Meaning of Life: Family

How do you afford clothes, food, and a house on minimum wage? Unconditional love and stretching every penny to the fullest. I will not fully understand how my parents raised 7 children. My Dad worked minimum wage jobs for years and my Mom was a stay at home wife who babysat for every kid who had 9 to 5 working parents, cooked 3 meals a day and cleaned in between.  In spite of low paying dead end jobs, we were always fed plentiful, clothes and shoes always fit, and we always had a roof over our heads.  My parents succeeded where others fail; family inspired them to live a humble, happy, healthy and hard working life. I love my parents and I am eternally grateful for all of their sacrifices. They make me want to be a better person in life and respect everyone for who they are. I wish some day I could be like them, with some minor changes but like them nonetheless.

My view

This is the view from my window. My husband set this up and I love having hummingbirds visit me daily. They start feeding around 5:30am and end around 6pm. There is at least one hummingbird drinking every 5 minutes. One hummingbird in particular is very territorial and constantly defends this feeder from all who intrude. I have not been able to take his (we believe it is a male) picture because he is very fast. The hummingbird in this picture is one of our "regulars."

Upcycle

This is a purse/clutch that I made a while back from pages of a magazine. I was cleaning out my bookcase and I saw that I had too many magazines that I read and was not going to read again. I did not want to throw them away or recycle them, so I decided to create something useful with them. I made several of these purses and gave them to my nieces as gifts. They loved them. Each purse was unique and fit their personalities. The one in the picture is my own.

Front view

Back view

Water + Plants = Life

Last month, I started drinking the right amount of water that my body needs. Depending on how much you weigh, you have to drink half of your weight in ounces every day. I found an app on my phone that lets me keep track of how much water I am drinking daily, the notifications really help.
I also started to buy fruits and vegetables from a farmer's market. I am trying to limit the quantity of processed food and animal meat in every meal. I have found that food tastes better when you make it yourself than from restaurants. You know what is going into your plate and how much of it.
I feel I have more energy, I am more upbeat and happy. Overall, I am healthy.

My Lifestyle

During the summer, I spent my time reading and thinking about how our lifestyle affects everyone around us and our environment. 

Although, companies and their advertising want us to believe that we will be healthy and happy with their products, the reality is quite the opposite. We might be content with the purchased product for about a day; while that feeling wears off and disappears, what remains is harmful to us and our surroundings. Most products packaged in plastic do not get recycled and are mixed with trash, which damages our eco-system. The chemicals inside cleaning products affect our air, our bodies, and the environment around us. 

I want a better lifestyle that includes using as few products as possible. Products that have plastic packaging that will decompose quickly and that have few to none chemicals. Products should be safe to use daily. 

A good place to start this lifestyle is to clear out harmful cleaning products from under the sink and leave or add natural products.

Progress

I've been working on sketches for a couple of dresses. I'm feeling creative and inspired. I can't wait to transform my drawings into reality. 

Tote bag

This tote bag was my first project in sewing class. It took me a while to finish it because I lost the pattern. I did have all the pieces cut out before, so putting it together was like a puzzle. It was so fun to sew!