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I admit it. I am addicted to DIY. 

Since we've moved into our house a year ago, I have been DYING to rip out a wall or re-tile one of the bathrooms. Thankfully, my husband shares my addiction. We successfully renovated our last house together, hardly hiring anyone else for any of the work. We are taking it slow in our new house, however, due to time and money constraints (I'm sure you're all feeling the squeeze of the economy too). So far we've only repainted and refinished the floors in order to make it livable. There are some things we HAVE to do in the relatively near future (like the roof and new plumbing, both of which we will be hiring out), so the things that we WANT to do will have to wait (like updating the kitchen and bathrooms).

This blog isn't really about THAT kind of DIY, though. 

(However, I reserve the right to post about any future home remodel projects.)

THIS blog is about my journey to become more self-reliant, and to return to a more simplified life. With three small kids (who will probably be featured in this blog from time to time), my life can be pretty hectic. Doing things myself is a way for me to teach my kids skills they will need in their lives, and to save money and time (Go shopping with three little ones? I would rather starve. Ok, not really, but you get my drift. And if you have kids, you know how they can turn a short, simple trip to the grocery store into HOURS). Not to mention, when I make everything myself, I know exactly what is in it and can reduce the amount of weird chemicals in our food and cleaning products. 

Don't get me wrong. I am not opposed to store bought stuff, and I am NOT obsessed with chemicals or everything being "natural". I'm not THAT crunchy. (Though I have friends who are.....) When I CAN do something myself naturally, I will. When I can't, I won't. Simple as that.

So what can you look forward to on my blog? 

Cleaning Products---I make my own laundry soap and have begun making bath products too! I will share my recipes and post about my successes (and failures) when making new stuff!

Food---We love to garden and I LOVE to can. Hopefully we'll have lots of home grown loot in our pantry by next winter! I'll post the recipes I use and any other information about canning that I come across. AND, my husband is a fantastic "from scratch" kind of cook. I'll share some of his original recipes!

Chickens----I just started raising chickens for eggs and will share my experiences and new found knowledge. Oh, yeah, and how I killed my rooster..... myself.... and ate him!

Kids---Since they are a huge part of my life, I'm sure I'll post about activities I do with them. Especially those things that happen "accidentally" that end up being a huge success (like blowing pompons across the table.... resulting in over an HOUR of no fighting and mommy "alone" time!)

This is not the end of the list.... but it is the end of my blogging time. Dinnertime is here and hungry children are tugging on my sleeve.....

I hope you will share with me any ideas, recipes, and thoughts you have along the way about Simple Living.

Thanks for joining me!

Sarah