I can use blogger on my phone!

Here's a little peak at my life.

Changes, always changes.

I haven’t blogged in a long, long time. So much has happened. I feel like I’ve grown and changed so much. But really, when I look back at my life, since about the age of 15 every single year has been huge and full of adventures and changes and challenges. I keep thinking it’s about to slow down, but it doesn’t. And really, I’m not sure I want it to!

One obvious change has been the addition of Maverick Blaze to our family. His birth was an amazing and transformative event for me, but we can talk about that later. Both Dustin and I continue to grow and learn as parents. Recently we’ve been reading/watching “Unconditional Parenting” by Alfie Kohn and that is wonderful.

We’ve also spent an insane amount of energy trying to buy our stupid house. You can probably tell by my adjective choice that I am completely fed up with it.

So here I sit, just getting used to the last set of changes, ready for more! We have a lot of decisions to make here soon, and hopefully we will end up wherever we need to be to have a fun and fulfilling life! Because I know so many of you are dying to know what’s going on with me, I will do my best to keep you apprised. J

Things My 20 Year Old Self Would Have NEVER Said

• I'm planning to encapsulate the placenta next time.
• We make our own toothpaste.
• I don't use shampoo.
• This next baby is going to be born at home.
• I don't drink diet coke.
• Budweiser is a terrible beer.
• Are those potatoes organic?
• My toddler is still nursing.
• I love my body.
• We don't buy canned food.
• I make all our bread.
• I don't have cable TV.
• The kids sleep in our room with us.
• I don't own a subaru.

Our Inner Misogynist

I was having lunch yesterday with one of my oldest and dearest friends. She is someone I would definitely consider a feminist. She seems to be an empowered woman who doesn't buy into stereotypes. She is strong and goes after what she wants with a gusto. That's part of why this struck me so much.

We were talking about jealous boyfriends and girlfriends. She said something along the lines of women are just crazy. She quickly added, "That's my inner misogynist talking."

So if she of all people has an inner misogynist, don't we all? And isn't it great that even though it's there, she can recognize it and therefore dismiss it? Wouldn't the first step in getting rid of it in all of us be that we first have to realize it's there and learn to recognize it?

I'm sure most of you women would never think that you hate women. You'd probably say you love women. After all, you are one. But do you really?

Ask yourself, have you ever called another girl a "slut" or a "tease?" Would you stop your son from putting on nail polish or wearing a dress? Do you tolerate being treated with disrespect?

Misogyny is so incredibly rooted in our society that so often, we don't even recognize it. And that is wonderful for all the men who are afraid of women. If we hate ourselves, they don't have to do a damn thing. We will keep ourselves down. Just the other day I read an NPR headline, "Can the first lady of France seduce voters?" Um, what? Are women so pathetically useless that our only contribution is to have people want to have sex with us? Women accept this and berate each other for being too sexy, not sexy enough, making some ridiculous duck face, staying home with our kids, not staying home with our kids, etc.

The answer is not to think that women are better than men. But it is imperative that we realize that the male and female are like the yin and yang. Both must be present and celebrated in order to maintain a balance in society. The female is just as important as the male. Please think about this next time you want to criticize another woman.

The stupid things that get in the way.

It is a beautiful winter morning here. Clear and gorgeous. Something we don't get all that often in February in the Pacific Northwest. And you know the first thing I thought when I woke up this morning?

"Damn groundhog's going to see his shadow. Why can't it be raining?"

What?!

Now, I'm all for the fun of holidays, even ridiculous ones that center around rodents with ridiculous names. But why on earth should that ruin my day? Why would I be anything but grateful for an extra dose of vitamin D?

How often do little things like this ruin what ought to be a good day? (And by "little things like this," I mean you, because it is, after all, all you in there.) It's called being a pessimist. It's called seeing the glass as half empty. And it's no way to live.

I am trying really hard to embrace this mentality. Our house doesn't have a dishwasher. Awesome! I never had to worry about it breaking. I don't have to buy dishwasher soap. Look at all this extra cabinet space I have! The bananas went brown too fast, what a great opportunity to try a new recipe for banana cake! The kids and I are all sick. I'm so glad our immune systems get this great opportunity to gain strength.

With bigger things, it can be a lot harder. But with the little things, there really is no excuse. "Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators and Weather Prophet Extraordinary" should not be affecting my day!

Simplify!

Since the first caveman sharpened a stick to kill a deer, human beings have been trying to make their lives easier through inventions and innovations. Many of these really are wonderful and make us able to lead richer, more fulfilling lives. But none are without a cost.

Let's start with the blanket. What's wrong with a blanket, you ask? Nothing. A blanket is wonderful. It keeps us warm and probably saved a lot of firewood back before heaters. Anyone can make a blanket (though you wouldn't know it now). But think about it. Now the fleas have somewhere to live, so you have to start washing laundry. That's a chore. Also, what happens when you have to move to follow the buffalo? You have to carry all these blankets. You can't carry them by hand, so you need a new cart. You have to invent the wheel and maybe the hatchet. See? Nothing is free.

And look at our lives now. We have so many inventions, all striving to give us more leisure time. And yet, we have very little true leisure time! Sure, we don't spend a lot of time doing actual "work" but we spend plenty of time getting gas, paying bills, washing dishes, buying groceries, etc. Our cars help us travel farther, faster, and more often than ever before, but it can be very stressful worrying about car payments, oil changes, the rising cost of gasoline, and what happens if the car breaks down.

All of the conveniences have also made us incredibly useless and dependent. I found myself thinking the other day that I couldn't havea grapefruit because I don't have one of those little plastic grapefruit cutters. Um, what?! And with cars, if they break down, they are so complicated we are usually unable to fix them ourselves and have so spend huge amounts of money to have other people fix them. We can't even feed our babies without the help of Gerber, or at least a baby food making machine.

So what's my point? We really, really need to think about what we introduce into our lives to make them "easier" or "better." What are the hidden costs? Having a set of pretty china might be nice. It might not be that expensive. But where are you going to keep it? In an expensive china cabinet, that's where. And if you live in a reasonably sized home there probably isn't room for such a cabinet so you're going to have to get a bigger house. Then you're going to have to heat that extra space and clean it everyday. Is that china still worth it?

Here is a short list of things that I think practically nobody needs to own. The only exception would be for people who, because of a certain occupation or something, would actually use this crap all the time.

• Melon baller
• Baby food maker (either feed them regular food, or for goodness sakes, it's called a blender!)
• Automatic can opener
• More than one car per driver
• More clothes than will easily fit in a regular sized closet
• Salad spinner

Sorry if you own any of these things! Who am I to say. Maybe you are one of the few people who actually utilize them to their full potential. If not, maybe spring cleaning should come a little early.

New year, new amazing things to do!

I know it's been awhile since my last blog entry. I've been enjoying the holidays with my family. I think that's a pretty good reason! But now that it's a new year, I think it's a good time for another post.

I'm sure many of you have created some New Year's resolutions for yourself. I am no different. But I think the key is to have some fun resolutions in there. It can't be all drudgery! So here's what I resolve to do next year:

1. Watch less tv!
2. Have a fun family adventure whenever the opportunity arises
3. Eat dinner, all together, at the table, with the tv off! Eating dinner together as a family is actually one of the largest variables in how well adjusted your teenagers end up so I consider this a pretty important one.

I think that's all. You don't want to have too many resolutions and forget the important ones. I'm not going to resolve anything about weight or money. Been there, done that!

So what are your resolutions?