THE STORY OF MY ONGOING WEIGHTLOSS JOURNEY

About 8 years ago, I lost 40 pounds - I guess it was "baby" weight but I was well passed that stage! I worked really hard, walked daily, used Weight Watchers to help me keep track of every little thing I ate, and felt amazing. 

About 4 or 5 years ago, I began gaining back that weight. I hadn't changed my eating habits much and I was still working out. I was puzzled as to why I began gaining back my weight and started realizing my addiction to sugar and breads and thought that I needed to figure out a way to get that under control. Meanwhile, in the last 5 or 6 years, I have discovered all things natural, clean, organic, and wholesome! Our family now does as much clean living as possible. 

The Bee's Knees!

Wouldn't you love to get some FREE summer skincare essentials? Skincare products that you don't have to worry about all that harmful and "who knows what's in it" products? Well, I have an amazing offer for you, so check it out!

Welcome to my Organized, Colorful Home

I haven't updated my home tour in awhile so I thought it would be fun to share how my house looks right now, since doing my new kitchen and a few other areas this year. So, I'm going to walk you through the house! If you want to now specifics about that room, just click on the link I provide for each room. 

Welcome to our home!

Our front yard got overhauled last year and is now completely drought tolerant and all native. Go HERE to read more about it. 

How to Wash a Down Pillow Naturally

OK, so I'm not reinventing the wheel or telling you anything new. But, I washed my down pillows. Yep, big deal? Did you know you can wash down pillows? I did...but, I was just too chicken!

So, here is what the pillows look like BEFORE.

And here is the AFTER - I know! Unbelievable!! AND, I used NO bleach {I don't even own bleach}. Here's how I did it:

Last Chance for FREE offer from ePantry!

There is only a short time left to get in on the amazing offer from ePantry that I told you all about! It's ending TODAY in just a few hours! {at 6 PM Pacific Standard Time}.

How to Save Money on Natural Cleaners - Mrs. Meyers and Seventh Generation {+FREE Printable}

So, if you've read my blog for any amount of time, you'd know that I am pretty passionate about using non-toxic and organic products to keep your home and family well and organized. I'm also not big on cleaning - that's no secret either. But, it's important to me to have a CLEAN and environmentally safe home - and, of course, clutter free too! 

Fighting the Drought in California - Grey Water

{More organizing posts coming soon, but I want to share 

with you about a project we are working on in our home}

Having lived in California my whole life, I've learned the words "water conservation" and "drought" many times here. It's something I remember my parents talking to us kids about when I grew up in Northern California. I remember that we only flushed after going "number 2", otherwise, you just left it in there and flushed at the end of the day so we wouldn't waste water. We couldn't run the water while brushing our teeth. It didn't seem horrible - just being careful with water. Now I live in Southern California, where we have even less rain than Northern California, and a drier climate. This year, they are saying is the worst drought in recorded history in the state of California - which may not bother you, but guess what? You probably get a LOT of your food from California. So, our decision to "go native" and plant a drought tolerant front yard couldn't have come at a better time! But, we've recently discovered something else - grey water. Do you know what that is?

Getting the Front Yard Planted!

Last week I shared with you the big reveal of our native, drought tolerant front yard and landscape. I worked closely with our landscaper and had many requests for what I wanted from our yard. I'm going to share some of the costs for hiring a landscaper, so that you can see realistically what to expect. Now, let me be honest, I started out this project when I heard our city was offering a $1 per square foot rebate to take out our lawn, but we ran into some problems...

Dirt turns into...

It's been a bit since I shared the progress on our front yard - which we are planning to make drought resistant and native. Here in Southern California, we are currently experiencing drought-like conditions already this year. We have had very little rain and likely will not get much this next year. So, for us, watering our front lawn to keep it green has been expensive and not worth it, in my opinion.  

Our Front Yard - Going Native!

So, our front yard....it's looking rather bad right now. Really bad. It's ALL dirt. 

Update on our energy saving solar panels!

It's been over six months since we had our solar panels installed on our home. I told you about this and how they worked here. I posted a picture recently on Instagram of our current electric bill and many of you had said you were curious about whether we were actually saving money. 

Hanging out with succulents!

I have long been a lover of succulents, especially when my hubby finished building our deck a few years ago. The reason? They are SUPER easy to manage. Talk about low maintenance -- I water them once a week {twice a week in the summer}. 

All Natural Weed Killer: Vinegar vs. Hot water

I always want to share stuff we do around the house, whether it's building a deck and outdoor kitchen or planting some succulents! But, I also wanted to share a little experiment I recently did to try and combat the weeds around our house.

More green living: composting

I'm beginning to think we're trying to be the greenest family on the block! We've taken some steps to reuse and re-energize this home! We have solar panels, we have been using terry towels to cut down on paper towels, and now composting! Well, I wouldn't say we're the "greenest" but I like to try and re-use stuff cause I'm cheap and also cause it's senseless to always throw stuff out!

Going solar - we're green!

We have been working on the curb appeal of our home for just about a year now! Last year we painted the house - and boy is it a fun color - added new windows, new roof, put on a large patio cover on our deck. The only thing we had left was solar panels. We found out, from our contractor/builder, that if we put solar panels on our home the same year as we put a new roof on, we could get an approximate 25% tax write off on the roof. We are purchasing our panels {versus leasing them} and will have a return on investment {ROI} in six years or less.