Gratitude Sunday 1-27-2013

G r a t i t u d e * S u n d a y

Today we are joining Taryn at Wooly Moss Roots for

G r a t i t u d e  *  S u n d a y 

{Sunday's heartfelt tradition. A time to slow down, to reflect, to be grateful. A list of gratitudes.} 

A few or our gratitudes from the last week: 

-Our family's health slowly returning after a nasty cold/sinus bug had us all feeling less than stellar. 

-My neti pot! I don't know what I would do without this amazing little gadget to clear my sinuses. 

-Hearing coyotes yipping on the mountain behind the house on a clear, crisp, cold night. In my seven years of living out here I have never heard coyotes yipping up there at night so it was a pretty amazing moment.

Simply Natural Saturdays 1-26-2013

 Grab the Badge

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Simply Natural Saturdays Hosts

Brittany at The Pistachio Project

Krystyna at Spring Mountain Living
Brittney at Brittleby's Corner
 and Me!

We continue shopping for a new homestead and are realizing that our dream property is not within our price range. We've had to adjust our wish list a bit for how much land we can afford to grow more food. My pick for the Featured Post this week is Wanna Go Homesteady Part 2   from The Self Sufficient HomeAcre which offers some great ideas on how you can live more self sufficiently on even a small portion of land. 

Link up your Natural posts here!

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How to Use a Neti Pot to Clear Sinuses and Congestion

The neti pot is a simple, natural cold buster and sinus cleanser that has been around for thousands of years. Oddly enough, not many people know about the neti pot. It is so easy to use and is much healthier for your body than taking decongestants from the drug store. Plus it is more frugal than buying expensive cold medicines since you can purchase one for less than $15 and use it over and over.

I used to suffer from sinus infections and ended up on antibiotics almost every winter to clear up my sinuses. Then I heard about the neti pot and began using it when I got a cold. I have not had a sinus infection since I began using the neti pot six years ago!

This last week our family has been sick with a nasty cold that our little nugget picked up from some other sick kids when we were at the library story time in town. While focusing most of our energies on caring for our sick daughter, my husband and I neglected caring for ourselves. I've been battling sinus congestion and headaches the last few days; for me this is a sure sign I'm headed for a sinus infection.

Simply Natural Saturdays 1-19-2013

 Grab the Badge

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Simply Natural Saturdays Hosts

Brittany at The Pistachio Project

Krystyna at Spring Mountain Living
Brittney at Brittleby's Corner
and Me!

This week our whole family has been battling our first nasty cold of the season so my pick for the Featured Post is Natural Ways to Combat Cold/Flu Season from Blessed in Homemaking.

Link up your Natural posts here!

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A Confession of What We DON'T Do To Live Eco-Friendly

 

Welcome to the January 2013 Natural Living Blog Carnival: Green Confessions. This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Natural Living Blog Carnival hosted by Happy Mothering and The Pistachio Project through the Green Moms Network. This month our members have written posts about areas of their life where they aren't as "green" as they may want to be.

 Ok, it is confession time so here it is: We don’t recycle. Gasp! I know, sounds pretty appalling considering we lead a very natural, green lifestyle otherwise. I used to recycle, but we stopped a few years ago and I will tell you why.

Green Resolutions Giveaway Hop: Reusable Cloth Pad Set Giveaway

It is a new year which means new goals and resolutions to live a healthier, more eco-friendly life. What better way to help you live a little more green than by having a Green Resolutions Giveaway Hop! This hop is hosted by Happy Mothering, Mama Chocolate and the Green Moms Network. At the bottom of this post you will find a list of all the other blogs participating so you can hop around and enter all the other green, eco-friendly giveaways.

Gratitude Sunday

G r a t i t u d e * S u n d a y

Today we are joining Taryn at Wooly Moss Roots for

G r a t i t u d e  *  S u n d a y 

{Sunday's heartfelt tradition. A time to slow down, to reflect, to be grateful. A list of gratitudes.}

Highlights of our gratitudes this last week:

-My husband figuring out how to replace the clutch on our old 4Runner which saved us quite a bit of money.

-One day when the temperatures warmed up to the 30's so we could go for a hike up the mountain by our house.

Simply Natural Saturdays 1-12-2013

8 Easy Ways to Live More Green and Eco-Friendly

Living a green and eco-friendly lifestyle does not have to be hard or expensive. There are many things you can do to increase your sustainable living and decrease your footprint on the earth. Another great thing about these ideas is they will save you money in the long run and help you to live more frugally. Here are a few ways we live an eco-friendly lifestyle:

1. Use wool dryer balls instead of store bought dryer sheets. They naturally help to reduce drying time and static.

Gratitude Sunday

G r a t i t u d e * S u n d a y

Today we are joining Taryn at Wooly Moss Roots for

G r a t i t u d e  *  S u n d a y 

{Sunday's heartfelt tradition. A time to slow down, to reflect, to be grateful. A list of gratitudes.}

A few of our gratitudes from the last week:

-Saying "I love you" to our little nugget at bedtime and her saying "Yi yuv you" back for the first time ever. It melted my heart it was so sweet!

-Being able to finally let go of my emotional attachment to my old truck and selling her to another family who will love her as much as I did. It feels nice to have one less vehicle sitting around here and we're especially grateful for the extra cash.

Simply Natural Saturdays 1-5-2013

Our New Year Goals

It is that time of year when we wrap up one year and think of our aspirations and dreams for a whole new year ahead. I love the opportunity to sit down, reflect back on the year past and dream for the future. 

Here are a few of the goals we have for the next year:

1. Live more self-sufficiently by reducing our debt and in turn reduce the time we need to work away from home at a job in town.

2. Expand our gardens and greenhouse to grow and preserve even more of our food than the last few years.