Happy Birthday, Dad

Rest in peace...I love you.

Marla's Movie Musings

Oh. My. Goodness.

I am not going to give any spoilers here, but let me say this. I loved the series, I loved the first film, and this film TRUMPED ALL. So intense! I LOVE Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss!! They really could not have done a better job. Fantastic. Highly recommended, but you have to read the books first!!!

Rating: A+++

Evolution vs. God

I was over at Angel's blog this morning, and she had posted this video link some time back. This was a great way to spend 30 minutes this Sunday morning. I really loved that one of the main points was evolution requires as much faith as believing in Intelligent Design. Very well done video, worth half an hour. It was actually part of my beginning research on our homeschool curriculum choices for next year with Daniel. I will blog more about the components we are choosing, but I am fairly certain we will be using Apologia for our science curriculum.

Food for thought. :)

Maggots!!!

EWWWWWWW!!!! 

Maggots in my compost pile!! Everything I read says that its fine, will help soil, means its too wet but just need to dry it out, not get them out...but still...

EWWWWWWW!!!!

Finished the second book in the Percy Jackson/Roman series! Awesome!!! Can't wait for number 3, but heading now to book 3 of the Gregory series I'm reading...time for Mom to hand it over!!

Hooray for weekends :)

13 Bean Soup

Yum!!!!

I was feeling like quite the homemaker last night, because I made a soup of stuff we just had in the house, no recipe. :) I had a bag of 13-bean Soup mix from Stater Brothers (less than a dollar a bag) in the pantry since--summer? Something my mother-in-law had passed on to me when she was cleaning out her pantry. I soaked them the night before, and then rinsed them in the morning before work; added water until it was a finger-tip above and threw in two tablespoons of Chicken Bouillon. Left it on low for the day. Around 4 p.m. I added chopped potatoes (because potatoes are on sale for $1.29/10 lbs!!!!! WOW!), a can of corn from our Doomsday Stash (will replace, good to cycle things out), chopped onion, shredded chicken, rosemary, sage, thyme, salt and pepper--cooked on high for another two hours. Switched it to high to cook the potatoes through. Served with wheat french bread and cheese. Kids and husband loved it!!! Yay! Soups are often, um, unpredictable for me. I have a few solid recipes, but when I experiment--its either great or awful. From those ingredients (only one bag of beans!) we fed everyone (very filling soup, a little goes a long way!), put some in the fridge for leftovers this weekend AND froze enough to have some next week. SCORE!!!!! I LOVE whole-food, filling, CHEAP recipes. Oooh, forgot, also cooked up s a $0.59 box of cornbread. Great way to start Thanksgiving Break at the Cosner's. :)

Three Question Test!

This is GREAT advice for me!!! Three Question Test!

Week 2, Day 2: CAVED AND CONFESSION

Totally caved yesterday and ate one mini-no bake cookie that my mom bought for us, not knowing that I was off the whole sugar thing. It was worth every single bite.

Confession: even though next week is a complete no-sugar cut off week, I am going to let myself have a piece of pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving. :)

I figure--I am doing this for myself, and (thankfully) not because I have a condition that mandates it or a desire to lose weight...so I can decide to deny myself most of the time, and treat myself a little. Plus--its Thanksgiving.

Common Core

Still on the fence about Common Core specifically, mostly because we've had so little interaction with the actual test that there isn't anything concrete to judge.

However, I am NOT on the fence about high-stakes, standardized testing.

The Most Disturbing Post Yet

Week 2, Day 1

I can't remember if I started on a Sunday or a Monday, so I'm calling it--Day 1 on Sunday.

Week 2 is a little vague in Sarah Wilson's book--more fats. Yeah, you read that right. I think the gist of it is to move away from diet-this and low fat-that--concentrating on whole foods that haven't been altered. Still the goal is to be cutting back on sugar, with an all-out ban during week 3. Feeling pretty good; definitely thinking a lot about sugary things, though. Wanting them more now. <sigh>  She says to expect slumps between 11ish and 4ish; I'm not finding slumps, per say, but more, um, obsessive thoughts. Lol. But I've been pretty darn faithful!

Added to this has been my regular exercise routine of 30-45 minutes on the treadmill, 5 days a week. For the past 10 days, I've added 45 jumping jacks/13 lunges per leg/45 second planks, 3 times a day. The numbers are weird, because I am building them up. I'm also trying to make it 5 times a day, but its surprisingly hard to find the time. Also, I do ten tricep bombs per arm and 10 tricep dips three times a day--trying to kick the Bingo Arm syndrome. :p  GOOD NEWS! The last time I weighed myself, I was 162 (I'm 5'11" for reference), and today I weighed in at 154! Used my mom's scale, because we don't own one--truly not about the weight for me. BUT--it was cool to see that number. Added benefit!

I am starting a challenge of sorts with my friend on Monday, which is mainly ab-core strength, and I will just add it in on one of my isometric-blitzes.

Anyone else think the girl in this picture is shaped a bit unrealistically? Ha.

Faith

Its been a difficult weekend at the Cosner Ranch.

On Saturday morning, my little Holly Faith went out to gather eggs from our chickens; she came in weeping that they were all dead. Handsome Husband and I went out to look--we had been visited by a bobcat that night. All our feathered family--gone. It was truly sad, and yet a circle-of-life experience; I thought immediately of all the books I've read about pioneer women of the west (my favorite genre!), and how many stories there were of lost flocks, lost livestock, lost gardens; it is the way of things, sometimes. Yet--still sad, both the children and myself...they were such a sweet little group of birds.

Also, that same morning--woke up to plumbing issues. I have bad feeling about this, in a very Han-Solo-way...we snaked the pipes (our first time! Ah, the joys of property! And when I say we, I emphatically mean the Husband), and...the problem remains. Untouched. So we put a call into the septic company, and we'll see what they can do this week for us. In the meantime, the weekend was spent at my mom's, doing our weekend 8-loads of laundry; I think, pessimistically, its the tip of the ice berg. Keep ya posted.

Since bad things come in threes--we miscommunicated on some budget issues, and we have a week ahead with a few dollars in the account until Friday payday. No huge biggie--we've been here before and worse, surely! Creative cooking = using everything in the fridge and pantry in unusual combinations, and we are absolutely fine--but still a trial to carry this week.

And yet...how blessed am I to have a roof over my head, food to eat, clothes to wear, family to support us, and my best friend to go through it all with...we know how to hold hands and plant firmly our feet, listening to God's direction and having faith together. If God is trying to get our attention--He has it. :)

Deuteronomy 6: 5-9: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Mallory's Autumn Tea

We had a tea party here last weekend for two of Mallory's friends. Really, I just wanted to use our tea sets and leaf cookie cutter. ;)  I thought it might be fun to have one every month and use the holiday as a theme--lets see if my ambition holds out! She had a great time, and I was really happy to have her friends over in the afternoon. Our family is so busy, we really have to plan for things like that.

Tea Sandwiches: Strawberry/Strawberry Cream cheese, and Cucumber 

Shaped like hearts!

Mallory made place settings for all five guests

The spread! Before everyone came, we added a plate of sliced veggies and several creamers for the girls to choose from

Leaf cookies!

Decorating leaf cookies

The three muskeeters

Doing the leaf craft

Day 3, Week 1

I felt fantastic yesterday! Really great! I noticed my energy level was way up. I think I can attribute that to my slight but significant shift in diet, my workouts finally becoming more regular and routine, and a really good night's sleep the night before. I had no processed sugar/sweet things at all yesterday! Breakfast was oatmeal again with peaches on top (will miss my fruit in week 3, I am already lamenting). Lunch was at the Grape Leaf buffet with our staff before the faculty meeting. I had a pita with hummus, rice, some Greek-chicken meat on its own, and a salad. I do think the salad had too much dressing and the rice/pita were probably the wrong kind of wheat--but that's not what I'm changing right now, so I just enjoyed it! Haha! Crowning Achievement: I did NOT have the bakalava that comes with the buffet, that is absolutely divine, and that everyone else had! Jewel in the Crown: I had water, not soda! Again, I'm not a big soda drinker, but my pitfall is restaurants--so this was a good, conscious decision. Yay me! For dinner, I made Beef and Broccoli stir fry from the I Quit Sugar website. I made rice for the kids to eat it with, but I didn't have any. To the recipe below, I added baby bok choy and red and yellow peppers; I did not use coriander. Mostly because I don't even know what that is. :p  I didn't have any fresh ginger, but I did use ground ginger. I used soy sauce, not tamari. I had a feeling that it would be a bland recipe, and was so incredibly tempted to use the bottled teriaki sauce on it that I had in the cupboard. I forced myself to look at the ingredients, and the first ingredient was High Fructose Corn Syrup--so instead of throwing it on the stir fry, I threw it in the trash. However, it was indeed bland...so my question to all three or four of my readers is this: what do YOU use in your stir fry to make it delicious? I don't know if its a palate thing--maybe I just need to get used to it? I have to think, though, that there are some people who just know how to rock a stir fry. I will definitely keep this recipe, with the idea of tweaking it until we find perfection.

Beef + Broccoli Stir Fry

• coconut oil, butter or ghee, for frying
• 18oz
   minced beef
• 2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
• 2 heads broccoli
• 2.72 us fl oz
   soy sauce or tamari sauce
• 1 bunch coriander, chopped
• dried or fresh chilli, to taste, optional
• 1.36 us fl oz
   finely shredded ginger, optional
• 1 handful chopped roasted cashews, optional

Preheat a large wok or frying pan on a very high heat. Add a few tablespoons oil and stir fry the beef. While the beef is browning, finely slice the broccoli stems and chop the heads into bight sized trees. Add garlic (and chilli and/or ginger, if using) to the beef and continue to cook until well browned. Add broccoli and a few tablespoons water and cover the pan. Continue to cook on a high heat with the lid on, stirring every 2 minutes until the broccoli is bright green and tender but still a tiny bit crunchy. If it starts to burn, add a little more water. Stir in sauce. Taste and season and serve with chopped coriander and cashew nuts on top.

This Beef + Broccoli Stir-fry is a quick, healthy and cheap meal to whip up after work and is perfect to keep for leftovers the next day!

- See more at: http://www.iquitsugar.com/recipe/beef-broccoli-stir-fry/#sthash.gSDKrSnH.dpuf

Week One, Day Two

Well, the best thing so far about this plan is the first week being dedicated to "cutting back". Its harder than it sounds! Not so much because I can't control myself, but because once you start thinking about it, there is fructose/sugar in lots of things! Yesterday I had a bowl of oatmeal with peaches and nutmeg for breakfast and no sugar in my coffee, just Stevia. I had Carl's Jr. for lunch (for shame, for shame), but it was because I promised my son a lunch date and that's what he chose!! That doesn't count, right?? ;)  Well, no sweet stuff there, but I don't want to think about the additives and junk and added sugar just in the burger and fries I had. I also had a diet soda, which I don't usually have--but its a definite weak spot, especially at restaurants. One thing I am really looking forward to is having an extended time under my belt with NO soda. Even just the occasional one is toxic. I KNOW. ;)  I did my half hour, 2.5 mile workout on the treadmill, and for dinner had a grapefruit, a salad, and one of the kids' homemade pizza bagels. Its kind of embarrassing to write what I'm eating here, but I do want to chronicle the process. I am usually pretty healthy, but I am also an impulse eater (that looks great! I should totally have one!) and fall prey to laziness (healthy dinner, healthy dinner, healthy dinner--okay, its Thursday and I'm tired, lets have pizza!). The focus for me, this week, is on cutting back the sugar. I won't change everything at once, but its sure humbling to put in print the things I'm "sneaking" when I convince myself that I'm a mostly healthy eater. :p  BUT I didn't have ANYthing sweet yesterday for the purpose of eating something sweet! The plan asks  you to start noticing your "trigger times", and mine is DEFINITELY after I eat a meal--my brain automatically jumps to the "need" to have something sweet, even small, to follow it up. Signs of an addict, my friends. :)  This morning, I had one cup of coffee with one pack of Stevia (this will be hard for me on the week where no sweet stuff at all, even stevia/honey etc. is allowed...week 3, but maybe it will kick my dependence on coffee in the morning. I just have one cup, but I really WANT that one cup! lol), a whole-wheat bagel with cream cheese, and a banana. I actually think the hardest thing about week 3 will be giving up fruit for that week. Its obviously  not something you do for a long time, but to get the sugars completely out--no fruit that week. I eat 3 to 5 things of fruit a day. Seriously. And I know that's healthy, but I also get why, for at least a week or two, you put them aside. Cravings are cravings.

Oh. Also. Did I mention Week 3 will be Thanksgiving Week? Ha. Ha. Ha.

I had to add this: I did have a headache yesterday! Not sure if was related, but I bet it was...the detox effect! Ug. I made it until 1:00 pm without taking ibuprofen, but then I caved. Today, however--I feel FANTASTIC!! Its awesome! :)

Coming Home

Yesterday, on the drive home, I was listening to this...

Bartok Romanian Folk Dances for Violin

...while looking at this:

After a long day at work and heading home a little late, this was God's balm for my spirit. How lucky are we.  <3

Happiness is...

...being in the middle of two fantastic series! Just finished this book this weekend...

Its the second of four. So good. While I'm waiting for my mom to finish the third book and pass it on to me, I picked up this at the book store...

Confession: Rick Riordan isn't my favorite author...his writing style is just juvenile enough to be distracting. I know, I know, these books are written for juveniles...but JK Rowling proved you can do that and still be an excellent author. So the bar has been set, Rick. I'm just saying. However, the story line for these books is awesome. I love the idea and I get caught up in the plot. I read the whole Greek series with my son Daniel (he would hand off the book to me when he was finished); I was hesitant to start this Roman counterpart, because I'd heard it wasn't as good. Thankfully, two of my students convinced me to give it a try--and I'm hooked. It is an incredibly comfortable feeling to be stocked with reading material for the foreseeable future! Nothing is quite as disconcerting as finishing an awesome book and not knowing what to read next. Thank-goodness for GoodReads. :)

Happy Tuesday!

Sex Education in Schools

Oh, man...I feel passionately about this one. This guy says it much better than I do. Thanks again, Matt.

Abstinence is Unrealistic and Old-Fashioned

Food Thoughts

I am trying to shift my eating habits, and drag my family along with me. We eat *relatively* healthily, for living in the United States, I suppose; but most Nor-Cals would probably be horrified. Haha. I am trying two things simultaneously, which may not actually be the best of ideas--now that I think about it. I am doing an 8-week sugar detox.

My name is Marla, and I am a sugar addict.

Its really bad. Embarrassingly bad, actually. I've gone through spurts of sugar-cutbacks before, but I always come back. What is different this time? Well...I learned that cancer cells feed on sugar.

I have always had a rather unhealthy fear of cancer--I have seen several people fight it and lose, and its a heart wrenching battle. One that honestly terrifies me. I didn't know of the link between sugar and cancer until recently--I am hoping this is a motivator to make the difference for me. I am doing this program that I found, because I really like the author's blog...

I Quit Sugar

I thought it would be interesting to describe my supposed 8-week journey here. Don't worry, I am fully aware of the fact that I am doing this RIGHT BEFORE THANKSGIVING. I guess I am a fan of self-torture--who knew? I though it might be helpful to myself and to others to chronicle the experience. I like this method because it takes you through a detox and then introduces fructose back into your diet sparingly and offers alternatives in a cookbook. I don't do fad-diets or things that are unsustainable--what's the point? And its very much not about weight--I don't even know what I weigh right now. We don't own a scale. BUT--I know I have a problem with sugar. Just like some people have a problem with alcohol or cigarettes. I don't like something having that much power over my life, so I am going to give it a try. Feel free to comment along the journey--it helps!!

The second thing I mentioned is finding new staple-recipes to put in my family's menu. I am a bit bored with my 12-year old menu (although I think its pretty varied, 12 years is a long time for anything) and I am ready to jazz things up a bit--walk on the wild side! Also, my 8-year old mini-hippie keeps begging me to be vegetarian with her (honestly, what third grader even knows about that?? She's been asking since first grade, truth be told!), and I think it would be a fun thing to do together...but there is no way my family could do that all at once. I'm not even sure how much I really want to be "vegetarian"--I just want to start incorporating regularly new and healthy dishes that don't center around pasta or lots of meat or even lots of wheat. One dish at a time. 

SO...

Put this idea into practice last week by trying this "recipe" and it was fantastic! So surprisingly delicious! And for those who are wondering, YES, Stater Brothers does sell anchovy paste! I had it for dinner and for lunch the next day--added a tomato and croutons to it, delicious. This will be the first addition to our menu rotations. We did grab a loaf of Rosemary Olive Oil bread from the discount rack to go with it, and it was yummy--I limited myself to one piece with the salad. Fantastic.

Kale and Romaine Caesar Salad

Kale and Romaine Caesar Salad
(Makes 3-4 servings, recipe adapted from Tuscan Kale Caesar Slaw at Bon Appetit Magazine.)

Ingredients:
2 T fresh-squeezed lemon juice (I use my frozen fresh lemon juice)
1 T anchovy paste from a tube (or substitute soy sauce)
1 tsp. garlic puree (I used garlic puree from a jar)
1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
6 T olive oil
2 T + 2 T freshly grated Parmesan cheese
sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
4-5 oz. romaine lettuce, thinly sliced, washed and dried
4-5 oz. dark green kale, center spine removed if large, thinly sliced, washed, and dried

Instructions:

In a blender, food processor, or the mini-processor bowl of an immersion blender combine the lemon juice, anchovy paste (or soy sauce), garlic puree, and Dijon and pulse together a few times.  Then add the olive oil one tablespoon at a time, pulsing for a few seconds after each tablespoon of oil is added.  (This is easiest in a food processor with a feed tube, but you can do it in a blender or mini-processor easily enough too.)  Stir in 2 T of freshly grated Parmesan and season the dressing with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.  Put dressing in the fridge and chill until ready to use, or if you want to make the salad right away, chill it in the freezer for 10 minutes or so.

(If making this dressing is just not going to happen at your house, I'd still make the salad and simply dress it with Cardini's Caesar, which is my all-time favorite bottled Caesar dressing, or use your favorite vegan Caesar dressing.)

Thinly slice romaine lettuce in 1/2 inch strips until you have enough to make 4-5 cups sliced romaine.  Wash the sliced lettuce, then spin dry or dry with paper towels.  If you have small garden kale leaves you won't need to cut away the center spine, but for large kale leaves, fold it over along the spine and cut away the thick part of the kale spine and discard.  Then stack up a bunch of kale leaves and slice 1/2 inch thick, repeating until you have enough sliced kale to make 4-5 cups of sliced kale.  Wash kale and spin dry or dry with paper towels.

Combine the sliced romaine and kale in a large bowl, big enough to thoroughly toss the salad.  Add a few tablespoons of dressing and toss, repeating until all the salad greens are very lightly coated with dressing.  (You probably won't need all the dressing, but save it in the fridge for another time.)  Add the remaining 2 T of freshly grated Parmesan to the salad and toss again.  Serve right away.

This recipe is from Kayln's Kitchen.

Okay, there you go--officially my longest post ever! Weigh in on my food thoughts! In a little while, I'll post on what I've been doing for my workouts. Its nice to have TIME to work out (re: no rehearsals!).

Marla's Movie Musings

Last Vegas

I stinking loved this movie!! First of all, any movie with any ONE of these actors usually makes my "good movie" list, and for all four of them--it was just a treat. I seriously laughed so hard. But here's a HUGE disclaimer--some serious language and some serious, um, inappropriate/sexualized images--I guess you can't avoid that when you making a movie about present-day Las Vegas. Its actually NOT the kind of movie that I usually watch. However, for GROWN-UPS, it was hilarious and left me with some things to think about...plus, I love Morgan Freeman. Just love him. Oh, and Michael Douglas. And Robert De Niro. And Kevin Kline. Love. Would highly recommend as a date movie IF the above disclaimers aren't deal killers for you.

I saw it with my mom. :p

Rating: A for making me belly-laugh!!

Halloween at the Cosners

We have been so incredibly busy!!! Holidays find our days packed with activities and family time, which is just how I like it--but its taken until now for things to slow down and blogging-inspiration to take hold.

Blogging Inspiration:

We should make up a word for this! Ronelle? Lisa? Susanne? Challice? Any word-creators out there? 

A word meaning when the inspiration to blog hits...

Our Halloween flew by this year. This whole year has been flying by, despite my desperate attempts to slow it down. We had decorations, we BOOed our neighbors (this was so fun, and something I had wanted to do for years with the kids!), we made Halloween watercolor crafts from elmer's glue and watercolors, and trick-or-treated...love the holiday season. Here's the late pictures, and I hope everyone's Halloween was a memory in the making. :)

A Dementor and Gollum--my kids have great taste in literature!

Some house decorations

Hippie Road Trip Ideas

Here's a link for me to save for my Hippie Road Trip. I will expand on this crazy idea of mine this weekend. Hold your breath. ;)

How To Sleep in Your Car

Some interesting links

"We are Going to Homeschool": Matt Walsh Blog

This was a well-written article about why homeschooling is a viable option for many parents. We are jumping on the train next year, having decided to homeschool our kids through middle school. I'm a little bit scared, I'm not gonna lie...but I agree with Matt, it really is time for parents to step up and say, "Nope. Not anymore." 

Pinterest Review: Chicken Parmesan Bake

I made this off of  Pinterest last night; the kids loved it, I was not a huge fan. To be fair, I did things a little differently than the actual recipe--I had less tomatoes than called for, and I baked it in a casserole dish. The result was not the rosy, cheesy, crisp goodness pictured above, but rather a slightly pink, homemade mac'n'cheese--like I said, kids thought it was great. ;)  Too much cheese for me, I think!

Finished my book, Lady of the Rivers--first in a series of four from Philippa Gregory. Fantastic. Waiting on my mom to finish the second one. I just started The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan, which is the first book in the Roman series of the demigods made famous by Percy Jackson. :)  I love this story line Riordan has created. Its such an intriguing idea! I am not, however, a fan of his writing style. I don't think you have to "write down" to kids--Harry Potter, anyone? If Rowling can make a series in a 5-7th grade reading level and still write well, so can RR. Since he didn't, however, I will push through the "dude" mentality for the sake of the story. :)

Not much going on at the homestead. Fall is a slow season here. Halloween is around the corner! 

Marla's Movie Musings

Okay, so I'm a little behind the times on this one, since it came out in 2008! BUT I read the book over the summer, and put it in my queue...and it just came yesterday. (Probably because I was putting Downton Abbey episodes in the number 1 and 2 slots for three months straight.) This movie is FANTASTIC. It was awesome to me that the three leads are all singers by trade--they were fantastic. It was awesome to me that Dakota Fanning is still such a talented actress. It was awesome to me that it stayed very true to the book--which was awesome. I highly recommend the book AND the film--but read the book first!! You'll get so much more out of the movie, I promise!

Rating: A for (wait for it...) Awesome!

Weekend!

Its amazing, the feeling of contentment that comes from the promise of a weekend, some sweatpants, and a good book.

Homesteading and Self Sufficiency

Self Sufficiency

This article was posted on facebook by one of my friends (who happens to be a rather interesting conspiracy theorist, but that is neither here nor there), and I love it. My mind is sometimes blown by how dependent my generation is on the government, and on commerce. Is that the right word? Meaning--if Walmart and Stater Brothers shut down tomorrow, who would be okay in a week?? If the government had to regulate our food supply in an emergency by handing out staples (say a sack of flour and a bag of potatoes)--who would know what to do?? This first came to my attention about six or seven years ago when Ridgecrest had a two-day blackout. No electricity. People left the city in droves. No, seriously, people packed up and left to wait out the time in a hotel room, in "nearby" cities an hour and a half away. When we did get power back, there were lines outside the gas stations with panicked people waiting for their gas. Wow. Got me thinking. My parents' generation (not necessarily my parents, mind you!) would know what to do if things just stopped working. Ours? Some people would be in a lot of trouble. Is that scary to anyone else??

Anyway, self-sufficiency, along with avid reading of pioneer settlers accounts (usually women's journals from the late 1800s who came to settle the west coast) are a bit like my hobbies. I often wonder at a time when these hobbies were methods of survival--if you didn't garden or raise livestock, you would die. Could we do it?? Out here in the Mojave? 

In this article, the thing that I not so good at is the concept of debt. Credit cards make it easy for me to buy things on a whim. A goal of mine would be to pay only cash or not pay at all. Do you have a goal to make your life-style more self-sufficient? In this day and age, can "normal" families achieve a measure of self-sufficiency? What about true self-sufficiency? (Not talking about the hippie guys living in RVs on BLM land--although I'm totally jealous.) Marla Wants to Know!!!

I saw this today. I liked it.

Marla's Movie Musings

I went to see the movie "Gravity" today with a group of people I work with...I'd heard a lot of generic good things about the film, but really had little idea what to expect or what it was about. Here's the run-down:

1) This movie is basically "Castaway" in space. If you liked Castaway, you'll love this film. And you'll also know how it ends. :p

2) I had a very hard time separating Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as celebrities from their characters. They are so well-known that it was hard not to see THEM on the screen--which of course makes the plot a whole lot more far fetched. To be fair, I had this same problem with Tom Cruise in "Oblivion". Its probably just me.

3) Okay, seriously--there were LOTS of shots of Sandra Bullock's incredibly toned, skinny legs. But here's the deal: she had been in space for a week and half!! DOES ANYBODY REALLY SHAVE THEIR LEGS IN SPACE???

Rating: B

Christmas Card

Had to share this here, for my memories! This will be our Christmas card this year! I don't usually do Christmas cards--but really, who can resist sending this out?? Happy Wednesday!!

Garden dreaming

I am garden dreaming this morning...already. :)

My first garden was on our new property this year. I was discouraged at the time that I had to let it die off, and thought it was an experiment gone sadly wrong. I vowed never to garden again! But since then (time and thought), I have realized that every garden is an experiment! Some things will go well every year, and some will not--the point is to learn and adjust! I'm reading the book "No Time on My Hands" again (second time, first time was maybe 6 or 7 years ago?), and Grace Snyder had many gardens just ruined by the Nebraska/Wyoming hailstorms or by her husband's horses, or etc., and that was their grocery store!! So of course it never occurred to her to "give up"! Ha!

My pumpkins and tomatoes did very well. I just planted too many tomatoes, and my garden was in a place with no shade. While this may sound fantastic to Nor-Cal folks :) , in the desert, this was a mistake. It took a lot of watering to keep them from wilting. My tomatoes next to my son's cabin did much better, thanks in part to the shade. My potatoes were a total bust. This time, I am trying potato towers. :)  My poor, poor peppers never did take off. We had one plant produce two beautiful peppers--only to come home on day and find the rabbits had helped themselves. Heartbreaking, I tell you!!! However, I have since learned that I planted my peppers too close to my tomatoes--peppers are apparently selfish plants, and like their space. So they will be my container-gardening experiment this spring. I am going to try cucumbers, and also melons and watermelons...I think vine fruits do well in our desert, surprisingly!! I am composting through the winter (and I have no idea what I'm doing...)--I'll post some pictures of my little compost bin later. I am thinking of how to fence off my area, whether or not to do raised beds, how to level the ground, how much ground I want...I didn't realize how much work it would take to maintain our garden, especially in our summer heat in the full sun. One reason I am making adjustments. It needs to be something I can manage in the early morning through the summer. The place I'm considering now has a watering system built in it. Oooh, I also just read that you can make your beds out of bricks?? That would satisfy my aversion to power tools and asking my Handsome Husband for help. (Call it pride. Go ahead. I dare you.)

101 Gardening Tips

Garden Dreaming. :)