Happy Flowers!

I just realized that my poor blog has been neglected the last few days. It’s no other reason but that I’ve had a VERY busy week. But not so busy that I didn’t have time to pick myself some flowers today.

As I looked out the front window this morning the Cosmos seem to be reaching towards the sun. This prompted me to take a few pictures and then pick myself a bouquet.

How about a Cosmo’s eye view?

If you have a brown thumb and want an easy flower to grow, cosmos are for you. If you let them go to seed, they will drop the seed and replant themselves automatically and you’ll have almost a constant supply of flowers year round. (in the warmer states of course) You do still have to pull out the old flowers though. I’m sure in the Summer these would do great up North though too. They grow so fast that even the weeds don’t stand a chance, so that’s a bonus right there.

Here’s this mornings bouquet.

Doesn’t it just make you happy?

Have a lovely day my friends.

OXOX,

Kim

Simple Doesn’t Always Mean Easy

Lying in bed this morning I got to thinking about some of my goals and pursuits. One of them being to live a more “simple” life. (Because I’ve already lived the hectic, fast paced life.) But when I thought about the things we do that I consider “simple”, I realize that simple doesn’t mean easy.

For example, hanging clothes out on a line isn’t as easy as throwing them in the dryer and walking away. (P.S. I don’t hang them out in the Summer because of mosquitoes, humidity and heat and the fact that I’m a baby; and I don’t feel guilty about it. *smile*)

Growing your own food instead of just going to the market is not that easy either. (Yes, I still need to go to the market but I don’t spend as much.)

Raising chickens takes work and dedication.

Putting up food and cooking from scratch takes way more time and effort than just buying something premade or canned. (It’s better for you too.)

Here is the definition of the word simple.

sim·ple

1.easy to understand, deal with, use.

2. not elaborate or artificial.

3. not ornate or luxurious; unadorned.

4. unaffected; unassuming; modest.

5. not complicated.

Nowhere does it say easy and that’s okay. There is still joy in this journey and our pursuits.

The fact of the matter is, it’s worth it, it really is. We get so much back from our efforts of simplicity. Things like fresh air and hearing birds sing while hanging clothes, free entertainment given by our silly chickens, the amazement each and every time we get to go out and pick our own vegetables, the joy of my family telling me how much they love what I made for dinner.

I love it, easy or not.

This is simplicity to me. Simplicity may look different to you and that’s okay. Just make sure you find your joy in your journey.

OXOX,

Top 10 Ways I Save Money!

I believe that in being the keeper of our homes, saving money is one way we can bless our husbands. And with my hubbalicious’s job coming to an impending end I thought I’d review some of the ways I like to save a little moolah.

It’s easy to forget these things when all is well and you are living in the land of plenty but when times get a little tougher they’re what keeps us afloat. (That and trusting in the Lord of course.)

Here they are in no particular order.

1. I line dry our clothes. (Weather permitting) I’ve said it quite a few times how much money this has saved us.
2. Planning and making meals at home. Eating out with the whole family is expensive so we usually save it for special occasions.
3. Working out at home. Gyms can be expensive in membership, time and gas.
4. I use Vitacost to buy most of my dry goods, shampoos, soaps etc. I save tons of money. I explain it more in this post.
5. When we have to run the air I keep it turned up to between 80-81. Any lower and it will run forever to try to keep up with this Florida heat.
6. We grow a lot of our own veggies. Even if you don’t have a big yard, you can do a small plot and plant a few of your favorites or you can put them in pots. Tomatoes do great in pots as do peppers.
7. Staying home. I’m a homebody and actually enjoy being home all day. Yup, even with the kids. If I’m not in the stores I can’t spend money or waste gas.
8. Make a list. If you do need to go to the store of some necessity, make and take a list and stick to it.
9. Budget. We have used the Envelope Method since the beginning of our marriage and it helped get us through a job loss 6 years ago. I HIGHLY recommend system.
10. And last but not least, buy second hand if you can. That goes for clothes, furniture, books etc. Some of my favorite places are Craigslist, Amazon (free kindle books) thrift stores etc.

What do you do to save money?

Feel free to .

OXOX,

 

In the Yard - April - New Growth

I decided to do a little walk about the yard today. It was so nice outside it was hard to stay inside. I brought my camera with me because you never know what you might see.

I started to realize there is a lot of new things springing up or getting ready to.

Like this gardenia bud.

 

I can’t wait till it blooms. It makes the back yard smell heavenly. Especially when I’m out hanging clothes.

Then I went over to check on our blueberries and grape vine. We had thought that they had kicked the bucket but look at all that new growth.

And looky here. Another pineapple peeking through. I LOVE fresh pineapple.

 

Our strawberry plants have been spitting out strawberries here and there. And our front flower area has a bunch of new wild flowers popping up.

We (hubby) put a lot of starter plants in the ground a few weeks ago and they are doing really well. We have some brussels sprouts in the back there that are still producing from this Winter. YUM!

 That’s the update to what’s new in the yard.

What’s popping up around your yard?
OXOX,

A Lot Can Happen In A Week

A wise pastor once preached a sermon on the very topic of how our lives can change in just a week. This pastor was the husband of my good friend Cheryl that went to be with the Lord unexpectedly last October. My pastor friend lived those words he spoke to the fullest that week.

The week before last I lost a friend to cancer. He was only 35 years old and leaves behind a beautiful young wife and a precious 2 year old boy. That week changed the course of their lives forever.

This past week out of the blue the government decided to shut down my husbands whole department and lay everyone off. So in less then 2 weeks, my husband won’t have a job.

So those are the bad things. Now let’s look at the good.

We are in a very humbling position which causes us to rely FULLY on the Lord. We’ve been here before and we’ve seen Him work miraculously through it all.

Since hearing of the lay off our friends have been so wonderful as to inquire about our needs. They are offering whatever they can to help us. That alone warms my heart and gives me such peace.

It’s an unseen adventure waiting to start. We are definitely praying about what road to pursue. We’ve always wanted to be self sufficient so we are brain storming about what we could do there. We have some ideas but aren’t 100% sure yet. My hubby is looking to see what jobs are available as well. We figure we need to walk in faith towards each door and see which one swings open and which ones remain closed. But the key is to start walking. I am hoping that this adventure doesn’t involve extremely high mountains to climb. *wink*

We’ll be clinging to this verse while we travel this road.

Proverbs 3:5-6  Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

So as the road of uncertainty lies ahead of us, we walk in confidence that the Lord shall supply all our needs according to His riches in glory.

How can I pray for you today?

OXOX,

The Taunting has Stopped!

Those of you who know me know that I love to be creative. I love to paint, sew, glue things together, you name it. Throw in a best friend who inspires you with all of her beautiful creations and now Pinterest which I lovingly call “the creative persons playground” and you have no reason not to be creative. Well except in my case, time.

You see I’m still homeschooling 2 elementary age children. I have one graduate but still have 2 to go and sadly I’ve been neglecting that part of my duty by not doing it well. Getting by yes, but not doing it with all I have.

I had been praying a lot lately about my time and my priorities and asking the Lord to guide me in what I should do. (You’re not always going to like the answer and the answer isn’t always going to be easy.) Every day I walk into my craft room and I see so much stuff that is just waiting to be turned into something wonderful. Then guilt rushes in which in turn causes me to stress out because I don’t have time to do it. I’ll start something and then get upset with my family when I can’t finish it because of interruptions or other Mom duties.

You know as a Mom we wear a lot of hats. Hats that need to be worn and then there are hats that I try to shove on my already crowded head that end up shifting all the other hats around which results in nothing getting down well. Are you with me?

This brings me to yesterday. I realized that I’m not in a season of much leisure time. In order to serve my family well I need to refocus the time and energy that I do have, on them. I want to have more time to help my hubby in the garden and help with the chickens, I want to spend more time planning homeschool to make it more fun and engaging. I want it to be more about Him and less about me. Which brings me back to my craft room.

After talking with my hubby (who was pretty shocked by this) about it, I’ve decided to pack it all up. I’ll leave paint supplies and such out because we do use that for homeschooling but anything that has the power to draw me away from what I need to be doing is getting packed up.

I know this may seem drastic to you but if I don’t it’s like keeping a pack of cigarettes on the counter and asking someone who’s trying to quit not to smoke. The temptation is too great and I don’t need the stress of trying to stay strong when I can simply get it out of my sight, for now.

I know there will come a time when I have to much time on my hands and I don’t want to wish I had done things differently. You know what I’m talking about?

Is there something in your life you need to set aside until later? Pray about it and see how the Lord directs you. Was packing up my stuff easy? Absolutely not! But I already feel lighter and more focused.

Thanks for letting me share my heart today and taking the time to read it. I hope it blesses you in some way.

OXOX,

Kim

Linking up with

Journey to Simplicity Part 2

You know there is nothing mind blowing about my journey. I’m just a gal willing to make changes as the Lord prompts me to. Having a teachable heart is key. Don’t be so stuck in your ways that you can’t do things differently, better even.

As I mentioned in Part 1 we moved out into a more “country” setting. I love it out here but up until about a week ago I still managed to survive on wearing my flip flops for most everything I did. That may not seem like a big deal but in the time that we lived here my hubby has had a garden going and about 6 months ago we got chickens. The garden is pretty big. Probably to big for just one person to maintain and work 40+ hours a week away from home. *cough* I’ll fully admit that I have been no help to him despite his subtle hints about getting overwhelmed with it. I’ve blamed it on my flip flops….for over 2 years. Yeah, I know, that’s kinda lame, but it’s true. I said things like “My feet sink into the ground when I go to pull weeds and then my feet get filthy.” or how about “I don’t have the right clothes to wear.” *sigh* Sad isn’t it?

So in the past week my hubby and I went and did a little shopping. I really and truly did want to help him……..now. I can’t say that the willingness was there prior to this but it was there now and we had better act upon it.

Which is why I purchased these two things.

The rain boots will serve me well in the garden AND the chicken coop area. I will be able to easily spray off any dirt and or chicken poopy that gets on them and my feet will stay dirtless. (Dirtless isn’t a word, but I’m using it anyway, because I’m good like that.) And the other pair are because when you’re super cool like me and enjoy hiking, 4-wheeling and stuff you need good boots. I’m just sayin’. *wink*

 You’re probably asking how working a garden and having chickens would make my life “simpler”. It’s definitely a lot of work but the end results make it worth while. There’s nothing like preparing a meal that grew in your garden or eating fresh eggs that you just got from your backyard.

My husband grew up a country boy. I call him my polished redneck. But that’s a whole nuther story. (nuther isn’t a word either, but I like it) So I knew deep down that we would probably be close to where we are right now, someday. Yes, it took us over 17 years to get to where we are but the journey and the lessons along the way have bettered us in many ways. Never despise the journey, that is where you learn and grow if you allow yourself to.

So to wrap it up, be teachable, changeable, because in doing so the Lord has helped me to be a better keeper of my home, cook, help meet and mother. Simplicity is what you make it. It looks different for each person. This is my journey and I look forward to where it will take me next.

Thanks for taking the time to read and visit today!

OXOX,

Kim

My Journey Towards Simplicity! Part 1

My husband and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary this past weekend. It always causes me to think back and reflect on how far we’ve come. More specifically, how far I’ve come.

We started our life out in a 2 bedroom 1 bath duplex. Simplicity to me was making a meal that came from a can or a box and sending my child off to school while I would do nothing but read a book all day. Yeah, my homekeeping skills needed some serious work, but so did my priorities.

But God wasn’t through with me (thank goodness). Slowly but surely my eyes were opened and steady changes started to take place.

After 3 years we moved to a house very close to the beach. When we moved in, there was this foreign object in the back yard. I think they called it a “clothes line” or something. *wink* Well I couldn’t wait to rip that thing out of the yard. I mean after all they invented the dryer to make my life easier right? Yuuup!

*Remember SLOW and STEADY changes were happening*

We were there for 12 years and in those 12 years I learned how to plan and make more nutritious meals, from SCRATCH! The trigger was when I started reading labels and learning about preservatives and stuff. From that point on I worked very hard to figure out how to cook better. Thus began my love affair with cooking and eating healthy. Thank you Lord!

But God knew we wanted more. Not more as in “things” more but more as in being more self sufficient. (More on that in part 2) So in God’s timing we were able to move from the beach over to the mainland to an acre of land out in a little bit more of a country setting.

One of the first things I noticed when we moved in was this thing hanging on the side of the house.

I’m not kidding when I tell you I had no idea what it was, neither did my hubby. I thought it was a dog run or something. But my BFF came over and was like, “No, silly. That’s a retractable clothes line.” Of course it is. Pffft, I knew that. (or not) I love that the Lord has a sense of humor.

I’m pretty sure it was Him giving me a second chance at what He knew I’d fall in love with; line drying my clothes. You can read about how much money I saved doing it here. There is just something very calming and therapeutic about line drying clothes. Do I do it exclusively? No. Sometimes time won’t allow or it’s raining etc. But when I can, I do.

Even in the past week God has given me eyes to see and a heart that has changed. More on that in Part 2.

OXOX,

Kim

 

WARNING: Fun Things Ahead!

Okay so THIS particular part that I’m about to say isn’t very fun but I feel the need to bring you up to speed. We are all slowly recovering from yet another bout with the flu/cold. My middle son came down with it 2 days ago and I’m  hoping he’s the last one. So that kind of tells you why I haven’t been doing a whole lot on the ol’ blog the last few days.

BUT…..the tides are a changin’. (I hope) and I’ve got some fun stuff planned for this week.

There’s one thing you all are going to enjoy I know. I’m going to be having another giveaway for another Gooseberry Patch book. Fun! Fun! Fun! Oh and it just so happens that I’m being featured on their blog today. I did a fun little Valentinesy post. You can check it out here if you would like.

The rest of the fun just involves me, my husband, our kids, our best friends, food, Brian Regan, and an anniversary. I’m sure you’ll get those highlights as soon as readily possible.

Here’s another fun thing. We got our first two eggs the other day! Yay!!!

I wonder who’s they are?

Fun for the boys. We got a killer deal ($50.00) on the 4 wheeler on the left. It wasn’t running when we got it but my hunky handy hubby got it working and now it runs great. So they are having fun zipping around the yard on those.

Well that’s it for now I guess. Be on the lookout for more adventures from the Homestead!

OXOX,

Kim

Our January Flower Bed

Because our weather has been unusually warm the past two months our front flower bed has been a bit confused on what it should do. So at a time when you usually can’t find a flower anywhere, we have an abundance of flowers blooming in our front yard. And because I know some of you have seen nothing but white for quite awhile, my hubby and I put together a little video giving you a tour of some of our pretty plants.

Enjoy a little bit of our sunshiney day!

And here’s a picture of the whole thing. Well as much as I could fit in the camera lens.

OXOX,

Kim

I Thank My Youngest for My New Living Room Arrangement!

Before Christmas I had announced that we would put our 9 foot Christmas tree (my lame brain idea to go taller) over by the front door because there just wasn’t enough space in our living room.

My 7 year old son proceeded to get “that” look on his face and tell me how hard it was going to be lugging (I’m not sure he used the word lugging but you get the idea) all the presents over on Christmas day. I being the fun, super cool mom said, “Maybe there won’t be any presents under the tree.” Once I got done back-stepping and telling my son I was just joking, I sat and thought for a moment. (Things happen when I have time to think.)

After sitting and pondering for a few minutes, I had a brainstorm. It was actually a pretty brilliant idea. A no brainer if you think about it, which I did. Are you ready for this? I suggested we rearrange the furniture. Ta-Dah!!   

So hold onto your hats people, you’re about to virtually rearrange some furniture with me. Here we go. So the green sofa that used to be along the left wall is now where the two chairs used to be and one of the chairs and the table is where the loveseat used to be and then I scooted the tv that’s on the right wall over so I could fit the other chair near the fireplace. Phew! Are you still with me? Yes, I understand that a “before” picture would have been great but I couldn’t find one. Plus this was a good mental work out right? Right!

Anyway when I stood back and saw it all decorated and stuff, I loved it. It just looked so cozy. Don’t you think it looks cozy?

So when Christmas was over and the tree and decorations were put away I had every intention of putting the living room back the way it was, but upon further observation I realized even without all the Christmas decorations, it looked just as cozy and more inviting this way.  And everyone that comes in says the same thing.

Now because of my 7 year old I now find myself with a more inviting and comfortable living room arrangement. Who would have thunk it?

Hmmm..upon even further examination I realize the tree blocked the eye sore of hats, boots and the bullwhip in the corner. Oh well, tis my life.

Have a lovely day my friends.

OXOX,

Kim

Chicken Video Update!

I’m a goob. Just look at that. Sheesh! Let me just warn you that it was early, I have no make up on and I just got done working out. With that said. Here’s my chicken update. They are about 3 months old now. 

You know what? Just skip the first 10 seconds and I think we’ll all feel better. *wink*

Well there you have it. Me in all my glory, my fantabulous hubby and our girls. I can’t wait to start eating some fresh eggs.

XOXO

Kim

Chickens! Chickens! Chickens!

We’ll we finally did it. We got us some chickens. My hubby finished the coop the other day and then headed out to buy our chicks.

Aren’t they cute? In a chickeny sort of way?

Their chicken condo awaits. We thought the blue would be calming to them. Just kidding. I’m thinking they don’t care one bit. But it is pretty and who says you can’t do pretty just cause it’s a chicken coop?

Welcome to your new home chicky poos!

The girls took to their home really well. They started pecking at everything and even ate the carpenter ants that were crawling around in there. Bonus!

We got some hay to put in their nesting boxes and some pine shavings etc.

Maybe a picture of Chicken Little would make them more at home. I could pin it up on the inside.

What? We want happy chickens.

Anyhoo! We are pretty excited about our newest endeavor.

Let the games begin!

How I Saved $50.00 on Our Electric Bill!

I think people were starting to think I was crazy because I’ve been so excited about getting our next power bill. You see I’ve been doing a little experiment and I couldn’t wait to see how it was going to turn out. The timing was perfect and it couldn’t have happened any other time of the year.

First let’s think about what uses the most energy in your home.

1. The Air Conditioner

2. Your Dryer (if electric)

3. Your Stove

When we first moved into our home we were using all three. It was cold and the heat stayed on most of the day, every day for a month.

I do about 5 –6 loads of laundry a week. So my dryer gets a workout.

I cooked and used my stove every day minus a day here or there if we had leftovers.

With all that said, here was the first official electric bill

$285.59 (YIKES!)

As the next month approached the weather got nice enough to not use the heat. We may have used it once or twice but that’s it. Everything else stayed the same.

Here’s our second bill, this time not using the A/C.

$143.89 (NICE!)

Now I know that not using the heat or air conditioning is going to be hit or miss because of the weather but I couldn’t believe how much lower our bill was because of it.

Now the 3rd month I decided to stop using the dryer and line dry our clothes. We didn’t have to use the A/C but maybe once or twice this month either.

I just got our 3rd bill and it’s…

$93.80 (Woo! Hoo!)

I knocked $50.00 off our bill by simply line drying our clothes.

These bills are based on a 2400 square foot home and doing laundry 5-6 times a week. If you only do laundry once or twice a week you probably wouldn’t notice much of a difference.

I know that a lot of you can’t line dry your clothes and so this doesn’t help you one bit but for those of you who can but don’t, I encourage you to give it a try if you need to save some money. With the rise in gas and food prices I’m trying to do all I can.

Oh and my Hubbalicious was pretty stoked about it too!

If you have any money saving tips, I’d love to hear about them!

HAVE A SUPER FABULOUS DAY!

I'm linking up with

Back on the Road to the Simple Life

Okay, maybe life will never truly be simple, especially in today’s world. But we can do things that can make our life seem a bit simpler.

Back before our boys were born we led a very hectic life. Our daughter went to public school from K-3 grade. With that came rushed mornings, afternoon pick ups, soccer practice twice a week, games on the weekend, play dates squeezed in there and that was just “her” schedule we were dealing with. Add the things I had going on and what my husband had going on and I can tell you the road we were on was crowded. Crowded with the busyness of what we thought life was supposed to be. You know, keeping up with the Jones’ mentality?

Fast forward to the birth of our boys. By now our daughter was being homeschooled, we let go of our obligations of volunteering at church (there are definite seasons for this but you need to know when to stop)  and no more sports.

*insert deep breath here*

The key is being careful not to fill your life back up full of “other things” just because you feel like you “have” to be doing something. People may look at us and think we have no life. Quite the contrary. Our life is quite full. Full of quality time together. Full of spontaneous trips because we don’t have a bunch of obligations. Full of fun and laughter because we have the time to just goof off. Full of some quality friends because you have the time to nurture them.

Recently I’ve been hanging my clothes out to line dry. It started out as an experiment as to how much money we could save. (More to come on that!) But now, I find myself truly enjoying it. It gets me outside in the fresh air and sunshine and I love it. If I was busy with other things, I wouldn’t be able to experience this.

This life that I talk about probably isn’t for everyone. Some people thrive on being busy and that’s okay if that’s what you want. There are some people that want to slow down but don’t know where to start. I suggest starting with prayer. Ask the Lord to direct you and reveal areas in your life that may be adding to the busyness of your life. Learn to let go and be okay with it.

These are my thoughts for the today!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!