This month has been the simplest of my life – due mostly to the fact that I have been so sick from this pregnancy [oh, yes, I’m thirteen weeks pregnant, by the way] that I have barely left the couch. In the whole month, I have only been grocery shopping once, I did the dishes twice, and I think I only prepared a grand total of three dinners, two of which consisted of a box of pasta and a jar of sauce.

[My husband always is, but especially this month has been my savior, doing the cooking and cleaning and grocery shopping and meal planning and many other household tasks that are usually my responsibility – all on top of the busiest month of the year at his job. Thank you, babe, and I love you.😘]

We reverted to some of our old ways – buying bread at the store because I could barely stomach the thought of making anything in the kitchen, buying other convenience foods like [egad!] Kraft Mac & Cheese, and even buying our oats in boxes rather than taking the trip to Whole Foods for package free dry goods.

What can I say?

Sometimes it’s about survival.

I didn’t set any simple living goals this month because I knew I was not going to be feeling great. As a result, I had no expectations for the month whatsoever – no time outdoors goals or thirty minutes of reading goals or creativity goals – just the goal to take the day as it comes and be grateful for it.

But I am happy to report that we had a nice, simple month of peace and quiet at home [besides the usual craziness that goes on with three children four and under]. We celebrated Thanksgiving together as just our little family of five [the first time in our marriage that we didn’t see any extended family for the holiday]. We added to our Gratitude Tree, which is now quite full and beautiful.

I made homemade thank you cards for Brett to give to his employees for Employee Appreciation week.

We made the switch to bar shampoo, eliminating another source of plastic packaging from our home. 👍🏻

We did go to the library several times – even checked out a new branch near our home. We went for a few [very short] walks outside. We played in the snow and sledded down the hill in our backyard [and by “we” I mean mostly the kids]. We made homemade hot chocolate.

I read The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook by David de Rothschild [truthfully, I only read half of it because reading made me super nauseous and I had to return it to the library but I will check it out again and finish it]. I started putting some of the suggestions into practice – unplugging unused electronics, lowering the temperature in the house, turning off all the lights, etc.

Its a good read – simple, to the point, entertaining, AND educational. I didn’t grow up in an environment where global warming was viewed as a real thing so I’ve been soaking up information like a sponge.

I’m feeling much better these days [thank goodness!] Yesterday, I baked two loaves of whole wheat bread, cooked chickpeas and used the beans to make hummus and the cooking liquid to make vegan meringue.

I think I’m about back to normal. 😆

Karis