WEBSITE WEDNESDAY {This Healthy Homemaker}

Check out This Healthy Homemaker. 

From a passionate, well-informed mother of 3, you can find:

1) Healthy snack ideas
2) Sugar ins and outs
3) Home remedies for common ailments
4) Vitamin and supplement info
5) Book recommendations 
6) Healthy meal recipes
7) The truth about white flour and processed foods
8) Links to sources and research-based articles 
9) And many more useful tips about about things like washing produce, homemade laundry detergent, sneaky ways to get kids to eat healthy, and even the ketchup brand to buy without high fructose corn syrup!

After perusing the posts, read the comments too. Apparently, there are mothers everywhere struggling to raise healthy families in this junk food obsessed, fast food eatin', sugar-addicted society. Check it out and join the conversation!

Say "hi" to my super fly sister-in-law Andrea, while you're at it.  

WEBSITE WEDNESDAY {jolleyonmovies}

Then you have to check out THIS site!

Let me explain why I love it:

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1.) Its snarky synopses and movie reviews hold just the right mix of the profound and the cynical to keep you entertained and informed.

2.) Movies geared toward all ages and interests are included: action, sci-fi, romantic comedies, children, movie adaptations, new releases, old classics, and even TV series.
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3.) Not sure if that show will be appropriate for you or your family? Find out the reasons behind those ratings.
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4.) Can't find the specific show you're looking for? No worries. Click on the "requests" tab and fill in your suggestion.
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5.) The site may also be run by my lil' sis. But WAIT! Don't be so fast to roll your eyes. I promise I'm not biased! This girl can write. I wouldn't post about it if I didn't sincerely think so myself.
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6.) If anything, the clever writing will make you laugh out loud. It's seriously hilarious.


GO AHEAD! Browse around for your next movie rental, and give her some blog love while you're at it. Let her know where you came from too. I am SO going to be the favorite sibling after this.


P.S. You can also like the Facebook page HERE.

BOUNTIFUL BASKETS

I hesitate to post this for several reasons:

1.) I sound like a TV commercial.

2.) You (like Andrew), are going to think I'm insane for photographing our fresh produce so thoroughly.

3.) I feel insane after photographing our fresh produce so thoroughly.

But if you aren't already aware of this Bountiful Baskets organization, it is in your best interest that you sit down, listen up, and learn yourself something kinda dang cool.

Also, keep in mind, I'm a woman with a lot of extra time on her hands at present.

Bountiful Baskets is a food co-op run by volunteers who buy fresh crops from nearby farmers at amazingly cheap prices. Then, it is evenly dispersed between participants.

If you want your basket of approximately $50 worth of produce for $15, you sign up on their website for the pickup time and location most convenient for you.

It is available in 15 states (including Utah, Arizona, Washington), but you'll have to see if there are any set up in your county.

I go every two weeks to pick up my conventional basket of about 50% fruits and 50% vegetables. I've never been disappointed with what I'm given. Nice variety...everything's fresh...and it's kind of fun to find unique food in your basket that you never would have picked out yourself.

Like cauliflower, for example. I've never bought it before. It smells funny. What am I supposed to do with it anyway?


It forced me to research recipes and experiment a little. Shake things up.

I've even had to Google pictures of some vegetables to figure out what they were exactly.

Jalapenos? Peppers of some kind? I wasn't sure at first.

They also offer add-ons: 2lbs of granola, boxes of in-season fruit, and loaves of nine grain or honey whole wheat bread (in packs of 5 at 2 bucks a piece).

You can even pay a little extra and get your basket 100% certifiably organic. If you're into that sort of thing.

Our grocery bill is now decidedly lower. We live for 2 weeks off this basket and a trip to the grocery store for basic necessities--milk, cheese, butter, meat, toilet paper, and...er...ice cream.

You know, the other things we can't live without.

It feels good to be eating so healthy. Before this, I don't think we were getting quite enough fresh food.

And it's just plain yummy. I couldn't even get a picture of these guys before I'd eaten half of 'em myself.

We don't just have to have a salad every night to get through the veggies either. They go great in stir-fry like yakisoba, or tin foil dinners, casseroles, burgers, soups, and fresh with Ranch dressing.

Personally, I've found the best way to eat celery is smeared with peanut butter and topped with craisins.

And I've always wanted to try making corn beef and cabbage.

I'm enjoying all of this while I can. You see, during the school year, my limited time to plan and cook causes too much of this stuff to spoil before we can ever get to it.

But for now, what else am I going to do with myself besides plan for, eat, and take pictures of produce?

Well, anyway, do I have you sold, yet? If you're interested, go check out the website HERE. Let me know if you have any questions!

WEBSITE WEDNESDAY-- Vivian Maier, street photographer

This story about Vivian Maier has fascinated me to no end! 

Watch the video clip below for the juicy details, but let me fill you in on the basics:

• Thousands of old negatives and rolls of undeveloped film discovered in storage a few years ago
• Man buys them all at an auction and begins sorting through the boxes
• Stunned by the beautiful street photography he finds
• Begins scanning and archiving images never seen by anyone
• Discovers a name: Vivian Maier
• Googles her and comes up with an obituary...from a few days before!
• Through research, finds her to be a private, family-less, old maid nanny 
• She spent spare time on the streets of Chicago with an old film camera during the 60's
• Word gets out about this discovery
• Art exhibitions, documentaries, book offers, and movie offers follow
• Only a fraction of the images have been scanned--there are so many!
• Scanning process continues daily
• Every so often, a new, amazing image will be posted on THIS BLOG.

Her photography captures such a unique life from such a distinct time period. And I am in love with her style: pictures of real people, living real life. No posing, or lights, or editing. Just naturally beautiful.

Here are a few favorites that have been developed thus far: 

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(Check out vivianmaier.blogspot.com for the rest.) 

{lovely}

{Make anyone else think of Charlie & the Chocolate Factory?}

{fantastic!}

{poor thing...}

{fantastic perspective...love the shadow framing the women}

{dramatic}

{hard day? too much to drink?}

{what a coat!}

{classic look}

{lovely silhouette}

{neighborhood fun}

{Now days, these girls would be chatting through Facebook}

{love the light hitting that adorable expression}

{hello there}

{ha!}

{ya gotta go when ya gotta go}

{He looks slightly baffled over what to do with it}

{Isn't the cigar awesome?}

{such sweet, innocent faces!}

{pick a little, talk a little...}

{lovely lighting on the walls}

{Wowza, what a shawl}

{another classic woman}

{wise, wrinkled face}

{oh. my. goodness. absolutely stunning.}

{i wanna hear the music!}

{one of my very favorites}

Each one tells an amazing story. What are your favorites?

WEBSITE WEDNESDAY-- [framed] photo site

I can't even remember how I found it. But I'm sure glad I did! Their weekly episodes are my new guilty pleasure.
Along with Moose Tracks.And maple bars.And those Little Debbie chocolate swirly cakes with frosting in the middle.
But anyways...
Every Tuesday, [FRAMED] posts a 15-minute documentary-style video about a different photographer. They've hit up photographers in the Salt Lake area of various styles: film, digital, high fashion, family, children, etc. Next, they're headed to Portland, Oregon.
It's been fun to learn about what entails a photo shoot, a photography business, and the editing process. I get a weekly behind-the-scenes look at the real deal. SO cool.
If photography is your kind of thing, visit their site and take a look around. When I first found it, I spent an hour at least, getting lost in their older episodes. I dare you to do the same. Have fun!

Well, I'm gonna go now. I wonder if Andrew left me any of that ice cream...

WEBSITE WEDNESDAY--scherenshnitte

papercutting.blogspot.com

This is a paper cutting blog that I love to check in on every once in a while. Cindy has done pretty well with her art, putting on whole gallery shows, with only her exacto-knife and paper. She even offers free printable templates so you can attempt it yourself. Find all of them HERE. 
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I think I'd like to try my hand sometime soon. What great handmade gifts for Christmas! 

Which ones are your favorites?

{Cheshire Cat}

She's done alot of fairy tale paper cuts.

{Alice in Wonderland}

ha!

{Mad Hatter Tea Party}

Center piece and place cards. 

{The Silence}

I love that you can see above and below ground in one glance

{Wynken, Blynken, and Nod}

Remember this poem?

{Stygian Witches}

Fun one!

{Watership Down}

Isn't it fun what we can see that the girl can't?

{It's a Lovely Cage}

I don't really understand this one...but bars of the cage are sure beautiful.

{Because They Have Taken Away my Lord}

So delicate! Her hand, the clouds, the plants on the wall...

{The Frog Prince}

This one is 3-D in a shadow box.

{The Woman at the Well}

I love her silhouettes from the scriptures.

{It Taught me to Hope}

Any Pride and Prejudice fans out there?

{Thank You Card Silhouette}

Doesn't she come up with the most lovely designs?

{Woman with an Issue of Blood}

This story in the scriptures has sacred meaning to me, and it was done so beautifully. I love that you can actually see the virtue of Christ healing her, as if seeing with spiritual eyes. 

{Rooks}

Isn't it amazing she cut this out of paper??

{Birds on a Wire}

So simple. Yet one of my favorites.