Week 9 Making Do With Seasonal Flair: 12 Weeks to Seasonal Living Series

Every week of the last 9 or 10 weeks (I'm not exactly on track at this point!), I've felt more in tune with nature's rhythms and myself, and more appreciative of the so-called burdens of winter: The cold! The bad weather! The limited veggies! All the germs! Oh the darkness!

Each week I have been inspired to make the most of the season through the food we eat, the creative things we make, the way we move our bodies and so much more. As I take time to notice and document I'm made more aware and more appreciative.

To facilitate my journey and spoil myself a little along the way I've made thoughtful purchases to bring a little comfort and luxury in the throes of Winter: new taper candles, a new cookbook, finishing salts, cosmetic organizers and green cleaning supplies, cozy socks, loose teas and a tea filter, pretty decor and DIY materials for my seasonal refuge.

In Week 9 Kathie challenges us to "make do" with what we've got. Whether that means using only what we already have on hand at home in our pantry or craft closet, or using only what the season offers us naturally via produce and weather.

This is an opportunity to save a little money, perhaps, but more importantly an exercise in demonstrating our knack for appreciating what we have knowing we don't need to spend more money or own more things to have a meaningful and intentional home life.

You may have noticed I'm a couple weeks behind on this series. I didn't quite live up to this little challenge of making do and I tried to give it another week to see if I could pull something off.

Sure I didn't buy these cool ceramic dyeable eggs to celebrate the spring equinox, and I didn't buy this handsome cookbook or new workout pants as the weather warmed up and I started dreaming of green.

I did gift myself with other items like this set of Celtic wheel of the year cards to laminate and display, and also a copy of Ostara on celebrating spring. Oh, and I splurged for a seasonal color analysis that has changed the way I perceive and understand color in all its forms in my daily life. Ok, I did not give my best effort.

I believe wholeheartedly in the sentiment of the challenge but I also wrinkled my stubborn nose at it. Maybe because we were on the cusp of spring and I had lots of ideas and plans and well, whatever, it wasn't in me to exercise some restraint to make it happen. How embarrassing that I only held back a teeny tiny bit, and mostly didn't even try not to buy the goodies I really wanted.

What about you, do you appreciate the idea of making do? Would this be an easy or real challenge for you in your life and why?

Floor Plans: The Modern Nature House

Our Modern Nature house has an official floor plan! 

The house is larger than we had originally imagined at 2450 sq. feet. I suppose that's still "modest" by today's standards, and the second floor was constrained by the footprint of the first floor so everything up there is a little more roomy than we may have made them otherwise, but still cozy and I think it will grow well with us. 

Furniture in the rooms serve as placeholders for now. 

First Floor:

Garage

Andy's Workshop

Entry with Bench and Storage, half bath

Eat in Kitchen

Living Space and Project Space

Deck

Second Floor:

Guest Bunk

Deck

Master Bedroom 

Laundry/Storage Room

Communal Bathroom

Kid Bedrooms

There's a lot to be said about this floor plan. So many exciting subtle and not so subtle architectural features have been discussed but because we aren't really there yet in the design phase I will save them to share later. There is a connectivity and flow between the different areas of the house, which can't easily be appreciated from the plan alone.

The lot sits near to an abandoned rock quarry from which granite was gathered in the 1800s for use here in Richmond (buildings and monuments, etc.) and cobblestone streets all along the East Coast. We discovered the remains of an old cobblestone quarry road at the front of the property and the whole lot is very rocky (as I learned watching the soil sampling process). Hopefully there aren't any big boulders in the area where we plan to nestle the garage. Soil samples were taken from the lot yesterday to be analyzed and the results will inform the kind of footings needed for the house as it is currently designed. 

Exterior schematics are next and in the meantime we're obsessing about kitchens over here. These two photos continue to inspire the direction of our kitchen design.  

Layout:

Soapstone counters and driftwood cabinets:

The thing I'm excited about right this moment is we didn't build into the design a "home" for the TV. We're going television free in this new house, something I've wanted to do for years!

Week 8 Seasonal Healthy Living: 12 Weeks to Seasonal Living

"Good Health" recommendations are always changing and remain not only tiresome to keep up with but also contradictory in nature. It really depends on who you ask, right? Current health recommendations and practices aren't necessarily backed by good science either so, if you're like me, you pick and choose from myriad sources what resonates with your own world views and then you apply it to your life in ways that work for you.

This week let's not get bogged down with what's "right" for our health, but instead turn inward to listen to what our bodies need and want for food, movement, and mental clarity.

Let's look to nature to ground ourselves. Let's look to the seasons to inspire the way we feed ourselves; the way we choose to move our bodies; how and what we seek for self care.

I had a year of Self Love therapy the year we moved back to Richmond. The boys were two under two and I had just left my DC job on the verge of launching MamaBorn.

"So what do you do for yourself outside of the gym and taking care of the kids?" my therapist asked. I sat there staring at her, unsure what she meant.

While listening to and trusting my body and the natural process of birth had always made so much sense to me, and Attachment Parenting's philosophy of listening to my mother intuition and trusting my baby had come very naturally to me, I realized then in the context of this new role and these new relationships that I had learned to power through instead of taking care. In lack of sleep, emotional stresses, and the very physical relationship that is mothering babies and toddlers, I had all but tuned out my own needs as a person—for hunger, for fullness, for movement, for rest, for solitude, for sleep—and it wasn't working for me anymore.

Adopting the Intuitive Eating* philosophy in particular changed my life and helped me over the course of a year to redefine my relationship with food but I couldn't stop there and have since expanded the concepts to encompass exercise and other aspects of my self care routine. Sometimes it feels indulgent, yes, but being in tune and able to provide myself with what I want and need to be a sane healthy human mother with plenty to give back to the people who matter most to me, well, justification isn't necessary.

This week the weather turned to the cool 60s and we wanted to be out in it so I'm focusing on the ways I moved my body this week.

The Sears Brothers in their signature embrace. Post dinner walk at dusk on a warmish winter night and the river is high. 

My sister and I made it out on Sunday for an hour hike around the marshland near our house. 

We went for what turned out to be a muddy marshland schlep this morning but the sunshine and cool air felt too good. As Spring nears I have renewed energy for what the rest of the year may bring. 

Another morning the weather demanded a change in plans from what I had penciled in as a treadmill run.

I drove to the gym this morning and hopped on the treadmill to run but then decided three minutes later to leave and drive all the way back to my neighborhood and down to the river for a nice long nature walk because it's 53 degress outside, my body is so sore and tired from my workout last night, and the James is just what I needed. I've been on a couple year journey relearning how to trust my body's need for things like food, and rest, and sleep. I think I'm getting pretty good at it. 

I workout Monday-Friday with a long outdoor walk or hike on Saturdays with my sister. (M/W mornings cardio and weights, T/R/F evenings personal training and long steady cardio.)

Now that the weather is warming up I'll be heading back to SealTeamPT, an outdoor fitness program I've enjoyed for the last year and a half. I took the winter off and hired a personal trainer instead, but I cannot wait to get back outside with the group. Rain or shine. It's a snapshot of nature every day of the year and it's a great workout. Spring is almost here and I'm done hibernating!

Does your current health routine serve you in the ways you need and want it to? 

In what ways can you look to the weather, the season, and the natural world to further inspire and guide your routine for fuel, movement, and self care? 

*To eat intuitively is to eat only what you truly want, when you are truly hungry, and stop when you are physically full. For more reading: The 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating. Through intuitive eating I have found my happy place where food is both fuel and pleasure, freely and shamelessly.

Intuitive eating resources:
Are You an Intuitive Eater? Quiz
Intuitive Eating Primer
Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole (book)
The Emotional Eater's Repair Manual by Julie Simon (book)

If you want to check out the 12 weeks to Homespun Seasonal Living workbook that I'm using for these weekly prompts, check out Kathie's blog at Homespun Seasonal Living.

Week 7 Finding Seasonal Resources: 12 Weeks to Seasonal Living

This week in The Home Spun Seasonal Living Workbook we're asked to consider the resources we might gather to make our Winter intentions come to life. (PS. There are only 16 days until Spring!)

Resources may include: tools; skills; information; community events, classes, clubs, or organizations; and experts.

This week I'm seeking:

Babysitters:
We have always had great luck with Care.com. Yes it's a lot of work to find good childcare but the interface is so easy and we have been lucky to find exceptional women to nanny the boys over the last 5 years. I have three interviews scheduled this week!

Inspiration in the kitchen:
I am mesmerized by cookbooks of all kinds and add a few new ones to my collection every month.

These are next on my list:

 Of course a new month brings new veggies to the table too:

Makeup organizers:
Since switching to mineral makeup I have a lot of little jars rolling around in my makeup bags and they are multiplying because I can't stay off Alima Pure's website. I have three small zippered pouches in which I try to contain all my makeup and tools, but digging through them every morning to find what I need leaves something to be desired. My decluttering and cleaning frenzy has extended into the closets and I would love to streamline the way I store my makeup. These acrylic cosmetic organizers would be great to keep the powders neat and upright, but we don't have room for countertop organizers right now and we've put a hold on most home purchases because we're in the home stretch now of temporary living. I'll probably just settle for a bigger zipper case that can hold everything, but which one? If you have a favorite I'd love to hear!

Candle Supply:
With my new fixation on candlelight I've been looking for a place to conveniently, and regularly, buy pretty candles. Big Dipper Wax Works looks great for beeswax candles and Terrain has a new Spring inspired palette of candles available. Southern Season has a pretty selection for every month of the year and I bought some creme and light green sets there for March.

Cooking Classes:
The cooking schools at Southern Season and Sur La Table will release their Spring cooking class schedules soon and I would love to learn some new skills in the kitchen. I have a little vein of Castilian Spanish roots I'd like to be in touch with, or perhaps a class focused on Virginia or Southern heirloom recipes. I'm excited by the possibilities.

Community:
I met with a writer mama over the weekend and was reinvigorated to write again at RichmondMom.com. I needed that little push. I love to talk writing and I want to get together with other writers more often. Especially mama writers.

This Winter, and through this series of posts, I have enjoyed a deeper connection with some of my girlfriends over our shared interest in seasonal living and intentional mothering. I appreciate these friendships so much because they are effortless, border on ridiculous sometimes (Ah but have you seen Fifty Shades of Gray yet!?)—humor is so essential these days—and also inspire, validate, and encourage my process. I need to lean into those friendships more.

What Seasonal resources do you want to gather this week to help you on your way? 

Week 6 Planning For Growth: 12 Weeks of Seasonal Living

I had a phone conversation with a girlfriend last week where I lamented frustration about how difficult the days have been as February brought snowstorms, stomach bugs, and pink eye. Merritt hasn’t been to preschool in 3 weeks and time for writing has been hard to come by. Another storm brews tonight as I type!

While I'm not working now, my writing pulls at me. The more I try to reach for it the harder our days are because I’m trying to do too much; multitasking, juggling their needs against mine.

Sometimes the most obvious answers come to me while I'm processing out loud with my girlfriends. 

"I guess I just need to let go of trying to do anything I want to do when I’m with them,” I said. A familiar surrender.  My friend—also a homeschooling mama with a brand new baby—said, “YES! Don’t try to do anything! It will be so much better.” Exasperated with knowing I said, "Of course it will. 

The next day I let go of the doing and embraced the being and it WAS so much better.  Their squabbles and requests didn’t feel like a burden or an imposition. The pace was slow and easy.

Was it that simple? After seriously MONTHS of frustration? Yes it was. 

Bottom line: I still need to separate my work form my home time—I thought we were passed it but I think I jumped ahead of myself. Tis' the season. This week I've been working on hiring a few sitters to cover four or five hours during weekdays. Time I can rely on to do my writing thing. 

***

This week the Homespun Seasonal Living Workbook asks us to reflect on the intentions we set six weeks ago. To take a look at what is working and what more we can do to extend those successes. To consider what is not working and allow ourselves to let go of those intentions that no longer serve us, just as easily as we picked them up—no self judgement. 

Looking back to Week 1 my intentions included:

Source Local Foods, Prepare Meals to Highlight Seasonal Availability, Tend a Year-Round Garden.  This is natural and easy for me and sticking solely to in-season produce has simplified my shopping and meal planning tremendously.  A little meal inspiration from our table:

• Greek Chicken and Pilaf/whole chicken cut-up, skin on/brown butter, onion, long grain brown rice, pine nuts, currants/ arugula salad with garlic balsamic dressing

• Pastured pork sausages simmered in chicken bone broth with kale, sea salt and garlic/ whole wheat bread loaf with unsalted butter

• Chopped potato soup with onion and kale/ chicken stock, large couscous pearls and bay leaf/ soft boiled eggs/ oranges

• Chicken adobo with soy sauce, garlic, bayleaf, apple cider vinegar/ brown rice/butternut squash and apple mash 

Spend Time in Nature Often, with Appropriate Dress: It has been unusually cold the last couple weeks, many days with lows in the teens. We had a great snow day a couple weeks ago but the boys lasted only 20 minutes and their frolic ended in tears over frozen toes and fingers. Next year I’m going to invest early in real snow boots and full snow bibs for the kids because even though it doesn't snow much here, they need that extra warmth to incentivize their time outdoors. It will be worth it even though they will outgrow them by season's end. They'll get a lot of use out of them and Roscoe's can become Merritt's the following year.

Let the Temperature of Our Home Reflect the Season. Our heater just can't keep up with these recent winter temperatures so we've been surviving and thriving in a cooler house. I received a pair of these weekend socks for Valentine's day and it's cozy to have special pieces to reach for when I want to be warm. 

Merritt turned 4 last week! These kids cannot be bothered with winter clothing.

Plan for Activities and Crafts Inspired by and Reflective of the Season. I'm growing to appreciate the fact I'm more spur of the moment than I am a planner in this realm. I would much rather stock our art shelves with supplies of all kinds and then pair what we have on hand with whatever idea strikes our fancy in the moment. It's not quite as relaxing or as finessed a final product as I imagine it could be if I had a plan to go by, but for now it suits me fine. 

Let the Seasons Renew: Quarterly Cleaning and Organizing. I can't stop won't stop on this one! It's too satisfying to make progress on all the little piles and closets and spots that gather and accumulate the stuff we don't need to keep anymore. Whenever I think I'm done I find more little stashes to unpack, it's why I'm still going 6 weeks later! The trash bins are filling up as is the attic where I store the stuff I don't have a place for. Thank goodness for that extra storage space in an otherwise tiny house.

I'm adding an intention to my list!

Use Light to Cue our Daily Rhythms. Using light to cue our daily rhythm makes sense and is instinctually calming. Early mornings and late afternoons are more peaceful with quiet music and turned down lights. Candle light cues the kids to quiet and wind down as bedtime nears. Friends of ours use light to herd their kids to the rooms in the house they want them to occupy by turning off the lights everywhere else. It's brilliant and it works for us too.

I have really loved this winter and I give a lot of credit to Kathie's workbook for inspiring me to make an effort to be in the moment and to document all there is to love about it. Spring will be here in 4 short weeks but I'm not in a hurry. It feels like Winter now and I am happy.

A simple life is easier and in the end more luxurious. —Terance Conran

Massing Schematics to Floor Plans: Our Modern Nature Home Design, an update

We went from massing schematics to floor plans this month!  

It’s crazy to think we ever considered going it alone to forego the expense of an architect. I'm afraid to wonder how that from-scratch design might have translated into a real life home! Scott and James surprise, impress, and excite us with their practicality, expertise, and seemingly unlimited reservoir of creativity.

After reviewing near 20 different schematics in two separate sittings to refine and combine concepts, we're now waiting on the final.

In the meantime, Andy and I are focused on getting serious about the finishes and details in the rooms we know are going to demand big allowances from our budget: the kitchen and master bedroom. We need a realistic ballpark estimate to begin to allocate the rest of the budget. This is the fun and overwhelming part! 

While we have a general idea for the look we want, there are so many ways to piece together flooring, appliances, and countertops and shelving and storage—I'm feeling a little paralyzed by the possibilities. We're hoping to snag an appointment this weekend with a kitchen and bath design company to solicit a little advice on sourcing and costs.  

We're also ordering another soil study that will inform the structural engineer on how best to design the footings. Bad soil could change the whole architectural design but hopefully everything will look good. Better to find out now than later!

Self Care and Keeping Organized: Part III of the Work/Life/Self Series Guest Post

In a three part interview I'm answering questions from Sarah at Next Page, New Chapter on topics ranging from career to homeschool and self care. 

Sarah and I worked for the same company in my pre-baby DC days and I'm so happy we've stayed connected over the years through our writing. She's a mama to one fiery red-head and balances a full-time job (and insane commute) with all her other pursuits. Like the rest of us she's curious how other mothers navigate work and motherhood.

Today in Part III of the Work/Life/Self series guest post I'm talking about self care and home organization. 

You can jump to the full interview HERE. Just Joining Us? Catch up on Part I and Part II. 

Copyright @ marblesrolling.blogspot.com

S: How do you manage to keep yourself mentally, emotionally and physically healthy? Do you have any daily or weekly rituals?

J: I thought for a long time that self care meant going to the dentist, getting my haircut—stuff I needed to do to take care of myself, right? I have since reframed self care as an opportunity to refuel, it's the stuff in life that brings joy and pleasure: time spent in nature, time alone to read and write and dream and plan and pursue my projects, quality time spent in deep conversations with my husband and girlfriends, good food, comfortable underwear and cozy pajamas!

I have time built into every week that I know is mine to use for these activities. Andy works late on Mondays so those evenings are always very quiet and relaxing after the kids are in bed. I also have six hours on Sundays that I usually devote to an outdoor hike and time spent writing. I workout in the early mornings or late evenings 5 days a week. This all sounds like a lot but I feel calmer and more energized to be the mom that my kids deserve when I prioritize taking care of myself.

As an aside, adequate sleep cannot be underestimated! I know it’s hard to find when the kids are young, and choosing sleep over getting things done can be tough at the end of the day when it seems there aren’t enough hours to attend to all the things that pull our attention but, if there is one simple place to start this is it! The days are exponentially more difficult when I’m tired.

It’s been an iterative process for me to identify what I need, communicate those desires to my husband, and grow increasingly willing to let go when it comes to the kids while I’m away. Self care was not part of my vocabulary for the first three years of motherhood, at least.

As for rituals, we have this little stovetop pressure steamer that froths up a dreamy foam and every morning I make a latte for myself with vanilla extract and a dash of ground cloves. I also really love my makeup brand right now and it has re-inspired my morning routine. Writing on Sundays at different coffee shops that I enjoy starts my week off right and grounds my energy.

(Read more...)

Do you have special rituals that keep you sane? Any tips to share for keeping yourself and your home organized?

That time I was surprised to choose homeschool, and is it more or less work than I anticipated: Part II of the Work/Life/Self Series Guest Post

In a three part interview I'm answering questions from Sarah at Next Page, New Chapter on topics ranging from career to homeschool and self care.

Sarah and I worked for the same company in my pre-baby DC days and I'm so happy we've stayed connected over the years through our writing. She's a mama to one fiery red-head and balances a full-time job (and insane commute) with all her other pursuits. Like the rest of us she's curious how other mothers navigate work and motherhood.

Today in Part II Sarah asks about that time I was surprised to choose homeschool, and the big question: Is it more or less work than I anticipated?

You can jump to the full interview HERE.  Just Joining Us? Catch up on Part I and Part III.

S: From reading your blog posts, you seemed somewhat surprised at yourself by making the decision to homeschool. Can you discuss which factors led to your decision, and do you anticipate a time when one of your children might be homeschooled but another might prefer a different environment?

J: It’s true, I had a little identity crisis when it looked as if we were leaning toward choosing homeschool for Roscoe’s kindergarten year! I just never thought of myself as someone who would choose to homeschool—I imagined elementary school as an opportunity to ramp up my work hours, and I carried some preconceived ideas about who homeschools and why and how, and based on those assumptions I just never envisioned our family as the homeschooling kind. Ah but things changed!

(Read the rest...)

Read the Full Interview at Sarah's blog Next Page New Chapter where I also answer the question Is homeschooling more or less work than you anticipated?

Copyright @marblesrolling.blogspot.com

Join in the discussion, we'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences on mothering and schooling and work/life integration!