Blurb..... Best scrapbooking place ever!!!

I don't know about you but I love looking back at my old pictures and being reminded of the fun stuff we have done, or what I looked like as a kid.    I am so glad that my mom scrap booked my childhood.  You can tell where she stopped doing it and turned it over to me.   It suddenly exploded with stickers and very bad handwriting.   I still like to look back especially with my kids and they can see mom was little once too.   Its fun.

When I got home from my mission I had a TON of pictures from the last year and a half of my life.  I mean tons and tons.  The thought of printing them all out and actually scrapbooking was not exciting to me.   I found a website blurb.com and it is amazing.  You download it to your computer and you can work on it offline and then when you finally have it all ready you upload it to the website and you can order a copy of it.

It is so easy to upload your pictures into the program and it has page set ups for you.  They have so many options with backrounds and colors. You can pretty much customize anything you want.  I love it.   I did my mission scrapbook that way and it was only like $80 to get it printed.  It would have cost a lot more to get all of the pictures printed and then either used my moms paper and stuff.  Also since you can fit so many pictures on the pages I put a lot more pictures in.   The pages look really nice and they are printed on good quality paper.

I have done 4 books total and the last ones I did when I checked out it was a lot more expensive than my first two and I thought sheesh the prices have gone up so much.  Then when they came in the mail I realized why.  They were big.  My first ones were 8x10 and these new ones were 11x13, so much bigger.  I have really liked the bigger ones though, the pictures are bigger and so you can fit even more pictures on the pages.  There is a basic number of pages in the book and then for each additional page its so much per page.  My books are usually around 200-300 pages.  I fit 2-3 years in each one.  I think I will start doing less pictures and fitting more years into each book now that we have more kids.

This program has saved my scrapbooking life haha  I wouldn't do it otherwise, or I would be 10 years behind because I was never much of a paper crafter girl.  Right now I am working on the family one and I am only 1 year behind.   Lexi's book I am at 2015, and then I haven't started on either of the boys.   I am making great progress.  This is one of my big goals this year is to get all caught up and be maybe just 6 months behind in each one.   Its good to be a little behind since some pictures you get from other people take a little bit to get.   If I can get to that point this year I will be happy. Its much easier to stay caught up once you gap the years.

Someones give away pile to favorite item in the kitchen?

When we moved the people that sold us the house had a big huge  blue barrel full of wheat.  They didn't want to move it so I said we would take it.   I have wheat stored in my food storage as well but I figured lets use this first since mine is newer i'm sure.   

So I would take some wheat up to my moms and use her grinder to grind it up and then I store it in my freezer because it stays fresher in there.   I  don't use wheat as often as I should especially since we have a ton of it.  

I was at my sisters and she had a give away pile and I said what is this?  Its grandmas old grinder.  My eyes opened up wide..... WHAT!?!   I want it.  She didn't know if it worked or anything so I took it home and tried it out.  It works wonderfully.  I researched it a little bit and its a blend tec brand. An older version but not too old.  

You put the wheat in the top part and then turn it on and it grinds or bursts is what they said on the review of it.  It doesn't actually grind it it burst it open and smashes it somehow.  I just know it comes out so smooth and fine.  I love it.  When I would use my moms it would leave some bigger husks and so it wasn't as nice to eat.  I would usually mix in the wheat with white flour when I make stuff.  

This though is so silky smooth  Its great.  

You can see how fine it grinds it up.  I made bread with it and it will take some getting used to wheat flour as opposed to store white flour.  It cooks and reacts a little different.  I am excited though it will be so much easier to just grind my own right when I need it.  No need to store it in the freezer.  

Just yesterday I made some rolls for a family dinner and they turned out really good because it grinds the wheat up so fine.    I also ground it up right when I was making it so it was fresh. My goal is to start to make wheat bread and make it a habit so we don't have to buy bread.   It will be so much better and easier with this new toy of mine. 

The best part of this is that it was FREE  This retails for about $200 so thank you grandma for buying this and then passing it on.  I love it.  This will be part of my health and money saving journey since we have so much wheat.  I don't think I will ever have to buy it.  One womans give away pile is another womans treasure.  yay..

Dipping my foot in the Minimalist world.....

Have you seen this show on Netflix?  The minimalist?    I watched it since I have been trying to be more like this in our home and lives.   It was so interesting to watch.  I don't know that I could go that minimal.  They have like 8 shirts and two pants and one pair of shoes, I love my shoes way to much.

There was one lady in the show that they lived in a tiny house.  I like having my space in my house because we have kids that like to run around and play.   There were quite a few other people in this movie that have their own lifestyles.  Like the 33 challenge where you have 33 items of clothing and that is all you wear for 3 months.  She said that people didn't even notice because she had things like a scarf and a jacket.  She just switched it up by what she wore together.  I don't know that I could ever go down to 33 items.  I have gotten rid of quite a few shirts I have been hanging onto, thinking oh one day I will fit into this again.  I also have clothes that I would only wear on special occasions, and even then I didn't look forward to wearing it.  It was more like I should really wear this it has been a long time since I wore it.   I got rid of those clothes.  I took  them to a consignment shop that will give me a percent of what they sell it for.  So it works out nice.  I get the clothes out of my closet and get a little money back.   

Shoes are my weakness, I love shoes.  I know I have talked about this before where my sisters and I have this rule that you can't have more than 40 pairs of shoes.  Well I dont think  I'm close anymore.  I got rid of some that I just didn't wear anymore.  I don't need a closet full of shoes.  I did keep plenty though, since this is my favorite.

I loved the idea in the movie of just having less and not being caught up in the buying of things to satisfy that "need"  I am a impulse buyer and an emotional spender for sure.  I think that buying something new will bring me something.   I know it doesn't but it does give me pleasure for a minute.  That isn't what I really want though.  Since the beginning of the year I have tried to be a lot more careful with my spending.  I think about my purchases for a while before actually buying it.  I have stopped myself quite a few times to think do I really need this?  Why do I want this?   It has helped.  I can't say I haven't bought things that I really didn't need but I have been better and that is what its all about.  Slowly getting better,  it takes some work to break habits and patterns.   So I am just glad that I am slowly becoming more aware of things that I would normally spend money on. 

I did post about cleaning up the toys and boxing some up and even selling a bunch.  Well it has been
so much easier to keep the house clean.  We only have to clean up the toys that fit in the toy box.  It makes it so much less stressful and the kids still have plenty to play with.  It has made moms life so much better so far, and the kids haven't noticed the "missing" toys.

I really like this idea of be more with less, I feel like it makes me value what I do have more.  I also feel like if we have less then I won't want to buy stuff to fill back up my home.  I like my clean spaces now.  So in turn we will spend less as well which is always good.  We can save even more money.   There are so many ways to be a minimalist and one thing that I liked about one of the blogs I read was this quote "Take the practices that work for you and help you live a happier life"  I don't have to take the 33 item idea and use it.... I can keep those shoes if I want..   I just take the ideas and principles that I like from it and make it my own minimalist life.  I have loved the feeling so far, and I know I'm just getting started on cleaning out.   

Trying to get those chemicals out....

As part of my health journey I have been looking for a deodorant that doesn't have aluminum and parabens.  This has not been an easy task.  I first bought one at good old Walmart Toms brand and then before I even used it did some research on it and found out Toms has had some problems with their ingredients.  So I promptly returned it being disappointed.  First try usually doesn't work anyways right?

  I then tried the norwex one, since I love my other norwex products.  I got this and it was in a sick form but it was pasty and sticky.   I had been looking at the primal pit paste and I just couldn't get the idea of the paste on my arm pit.  I'm trying to keep it dry and not stinky and you want me to put a paste on it..... Not working.  I didn't know it was a paste when I ordered it.  I tried it anyways since I had already bought it.    It did not work.   I could smell myself and it was not good.   So that one is wasted too.  Second try .... FAILURE....

The next one I tried was the DoTerra one.  This one was an actual stick form and just like other "normal" deodorant but a little firmer.   It had a nice smell to it not too oily smelling.   You know how some oils have a not so good oil smell.  My siblings will know what I mean.   After a few days I noticed it was not working.  I"m not generally a sweaty girl unless I'm out working in the hot sun or really nervous.   I was quite disappointed again.... Third try and it's just not working out.

So I guess for now I will just have to stick to my good old Dove deodorant.  There are some other options to try, I have heard good things about home made stuff I just need to research it more when I am up to try another kind.

Use it up and trying to save some pennies

In my quest to simplify my life I have been cleaning out a lot.  Its also that time of year that we have way too many toys around the house.  So I like to get rid of stuff.  I have gotten rid of a large bag of toys and other random stuff we don't need.  It seems like I have a constant DI bag going on.  Its good though.   I put up two totes of toys and a box of books.  Its nice to up them up away and then in a few months when they start to get tired of their christmas toys I will pull these totes out.  They will seem like new toys for a few days and maybe weeks.  Its a great trick I learned from some fellow moms.  

I have some random penny pinching/ use it up type of things I have been trying to do lately.  

One of them is my dryer balls.  I have had them probably about a year or more.  I love them.   We do have static still but I have learned that is from drying too long.  Your supposed to stop them before they are compeletly dry.  This also helps on shrinkage and fading.  I need to work on that one.  I am the queen of shrinking clothes.    I need to just hang up my clothes to dry on the rack.  I was just talking to my sister about this.  One of my new goals is to do this and not use the dryer as much.  It will be a lot easier when the basement is finished and my laundry room isn't in the garage anymore.  

Next one is lemon ice cubes.  I buy the big bag of very large lemons at Costco.  They are so much bigger and better at costco.  That should be their slogan or something Bigger and better.  I can't eat/drink all of those lemons before they go bad.  I have started to juice them and then freeze the juice in ice cube trays so they stay good.   Then I can just throw them in my hot water with honey and off goes the scratchy throat. 

Cloth Diapers..... Yes I still love them, but we have struggled lately because of the stink.  Its harder with just one in diapers to remember to wash them as often because the pail doesn't get full every other day.  So that has contributed to the smell.   My baby has this ammonia smelling pee and no its just not how I wash the diapers.  He even has this smell in disposables sometimes.  I have been a slacker lately on using my diapers.  Then we go through a sleeve of diapers that comes in the big box and I think this is such a waste.   So I have gone to cloth full time again.  No more slacking and I think I switched up my wash routine so we avoid the stink again.  Sometimes it can be tricky getting the right routine down.  I love how cute the diapers are though.  So fun to use.  

We go to the dentist every six months and now that there are 5 of us that go these little sample tubes add up quick.  I usually saved them for camping but we have so many floating around in our bathroom drawer.  I decided I am going to use them all up.  This doesn't save much I know but it does use it up and not waste.  That is what I love.  I love using a tube and then throwing it away after a few weeks. Its a weird great feeling.  

I have three kids and one loves to turn on all the lights in the house so we are working on that one. I go around turning lights off all day.  The kids have a bathroom in their room and that light is always on I swear.  There is no window so they have to turn it on every time they go in there.   This will add up and so I am trying to teach my kids to turn the lights off when we aren't in the room and in the day time we don't need lights on.  The sun in our lights.  I remember growing up and my dad would say you have to turn your lights off or you can pay me a nickle or quarter I don't remember.  

We bought our first house from Jareds Grandparents because it was their house and he was in a nursing home so we fixed it up.  They were raised in the great depression so they saved everything.  They also got really good deals on a lot of stuff and stocked up on it.  I mean really stocked up.  We didn't have to buy toilet paper for probably a year and a half.  We are still using garbage bags, cleaning supplies and dish soap.  They had so much of it I have given some away and we are still good for probably another 5-7 years on dish soap and I hand wash most of my dishes so we are using it everyday.   I am so thankful for their preparation, we are reaping the benefits of their hard work and saving.  

  Meal planning..... I have never been good at making dinner.  I am wonderful at eating it.  haha.  I just am not a very good cook so its hard.  I have really tried to make healthier meals since having kids.  My wise older sister is so good at cooking and meal planning. So this inspiration came from her.  I have been doing it for two weeks so far and its been great.  I plan a week at a time and then I go once a week shopping if  I need stuff.  

There is this wonderful new thing called grocery pick up that walmart does.  Now I generally don't shop for food at walmart. I am a winco and kents girl myself.  Walmart got me at pick up..... I don't have to haul my kids into the store and find the stuff I need and try to keep the kids in the cart or by me.  I love that I can add things to my virtual cart just when I need it.  It takes over my grocery list.  Its great.  I was wary of doing any produce in this pick up style but I ordered some and they picked out great stuff, I have been very impressed. Then when I get to $30 or I am already there and need stuff for that week of meal planning I set up the pick up time.  This has been a life saver for me so far.  I have only done it three times but I am won over.   Now if they would build a winco up by me and start this pick up thing it would be perfect.  I also love the online shopping because I don't walk by something at the store and think oh I need that..... or that is cute.    You know you all do it.  You always come out of the store with something you didn't plan on getting.    So this helps me not spend as much I feel like.  

Now I am in no way perfect or even good at this and saving but these are some ways that I am trying to be better at it.  I still find myself letting food go bad because we don't eat it fast enough.  Or I just totally forget that I had that in the back of the fridge.  I am really trying to start saving more $ so we can pay our house off earlier.  These are just some small ways that I have found and am currently trying to get good at.

I found me some awesome winter boots

Ok think back to your childhood and snow boots and tell me these images don't come to mind?  

These are what we had and they worked ok from what I remember.   I haven't had a good pair of snowboots in a long long time.   I guess I don't really play in the snow like I used to either.   Although with my kids getting older and wanting to play in the snow and go sledding, having to walk to school and be out and about when its snowing.  I decided that it was time to get some good quality rain/snow boots.   I researched it out and wanted comfort and function.  I found Bog boots. They seemed really great just expensive.  I didn't want to pay $130 for some boots although they would fit forever since my feet aren't growing anymore.   

I found some that were just like it but cheaper  Roper brand and they have the neoprene and rubber bottom.   I got them and they are wonderful.  I have a little extra room so if I want to wear wool socks I can.  I really don't need to wear warmer sock than just your standard everyday socks.  These boots keep my feet toasty warm.  They are also very comfortable. 

The print isn't my first choice but roper doesn't have a ton of print choices and I didn't want just black.  That is one things that Bog has on Roper, so many cute options especially in kids.  I wish I could fit into kid sizes. They were adorable.  I did get my kids some bogs because I found a good deal.  My daughter is going to be walking to school in the  rain and snow too.  We will pass them down to other kids and so I figured it would be worth it.  Its been great.   

I absolutely love these because they are water proof so far up and I will use them when we eventually get our small farm to go out and do chores.  They will be my chore boots to go out in the mud/snow/rain.