Tag: Eggs and Herbs

Relationships {Spring Cleaning}

Relationships {Spring Cleaning}
Written by Julie Kohl of Eggs and Herbs

Anyone who knows me could tell you that I am not a housekeeper.  Well, at least not a good one!  The last thing I ever want to do, especially in the spring, is clean.  We live on a farm so the battle would be never ending anyway and there is a reason that there is not a single square inch of carpet anywhere in my house.  To me, spring cleaning is about opening windows, letting in the light and the air, breathing new life into the things we love.

As humans we often seem so preoccupied with how things look on the outside.  The “American Dream” is more about a look than an actual way of life.  We want perfect hair, manicured nails and taylored clothes that fit just right.  We want the trendiest car parked in front of the prettiest, largest house with the greenest lawn in the nicest neighboorhood.  And when one of the neighboors pops in unexpectedly we want to usher them in to our perfect kitchen where a pitcher of perfectly chilled lemonade and freshly baked cookies awaits.

GET REAL!  Who really lives like this outside of the “real” or “desperate” houswives?

Here are some examples of my REAL life!

A Southern Living worthy flower bed:

A Pinterest perfect entry way:

Why do we even have the tray????

A Good Housekeeping approved laundry organizer:

Yes, that is the middle of the living room floor.

Now that, my friends, is REAL.  We can make our lives look perfect to the outside world but what about what happens when no one is watching?

Yesterday I overheard two grown men talking about their wives.  Neither was saying very nice things.  I was shocked and saddened that the men were saying these things but I also understood that part of the reason they were saying them was because thier wives hadn’t given them any reason to say anything nice.

Sometimes I think we are so worried about cleaning up all the messes we can see that we forget about taking care of the ones we can’t see.  We get so caught up in the “job-like” duties as wife and/or mother that we forget to nurture and cherish the rewards of being wife and/or mother.

Whether you are married, dating or just haning out with your friends there are so many things you can do to {Spring Clean} your relationships.  Taking a moment here and a moment there to STOP nagging and complaining and to thank our husbands, kids, parents, best friends or other significant people in our lives for the things they do that make us happy.

I have been married to my husband for almost 12 years.  We have certainly had our ups and downs but I adore him and try to do things to build him up rather than break him down.  It’s not always easy and sometimes hurtful words and actions come easier than the good ones but when has anything truly good ever been easy?

So this spring – instead of worrying about spring cleaning your house – perhaps you will consider someways to {Spring Clean} your relationships.

Here are a few links to help you get started:

8 Ways To Maintain A Good Relationship Using Effective Communication

Love, Actually – Creative Ideas for Romance on a Budget

50 Ways to Inspire Your Husband

You might want to consider making a “Smash Book” to collect all of your memories during the year.

You can find detailed instructions for making the Smash Book on my blog Eggs and Herbs.

You may even consider taking a day to forget about yard work, school work and even ‘gasp’ blogging to spend a day with your family and the ones you love.  There are thousands of wonderful attractions here is Arkansas.  The Arkansas Tourism Website has tons of ideas.  Additionally ARWB’s Managing Editor Fawn, writes a weekly column on her blog Instead of the Dishes called ‘Free Fun for Families’ where she highlights lots of free things going on in Central Arkansas.  You can check out her list of this weeks activities by clicking here.

So this spring, instead of cleaning windows and mopping floors I will be spending time with the love of my life letting him know how much I love and appreciate him.

I mean, look at this guy! Can you blame me?

Loving Laura {Love Story}

Loving Laura {Love Story}
Written by Julie Kohl of Eggs and Herbs

I think my first true love as a girl was for Laura Ingalls Wilder.  Not necessarily the real Laura but the fictional Laura that lived in the pages of the Little House on the Prairie books.  I romanticized the pioneer lifestyle and everything that was Laura.  I found myself drawn to pioneer type activities (sewing, crafting, cooking) and loved going to museums where the “olden days” came alive within their walls. Old Sturbridge Village, Colonial Williamsburg and the Billings Farm and Museum, where my mom worked, all had amazing pioneer exhibits and were places I loved to visit.

I looked forward to stormy winter nights (I grew up in Vermont) when the power would go out and we were forced to live by candle light and warm ourselves by the fireplace.

I channelled my inner Laura every time my sister and I played “Indians” or “Cooking Rock” by the pond in our back woods.

I always had a penchant for things that were handmade, homemade and simple.

I have read every book written by Laura Ingalls Wilder, several times.

I have read many books written about Laura.

Laura was a sister, a friend, a confidant, a mentor and long before I understood that Laura was real, she was real to me.

Laura was my first true love.

Setting Attainable Goals {New Year, New You}

Setting Attainable Goals
Written by Julie of Eggs and Herbs

As January comes to a close some of you may have already left those New Year’s Resolutions in the dust.  Many times the problem with the resolutions we make are that we create a goal that is too unattainable in the short term.  We set BIG goals for ourselves and when we have SMALL setbacks we give up.  While some people may be able to set a goal they know will take months or possibly even years to accomplish and plug along without thinking twice; most of us need short-term attainable goals.

Today I want to to revisit those resolutions or intentions you’ve set for yourself and then try to break them down into more attainable bits.

Here is my BIG goal for 2012: Lose 30 or more pounds.

Is this goal possible? Absolutely!
Will I reach it in a month or two? Not likely.
Will I have setbacks? Probably.

So how can I make my goal to lose 30 or more pounds more attainable?  For me what works is setting SMALL goals that will eventually lead to a better/healthier lifestyle and I include a reward when I reach that goal.

Here are my SMALL attainable goals:

Goal 1: Drink AT LEAST a liter of water every day and avoid soda.
Reward: At the end of the week (if I have reached my short term goal) I allow myself to have one glass of Soda as a treat.  If I have not – I skip the reward soda.

Goal 2: Work out at least 3 times a week.
Reward: Each time I work out using a prescribed plan I pay myself $2.50.  If I maintain my workout plan I should have saved enough money for a one hour massage at my favorite spa at the end of February.  If I haven’t reached my goal – no massage!

I believe that by making these small changes I can eventually lose the 30 pounds I wish to rid myself of while at the same time changing my life to allow me to keep those 30 pounds OUT of my future life!

As this month comes to a close, don’t disregard the resolutions you were not able to keep.  Instead, reevaluate them and set new, smaller, more attainable goals for yourself.

Finger Foods {Foodie Friday}

by Julie Kohl of Eggs and Herbs…where creativity meets the farm

Although New Years Eve 2012 has come and gone we have developed a tradition in our home that I wanted to share.  It is a tradition that would be fun to incorporate any time of the year and I hope you can find something useful in this post.

In our house New Years Eve is all about the finger foods!  Every year we get together with our good friends, play games and EAT!  We cover the kitchen table with all kinds of delicious finger foods, sweets and punch.  There are a few must-have foods on the list but each year we always try to throw in something new.  The great thing about finger foods is that many things can be made in advance, you don’t have to make a lot of anything, and everyone can find at least a few things they love.

Over the years our selection has grown from a few items (pictured below) to a big selection which this year included pigs-in-a-blanket, potato skins, Duck nuggets, spicy crescent cheese poppers, a cheese platter, veggies and dip, shrimp cocktail, cheese dip and chips, mushroom wellington cups, Christmas Punch, and chocolate mousse!  The trick is to include some old favorites (pigs-in-a-blanket and potato skins) and swap in a few new things each year.  Pinterest is a great place to search for new things to make.

The Super Bowl is coming up as is Valentine’s Day.  This would be a great time to get together with a few friends you enjoy spending time with and have a finger foods party.  Ask each family you invite to bring 2-3 favorite finger foods.  Lay them all out on the table and dig in buffet style.  Gather around the living room with your plates and enjoy spending time together.  Playing games is also another great addition to a Finger Foods party. Some of our favorites include Mexican Train Dominoes, Taboo, Catch-Phrase and Funglish.

Life is short! Have fun and eat well!

Looking for some super Super Bowl nibbles? @EggsandHerbs has some for you. #FoodieFriday #ARWB

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A Crude Little Star {Handmade Holiday}

Written by Julie Kohl of Eggs and Herbs…where creativity meets the farm

I love everything about Christmas except for commercialism.  I’m not at all into the whole Black Friday thing and I’ve never really been into the “gimme, gimme” attitude that a lot of people have around Christmas.  I do love the magic and the surprise and I love getting gifts as much as the next person but my favorite part of Christmas has always been making things.  Whether cookies and cakes, scarves, toys, or ornaments I love making Christmas special.

2000 was the year that the meaning and importance of a handmade Christmas really rang true with me and it involved an empty toilet paper roll, two paper stars and glitter.

My husband Richie and I had been married for less than five months and were about to celebrate our first Christmas together.  We were both in college full time, neither of us was working and we were BROKE!  Living off “extra” loan money that had long since run out, Christmas looked to be a fairly bleak that season.

Sadly Christmas decorations are expensive and are not really budget worthy in a newly married college couples world.  We did splurge and buy a fresh tree that year but everything else had to be borrowed or made.  We borrowed lights and some old ornaments from Richie’s mother.  My sister bought us candles for our windows and we spent a whole Saturday making ornaments together.  We strung popcorn that we popped on the stove, we made cinnamon ornaments and ornaments out of found popsicle sticks and fabric.  It was fun and romantic and we still use most of the ornaments today.  We got everything hung on the tree and I stepped back only to realize we were missing something.  A TREE TOPPER!  There was no angel, no star, no pretty bauble for the top of the tree.  We had literally spent our last dime and could not purchase anything for the top of the tree.

We began to look around.  Surely we had something we could use. We scrounged around and came up with an empty toilet paper roll, two paper stars and some glitter.  Combined with some glue we were able to fashion a very crude star for the top of our tree.  I remember the sense of peace and joy and accomplishment that came over me when Richie placed that star on the top of the tree.

In the years that have followed we have travelled all over the world (Paris, Rome, Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico and all over the US) and collected beautiful Christmas ornaments to remember places we have been.  Still, over 90% of the ornaments on our tree are handmade.  But every year the ornament I most look forward to putting up is that crude little star.  It now lives on a smaller, table-top tree but it is so beautiful to me and it wouldn’t be Christmas without that little star!

 

Julie Kohl is an art teacher by day and loves to write mostly about food and life on the small farm owned by her and her husband on her blog Eggs and Herbs…where creativity meets the farm.  Julie is also the Farm Kitchen writer for The Renegade Farmer and is one of the four founding members of Arkansas Women Bloggers.

Handmade Holiday is the Arkansas Women Bloggers theme of the month.  We would love for you to share your Handmade Holiday story with our readers.  Please visit our Guest Post Guidelines page for information about how to submit a story to ARWB.