My teenage acne skin at 30

I have been trying to slowly switch ALL our cosmetics and household products to more organic, paraben free, non-toxic kind of things-but, the one thing I was holding onto was my acne care. I have done it all from Benzoyl Peroxide, Salic Acid, Rentin-A, and even Accutane. Though I am not pimply anymore I guess they are still hiding under my maticulous care and product usage. I have been on the Proactiv bandwagon for years-using the cheaper version Acne Free from Target (how many brand names can I drop in one sentence?) Anyway I tryed to go organic with a very pricey product line from Juice Beauty and let me just say-zit city. It may work for some-but not my persistent acne! I had so many chin zits I wouldn't even dare put a picture here. I didn't leave without makeup, I hated leaving the house at all, and my lovely husband who usually overlooks such details as a few blemished nicely said my new products weren't really working. So, I found this Nature's Gate line that is an organic copy of Proactive with cleanser, toner and lotion. SO AWESOME and it was only $25 at my CVS next to TJs! If you are looking to switch I have tested it for you. It works and I love it. So does my chin.

Save a tree

Here is my new t-shirt that I got on the mark down today. I like it. I have been trying to reduce the number of catalogs I get everyday by using catalogchoice. It is a free little service that has an easy search feature that looks up any catalog you might get and cancels the account for you-nice. I also found a guy with a pretty easy way to cancel your penny saver. So go ahead and save a tree-cause as the penny saver guy says: be a "good human...don't blow it...good planets are hard to find."

All I need is armpit hair

So we have always been environmentally conscious, but lately we have been going greener than ever. We just think we should be good steward's of God's Earth. Anyway we found these compostable cups at San Diego Zoo and ordered some for ourselves along with sugar cane plates, bowls and utensils. (cause who really wants to do dishes after a big party with friends or bible study or something?) Compostable! Crazy, ey? Adam and I had to try them just to see if they started breaking down while we ate or leaked or something...nope, our organic granola with organic milk stayed safely in the bowl. They are cool. I am putting them in the compost bin tomorrow-so we will see. I think I will go take a short shower with my organic shampoo and face wash (that smell like composting fruit and grass) and change my baby's compostable diaper while I am at it, oh and clean with my earth friendly products and ward off ants with cinnamon. I'm telling you, all I need is the armpit hair. Am I getting too crazy? I even am thinking about a mooncup (don't follow this link unless you are a girl and ok with menstrual stuff :)

Fall colors in January

This is for all you northern CA/Oregon people that complain that we have no Fall in Riverside. Just come over to my house in January and I'll have plenty of fall raking and jumping for you to frolick in. I know it is late, but beautiful just the same! The girls had so much fun jumping (Agatha) and eating (Gwyneth) in the leaves. My real motivation was to finally have some dry stuff for my compost mix!!!

Her laugh is so pure enjoyment! She said, "Mom, this is just like in a book!"

I have had to swipe many leaves from her throat! They can't taste good!

PS. I know I have missing from blogdom for like a month-I'll post some of the things when I am lacking in material later-but things have been crazy with my CLAD classes and every waking moment that hasn't been mommy duty, social outings or Christmas stuff has been my 12 units. But, I finish today!!! Hooray!

Why I am a environmentalist...

We recently did a DARE to know, grow and go series at church. It dealt a lot with social injustice and it was awesome. I wish these kind of issues were the topic of every sermon. But I heard little rumblings of "Is our church going liberal?" Oh, gracious. I am a liberal I guess, but I think Jesus calls us to care for people and His creation. Doesn't he? I was raised to think this way and come from a family that has these concerns ingrained. I don't think it is a politically liberal issue to care about the earth. I think it is being good stewards of the beautiful creation we have been blessed with. No matter what state you believe the environment is in, why-with all these easy ways to be sensitive-make more of an impact than we need to?

Some simple things we do are (at least the seem simple to us):

*hang clothes on a line outside instead of the dryer

*use ALL energy efficient light bulbs

*recycle everything that is recyclable-plastic, metals, paper

*compost all organic materials

*use flush able or cloth diapers

*eat organic and fair trade foods

*avoid chemicals in detergents, pesticides, soaps, and cleaners around the home

*take our paint and batteries to the hazardous waste collection days

*water less and plant all drought tolerant plants

*shorter showers and no running water while brushing teeth

*avoid using paper products-and never Styrofoam

*drive a lower gas mileage car

*have ceiling fans and run the air/heat as little as possible

*use rags instead of paper towels

*no chemicals on our lawn

*donate everything we don't want or need to goodwill instead of sending it to a landfill

*use canvas bags when shopping

*fill sport bottles for on the go water rather than water bottles

*wash all clothes in cold

*run the dishwasher only when jammed full

*natural bug control-no pesticides

*use recycled paper products for toilet paper, napkins, etc.

*walk to events when possible, rather than drive

Some harder or more expensive things we are striving toward:

*drive a hybrid car ($5000 more)

*drive a motorcycle or scooter (where to put the kids? :)

*install solar panels on our house (will the historic society let us? and do you have $30,000?)

*buy organic or fair trade clothes (Target is more our price range)

*use cloth napkins instead of paper (hm...lazy)

*mow with battery operated or push mowers (we still have a service)

*use less individual serving pre-packaged snacks (then I have to have self control!!!)

*remember to take my refillable coffee mug to Starbucks

*flush less-I just can't leave pee in the toilet yet (though I did this growing up)

Just thought I would let people in to our life a bit because I guess I grew up thinking everyone was like this, but am now realizing that is not the case. I was kind of taken aback when Adam explained that some people think Environmentalist are just pushing their agenda to make a profit and that people actually think the earth is fine. I guess I am naive there, but I just want to earth to be all God created it to be for a long time. Why not? It is not that hard.

I found some great groups of Believers that are living this green lifestyle too. It is ok to be a Believer in Jesus and love the earth-really. Earth Ministry, and Restoring Eden Maybe we should start a chapter out here. Then I would really be weird (not that my baby wearing, homeschooling, organic, green, extended nursing, co sleeping ways haven't conveyed that message already to my surrounding so cal suburbanite conservative Christians-oh well.)

Coming up on Oct 15

Green Day in Blogdom. Let's all post! Thanks Jess for making me aware.

Natural Pest Control

I do not generally like bugs-unless they are girly and harmless like butterflies, ladybugs and um I think that is it. Adam classifies my fear of bees as irrational, I may give him that. But, I also have a completely (in my opinion) rational fear of cockroaches/spiders and an annoyance of ants. Anyway, we have always paid for a Pest Control Service because if it. When we had kids I started to worry about the fact that the back of the bill lists poison control numbers and a disclaimer that we understood that they were spraying poison. Then when my bug guy got annoyed that I started composting a few years ago my concern grew. You're just attracting them, he would say. I started thinking that it was rather silly that I paid more and went out of my way to buy organic groceries, and then ate my own home grown fruits and veggies that had pest defense junk on them. But, finally the last straw was that I reduced my workload and thusly my paycheck. We were simplifying and the pest control is one thing that went. (Funny that the financial is what finally made me go green here.) As I was hanging the clothes on the line today I saw some ants and quite a few spiders. I started thinking, maybe I should get around to researching those natural pest defense ideas I know I could find on the Internet (My daughter has started saying-Yeah, I know that because I read it on the Internet...her source of information is so different than mine at four). This is what I found. EathEasy.com. Awesome site, awesome ideas. Gotta get to work on it though-if I see a roach in my house I will freak out...Wish me luck.