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Operation CSA: Pilot Episode

Earlier this spring, we made a pretty cool decision. We joined aCSA. I’ve been talking about this on Facebook and have had a lot of people ask me about it, so I figured it was time for a blog post.

What’s a CSA, you ask?
Well, CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. This is when a farmer offers a certain number of “shares” that are available for the public to purchase. These shares are usually a weekly box of vegetables or other goods that are produced on the farm, and can be picked up at the farm or at local drop-off points that are more convenient for shareholders.

There are a lot of reasons why this is awesome…

For us, it means getting to feed our family with food that has been grown and harvested less than 25 miles away from where we live. We have met the people who cultivate this produce with their bare hands, and Charlie has even ridden in a little red wagon with their daughter.

For the farmers, it means getting to market their goods early in the season. When the sun starts beating down and they start pulling bajillion-hour days, they can work knowing that a lot of their produce has already been bought and paid for. With shareholders paying up front, the farm can start the growing season with the funds they need to keep everything running like clockwork. For some more reasons and specifics check out Local Harvest’swebsite.

What I really really love is that it provides us with a way to give back to the community without breaking our budget.

Are you ready for some specifics?

The CSA we joined is a farm out of Martell, NE called Robinette Farms. Owned and operated by a pretty kick-butt family, this farm seems like the perfect place for us to begin our foray into the world of CSA’s. Last Saturday, they held an open house in which members could visit the farm, see the fields, and meet the chickens.

We bought a medium share at $400 and will be getting a box of produce (medium share boxes are supposed to feed 2-3 adults) every week for $20 weeks.

This may bring up questions of budget…as it should. Is this really a necessary expense? Can you really afford $400 up front? That comes out to $20 per box of vegetables…is that really worth it?

Well, we’re not quite sure if it’s a necessary expense. Fresh, local produce is something that is starting to become important to us, and the fact that we are supporting local agriculture is a huge plus. Hopefully, we’ll be able to replace some of our usual groceries by getting creative with all of our vegetables, and consequently save ourselves money in the long run. We decided it was something we wanted to try, and we made it a priority to set money aside. As far as $20 a week being worth it, I guess we’ll find out. Since this is farming, there is some shared risk involved.

The farmers can’t just wake up at the end of Winter and say, “Hey, God…so it’s almost growing season…how about if I agree to stop saying OMG on Facebook, you give us a plentiful harvest…deal?”

We have to come to terms with the fact that sometimes hail beats the crap out of tomatoes, and sometimes it doesn’t rain for weeks. We’re investing in this farm, we’re taking a risk…a risk that we were able to comfortably save for. A risk that allows us to contribute to the community while nourishing our family. Sounds like a pretty good risk to me.

…It also sounds like great blogging material. Be on the lookout for pictures of our weekly boxes and meals using our delicious, uber-fresh, local produce!

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New Cars and Common Sense

Something crazy has happened.

We bought a new car.

Let me rephrase that: We bought a car that is new to us.

The thing that makes it crazy is that it wasn’t a big deal. At all. We drove down to Brinkman’s in Tecumseh, NE (if you’re looking to buy a good car from some trustworthy people, this is the place to go…ask for Steve, he’s the coolest) like it was any other day, talked to Steve, drove the cars he thought fit our needs the best, wrote him a check, and drove away in our new car.

This surreal Bonk Moment has been brought to you by a Total Money Makeover.

I know it sounds like I’m blindly drinking whatever Kool-Aid Dave Ramsey is whipping up, but hey, we’ve got a great car that runs well and we don’t owe anyone a dime.

Let’s stop this for just a moment and talk about our previous car situation…We are the owners of a trusty old ‘97 Ford Taurus named Hermione (Paul is probably smacking his forehead right now, but yes, her name is Hermione). Hermione has taken me all over the place, has bashed her butt into a big ol’ sign, gotten me on Car Talk, and been an all around good friend…Lately, though, she hasn’t been sounding all that great. As fond as I am of her, having only one car and a cute little baby-man to drive around was getting us a little nervous.

We were quietly panicking…We had to have a car, but could we afford car payments? Absolutely not. Well, maybe, but then we couldn’t pay our student loans, or have internet, or, you know, eat.

So what did we do? Ignored the situation for a while, and hoped good old Hermione wouldn’t get the Avada Kedavra before we got things figured out. Turns out we’re a couple of lucky people.

One big lesson we learned from this Makeover is that you never want to owe anyone. Anything. Ever. I know that somebody out there’s about to start talking to me about “building my credit” and “credit cards can be a good thing,” but I’m just going to let you know that my fingers are in my ears and I’m singing “La la la la la la…” in a very annoying voice.

We’ve got big plans when it comes to money, and those plans mainly include not owing anyone a dime in about 5 years. Hopefully I’ll be sending out tastefully censored pictures of me lounging in my money-bath for Christmas cards in 2016.

What does all of this jabbering mean when it comes to buying a car?

It means we set aside a chunk of our tax return, called a dealership, told them EXACTLYhow much money we intended to spend on a car, asked them if they had anything for us, and bought ourselves a car.

Is it the most amazing car I’ve ever seen? No. Is it the worst car I’ve ever seen? Heck no. It’s quite decent, in fact, and what matters is that I’m not worried about it exploding.
What also matters is that we wrote a check and now we’re done with it. We planned for licensing and insurance as well, so we’re totally covered.

I know it can be depressing to be stopped at a light next to a shiny, brand-new car. This is the time when you close your eyes—scratch that; you’re driving—take a deep breath and know that you’re not making car payments. Know that after a few years of saving and trading up, you can be driving that same car without ever being in debt to anyone.

This is what Paul and I are telling ourselves, anyway, and it seems to be working so far.

I know I’ve got some readers out there who are on the Makeover Train with us…How have you guys dealt with car buying?

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A Guest Post About Motivation

I’ve asked the lovely Lacey Wilcox to compose a post for me about motivation. Lacey writes about all sorts of things concerning motherhood, spirituality, and life in general on her blog, Live Loved.

Sometimes finding time can be a struggle, and sometimes you find yourself using your time in all the wrong ways. I’ve asked Lacey how she deals with blogging motivation, and here’s what she had to say:

I began my blogging adventure about a year and a half ago. Don’t read my posts from that era. At that time, I used it as a sort of online diary. Which means that I wrote. And wrote. And wrote…
Since then, I’ve learned a little more about blogging: like the fact that you should probably try to keep your posts under 1,000 words.
I’ve also learned a little about motivation. Some days, it’s easy to write. I could spend all day in front of the computer and type the entire time.
But there are days where I can’t think of anything to write, let alone even want to try. Days where I am just simply unmotivated.
Ever have those moments?
Maybe you’re a fellow blogger who has moments of un-motivation. Or maybe, motivation eludes you in another area of life: dieting, working, cleaning, exercising, finances, etc.
Here are a few things that have helped me to be motivated in my blog. I’ve found that some of them are useful in other areas, too. Like being motivated to eat an apple, when cheesecake is calling my name.
Or am I the only one that happens to?

But that’s another blog post.
This one is about things that help motivate me, when I don’t want to write at all:

1.) Goals. In different areas of my life, I try to sit down and set short and long-term goals. I start with an end in mind (the long-term goal), and then come up with steps that help me lead there (the short-term goals). When I get discouraged or don’t want to stick with it, I try to remind myself of those goals. For example, one of my blogging goals is to make money. But to make money, I need traffic. So, each month, I set specific goals to increase my blog’s traffic. Reaching those short-term goals put me one step closer to reaching my long-term one.
2.) Take a break. I understand that deadlines and duties call, but if I’m stressed and unmotivated to write, I’m better off to just walk away for a bit. Do something to clear your head: run, yoga, read, clean, or, eat cheesecake.
3.) Competition. I’m not the most competitive person in the world, but sometimes a little healthy competition can motivate me. Sometimes, it’s with myself, challenging myself to write a certain number of posts, or get a certain number of views per day. Other times, I view other blogs in my niche and try to think of how I can do something better.
4.) Start writing. I had a high school English teacher who talked about “breaking the power of the white.” What she meant was that sometimes, in order to get something great, you just have to get something on paper. Sometimes, I just start writing every thing in my head. I’ve found that if I can just start writing, I soon find myself writing good things.
5.) Go back to your roots. A lot of times, it helps to remind myself why I am doing this:
· I love it, even if I make no money.

· it helps me to connect to a world outside myself.

· I have an intended purpose and goal (number one).

I know I didn’t just amaze you with some unknown wisdom, but these are things that I’ve found helpful when I have zero motivation to write.

What do you do when the un-motivated monster strikes? What tips do you have for motivating yourself, even when you have a bad case of the “I don’t want to’s?”

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Working on the Smug Thing

As much as I hate to admit this, I have become somewhat of a Smug Married.

I noticed it while listening to a John Mayer CD.

You know the CD… “Room For Squares.” That glorious, wonderful, chunk of early 2000’s that stayed in my CD player for a good 9 or 24 months… (Back before John was a big ol’ douchey douche, of course.)

Anyway, I was listening to it and thinking, “Man, am I glad I don’t have to worry about that stuff anymore.”

“That stuff” meaning:

1. Worrying about someone finding your bloated and lonely body being half-eaten by squirrels three weeks later because no one felt the need to check on you.
2. Having someone dump you and leave you feeling like a Chupacabra sucked out your heart, threw it in a marinade with some meat tenderizer, did a dance on it, then showed it to his friends.
3. Having to dump someone and end up feeling like said Chupacabra.

I mean, really, self?

I felt like a total jerk just as soon as that thought crossed my mind. Because, yeah, as soon as you’re married, you don’t have to worry about relationship stuff at all. Pssssshhhh…

There are a few things I think a lot of us Smug Married’s can learn from our old favorite Single Music…you know, Single Music? The songs that still make you feel that little glimmer of desperation you used to feel when you weren’t happily attached?

Okay, hold on here. I’m not saying that being single means being desperate. I’m just saying that when you’re single (okay, I’m generalizing…let’s just say that this is how I felt when I was single), you carry around this little piece of you (like an emotion-flavored Gusher) filled with desperate curiosity and cosmic begging that can sometimes be triggered to burst by the right kind of music.

If I’m the only one who felt that way, then forgive me…in my defense, I’m a sucker for Baz Luhrman movies and I’ve got a bit of a thing for Victorian Literature.

Aaaaanyway, what I’m trying to say is that marriage does not exclude us from having to work on our relationships. I think that things like bills, babies, budgets, and business make those old lyrics seem trivial, and that’s about as wrong as you can possibly get.

Those singers cranking out that Single Music were worried about relationships…love, hope, happiness, anger, hurt, and longing…Who out there can tell me that they stopped feeling all of those things as soon as they said “I do?”

I’d be pretty surprised if anyone out there raised a hand. Especially if you’re sitting by yourself at your computer, because then you’d probably feel kind of ridiculous.

So let’s all dig out some of our favorite old Single Tunes and refresh our smug little memories, because if you lose all of those old feelings, you’ll get complacent, and complacent people don’t grow. When you don’t grow in your relationship, you’ve got to start watching out for those squirrels…and I get the feeling that they might be pretty ruthless.