“Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread. A civilization which destroys what little remains of the wild, the spare, the original, is cutting itself off from its origins and betraying the principle of civilization itself.” ― Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire Yesterday, we took our little family out on a much needed hike. We packed the kids around (freeloaders) and wore crazy shoes. The boy…
Yeah, we have an electric lawn mower. (We couldn’t afford an electric car and this was almost as cool.) This baby was one of our first big purchases after we bought our house. Electric mowers are cheaper than traditional lawnmowers, don’t require as much maintenance (oil, gas, etc), aren’t as hard to start, and they don’t pollute the air next to your house. Win, win, win, win. Definitely worth dealing with all that cord in our opinion. The next level…
There’s always a few things that are worth paying a bit of money to make your home more green (like insulating or installing an efficient cooling system like Noel talked about yesterday), but I’m always on the lookout for cheap ways to make my home a greener and more welcoming place. When I was working on Ellen’s bedroom I cam across a post on how to green your nursery on the cheap. A lot of the tips could be applied…
For about two months we have had a garage full of these: and one of these: Yeah, that’s right. Instead of blowing the extra cash flow from our tax return on something fun like a TV or vacation, Audrey let me air seal and insulate our attic and install a whole house fan. I know, that seems pretty lame. However, I had a few good arguments working for me: Insulating the attic would save us about $80 on our gas…
I started scratching my skin until I bled when I was little. My parents would rub me down with body oil, straight out of the bottle on a washcloth, and put me to bed with socks on my hands so I wouldn’t scratch myself while I slept. That’s how I became a lotion addict. I’ve always had a very diverse stash of lotions in my bathroom to combat my every skin need. Shelves full of product ranging from Bath and…
I have a confession. I never liked American cheese. I usually didn’t like the hamburger that it came on either. Honestly I never really liked many of the things kids were supposed to love. I always thought there was something wrong with me. I know for a fact that I drove my parents crazy with my picky eating. (Sorry about that Mom.) Nevertheless, I was the typical male college student by the time I left home. I couldn’t cook to…
Guess what? This coming Sunday is Earth Day! Because we can’t contain our excitement we’re going to make all our posts about green stuff this week. Keep in mind, we do this not because we are super hippies, but simply because we find it fascinating and always love learning new ways how we can make a difference. To start off, I’ve been asked by my good friend, Robyn, to share how I became committed to all things green and healthy….
No this post is not about dying my hair. Trust me, that’s never going to happen. I’m not big on food dyes. I try to avoid them in the things I buy and have only used my my little vials of food coloring once in the past two years. (When I unsuccessfully tried to make cute cupcakes to impress the pre-teen girls I taught at church, which was silly on so many levels.) With Easter coming up I’ve tossed around…
The weather here has been so warm lately with temperatures in the 80s the past two days. Today we’re returning to a more traditional weather pattern with rain/snow in the forecast, so we made the most of the weekend. In true summer fashion, we slept in. Of course tuned in to four inspiring sessions of General Conference. (Were there a lot of talks on parenting or was that just what I needed to hear?) In between sessions we did yard…
Two things are happening this weekend that make me excited. The first is our church’s General Conference which is always inspiring. (Plus you can watch church in your pajamas which is nice 🙂 ) The second is Earth Hour 2012 . In the grand scope of things I suppose it’s not as important as the first (I mean we’re talking eternity vs life on earth), but it’s a good reminder that “everyone can take personal responsibility for the future of…