Exactly Where I Need to Be

My older daughter and I had the good fortune to see Amy Steinberg in concert this week. How a woman with such a soulful and spirited voice isn't hugely popular is beyond me. After the show we stood in line to get Amy's autograph on our CDs. I also brought along my camera, hoping for a photo like the one above of Amy, me, my daughter. Amy knew without being told that we were friends with AnneO and part of the Shine with Unschooling list. I guess our sparkle was too shiny to not be noticed. :) Or, maybe it was my "Incredibly Loved" shirt?

I asked for the photo and Amy asked the closest stranger to take the photo for us. What a nice surprise it was for us to find that the stranger wasn't a stranger at all, but rather our amazing and wonderful hairstylist, Jennifer Andrews. Amy happened to be on the lookout for a someone that could give her a good haircut. The two made plans to get together the next day. I'm sure she now has the best hair cut that she's ever had.

Find music you like and support the artist! Big names aren't necessarily better than what you'll find locally (or at least on a smaller level). We've found another concert (KT Tunstall, the Indigo Girls, Brandi Carlile and Ingrid Michaelson at ONE event!) to go to in December and we can't wait.

Vegan Advent Calendars

As a vegan family that celebrates Christmas, we've felt left out in the fun chocolate advent calendars that we see in all the stores this time of year. Those cute little windows with chocolates hiding behind them are SO fun. Unfortunately, we just haven't been able to find any that are vegan (and I've been seriously looking every year for five years). I've been given the advice by well meaning people that I should just purchase a non-vegan version, empty it, then refill it with vegan chocolate. I'm not willing to do this.

Last year, I made up a strand of mini construction paper cornucopias, and with a bunch of little candies from Vegan Essentials I was able to construct fun calendars for my daughters. Vegan Essentials carries fun little chocolates, toffees, and suckers that can be nicely tucked into handmade calendars. I've seen much fancier homemade versions, but I'd been holding out until the last minute on getting something that was premade. This past Halloween season, I was able to find little boxes of individually wrapped Endangered Species chocolates (our favorite vegan chocolate) at our local Target stores (in the candy section, not the seasonal section). I'm hoping that these are a permanently stocked item. They would be perfect for advent calendars. Maybe Endangered Species will even come out with a vegan advent calendar some year! That would be fantastic!

The year before last, we tried two different Lego Advent Calendars. I've wanted to try one of the Playmobil or Polly Pocket ones, but my daughters haven't been interested. Here is a list of a bunch of potentially fun toy advent calendars. We've done them once, and so my daughters aren't interested in getting them again.

Our homemade versions and toy versions have been fun, but I want my kids to have a *pop* of excitement with their calendars every year. I've tried to get their input several times, but they always want the final advent calendar decision to be a surprise... Oh, the dilemma.

Stop reading now if you are a daughter of mine. :)

This year, after another extensive search, I narrowed down our choices to:

• Another homemade version with candies
• A slightly better reusable sewn handmade version with candies and/or toys
• One of these from Chinaberry
• An empty fabric, wood, or sticker calendar from Strictly Christmas
• The "Christmas Countdown Chest of Drawers" from Signals Catalog (complete with mini decorations in each drawer and a mini tree to put them on)
  
• An empty fabric or wood one from Target.com (the wood ones are actually quite nice for the price)
• An empty fabric or wood one from The Company Store
  

I've made the decision to get little packets of candy (probably some Endangered Species chocolate for the regular days and a chocolate Santa or chocolate trees from Vegan Essentials or Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe for the last day) and put them into a drawer type calendar for my daughters to share. They've always had their own calendar in the past, but I think they'll like this for a change. If not, we'll try something new next year.

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If you happen to live in the UK, I've found several vegan advent calendars with the little windows with chocolate behind them. These are seasonal, so if they aren't in stock now, check back again soon. Check out these companies if you haven't already (I've never ordered from any):

• Montezuma's
• A lot of Chocolate
• Dietary Needs Direct
  

Whatever you decide to use for your advent adventure this year, be sure and have a fun holiday season. It's not too early to start figuring out your Holiday menu. Pretty much all recipes can be easily veganized, even ones with ham, fish and steak! Vegan Essentials sells fantastic vegan scallops.

Madera Canyon

Here are a few images of Madera Canyon (near Green Valley, AZ) that I took this week.

Vegan Recipe Websites

I've been asked for my favorite sites with great vegan recipes. Here they are:

• Fatfree Vegan Site
• McDougall Recipes (you have to use their search to find specific recipes in their archives)
• Fatfree.com Site (both vegetarian and vegan recipes)
• Vegweb.com site (both vegetarian and vegan recipes)
  

However, when I really want to make a particular meal (and don't already know how), one of the first things I do is go to Google and type in "Vegan" and whatever the meal is (I also often add "lowfat" or "fat free" to my search). I've read a variety of awesome advice this way, including finding tips and suggestions on how to prepare various foods (like tofu, which I originally hated and now love since I know how to use it correctly).

Most vegans I know still use all of their regular cookbooks. They just veganize the recipes.

I also often use premade ingredients, such as jarred pasta sauce and Boca products. Here is an example of a super easy "Vegan Chicken Parmesan" I made last week (we cut out a piece so the layers could be seen):


2 packages Boca "Chicken" Patties
1 jar of your favorite fatfree vegan pasta sauce
2-3 chopped tomatoes (optional)
1/2 chopped onion (optional)
misc. chopped up veggies (optional)
1 package of WHOLE WHEAT pasta (I used spaghetti here)
1 package vegan Mozzarella cheese (shred for best results)
few sprinkles of vegan Parmesan cheese
sprinkle of your favorite spice (we used oregano)

Cook pasta as directed, heat patties in oven (not necessary, but I like them very crisp). Assemble in this order: pasta, sauce, veggies, patties, vegan Mozzarella, vegan Parmesan, spices. Bake at 400F or so for about 30 minutes. Actual preparing time is very minimal (less than 5 minutes, not counting boiling time). Makes 8 servings, tastes delicious, and is only 5 Weight Watchers POINTS per serving.

Wonder Falling

Ever notice the intense wonder in a young child's eyes? Wonder why the older children and adults you meet don't have it any more? I've spent a lot of time wondering about this very thing. When my first daughter was a baby, I wanted her to keep this sense of pure amazement as long as possible. I didn't ever want her to lose it. I loved that wide-eyed look of pure joy in her eyes. I wanted it, too.

My kids still have this wonderment and I'm gaining it again -- more and more every day. The conscious decision to not let it disappear has helped stop me in my tracks every time I've almost taken some of it away from my children.

I believe, and it has been shown to me many times, that well meaning parents and teachers are to blame for knocking this wonderment about life out of their children. Every time a parent or teacher teaches a child a "life lesson", sparkles of joy leave that person -- usually for ever. These "life lessons" are almost unequivocally never taught to people in any other way. What I mean by this is that these lessons aren't real life and in real life, they aren't found. If, perchance, they are -- the person living it will certainly learn the "lesson" very quickly. It need not have ever been taught. I'm not telling you this to make you feel guilty for your past behavior. I'm saying this in order to give you hope that all happiness can be regained if you desire it to be!

I love this quote from Radical Parenting:
"Most of the psychotherapy I have done with people has been to help them get over the damage they suffered from parents/teachers preparing them for life."

It is our obligation to the future generations of this world to be the very best parents we can be. Who cares how you were raised! You still have it in you to be an excellent parent. I believe everyone does. Don't blame the people that raised you for your own failings. Decide to change them now and make a commitment to not pass them to your children. Spankings and put-downs are not hereditary. You have the power to not perpetuate poor parenting.

As an Unschooling Mom, I vowed to never stop appreciating the wonder in my children's eyes. I see it in them every day. Yes, EVERY day. They've given me my spark back -- it is the best gift ever. Sometimes I feel as though I am walking around in a wonderful daze of pure joy. This world is astounding, interesting, and superbly amazing. When was the last time you felt that way? It isn't too late. Try playing with a young child -- on their level -- for a few hours. It is inspiring to become fascinated with every little thing in your surroundings again. Getting lost in the wonder of it all, whilst sharing the time with a child, is one of life's greatest pleasures. Look closely at things. Even the dirt on your floor is pretty interesting up close and personal. Pretend, if you have to, that you've never seen that exact thing ever before. Notice the beauty of it. It doesn't have to be a thing of nature, it could be a plastic toy or a bite of food.

Find your WONDER! Enjoy its peace.

Writing Truth

"If a writer is so cautious that he never writes anything that cannot be criticized, he will never be able to write anything that can be read.
If you want to help other people, you have got to make up your mind to write things that some men will condemn."
From Echoing Silence: Thomas Merton on the Vocation of Writing,
Edited by Robert Inchausti.

I've been asked why I am so blunt, why I tell the truth, why I can't handhold people into learning a better way to live. If one cannot be blunt, especially when so well researched, truth rarely comes out. I am honest. I am truthful. Truth can change as perception changes, but honesty never can. I may change my views on everything tomorrow (I'd honestly be shocked if this happened!), but I'd be honest with it and explain the reasoning behind my sudden changes. If I am not completely and utterly honest with my words today, then I wouldn't want anyone to believe anything I say tomorrow -- even if my words become what others want to hear. Life is short, if we don't become better people each and every day, we become stagnate and wilted. If others before me hadn't had the strength to tell me their truths, I wouldn't be where I am today.

I live in a country, the United States of America, that cherishes the idea of free speech. Check out the First Amendment. Our ancestors fought for this privilege, yet thousands are unduly ridiculed and chastised every day due to the words that they say and pen. The founders of my country would be appalled.

I am a writer. I was reminded yesterday that I should write what I know. I know this deep in my soul, yet it is when I bare the most honest truths of my existence and experience, when I open myself up the most with my truthful honesty, it is then that I am condemned the most. I am told that I am not telling the truth, not saying how things really are. There is no other way for me to show my truthfulness than to show the realities of my own life.

Here and in my fiction, I will persevere and continue to tell the truth. I may never be published in the manner that I desire, but I will know that I never faltered from being myself. Ultimately, it is the only gift I have to give this world.

This is me. This is my life. My writing is my truth. Enjoy and may you be empowered to live the best life that you have in you while I live the best life that I have in me. This is me:

"Meanest Mom in the Whole Wide World"

It has come to my attention that there is a rather large group of women in the world that are proud of the fact their children consider them to be the "Meanest Mom in the Whole Wide World". So proud, in fact, that their goal for their children is for them to become mean parents, also. (I've actually heard mothers bragging about this with other mothers!) These women are bigger lizards than the one above. [The one above is actually one of our quite cute friends here in the Sonoran Desert -- no worries about her future, she's a great mom.] Hate me for telling you this, but please love your children and stop bragging about being mean. Your children do hear you say these horrific words.

Please concentrate on being the nicest and most giving and loving parent in the world. Say yes to your children next time they ask to do something you would normally say no to. Do you really consider what they are asking to be dangerous? Then do it with them (even if it isn't dangerous, you should seriously consider doing it with them). Talk about the activity before you do it, while you are doing it, and after you did it. Was it really so horrible? Did your children come to the same conclusions as you? Why? Why not? Did you get to know your child better? Did he get to know you better? Seriously -- Ask yourself these questions! Would you rather that your child do these things behind your back in a sneaky way, or happily with you right there?

Go watch that movie or play that video game right next to your child! You might find that your world expands from the new experience it brings you. I wouldn't be surprised if you get a hug, a kiss, or at least a thank you. If you're lucky, you'll hear, "You are the best Mom ever." And, you'll know you can trust them, since they'll know they can trust you. Trust is the only way to have an open and honest and REAL relationship. Building a trustworthy relationship is totally worth it, too.

Arizona Pumpkin Patch

My daughters and I visited Agua Linda Farms pumpkin patch this afternoon with one of our local homeschooling groups. While clearly the patch (and the other vegetables growing on the farm) needed irrigation, we still found the farm beautiful. We love the scenic mountains in the background, although I personally miss Iowa's silos. The typical Midwestern corn maze (or soybean maze) were replaced with a hay maze [although it has been pointed out to me that at least one corn maze does exist each fall in Arizona, I just haven't seen any yet]. The whole experience was a lot of fun. My youngest especially appreciated the petting zoo. If you haven't had a chance to visit one of your local pumpkin patches this fall, try and find the time to do it! Connecting with where your food comes from is always a rewarding experience.

Iowa Pumpkin Patch

Crown of Wonder!

Today was a huge day for us in Webkinz World. After over 6 months of gem hunting, my oldest daughter finally collected the last of the 30 gemstones needed to get a "Crown of Wonder". Here is a picture of Fluff (our Lil' Kinz Lion) wearing the legendary crown. Fluff shares a room with Eshe (our Elephant) and Lumina (our Leopard).

Don't forget to look for leaves during October 20-26th during the Webkinz Fall Festival. We won a maple leaf sweater just a little while ago when we clicked on a floating leaf. Very fun!

Zen Gardening

Here is my family's ~30' labyrinth. We built this for meditating, relaxing, walking (exercise), and for just plain enjoyment. I've always wanted a rock labyrinth. Sometimes we walk as a family, sometimes individually. I believe that everyone needs their own little space (inside or outside) to help allow for a zen filled existence. Whether yours is a garden, a meditation area, or a labyrinth like ours, I hope you get a little corner of the world that is all yours.

Happy Birthday to my Mom!

Today's my Mom's birthday and we've given her a variety of surprises (we were even lucky enough to adopt two new Webkinz in honor of her -- a Googles named Tisha, and a Gorilla named Dude). Here is a photo of my Mom and me from about a year ago.

Create Your Own Community

With families often living great distances from each other, and friends often going separate ways, finding a community to share your life with can often be tricky in this day and age. Are you feeling alone? Consider creating your own community!

Since there are not a lot of Unschoolers in Southern Arizona (where my family and I live), some friends and I started the SOARing Unschoolers (SOuthern ARizona Unschoolers) group to seek out other families with similar parenting and lifestyle interests. We talk online and have gatherings that average out to about once a week. While none of us are identical in our beliefs and come from very diverse backgrounds, our bonds strengthen whenever we are together since we all believe in Unschooling. Unschooling is a lifestyle choice that bonds families in very interesting and strong ways, even when cultural and individual differences exist. It is a whole way of thinking that respects children as fully formed human beings and believes in their innate ability to learn from living.

Advertise what you are looking for. Libraries, bookstores, and online lists are great ways to seek out like-minded people/families. Thousands and thousands of google and yahoo groups exist just for people to find communities of people with similar interests. If in your search you can't find a single individual with a similar lifestyle, consider broadening your scope and definition of lifestyle. Just get out there (or stay home) and do the things that interest you and look around at the other people doing them with you. The people might not be a similar age or from the same background as you, but these are the people that make up your community. Take a class, browse around a hobby shop, ask your co-workers out to dinner. You might find that you have a lot more in common than you originally thought (or you might learn about new ways of living that you never knew of before). Don't be afraid of talking to random strangers in stores. You might find a new best friend in that carseat aisle. Then again, you might not, but at least you'll know that you broadened your horizons and took a chance!

Have a Vision: Vision Boards and Vision Boxes

Vision Boards and Vision Boxes are becoming very popular! They are similar to Wish Lists, yet significantly deeper. Vision Boards can encompass not only our material desires, but also our deepest and innermost wishes and dreams such as "more peace" or "a magical existence". With The Law of Attraction and "The Secret" so popular, we're learning that our thoughts and dreams really can come true! We just have to really want them.

My daughters and I have vision boards. We made ours out of cut peg board. We glued cork on different areas of the boards (different for each of us), strung wire on the back, and stained little wooden boxes that we later glued on the boards. We use the cork area for the material things and/or short term events we want (ours are evolving with us). The other area we've mod-podged things that make us feel good -- pictures of things, words, etc. that reflect who we are and who we want to be (I've put lots of calm, zen images on my board; my oldest daughter has lots of magical images; my youngest daughter has gemstones and ballet photos). Basically, we put things on our boards that we want to manifest into our lives. My youngest daughter cleverly hooked a cup onto her board that she fills with little homemade clay items.

Some people choose to make Vision Binders or Boxes where they put photos and magazine words/pictures/items into. We prefer our Boards that hang on the wall, so we can look at them throughout the day. The boards definitely lack the portability of a binder though. I've seen a variety of Vision Boards made out of cardboard, foam board, and other materials. The great thing about these is that there is no set way of making them. It is entirely up to you! Christine Kane wrote a really great "How to Make a Vision Board" blog entry for those interested. Some people even make computer wallpaper Vision Boards for their screen's background. This is a very neat concept!

We enjoy our Vision Boards so much that we held a "Vision Board Day" with our Girl Scout Troop (I'm a Girl Scout Leader for both of my daughters' troops). I've been amazed at the wonderful and creative ideas the girls have had! This also gave us a chance to share our collection of catalogs and magazines. Some of the girls put only words all over their boards, others chose only pictures. One thing is for certain: our boards have to evolve since we keep getting everything we hope and dream for! It is amazing how these things keep appearing in our lives.

With the Holiday Season just around the corner, I'm excited to see the items that are popping up on my daughters' Vision Boards. I know what they'll love to receive and I don't have to ask them.

Don't forget to periodically take photos of your Vision Boards. It is fun to look back over time and see how your dreams have come true!

Adopt Pets from Animal Shelters

Happy 9th Birthday to our little black cat, Astrid. We're so happy to have her in our lives. Astrid is an animal shelter rescue cat. With the large number of animals that need homes, please consider getting your next pet from your local animal shelter or rescue league or organization. We've adopted four cats from shelters over the years and we could not be more pleased.

Don't forget that even if you don't want another pet in your life, the animals can still use attention, love, and supplies. Donate your old blankets and towels to your local animal shelter. If you love animals, but don't want to own one, shelters are always looking for volunteers to help walk and pet the animals. Kids can volunteer, too!

Astrid, like many rescued animals, is microchipped. This amazing technology is a quick and painless way of helping owners keep track of their pets. The microchip is put under the animal's skin and stays there for life. If a lost animal is taken to a shelter or veterinarian, a quick and painless scan (similar to a grocery store scan) can help determine who she belongs to. Please keep your cats inside. This, more than anything, helps save their lives.

As Bob Barker likes to say, "Help control the pet population. Have your pets spayed or neutered."

Empowering all people to reach their full potential in life

Mission statement of Do Life Right:
Empowering all people to reach their full potential in life

Everything I write on this site has the underlying message of the mission statement. I welcome questions and ideas from readers for future entries. Please fill out the request form on the right side of this page if you have suggestions. Subscribe to my blog, too. Thanks so much!

Land of Enchantment

New Mexico is called the Land of Enchantment for a very good reason. This huge state has desert, high mountains, lava fields, white sands, and much more. Our goal on this latest adventure was to explore space and the white sand dunes.

First, we went sledding in White Sands, using regular domed sleds. My daughter is certain that they call them "flying saucer domes" due to Roswell being such a short distance away. Perhaps the aliens needed to land in saucers so that they, too, could sled on the dunes? While the temperature was high, the sand was cool. It felt luxurious to walk in the sand barefoot.

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

Next we visited the New Mexico Museum of Space History and IMAX theater. This little treat was perfect for us in our current explorations of space. We spent the entire day going between the two buildings, enjoying the exhibits and the shows. We capped off the day with a Halloween costume purchase for my little daughter. She is going as a NASA astronaut.

The next day, we made our way to Sunspot, NM, where the National Sun Observatory and the Apache Point Observatory are located. Sunspot is another hidden gem. We had the road to ourselves and the surroundings couldn't have been more beautiful. We were told that the view was of an area larger than the state of Connecticut! It did seem like we could see forever.

Then, of course, our trip wasn't complete without going back to the dunes on our way out of the area. We took the time right before our drive to sit in a zen-like state and listen to the silence. It was very refreshing.

Keep Family Up-to-date with Photos

In order to keep our family and friends up-to-date on our lives, we like to send them photographs. We enjoy sending digital photos to Ceiva digital frames. We first gave frames to family over seven years ago. The frames have held up well and for the most part, we've been extremely happy with Ceiva and their customer support. The original frame requires a phone line, but their new frame does not. My parents currently have one of each. The frames are simple and straight-forward for the end user. The downloading is automatic, unless you force it to download immediately (always an option). These do require a subscription, but we've found the price to be well worth the ease of use and the enjoyment of the recipient.

For prints, I prefer using Kodak Gallery (previously ofoto.com). Their prints have held up well and we've been especially happy with the quality of their photo books. I like the ease of ordering online and I've had no problems with delivery or incorrect orders, unlike other places.

I purchase photo supplies, specialty camera items, and backdrops, etc. from Adorama.

For simple photo editing, I use PhotoDeluxe. I use PhotoShop for more extensive editing.

For fun e-card type photograph mailings, I prefer Smilebox.

Fly like a SUPER HERO with Indoor Skydiving

We had a wild adventure yesterday with close friends and family (thirteen participants and one observer in all). My youngest daughter is about to turn 7. Her greatest passions are space, space travel, the sky, and dreams of flying or levitating. We are always trying to help our daughters have their dreams come true, but flying like a super hero isn't an easy feat to accomplish.

Enter Eloy's Sky Venture Arizona to the rescue to help us celebrate her birthday in style. Sky Venture offers the "ultimate indoor skydiving experience." We needed no parachutes and no experience. Since only one in our group had any skydiving experience at all, most of us didn't know what to expect (and there were surprises).

We showed up for our adventure with no special gear. Sky Venture provided everything we needed, including shoes if we didn't have tennis shoes. With a brief training session and special clothing, we were ready to go in short order. We each got the opportunity to fly for two individual 2 minute sessions. The instructors were excellent (and superb with flying tricks) and stayed right with each of us for our sessions. It was safe, simple, and we highly recommend it. In fact, we are trying to figure out when we can possibly go again. If you ever have the opportunity, don't pass it up. We even got a DVD of the whole experience. It has been fun to watch (we think we are going to add a Star Wars soundtrack).

Party favors were cool t-shirts from Sky Venture for everyone and special Webkinz for the kids. We also had an excellent vegan chocolate cake with lemon frosting from Friendly Feast.

Giving Artists Credit

In starting a blog, I did as many do: I googled myself and my websites. What did I find? Photos from Do Life Right scattered on various other sites around the world (more than a dozen countries, actually, so I'm quite flattered). In case anyone is interested, it is this photograph that is the most popular. I know for a fact that only I took the photograph because the saguaro in question is not in a public location, it is my front yard. Aren't I lucky? It's true, I didn't put the word copyright all over the photograph. However, credit should always be given where credit is due. When you take a photograph or other image from a website, you should always state your source. Consider this my plea as an artist to everyone out there that is tempted to "steal" other's work. I don't mind other people displaying my work, but I would like my name or website listed as the source. Thanks so much!