My Habitat Home

My Habitat Home: Garden Tips

2012-01-12T14:40:00.000-08:00

First, I want to start off by saying that you guys are amazing! I don't know if it's my new template or what but views of My Habitat Home have gone up in the past few days. So, thanks for stopping by our home that is slowly becoming an urban homestead.

I have a few garden tips that I'm implementing this year that might help you out. As stated in a previous post, I've purchased some garden seed already and I have plans on buying more. It's important to me that I grow my families food as organically as I possibly can. We can't afford to buy organic unless something is on sale. We are on a fixed income.

My yard is not big but I think once I get a good portion of perennials in, we won't need to worry about food.

Grow perennials! This will later pay off in use of time. Less time will be spent getting plants in the ground. There is a drawback though, it could take a few years to get a harvest but once it's there you're set.
Companion plant! Companion plants can do a variety of things from making foods taste better to warding pests.
Label those seeds! What I do is I read my seed packet and do an online search for plant friends. I write a list and tape it to each individual packet.
Draw your yard! I have a composition book in which I keep garden notes and drawings. What good does drawing your yard do? I know every single plant in my yard that I've planted. If I did not plant it, it's natural to my environment. I draw shapes with the names of each flower or plant and it's become very helpful.
Draw your food garden! This will give you a general idea as to what you want to grow, where and how. You don't necessarily need row after row of tomatoes. Why not a row of basil, the tomato, then basil, and back to tomato. This is how I can think outside the box.
Be excited! This is your victory garden! You can save hundreds of dollars just by putting some elbow grease in to it.

My Habitat Home: Getting Antsy

2012-01-11T06:32:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting here in the middle of an unseasonably warm, wet, rainy winter. I generally like snow on Christmas and it can all melt after that and I'm happy as long as it doesn't end in cold rain or thunder storms. Snow is preferable but I am ready to plant or at least begin planting.

P-perennial B-biannual A-Annual

My things purchased list:

Monviso Heirloom Garlic- purchased at grocery store P
Organic Jumbo Garlic- purchased at grocery store P

Purchased from Bountiful Gardens which has untreated, open-pollinated seeds:

Tomatoes A
Peppermint P
Cilantro A
Basil P
Alpine Strawberry P
Parsley P
Lettuce mix A
Fennel P
Celery (can be perennial, bi-annual, or annual depending on weather conditions)
Cauliflower A
Belgian white carrots B
Mini-sweet carrots B
Basil A
Solar Yellow Carrots B
Cabbage red drumhead A
Cabbage winter savory A
German chamomile (Annual but there are varieties that are perennial)
Feverfew P
Oregano P
sage P

I still have a lot that I want to purchase and I have a lot of plans. I read somewhere that hostas are edible so I will be going out and swiping hostas from my mom's garden. I'll also be taking some grapevine and maybe a few other things. My mom has an entire hillside filled with daffodils so I might swipe some of those too.

I'm so antsy I just want to begin now and that would destroy our crop. So, I will wait, not so patiently for spring to come.

My Habitat Home: The Incredible Edible Perennial Part 2

2012-01-01T09:53:00.000-08:00

Today started off as a mild kind of day and it's been so warm here in West Virginia (my region any way) I feel like I should be doing yard work or gardening or just something in the yard. I went out to play in my raised garden bed which I've mixed with leaves, table scraps, and other compostables.

I must be doing something right! As I dug I saw lots and lots of earthworms. My dirt in the regular part of the yard, does not have worms. Only the places that I've tossed out stuff seem to have worms. I will admit that it looks kind of like a trash heap. I think that's partly because there aren't any new grass clippings. The grass clippings help to heat it up and if I did have grass clippings, it wouldn't heat up well it is still winter after all.

On to our perennial stuff!

Asparagus:

I love asparagus but it seems really expensive, especially for a family on a budget. I usually only purchase it maybe once or twice a year because it just isn't affordable for us. Because it's a rare purchase, my kids won't eat it when I do buy it. My kids are now eating more veggies because they see it happening. They see life, math, science, history, and the arts just from a garden. I am more than sure they will be eating asparagus in a few years.

Asparagus takes a few years to establish but once it gets going there is no giving up. Some of the companion plants for it are basil, parsley, and tomato. I thought this video was informative.

Apple Trees:

Just because you have a small space, don't think you can't have a tree or two. There are so many apple varieties granny smith, Macintosh, golden delicious to name a few. When selecting your tree you really need to research what you want to do with the apples. Do you want to eat them off of the tree or do you plan on lots of pies. For something like a pie you would want a tart apple because you'll be adding sugar. It's a good idea to get two trees so they can pollinate.

Because I don't have a lot of space I'm looking in to espalier which will be shaping my trees to form a fence and I will be investing in the dwarf variety. I am going to look in to a tart variety and the golden delicious.

Berries:

Blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries are just a few things that come back every year and my kids do and will eat them like crazy. These can get bushy so pruning will be something that needs to be done. Netting may need to be purchased because kids aren't the only thing that like berries.

My Habitat Home: The Gift

2011-12-30T12:56:00.000-08:00

I know I'm breaking from the edible series but I thought you'd get a kick out of this. I grew some spaghetti squash this year and I had saved the seeds. I decided to give them as a gift to my neighbors and this is the letter I wrote to go with it:

From the Petretic Garden

Why the Gift of Seeds?

The past two years we’ve learned a lot. We started with a front yard, that I thought I killed to a front yard that wasn’t so bad after all. I have never grown a garden without my mom before. I never thought of it as important as a kid because it wasn’t encouraged.

We began growing food in our yard. Chives and spaghetti squash are things that previously we purchased. This year we did not buy chives and we purchased less squash because we had two little squash growing in our yard. Chives are about $5.00 to $6.00 a month for us because that’s a spice I can’t live without. That’s $72.00 we saved because I did not purchase any this year. There are about 120 seeds in one squash. I am giving out 20 seeds in each packet. That’s potentially 2,400 seeds next year. That means either the seeds can be baked or saved and gifted just as I am doing now.

When my family lived in the projects, we couldn’t afford seed to grow our own garden and if we could grow a garden, the neighborhood kids would rip it out because they felt the whole neighborhood was theirs to treat as they wished. What I am giving is the opportunity to learn and teach. This is an opportunity to teach nature to children and the power of the Earth.

A seed is a powerful thing; it grows life and gives life. We work together with the plant. The plant breaths carbon dioxide and expels oxygen and we breath oxygen and expel carbon dioxide.

You need the perfect conditions to grow a garden. The last frost needs to happen, the soil needs to be loose and have nutrients to feed the plant. Compost can be purchased at a store if you don’t compost, yourself.

This year my own children learned about texture and smell in soil as well as color. If your soil is black that means you have lots of organic matter in the soil and it’s perfect for planting. WV soil is not perfect and you do need to treat it like a baby. Newspaper is wonderful as mulch and a weed blocker without chemicals. If you have a vegetarian animal, a year before planting is a great time to put their waste on the ground. This should not be done with cats or dogs though.

This gift has a potential to keep giving. This is a gift if we continue to give; it can help to feed the poor, hungry, and homeless. The seed of a plant is far more valuable than money. Why? A plant can feed you, cloth you, and give you shelter. A plant is even used to make money. I can’t think of anything else on this Earth that’s as versatile and giving as a plant. It truly is the gift that keeps giving.

From my family, to yours, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

My Habitat Home: The Incredible Edible Perennial Part 1

2011-12-15T10:21:00.000-08:00

I've really gotten in to this whole gardening thing. I've had a few misses and a whole lot of hits. I used to kill plants. It's true! A homicide investigator would constantly visit me because the death of my plants were malicious even though they were not premeditated. They considered placing me in the nut house because the violence on my plants was abhorrent.

Now, that I kind of have the hang of things, it's time to delve in to a new way of gardening. Edible perennials! You read right! There's a whole series of plants you can grow, keep for extended amounts of time, and eat!

I don't want my entire crop being food that I have to grow every single year. That gets exhausting and I'm ready to try something a little different. Before I get into my list of foods I want to point out the edibles that I did plant that will come back next year.

My first edible are my rose bushes. I don't dust or add unusual things to my roses so they are organic and taste awesome in salads. Next year I will be adding onion family members around my roses which should ward off things like aphids, maybe deter deer, and keep the black fungus I just experienced this past year away.

This is called companion planting. When you plant something else that helps another plant it becomes it's friend and does things to benefit the other and since the onion, garlic, leek multiplies and roses are edible sounds like an awesome salad to me.

My second edible is either basil or parsley. It looks like parsley to me. This will get planted with my tomatoes next year. It attracts wasps that kill of that nasty little caterpillar that destroyed my tomatoes this year. I'll be planting more members of the onion family to deter deer.

My third edible is creeping thyme and it's said to benefit eggplant. I'm not growing eggplant next year because it isn't a perennial and tomato is one of our favorite veggies. I'm only doing tomato this year as far as annuals go.

A few of my other edibles are beesbalm, crysanthamums, and daylilies. I have grown these successfully and they did come back for me. I'll have to companion plants these. I had deer munching on them and that doesn't make me happy.

There are so many plants that come back year after year but these plants that are permanent take time to grow. What makes them worthwhile is they are in your garden and they stay. Very little digging and fuss over the plant.

Well start with one of my personal favorites.

Mint

There are several different varieties of mint there's spearmint, chocolate mint, and peppermint to name a few. I grew spearmint once when I was about 15 or 16 and my experience with it was great. It tastes slightly like gum and I had no pest problems with it. I love this plant near a bedroom window with cocoa mulch. The two together smells like Andes chocolate mints. I used to lay in bed a few extra minutes just to get a good whiff of it and you tend to wake up very happy. I will assume that that's because of the mulch.

Mint is considered to be invasive. Once it gets started it multiplies like gangbusters! Some gardeners suggest some sort of barrier to prevent some of it. I, personally, want my own yard taken over with edibles to give as gifts to my neighbors.

Chocolate mulch is poisonous to pets please keep that in mind when you place it down.

Thyme

Just like mint, there are several varieties of thyme. I am growing creeping thyme and it smells and tastes wonderful! Creeping thyme can grow almost everywhere in the USA. When it flowers it will eventually drop off seeds and spread. This is considered a ground cover so if you plan on eliminating grass, this stuff will help you out.

Creeping thyme is native to Europe and North Africa but it's easy to grow especially if you add compost to your soil.

Onion Family

If you don't pick it, anything in the onion family will reseed. That means you can't even cut the stems if you want it to establish in your garden and become a regular. This includes virtually anything in the family including chives and garlic. Again, make sure you use compost as much as you can if you have poor soil.

Strawberries

These grew in my grandmothers garden. For a time we left them go not picking the berries and they seeded from the seeds on the berries and created a vine on the ground called a runner. The runner forms another plant. The seeds from the strawberries seemed to multiply them a lot more than the runners did.

My Habitat Home: The Future of Our Habitat

2011-11-12T17:01:00.000-08:00

I've been so busy that I've done little blogging lately. It seems, having a home you care about does that. We are having a great time turning our home into an urban homestead. It's going to take years before it's where I want it. But for the first time we've been able to eat chemical free food. Chives, parsley, roses, thyme, onions, lettuce, and tomatoes! YUM!

Next year I'm going to build a second raised garden bed, plant strawberries, onions, lettuce, peppers, herbs, carrots, and green beans to name a few things. I plan on beginning an espalier fruit fence. I want my children to know their food. I want my children to know it doesn't grow in a store. I'm hoping to get a few solar panels in the future because sunlight is free.

In an earlier post I mentioned our rain barrel and I make my own compost. I save money by learning how to be green and recycling as much as I possibly can.

I also want to help feed my neighbors in the future. That is something that is worth my time and energy. I think the world and planet would be a far better place if we learned to help one another and stopped tearing each other down. I think things like money are fleeting. This economy has taught me that.

How many people would suffer if we learned to lift each other up? How many people would suffer depression if we helped each other out?

Changing subjects here... I have these gorgeous mums in my front yard and I just learned something important about them. They can be eaten!

Traditional Chinese Medicine: Chrysanthemum Tea for Allergies -- powered by ehow

I will be trying something with my mums next year. I wish I had known sooner. Even the leaves are edible! Not everything in my garden is edible. Snow in summer and butterfly bush are poison so make sure you know what you are eating!

My Habitat Home: Fall is Awesome!

2011-09-30T09:56:00.000-07:00

I don't expect to see my iris this fall but I'm hoping next year it will show itself.

These mums I just planted a few weeks ago. I'm going to have to cover them with mulch when the flowers die down. I don't want the snow to kill them so the mulch will help with keeping them warm through winter.

I thought my daisies were done for the year. I cut them down and this little guy popped up.

These mums will need to be separated next year. They were so skimpy looking last year. I didn't expect to see a big puff ball like this.

I thought I killed this which was more disappointing than you'll ever know. I was going to pull this out of the ground next year. Then, I saw something green sticking out and the next thing I knew, it was a full fledged bush all in a matter of weeks.

This is another one that I thought was done for the summer. Most people trim it for fresh growth. I decided to leave it go because I want it to spread. It's actually a ground cover and I want it to cover my ground.

I'm not sure if I planted this, if it's native to my region, or if it's a weed. If it is a weed it sure is a pretty one.

This had bees and butterflies all over it in the summer and I only had two or three plants but it looks like it's multiplying nicely. I wonder what it will look like next year.

This is one of the many plants I've added because it serves a few purposes. It's a ground cover so it will spread and wipe out some grass and it's an edible. I won't be purchasing the spice thyme eventually.


Morning glories! These I planted a few months ago. Next year I'm expecting them to put on a show.

My Habitat Home: Of All The Cakes I've Loved Before

2011-08-27T18:58:00.000-07:00

We have had a few chaotic weeks in my household. When chaos hits us I tend to push things like doctor appointments and birthdays back. Not that those things aren't important but family is much more important than that. I won't expand on what held back the birthday of my two boys but I will say it was important.

When I first began making cakes it was for my oldest child. His first birthday I made cupcakes in ice cream cones. Each year after they got a little more creative.

When we got a computer those ideas expanded and I could learn how to do more things. For me, it is such an awesome thing to give a cake that isn't just a round cake. That cake is a piece of art work.

It's just something that I enjoy doing for others.

Yesterday I started with Eva from Wall-E. My biggest issue with her was her shape. She is a floating egg and I could not come up with that shape with out cutting her out of a rectangle pan which would mean imperfections in her shape. Then, I remembered that lovely turkey roasting pan I have that is the perfect shape for an egg. I put shortening and flour in it and hoped for the best.

The next thing I did was draw Eva so the image of her eyes and the black area was the right shape. I decided to make a smores cake and I added graham cracker and marshmallow. I also added it to what would be the top of the cake and that is a big mistake because it made it difficult to ice and made the icing a little see through. Other than that, it was a cute cake and my boys did not seem to mind.

My Habitat Home: HVAC Thingy

2011-08-12T06:21:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago my neighbor told me her air conditioning unit was acting weird so she called the HVAC guy and he gave her some advice. She, in turn, gave me the same advice.

There is a plastic tube that looks like PVC pipe on your unit.

Pull off the cap.


Add equal part of water and bleach and pour it down the tube. This cleans all the gunk build up.

Put the lid back on and their will be a slight bleachy smell in your home for a little bit until it cycles through. This should be done once a month.

My Habitat Home: A Few Tips

2011-07-25T04:21:00.000-07:00

I am mostly writing this post for those who have a Habitat home because there are a few things that upset us that someone outside of Habitat for Humanity will never understand.

Expect to be insulted. People who are jealous will tell you that your home is free. That you did not work hard enough for your home. It doesn't matter that you spent nearly two years saving, getting your credit strait, going to classes, and building your own home with your two hands. Those who want what you have will show their true colors.

Expect others to want what you have. You have a nice house that you have to deal with the upkeep. You aren't starting with a house that's a little banged up. You have a nice new house or a house refurbished to nearly new.

Expect to be compared to the Jones. The Jones are a middle class family who competes with their neighbors to have stuff. You and I know that isn't true. We just wanted some place to live where we wouldn't get sick and our children would not get sick.

Expect one person to make you look bad. All it takes is one person to make a Habitat for Humanity family look bad. It doesn't matter how hard you work on the upkeep of your home, if there's one rotten apple it reflects on others.

Expect to meet horrible people. For some reason if you make x amount of dollars above poverty level, that gives people the "right" to be horrid. You know and I know they aren't right and perhaps they need to seek professional help.

Hard work isn't the lottery. You worked hard for your home. You didn't buy a $1-2 lottery ticket to live in your home. To some winning a gambling game in which can become an addiction is more acceptable. You had a budgeting class and you know that $1-2 adds up and by the end of the year you could have purchased several buckets of paint to revamp a room or two. The chances of winning the lottery is practically nil.

Expect those who are more dependent on government services to show that green eyed monster. Of all the people in the world you shouldn't expect that green eyed monster to show in someone who is so dependent on services that in everything they do they get a check but it has happened and will continue to happen. It's a sad way to live to want what another has. I never wanted what anyone has. I only wanted a safe place for my children. I think most Habitat families don't truly think about having a bigger better house than another. Most of us just want a safe environment.

Not everyone is your "friend." When on social networking sites you should choose friends wisely. If you liked something they said, that doesn't mean you should become friends. In real life you don't become friend over one comment and the same should hold true with networking sites. Those on social networking sites can be more nasty than real people because they feel that they can't get caught. Should that happen use your block feature.

Not everyone is your friend. It was Thumper who said, "If you can't say somthin' nice, then don't say nothin' at all." This is advice for those in your real life. If a real friend has to be snarky they probably aren't really your friend. For myself, I'm real picky about who I introduce to my family. If you are going to insult my family then you don't need my friendship.

Be proud of your accomplishments. You took care of your credit. You built your home or worked a whole lot of hours before you can get your home. You know the sweat you put in to your home and if you are like me, you've sliced your hands a few times so you know about the blood you put in to it. You've probably bruised places that you hadn't before, done more research than the average home owner. Your home will not fall apart because you know how to fix it and the average home owner does not.

My Habitat Home: Cutting Cost

2011-07-13T05:26:00.000-07:00

We are doing a few things around our home to cut costs. One of them is to keep a rain barrel. We are already using less water from the hose attached to the house.

To install the rain barrel we needed a pencil, hack saw and a level area to sit the barrel. My yard is not level so it meant I had to dig and place cinder brick.

This barrel was sitting in my drive for a year. My husband wouldn't let me attach it because he didn't want to ruin the house. The first year we did not use the barrel. It didn't even catch enough water to use. When we hooked it up to the house it took on good rain and now it is all the way full and very much in use. There is a hose from the back into the PVC pipe. This keeps the water from affecting the side of the house and creating water damage.

A few things that are new in my garden bed are a raised brick garden bed and this cinder block. As you can see, my flower garden is thriving. Under my mailbox we have chives and basil.

I showed my children how to make a seed bomb and that resulted in a spaghetti squash under my mailbox

And then, there's the regular food garden. A good portion of it sank in and I'm going to have to fix that when growing season is over. I seem to have only one onion which fell through with the last rain. I can now clearly see the straw bales underneath.

My Habitat Home: Interview!

2011-07-07T12:34:00.000-07:00

Here I am. I've written about nearly every aspect of our home that I can think of since February 2008. I write because every moment in my home is a moment I am grateful for. If you have never lived in homes that are in the condition that I've grown accustomed to you will never know what it feels like to be me. Habitat for Humanity specializes in the elimination of substandard housing.

Even now, I am nearly brought to tears because my children will never again experience that kind of depravity. I will crawl on my stomach to give my children the best that I have to give. I don't care what everyone else wants so much. I care about what my children deserve.

Anyhow, as many interviews as I've done, the tables have turned on me and I will now be the interviewee. I'm a little nervous, I've always been the one asking the questions. When I ask the questions I know what's coming next and the fact that I will not have time to think my answers through like I usually do is a little weird for me.

This must be how other people feel when I interview for one of my other blogs. Anyhow, the details are this: I get press releases from Habitat for Humanity International. On one such press release that was emailed to me it stated a way to advocate for Habitat which I do often. This particular time I viewed what was to be sent to my local representatives:

"As a constituent, and a supporter of Habitat for Humanity, I'm writing to make sure that you and your staff know about Habitat, the life-changing work they do here in our state, and the important role they'll play in helping us dig out of the housing crisis.

Habitat for Humanity affiliates work to help low- and middle-income families become homeowners following a smart and time-tested model. It's a common misconception that Habitat "gives away" homes to those in need. In fact, Habitat families invest an incredible amount of "sweat equity" into their homes, and they keep current with mortgage payments -- at a rate far exceeding typical homeowners -- because they are buying homes they can afford financed by fair and reasonable loans.
:: The housing market collapse has demonstrated that Habitat's model is successful. Habitat partner families succeed because they have mortgages they can afford and because they invest their hearts, souls, and labor into building or rehabilitating their homes.

:: The answer to the ongoing housing crisis is reducing the inventory of vacant homes by selling them to responsible borrowers at affordable prices. There's no better affordable model for doing that than Habitat's, so it's critical that homeownership programs continue to enable its work.

:: Homeownership is critical to local tax bases, many of which have property taxes as their primary revenue streams. Reducing vacant inventory and increasing property values will assist struggling municipalities to make ends meet without bailouts or other government interventions.

:: Homeownership is an indicator of family stability and associated with improved health and education, greater family self-sufficiency, and stronger civic engagement. No one does a better job of promoting responsible homeownership than Habitat.

:: Since its founding in 1976, Habitat has built, rehabilitated, repaired or improved more than 400,000 houses worldwide, providing simple, decent and affordable shelter for more than 2 million people.

I'm certain your office will be hearing more from me, and from other Habitat supporters, in coming months. We ask that you consider both the short- and long-term impact of our work as difficult budget decisions continue to come up.

We all know that tough cuts are all but inevitable, but Habitat supporters and homeowners across our state know the bottom line: Habitat for Humanity will play a key role in reversing the housing collapse and promoting the values of homeownership, hard work and strong communities."

Feel free to advocate here at Habitat for Humanity International's site.

Me being me, I didn't want to just send that because it makes it seem like I don't really know what it's about. I sent my own experience in an email back. I honestly can't retell what I wrote. I deleted the email from my email account. If you are a reader of this blog it isn't anything that you don't already know.

Anyhow, it's making me rethink my little writing hobby and what I should do with it. I'm trying to write our story and perhaps give it to my local Habitat but I still haven't thought it completely through and I have so many writing projects that I'm doing including children's stories. I'm a busy beaver and I have another story to re illustrate. This does not even include all the house work and garden work I've been doing. That's my life in a nutshell.

My Habitat Home: Clueless

2011-07-06T11:09:00.000-07:00

At the moment we have a little riffraff going on in my neighborhood. Let me back up, rewind and explain. We were given an option as to where we want to place our home. I chose to move our home at a specific location because I assumed there would eventually be drama and the purpose of removing our kids from the projects was to avoid the drama.

I didn't know what was going on because I've made the choice to keep to ourselves and what ensued was a letter stating there's drama. I spoke to my neighbor to get the full story because I am not close to all that mess. What's happening is I think it's going to be necessary to form a neighborhood watch.

I'm going to walk around and see what the neighbors think and feel about it all. I'm pretty sure I'll end up the research queen. I research everything. Anyhow, this kind of thing I was expecting and hadn't given it much thought because I figure you make the effort to build and work. You would think all Habitat owners would strive to keep things nice. That just isn't always the case.

I'm clueless as to why you would want to reintroduce garbage in to a perfectly good neighbor hood. I'll be posting on starting a watch as I learn more and as I speak to other neighbors.

My Habitat Home: Taking Pride

2011-06-23T10:18:00.000-07:00

I am constantly telling my husband how proud I am of my garden. I think it bugs him a little because I mention how proud I am frequently. I think I have a right to be proud. I'm known to get on my hands, knees, butt, and stomach to rid the tall grass from my yard with a pair of scissors.

My yard blooms with color during every season except winter. I find that the harder you work the more you take pride in your work. I have worked really hard on my yard. Sure, it isn't perfect and my back yard needs reseeded but it isn't so tall that Laura Ingals Wilder will come running through my field.

This is the thing, I have an Earth connection with every thing I do. I don't care so much that bugs have eaten the leaves on my flowers or deer have eaten something they shouldn't. We took their home not the other way around. What I try to do is teach my children a respect for nature. I let them play with potato bugs, earthworms, and granddaddy longlegs.

When we first moved into our home and I began to work on my garden space I did a bad thing. I placed a chemical on my ground. It killed everything alright. It killed the grass and then the weeds started coming in. Then, I did research, changed my tactics and we are now completely organic. My weed killer is vinegar and my rose fungicide killer is skim milk. I already see a difference in my roses.

I sometimes think that my husband doesn't know the amount of work I put in. I do have lazy days but for the most part, I want my yard to be the prettiest on the street. That might be a little vanity but hey as long as I'm increasing property value...

My Habitat Home: Can My Home Be Taken Away Because I'm Lazy?

2011-06-22T06:45:00.000-07:00

Every now and then, those who search and land on my blog, inspire a post. Can My Home Be Taken Away Because I'm Lazy? Firstly, I can't imagine anyone admitting to laziness so that must mean someone is put out with a neighbor. Let's define lazy here. There's the kind of lazy that's just "I don't feel like doing it today. I think I'll do it tomorrow." Then, there's the kind that isn't exactly lazy and they have a disorder. Have you ever seen the TV show "Hoarders?"

Someone that hoards has a disease and it isn't necessarily "lazy." If your neighbor got their home through a bank, how would you react? The difference between someone who got their home from a bank and someone who lives in a Habitat home is you know where the Habitat home came from. The Habitat home has a mortgage out on it just like one from a bank.

Whatever rules apply to a home through a bank, applies to a Habitat home. If there are city ordinances, report it. As simple as that. Your home can't be taken away due to laziness. It can be taken away because you have not kept up with city ordinances or you have illegal activity going on. You are not renting from Habitat. You are a home buyer. Habitat for Humanity is not a landlord.

Now, if it's a matter of tall grass. for instance, why can you as a good neighbor ask if the homeowner is ok? Maybe they had an accident and can't move right. You never know unless you form a relationship of sorts and your neighborhood will never be ideal until you learn acceptance of those in your neighborhood.

My Habitat Home: Lots Going on, Lots to Do

2011-06-19T06:17:00.000-07:00

I have a lot going on in my household so I'm going to attempt to share everything or at least a good portion of it all on this post.

I have in my laundry room a plastic bucket reserved strictly for soap powder. when ever we purchase powder it typically comes from a cardboard box. As is my typical routine, I took the soap powder and dumped it in the plastic container and threw the boxes in the garbage. I then, looked at the box and felt bad that it was in the garbage. So much paper, so many trees, and so much waste. Then, I remembered that I had an exacto knife and kids who love to color.

I cut the two larger sides out and voila! We have coloring paper and the kids did not need to use/ borrow blank paper.

As a child I used to help my gram can food from our garden. Hours would go by as I snapped and pulled strings out of beans before canning. I recall eating apple butter and strawberry preserves that cam from our small garden in the city.

It was several years ago and I've forgotten the process of canning and I certainly had no desire to relearn and work with my food when we lived in the projects.

My birthday is coming up on June 21st. As much as I enjoy things like collecting dolls, I can no longer keep up with it and I like more practical gifts these days that go with this new lifestyle of owning a home. I've requested canning supplies and this is what my mom and brother got me. A case of Ball Jars, a pressure canner, and a recipe book.

Yay! I can relearn and teach my kids a viable skill! This is something they would need to know if their world were turned completely upside down. Soon, canned goods from the grocery store will be minimized and maybe in time, a thing of the past.

I already make homemade salsa but my tomatoes have come from a can. I'm hoping to eventually eliminate tomatoes from cans. I think things I can recycle will be a far better way to go.

I hope to post on this learning process as I go. Did I not mention when we moved into this house that the journey of "My Habitat Home" was not over it was merely a beginning? We went from the hope of having a home to living in a home.

Yesterday there was a flower in my garden that I was waiting to see and when I woke this morning this is what I saw. It is so incredibly pretty I was completely thrilled to see it. I can't wait to see my house five years from now.

I've been doing a lot of yard work lately from digging to placing bricks in spots and planning for my rain barrel which is going to get attached to the gutter after much debate.

My garden

It's been a lot of work and there is still a lot in my plans. We'll just wait and see...

My Habitat Home: New Signs of Life

2011-06-15T15:29:00.000-07:00

I wanted to show off some of the signs of life in my yard. I've done some rearranging moving my rose bushes from the spot they were in because things were real weedy and thorny and I'm not in to pain so the weeds had been left alone until today. My Shasta Dasies are putting on a show and I have a pretty pink flower that I don't know what it is but I know I planted it. Butterflies seem to love it it must have been part of my butterfly garden package.

As you can see I have a little tomato growing. It's too early for that and I need to let my plant to grow so the tomato went bye-bye.

I also tried to add a timer to my garden. I am going to assume it wasn't convenient to my husband's lifestyle because it was taken down. Maybe I should have him water the garden.

My Habitat Home: Are You Really Rich?

2011-05-11T08:49:00.002-07:00

I've been on a few sites that seem to do nothing but knock down those who have very little money. This is my question: Is money truly important? Let me dissect this for a second. First, money is printed. It doesn't feed you, clothe you, or give you shelter. That is the false sense of security that the government places on you. It doesn't even give you land that is another thing that's government run for all those who are sticklers on that sort of thing. Ironically, those who are sticklers and want less government but more stuff to own which makes no sense because it's all government owned. You pay taxes and mortgage and if you don't pay taxes and mortgage the bank takes it away and the bank is controlled by the government. Which means you never truly own your home but it's ok to call it your home as long as you pay taxes and mortgage.

Native Americans lived here for hundreds of years without money. They were nomadic so when the weather changed, they traveled. They did not need to worry about trespassing on someone's plop of land because they believed we all owned the Earth. You can't truly own Earth, the Earth owns you and shows you that every time there's a natural disaster. When we mistreat our environment, our environment mistreats us.

Let's discuss this printing of money thing. Money is defined as any circulating medium of exchange, including coins, paper money, and demand deposits. If federal banks were to go under completely and they were not able to fulfill their end of the deal the stuff is useless. It is just a hunk of paper with a picture of a person with a bad hair day. It's not a complaint, it's just an observation. If you rely too much on money, Darwin's theory of survival of the fittest kicks in and the winner will not be the "rich."

Money does not feed you. Sure, you bought food from a grocery store with a piece of paper that isn't backed by gold or silver. You don't honestly believe it magically appeared in that store do you? Someone had to grow that lettuce and raise that calf to adulthood. A farmer fed you not money.

Do you think money put clothes on you? That nice silk shirt you wear was created by a bug and a person not green paper. Did money put your house together? No, a bunch of people put your house together.

What I'm getting at is that we can rely on each other to accomplish things. We cannot rely on money. Money is a false sense of security and it makes people forget the old ways. We didn't always use paper to represent value. We used to use services. The man who built a house traded what he knew for the other to help with his garden. Those who are "poor" still use their services and know how. Those who are "rich" hire out and therefore forget how to do the things our ancestors knew how to do.

If it all crashed tomorrow, it would be the man who knows how to truly live on his own without the use of others that would survive. It would be the man who didn't have much to begin with because he has always had just one way of living that was never glittered with gold.

Wealth doesn't last. There have been uprisings because of it.

By American standards am I rich? No, I'm not. By my standards am I rich? Most certainly. I know my children, husband, and I will survive if the economy completely crashes. I don't need more stuff. I'm trying to get rid of it all. All I need is a place to farm (even an urban one) and my family.

My Habitat Home: Before and After

2011-05-09T16:58:00.000-07:00

Our home about a week before we moved in.

Our house now. It's still a work in progress but it's getting there.

I wanted to show off what I've been doing since the our first spring last year. It still isn't finished and I don't know when or if I will ever consider it finished. As you can probably see, I've got some work that isn't finished. My entire yard is difficult to mow. I want to eliminate the hillside.

My Habitat Home: Around the House

2011-05-03T05:33:00.000-07:00

Taking a nap

This stuff is doing incredibly well. Snow in the summer is a ground cover and I see it spreading already.

These are my mums and I thought this was a goner.

Roses

English Ivy I'm hoping this stuff really takes over my hill side so that it wipes out all my tall weeds.

Veggie garden

Lettuce

I let the kids have their own flower garden. I cut out the bottom of this sand box and let them do the rest with some guidance.

My front yard is a work in progress.

Climbing rose has a lot of buds. I bet in the next few weeks it will be gorgeous.

My Habitat Home: Spectacular Springtime

2011-05-01T07:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a spectacular spring day. The kids started off using their Tonka trucks to move dirt around the mailbox so we can plant chives and parsley. Then I taught them a little about guerrilla gardening. They made seed bombs and tossed them into our yard. They also got very dirty.

Next, the dirt got shoveled out of the driveway. The kids and driveway got sprayed down. We ended up with a few very dirty vehicles so there was a car wash to be had and at that point I wanted the modern version of the song Car wash.

I went to check out my flowers I planted last year. To my surprise, most of them thrived. I was sure my snow in the summer was a goner. It looked so sad last year but there it was in all it's glory with tiny flowers.
It's said to be an invasive plant which is great. That's what I want. I'm starting to feel not quite right. I think I'm getting arthritis in my finger and I just don't know if I'll be able to mow hillsides in the future. I want invasive plants. I want my yard manageable for when I am older.

Snow in the summer

My Shasta daisies are looking big and healthy. They are so big, they'll be blocking the weeds from having sunlight.

I was pleased to see that even my roses that were looking a little sad last year are beginning to put on a show.

Shasta daisies

.First sign of blooming roses

.More Shasta daisies

I had tons of aphids all over my roses. I sprayed them with water heavily. I don't want to poison my roses because even those are edible. I'm trying to get things as organic as I can get them. I am more disgusted by chemical companies than I am by bugs. Bugs are nature and chemicals kill. For me, it's an easy choice.

My Habitat Home: Raised Garden Bed

2011-04-23T09:22:00.000-07:00

I remember when I was a kid my grandma would buy a bag of apples and I'd leave mine out even for a short period of time and it would turn completely brown. It's gross but at least it did rot. With the environment and waste being what it is I think I'd feel happier placing an apple in a landfill that turns to dirt.

Here's my issue, my family cannot afford to purchase organic. It just costs way too much. I'm going to show you what happened when we left a golden delicious and a red out over night.

These apples still look good enough to eat. One thought enters my mind. EEEEEWWWWWWW! This thing should be brown and nasty looking by now. My kids weren't around when it took seconds for an apple to brown.

There are a few reasons why we've decided to grow a garden.

I want my food and the food my children eat to rot. I want it to nurture the Earth and help to reheal our planet. The stuff these chemical companies put in our food can't be good or healthy and the government gives them far too many welfare services. Yes, boys and girls, big companies get welfare.
I want my children to learn that even though we do get food stamps, that could be gone tomorrow. You need to learn to fend for yourself. Living off of government assistance has never been a viable option for my family. I have always hated it. Sure, it has helped and it certainly is great for a short time. When it was created no one was supposed to stay on it forever. It was intended to help that's it.
On $400 a month I have mad, crazy shopping skills. I have a freezer filled to the top with food. The refrigerator freezer is filled with food and my fridge is filled with food. We have had months where we've struggled. Anything government run is tangled in red tape and that means we have moments when we most need it and it isn't there. I am hoping the garden helps to supplement and maybe even eventually gets us off of food stamps.
Last but not least is food is looking and tasting horrible lately. I purchased celery a few months ago and it was abnormally huge. It looked like it belonged in a garden owned by a giant. Tomatoes taste like cardboard and food should not be used as a mirror.

This is the beginning of our garden experience. We have onions, lettuce and carrots. I want to put in tomatoes as well. I couldn't afford as much dirt as this was going to cost so what I did is I placed twigs and leaves on the bottom. I then placed 10 straw bales on top of that and after that some dirt and compost and more dirt. Finally, I planted nearly everything. I'll be making a small box for my mailbox for some chives and other herbs.


Looks like we have lettuce!

I built this myself.

My front yard has some damage going on from all the storms and it needs to be weeded and weed-whacked.
The plants I do have in the front yard are looking great though. I see shasta daisies, roses, snow in the summer and even my summer daffodils which bloom in the summer. I don't have any spring flowers at the moment. I tried to deal with this before the thunder storms but that did not work out.

That's what's going on around my house. What about yours?

My Habitat Home: Has Spring Sprung?

2011-03-14T08:53:00.000-07:00

In my neck of the woods we no longer have snow but the weather here gets tricky this time of the year. I have no clue if spring has sprung or if we will have more snow. We are still getting frosts and that isn't good for planting and transplanting but it is good enough to redesign and rethink the front yard that I couldn't focus on previously. My new neighbors had no grass and our yard was getting drowned out with mud. I no longer fear mud and we can now move on.

My whole front yard is going to be covered in mulch and over time, I'm going to place flowers in various places and it will look a lot more landscaped than this. For now, just getting the stuff under it to stop growing is the goal.

As you can see, I have a whole lot of red mulch that needs to be put down.

This is my raised garden bed. I know it doesn't look like much yet, but just like the ant, I have high hopes.

I also wanted to share my no sew project. I have been looking a lot for canopy tops for my bed. For a queen sized bed I can find nothing cheaper than $200. I am low income, why would I spend $200 on something that is supposed to be for looks any way. I mean it truly serves very little purpose other than fulfill my girly fantasies.

I went to Wal-Mart and saw fabric that was red and enough of it to cover my canopy top (my bedding is red.) $5.00 per bolt and there were 3 bolts. I was so happy because I saved nearly $200 and had my fantasy bed.

On the rails I draped the fabric and created a knot between each section. This fabric I cut in half while it was on the bolt.

Then I cut the sheer fabric in half and placed it on the canopy. There is nothing holding it in place. It took about 30-40 minutes to complete.

With enough creativity you can create anything.

As I make more changes I'll be posting so keep your eyes open!

My Habitat Home: We Keep Our Trash

2011-02-11T10:50:00.000-08:00

We keep our trash, pretty gross huh? Let me rewind and explain. We don't exactly keep our trash, we compost what we can. A large portion of our food like items end up in a trash can with a plastic bag so I can wrap it if need be. Since it is winter, I can't put it in my compost bucket. Most of what is in my bucket now, is going to be used this year in my yard.

List of things that I compost:

left over salad
radishes
lent from my dryer
dust from my vacuum cleaner
milk
eggshells
left over organic foods beans, etc
leaves
grass clippings
dirt
coffee and coffee grounds (roses love it)
Hair (I end up with hair on my sweaters or hairbrushes since we are not lice infested, I have no problem with it and it's a deer deterrent too)
Hay
cardboard
Flowers that have wilted
oat meal
left over tea bags minus the staple
newspaper
paid bills that have met their time
bread products (this can get tricky. If you can put a lid on your compost, go for it. It can bring in pests if you have open composting)

I even have a secret weapon. My secret weapon is on a vegetarian diet and does not mind contributing to our little project.

We have a guinea pig and we use cedar shavings. I've read reports about the toxicity in cedar shavings. Since it is a pet product it's heat treated I'm not going to go into the potential health effects. I'm a lot more confident with our choice of shavings than I am livestock from commercial farmers. The shavings have nitrogen and help break down what is in my compost.

Things I don't compost because of a danger it may pose to my plants or bring on pests:

meat products (including dog food) We have vultures and they love that stuff and meat contains grease which rodents love. If you've ever moistened dog food, you will feel grease.
oranges are too acidic
Tomatoes are in the nightshade family along with tobacco. Too much and it becomes poisonous.
Feces from meat eating animals (dogs and cats)
grease

Why grease should not go in your composting.

Years ago, I worked at a fast food restaurant. I had been there for eight years. I went from crew to management. During my time training as a manager I learned a few valuable lessons. My instructor stated, "Never place oil in the trash can. You have a special container for oils." When asked why she stated, "Have you heard of the restaurants that don't pass state standards? The ones with rodents running through buildings? That is because they did not dispose of their oil or clean the oils properly. Grease attracts rodents." It doesn't just attract the little cute mouse, it will attract sewer rats and opossums as well.

If you don't want a pest problem in your home, it should not go in your garden. It will attract them just because you've mixed it in your dirt.

On to other protein sources... Unless, you add fat (salt pork, shorting, butter) Things like pinto beans are fine. When you add oils it can get a little hairy. I do add things like peanuts even though there are oils. They aren't animal based. I'm more concerned with animal based oils than plant based unless there are excessive amounts of oils.

My Habitat Home: New Years Dessert

2011-01-01T12:34:00.000-08:00

My family and I have tossed out most of the junk and are now eating healthier. That means no big chunks of cheesecake. I still want my cheesecake though and this is what I did.

Things you will need:

Aluminum foil or cupcake wrappers
Instant Cheesecake mix

You are going to need a cupcake pan form your wrappers or foil in each section. Mix your gram cracker without the sugar mentioned on the box.

The box also gives you calories based on 2% milk. I never use 2% I only use skim.
This thing says it's 220 calories for 1 slice of pie and there are six servings.

Get a messuring cup to press your crumbs and pour two heaping teaspoons on top.
Leave in the fridge about two hours.

When you're done, pull the cheesecake away from the wrapper and slice 1/2 of a cup of strawberries. Voila! You have a 93 calorie treat at a fraction of the calories!

My Habitat Home: Things You Take For Granted

2010-12-31T13:17:00.000-08:00

I will be the first person to tell you what it's like to live in poverty housing from childhood on up to adulthood. Every house I have ever lived in has had a rotting bathroom and took a lot of elbow grease to clean. This bathroom, in this house, took me 15 minutes to clean. There is no black mold around the tub. The floor is not rotting through around the toilet. There isn't black mold around my sink.

I was cleaning when I realized, I'm not even using half the muscle I used to to clean a tub. It was a weird surreal kind of moment. I don't think our home will ever be just our home. This home is where my heart is.

This is what we were living with before

No mold here

or here

Nice and pretty here

No wonder my husband vacations in the bathroom

I love my house! If you have a home don't take it for granted. If you are fortunate enough to have a decent home, take care of it. Don't ever take it for granted. A lot of people take what they have for granted like it comes easily to all. It doesn't come easy to all. What you have is special.

My Habitat Home: Christmas With Less Stress

2010-12-28T09:40:00.000-08:00

So, you think Christmas is over? Remember you have another ten to twelve months for crowded stores, grumpy sales people, and people ripping that toy right out of your hands. Are beads of sweat running down your face with the anxiety of it all?

Other than purchasing food, I don't stress about the holidays much and I'm going to tell you how I get through. There are a few things you will need:

Large plastic containers (enough for each family member or the amount of gifts you will purchase) If that isn't something you can do go for a good hiding spot.
A special container for wrapping paper, tape, scissors, and gift bags.
A freezer for things that can be frozen such as turkey, ham, frozen veggies, cakes, and cookies.

January

Figure out when birthdays are and have a list for each person you will shop for. You will be basing all of your birthday and Christmas shopping on this list. If you are used to shopping before Christmas chances are you don't have money to do the after Christmas shopping. I do recommend getting Christmas lights and ornaments after Christmas. For yourself and for gifting they will be on sale and since tax season is coming up, stores need these things gone.

February through September

This is where I start. At this point we've done our taxes and we do get a return. In all honesty, we would have it rough during Christmas without one. Before I had any kind of tax return I started during this month. I would set aside maybe $30 and get a nice gift for someone. I would then put it away in a plastic crate. After Valentine's day all the stuff with hearts go on sale. It would not be a bad idea to have a special crate for that event either (especially if you're married, in a serious relationship, and/ or have kids). Please don't hold on to candy though. Some things should be purchased close to the event.

Mid October

If you have a freezer, now is the time to start your cookies. If you have any that are frosted such as sugar cookies, save that for last minute. Your cookies will keep for three months in your freezer. Put them in an air tight container, placing wax paper on each layer. Things like cookie bars can only be done with one layer. Cakes can be made about three months in advance as well but again, I wouldn't ice it until you're nearly ready to gift it or serve it.

It's ok to freeze your chocolate chips up to six months in advance. It's ok to stock up if you catch a mad crazy sale. Coconut can last up to three years so it is ok to freeze as well. Even nuts can be frozen.

Your turkey can keep in the freezer for a year. For me, personally, that just sounds gross so maybe purchasing in June or July wouldn't be so bad. For holiday meats five to six months is what I go for. Even you stuffing can be purchased approximately five months in advance. If you have a freezer it's feasible to have your Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years foods together. Truly, if you think ahead all you'll need to purchase during the holiday season will be your perishables.

Then, when all your friends are rushing you can sit back relax and be happy you won't be doing that again.

My Habitat Home: Bake Off Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Part 3

2010-12-16T14:13:00.000-08:00

The weather girls seems to think we will have a white Christmas and from what I see outside my door, I hope so. The snow is really coming down and looks magical. I can imagine sleigh bells and horse drawn sleighs. I can't think of anything more fun to do than bake cookies and maybe play outside.
.

Ingredients

	1 1/4 cups Butter (room temp)
	3/4 cup Brown sugar
	1/2 cup Sugar
	1 Egg
	2 teaspoon Vanilla
	1 1/2 cups All purpose flour
	1 teaspoon Baking soda
	1 teaspoon Salt
	1 teaspoon Cinnamon
	1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
	3 cups Oats
	1 1/2 cup Raisins Makes aprox. 75 cookies

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Beat butter and sugars until fluffy. Beat in egg and
vanilla. Add combined flour, baking soda, salt and spices; mix well. Stir in oats and raisins.

Drop rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake 8-9 minutes for chewy; 10-11 minutes for crunchy cookies.
Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet. Remove to wire rack.
Store tightly covered.

Part 1 Reese's Awesome Peanut Butter Cookies
Part 2 Sugar Cookies

My Habitat Home: Bake Off Sugar Cookies Part 2

2010-12-15T12:48:00.000-08:00

We used royal icing

The kids had a blast cutting the cookies out of the dough and coloring them. We didn't decorate using the second idea. I thought they'd have more fun decorating like mommy does her cakes.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Directions

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Royal Icing

4 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons of meringue powder

6 tablespoons water

Mix all ingredients on low speed for 7-10 minutes or until the icing isn't shiny. Add more water by the teaspoon if it appears too stiff. You want to be able to pipe it easily.

The kids had a really good messy time.

Another way to decorate

1 egg white
1 paint brush
colored sugar (you can make using granulated sugar and food color)

Before baking, brush on egg white and sprinkle sugar on to cookie and bake as instructed above.

To ice cookies using royal icing you will also need decorator bags or ziploc bags make a nice substitute.

Part 1 Reese's Peanut Butter Cookies
Part 3 Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

My Habitat Home: Let The Cookie Bake Off Begin! Part 1

2010-12-15T06:32:00.000-08:00

With Christmas just over a week away we need to make cookies. We give them as gifts. It's the one thing every year that my brother begs for and this time of the year is the only time I do cookies. These were fun to make, my kids and I worked together to form balls. Instead of pressing down with a fork we made little patties and then place the mini Reese's cups.

Reese's Awesome Peanut Butter Cookies

So it isn't the prettiest thing but they are yummy!

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 egg
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt



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	About Concordance™

1 8 oz Reese's Peanut Butter Cups minis

Mix sugars, peanut butter, shortening, butter and egg in large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and refrigerate about 2 hours or until firm.
Heat oven to 375ºF.
Shape dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. Place about 3 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten in crisscross pattern with fork dipped into sugar and place Reese's on top.
Bake 9 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 5 minutes; remove from cookie sheet. Cool on wire rack.

Sugar Cookies Part 2
Oatmeal raisin cookies Part 3

My Habitat Home: Food Budget

2010-11-30T07:15:00.000-08:00

Like most low income families we have a food budget of $450 for a family of five. A lot of people at my husband's work place freak out and say they have to live on at least $1,000. To me, $1,000 seems a bit excessive.

My family may not be typical for a low income family. I have known families who eat a lot more processed food than we do (chips, pop, cakes, candies). Except for holidays and birthdays these things are not part of our purchases. That leaves us from August on through about January. Birthday in August (2 of them) Nothing in September, Halloween and birthday in October, Thanksgiving in November and Christmas in December.

I do stock up on things like cake mix. We really can't afford to pay a professional for the kind of cakes my daughter wants so I've learned to make designer cakes for her. When my family gives me Christmas or birthday gifts I request decorating supplies that's how I'm able to do it the cost of these supplies costs way too much for me to purchase thing just because I want to. For Christmas or birthdays I always request you give me things I can use.

On to a typical shopping list for me:

pinto beans
rice
cereal
peanut butter
salad dressing
olive oil
spices (if needed)
Milk
Eggs
Yogurt (sometimes)
Shredded cheese (for salad)
Cheese slices
Large cases of canned food (green beans, tomato sauce, stewed tomato, mushrooms etc)
Several bags of frozen fruit (strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, mixed fruit)
Baby carrots (If I buy 3 or four bags my kids will happily snack on this and not junk food)
Celery (2-3) can be cut up and used in soups the kids will happily eat sticks w/ peanut butter
Frozen veggies (I'd rather serve this than the canned the canned is just for emergencies)
Beef for stews ( 2 things for two pots since I'm allergic I buy very little beef this is all I typically buy.)
Chicken Thighs with the skin on them about 4-5 bags (It's cheaper and I can remove the skin later)
6 rolls of turkey burger
4 bags of apples
bananas
spaghetti
spaghetti sauce
oatmeal
pancake mix

As you can see there is no fish or seafood on this list. I'm allergic to them and even the smell can send me to the hospital. My mom purchases seafood and prepares it in her home for my kids. I try to purchase enough food to last to the end of the month (my husband will spend on junk given the opportunity.) I try to encourage a once a month shopping trip, it's the only way I can control things and feel comfortable with what is coming and going from our home.

I read somewhere that someone tried to live off of this kind of budget and they had a glass of wine and a glass of beer with their meal. First let me say food stamps won't pay for that and that will pay for a jug of milk or a whole other meal that I can freeze so it isn't realistic. Sure we drink alcohol (on New Years) but that is about it. We don't have it every day for dinner. If your family gets food stamps there really is no need for your children to go hungry.

We have been in a tight spot before though. We only utilized it once, on that occasion we went to Salvation Army. We were so grateful for the amounts of baby food they gave us. We pawned a wedding ring to have baby formula while we waited to get WIC for the baby. We never saw the ring again but my child is happy and healthy and never knew hunger. We did all we could to make sure he would be healthy. There is nothing more stressful than not knowing if your child will have food. We didn't have a food processor at the time either so I couldn't whip something up.

We have enough food to take us in to a second month always. My kids will not know what it's like to struggle like we did in the beginning.

Much of this will be soups or made in massive amounts and placed in a freezer. I don't add salt or butter in most of our food and since it's a rare purchase I didn't list it here.

My Habitat Home: My Tree Talks To Me

2010-11-06T16:51:00.000-07:00

My tree talks to me. No, I'm not loosing my mind or anything. My tree really does talk to me. Every year I find a baby mitten or stocking that goes on the tree. Every year I feel something in it and every year I look inside to find a message from a Christmas memory that I forgot.

Christmas 2006

"Uh-oh, uh-oh! Where'd my candy cane go; I don't think so!" My oldest was three at the time and I had moved the candy cane to the top of the tree.

December 2009

This is our first Christmas in our brand new home. I am so happy that the kids finally get a Christmas in a house. My sister-in-law said we need an ornament to commemorate the occasion. I don't agree.

Every year I pull out a stocking with a piece of paper. Every year I wonder, what is in that stocking? The memory hits me and it makes me smile.

Here I am writing. Preparing this for the stocking. I can't think of a better way to commemorate our home than words.

This was the first year we put lights outside our home. It's also the first year my kids had a dog. This year is so special. What more can I say? We worked so hard and we had our home just before the holiday.

It truly is a no fail system. I do reread what I put on my tree and it does make the years past an incredible memory.

My Habitat Home: One Of My Homes

2010-10-27T16:26:00.000-07:00

When I was a child we moved a lot. By the time I was eleven I hit home number three. It was by the time I hit home number three I discovered my home, West Virginia.

This is 53 acres of land. I did a lot of hiking and just being alone here. There is no place I'd rather be than here. This particular house had three rooms only. Two rooms to sleep in and one in which we had a stove. Don't expect to use the bathroom, there wasn't one. We had an outhouse and yet, I was happy.

My brother and I used to roll down this hill and laugh. On the other side of the hill we rode our bikes.

When rain came the creek in front of the house rose. It was a remarkable thing to see. In just a few short days the creek was inches from the house. This creek typically runs dry and only hold small fish called minnows and crayfish.

My mom once pulled the neighbor boy out of the creek when it was high.

After a few years of roughing it, my gram purchased a trailer and moved to West Virginia with us. Three bedrooms, a living room, bathroom, a place to do laundry, and later an extra room was built and an extra closet. We thought we were living it up.

This trailer still resides on the property and maybe one day I can go back home. Let me reiterate, this Habitat home we live in is for the kids. We did all that we did for the kids. This place you see is my place. It's an heir ship it belongs to the family now but one day I will go back home. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate all that the volunteers did. I've always maintained it's for the kids. I have so many fond memories of this place and our new home will never replace this home.

I once tried out for flag corps right in the front yard. I flipped the flag to what's called "around the world" brought it front and center, placed one hand near the bottom of the flag. The wind was blowing as I threw it in the air and I gave myself a black eye. How embarrassing to go to school and say my flag beat me up.

I did a few newscasts for my high school news channel right here in my yard. I never had a bad incident with my camera but I had a few lessons in lighting because of it.

There was a huge rock that I sat on that was near the creek while I would read books. I walked down the street boom box in hand head banging to Madonna, Def Leopard, or AC/DC. I was able to feel more like me here, than anywhere else in the world.

My Habitat Home: World Habitat Day

2010-10-04T04:03:00.000-07:00

My children and I have a decent place to live. There's a swing set in the back yard, their bedrooms have paint that isn't antique white. I wake up in the morning and no roaches run across my counter tops and no black mold is under my sink. Our toilet isn't going to fall through any time soon and our tub is one piece eliminating caulk and black mold. I haven't seen termites either or wasps either in my vents.

I don't take our current living conditions lightly. If it hadn't been for Habitat for Humanity, my family would not be in this nice home. It's small, but it's ours and it's safe. My kids are in a neighborhood where drug deals aren't the norm and paraphernalia isn't on the ground.

In ten days my family celebrates the first night we slept in the house. We weren't moved in yet, we just had beds and that was enough. My husband and I laid down on our brand new carpet, I'd never had brand new carpet before, and just touched it. To finally be done with classes, workshops and the actual building of the home was a huge deal. It's easy to say that I spent those few days before our dedication feeling all of the emotions that most feel the day of dedication.

In honor of world Habitat Day I'm going to try and hit all of the points I can so you understand how important a program like Habitat for Humanity is.

Health and Housing

I don't need a study to tell you what our doctor visits have been. In the apartment we spent a great deal of time at doctor offices over my kids being ill. Last winter, nothing. We did not see one doctor last winter. What this means to you... My children are on a medical card, state assisted medical care, because we are low income. This means less of your tax dollars went to support our children.

"A safe and secure home provides more than just shelter from nature’s harshest elements. It is also a protection against disease—not only for the homeowner family, but also for the community. Advances in the prevention of disease and disability have for years been linked to better housing. Public health advocates understand, as Florence Nightingale, founder of modern nursing, concluded more than a century ago, that “the connection between the health and the dwelling of the population is one of the most important that exists.”

Neighborhood Revitalization

I will be the first to tell you, my neighborhood was nice before Habitat for Humanity began building here. There are some places in the world that can really stand revitalization that Habitat provides.

"Habitat for Humanity is excited about the opportunity to serve and partner with the federal government in stabilizing neighborhoods and communities across the country. With the financial support of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, Habitat brings the proven ability to fix homes, partner with qualified families and to mobilize volunteers. Habitat’s Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative will help turn neighborhoods around."

A few days ago, I saw a documentary called I am Because We Are about the children of Malawi. The poverty rate their is horribly high as well as orphaned children. Malaria rates are high as well as other health concerns Children younger than 5 living in Habitat for Humanity houses in Malawi showed a 44 percent reduction in malaria, respiratory or gastrointestinal diseases compared with children living in traditional houses.

The number of low-income families who lack safe and affordable housing is related to the number of children who suffer from asthma, viral infections, anemia, stunted growth and other health problems. About 21,000 children have stunted growth attributable to the lack of stable housing; 10,000 children between the ages of 4 and 9 are hospitalized for asthma attacks each year because of cockroach infestation at home; and more than 180 children die each year in house fires attributable to faulty heating and electrical equipment. (Sandel, et al: 1999)

Children in poor housing have increased risk of viral or bacterial infections and a greater chance of suffering mental health and behavioral problems. (Harker: 2006)

Housing deprivation leads to an average of 25 percent greater risk of disability or severe ill health across a person’s life span. Those who suffer housing deprivation as children are more likely to suffer ill health in adulthood, even if they live in non-deprived conditions later in life. (Marsh, et al.: 2000)

Housing has a positive impact on children

Children of homeowners are more likely to stay in school (by 7 to 9 percent), and daughters of homeowners are less likely to have children by age 18 (by 2 to 4 percent). (Green and White: 1996)
Owning a home leads to a higher-quality home environment, improved test scores in children (9 percent in math and 7 percent in reading), and reduced behavioral problems (by 3 percent). (Haurin, Parcel, and Haurin: 2002)
Children who live in poor housing have lower educational attainment and a greater likelihood of being impoverished and unemployed as adults. (Harker: 2006)

Housing strengthens communities

Homeowners are more likely to know their U.S. representative (by 10 percent) and school board head by name (by 9 percent), and are more likely to vote in local elections (by 15 percent) and work to solve local problems (by 6 percent). (DiPasquale and Glaeser: 1998)
Homeowners are more likely to be satisfied with their homes and neighborhoods, and are more likely to volunteer in civic and political activities. (Rohe, Van Zandt, and McCarthy: 2000)
Resident ownership is strongly related to better building security and quality, and to lower levels of crime. (Saegert and Winkel: 1998)

My own children are homeschooled. For me, it's not a matter of religious beliefs but a matter of previous health concerns and I've always wondered if those concerns of mine were due to the housing we had. I can't change what was in the past but I can change the future. I knew the places we lived couldn't possibly be good for my family.

What You Can Do

You can write your elected officials in support of Habitat for Humanity.
Volunteer your time. You have no idea how grateful a future home owner will be.
Donate Money. To build a home it takes money. It's true that the future home owner does pay a mortgage. The money you donate would go in to the initial cost of the build.
Clean out your house. Donate your appliances, furniture, and some odds and ends to your local Habitat ReStore.

In my state things are looking up Governor Joe Manchin now recognizes World Habitat Day!

My Habitat Home: A Year Ago

2010-09-16T06:44:00.000-07:00

A year ago we were in this process of building our home. We were questioning the project manager at our home site if he knew when it would be done. We probably annoyed him quite a bit. At about this point our home had walls and a roof. There were days I sat in the bones of our home in wonder. All of the joy and happiness I felt was spent on the days we were building our home. By the time dedication day came, I didn't cry all of that emotion had been spent during the build.

I knew it would be soon and it was beginning to get stressful because of the anticipation I felt and the anticipation my husband felt. It was so difficult to wait through that last month. My husband and I were experiencing issues with our son at school which was an ongoing thing since his kindergarten years. It added to our stress. We made the decision to homeschool him. It wasn't an easy decision. I wanted to go back to work when our youngest was old enough to go to school. It wasn't a decision we took lightly and since we lived in the projects, it wasn't a popular decision either.

The last of our packing for the move was happening. I threw a whole lot of DVD's away. I saw creepy crawlies in the cases and I wasn't dealing with the problem. My husband did some research and found a chemical that stunts growth for the creepy crawlies and kept them from reproducing. He purchased it and we used it after all our things were in the house.

We were also days away from an apartment inspection from the housing authority. I have three kids who chop paper and make mess all hours of the day. A visit from them means every single bit of scrap needs to be picked up. It's funny they require immaculate housing but when you tell them certain tasks need to be done, they look at you like you're crazy.

There were nights I would have nightmares in which the kids would wake and I'm still sleeping and they would cut paper, scatter clothes, and create mayhem and then the maintenance men would come and evict us. I woke up screaming from one such dream. I cleaned all the time but anything I did just never seemed to work.

Here we are, if my kids are making mess, I no longer stress out about it. I can clean it by the evening and we can't get kicked out for it. Usually, it gets cleaned before that but the point is, I don't have to worry about it any more.

We have not seen a drug deal in a year. Which means my youngest doesn't need the just say no conversation yet. There are no hypodermic needles or crack pipes in our back yard. Yippee! Not a health hazard to my kids!

We've placed a swing set in our back yard, told you I would. I feel that, for kids, a swing set is just as detrimental as the house. I recall being a kid and being able to go in my back yard barefoot being able to play on my swing. I wanted to give that to my kids. My husband didn't understand where I was coming from. He never had the swing set and he insisted they didn't need it, I won that argument.

As I write this, I am sitting in my house that needs to be cleaned. Morning dishes need to be washed, scraps of paper need to be picked up, clothes need to be washed, kids rooms picked up and I'm not stressed about it. I would only be cleaning for my kids and not people who barge in without setting an appointment.

If I had to irritate my husband to do it all again, I would. I had been at him to consider it six years before. We did not meet income guidelines at that point. I assumed one day we would and I was right. It took me threatening to make him go take out a loan at a bank, which I knew we couldn't afford with the interest rates they tack on. I knew my husband would understand that too. He did not do Habitat with a smile at first. He didn't have a smile until the house was signed over.

.He didn't even believe we would have a home. He's not a very trusting individual. I had already volunteered with Habitat years before I met my husband and I knew what it was about. I always trusted in the final outcome.

Through the process my husband continued to say he'd rather live in an apartment because things are taken care of for you. I asked him when were things taken care of. Our apartment should not be in the condition it's in and he had nothing to say.

A few weeks ago, my husband came home from work. He sat down, there were no kids surrounding our front door except our own, there was no riffraff outside. Just the birds and the nature that surrounds us. He told me that he's happy I forced him to do Habitat. He doesn't feel as stressed as he did and the mortgage and bills combined are only a hundred dollars more than we were paying at the apartment. So, there you have it. It took nearly a year, but Habitat did make a difference for my husband. For me, it took the foundation going in.

My Habitat Home: Oh, Boy!

2010-09-03T13:45:00.000-07:00

We just received a letter reiterating the neighbor relations class, our last class. Apparently, Habitat has gotten letters from someone who states "The end of _____ use to be a nice quiet neighborhood, now there's kids everywhere at all hours of the night hanging out in the street cussing and carrying on." It goes on to mention adults behaving in such a manner and then it goes on to being derogatory toward those who are low income.

Firstly, we are the end of the drive. My own kids are in the house by 6:00 P.M. and not in the street but in their back yard. My own kids do not cuss or carry on unless you count catching butterflies. I may sit out to watch stars at night but that is it. I do not, nor does my husband hang out to argue we have better things to do with our time.

I have no clue who it is making us all look bad. My next door neighbor is older and lives alone. If it's traveling down the hill, older kids? I just don't know. If it was that bad here, I would do the same. I would call the police.

I sure hope whoever it is begins to understand they would get called out. For me, I personally think the letter is embarrassing because it looks bad on my family even though it isn't my family. I think what really is bad is now everyone with kids is going to wonder, 'Is it you?'

Maybe if the author of the letter stated to Habitat who specifically it is instead of sending an accusative letter to all it would be much more effective. There's really no telling if it's legitimate since it's accusing all who live here and it should not have arrived in my box. I tend to question the validity of things like this if my family isn't out all night. I don't question Habitat receiving it. I question it because it's general to us all and accusing us all mostly because I blog and studied journalism and like any blogger or journalist I require evidence.

My Habitat Home: Picking Flowers

2010-08-17T16:38:00.000-07:00

I've had a few visitors to my garden lately. They're vegetarians and have a thing for my pretty roses.

I got a shot of them after they went through my yard. My first flowers I had the deer ate so this promted me to pick some flowers so I can enjoy them a while.

I will admit I need to do some yard work really bad. At least I do have flowers though.

Voila! My very first home grown bouquet!

My Habitat Home: Busy Day

2010-07-03T19:47:00.000-07:00

Today has been incredibly busy. I have a new neighbor so I dropped in quickly to wish her well and walked back home. Today was the last day for our furniture and now my home is fully furnished. Here is the last bit of furniture pictures.

This is my daughter's room she was so excited to have her room officially finished and so was I.

I spent the rest of my day putting clothes away.

My Habitat Home: Chaising The Day Away

2010-05-22T14:17:00.000-07:00

Those of you who follow this blog, follow me, or personally know me know that we have been sleep bagging it since the day we moved in. I admit, it's been rough. It was important we get rid of some of the creepy crawlies we had. We threw out couches and beds like crazy. There are still pieces missing. My bedroom will have a canopy and two dressers and my daughter's has a dresser and hutch.

My husband and I woke up this morning to place my mom's dining room chairs and my mom's bunk bed beds under the house. We knew the delivery would be between 9:00 am and 12:00 pm. The delivery men called and said we are on the way! After months of sitting on the floor you can imagine my excitement.

Cat's out of the bag. This furniture truck came from my husband's work place. As you can see there are cars all the way down the street. Those are all Habitat for Humanity volunteers.

This is my bedroom. The chandelier lamp didn't come with it. It's just one piece I refused to toss when we moved.

Having storage is important to me. The boys have shelving in their bunk bed, the lower bunk rolls out, and the chests have bookshelves.

The bench and the chairs are for our dining room. This was all that we had on this trip. They had our chaise and couch at the warehouse still yet. I expressed concern because my husband's mom was going to be visiting and she needs something to sit on.

They left and decided to come back with our couch and chaise.

We left to get our car checked out and get a bed pad for the baby. We decided to get a table for the little nook in between the chaise and wall.

And here is the first movie we are viewing while sitting in our furniture. Can you guess what it is?

My Habitat Home: Every Little Thing's Gonna Be Alright

2010-05-18T16:48:00.000-07:00

I previously thought my hydrangeas were done for. I didn't think anything would grow in my front yard to be honest. When views that are pessimistic enter my mind I don't usually express it. So, here it is my garden is not only thriving, it's blooming! I have shasta daisies, roses, snow in the summer, mums, and my hydrangeas are going to make it! I did have three hydrangeas only two made it. I've been killing grass like crazy and putting dirt that is better quality down and doing some mixing in. I haven't done any mulching yet and most of the flowers I purchased were to take over the front yard. I don't want to mow the front yard at all. It's nothing but hill. So, here is part of my front yard!

My Habitat Home: A Room For My Sleeping Beauty

2010-04-25T02:01:00.000-07:00

My little girl's room is all pink and has a castle chalk board which I did free hand.

The entire room is covered in vines just like Sleeping Beauty's castle. The room also has butterflies every where.

I have an imitation rose vine hanging from her curtain rod. The curtains are handmade and they have butterflies and dragonflies.

This is the dresser I was painting when we lived in the apartment. It was purchased second hand for $25 and it's all wood.

My Habitat Home: Now

2010-04-24T13:36:00.000-07:00

I thought I would show off the boy's bedroom. There is no bed yet we are all still sleep bagging it. I've taken the artistic license not to show you the floor. As you can see I went on an outer space theme. The stars are glow in the dark and I still have some glow in the dark planets to put up. The ceiling fan someone gave to us free because they knew we were doing a space theme and their kid was off to college. The rocket ship chalk board I painted with chalk board paint and the wall, ironically are called "deep space."

The decorative glass pieces sit in my dining room. They're from Melinda. I love them! They're unique, I don't think I've seen anything quite like it before.

Stay tuned for pics on my daughter's room!

My Habitat Home: Gettin' My Hands Dirty

2010-04-07T18:52:00.000-07:00

I've started my garden. I have a whole lot of grass to kill and very little time to do it in. I am now working on amending my soil with lime and starter soil. All I have in my yard that's healthy is potassium and lots of it. I have tons of flowers and seeds to plant. I have all perennials. I didn't want to waste my time on something I won't see next year at least until I have some constants going on.

I have a little over 100 flowers from Michigan Bulb Company. I have tomato seeds from a tomato we didn't eat, cantaloupe seeds (I might wait to plant those until next year), I have sunflower seeds, pumpkin, eggplant, zucchini, and carrots that came with garden kits for the kids. I have well over 2,000 Shasta daisy seeds, over 9,000 creeping thyme seeds, and over 8,000 sweet alyssum seeds from cheapseeds.com . The link is in me side bar. Any one who has purchased seeds before knows how expensive just a few can be, I spent a little over $10.00 for those seeds.

My rain barrel came and I set that up this evening. I hear we are supposed to get rain tomorrow so we will see how much water we get. My front yard is what I am working on and it is huge. I started using roundup to kill my grass. It's a shame it's growing so well in the front. I hope that's a sign of things to come. I saw a few wild rose bushes. I want to keep them so once I have space I will be doing some transplanting.

I'm really happy with my purchases and such. I hope my garden grows fast

My Habitat Home: Give Away Hint

2010-03-27T17:34:00.000-07:00

On my other blog I announced a give away and I promised a hint as to what it may be.

When I was a kid I worked in the kitchen with my grandma. She would can her garden fruits and veggies in a pressure canner and make cornbread in an iron skillet. I miss her cornbread. As an adult that is one thing I have never made.

Here is a little recipe for you.

2 cups cornmeal
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar, or as desired
1 1/2 cups milk
2 large eggs
5 tablespoons butter, melted

Grease a 9-inch square baking pan. Heat oven to 400°. In a large bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
In another bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, and butter. Combine the two mixtures and stir until blended. Spoon into the prepared pan. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center.

I bake a lot of cakes and have a lot of cake pans. I will probably never use a baking pan for cornbread. I, personally, would use my iron skillets. An iron skillet makes so much sense. If you have an iron deficiency you just cook it in to your food and voila! I do own stainless steel skillets but they are junk in comparison.

My Habitat Home: Hydrangeas In, The Wait Begins

2010-03-15T05:47:00.000-07:00

I've planted my hydrangeas. They're too close together but I will transplant them when I get my yard a little more garden friendly. My yard is red clay mud. I've been digging and all I get are clumps. It doesn't make for good gardening. I'm going to have to get six bags of gypsum lime and 12 to 15 bags of compost. I pretty much expected this. The first year my gram planted anything in West Virginia it just died. She had to make it the right consistency for the plants.

Anyhow, back to those hydrangeas, I went and made some garden glop for the hydrangeas. The glop consists of everything we've thrown out for the last few days except for tomato and citrus products. Tomato and tobacco are closely related they are member of the nightshade family, which means they are toxic to my little flowers. In this glop I had milk, kidney beans, oatmeal, newspaper, and eggshell carton. If all goes well my hydrangea will take a few years to grow approximately five feet.

Milk helps ward against fungus. I think the next time I'll just apply powdered milk to my garden since it has the same nutrients as a carton of milk and it's cheaper. The oatmeal helps root growth. The newspaper was to help break up the soil.

My hydrangeas are just babies right now. I'm hoping that my soil in it's current condition doesn't kill them. I planted them in between rains because we don't have much of anything at the moment. However, I did just purchase some hand tools, a shovel, a garden rake. and some clippers. I'll have to borrow my mom's rototiller to mix it all in.

My Habitat Home: Paying It Forward

2010-03-08T13:09:00.000-08:00

Being a former member of non-profit City Year, it's just stuck there to pay it forward. I've signed on to be a family advocate. What they do is support the family who is working on getting a home. I don't know much about it right now but I know what a family should expect from me, support. Being on the side waiting to get a home is tough and support is pretty hard to come by (speaking from experience here.) My own family was determined to meet the end outcome, regardless of whoever our advocate was, but for some families that may not be so easy.

My Habitat Home: I Want A Composter!

2010-03-04T03:43:00.000-08:00

I've discussed how much I want to garden, bet you didn't know that I want a compost bin too. I'm pretty much environment friendly. I think that comes from my gram partially. I save everything I can: newspaper, plastic containers from my yogurt, peanut butter jars this list could go on and on. You must be thinking 'What's she going to do with all this stuff?'

Things like the peanut butter jars hold my craft supplies some of which are recyclables that won't make it to a landfill. I collect the rings from milk jugs. You must be thinking it's an odd thing to collect but if you crochet they make for awesome support for Christmas wreaths.

Giant economy sized glass jars became the containers for sugar, flour, brown sugar, powdered sugar, and cake decorating supplies.

It's only natural that I would want to compost my table scraps. My husband doesn't know yet. I'm sure he'll argue, fuss, and fight over keeping table scraps. I never said we would keep it in the house. That's just gross.

I have $500 to spend on the yard this year and I want flowers badly. Composting would eventually pay off (I wouldn't have to purchase good dirt for our red clay mud.) A composter could realistically cost $200, that's just way too much money. I found a much cheaper solution on The Happy Housewife Blog. If you're in to a quick and cheap fix it's worth a look.

Water conservation means a great deal to me as well. A rain barrel could cost another $200 and I still want my flowers so, I found another cheap fix for that right from North Carolina. Here's a list of of things that can go in the compost bin . The list mentions urine, I am not peeing in my compost and if I see the boys in my family do so I will dump the compost on them. YUCK!

My Habitat Home: Property Value For A Non- Habitat Family

2010-03-01T05:14:00.000-08:00

This is my house. The finger in the picture doesn't come with the house. Nice house huh? My home is valued at $120,000. Once my mortgage is paid off completely if I made no improvements on my home I could realistically get $120,000. I am no different from any other neighbor you have. It's not like you are able to background check all your neighbors. The difference between me and the guy that isn't a Habitat home owner is that you know my income bracket. You know that Habitat deals with poverty housing so the families will be in poverty. That doesn't mean that we think poverty. My husband and I do not do drugs. Sure, we could completely trash our yard decreasing your property value, but so can the guy who got a loan through a bank. We aren't renters. We have a mortgage that is due every month. My mortgage payment is to Habitat for Humanity in my region and 90% stays in my region and 10% goes to International. Some of my house payment went to Haiti and some goes to Chilie.

Your job as my neighbor is to get to know me. Don't pass judgment because you think we have a certain mindset. I want a garden and I want to make improvements on my home. I run off to my neighbors yard when my doggie runs away and poos in the yard. You heard right, I clean up after my creatures. I bake cakes for my neighbors and give them as gifts. Bottom line, I am no different than any other neighbor you have. Sure there are nightmare stories about Habitat families. I can bet you there are nightmare stories about non-Habitat families too. I can guarantee you that I know a lot more about my home than someone who got a bank loan.

I had to work on my own home. We would not have been allowed to have our home had we not agreed to help Habitat build our home. Here is my question to you, a non-Habitat neighbor, are you going to decrease my property value? You feel kind of insulted don't you? For you to decrease the property value of my brand new home you would have to trash your yard and not maintain your home.

Try getting to know your neighbors. You have to rely on them and they need to rely on you to maintain our property. Me, joining your neighborhood, is a business deal. You need to rely on me to keep my home pretty. I need to rely on you to keep your home pretty. You treating your home poorly can kill my own property value. I don't want that and I might end up asking if you need help if it gets too bad, unless you're a creepy neighbor (the kind that I wouldn't trust with my children, animals, and illegal substances there may be some other things to add to that list).

Bottom line: I am no different than any other neighbor you will ever have.

My Habitat Home: Gathering Tomato Seeds

2010-02-28T06:47:00.000-08:00

My family has always purchased seeds. We've had gardens through most of my childhood. I don't know if it's because the know how isn't there or what but I do want to start gardening eventually with out purchasing seeds.

I can tell you that home grown tastes so much better than the stuff from a grocery store. There is a freshness about it that you can't get unless you go to a market to support your local farmers.

The first thing you need to do is find a tomato that you really enjoy. Cut the tomato in half and scoop the seeds out with a spoon. You'll notice that the seeds are covered in a film. You want to get rid of that. The seeds won't grow with the film around them.

Put the seeds in a clean container with a few tablespoons of water. Put plastic wrap over the container and poke a hole in the wrap to allow ventilation. The idea is to create fermentation and to kill the diseases of the previous tomato plant. Place the seeds in the window sill or on top of the fridge.

For three days remove the top and stir your seeds. Make sure you replace the top and put that hole in the top of the plastic wrap for each day. When the three days are up the goo will have separated from the seeds remove as much of the goo as you can with a spoon then, they are ready to be drained in a cheese cloth or strainer. Make sure you are rinsing them off with water to remove any of the excess goo. Take a paper towel and pat the seeds dry and then lay them out on another paper towel to dry. This will take a week to a week and a half if it's rainy outside.

Place the seeds in an envelope and label them and then you will be good to go for the planting season.

My Habitat Home: Can I Rent My Home Out?

2010-02-21T14:30:00.000-08:00

As a home owner through Habitat for Humanity I can not rent my home out while I still have a mortgage out on my home. When my mortgage is paid off in 25 years then that's fine. While that mortgage is still there the answer is no, not going to happen. Your home can be foreclosed on for that reason.

Can Habitat do that legally? Absolutely. At the end of the journey you go to the lawyers office and this is one of the things that is talked about.

Habitat built the house for you and no one else. To use the house in an opportunistic manner takes your right to the house away. I know that to some that may not seem right. Habitat builds for needy families living in substandard conditions, not for renters.

You are in a binding contract with Habitat to remain in that home until it is paid for. However, if something happens like the home owner passes away the house become an heir ship if there is no will. If you have a will it goes to who ever is on your will. Keep in mind how much you still owe on it and if the care and upkeep of the home can be realistically met.

My Habitat Home: My Soft Loan

2010-02-19T12:35:00.000-08:00

Habitat for Humanity has an extra clause on our loan. They tell you that you owe $67,000 in our case and they tack on an extra loan which makes our home $88,000. The extra $21,000 doesn't really exist. When we pay our own mortgage we see the amount decrease a few extra dollars that we didn't pay. It's called a soft loan. It was put in to place because a family took out a mortgage on their Habitat home and Habitat had to foreclose on the home and the lender tried to take the home.

It protects not just you but Habitat as well. This is a home that Habitat built with you. If you loose the home they want to ensure that it can go to another low income family. Since you have this second mortgage out on your home it is unlikely that another mortgage company will want to give you a mortgage.

I am going to be frank here, the economy is so bad now because of the predatory lending in this country. I have heard so many stories of a mortgage out on a home and the home gets taken away from them. As a Habitat partner family we have a responsibility to learn about how we spend money. A mortgage on our home would be a bad idea. If we want to remodel we save up and purchase a little at a time or when we get income taxes.

The only money Habitat wants is the cost of materials and the labor that was contracted out. A good portion of the home is volunteer work had it all been contracted out it would be double that. The money you give as your mortgage goes back to another family. As a non-profit Habitat has to do something with all that money. Only a small percentage goes to staff. Charity Navigator gives Habitat a four star rating and Charity Navigator would be where you should go to check out any non-profit. A four star rating means " Exceeds industry standards and outperforms most charities in its Cause."

When you pay the $67,000 that soft loan is gone. With us, we pay online, we put down our $287 and it says we paid one or two dollars more than we did. The soft loan disappears without you noticing it too much.

I, personally, don't mind the loan. I don't want a second mortgage from a bank on my home because that means I could loose my kid's home. When Habitat says tour payment is x amount the only changes in the amount you pay are your taxes and insurance. If it goes up because of taxes how it's then handled is they will tack on an extra one or two dollar amount and you pay that with your mortgage. They have created a savings account of sorts for you and it is taken care of with your mortgage.

Your home owners insurance is tacked on to your house payment we pay something like $25 a month. You need to state to the insurance people that your home is a Habitat home. It's your responsibility to find insurance once your home is built. They will not allow you to move in unless you have the insurance. Since you are the one doing the shopping for insurance you are able to get a good deal on your insurance and after the first year if you find a better deal you can change it.

The reselling of your home... If you haven't finished paying your loan to Habitat then Habitat has the first choice in the purchase of your home and you can't sell until it's paid off. If you have finished paying your home off it's yours and Habitat no longer has a say. The way it was explained to us, If you have made improvements on your home and have given a higher value to it, chances are that Habitat would not buy it from you at the cost it would now be worth. It is no longer suitable for a low income family because you have turned it into a middle class house. I'm all good with this I spent a whole lot of hours hammering my home, I'm rather attached and I am going no where.

Habitat can not resell your home at a higher cost than what you are putting in which is why they most likely won't buy your home off of you. Each Habitat site is run differently. Habitat for Humanity of Kanawha and Putnam Counties is not Habitat International. Though HFHKP would not exist if International didn't exist first.

Because we only pay the $287 a month, which includes tax and insurance, I'm pretty confident that we can uphold our part of the deal and pay the house off. If you have purchased your home this past year the home buyers tax credit worth $8,000 would go to you. We thought because we didn't pay in that much we wouldn't get that amount but we did.

"With a rent to own the contract combines a basic lease contract with an option to purchase contract, which creates a rent to own contract. The tenant/buyer pays to the landlord/seller a nonrefundable option deposit that is applied to the purchase price of the home. The tenant/buyer then pays to the landlord/seller rent to compensate the landlord/seller for the tenant/buyer's use of the property. Rent payments are usually made on a monthly basis. A portion of that monthly payment is often applied to the purchase price and/or the down payment of the home.During the term of the lease, but before the option expires, the tenant/buyer has exclusive right to buy the home under the terms to which both parties have previously agreed."

We don't have a rent to own contract. Habitat doesn't have a right on to our property unless we invite them. That is called trespassing. When we signed our contract the house was ours and our responsibility to pay for. After our year which our home is under warranty we will most likely only see Habitat when we volunteer. They can no longer barge in uninvited.

We didn't pay bills in the projects and now we do. In a rent to own that is something that may still be the responsibility of the landlord. Habitat does not pay our bills, we do. Habitat isn't responsible for the height of your grass, you are. In a rent to own that is still the landlord's responsibility. In some places the house can be taken away by the city for poor upkeep. In the case of a Habitat family member there is no landlord to mow your lawn.

Bottom line, you are responsible for your home once you sign those papers not Habitat. The fact that we pay less than we did for rent is a silly little detail.

Our home costs $67,000 but it's worth $134,000, that's what a bank would sell your home for then they would tack on an extra $6,600 if it's at a 4.99% APR.

Most of this will be discussed in a class that Habitat offers and they will give tons of material to mull over.

I hope this helps.

My Habitat Home: Late Payment

2010-02-18T11:10:00.000-08:00

I have yet another question from a search so, I will answer this to the best of my ability. "Can habitat of humanity take my house just because im late on my payment?."

If you are going to be late please, please, please inform your regional office before it happens. They will try to work something out with you. You formed a partnership with Habitat for Humanity. The home was built for you and they don't want to take it away. If your regional office has a financial adviser then ask for someone who helps budget. Habitat for Humanity has a ton of people that work for them and if you loose your home that puts you back in the project or where ever you came from.

Your home can be foreclosed. The only difference between you and someone that goes through a bank is the fact that you have no interest rate. We have gotten so good with our payments and I will tell you this house payment comes first. What's the worst that can happen if you miss an electric bill? They shut off the electric right? You are low income go to your local DHHR to handle that. House payment and refuse, are in my book, the two most important things to handle because you don't want to lower your neighbor's property value.

"The mortgage payments the first few years are like a rent-to-own contract, with the money going towards the construction of future homes. The owner of the new home also makes an agreement with Habitat that if they want to sell their home before the mortgage is paid, they will sell it to the organization for no more than what it cost to build. This also helps to prevent a Habitat for Humanity Mortgage Foreclosure."

Which means if you let Habitat know now it might not count against your credit.

My Habitat Home: Is It Hard To Get A Habitat House?

2010-02-14T11:59:00.000-08:00

Someone found this blog by searching "Is it hard to get a Habitat house?" I am going to give an answer to that question. If you are just showing up here and have never been to this blog then you probably have no clue what you're really getting in to.

Habitat for Humanity has rules and stipulations that they abide by. They aren't going to build you a house just because you're poor. First, let's look at their mission statement "Habitat for Humanity works in partnership with God and people everywhere, from all walks of life, to develop communities with people in need by building and renovating houses so that there are decent houses in decent communities in which every person can experience God's love and can live and grow into all that God intends."

They will accept applicants based on the living conditions in which one resides. If 20 people apply for a Habitat home in your region and they can only build seven only seven will be approved. Why is this important to a prospective Habitat homeowner? You can't pretend about your living condition. They have volunteers to inspect your home. If you get to the third home interview you are pretty likely to get it, at least that's how it works in my region. If there is someone on the list that is in a far worse living condition than you, keep in mind that you may not get approved.

When you are approved your status with Habitat has changed, you become a partner with Habitat. As such you have responsibilities with Habitat to get your home. You need to fulfill all of your sweat equity hours, for my husband and I that was 250 hours combined. Once we hit 500 sweat equity hours we were given permission to go on a little break before our home was built. You have a monthly requirement of hours if you go below that, you can have extra hours deducted from you.

You need to attend workshops and home ownership classes. If you miss one you need to make it up. It is a huge responsibility. We have been in our home for five months now and this responsibility was one my husband and I would go to our roach filled apartment and complain about. We were missing out on going to the park with the kids and being with them. In the end it was always about them and what they deserve. They did not deserve roaches, termites, and black mold. They didn't put themselves there, we put them there. It was our responsibility that we undo the damage that we already caused by our irresponsible money habits.

Getting a Habitat home isn't easy, life happens. If someone dies in your family or your sick you still need to get those hours in. My husband and I did do sweat equity while we were sick and completely miserable. We have no regrets. This winter is the first winter in which no one in my family was sick.

A habitat home isn't free. This is a common misconception. We pay a mortgage that's interest free. We had a choice between a 20 year plan and a 25 year plan. We would have smaller payments if we chose the 25 year plan. Since we had no clue what our bills would run, we chose the 25 year plan.

We pay $288 a month on our mortgage. Because it's winter and we need to run heat our bills including the mortgage runs $100 more than the apartment. We paid $458 for the apartment.

It isn't easy but anything that's worth having is never easy.

My Habitat Home: Stretching That Dollar

2010-02-04T12:32:00.000-08:00

As previously mentioned, I like to shop for the entire month. I also like to stretch that dollar. I'm not saying that we only shop one time a month, there are certain perishables like milk that doesn't last. The things I purchase are things that will last for some time. I purchase canned foods like a maniac. I buy pepper stir-fry for chili. Ground turkey is cheaper than beef to make it taste like beef I put two beef bullion cubes in it and season as I would the beef. We don't purchase seafood. I am highly allergic to it to the point where the odor could potentially send me to the hospital.

Have you ever made a pot of something, placed it in the fridge and then it went bad? Feed your family the evenings meal, let it cool down some, and then put the meal in freezer bags and freeze. At this moment I have chicken noodle soup, chili, and beef stew in my freezer and my monthly shopping trip doesn't start until Sunday. Since we are low income and have food stamps this also gives me the opportunity to save for certain birthdays and holidays like Easter. Pretty good for $450 a month huh?

Where do we shop in order to handle such a small amount of money? Everywhere. Let's say Aldi's has milk for $1.89 , Kroger has it for $2.59, and Wal-Mart isn't much better. I would go for the Aldi's price. It doesn't have to be brand name. Milk all tastes the same especially if you drink skim as we do. Speaking of which skim is cheaper than 2% or whole milk minus the fat but with all the calcium. We shop for the cheapest price.

My husband and I have started to collect coupons as well. I'm trying to get him to hit up the sales with these coupons and since we only have one car I can't do it. I'm finding that getting him to the store when I want him to go is nearly impossible. We could have had toothpaste for $0.67 if he had gone when I first mentioned it and it was brand name.

Other things that can help you save a quarter or two are sites that automatically place the coupons on your store card like Shortcuts.com. My husband had no clue that I had filed our Kroger card on this site. It sends you a thing stating which coupon you used and for what item right to your email. There are several stores registered with this site it's worth it to just take a peek. If you have a CVS membership card you can do the same here. I've let my card go so I can't tell you how this works. Just know that any of the store cards you have may have the same system just Google their site and dig around a bit.

My Habitat Home: Miracle Sponge? Not!

2010-02-03T09:06:00.000-08:00

I have three children. It's no surprise that my kids would think themselves young a Picasso. I've seen "The Harlequin" all over my daughter's room and we haven't even had our home for a year. Colored chalk leaves a residue behind on your paint. I tried bleach, dish soap, and laundry detergent. None of those things worked effectively. In fact, even with good old fashioned elbow grease, the residue was still there.

I, then, used one of those miracle sponges. It worked! It was coming up! It's still taking that elbow grease I mentioned previously but as opposed to not working before... Here is the issue with the miracle sponge. It falls apart so quickly and since the kids placed art all over the room it would not do at all. I'm sure this product was invented to make you purchase more. In the long run it isn't a cheap fix at all.

I posed a question to my Facebook friends. "What can I use to clean sidewalk chalk from a wall?" I had a few interesting answers like sugar soap, which I had never heard of, and eucalyptus. Unless for a floral arrangement, eucalyptus is hard to get in the states. I'm assuming she meant fresh eucalyptus. One answer stood out though, baking soda. I placed some in a bowl with some water and used my sponge that has a green abrasive side and voila! It worked! In fact, I daresay, that must be what my miracle sponge is made of.

I added dish detergent to the solution and it did even better. Still need the elbow grease but it is coming up and my sponge isn't shrinking or tearing apart every five seconds. It worked on the pencil they left on the wall too. I think I have the secret ingredient in those sponges and baking soda is it.

My Habitat Home: Magic Awaits

2010-01-27T09:56:00.000-08:00

I sent in an order for three hydrangeas. They're to arrive at the beginning of spring and the plants do well in shade but not heavy shade. I won't be pruning the hydrangea I want it to reach it's full size. I will be planting away from the house. When a hydrangea reaches a large size it's roots are woody much like a rose, not good for a foundation of a home.

I expect my plants to reach four feet around and four feet tall. When my pot arrives I need to plant it the depth of the pot. You're supposed to plant in early summer or late fall. Mine will be a little before summer. When planting in West Virginia over watering needs to be thought about. Clay holds water and I don't want to rot out my plants roots.

I will need fertilizer about 1/4 th of a cup around the base. One to two cups of fertilizer for a large plant. I'll need compost and mulch around my plant. I would like to use coco mulch but that may not be possible. There is a chemical in coco mulch that's bad for dogs , especially small ones. In this neighborhood we all have small dogs. A little social responsibility is going to come in to play here.

I'm a little bummed but at least I can still plant my flowers.

My Habitat Home: The Weather Outside Is Frightful

2010-01-09T07:00:00.000-08:00

Most of the country is covered in cold weather and snow. My home is set at a constant 73 degrees. Inside my home it is so incredibly warm. I kick the blankets off at night because I get too warm. In the apartment we had the heat all the way up and it never got warm. Even wearing a sweat shirt and jogging pants you would stay cold.

I am grateful for what we have, but I feel horrible for who ever lives there now. It was real drafty in that apartment and there were so many allergens that we were always sick. This is the first December that I haven't taken a child to the doctors since we moved in to that apartment.

The kids that were in our complex were getting asthma, roaches and black mold cause asthma. The doctors were always asking if we smoked and if we had asthma. We don't smoke.

I will tell you from first hand experience that when you're a kid you get sick all the time from the smoker in your family. Bronchitis was horrible. It made my lungs hurt. I tried so hard to make perfect attendance that year and good grades. It just wasn't possible. My mom must have been terrified. The doctors told my mom had she waited any longer to take me to the doctors it would have been pneumonia. All my dreams of good grades and perfect attendance went down the toilet and I gave up.

Anyhow, we have a winter wonderland outside and I haven't seen anything like it since I was a child. My own kids have their first real snow in their brand new home. They had an opportunity to sled in snow and roll around in it. They have not had that chance before.

All of the bills and house payment costs more than the apartment did by about $100. I'm sure most of that is because of heating though. We pay a water bill and a sewage bill. I think if I can find a way to reuse the gray water that will cut cost drastically especially since that's water we could use for the flower gardens. If you're unfamiliar with what gray water is that is water that comes from your washer, tub, and sinks not your toilet. It does seem though that I will have to see what is allowed in my state. Rainbuckets would be another thing that would save us on water cost and that edible garden will most likely go in next year.

I've been trying to use coupons buy since I'm a store hopper and we live on a hill this has proven to be somewhat of a challenge because of the snow. We don't have a four wheel drive just a cute little car. I do have to get caught up on my shopping. I threw almost everything we had out. Lost of soups happening this month because they save time and money especially if you freeze for another day.

My Habitat Home: Garden Planning

2010-01-08T05:54:00.000-08:00

As I have mentioned before, I will be planning a garden. Ordered several free catalogs which the majority will remain nameless. A few have prices that are somewhat outrageous and the features of the magazine don't do it for me. I was really impresses with the Michigan Bulb Company.

They have three garden options that I want. The first is Promise Me a Rose Garden. My husband has been wanting roses and I have a thing for roses as well. What I like about this group of flowers is the fact that it offers three seperate climbing roses. I've always wanted a climbing rose. I won't be placing this in front of my home. The root system on a rose bush I equate with a tree. I don't want damage to come to my foundation so this will end up on the side of my home maybe.

I will be purchasing the Butterfly and Hummingbird Garden as well. I'm already in the woods and it's important to me to keep some of the nature that surrounds me.

I am also looking in to the Endless Bloom Perennial Garden. All of these flowers are perennials, meaning they all come back year after year. Annuals are pretty but I'm a little lazy. Once I plant something I don't want to replant it every year. I want to put it in and maintain it. I don't want to put it in and then put a new one in every year.

I will also need to purchase some garden tools. My list:
Wheelbarrow
edging shovel
rounded shovel
hoe
garden rake
clippers (for pruning)
3 sets of hand tools
miracle grow (my grandmother swore by this)
plant food
mulch
and if I can swing it a cement bench
deer repellent

Local garden expert, John Marra, suggests Liquid Fence, Deer Away, and Repellex but not on edible gardens for deer proofing. I won't be doing an edible garden this year so that won't be an issue.

My Habitat Home: Potential Donation

2010-01-07T11:11:00.000-08:00

I just completed an essay to have money donated to Habitat for Humanity of Kanawha and Putnam Counties. If you are a reader of this blog I invite you to do the same at Show Us Your Goodness.

Things you will need to know:

What Habitat for Humanity does is provide intrest free mortgage housing for those living in substandard conditions. Make sure you are writing in Habitat for Humanity of Kanawha and Putnam counties in Charleston, WV in the United States. The web address for Habitat for Humanity of Kanawha and Putnam counties is http://hfhkp.org/

My Habitat Home: You're Going To Have To Sell A Lot Of Lemonade

2010-01-05T07:08:00.000-08:00

I went to a workshop that taught finances way back when we were trying to fulfill our Habitat requirements. There was a mom there that was bragging about how much money she makes and how much she spends on her kids. I stated that I tell my own children "You are going to have to sell a lot of lemonade for that." The financial advisor said "What she is saying is no."

No, I am not telling my kids they can't have a cool electronic gadget or a brand name thing. I'm telling them to get a job. Since they are two, four, and six that's pretty unlikly unless they run a lemonade stand. When I tell my kids that they are going to have to sell a lot of lemonade that is exactly what I mean.

I think it's time especially for the oldest to learn about business and what it takes to run one. At the age of six my business was selling jelwery. My gram purchased earrings for $0.50 I sold them for $1.00. This is where you learn I also had $100 in my piggy bank. That is a whole lot of money for a six year old. I learned how to count money from this experience and I found, for the most part, adults didn't cheat kids unless the adults were related to you. Most adults helped with teaching counting.

I know you must be wondering what this is doing here on this blog about my home. I promised to build a lemonade stand once we had a home so, this is going to be a whole bunch of math lesson. This was something we couldn't do in the projects. I want my kids to understand you can't get something for nothing. Even if they were to recieve monetary assistance there is still work to be had.

Anyhow, I found this really cool site called Teaching Kids Business. My kids could do this just for themselves or for charity. I wil encourage donating a portion to charity. Sunkist has an awesome sight that encourages charity giving. Generally, after the cost of running it, lemonade etc, a church would ask for a 10% tithe so that would be the amount I am most likey to request each child donate.

The thing is to teach financial responsibility as well. After bills are paid you still need to learn about financial responsibility. I'll have to figure things out with food laws and things it may be that my kids can't do this in this state because some of the laws dealing with food are ridiculous. A little more research on this and we will see...

My Habitat Home: Finally, It's Over!

2010-01-02T19:41:00.000-08:00

As you may or may not know, we had our dedication on October 17th, 2009. On October 13th was our little girl's birthday. We knew we would have our home soon so we postponed her celebration for the following weekend. It took a week to make her cake.

Then, there was Halloween and we still hadn't fully unpacked. Thanksgiving was next and we still aren't organized. The Christmas tree had to go up the day after Thanksgiving. Because of the roaches at the apartment we didn't purchase Christmas presents until last minute and I had to go with my mom on different weekends to Christmas shop. Then on another weekend we went to see the Nutcracker.

Finally, Christmas came. That was another weekend and then, New Years. Our Christmas tree came down today and a sense of relief washes over me. It's all over. I thought it would be like the end of Miracle on 34th Street. The little girl gets her home at the end of the movie, complete magic.

I'm not complaining. I love our home and everything about it. I just feel completely pooped and the bunk bed still isn't up. It's not at all Miracle on 34th street. It's magic if there's less going on. I'm happy all the birthday, dedication, and holiday stuff is done. Ok so I still have my mom's birthday but I don't feel as pressured.

I'm used to something going on every month just the past few months have been a lot of pressure. Next weekend I have no plans. Just organize my home. I don't have to paint a bedroom either. I go have to do my monthly grocery shop though. I shop for the entire month. I don't like going to the store every week. I freeze food like crazy and figrue out how to make my dollar stretch.

My Habitat Home: Signing Away SBD

2009-12-18T05:54:00.000-08:00

We went to a lawyers office at the end of October I believe it was to do the closing on our house. I felt like we were signing our lives away. Since it was a weekday we had no one to send the kids to so we brought them. It was all very detailed and lengthy. I brought coloring books and things. It was all just too much.

Not that it was a big deal, you see, I fed my kids chili the night before. Kids don't seem to know how to control that function that holds things back. I began to sniff and I know my face must have turned red. Since we didn't purchase much food for the month , because of the move, chili was pretty much all we had.

In front of the lawyer I grabbed the baby and checked his butt. There was nothing there just stench. I didn't know what to do I just sat there like nothing was going on. In the beginning of the meeting they closed all the doors. You know what that means? No circulation of the air. I'm more than sure my kids were the cause of the depletion of the ozone.

About midway through I was hoping the lawyer would just say sign this, this, and this and you're on your way. No, he read every page and what it means. It was a pretty thick document. We sat in that office for 45 minutes with the doors closed. I would like to say I absorbed all of the information. I just couldn't I was way too distracted and embarrassed. I couldn't wait to leave my kids SBDed (silent but deadlied) all over the place.

Let this be a lesson, if you ever have to go some place like a lawyers office feed them salad.

My Habitat Home: Stop The Insanity!

2009-12-17T05:38:00.000-08:00

We moved in before Thanksgiving. We have been rushing to get everything else done. The gift buying, wrapping and Christmas decorating. I still haven't got everybody's things put up and I'm not in a rush to do so. This is our home. I don't have to worry about a maintenance man saying our home is a mess. Technically, it isn't a mess. There are mounds of clean clothes on the floor but nothing gross like food. Some of it is because I'm hiding gifts in my closet.

I have been running, doing holiday stuff every weekend since we moved in. I've yet to have a weekend to veg out and do nothing. I suppose I will wait patiently. Christmas is next week. That means I won't be doing cakes for a while that's not completely true. My mom's birthday is January 25th she turns 51. I'm going to be 36 this year. I can't believe my mom is 51! When she was 23 I thought she was ancient so it's only fitting I be shocked over her increasing age. I still see her as my 23 year old mom. I think that's because we grew up together.

I can't wait for a break. This year has been extra crazy for us. We did last minute shopping because of the creepy crawlies that were in the apartment. Since Habitat said we expect to begin around 18 months from our first day we knew we were going to wait for the shopping.

I begin shopping for next Christmas and the birthdays in January. It will be a relief to be done with it in June. This last minute stuff stresses me out. I never did last minute shopping until I met my husband and I hate it. I hate crawling on top of people, I hate the door busters, I hate people oh, my Godding because they don't have a neat, cool gadget. It makes no sense to me when someone is hurt because of all the craziness. When you die your Wii isn't going with you. I know that might shock someone. Reality check here! The bargin may be great but it isn't worth the loss of life and your kid would rather see you at home than behind bars.

I truly do love the season. I don't love the craziness associated with it.

My Habitat Home: Tax Time

2009-12-17T05:05:00.000-08:00

I know a lot of you are groaning over the title. This post is dedicated to first time home buyers even those of us who live in homes with a loan through Habitat for Humanity.

The Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009 gives a tax credit up to $8,000 for qualified first-time home buyers. It also authorized a tax credit of up to $6,500 for qualified repeat home buyers. This means that even if you live in a Habitat home it may be possible for that tax credit you're going to need to speak with your preparer or do a lot of research. I'm not qualified to advise just giving you something to check in to.

The credit applies to sales occurring on or after January 1, 2009 and on or before April 30, 2010. In cases where a binding sales contract is signed by April 30, 2010, a home purchase completed by June 30, 2010 will qualify.

Those who are building their home qualify as well. As long as you have those papers signed you qualify.

If you are a home buyer through Habitat for Humanity call your local Habitat office and ask questions.
You can find out more at Federal Housing Tax Credit

My Habitat Home: Living A Normal Life

2009-12-03T06:54:00.000-08:00

The first house that I remember living in had a condemned sign on it before I was born. I recall the house constantly getting fixed. It was not a pretty house and no one should have lived in it. I slept in the attic with my mom, two aunts, and two uncles. There was always a line to the bathroom first thing in the morning. You have no idea how torturous that was.

The house was in poor condition but it had a back yard. Igloos were built in that back yard. The condition of the house didn't matter as long as I could play. My fifth birthday happened in that house. I was such a mean child. I told another child that I didn't invite him. A little tip, bullies who say they don't remember being bullies lie a lot. I remember all the times I was mean to another person and I regret each one.

We moved to another house in better condition barely. The yard was huge! I climbed cherry trees and ate from the tree while in my princess dresses. We had a swing set and a garden for food and my grams flower garden. My brother and I played with Tonka Trucks on a huge pile of dirt. I can't recall how many mud pies were made in that yard.

The house was another fixer upper. My family was always fixing it up. The doggie fecal matter carpet was torn out and replaced. New flooring put in through the whole house and it all clashed. Nothing in the house really matched. My gram felt that since it's all flowers it matches any way.

We moved again. Our new home was in West Virginia. I never knew how attached I would get. I was a city girl. In a lot of ways I still am a city girl. I will never kill an animal to get meat or milk a cow. We did have two cows but they were more like really huge dogs. They were our pets. We had twenty-five chicken, all pets. We did eat the eggs from the chicken that was the only thing out of character for us.

All of our "pets" had names Buttercup, Pet Fur, White Cloud, Sugar Baby. We had built a barn to keep them warm during winter and a chicken coup to keep the chicken safe. Hay and cracked corn were stored in the barn.

Our home had three rooms. None of which had a kitchen or bathroom. We had drinking water from a spring on the hill. It was the best tasting water you could ever have far better than spring water from a store. We had an outhouse. The outhouse in particular was a challenge. We were city folk. I had never seen a toilet without a flusher before this point. I learned to be very cautious. It would not be cool to sit on the toilet and have a potentially poisonous snake bite your butt.

I went back and forth with the moving and what not. I lived in an apartment in Cleveland run by a man who did nothing to help with the issues that happened there. A few years after living there I met my husband. At the time I was in a sort of depression. The man living next door to me was not a nice man. I heard dogs slamming up against the walls and his music blared all the time. It led me to not care if my rent was late or even paid at all.

It led to eviction. I didn't really care. I hated living there. I hated the lack of privacy and the fact that my neighbor stabbed my brother in the arm and all the landlord did was collect money. The landlord seem to not care as long as he lined his pocket.

My husband and I moved in with my mom in West Virginia. Her home had bats, lots of them. Shortly after, I was pregnant with our first child. The town we were living in offered little in the way of employment so we chose to move to Charleston. Having no job puts you in the projects. We knew we could get money if we applied for fast food jobs. It wouldn't be a lot of money at least we wouldn't have to get a welfare check just food stamps.

Living in the projects was an eye opener. Every time there was a murder it was someone from our complex or involving our complex. I witnessed a police pepper spray on my apartment, it burns your eyes pretty bad by the way.   I witnessed a police raid, now, that was real fun (sarcastic.) A gun was pointed at my oldest when he was a baby and myself when I was pregnant with my second child. Turns out my neighbor was harboring a criminal who murdered a police officer.

At night there was a lady who would scream at night, "I'm proud to be a crack head!" It was then that I made my son a promise. "I don't know how baby, but we will get out some how."   I cried when my husband didn't see me because we brought our children into this. I began to badger my husband "We need to do something, we need to get our kids out."

I called Habitat for Humanity six years ago. We had the brochure and we were so poor we could not possibly afford a Habitat home and we did not live in Charleston long enough at that point. I kept that brochure all these years.   I began to bug my husband. "We need to do something..."

Eventually, my husband had a job that paid enough to get a home and he had been there for a year and we had lived in Charleston long enough. I brought Habitat for Humanity up once more. At this point my husband was tiered of hearing it. "I don't want charity!" "It's only charity if you get it for free. We are not getting anything for free."

We applied for Habitat for Humanity.   (link to the day before the application was placed).   We literally jumped through hoops to get approved.    We had an interview, a second interview, after fixing our credit finally approval.   I had forgotten that we got word the day before my birthday.

Here we are. We built homes that we will never live in. I even helped to build my next door neighbors house. Our dedication was October 17th. On October 15th we spent our first night home. The kids were in bed and my husband and I lay on the floor absorbing the peace and quiet. It was the first time in seven years we have had peace and quiet. I knew after the dedication I would work on painting my daughter and son's rooms. I finished that just days before Thanksgiving.

My daughter has a pretty pink room with vines just like Sleeping Beauty and a magnetic castle chalkboard. The boys have a blue room with stars and a magnetic chalkboard. It's the first time my kids have seen color. My kids are so happy here. They never want to go back, I never want to go back. Home is where your heart is and this id where my heart is.

My Habitat Home: True Love's First Kiss

2009-11-12T21:46:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned before this blog will go on. I've been a very busy girl. My little girl is the first to get a room makeover. She has a slight princess complex. So, what did I do? I gave her a sleeping beauty room. Her room is pink and is covered in hand painted vines. Boy am I pooped! I gave her a magnetic chalkboard, again, it's a Shirley original. I truly need a camera so you can see it. My husband was impressed by it and that is a big deal, he's so picky.

Next, I will be working on painting a planet themed room. After the boys have their room I won't be painting again until after Christmas. I'm so happy to be in our home and Thanksgiving hasn't even hit yet!

Speaking of being in our home, Janie James and her boys move in on the 21st. YAY! I'm so happy for her! I will be making her cupcakes with roses on top for her dedication. Congrats Janie!

My Habitat Home: Living In A Green House

2009-10-27T13:16:00.000-07:00

My home is a "green" home. This doesn't mean that the insulation is straw or any such thing but it is energy efficient. There is insulation in places that you wouldn't expect. During the build one of the things I noticed was a roll of styrofoam like insulation going around the frame of our home. This was to keep warm air in and cold air out.

Most of us who live in poverty housing live in horribly drafty homes and that leads to a lot of wasted energy. This includes government housing. The American government has issues way down on the bottom too.

Our crawl space has a pink styrofoam insulation. Cinder brick typically makes a room cold but not ours. Our crawlspace, even without heat, will remain a constant 65 degrees. It's controlled temperature just because of the styrofoam. It will also help to keep the house warm.

Habitat for Humanity has placed light bulbs in all of our rooms and they are all the spiral looking bulbs. These cause me a wee bit of concern though since they contain mercury and I have three very small children. If they are so "green" I also don't understand how I'm supposed to dispose of them. It can't be good for the landfills.

The outside of my home, under the siding, has insulation as well. Again, it's to protect from the outside air and maintain the temperature inside the home. All of my windows have insulation around them and are sealed. My doors that lead outside have insulation and in spots where it couldn't be tucked in an insulation spray was applied.

All of our appliances are electric. We do not have a single appliance run by gas, not even our heat. Simple, safe, decent, and affordable.

I plan on making further changes to our home to make it a little more cost effective and "green." It's no surprise that I want a garden. There is one thing that a garden requires but it costs money to maintain it, water. My solution for this is a rain barrel. Rain barrels are cost effective and I don't have to use the water from the city to make sure our yard is pretty. This will include some recycling as well. All of those newspapers my husband wastes, the big fat Sunday one, will double up as a mulch to keep weeds out.

I hope to add a compost as well. We want the yard to be as pretty as we can so my little fairy princess can flit around and ballet through the yard and by using the compost it will help to make the soild rich and perfect for growing flowers.

Lighting is important and security officials suggest keeping your lights on at night to protect your home. The affordable solution that I came up with is solar powered lights in my yard with a decorative twist. They are birds and a gate and I intend on adding more.

There is a Habitat family that has solar panels and I admit to being a little jealous. Here is where my husband and I differ. I am a tree hugger and he isn't. Solar panels make him cringe and they excite me. Anyhow, the energy efficiency of my home is why it's a green home.

My Habitat Home: So, You Want Pictures?

2009-10-25T19:53:00.000-07:00

My boys have a planet theme going on. I need to paint the walls since we have been living with walls this color for the past seven years and it gets a little boring.

For some reason or other my new blogger stuff just isn't doing what I want it to do. Anyhow, my daughter has a whole butterfly princess pink purple thing going on.

Then, there's a picture of my kitchen, my husband, and my neighbor.

My new washer and dryer (I don't wash 3 times a day any more!)

My new pantry before and after.

My families home.

A portion of what we had been living with.

Our old apartment sized washer/ dryer unit that we donated to Habitat for Humanity ReStore.

and some knickknacks. A few were sent to me from Jenn Thorson. Jenn my hubby loved the dish towels and wanted to thank you! and Robin Easton. Robin, my kids LOVE the Beanie Babies. Thank you guys. :)

Journal blog post

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

It's been days since I've written anything. Not that I haven't wanted toit's just been that I'm incredibly busy. Rarely am I stressed out but the last few days have been pretty stressful. The packing, cleaning, school changes for my daughter etc have led to a lot of headaches.

Since last time I've written I've already had two waves of loading and unloading vehicles. Our apartment is paid for until the 31st so, we have all the time in the world.

We had our dedication on Saturday. I thought I would be a puddle of mush and in all honesty I wasn't. For weeks I went over, in my head what I would say when the time came. I went to four other dedications, I knew what to expect.

I felt it important to thank my mom. Every weekend she watched my children as we went off to build a home that didn't belong to us. Then, when it was our turn she was there every weekend. This would not have been possible without her.

I made a house cake, turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, and my mom made gravy (my gravy turns out bread.)

On Saturday after we were awarded a hammer, Bible, ReStore gift certificate, an embroidery, and a quilt we relaxed. We knew the next day would be crazy.

We scheduled a Uhaul and again, my mom took a day off of work to watch my children. Sunday was so exhausting. At 10:00 AM we had our Uhaul. My husband and I packed and unpacked and had our Uhaul returned in time for a refund that day.

A man a few houses down came by to help. Thank you Mr. Man. After everything was in the house we bug bombed and had to wait four hours to get back in.

It was 10:00 PM before we picked up the kids, 11:00 PM before we were all settled. I must admit to passing out the moment my head hit the pillow.

On Monday I began organizing the clothes, put up my gazebo bird feeder, and watched the kids play. Today, I'm waiting for the site supervisor to come by and fix some things. I have to call the Habitat office to see if our closing papers are in.

My husband wants to continue working once a month on other homes and I want to be an advocate.

My Habitat Home: Packing Almost Done

2009-10-14T13:22:00.000-07:00

The packing is nearly done. My husband is taking the computer apart tonight and spraying with bug spray. We are throwing out the table it sits on and our box spring to our bed tonight. Tomorrow we throw out the boys bunky boards. All this in an effort to eradicate roaches.

We will have to bug bomb our house I think. It's a shame really that we have to bug bomb our new home. I'm really not feeling well so when I get back online I'll tell you all about dedication and our Uhaul fun.

My Habitat Home: When Can I Stop Packing?

2009-10-12T14:03:00.000-07:00

Now, I am down to the last minute stuff. My husband has been sick and he's been coughing all night. This has been keeping me up and now I'm pooped because I've been packing all of the last minute stuff and house cleaning like a fiend. When will this end? I'm happy, excited, ecstatic that we're moving. I just wish we could leave the packing out of it.I just moved a shelf by myself that my husband couldn't move in. He said it was too heavy. I must be Supergirl. Thank God this is it for a while.

I called the Habitat ReStore. Since we have a brand new full sized washer and dryer we are donating our apartment sized washer and dryer. Who ever gets it is getting a bargain. We bought it five or six years ago and still have the paper work on it. We are waiting for our homeowners insurance to go through. Since the agent hasn't been doing such a great job with punctuality (getting the policy to Habitat) we will probably be looking for another agent. It's irritating but I assume a lot of home owners go through that..

So, I have had my conversation with Habitat and the ReStore, I need to get insurance pronto on our home or they won't sign it over to us and that will aggravate me a great deal especially after all the work we've done.

Any how, that is my day in a nutshell.

My Habitat Home: What You Need To Know About Home Owners Insurance

2009-10-11T04:46:00.000-07:00

If you're purchasing a new house home owners insurance is a must have. There is no getting out of it. The site supervisor, who has been working on our home, has taught us how important that insurance can be. He experienced a house fire. Luckily there was no loss of life but his family lost a lot of possessions.

First, you need to shop around. Even with Habitat for Humanity this is true. You will not get your home unless your insurance is set up. The various companies will ask a series of questions. Do you have a trampoline? Do you have a pet? A fence? and it goes on and on. In my state it's a requirement to have coverage for coal mine accident in case our home is sitting on a mine that has been vacant.

Things that will raise your home owners Insurance:

Do you have a pet? It's not the pet that will get you it's the type of pet you have. It's no big deal if you have a Pomeranian but if you have a "dangerous" pet it will raise your insurance. Pets like a pit bull will do it. If your pet snaps it can harm someone and that could mean hospital bills and/ or (and I hate to say it) funeral expenses.

Do you have a trampoline? Again, this is a toy that could hurt another person. If it can hurt another individual it could mean a hospital bill because it's on your property.

Do you have a fire alarm? The fire alarm is a simple thing to install and it can save you a little money. That alarm could mean your life and the lives of the members of your family.

Make sure your credit is good. The insurance providers use your credit to decide what to charge you. Pay your bills on time to keep your credit rating.

Stay with your insurer. Some companies provide a discount after you have been with them a few years.

Don't be a smoker. If you don't smoke then the risk of your home getting destroyed isn't as high.

My Habitat Home: Not Much Left

2009-10-10T11:14:00.000-07:00

We went to our home today to work. I didn't see much to do. A few closet doors needed to be hung, door handles need to be put in place, we need carpet, and landscaping. The landscaping was scheduled for today but it rained last night. We have nice Whirlpool stove and matching fridge. Thank you Whirlpool. My family appreciates your donation so much. These appliances will be used for every family meal and holiday.

We have been using an apartment sized washer/ dryer unit for a family of five. I do three to four loads of clothes a day. We have a brand new washer and dryer and I will only be doing clothes once or less during the day. My washer/ dryer unit has been sitting in the kitchen and I can't stand it. It's out in the open and makes things look messy. We now have our laundry behind a door separate from the kitchen.

We have a pantry. Our canned goods are another thing that has been out in the open and visitors will no longer see that. In our apartment the cabinets are too high up and I was never able to place dishes in it (I'm only 5'2). Now my pots and pans will be hiding. I have a lazy Suzanne! I just had to shout that. I've never had one of those before and I appreciate simple things.

On Thursday I will work on setting up our home and preparing for our dedication. My menu for the day:

Turkey
Mashed potatoes
gravey
rolls
green beans
cake
pop
water

Then we can relax a little when it's all done.

My Habitat Home: An Embarrassing Thing

2009-10-08T14:54:00.000-07:00

I haven't allowed my kids to bring friends into our apartment. When you live with black mold, roaches, termites and some other weird things that's the way it is. I don't have pictures of my apartment or my family in it. I have video footage but nothing real tangible. I'm not sure I want to remember this place. When we first moved in everything was under a coat of paint.

After the first week we began to see things and we wished we hadn't moved in. Next week we will finally reside in a new home. I have taken pictures like crazy. I've recorded every move we've made on to this blog. This part of our journey is nearly over but that doesn't mean this blog is in limbo.

Just because we will not be going to build a house every weekend or going to a class or workshop doesn't mean the Habitat Home stops growing and being what it was intended "a safe, decent, affordable home." Now it can become so much more. A play area for my kids, a place for my entire family to be together during the holidays.

As we age, as the house ages it will acquire a personality. All homes that have gardens, swings, and bird houses have a personality.

As I have mentioned before I am not done with Habitat for Humanity either. In the summer time well after we have settled in I want to be an advocate. I have an idea on what my experience should be and I want to be as helpful as I can to another family and who better to offer support than someone who knows. It isn't easy being a partner family, especially if you had my husband.

I've had a lot of interesting experiences and I'm sure I'll have a lot more. I hope to not see any more moonshine though. This may be the last post for a few weeks until we move. So, I will write more when things are less crazy.

My Habitat Home: World Habitat Day 2009: The State of Poverty

2009-10-04T12:42:00.000-07:00

Here I am in the United States of America. For the next two weeks we will be living in poverty housing. We are moving into our brand new home thanks to Habitat for Humanity and all the volunteers.

I never wanted my children to live like this. I never wanted my kids to take up house with termites, roaches, or black mold. No matter how much I clean or try to bleach this problem keeps coming back. I sometimes feel like giving up.

What's the point in keeping a home clean. The roaches and mold are winning.

Two weeks after we moved in we began to see it. Mold began to form in the bathtub. This should not be happening that soon into moving. A year went by and there was a leak around the toilet and the toilet was loose. I reported it to my housing authority. "There's nothing I can do. Your floor around the toilet is rotting."

What? We had only lived here a year! This meant we were going to have a mold problem. A few months down the road from that point my husband and I saw something strange. The baseboard in my living room was deteriorating. I looked a little closer and saw bugs that I had never seen before come out of it. I had no clue as to what to do. I called maintenance, they sprayed a chemical and that worked temporarily.

The roof on my apartment was replaced and roaches started to come through the vents. My husband and I began to talk about moving else where. This isn't fit to raise a child in let alone three. I remembered doing community service with an organization called Habitat for Humanity years ago. I scraped and painted an elderly lady's house.

The moment my husband said "Let's do it." I began the process of starting our new life. I would like to say I grew up in safe, decent homes as a child but I can't. I don't want my kids growing up like me. I want them to feel like they can do anything with a little hard work.

It was hard work, a lot of responsibility, punctuality, and dependability involved. My husband and I worked on the weekends to get our 500 sweat equity hours. We took home ownership classes and workshops. We placed a down payment on our home. We were always there on time and when we said we would be.

I was fortunate enough to have my mom's help to watch the children. My children aren't allowed on a construction site.

I don't consider my family as needy as someone in say Kenya or Korea. We don't live in the elements. My children aren't in danger of guerrilla warfare. There are others worse off. Habitat for Humanity helps in those countries, not just America.

Making sure that proper housing is a priority not just in America but all over the world needs to be addressed.

"According to the United Nations, more than 100 million people in the world today are homeless. Millions more face a severe housing problem living without adequate sanitation, with irregular or no electricity supply and without adequate security.

Worldwide, more than 2 million housing units per year are needed for the next 50 years to solve the present worldwide housing crisis. With our global population expanding, however, at the end of those 50 years, there would still be a need for another 1 billion houses. (UN-HABITAT: 2005)

Raising awareness and advocating for change are the first steps toward transforming systems that perpetuate the global plague of poverty housing. World Habitat Day serves as an important reminder that everyone must unite to ensure that everyone has a safe, decent place to call home.

The U.N. further states that both developed and developing countries, cities and towns are increasingly feeling the effects of climate change, resource depletion, food insecurity, population growth and economic instability.

Rapid rates of urbanization cause serious negative consequences - overcrowding, poverty, slums with many poorly equipped to meet the service demands of ever growing urban populations.

With over half of the world’s population currently living in urban areas the U.N. believes there is no doubt that the "urban agenda" will increasingly become a priority for governments, local authorities and their non-governmental partners everywhere."

"The number of low-income families that lack safe and affordable housing is related to the number of children that suffer from asthma, viral infections, anemia, stunted growth and other health problems. About 21,000 children have stunted growth attributable to the lack of stable housing; 10,000 children between the ages of 4 and 9 are hospitalized for asthma attacks each year because of cockroach infestation at home; and more than 180 children die each year in house fires attributable to faulty electrical heating and electrical equipment. (Sandel, et al: 1999)"

So, simple, safe, and decent housing could potentially lower health care costs. I'm asking that you make this a priority. You can do that by writing congress, donating and it doesn't have to be money it could be your time, and telling others about living conditions around the world.

I am so incredibly fortunate even for living in substandard housing. There are others who aren't as fortunate.

My Habitat Home: The James Family

2009-10-01T08:27:00.000-07:00

Janie James

David, Ryan, and

Joshua

Janie James was approved in March
of 2008 and since then she and her
boys have worked very hard to
complete more than 400 hours of
sweat equity. They have attended 15 various homeowner classes on everything from budgeting to fire safety to installing ceiling fans to gardening. Janie is always so positive and wins the admiration and affection of all who meet her. She has done a wonderful job balancing all her many duties as a mom, medical assistant, and working on getting her hours done at Habitat. Here is their personal introduction to all who work on her home:

My name is Janie James and I have “My 3 Sons”—David, Ryan & Joshua. I have been a single mom since 1995. In 2001, after being laid off from the Rehabilitation Center, I had the opportunity to go back to school and I received an Associate Degree as a Certified Medical Assistant. Now, I’m using that degree and enjoy my job at a rural health center. At the time of the lay-off, I was devastated but it was actually a blessing in disguise because I was able to further my education, without which I would not have been able to meet the income criteria for the Habitat program. David is my oldest son who is 20. He attends WV State University, and he in his first year majoring in history with a minor in education. Ryan is 19 and is a senior at Ben Franklin Technical Center finishing up his core class and taking Automotive Technology. Joshua is 12 years old at Hands McKinley Middle School as a 7th grader. For years I dreamed of providing the boys with a nice, safe home. A home they could be proud to bring their friends home to. We have been so blessed and fortunate to have been accepted into the Habitat for Humanity program and to have the support of all the caring people that make up the Habitat staff and volunteers. Because, without all of you—our dream would not become a reality! Thanks so much for giving of your time and sharing your talents with us and for us so that we may have a better life.

Janie, David, Ryan, and Joshua

My Habitat Home: Things To Come

2009-09-26T19:44:00.000-07:00

Today we painted all of the inside doors and there were people under the house putting insulation in. Rumor has it that our cabinets go in this upcoming week.

I'm thinking our appliances will be shortly after. I want to say two or three weeks and we can move in. I don't really know that. That's a guesstimate I'm making. I'm now in Speedy Gonzales mode for packing. I just cleaned out all my hangers in the closets all I have are things in boxes and bags. I can't wait!

My Habitat Home: The Belmore Family

2009-09-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

This post is written about a family that is separate from the blog owner. This was posted in honor of World Habitat Day. The Petretic family, who owns this blog, barely knows this family. Any comments on this post are not given to this family or redirected. Again, this blog is a journey of the Petretic family and not this one in these pictures.

Tom and Caroline Belmore Corey, Tyler, Alexander, Jared, Levi, Elias, Christa, Bethany, Shayna, Miranda and Tobias

The Belmore’s were approved for the Habitat
program December 2007 and since then they
have worked very hard to complete more than
360 hours of sweat equity on top of being
parents to seven boys and four girls. This six
bedroom home will be the biggest house built by Habitat in the Kanawha Valley.
My name is Caroline and when my husband, Tom, and I married we never imagined we
would have 11 children. We both knew we would hold fast to our religious beliefs no matter
what life threw at us. Our beliefs have been and still are the strength of our family. We met
and were married in Rhode Island and planned to raise our children in Rhode Island as well.
After ten years and six boys our housing options were diminishing. Finding a place big
enough in our price range was a bigger task than we had imagined. We believed with a lot of
hard work we would become homeowners. My husband worked days and I worked nights for
many years. Sure enough we were approved for a loan and to complete the paperwork we
needed one more pay stub from my husband’s job. With another baby we exceeded our
allowed occupancy for our apartment, so this was great news.
It was February 8, 2001 and our area was covered in snow after several snowstorms. My
husband slipped and fell on ice outside our apartment. He had fractured two vertebras in his
lower spine. With this injury went his job, the loan, my job, our credit and any hope we had for
owning our own home. Our eviction notice came two weeks later, my husband was
incapacitated and we were homeless.
Having no other option we moved into public housing. We always thought it would be
temporary. During the next five years, my husband had three surgeries and he was still
unable to work. Our living situation was stressful on our entire family. Our living conditions
were real bad therefore we filed grievances with the housing authority and we pleaded with
the state department. They had nothing to offer to us.
We packed all we could and moved to West Virginia. We took a house that we had never
seen and received photos of a place we have never visited. We love living here but again we
have housing issues with a large family in a small house that is in terrible condition. We had
to make big adjustments being a large family living in a small house with one bathroom and a
very small kitchen. The cracks in the foundation cause the basement to flood with every rain.
We need a house to call home and a safe place to raise our children. We applied for Habitat
for Humanities home ownership program and were approved. With my husband’s condition
and housing so many children we weren’t sure if we could fulfill the requirements. Habitat has
been more than accommodating to help us complete the program. Habitat is truly an answer
our prayers.

My Habitat Home: Painting Day!

2009-09-19T13:11:00.000-07:00

This is Tiny, the site supervisor.

My Hubby.

Side yard.
View of Cecelia's house and Janey's from our back yard.
Driveway and the front of our house.
Under the front porch.
Dining room view before paint.
Siding going up!
View to back yard from pantry area.
Isn't our ceiling pretty?

Bathroom
Laundry room
Storage space.
Eight feet up!
Long way down.
We have paint!

I walked in my home and looked up. Our ceilings were done and had been spackled. I nearly cried. I walked in every room and the dream seem so much more real than last week. Our home has siding all around it now. It's not finished but it is on all sides at this point. Our shutters are up and so is the siding on our gable.

We began putting primer on our walls and then painting. We will be working on baseboards next week and in a week and a half part of our flooring is going in. Soon, very soon that house will be a home. I daydream about the kids being able to come and go as they please to play outside.

There was a volunteer crew this week, thank you guys and girls. You will never truly know how much we appreciate it.)

My Habitat Home: The Turner Family

2009-09-16T07:20:00.000-07:00

Helen Turner, Demetrius, Damone, Daniel, David, and Demarius

Helen Turner was
approved in December of 2007 and since then has worked very hard to complete more than 300 hours of sweat equity on top of being a single mom to five young boys, attending college, and working. She has attended 21 various homeowner classes on everything from budgeting to gardening
to fixing basic plumbing problems. Helen is a very determined and positive woman who has earned the respect of everyone who works with her. Here is her personal introduction to all who work on her home:

My name is Helen Davis-Turner and I am a native of Charleston, WV. I left home 24 years ago and returned home in 2004 with my five wonderful little boys. I left behind me a life of neglect, and abuse. So, I returned home to save my childrens’ lives and
mine. I came back home to family that I know loves me. Not knowing what I was going to do to survive, I quickly decided that I needed to go back to school to get a degree and started at West Virginia State University in January of 2006. I am pursuing an Elementary and Special Education Teacher Degree. The road has been rough sometimes, trying to care for five children by myself, but with the
help of God and prayers from friends and family, my children are doing great in school and I hope to graduate in May of 2010. I recently reunited with my high school sweetheart—Fletcher Gist. After 28 years of being apart, we have decided to get
married soon so that my boys will have a father figure in their lives to help them grow as young men. Fletcher has been attending classes and helping out on the jobsite as well.
In December of 2007, I was accepted in the Habitat for Humanity family. I make that statement because the staff brought me into the program and into their hearts. I have volunteered, working with some wonderful people in the office and in the ReStore. Habitat for Humanity has given my family hope for a better way of life because we will no longer have to face fears of not having a place to lay our heads, or substandard ways of living.

Without Habitat for Humanity and all the wonderful volunteers like you who are working on my home, I would not have the opportunity to own or afford ab new home. You are a true blessing to my family and to me!

Shirley says: Helen is a great an inspirational lady. My only hope would be that I could work on her home. Since we are building our home at the same time as hers that isn't possible. I doubt that we will even make it to her dedication.

Helen, if you are reading lots of hugs to you and your family.

My Habitat Home: Leading Up To World Habitat Day

2009-09-15T14:37:00.001-07:00

In honor of World Habitat Day up until October 5th I will be putting bios and pictures up of different families in my region. Then, on October 5th I will be covering the international issue of poverty housing. The first one you are seeing is my family.

Gary and Shirley Petretic
Nathan, Alana, and Mason

Gary and Shirley Petretic were approved in July of 2008
and since then they have worked very hard to complete
more than 500 hours of sweat equity. They have attended
16 various homeowner classes on everything from
budgeting to fire safety to installing ceiling fans.
Here is their personal introduction to all who work on her home:
We are the Petretic family. My husband, who works in a furniture store, has never lived in any
thing other than the projects and I have always lived in homes that probably should have been
condemned.
Currently, we are in the projects. We have been in the projects for the past six years and we
have seen and experienced it all. In the middle of the night we have seen raids, people shooting
at each other, and people screaming things I won't even mention. A few weeks ago a table that I
was planning on refinishing for our home was stolen. We had a sandbox that had seashells, sand
toys, and sand and that too mysteriously disappeared.
I have been talking about applying for Habitat with my husband for years. I knew we couldn't
afford a home the traditional way with a loan that is way too costly for us. Living in poor
conditions is not the kind of life I want for our children. They deserve so much more than a
home that's falling apart and the substandard conditions they are living in.
We have well over 500 sweat equity hours in. We have worked on the homes of other Habitat
families to get to this point. We have taken classes on how to handle our loans and neighbors
and with every step of the way it has been an emotional process for us.
You being here and volunteering your precious time means so much to us. Because of you my
children will have a yard to play in. Because of you I will no longer have to pull my children in
when I see a drug deal going down. Because of you and your
gift to us we will have a happy, healthy home for our family to
grow and learn together. What you are doing as a volunteer
truly isn't about my husband and I. We could continue to live
wherever and be happy. What you are doing is for our children.
I don't think I can come up with the right words to express how
grateful I am in your being here, helping to build a dream.

This is our home about a week ago. Our home now has siding on it.

My Habitat Home: A Request For World Habitat Day

2009-09-15T12:35:00.000-07:00

I am requesting the readers of this blog to blog about Habitat For Humanity. This is to raise awareness about poverty housing. You can check out the press release and use the pictures on the site. You can interview me if you like and use some of my pictures here at My Habitat Home. Poverty housing is part of the reason we were chosen for Habitat for Humanity. You can also visit Habitat International and grab ideas.

World Habitat Day: Monday October 5, 2009

My Habitat Home: Phase One Nearly Complete

2009-09-12T12:35:00.000-07:00

Phase one is nearly complete. In four to five weeks we have a rough estimate of when we should have our dedication. We have worked on many homes and most have gone by quickly. I don't know if it's because this one is our home or not but ours seems to be taking longer than usual and it's frustrating. We understand and we aren't taking it out on anybody. It just a little tough to see the house at the stage that it's in and not want to live in it.

The walls are up, we have electric, cable, and phone lines. The siding is going on and the front of our house is almost finished. Our back porch was started and it's a nine foot drop so chicken that I am I did not step out on it for very long.

From what I can tell we need our ceiling spackled, we need plates on all our electricity, we need paint that is expected to begin this week, we need a toilet, kitchen and bathroom sinks, doors on all the bedrooms and closets, carpeting, we need our walkway into the house from the drive, and railing, we need our driveway, to paint our cinderbrick, landscaping (removing rocks and stuff), and probably a few small details that I am leaving out.

With every step nearing the end of this part of our journey I am very close to tears. There will be a time when I will have to give a speech thanking everyone and that will probably be the time I won't be able to keep in all of the emotions I've been holding back. In the beginning of this my husband and I argued about doing this. I knew there would be no other way we would or could own a home with the kids being young enough to enjoy it.

He thought it was some sort of scam. I had worked with Habitat in Cleveland previously and knew that it wasn't a scam. I argued, fussed, and fought until I got my way that's pretty much how things get done in my household. Now, my husband is thanking me for manipulating him. I don't think I will ever understand men. Why you need to manipulate to get things accomplished is beyond me. Why he is thanking me for that manipulation is really beyond me.

At some point in time, after we are settled, I do want to be somebody's volunteer advocate. I know how I want to help and how to do it. I want to be able to go out and volunteer on a house to give them hours or help with their kids if they're stuck and need someone. I have a general idea of what I want my experience to be.

Phase two will be after we are settled. In spring I will begin our garden and landscaping. I have been waiting for a really long time to grow flowers and I can't wait. I don't allow my kids in the yards of others to pick flowers. My kids have manners. I want to have so many flowers that they will always have something pretty to pick. I made a promise and I will keep it.

Here is a vinyl siding how to for you:

The wiggle room is to allow your siding to expand and contract. When the weather changes so does your siding. The siding just snaps right in and then you hammer away. If you aren't scared of ladders the siding is easier to do than building the frame of your home.

My Habitat Home: We Have Drywall!

2009-09-07T05:06:00.000-07:00

We called the volunteer hot line on Saturday and it turns out that because of Labor day there was no work. That was a bummer because I was looking forward to it. My husband and I decided to drive by and see what was going on and our door was open. We walked inside and there was a man and his son that looked to be 12 or 13 in our house hanging drywall.

We introduced ourselves as the homeowners. It was amazing the whole house had drywall and it was just this man and his boy that hung it. The man told us that he woke up at 6:00 AM to be at our house at 9:00 AM. He travels 175 miles for our house. I find it incredible that the man travels so far. So, Mr. Man thank you.

We had an appointment at Dixieland Carpet with the owner. There are slight changes in our linoleum. Our linoleum looks more realistic than our previous choice. I suppose he had left overs from another home we are getting remnants of a better quality linoleum for the same price we were going to pay.

It was confirmed we are going to get the planet carpet for the boys. Yay! That was the one thing I wanted most as flooring.

Now, if we can just nail down a move in date. We are going to need to know something soon. I need to tell housing we are moving. From what I can see we need our back porch, our front porch walk way, our driveway needs to be poured, we need to paint, we need flooring, appliances, kitchen and bathroom sinks, a toilet, and some landscaping. Almost there!

My Habitat Home: Donna's Leaving

2009-08-22T12:18:00.000-07:00

Volunteer coordinator Donna DeHart is leaving Habitat for Humanity Kanawha and Putnam county. She's going to be the head honcho in Jackson county. Congrats Donna! Today both our house and Janie James house got worked on. We got plumbing today and Janie got her walls. Yay! I haven't updated this blog lately so I tell you what I think is left.

List of needs:
electric
sewage
dry wall
door on our crawl space
back porch
driveway
paint
flooring
baseboard
toilet
kitchen sink
bathroom sink
stove fridge
kitchen cabinet
closet shelves
washer
dryer
water tank
insulation
grass

My Habitat Home: A Moving We Will Go

2009-08-03T07:02:00.000-07:00

Moving Advice From Friends:

Thriftshopromantic: Shut off all utilities that are in your name.

KDen: "One thing I have found helpful is to hold out enough eating utensils for moving day so you you will at least be able to have some sort of dinner, even if it's take out. When everything gets packed it can be a pain to dig around to find something to eat off of."

Burmesedays: Don't forget to grab any garden plants you may need.

idealpinkrose: "Don't forget to label all the boxes so anytime you need things you know where to get them. Also, don't forget to put the valuable things altogether and put in your car."

Sweetviolet has a moving list.

All of the above bloggers can be found at Blogcatalog.

Martha Stewart has a printable checklist and so does Quamut.

For my family this all will include bug bombing three times.
If you are having a pest issue keep that in mind when you move. It will infest your home.

My Habitat Home: A Common Misconception

2009-08-01T02:42:00.000-07:00

How many times have I heard that we are getting a free home? I've lost count and it proves to me that people are greatly biased against those who live in poverty. How many times has it been directed toward us in a manner that isn't positive?

First, let me state Habitat for Humanity has been as challenging as doing City Year. We worked for well over a year completing classes on how to maintain our home both financially and the actual structure itself. We have an interest free loan that is the only thing free. Our home will cost approximately $65,000 when it's all said and done. We currently pay $458 to live in an environment with termites, roaches, and black mold in which we have called our maintenance men for all three things and it's like talking to a brick wall. The value of our home is about $120,000. The fact that Habitat uses volunteers keeps the cost down.

Here is my argument: So what if it were free? You can cheer for families who are on Extreme Makeover (The Home Edition). I've done community service too. I don't have anyone in my family with a gimp leg or anything but my family does pay it forward. Habitat families have a clause in the loan that prevents us from profiting from our home through a sale until it's paid off. This isn't true with an Extreme home.

First, we won't be living in a mansion and even if we were given one we would have to get rid of it. The taxes would be outrageous! Secondly, our loan prevents us from selling until it's paid off. I would think people would be more ashamed of the game show type thing. I think the show has it's place but maybe they should offer home ownership classes like Habitat instead of sending the family to Disney World.

Again, let me reiterate, love this show and Ty Pennington, the show is all a show and doesn't teach any real responsibility. Am I jealous? Not at all. I just wish people would get the difference and stop telling us our home is free. Habitat is not a give away and Extreme Makeover is. Habitat is not funded by the government but sponsors and homeowners that are paying on their homes. Extreme Makeover has sponsors that are big name. Believe me when I say Disney will not be giving me a vacation over this and I won't be booked in a hotel that I can't afford.

My Habitat Home: We Have A Bedroom!

2009-07-26T07:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we put up walls in our home so now my children and I all have rooms. I can't say much for privacy though. I could see exactly what my kids would be up to and we have no roof yet. That was supposed to go in this weekend but the weather hasn't been cooperating and I suppose not enough volunteers.

It's been some time since I hammered anything. I think I lost muscle while going to the ReStore and our short break from working on any thing.

During lunch break I sat in our new back yard. We weren't trying to be anti-social or any thing for the past six years our only view has been a cliff and someone's clothes on a line. In our new backyard I didn't see people sneaking in a back door hiding things under their shirt. The only true noise was from the birds which is more welcome than the dirty music I always hear while kids are playing outside.

We found out we have a nutty neighbor who is claiming a portion of our property belongs to her. I think we may need a fence and possibly a no trespassing sign.

There is a dedication today for one of our future neighbors. We had a choice between our house and the one next to her. I made the decision for the one not next to her without my husband. I could foresee bad things happening if we were that close to her.

A message for anyone who has been involved with us or our home that will be going to our dedication:

I don't want any house warming gifts. The house, though we are paying for it, is enough. There is no way I could ever come up with a way to repay everyone for all that they have done for my family. For us, personally, I think any more would be selfish and materialistic. If you all could attend the dedication so I can properly thank you for giving my children a nice home that would be enough. I don't feel that anyone owes us anything to buy us gifts.

The first time my kids are able to play in a drug free, beer bottle free yard and laugh and smile that is our gift.

The first time we make an improvement on our home, I know it will increase our home's value. I'm so tired of calling maintenance men who don't fix the problem.

At this moment we have black mold under our sink caused from a pipe leak. I called to have the portion of the cabinet removed but no one ever came. I thought our lease said it was supposed to keep the place healthy. I guess that's only when it's convenient for them. So, there you have it public housing is slummy.

My Habitat Home: We Have Walls!

2009-07-23T10:35:00.001-07:00

YAY! We have walls!

My Habitat Home: It's Tuesday!

2009-07-21T10:24:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you know it's Tuesday and you didn't need me to mention it. Tuesday means there are volunteers out at our home and they are building. Thank God! It's not raining! I bet our floor is going in today. It's so tough not being there to work on the house. I wish I could be there every day. I have no one to watch the kids except for Saturday.

This whole wait is driving me crazy though. This past year I've had anxiety and insomnia. I have invested so much of my thought process into this home it's driving me crazy. I'll be happy to reach an end to all of this. I do think I will volunteer for someone else but not until we are settled, I'll say next year.

I have lamps, curtains, a bird house, and a bird feeder to put up. A table, breadbox, and a bathroom to put together. I can't wait to see what I'm going to do. I have the vision but you never truly know what the outcome will be until it's all done.