Winter

This year, I am having a love hate relationship with winter. I have to admit, hate is a strong word this winter. Even though we have gotten a crazy amount of snow in the last 3 week, I am not hating this winter. I am just really ready to start my garden. This weekend, we went out and bought snow shoes for the kids. I think that one of the reasons this winter isn't so bad, is because we can do more with the kids and they can get out by themselves. I don't feel as trapped in the house, so my mood is greatly improved over the last couple of winters, like 7 winters. I was sick this weekend and decided that it would be a good time to make some headway on changing my eating habits. I went grocery shopping and consulted a vegan friend about resources for going vegan. A few years ago I started the process and was enjoying it, but gave up because I thought it was too difficult to do with the kids (they are so very picky). I am planning on moving towards eating a vegan diet. This time I am going to go slow. I will probably cut out red meat first, and then move on to cutting out poultry and pork, and then move on to dairy. I'm not a fish eater, so that will be east to cut out. Dairy is going to be more difficult. While I was shopping, and buying good food, I decided to go to Whole Foods, one of my favorite stores. I feel so healthy when I shop there. I know it's probably not the best store to shop at, but I really like it, I just hate that it's so expensive. While I was shopping and trying to triage what I should buy there, so I didn't spend crazy seamount of money, I decided to treat myself to a couple of books. I got "Grow Cook Eat", which I have been wanting since last summer, and "50 Shades of kale". "Grow Cook Eat" is really inspiring me to get my garden planned and start planting seeds to be ready for when it's time to plant outside. I am trying to be better at planning this year and actually plant things correctly. I'm not sure if it's partially due to the winter blues, which I'm not sure that I feel like I have this year, but I am really feeling like I need a new job. It's to the point where I am really having to stop myself from being anxious at night about my current job. The biggest issue is that I want a job I really want, not just a job. I would love to do something health oriented, not medical oriented. I have decided to really start investigating this, but I'm not sure if I can find anything that will fit my schedule. I need to figure out how to do it on my own and make money. I may need to talk to a friend of mine about becoming a health coach and how she did it. It's something I've been thinking about for a while, but haven't made a move towards it. Here's some of my latest creations and activities that I've been working on to keep myself from busy in this weather. I'm really not hating winter, but I am ready to move on from more snow. I love New England, and even though I have been saying I want to move, I don't think I ever will. Happy winter Amy

Wishcasting Wednesday

It's Wednesday once again and once again I am joining in with Jamie over at http://www.jamieridlerstudios.ca where she asks, "What do you wish for fall?"


My wish for fall is to fully enjoy the season.  Fall is my absolute favorite time of year!   I love the weather! What I don't love is the weather that comes after, "WINTER".  With 3 small kids, winter can be a time when I feel extremely forced to stay in the house.  Living in New England, you never know what the weather will bring.  It could be a mild winter, or it could be a horribly cold and snowy and icy winter and my mood is worse when I don't get to enjoy being outside!  I hope that I can focus on pumpkins, apples, crisp cool sunny weather, Halloween and not focus on the coming winter.  Also, as some people have mentioned to me, fall can be thought of as a new year , almost like celebrating New Years in January.  I find the fall weather to be refreshing and renewing so I hope that I can enjoy being creative and following my passions and being true to myself!

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

Wishcasting Wednesday

Today at @ http://jamieridlerstudios.ca/wishcasting-wednesday-december-2, Jamie asks "What is your wish for the winter season?"

I wish for snow!  You may think I'm crazy, but here in MA, it can get pretty cold and miserable through the winter.  For me a winter without snow is just grey and cold and miserable.  As much as I hate driving in it, shoveling it, and plain old getting around in it, I love watching the snow fall.  I love being out in the new fallen snow, and now that I have kids, I want them to love playing in the snow.  For me, snow makes the winter bearable.  Winter can be long and tough to deal with, but at least if there is snow, I am a much happier person.

Amy