Yes, it's certainly been a long time since my last post! :)
My list of links is growing - so I may just create a post soon that puts them all in one place and then more slowly I will add some info about them. Sorry, there won't be any with this post.
This is just a huge update of all sorts of things.
First - the new kittens (born June 17th) and their mama got really sick in July and finally in mid-August (just before they would be 10 weeks old) we lost them all. It's been a hard blow for all of us as we worked so hard and put so much into caring for them in efforts to save them all. :(
Second - in the ever-changing lives of my kids we have been having one crisis after another with different kids. Of course, they are all adults now - but four still live with me - and just because they are legally adults doesn't mean they aren't still my kids. lol Cars breaking down; jobs changing - cutting hours, laying off, or just being challenging in new ways; searching for jobs - first jobs, new jobs, different jobs; new health challenges developing; old health challenges getting worse; all in all, it's the same ol' - same ol' - never really changing status of needing more money than we have to care for all the things that come up. It's not unlike a dog chasing it's tail - totally futile to attempt; but having done so, IF one should catch up then suddenly you find yourself getting bitten!
Third - we're into a decluttering mode - more now than ever. It began when my sister moved out - and it's taking on a whole new meaning after attending our district convention at the end of July and then our circuit assembly at the beginning of September! Now, it's not just get rid of things we're not using or haven't used in over a year; it's become get rid of things we don't really need. In other words, let's take a close look at every single thing in every single room of the house, including closets, porches, deck, garage and yard and let's see if we REALLY & TRULY NEED IT for survival. :)
This has become a huge project. One we hope to finish by the end of September. :)
I'm still working on building my business - ecomomandee.blogspot.com and I'm still working on my weight loss goals - sparknearthlybest.blogspot.com/ and like always I'll keep working on all these. I'm not one to give up!
Showing posts with label Christian life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christian life. Show all posts
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Best That I Can Do Now
When we say, "I'm doing my best!" what do we really mean? Today I asked someone if they were doing their best with something and in answer I got a blank stare like they weren't even sure what their best is.
"All My Earthly Best" is in my perspective what I want to do every single day. I want to know that whatever it is I've done or participated in was done, at least on my part, in the best possible way that I know of right now. As I am one to be concerned about the earth and how people in general care for it my efforts to do my best come from the deepest parts of me... deep down... at the core of my being... thus I see them as my "earthly" best.
For so many years of my life nothing was the best of anything! Quite the opposite was true! Now, those are the demons I battle, sometimes all day long and well into the night! For me now, losing one hundred pounds and building a successful home business are things that will help to reverse that standing... they are things that will make it so everything in my life is absolutely ALL MY EARTHLY BEST! It will so wonderful to see where we are in a year from now!
"All My Earthly Best" is in my perspective what I want to do every single day. I want to know that whatever it is I've done or participated in was done, at least on my part, in the best possible way that I know of right now. As I am one to be concerned about the earth and how people in general care for it my efforts to do my best come from the deepest parts of me... deep down... at the core of my being... thus I see them as my "earthly" best.
For so many years of my life nothing was the best of anything! Quite the opposite was true! Now, those are the demons I battle, sometimes all day long and well into the night! For me now, losing one hundred pounds and building a successful home business are things that will help to reverse that standing... they are things that will make it so everything in my life is absolutely ALL MY EARTHLY BEST! It will so wonderful to see where we are in a year from now!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
An Interesting Turn In Life
If you're still counting with us, it's been 254 days of striving to be as green as possible in our lives. More to our lives, it's been that long that we've been reusing as much as possible, reducing what we use to start out with, and recycling everything else if it's possible. It began as an effort to save money and to get healthier. It's evolving into a different way of living.
What began in one way has turned to another - a broader sense of understanding how every tiny thing we each do can and does affect things around us, things that we often don't see as a part of our life. We have been successful in cutting costs and yet our bottom line is no different, perhaps worse, because outside of our control costs increased for the things we do still need. As fuel prices skyrocketed to nearly $5.00 a gallon around here every commodity rose prices saying it was related to their fuel costs increasing. Hundreds of people here lost their jobs as some companies closed their doors, no longer able to afford to stay open - due to rising costs of operations. Yet, when fuel costs came down (presently they are about $1.70 per gallon) no one saw a correlating decrease in the costs of any commodities.
My grocery bill is still well over $100.00 per week! That $100.00 can now fit into just 2 bags instead of 4! We're buying less packaged food, lots fewer snacks, sticking mostly to essential things like veggies, fruits, grains, beans, seasonings, some dairy, some meats - getting things in bulk as much as possible. In general we buy less food now.
The cost of electricity and natural gas has risen enough to make our monthly bills 20-30% higher even though our usage has dropped by as much as 40%!
Insurance costs went up about 10% over last year.
We've had some other changes recently - thus my reason for not getting back here sooner than now. ;-)
Since August one of my older kids has moved out and is attending college in another state! And my three high-school kids are now being homeschooled. This began in large part due to the rising costs of getting them to their charter school (22 miles one way - a round trip made as often as 3 times a day, usually 5 days a week) but has also been something we have wanted to do for some time but just didn't have the right circumstances before now. So alongside my niece whom I've been homeschooling the last few years (she's just 7) we now have 3 high-school juniors working on finishing the requirements for graduation within the next year or so.
This has brought about an expansion in our aspirations towards a lessor carbon footprint and a more earth friendly lifestyle.
They are learning the "wonders" of cloth napkins, and dishtowels; of using the same glass instead of another from the cupboard each time they want something to drink; using more durable things over disposable things.
When we had to get up earlier, rush to get everyone ready to go out, get them to school by a certain time, our whole day was full of rushing to one thing after another and we did often use disposable things to make it easier, faster, more available to our schedules. Now we've eliminated that too. We're not rushing - most of the time.
We are also developing plans for home-based businesses: perhaps making eco-friendly items to sell; making jewelry; a photography business of some kind; selling artwork of various types that we make; and there's always my business - offering non-toxic household cleaning, personal care products & healthy supplements.
The best thing to come out of all the recent changes would be the increase in our own individual spirituality. We have worked at living Christian lives all along but somehow now it's more a lifestyle than before. Somehow now, we are each more Christ-like as we do whatever we are doing in our daily lives. We begin the day with Scripture & prayers, we end the day with Scripture & prayers, and we often turn to Scriptures as well as pray many times during our day. It may be done together as a family, or individually as the situation merits. We are filled with many blessings in so many ways!
Yes, we still struggle and the money coming in doesn't yet exceed the money owed but somehow the essentials get covered each time and whatever can wait keeps waiting. But in so many ways life is the best it can be in these days and times; and I will keep on giving all my earthly best!
What began in one way has turned to another - a broader sense of understanding how every tiny thing we each do can and does affect things around us, things that we often don't see as a part of our life. We have been successful in cutting costs and yet our bottom line is no different, perhaps worse, because outside of our control costs increased for the things we do still need. As fuel prices skyrocketed to nearly $5.00 a gallon around here every commodity rose prices saying it was related to their fuel costs increasing. Hundreds of people here lost their jobs as some companies closed their doors, no longer able to afford to stay open - due to rising costs of operations. Yet, when fuel costs came down (presently they are about $1.70 per gallon) no one saw a correlating decrease in the costs of any commodities.
My grocery bill is still well over $100.00 per week! That $100.00 can now fit into just 2 bags instead of 4! We're buying less packaged food, lots fewer snacks, sticking mostly to essential things like veggies, fruits, grains, beans, seasonings, some dairy, some meats - getting things in bulk as much as possible. In general we buy less food now.
The cost of electricity and natural gas has risen enough to make our monthly bills 20-30% higher even though our usage has dropped by as much as 40%!
Insurance costs went up about 10% over last year.
We've had some other changes recently - thus my reason for not getting back here sooner than now. ;-)
Since August one of my older kids has moved out and is attending college in another state! And my three high-school kids are now being homeschooled. This began in large part due to the rising costs of getting them to their charter school (22 miles one way - a round trip made as often as 3 times a day, usually 5 days a week) but has also been something we have wanted to do for some time but just didn't have the right circumstances before now. So alongside my niece whom I've been homeschooling the last few years (she's just 7) we now have 3 high-school juniors working on finishing the requirements for graduation within the next year or so.
This has brought about an expansion in our aspirations towards a lessor carbon footprint and a more earth friendly lifestyle.
They are learning the "wonders" of cloth napkins, and dishtowels; of using the same glass instead of another from the cupboard each time they want something to drink; using more durable things over disposable things.
When we had to get up earlier, rush to get everyone ready to go out, get them to school by a certain time, our whole day was full of rushing to one thing after another and we did often use disposable things to make it easier, faster, more available to our schedules. Now we've eliminated that too. We're not rushing - most of the time.
We are also developing plans for home-based businesses: perhaps making eco-friendly items to sell; making jewelry; a photography business of some kind; selling artwork of various types that we make; and there's always my business - offering non-toxic household cleaning, personal care products & healthy supplements.
The best thing to come out of all the recent changes would be the increase in our own individual spirituality. We have worked at living Christian lives all along but somehow now it's more a lifestyle than before. Somehow now, we are each more Christ-like as we do whatever we are doing in our daily lives. We begin the day with Scripture & prayers, we end the day with Scripture & prayers, and we often turn to Scriptures as well as pray many times during our day. It may be done together as a family, or individually as the situation merits. We are filled with many blessings in so many ways!
Yes, we still struggle and the money coming in doesn't yet exceed the money owed but somehow the essentials get covered each time and whatever can wait keeps waiting. But in so many ways life is the best it can be in these days and times; and I will keep on giving all my earthly best!
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