What's for dinner?

Lately, I have been super preoccupied with the ingredients in my food. I have always looked, but now I think it's because I'm convinced we're all unknowingly giving ourselves cancer. Okay I said it. I'm terrified.

I found out the fake butter is more closely related to plastic than real butter. UMmmm.. We are consuming poison every day... I can't even talk about sodas. I mean seriously!

My worry now is that worrying about what I'm eating is going to kill me faster than the actual food itself. I am stressed about it. I think organic is just right for me and I am REALLY going to try harder to eat less processed foods. I finds this blog really inspiring. She is cutting out processed foods entirely. I would love to be able to do it. I always love when the garden starts producing- guilt free dinners are the best. Hopefully this year we'll have a lot of variety growing.

Now that I have got this out... I have to go and enjoy my Krystals. :)

Well I'm getting married. Hooray!

Rob & I were engaged February 13 & we're shooting for a September wedding. My ring is an oval cut 1.5 ct natural emerald. I have always wanted a natural emerald. When I first started looking at rings I went to a large chain jewelry store... and while I will say I had the best and most courteous service there, the salesperson knew less about emeralds than me. She told me that all emeralds are natural and simulated stone only means it goes through a process to clarify it. This is not true, simulated means it's simulated.

I have a whole lot of planning to do & really need to get started immediately.

The one in which I give a short ramble about fungi & parasites

Sunday Rob & I got up, played with dogs, and made a grocery list. We went for a hike before the grocery store. I forgot to bring my bag for goodies I find. & there were so many goodies. I'm really digging different fungi right now. Yesterday I was thinking about the little puffy mushrooms, when you touch them they expel spores, what I was thinking is that plants/animals/parasites evolve... and like people they have a plan- to survive obviously that's why they evolve so as we were scrambling up this rock & I made the terrible mistake of looking up from my fungi and down off the side of the rock... I started thinking how these puffing mushrooms could puff their spores into my lungs which would cause me to cough and possibly fall, starting sliding down this rock and then tumble off the side to my death. That could be the most bad ass fungus of all time. Who knows?

I'm really interested in parasites and the way we can harbor this little world inside ourselves. Plus it is one of the creepiest freakiest things ever! I listen to a lot of talk radio stories during the work day. I feel like I'm using every second of my day to expand my mind... anyway. I'm going to be listening to these stories today Parasites on Radio Lab & Enemy Camp on This American Life. I am also planning to get my hands on this book in the sometime near future... maybe for that week I have off after Christmas?

First cold day in a while and I am hibernating. The weekend couldn't come fast enough this week it seemed. I think I've picked up something, yesterday I was feeling puny. I came home and cuddled up... ended up wrapping some presents. I'm sorta achy today. But I did manage to try a couple DIY cleaners this morning. white vinegar and regular Dawn dish washing liquid is the most magical cleaner I have ever used. I swear my tub & shower are sparkling. I picked up the trail on pinterest.

We also had a clogged drain in the shower...Baking soda & white vinegar have a neat trick. I swear I don't think I will ever buy draino again. Baking soda down the drain, add the vinegar, & plug the drain. Of course I was always a sucker for the volcano science project... depending on the artistic ability of the kid it can really look professional. I built an electromagnet. It involved screws, batteries, magnets, & a 1"x4"x12" ...... anyway. Use it because it's fun & amazing!

Now I must get back to hibernating the rest of this day. Christmas is next week... tomorrow morning my Christmas Week to do list kicks off. This is also my last work week before I take the rest of my vacation time. Woo hoo!

Oh Christmas

Are you friend or foe this year? This year has no doubt been tough. It started off with my dear aunt passing and though nothing has happened quite so bad since it still has no redeeming qualities. Speaking of Sister, she is filling my thoughts more than ever these days. I think of her every day, but lately the frequency has reached an almost constant. I suppose the holidays remind us of those we have lost because holidays don't seem quite right with out them. Mine do not anyway...

Sister shined wherever she went, but it seems like she prepared for Christmas year round. A champion shopper, every sale was/is always an opportunity to mark a name off your list. For the past twenty some years I have received a Barbie Christmas ornament from her. I love getting them out. I take them all out and arrange them by type & then evenly distribute them on the tree. It is incredibly dorky, but I love them. I haven't put them on the tree in the past 2 years, mainly because we cut down our own trees & there are just not enough branches. I haven't been able to even get them out this year. I am really tired of being sad about this, but the pain is lodged in my chest with no chance of dislodging any time soon. fart.

Some things are looking up though. Rob's brother, sister-in-law, & niece are coming up for Christmas & I am so STOKED. Christmas gifts are purchased and wrapped!!

Rob selected and cut the Christmas tree for the last two Christmases, so this year my brother, Chloe, Jack & I found the tree. I took Chloe & Jack to my parents and we took a short walk to this tree. Chloe even posed proudly for a photo over the weekend- she "smiled" with her teeth showing!

Both dogs ran like wild animals out in the field at my parents' while we cut down the tree... Chloe did roll in some sort of poop though... it was both terrible and funny. She had it on her head down to her curly tail and had to be sprayed down with the hose. She smiled the entire time. Ha.

Christmas Shopping & other bits

This will be the first year ever that I complete my Christmas shopping early. Come Black Friday and I will be snuggled up in my bed with each & everyone crossed off my list. So far so good. I wish I was more anonymous so that I could share the gifts I have recently purchased.... I am about to bust wanting to tell someone... anyone...

I made an excel spreadsheet and set a budget. Thankfully a few gifts were purchased this summer and put away. Having the spending months apart helps my budget work. Having everything purchased ahead of time also frees my schedule for baking items for the guys I work with that repeatedly make my life easier.

Pretty much everything has came from online shopping. Etsy & Amazon are both truly amazing when it comes to finding something for everyone. I didn't really realize how many gifts I purchase from Amazon until I started using the gift organizer. After I add my recipients I am able to add personality traits & sort through past purchases by person. Then Amazon starts recommending items the people on my list may enjoy.

I feel like a pretty good gift giver most of the time. There are people who just flat out stump me, and I try my best to purchase or make something that best represents their personality to me. And after listening to a This American Life broadcast about Christmas gift returns, it turns out everyone thinks they're good at gift giving. Ha. But it's Christmas ... in the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter. I am happy with whatever token I receive from someone & I would hope that others feel the same way. It's supposed to be fun. Though I do enjoy receiving things I need, I really like opening something that I don't need and would not normally spend money on.

I never got around to taking my last week of vacation this year. So I'm taking the week after Christmas. I will end up with 11 days off! I am really looking forward to spending time with my family & the dogs. This will be my family's first Christmas since my aunt passed away in January. I have already came to terms with the fact that Christmas will forever be altered, but I will not give up on making this coming and every Christmas from this point great.

I had a nice discussion yesterday about education with a boss. It started with discussing how much garbage a mutual acquaintance has... I said I should talk him into letting me put a compost bin at his house since they prepare a lot of food.... And my boss said I might as well starting digging in the dumpster at City school since they throw out all kinds of food.

I am not a dumpster diver. But this did get me thinking. They should set up composters and have the students plant some sort of garden edible or otherwise. My boss started to ridicule this idea... "yeah they'll learn a lot etc.." But my point was this, I did really well in science and I remember specifically learning about plant parts, and how plants function. It really stuck with me because at home my mom had flowers everywhere. Planting & watering the garden was something I've done since a very young age. Learning about something & then coming home to see it up close makes it real. When you make lessons tangible they're easier to understand.

A lot of children in this county have little parental guidance. I work across from low income housing and a lot of what I see is really sad. Kids are barefoot (on asphalt) all the time- cold or hot weather. One morning about 6:30 some of our guys saw a little girl out by the very busy road. Turns out she was about 4 and had locked herself out and couldn't get her parents to wake up & let her in. The guys called the police. I know those kids were not raised like I was. My parents talked & taught me since before I could speak. They encouraged me and put a lot of weight on good grades and reading. I know this had a lot to do with my development.

Schools are more fast paced now- they have a lot for you to learn in little time. But they're geared towards being able to learn from books & lectures... I don't think the majority of the public school system successfully learns this way. They're not nurtured in a way that helps their cognitive development. No child left behind doesn't address the teaching problem--- & it's not the teachers. I fully believe people become teachers because they want to encourage the thought process. But when is everyone going to wake up & see that education needs to be made more efficient & in order to do that they need to think outside the box.

Show students how they'll use math & science- build a robot, make solar panels, invent a game... ask what they want to be & see how these subjects come into play in that role. Knowledge makes your job easier & it's not hard to gain knowledge if you have a goal. You have 13 years to prepare for college, that's your goal.... & from there you have 4-8 years to prepare for your career... how you use this time is up to you.

I enjoyed this ted talk by John Hunter. I think his game is truly inspiring.

http://www.ted.com/talks/john_hunter_on_the_world_peace_game.html

Attempted Family Photos

Rob & I decided to make a family photo for his grandparents. Today was a failure.

The first try Chloe did not look at the camera, Lobster is laying down in fear of Whiskey, and Jack is AWOL.


The second is worse. My face-straining... ha! Whiskey is biting Lobster who is trying to flee the scene entirely, Chloe is watching them, but Jack is smiling at the camera. ahh, but honestly I think it sums up our family in its true form.



This one is going to the grandparents. At least they'll get a laugh out of it.

Chatty Crafty went really well. We had seriously amazing vendors & Rob I loaded up with tons and tons of amazing stuff.

Now I'm back to the real world and concentrating full time on work. Winter is upon us, which for Rob and I means we have to do something about heating our home more efficiently. I'm sure a lot of you find yourselves in the same situation as Rob & I are in. We save save save money and don't really spend on anything other than needs. And yet everything is going out. Winter is upon us heating costs are ridiculous! We have talked about installing a wood burning stove to save some money. I think it would pay for itself this winter. When hard times find us, we need to find ourselves innovative instead of defeated. Think about how we became Americans to begin with... It wasn't easy; it was hard and people died. But the population survived. We should build a steam punk pioneer village. I will wear flannel and denim to chop wood and tiny hats and sequined dresses to attend dinner and shop at the market. We'll produce our own energy with solar panels we built ourselves, reuse our rain water, grow our own food, & be content. One day furry men on bicycles will pull our carriage made of salvaged computers. We're going to be bigger than the Amish.

If you invested a little now to cut your energy costs how much extra money would it put in your pocket? My electric and water run around $200 or more in the winter. It is stupid. My house is tiny and we turn the heat off in 2 rooms entirely. If I have the heat on from November to March that's $1000 bucks... where I could invest about half of that in a wood burning stove and have free heat every winter... $200 extra in my bank account every month... hello yes please. However, a wood burning stove was Rob's only source of heat when he lived in Blue Ridge and I'm not positive I can talk him into chopping that much wood on such short notice. When in Blue Ridge he chopped wood every day year round.

I love hearing tips for saving if anyone has them. I constantly try to cut expense & increase revenue. This year we cut out a lot of our garbage consumption. Almost everything can be recycled in Dayton now & it's as easy as dropping it off. I made a compost barrel all of our organic material goes there... extra paper and cardboard go to the recycle center. Our glass is collecting, but I think I can take it now? We have little garbage that actually makes it to the landfill. Less garbage bags & less trips to the convenience center = more $ on the bottom line. I wish I tracked our household expenses the way I track expenses for companies... It would really help determine what really works expense wise.

I'm headed home for lunch to and I think I'll get my broccoli cheddar soup started. Yum.

I am a terrible updater. I'm proud of my lack of posts though. It's only because I am so busy with work and Chatty Crafty. It's going to be such an amazing event. When I finally started to relax about it I realized it's supposed to be fun. I know that I am doing everything in my power to make it an enjoyable experience for everyone involved and honestly, that's all you can do. And it's going to be great. Everything is going wonderfully and anything else we add is just icing on the cake.

If you want to keep up with what's going on with the event stay tuned on the website www.chattycrafty.com. We're posting vendor profiles every day.

Oh dear. I have been sick for the past few weeks. But I am feeling refreshingly better today. Although I'm way behind at work. We really started getting Chatty Crafty squared away last night. Everything is coming together beautifully, it's actually pretty wonderful.

Just wanted to check in... on this project - the blog. I'm trying to learn to operate my camera properly... it has the ability to do so much so these are my first little tests. Of my kitchen window. The top photo is from a few weeks ago and the bottom is from today at lunch. I didn't use a flash... there is just too much light (?) I think. We'll see.



I hope this has been a good week for everyone. I'm very jealous of all the healthy weekends spent at Renegade Chicago & Indie Craft Parade... I would have loved to have been in attendance.

My compost is looking excellent! That's right folks... I am a composting fool. It makes me so happy. It's black and smells like earth. The corner of my yard is going to have grass. I am determined!

Other things that make me happy- Chatty Crafty has had the most amazing people apply. We're going to have so much talent it's ridiculous! We are kicking show organizing ass. Seriously. There are so many awesome announcements coming up it's hard not to let them all out here... but soon everyone will hear them!

Also I am really into my job again. Yes it's inside- working for the man- but the truth is I do like numbers. Math is something that has always came naturally to me and it's nice to be good at your job. And even better to feel respected... after working my way from the bottom - okay so I didn't move that far... I'm still treated like low mid-level- ha, but I'm not so easily replaced so I'm happy.

I'm also pretty pumped about this book profiled on Wooster Collective.

Last, but not least there's a long weekend coming up & I'm spending 100% with Rob & 3 little monsters. Can't wait.

Choosing A Rug

We're one month away from fall. Yay! As sad as I will be to see my flowers fade I am looking forward to cooler weather & break on my electric bill!

We have decided that we will have a new rug before it gets cold this year. And I get to buy it next week!
I have narrowed it down to 2 choices. My first choice is the jute & leather rug (West Elm). It is eco friendly & inexpensive. For some reason it is not available until 9/16/10. My issue is that I can't tell how thick is the rug?


My second choice is the jute diamond (West Elm). This rug is also eco friendly, available now, and about $30 cheaper. Also according to the images it is thick.

We are going to be using a lot more of the natural wood furniture that Rob creates. I am lucky to have such a talented man in my life. I feel like we should showcase his work more. I will have to share pictures of his work soon.

Until then it's another Monday and my To Do list beckons.

The Dainty Squid Giveaway

The Dainty Squid is hosting a giveaway on her blog. You can enter to win a pair of custom plugs or earrings handmade by Ark's Endeavors.

To enter you should hop on over to The Dainty Squid's blog and check out the guidelines.

I want a pair of 2 gauge pearls... just in case I don't win & someone wants to send me a gift...

I have this nagging little voice in my head that says, "You should be a teacher... you could make a difference... you would care about more than test scores... you would care about knowledge & success for your students."

I would oh I know I would. But maybe I'm being naive in thinking that I would easily relate to these kids. And that I will go above and beyond sticking by the book teaching methods.

Maybe these are the thoughts that go through everyone's head when considering a career in education. Maybe they get burnt out very quickly and then they become some of the worst teachers I've ever had... eep... mono tone teachers didn't teach me anything. Seriously. Young minds need something to hold their attention.

Maybe I'm destined for a Montessori school.

The new Chatty Crafty website is up!

I have a couple of things to add... such as a note about the vendor party we'll be having after show close on Saturday night. We love our vendors!

And also someone wanted to know what they would get for the $125 booth fee. It's a two day show, over night security, promotion via radio, local magazine, hotel promotional packets, fliers, word of mouth, and of course and internet campaign. Plus the location of Renaissance Park is beautiful!

It is so easy to focus on the negative things happening around you. I have challenged myself to look past the bad things and find the good things. My weekend was so full of good things.

Mom and I went to the 127 yard sale 675 miles of yard sale goodness! We hit the Crossville, TN branch... Crossville is the coolest (temperature wise) close to us. It is such a beautiful place too.
Mom grabbed a big bag of books & a couple knickknacks. I picked up an old quilt (love love love the numerous imperfections), an aloe juvenna, a Latin text book from 1905, a vintage picture, & another plant whose name escapes me at the moment. Total spent $15.


Sunday Rob and I slept late (first time in probably a year) & fixed breakfast. I cleaned folded laundry and we watched Time Bandits. haha. Apparently, Time Bandits was a childhood favorite for Rob & I had never seen it before. I liked it, but then again The Dark Crystal and The Princess Bride are two of my all time favorite movies.


Alright well... tons to finish today so I'll leave you here.

The new Chatty Crafty Website is going live next week. I am officially satisfied.

I trimmed my mom's hedges last night... she only lives, maybe, 2 miles from me, but for some reason it feels hotter there. My brother was nice enough to carry off what I cut. I really don't like that part... her bushes are prickly and she doesn't have a wheelbarrow... No matter the heat it was hard to pull myself away from working in her yard... there's just something about the smell of disturbed earth & plant that I love.

I also met my parents new neighbors. They're awesome! They seem to be in their mid to late twenties, but they have a 4 year old and then they have a set of 3 year old triplets! Their children are gorgeous. And everyone seems to have great personalities.

Good things going on in the life of Kellie. I can't sit still I am so excited about life.

• Finally, have someone finishing up the website. Who knew that was going to cause the most stumbling?
• Flowers are doing fantastic & everything that made it's way to the shade bed seems to be surviving .
• Picked up a new client. I will be starting their books next week. This couldn't come at a better time.

And

• Talking to an artist about representing him in the very near future. BAM!

We are moving right along folks! I feel like my life is falling into place. I hope to be showing you some rad stuff soon.

Until then have a great weekend.

Another Monday. Mondays after lazy weekends are always the hardest. Saturday I worked in the yard ALL DAY. I like to get started early in the morning and then I don't notice the heat as much. I installed my new shade bed- YES! Added a couple Japanese painted ferns and divided some of my largest hostas and relocated them as well.

Finished after 5 and I was hot! I talked the man & my brother into swimming out in pocket wilderness. The water is low, we need a good week's worth of rain. Seriously.

Sunday my brother and I went on a plant round up and hike. Got sweaty and then it poured down rain on me while I tried to plant them. I was so muddy & dripping when I finished that I had to change out of my clothes while standing in the tub.

Spent the rest of the day reading, drawing, folding laundry, and cooking up dinner using fresh produce from our neighbors garden.

I did find two blogs today via freckled nest and I really liked their content.

My Girl Thursday - The post I read today was all about tea. Very good & she makes some really nice aprons. I think I may ask Rob for one for Christmas... I have zero, but I need at least one right?!

Gussy - This post is about how schedules go out the window in the summer & some tips on how to keep them in check. It sorta gave me a kick in the pants. Also check out her wallets and bags... oh so lovely!

With that I'm out for lunch. I hope your Monday gets started off right!