CSA {community supported agriculture}

Remember my post about eating organically?
 

Good news!

I've done some research and there are several farms in our area

who participate in this program!

Not-so-good news...

It can be stinkin' expensive!

Now, I understand that eating healthy, organically grown produce is great,

but upwards of $600 for a season is a little steep!

Mind you, this does include a box filled with fresh produce

{and, depending on the farm, even eggs, cheese, meats and flowers}

delivered to your door or available for pick-up at local markets

each week from about June until October

It really is such a great program!

So, my findings have led me to Fry Family Farm

They are a local farm located in Talent

They offer tons of options for CSA

and even break it down in to full and half shares!
making it much more affordable!

Also, you can choose to receive your "harvest box" every other week instead to cut down cost even more!

{and I love that they include fresh flowers!}

They have an entire section on their website dedicated to CSA

and spell out every question you may have about how the process works

{such a great resource!}

Since I do have a small

very small

garden of my own, I'm really interested in the every other week option!

I'm already getting excited!

One of my followers recommended a website

http://www.localharvest.org

and it was a great resource and starting point!

{Thanks, Aubrey!}

Well, the rest of the week is forecaseted to bring in lots of snow,

I thought I'd post some pictures of our

President's Day trip to the park

Have a wonderful day!

Creating A Budget {and sticking to it!}

Budget

Ick. Isn't it such an icky word? Scary, even.

I totally associate being on a budget with nearly every negative word imaginable

{restricted, unsatisfied, jealous, grumpy, bored}

you get the point, it's not fun.

I guess I've always thought of being on a budget as not getting what you want

and I like to get what I want {who doesn't?}

{when I want it, might I add}

Well, I'm determined to change my thinking!

{even though my mom has been trying to get me to change my thinking for years}

Thanks mom, I heard you

I just have to figure stuff out the hard way :)

It's not that I have no idea where our money goes,

it's just that I don't spend it as carefully {ok, nearly as carefully} as I should.

if I see something I like, and it's any reasonable price, I buy it.

So at the end of the month I have stuff - 95% of which I'm SURE I could live without

and a very minimal amount left to save

Boo!

But I don't want to live like that anymore.

I want to simplify

I want to find contentment

I want to feel grateful, and appreciative of all that I've been blessed with

I don't want to be a slave to my paycheck

I want to choose where my money goes and why

I want to decide how much I save and how much I spend

I want to be in control of what I need and what I want

{mind you, I'm typing this after I just, literally, just made a totally unnecessary etsy purchase}

I don't think it's going to be easy,

in fact, I know it's going to be ridiculously hard

I'm sure I {well, we...this is a family thing} will fail,

but I'm also sure that we'll pick right back up where we left off

 and start again.

I was reading a blog post by Gussy

{have you checked out her blog?}

and came across this post

check it out for her advice on following a family budget

and how she and her hubby saved enough money for her to quit her day job!

We're going to take the next week or two to set up our budget

and from there, it's crunch time

I'm talking {excuse my french}

balls to the wall, start saving for real

I do, however, want to be realistic

we'd be setting ourselves up for failure if we said that

every penny

 that doesn't go to a bill will be saved

We'll have to do the math and figure out what our

"fun money"

{see, even talking about spending money is more fun!}

budget will be for each  month

I think allowing ourselves to have some sort of disposable income will help keep us on track

Anyway, I suppose all of this is to make a commitment to become a

smarter spender and a better saver!

Please feel free to jump on board!

I'd love to hear your savings tips, money saving ideas,

and to have other people make a saving commitment too!

Happy saving!

Oh, and it wouldn't be a post if I didn't include some pictures of my sweet boy

{We spent lots of time coloring yesterday}



Happy day after President's Day!

New Blog Design!

Have you checked out my new blog design?!

Well, if you're reading this

{I suppose you have}

My uber talented, super crafty, computer tech-y

Wonderful Mother In Law

{Darcie}

Created and designed my entire blog header!

Not to mention new buisness cards, fabric labels and stickers

{more on that later}

I'm so thankful & appreciative of all of her hard work!

I LOVE the look of my new blog!

check out just how crafty she is by visiting her blog!

The only thing left to update is my menu bar

{check back, because it's coming soon}

While Darcie and I

{Well, mostly Darcie}

were inside, creating away,

Papa Dan, Daddy and Baby Boo Boo

Played outside

Zaiah LOVES the swing at Gaga and Papa's house

So glad the sun decided to pop out for a little bit yesterday!

Buying Organic {The Dirty Dozen}

Buying organic

Who wouldn't want to buy organic?

pesticide and chemical free, safe for your family

But it does come at a higher price.

Ever since I became a mommy

providing my baby with the best food possible became a priority

So, it came down to this

is buying organic worth the added cost?

And honestly, I had no idea!

{it can get a little expensive!}

And so I did what I always do when I need information...

I googled it!

and I found this amazing website!

They've broken fresh fruits and veggies down into two groups

"The Dirty Dozen"

{foods that still have pesticides even after being washed - worth buying organically}

and "Non-Organic Foods"

 {foods that are safe to buy non organically}

The part I cared about most was "The Dirty Dozen"

Here is a list of foods that should be purchased organically

{when possible, of course}

Apples

Cherries

Grapes

Nectarines

Peaches

Pears

Raspberries

Strawberries

Bell Peppers

Celery

Potatoes

Spinach

This website also recommends a program called "farm fresh to you"

This is where the customer provides cash upfront

to a local farmer

The farmer then uses the cash

 to purchase seeds and other materials needed to produce the crops

As each variety of produce comes into season

the farmer will deliver a box of fresh produce to the customer

throughout the entire farming season!

How cool is that?!

I'm looking into local farms to see if any farmers in our area provide this service

I'll let you know what I find out!

And, because I can

And, because he's cute

Here are some baby boo boo pictures :)

Looking forward to some more spring-ish weather!

Fabulous Finds Friday

Good morning and happy Friday!
Alas, yesterday was not a snow day
but baby boo boo is better, so I think that's a fair trade.

Hope you enjoy these Fab Friday Finds....these are the things I'm loving this week:

These amazing moustache gift cards from DawnCorrespondence

How funny are moustaches?!

something about them just makes me laugh

{I bought moustache scrapbook paper for baby boo boo and these remind me of it}

Remember my last post? Abut the glass jar terrarium?

{That might explain why I can't get enough of this}

upcycled mason jar glass terrarium from doodlebirdie

 

These antique spoon garden markers by hammermann

This super cute sweet bee honeycomb necklace from Anechkas Jewelry

because, well...it's so sweet!

This unique cake topper from dearjes

{I love non-traditional wedding decor}

And, this absolutely adorable crocheted baby pod by JustDandyCreations

{my next baby will definitely be having a photo shoot in one of these}

Hope you enjoyed my finds!

Have a fabulous Friday!

Gardens in Glass: Upcycled Terrarium

While I do have a love for mason jars

I sort of feel like they're popping up

everywhere!

I was browsing for a new take on glass

when I found

this

tutorial for an

upcycled glass terrarium

When I read the word "terrarium" I instantly thought of a

taranchula

and almost clicked away out of sheer fright!

I'm glad I didn't, because how darling is this?!

Your very own garden in an upcycled glass jar!

love it!

On a side note

I think

{think is the key word here}

that baby boo boo is better - yay!

He had a fun day at home with daddy

and only watched KungFu Panda 3 times - sheesh!

And apparently he felt it was necessary to have

nearly every stuffed animal

with him on the couch

Glad baby boo boo gets to go back to school with me tomorrow

But if there happens to be a

snow day

I'm fine with that too :)

{Another} Sneak Peek!

Are you getting excited?!

Because I can tell you that "excited" does not even

begin

to describe how I feel

about the fact that my etsy shop will be opening in

less than two weeks!

Holy Cow

I figured another sneak peek was in order

If you're familiar with my products I'm sure you can guess what these are :)



Infomercials

Yep, infomercials.

I'm a sucker for 'em.

Good ones, bad ones...I can't turn the tv off if an infomercial is on!

Now, I must say, I've made some pretty good purchases thanks to these somewhat annoying

{yet very necessary}

late night advertising commercials!

The Titan Peeler is one

And let me tell you, it is a veggie peeling machine!

My Winsor Pilates DVD

A great investment

{When I actually use it}

I keep telling myself I'm going to start waking up and doing this every morning

{hasn't happened yet}

Along the same lines would be my Core Secrets DVD

Again, if I actually did it

It would be much more useful

Not to mention the time I convinced my mom that she

had

to buy one of these

I know you've all seen this infomercial before

Set it and forget it!

Haha! I think I've seen that one about a zillion times!

{no exaggeration}

But last night I saw an infomercial I had never seen before

{let's just say that's a rarity for me}

and I'm seriously contemplating getting it!

I'm talking about

The Chef Basket

Have you heard of it?

It's, like, 32

 {ok, not literally}

 kitchen tools in one!

and it folds flat for easy storage!

{look at me, I'm a walking infomercial!}

Well, for the low, low price of only

$14.99

I could be the proud owner of one

Waddya think?

Ok, I feel I've divulged enough embarrassing information for one night.

I'm back to work tomorrow

daddy will be staying home with baby boo boo

He woke up with a fever, it went away this afternoon,

but now it's back...and he's starting to cough

{poor boo boo}

Today we did more lounging, movie watching and cuddling

Snuggling up with his favorite toys - watching Ice Age

He thought it would be cute to try on Daddy's shoes

{he was right}

Hoping my sweet baby boo boo feels much better tomorrow!