Once you know.....

As you know we are working our way towards a 'green' lifestyle

Once you learn a little about the damage that the everyday household products and foods are causing, it's tough to ignore it and going on using those products. So you learn a little, you change a little, you learn a little more and you change a little more. Along the way you are possibly stopping the cause of something as major as heart disease or as minor as peanut allergies by tossing out that bottle of Windex and using straight ole vinegar. You are making sure the polar bears have icebergs to swim to and slowing their extinction by simply turning off the light in a room you are not in. These are simple things that make a big difference.

The more simple things I learn, the more difficult things I learn too.

The difficult stuff is the meats you get in the store. I won't even begin to tell you how horrific that stuff is, you can investigate that on your own(the book The Omnivore's Dilemma is a great place to start) and no...ignorance doesn't make it any less true. But here is one very minor reason (which should suggest how bad the rest is) why we now get our meats from local farmers. (http://www.meat.org/) The local farms are easy to find, just google farms in your area. It's pretty cool to get to meet the people behind the food you will eat and actually know where your food came from.

So...then next reasonable conclusions is, 'why not have our own farm?!'

Well, I do understand that we live on a very small piece of land and a farm really isn't an option...

But our own eggs are totally an option!!!!! Actually they are an option even on pretty dang small a pieces of land.

I will now introduce you to our source of 100% cruelty free, natural, farm fresh eggs!

I am SOOOOOOO EXCITED!

I have read every book the library has on chickens...selecting the breeds to get (I chose Ameraucana, Speckled Sussex, Rhoad Island Red, and Barred Rock if you wanna know!) the space needed, the number of eggs to expect and coop designers (thank goodness for my handy dandy contractor hubby who will help me build it!)

Aren't they sooo cute?! (sorry for the red glow...that's their heat lamp!)

Spring is Coming!!!!

Don't you love it when you get a couple sunny days and all of a sudden there is that glimmer of hope that cold, short days are going to be gone soon?! I sure do!

As you know, we are really focused on the non-chemical way of doing things and that includes not only our household items (you know you all loved the detergent I made you!) but also our foods and our environment!

In an effort to start our garden out on a 'green' foot it was time to get rid of those weeds without those chemicals that cause 'who knows what'

I found this fantastic suggestion as a way to get rid of those pesky weeds and love the environment too! TORCH 'EM!

Yep- this definitely does the trick...faster than a spray bottle full of chemicals I might add! And I think Ken kinda liked doing it this way too...so that's another bonus!

While he did that, I got some of our vegies started!

The squash proved to be super ambitious. It was sprouted and pushing up the lid of the tray in two days! WOW! Some of the tomatoes are racing to keep up :)

Can't wait to be able to get them into the ground!

Big D's 16th Birthday

It is hard to believe 16 years have gone by since my little nephew was born!

I remember exactly where I was that day....aaaahhhhh

Well that little guy has grow into a fantastic young man and the family cruised over to Eastern Washington to help celebrate!

There was bowling...but we had to keep score ourselves because this place was a little behind the times

There was some pool

And of course the gift of cash for a guy saving up for his first car!

Then it was back to the house to stuff ourselves full of Tacos...a family tradition!

And stuffed we were....then it was time to hit the road and head on home.

A big thank you to Mr Ken for driving and hanging in there while us three girls chatted our girl talk

Big Ken's 60th Birthday

Kreutzer family and friends gathered together to suprise Big Ken for his 60th birthday. Boy was he suprised! He thought he was walking into a regular poker game with the guys....but he walked into this ......
A house full of long time friends and family.

Then the party got going....everyone's gifts were monetary so he could buy his way into the next World Series of Poker this year.

Money tucked into a G-String

Cash gift wrapping

And a big ole 60th piñata stuffed with cash!!!!

It was a great time :)

A voice for the animals

On Thursday, February 12th 2009 I did something great. I joined in for the HSUS Lobby day to be a voice for animals and it was FANTASTIC!

The current bills up for vote that we were there to get support for included, the issue near and dear to my heart, ending puppymills, ending animal abuse by not allowing a charged animal cruelty felon to posses another similar animal, upholding trapping restrictions and finally helping fund spay and nueter programs for those who cannot afford it.

The whole thing sounds far more intimidating that it actually was!!!! The way you 'lobby' is by simply finding out who your Senate and Legislative reps are and go knock on their door. Seriously, you and I can knock on their door.....not only can we, but they want us to!!!!! They want to know what you-their constituents-think. You can do this by knocking on their door, sending them an e-mail or giving them a call. Seriously, YOU can make a difference by speaking your mind. WOW!!!!

So I walked my hiney to my representatives' doors and I let them know that I would like them to support the bill to end puppy mills in Washington!

Even though I donate to so many animal charities I can't even count, I now feel like I have actually done something proactive to help the critters. I also learned that sending an e-mail regularly about the issues that concern me can make a difference.

If you have a cause near and dear to your heart, I urge you to contact your representatives! It's pretty cool to help make a difference!