Assembling Ikea Furniture Without Instructions

Remember how I mentioned that my christmas baking spree brought on a 24 hour migraine? Well, for some reason I decided that would be a good day to assemble the crib. I needed somewhere to put all the baby items we inherited from a very generous family member (thanks Jaime!). Naturally, I decided the best plan would be to set up the crib and put everything in it until we actually need to set it all up for real.

What was I thinking? Setting up Ikea furniture without instructions (because we bought it second hand) while suffering a migraine may have contributed to why the migraine lasted 24 hours. Oops! 

Christmas Baking

The other day I decided to pick up some crushed pecans and some red and green m&m type candies for my all time favourite cookie recipe (courtesy of Tia!). While I was waiting for the butter to soften, something came over me and I proceeded to make delicious chocolate coconut drop cookies (Karin's recipe!).

And then I went a little bit crazy and just decided to do pretty much all my christmas baking in one afternoon. Clearly the first trimester exhaustion is wearing off (although this afternoon was then followed by a 24 hour migraine... so maybe not!).

I followed up the chocolate coconut drop cookies with some butter tarts (Bev's recipe) and some shortbread (also Karin's recipe). My freezer is overflowing!

We'll be rationing these goodies to last until christmas... or, at least until baked goodies arrive in the mail... which tends to happen this time of year when you're blessed with moms that bake!

Ashan Children's Home

Given that this is the time of year for giving, I think it's important for everyone to remember that the ipods, laptops, iphones, new clothes and other goodies we wish for are such luxuries and there are so many people in the world with such greater needs. Ashan Children's Home is an example of this need. For christmas, these 60 orphaned children need new homes. Lauren, a friend I met in Ghana, recently returned from volunteering at this orphanage, and here is an excerpt of why these children are suddenly in dire need of a home:

"There are four babies and 56 children living in three overcrowded rooms. The children are currently sharing bunk beds or sleeping on the floor. In order to attempt to improve conditions, the department of social welfare has mandated that by the end of 2010, all orphanages must begin construction to convert all dormitory style housing to family style housing units, otherwise they will be shut down. The fact of the matter is that the government is mandating this change but providing no financial support, and if this orphanage gets shut down, the 60 children who are living, eating and getting an education through Ashan will be out on the streets."

If you want to read more, or might be interested in donating (even $5 can help make a difference!), click here to go to Lauren's fundraising site.

First Snow Fall

We got our first snow fall of the season last week. It was only a couple centimeters, but it sure made for some pretty scenery for the day.

It has pretty much melted now, except for a few spots that are nearly always in the shade. I can't wait until the yard is covered in a foot or more of snow so we can run around and have snowball fights with the dog!

The snow clouds ended just across the water where the mountains begin, which made for some pretty cool clear photos of the mountain peaks. So beautiful! On cloudy, rainy days it's easy to forget that the mountains are even there because you can't see anything but water and clouds. So this was a nice reminder of the view from our back yard. How lucky are we?!

Making A Difference: One Toilet Paper Roll At A Time!

Awesome! Scott brand toilet paper has come up with toilet paper rolls that have no inner cardboard tube and use no glue! That's definitely progress! It would be a bit better if they also used recycled paper for the rest of the product, but at least it's a step in the right direction.

*Side note... if you're as brave as I am, you may also venture into using cloth wipes as reusable, washable toilet paper! I don't use it for everything, but I have some super soft bamboo fleece wipes that I can wash and reuse - further reducing the amount of toilet paper I use. I'm also pretty excited that once we start cloth diapering, these wipes can be washed with the cloth diapers to reduce laundry loads and water usage!

Honeymoon Fun!

Just some photos from a very relaxing few days in Seattle!

 

Lunch!

The Little Things

I whole heartedly believe that there are lots of easy changes we can make to lessen our impact on the environment. It is incredibly sad to hear of people who think recycling is 'doing their part.' It is the bare minimum. No, it is far below the bare minimum. There are lots of things we can easily do - big and small!

Here are some ideas to get you started!

• When baking or cooking a dish that takes a long time (30 minutes or more), turn the oven off 5 minutes before it's done. As long as you don't open the door, the oven will retain the heat and keep cooking your food! (Be careful with things like chicken and fish, it's important not to eat undercooked meat!)
• In the winter, after using your oven, leave it open a crack to cool down. The heat will warm your house and you can turn the thermostat down for a little while!
• Turn your heat off at night! You most likely sleep under a blanket, and possibly with another warm body beside you, so the thermostat is just plain overkill.
• "If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down." Enough said.
• Before discarding anything (whether it be to the trash or the recycling) try to figure out if you could use it again as something else (tupperware container, storage divider, etc.)
• Make conscious decisions when you're shopping. Compare packaging amounts and choose the one with the least packaging, or the least plastic packaging. Compare where foods are from - choose apples grown in your home province/state instead of shipped in from New Zealand. Skip the plastic bags - you don't really need a plastic produce bag for 3 oranges do you? Better yet, buy cloth produce bags that you can reuse!
• Cloth grocery bags. Seriously. I am still in shock when I see people walking out of the store with all plastic. For the love of God, WHY?!
• If you have kids, resist the urge to purchase a million snack packs of pre-packaged tiny portions of real food. It's 99% junk anyhow. Instead, designate some time once a week to creating these 'snack packs' yourself. Divide foods into several small tupperware containers and group them so that each day you just grab one group of snacks and toss them into the lunch bag. Better for your budget, the environment AND your kid's health!
• Coffee. Now, we all know I'm a HUGE coffee fan. Organic coffee is great... but fair trade is even better. Fair trade means the coffee growers are paid a fair price for their beans instead of getting ripped off by big corporations. Best yet - organic, shade grown, fair trade coffee! 
• Hang your clothes to dry. Seriously, even in the winter. Just hang them inside. They will still dry and be perfectly wearable. They'll even last longer since they're not being beaten to death by the dryer once a week. 
• Take short showers. Seriously. Set a timer if you have to. 5 minutes should be plenty. Unless you do other things in the shower... in which case I don't want to know!
• Grow some of your own food! Tomatoes can be grown out of a bucket that you hang upside down on your balcony - how easy is that?! Herbs can even be grown inside on a window sill! You don't necessarily need a garden to garden.

Okay, that's enough for today. I'm sure I'll add to this list over time. If you have any ideas, please feel free to leave a comment!

Apple Crumbly Goodness!

This is what happens when you mean to write an entire post about delicious fall desserts (mmm apple crumble!) but then you get all wrapped up in the joy of baking and forget to take a picture until it's in the oven!

* See those organic sugar crystals gleaming in the flash?? Delish!*

Cleaning House

Admittedly, you probably don't want to read about the enormous task of cleaning my house top to bottom. Fair enough - I don't really want to write about it either! What I am trying to work out is how to make house cleaning easier. I figure that if our house is de-cluttered and everything is organized (as in everything has a place to be put back to) then cleaning would take less time and we would be less likely to avoid it.

Much easier said than done. For some reason I started the de-clutter and organize process with our junk drawer. Big mistake. It is mainly tools and loose nails and screws. It took forever to clean out, but now I am left with a bunch of things that clearly don't belong in the same drawer. Worse is that I have nowhere else to put them right now. So, they will sit on the floor beside the drawers until I can get to the store for some much needed items.

Here is my de-clutter and organize shopping list:

• hooks for hanging bags (ie. our dish cloth/towel laundry bag)
• small containers for collections of small things (ie. coin rollers, batteries, etc.)
• medium containers for collections of larger things or larger quantities of things (ie. candles, first aid supplies/medications, etc.)
• large rubbermaid totes for those larger items that never seem to have a place (ie. Adam's fishing gear, my craft supplies, pet supplies that aren't in use, gardening supplies that aren't in use, etc.)
• more 'under the bed' storage bins for seasonal clothing items or camping items
• baskets
• a magnetic container we can attach to the fridge to store spare pens (I remember having something like this for my locker when I was in school)

I think that's it. It sounds like a lot, but it will really help to have all surfaces de-cluttered and organized so things don't get left sitting on the coffee table for months for a lack of somewhere better to put them.