Preparing For The Winter Months

I have been posting a lot of review and giveaway posts lately, so I thought I would share a personal post. I am grateful to try new-to-me eco-friendly and natural products. Maybe they will inspire gift ideas for the Holidays. In our neck of the woods, the temperatures have fallen and the clouds cover the sun most of the days. The trees have lost all of their leaves. Anyone who goes outside is bundled up tightly. I am glad to see that the neighbors continue to go outside for walks and runs, even with their babies. Aside from spending my days caring for and playing with a baby, keeping the house in order, and trying to get out of the house often, we are busy with the following activities.

Winterizing the Yard

I am always a little sad when it is time to winterize the yard because it means that the colder months are here. The garden has been cleaned up. I am letting the plants dry up and will till them under the soil instead of composting. This method will put nutrients back into the soil. I put away the garden hose and watering can into the garage. The rain barrel has also been put up. Bushes have been pruned back. I left some of the leaves that gathered around the front garden bed plants to act as natural mulch for the winter.

Preparing for the Holidays

Gift lists are traditionally exchanged among our family at Thanksgiving. Therefore, we have been busy creating a gift list for ourselves and the baby. Check out my Green Baby Holiday Gift Guide for eco-friendly and green gift ideas for a baby. This year, we decided to do holiday gift shopping online to save time, money, and be environmentally conscious. Buying online reduces our carbon footprint because we are not driving to the store. Yes, the item is still being transported, but it is only transported once instead of twice (shipped to the store and then we drive to buy it).

Working Out Indoors

I cancelled my gym membership a few months ago. Gasp! After having the baby, I preferred to spend time with the baby instead of going to the gym and putting him in the gym's day care. We recently bought a jogging stroller, so I am able to run during the day. My husband found our old Jillian Michael's workout DVDs. I will continue to run outside as long as it is safe with the jogging stroller and transition to the workout DVDs.

Decluttering the House

November and December have become our months for cleaning out clutter and donating old and unused items to Goodwill. We also save items for my parents' neighborhood garage sale in May. Even though we have done a mass decluttering of the house every December for the past 3 years, we always find something that we can donate or pass on to someone else. There is nothing better than getting rid of old and unused stuff that someone can find a use for. Goodwill and Freecycle are the best ways to find a new home for an old or unused item.

I cannot believe this year is almost over. We began the year with me being pregnant and preparing for the arrival of our first baby. We have experienced lots of joys, and some challenges, with this new chapter and we look forward to ending this year on a positive note by spending time with our families.

>> How do you end the year? How are you preparing for the Holiday season??
  

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