Looking Forward

I made an appointment with a friend to talk to her and pick her brain about health coaching.  I have decided.that I really need a break from the medical field and I need to follow my passion regarding more natural health and natural medicine. I just can't continue to work with people who blindly follow the medical field without questioning it. There is a time and place for a highly medical team, and I am truly grateful to live so close to Boston hospitals.  I am also grateful that I live where alternative and natural medicine is practiced.

My goal and passion continues to be natural health, living a natural lifestyle, and making sure creativity is a part of my life and others lives. I need to find a way to make this dream a reality and not just a dream. I'm thinking a vision board is one of the next projects that I need to work on!

Here's to moving towards your dreams, goals, and passions,

Amy

Now What!

I did it! I passed! I am now a LICSW, a licensed independent clinical social worker. I have now completed so many goals and dreams in life.  I am married to a great man, have 3 great children, a masters degree now with my LICSW (which I have wanted ever since I was in undergrad social work school), a house, a career, and so much more. It is now time to work on new goals, new dreams, new passions.

What are my passions, dreams, and goals? Where do I go from here?  I actually do like being a social worker, and maybe it's just me being overly optimistic, but I think there are so many avenues that I can go down with my social work degree and now my LICSW, I just need to figure out what!

Sometimes, I think I want to do something with health and wellness.  I'm thinking something on the idea of how food affects you: body, mind, and spirit. I would love to do something with growing food, choosing foods, cooking foods, and how it all impacts so many parts of ours lives.

I want to talk about exercise and food choices and how that can affect how we act, how we think, how we feel. I want to talk about how growing our own food is healthy not only to eat, but just being out in nature and being part of our own destiny when it comes to food choices. Destiny is not a great word, but it somewhat conveys what I want to. There is something about being outside and "playing" in dirt, taking something from seed or a small plant and being able to nourish ourselves. That being said, I need to take my own advice and make better choices.

Another thing that is a passion, is creativity and how being creative can impact us; mind. body, and spirit.  I love the idea of old fashioned hand crafts, and doing these "crafts" by hand, the way they did before there were machines.  Not that there is anything wrong with using a sewing machine, a table saw, a slow cooker for soap, but there is something satisfying about creating something that doesn't need anything special for equipment.

I love creating! I love being able to take some material and something for warmth, and create a quilt. I love, for example, that a quilt, that can start out as old clothes, old bed sheets, or very expensive material can then become something new and something comforting, something nourishing for the giver and the receiver. I love that , what basically starts out as a piece of string, can become a sweater, an afghan, a hat, something to keep you warm and comfortable, and by extension (hopefully) feeling safe.

I love being able to provide for myself and my family with out always relying on stores to provide all our food and all our clothing and bedding.  There is nothing wrong with buying things at the store, I do so more often than I would like, but it is nice to know that I can grow my own food (at least some of it) and create clothing or items to keep us warm.

I think it is a lost art, one that is hopefully returning, to know how to do simple cooking, sewing, and other fix it type things.  I have the conversation with my husband (more than he would like I'm sure) that Home Ec and Shop are two classes that should be back in the curriculum.  I think everyone should now how to do simple sewing, hemming or sewing a button on.  I think everyone should have a basic comfort level in the kitchen. I think it is important to know how to use tools.

I just heard about makerspaces and the maker movement, and am going to do more research about it. I'm hoping my next post can be more about that.  I'm thinking that maybe an area that I can get into and maybe use my social work degree and experience.  I would love to see a makerspace in Wakefield. Maybe that can be my new goal.

Amy Fratto, MSW, LICSW (I love seeing my name like this!)

More On English Paper Piecing

I'm still amazingly addicted to the idea of English Paper Piecing and I'm still spending time researching what I can find.  I have a few projects in the works.  I joined an English paper piecing quilt a long, with the goal to make a sampler quilt.

This is for block number one

I guess I haven't taken a picture of my tumbling blocks for quilt block number two, but it is in the same colors just the tumbling block pattern.  I made the six point diamonds a little bigger than I was supposed to, so I think I am just going to make three instead of six tumbling blocks.  The current month is eighty-one half inch hexagons in a diamond shape.  Not looking forward to sewing them all together (or even cutting out eighty-one hexagons), but I am looking forward to seeing these all come together.

It's amazing.  Just when I think I've seen all that you can do with regards to shapes and english paper piecing, I find something new.  I now have two more blogs that I am following because of english paper piecing projects.  I looked at getting the book "Pieced Hexies" by Mickey Dupre, but decided against it.  I'm rethinking that decision, since I think it may be helpful to have for creative ideas with hexagons and english paper piecing.   I think I tend to be to concrete when it comes to shapes for english paper piecing.  I'm thinking that if I can just think outside the box, I may be able to come up with my own shapes and designs.  Love the internet, social media, and having the ability to learn all about things like this.  

I also want to keep learning about handcrafting history, especially quilting including hand piecing and hand quilting.  Along with that, I want to learn more about the creative arts and how they affect both your mental and physical health.  I have read about and talked with people who are able to do some amazing projects, but you would never expect it, looking at their physical condition (severe arthritis for example).  I also plan to continue with my goal of creating forty things for others (handcrafted) before I turn forty-one.  I am  also hoping that I can get the courage to teach a class at my local art/craft studio that will be opening this summer.

Lots of goals and projects in the works.  I really love sewing.  I wish I had more time to spend making things, learning how to make things, teaching others how to make things, teaching others how being creative can benefit them physically, mentally, and even spiritually.

Have a fabulous day.  Until next time!

Amy

BTW-going gluten free has been easier than I thought it would be.It hasn't been easy, but I am doing it and actually following through with not eating gluten.  I had a little trouble a a graduation party I was at, but I was better than I would have been if I hadn't been doing this challenge!

Goals for 2013

Do I dare even write this down for all to see?  This summer I am going to be 40!  Sometimes I can't believe that I will be 40 and then other times it doesn't phase me in the least.  I recently found a blog someone decided to make and give away 36 quilts this year since she turned 36 January 1st.  The blog I found was at http://dailydog.typepad.com.  It has inspired me to create and give away 40 things by the end of the year (If I have to I'll give myself until I turn 41 next summer).

As some of you know, I am the MA National Chapter leader for http://enchantedmakeovers.org/category_28/National-Chapters.htm.  I recently got my first donation to send to a local shelter.  The goal of the National Chapter leaders is to: "Enchanted Makeovers is growing across the country one sewing project at a time! Each state has a chapter, led by a coordinator who will answer your questions on our three sewing projects and collect/deliver the hand-made pillowcases, capes and dolls to shelters for women, teens and children. Hand-made items are a big part of our mission because we believe each gift carries with it the love and positive energy of the crafter. We have seen first hand the impact this has on those who are re-building their lives while living in a shelter. Please join us by donating our sewing projects to your state chapter. The National Chapters only represent our sewing projects."

I now have to find local shelters that would like to have these donated items.  My goal is to make at least 40 pillowcases, dolls, and/or capes to donate to the shelter that we partner with.  My thought is to find a smaller shelter as the larger more well known shelters more than likely have a lot of donations coming in.  They probably don't have items like this, but I'm sure they have more things donated than smaller less known shelters outside of Boston.  I love this idea and it is inspiring me to do something in my own community, I just have to actually formulate a plan and put together something that will fill the needs of my community.

I am thinking that we have a local food pantry and that maybe they would like to have handmade hats, scarfs, mittens, and blankets.  I can only imagine that if they can't afford to buy food, they probably can't afford other things either.  Also, having something handmade to comfort them and keep them warm is always nice.  We also have a large population of people with mental health issues.  I was thinking of tapping into that area to for areas to donate handmade items.  I think I had another thought, but unfortunately that has left my conscious memory right now.  I was also thing we have a local hospital, and hospice agency that could benefit from handmade craft items, like chemo caps, prayer shawls, etc.

This is one way that I am trying to merge my love of social work, community, and crafting.  One of the things that I would love to work on is figuring out how to make this into a career.  I was thinking of at some point looking into grant writing for some funding.  I am contemplating working with my local farmer's market to have a place to have collections of handmade items to donation to local agencies that have needs, maybe even a knit, crochet, sew out.  They do a plain aire paint out every year and have the wakefield collaborative there.  This may all be a pipe dream, but I really want to utilize my love and passion of my social work career, community involvement, and crafting in my career.  I don't want to not do something for fear of failure, but I want to make sure that what I do has the thought and time that it needs put into it.

Before I do anything, I do need to do a community needs assessment to figure out what my community needs.  I certainly can start small and see what I can do even by myself and hope that it will grow in to something larger.  I have a lot of thoughts spinning around in my head.  I also have a part time job, 3 kids, a husband, and a house that need my attention.  I do need to find something for me that I enjoy though, and have it maybe even be something that can grow into a career.  Lots of research to be done, but I am looking forward to it. (I wish my iPad didn't get ruined.  Maybe since I don't have a ton of money I can look into a windows one.)

Amy

PS- I also have the goal of getting healthy.  I want to eat healthier, exercise, and have good mental/spiritual health!

Dreams, Passions, and Goals

For the longest time, I have been trying to figure out what my dream, my passion, and my goals are regarding my career.  In the past, I have wanted to go into private practice as a social worker.  After getting my BSW and my MSW, I have decided, much to my husband's dismay, that I don't really want to have a traditional private practice.  I am considering going back to school and getting my art therapy certificate and then when I can go into private practice, I can do art therapy.

My latest thoughts have been spurned on by reading a couple of books and finding a website about crafting for charity.  Wouldn't that be an awesome way to use my social work degree as well as my love for crafting?  Now I need to research exactly how to go about doing something like this!  I'm sure there is a lot that goes into doing something like this and is not something that I can take lightly.  I'm sure that there are a lot of things that I need to learn.  I have no business background, no marketing background, and limited supervisory background.

I have certain ideas that I am thinking about based on my love of sewing, making jewelry, knitting/crocheting, making bath and beauty products, paper crafts, photography, and pretty much any craft.  What I need to do, is find out more information on non profits, see if there is anything already started to get information or even see if there are any positions that I can get hired for.  I need to find out what population I want to work with. I also need to figure out a business plan and maybe think about grant writing.  My social work background will definitely come in handy here!

I really need to find a part time job and I will be heading back to work full time with in the next couple of years.  I am hopeful that I can spend some time researching what is needed and maybe find someway of making my dreams, passions, and goals happen!


My latest crafting pleasure has been making a doll bed for my daughter's doll as well as a quilt to go with it.

doll bed made out of a recycled clementine box with hand sewn mattress and pillow

doll bed with quilt (I still have to bind the quilt)

crocheted rag rug for under the bed!

Amy

End Of The Week

It's the end of the week!  My husband is on vacation next week and I can't wait.  I am hoping that we can take some day trips and just plain hang around and relax and have fun!

This week, I've written about a couple of goals that I have.Thanks to a couple of comments, I am more motivated to follow through.  First of all, my and my family's health is something that is really important to me.  It's always difficult to make changes, but I think in our case, slow and steady wins the race.  We have started our plants from seed tis year and so far so good, they are growing.  I have started our cold weather veggies in the garden, but we still have more to plant.  I am hopeful, that this year, we will be eating veggie from the garden, which will help with being healthier.

My other goal is creating to help others.  One thing I am going to do, thanks to a comment, is push myself more to create things for my twins group.  I have wanted to be a part of this, but I wasn't sure what to make.  I just sent an e-mail to find out some more information so that I can start making things that will help a group that I belong to that has been helpful to me.  I am also thinking that if a specific selectman gets re-elected, I may approach him about the farmer's market idea.  I'm not sure how much I want to commit, but it's definitely something to think about how to make that idea happen.  I have a bunch of ideas, I just need to get things together and clarify how, what, when, and where.  It may be a project that I have to work on and maybe start next year, but at least it is a goal.  I can get my goal of being creative and helping others taken care of all together.  I just have to see if the farmer's market is some where I can start this idea.  I'm sure that there will be more thoughts about it here, so that I can get some feedback and ideas on my thoughts and plans.

Amy

"Craft Hope"

I keep thinking about someday owning a crafting studio.  It's kind of a pipe dream since I don't have the money to open my own business, I will need to have constant income, and I have no business experience.  One thing that I would like to do as part of a craft studio, is have time to craft for charities.  One thing that I can do is start to do that myself.  I can start to create items for different charities and donate what I make.  I have a book called "Craft Hope" that is all about creating handmade items for different charities.  I am planning on looking through it and see if I can plan a project or two and donate them.  I know that there are a lot of different charities on the internet too.  This is something that I have wanted to do, but never followed through.  I really want to follow through this time.

One thing I would like to add to this is getting my community involved.  I'm not exactly sure how to go about doing it though.  I have thought about doing something with my church, but I have not exactly been attending.  I have also recently thought about doing something at our town's farmer's market.  One of the winter farmer's markets that we go to has a donation bin for handmade hats and mittens.  I would love to maybe do something similar at the summer's farmer's market.  What I would ultimately like to do is participate at the farmer's market and have people do a project while they attend the farmer's market as well as have a bin for drop offs.  I have heard of having many people work on an individual square or an individual project so that many people's hands are part of this finished piece.  This probably isn't a feasible endeavor, but it is something that I would like to think about.  Maybe check out when this years knit out is and do something that day in town.

I have so many ideas, but I'm not sure that they are things that are actually feasible.  As usual, I have goals/ideas, but don't know how to follow through.  I am off to look through my "Craft Hope" book and hope that it inspires me to somehow follow through with my dreams/goals, or at least one of them.

Amy

Wishcasting Wednesday: What is Your Spirit Wishing For?

It's Wednesday once again and once again I am joining in with Jamie at http://www.jamieridlerstudios.ca for wish casting Wednesday.  This week Jamie asks: "What is Your Spirit Wishing For?"


The simple answer is follow through.  I set all these goals and a lot of times, I seem to only maintain the goal or even working towards the goal for a short time.  I think my spirit needs me to set attainable goals, give myself credit for what I do accomplish, and to follow through with the goals that I set for myself.  I think, for me, by not following through, I am not being true to myself.  I also think that I don't follow through due to fear.  Unfortunately, there are probably a lot of things that my spirit is wishing for, but I think right now, follow through is a good wish to have.

What is your spirit wishing for?

Amy

Healthy Eating and Living

I've written a lot about wanting to change my diet and my reasons for doing so.  I've also written a lot about my struggles with being healthy.  Currently, I am finding it really hard giving up meat.  I still want to give up meat and I think in time, I will actually do it.  I think my biggest struggle is figuring out a meal plan that my whole family will eat.  I am thinking that I probably need to make meat dishes for my kids, and maybe even my husband, and I will just need to have some restraint and follow through with how I want to eat.  Given my BRCA2 gene (and don't want to proceed with surgery yet), I think it is also important to reduce the amount of animal protein I eat (at least from what I have read).

At this point, I really need to stop eating gluten, dairy, and reduce animal protein.  I also need and want to reduce the amount of added sugar, especially white sugar, in my families diet.  I start off doing well and then, I flop and fail.  My oldest son is not supposed to be eating dairy and gluten either (we both scored 3's on our IgG blood test) .  Given that I have concerns about Michael having more of an issue than just a speech delay, I know that following through on no gluten, no dairy, and probably other additives will help him out tremendously!

At this point, I am really going to concentrate on following through with my healthy living goals.  Other than this week, when I have been sick, I have been doing great at exercise.  I could probably do more, but I am happy with what I am doing.  I need to add some short meditation and yoga in, but otherwise exercise is great.  I am trying to make time to be creative, which is going ok, but not perfect.  I am also trying to get organized which is extremely slow going and tedious and time consuming, and difficult.

My thoughts here seem a little scattered (I'm obviously not a writer).  I really just wanted to get down in words, my goals and what I am finding difficult.  I hope that taking time to write down, what I want and what barriers I am facing, even if those barriers are just invisible barriers that I have put up, will help me be more aware and make the changes I need to, even if they are slow going!

Amy

Goal: Living Naturally

One of my new goals this new year is to live more naturally.  For me, this means making things when possible, not using harsh chemicals when possible, eating healthy, and other things like that.  I would love to try not to buy things at big chain stores when possible, but unfortunately, the state of our financial affairs makes it so that we have to find the best price possible.

One thing I am trying to do, is to cook more at home.  I am trying to make my own products when possible instead of relying on pre made items.  I am trying eat healthier too.  When I shop, I am trying to make sure that I only shop the outside perimeter of the store.  I am trying to plan my meals in advance so that I am not wasting food.  planning in advance and not wasting foods are 2 things that I really need to work on.

I have been cloth diapering since my twins were 6 months old.  They are now going to be 3.  Thankfully we are getting to the point of potty training and then we will be done with diapers (hopefully).  A couple of months ago, I decided to start making my own "mama pads".  I was a little afraid that I would be grossed out or that my husband would be grossed out.  After talking to another twin mom friend, I decided to try making my own.  Turns out, my husband is extremely supportive of this and I am on my 3rd cycle of using them and am really happy that I made the switch.  Unlike cloth diapering, if I am traveling I will use disposables.  My goal, now, is to refine my pattern and make better pads.  Pretty sad, but I am really excited about making the switch!

I am trying to not use harsh chemicals in my house.  I love how clean things get with bleach, but am not a fan of the smell, or having it around with little ones.  My goal is to only use it occasionally and I plan on using white vinegar and baking soda more often.  I have used both of these products depending on what I am cleaning and I have been happy with the results.  I now need to get some recipes and find natural way of making an anti-bacterial cleanser that is not bleach.  I also need to get organized (which is another goal) so that I am cleaning on a schedule (I hate cleaning!!).  I am also trying not to use harsh chemicals in my health and beauty products.  Again I am trying to stay away from buying pre made items in stores when possible and make my own from supplies!

I would love to make my kids clothes and even my own.  My problem is that I am not that good at sewing clothes and I don't have a ton of time to practice.  I try to use hand me downs for the kids so that we are not always buying new.  I am trying to plan on making toys and learning experiences for them instead of looking to the store to get what I want.  My next book to get is:

"Fabric-by-Fabric One-Yard Wonders: 101 Sewing Projects Using Cottons, Knits, Voiles, Corduroy, Fleece, Flannel, Home Dec, Oilcloth, Wool, and Beyond"

I am also trying to up cycle when possible.  We try to donate unwanted clothing, but I would love to try to use it to make things instead of just giving it away (also a way to save money and not rely on stores all the time).  I am using old receiving blanket for cloth wipes and my "mama pads".  Again, this way I don't have to buy new material and spend money after throwing away perfectly usable cloth!  My next goal is to go to a thrift store and actually buy clothing for cheap that is totally outdated and try to update it and make it current.  I am totally inspired by http://www.newdressaday.com/ and would love to be as creative and thrifty!

Hopefully I can really start to work on these goals and make it so that I can feel good about doing what I can for my health, my family's health, and the environment!  I think that, for me, it is good that I am writing this down so that a) I see it in black and white, and b) there are people who read my posts and hopefully this will make me more accountable.

Amy

Wishcasting Wednesday:What do you wish to reclaim?

I am once again joining in with Jamie Rider at jamieridlerstudios.ca for Wishcasting Wednesday.This week Jamie asks:  What do you wish to reclaim?

For me this was actually an easy wish.  I wish to reclaim my life.  The last few years have been a little crazy.  Five years ago I got engaged in the middle of grad school.  six months later I was married to my best friend and 1 month after that we found out I was pregnant.  A couple of weeks before that I sound my grandmother's house and just days after we found out I was pregnant, my mother in law died.  Nine months later i gave birth to a beautiful boy after being on bed rest for 6 weeks.  Three months later I was pregnant again.  It was not really a surprise and we were thrilled.  Two months later, I was afraid I was miscarrying, only to find out we were having twins.  A little over two months later I was put on bed rest for fear of going into early labor.  At week 35, I gave birth to a girl and a boy and things were great until 2 1/2 weeks after they were born and my son was rushed to Children's Hospital Boston with RSV.  One week later, his twin sister was admitted with RSV too.  We had 2 infants in the NICU and a 10 1/2 month old at home.  My son was hospitalized for 3 weeks and my daughter for 2, although she was on a vent and tube fed for 6 days (until she pulled out her tubes, she's a feisty one).  My grandfather died 1 week after the twins came home from the NICU and my sisters and I drove to NC with a  year old and 6 week old twins.  Four months later, we bought our house.

Thankfully, since then, things have been relatively quiet.  The biggest issue lately is my mom being diagnosed with Breast cancer.  My grandmother, her mother died of breast cancer.  My mom was tested for the gene and is positive.  I was tested and am finding out the results today.

This is a really, really long explanation for why I need to reclaim my life.  I want to start living the life I really want.  My New Years Goals spell out how I want to live my life.  Now I have to reclaim my life and live it to it's fullest and follow my dreams and goals.  Life has been crazy over the last 5 years, but life is settling down.  Life is getting somewhat easier now that the kids are getting older.  I need to stop making excuses and start living my life the way I really want to!

Amy

Defining Goals

Like I said in my last post, I have a few goals that I want to work on in the coming year.  I think, to make sure that I actually follow through, I am going to give myself time to get there instead of making myself meet all the goals at once.  I also need to define my goals a little better.  When I wrote them, I just wrote them down to have an idea of what I wanted and needed to work on.  Now it's time to get to the knotty gritty of what I want to work on so that I know how I am going to meet these goals.  I will probably at some point actually write up these goals like I was working as a social worker with problem, goal, interventions, and time frame listed so that I can measure and see if I am actually doing what I want to do.  I will also be re-evaluating from time to time to make sure that the goals are still what I want and see if I need to change anything.  For now though, I am just going to me a little more specific about each goal.

1. Cook more healthy foods, cook from scratch, and try to be as sustainable as possible: This is pretty self explanatory and basic, but to break it down, I want to follow through with eating the way I should be eating, stop using processed pre-made food, and try to eat local, and in season when possible.  My goal is to shop the perimeter of the store, buy less packaged foods, make what I can instead of buying pre made such as using dried beans, making bread (gluten free), and buying good healthy food and making sure that it tastes good not just healthy.
2. Make time to be creative: I know how important it is for me to be creative, but I don't always make it easy.  I am hoping to figure out a way to be able to make it easier to be creative (maybe if our house guest of 8 months leaves, I can set up something in the basement and keep it set up instead of setting up and taking down each time.  I need to make set projects so that I am not trying to pull together everything when I find the time to do something creative.  I also need to finish one project at a time instead of having multiple projects going at one time!
3. Try to live as natural a lifestyle as possible: I am trying to eat healthier, more sustainable, and locally.  I am going to try to make my own cleansers and bath and body products for me and my family.  I am going to try use less paper products and use cloth products more.Sometimes, I find myself using paper towels more often than not just because it is easier.  I am hoping to use towels more and paper less.  I am also hoping to use my cloth diapers more consistently.  I have been doing a really good job here, but I am using disposable wipes more often than I had in the recent past and I need to get back to using the cloth wipes (especially since I like them better).  I have been using cloth pads for my last couple of cycles.  This may seem kind of gross and a little TMI, but I actually do like them better and I like again that I don't have to throw them out I just wash them daily with my diapers for the kids.  And again, a little TMI, but I want to use more family cloth instead of toilet paper.  I was doing it for a while, but stopped for some reason I can't explain.  The best part is I have a ton of flannel receiving blankets and fleece scraps that I can use so I will not have to spend money or waste material.  As I find or think of more ways of living naturally I will work on incorporating them into my life.
4. Spend more time in direct play with my kids: I have tended to let the kids watch tv probably more than I should.  I sometimes feel like I have contributed to my kids speech delay, but I know that there are other issues that have contributed to it too.  It has been a lot of work having 3 kids so close in age.  As tough as it has been though, I am glad that they are close in age.  Now that they are a little older (in 20 days, I'll have 3 three year olds for a month and a half), it is so much fun to watch them play with each other (that is when they are not fighting).  We got a bunch of new toys for Christmas and I am loving how they play.  We will be incorporating more structured play into our day as well as non structured play.  My twins are being evaluated for public pre-school, and while I don't think that they will get in, I will not put them into pre-school for 2 years.  I can't afford 2 in school for 2 years and I don't think that it is needed either, especially since I am home with them.  That being said, I think that have a homeschool pre-school setting is a good thing to do.  The only thing that I think will lack is interaction with other kids, but I am hoping that with playgroups, I can find kids for them to interact with.
5. Get my stuff organized: Man, this is going to be a work in progress!  A huge work in progress.  I'm not even sure I know where to begin.  This is one where I will need to start with one room, one area of one room and start small.  I will add more to this area as I figure out what to do.  One thing i do know is that I definitely need to have a system for cleaning.  That may be the first thing that I put in place.  How to keep up with the laundry, vacuum, clean the kitchen, plan my meals, etc.
6. Start an etsy.com store: This is a goal I have had for a while.  I want to try to make a little back from what I spend on materials being creative.  I am hoping to make fun, creative small little accessories that people can feel good about buying for themselves or a gift.
7. Learn more about the things that I am interested in instead of just knowing a little about a lot of different things: Wow, this is another area that I need to spend time figuring out how to be specific.  I want and need to learn more about gardening.  I would love to learn more about permaculture and how we can incorporate that into our gardening, both veggie and flower.  I want to learn more about herbs which also goes along with learning more about gardening.  I want to learn more about aromatherapy and how to use it in my day to day life as well as maybe using it professionally.  I want to learn more about art therapy and how I can use it as a career.  I want to learn more about sewing and other crafts that I can work on making and selling or maybe even teaching.  I want to learn more about meditation and yoga.  I want to learn more about journaling and how to incorporate it into my career path.  I want to learn more about cooking and eating healthy (not necessarily traditional nutrition, but more alternative ways of diets).  I'm sure there is a ton more that I want to learn, but for now this is where I am going to focus.

So I have spent some time figuring out more specifics to my goals.  I now need to actually work on accomplishing them.  I am definitely going to wrote these down in more of a care plan format, like I would do for work.  Maybe once I get that done, I can share a couple.  Maybe if I luck out, the twins will get into public preschool and I will have a couple of hours of free time that I can devote to making these goals are reality.  Maybe I can spend time creating and selling so that I am finding time to be creative and also so I can make some extra money.

Thanks for listening (ok reading),

Amy

Amy

New Year/New Goals

It's January 1st 2012.  Like most people, I am trying to figure out if I should make any resolutions.  I am tinkling that I want to, but then there are those that talk about how resolutions are foolish.  They say that resolutions don't work.  They believe that resolutions are just a way to try to make changes but that they are just a way of making us feel better.  This year, I am thinking that instead of making resolutions, I am going to  Set goals for myself. Now this may seem like I am just using a different word to mean the same thing, but I think either way goals are better than resolutions. Also, I am not doing this because that is what you do at New Years, I am doing it because the holidays are over, life is settling down, and it just feels right!

So, what are my goals? Right now, my goals are to follow my beliefs behind this blog. To clarify this for myself, the following are my goals:

1) cook more healthy foods and to make more foods from scratch and try to be more sustainable in what we eat

2) make time to be creative

3) try to live as natural a lifestyle as possible

4) spend more time in direct play with my kids

5) get my stuff organized

6) hopefully start an etsy.com shop

7) try to learn more about the things I am interested in instead of just knowing a little bit of information!

I could and probably should be more specific. From my professional career, I know that goals are supposed to be written certain way and these are not. I need to refine them make them measurable and more specific, but for now, it will do. I have more time to get more specific. I may write another post about the goals when they are more clear, but for now this will do!

Amy

Holidays

I was reading an old post on Tara Jon Manning's blog about a handmade holiday and it reminded me of my goal to make a decent amount of the gifts that I give this Christmas. So far the only thing I have made has been a partial advent calendar. I am not following through with my goals. I also want to try to use the materials I have on hand to create and not buy new things. Of course, if I need something to complete a project that would be a time to go out and buy mo, but only if there is no way around it. Christmas is less than 2 weeks away. I have a house to clean and projects to work on. I also Ned to get overly fear of people not liking what I make. I have this complex that people will think that handmade gifts area way to cheap out. Yes, it is cheaper sometimes to make things, but I think that when thought goes into a gift, that's all that should matter when receiving a gift. I should be more confident in what I make. I use good quality supplies. I use thought when I try to decide what I am going to make for someone. I try to be careful and do a really nice job with what I create. I am going to try to get over my fear of what people will think and still attempt to make some of my gifts, if possible.

This year, have probably spent too much money on the gifts we bought the kids, but we really tried hard to get them things that's they would really like and that were educational in some respect as well as fun. My goal this year was to not buy wasteful gifts just to have gifts or because they were cheap. I really want to try to make 1 gift for each of them. If they are the only ones that get handmade gifts, I will be completely thrilled. If i am able to make more than that, I will be even more excited!

Before I know it, the holidays will be over and it will be time for me to attempt an etsy shop. I am scared to death of failing, but if I never try, I won't succeed. I am scared of people laughing at me. Can you tell that I have major issues? I have tried to come up with a bunch of different etsy names, but ultimately, I decided on the basic Amy Fratto Design. A while ago, I actually started a blog Amy Fratto Designs at Wildflower Garden Studios. I may actually go back to that blog once I start actually posting on my etsy store, or even getting ready to post things. I don't necessarily want another blog, actually I stopped writing there and directed anyone that read it to this blog, but I am thinking that I want to start again.

Goals, goals, goals. Now to just follow through!

Wish me luck and put some good thoughts out to the universe or pray that I can follow through with my goals!

Amy

Living The Life I Want

This week, I missed out on wishcasting Wednesday.  This week the question was, "What do you wish to immerse yourself in?".  As I sit here and type, I am thinking about that question.  Even though I missed writing about my wish on Wednesday, there is no reason why I still can't write about it today!  I love Wishcasting Wednesday, because it makes me sit and really think.  I get a chance to sit and write down my wishes instead of just keeping them to myself.

My answer this week is, "I wish to immerse myself in my passions!".  The question is how do I do that?  I have 3 kids and we have enough money to live, but not enough extra to play with.  The good thing is, that over time, I think my passions may save us money, I just have to find the time to learn.  My passion is what this blog is all about, living a handmade and natural life.  I am starting to cook more instead of going out to eat, I am trying to use the crafting supplies I have instead of buying new, I am trying to make a lot of my own health and beauty products.  I want and need to learn more though!  I want to learn more about aromatherapy, herbs, natural beauty products, gardening, crafting responsibly, cooking good healthy food that tastes good also.

My newest thing I want to learn is soap making.  I need to get a good simple tutorial with a list of the basic supplies I need.  I don't have a ton of extra money to spend, but we are spending a lot on buying good soap so I know in the end it will be worth it.  I also have to stop worrying about making it.  Someone told me that it can be dangerous so I should do it with someone who knows what they are doing.  That has me a little worried, but I am sure that I can do it fine, as long as I take my time and read directions carefully (good directions).  I have been making cream with essential oils, now it is time to move on to bigger and better.  I just need to learn more about waht essesntial oils are good for certain things.  Time to pull out the books!

Any thoughts on good resources for herbs, aromatherapy, etc?

Amy

Wishcasting Wednesday and CTWW

I love Wednesdays for blogging, at least on this blog.  On Wednesdays, I love to see what Jamie over at http://jamieridlerstudios.ca and what http://reducefootprints.blogspot.com prompt me to think about.

This week Jamie asks: "What guidance do you wish for?"  As usual, Jamie's question follows right along with things that I have been thinking about.  For me, I wish for guidance in following my dreams and my passions.  I know what my dreams and my passions are, at least I think I do, but I think I need guidance on how to follow though with them.  How do I make them them a part of my life instead of just a dream in my mind?  Is it possible to take them and make them something I could make a living at and if so, how do I do it?  How do I follow my dreams and my passions and not give up on my social work profession?  How do I follow my dreams and passions and afford to do it?  I guess these are just a few of the questions that I wish for guidance on.

Last week, for change the world Wednesday, I wrote about reducing my waste.  I guess on some level I made a pretty huge goal for myself.  One of the things that I have to remember in my life is that I can take small steps to get to the large goal I have, I don't have to leap to the large goal right away.  I have done better this past week with making my own tea and bringing food for lunch, but I have not been perfect.  I still need to get better at planning and making sure that I have food in the house to make dinner and that I actually make dinner.  I also need to get better at packing my dinner for work and using up leftovers.  I have been better this week, but not where I was hoping to be.  I also want to do better at not buying my coffee or my tea out.  A lot of my goals will help reduce waste and also help my finances, a win win situation.  As I wrote above I want guidance in following my passions.  One of my passions is living a greener more natural life and that includes reducing waste.  So, this is a goal that I will be continuing with and hopefully as time moves on, the small changes I make will lead up to the large goal I have.

This week, reduce footprints asks us to look at our fridge and see what we can do to make sure that it operates efficiently.  There are lots of suggestions that they have and I plan to follow through checking out my fridge.  One of the suggestions is to change the gasket.  I know that we have replaced it recently, but I will double check to see that it is still working right.  I will plan to write an update of how things go after I follow reduce footprints suggestions.

Amy

Change The World Wednesday (a day late)

This weeks challenge is a really appropriate challenge for me.  Zero Waste Week 2011 started September 5th and the goal over at http://myzerowaste.com/ is how can I reduce my waste away from from home.  This challenge is really appropriate since I have been rediculously horrible about eating out, wasting food, and buying coffee/tea out.  When I look in my recycling bin, and the fact that I recycle is the only saving grace for me, I cringe when I see how many plastic cups are in there.  That means I have wasted a ton of money by buying coffee/tea out instead of making it at home and I am using way too many plastic containers.  I have tried to make this change earlier in the summer, but I haven't really succeeded.  My new goal is to either make my drinks at home or at least being a reusable mug with me instead of using a "disposable" cup/mug.  I have also been buying too much soda and since I want not only reduce my soda intake, but actually eliminate it, I will make sure that I bring at least one of my many water bottles that I fill at home from our filtered water system.  I will also make sure that I continue to buy healthy frozen juice concentrate for the kids to help reduce plastic waste.  I have been horrible about eating out also.  This means that I use disposable products more than someone who eats home more often.  I will be planning better so that I don't feel like I have to eat out because I don't have a meal planned, there by reducing my waste and saving money.

Since the above goals will take some planning on my part, I will be forced, in a good way, to plan my meals and my liquids so that I don't feel the need to stop at a store/take out place to get either food or drink.  I will be forced to plan my grocery list there by saving money, eating healthier, and hopefully reducing my food waste.  I am totally guilty of buying food that I forget about and then have to throw it away because it has gone bad. 

I am hoping that these zero waste week 2011 goals will not only help reduce waste, but increase my wallet and help to make me healthier.  Hopefully is will also help with my stress since i will have my meal planning done and I will be saving money as well as helping the earth!

Amy

What's New?

As summer comes to a crashing end, I am sitting here thinking about all that I didn't do.  We started a garden last year and had pretty good results.  This year, it seems as if we did nothing outside.  I don't know what we did or why we didn't spend time in the garden.  I think part of it is that we walked 4 miles almost every day, Michael was in preschool the month of July, we tried to spend time as a family, and probably the biggest issue was the crazy anount of mosquitos that we had in our yard.  Oh, and child illnesses, including Lyme Disease for Miss Eva Rose.

When I think about our garden, I am kind of diappointed.  We did get a ton of tomatoes, but we also got some sort of blight/fungus that is killing them now.  I am trying to save as many tomatoes as I can so that we can enjoy some garden fresh tomatoes.  We did have a decent amount of cucumbers, which we didn't have last year.  My carrots are finally at a point where they can be eaten, albeit small.  the best part about the carrots is that they came from seeds as did the beets and the radishes.  My next step is to pull up all the lettuce, spinich, peas, and other things that are no longer doing well, and plant a second crop of cold weather veggies, like more peas, carrots, beets, greens, etc.

I still have lots of projects to work on.  I started a scarf for one of my sisters.  Hopefully it will be something she likes and something useful.  She is going to be a sophmore at UMASS Amherst and will be working in the barn (I think) and I am hoping that it will be warm and useful for her as well as something that she will like.  I have a few other knit gifts as well as sewing gifts planned.  I am hopeful that I can actually get a schedule going so that I can complete some of my projects!

I know it is still August, but it is the end of August.  I am trying to plan for the winter months so that I can feel productive and enjoy the time in the house vs being able to go out.  I want to use my tiem to create, plan my garden for next year, learn more about herbs and aromatherapy, and maybe even kick start an etsy.com shop.  We'll see how things work, but I definitely don't want this winter to be an unproductive season, nor do I want to hate winter.  I need to find a way to make winter more fun and enjoyable.

Amy

What Do I Need To Do?

I have all these ideas and thoughts, but the follow through isn't always there.  With summer being here and my husband being home and Michael in school for the month of July, we have taken advantage of just having 2 kids to take out for our daily walks and have gone for a 4 mile walk usually about 3-4 days a week.  We have also attempted to spend a lot of time with the kids playing outside and maybe even getting some gardening done.  What we haven't really had is a set formal schedule other than Michael's school.  What this has done for me, is to take away some structure that I had and now I haven't gone and done a normal grocery shopping, made a normal meal plan, cooked dinner, cleaned house, done laundry, made time for creating, gone to any farmer's markets.  This means, my goals of being organized, eating healthy, being creative, etc have all gone by the wayside.  Also, we have my brother in law staying with us, and as much as it's not his fault, it has really either caused some planning issues or at least given me a way to rationalize (albeit an abnormal rationale) why I am not getting things done.

One of the reasons that I like writing this blog, is that it helps to keep my head a little more clear about what my goals are.  I may not always follow through with them, but at least I am thinking and writing and hopefully following some of them.  To give myself some credit, I have been exercising.  I have made some better meal choices, though not always great.  I have started making water kefir and milk kefir, though I am feeling like I am getting behind in that area as well.  I have been having some green smoothies, though I really want to have more.  I really want to start menu planning again.  For some reason, having my husband home has made me lazy in this area.  I need to get back on track.

Long and Short Term Goals?:

1. plan my meals for the week
2. have a green smoothie every day
3. exercise
4. be creative
5. cook/eat at home versus eating crappy unhealthy food out
6. continue to read more about aromatherapy and herbs
7. continue to research nutrition and healthy diet
8. reasearch and get new recipes
9. read and follow "the Body Ecology Diet", and allergy diets
10. go grocery shopping
11. finish Rebecca's baby shower gift!

Thanks to those who read!  I love having a place to put my thoughts and ideas down and sometimes even get comments/thoughts back!

Amy

Back To Basics

I'm once again writing about my diet, which is an on going battle.  One of my goals, when I go back to work is to maybe work with people with eating issues/disorders.  I have never really thought about that realm of social work, but given the struggles I am having, I am thinking it may be an interesting area to learn more about.  With that being the goal and add on to that goal getting some nutritional education behind me, I decided that I really need to get myself back in line with healthy eating and healthy living.  Along with that, I really need to get back to eating healthy and cooking for my family just to plain old save money.

Enter http://www.healthygirlskitchen.blogspot.com.  The author of this blog started some posts about "The Beck Diet Solution".  Her posts got me intrigued and I am using this as an opportunity to get back to basics.  Day 1 of "The Beck Diet Solution" is basically to put down your goals.  The thing is, you have to actually read your goals twice a day.  I am going to try that, but we'll see how it works out.  Actually you are supposed to write down your reasons for losing weight so here are mine:

1. to be healthy
2. to reduce my cardiac and cancer risk
3. to feel better with how I look
4. to have more energy
5. to feel better about myself in general
6. to be a healthy example for my kids

Day 2 is to choose your diet.  I am choosing to follow Dr Neal Barnard diet, which is basically a vegan diet.  I am in the middle of reading his "Breaking The Food Seduction" which I am hoping will help with the multiple food  addictions that I have.  I  am also looking to follow the "Body Ecology Diet" for a multitude of reasons.  I guess, according to this book you don't necessarily rush right into the diet, there are 2 weeks of exercises to do.  I guess I should look at getting the book and looking at it so I at least know what I am attempting here.

Day 3 is to sit while you eat.  This is one that I have been attempting to do as a family but am failing miserably, with me being one of the main culprits.  I tend to multi task while I eat and as much as I know I shouldn't, I do.  I am going to really try to sit and enjoy my food with no distractions, as much as I am able to.

That's we we're at so far.  I'll continue to post what new changes/goals I am looking to make and hopfully this time, I'll be moving in the right direction!

Amy