Monday Rundown

Well, it's been an interesting weekend to say the least! I don't want to get into all the details cause frankly I don't have the energy, but let me suffice it to says many great business lessons were learned this weekend! Let me share them with you!

Chelsea's Business Lessons for the Week

1. Trust your intuition - If something seems like it's wrong or not a good fit, trust yourself and act accordingly. This, THIS is the most important lesson I learned this weekend. Had I done this, I wouldn't have had to even consider the next lessons!

2. Be willing to take your lumps - If it means giving up money because you did #1, that's okay. You will be better off for it in the long run.

3. Packing up your toys and going home is not the answer- While I considered doing that myself this weekend, a certain local restaurant owner who abruptly closed, leaving her employees in the dark, taught me that it's best to stick it out when the going gets tough.

4. Focus on the positive.

5. Don't let other folks steal your energy.

There were more, but I can't remember them all right now. So, there you have it. You've been schooled, as was I.

In other news, I spent a good part of the weekend cleaning out our seed starting supplies and will begin bagging up herbs from the drying rack and converting the drying rack over into the growing rack. I found a whole bunch of seeds that I'd forgotten I had and thankfully I hadn't put in my seed order yet, so it looks like I'll be saving a bit of money on seeds this year! Yay!

I also started the Radiant Goddess program today. Lots of raw food, meditation and movement! I'm thinking it's a great way to start off the new year. Although, I am feeling a bit headachy since I haven't had any caffeine. Might have to cheat a little and indulge my coffee tooth!

So, anyhow, that's been my week! Hope you all have a wonderful week! 

Release Dates

As I come to the end of some projects and get ready to begin others, I think it's time to set some concrete dates. This is what you can expect to see from this blog and the Urban Agriculture Info website in the coming year!

February 2nd
Urban Agriculture E-Course
Family Rhythm E-Course
Free 50 Things To Do For The Resting Season E-Booklet
Free Herbs E-Course

February 26th
Free 50 Things To Do For The Planting Season E-Booklet

May 21st
Urban Agriculture Business E-Course

June 11th
Free 50 Things To Do For The Growing Season E-Booklet

July 30th
Free 50 Things To Do For The Preserving Season E-Booklet

October 28th
Free 50 Things To Do For The Handwork Season E-Booklet
Family Rhythm 2014 Planner and Workbook
Urban Agriculture 2014 Planner and Workbook

And the big super special hopeful project for the year is to create a membership community that will provide access to all these courses plus a forum to post in for one special low price! Hoping to have this part up and running by December. This is a pretty ambitious plan, but dream big, do big, ya know?

I'll be checking in with you on these goals every Thursday, so if you see me slipping, don't be afraid to shoot me an email and let me know!

WIP Wednesday

Today's work in progress is a bit different. Instead of knitting, I've been doing a bit of drawing. What for, you ask? Well, I'm just about ready to release the Urban Agriculture Basic E-Course and this is background for the lessons and worksheets. I'm so excited about releasing this e-course as it will be my first one! It is scheduled to be finished on January 31st, so stay tuned!

What are you working on this week? Post a link in the comments to your WIP!

Product Review- Argan Oil

Good morning, friends! Hope everyone is having a beautiful day! It's sunny and bright here and they tell me it's supposed to get up to 53 degrees today. Doesn't feel much like January, but I'll take it! 
In yesterday's post I told you that I had been doing a lot of work on myself this year. Well, one of the changes I've decided to make is to switch all the products I use on my hair and skin to natural ones that aren't filled with toxic chemicals. Each week I will tell you about a natural product that I've switched to or a new one that I'm trying out. I may even add in recipes for products that I'm making myself. 
The first thing on my list of natural beauty goodies to share is argan oil. I love this stuff! If you have thick curly hair that needs a bit of taming this will be your new best friend! 
The argan tree is native to Morocco and the oil is produced from the kernel of the argan tree using press extraction to obtain the oil. Now, admittedly argan oil is a bit pricey since it is one of the rarest vegetable oils. However, it doesn't take much to do the trick and it's so good for your hair whereas products such as gel or mousse can be drying and damaging, that the price is totally worth it.
I've tried all kind of natural products to tame my hair including coconut oil and even olive oil, but they've all given me the grease ball look. Not so with argan oil! Use it sparingly and wisely and it will give your hair amazing shine and definition. 


Oh, and if you don't like it on your hair, it also makes a great skin moisturizer. It is also commonly used in culinary applications as well. 
So, there you have it! Need to tame a crazy mane? Check out argan oil! You won't be disappointed!

Monday Rundown

Hello friends! Hope you have all weathered the holidays well! We had a few days of the flu and such, but are seemingly on the mend. I have been planning our garden for next year and will soon be ordering seeds and starting seedlings. I am currently working on a post on choosing seeds and should have it up in the next few days.

This past weekend Will and I cleaned up what was left in the big garden and picked up the sticks that the wind has scattered around the yard. We have a nice pile in the middle of the garden ready for a small fire. I'd hoped to do the burning on Saturday, but the threat of rain has delayed it. I'm thinking maybe we might even wait until Candlemas as a nice fire would be holiday appropriate.

I've not been working as much as I would like on the website, but instead I've been doing a lot of work on me. Appropriate for the new year, don't you think? Here is one of the awesome courses I've been taking. This woman is amazing! Her words are exactly what I need to hear! If you're interested in coaching or e-business, I encourage you to check out her stuff!

After working through this course I think I've got my work cut out for me this year! What are you doing out there in blog land this year, folks? Hope whatever it is that it is spectacular! If you need a little oomph! check out this course!

The little one is calling now and it's almost time for bed, so I'll be signing off! Have a great week!

Monday Rundown

At The Cottage

So, I failed to write last week's Monday Rundown post, but I have a good reason! As I hinted a few months back, our family has been going through some major changes.  I wasn't ready to talk about them before, but I think that now is finally the time.

In light of the major stresses of this past summer our family decided it was time for a change. We were doing far too much for far too little reward. So, in the interest of putting our family on a better footing and preparing for a more secure future we decided that Jacob would go to North Dakota to find work.

In case you haven't heard, North Dakota has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation due to oil discovered in the Bakken Shale Formation. So, on October 1st, Jacob packed up what he could carry in his truck and headed up to North Dakota. He made it to Williston, the epicenter of the oil boom, on Wednesday the 3rd, applied for jobs, had several interviews, found a job and started work the following Wednesday on the 10th. It was that fast.

Now, it's not been easy and it's certainly been sad not having Jacob around, but thankfully, we were able to go visit him last week. Thus the reason I failed to post. See, I told you it was a good reason!

So, now a little about our trip. We really had a great time! Will and I rode up on Amtrak's Empire Builder line and we even had a sleeping car. It was so cool! Here's Will with Elly and the bed pulled down and ready to go to sleep. 

 

 We also got a chance to do some sightseeing while we were there. It was cold, but not too cold so we went to visit Lewis and Clark National Park and trudge around in the snow. The picture below is of Lake Sakakawea. It was cold, but not nearly as frigid as it appears!

 

 

The hotel we stayed in had a pool and hot tub, so we got to do some swimming and lounging around. However, the best part of the trip was making pasta with sauce in our room. Jacob helped Will cut up the tomatoes for the sauce. It smelled just like home and I think it gave us all a great feeling of family closeness, even though we were so far away from home. 

So, there you have it, that was our week in review! If you have your own Monday Rundown post a link in the comments! I'd love to hear about your week! 


On The Website

I haven't had much time to work on the website lately, but I'll take this chance to remind you about your opportunity to participate. I can prattle on about our family and what we do all day, but that's not what the website is about. My vision for it is that it is a place to exchange ideas about urban agriculture. That is why I have built in two special pages for you to share your stories and recipes. The cool thing about submitting your story or recipe is that once it is submitted other folks can comment on it and add their own ideas and thoughts about your ideas as well. So, if you get some time, I would be overjoyed if you would share your story with us. You can share your urban ag story, no matter what the size, even if it's just your sprout jar in your kitchen at:

Share Your Story!

Or if you have a great recipe that you've come up with on your urban farm with your own produce or urban farm produces, you can share it at:

Share Your Recipe!

I think that pretty much covers it! Hope you all have a great week!

Our First- {this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Ritual courtesy of soulemama.