to share what she had. A big life lesson for me.

Anyway, I could go on and on about their time here and how much I learned from Sara. I know she and I will continue to keep in touch, and I will continue to call her a friend. If you get the chance, be sure to check out her main blog, Walk Slowly, Live Wildly. I have read the past posts many times, and never fail to learn something every time.