I Promise I Haven't Abandoned Ship

Okay, so a little while ago, I did say I would be updating on a couple of projects I have going (Pioneer and Baby related). I  have updated on the Pioneer Project (and will be doing so again this evening), but I haven't had a chance to mention the whole baby thing. Mostly because I'm trying to keep my head above water with work and it's overwhelming and I don't have time for anything and it's frustrating, yet satisfying because I love my job...but...none of that matters.

Because I'm here now.

Hi.

Okay, so my first project update is this:

See this adorable young woman? That is what I looked like prior to children. 

This is what I look like now:

Obviously not my best angle, but you get the picture. I've gained a little weight since having my daughter. 

One of my biggest obstacles between myself and a normal, healthy pregnancy that will hopefully end without surgery is to lose some weight. 

A lot of weight. 

Problem? I am completely and totally unmotivated. 

Well, that's not entirely true. I do want to lose weight, and I have great reasons (besides wanting to get pregnant). 

I just can't seem to muster the will power to help me through this, to put me on the path to a healthier lifestyle. 

So this is what I'm battling right now (in addition to making sure I take my prenatals). I'm hoping I'll have some sort of epiphany over the weekend and come Monday I'll be on board with some sort of weight-loss program. 

Wish me luck, right?

Next update: Pioneer Project

Cooking/Baking - This part is way easy to nail. Right now I've got a Sweet Potato Dinner going in the oven, which will be followed up by a custard dish, with most of the ingredients coming locally. (Maybe it's all this good food that's thwarting my weight-loss?)

Homesteading - Major gardening project (well, we'll see how major it is, but I'm hoping for a huge transformation) starts tomorrow. My mom and I are looking to make some changes to the garden just in front of our porch in the morning. I will definitely try to remember to take some before and after pictures. I can't wait to get started!

Technology - I don't have time for technology any more... Other than a little bit of T.V. each night, I haven't had much time with my laptop or iPad. I'm almost sad about this. 

Spirituality - We might go to church on Sunday? (I'm trying, I promise.) 

Family - Major fail this week. Epic freaking fail. 

Let's hope for fewer fails this week. (And, again, let's have more pictures next time, kay?)

Pioneer Project Update

Here's an update! I would have updated on the designated day (Friday), but there was some major craziness going on on Friday and Saturday, so I didn't have the chance. But here we go!

Cooking/Baking: So, I'm majorly impressed with myself in this area. I made, with local grown and/or purchased ingredients, an apple pie (crust from scratch!!) and two loaves of delicious white bread.
I got the recipe for the crust here.
I got the recipe for the bread here.
And this is the recipe for the apple pie filling off the side of my McCormick's Apple Pie spice jar:
Mix 8 cups sliced peeled apples, 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup flour and 1 1/2 tsp. Apple Pie Spice.

Homesteading: I really need to start taking pictures, because there has been a dramatic change in the landscape of our yard. You see, we had this large swath of what can only be described as the monster plant. These plants sort of had stocks that resembled sunflower stalks, but weren't. There was no real bloom at the top. They were getting as high as 8 or 9 feet tall, and a vine was starting to snake it's way through the plants and up into a beautiful crab apple tree that was at the center of this mess.

Well, the monster plant (well, plants I guess), has fallen. My BFF and I pulled them out and now I have a gigantic bare patch instead of these bizarre green creatures growing in my yard. I love that bare patch. Love it.

Technology: Um...this is an area that currently needs to be worked on.

Spirituality: Does it count that I really realized this week that I need to slow it all down? I'm emotionally exhausted lately and I've really seen that I need to calm down.

Family: The biggest part of this week? DOH and I started leaving each other messages on a little white board we have hanging on the door. What an awesome thing to wake up/come home to! Usually, we'll text each other something in the morning, but because of text messaging fees (it's not a part of our cell plan) and the fact that we'd both like something more personal, we decided the white board was better. We could more quickly say a lot more, it's in our own writing, and DOH even draws little pictures (mostly for Lizzie's entertainment).

Well, that's it for this week. Next week I'll definitely make more of an effort to include photographs!

Project Buttons!

I love buttons, especially now that I've learned how to  make my own! If you're interested in following along and doing your own versions of Project Baby or the Pioneer Project, grab a button and go! Tune in this Friday for a Pioneer Project update and next Monday for Project Baby.


<a border="0" href="http://www.thisdomesticlifemaine.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src=http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g459/KirstenPetroska/ProjectBaby-1.jpg></a>


<a border="0" href="http://www.thisdomesticlifemaine.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src=http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g459/KirstenPetroska/newswedengrand-1.jpg></a>

Projects

Back in July, I sort of introduced the Pioneer Project. It sort of...didn't happen. At least not as much as I would have liked.

Biggest flaw in this project? The fact that I put myself on a schedule for cleaning. While I like schedules quite a lot and they can be loads of help in keeping me organized and on track, they can also cause chaos. If I put myself on a schedule I have to be on that schedule. I have a hard time drifting from what I've told myself I have to do, but if I do change the schedule in some way, it's really hard for me to get back on board.

What I did like about the Pioneer Project, at least at its inception, was the bigger picture, where I was looking at things like the general health and well-being of myself and my family. When I think about being a pioneer, I think of people who work their very hardest to keep their families as healthy and happy as possible while they worked towards something bigger. That's what I want to do.

So, I'm modifying the Pioneer Project to better fit my needs. These are the areas I'll be focusing on (for now...I may decide to add or take away later):

Cooking/Baking - Try to cook at least one meal/item a week where you know where all the ingredients you’re using are coming from (preferably local).

Homesteading - Do something to improve your home or yard at least once week. It can be as simple as mowing the lawn or finally getting at that dust under the couch or be as big as planting a vegetable garden or painting a new room.

Technology – Try to limit certain technologies (T.V., computer/internet, phone stuff, etc.) to just an hour or two a day. If this is too much (and it could very well be), try to pick just one thing to focus on limiting (for me, it would be my laptop and iPad).

Health - Exercise, in some way, every day. It doesn't have to be a full-blown Biggest Loser workout, but it should be something, everyday. And don't forget about mental health, too. Consider what grounds you and makes you feel happy or at peace with your life.

Spirituality - Take the time to reflect on things bigger than yourself. Go to a place of worship. Meditate. Talk to someone about the biggest questions in life. Go beyond yourself and your little piece of the world and think globally.

Family - Every day, find a small way to recognize your family and everything they do for you. This may seem small, but it adds up

What I'll attempt to do is every Friday give a quick little quip about what I did in each of these areas. I think what I'll realize is that I do a lot of this anyway, but after five years of college and two years of that being mostly education courses, I'm all about documentation. I enjoy the satisfaction of seeing my accomplishments, no matter how small. I also believe a broader consciousness of how you lead your life has never hurt anyone, either.

Now, considering my abject failure to do anything with my original Pioneer Project, you might be leery on my ability to participate in two projects, but I'm about to introduce you to a second thing I have brewing:

Project Baby. (You'll notice how I like to call things "projects"; another by-product of being in education.)

Because I am finally gainfully employed, with benefits, summers and weekends off, DOH and I decided it might be time to talk about when we can get pregnant. We've settled for some time next summer. Why then, you might ask? Number one, right now I want to focus on my job as much as I can. I love where I'm working and I want to be able to give 110 percent. Two, waiting until next summer gives me almost a full year to drop some  a lot of weight. And three, we'll have time to save money and make any other adjustments to our lives in order to bring in a new kiddo.

Maybe it's because Lizzie was such a surprise and we were such bumbling idiots through the first months (okay...years) of parenthood, but there is something makes me want to really, really prepare for baby number two. And that's not to say we haven't put our best feet forward in raising our daughter, but I feel like we parent her much better now than we did in the beginning. I think a lot of our success with baby Lizzie can be credited with sheer dumb luck (like having the perfect infant who never cried) rather than actual skillz. We can't count on lightening striking twice.

So all this leads to project number two, which I'll be updating every other Monday, depending on how I see fit. The basic timeline of the project (as I've set it up for me) goes as such:

Pre-conception: September 2011 through June/July 2012
This will include - Me, trying to not be fat. Eliminating as many chemicals and preservatives from our household and diets as possible. Building a stronger and even better relationship with my husband and daughter (and facilitating a stronger and even better relationship between DOH and Liz).

Trying to Concieve: (Hopefully) July/August 2012
This will include - Taking the necessary steps to be able to conceive again. Maintaining a relatively healthy weight. Speaking with midwives and OB/GYNs and figuring out what's best for me and my potential pregnancy and health.

Pregnancy: (Again, hopefully) Late Summer/Early Fall 2012
This will include - OBGYN vs. Midwife (if that's even a choice). Birth plans and what to expect during a second delivery after an emergency c-section. At the hospital, at a birth center, or at home? Continuing to eat healthfully and remain active (because I'm assuming I'll be doing all these things at this point). Preparing Lizzie to be a big sister and how to most peacefully introduce a new person into our family dynamic.

Birth: Late Spring/Early Summer 2012
This will include - Recovery. Parenting two kids. What I'm doing different this time around. Babywearing (because I'm obsessed). Breastfeeding. Cloth diapering. Woodstock (not really).

So, if you're interested in participating in these projects, please do! I realize my number of readers is small, so the chances of either of these projects taking off beyond myself is quite small, but  it would be cool if others did participate, too. And when I say participate, I mean you can take what I'm doing as inspiration for your own version of either project (or both!).

The Pioneer Project

If you've ever read The Little House in the Big Woods, you might remember this little saying from Ma about the weekly chores: "Wash on Monday, Iron on Tuesday, Mend on Wednesday, Churn on Thursday, Bake on Friday, Clean on Saturday, Rest on Sunday." There is something sweet and comforting to this litany of household chores--with all the unexpected that could happen in the time when little Laura Ingalls was growing up, there was at least this daily consistancy that was always present, grounding the family into the rhythm of life.

And while the some of the dangers that plauged Laura and her family do not affect us, or at least not as much, there is still a world out there that can, at times, feel overwhelming and throw things at us and our families that we did not quite expect.

Along those same lines, with an economy turning upside down, wars being fought overseas, and cultural wholesomeness starting to disappear (and I do not mean "wholesome" in any religious way, just there is far too much objectifying going on regarding everything), we parents are becoming pioneers (rather like the Ingalls) in our own right. We are fighting to keep consistancy and values (whatever those values) strong within our families.

So this is what I want to do. I'm going to start a project. Who knows how successful I'll be, how this will evolve (or devolve), but I feel like I need to do something to create a higher, more organized purpose to my days. It is as basic as making sure I get the toilets cleaned every day to working towards becoming a stronger and better wife and mother.

This project (as maybe you've guessed from the title of this post) is called the Pioneer Project, keeping the idea of those strong people who left everything they knew behind and ventured West to create better lives for themselves, despite the immense danger to themselves and their families.

For me, there are two components: First, I'm going to remake the saying from Ma Ingalls above to fit my own life (thankfully I don't have to dedicate a full day to ironing). So...here goes:
Organize on Monday (get everything for the week organized) Scrub on Tuesday (bathrooms, kitchen, floors), Sew on Wednesday (make a consistent effort to sew), Wash on Thursday (bedding, curtains (if needed), excess laundry, etc.), Bake on Friday (make something tastey for the weekened), Clean on Saturday (dust, clean floors, anything else that hasn't gotten done over the course of the week, etc.), Rest on Sunday.

The next aspect goes beyond a simple outline of weekly chores, but focuses on things in my family's life in a deeper sense. This is what I will be focusing on:

Cooking/Baking - Try to cook at least one meal/item a week where you know where all the ingredients you’re using are coming from (preferrably local).

Homesteading - Do something to improve your home or yard at least once week. It can be as simple as mowing the lawn or finally getting at that dust under the couch or be as big as planting a vegetable garden or painting a new room.

Technology – Try to limit certain technologies (T.V., computer/internet, phone stuff, etc.) to just an hour or two a day. If this is too much (and it could very well be), try to pick just one thing to focus on limiting (for me, it would be my laptop).

Health - Exercise, in some way, every day. It doesn't have to be a full-blown Biggest Loser workout, but it should be something, everyday. And don't forget about mental health, too. Consider what grounds you and makes you feel happy or at peace with your life.

Spirituality - Take the time to reflect on things bigger than yourself. Go to a place of worship. Meditate. Talk to someone about the biggest questions in life. Go beyond yourself and your little piece of the world and think globally.

Family - Every day, find a small way to recognize your family and everything they do for you. This may seem small, but it adds up.

Reading - I'm a reader, so I'm inclined to include it with whatever it is I'm doing. I'm planning on going back through the Little House books over a period of time, and maybe venturing into some more adult pioneer centric reading. I also think reading anything that has to do with the above subject areas (family, spirituality, going tech free, health, homesteading, and cooking/baking) applies, too.

So, this is my plan. It's just for me--I'm not trying to start anything en masse on the internet, BUT if you find yourself inclined to do your own version, please let me know! Leave a comment, maybe even blog about it. I'm going to have a tab (at some point) that documents what I've been doing. I'm going to try to check in on the blog once a month (maybe more frequently if things roll along nicely) and share what I've done.

All right, let's load up the wagon and go! Westward, ho!