Although we thought we were pretty healthy eaters before, we've made some big changes to our diet in the last couple of years! This is our family's story of switching to a plant-based diet.Did you know that processed lunchmeat can cause cancer...even when the lunchmeat has "no nitrates added"?I didn't know that until my husband sent me an article to read and got me investigating.I looked at the article and thought: How annoying.How inconvenient to discover that a staple of your weekly lunches isn't doing you any favors! And we thought we'd been doing it the healthy way by getting the lunchmeat packages that said "no ... Continue Reading
25 Car Essentials for Prepared Homemakers
In a quest to be a more intentional, prepared homemaker, here are 25 car essentials I'm stocking in our minivan! You never know when these car must-haves will come in handy, but when you need them, you'll be grateful you planned ahead!One of the best tricks a homemaker can have up her sleeve is to be prepared for whatever day-to-day life might throw her way.This means having a "next step" for minor emergencies. Power goes out? Fetch the battery-operated lights. Child falls in muddy ditch at the park? Whip out that extra change of clothes!This also means being ready for the good surprises. Let's say you want to go for an ... Continue Reading
Pumpkin Overnight Oats: The Breakfast that Keeps Our Mornings Simple
These no-cook overnight oats are everything you could want in a breakfast: healthy, easy, cheap, and extremely tasty. For fall, we make this recipe with pumpkin puree and spices for a pumpkin pie overnight oatmeal that our whole family loves!I'm sure you've heard of the "daily uniform" trend, right? Where you choose to wear the same outfit (with slight styling variations) every day? Picture Steve Jobs and his ubiquitous black turtlenecks. The attraction of a daily uniform is that it simplifies your choices and frees you up to focus on other things, as well as saving you a bit of cash.Why not apply the daily uniform concept to your ... Continue Reading
12 Things I Want to Do with the Time That is Given Me
Every year I write a contemplative "birthday post" with either some personal reflections, or some fun points of interest for my readers to get to know me better. What follows is this year's offering--some deep thoughts for the decade (or so) ahead.Ah, birthdays. How nice to have them every year!I've never understood why adults grown and grimace and try to hide their age or the fact that it's their birthday. Why wouldn't you want people to make a fuss over you on your birthday? Why wouldn't you want to celebrate another year of life?Last week I turned 32.It's not a milestone year or anything, but I did spend some time ... Continue Reading
What Simple Living Looks Like When You Have Three Kids
Here's what real-life simple living looks like, when you're a busy parent smack dab in the middle of raising young kids. It's about little habits and shifts in perspective that add up to something big.Is simple living unattainable when you're in the throws of parenting young children?Sometimes it feels like it, when you have to choose between housework and spending time with your kids.Or when you re-heat your coffee for the fourth time because so many little emergencies bubbled up over the course of the morning.Or when the donation bag is overflowing, because while you might snatch some time to declutter upon occasion, it's a ... Continue Reading
Recovering the Lost Art of Writing Letters
Time to stop letting junk mail and bills monopolize our mailboxes! Let's bring back the lost art of letter writing, one lovely piece of snail mail at a time.I remember watching a documentary on the Civil War that showed pictures of letters written during the period, and it struck me how distinguished and elegant the handwriting looked in those letters. Fine handwriting has been a lost art for some time, and nowadays letter writing itself is a fading practice!Handwriting and handwritten letters go, you know, hand-in-hand; the decline of one leads to the atrophy of the other. And the reasons why we write less often are readily ... Continue Reading
Essential Reading for Homemakers: 10 Books to Cultivate a Beautiful, Simple, and Purposeful Home
These 10 books will make you a better homemaker! I've read many homemaking books, and these are some of my favourites for decluttering, decorating, routines, and intentional living at home. They'd make an excellent addition to any homemaker's reading list.One of my greatest pleasures in life is keeping house. I don't mean cleaning, necessarily (especially not cleaning bathrooms). I mean all of it--the holistic art of making a home, that hub and center for all our comings and goings and life pursuits. Homemaking is satisfying because it has direct bearing on the lives of the people who matter most to us. It's rhythmic work, and ... Continue Reading
Our baby girl, and the story of her birth
Once upon a time, there was a little girl who dreamed of someday having a lively home full of children. There were both girls and boys in the mix, running colorful through the yard with plastic toys and bubbles and collected "nature" to show their mother.Then a long while later that little girl grew up, and the children that were so familiar to her yet so inscrutable began to show up. First the boy, a force of nature with a passionate soul and an endless imagination. Then three years later a little brother, full of precious smiles and an eagerness to watch and learn and do. And then, a sister...It was familiar territory at first. ... Continue Reading
Simple Living in the Suburbs
My family is pursuing a simple and slow life in the suburbs. This ordinary suburban life doesn't always match up to the lofty dreams I once had, nevertheless, we've found contentment and purpose, and we know this is right where we're supposed to be.Sometimes the place you end up is quite mundane compared to the fancy dreams of your youth...but you realise it's exactly the place you want to be.Where have I "ended up," at 31 years old? Living in the suburbs, in a modest-sized home built in the 80s, with a minivan parked in the driveway.And those fancy dreams I had, when I was little? Well, there was the big house in the country, ... Continue Reading
A Flexible Daily Planner for Homemakers (Homemaker’s Friend Planner Review)
Are you a homemaker in need of a good, flexible planner? Here's my review of the Homemaker's Friend Daily Planner, which I've been using for the past five years! This beautiful 2020 planner will help you organize your home and life-on-the-go.As an old-fashioned kinda girl, it's no surprise that my favourite way to keep track of my schedule is with a physical, pen-and-paper planner. I've been using the Homemaker's Friend daily planner for years and talking about it on this blog, but it's been awhile since I've done a full review of it. Here's an inside look at my favourite planner. This post is, quite naturally, sponsored by Homemaker's ... Continue Reading
