A Giveaway!!!

I have been putting together e-courses on Simplifying, Minimizing, Full-Timing, Mindful Home Management and Mindful Parenting.

In an effort to bring together this work, and work out the details, orientation, and determine completeness I am offering up 10 spots as a Cage Free Guinea Pig ;-)

Beginning July 1st I will take 10 randomly selected folks on for free, one on one counseling in the aforementioned subjects. These people will gain access to a private blog, group discussion, scheduled chat, videos, private Q&A emails with me, and some of the completed e-course material.

So, you have questions, I have answers. You have woes, I have tips. You need instructions, I have the how-tos.

In addition, one of the 10 will be randomly selected to receive a free pass to the completed e-course.

So, leave me a comment here. Anything will do. I will announce the winners on July 1st.

In the meantime... Tweet it! FB it! Pass it on! If the randomly selected person's comment mentions that you sent them here YOU will be included as a winner. The more people you refer the more times you are entered to win.

xoxo

Your help is much appreciated. As we work to diversify income these ventures will keep our family in clean food, and me free from Fibromyalgia symptoms.

xoxo

Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose.

And anything that can be taken away wasn't yours anyhow.

There is always a choice. There is always action to be taken.
Even in seeming inaction or indecisiveness you have taken action and made a decision.

There is always a choice.

Sometimes the only choice to be made is which perspective you are going to take.

There is always a choice.

And, permanence and stability do not exist. There is no such thing. No one is exempt from this truth. Permanence and stability are fairytale bedtime stories we were fed as children and continue to believe in because the truth is taboo, unknown and therefore scary.

That's right. I said it.

Few know the truth because it is 1. so simple it is hard to describe and 2. having never heard it spoken, few know the truth... instead they know the imagined opposite of our fairy tale... a made-up, threatened chaos and suffering. Much like the promised reward of Heaven, and the threatened punishment of Hell. We believe that if we do x,y and z (as instructed) we will be rewarded with security, stability and (if we work really hard) secure and stable luxury. Sounds nice. What doesn't sound so nice is this: If you don't do x, y and z well enough the result is chaos, suffering, loss and lack. Ouch. Then there's the answer you get when the equation doesn't work out as promised: it's still your fault. You, my friend, either deserved what you got - or - are the victim of some cosmically unfair fluke. Bummer, Dude. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. In this game the best you can do is work your arse off, hope and pray hard enough, and then suck it up when things don't go as you were promised and believed they would.

What's that smell? That, friends, is the smell of bullshit.

Here's the taboo...the fine print waaaaay down at the bottom... the thing which no one would tell you...
It's a farce. The equation does. not. compute.
No matter what you do you cannot protect yourself from failure, disappointment, loss, fear, chaos, unforeseen change, sadness, etc., etc., etc..
*UNLESS*
unless, you accept the truth from the beginning: Life is one big, exciting, never ending series of teeny tiny passing moments. Life is constant change. No matter how hard you work everything you create will eventually dissolve (some sooner, some later) and many things will be unexpectedly shattered.

But here's the other taboo: they dissolve and shatter only in your head. They were never stable, solid or permanent in the first place. You only believed they were because we have not been taught the Heaven on Earth, You are part of an unending, beautiful, expanding, contracting, living, dying, breathing, exhaling, coming, going, ebbing, flowing Single Being Truth. You are no more destroyed by life's moments and situations than your body is destroyed by it's day to day taxation and injuries.

It's all up to you. You have a choice.

Your choice is in perspective. It's all how you look at it and this too shall pass.
The thing you bemoan now will be the source of nostalgia in the future. The change you perceive as a loss now is actually the door to something new. Loss makes room for gain. Death makes room for new life. Trying to hold onto a moment, a life situation, is like trying to hold onto your breath. You can't. Things will be as they are meant to be - with or without your approval. Worry is only an echo of that thinly veiled and unenforceable threat. It's rather like trying to avoid getting wet when you're already soaked ;-)

Life will be what it will be. Everything you experience is for you. It's a gift. It's what makes life worth living: the contrast of moments. The lifting, exhilarating inhale... the sweet, peace of the pause, the utterly necessary, releasing exhale. Just breathe. Let it be. Life is beautiful. Do your best. Live with intention and acceptance. Loooooove. Everything. While you can. Because, Baby, you don't have forever. The only thing you will ever truly have is the opportunity to see the beauty of this one fleeting moment. Savor the pain as fully as you taste the pleasure. This moment is the only thing that can be promised to you. Love it for whatever it is.

How lucky are we?

And the sorting begins

As we get ready for RV moving day Take II we are beginning our sorting and packing. Tempting though it is to donate it all again, we are in need of some major repairs to the rig that we'll need help paying for. So, what will be sold and what will make the cut?

We have some basic guidelines (the same as we used last time) that go something like this:

1. Have we used it in the last 6 months?
2. Will we need it in the next 6 months?
3. Does it have inherent value, or is it merely sentimental?
4. Did you know where it was?
- if not, were you brought near to tears, or did you jump for joy when you found it?
5. If it disappeared or broke would you be in a real bind and fork over any amount of cash to replace it ASAP?

No? Then it doesn't make the cut. Period.

Last time we hit the road we had WAY too much stuff. Someone (we're lookin at you Jeff) had trouble parting with a lot of stuff that turned out to be unnecessary junk and took up almost 50% of our storage space. Someone (we're still lookin at you Jeff) has seen the error of their ways and has made their own decision to not keep things like broken computer parts and miscellaneous (broken) electronics... or useless, broken fishing gear, duplicate tools, old magazines.... etc., etc., etc....
Among other things we have also pared down our dried herb collection to only the most frequently used and freshest.

Our hopes? This time we will have space for necessary tools like an ax, shovel and places for towels, laundry and a whole other person worth of clothes, blankets and diapers.

Because of said diapers I will need to do laundry much more frequently and don't want to go the way of high priced laundromats again so we will be getting a large wash tub that will be used for laundry, dishes and kid's baths. We'll need a space to keep that.

Some have asked if we'll be living in our RV while repairs are made to the cabin and move back in when they are finished. The answer is, sadly, no. We haven't been offered that possibility.
However disheartened we feel by that we have four distinctly appealing options of where to go from here. So appealing, in fact, that we all feel quite torn on what to do.

As we begin to explore these options more thoroughly I'll post about them and our decision making process, as well as each of our steps on downsizing to the minimalistic way that we once lived. Over the past couple of years I have received so many emails asking for tips and help with exactly that. I didn't write about it the first time, I guess, because I was just overwhelmed with the process of figuring it out. This time we feel quite sound in our ability to make this move pleasant and seamless. As we move along I'll share everything from how we manage our spice collection and books, to what we do to boost our fuel efficiency and tackle the self-sufficiency woes we had last time.

Did you know that there are an estimated 500,000 full-timing RVers on the road?
We now have so many Nomadic friends that I'd have to stop and count them up, but I'll be introducing you to them over the next few weeks as well.

In the meantime, check out Families On The Road for some interesting links to other RV families.

Just Like Grandma Used to Make*

This baby contains 4 1/2 cups of unsweetened, organic Green & Blacks Cocoa
Mmmmmm...

Knowing that we are losing our oven soon (until we replace the one in the RV) I asked myself what I most wanted to bake while I still had use of it...

Now, we don't usually (ever) bring food like this into our home, but for some reason I got an unrelenting craving for old-fashioned, uber chocolate cake.

Yes, it's as bad for us as it looks, and after the kids and I split the missing piece I felt rather high for about half an hour, but man it was good.

Jeff, who has much more will power than I when it comes to bad for you food, managed to abstain and set a good example for the rest of us.

Now I need to find someone to give the rest of it to because Holy Sugar, Batman, I can't handle another piece... someone pass the kombucha!

Oy! Snow!

From This:
To This:
The first hour of what promises to be Three Days of Snow!
Yes, that would be days in May!

Mother Nature?? Hellooooooo??