it's a wonderful life

December 9, 2014 Megan Rodriguez

Some may think from my past few posts that life in the Rodriguez house is in a constant state of bliss. Ha. The internet is a deceiving place. So, I thought that today I'd give you a glimpse into our lives and our home, as it is right now.

We are in the midst of a bathroom remodel. We have one bathroom. So...that's fun. My dear husband is doing the work himself, while I research and dream up great things to do with the space. (It's a bit of an unequal arrangement...shhh...don't tell him!) A couple weekends ago we (a.k.a Dan) exposed the brick chimney in the corner of our bathroom and over the past few days Dan installed a pedestal sink and pulled up the old flooring. I'm so excited about all of the space we've gained in our tiny bathroom! This bathroom remodel has been talked about since we bought this house over two years ago. This fall we made the decision to make it happen this winter, but then a surprise bathtub leak got the whole thing started with a bang (or, rather, a hole in the living room ceiling...a minor detail). So, amidst writing and administering final exams, hosting and attending holiday parties, making Christmas gifts, and putting Dan on a plane to Nashville, the bathroom is getting a make-over, one step at a time.

I'm so grateful for all of the work my husband has been and will be putting into this project and I'm so excited to see how lovely, clean, and crisp it will look when finished. But, for now, we'll be walking over floorboards filled with staples and searching for makeup and toothpaste in the spare bedroom.

It truly is a wonderful life.

filled with christmas cheer

December 2, 2014 Megan Rodriguez

The Christmas season has arrived! Call me cliche, but to me it really is the most wonderful time of the year. The winter is still exciting. The snow is still welcomed. There are fun get-togethers each weekend. There are gifts to make, dream up, and find. And the house is filled with Christmas cheer.

Last year, in an effort to save money, I made my own Christmas door hanging and loved it! It was creative, fun, and free (thanks to the woods on my Dad's property). And so this year, we decided to do the same and not only stop there, but also to fill the house with exciting little goodies from outside. It's lovely having our house smell of pine and finding fresh decorations in so many of the rooms.

Filling our home with pieces of nature, keepsakes from the past, and special things my hands have crafted is truly one of my favorite things to do. Pair that with the Christmas season and I'm one happy lady!

I hope your holiday season is off to a lovely start as well! I hope for each and every one of you that this time truly is merry and bright.

getting cozy

November 21, 2014 Megan Rodriguez

It's been a cold week filled with short days and long nights. Each evening we've been finding ourselves wondering if it's time for bed, only to realize that it's only 8:30. The cold and the darkness are catching up with us and making us want to stay in and sleep a bit more.

I've been thinking a lot lately about Minnesota winters (or cold climate winters in any part of the country/world). One of the things that I've really been mulling over is how our fast-paced lifestyles often demand just as much from us during the frigid winters as they do during the warmer months. However, the cold months also require much more from our bodies to keep functioning normally. As our bodies try to stay warm, whether it be outside or in a chilly house, we need to expel more energy. As we bundle up to head out the door, it takes longer and requires more effort. As we commute to work in snow, ice, and slush, we may find ourselves feeling frazzled, stressed, or late by the time we walk into the office. As we walk through the door in the evening hours, we have to turn on all of the lights just to see our way through the house. All of these things require more from us, yet our lives (generally speaking) don't seem to really slow down. I've been pondering these things and the pace of our own house, as this winter has begun to settle upon us, and I've been a bit more intentional about slowing things down. We've been eating warmer, heartier meals. We've been lighting candles throughout the house. We've been cuddling up in blankets with tea or tasty drinks. We've been reading more and doing a bit less. We've been keeping the house a bit tidier so that it's easier to just sink down into a comfy warm spot. And we've been going to bed early. All of these things, while they may be small, have helped me to begin to feel the coziness of winter. To begin to take things slower and let my body rest and hibernate a bit.

There is a word in Danish that perfectly describes this cozy winter feeling, hygge. While we don't have a direct translation in English, it seems to encompass everything from feeling warm and cozy, to being surrounded by happy, loving family and friends (read more about it here and here). It's like the feelings we feel during the Christmas season where everything is warm and magical and we are in love with the winter's chill. In the upper Midwest, I feel that we really understand this feeling through parts of the holiday season, especially when we're actually celebrating, but throughout the rest of the winter, we seem to lose sight of these cozy feelings.

Winter is long in Minnesota, and this year it seems to have gotten a nice early start. But, whether we like it or not, it's here to stay and stay for quite some time. So, we can either keep on with our busy, crazy lives, all the while begrudging winter, or we can choose to step back a bit, to let our bodies rest, hibernate, and get cozy. In our house, we want this winter to be a true hygge winter. So, tonight, I'm going to fill my house with flickering candles, cozy up with a good book and blanket, warm myself with a mug of something delicious, and enjoy the quiet and rest that winter can bring.

the seasonal shuffle

October 20, 2014 Megan Rodriguez

Fall has most definitely arrived. The temperatures are dropping and the swirling, falling leaves are quietly whispering that winter is most certainly on its way. With the changing of the seasons, my house tends to go through a few changes as well. The sandals and slip-ons by the back door have been replaced with boots. The mittens have found their way to the top of baskets. The summer blankets for the yard are being moved to the basement and the warm living room blankets are taking their places. The Crockpot has taken up residence on the shelf by the stove, in a place where it can slowly cook meats, broths, beans, soups, stews, and roasts for us during the long months ahead. The napkins have found a new home (as they've been evicted in order to make room for the Crockpot). A fern now graces our dining room in an attempt to make it through the winter so that it can be restored to the outside world come spring. And the sundresses and tanks have been tucked away, so that the sweaters, wool skirts/pants, and cable-tights and long underwear can take their turns.

While the seasonal shuffle can be a somewhat time consuming task, I found myself thoroughly enjoying it this year. In part because it gave me a change to organize and clean (both of which were much needed!), and partly because I found myself really assessing each item's value. Do we really need this napkin basket? Why do I still have this shirt?? Am I really ever going to wear this again? These shoes were pulled out for summer, but I don't really even like them. And so the assessments continued. I found myself purging more than I have in a long while. It felt so good, so freeing. You see, living in a small house somewhat limits the amount of things we can collect. There is only so much room for coats and shoes (neither of which live in closets, since we have none...), and there is only so much room for clothes, and blankets, and kitchen items. So, we prioritize, and organize, and purge. One of the things that I've come to love about living with a little less is that it really does make life easier. When there are less options, the decision making takes less time. When there are less things, the cleanup goes much quicker. When there is less to do, there is more time to simply enjoy life.

How about you? What does the seasonal shuffle in your home look like?

wall of memories

August 20, 2014 Megan Rodriguez

The hallway in the house I grew up in was always filled with pictures. Family pictures that were taken for the church directory. Pictures from vacations. Pictures from weddings. Pictures from the cabin. Pictures of memories. I loved that hallway. Being a rather nostalgic person, I would often pause as I walked to and from my bedroom to look at the those pictures and would then carry those memories with me throughout the day.

As I've mentioned before, we have a lot of windows in our little house and very little wall space. So, while I've always loved the idea of filling our house with photo memories, it's easier said than done due to the lack of wall space. Over the past few months, though, I started looking at our staircase and realizing that there was perhaps some wall-space potential there that I had been missing. Because, while I love the idea of a hall/stairway filled with pictures, I also love the simplicity that comes with clutter-free walls. Our stairway has two walls that can only be seen when you are on the stairs, and so it was decided that these would become the designated pictures walls!

A project soon commenced. Photos were selected and printed and a frame search began. I love finding old frames at thrift stores and then spray painting them all the same color to make an eclectic collection. The different frames add character, while the matching color unites them. Not only does this make for a fun project, but it is rather economical as well. I have a rule that I won't buy a frame it if is over $3.00, and I usually try to get most of them for $2.00 or less. I was able to buy 11 frames, two cans of spray paint, and print my pictures for $25-30. That's not bad at all, if you ask me!

We left room in the collage to later add other pictures as we make more memories. I'm so excited to watch these walls fill up with images of our lives and the things that make us who we are.

hanging storage

July 25, 2014 Megan Rodriguez

We live in a 100 year old house with little storage and many, many windows. I love the windows, but they leave me with very few walls to put things on. So, I've found that I need to be creative about where and how I store things.

My sewing area is off of our dining room. It has three walls. Two windows fill one wall, three windows fill another, and a piano fills the third. The natural light is lovely, but all that glass makes it rather difficult to store all of the crafty supplies that belong in a sewing room! To add a little extra storage, I started working on a simple little project last fall. Like most projects, it got tossed to the side when another project with a deadline came along. However, last night, this little storage project surfaced again and finally got its finishing touches!

I created these three simple bags to hang on a little nook-like wall between my bookshelf and window. In order to be better organized in my sewing area, I wanted these bags to hold random craft supplies that have previously resided in messy baskets or bins. Each bag was made with left over fabric and buttons from my stash. I do so love projects like that! The workmanship is nothing spectacular, just functional.

I hung the bags on sticks with two nails in the wall for each one. Once the bookshelf is pushed back into place, the bags are rather hidden, but that's one of the things that I love about the design. They are cute and functional, yet they are mostly hidden from view. With the open floor plan that our house has, it's great to have things tucked back into corners like this. It makes the rooms seem less cluttered and full, while still fully utilizing the space. It feels so good to have this little corner cleaned up and better organized! It's amazing what a difference a little project like this can make.

summer break

May 22, 2014 Megan Rodriguez

It's summer break!!! My teaching job at the University of MN is finished for the semester and I am off for the summer! This will be my second summer on break, and I'm thoroughly excited about it. While I have the opportunity to teach in the summers, my husband and I have decided that it's better for us if I don't teach. The reason for this is that not teaching in the summer frees me up to do so many other things. It gives me the opportunity to travel with my husband to music festivals and his other gigs. It gives me time to relax and enjoy the quite home-life for a few months. And it also gives me time to grow and preserve a ton of food! For us, these benefits far outweigh the lack of income. We've realized that sitting down to a table full of homegrown produce (throughout the year) is worth a bit of penny pinching through the summer. It's amazing how much our quality of life can improve when we take a few moments to prioritize and choose to live with less, in order to really live with more.

So, summer break is here! Now, some of you may be imagining me spending my days lounging with a book, a blanket, and the sun, and while that will most certainly happen, that's not what the majority of my days will look like. Food is my focus for the summer. Twelve tomato plants are going in the ground in the next day or two, along with peppers, cucumbers, beets, potatoes, beans, summer squash, zucchini, carrots, radishes, lettuce, kale, shallots, and herbs. My plan is to can and freeze as much of that homegrown goodness as I can. I will also be filling my freezer with strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries from local farm fields. Whatever I can't grow enough of or can't pick from someone else's field, I will buy at the farmer's market and preserve that. This past summer, I was able to can enough tomatoes, corn, green beans, pickles, soups, applesauce, and jam to sustain us through the winter. I am just finishing up the last of my berries from last summer, and the pesto that I froze will be eaten up until another batch is ready for the blender! It's been AMAZING to have such good, fresh, local food on hand all winter. And I've realized that not having to buy all of those things, has allowed me to spend my grocery money on organic produce and eggs, grass-fed meets and milk, and even some organic pantry items. I've often wondered how people can afford to buy really good food, and now I know one of the ways that it's possible!

So, while I may not be teaching this summer, I will most definitely be working. You'll find me busily working to provide my family with good, wholesome, nourishing food that will last us through the winter that will most certainly come!

laundry soap

May 8, 2014 Megan Rodriguez

Not the most exciting title, I know, but, hey, it's a very important part of life! Making your own laundry soap isn't exactly a new idea. I know a lot of people who do it and there are lots of different recipes and concoctions to try. However, I also know a lot of people who have maybe never thought about it, or would otherwise never consider it. So, I thought I'd share with you the recipe I use and my reasons for why I choose to make my own.

Reason #1: It's cheap! I've never done the calculations, but I do know that I'm not spending $9 every couple months on a jug of heavily scented Tide!

Reason #2: It's easy. Every few months, I take about 15 minutes to make up a batch. The hardest part is grating a couple bars of soap with a cheese grater.

Reason #3: Less waste! I'm no longer recycling big laundry detergent jugs! I now have simple cardboard boxes a few times a year that we can either burn or recycle. It's great!

Reason #4: I know exactly what's in it! This is the biggest reason for me. I've been working for the past year to get the chemicals and harsh cleaners out of my home. Knowing exactly what is in my laundry soap has become very important to me. It's easy to read food labels and pretty much know what you're eating, but cleaner labels are not held to the same standards. I'm not really a fan of bringing things into my home and washing the clothes that touch my skin all day with things that have ingredients such as "cleaning agents" in them. These may be perfectly harmless, but they also may be perfectly toxic! I love that making my own laundry soap enables me to know exactly those "cleaning agents" are.

So, there you have it! Those are my simple reasons why I choose to take a bit of time every few months to make my own soap. Since it's just my husband and I for now, I typically make the following recipe in single batches. However, if I were running the washer more often, I would definitely double or triple the recipe for efficiency purposes.

Laundry Soap

2 cups grated soap (I make my own, but I used to use a mixture of Fels-Naptha and Ivory. Fels-Naptha is a hard laundry bar and Ivory is cheap and soft, which makes it easy to grate. Fels-Naptha can be found in the laundry isle at a lot of the big stores like Target, Walmart, Cub, etc.)

1 cup washing soda (This is an all-natural product--Sodium Carbonate, but is different from baking soda--Sodium Bicarbonate. You should be able to find it in the laundry isle. Arm & Hammer is the most common brand.)

1 cup borax (This is an all-natural detergent that can also be found in the laundry isle. Some have objections as to whether it's safe or not. This blog post pulls together a lot of what the experts have to say about that. 20 Mule Team is a good brand.)

I grate my soap using a cheese grater. Since it's soap, and I make my own, I use my cheese grater from the kitchen. I figure it just makes it cleaner. Mix all of the ingredients together until the grated soap breaks down a bit and you have a powder-like consistency. Store in an airtight container.

Use 2 tbs for a full load. I use white vinegar as a fabric softener. I pour about a 1/4 cup into my Downy Ball and throw it into the load. (The fabric softener spot on your washer will also work, but your washer may consistently smell like vinegar).

I find that the detergent works great! Whenever I wash whites or really dirty things, I pour a little extra borax in the load and let them soak a bit. They brighten right up!

So, whether you decide to make your own or not, I do encourage you to think about what kinds of things are in the cleaning products you're bringing into your home. It's amazing how many nasty things are allowed to be in the products we buy!

keeping up with it all

May 5, 2014 Megan Rodriguez

You know though weeks where you feel like you're treading water, feeling as if you're barely keeping your head above water? This past week has been one of those for me. I realized this weekend that the end of both the spring and fall semester are not only busy, but they also both fall at busy times in my personal life -- fall semester right before Christmas, and spring semester at planting time. With a long to-do list at both work and home, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed and overworked.

This past weekend was no exception to that. I left work on Friday with a to-do list for the upcoming week that was a bit scary and came home to a list that was much more exciting, but a bit daunting as well.

It's on weekends like these, that I try to remind myself that while that list of things is important, and mostly necessary, it's not what really matters in the end. What matters are the moments that I spend making memories with those I love.

So while some work did happen this weekend, like edging a flower bed, dusting/sweeping the house, and grading grammar tests. There were also many things that didn't happen - infusing/bottling kombucha, cleaning the kitchen, laundry, laundry, and more laundry...the list goes on.

However, there were some great moments with my loved ones that did happen. A Twins game, two bonfires, an impromptu chat with my dear Auntie, and burgers with my love, to name a few.

The lists still remain, but that's ok. I feel rested and full. And that's what matters.

I hope this past weekend was one for you to remember, even if those memories are as simple as a backyard bonfire on a quiet spring evening. My hope is that those beautiful moments will carry us through our busy weeks.

Cheers to you and yours on this Monday morn.

putting down roots and watching them grow

April 22, 2014 Megan Rodriguez

Easter weekend, for me, included some much desired time in the yard and garden. I was able to clear away leaves and debris from the long winter, enjoy the gorgeous weather, and day dream. My day dreaming brought me back to this time last spring when I was carefully awaiting the arrival of leaves and plants, excited to see what plants popped up in my yard. While this year the sentiments are the same, seeing what pops up from the ground is a very different experience.

You see, we bought our house in the summer of 2012 and then got married that fall. With all of the wedding planning/prepping/making (there was lot of making!), there was little time to care about the haphazard landscaping that the contractor had thrown into the ground before we closed on the house. So when spring came, I really had no idea what was under all of that snow and dirt!

This year is different, though, because not only do I know, but I am excitingly anticipating each and every plant's arrival. I know where the tulips should be emerging and what the tiny little leaves of the Sweet Woodruff look like. I know where the oregano is and the thyme. I know which ones are Stella Lilies and which are Siberian Iris. I know, because I planted each one of them.

However, as I pulled away the leaves on Saturday, I found that there were some things that I didn't know, or at least didn't realize. I didn't realize that my Sweet Woodruff would come back two to three times the size! I knew it was a ground cover, but I didn't expect that much growth this year. I was more than thrilled to see that!

I didn't know that my Tiger Lilies would shoot up multiple stocks where just one used to just be! How fun!!

I didn't know that my peonies would have such a unique sea creature-like look as they emerged from the ground!

And as I noticed all of these things, I realized that this is one of the things that I love most about gardening. I love the hard work, the planning, the waiting, but I also really love the unknown. Not knowing what things will look like in the spring. Not knowing if everything will make it through the harsh winter. Not knowing when the flowers will bloom or stop blooming. It's the not knowing that makes it exciting. It's the unknown that reminds me that I can plant and water and tend, but at the end of the day, it's really out of my control. And I kind of like that.

It reminds me that life can't be controlled. That's the beauty of it.