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Tuesday, July 12, 2011

July is a crazy busy month!

I haven't gotten any new cloths since this whole thing started. I get so frustrated because I love shopping... but I lie because our family went on a mini vacation back to the place where Mike and I met, the place where Jared was born- Spokane!!! When we were there we got a couple of shirts and yes they were all made in the U.S.A... I'm proud of that, so super proud of that!

A lot of things have happened this month and are going to be happening this month. On July 13th it will be Mike and I's 10 year anniversary of our first date. Can you believe that? I can't, seriously where has the time gone? Our first date I can still remember everything that happened that day. I remember what I wore, what we did. It's amazing to me that was the first day of forever.

July 14th will be Jared's 9th birthday. My son is going to be 9 years old, that in itself is throwing me through a loop. Honestly I cannot believe how fast these 9 years have gone with my son. It is amazing and it is sad. He is the most handsome boy I've ever met. He is sweet, he is gentle. He has the biggest most amazing heart of anyone and I've never been prouder of my boy! But I must say time really needs to slow down a bit. It's hard for me to catch up to all that's going on, but then I wouldn't change it for a minuet. Weird how that works out huh?

I hope that every one's July has been wonderful, more updates to come!

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

What an adventure.

So this is hard I must admit. I've wanted to call it quits and just run to my favorite stores and by a new shirt or something... but there is just something about it that doesn't allow me to. Maybe it's my annoying husband. But honestly this is so much harder than I thought. Let me give you an example. (FYI I did link to the web pages)

Cloths- they are almost impossible to find made in the U.S.A... jeans especially. We decided one day to take an adventure. We found a few stores that carried some items that may or may not have things made in the U.S... so away we went to the Tacoma Mall. Our first stop was Buckle . Mike did some research and found that they do carry some brands that are made here. But what we found is that the Jeans you can only get online but they do have some shirts that are cute but a little pricey... Does price matter when there is a reason behind your madness? Our next stop was Nordstroms . We found a few more items that were made here however one pair of jeans were almost $400 (YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME?)... Mike found a pair of 7 For All Man Kind on clearance and he got a pair. However he did not read the whole tag and the fabric was imported from Mexico and assembled in U.S.A (close enough). He didn't realize it until after and we had a discussion that this would be ok because we are finding more and more that jeans are almost none existent here. I however found some Hudson Jeans . But I plan on losing some weight before I buy some of these jeans!

So it's a very slow and long process in finding things (especially cloths) made here in the U.S.A.. But we are determined to do this; to pass this onto our children; to pass this onto others so that maybe just maybe we can make a small difference in the bigger picture of things.

Friday, June 17, 2011

So ya umm...

I'm so bad at blogging lately. So much going on and so much keeping me from being able to focus on a blog.

Garage sale UPDATE. We had it and we survived! We made some money, we made off pretty good. The hard part has been trying to find things to replace it with. Plus I still have a garage full of stuff I need to get rid of. Some big things I have to try to sell but the rest I'm just gonna take to the goodwill. We have noticed that will all this stuff gone we don't really miss it, that's good!

My husband is amazing when it comes to research and we've found some places we can get furniture. If ever we aren't sure he'll email the company and find out. We will probably utilize EBay to get a lot of our cloths (cloths is becoming almost impossible to find made in the U.S.A). This really has been an adventure and it's going to continue to be one. I find myself more and more frustrated as I turn the tag over and find where it is NOT made. But I'm gonna keep faith and hopefully help you all in this adventure if you dare try. I do have pictures to post but as of right now I have not downloaded them to my computer (super fail)...

Any questions out there???

Friday, June 10, 2011

1 more day until...

So tomorrow is the day we try to sell all our non American made products. I'll admit that I've had a hard time deciding what to get rid of because I find myself oddly attached to them. (Oh that one fits so perfectly on the wall, that I got on clearance when we first bought our house.) Oh Oh OH... but Mike will remind me and I've reminded myself that these are just items they are not what makes our house a home. We are doing this for a reason and a reason that is good, to keep jobs in the U.S.A. So as attached as I find myself I have to take a step back and remember this is for a greater good, something that I can teach my children.

I feel good in the fact that we are going to be living lighter. I mean who really who needs a house full of stuff? My garage is FULL of stuff that honestly not being in my house doesn't make my house seem any less my house, just less cluttered. So the things I try to find and fill my house with I will love and I'll be proud that I kept one more person employed here in the good ole U.S.A. I'm gonna try and take a ton of pictures tomorrow of our adventure and I'll post how it all worked out and then show you what we replaced it with. We also have a few more things in the works as far as educating others in this adventure. I appreciate all my readers and hope that we can show you how all this can be done. Please if there are any questions post away and I'll answer them the best I can. Thank you!!!

Monday, June 6, 2011

American made...

So I think that my blog is going to be changing. I think I'm going to document our families adventure of changing our lives and changing our life style. We are on a mission to buy only American made products. I'm going to try and use this blog as a way to help educate others and show you that it to can be done.

So if that didn't explain what we are doing... My husband has been doing research and getting very passionate about buying only products that are made in the U.S.A... I wasn't completely on board. To be honest after looking at all the labels in my house I was discouraged. Almost everything was made from a completely different country then the place where I live right now. My views on the way I live have been evolving over the past year and this is a huge one for all of us. I've lived in the shadows of not knowing and honestly not caring, it never has effected me. But being naive to what is going on only hurts my children and their future.

I watched a documentary of sorts with Mike and I'll link it later once I figure out where it is and what it was. But it said something in the lines of "If everyone spent $66 a YEAR that would keep some 200,000 Americans employed!" Umm what??? That's a lot for such a small amount of money. And wouldn't you rather keep our economy growing then depleting?

I'm aware that this adventure is going to be hard but to start it off we have decided we are going to sell all the items in our house that are not American made (almost) and replace it with American made. We might not be able to replace everything but then we'll just live lighter. Because who really needs all this stuff anyway? Garage Sale next weekend and we've cleaned out a bunch of stuff in our home. Yesterday we went out around our town and even traveled to a smaller town about 25 miles out and did a little research. In this one store we found maybe 5 or 6 things that were American made. We also stumbled upon a furniture store that did have some items that were American Made and even Locally made (score)... On top of that we also went to some Antique stores.

I hope you follow along on this adventure and I will start posting on the places we've been to, what we've found. Hopefully I can help you along in your adventure to change your life style...

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Helpless and Heartbroken...

I watched a documentary today... I've been watching them a lot. This one was called 'The Devil Came on Horseback'... This was about what is going on in Darfur.

I don't know why (well I do know why) I hide myself away so much from what is going on in the world. But I do know why... Things effect me very very very much. I get crazy scared feelings of bad things happening, it cripples me and I'm scared for me and my family. So I tend to take steps away from the news and the things that go on to protect my thoughts and to "protect me". I am not sure why I've gotten so into these documentaries. I've watched a lot about Iraq and the wars going on there, I've watch them on our Government, I've watched them about the food we eat. And can I just say right now that...

WE LIVE IN A VERY F'D UP WORLD! I am so sick to my stomach from the things I've been learning and the things I've seen and I am scared to my core about where this is all heading. Maybe I need to reassess where I am at in my life, maybe the things I learned in church needs to be back into my current life now. I remember when I was a junior in high school I went on a mission trip to Mexico and dug poop ditches for the people in this small town and helped build a youth church... and I played games with the little kids in Mexico. I saw a part of the world I hadn't and I was a part of it for such a small time, but those images and those people still are in my thoughts on a constant basis.

Watching the one on Darfur reminds me of the things I learned in school and a report I did on Rwanda... I wish I had the right words to describe the movie, or to describe my thoughts now. But I pray with all my soul and all my heart and all my being that my son and daughter do not ever have to see or deal with any of this... I know they will but I wish this world could offer more than these horrid images and these horrid things in this life.

It makes me thankful for ALL the things I have in my life and all the things I take for granted. It makes me thank my ever loving lucky stars that I can (for the most part) be free and safe and warm and not hungry! Yes I have struggles and a lot of us do... but really in comparison to what the people in Darfur are going through, the people in Iraq... the people EVERY WHERE. My heart is so broken for the families that get killed and the innocent children that get killed, burned, shot, beaten, raped. I mean seriously babies, children... women, men. The sicker thought on this is that it's another human that is doing this to these people, AND FOR WHAT- WHAT? The color of their skin, their religion... SERIOUSLY WHAT? I wish with all I have that me one person could do enough in this world to rid some of this stuff, I wish I could do something... I feel I have to do something, I need to do something. But watching these documentaries I get angry because I have no idea how to do anything, I don't know where to begin... and I'm angry that people even let this continue. I have often caught myself saying- "Why is it the USA's responsibility to help!" Why can't they just figure it out themselves, why do we have to send our troops our loved ones to help such a messed up place?... But I take it back, if we can we should because babies are dying... little kids, moms and dads. It's not just the 'bad' people that are getting taken out, it's not just the bad versus the good, the president versus the military (whatever)... it's INNOCENT people trying to live their lives like you and I...

I am at such a loss with this, I feel like this blog is going no where... but I am so broken and hurt at this moment that I wish wish wish I could do something. For now I'll go cry and pray for those babies, those babies that could be our babies... those children that want nothing more in this world than to grow up and live the life they deserve... because EVERYONE DESERVES TO LIVE THE LIFE THEY WERE MEANT TO LIVE!!!

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Interesting...

I just noticed on blogger that it tracks how many people view my blog and where abouts... most people are from America... but some are from Denmark, and a few other places. Here's what I would like to know. If so many people are reading my blog, why not leave a comment or two? I'd love to hear from my readers and I'd love input.

I thank you all for reading hopefully it's worth the read!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Learning...

I don't know why but I've been watching a lot of documentaries lately. Mike had me watch one the other night called- Capitalism- A love story. After watching said show I came to the conclusion that I am very naive when it comes to the Government and the things that go on in our world. There are several reasons for this. One I didn't think it really mattered, that whatever was happening wouldn't effect me. Second when I did learn these things or saw things like Hurricane Katrina etc... I go into a panic and I totally freak out and think the worse things possible. Sometimes I've thought that having kids was a mistake because they have the possibility of going through something as horrific as some of the other children in this world.

Don't judge me for taking this way of thinking. I really don't know any other way. It's hard not to turn the other way when I honestly feel like there isn't a lot me myself and I can do to change any of this. I'm only one person and if I got a few people on board there would be maybe 10 people. 10 people can't make the sort of changes that need to happen in America. But I've NEVER voted and for that I'm ashamed. But again my one vote really would it change anything? Some of you think yes, some of you think no and me well I don't know. I've been watching things and learning things and I've been wishing that things weren't so messed up in this world. It is insane the things that happen behind closed doors in the government. I honestly recommend ANYONE that reads my blog (is there anyone out there that actually reads my blogs? Hey Jo thanks for reading!) to watch Capitalism- A love story.

I've also watched a few documentaries on the war we have going on in Iraq... I just wanted to take this second to thank every single one of you who have fought, who are fighting and who have died fighting for our country... for me, for my children. Whether the war is right, whether it is wrong you are there you are fighting and for you I am FOREVER thankful!!!

So I've begun thinking... What can I do for America, for our people... what can you do?

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Valentines day...

My son does not get to celebrate Valentines day at school... they have changed it to "Friendship Day"...

My only point with this is ARE YOU SERIOUS? What would be the reason for that change. It's not a religious holiday...

So tell me did your schools change Valentines day for you guys?

I honestly think it's nuts and I don't get it and I don't like it.!