* G R E E N update *

I'm reporting on my recently implemented going green changes...

1. Reducing Junk Mail... I collected all of my mail for one week in this pile

to show you how much I currently receive. Here are the steps I took to reduce my junk mail.

Step One: Collect all mail in one spot all week to see exactly what you recieve and from whom. (You may have to do this multiple weeks just to make sure you recieve those once monthly mailers as well.)

Step Two: Locate phone numbers or websites in periodicals or magazines. Call or email the companies to request your name be taken off their delivery list. I did this with the Scotts Valley Times, Press Banner & Business Week.

Step Three: Find out which of your bills offer e-billing or paperless statements and sign up for these, again online or by phone. I was already receiving quite a few bills online, but I went thru the rest of the accounts to sign up for "e-bills", "eco bills" or "online biling". There are a few though which I cannot opt out of.

Step Four: Log on to the Do Not Mail website and fill out their "opt out" form. This will stop other unwanted mailings. You know the kind that dont have a phone number or website to contact.

This process only took me 25 minutes, once I had saved my mail for the entire week, 25 minutes total to call, email or log on to end my paper billing or mailings. Not bad! I should see results within the next month. I will continue to save my mail up week by week to visibly see how much I am reducing.

2. Reusable Bags: I have faithfully brought my reusable bags with me everywhere, and even remembered to bring them into the stores with me. Thanks to Erin, I am also washing these regularly to avoid nasty germs like E. coli. Now what to do about the small plastic bags for my veggies (you know the ones that are sometimes wet from the veggie misters)??? I don't bag most of the produce I buy but sometimes you almost need to. And what about the handy plastic bag for meat products, I definitely do not want meat juices to touch my other foods. I'll let you know what solution I find.

As I continue to work on the above steps I will also concentrate on:

* Reducing household electricity usage

* Reducing waste.

going G R E E N

I recently forced my husband to watch the documentary "No Impact Man". It chronicles a year in the life of writer, Colin Beavan, his wife and their daughter as they attempt to have zero impact on the environment. What's great about the documentary is the wife is reluctant to go 'no impact', though she is willing to do so in support of her husband and his "project". For her, it was difficult to give up electricity, toilet paper, cosmetics, and shopping. I thought it was refreshing to see her struggle with the desire for the things which are typically so easily accesible, yet she willingly gives them up for the sake of her husband's project. The other part that made the movie palletable was that they went no impact in stages. I won't ruin the movie completely, but they did not go no impact "COLD TURKEY". I think it was this part (the stages) that has encouraged me to make changes in my own life. So here is my plan... I"m going to share my minor attempts at going green on this blog. Mostly for accountability but also because there are some truly minor changes that can make a big difference for our environment now and for future generations.

Step One: Reduce junk mail.

Step Two: Use only re-useable bags for shopping.

I'll let you know how it goes!

One Year Ago

One year ago... we were on our honeymoon.

We went to these places... Hearst Castle, Justing Vineyards & the Santa Barbara Mission.

We saw... Elephant Seals near Cambria, rode bikes in Santa Barbara

and went to every beach we could.

One year ago I became a step-mom to this lovely boy.

One year ago, seems like a few months ago.

My how time flies!

*BUSY is no excuse*

Well for the record I have been BUSY, but who isn't BUSY? (If you aren't busy give me a call... I have some projects for you.) And I do realize that my last post was about Halloween, I should show off our costumes but that will have to wait until a later post. Today's post is about HAITI!

My husband is in Haiti right now with a group of 12 other volunteers. They are in the town of Jacmel at an orphanage called the Hands & Feet Project. You can read more about the Hands & Feet Project here. I have been fortunate enough to hear from him twice already; he is absolutely in love with the orphans and has seen some unimaginable devastation. He is already talking about a return trip.

Since their first day in Haiti, Mark & his brother Cameron have been teaching Karate to a group of eager young boys. A few days later he made them Karate Kid headbands out of one of his t-shirts.

I can't wait for him to return so I can hear all about the trip.

I WILL keep you posted.

* wedding photos *

Check out Rebecca Stark's Blog for more photos from the wedding.

I LOVE Halloween! I love costumes... I love candy...

and I love pumpkins!

I am lucky that my husband loves Halloween as much as I do. Yesterday we got to work on our costumes, (stay tuned for photos at the end of the month). I'll give you a quick taste of what's to come... ALICE IN WONDERLAND. I'm planning to be the Queen of Hearts and Mark is working on his Caterpillar costume. Our friends are working on their costumes too. The cast of characters includes the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter & of course Alice. We are accepting applications for a Cheshire Cat, a playing Card, and Tweedle Dee or Tweedle Dum (or both). Yesterday, we also put up some spooky purple lights and carved our pumpkins.

This is my Cat Pumpkin, notice the scary fangs.

This is Mark's Cyclopse, it reminds me of Monsters Inc.

* marriage = sharing *

I feel as though I have returned to preschool, learning a lesson about sharing toys or crayons with my fellow students. Instead, I am learning to share all sorts of things with my beloved husband. And it doesn't make it much easier to share just because I love him.

Things I have to share with my husband:

* the couch
* the remote control
* closet space
* chores (I think I'm ready to switch, I'll empty the trash & recycle, he can do the laundry!)
* socks (when aforementioned laundry has not been done in a timely manner.)
* Adidas sweat pants (I'm not sure we share anymore, he wears them all the time now.)
* space in the medicine cabinet
* the camera
* holidays with eachother's extended families
* the bed (why does it feel as though he is always sleeping in the middle?)
* a toothbrush (occasionally when we travel... its better than enduring the morning breath.)

But today my husband tried to make me share something new...
my contacts!
After my shower I went to put my contacts in so I could see the world clearly and to my surprise my contact case was EMPTY! This normally wouldn't be such a big deal, except I am now using my last pair of dispoasable contact lenses. I checked my eyes just to be sure I did not sleep in them last night. Then I found Mark's contact case.... low and behold his contacts were still there but he had already left for work. I called him to say he was "wearing my contact lenses".

M: "Are you sure?"
G: "Can you see clearly?"
M: "Well, do you need them?"
G: "YES, I need them. They are my last pair. Can you come home to return my contacts and put in your own?"

Thank you husband. What's mine is yours... except for my contacts!