This is the year ...

... of health and wellness!

"The Farm"

Last year, I followed the lead of my bloggie (and happy to say, also real-life) friend Sara from Feeding the Soil and chose a theme for the year. The theme was "This is the year I find a home." I set a vision for what I wanted to be true for my new home, and on July 1st I moved to "The Farm," a rental on a half-acre (but still in the city!) with a porch, a garden, and lots of room to spread out.  I've also come to the terms with the fact that I don't really want to be someone who settles down in one place for all eternity. I always felt there was something wrong with me because I get queasy at the idea of living in one place "forever." But that's just the way that I am, and there's nothing wrong with that. I've been in Houston almost 10 years, but I don't feel the need to claim that I'll always stay here ... or that I'm definitively aiming to go anywhere else.

Since last year's theme was a big success, I thought that this year I would do the same thing, and dedicate this year to a theme (rather than a series of resolutions or goals).

So...

2013 is the year of health and wellness.

I don't just mean the usual New Year's goals, like losing weight or exercising more - although I want to do those things. I want to achieve more whole body/mind health in the new year. Last year, I really let those things slide - what with moving, changing jobs, etc.

I know that if I make the typical New Year's attempt to turn everything around at once, I'm not going to create a sustainable change. So I'm going to take a series of steps.

Number one, to address the root of the problem, in January, I want to get control of my time.

Why start a year of health and wellness with time? Why not start with eating healthier or exercising? For me, using time well is the root of health. I'm simply not a happy person if I don't have time to do the things I love - like reading, writing, and walking. Over the last year, I've stopped doing these things on a regular basis as I've tried to figure out a schedule in my new job that works for me.

I'll fill you in on how it's going soon. Happy new year!

Life on "The Farm"

The beginnings of the garden

Rosemary. It will mostly be used for rosemary gimlets.

The boxes are beehives. The little pollinators just came
to live at the farm a couple of weeks ago.

This is the chicken coop. There are no chickens yet. Cleaning the coop and getting it ready for hens will be the next big project.

Decorating the Farmhouse

When I moved into my new place (which my friends have lovingly dubbed "The Farm," I realized that I was going to need to do some shopping.I'm not a person who needs a lot of possessions - in fact, I prefer fewer. 

However, at my last place, I had a lot of built-ins -- bookshelves, storage, even a drop-down ironing board. The farmhouse doesn't have those amenities.

I also wanted to decorate in a style that fit better with the farmhouse. I was inspired by the home of ceramics artist Laura Zindel; her designs showcase illustrations of flora and faun. Her style is what one might call "scary farmhouse" or "Darwin's study." I love the spirit of science in the 1800's. And let's face it -- Darwin had style.

And on top of that, I wanted to be as green as one can when fueling the economy with major purchases. That means lots of thrifting (I'm now familiar with most of the thrift stores in Houston) and antiquing. Although I've always known the green benefits of thrifting, I've never been good at it. That's because I was shopping for clothes. I wanted to be like my sister, who is great at putting together amazing vintage outfits from her thrift store forays.

Housewares, I discovered, are much more my game. Here are a few of my finds:

This farmhouse table was at an antique store. It was
cheaper than a similar table and chairs bought new.

My friend Melanie bought this little cabinet. It didn't
really go with her more modern style, so she gave
it to me.

This isn't exactly decor, but I just thought it was
too cute to pass up.

These are some antique bottles. The smaller one
contained bluing. Does anyone use bluing anymore?

Melanie also persuaded me to get this vintage lamp

with gold roses painted on it.

 

Just some randomness...

I love my new house. I love it that I have a full-size kitchen and a utility room. I love that I can go out and collect flowers from the rose bush and the crepe myrtle and the butterfly bushes. Wily (my cat) loves it too. Having more space (and a yard FULL of birds to stare at through the windows) has reinvigorated him. He races around the house like a kitten.

My new home also has what I would call "REAL" recycling - i.e., I can recycle glass. For some reason, in downtown Houston, you can't recycle glass in your curbside bin. You have to take it to the recycling center. But at my new house we have full-size wheelie bins for recycling, which is great, because I recycle more than I throw away.

I would throw away almost nothing if I got into composting. There's a place in the backyard that's all set up to start, but I'm waiting until it cools off to get the outside of the house settled.

Also, I have to get the inside of the house put together. I can totally see how people move and then look around nine months later and they still have boxes... but I've made some progress. I have a dining table and chairs, and a desk (it's in a box right now), and a bookshelf is on the way. I really need to hang my art - that will make things start to feel like home.

I didn't do much around the house this weekend, though, because I was seeing friends and working on a skirt that I've been sewing all summer. My goal is to wear it on Friday. That means I have to have it done by Thursday. It's actually not a difficult project, but I was silly and started it right before the move.

I haven't been watching much of the Olympics. I hold the (very unpopular) belief that sports serve a sociological function of priming us for war - as  wikipedia puts it, it's a "symbolic competition between nations." Don't believe me? Here's an article for you.  I used to root for Russia (then the USSR) because my great grandmother immigrated from there. Other kids didn't appreciate that. Which sort of proves my point.

But it is kind of cool that Guatemala (where my great-grandfather hailed from - sort of; it's a long story) won it's first medal EVER this week. So? I'm a hypocrite. We all are sometimes.

And it was in racewalking. Hello?! Awesome.

Last night my friend Katie and I watched a movie called Take This Waltz. It's available on demand and is also playing in theaters. We ended up being really glad that we only paid $8 to watch it on demand, instead of driving downtown and each paying $10, plus money for food and parking and what not -- because we DID NOT enjoy the movie. It looked so promising - forbidden romance, Seth Rogen and Sarah Silverman, Canada. Neither of us could really relate to any of the characters, though, and so we didn't care what happened, which wasn't interesting anyway. It's gotten a lot of good reviews, so I don't know ... maybe we didn't get it. But I think we did.

And just because you need to see this, here is a baby wombat:

Planning a Garden

Yesterday I took a class on "planning your fall vegetable garden" that was offered by Urban Harvest.  Urban Harvest is a local non-profit that supports healthy and sustainable living through a strategy with three parts: gardening education, community gardens, and farmers' markets. 


At my new house, I have two spots for raised beds -- I just need to fix the structure surrounding the beds. My landlord says he will buy me dirt once I do that. He's  very into gardening AND Urban Harvest (and he's modeling agent - what a renaissance man!), so he says he's got a soil mix that he uses that will work. I know that composting yourself is the best way to get your soil, but I probably won't be able to start composting until fall.

You can see the garden beds in the
background - they need some work!

 I don't know much about gardening in the tropical climate of Houston. I do know that many folks say that you CAN'T grow organic in Houston because of the heat, disease, and pests, so I thought a class would be a great way to learn about what you can do.


Here's what I learned:

• Lots of people are successfully growing organic veggies in Houston. The instructors had lots of success stories, and lots of info about which varieties of vegetables are most resistant to pests. They also were able to recommend specific vendors and products that they've used successfully. One of the instructors is the author of the BIBLE of Houston veggie gardening, Year Round Vegetables, Fruits and Flowers for the Houston Metro Area.
• There will be a major learning curve. I'll need to be prepared for some failure. I am not a fan of failure. I avoid it the way that most people avoid their in-laws. However, this will be a new adventure and I can't expect to be great at it right away.
• Plan. One thing I realized, I need to have a good plan. If I want to be ready to plan in mid-September, that means I'm going to need to repair the beds in the next few weeks, in order to get the dirt, and prepare it for planting - I'll need to fertilize and water for a couple of weeks before I plant. I'm also going to need to graph out where and when I will plant certain veggies. Luckily, I'm a pro with an Excel spreadsheet, so that should work out.

I always like to be reminded: Houston is actually a pretty green city. At least, lots of people are trying.  The class was packed. I love the idea that so many people are interested in more natural sources for their food.  Houston is a city that will constantly surprise  you if you let it.

New House

Finally! Moving day...

I moved into my new house, the one that I envisioned. Like many urban dwellers, I'm a renter. And honestly, I'm too lazy to own my own place and be completely responsible for it.  

And I would never be able to afford a place like this in a good location.

Moving Day Looms

As I mentioned in my last post, I'm moving in just TWO WEEKS.


GAH!!!


It's probably the worst possible time of year for me to move. Work has been crazy. It's hot outside. I need a vacation. But I declared that 2012 would be the year that I find a home. 


I wasn't sure where that would be, but I set my vision. 


When I took the Mondo Beyondo course (which is about dreaming big -- I recommend it!), this is what I wrote about where I wanted to live:

I live in a house in the woods. It's near water. There's a garden for vegetables. Maybe it's a cabin. No dogs, but 1-2 cats. Chickens. There's a porch with a swing and room for nieces and nephews to come visit. They can stay all summer. In the morning, drinking coffee on the porch every day (it NEVER gets cold in this place). Friends live nearby (or on the property). We have a little community.

I refined my vision to center on these things:

• Family and/or friends are nearby
• I can gradually increase the amount of food that I will produce on my own (just gardening and chickens in the beginning, but maybe moving up to goats -- my mom calls this dream "the farm")
• My house is small and so I have a minimal footprint
• I can work from home comfortably
• Although I'm in the country, I am near enough to a city that I can enjoy the cultural events that I like

When I set this vision, I started scanning craigslist and driving around Houston; I also started looking at places in the Northwest, because I was thinking about moving back to my home state of Washington.

Then two things happened:

• I got a promotion within my company to a Houston-based role, so I knew I would be staying in Houston.
• I saw a listing on craigslist for a "lovely bungalow."

So in two weeks, I am moving to a little white bungalow, built around 1930, in north Houston. It sits on a half-acre. There is a small orchard of young fruit trees, and two raised beds that need some work, but are ready to be planted. There's a porch, and a giant mulberry bush, and chickens are allowed. It is 5 minutes from the home of some of my best friends, and 10 minutes from several other friends. The neighborhood is sort of up-and-coming -- yes, I recognize I might once again face the spectre of gentrification, but it's definitely a few years off; there are a few art studios nearby, but the neighborhood is mostly semi-residential/semi-commercial. 

I think the thing that really sold me, though, was the wild rose bush next to the house. When I was little, we lived in a white house on a giant lot, and there were wild roses next to the house. My mom showed me how you could eat the rose hips, and she planted a big vegetable garden. I know now that it wasn't as idyllic as it seemed when I was a child -- I don't think we had much money, and the town we lived in didn't have much future. But still, you can't ever really forget being able to run wild and eat rose hips.

Good-bye to the Fourth Ward

Tonight, I am sad.


At the beginning of the year, I decided that 2012 is the year I find a home. I've lived in Houston's Montrose neighborhood for almost nine years, and a couple of blocks from the Fourth Ward for the past five.


Many Houstonians don't even know about the Fourth Ward. It's a hidden little pocket that is easy to miss if you stay mostly on the freeways.


After the Civil War, African-American families moved into Freedman's Town, which is now known as Fourth Ward. Fourth Ward ends abruptly at Taft Street - I live on the other side of Taft Street. During Jim Crow, the side of Taft where I live was the "white" side. And there is still segregation in my neighborhood, although now it is the segregation of custom. One side of Taft is still predominantly African-American.


The other side became home to Hispanic families after white families decided the suburbs were for them. Then, Montrose's flourishing gay community became part of the neighborhood fabric. And stereotypically, on the heels of the gay community came gentrification.


I've lived here for almost nine years, but I can't afford to live here anymore.

When I started to look for a home, I found that the entire neighborhood is vanishing. The historical shotgun shacks of Freedman's Town are being torn down. The 1930's brick bungalows? Being torn down. 


This is what they are building:

Gigantic, massive, townhomes that sell for 400,000+ dollars. 


I have nothing against townhomes, in theory. The idea behind the townhome revival is that with higher population density, each person has a smaller footprint. There can be more walkable neighborhoods with mixed-use development. Communities spring up.


But these townhomes are not meant to be green. They are meant to be trendy. They are replacing well-built brick homes that need a little love with plaster and plywood. They are replacing people like me.


I'm excited to move into my home in July (more to come...)


But I'm sad because this place that I've loved is disappearing.


About two weeks ago, I came home, and six homes surrounding mine were "for sale." They were all sold as "lots" even though each one contains a lovely brick home -- all needing work, for sure, but sturdy enough. The renters were told to move at the end of the month.


This afternoon, I came home to find the Medical Examiner's van parked outside the house next door. My neighbor committed suicide. We don't know why. We probably never will. But we know that he was incensed that he was being forced from his home of 15 years. That is why I am sad tonight.

I Had a Vision!

Nah... not the hallelujah! kind. 


In the place where I work, we are very into having a "vision" for what you want to accomplish. At first, I thought this was a really hokey idea. People kept saying things like "well, my vision for my role is ..." and "I need to step back and clarify my vision." I wanted to shout: What is everyone talking about?!? 


But now, I'm a convert. I've come to see the (cough, cough) light. I now have a vision not only for my role at work, but I create visions for my non-work life as well.


I don't want to jinx it, but I think that one of those visions (my vision of finding a home in 2012) may be becoming a reality. I think I have found a house that meets the vision I set out for my home. And if it doesn't work out ... well, I'll keep looking.

Not this kind of vision!

Now, I don't think there's anything particularly magic about having a vision. I don't really hew with all of those folks types who think that creating an intention alters the quantum reality or something (I mean, all thoughts - like all biological processes -- do involve transformations in energy, but let's not get crazy). This kind of vision is not like The Secret.


This  kind of vision can be summed up this way: 
get extremely clear about what you want.


When you do that, getting what you want is not magic -- you still have to work for it. But when you are extremely clear about what you want, you can marshal your energy in a way that is much more precise; you can pursue those things that match your vision, and other things fall by the wayside. So when I read about a house that matched my vision, I was able to pursue it single-mindedly, instead of diffusing my efforts in driving around looking at lots of houses.


SO... how do you get the kind of clarity that will drive your actions?


Again, it's not magic or even science. It's just about thinking and answering questions.


Recently, my friend Kelly wanted to know more about how to create a vision for her family life. So I outlined a few questions to answer:

• What do I want to accomplish?
What are the top 3 priorities for you?  Be as specific as possible. For example, you want to say: "a priority is that someone is home every day to put the kids to bed" vs. saying "we prioritize family time." If it helps figure out your priorities, describe your ideal in great deal: the ideal day for your family, the ideal success at work, the ideal home you want to live in

• Why is this important to me personally?
What about your personal story leads to this priority?

• How will I get there?
What are the principles that you will follow in pursuit of your vision? (Examples: we will not increase our debt, or we will live within 1000 miles of our family). What are your personal strengths that will help you be successful?

The last step in figuring out your vision is to create a personal headline. A headline is a few words that encompass your vision.

A friend who works with me in the education reform movement has this headline: Students will be able to access their choice of the top 10% of colleges.

My personal  headline for this year: 2012 is the year I find a home.

My headline for work: Students, teachers, and communities will have choice and voice. (This might seem unclear to you, but I know exactly what I mean by choice and voice. The words don't have to mean anything to anyone but you).

This final step might feel a little frivolous, but it's a great gut-check for your vision. If you can state your headline and not know exactly what that means, then you're not clear enough to be really oriented toward your vision. And then, when you're pursuing your vision, when you want to check your actions, you can just refer to your headline.

...

I thought I'd share how I think about vision, because some people I know find it helpful.
I'd love to know what others think - what are the techniques or strategies you use to figure out what you want from work, family life, personal life, etc? 

The Big News

OK, in my last post I promised some big news. There's more to the story, but I won't keep you waiting for the headline:


I am not going to move; I am staying in Houston! I got a new job (in the organization that I work for currently). It is a Houston-based role, as opposed to my current role, which is flexible.


Now, the back story:
At the beginning of the year I declared my intention for 2012: 2012 is the year I find a home. For the past year or so, I've been vacillating between the idea of moving back to the Northwest or staying in Texas. They both have some serious pros and a few cons, which I chronicled here. However, the Northwest has very few opportunities in my field, which I would loosely label as "ed reform." Because I don't have any advanced degrees (besides my teacher certification) in the ed field, I'm not considered qualified in the Northwest to do the kinds of work that I do in Texas (instructional coaching and teacher training). That's one way to keep ed reform out of your state - make sure that most of the reformers, who weren't educated through traditional ed schools, can't get jobs.


Anyway, I wasn't really looking for a new role, but a position was created that is right up my alley and so I jumped on it. In the past, I've let jobs go by because I wasn't "looking" for anything new, and then I felt annoyed with myself. 


I'm feeling giddy at the prospect of my new job, which will start this summer (and which is also a promotion!). And, the moving decision has been made for me.


I still don't know if I'll stay in Houston forever. As a child, my family moved around a lot. For many kids, that scenario results in them simply wanting to settle down. But for me, it's always given me the sense that you can live anywhere you want, whenever you want. For now, though, I'm staying put for at least a few more years and that is A-OK with me. 


Now, I want to start looking for another home. I've been driving around lots of neighborhoods, trying to get a feel for places outside of my usual sphere - because my usual sphere is rapidly gentrifying and getting very expensive. 


I'm also going to start thinking and planning how I can remain connected to my hometown in the Northwest, since my new job involves less travel. I'll be a much happier person if I can visit regularly. I always go up for Christmas, so maybe I can figure out another time of year when I can schedule a regular visit.

Musings on the Way Home

OK, so, I have boldly declared that 2012 will be the year I find a home. Of course, I have a place that I live, but I want to find a more permanent place that meets my vision of the home I want. My vision:

I live in a house in the woods. It's near water. There's a garden for vegetables. Maybe it's a cabin. No dogs, but 1-2 cats. Chickens. There's a porch with a swing and room for nieces and nephews to come visit. They can stay all summer. In the morning, drinking coffee on the porch every day (it NEVER gets cold in this place). Friends live nearby (or on the property). We have a little community.

My vision includes:

• Family and/or friends are nearby
• I can gradually increase the amount of food that I will produce on my own (just gardening and chickens in the beginning, but maybe moving up to goats -- my mom calls this dream "the farm")
• My house is small and so I have a minimal footprint
• I can work from home comfortably
• Although I'm in the country, I am near enough to a city that I can enjoy the cultural events that I like

I'm not exactly a pro/con list type of girl. I'm more of a "be still and listen for the voice of the universe," kind of girl. Nevertheless, there are a few locations that I'm considering, and they each have definite pros and cons.

Eastern Washington/North Idaho/possibly Western Montana

Pros:

• My sister and nephew live here! (worth about ten bullet points in my mind!)
• This is the country where I spent my formative years and I often find that my heart yearns for it.
• It's some of the most beautiful country you will ever see.
• Real estate = mostly cheap
• Many wonderful friends live here
• Nothing could be better than sitting on your porch with a beer on a September evening in this country

Cons:

• The politics are mostly conservative.
• In both winter and summer, I don't like the weather; the dry air makes one prematurely old.
• Did I mention, it gets COLD?
• The population isn't diverse, and the arts are not as readily available as where I currently live.
• The economy is weak.

Houston, TX

Pros:

• I have a great family of friends here.
• The weather is awesome for several months of the year.
• Arts and culture? You got it.
• The ed reform movement is lively, which means more options for my future employment
• The population is diverse
• In the city, the politics tend to be more liberal than in the rest of the state.
• The economy is relatively vital.
• I already live here, so it's less effort!

Cons:

• For 5 months of the year, the weather is like the mouth of hell.
• Most of the state has very conservative politics.
• The city tends toward sprawl, so if I was to establish a little garden paradise on the outskirts, it's possible it would be swallowed up by gross real estate developments.

Other options:

My friend Sara, from Feeding the Soil, is trying to start a pocket neighborhood in Austin. A pocket neighborhood is a small neighborhood with open space for all and a sense of shared stewardship (Click here to read more about Sara's concept). In many ways, this idea meets my vision. Yet I have lots of questions: is Austin the place for me? (I'm not necessarily a booster like most of the Hipster Nation). What would it be like to form a new community? Am I financially stable enough to make this happen?

There's also California -- my family lives there; North Carolina -- I have a random affinity for the place and know lots of people there; and Utah -- the place where I feel the most connected to the universe.

It's hard, when you love the world, to try to stake your claim to one part of it.

Home is wherever I'm with you!

2012 is the year I find a home.

Sooo... there's this meme going around about reflecting on 2011 and determining your theme for 2012. And that's my theme: 2012 is the year I find a home.

In 2011, I wrote out a list of intentions I called "Learn-Go-Do." I didn't get to all of them, but I did get a great start on them - I went to Spain, visited three American cities I to which I'd never been, finished the first Rosetta Stone module to improve my Spanish, learned how to knit lace and how to needle felt ... I was busy. And I'm resolved to keep the list going as a living document of intention.

On the bottom of the list, however, was a one-word item.

It said:
"Move"

As in, move into a new house. For the first five months of 2011, I was pretty sure I was going to pick up and move from Houston to Seattle during the summer. But then a whole bunch of stuff happened that turned everything upside down. So I waited. And waited. And the waiting became a holding pattern.

Now, I don't know where I want to move. I have a heart divided.

Here's what my heart wants:

• The Pacific Northwest. Trees! Family! Huckleberries and coffee stands! Lakes!
• Texas: Sun! Friends that have become family! An economy that has stayed relatively stable!! Did I mention - sun!?

HOW COULD ANYONE DECIDE?

A holding pattern is no good. I'm not into that. I need to get serious about this decision, and so:
2012 is the year I find a home.

In the place where I work, when a big change needs to happen, we establish a vision, and then we determine the steps to getting there. So I'm going to outline the vision here, and then the steps will come in other posts (as I think of them...).

THE VISION

A year or so ago, I took a course called Mondo Beyondo: An Online Course in Dreaming Big. In the course, you create a list of the big dreams you have for your life. In my list, I wrote this:

I live in a house in the woods. It's near water. There's a garden for vegetables. Maybe it's a cabin. No dogs, but 1-2 cats. Chickens. There's a porch with a swing and room for nieces and nephews to come visit. They can stay all summer. In the morning, drinking coffee on the porch every day (it NEVER gets cold in this place). Friends live nearby (or on the property). We have a little community.

I think my vision today is similar. Here's what my heart desires in a home:

• Family and/or friends are nearby
• I can gradually increase the amount of food that I will produce on my own (just gardening and chickens in the beginning, but maybe moving up to goats -- my mom calls this dream "the farm")
• My house is small and so I have a minimal footprint
• I can work from home comfortably
• Although I'm in the country, I am near enough to a city that I can enjoy the cultural events that I like

I realize this is a big dream.

But I took a course. I'm certified in dreaming big.