Why I Shop At Aldi

It's no secret that I love Aldi. Simply put, I get more for less. I'm able to feed my family real, whole, good food and not break the bank.

I buy all of our groceries at Aldi. All of them. The milk, the cheese, the meat, the bread, the fruits and veggies, the TP, the dish washing detergent, the diapers. Everything.

Aldi has a pretty cool history - and fun fact, it's sister company is Trader Joe's!

Going to Aldi is literally one of the highlights of my week. I love searching out amazing deals on their every day great items, special buys (unique items, store-brand stuff), home goods, and random fun things (house plants anyone?).

I love that I can fill my cart to the brim with staples, a few indulgences, new things to try, and a boat load of produce and I am rarely shocked by the sticker price (do you ever go to the store and buy 3 things and think wow that was a fast $50?)

What I love most is how Aldi is constantly adapting their offerings to serve their customers various diets and health interests - non-GMO items, organic, specialty items (like prosciutto and brie), gluten free.

Seriously, it's like shopping at a specialty grocery store. I just want to stand outside of Whole Foods with a big sign that says "grab your bags, we're going to Aldi!"

In the next few posts I'm going to share my tips for a successful Aldi shopping trip and some things that I typically buy.

Have you ever wanted to try Aldi? What is holding you back? Have any questions about their products? Ask away! (I've probably had it!)

Clutter (part 2)

...If I see one more printable cleaning schedule on Pinterest I just might puke (and then who will clean that up?).

But seriously, I feel like I'm going back and forth between two extremes: being organized and being present.

Last week I shared some thoughts on clutter, and specifically clearing clutter. I referenced a blog post that encourages us to clear clutter so that we can further "operate out of joy." And I want that, don't you?

But at what cost?

So often, when I'm stuck over a sink of dirty dishes or stuffing the washing machine too full, and I'm getting frustrated, I often tell myself that these are the things my family needs, I'm serving my family with my acts of cleaning.

But after I cleaned up Sam's trains for the millionth time this weekend (because our neighbor was stopping by), I thought... I'm not doing this for my family, I'm doing this for appearances.

Oh geez. Now what?

How do I balance wanting to serve my family well and give them a comfortable, clean space, and still be present with them in that space (instead of forcing myself into some chore and missing out on quality time)? How do I balance organizing because my mind works best in an organized space with my need to present my home perfectly when a guest walks in the door?

What are your thoughts?

A Small, Cozy House

I love our small home. And I love reading about why others' love their small homes.

I love this post by The Prairie Homestead. Jill makes so many great points, but I love how she mentions that living in a small home is easier to decorate. And how true that is! I love filling our cozy home with artwork, creative images, trinkets. I love to be surrounded by things on the walls. 

Ashley at the Vanilla Tulip has a whole feature on her small space. She talks a lot about how she's constantly changing things up in her home to make her furniture work best.

Things I love about my small home:
- It's quick to clean 

- My family is always close

- Decorations make a big impact in the small space

- It's easy to find the cat (I can't image having any more nooks and crannies for her to hide)

- A few small candles fill the whole home with a great smell and happy glow

- It always has a warm, welcoming feeling

- Small improvements make a big difference

- Cozy, cozy, cozy (my favorite thing ever)

- I can always hear when Sam hollers "mommy, hep pees"

Do you live in a small house? What do you love about it?

A few of my favorite views

And of course, my favorite family

Kitties and Babies

There's nothing people love more than kitties and babies. Seriously, how could you not?

But sometimes, in life away from cute internet memes, kitties and babies can be a tricky combination.

But somehow, in my house, I have cultivated a beautiful relationship between cat and child. Well, it's part things that I did and part luck and magic and the best cat in the universe.

For historical purposes, here's a picture of baby Sam and his kitty cat Jupiter.

Aww kitty. Nice kitty. What you don't see is Sam's mouth full of kitty hair. Yea, that happened daily. But in general, things were pretty quiet.

Fast forward,and here is Jupiter with her toddler older brother.

Oh my gosh. Sam and Jupiter just laid like that for quite some time, until Jupiter wiggled out from Sam's death grip.

So what did I do to develop such a close relationship between my fur baby and human baby? Well, I have no clue. But here are some things that are worth a shot!

- Bring a blanket to the hospital, get it all smelly with the sweet aroma of new baby, and then bring it home to your cat. Let her smell it and get acquainted with the new scent.

- Let your baby and cat explore one another safely with you right by their side. When Sam was a newborn, I would let Jupiter rub up against him and get her kitty smell all over him. I wanted her to mark him up as hers (without feeling like she needed to pee on him). If he smelled a bit like her, I thought that would help her not want to suck out his breath during nap time.

- Be aware of what changes a baby brings to your home and try to make them gradually (as best you can). When we came home with Sam we were faced with a sleeping dilemma. Sam was going to sleep in our room for a while. The cat sleeps on our bed. We didn't want the cat to jump in the pack-n-play with Sam. We didn't want to lock the cat out for fear she would resent the little human sleeping in her room. So the first night home we just left the door of the room open, put Sam to sleep, and I slept with one eye open. Jupiter jumped in with Sam once, was scared almost to death by what she found (a baby), and never did it again.

- At first I would intervene every time I sensed Jupiter getting upset. And rightly so. I wanted to keep Sam and Jupiter safe. But as Sam got older, I paused a bit more when they were "playing" to see if they could work it out. (I recognize I sound ridiculous in that I'm writing about my cat and baby as though they are siblings, but, aren't they?) I watched as Sam walked up to Jupiter, stuck her tail in his mouth, and bit her. I watched as Jupiter got mad and nibbled back. I watched as Sam didn't like being "bit" himself. And I watched as he left her alone.

- Before letting your cat "bite" your son, know your cat. Jupiter has never bit Sam; she has only "bit" him. She would never bite him or anyone. She has only hissed once, when Sam slammed the front door on her, nearly breaking her tail. I know our cat well and have confidence in how she is going to respond. If I sense she's getting upset and it's time to leave her alone, we leave her alone.

There you have it, my not-so-scientific way of developing a kitty/baby friendship.

All this being said, I don't really like cats all the much, and some cats are just not very nice.

Mine is very nice.

When Sam was little and I was still nursing, Jupiter would jump in my lap and rest her head on Sam. She was smitten just like we were.

Going Green(ish)

I've been trying to find ways for our family to go green. We do a lot, but I'm always on the look out for more ways I can buy and waste less, recycle and reuse more.

Here's what we've got going on in our house:
- Kyle and I both take lunch boxes to work and try to limit sandwich bags with reusable ones.
- We compost (I've failed at this lately, mostly because our compost bin smells and I don't like lifting the lid. No excuse!).
- I use wool dryer balls instead of dryer sheets.
- I use crocheted "swiffer" covers when I actually get around to cleaning the floors.
- I use cloth panty liners and head-over-heels love them!
- I use our clothes line during warmer months.
- Cloth diapers, y'all!
- I used washable nursing pads while Sam and I were in that season.
- We recycle all we can. Our city only accepts plastic where the neck is smaller than the base/widest part. Think pop bottles but not yogurt cups. I save all 5 and 6 plastics (plus corks and batteries) and take them to Whole Foods (the only thing I can afford to do at Whole Foods).
- I work full time now (did you know that?). Kyle and I work at the same university in the same building. We drive together to save money and because it would just be silly not to.
- We hardly ever use paper towels. One roll lasts forever and I keep it hidden away for emergencies. We use cheap white washcloths instead.

Things I'd like to try/get back on board with:
- I used to go to the grocery store armed with reusable grocery bags, but I've totally been a slacker here. Makes me sad.
- I have been considering getting a Diva cup. Totally weird or totally amazing?
- For a while I was cutting our kleenex in half. I blow my nose a lot and it was getting out of hand. I think I just need to invest in a few hankies.
- Cloth toilet paper? Totally crazy I know, but I am an aggressive toilet paper user and it's just so darn wasteful. (Aren't you glad I came back to blogging? You're learning more about me than you ever thought possible)
- I would like our family to take shorter showers and save water when brushing teeth and washing the dishes. I'm so bad at just letting the water run while I wash dishes.
- Reusable cotton balls. They are just too cute!
- I'm toying with the idea of not dying my hair anymore. Hair dye is super terrible for you and the environment. I tried natural stuff but it did a terrible job. I absolutely hate dying my hair at home but it's stupid expensive to have someone else do it. The only thing keeping me from letting my hair go...I have more gray hair that any 28.5 year old ever. Seriously. Oh decisions.
- I've gotten lazy and stopped washing out Ziploc bags. I used to rinse them out and hang them on the fridge to dry. For things that I consistently keep in bags (brown sugar for example), I empty out the crumbs and keep it in the freezer until I buy more.
- We have lots of cloth wipes but I've gotten away from using them. Need to start again for wet diapers (and a solution of water, tea tree oil, and castile soap).

I'd love to know: what "green" things do you do? Anything I should try? Do you think cloth toilet paper is utterly ridiculous or utterly brilliant?! 

My Home

[So I mentioned that I'm trying to come clean in some areas of my life. Let's start at home, shall we?]

Now I'm not really the type of person to move furniture around or paint a wall on a whim, but it does seem like our house is in a constant state of shifting. One week I feel that a room isn't "cozy" enough and I go about adding things to warm it up, often buying things that I don't love just to have something fill up the space. Then the next week I find myself overwhelmed and rifling through drawers and cabinets trying to purge as much as possible.

This year I'd like to find more balance regarding the stuff in our house. I'm head-over-heels in love with our home, but I do think we'd benefit a bit from a less-is-more attitude.

We have a small home and absolutely buy into the notion that small homes build tight families. We're trying hard to reject the very popular notion that we need a bigger house as our family grows (or will grow in the future...no babies here folks).

So a small house with lots of stuff -- where does that leave us?

At the intersection of clean and organized. My favorite place to be!

In 2014, I would love to continue to purge and donate items that aren't being used anymore. I'd love to stop holding onto things just because I feel like I should or because we might someday in the future maybe use it. I want to organize the space we have and make it work better for us.

I'd love to know: what is your philosophy regarding your home and the stuff inside? What strategies have you found to organize a small, cozy home?

Update: I found an awesome "30 days of decluttering" printable. I'll definitely be going through this!

Our House [Bathroom]

I am in love with our new bathroom. The blue bathroom that appeared in my maternity photos is a thing of the past.

Welcome the most beautiful sunshiney bathroom you've ever seen.

My mother-in-law helped me redecorate, or rather she basically did everything, which is why it's so wonderful!

You know the best part of our bathroom? Sam splashing around in the bathtub!

Our House [Laundry Room]

This probably isn't the most exiting part of our home, but it sure is where I spend a lot of my time.

It's a tiny little space. Laundry on one end, coffee station on the other.

A few little details to make it pretty.

But of course, it usually looks like this!

Our House [Kitchen]

Yellow makes an appearance again, but this time paired with green for my all time favorite color combination. There is green and yellow Fiestaware hiding behind those cabinets.

Kyle saved that cart from the trash. It's been a lot of different things in all of our apartments. It was meant for our kitchen all along.

And bottle central. Oy.

Our House [Nursery]

I've shared our nursery before, but that was before we really had a baby living there. Things obviously look similar, but after 5 months of a baby, things gotten a little more real. Cloth diapers hanging. Sheets spit up on. Baby rolling around on the floor.

Some things about Sam's nursery:
- He loves Freddie the Firefly, his mobile. Freddie plays four different songs and flaps his wings.
- As the son of a librarian, Sam already has quite the collection of books.
- I sure hope he likes dinosaurs. Many of the aforementioned books are about dinosaurs.
- The bar with toys above the changing tables is an amazing thing.

Oh, hey baby. Just enjoying your room I see.

Our House [Master Bedroom]

When we first moved into our house, when the rest of the house was just chaos, we spent a lot of time retreating here. It was the only calm place in our home.

The first of four rooms with yellow walls. You will be hard pressed to find a space without yellow.

Just keeping it real with the ironing board. You can't see the pile of clothes waiting to be put away that I cleverly slid out into the hallway.

Some of our favorite photos. Sammy, wedding invite and wedding pic, and our very first picture -- we were just babies.

I can't wait for Saturday morning when Sam is older. He'll come running into our room and climb in our bed. The cat definitely won't like sharing, but she'll get over it.