I started this blog on my 35th birthday. Originally, I thought it was going to be something I would take very seriously and that I would be able to commit to posting weekly. Or at the very least, bi-weekly. But as so many things go, my expectations were a little high. There have been a few months where I didn’t even get in a single post. Sigh. . .

As a stay at home parent, what I’m learning is that my kids will always be my priority. And honestly, my kids take a lot out of me. I’ve learned that I also need to prioritize self-care, and that often means down-time for myself. It also means trying to get enough sleep. I told myself that once my kids start sleeping through the night that I would start waking up at 5:00 a.m. so that I could use that time for writing, or exercising, or doing whatever I needed to do that required my focused attention and energy. The problem is, my 17 month old only just had her first stretch of sleeping through the night for more than three days in a row.

Best birthday gift ever! Thank you little Jackie!! (took you long enough, my dear ; ) So here I am at my computer, first thing in the morning getting in some quality writing time. Amen!!!

I went back and reviewed my very first post, so figured I would use that as a benchmark to reflect on my progress in the past year. In that first post, I noted that the point of creating this blog was to document my journey as a parent that is trying to live an eco-friendly, frugal and full life. I have definitely done better in some categories than others. Let’s take a look at frugality first.

On the positive side, nearly all of the clothes I have bought for my children in the past year came from second-hand stores. We shop at Goodwill A LOT, and there are a few other local thrift shops that we frequent quite regularly. In fact, I have ONLY bought second hand clothes for myself in the last year. That includes the dress I wore to my sister’s wedding. Congratulations to me! The problem is, we are still spending a decent amount of money because we are still buying stuff. Somehow I need to figure out how to just buy less. Living more frugally has definitely been one of the biggest challenges for me. Partly because it’s hard to spend less on groceries when you have the competing goal of buying ethically.

I want to buy organic, healthy food for my family, but that all adds up really quickly. I also want to buy local, buy products that use eco-friendly packaging or buy products that are certified cruelty free. But shopping in a way that is best for our planet is really expensive. Again, somehow I have to figure out how to just buy less stuff. Living with less is ultimately one of the main goals I need to continue to work towards. Leading a more minimalist lifestyle. Making due with what we have, or simply making more of our own things rather than buying them. I am hoping that as my garden gets more established we will be able to source a lot of things to eat and be able to make certain household products for ourselves, thereby cutting down on what we buy.

In the last year one of the areas I think I have done well in is in the garden. I have been able to source a lot of free bricks and have added a cute little path into the veggie patch. My husband recently built me two planter boxes that used some wood we got for free from my parents (excess from an old project). We also built a little archway using branches that were taken from a tree that was limbed up at our family cabin. All of these projects were done in the “back 40,” or dedicated ‘food forest’ part of our yard, and it’s pretty exciting seeing that back area start to come together and not look like a messy, neglected area.

The garden and yard have truly become one of the most important aspects of my life and lifestyle. It is, and will continue to be, a classroom for my children. It is a place of beauty and of life. It provides me with comfort and pride, and as I have been reading more and more, working in the garden is a type of therapy for me. There are literally microbes in the soil that are similar to prozac and other medicinal anti-depressants. Having a garden and yard that is inviting and interactive is one of the best ways to get me and my children outside on a regular basis. Raising my kids in an active, outdoor and enriching environment is one of my main goals as a parent. So far, I think I’ve been doing pretty good.

It’s definitely more difficult to do in the winter, but I do make a concerted effort to get the kids out of the house to do some sort of activity at least once a day. When the weather is good, this typically means heading to a park. It’s been really fun discovering all the different parks in our region. I’ll probably need to write a post on that soon . . . When the weather is good this also means getting some time in the yard. One of the things on our list for this year is to create a kids’ play space in our backyard. Will be sure to post about that once it’s done as well!

All in all, this past year has been very challenging due to constant lack of sleep and some feelings of insecurity and insufficiency as a stay at home mom. However, it has also been really amazing seeing the girls grow and has been fun completing many house and yard projects (did I mention we finally got new windows?!) I have read a lot of books on parenting and learned so much from them and am working hard to practice and apply the new skills I read about. I would like to say that I will be writing a lot more in the blog moving forward, but if life gets in the way, then that’s ok. Living my life is more important than writing about it. But I do want to have goals to work towards, and I do want to document my progress here when I can. So here we go:

I want to buy less. I want to meal plan more and waste less food. I want to exercise daily. I want to do more art. I want to get better at the Ukulele. I want to laugh daily with my girls. I want to sleep more soundly. I want to wake up at 5 every day and get something, anything done. I want to learn how to be more patient. I want to give more. I want to make some money. I want to get better at photography. I want to enjoy the small moments and make lots of great memories.