Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was great! Us organic eaters ate light. I made a spinach cranberry salad, which didn't turn out so well. I roasted almonds for the first time, and over did it. They were nasty. It spoiled the whole salad. I also made roasted pesto potatoes, and they stuck to the foil, and fell apart as I tried to flip them. I thought I was making the clean up process easier, and actually made everything worse. I was not meant for the kitchen I swear.. I get so upset, and disappointed. I have got skills, and not a single one is in the kitchen. If it were up to me.. I would eat salads, wraps and fruit till the end of my days(Doesn't sound bad huh?!).

Shop Update: I am offering a Thanksgiving/Cyber Monday discount code in my Etsy shop! 10% off the order. Also all of my oversized handwritten gift tags are already 50% off. Just enter: GIVETHANKS at check out.

I took some great photos of my favorite auntie and her future husband. I have been editing, and playing around with fonts since I got home Thanksgiving night for their holiday cards. She is such a goofball. We get along really well. I hope she doesn't mind that I secretly release these photos to you guys, but I want to show off my work! My blog is my resume! Here they are..

 Aren't they the sweetest?!

The Nature of Reality..

I want to go over a few reasons why moving back to the country is what I need. Don't get me wrong.. I love Portland. Portlander's are proud to be from such a popular city. This city is booming with tourism(which explains the abundance of people that can't drive). The local beer, funky doughnuts, local wines, local coffee roasters, craft workshops, craft markets, locally sourced food restaurants, produce markets, mass transit system, and young hip vibe. What isn't there to love? 

It is unsustainable. I live in a sustainable living complex.. Which is quite the opposite. It may be Leed certified, and energy efficient, but stacking families on top of eachother for 30 floors, with their dogs, and late night parties on Saturday night is not the way I feel life should be. I am not into trends. I don't work a 9-5. I don't go out because I need to update my facebook page with a picture of what I did on Saturday night to make myself feel like I am worth something. This isn't life. Life isn't doing what is expected of you. Graduate, go to college, get a job, pay off your loans, get married, have kids, buy a house, save for retirement, retire, then finally live out your dreams. Reality is that you should live out your dreams now. Do not do what is expected of you. The system we live in survives off of you being in debt. That is the reason for the guidelines in our lives. To be successful is to find happiness. I feel I will find happiness being surrounded by mountains, and streams, covered bridges, swimming holes, growing all my own food, preserving food, learning hands on skills.We do not live to work, We work to live. It is slavery, but we do it to ourselves. We choose the house that we know we couldn't afford. We do it because we need others to see how successful we are. We work damn hard, why can't we live in a beautiful large home? Right? We do it with our cars, our clothes, cell phones, Ipads, Ipods. Everywhere we can, we all deserve to best. We need to change the way we see reality. Reality is you don't need to bite off more than we can chew. A tiny house by the sea, a cottage, a small cabin. All of these things are things we really want. We want to travel the world but can't find the time. Don't save it till retirement. Find your goals, and make enough money to reach them! We get one life to live. I want to live mine in the slow lane. I am not racing to the finish line. I live to be with family, go camping, swimming, hiking, create, give, photograph, travel, keep the house warm, make some money for simple luxuries, and not be dependent.  I hope to inspire all of you to change the way you see reality. Reality is the simple life is much more luxurious, and being back in nature is more sustainable.

Halloween Property Update!

Happy Halloween!!
The Latest Property Hunt Update: Last week we had another adventure down south. Another quest for property. It just happened to be the rainiest day ever through out all of Oregon. Probably the worst day to do a property tour. We did it though! The property has all of the amenities we want, and has a fixer upper cabin on it. I do not want to photograph it until it is fixed up a bit. The seller still lives in it, so stuff is all over the place. The fact that her stuff is all over, we think brings down the value. So it could be a good thing, but bad because we don't know what could be wrong with the place because all of the stuff could be covering things we NEED to see to understand the work that may need to go into it. It does have a creek that runs 11 months out of the year, and a spring which feeds water down to the cabin(through gravity) and has a holding tank. There are gardens on the property, but they are going to need some fixing up. Everything is so small so with very little work it can be transformed rather quickly. There are hiking trails all over quite a few acres. Feels like a camp ground. We see the potential and put in an offer, and it was accepted by the seller.. Unfortunately it now needs to be approved by the bank. It could last months before we hear anything back, But I wanted to update everyone. Everything is moving very fast!

Homestead Search Adventures

Just got back from an adventure down south to look at a property. It was such a quick trip I was hardly able to take many photos. All I know is I am already looking forward to going back. We saw Table Rock, Mt. McLoughlin, and zipped through Ashland Oregon... That was a mistake. I wanted to walk around, and take photos of everything! Downtown 2 deer jumped in front of our car! Of all of the people, of all of the cars it was ours. It had an effect on us.. Deer roaming through the towns streets : )
We stayed at a lodge, and arrived late, and left early so I didn't capture anything. So I will wait to elaborate on our non existent staycation- Till next time- When I have photos.
We liked the property we looked at as our possible future "Homestead". You cross a single lane covered bride to get there. BONUS points in my book. : ) As soon as we rolled up a fox ran right out of the property and into the neighbors. It sat at stared at us.. Giving us the " What do you think you are doing" look. Once again, another animal that had an effect on us. Neither one of us has seen a fox before. Everyone we told the story to- said "If there is a fox- you for sure have to keep your chickens in a cage". : ( Speaking of chickens.. Recently we took Wayne's Mah to Naomi's Organic Farm Supply store where we were greeted by the oddest chicken! It thought it was a GOAT. It would run at you sideways, and gently ram its head at you. Walk away- Run sideways- and Ram! Unreal! I have not seen anything like it before. Hilarious to watch.. We walked away, and that little boy getting out of the van in the picture below got pecked, and started screaming his head off. It is a fun memory.. One I am happy I documented. We need to go back, and take a video.
It has been a busy month for me- So I apologize for the lack of posts. I am constantly always trying to catch up on orders in my shop- Especially if I have plans coming up.. Then I am nowhere to be found online.
I hope you enjoyed my adventures. Hopefully it works out with this property, and we can get things rolling. I would love to document the steps as we go. : ) "Homestead from Scratch".

Apricot Tree Germination & Tree Starts

Apricot Trees produce fruit in 3-4 years after being planted. We have been getting apricots from a local organic farm, and Wayne started drying out the pits in a glass jar in our window. We always try to save seeds where ever we can. He started to do research on apricot seeds, and apparently they have the highest content of the vitamin B-17 in the world. There are two types of Apricot seeds- Bitter or sweet, and Bitter seeds have a much higher content of B-17, but much harder to eat.. We started to blend them in our smoothies each morning, and found that by most fruit pips and kernels are filled with B-17 (Example: Pits of fruit like Apple, Cherries, Peaches, Plums, Nectarines, and Oranges). It's a compound of healthy substances that occurs in nature that are needed by the human body.

"B-17 is a glycoside, meaning it bonds to other nutrients through sugar. Glycosides are often used in medications, and B-17 is no exception. The extracted version of B-17 is called laetrile, a substance used to help cancer patients fight diseased cells. Studies have shown that B-17 helps to increase the body's ability to fight cancer. B-17 does this through the creation of hydrogen cyanide, which is released into the body's tissues. This compound then attacks and subsequently destroys cancer cells."

With this new found information.. Wayne started germinating the seeds he was collecting, and now we are growing Apricot Tree Starts! Here is what we have done so far- I will post with updates when they start to grow. Just make sure to keep the seeds damp after planting- They do not like to be fully soaked- Just damp.

Source for learning how to grow Apricot Trees from Seeds- Here from eHow Home
Source for nutritional benefits of B-17 are from Livestrong- Here & eHow Mom  Here

Etsy Shop Coupon Code

It has been a great summer! I never expected my shop to do so well so fast.. This little lady is quite full of joy! So right now I am offering a 10% discount in my shop till September 10th! If you know anyone who is planning an upcoming wedding make sure to send my coupon code their way..

enter: FALLWEDDING

Link to my shop: HERE

I also just added some new photos to the shop, and in the process of getting all of the bags photographed in this same style. Things seem to be slowing down a little bit so I hope to have more time to work on getting new bag designs, buntings, wedding signs, Halloween trick-or-treat bags. I have too many ideas up my sleeve.. Where do I start?! : P

Country Life Here We Come!

Just got back into town from being on one of the longest(distance), and quickest adventures I think I have ever been on. We found a property we wanted to look at in Southern Oregon- Where the sun shines 300 days a year. I found a lodge and cabin resort right on the Rogue River in Grants Pass for us to stay at called Weasku Inn. It was beautiful. We loved it.. (Minus the little girl screaming during the continental breakfast in the dining area). I couldn't believe the hot hot sun, and so many rivers! Everything we went to was associated with water. Which makes sense in a hot place- The area is so much like Eastern Oregon. Sisters Oregon has always been a place I could for sure call home- or would love to, but with the resort on the river, and the creek and the year round fishing, the cabins, great weather.. I could now call this a place I would love to live.  Grants Pass reminds me of Eugene.. The attitude, organic markets, and cafes. We went into the local organic coffee shop- Rogue Coffee Roasters, Sat down, and one guy was telling another gentleman all about cancer- and how your attitude is half of what kills you. Me and Wayne are looking at each other- going, "Oh my god!- Do you hear this?!" We were so excited that these guys were awake early sitting in a local organic cafe having in intellectual conversation about the importance of health, and energy. Dear Grants Pass, Thank you for being so awesome!
To sum up the trip- we ate entirely organic- which is extremely impossible when we leave home, and aren't able to prepare every meal ourselves. We were impressed with the selection of health food stores, we grabbed lunch and sat by the Rogue River, ran around and looked at 5 or 6 properties- 2 of which were near the Applegate river- which we fell in love with instantly.. It was the clearest river.. So damn beautiful.. It is almost a selling point for both of those properties- just to be near it. We stopped at a couple historic buildings on the way down to take pictures. One property was just passed a single lane covered bridge.. Now that area is beautiful too. We stopped and saw my grandma who lives down south- that was nice to sit and chit chat- I had no idea she was so political. We have the same views as far as bringing every last troop home and defending home base. I loved it. We are planning to set up an appointment and look at more properties soon. There is also so many things we want to see and do down there- So more adventures are coming soon. : )

Hope you enjoy my adventure, and I am excited to show you the entire transition from our complex and stressful urban concrete jungle to "country" life.

My Small Business..

The latest update is my wing man and I are sick.. I am convinced my harsh cold came from the stress I was feeling a week ago from my shop! Out of nowhere I was completely out of tote bags. I had already made an order the week before- but I had orders I needed done asap. 7 days passed, and the bags still weren't here. Then 8 days.. on the 9th day I was looking for local places I could drive out to before work to pick them up- But it would have cost me quite a bit... No profit from sales- but my stress would be gone. That I am willing to pay anything for! I guess that might be a sign that I am not a good small business manager with the goal of profits. I really do my best to get orders out, and make sure everyone is happy... But man.. I was left feeling like I did something wrong. I thought I ordered the bags with plenty of extra time- 9 days is unreal for a package. It finally showed up while I was at work- by the time I left work- I was delirious. I couldn't handle the simplest of tasks. I didn't know what was wrong with me. I ran home- thinking it might be that I just can't get my mind off of all of the orders I have to do. Only to wake up in the morning with cold & flu symptoms. I have been working my butt off all week non stop- day job to printing and shipping night and day. Which does not help me get better. I had plans this weekend which got cancelled because of all of this. The funny part is I am the only person I work with that is a religious organic eater. I preach organic- as if it were a religion to anyone who will listen, and I am getting teased at work. I always say I have a superior immune system. I am not entirely full of toxins like other people.. Now I am the "sick organic girl"! Ugh if only I could brag about my shop and all of the extra money and stress I have now. : P

Today's inspiration is the store Terrain! They are located near Philadelphia, and extremely dreamy. I love the photography captured by Parker Fitzgerald. Terrain carries anything home & garden to jewelry and accessories. They also host special events in their restored antique greenhouse, lodge, and terrace, and since we are winding down our summer and everyone is looking for that last summer getaway- Check out their "Campfire Checklist" - here. I hope I spread some inspiration your way, and I apologize as usual for the irregular posts. My last trip- We stayed in a cabin next to the river where we laid out in the sun and relaxed (wonderful)- I forgot my memory card at home! otherwise I would have documented the adventure for you.. : / I can't seem to win lately.