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About Jeannett

Jeannett Gibson is a mom to four and wife to one who loves color and believes in story. She loves to tell you hers and wants to hear yours, too...because there is really no sense in wasting our suffering or not sharing in each other's joy. She blogs, fund raises, and sometimes even gets her crafty pants on at Life Rearranged.

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avatar by on April 24, 2013   •   28 Comments Shopping Well Spending Wisely Your Family

One bite at a time together: join a CSA (project 43)

Slowly but surely, I’m working through Tsh’s ebook One Bite at a Time and chronicling my adventures here.  As you can see from this month’s installment, we are an average American family who needs to fine tune and tweak ever so gradually, or else we’ll give up entirely.

Several months ago, I decided to take advantage of the agriculturally rich area we live in, and shop the local Farmer’s Market.  My kids got used to heading out on Wednesday afternoons and indulging in a churro and all the sweet strawberries and orange slices they were allowed to sample from the farmers.

Although I was enjoying this exercise in eating locally, I was always still reaching for the familiar.I saw tables covered with a rainbow of produce, but I just wasn’t brave enough to buy it.  After all, I wasn’t even sure what it was called, much less how to cook with it.

Fast forward a few months when one of the (fairly large) local farms started a CSA (that’s Community Supported Agriculture).  It seemed like everyone I knew was doing it.  But I was scared.

You see, we aren’t big veggie eaters.  I mean, sure, I can steam a head of broccoli and we can grill a mean ear of corn…but a leek?  I don’t even know what a leek looks like…but it certainly doesn’t sound very good. And I was pretty sure there would be leeks in our CSA box.  Also, beets terrified me.  I didn’t want beets in my house.

After a couple of months of hemming and hawing, I finally took the plunge and joined, and I’m SO GLAD we did. Here are my top five reasons for joining a CSA (and why you should consider joining one too!):
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avatar by on February 1, 2013   •   20 Comments Organizing Your Home

One bite at a time together: Create a chore system (project 41)

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Written by Jeannett Gibson of Life Rearranged.

I’m working through Tsh’s ebook One Bite at a Time and hopefully you are too!  You can jump in at any time and follow my own journey!  You can even go out of order…I sure am!  Buy the ebook for only $5 HERE.

Chores are something we start early in our home.  My son took on the responsibility of feeding the dogs before he was even two.  Granted, we reminded him twice daily, but for the most part, he has been filling those doggy bowls with that big blue scoop for the last three and a half years.  

With a family of six, there’s just no way I can do every single thing that needs to be done.  I regularly refer to our family as a team…and a team we shall be.  Even for the not so fun parts.  Sorry, kids.  You’ll get over it.  Promise.
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avatar by on January 5, 2013   •   17 Comments Personal Growth You

One bite at a time together: Make annual goals (project 45)

Written by Jeannett Gibson of Life Rearranged.

Are you working through Tsh’s ebook One Bite at a Time yet? I’m tracking my progress through the very practical (and manageable!) tasks monthly through this series. The projects aren’t chronological and you can do them in any order, so feel free to start now! You can buy the book here for just $5!

A new year seems to always bring with it a renewed energy. A fresh start, a clean slate, a carpe diem scent wafts through the air on January 1 amid the leftover champagne and the roses in Pomona.

Resolutions are made. Everyone is geared up to go, with every intention of this being The Year. Cheeks flushed with vigor. No, really. We mean it this time. No kidding around.

The problem is that for the vast majority of us, those resolutions are broken almost immediately. And, like your favorite mug, is eventually tossed in the trash after being shattered so many times. It just gets too pathetic to even try to repair anymore.

Every year I swear I’m not going to make resolutions, as I don’t like to get in the habit of setting myself up for failure. But the truth is that the start of a new year brings a vitality and freshness that is contagious.

One of my favorite things about One Bite at a Time is that you can go in any order. You can skip around in a way that helps make the tasks more meaningful for where you are, right now. In this case, I’m taking my own advice and skipping ahead to Project 45: Make annual goals.

I like the idea of goals versus resolutions. It may seem like semantics, but goals bring with them the elastic sweatpants of life. There’s room to make mistakes. Resolutions are a bit more rigid. They split open easily. And when they do, you feel really, really bad about yourself.

Tsh’s ebook lays out four pages of very specific questions to help you figure out what your annual goals might be. A forewarning: to truly answer them, you have to give yourself some time. Maybe even a few days. They are nothing if not thorough. I set about scribbling in my notebook and chatting with my husband. From my copious notes, I culled down some of the biggies.

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As I looked through my list: things like getting organized and staying organized. Simplifying. Being consistent. Taking the extra second to put something where it goes the first time. Drinking more water. All of those specific line items pointed to me to my very own Word of the Year: Intention.

I want to be intentional in how I spend my time. In the things I own. In the ways I spend my money. In how I interact with my children. My marriage to my husband. How I treat my body. How and what I blog about.

Every single bullet pointed to the same overarching theme: Living Intentionally. I need to order myself a necklace. (I realized after writing this that my 2013 goal also happens to be the Simple Mom tagline. Well played, Universe. Well played.)

It was actually freeing to realize that what I want for 2013 is not a list of to do's, a goal weight, or a strict rule. While I have pages of detailed specifics to refer to, I am comforted by the fact that what it will really take to make my 2013 different is a change in perspective and heart. While harder to measure quantitatively, the rewards are so much sweeter.

Will you join me this year? Every month I share my thoughts on the projects outlined in One Bite at a Time. The ebook is only $4.99 normally, but you can get $1 off with code HAPPYNEWYEAR.

What are your goals for 2013? Do you have a word/theme of the year?

avatar by on November 2, 2012   •   10 Comments Live With Purpose You

One bite at a time together: Give. (project 31)

Written by Jeannett Gibson of Life Rearranged.

If you’ve been following along with this series where I am working my way through Tsh’s ebook One Bite at a Time, you know that I’ve constantly encouraged you to join in at any time.  The projects don’t have to be done in any order, and you don’t have to feel like you are way behind…because there is no such thing. You can buy the book here for just $5!

Well, I’m taking my own advice this month and skipping ahead a little bit.

Normally, I should be on Project 29: Switch to gentle, eco-friendly hair care.  But, I knew that with a hospital stay this month, and all the prep, coordination and general stress it would bring with it, I wouldn’t be able to truly give that project the time and energy it deserved.  My plan was to take before/during/after selfies of the process.  But I just knew it wasn’t going to happen this month.

That, and I’m secretly terrified to wash my hair with vinegar.  Not gonna lie.

When I skipped ahead a couple of chapters, I was delighted to see that “Give” was right around the corner.

If you’ve ever been to my blog, you know that giving and philanthropy is kinda my thing.  In fact, my tagline is “Life doesn’t always go as planned.  Help others anyway.”
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avatar by on October 5, 2012   •   71 Comments Money Management You

One bite at a time together: Create a regular monthly budget (project 28)

Written by Jeannett Gibson of Life Rearranged.

Are you working through Tsh’s ebook One Bite at a Time yet? I’m tracking my progress through the very practical (and manageable!) tasks monthly through this series. The projects aren’t chronological and you can do them in any order, so feel free to start now! You can buy the book here for just $5!

Budget.

I mean, is there any word less sexy in the English language?

I really really really really really dreaded this month’s task.  I’m not into money.  I don’t like talking about it.  I don’t like thinking about it.  I don’t like having to worry about it.  I just don’t like it.  I do not like it Sam I am.

But here I was, with a task staring me in the face, and this post to hold me accountable to actually doing something about it.

When I sat down to look at our monthly spending, one thing became very apparent: a huge portion of our monthly budget went into food expenses.
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