Getting Settled in Oregon!

We sold everything we owned with the exception of what would fit in our  minivan along with 4 people, a dog and a bunny in a cat carrier. We left the last day of November for our 3000 mile trek cross the country for an adventure of a life time. The only time we really have been out of Michigan was our one year attempt in North Carolina, a trip to see my Dad in Indiana one time and a weekend festival in Wisconsin once. Other than that our experiences have been Michigan for me and Michigan and Indiana for Hubby.

Selling what we own is how we raise money quickly to cover the expenses of such a move, this is the same method we used when we moved from upper peninsula Michigan to North Carolina. Seems to raise the funds needed and seems cheaper to replace things used rather than the expense of a moving truck.

To avoid snow issue, mountains and cold, our route took us through Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Northern Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and Northern California into Southern Oregon to our new home.

It was an incredible 7 day journey and we were in awe of our surroundings the whole time, as well as going from the cold of Michigan into 50 and 60 degree weather! 

Our first night was a horrible cheap drug trafficking and hooker hangout motel ( we were not aware of that until the next morning) and the room had not been cleaned ..........oh goodness nasty! Part of the Adventure!

We stopped in for breakfast at our daughters boyfriend where they got to meet in person for the first time and spent an amazing 2 hours there with an incredible family!

Then we went onto Decatur Illinois spending 2 nights with friends where we had to unload a bunch of stuff as we were carrying too much weight in the van.

Then on to spend a night with another friend and her amazing husband and grand-babies in Oklahoma.

From there we went through Amarillo Texas and onto spend the Night in New Mexico at a hotel with pool and hot tub.........oh was that nice!  We did the same thing in Arizona! YESSSSSS!

The next day was bad as my back had enough and by the time we stopped at a cheap motel, I was crying.

The last day of the trip was almost 600 miles and we just wanted to get there!

The last 2 pictures here are of the house on 20 acres backed by thousands of acres of BLM land........oh I am  in heaven!

We are co-housing with another amazing family to make it affordable to both of our families  for the time being and there is another family that will be putting a camper somewhere on the property so lots of friends around.

It is in the cutest little area called Rogue River.

Can not wait to share our new journey in our new area with you!

Moving to Oregon!

While we were trying to decide a future move between Ecuador, Belize and Oregon, an opportunity came up we could not refuse. This has created a whirl wind of activity and is a time sensitive move having to time everything with my cancer shots. These shots are on a 28 day cycle so we have to drive out there and get my new medical set up and new oncologist ASAP so as to not lapse in treatments.

However, we are getting the opportunity to go from our 2 bedroom trailer here in Michigan, to a 4 bedroom on 20 acres backed on 2 sides with BLM land with wood burner and hot tub! How awesome is that?  It also is just under 2 hours from my niece me and my kids are really close with!

We have friends in the area and the best part is when I looked before making our decision, there are 3 cancer care centers and a holistic one all 20 minutes from the place!  The pictures of the area are breathtaking and certainly spiritually uplifting just looking at the wild beauty of the place. A friend can help get hubby a really good job out there too that will NOT be fast food!

So we have been busy selling everything we own, getting medical stuff taken care of, having good bye thanksgiving dinners and the general business and details a move of this nature entails. We will be going a very southerly route, a lot farther and longer but warmer and perhaps better weather considering we will be traveling the first week of December.

I can not tell you how excited my family is over this quite unexpected adventure, we have never been out west beyond Wisconsin and Illinois which lets face it, don't count! Even my teens are really excited about this as they have been quite miserable here in central Michigan! 

Today was the first day of our Moving sale and we did pretty good, I have a few big ticket items I am really hoping will sell without having to come down to insulting amounts. But I have confidence we can sell them in the 2 weeks we have left. Nothing like a 3 week decision to move to shake things up!

Not sure when I will have a chance to post again, but hopefully it will be soon and hopefully will be followed with pictures to come!

Westward and Onward!

The Quantum Learning Model

Quantum learning methodology was introduced in the 1970’s with the learning forum founder and President Bobbi DePorter. Dr. Georgi Lozanov was hosted by Bobbi Deporter bringing his research on memory and brain function to the west breaking new ground in research and established the Quantum Learning Methodology by setting up a learning laboratory. Dr. Georgi Lozanov had developed the Quantum Learning Methods first in Bulgaria where he was a Bulgarian educator and psychologist. Using the methods creates an accelerated learning bringing the fun back into learning and making real connections with students and their whole involvement bringing real meaning to the students.

The idea is to engage and energize students and create life long learners who will take responsibility for their own learning experience. The foundation Quantum Learning rests upon is called the FADE model, Foundation, Atmosphere, Design and Environment with the goal of creating a strong context. It is based off of principles of 8 keys of excellence that consist of Integrity, Commitment, Failure Leads to Success, Ownership, Speak with Good Purpose, Flexibility, This is It! And Balance which is used in all areas of subjects and grade levels.

It seems to be a complex system with framework for a variety of uses such as the 5 tenants Learning, the Learning Design frame and Models for teaching giving teachers the skills required to use the methodology to empower and accelerate their students learning in a supportive learning environment in connection with the three major learning styles.

Once Lozanov’s ground breaking theories moved west, a variety of other new techniques not original to Lozanov’s theories were introduced some of which would include breathing, biofeedback and visualization. He has been training teachers all over the world for his superior teaching model and even spent time under arrest for his innovative, free thinking ideas until Bulgariapolitical views changed and is the creator of the science of Suggestology.

Quantum Learning Strategy mixes educational theories with immediate implementation within the classroom in a way to ensure information will be stored in several places within the brain to make it easier for the brain to recall the information later. Mark Reed, a High School Teacher in Kansas at McPherson High using the Quantum Learning Model proved to be so successful that the McPherson School District is now using the practice at all grade levels where Rick Reed and another teacher, Chad Brake, is teaching the other teachers the basis of the ideals of the Quantum Learning.

It seems that many public schools would benefit from instilling Quantum learning practices across all grade levels. It leaves the students empowered, energized and builds upon a students level of confidence creating effective life long learners. Those who use its methods testify to the success of Quantum Learning raising students test scores and accelerating their learning overall. It seems to motivate and excite kids about learning in ways that their brain can process and easily recall information while keeping them fully engaged.

October Grocery total $134 for family of 4!

While I technically did not need to buy anything more than a gallon of milk, eggs and a couple loaves of bread, I wanted to purchase a little additional things for variety in meals.

We scored big time at the farmers market last day of the year sale where one table in particular had reduced prices to a lovely all time low. This photo here cost a total of $17  and that bag of potatoes is at least 25 pounds and the bag of apples was about a 10 pound bag!

I then went to Save a Lot down the street from the farmers market and purchased an additional $70 in meats and supplies for chili and spaghetti making.

This brings the grand total for the month to spending only $134 in groceries! This included all three meals in the day.

Our dinners we had were:

1.) Hamburger Cabbage Soup

2.) Bacon, Scrambled Eggs, Toast and rosemary diced potatoes

3.) Pan Seared Lemon Peppered Talipia,  with Baked Potatoes and Sour Cream and Fried Cabbage

4.) Stuffed Meatless Peppers

5.) Blueberry Pancakes

6.) Meat loaf, mashed potatoes, green beans

7.) Spaghetti

8.) Chili

9.) Blueberry Pancakes

10.) Flax seed, Apple Pecan muffins with Boiled Eggs and fresh carrot sticks

11.) Burritos with homemade re-fried beans

12.) Creamy Salmon Bok Choy Casserole

13.) Scalloped Potatoes, Tomato Sandwiches and Apple Crisp

14.) Baked lemon peppered chicken, cheesy garlic bread (using hot-dog buns needing used up) tossed green and tomato salad, acorn squash, watermelon

15.) White bean soup

This is what I can remember from memory anyhow as it does seem I forgot what I made a few nights. But this gives you a good general idea of what we eat for dinners on a fairly small grocery budget.

Breakfasts consist of bananas and cream, oatmeal,  corn flakes,left over muffins or homemade granola.

Lunches have consisted of peanut butter and jelly, tomato sandwiches, bolgna and cheese, left over muffins.


We have 3 days left in the month and I have at the moment tons of meals I can make that will carry over to November!  I seriously could have gotten away with only getting the food at the farmers market with a gallon of milk and 2 loaves of bread for a total of $64 dollars this month........had I been pinched bad enough for money.

It was really a great month for keeping our grocery budget in check, while eating really well, delicious, home cooked meals!

How did you do for October groceries?

See the first of the month Grocery list HERE

Introduction to LOA: Law of Attraction

The law of attraction is one of the simple universal laws that goes on the premises of that which you think, you manifest into your life. Thoughts are energy, the more energy you put into your thoughts, the quicker and more likely it is to manifest into your life. If you are putting most your energy into negative thoughts, the more negative circumstances you are drawing to your life. Thoughts are very powerful in nature, the more you feed it with not only the thought, but the emotions which are its fuel, the easier it is to manifest.

This does not mean that everythought you have will manifest into reality, yet the thoughts you give most of your energy to can and will manifest in some concrete form. If you spend most your time thinking about being poor and all the things you are lacking in your life, then the universe draws to you more opportunities for lack and poverty. At the same time, if you think about wanting more patience all the time, the universe does not automatically make you a patient person, yet it will create opportunities for you to learn patience from circumstances brought to you.

Knowing that the universe does not always manifest what we seek in concrete terms comes the adage of “be careful what you wish for.” What we think we want must be in clear terms as it may not be what we truly wanted because rarely does it manifest in a way we thought it would. Energy travels the path of least resistance so we must be detailed in our thoughts in our seeking a more full and abundant life. If we want prosperity for instance, you would not want that coming to you as an inheritance from a loved one, so be clear in your intent!

However knowing about the law of attraction can change your life forever for the better by becoming aware of and taking control of your thoughts. You may not be able to control every single thought you have but you can empower your self to deliberately pay more attention to the things you think about most. If you find yourself thinking in terms of negative thoughts, you can learn to start changing those thoughts into more positive thoughts by using positive affirmations.

Positive affirmations are simple phrases used for things you are trying to attract into your life as if you already had it. Think about some things you would like to draw into your life, write an affirmation down for it and place these in areas of the house where you can see them on a regular basis. Say these affirmations to yourself, out loud if possible several times a day.

If you find yourself in a negative emotion, find ways to quickly turn those moods around. Watch a comedy, take a bubble bath, go for a walk or swim or go out to lunch with a friend. Anything you can do to change the negative mood into a positive mood will benefit your goal of working with the law of attraction to draw more positive events into your life.

Learning to not think about what it is you lack in your life but being grateful for the things you do have is another key to working with the law of attraction. The more things we have gratitude for, the more things the universe brings to us we have to be grateful for! Keep a gratitude journal and try to think of a few things on a daily basis you are grateful for. Write your thoughts of gratitude down and what being grateful means to you. The more we bring ourselves into being aware of all the things we are grateful for, the higher we raise our vibrational energy for the law of attraction to work in our lives.

The law of attraction is not picky; it simply brings more to our lives of what we spend all our energy thinking about whether good or bad. It is not biased by any degree and simply follows the like attracts like motto. If we spend our time in self pity thinking how poor we are or how chaotic our life is, the law of attraction will simply bring more of this into our life to keep us that way. Yet if we spend our energy thinking of how blessed we are, how spiritual we feel, how abundant we are, the law of attraction works yet again to bring us more of these things as well.

The law of attraction works on every level and aspect of our lives from our physical health, spirituality, material possessions. It can be used to enhance our life or keep us in ruins and despair. Which would you prefer?

CarriesUnschoolers Campout 2014 Photos

If you have good neighbors and at least an acre of land with online connections to other Unschoolers, I highly recommend hosting a week long camp out event!

I am really late getting this up as it was  the first week in September we held it but it was unbelievably the best time EVER!

It was truly an incredible experience getting to connect with other unschooling families that I had made deep connections online with for the past year and a half.

4 families and one friend of a family all showed up for a total of 18 people here including my family for the course of the week. 

They pitched their tents in the yard and the teens spent a lot of time in doors playing video games and baking brownies, periodically coming out to visit around the camp fire with us. 

Since everyone who came were unschoolers, the meshing of similar philosophies and parenting styles provided a rich and safe environment for all the kids to be themselves in total freedom of being themselves in a very laid back comfortable environment.

My husband who does not do anything on the computer was able to connect with other adults on his 9 days he had taken off work and totally appreciated the interaction with some of the most kindest, down to earth, fun loving people you had ever met.

This was right after a liver sectioning biopsy surgery I had and this was the fun week we desperately needed at the time.

The intellectual conversations, teens speaking their views, campfire games and so much laughter your sides hurt  with amazing food and company was the most amazing experience we have had in a very long time!

We had three 3 year olds and 5 kids aged 12 , 13, 14, 16 and 19.........so a perfect crowd!

It was truly AMAZING!

I can NOT WAIT to  host another one!

Dreams Know No Fear If They Are To Manifest

Sorry these photos are blurry but it was a fascinating thing to watch and observe. I was standing there as this bee flew down and instantly got stuck in a little bit of spider web. As I watched, this amazing tiny spider jump in without any thought about the danger running back and forth adding a little more web to entrap the Bee, quite larger in size to the little spider.

Working quickly the spider then proceeds to bite the bee on it's back rear portion, well out of harms way of any stinger. The bee was by this time safely entangled in web to where he could not really move nor turn around on the spider.

I marveled not only at how quickly this little spider acquired it's next meal but at the tenacity of it as well. It never hesitated, it never showed any fear, only seizing the opportunity as quickly and efficiently as possible. The spider never thought for one moment he was too small, incapable, or could not acquire his dream meal.

We could take a great lessen away from this observation of nature at it's finest. Many humans simply do not follow their dreams because their fears paralyze them into inaction

Fear Stops Movement!

Fear blocks success of Dreams becoming reality

Fear keeps us caged in a life of average mundanes!

Fear stops us from reaching our greatest potential!

When we allow all those self doubts to creep in, thinking we are inadequate for the job, we are unworthy of such a grand thing, bad things may come from it....... we stop our progress and potential for greatness and good things flowing into our lives.

Dreams stay dreams when they never get to be launched into action. Many times it is fear and fear along that keeps it as nothing more than a passing thought.

Sit down right now and write out your dream life.....what would that look like? What would you do for money? Where would you live? What would you do with your time? What does a perfect day look like to you? What kind of structure would you live in? What would you do on your days for fun or to contribute to society?

Now ask yourself.... What is stopping you from that?

Be the spider, jump into action and seize this dream life you want! Don't ask yourself what bad would come of this? Ask yourself what great things can come of this?

Every single human being is worthy of having a great life that energizes them, that brings good things to them and joy to their hearts. The work however is up to the individual, how hard are you willing to go after your dream life?

You will need the courage and the tenacity of the spider... and the attitude of NO FEAR!

The only thing standing in your way of creating and manifesting your dream life is YOU!

Remove the self doubts and fear and get out of your way, ignite the flames for that dream life with nothing but passion, zest and a tenacity for LIVING LIFE TO THE FULLEST!

YOU CAN DO IT, I BELIVE IN YOU, NOW BELIEVE IN YOURSELF AND START THE ACTIONS NEEDED TO MANIFEST THE LIFE OF YOUR DREAMS!

Please share your dream life in the comments below, I would love to hear all about them!

Creamy Salmon Bok Choy Casserole

1 Can Pink Salmon
1 Bok Choy
2 cups cooked long grain rice
2 Cups Water
5 Chicken Bouillons
2 Cups Milk
2 to 3 teaspoons Sesame Oil
1 tsp. prepared minced garlic
Salt and Pepper to taste
6 Tablespoons Butter
6 Tablespoons Flour


Line a 13 x 9 casserole dish with the dark green leafy portion of the Bok Choy. Stir canned salmon ( after removing bones) into cooked rice. Evenly spread cooked long grain white rice on top of leaves. Sprinkle the 2 to 3 teaspoons of Sesame oil over rice.

Slice up the Bok choy stalks and put in pan with 2 cups water with the 5 chicken bouillons, bring to boil, reduce heat and cook about 10 minutes.

In a large 2 quart pan, melt butter over medium heat, stir in flour and slowly a little at a time stir in the chicken broth and Bok Choy stalk mixture. Slowly stir in the milk add garlic, salt and pepper and continue stirring until thickened. Pour evenly over rice in casserole dish making sure all the rice is coated.

Bake in 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes and serve.

Couscous Stuffed Peppers

6 to 10 Green Bell Peppers ( they do not have to be the huge ones)

1 Box Wild Mushroom Couscous ( quick cooking )

2 to 3 cups left over Fried Cabbage 

1/2 cup sunflower hearts

4 T. Ground Flax Seed

1/4 c. Ketchup

8 oz cheddar cheese grated

Optional: Sour Cream and Hot Sauce

Fill a 2 quart pan with water and bring boil. Cut Tops off of Green peppers and clean seeds out ( reserve tops)

Place Green Peppers in boiling water and boil 5 minutes, remove from water, drain water out from insides and place in a 13 x 9 casserole dish.

Cook Couscous according to package directions and put in bowl.

Take the tops of green peppers and trim any good green pepper off and dice, add to a fry pan with a little olive oil and sautee about 5 minutes. Add left over Fried Cabbage and heat, stirring occasionally ( about 5 minutes.)

Add to Couscous.

Add the Sunflower hearts, flax seeds, ketchup and about 2/3 of grated cheese and stir until mixed well.

Fill the green bell peppers generously with mixture and top each with a little grated cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Serve as is, or topped with sour cream or a little bit of hot sauce and sour cream depending on taste.

Recipes based off THIS LIST HERE

Unblocking The Flow of Money

Money has value, simply because we give it value and it is the value we give it that feeds it's energy levels. Our emotions tied to money which typically are extremely strong emotions, also contribute to it's energy. Those who have it love it, those who do not have it but want it, hate it. Even the many that recognize money is energy, have no clue how to manipulate or tap into it, working with the energy of money.

Imagine for a moment if you will, that you are the Ocean, you are the body of emotions and are heavily influenced by the pull of the tides ruled by the phases of the moon. There are ebbs and flows........just as money itself has it's cycles of increases, and decreases...flowing into ones life, and flowing out. Yet in this whole expansive body, you truly have everything within you really need, the mysteries and answers all lie within. Sometimes they just laid hidden away, buried in the dark and deep recesses, waiting for a little light to illuminate them to be discovered. Sit with this for a minute, soaking up this image and the feelings it brings up. A source of unlimited potential, that can be gentle and serene, or intense and stormy claiming all within its path. For no fury is such as that of storm at sea!

Now with you the Ocean, now imagine the mouth of a mighty river that pours into you. The mouth of this mighty river and the river in its whole entirety, is the flow of money. It is MONEY. Think for a minute how the mouth is flowing into you...is it dried up or blocked by a fallen log? Is it blocked but still managing a little trickle into you? Is it flowing open and steady or even rapidly and fiercely? It it is trickling or not flowing at all, stop for a moment to ask why...too much debt? To expensive of a house? Jealousy of feeling lack? Anger at your situation whether you see as your faulty choices or blaming others for where you are at?  At the mouth of the river is where the largest obstacle will be, the obvious, most looming and damaging blockage.

Once you identify this blockage, create an action plan to unblock it and make sure to follow through. The harder part will be to now start following that river upstream to see where it will take you to. A river is not a straight path, it winds, bends and branches off into smaller riverbeds, that while maybe more minor still contribute to the flow of the main river flowing into the Ocean. Many things stop the flow of rivers, from fallen trees, to man made damns, to change in climate drying up the beds. It is a map leading to source though and one that must be explored to find all the blockages.

I use this visualization as the best representation of how we are and our relationship to money as well as how the flow of money works in a form of energy. It is a circular cycle, as well as seasonal and many things big and small can affect the current of how it flows into our lives. When you are following this river, pay attention to how it branches off,  how the currents change, what is blocking the path, which ones you follow if you veer off from the main river. Do you back track at all to get back to the original path? Why?

While this is all done in symbols, the things that truly block the flow and stop money energy would be things like:

• Beliefs from how we were raised and things told to us from childhood
• Constantly drumming to the tune of "We are broke...we can not afford that...."
• Mortgage payments or Rent exceeding 25% of income ( too much house)
• Generational Poverty
• Lack of Knowledge and Failing to Continue Learning new ideas and skills
• Credit Cards and High Amounts of Debt creating more going out than coming in
• Our Feelings associated with money
• Neighbor Envy
• Not being willing to change or do anything different
• Not being able to say No scattering your energy away from important goals
• Time Wasting.....low productivity levels due to Time Wasters.
• Not taking advantage of Opportunities or lack of seeing opportunities when presented
• Listening too much to outside noise, trying to follow advice of those who don't walk in your shoes.
• Self Sabotaging to keep one in their comfort zone ( every time you save a certain amount such as a $1,000 you ensure things come up to spend it down again as a repeat offense)
• FEAR- fear of failure, fear of success, fear of the unknown....keeps us trapped into one place
• Anger and passing blame to others for our circumstances
• Not willing to do the work to remove the obstacles in our way or to improve our lot in life
• Not being able to adapt with changing situations
• Not being able to identify what we feel we are missing in our life
• Feeling unworthy of an abundant life, and good things
• Being too giving at the expense of severely hurting ourselves
• Money Leaks....not being conscious of where or why we spend on little things that do not enhance our life in any shape or form beyond the 30 seconds of purchase.
• Bad Habits, often learned growing up and hard to break or replace with good habits
• High Consumption.... being wasteful in many areas

This is by no means a complete list of what blocks the money flow in our lives but is enough to get you thinking as you follow your money river. Pay attention to how that money flows, what stops it and what you can do to unblock it and get it moving again. Much like the veins in a heart attach patient where one tiny blood clot can stop the flow of blood and the need to thin blood with aspirin is much like the energy of money. Same as the Ocean and River , and the seasons that influence it. This is why multi-streaming, pulling money from a variety of sources is so important. That way if one season starts to slow a stream of money down, another one picks it up during that season. Ebb and Flow, Hot and Cold, Yin and Yang.... the energy of money.

You are deserving of the abundance of the Universe and having the life of your dreams.

Open your arms and accept the gifts that the Universe has been waiting to shower down upon you!

Let the money flow freely, without effort and feel its energy, its power.... it is nothing to fear it is simply a tool. How it is used is up to you to use in order to go after your Epic life you imagine having.

You CAN have it!

I am DreamWeaving The Life of My Dreams! Are YOU? What are you waiting for?

YES YOU CAN!

Fried Cabbage

2 T. Bacon Grease
1/3 of a head of cabbage sliced and chopped
2 apples, peeled, cored and diced
1 onion chopped
pinch of sea salt
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

In large fry pan or electric skillet, melt bacon grease on medium-high. Add rest of ingredients an stir well to coat ingredients in bacon grease. Keep Stirring frequently ( turn heat down if too high) and fry for 20 to 30 minutes depending on how crisp or tender you want it.

Hamburger Cabbage Soup

1/3 head of cabbage chopped in 2 inch pieces
1 pound ground beef
3 potatoes diced
2 cups baby carrots
2 onions chopped
7 cups water
7 beef bouillon cubes
1 can tomato paste
1 tsp minced prepared garlic
salt and pepper to taste
2 bay leaves.


In 2 quart pot, brown ground beef with onion until browned and onion is clear, drain fat off. Add every thing else, stir well and bring to boil. Cover and turn down to simmer ( around medium low) for about 40 minutes, take out bay leaves and serve.