With takeout options galore and grocery store convenience food, it seems that our culture is fast losing the art of cooking from scratch. Here's how (and why) homemakers can recover the old-fashioned practice of home cooking.Among the other lost arts we'd do well as a culture to keep alive, perhaps one of the most practical is the lost art of cooking from scratch.For me, cooking from scratch conjures up homey feelings of tying on an apron in a sunny kitchen, starting the music, and burying myself in the rhythm of measuring and mixing.But that picture might seem too domestic for some--or simply not enjoyable. And what I'd really ... Continue Reading
Recovering the Lost Art of Porch Sitting
Want to slow down your hectic life? Practice the old-fashioned habit of porch sitting! Here's how to embrace a more intentional life by enjoying your front porch, + ideas for making your porch pretty and welcoming. "Sitting on the summer-night porch was so good, so easy and so reassuring that it could never be done away with. These were rituals that were right and lasting; the lighting of pipes, the pale hands that moved knitting needles in the dimness, the eating of foil-wrapped, chilled Eskimo Pies, the coming and going of all the people....Oh, the luxury of lying in the fern night and the grass night and the night of susurrant, slumbrous ... Continue Reading
Spring Bucket List: 15 Ways to Make the Most of the Season
These 15 springtime activities belong on every spring bucket list! Here's how to enjoy spring so you can shift into the slow lane and live intentionally in the season.I love every season, but spring is the most fun to watch. Every day there's some new progression, some new accessory of leaf or flower, as all of creation responds to beckoning sunshine and warming winds.How can we stand not to answer this call, too? Spring is ephemeral; if we hesitate to embrace it, the world will turn beneath our feet and we'll stumble into summer before we know it.Sure, we're busy. This is the time of year we make a mad, overscheduled dash toward ... Continue Reading
What’s Saving My Meal Planning Routine Right Now
Has your meal planning routine gotten off track? Mine did. Here are three things we've done to fix our meal planning routine so we could stop overspending our grocery budget. They're easy and free.Earlier this year I shared 11 of the most effective things we've done to save money Missing from the list was the common, good-sense advice to meal plan. I didn't include it because for much of last year, we were horrible about making and sticking to a meal plan.And predictably, we went over on our food budget almost every month.However, I do believe that if you want to significantly save money--on a continual, every-month basis--you ... Continue Reading
Recovering the Lost Art of Dressing Up
Today I'm beginning a new series on old-fashioned habits and practices that I believe deserve a comeback. Because with all of the improvements in technology and convenience that our society boasts today, there are a few good, old-fashioned things we've lost. Simple things, like the art of writing letters, of dressing up, or of spending evenings together as a family.I believe these "lost arts" and others like them deserve another look. More than that, they deserve a revival. These old-fashioned habits have the power to enrich our lives, to help us live slower and more intentionally in this hectic, attention-split world. Hence, the ... Continue Reading
30 Simple Ways to Add Beauty Around Your Home
Here are 30 creative ways to add beauty to every corner of your home! Your space can be warm, welcoming, and homey--even if you're on a budget! These are the little things that make a house a home.Your home is your little kingdom, no matter where in the world it's tucked away, or what it looks like. Or, I might add, no matter how permanent or temporary it may be.Now, how are you going to make it feel like yours, like a haven you want to spend time in and draw others to?Our first tendency may be to feel like we need to do major remodeling--tear down walls, install new counters, raise the ceiling. Home renovations are a national ... Continue Reading
How to REALLY Save Money (because you’ve already skipped the latte)
In a noisy world where it feels like everyone wants you to spend your money, today I'd just like to tell you how to save more of it. Here are 11 ways to save money, that have actually made a tangible difference in our budget.There's plenty of money-saving advice on the internet, but it doesn't always come from people's actual experiences. It's often hypothetical, trite, and doesn't speak to the circumstances of the people who actually need the ideas. For instance, I'm tired of reading the advice to "skip that fancy Starbucks latte you buy everyday!" I only buy a latte a few times per year, not per week!Telling people to skip the ... Continue Reading
2017 Highlight Reel, Blog Reflections, and Reader Survey!
Each year, I take a few moments to share a personal update, highlight the top blog posts from the previous year, and share the new Reader Survey! Here's the 2017 edition!This week I hung up a new calendar on my refrigerator; now I'll have adorable piglets to look at all year. The next day I slipped away to Starbucks for my annual session of reflection and eggnog latte sipping.So it's official.The new year has begun!Our family had another fun but quiet year in 2017. We continued to slowly furnish our house and enjoyed the blessing of family close by. We got the treat of taking a trip to my hometown of Savannah--it was my first ... Continue Reading
A Sample Homemaking Routine That Will Make Your Days Simpler and More Productive
A homemaking routine is your best friend when it comes to home management. Here's a sample homemaking routine built around theme days, plus how to implement it using your daily planner. This post is sponsored by Homemaker's Depot, my favourite planner company!Do you wish you could make better use of your time?Do you wish you had a better handle on all the homemaking tasks you need to do, and that you didn't fall so far behind?A few years of homemaking and "adulting" quickly taught me that there's so much more to managing a home than cooking and cleaning! You also have to schedule family activities, run frequent errands, supervise ... Continue Reading
Simple Living in a Travel Trailer…with 8 Kids!
You can practice simple, intentional living anywhere--even in a travel trailer with 9 other people! Read this interview with Christy Bagasao, homeschooling mom of 8, about her simple living journey.With the modern-day tiny house movement, stories of people living out of RVs or other minuscule spaces aren't that rare any more. But imagine you lived in an RV with nine other people, and a cat, year round, full time. This is life for Christy Bagasao of The Travel Bags, and if you ask her, it's a very good life!The Bagasao family sold their home and took their Christian music mission on the road full time in 2012. They've been nomading ... Continue Reading
