"Flat Living"s Favorite Things

OK my whirlwind shopping and Christmas preparation is almost over already. Never underestimate the power of a good list.

Handmade being high in priority and fair trade... I feel like I get better every year with reaching these goals. Hand made is becoming popular, more accessible and more people are offering alternatives to mass production... plus I just accumulate favorites as I seek it more and more.


Here are some of my favorite things ... just for fun!

• "Simple" shoes for Gus (I have some of their tennis shoes and love them) and I was looking for some really comfy shoes for my dad... and I stumbled upon a special "black friday" special for every Friday of the month. It was not black Friday... it was yesterday... and it offered over 50% off these shoes for Gus. They also offered free shipping so for exactly $11.76 I got the cutest little shoes for his cutest little piggies.
  
• I also got the most amazing toy for him. A wooden personalized cell phone from Etsy from a shop called Kinderhaus toys. It has "Hello Gus" written inside.
  
• Guitar Pick for James from Etsy. Engraved with the words "FATAL DESIRE" (his metal band said with serious attitude). And as James says... it is not just the band it is a saying... like "That is so Fatal Desire" meaning? Not sure? This will make James happy... that I am sure of.
  
• Toms shoes for Vyk. They have a holiday campaign called ONE for ONE For every pair you buy they give a pair to a child in Ethiopia. And, happily Vyk has wanted a pair and never gotten them. Simple black slip on shoes are exactly my hubbies style.
  
• The Voice new testament for my dad... gotta plug the pastor's/ editor bestest friend's merch. My dad loves the bible and it is fun to talk over the project with him after he reads it and has opinions to share. I am also getting him some handcrafted SAS shoes to help him not fall.
  
• For Astrid who wanted a lockable journal and a kids craft book. I was happy to find the perfect version of both with this and this at Olympia Books. Olympia books is quite possibly the coolest. They were right in the forefront of handmade and really too cool for me... but not for Astrid.
• And my absolute favorite gift to receive. I have gotten this gift 2 years straight from hubbie. My favorite artist in the form of a yearly calendar... Nikki McClure. Plus I got a bunch of her books for "Gus"/ me to read to Gus.
  

He put a new song in my mouth

“Have Yourself a Peace and Justice Christmas” (to the tune of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”). Thanks Soujourners!

Have Yourself a Peace and Justice Christmas

Have yourself a peace and justice Christmas,
Set your heart a-right.
Flee the malls and focus on Christ’s guiding light.

Have yourself a peace and justice Christmas,
Give your time a way.
Share God’s love, And serve “the least of these” today.

Here we are, as we pray for peace,
We’ll live simply and give more.
We care for those far and near to us,
Which brings cheer to us, once more.

God brings down
The haughty from high places,
And lifts up the low.
God cares for the hungry and the humble, so –
Forget the stress and let the peace and justice flow!

Flat Living (the reality edition)

OK so it is not in theory any more.
Astrid is in school 2nd week. She is loving it. We have moved MOST everything from the old house. We have had a garage sale, have listings on craigslist (fridge, baby swing, dryer anyone?). We are walking every morning instead of driving, we are buying only what is in the budget, we are on our way.

This past week was a bit of a bump in the budgeting road. And both of us feel like big losers because of it. We just spent too much on eating out with all of the moving and not really being unpacked in the kitchen. But really, overall... we are now budgeting machines! It is so much easier when it is not overwhelming! I create the spreadsheet and make sure the money envelopes are all filled with the right amount, and Vyk is the executer for the most part. We finally figured out our gifting and are using them to our benefit. Kathy plan, Vyk execute.

Overall, I LOVE the new life! I still have lots to work on... it did not put an end to all of our problems... but it did breathe new life into our lives! Flat Living is about living into the beauty of God's plan for our lives... which is actually abundance... it just might look a bit different then what everyone thought "abundance" was supposed to but for us it is beauty! Pure and Simple!

The first night we moved in... Vyk found a book in the attic called "Christ the Leader" by a man named Russell. It appears to be a Catholic book on theology used either to educate lay people or possibly preists. It is dated 1936 (the year the house was built) and has our address plus a name "Elwood Lyons". Pretty cool! Vyk and I have both talked about the sense of peace we have had in the new house. We have been more harmonious and working together better as a team. Vyk has been leading with out "bulldozing" and I have been nurturing without "nagging"... more.
I tend to believe in Maya Angelou's take on words kind of soaking into a place into the walls, the upholstery, etc. But in this case, I am also sure that when you set out to live the way God wants you to live in a place and you let God guide you to the place... you are more than a little likely to find peace waiting for you when you get there. Kind of makes me wonder why we never did it like this before... oh yeah, we thought we had it all figured out :) HA!

New Era

OK I have to catch up the blog.
It has been a busy couple of weeks so here I go on a whirlwind blog session.


First of all... the week of Nov 4, Election day. We literally moved the week of the election. As I drove back and forth from our suburban 4 bedroom in a older area of West Houston to our new home right in the heart of Montrose... I realized that this was not just a new era for the country... but a marked historical moment for the Yeager family. Let me tell you the whole story...

We moved to West Houston/ Katy to help with James days after my mom died. We knew that he would need us and so we moved close enough to him for him to ride his bike over to our apartment. This was in April of 2000. Do you see where I am going with this? I got pregnant, and then Bush won the election... I voted for another candidate who shall remain nameless... but lets just say I knew my vote in Katy would not count so I voted for "someone" who was a long shot but I felt my vote would be at least "seen" voting for him. I was really saddened at the results of the election. I had actually voted against Bush and been heartbroken one time already... When he (as far as I am concerned) unexpectedly stole the Governor race from the beloved Ann Richards! Which by the way was my first election to vote in... so my entire voting life has been spent voting against Bush only to loose. :( Sour grapes! Then I had Astrid in January of 2001, 9 11 happened, and another Bush election... this time seriously heartbreaking because of what I KNEW this election stood to loose. And indeed in those 4 years we did loose all that I had feared and more. During the 2004 election Vyk and I felt like fish out of water in the Katy area... a VERY pro Republican / right wing area of town. It felt like we were alone in our grief.

So, as you can imagine... when I realized that I was moving right as the new president came to office it seemed a bit well timed. I guess you could accuse me of siding with the ruling party... or at least living among them... but I promise that is not the case. I do however feel like our move is timed with the rest of the country and is a predictor of the new climate of America.
All of the sudden themes of this blog are making headlines... becoming free of debt and living on less is a requirement as we learn how our greed has made a gigantic mess of things.

In the larger picture our move mirrors the climate of the country... but from our small perspective... the change the country is seeking is mirroring ours. The rejoicing and sense of hope brought on by this election and this inauguration is mirroring the hope we feel in our new home and as we plan for our major change and flat living.

So, if you did not vote for Obama and you are feeling a sense of loss... feeling afraid because of all the questions this win stirs up for the future of the country... sorry. But, honestly... I have felt that for a very long time and it is about time someone besides me felt it!
Take a short moment and even in your sadness... be a little happy for me and my family. For our hope, change, and joy. Then you can go right back to being bummed.

Schools

The search for THE school/ home/ community/ place for you & your child.
It might seem like that should be an easy task... find a good school district, a home close and community will follow. But if my friends & I are any indication it is not as easy as it should be.
To be fair... I think we want more... more then just the right school... I read this the other day and it seemed to be just what I am trying to express in the changes I have set out to make...

"...to live a life that is always giving itself away and yet is always full.... Beneath all our yearning for whatever glitters brightest in this world lies our yearning for this kind of life...."
Frederick Buechner

For some reason I have at least 3 friends on the quest for the right school... they are all prepaired to do anything or move almost anywhere (the family of my daughter's best friend at her current school is seriously considering Scotland)... just to find a good education for their children.
And I am not one to talk. School rose to the top of our priority list as we realized we were paying tuition and needed to adjust life around school instead of just coping. If traditional public school was not an option... then we needed to work our finances around that.

So as we (and several of our friends) set out to find the right school... several things seems to be motivating factors in the quest. Feel free to add to this list in the comments.

1. Education that is better then public standard US education which is substandard (yeah, I said it... it is a fact. Look at the statistics, our public education system is in as much of a tale spin as our economy).
2. Community where our children can have playmates that are close. Think the kid a couple doors down that loves to hang out everyday. Yeah, I don't know anyone that has that kind of life anymore. Maybe it is just me... or maybe it is not. But, I am hoping to find it in our new home and in our new community. Wish me luck that it will at least be closer.
3. Education that teaches a love of learning. I know I have done this for Astrid so far... I just want to keep it up FOREVER.
4. Education that integrates the arts and projects into learning... no worksheets please!
5. Education that has our children learning at their own pace. Where different learning styles can be embraced. A high achiever, and a beautifuly slow dreamer can both get their needs met.
6. Education that understands the needs of the whole child. That understands that a mind needs some stretching to grow.
7. Education that does not treat children like they are mass animals going through life day in day out. Education with joy and life.
8. Education that goes outside. That explores.
9. Education that encourages the inquisitive nature of children. When I am looking at schools, I can always tell a good teacher by the way the class responds to a visitor. Are they inquisitive, social, polite, and unafraid to ask questions? Good job teach!
10. Animals. I have to add this one, because that was a big factor for Astrid. She loves having animals in her classroom.
11. Parent community. Other parents who do not just drop off their kids and never think about their kids learning, environment, and who do what is needed (in community) to make their kids school the best it can be. From what I hear, at Wilson... I will have about half the parents in this boat and half in the other.

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I am hoping to find all of this... or at least most of it at Wilson Montessori (also known as Wilson Elementary). Public Montessori. YES! I know it will have it's draw backs. I know it might not be like the private education that Astrid and I are used to.

The school is big. That is frightening to a child who has never gone to a school with not much more than 100 kids. But, after visiting the school on Friday Astrid's favorite part was the library. She was like "THEY HAVE A LIBRARY INSIDE the SCHOOL!" "How big is it?" "That is sooo cool!" :)
The art classroom (of course) impressed me. It was floor to ceiling with supplies. It is enough to make this art supply loving girl sing. But, for Astrid (the apple doesn't fall far)... When I asked if she was ready to go... she replied "no, I want to stay and do the project."
The music room impressed Vyk. The teacher had taken the time to cut out pictures of all kinds of different cultural art and faces. Words were cut along with it to make a collage. The instruments were lining the walls... all kinds of fun to be had... it made you want to go in and make some music.
But all 3 of us were impressed by the Science & Math room. Which was like a practical paradise of knowledge just waiting to be explored. Walking sticks, python, crickets (don't tell Astrid... but they were lunch). Books at a child's reach. And Math & Science is integrated into Art & Music. Yes, the teachers talk to each other... I know it is amazing!

And Girl Scouts. I am so excited... because there is a good girl scout troop that meets at the school. I am hoping this is another way to plug into the school and get more of a feeling of community that we were lacking with private education.

And can I say... I am excited to have Astrid in a non exclusive setting. Now, I might want to take this all back when she has to deal with her first really mean kid. But for now... some of what I did not like about a private education... only the upper $ demographic being at the school... will not be a concern.

So, what will all of the parents searching come up with for their children and their education?
Scotland, Austin, private schools all over the city, commutes, magnets, home school, co-ops... on and on. I wish them all luck! I am lucky to know and work with some amazing kids and families! And these kids are lucky to have parents who care so much about how they are learning.

Smaller can be BETTER

Think a great small purse. Bigger is not always better. I know, it is almost a death sentence for someone from Texas, living in Texas to say! This is actually where the idea of "flat living" came from for me. I was thinking about living in a smaller place... and I thought about how most of the world (besides the US) lives in much smaller homes and have much less space. And in the last 20 years big has gotten bigger and bigger. Working in home design I always was drawn to smaller, cleaner lines and smaller furniture... but most of the homes I would work in had such large (or "Great") rooms that you had to use furniture with large backs and arms just to fill the space.
Everything has gotten bigger and bigger and bigger. Closets (more room to store the stuff), garages (more room for the bigger car), bigger beds (King was not big enough), bigger kitchens, refrigerators (in Europe the average size of a fridge is apartment size here). I started thinking about living in a "flat"... OK it just made me feel stylish. In say Germany or France... a family our size and with our income would live in a small "flat" with no yard... kids play on the streets and go to parks. Ya know?

I had to challenge my notion of "success" (is success living paycheck to paycheck and living for a house and car?), of "standard of living" (what kind of a standard were we living? ), of "failure" (if it was failure to let go of a house that was a burden, then we had already failed... now what?), etc.

Most of these notions have come from living the lifestyle that is presented as the norm. But, we were being driven and challenged to live differently.

So we looked at smaller. And guess what, smaller can be BETTER.
When I started... it started with a simple "What if?" God kind of whispered it to me.
What if you lived in the Mason house behind Ecclesia? Our church had purchased a duplex behind the church building and the short term plans were to rent it out. We decided to sell our house with the idea we would live there for a year... tiny 3 bedroom with a new church playground in the back.

Then.. Ike hit. The hurricane wiped out a large chunk of Galveston and headed straight for Houston in a direct hit. Our home was not effected... and the buyers were lined up. BUT, the Mason house took some more damage to it's already beat up exterior and construction in the city ground to a hault.

Time for plan B.
Plan B was easy because we already were looking at schools. Plan B included taking Astrid out of private Montessori and putting her into Public Montessori. The hitch... the only way to get her in was to move into the neighborhood. But the cost of tuition being removed... made a small home in a very nice central neighborhood affordable. So plan B became an amazing neighborhood that I have always loved and thought I could never afford. Thinking smaller can sometimes mean thinking BIGGER!

So, now we are feeling like we have been given an amazing new start. We feel... like not only have we not sacrificed... but that God is amazing us with more then we could have hoped for.

Sometimes it is just about turning it upside down to look at it a different way!

Finances -part 1 of the Dave & Dave plan

OK I know, it is funny to have a big picture of Dave Ramsey on my blog which tends to be very spiritual, airy, and poetic. A big pic of Dave is kind of hysterical. In fact his pic was a little bit too big and I had to shrink it a bit, Vyk suggested making it flat!

Vyk & I are followers of Dave Ramsey. We admit it.
When you are looking for advice on radically changing your finances, Dave Ramsey is a good place to start. And although he has been getting on my nerves a bit lately about the election... specifically his ideas about what will happen when / if Obama wins... generally, the man makes a lot of sense.

We have been living the Dave Ramsey plan for financial peace since we took his course when I was pregnant with Gus. His basic tenants are stop borrowing & live on what you have. Meaning cash only purchases and no debt. You use an envelope to section off the money you have and when you do not have $ for say a new shirt... you just do not buy it... or maybe you wait (I know it is an amazing concept). It has helped us do better with what we have.

But now... better, is not what we are going for. Best, radical, upside down living. Or as Dave says "Live like no one else so you can live like no one else".

So what does all of this really mean in cold hard numbers.
Here are the goals of this move and "Flat Living" in general for our finances:
1. Pay off car (13% interest rate)- We are achieving this goal by throwing money at the car.
Meaning when we have extra $ esp the 2nd week of the month, we add it to the car payment.
2. Savings- starting with an emergency fund and ending with a goal of saving between 7-10 thousand dollars in a year!
3. Debt free- the car being paid off gets us there.. no new debt, etc.
4. Follow the baby steps that Dave sets out. He has common sense about $ and we sometimes do not. So when all else fails follow Dave.
5. To give! 10% tithe and giving extra to people, causes, etc that we believe in and follow.

Flat Living

New Blog for a new time in my life.

My old blog was all about raw foods and as I have not been living on a raw foods diet since I got pregnant with Gus it has been silent for a while.
This blog will be about raw foods, but it is also about everything else that God has and is taking me through and asking of me...

It is about "Flat Living" which is a concept that God showed me through prayer of what He wanted my life to look like.



The picture is of a life compressed, a lifestyle flattened... so that God has a bit more room... or hopefully a lot more room. Now do not get me wrong, I am not saying that God needs me to flatten everything so that He can be big. He is big no matter what I do. What I am saying is I am being called to make my life smaller so that He can be bigger in my life, and in the life of my family.

He has been working on me towards this for such a long time. And honestly I have not listened. I have been disobedient when he asked me to shrink. I believe when I first heard this concept it was presented to me in a way that made me believe when God asks us to be smaller it is not literal... it is just a spiritual concept. And I guess... if you want the results of this process only effecting your inward life... that would be fine. BUT, I want it to effect my outward life as well as my inward one. I want God's beauty to have room to grow and push out and bloom and overtake and envelop. In fact, it is that I have no other choice then to ask Him to take over where I have been sorely deficient in life.

More on what this actually means for my life later... because it means a lot of radical change.

But generally here are the areas I see for now that need to shrink:

• Finances - No debt (Dave Ramsey)
• Body - Raw foods (David Wolfe)
• Home - Smaller, simplify what we own.
• Car - Paid for and used less.
• Community - more unified (live closer to work, school, church, where you shop).
• Food- local, organic, whole, raw, less packaging.
• Trash - less trash.
• Carbon footprint - smaller.
• Consumerism- live on less. Buy used, fair trade, hand made.
• Giving out- when everything is smaller you can give out more.
  

What is beautiful... is all of these attempts to live smaller are circles... and all of the circles run together. This is how I KNOW this is the way we are intended to live (or at least closer to) and as our circles get bigger and bigger and less and less connected we will find more stress and less balance. We are living bigger and it is harder for us physically, emotionally, spiritually. This, I believe, is God's way of letting us know that this is not what He has intended for us.

I will post on each of these independently, so stay tuned.