Change the World Wednesday - de-cluttering

This week's CTWW involves cleaning out our closets and finding alternate places for the items.

This week, begin creating a list of unneeded household items to donate to nonprofits. Perhaps you have clothing, pillows, books or sports equipment which could be given to men's and women's shelters. Animal shelters are always in need of towels and food containers. So look around your home and see what could be offered. Donating keeps stuff out of landfills & supports local nonprofits that need all the help they can get.

Or ...

If you've already cleaned out your closets, please share other ideas on how we can keep "stuff" out of landfills.

Perfect timing with this challenge.  A couple of weekends ago Husband and I cleaned out one of the hall closets.  It wasn't that it was over-flowing with stuff, I'm actually a rather organized person.  He just happened to be in it one day and realized we didn't use half the coats hanging up or other items in it.  He mentioned we needed to go through it and make some room for baby girls stuff.    It didn't take us long to go through the closet but we managed to pull out almost everything and set it aside to get rid of it.  We actually have 6 shelves in that closet and two places to hang things up with hangers.  We went from everything being full to having only 2 shelves with stuff on them and one side with coats.

Where is the stuff now? Well, it's actually still in the soon-to-be nursery awaiting proper homes.  We had a vacuum cleaner that works great, but we don't use it and don't have a need for it anymore. That will be going on Craigs list.  We could take it too a goodwill and donate it, but we've had great luck getting rid of things on Craig's list.  We usually try to list things for a small amount and most of the time we are able to sell it.  If we can't sell it for even a small amount, we make the decision to either list it for free or take it to a donation center. A lot of things we'll list for free because they are too bulky or just weird items that we think a donation center would have trouble getting rid of.  

As far as the coats, those I'm going to take to a Veteran's donation center one weekend.  Husband recently went through his closet and pulled out a lot of clothes he doesn't wear anymore and they are in a pile waiting to go out the door as well.   Many times when we have clothes I'll contact a Veteran's charity to come pick it up but I noticed a drop-off donation center opened up not to far from us and we drive by it a lot of the weekends. I prefer to donate clothes and other items I feel they can use because I feel we need to do what we can for our vet's.  I would rather see the items go to vet's or be sold and the money going to a veteran foundation than just a normal donation center.

Some of the items we are getting rid of are also pet items and toys that our dog doesn't use.  These I'm going to contact local animal shelters to see if they need/want.  Since the items are used I'm not sure what they will take but want to make the offer. Otherwise I'm not sure how best to get rid of these.

Now that this closet is cleaned out, we're pretty much done. I love (cuz I'm nuts) to organize so throughout the year I will go through drawers and closets and re-organize and pull out things we don't use anymore.  So unless Husband finds a closet I've forgotten about, I'm done for awhile.  That is, until baby girl starts growing up and I have all of that stuff to deal with.

Easy Brownies from scratch

I mentioned before that there are basically two cookbooks I own for baking and that's because so far they are the only ones I've felt worth it.  Clinton St. Baking Company is a heck of a cookbook.  The recipes are all from the cafe of the same name that can be found in New York.  I can't tell you how much I hope to eat there one day.

I wanted to share their recipe for brownies.  Hopefully you'll make them and this will entice you to pick up a copy of the book, if you do I don't think you'll be disappointed.

The brownies are super easy to make and taste wonderful.  I personally have all the ingredients in my house most of the time so it's not something where a special trip to the store is required.  psst..I've posted the Flourless Chocolate cake recipe on my other blog in the past, this one has become a favorite dessert for my husband. He rates it as the best dessert he's ever had. I'm not as huge a fan but admit it's good. I actually prefer these brownies. Oh, and as I'm typing this Husband is going through the recipe book picking out the next item for me to make.  He's mentioned 3 so far. haha!

Brownies

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chunks (I just use a bag of chocolate chips)
2 cups sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter, cubed
5 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 F.  if using a convection oven, set it at 325.  Lightly grease a 9x12 pan, line with parchment paper to prevent sticking and grease paper (I just spray the pan).

Melt the chocolate, sugar, and butter together in a microwave-safe bowl in the microwave on high heat.  stir at 1-minute intervals.  The total time to melt this mixture will be 2 1/2 - 3 minutes. Or melt the mixture in the stainless-steel bowl of a double boiler.  Let cool.

Whisk the eggs and vanilla extract into the warm chocolate mixture.

Sift the dry ingredients into a separate bowl.

In two stages, gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet batter until combined.

Evenly distribute the butter into the prepared pan.

Bake the brownies for 25 minutes, until the top is cracked and the center is still fudgy.

Allow the brownies to cool in the refrigerator overnight and cut into approximately 3-inch squares once cooled.

The Rooted Tree Test

You Are Freedom Loving

You are laid back and easygoing with people. Too much intensity tires you out. You believe that there is a lot to still be discovered in this world, and you're hoping to find some of it. You are blessed with an enormous amount of self-confidence. You love who you are. Structure and rules bore you. Even worse - they make you feel stifled.

The Rooted Tree Test

 

 

I WISH I had an enormous amount of self-confidence.  Maybe one of these days.

Change the World Wednesday - Road Blocks

It's a new year and glad to get back to the Change the World Wednesday challenges over at Reduce Footprints.

This past week the challenge was in regards to road blocks. What roadblocks do I encounter when trying to be green.  This one was rather easy for me.  The greatest roadblock I have is in my desire to buy local.  There are several farmers markets during the summer but non that have been convenient for me to get to.  There is one in Tower Grove Park that I hear is wonderful, but it's at least a 30 min drive. When I drive 35-40min each way for my commute to/from work 5 days a week, I just don't always want that commute on the weekend (plus the park is by my work so it just feels like I'm headed to work again).

There is a farmer's market closer to where I live but it is during the week and closes around 6pm. That just hasn't been a possibility for me.

However, I was able to change my hours at work this past fall and now I normally work 7-3, which gives me plenty of time to get to the farmer's market close to my house.  However another roadblock is that baby girl is supposed to arrive in early May.  My life is about to be turned upside down, in a good way.  I think, though, that buying local and fresh produce is important enough to me that I could hopefully make this an outing we can do together.  Sure, as an infant she'll have no clue and it'll be tougher for me to get around, but I'm hoping I can get into a routine and make it a habit.

Running Breakthrough

It feels good when you finally realize that a dream of yours is within reach.  It might take some planning, it might take some training, but to have that realization that yes you can do X, that's an incredible feeling.

I had such a breakthrough not too long ago.  I've been kicking around the idea of training for a full marathon for awhile.  It took me forever to convince myself I was capable of running a half marathon. Once I proved I could train and run one, I started thinking about a full marathon.  However 26.2 miles is a long way to run. I have way too much self-doubt about my abilities and my mental strength to fully commit.   It was something that I kept thinking about but wasn't ready to do.  Then when I found out I was pregnant I knew I wouldn't be able to train for a Spring marathon like I was thinking about.  I was ok with that.

Something crazy happened though.  While I'm still able to workout I'm having to pay close attention to my heart rate.  This means I'm running at a much slower speed than normal.  This also means that I've been able to keep up my distance and increase it for my weekly long runs.  I'm not putting as much effort into the runs, because I can't, so my legs aren't as tired and my body isn't fatigued and I can go further.   Up until recently the longest distance I have ever run consecutivly was 13.1 miles, a half marathon. 

A couple of weekends ago I decided that my goal was to run 12-16 miles for my long run.  12 was doable as that's what I've been doing.  16 was a pipe dream.  I came up with 16 because the route I run at a local park is roughly 4 miles, although I've been adding extra routes in to make it a tad longer.  So 12 mile would mean 3 loops, 16 miles would be 4 loops.  Hmm.   I met up with a couple of othe women for the first time.  The one runs slower so she offered to run with me most weekends since I've been lonly and missing my normal running group (I can't keep up with them right now).  She then found another girl who wanted to run with a group.   So we started out and they were super cool and stayed at the pace I needed to go.  We did 9 miles together because that's what their goal was for that day.  I was feeling good.  My legs were incredibly sore from the workout I had done the day before, but I felt good.  I ate part of a banana and headed out for another loop around the park.  I got close to my car and was at 14 miles.  I felt good.  I ran further and then decided to only push it to 15.  I do believe at that point my thought process was "You crazy f***, you're pregnant, what are you doing running 16 miles." 

When I hit 15 miles I stopped and walked  back to my car.  My legs were on fire, they were so sore from the previous days workout.  The rest of my body felt great.  My mental state was awesome. I've been dealing with a lot lately and have no way to relieve stress.  This run did it. Not only did I finally feel like I got in a good workout, I did 15 miles.  15!  Who would have ever though I could run for 15 miles?!  Nobody!

I was estatic. I was pumped. I got back to the car and looked at my phone and saw it was almost 11:30. I had been running for almost 3 hours.  I panicked. I called the husband thinking he was probably freaked out and when he answered I said "I'm alive".   When I said that I realized just how alive I felt. I felt on top of the world.  I was estatic.  I wanted to yell, I wanted to scream. I wanted to tell somebody but had nobody who would really care so I just had my own little happy party and patted myself on the back.  I just freaking ran for 15 miles and I felt great. I felt like I could have kept going.   I realized, for the very first time, that I could run for 26.2 miles. I could run a full marathon.  Sure, I might not be able to do it at the pace that I want to, but the first one is just about finishing isn't it?  Once I can finish a marathon I can work on pace for another one right?

This feeling, this feeling of realizing that you can accomplish something that you thought about doing but didn't really think you could achieve, that's the most amazing feeling in the world. 

I do realize that running 15 miles is probably not the best thing to do while pregnant, even though my body is fit and I've been keeping up with my workouts.  So I won't do it again.   I also realize that once Baby Girl arrives my priorities will change.  I realize that I'm not going to have 3+ hours to devote to running on the weekend.  I realize that training for a marathon takes a huge time commitment and I'm not going to be able to do that for awhile.  But that's ok.  I'm ok if I have to wait 2 or 3 or 4 years before I can train for a marathon.  Because I know I'll remember this run and I'll know how it felt to realize I could do it.

Altra running shoes - review

I recently did a review of the Eve shoe by Altra for a friend's blog, RunBreak.  Be sure to check it out if you are interested in running shoes. Actually, I don't run in them, I wear them to the gym and out and about and they are super comfy. So check them out even if you aren't in the market for new running shoes.

It's also exciting that Altra recently had two of their shoes awarded the Best Debut award by runners world. You can read more about that on Altra's blog.

The Story of Stuff

If you haven't watched any of the video's produced by The Story of Stuff Project, you are in for a treat.  Annie Leonard makes some really good points in the videos.  Even if you don't believe it all, I think it still makes you question things and look at how you live.

I recently watched their video The Story of Stuff and wanted to share it with you.  There were several good points that she makes.  For one she mentions that recycling isn't enough.  Seeing as how I've done a lot of reading/research within the last year on living green I already knew this.  However I used to think I was doing my part if if recycled, heck, I kept it out of the landfill didn't I?  But it's true that it's not enough. We need to look deeper into what we buy and why we buy things.