things that make me happy

as always a collection of photographs

taken for the purpose of happiness

 

 

it never rained

our Saturday was supposed to be a rainy day so we embraced the idea and headed out early before it would start. I took an exam early that morning then we grabbed lunch, ran to the bank and finished up errands. I found some really cute wooden bird houses for a dollar at the Joann's here in Greensboro. I bought some really cute tube dress fabric to take to my sewing class in a few weeks, too! It was on sale and I couldn't help it. They were also selling paint for a dollar and we can never have too much in this house so I bought a few. We came home, cracked open our marble set and painted away two bird houses and a dozen flat marbles. Our next project is making homemade bird feeders to hang up on our trees. I found a cute idea via my pinterest! Needless to say, it never rained and our day couldn't have ended more perfectly.

earth day

In all of the reasons this day is so important it really should be every day of our lives. A little history via: It marks the anniversary of what many consider the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. The height of hippie and flower-child culture in the United States, 1970 brought the death of Jimi Hendrix, the last Beatles album, and Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water”. Protest was the order of the day, but saving the planet was not the cause. War raged in Vietnam, and students nationwide increasingly opposed it. At the time, Americans were slurping leaded gas through massive V8 sedans. Industry belched out smoke and sludge with little fear of legal consequences or bad press. Air pollution was commonly accepted as the smell of prosperity. “Environment” was a word that appeared more often in spelling bees than on the evening news. Although mainstream America remained oblivious to environmental concerns, the stage had been set for change by the publication of Rachel Carson's New York Times bestseller Silent Spring in 1962. The book represented a watershed moment for the modern environmental movement, selling more than 500,000 copies in twenty-four countries and up until that moment, more than any other person, Ms. Carson raised public awareness and concern for living organisms, the environment and public health. Earth Day 1970 capitalized on the emerging consciousness, channeling the energy of the anti-war protest movement and putting environmental concerns front and center.

If you think about it 1970 isn't that long ago but it's long enough to know that we have been aware of the consequences of not taking care of the ground we walk on and eat from and the air we breathe every day. I'm proud to say I take new steps each day to become more earth friendly, whether its reusing, recycling or reducing. I strive to be more sustainable. It's a work in progress.

Earth day 2010
I picked up an extremely disgusting and disturbing pile (4 trash bags) worth of trash around the GTCC campus. I was finishing up school there and a friend of mine and I got out of class and realized how much trash there was in just one parking lot and all along the road. I decided to grab some bags, including my reusable ones and picked up every single piece of trash including the small plastic wrappers, gum wrappers and cigarette butt's found in the grass. There was an entire bag of Taco Bell trash- a half eaten burrito, sauces, napkins, all used, open and thrown straight out of the window. The more I picked up, the more infuriated I became. Why couldn't these people just keep it in the car until they got somewhere to throw it away? Why were they so lazy? Why did they think it was okay to throw it out on the road, of all places? Ridiculous. It occurred to me that after picking it up and being so upset that I should be happy- I had done something great, it was clean and that was enough to feel accomplished about even if it didn't last. I later wrote a letter to the school about the littering problem- I never got a response back. 

Earth day 2011
Adriana, Ryland and I went on a hike and enjoyed the beautiful day- we explored nature and learned a lot about the different things we saw with our book, binoculars and magnifying glasses. We came home later that day and made organic sugar cookies and decorated them with natural dyed frosting to look like earth! I remember them being delicious. We ended our day with the lights off, by candle light and read books- there was not a more perfect way to end the day.

Earth day 2012
We're keeping it simple. It's raining and will be all day- so we'll spend the day inside doing activities from our Earth day book. We'll explore the different possibilities of recycling, reusing and reducing! We've painted our piggy's with dragon tears & will probably make a yummy treat later. We may even try to do some crafts!

here are some things I found 
that you can take part in

happy earth day

eco kids projects

recycled crafts

earth day activities for kids

here's one I've tried

cereal box organizer

saturday to do's

our Saturday will consist of bringing lunch to daddy at work

grabbing lunch at one of our favorite places

consuming a big cup each of our favorite frozen yogurt

and painting marbles outside- even if it rains.

I suppose somewhere in there I should put away

this insanely ridiculous mountain of laundry- maybe.

happy weekend friends!

recipe box: seventeen

olive dip

 what you need

one tall jar of green olives: about 2 cups

two blocks of cream cheese: about 16 oz

one tablespoon of mayonnaise

salt and pepper to taste

 

what to do

let cream cheese come to room temperature or until it's soft

this will make it easier to mix everything together.

grab a cutting board and a sharp knife.

tip: reserve some of the olive juice for later.

cut olives- in either bigger chunks or smaller pieces.

 tip: you can buy them already sliced as a short cut!

We like them really little so that you get

a lot of olive in one bite!

once cut, put cream cheese in a bowl.

add olives, one table spoon of mayonnaise,

a pinch of salt and pepper and mix until blended.

if the mixture is a little thick- now is the time

to add the reserved olive juice.

this dip is seriously tangy and salty and so delicious!

you can serve it with any veggie- we like celery.

you can put it on sandwiches or you can eat it with crackers.

it's best served chilled but its just as good 

served right when you make it, we're never patient enough

to wait so it's gone almost instantly.

let me know if you try it

or have another version-

most importantly enjoy.

what's in your lunch box?

lunch day seventy three

mini biscuit pizza with mozzarella and olives

strawberries

celery sticks with veggie dip

white cheddar popcorn

chocolate coconut wafer

 lunch day seventy four

half of a whole wheat pita stuffed 

with tuna salad and cabbage slaw

mandarin oranges

lentil chips

dill pickles

mini chocolate chips

lunch day seventy five

krab and california rolls

kiwi

a whole clementine

peanut butter granola bar chunks

crystallized ginger 

 lunch day seventy six

herbed lentils and rice

white grapes

white cheddar popcorn

mandarin oranges

caramel candy

 lunch day seventy seven

salad with fresh feta, croutons and dressing

a whole clementine

chocolate hazelnut sticks

dried cranberries

 lunch day seventy eight

baked bowties

veggie straws

white fudge caramel popcorn

raspberries

annie's pink lemonade gummies

lunch day seventy nine

ginger zucchini with wild rice

apple cinnamon straws

peeled clementine

annie's bunny pretzels

heart marshmallow

lunch day eighty

cheesy rice and bean quesadilla

fresh picked strawberries

granola chunks with raisins and dried cranberries

kiwi halves

caramel candy