DRAWBACKS TO SIMPLE LIVINGOne hazard of compacting is that, occasionally, a stray toe may freeze in the thrice-handed down footed pajamas.

SERIOUSLY????When we were on vacation earlier this month, I purchased groceries so that I could cook most of our meals. I only needed a little butter, so I bought a half size. The little mini butters were so cute! They were each half a stick size. What killed me was the advertising on the back of the box.I can see it now...poring over the different butter options in the supermarket...reading the back of this butter box...smile of relief spreading across my face. "Whew, no more cutting or rewrapping my butter!! What a relief to remove THAT stressor from my life!" :)

REMEMBERING WHY I HATE SHOPPING...Today I went to Bi-Lo with my three boys. This was the first time I have stepped foot in a chain grocery store since the beginning of August. I have been putting off going, but there are a few things that I am unable to purchase at the IGA, produce stand, or discount foods, so I finally bit the bullet. I quickly remembered why I don't go to big grocery stores anymore. It was kind of comical though. It was like country mouse visiting the city. We were all wide-eyed. I felt like such a dork...I was simply in awe of all the choices!! How did I forget about that in the last four months?

I steered clear of the produce completely. I am committed to shopping seasonally (we are eating lots of apples, potatoes, butternut squash, and greens right now, as well as items I have canned, and beans) and locally, so I get all of my fruit and veggies at the produce stand.

I was only there for five things but I kid you not, I was there for the same length of time that it takes me to get a week's worth of groceries at all three places I shop COMBINED. My children were throwing cookies and chips and candy bars into the cart like little mad men. They were insane!! But I couldn't really blame them, I was fighting the same feelings. I felt totally out of my element and a little panicked. It was very strange. The sheer magnitude of products was overwhelming. Over and over again, I would find myself getting sidetracked by all the items I suddenly "needed". Numerous times, I would pull myself away from a display, chiding myself to stay on task.

I escaped an hour later, with eggs, diapers for Landing, whipping cream, block parmesan, yogurt, butter, and sugar...and $40 poorer. While I would love to come back without children, when I have time to peruse and enjoy all the choices, for my regular shopping, I am definitely sticking with the mom and pop places!

*image from ineedahermida on flickr.com

GREAT READ

Meredith, at Like Merchant Ships, is the guest blogger today (and every monday) at Frugal Hacks. Go check out her great series on frugal giving (cheerfully and creatively). She has SUCH good ideas! Today she talks about creative packaging and it is chock full of inspiration for the holiday season. My favorite post in this series is when she goes through a holiday Pottery Barn Catalog, and comes up with great ways to copy them for much less (or free!). You can find that post here.

AGAINST THE FLOW

Today is Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year!! Will you be out shopping today, buying your Christmas gifts, or will you be observing the Buy Nothing Day?

This will be the first year of my adult life (other than the years that I had a newborn) that I am not out fighting the crowds at Toys 'R Us, Wal.Mart, and the Mall. I have never been a big shopper but have always loved Black Friday to get me in the Christmas spirit. This year, I am going to get in the mood a different way, and so far (it is 9:15 am, usually I would have already been shopping for 4 hours), I don't miss the shopping experience at all!

To start off the holiday season, today I am going to be cleaning and decluttering my house (while blasting the Christmas music!!), so I can start with a clean slate when I get out the Christmas decorations tonight or tomorrow. After I get my house clean, the boys and I will head to my parents house to pick up pecans. Tonight, the hubby will build a fire and we will have popcorn and hot chocolate or cider. We will snuggle up on the couch and read books about Christmas and talk about our plans for the holiday season.

Tomorrow we will go buy our Christmas tree from the produce stand and begin decorating for the holidays!

Here is an interesting website called oxfam where you can buy gifts for friends and family (100% of profits go to fight poverty), or you even give a cow to a family in a third world country, as well as many other things. Check it out. There is a cute video on there too about those awful gifts that we all inevitably get (singing fish, anyone?).

CHRISTMAS SHOPPING IS IN FULL SWING!
My friend, Amanda, directed me to this petition (click the button on the left to go to the site) to buy handmade for Christmas. I absolutely love handmade gifts. I am beginning to hate retail shopping and the consumerism that surrounds almost every holiday we celebrate, particularly Christmas. For years I have gotten up early (like three am!) to be the first in line for the day-after-Thanksgiving sales. No more! I have taken the pledge!

There are so many wonderful reasons to give handmade gifts (either made yourself, or purchased). I won't reiterate them all here, but do check out the website. If you have never checked out Etsy, you must. A word of caution though: it is very addictive!!

I am planning to give my 5 year old a digital camera for Christmas. It is $35 and will be his main present. Though I will be purchasing it new, and it (obviously) won't be handmade, I think it is the eco-friendly choice b/c it will eliminate the disposable cameras and film developing, which he has enjoyed in the past. Other than that though, I will be giving homemade gifts -or- items purchased second-hand.

Here are a few ideas I am mulling over for different people on my Christmas list.
Children: -pumpkin pie play dough
-Book making kit
-Sock puppet kit
-Baking kit
-Coupon book for different activities to do together (movie, museum, picnic, etc)

Family/Friends (women):
-Dinner Kits (basket full of pasta, french bread, block parmesan, sauce, bottle of wine)
-handmade soap
-gift certificates (etsy, house cleaning, childcare, etc.)
-Biscotti

Family/Friends (men):
-homemade cheese and a bottle of local wine
-Gift certificates (Ebay, car wash)
-Homemade Deer Jerky

Hmmm...that is all I have come up with so far. Any other ideas?

Each Christmas, my family draws names. We do this because there are five kids...plus girlfriends, my hubby, and our children...so gift-giving has become expensive. We have always had a $50 limit. This year, we have agreed to scrap that and do something less expensive and more fun. We are going to do a White Elephant with a $5 limit. I think it will be a hoot to see what everyone finds for $5 and it will be much more about the experience and time together, than the presents. We are going to use the money (normally spent on expensive gifts) to give to a charity or a family in need. I am really excited about it.

For more homemade gift ideas, check out Martha Stewart for some beautiful Christmas presents.

Above all, I want the gifts I give to be a true reflection of my love for the recipient. I want to really avoid the stress of "I have to buy xyz person SOMETHING!!!" The season of gifts should be a reminder of the gift of God's son, and with that, salvation. This year, I don't want Christmas to be about corporations making a buck...reeling me in with their slick marketing and their enticing sales and 2-for-1's. I want to spend more time reading to my children in front of the Christmas tree, baking, being thankful, paying it forward in simple ways, and giving out of a heart that is full of joy. It isn't easy and it doesn't come naturally, as much as I wish it did. It takes consistently being intentional, gently reminding myself of what my priorities should be. It is counter-cultural and it takes focus. However, I think it is worth doing and as the wife and mother of our home, it is up to me to set the tone. It is just another baby step in the quest to becoming more Christ-centered...more "other" focused in a "take care of #1 world".

What better time to practice contentment, generosity, and a lifestyle of simplicity than Christmas? While I do think it is important to give gifts, to spend time and effort and (sometimes) money on presents for the people in our life...I need to spend just as much time cultivating an attitude of cheerful giving so that the gift isn't an empty symbol but a true reflection of my heart. I think giving homemade gifts will help me do that. By nature, handmade gifts will require a slowing down, a thoughtfulness, a selflessness of time and energy. Whatever your gift giving method this season, I hope that it is a time of joy and renewal for you.


*This image from flickr.com

LITTLE HIATUS

My computer is back and better than ever! When the lovely Apple Computer people installed my new hard drive, they also gave me an updated running system, and so I have more bells and whistles than ever before! Yay!

While my computer was at the "hospital", my family went on our first ever, family vacation to Dillard, GA. That fun little trip will get a post of its own soon, but for now I am busy unpacking, cleaning the house, canning applesauce, putting up pumpkin, and preparing for Thanksgiving.

I read a great article today on simple ways to reduce our plastic use, which I thought you might be interested in. You can read it here. As you may know, plastic can only be recycled once, maybe twice, if at all...while glass and metals can be recycled endlessly. While recycling is great, it is always better to use that "R" as the last resort of the three (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle). It is better to use less plastic, reuse what you do use, and recycle last.

Being on vacation for a week really opened my eyes to some habits that we (my family and myself) have that I didn't notice in our normal environment. Some things became more difficult while away (cloth diapering, recycling, etc.) and really tested my conviction about these things. For example, keeping the heat turned down, even though I knew that we wouldn't have any financial responsibility for blasting the heat...I had to do it on principal alone (and as much as I hate to admit it, the frugal aspect of it is as strong a motivator for me as the reduced environmental impact). Also, our vacation week was the first week I did 100% cloth diapering. I had no disposables at my, well, disposal. The difficulty for me with cloth diapering has been the mental hurdle...knowing that disposable is available and is oh, so convenient. I will talk about some of the other challenges and observations of being green on vacation in another post, but I did want to mention it.

Also, I just finished a GREAT book, entitled Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. I highly, highly recomend it. Part scary statistics* about food, part inspiration, part recipes, and part recount of the Kingsolvers year of eating locally, I couldn't put this book down. Crunchy Chicken has a book group discussion going on now, if you are interested. This is definitely one that I will be buying, and will reference many times. After reading this, I am even more excited to start my square foot gardening in the spring, as well as to try my hand at making cheese. Wouldn't homemade cheese and a bottle of local wine make a great Christmas gift?

Anyway, I will be back soon with more random thoughts but for now I must get back to all these apples that are waiting for me in the kitchen!

*If you want more scary statistics about the food that we consume, particularly meat, check out The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. I am about halfway through, and I can't believe what I am reading.

WINNERS!!

We have two winners for my (belated) 100th post give away!
First, the winner of the Square foot Gardening Book is Amanda Myers. Amanda, I will bring this to you next time I see you! :)
The winner of the Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Dryer Sheets is Jessica Miglarese! Jessica, if you will email me your updated info, I will get them right out to you!
Thanks, everyone, for participating!

GREEN CHRISTMAS GIFTSEveryone is starting to think about Christmas shopping and here is a great resource for eco-friendly gift ideas. Of course, the most earth-friendly thing to do is to make something homemade from found materials, or to buy second hand, so that a new item doesn't have to be produced out of new (or even recycled) materials, which of course, uses lots of energy, gas, etc. But, if that isn't an option for some people on your list, then the above site is a great resource.

The best (but not always easiest) way to be eco-conscious is to simply want less. Practice contentment. The less we want, the less waste we create, the less we spend, the less negative impact on the earth. Being content with what we have, where we are, is not only eco-smart, it is a biblical principle. Paul says, "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." Philippians 4:12

Even when we practice cheerful frugality during the year, it is easy to get carried away during the Christmas season. I began struggling with feelings of inadequacy ("I will never be able to make my house look like that for the holidays!" and the "gimmies" a few weeks ago when the first holiday Pottery Barn catalog arrived! As I learn (in new ways, every day) to have a heart of thankfulness, I am also looking for new ways to be creative with what is around me, either in my closets or in my yard. It is fun to find inexpensive ways to decorate my home for the holidays, or to make things that will be enjoyed by others. The most important thing I want to remember during the holiday season, is to set a tone in my home (what is that saying about mother's and people being happy? If mama ain't happy, then nobody's happy? Something like that...) of contentment, thankfulness, and generosity. I want to point my children toward Christ...not toward their wishlist or the presents under the tree (though there is certainly a place for that, and yes, I will give my children gifts for Christmas).

So, what traditions do you practice with your family during the holidays? How do you decorate frugally? What gifts are you planning for friends and family? What is your biggest struggle during the holiday season? Please share some of your thoughts and insights with me. I love to hear new perspectives and great ideas from others!


*This image from sentience on flickr.com

TIME FOR A GIVE AWAY (or two!)!!

Apparently, it is a momentus occasion when one reaches the 100th post of his/her blog. Somehow I missed this, and this post will be my 109th post. No worries, though...still time to do a little celebratory give away! Now, because I am posting in the man shed, and am not sure how to download pictures onto this computer, I am just providing links to the items I am giving away.

The first is a book I picked up at a yard sale recently. Actually, I picked up two of the same book at said garage sale...one for me, and one for you! I am really excited to read it. It is a book on square foot gardening. I am not sure if the book I am giving away is this exact edition, but it will be similar. I hope to begin square foot gardening in the spring. I have read that it is a very effective, simpler way to garden. I am looking forward to growing some of my own food next year...maybe one of you will be inspired to also, after receiving this book!

The second give away is for Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Lavender Dryer Sheets. These are much more earth-friendly than conventional dryer sheets, smell great, and are really expensive when purchased retail ($8!). I picked them up at the local Discount Food Store this morning for a mere $2. I love that place! I don't use dryer sheets, but seem to have a weakness for earth friendly (or cutely packaged, if I am being honest) cleaning products. So, when I saw them, I knew I had to get a box to give away here!

All you have to do to win, is leave me a comment on this post sometime between now and next Saturday night (a week from tomorrow). I will then select two winners at random (I will use the very scientific method of having my 5 year old select two numbers between 1 and the highest number of comments)...one winner for the book, and one for the dryer sheets. You don't need to specify which item you would like to be entered to win, you will be entered for both. I will ship the items to the winners the following week!