Giveaways

Announcing Winners and Other Cool Stuff

I loved reading your intentions on the One Bite at a Time giveaway post. This morning I randomly choose three winners (using Random.org) and the winners are:

Anonymous (there were several of you, I sent an e-mail to chosen "anonymous"), Analicia, and JHollyhock. Congratulations.

For the rest of you who weren't randomly chosen (sorry, I could only do three) use this coupon code, HAPPYNEWYEAR - good till January 10th, to get yourself a copy. In my winter intentions post coming up I'll share which ones of the 52 projects I'm working on now, boring stuff like organizing files and digitizing receipts. Whoop-dee-do.

Something much more exciting is an opportunity I read about this week on a friend's blog. A 10 Day Family Re-Charge.

You know all those intentions you shared with me? To spend quality time together, get outdoors more, find rhythms that work in your busy life. This e-Program seems like a great resource to help you get going in the right direction (or keep you on the path).

I know what you're thinking. How much?

This is where it gets cool. Erin is offering this course on a Pay-What-You-Can basis. That means this program is accessible to everyone. And that's why I'm so excited to share it with you.

You have intentions. Erin offers support. In your budget.

I'm not selling this (no affiliate anything). I just couldn't help but want to tell you about it because it seems like such a great opportunity to help make your family intentions a reality. And that kind of stuff gets me excited every time.

One more thing.

I have a writing crush right now - on my friend Jamie (also my editor at Simple Homeschool).

Her posts recently at Steady Mom are everything mine aren't - short, sweet, too-the-point, and comment-less.

(PS. I'm not comparing myself to Jamie. I'm giving that up this year. Ok, maybe just a teensy bit of a comparison, but honestly more of writing crush. Jamie speaks so directly to the heart of the issue, in so little words. Swoon. See, told you so, a crush.)

I love what Jamie is sharing these days. Her words are incredibly encouraging. For example, Don't Wait for Perfection to Get Started. We all want to make change in our lives this time of year. But like Jamie says, "Wherever you are, start there. Don't wait for perfection to pursue the life you want."

Jamie's on a roll these days. And if you're a mom especially, needing encouragement for this mission of motherhood head over to her blog.

That's it for this morning. Gotta get the apples in the oven. Today we work and have new friends for supper. Tomorrow we go skiing in the mountains (this is not resort skiing).

I'll be back next week with the importance of beauty, homeschool day in the life, and I might even finish that piece I'm writing on my mission. I've only been writing it now for twelve months. One of these days I'll publish it.

Happy Weekending friends. Wishing you and yours fun adventures this weekend.

New Year's Intentions ~ One Bite at A Time (with Giveaway!)

I don't make New Year's resolutions. Those don't work for me.

I also don't have a life bucket list. That's just way too stressful for a high achiever and high expectation person like myself. I fear a bucket list would become an obsessive-compulsive thing where I was either driven to complete those things or be terribly dissappointed if they didn't happen. Speaking from experience here.

midnight fireworks on New Year's Eve
a good show for such a little town

That being said, I love to regularly evaluate where I'm at and set goals in my life. I do this all the time but especially during periods of seasonal change or before a big life change (like our two moves this past year).

Post-holidays and the beginning of a new calendar year is a natural time, even for a non-resolutioner like me, to evaluate where I am and where I want to go.

In my next post I'm going to share a few of my fall intentions, how those went and a few goals of mine for the winter season. But today I want to put a resource in your hands to help you on the path to more intentional living.

One Bite at a Time, an e-book by Tsh Oxenreider (aka Simple Mom).

I first blogged about One Bite at a Time in Resources to Help You Get Organized. I told you how I was a bit skeptical at first (I'm a natural born skeptic, nothing personal) but ended up really pleased with this excellent resource Tsh has put together.

I love checklists. And so I think my favorite part of the book is the Table of Contents that lists the 52 projects you can accomplish, one bite at a time. That Tsh, she's so clever.

I'll be honest, I have done many of the life projects on this list. Like I mentioned in my fall post, the things Tsh writes about - money management, intentional living, organizing, green & frugal living, etc... are the very life habits and practices that have enabled us to make our dream come true of living in a beautiful place, working at home together, adventuring as a family (to name just a few).

And that's why I'm so happy to recommend Tsh's book. Because what she writes and shares are the foundational basics to living with intention. They get you on the path to simplifying your life, doing meaningful work you love, taking better care of your body and the environment, managing your finances better, growing your relationships.

Even the most amazing resource is only as effective as the work you are willing to put into it. I do believe One Bite at a Time can be a great tool to make positive life changes if you use it.

But, here's the thing, it's only 4 bucks ($1 off with coupon code HAPPYNEWYEAR, till January 10th) so even if you don't use it, and continue in your usual rut (not that I recommend that), you haven't wasted a whole lot of money. The same cannot always be said for other New Year's resolution purchases!

I know this time of year some of you are asking:

how can our family live with more intention and purpose this coming year?
how do we live more "green", where do we start?
how do we save more money, give more money?
how do we connect more as a family?
how do we get rid of all this excess "stuff" in our lives?

One Bite at a Time will help you on your journey - giving you a bit of a roadmap, actionable steps towards journeying in a postive direction.

You should know I'm an affiliate. I earn a small amount of money when you buy her book. You should also know I recommend very few products to readers. 'nuff said.

Tsh is giving away three copies of One Bite at a Time to FIMBY readers (anywhere in the world by the way, that's the cool thing about e-resources).

If you want your name considered in the random choosing please leave a comment with one intention you have for the New Year or winter season.

Giveaway closes on Wednesday, Jan 4th at midnight.

132 comments

ChicoBag Giveaway

This summer when we went to Outdoor Retailer I was pleasantly surprised to come across a few companies with "green" home related products. I'm not a big gear junkie and most of Outdoor Retailer is all about gear.

Gear for water sports. Gear for hunting. Gear for hiking. Gear for walking. Gear for dogs. Gear for gear. I'm telling you - gear overload.

So coming across the ChicoBag booth was a nice break.

ChicoBag is (surprise, surprise) a bag company. I think I could never get tired of bags. I love them and am always tempted to add new ones to my stash but I really try to limit myself to the few I need - an all purpose out-of-the-house tote, a backpack, and a large beach bag.

I don't do "purse". We won't even talk about how many hand bags, make up bags, and sparkly bags Brienne owns.

My current all purpose bag is handmade locally here in Nova Scotia. I bought it to replace my out-of-the-house tote stolen from our car last month.

I also have a whole slew of large and sturdy shopping bags that permanently reside in the back of our car. You know the kind - promo bags that companies give away for advertising purposes. Or that you can buy cheap in the grocery store. I'm a walking advertisement for the oddest assortment of companies and products every time I grocery shop. My cart laden with such an odd mix of reusable bags.

The one type of bag that I have been lacking and am now adding to my bag stash is reusable produce and bulk food bags.

These again are an odd assortment of hand sewn numbers (very few of those, who has time to sew with all this writing), store bought, and re-purposed bags. I have been building up my supply so I never need touch plastic grocery bags again. I gotta say, keeping lettuce fresh in a cloth bag is a tricky one.

With this in mind I was very delighted when I was given a ChicoBag Produce Stand Starter Kit for review and giveaway.

ChicoBag makes some really cool bags. All of them fold neatly into little pouches. That would sure clean up the back of my car.

The company works to reduce pollution, belongs to a fair labor association, and participates in other people and earth friendly initiatives.

I personally love the look of their Vita rePETe Bag (I wasn't lucky enough to score one of those).

That is the kind of grocery bag I would love to use. How cute, space efficient, and put-together is that?

The rePETe label is very cool. It's a trademarked designation that helps consumers know which ChicoBags contain recycled content and how much.

If recycled plastic isn't your gig they also have a natural fiber Hemp-Cotton blend bag.

The ChicoBag Produce Stand Starter Kit (try to say that fast five times) features three bags - one mesh rePETe, a regular rePETe and one hemp-cotton blend bag.

These are big bags and I'm impressed with their size. They are big enough to easily fit a large, leafy head of kale or multiple heads of lettuce (still working on how to keep them fresh in the fridge).

The bags have labels that recommend what veggies will keep best in what bags.

ChicoBags all come with a little pouch to store the bag. In the starter kit it's a tomato red drawstring pouch with an attached carabiner. I don't use the little red pouch, it's cutsey but not terrible useful to me. I just shove all my mis-matched produce bags together in one larger cloth bag.

ChicoBags is giving away one Produce Stand Starter Kit to a lucky FIMBY reader.

To enter the giveaway leave your name and tell us what you use for produce bags. Comments closed Wednesday night, October 5th. Out of 71 unique commenters (a couple of you left replies to other people) commenter 29 was chosen using Random.Org. Congratulations Megan!

Extra points (not really) go those commenters who can answer the question, How do you keep your lettuce and tender leafy greens (ex: herbs) fresh without using plastic?