Dress Shirt Shirt Dress

It's a shirt dress!  Made out of a dress shirt!  The dress shirt was a large long sleeve men's shirt on its last legs at Goodwill (its tag color was the 50% off color this week), so I made this for $4.  It's hard to see it, but it has little white, dark blue, and light blue stripes.  I got the idea from here; however, I pretty much just changed things around to suit me.  I wanted a tie in the back and thicker straps/sleeves, so I did that.  I also found that adding darts in the back added a nice touch and kept it from poofing too much.  FUN!

I Heart Produce Bags

This is my latest, greatest version of a reusable produce bag.  While I have made a number of drawstring bags, I like this style because it is easier to see the produce inside of the bag.  It is also very fast to make thanks to the fabulous properties of knit shirts.  I made this out of scraps of a shirt, and it took about 10-15 minutes.

Here are the instructions.  It's a very forgiving process.  Enjoy upcycling your worn out shirts into produce bags! :)

That's Garbage!

I don't think I have talked about how we deal with our waste, so I decided to do a post sharing what we've been doing in that area.  We have done a drastic reduction of waste this past year by changing how we purchase food.  Almost everything that we buy now comes from the bulk section or the produce section in the co-op.  We use cloth bags or reused containers to put our food in, which causes us to have virtually no waste from food.  I also learned that Allied Waste takes plastic film/bags for recycling, so I keep a bag of those under the sink to keep them out of the landfill.  (Note:  As I have mentioned before, plastic recycling isn't that great, and there isn't necessarily even a market for soft plastics right now, so recycling is not a sufficient reason for us to continue being OK with using more soft plastics.)  Looking through the soft plastics bag, I see that we primarily have cheese wrappers and cereal bags from the giant bags of cereal that we still buy at Winco.  While we both eat bulk oatmeal half of the week, and I have started making quick breads and scones for myself, Matthew still eats a few bowls of cold cereal each week, so we generate about one to two big bags per month.  I'd still like to figure out another way for him to get his cold cereal cravings satisfied without Winco cold cereal, and I'll probably work on that over this summer.  With all of these changes, I have found that our waste is now primarily fruit peels and vegetable trimmings.

I came to the realization months ago that buying a plastic bag whose sole purpose is to hold stuff that will be thrown away seems silly to me.  So I stopped using plastic bags.  Enter in this solution:

 For months, we have been using this milk jug for almost all of our waste.  We take it out every few days and empty it into the apartment's dumpster which is actually good because it never gives banana peels and cantalope seeds a chance to smell terribly gross.  However, the plastic has gradually absorbed odors and become pretty gross even with regular rinsings and washings, so we bought this stainless steel container that I found used:

 It should be a lot easier to keep clean!

While I have been speaking about garbage waste, I also want to talk about recycling waste.  This is another area that we have drastically reduced in the past year.  A couple of years ago, I found a container to put our recycling in that holds about as much as a paper bag from the store would.  Until a year ago, we would empty a full container every week.  These days, we take out our recycling maybe once a month, and a lot of that has been because we've been cleaning out school papers, so I am looking forward to seeing what happens now that we are done with school!

Our co-op does a couple of really cool things that can help people reuse instead of recycle.  For one thing, all of the plastic containers used for dairy products like yogurt, cream cheese, and cottage cheese can be reused in the bulk department.  Not only can you bring in your own to reuse, but they also accept containers that they will sterilize and make available in the store.  They even allow you to tare the container so that you don't pay for the container's weight.  Matthew and I try to avoid buying new plastic containers, but we currently buy one container of cottage cheese each month and two containers of cream cheese.   (I'm interested in learning how to make these things as well, but that has not been one of the things that I have done yet!)  It's nice to know that we, or somebody else, can reuse the containers, though.

Another cool thing that the co-op offers is milk in merlons.  This particular merlon is from Lochmead Farms in Junction City.  There is a refundable deposit on the bottle, and the co-op recollects the bottles and sends them back to the farm where they clean them and refill them with milk.  Pretty nifty!

So, that is where we are at right now.  In the near future, I hope to continue to reduce our use of new plastics.  I also hope to build a worm bin to turn our food waste into wonderful compost.  Fruit peels certainly aren't bad for the planet.  However, unfortunately, waste that goes to the landfill doesn't have a chance to get in the dirt and break down properly, so it instead rots and emits a lot of methane which is a greenhouse gas.  Since this is the case, it would be good if we could give our waste a chance to do its thing and turn into a lovely dirt.  I've looked it up, and it looks like a simple thing to build and maintain, but we might be moving soon, so I'm waiting until we have our next place!

Hey... I don't know everything... I care about stuff. Oh, and I love you.

Warning:  Rambly post to encompass large amounts of rambly thoughts.

Recently I have become aware that I might perhaps cause people to feel guilty or feel judged by me when I talk about some of my beliefs, so I wanted to write a post that addresses these issues.  To start off, it literally makes me shake when I consider causing people ill-feelings.  My adrenal glands go overtime.  My heart rate increases, my blood pressure rises, and I perhaps might find it difficult to fall asleep that evening.  I don't enjoy confrontations, and I absolutely hate making people feel bad.

I used to avoid these feelings by avoiding expressing my opinions on controversial subjects.  In the past, I would (with great amounts of effort and anxiety) express opinions and beliefs about God because the good evangelical Christian in me felt like it was my duty.  I've mentioned before that I think that these encounters were probably largely ineffective because they were done out of the wrong motives and in an awkward manner.  I generally avoided conversations about politics (although I of course knew that my political opinions were the righteous ones!) because I justified political uninvolvement by claiming that it was futile anyway and God was in charge.

Of course, to add to the ridiculousness of my beliefs, in the last year I became part of a new group known for its judgmentalism: environmentalists!  Now, no matter what you do, it's pretty likely that one facet of my beliefs will allow me to judge you.  Bahahahaha!

The fact that I am a prideful person in general made it really easy to judge people in the past.  Fortunately, God didn't like that version of me very much, and he allowed me to learn a very important lesson a few years ago.  I learned that I don't know everything, don't understand everything, and don't have everything figured out.  That alone was enough to make me tolerable when I talked about my beliefs to people who didn't agree with me.  And my friends will tell you that they know I do believe things.  I'm not wishy-washy, and I don't hide things.  I think that I just finally learned how to relate to people (and maybe how to love them?).

In the past year, I have learned a lot about the environment, and you might see me developing opinions.  Some of them are strong.  It's true.  I do get frustrated at how systems work.  I get frustrated at apathy and brokeness.  I feel anxiety about the world that we will hand to our children.  I am concerned about quality of living for all of earth's citizens.

But I am not mad at you.  I may sometimes wish you did something differently.  I might believe that there is a better way to do some things.  But I make a huge effort to care about you over any ideas or anything else running through my mind.  Just getting that out there.

So why do I continue to write if I know that it might cause people to feel guilty or feel judged?  Because I feel passionately, and I am compelled to share what I am learning and experiencing.  I could hold it in and discuss it only with people that I carefully test out to see if they agree with me, and that would probably be a lot more comfortable for me. However, that wouldn't allow me to share myself fully with many people, and I think that I probably have something to offer to the people who are around me.  (Similarly, I believe you all offer things to me!  And thanks!)  Additionally, I feel like God is asking me to use my words to take a stand for challenging issues so that people will perhaps think about them.  I love it when people think (and even act) meaningfully about God, society, culture, the earth, consumerism, money, the poor in our world, our place on earth, justice, and other hugely complicated subjects.  While I'm certain that I bring attention to these topics, I only hope that I bring something meaningful and significant to the table when I speak.

I also want to make clear that I still understand that I don't know everything.  I don't.  I'm trying to figure things out, and you can even watch me do that through this blog.  If I didn't believe something passionately, I wouldn't make a fuss; however, I understand that you might come to a different conclusion or that even the same conclusion might bring different results in your life.

So, yes.  I care about things a lot.  I want to live the best life I can doing as much good for as many people as I am asked to by God.  I'm not always good at it, but it is what I want.  My blog is the place that I use to share what I am learning about, thinking about, and creating beliefs about.  Even if you find out that we disagree about things, it doesn't mean that I will focus on disliking you when I watch you act differently than I would.  I don't write to cause guilt, but I will be joyful if I can cause meaningful thoughts or changes in a life.  And hey... I don't know everything... I care about stuff.  Oh, and I love you.

More food adventures

I discovered fava beans today at the Farmers' Markets.  Who can say no to an adventure with giant, five or six inch long beans?  Not I!  We ate them with lunch today after sauteing them in olive oil with a clove of garlic.  While it didn't become an immediate favorite, it was certainly good!  Eating a ginormous bean has an element of fun, too!

What Makes Me Happy About the US

After writing a post about some of the large failures of our country and its people, I decided that I should also give a list of what I think that the US is doing more or less correctly!

• We are a fairly friendly people, I think!  In general, I feel like we have pleasant interactions with each other, and it's alright to crack a joke with a stranger.
• We have a stable government so that there is relatively little chance of winding up with a crazy dictator.
• Our government is set up in a way that tries to allow everybody to be involved.
• We have economic, industrial, educational, health, etc. systems on which we can build, grow and improve.  They may not be that great now, but it's not at all unfathomable to see it get better.
• For those who can get it, we do have good health care.
• We are free to express ourselves.  I can write and speak about my spiritual and political beliefs without worrying about being oppressed or persecuted.
• We are ALL free to express ourselves.  No matter what religion or belief system!  This is so important to me that I thought I would mention it twice.

There you have it.  I'm not all doom and gloom about our nation!  Now let's just build upon our strengths and not ignore our weaknesses.

What Disappoints Me About the Republican Party... and the US in general

First of all, if you consider yourself a Republican, please do not consider this a personal attack.  I am not thinking of individual people when I write about the Republican party.  Rather, I am addressing what I think I have seen the party as a whole doing during my lifetime because this is how I can take part in our democracy!

Let's start with some common ground.  The Republican party stands against abortion.  I prefer to think that the party is genuinely interested in the mothers health and well-being and the potential life of the unborn.  I absolutely agree that it is sad that our society has become so casual about human life, and with about 0.8 million abortions each year in the US (according to Wikipedia), we must realize that it certainly has gone beyond cases of rape, incest, and medical emergency.

So, well done Republican party for taking a stand for the health and well-being of humankind and for the value of life.

Except I'm not buying it.  Why?  Because it appears that once that infant is born the mercy, compassion, and fight for justice within our government is gone.  Where is the mercy when bullying to make sure that tax breaks for the rich continue while programs for the poor and for the environment are forced to be cut?  Where is the compassion when the Republican party refuses to cut our defense budget and in fact increases it while our nation is in desperate need of progress in education, workers' rights reform, environmental and energy reform, increase food safety, better availability of health care to the poor, and a ream of other problems?  Where is the fight for justice as the Republican party deregulates and fights laws that protect workers, help unions, aid the poor, protect the land, and limits the crushing hand of corporations?

I don't see it.  I don't see mercy, compassion or a fight for justice, and it makes the Republican party's fight against abortion seem weak.  I think it is weak because this party doesn't seem to mind making laws and budget cuts... as long as it doesn't limit themselves or cause themselves to make a sacrifice.  Despite being the party that is supposed to be standing for God and morality, I don't see this because I do not see compassion, mercy, a passion for justice, or humility.

This is not just the Republican party's issue though.  It is our country's issue.  Why do we throw away about 14% of our food instead of taking the time to plan properly and store leftovers in the fridge or freezer properly so that we can give that money to the hungry?  Why do we demand increasingly larger homes that we fill with more and more stuff?  Why do we ignore the fact that the "Made in China" sticker often means that people in unsafe factories are working long hours, possibly with dangerous chemicals, to provide us with our "new toys"?  Why do we only have vague understandings about where our products come from, what they are made out of, where they go after we finish using them, and the total cost to the environment and humanity when we are living in a consumerist culture where these products are a huge part of our lives?

This is why I'm disappointed.

It's not that I can't see a good Republican party that fights for mercy, justice, and compassion for the unborn... and the already born.  I can.  I can see it fighting for the rights of all people.  I can see it working with the free market while admitting that the free market alone has its problems that need to be addressed.

It's not that I can't see more American people becoming concerned with the world around them.  I can.  I can see people using the Internet to become more aware about the products that they buy.  I can see people buying less and using fewer of the resources that we should be sharing with the rest of the world.  I can see people valuing time over money, others' needs over their "rights", and giving up an irresponsible amount of convenience.

I believe in this change that will lead to more fulfilling, less guilt-ridden, morally responsible lifestyles, but I think that we have to be honest with ourselves to get it.  I think that a lot of you readers may have read this and thought, "I'm on the good side!  I'm doing my part!  I'm doing the best I can!"  But are you?  As I grew into an adult, I became aware of the issues that my lifestyle came with, and at first I said the same thing.  Now I know that I wasn't doing my part.  I still wanted all the stuff that the shelves of the store offered.  I wanted to be able to drive wherever I felt like going.  I wanted to enjoy the conveniences of our plastic-wrapped world. I wasn't able to do my part until I realized that I wasn't doing my best.  Only then was I able to choose to daily do better.

Strawberries!

Here are about 23 pounds of strawberries! In the last couple of weeks, I kept looking for announcements for U-pick strawberries. We got these berries at Fairfield Farms in Corvallis. It is an organic farm, so when we were told to eat as many as we wanted while we picked, we happily obliged.

One reason that we pick so many strawberries is FREEZER JAM!  Yum!!!  This should hopefully last us all year.  We have been eating more peanut butter and jelly now that we don't have lunch meat on the menu.  If you are interested in making jam, I recommend looking for Pomona's pectin because it doesn't require the ridiculous amount of sugar that other brands do.  This amount of jam took us 2.25 cups of sugar.




Another reason that we pick so many strawberries is to freeze them.  We will eat them in smoothies all summer, and then we'll enjoy them on granola, cereal, etc. during the winter.

Of course, we also pick strawberries to just eat them!  Here's a bowl of oatmeal topped with plain yogurt, bananas and strawberries.

So there you have it.  An adventure in life resulting in pure deliciousness, and it's so satisfying to have supported a local farmer!  Yay for strawberries!

Crocheted Stars

Crocheted stars make me happy...   Especially when they are made into a garland.  I just love a good garland.

Call me a hippie...

... because I've got me some Birkenstocks!

About these shoes... My black sandals that I've worn the last few years are about to fall apart any minute.  I wanted to buy good quality shoes that I can wear with jeans, shorts, skirts and dresses.  I'm trying to do better about the excess in my wardrobe and collection of shoes.  While these shoes aren't the standard "dress sandals", they will work for me.  Also, I have only heard good things about the quality of Birkenstocks which makes me really happy.  From what I've read about the company, they also tend to be fairly conscious of the environment and minimizing waste.  Yay!

That all being said, let's return to the title, "Call me a hippie..."  A few times in the last year we've had people incredulously asking us, "You're not becoming a hippie, are you?"  Golly gee!  If caring about our planet, rejecting materialism, becoming passionate about social issues, and changing your lifestyle to reflect these values makes you a hippie, then yes, we will happily be hippies!  Reusable-bag-toting, tofu-eating, co-op-owning, waste-avoiding, tree-hugging, birkies-wearing hippies!

There.  It's off my chest. :)

Peace.

Money and the word "no"

My parents said "no" to me when I was growing up.  I don't just mean that they said "no" while I was trying to put my hand on a hot burner, while I was punching my brother, or while I was acting like a brat.  Although they did that too, thank goodness.  I'm talking about them saying "no" to me when I wanted them to pay for everything I wanted.

As far back as I can remember, my parents told me that someday I would be responsible for paying for my college education.  Also as far back as I can remember, my parents required both my brother and myself to put half of all of the money we got for allowance, gifts, or work into a separate bank account that was not to be touched until after high school.

Half?!?  <--- That might be what you are thinking.  Yes, half.  It might seem excessive to some, but when you think about it, it's not so bad.  My parents supplied me with my basic needs like food and clothing, and I got more toys and stuff than I needed for birthdays and Christmas.  When I was very young, I think I probably spent most of my small allowance on silly things that probably didn't provide me with lasting pleasure.  As I got closer to nine or ten, I learned how to save money, and I spent most of my allowance on American Girl doll accessories for about four years.  When I got to high school, I spent money on car insurance, piano lessons, clothes (more on that later), and probably some other things that I don't even remember.

As I got older, the places that my money needed to go changed.  I wanted to be involved in a lot of activities; I was taking piano lessons, doing two sports, doing band, and doing other activities that required money.  What my parents did was set a certain amount of money that they would pay for each thing ("half" was usually the amount, if I remember correctly!), and they would ask me to make up the difference.  They generously paid for gas for me to get to school, but they asked me to pay for insurance.  They would pay up to a certain amount for different items of clothing, and if I wanted more expensive clothing, I would pay the rest.

Did I like these policies as a teenager?  Absolutely not.  I remember that it caused me some amount of stress as I saw my spending money draining away.  A lot of my friends' parents paid for all of their activities (as far as I could tell, at least), and I was frustrated about how much they had and could buy while I was struggling to  pay for my piano lessons and track fees.

This sounds like real life though, right?  Sometimes you can't have all that you want and dream to have.  You certainly should live within your budget.  People have to prioritize to make ends meet.  I chose to stay in all of my activities, but I didn't have all of the awesome clothing and stuff that some of my peers had.

Am I glad that my parents took the time to teach me this?  Absolutely.  Of course, part of the reason that they did this was because their funds were not infinite either, and I grudgingly recognized that back then, too.  However, they could have gone into debt or worked two full-time jobs and had less time to spend with us kids so that their teenage daughter would stop whining and crying.  Although, I probably would have still whined.  Let's be honest; we always want more.

As I headed into college, I was truly prepared to be in charge of my own finances.  I worked hard in high school and college and was blessed by having scholarships and a job over each summer that always seemed to just cover my schooling expenses and basic needs (housing, food, etc.).  However, part of the reason that I could always make ends meet was because I was careful and frugal with my spending.  This is not to say that I wasn't happy and enjoying myself.  I honestly was.  I just tended to choose used clothing and inexpensive/free activities during my free time.

And, in fact, Matthew and I are leaving six years of schooling with three Bachelor's degrees and two Master's degrees with absolutely no debt and, in fact, a small amount of savings.  This isn't something I say out of pride because I recognize that we were blessed to receive scholarships, jobs, and internships that helped us through.  However, I mention it because I think it's worth knowing that it can be done.

So, my parents said "no" to me, and it has given me the ability to manage my finances wisely and intentionally. Thanks, Parents!  As I look forward to having my own kids, I realize that I hope to do something very similar with them.  I am hoping that I can somehow quell my child's anxiety about having less than others.  I was bitter about this as I grew up, and I think that this aspect of "having less" is avoidable.  My current thought is that we'll work from day one to help our children be grateful always for everything that they have.  I will exclaim about how amazing it is that water comes out of a faucet!  I will go through their closets and show them how they have all they need!  We will thank God before every meal for the fact that our food is abundant and delicious!  I want to teach them about people throughout the world and show them how well-off we are even as we live simply and (hopefully) without excess.  Then, as my little ones grow into teenagers, I hope that they will carry these ideas with them as they evaluate their lives and compare their lives to their peers'.

I don't know how this will all work out, but I pray that my children will learn to use their resources wisely and be grateful for blessings.  And I am grateful that my parents said "no" so that I can be the adult that I am today.

What Hank has to say

I'm not a huge YouTube person; however, I do regularly watch a video blog done by a couple of brothers who are very thoughtful and interesting people.  In a video here, one of the two brothers spends most of the video talking about what it means to be a good person and how he can't consider himself to be one.  I think that he really hits on the complexity of our lives and how it affects our ability to be good or see ourselves as good.

If you haven't watched the video, you should.  Go watch it!

Now that you've watched it, you'll know that the example that he used was eating meat.  He makes the claim that choosing to eat the meat that is most commonly produced it in our country (there are exceptions like grass-fed beef from a small farm) means that you are making a choice to be "a bad person."  I think that it is bold of him to make things so clearly black-and-white.  I think that it is, or at least should be, difficult to argue with most of what he says though.  If you look at our meat industry, you find that animals are horribly mistreated, workers are paid poorly and are given unnecessarily dangerous conditions, energy and water is inefficiently used to produce the meat, and, to top it off, if we didn't eat so high on the food chain we could produce way more food for people who need it.

What you eat is certainly a personal choice, but as Hank does in his video, I encourage you to think about what you eat and learn about where what you eat comes from.  What Matthew and I have done is cut our meat consumption to about half a pound of meat each per month.  We buy our meat from the co-op because they choose meat sources that treat animals and people ethically.  Like Hank, we also find that in social situations it is sometimes necessary to eat meat out of respect and consideration of others.  I do feel better knowing that I am choosing my food based on my ethics and values because I try to live out every aspect of my life this way.

So, there you go!  More to think about!  Please leave comments if you have thoughts or questions!

I'm now Sunny Side Upcycle on Etsy!

You may have noticed that I like making things.  Like whales.  I like to make whales.  The thing is, I like making more things than I can use.  I have given some things away, too, but there is always more to make.  So I finally took the plunge.  I opened an Etsy shop.  I feel my self-confidence waning as I offer my crafts to the world's scrutiny.  However, I hope that people enjoy what I do, and I will be happy if my scraps can become someone's treasure.

If you are curious, you may visit my little shop here.  More items should be coming in the future, but I have put up my inaugural whale!