Introduction {Nicole}

Simple living...I've been pondering this now for over a week. For me, the thought of living simple began with the pregnancy of my first child, who will turn 10 this year. I wanted to do everything I could to be the mom who sewed the clothes, made food from scratch, and used cloth diapers. Truth be told, I was pretty successful in those goals. However, cloth diapering was unsuccessful. As the years flew by, I lost that simple way of life. After the birth of my third child, I felt drawn to a more natural lifestyle. I was lost in the hustle and bustle, and felt the pull toward a more simple lifestyle, as did my children. Slowly we've made changes in our life that I am really proud of.

Our goals are to get the box garden thriving with fresh veggies. This is our first year really attempting gardening. We rent, and were fortunate enough our landlords didn't mind us having a garden. Hopefully, I will be able to preserve more food this year. I think for us, small steps are what works. We have started using homemade laundry soap, stainless steel water bottles, reusable grocery bags...And finally have had success cloth diapering. We do our best, and are moving forward on this journey.

Our challenges, *sigh* organization is huge for me. I am terribly unorganized. I'm have dreams about having a tidy house, where all the corners are clear of clutter. Or where you open up a cupboard and five things don't fall out and hit you in the head. But that spills over to planning and preparation. So, this is something that I could really focus some energy into.

I am Nicole, momma to four, wife to Ben. I'm a stay at home mom, moving towards my passion of becoming a photographer, and enjoy knitting, sewing and community. I look forward to learning more from all of you and getting to know you better. Thanks Amy for the invite!

Beginnings