Happy New Year!!!

Good-bye 2014, and welcome 2015! Thankfully, unlike some of my friends, 2014 wasn't a bad year. My big accomplishment was testing and passing my LICSW test. This was a huge accomplishment and one of my major goals that I had set for myself. Another thing that I started was the 100 mandala challenge. I am loving creating these different mandalas. I finally learned what the zentangle method is. Since starting this blog more than 5 years ago, I have been trying to live a healthier, more natural, handmade life. I have had some ups and downs while I've been working on that. As much as I hate to admit it, there have been more downs than ups, but that is going to change this year. With the start of 2015, I am planning on putting forward my intentions for the new year and beyond. I am not going to make resolutions. I think using the word intention sets you in a better frame of mind and is a more positive way to embrace change. Within the 100 mandala challenge, I am also choosing a word of the year. I am hoping that my word/s of the year will help me with my intentions. Without further ado, here are my intentions for 2015: 1.) My word/s of the year are balance and passion: I intend to figure out my passions and how to follow them both personally and professionally. I think I know what they are and I will write more further down, I also want to have balance in my life, again, both personally and professionally. 2.) I intend to continue to create mandalas and go beyond 100. Creating these mandalas is my form of meditation. Along with creating my own mandalas, I want to learn more about the practice of mandalas. 3.) I have decided to join a 100 days of real food challenge. I intend to get rid of the processed foods that I still have in my life. One of the goals that I had when I started this blog was to eat healthier and more natural foods. I have had some great moments and some really not great moments. I intend to learn more about how foods affect out mind/body/spirit as well as taste good and also how our food and how its gown/raised affects our environment. I want to see if there is a way to use food in my professional career as a social worker. 4.) I intend to treat my body the way it deserves to be treated. I intend to start looking at my body as a whole and look at it from the mind/body/spirit connection. 5.) I intend to make being creative a priority. One of my friends started a Facebook group called "make art everyday" and asked me to join in it. I intend to make time every day to be creative and make something handmade. My intentions for 2015 follow along with my intentions of this blog. I am hoping that I 2015 will be the year that I start making changes and start following through with what I see as my life goals and dreams. I plan to share what I learn about food, mandalas, creativity and the mind/body/spirit connection, and my journey through this year. Amy

Re-Inspired

It's been a few months since I've posted here. I seem to always start trying to post more of my creative things on another, separate blog but I always seem to come back to here I have recently become re-inspired to start posting here again and following through with why I created this blog in the first place. When I started this blog about five and a half years ago, it was to start living a more healthy and natural life while creating handcrafted things. Through the craziness of life, my follow through waxes and wanes. I have started creating mandalas and "zentangling". I have finally learned what zentangling is and love that I can be creative and do meditation at the same time. I have been posting my creations at my other blog, http://pixiewindow.blogspot.com. My latest creations are below:

I am also re-inspired to change my eating. I have been working on changing what and how I eat, and it's been a challenge. With the new year starting, I am joining up the with the 100 days of real food challenge. I am also trying to work more on how to add why I write about in this blog into my professional life. I love who I work for, but I don't love working in the nursing home arena any more. I want to do something more with nutrition and creativity and now that I have my LICSW, I feel like I have more options. I feel like I need to make more changes in my personal life so that I can be more credible in my professional life. I would love to have a place where I can have a creative arts studio and a kitchen and garden where I can teach about nutrition and where food comes from. I would love to have a place where people, especially children, can come and learn how to eat healthy and learn where food comes from and what different types of foods there are and how to create healthy delicious food that they will enjoy. I also want to teach ways of being creative and how to use creativity for relaxation and meditation. Someday, if I keep trying to figure it out, I will find a way to have my passions be part of both my personal and my professional life. I'll, hopefully be writing more about my plans and what I learn. I'm sure I'll continue posting on pixiewindow.blogspot.com, but I will be sure to continue to be active here and post about my mandala, zentangle, gardening, and cooking and eating healthy.

Best Wishes on living a balanced, handmade and natural life< Amy

Well, Hello There!

Well, Hello!

It's been a while.  I've been at the computer a lot lately, but not on my own blog, just every other blog out there, or so it seems.  I have written multiple drafts of different posts, but never seem to be able to finish them.  I'm hoping to get a new laptop or tablet or combo so that I can spend time doing different research and maybe even post a little more often.  I have started so many blogs, but I think that this one is one that I can maintain and keep going, all while combining the different aspects of my life.

I've gone a little off track with both this blog and my life.  I started writing this blog, trying to be more health conscious and living locally and naturally.  I seem to have gone away from this belief and started to eat more processed foods vs natural foods, buying things at large box style store vs local stores or even better making my own, and spending more time in front of the computer or the TV vs spending time creating or reading.

Today, I started making my own farmer's cheese and some sour dough bread.  I also started infusing some vodka (marshmallow and cranberry not that it's a healthy food).  I plan to try to make some homemade caramels too, again not a healthy food but better than processed store bought.  I will be making some yogurt over night too.  I've been growing my own sprouts lately and have tried to grow micro greens.  I just need to start the micro greens again.  My goal is to continue to make my own meals instead of eating out.  That way, I know what we are eating and we are saving money.

I want to start making my own clothes or at least up-cycling thrift store finds or hand me downs.  I Find myself sewing a lot more than doing other types of crafts.  I like being creative in general, but I really love sewing!  I really love quilting!

I hope to start posting more often.  Hopefully, my posts will consist of foods that I make and why and how I made them.  I hope to post more about the homemade things I make, bath and body items, household cleaning items.  I also hope to post more about the handcrafted things I make and how I make them.

This is a blog about balance, so it will also have some posts on how to not go crazy trying to live a natural and handmade life.  My house is definitely not a house that is free from plastic toys and they probably have too many toys.  The kids probably watch too much TV, but we are working on that (for me too).   Here, in New England, it's been a snowy and cold winter.  I am looking forward to spring and doing more outside things as a family.  I am hoping to get out to western MA to see some parts of my own state that I haven't ever really experienced.

I'm looking forward to being back on here and sharing how I have "the balance of living a handmade and natural life" with 3 small kids, a husband, a dog, and working part time.  Hopefully this will help me keep on track!

Amy

Eating In Balance

The name of my blog is "The Balance of Living a Handmade and Natural Life".  I'm not quite sure that I have been finding myself feeling very balanced lately, especially when it comes to eating.  My husband and i decided to move towards a vegan diet after his doctor and dietician recommended it for certain health issues and after some research about some family history on my part.  When the weather was cold, and here in New England it was raw and cold for what seemed like forever, I felt like it was easy.  Beans became a stable of our diet.  Of course the kisd hated this type of diet so we started to switch back to meat for the kids.  Then finally, the nice weather came and we started to cook on the grill.  I have now moved back into the meat eating, dairy loving person that I was before we made our diet change.  The problem?- I don't feel as good when I eat that way.  I love the taste, but I tend to over eat, I feel horrible after and the cycle continues.

How do I plan on fixing this problem?  Well, I have to say I feel more balanced when I eat a more vegan style diet.  I do enjoy it, and when I don't have a lot of meat, I tend not to miss it.  For me meat really ahs to be a once in a while thing or else I go over board.  My biggest problem is summer.  Now that the heat is here and that means BBQ season, ice and beans and roasted veggies don't really cut it.  I know I can roast veggies on the grill, and even fruit and I can eat lots of salad, but how do I make it filling and satisfying like when I eat beans and veggies soups?  One of the things that I am looking into, is the raw foods diet.  Again, balance, as this would really be for summer and really warm weather when you don't want to eat heavy.

Will I be able to enjoy a raw food diet?  That is the question that I keep asking myself.  For lunch i made my husband and I a green smoothie.  I really like them, but they tend not to hold me as long as other food, but I don't over eat with a green smoothie.  I think I just need to have a snack plan for when I get hungry (something healthy and satisfying). 

I am always striving for a balanced life, it just tends to be one of those things that I will constantly need to work on.

Today's "Green Smoothie " recipe:

2 bananas
1 apple
handful of green grapes
1 C frozen berries
a bunch of green swiss chard
water to blend

Blend all of the fruit together then add the swiss chard and blend until smooth adding water if needed.  Almost any green leafy veggie can be used.  Yesterday we had a variation using Red Russian Kale from our garden.  We're hoping to get some more leafy green growing so that we can have more smoothies and use things from our garden.  I would love to use more local fruits and hopefully I will be able to change that!

Amy

Back To The Whole Reason I Started This Blog

I started this blog about a year and a half ago to talk about my struggles and triumphs of balancing living a handmade and natural life.  I feel like this blog has gotten a little away from that, probably partly because I have gotten away from living my life like that.  I have been struggling to follow through with some of my beliefs that got me started writing this blog.  I feel like lately all I have been writing about is my diet, and even though that is part of what I had hoped to talk about on this blog, it is not all I wanted to talk about.  I guess, in order to remind myself why I started this blog, I want to write a few bullet points on what living a handmade and natural life means to me.

1. Diet:  I want to eat as seasonally and as locally as possible.  I know that there are going to be times that I can't or won't do this, but in the long run, eating this way is a much healthier way to eat.  I want and need to find recipes that are based on eating local/seasonal foods.  I know that there are a few books out there, I just need to find good ones.  Currently, I have "Clean Eating" and am looking to get "Clean Start" by the same author.  I am also working on moving toward a vegan diet.  I have been starting my day off with raw green smoothies.  I feel like I do so much better if I start of the right way.  I am going to try to plan a menu for the month of March up front instead of flying by the seat of my pants and trying to figure out what to make each night.  This has been a goal of mine for a while now, but I just never seem to follow through.  My other goal is to finally eliminate all of the potential allergens that cam back on my blood test.  Again, I've attempted to do this, but lack the follow through.
2. Handmade Things: I want to start to make more things myself.  This includes food, but so much more.  I don't want to always rely on going to large stores to get what I need.  There are going to be times that I need to do this for financial reasons, but my goal is to buy supplies to make the end product, not by the end product out right.  I also want to make sure that I find time to create.  Making things myself will force me to find the time to actually make the things I need.  I guess that would be the other piece of how I want to live; I only want what I need.  I don't want to have that feeling of needing to have something just because I want it!  I also want to use what I have, not go out and buy more supplies.  The only way I want to buy more, is if I run out of something or I absolutely need to buy something to make a project.  I would rather choose a different project than buy new supplies adding to all the stuff that I already have and then I can save money too!
3. Living Green: I am trying to live as green as possible.  Some of the things that I have already mentioned fit this, but there are many other things that I can do.  I need to make sure that I continue to recycle.  I need to use my reusable bags more often.  I try really hard, but sometimes I go shopping and I don't have them.  I need to start composting again.  I try to reuse ends of veggies to make veggie stock.  I feel like this way, I am using all of the food not just part of it. Since I pay for it all, I should use it all.  Also, why buy veggies to make stock and then throw them out when I can use veggies that I would have thrown out if not for the stock.  And then, Why spend money on stock with who knows what type of ingredients, when you can make your own and now what is in there.
4. Exercise: I want to start exercising and including my kids in the process.  Hopefully, with March starting tomorrow, the weather will start warming up and we can get out for walks.  Even if it doesn't so much warm up, I need the snow o be gone so that I can push the double stroller safely.  What I really need to do is find some good DVDs with mom and kid exercises that we can do together when the weather is bad.  I think it will be a good thing for the kids to do to get out some of that pent up energy that they have not being able to go outside.  I also want to add in some yoga for me and for the kids!  When the weather gets better, I want to start bringing the kids to Breakhart and places like that.  I will definitely need another adult or two with me, but I want to add being in and enjoying nature to the exercise mix.
5. Living a Wholesome Balanced Life: I want to incorporate everything that I have written here as well as continuing to use natural body products and home cleaning products.  I want to continue to use more natural remedies for the different things that ail me.  For example, this weekend, I felt the beginning tingle of a cold sore.  Since I was up at 4am, I started my lysine regime right away.  I am amazed that I neer got the traditional blister that i aways get.  I must have caught it at the right time because two days later I do not have a cold sore!  I have been using my own deodorant (baking soda, cornstarch, coconut oil and essential oils).  I want to get back to making my own toothpaste (baking soda, salt and maybe some essential oils).  I will continue to try to not use shampoo when washing my hair, but if I need shampoo, I will use those without sodium laurel/laureth sulfate.  I want to start making my own soap (I need to get my husband's cousin to do it with me so I can learn the right way).  I want to start making more of my own cleaning supplies.  I know that I have a bunch of recipes printed out, but now I need to start making them. 

I'm sure that there is a ton more that I can write.  I won't bore anyone that reads this with more things that I want to do to change my life.  This is really an outline for what I want to do with my life so that I can start living the way that I want to live.

Thanks for reading this lengthy post.  This felt really good to write and I think I need to do this every so often so that I write down my goals of how I want to live.  My next posts won't be nearly as long and won't be nearly as boring.

Amy

Getting Organized

I really need to get organized (as I have so often wrote)!  Last post, I worte about getting more balance in my life.I think that one of the first things I need to do to get organized is to find time for myself.  That most likely means that I will need to get up at specific time every day, hopefully before the kids, so that I can plan to do thing by myself.  Initially that may mean that I get up early and start spending a short amount of time organizing an area in my home.  I need to start getting a schedule of things that need to get done, daily, weekly, monthly, and seasonally.  Once I get that, I can start to get a plan on how to get things done so that I can find time for me.  I also want to be able to find time to make homemade food items.  I really am inspired by the blogs I read and also the friend I have.  I want to make sure that I find time to be creative.  I have so many projects that I want to complete and that I really need to complete.  I need to schedule time to complete these projects.  I guess I also need to figure out specifically how I want to spend my days.  I also want to start scheduling time to spend with the kids doing tasks that allows the kids to have some learning time!

I have lots of things that I want to do and many things that I need to do.  I just have to prioritize them and spend less time doing things that I don't need to be doing like watching tv, facebook, and other things like that!

Amy

Wishcasting Wednesday: Where do you wish to make a fresh start? Balance in life

I haven't been participating in Wishcasting Wednesday lately and I thought that I would give it a try again. (Life has just been too crazy) Jamie Ridler over at jamieridlerstudios.ca asks "Where Do You Wish to Make a Fresh Start?"

Balance!  Isn't that what we all strive for.  I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, especially on my drive to and from work (not that it's a long drive, but it's time alone) and what has recently come to me is that I am seeking more balance in my life.  My eating is out of control, sometimes my emotions are out of control, I don't have balance in my home life right now since I am still trying to work out being at home with the kids and then leaving and going to work.  I never realized how tough it would be to maintain a balance when your schedule changes and you have 3 kids and a husband (thankfully I have a helpful husband who makes the transition much easier).  I need to find balance in ensuring that the house gets clean, but that it does not become my total focus.  I need to find the balance in exercising and making sure tht I am getting enough rest.  I need to find balance in ensuring that I get enough time in to be creative and enjoy my different hobbies.  I need to find balance to have time to read, one of my loves, but I don't make it a priority any more.  I need to find the balance in enjoying good television, but not letting it take over my life.  I need to find balance in using the computer and not letting my blogs/facebook/web searches/other peoples blogs take time away from other things that would be balancing my life.

I wish to make a fresh start by having more balance in my life!

Amy