I love my Alaskan life and the challenge of living on a small budget in this expensive state. Come along with me as I share my chicken lovin', homeschooling, penny pinching life!
I've been mostly absent from this blog all year. It's been a year riddle with too much stress, family changes and a bit of health problems. I recently sat down and made out my goals for 2015 and blogging is a big one on the list. I enjoy putting down my thoughts here and want to get back into it. The biggest news of 2014 is the addition of two new grand-daughters, Aurora and Penelope. If that isn't a big enough blessing, we also learned that there will be a grandson born in 2015. I am always amazed how my small family unit is growing into such a great people.
I will go more into details about some of the challenges of last year. I'm excited to share and log some of my thoughts and research about a couple of health issues I faced and hoping I was able to conquer naturally.
This new year is promising to have some new stresses and changes. My stepson will be graduating and joining the Navy. Stormy will turn 5 and we will have to get more formal about her schooling. We have a huge financial goal that we have been working on and some major plans to improve our house. How did I do on the China Challenge? Not too bad actually. I cannot remember the last time I was in Walmart. I'm always looking at product to see where they are made and try to buy Made in the USA whenever I can find them, even though it always means paying more. So here we go 2015. In less than 5 hours you will be here and I will embrace all that you will bring.
As Alaska settles into Fall, I decided to set some goals for myself. With the long, dark days, it is so easy to hibernate here during the winter, but I am going to try and stay focused. Here is the list of goals I will work on, some very easy and others will not be.
Rest - The bags under my eyes will tell you how sleep deprived I am. It is so easy to get in this state during summer. The long Alaska days would typically wake me up at 5:30 and I'd often be up until after midnight doing projects. My goal is to have Stormy and I tucked into bed before 10:00pm and stay in bed until 6:00am.
Exercise - During the cold, dark winter, outside exercise becomes burdensome for me. I don't mind the cold or the snow but I detest the wind, and winters here are windy. My goal will continue to be to get at least 40 minutes of exercise in the fresh air. I will count toward exercise time spent playing with Stormy and hauling firewood. Most of my cardio exercise will be inside on the hated elliptical with the goal of 30 minutes, 5 times a week.
Diet - Six weeks ago, I started the 5:2 Fast Diet and I love it. I am slowing shedding pounds but I have found some amazing health benefits with it. My joints are feeling so much better, my skin problems are clearing up and energy abounds. Here is a link to the documentary. I tried without success to upload the video. http://documentaryheaven.com/eat-fast-and-live-longer/
Bible - We read the Bible daily as a family and our schedule of reading allows us to read the entire Bible in one year, and the Proverbs twelve times a year. We are continuing to do a verse by verse study of the book of Revelation with the help of this series
My personal Bible goal is to begin a program of Bible memorization. I'm starting somewhat small with a couple of Psalms I picked out with the goal of memorizing the Sermon on the Mount. A larger goal is to work on soul winning.
Research - I love learning and my brain seldom shuts off. A couple of the research projects that I want to do includes HAARP, raising goats and chickens in Alaska and the Constitution.
Hobbies - I haven't picked out any new hobbies to learn. I'm still perfecting my knitting loom and soap making skills. It is time to figure out what I will be gifting this year.
Food Storage - I need to replenish the food storage that I have used and catalog what I actually have. I am still working on getting all the GMO foods out of the kitchen. This weekend I am trying out some pancake syrup recipes. We just emptied the last of Mrs Butterworth and she is kicked out of the house!
Home Business & Work - I have not been focusing on our online business at all. It's there and sales trickle in but I have not made much effort with it. My husband, on the other hand, has been very busy with it. I need to give him more of a helping hand. As for my job, I will keep trying my best to help out where I can. I really want to work on encouraging and supporting my coworkers and new boss
Family - I need to have a better connection with my extended family. It seems days, weeks and months will go by without any contact. I need to make this goal a priority.
Facebook - I'm slowly giving up on Facebook, the only thing that keeps my there is the connection to my family. I love that I can see what my cousins and Aunts are up to but it does waste time. I'd like to only check in on Facebook once a week with a bigger goal of once a month. As I work on connecting with my family outside of Facebook ,I hope to delete my account.
I think that about does it. I will see how I am doing in January and work out the bugs. Here's to a hibernation free winter!
Lovin' life but trying not to hibernate...naps are optional.
I just celebrated my 3 year anniversary to the mechanic. Four years ago I was content and single and one son shy of an empty nest. I never considered getting remarried. And wham, life hits me with Nick.
Nick likes to say that I am his best eBay score ever. We met when he bought a dvd from my eBay store. I included a little note thanking him and letting him know he was my first Alaskan customer. He thought the note was adorable and emailed me. I thought he was adorable and emailed him back. Nine months later we were married.
Life has been on overflow ever since. So many events in such a short period. We had a beautiful baby girl and lost another baby to a miscarriage. My mom, two uncles and my dog passed away. My oldest son graduated from college and my youngest son chased a pretty girl to Salt Lake City. A grand-baby has been born to my middle son. Through it all, the mechanic has held my hand and held me up. As well as, kept my car running in tip top condition.
Lovin' life (and the mechanic) in Alaska!
PS - Music wise, here are some of the mechanic's favorite CDs, available for sale in our store!
"Nothing Important Happened Today" was the title of the X-Files episode I watched last night. It refers to the king of England's diary entry on July 4,1776. For some reason the phrase has stuck with me and caused me to do quite a bit of meditation.
I live a small but purposeful life. I admit to being boring and like to stay home. Fair to say, I am not a social butterfly but I blame my job on that because I work with the public all day. I have a 5 year plan, but that's another blog post. Most days I can say nothing important happened but I know all around me, really important things are happening. Babies are born, people fall in love, get into fights and car accidents. They marry and we lose others in death. And that is just what is on my facebook feed, but none of that happened to me.
But what did happen to me was full of smiles and hugs, tickles and tugs. I connected with old friends and met some interesting people. I woke up in the arms of the man I love. I laughed and frowned and missed my mom. My heart melted as I watched my daughter play and I crossed my fingers when my son had his job interview. I ignored the dirty dishes and the phone and played barbie instead.
Nothing important happened today. It was nothing but everything and it was a perfect.
PS- Because this blog is suppose to be about my store here are a few important musical influences in my life.
My first high school rock star crush. I'm still carrying the torch for him and the band. Other high school influences would be Bryan Adams, Chicago, AC/DC, Ozzy and all the other hair bands, but none could touch Bon Jovi.
Sounds of my childhood. I grew up in a lodge in Alaska. My mom worked as the waitress, bartender and cook. During the slow times I would beg her for quarters from her tip jar to play in the jukebox. I loved watching the vinyl records come down and spin. Dr Hook was always my first choice followed by the Little River Band, Willie and Waylon and Elvis to make my mom smile.
Brand New is my favorite band today. Most of their music goes straight to my soul. This album, Daisy, is probably my least listened to but the only one I have for sale. Other top plays on my list today would include Death Cab for Cutie, Tonic, dEUS, REM, and a lot of indie bands.
I dearly miss the sound of silence and I mean that in a couple of different ways. For about 6 months now, I have been troubled by my right ear. It has that plugged up, won't pop feeling. I've done everything that I can think of to "unplug" it. The doctors think it could be one of two options: 1. Mucus trapped in there. Grrr to that I say. I've taken decongestants, which I detest taking medications. I've also proven that a person can drown with a dropper full of water. Especially when you tip back your head a drop it in and sniff at the same time.It's suppose to help break up the mucus but let me tell you, if it goes wrong, you think you will die by drowning. It's awful but better than the second option.
TMJ - I've had trouble with my jaw joint for ages now. It's thought that it may be shifting back and pinching something. Treatment seems to be wearing a night guard (check) and visiting the chiropractor whom does the adjusting in your mouth...right by your gag reflex. It's an retching affair. With all that being as it is, I've decided to live with it. The absolute worse part about it is the "ringing" that is a constant noise. Also annoying is that all the external sounds are muffled and all the internal sounds are amplified. Don't even try eating a potato chip and watch a movie, all you will hear is crunch, crunch, crunch.But there is a silence that I even miss more.
I've have already raised three sons, in what seems like another lifetime ago. During high school, they had their own band. They called themselves "Sound of Silence". Which was ironic because they were a metal/screamo/emo band. I loved every practice session and show that they had. They have all grown into wonderful men and one of them is still playing in a band (Jenova). I just miss the good times we had.
In their honor I have posted a few Indie bands for your consideration:
PS- I'm the glass is half full type of person and the best thing that I can think of about being half deaf - I can almost completely block out the hubby's snoring by burying my good ear in a pillow. Yay for pillows!
For the past two weeks I've put store in second place and focused instead on my wonderful family. It's been 2 weeks of road trips, hiking, museums, the zoo, interspersed with news of new births, a death and a life changing diagnosis. All of which reaffirmed that family always come first. Which is why I am putting a big shout out to my son's band Jenova.
Please check out their website: http://jenovaishere.com/#While you are there, listen to their music, book a show and buy a t-shirt. Just kidding, but seriously if you live in and around the Beaumont, Texas area, please seek them out.
Here's some new music that I have managed to post and share with you.
The Afterhours CD is amazing. If you are in the mood for some dark, moody, cerebral music, look no further. The other three I haven't listened to yet so if you have some input, I'd love to hear it.
For now, it's back to the family. Happy Mother's Day everyone!
