Thursday, October 20, 2011

Modge Podge Roundup

Today is for cake baking and toy building, but I wanted to share my first roundup before it got too old.

Our little one will have her first birthday tomorrow and her present is in a million pieces, waiting for assembly when Papa comes home.  And while I remember all the "joys" of "assembly required," I'm sure we will not not sleep much tonight.  Let's see how much progress the toy industry has made in 21 years!  I'm sure we'll want to die tonight and be able to laugh about it once we catch up on our sleep, 5 years from now. :)

You might find it odd that we've bought some huge monstrosity from the Toys R Us marketing machine.  This completely goes against my pledge to not buy into the toy industry, with all their overpriced, molded plastic goodies.  We can build anything ourselves while teaching our child the skills she needs to be self sufficient.  I was overtaken by this one though.  It crept up on me.  I was powerless :(


Look at it!


It has a working doorbell for goodness sake!



Back to the Roundup!
I'm not sure how this whole blogging thing will work for me, but I hope everyone - you know, my enormous reader base :) - will be patient with me as I navigate this new area.  In any case, of the blogs I follow, I have noticed a few do a "roundup" where they post links to other blog posts and interesting articles.  I guess this is so freaks like me, who already have little time and issues with too much research, reading and googling, have yet more to read.

It's already a feat of great proportions for me to even start a blog without having refreshed my grammar skills, researching successful blogging strategies and banking 20-30 posts for the days (or weeks) where I become to overwhelmed to post.  I have perfectionist issues and do a lot of planning and not so much doing. :)


In my effort to change how I do things and step out of my comfort zone, here I am and here's my first unplanned, non-themed, haphazard "roundup."



Articles
Why a personal trainer is making himself obese… on purpose
This is a great article on Drew Manning, a personal trainer that has gained 70 pounds on purpose, with the intention of losing it, to better understand his clients' point of view.  I love that he acknowledged the addictive quality of processed foods.
"I think the biggest thing I’ve learned is how intense and how real these food cravings are.  I think a lot of people associate the word “addiction” with drugs and alcohol, but I do believe this addiction (to America’s processed foods) is real and very similar. I know I’ll never know exactly what it’s like for every person that’s overweight and I don’t claim to, but at least I understand better than I did before when I never had to struggle with this. I hope to learn a lot more in the second half of my journey, from fat 2 fit."
Back to the Land, Reluctantly
I just loved the quote below.  I am definitely one that is finding my way with growing my own food. It's nice to see a level of success from someone that was a novice once too.
"My turn with spade and hoe started a few years ago when I found myself divorced and flat broke. My livelihood as a freelance writer went out the window when the economy tanked. I literally could afford beans, the dried kind, which I’d thought were for school art projects or teaching elementary math. And I didn’t know how to cook."


Links
Southern Savers
For anyone living in the south, this is a priceless site for saving money.  If you hate the tediousness of couponing, as I do, this site does most of the work for you.  Although I do not buy all the processed food that most of the big coupon savings are for, there are other savings that are worthwhile!  Plus, they list some freebies, free movie rental codes and post saving opportunities for online shoppers.

Ana White

Never buy from Pottery Barn or any of those fancy-pants, overpriced stores again!  This site has building plans for almost any piece of furniture you might need for your home.  She includes cut lists and everything!

The Quaint Cottage

This site has building plans also but more so for smaller projects and accessories.

The Simple Dollar

I like this guy!  He teaches frugality, simple living and gives money saving ideas.  More importantly to me, he often inspires by illustrating that we are not just trading money to have certain things, we are trading time.

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