The Big White Farmhouse

intentional living, little by little

No.165: 100 Little Things, Round Five

Today’s an exciting day – it’s my favorite post of the summer! 

This is my fifth round of 100 Little Things, a huge inspirational list that helps me be intentional with my time and resources.  The tasks on this list, like always, are a mix of silly things and important things. They are things that really need to get done and things that just sound like fun.  They are things I’d like to do and things I really should do.  They are things that excite me and things that scare me.  I’m positive I won’t check off all 100 things before next August (in fact, I’m only averaging around 40-45 each year) but completion really isn’t the goal.  I enjoy the process as much as reaching the finish line. 

Here’s the list for August 2018-July 2019:

1. Learn how to grill a steak
2. Make homemade vanilla extract
3. Bake a two-layered cake
4. Bake three new kinds of cookies
5. Buy a proofing basket
6. Start a weekly “soup night” in the fall/winter
7. Make two new flavors of homemade ice cream
8. Make five recipes from my sourdough cookbook
9. Make a new recipe from Run Fast, Eat Slow
10. Go through the millions of recipe printouts and use or toss
11. Take a manual photography class
12. Learn how to photograph low light interiors correctly
13. Make a quilt using Memere’s fabric
14. Make a “little things” notepad (and maybe sell it?)

15. Make a wreath with materials from the yard
16. Make a pinata with the kids
17. Create a photobook with the Instagram photos of our 2017-18 school year
18. Complete a #100dayproject
19. Write at least one snail mail letter monthly
20. Mail five packages, just because
21. Make a minibook
22. Complete another December Daily project

23. Finish a cross-stitch project
24. Finally pay off the car
25. Start a new car fund
26. Pay off three student loans
27. Read three finance books
28. Check out Aldi
29. Have professional family photos taken
30. Read Kristin Lavransdatter
31. Read Don Quixote
32. Finish my “Into the Depths of Catholicism” reading challenge
33. Read the entire Bible in a year
34. Finish the Jackson Pollock biography
35. Start reading a few books from the doula reading list
36. Blog everyday for a month
37. Invite someone to guest post
38. Finally work on the tabs in my header
39. Create a “homeschool favorites” page
40. Decide if I want to upgrade the blog to a “.com”
41. Buy a new pair of jeans (or two)
42. Invest in a piece of clothing from Everlane
43. Get a haircut
44. Organize my closet
45. Get an updated glasses prescription
46. Order new glasses
47. Go for a yearly physical
48. Measure for new (non-nursing) bras
49. Learn about stocks and investments
50. Identify the trees in our backyard
51. Plant shrubs in the front flower beds
52. Have the first floor painted
53. Install a porch swing
54. Hang a gallery wall of black and white family photos in the living room
55. Hang a gallery wall of kids art in the basement stairwell
56. Buy two more chairs for the dining room table
57. Find a lamp for the hallway console table
58. Hang a curtain in the laundry room
59. Reseal our driveway
60. Stain the front porch
61. Replace the outdoor lanterns
62. Finish our emergency kit closet before winter
63. Put a Mary statue in the garden
64. Decide where we want to install a garden on the property
65. Grow cucumbers
66. Grow tomatoes
67. Plant wildflowers
68. Buy new dryer balls
69. Paint Sophia’s room
70. Paint TJ & P’s room
71. Paint the school room
72. Save up for a new sectional
73. Save up for two new chairs for the living room
74. Buy a new mattress and set up the guest room
75. Remove remaining dead trees in the front yard
76. Propagate my Christmas cactus in a new planter
77. Get the generator serviced
78. Beat my personal best 5K time
79. Reach the halfway point on the Amerithon Challenge
80. Run the Turkey Trot again and beat my first time
81. Run the Historic Half again and beat my first time
82. Complete a month-long “running streak” challenge
83. Do a pullup
84. Try a shampoo bar
85. Start a compost pile
86. Sew a linen bag to hold sourdough loaves
87. Sew some fabric napkins
88. Make my own laundry detergent
89. Bring Sophie for her K immunizations
90. Adopt a dog

91. Potty train P
92. Give some of the baby clothes away to someone who needs them

93. Go see fireworks
94. See an outdoor movie
95. Help place Christmas wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery
96. Attend the local Christmas parade
97. Go on a date with Mark quarterly
98. Visit Jamestown
99. Go on a cousins weekend trip
100. Try out the local farmer’s market

No.164: Highs and Lows // August 2018

a random assortment of this month’s highs and lows

HIGH // SCHOOL SUPPLIES ON TAX-FREE WEEKEND
We just had Virginia’s tax-free weekend for school supplies and I stocked up on crayons, colored pencils and a few things the kids will need for co-op.  Sophie is beyond excited about her very own pencil box full of supplies and has been begging me to start school early.  If only my big boys had the same enthusiasm, hah!


HIGH // THE SCALE IS MOVING 
I’ll call this a high even though it’s really not that extreme.  After months and months of hovering at the same weight, or (worse!) creeping up and up and up, the scale has finally taken a downward direction.  I’m only talking 2-3 pounds, but it’s something!


LOW // WAKING UP TO A FLAT TIRE
Mark was about to leave for work when he found that one of his tires was flat.  Thankfully, the puncture was tiny and the mechanic was able to patch it, but he also mentioned that it may be time to replace all four tires soon. ($$$)  This is already a very full season for budgeting, so it hurt a little to add this to the list.


HIGH // RESELLING ONLINE AND LOCALLY
I’ve been making a little extra money selling unneeded items on various websites and apps. (Full details will be coming in my monthly debt update post later this month.)  I’m thankful to get rid of things collecting dust, I earn a little extra cash to pay for things like new tires, and it gives me a teeny entrepreneurial rush again.  Win/win/win.


HIGH // SIMPLE LUNCHES
I am all about simple lunches this summer.  My current favorite is sourdough bread fresh from the oven, a bit of ham, cheddar cheese and tomato.  So delicious.


HIGH // AN (ALMOST) UNEVENTFUL SUNDAY MASS
We almost made it through the entire Mass last week without having to take out either of the little boys!  I always say that ages 1-3 are the hardest stage for church behavior – so many wiggles and wanting to tell me a story and asking for a snack and having to pee, etc etc etc!  Mark and I often feel like we’ve run a marathon afterward, so it was such a nice reprieve to spend three-quarters actually sitting in the pew.

LOW-HIGH // THE WATER HEATER
We had been without hot water for about two weeks.  A plumber came out to look at the water heater, confidently assured us that he fixed it, and….he was wrong.  A co-worker came two days later, spent 20 minutes poking around and declared that he didn’t know what the problem was.  We called a new company who sent a guy out yesterday and thankfully, he easily fixed the problem!  I’ve never been so thankful for a hot shower!

No.163: Intentions for the Beginning of August

Two Sundays ago at Mass, my priest reflected on something his sister (a journalist for many years) mentioned to him while he was home on vacation.  She’s noticed that younger generations are good at protesting and telling politicians what changes need to be made, but many don’t roll up their sleeves and put in the work.  Obviously this is just one opinion and there are many exceptions to the contrary, but I’ve thought about that story and my own actions ever since.  Am I someone who adds to the noise without doing my part?

I don’t want to speak without action, but I also must be content in the vocation I’ve been given.  I may not be able to hop on a plane to serve across the United States or in foreign countries.  But maybe change doesn’t have to be so extravagant.  Change begins with relationship; it begins with grace and love and truth.  I may not solve the immigration crisis or end world hunger, but I can practice my Spanish in order to speak warmly to immigrant families in my community.  I can add a few extra items to my grocery cart to bring to the food bank.  Even tiny, little ripples can make a difference.

INTENTIONS FOR THE BEGINNING OF AUGUST

  • buy the last supplies needed for school
  • write the first six weeks of lesson plans
  • order two lunchboxes for S and TJ (for co-op)
  • buy new sneakers for M and S
  • schedule Sophie’s Kindergarten immunizations
  • finally finish my Dorothy Day book (fingers crossed for a break in library holds!)
  • list five items on Poshmark
  • work on the piecing of my “Memere quilt”
  • Draino the bathroom sink
  • hang art in the living room
  • book a photography session for family photos in the fall
  • download the Duolingo app and make a plan to review a little Spanish daily 
  • sign up to get on the email list for our church’s HOOPS (Helping Our Own Parishioners) program

    What about you?  What do you hope to accomplish in the next two weeks?

    No.162: What I Learned in July

    This post contains affiliate links.  Linking up with Kelly’s Quick Takes!



    1 // RE-BALANCING YOUR HORMONES AFTER WEANING IS CRAZY.
    I’ve been either pregnant or nursing since 2006 and this is the first time I’ve ever been neither.  Nobody warned me that there would be so many physical symptoms post-weaning!  Oh man, it’s been crazy: I had headaches, tiredness, mood swings, ridiculous acne, minor anxiety…I’ve been at the mercy of my hormones and had to hold on tight to the ride!  It took a little over three weeks, but I’ve finally started to feel more like myself again.

    2 // I STILL HAVEN’T FOUND A NATURAL DEODORANT THAT WORKS FOR ME.
    Last year, I tried Primal Pit Paste and it made my underarms raw and red.  I kept using it for awhile, hoping it was just a “detox” period, but never saw an improvement.  I chalked it up to the fact that maybe I was sensitive to the baking soda?  Fast forward to this month when I was in the market for a new deodorant and thought maybe I’d try a natural version again.  This time, I went with Tom’s of Maine and while I didn’t get any itchy redness, I stunk.  Like high school locker room gross.  So I’m back to the drawing board!  Frustrating.


    3 // THERE IS A DIFFERENT NAME FOR THE MOON EVERY MONTH.
    Seeing June’s Strawberry Moon on the calendar sent me on a Googling rabbit trail that led to the Farmer’s Almanac.  According to the website,

    Full Moon names date back to Native Americans, of what is now the northern and eastern United States. The tribes kept track of the seasons by giving distinctive names to each recurring full Moon. Their full moon names were applied to the entire month in which each occurred. There was some variation in the full Moon names, but in general, the same ones were current throughout the Algonquin tribes from New England to Lake Superior. European settlers followed that custom and created some of their own names.

    Fun fact: July’s full moon is known as Full Buck Moon because this is normally when a buck’s new antlers push out of their foreheads  It is also sometimes called Full Thunder Moon because of the frequent thunderstorms around this time of year.


    4 // I NOW KNOW WHAT RIP CURRENTS LOOK LIKE.
    I have lived on the East Coast for most of my life and been to the ocean many times, but shamefully never knew what a rip current looked like!  This photo made its way around Facebook and I’m so thankful it did.  The more you know…


    5 // I DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORY AND I’D LIKE TO CHANGE THAT.
    I read Killers of the Flower Moon about the Osage Tribe early in July and regretfully realized that my knowledge in this area is lacking.  I want to change this!  I’ve just added Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee and Empire of the Summer Moon to my hold list at the library. 


    6 // YOU AREN’T SUPPOSED TO PUT PLASTIC BAGS IN THE RECYCLING.
    I’ve never actually done this, but apparently they clog up the sorting machines and employees then have to physically get up there and pull them out.

    7 //  I MAY WANT TO BE A POSTPARTUM DOULA WHEN I GROW UP.
    The first few months postpartum are such an exhausting, fragile, and emotionally raw time.  Because of my personal experiences with my own babies, I am especially passionate about this, although I’ve never really known what to do with that passion.  Helping my cousin with her new baby sparked something unexpected in me.  It was an honor to give her an extra hand, a few tips and tricks, and a little extra sleep.  Maybe being a postpartum doula is in my future someday?

    What did you learn this month? 

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