Hello, and welcome to the sixth Simple Living Newsletter! I hope you are enjoying these weekly installments. I love putting them together for you!

This week, I’ve been doing all of the homeschooling things, canning jelly, and getting stuff organized for spring. It has been a joy to work in my home!

I hope you have had a nice week, friends. Let’s make a final push to get things ready for the weekend, and then enjoy it with our families and/or friends!

Loveliness Surrounds Us

Have you taken a moment to focus on the lovely things in and around your home lately? This is something I try to do when my day isn’t going exactly as planned. Perhaps I have a cranky toddler, or an unexpected bill arrives in the mail. Focusing on the lovely things in our lives can bring us joy when we need it most.

The loveliness doesn’t have to be grand to have an impact. Today, I took a short walk outside. My boots crunched through the frozen grass. Crunch, crunch. While uncovering my garden, I noticed the most lovely ice crystal formations. My bird feeder shined in the morning sun, as the day warmed and ice melted off of just about every surface.

And friends, it was lovely.

Indoors, we can enjoy a favorite coffee mug or a warm meal. A seed catalog is sure to lift our spirits.

I think so often, we are looking for large, happy experiences in life to bring us joy. But really, there are thousands of small joys just waiting for us to take them in each day.

Today, I decided to focus on the small joys around me, and it really made me in awe of our wonderful Creator, who has given us so much.

Even when it doesn’t really seem like it, there is good. We simply need to look for it.

A Happy, Healthy Home

I think that most of us want our homes to be happy, and healthy. I hope that my children will have good memories from their childhood, and that I can support their health while they are growing up.

I also hope to support my husband and my health as well. We need to be healthy in order to tend to our children’s needs.

Some things that I try to do to support my family’s health include:

Shopping for healthy foods. I try to purchase whole foods as much as I can. I’ve realized that a lot of health problems originate from eating processed food items. I’m definitely not perfect, but I have gotten better about this over the last couple of years.
Encourage drinking water. I pretty much have drank only water since giving up soft drinks three years ago, but not all of my family feels the same way! I limit the amount of milk and juice my family drinks, and encourage water as much as I can.
Encourage movement. We all need to move our bodies to keep them in the best possible shape. A body that is well fueled and active is much less susceptible to disease.
Encourage outdoor time without screens. Being surrounded by nature and getting adequate sunshine can boost both our immune system and our moods.
Purchase as natural as possible. While I really need to work on this, my goal is to purchase the most natural products for my family as possible. I’ve really dropped the ball when it comes to clothing and toys. In general, natural materials are much better for us to be around.
Cleaning the air. I try to keep the air in our home free from toxic chemicals found in some cleaning products and candles. I also bring in houseplants to clean the air naturally.

There are so many other things we can do to support a happy, healthy home, but these suggestions are at the top of my list. It is a privilege to create an environment in our homes to support our family’s health.

Thrifty Living

Sometimes I wonder if I can find new ways to be a blessing to my family. I really like to make our dollars stretch. Thrifty living is a great way to make this happen.

Thrifty living doesn’t necessarily mean that we must pinch every penny. It does mean, however, that we are careful when we spend money. It means that we make the best decisions possible when deciding what to purchase for our home.

Sometimes, we can find other ways to accomplish a goal without spending money. This is another example of thrifty living. Perhaps a shirt of my husband’s no longer fits him. It would be thrifty of me to sew it into a skirt for my daughter, instead of throwing it away.

It can be fun to look for thrifty ways to bless our families. One topic that I need to improve upon is food rotation. It might not be exactly “thrifty” to rotate our food stores properly, but it is definitely wise to make sure our food doesn’t expire before being eaten. I have been guilty of forgetting to rotate food, and then letting it go to waste. What a shame!

We can be thrifty by putting good systems in our home, in order to preserve everything inside to its fullest potential. Just as we can be thrifty by purchasing only what we need, and by shopping sales.

Being thrifty is a great way to make our incomes stretch much farther than we think they should go. This is definitely a blessing to our families!

Homestead Happenings

Oh friends, it has been an exciting week around the homestead! We’ve experienced snow, AND I purchased trees online. I can hardly wait until my order arrives!

This time around, I ordered dogwood trees, along with a Yoshino Cherry. I know these trees are not very utilitarian, but this land is lacking springtime beauty. Part of a homemaker’s job is to bring beauty to our homes, right?

I went ahead and placed an order when I discovered Panter’s Nursery on Etsy. Their trees are very affordable. They are on the small side, but after purchasing a $58.00 tree at Lowe’s last week, I was on the hunt to find affordable trees for our homestead. The trees I purchased fit the bill, at under $11.00 each.

I also purchased a 25 count pack of Wild Orange Daylilys. I admire these “ditch lilies” on the side of the road each year, and I’m so happy to finally own some!

I have absolutely no affiliation with Panter’s Nursery, but I wanted to pass their information onto you, in case you are interested in purchasing affordable plants for your home.