A big backyard.

I always grew up with a big back yard. The biggest so far would be about 2,200 acres. I miss it often when I am in an apartment. Someday I want to own land. Maybe 5 or 10 acres. Enough to be self-sufficient and to sell the excess. A lot of work, but so worth it in every way.

This cool infographic says it can be done on about 2.But I would want to rotational graze livestock and possibly harvest hay. I would also want a windmill which takes up less space than lots of solar panels.  Whatever. All part of the dream.

The wardrobe I want.

Bike Community outraged by GM Ad

A GM ad directly targeting college students has been removed because of some pretty serious scrutiny by environmental groups. A short blurb on Grist has a rather humorous bent to it but this ABC article tells it more like it is. Either way GM is doing some pretty serious, albeit humorous, backpedaling on their Twitter feed.  

The ad portrays a male college student shielding his face from a female in a car. She seems to be checking him out. He is just embarrassed. I cant help but laugh. Pardon me for being wired by the attractiveness level of a guy can instantly spike when he goes zooming by. Those instances are kinda few and far between in my college town sadly. Men who ride bikes are sexy. Men who drive nasty GM trucks, not so much.

The irony is, as many comments have astutely pointed out, that GM was just bailed out in 2009. The tax payers and the ones responsible for GM's salvation are the younger generation.  Really GM's marketing scheme seems to be pissing off or offending the people that they should be carefully bringing into their fold. 

But frankly this just gives me another excuse to ride my bike and not look for a car anytime soon. I don't want the expense or the hassle.I don't pay to license my bike. I don't pay to park it. It does not need gas or "payments" or oil changes. I don't have to go out and spend $400 on tires. I am healthier, happier and more Eco-friendly. Plus, I am sure I get more compliments on my bike than most people get on their cars. 

Car culture will die hard in America. Time will only tell when GM will belly up again. Someday American families might think twice about purchasing their third and fourth cars. I would like to believe that will be sooner rather than later. We are the ones that put ourselves in this place and only our actions can get ourselves out.

Keep Biking,
CCosner

The Homecooked Meal Wins Again...

(c)Copyright 2011 The New York Times Company

The old argument that a home cooked meal is cheaper and healthier than fast food wins again. I think it is interesting to note that what was once the necessities of the poor (homemade meals, cloths, soap, a garden etc.) have become the luxuries of the rich. What started this shift? Is is because we work to much for the money we "need" to live hand to mouth? How can we fix this system?

Occupy Wall Street

Nobody Can Predict The Moment Of Revolution from ivarad on Vimeo.

I'm Back!

College finally starts for me this next Monday. I am not sure how I feel about that.

I normally look forward to school starting back up. But this will be my last year of undergrad and soon I will be launched into the "real world". I am excited about this. I just kinda want it to happen now. Because I am a practical masochist, I still have another degree that I need to complete so I am in it for one more year.

One of my many flaws is that am not very good at living in the present moment. I know that I have touched on this before. I am usually years ahead of myself mentally; solving problems that have not even happened yet. It is because I like to have control. Its awful. I am admit it. I work hard to fix it. I am not always successful but I do try. 

Luckily I am in a good place right now. I have an excellent job from which I will learn a lot and which will look great on a resume. I will be taking classes that I love and that will intrigue me. My academic adviser is awesome is highly supportive of me.

My budget is extremely tight this year because I received much less financial assistance than I was hoping for but because if my new job I should be alright. I am deeply grateful for all the wonderful thing in my life. I am thankful that I know how to cook and take care of myself and live frugally and simply. There are so many who are not a fortunate.

Here is to another school year and more dedicating blogging.
-C

Weekly Links

Links for your enjoyment!

Healthy eating is hard but not impossible for low-income Americans- Grist

IKEA to go 100 percent renewable, starting with 67 wind turbines - Grist

The Deal With $8 Eggs - Mother Jones

The Non-Consumer Advocate

5 Documentaries That Could Change Your Outlook on Life- New Urban Habitat 

 

CCosner

 

Eve Ensler: Suddenly, My Body

Honey Face Wash

 Exciting news! I have decided to wash my face with honey for the rest of the month. I have been working to find an alternative for my current face wash. I have used St. Ives for quite some time as well as a few other name brands and they have all worked relatively well. But as with most facial products they can be rather expensive and are loaded with chemicals. I am working to make a switch to as natural of personal care products as possible and I have access to an abundance of good honey.  

Why honey? It sounds weird but honey is a natural antibacterial. It has both cleaning and moisturizing properties which means it can clean skin without over drying it. Deep cleaning is something I need because of my acne-prone skin but commercial cleaners can dry out my skin too much. Honey has a nice balance. All you have to do for honey face wash is wet your face with warm water, massage the honey into your skin, allow to sit for a moment, rinse off and pat dry.

I am currently four days in to this experiment and I have noticed that my blemishes are healing faster than normal. My skin is also soft and clean after washing.  Plus honey is probably the tastiest cleanser ever!

I will post the results at the end of the month.  :)

 

If you want more info check out the Crunchy Betty Honey Challenge!

CCosner

Blueberry Jam

I love canning. For some reason making food and putting it in a jar is so much fun to me. It is very exciting to think that you have your own little food stash that you made yourself.  When people are eating apples and nasty commercial canned fruit in the winter I love the thought of just reaching for a jar of real peaches.

Fortunately, I had the opportunity to go blueberry picking earlier in July. I was than able to make my favorite blueberry jam recipe! In to the jar it went before I ate it all. I look forward to eating it this winter with homemade yogurt, whole wheat biscuits or toast. 

  

Blueberry-Lime Jam

4 ½ cups blueberries

1 package powdered pectin

5 cups of sugar

1 tablespoon grated lime peel

1/3 cup lime juice

Crush blueberries on layer at a time. Combine crushed blueberries and pectin in a large saucepot. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Add sugar, stirring until dissolved. Stir in grated lime peel and lime juice. Return to a rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary. Ladle hot jam into hot jars, leaving ¼-inch headspace. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 15 minutes in a boiling-water canner.  Makes about 6 half-pints. 

Recipe From Ball Blue Book.

Happy Canning! 

Rooting

Over the last month I have been meditating on the idea of “rooting”. I am not really sure how I would even define this word in the context in which I use it. To me, being a rooted individual is to be both strong and flexible.  To be grounded in the things that I believe but still being able to adjust and laugh at myself. It is sort of a delicate balance.

I have never been a very rooted person. I am often flighty, easily swayed by others emotions, and shy away from long term commitments for fear of making a wrong decision. This means that I rarely can accomplish something to its fullest and I rarely have friends that are deeply bound to me.

Because of my training as an actor I am able to detect this lack of rooting psychologically and become aware of how it manifests physically.  For instance, people are often lead throughout their day by a certain part of them. Some people have their knees as the part that leads them places while others have their pelvis. I am often lead around by my head and my chest (heart) while my feet and my lower body is consequently left trying to keep up. Everywhere I go I am emotionally and mentally engaged but other parts of me just are left along for the ride.

I feel like this is very symbolic of my detachment from that natural world. When I walk my mind is so full of ideas that I neglect the world around me. I do not soak in the sounds of life about me nor do I take in the sensations that could comfort me.  I simply disengage.

Those who practice yoga know the importance of grounding oneself. For perfect balance an individual must focus on what all parts of the body are doing. Even simple yoga poses can bring awareness to the feeling of the earth underneath us.  

I think one of the most beautiful examples of the importance of rooting comes from the story of the Buddha. It is said that when the Buddha was tempted by the forces evil he sat underneath a tree and remained calm. He promised to help all living and sentient beings break from the cycle of suffering.  When the evil one wanted to know who was his witness, the Buddha simply reached down and touched the earth.  Suddenly there was an earthquake and the forces of evil fled.

How beautiful to think that the earth would be our witness; to support us and care for us. We as a culture have moved far from the earth. We do not work so closely with it. We become caught up in more consuming things and before we know it we have lost our sense of self.

In effort to root myself I become more self aware and more focused on things that truly matter. I do not let little inconveniences upset me.  I forgive others more easily and I become less vulnerable. But with all things, this process takes time and patience.  I just keep working at it. I do the best I can.

Namaste.

CCosner

Weekly Links

I have stumbled upon quiet a collection of random articles over the past few days so I thought I would take the time to share:

Here is yet another study done regarding BPA. I do not understand why this toxic chemical still continues to be legally manufactured.

I hate Proctor and Gamble but I am intrigued by their latest pledges.

Is college really a good investment? Or is it just four years of waste? I think I will have to blog more on this later.

Washing your face with oil? It sounds kind of crazy and possibly disastrous be this Instructable seems pretty legit. I am thinking about trying it.

More later,
CCosner

On Break

I am on break for a few days from camp. The first session was tiring but I lived. Thankfully I am also going to be able to work an extended session. I am pretty happy about it. I need the money and I can always use the job experience. The cabin above has been and will continue to be my home for the next month. Like the prayer flags? I finished them about a week before I left.

Being in the mountains away from my cell phone and internet can be a huge blessing. I have to really focus on who I am and what I am doing here in the real world instead of focusing so much on the virtual world. I love being in the outdoors and I really love having the downtime. College for nine months can be so draining and so I love to retreat to this place and recharge.

I am happy to return to my parents house for a while and check up on my dad and I's latest project. Before I left a few weeks ago, we started a home brew! Now I will throw out there that I know very little about making beer but I have pretty much decided that I would love to be a brewer as a job. What you see here is called a carboy and it holds the mostly fermented beer.Next we are going to move into the bottling phase. This is about five gallons of beer!! Omg I am so excited to taste it! Part of this has been somewhat of a discovery of my German heritage. I never liked beer until this winter when one of my freinds introduced me to good beer. Now I am a very picky beer drinker. I like micro brews that are mainly stouts and porters. If it is the color of coffee than I much prefer it to light beers. Anyway, as you can tell, this beer is defiantly falling into the coffee category.

Hopefully I can check in once more before I return to the mountains.

CCosner

Camp

Due to sketchy (and slow) interwebs I have been unable to post or read or do anything bloggy. So I am sorry my faithful readers but I am afraid that I am going to have take a tiny break for the next few weeks. I is sorry. :(

See you after camp.

Nothing like Tyson...

..and all of the rest of the big meat-packers for that matter. Just when I think that I have heard it all than I read another article about how the big four (Tyson, Cargill, JBS, and Smithfield) have committed another sin which  consequently is overlooked by most of the public and the government. Honestly, the abuse of animals is not even the half of it. Try human rights! If some one asked me why I don't eat meat from the store I would tell them that it was because I believe in human rights!!

Okay, enough of my rants. Just read it for yourself.


How the meat industry turned abuse into a business model 

Big Meat vs. Michael Pollan

The Spam Factory's Dirty Secret

So if all of that has you all depressed you can read about a Zero-Packaging Grocery Store. See, there is still some hope after all.

Happy Wednesday,

CCosner

Memories

I cannot believe that this is the last week of June already! It is pretty insane. I feel like I should have accomplished more than I have in the last couple weeks. Next week I will be going to work at a summer camp in the mountains. I am very excited about it!

I have been spending the last week or so trying to clean the last of my stuff out of my parents house. I have a lot of high school mementos and childhood things that I feel like I don't need. It is had definitely been a bit of a nostalgic trip. I cam across a bunch of 8th grade graduation cards. Weird. In less than a year I will be graduating from college. Am I wiser? Maybe. Have I learned anything? Debatable.

Cleaning out this kind of stuff can be challenging for me honestly. I keep wondering if the person that gave it to me even remembers giving it as a gift. Some items have not seen the light of day since my family moved almost eight years ago. That says a lot. I find that some days I am not as emotionally ready to part with some of the items. It is challenging finding that balance.

In fact yesterday was one of the most difficult days. I had stumbled upon some old writing from high school in some journals. I was feeling really down and not really knowing what I am doing with my life. So I am feeling sad and emotional and then my former high school boyfriend drops by. I wanted to crawl into a hole. It was probably the single most awkward thing ever. It is amazing how much memories and the past can change how we feel in the present.

On another note I compared my past two years budgets. I spent about $2,000 less this year than I did last year! I am happy to say that I am going to work even harder this year to spend even less. This past year was not particularly challenging so I cant wait to see if I can do better! The interesting thing about all of this is that most people would be shocked by how little I spend anyway. But I think that it is very important to live below your means for a while. That is the joy of being young.

Happy Tuesday,

CCosner

Recipe: Naan (Indian Flatbread)

I am currently trying out  this recipe. I added some whole wheat flour to it to make it a little healthier. I will see how it goes. Pictures? Maybe? 
-C 

Source: All Recipes

Naan

Ingredients

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic (optional)
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.
2. Punch down dough, and knead in garlic. Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
3. During the second rising, preheat grill to high heat.
4. At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. Lightly oil grill. Place dough on grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter, and turn over. Brush cooked side with butter, and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared. 

Weekly Links

Some links for your enjoyment while I try to find the time to write a real post:

I have been wanting to make pickles very very badly. But the growing season is very delayed here due to cold weather and so I have to wait. I think that this pickle recipe looks especially good.

Simplifying your life can be key to feeling accomplished I think. This article has some great tips.

OMGosh....I want to make this salad....and this cheese.....I think I just really want to cook everything right now...


Now I am hungry... :)

Happy Tuesday.

-CCosner

Adieu

To you,

the place

that held me so,

I bid adieu.

Between now 

and when I return,

you shall be missed.

Latest Obsession: Backpacking

First things first: I have never gone on a "real" backpacking trip. I have hiked some pretty nasty terrain and have ridden a horse many a time over steep hills with plenty of rocks. But no real down-to-earth-live-out-of-my-backpack-and-poop-in-a-hole kind of backpacking. Now this is too bad really. For one, I live in the Pacific Northwest, a sort of mecca for outdoor sports. Secondly, I like being outdoors and I take a lot of inspiration from nature.

Perhaps this obsession is only realized because of the fact that in my youth (a whole 3 years ago) I was not quite as adventurous as I am now. Not for lack of adventure per say. Maybe the "cool" factor was still flowing in my bloodstream and prevented me from doing what I really like to do. Altogether possible. But now as summer begins I itch for an excuse to say goodbye to civilization and venture into the wilderness.

Now as most obsessions of mine, it all starts out so innocent. Someone might mention something, "So-and-so hiked the Pacific Crest Trail". "Whats that?" I ask myself as I do a few Google searches. Than an article pops up and I read it. That is it for a few months. Than I start to think about buying a pack. "Why do you need a pack?", I ask myself. So I make some excuse and do some research on REI and before you know it I am in the library looking up book and magazines. Shortly thereafter you might see me hiking or walking innocently enough about town. "Lalalalala don't mind me. Just out for an innocent stroll."

The next thing you know I am making plans to climb Everest (a poor decision this would be on my part). After awhile, the obsession, never fully realized mind you, dies off and I pick something else up. In fact this blog could likely document my obsessions pretty well come to think of it. But I digress...

This one I will NOT let die. I have promised myself that. Hiking is just one of those things that I need to do. I would be very good for me. Challenging and singular and what could turn into a life long passion. Nothing wrong with that. So for the moment I will be walking around town or on my parents property (somewhat of a challenge in itself). But I would like to finish it all off with a gallivant to Wallowa Lake for a few rewarding hikes. And don't think I have lost sight of my dream of Mt. Adams. I just have to give these things time.

Monday at its best.
CCosner

Morgan Lake

Happy Sunday!

Schools Out!

As of last Tuesday I am officially done with college for a few months! On Thursday I got my wisdom teeth pulled. Now I sit in front of my computer sporting a look that only a chipmunk should have. The upside is that I am getting it over with now instead of later.

So now my summer is officially here and it is raining outside. I feel really trapped. So I am on my usual hunt for cool blogs to add to my ever growing list.

I have become really fascinated by the idea of refashioning cloths. The idea of taking a few thrift store pieces and turning them into skirts, dresses, neat shirts and skinny jeans. Cotton and Curls has many beautiful examples of how refashioning can make a wonderful wardrobe with very little. I really love this jacket and this skirt. Wonderful inspiration!

And if that is not enough, I watched a lovely Ted Talk by Jessi Arrington about thrift store shopping for a unique wardrobe. She blogs at Lucky So and So.



I hope I can start posting my thrift store finds soon. :)

-C

Saturday!

Happy for the weekend and the beautiful weather!!

Here is a project that I want to try soon: DIY Honey Cuticle Creme

Also, I have joined Pintrest. Click to see what I have pined so far. I love the site so much. There is a lot of inspiration that I need on it.

Simplifying My Life: An Update

Over the past few months I have been making efforts to simplify my life. The reasons for this are many. For one, I feel that "stuff" can keep me from doing what I love and going where I please. By breaking this attachment I feel more empowered by living off little and experiencing more. I also have been finding ways to simplify because of financial strains. As a student with a limited job I do not have much money to spend but I have made some small steps which can keep some of my costs lower than ever before. And lastly, a more simplified life is better for the planet. Buy using what I have instead of buy more I am wasting less and protecting the environment. 

Some small steps that I have taken toward minimalism and simplification are:

-Using a cloth handkerchief instead of paper tissues.
-Air drying my cloths instead of using an electric dryer. 
-Eating more meals from scratch and using more dry beans, lentils, and rice.
-Switching from conventional feminine protection to a Moon Cup. 
-Printing on the blank side of already used paper instead of using new sheets.
-Sewing a few of my own cloths.
-Going No-poo twice a week (baking soda and vinegar) instead of washing my hair with shampoo.
-Wearing my glasses more often so I can use fewer contact lenses.
-Shopping within walking distance.
-Riding my bike.
-Starting my own tomato plants from seed.
-Selling unwanted items on Ebay and donating others. 

A few things I am planning on doing in the future are:
-Canning and preserving food for this winter so I do not have to rely on store bought items.
-Getting rid of more unneeded things.
-Grow my own garden.

I am excited about all of my new changes and I hope that I can continue!

Happy Friday.

-C

Thursday Links

...because Friday cannot happen fast enough. I am exhausted. I do have some great stuff to share however!

Watermelon Jam! How epic does that sound? I cannot wait to can it and make this happen. This winter will be awesome when I can put that on biscuits.

What can I live without? Another great post on minimalism.


Solar power panels printed out like paper! That is the rumor anyway. Oh how wonderful it will be when we can all live free of utility companies.

On a more somber note, canned food is 90% likely to have the hormone disrupting chemical BPA. This makes me very sad. Most food that young students consume is from a can. I know that I have eaten way too much out of a can. How can we change this?

Kinda of love this blog! Fun stuff at Punk Domestics.

Currently listening to: Jared Mees & The Grown Children.

Enjoy!

100 Things Challenge: A Little Filler For Your Freedom

I wanted to share this blog post from A Guy Named Dave. He blogs at 100 Things Challenge about consumerism, minimalism and finding freedom from stuff. Over the past few months I have been shedding unnecessary things by either selling them or giving them away. That is the easy part. Honestly, the hard part is not buying more stuff. I do allow myself to purchase food, and necessities of course. But cloths, shoes, and other things are put off for a once a year thrift store trip. The only thing I allow myself to purchase for fun is vinyl records. All this said, I start to wonder what to do with myself. When living in a urban location you don't have a ton to do so usually the solution is to shop. It is hard to break free from that.

It can be a bit boring to live a simple life. You purge your excess stuff. You stop shopping on the weekends. Soon enough you find yourself sitting in a shockingly empty house wondering what to do. So, what do you do? Well, the first thing is to ask yourself, why do you feel restless? Why does life feel empty?
In fact, it is completely appropriate to go through a time of feeling restless and uncertain after adjusting our lifestyles to simple living. Here’s why I think we experience this. Consumerism manufactures bondage and breaking free isn’t the final goal.
People who excessively consume, be it for comfort or status or whatever reason, become enslaved to their things. Often consumerism binds them in triple-shackles: debt, discontent, and debris. They spend so much money on stuff that they go into debt and are now bound to their payments. They buy things that don’t satisfy and now experience cognitive dissonance, either convinced there’s something wrong with them or something wrong with what they bought; both rationalizations usually lead to another purchase and more bondage. And, all this stuff makes for a serious mess around the house that quite literally has people feeling stuck in stuff.
As bad as the constraints of consumerism might seem, for many people there is a familiar comfort to them. This is a common experience for those experiencing some kind of, say, addition or dysfunction. People will regularly stay in a bad situation rather than go through the discomfort of changing.
Yet thankfully, many people do change. Many of us have changed our relationship to stuff. We’ve broken bad habits and are no longer stuck in stuff. We’re free!
But freedom is not an end goal. Neither is emptiness. (In this, my view of simplicity differs dramatically from Zen, which seeks emptiness as an ideal state.) Freedom is the most privileged state of attachment. What I mean by this is that freedom allows us to fill up our lives of our own free will; freedom allows us to become attached to the right things.
This process of filling up our lives takes time. Moreover, it doesn’t happen by simply creating space. Simple living creates space. I often say that simple living creates physical, emotional, and spiritual space. But just because we’re no longer filling up that space with stuff doesn’t mean we can leave it empty and be satisfied. If we leave the space empty (yes, even the physical space) we’ll feel, well, empty.
The Little Goods Life that I’ve been talking about lately addresses this. It emphasizes filling up by pursuing “little goods.” It’s a lifestyle of consumer moderation, but also of career and charity and relational moderation. Little by little.
One final thought for now. Around the world people fill up their lives with all sorts of pursuits. Obviously, many people fill up their lives with bad activities. But there are plenty of good things to do. So if you don’t like hiking, try crafting. If you don’t like reading, try photography. If you don’t like cooking, try volunteering. There are endless fulfilling activities for you and your family. Be patient, though. It takes a while to break free from consumerism. It will take a while to settle into new life pursuits.

Ranch Fest, ID

I went to Idaho this weekend for a music festival. What an experience! It was soooooo cold there. I woke up this morning and it was snowing. ACK! But the music was great and it was good to get out of town for a night.

 This is Idaho...

 ...and so is this. (Click on the picture to read the sign.)

 A beggin dawg.

 Many miles traveled!

 The land is so open and massive. We hiked this hill to get a great view. Below you can see the barn where the bands play as well as some of the parking and camping.

 One of my faves! Boise ID band Hillfolk Noir. Note the suitcase as a bass drum. The guitar and vocalist man is probably one of the most genuine people I have ever met. So creative.

Jared Mees & The Grown Children played around 10:00pm. So great! A dog kept wandering around on stage. It was very Idaho. Nothing is too serious.

I am already excited to return next year with 20 more blankets of course. Nothing like the high desert to really demonstrate the harsh elements.

Have wonderful Sunday.

CCosner

Find Your State!!

Thank you Our American Generation.

Dirt: The Movie

I watched this documentary tonight on Hulu. It is so wonderfully sad and inspiring at the same time. I have always lived close to the dirt as a child and now living in an urban setting deprives me from the dirt. Luckily this summer I will be able to go back and garden. :)

I will be the hummingbird. I will do the best I can.

What is Fracking?

I never knew anything about fracking until today.

Do you know what it is?



This article on Grist gives us a more detailed look at the issue.

I plan on watching this documentary this week...


Enjoy.

Famers Market!

Today was the first farmers market of the season! Hurray!! No more going to the store if I can help it except for the necessities. I am thrilled!

 Beautiful Radishes! I could not resist them. Far better than anything store bought.

 Lettuce, radishes and goat-milk soap, all local. :D

 Middle-school band provided the entertainment this week.

 

I have been working on my Senior Project, trying to finish my BA in the Theatre Arts this spring. I have been neglecting my blog and it makes me sad. More later?

Happy Saturday
CCosner