I do not know if it is proper blog etiquette to do this but I am going to pause and say thank you to those who have made my blog a success thus far.  I am only 2 months into my year-long journey and I feel very grateful for all of the support I have received!

Behind every great blog is a great designer.  If you are at all impressed by the look of my blog it is because of my friend, Jeff, at Jeff Tow Creative.  Jeff has been with me from the start.  In fact, he was the second person I told about My Grandma Was Green.  I came up with the idea for this blog back in May as I found myself driving in circles looking for a parking place at my local YMCA.  You may recall what I wrote in my first post titled, A Letter To My Grandma:

Feeling somewhat exasperated, I found myself wondering, “Did Grandma ever shove her kids in the car to drive to a big building to plug into a machine to watch TV and go for a run?!” And I had an epiphany as I drove in circles looking for a parking place - the answer is no because “MY GRANDMA WAS GREEN!”

I did go for a run that day but I ran on the track, not the treadmill.  I remember running around and around, listening to my iPod, and thinking about all of the things my grandparents did differently than I do today.  I knew I had stumbled upon something I needed to explore at a deeper level.  I stopped mid-run, grabbed my cell phone from my locker, called Jeff and spilled all of my initial ideas for My Grandma Was Green.  Jeff encouraged me to go for it and offered to do whatever he could to help.

Here I am four months later with a beautiful site to call my own thanks to Jeff.  He designed my site from top to bottom and has answered all of my technology-challenged questions with patience and a great sense of humor to boot.  So here is my shameless little plug as my way of saying thank you, Jeff, for all you have done for My Grandma Was Green!  

Jeff is a graphic designer with over 14 years of experience.  He does a mix of graphic design work - print, web, and tv.  Not everyone can dance across all three successfully but Jeff can!  Check out his work at www.jefftow.com  “Tasty design…served fresh daily.”

I need to thank a few other people while I am at it.

Thank you to my wonderful husband who has listened to a million and one of my crazy ideas over the course of 14-years of marriage.  You have supported me every step of the way!

Thank you to my mother-in-law who affectionately calls me her “daughter-in-love.”  She watches my three crazy kiddos one day each week so I can work on this blog.  I would not be able to write with any coherence or interview my grandparents without your help!  Thank you as well to my father-in-law and my own amazing parents who are always cheering me on! 

Thank you to my readers - many of whom are my friends and family.  I am deeply honored that you take a few moments out of your busy lives to read my musings on sustainability and simplicity.  Your encouraging comments are going to get me through this year of learning to live like my grandparents.  Trust me - I would not have made it past my first day of cloth diapering without your helpful advice and honest stories!

Finally, thank you to my Grandpa Pickies, my Grandpa Fred, my Grandma Marlene, my Great Aunt Pat and my friend Jodie’s grandma who have all patiently endured my pestering of odd questions such as, “Did you use deodorant?” Followed by, “So were people just stinkier?”  This blog is my tribute to you!

Stay tuned for my Tuesday post titled, I Have Grandma Hair! 

I was listening to a local radio show a few weeks ago and a couple of hosts from a local television show called Take Five and Company were on.  They were promoting their program because it was changing from an afternoon show to a morning show.  At the end of the segment, the hosts from Take Five said something to the effect of “We are always looking for great local stories!  Let us know if you hear about one!”  And the little voice in my head replied, “Hey!  I am a great local story!”  Before I could talk some sense into that little voice, I drove home and emailed Take Five and Company about my blog.

Sometimes you get what you ask for.

I was interviewed for Take Five and Company on Monday and it aired on Wednesday.  I was a nervous wreck the night before the interview.  The little voice inside my head seemed to have come to its senses as it shouted, “What in the world have you gotten yourself into?!”  After I calmed myself down, I realized I was not crazy for doing a little shameless self-promotion.

Each and every Grandma Challenge is a new experience for me.  If I choose to take my blog into a second year, it will not feel the same as my first year.  I will never again experience the excitment of successfully canning my first batch of strawberry jam.  I will never experience those triumphant feelings of cloth diapering my daughter for the first time.  I will never experience the thrill of eating my first homegrown cucumber.  I will never experience my feelings of frustration over learning to line dry my clothes for the first time (I hope).

I want to share my first year experiences and all of the ups, downs and in betweens of learning to live a more sustainable and simple life as honestly as possible.  I hope my story will encourage you wherever you are in your own journey.  So come along for the ride!  The more the merrier!  However, I must admit that living sustainably is not always easy.  My story may convince you to run the other way!

Either way, here is your chance to see my “grandma hair” live.

By the way, I only have 40 or so tortilla chip bags saved.  They will be the subject of a future Grandma Challenge, along with changing my water usage habits!  Yikes! Oh, and the pages of writing you see in the video represent each Grandma Challenge I have done so far.  I have them taped to my dining room wall so I can take notes on how each one impacts my day to day living.

Today is an anniversary of sorts for My Grandma Was Green.  I have been writing this blog for exactly three months and have managed to see my way through twelve Grandma Challenges. 

It is time for me to pause.

The chair in the picture is my favorite reading chair.  It is tucked into a corner in my living room next to a table with a lamp.  I love to sit in this chair at night when the house is quiet and my kids are in bed.  It is a precious moment of the day when I can read, reflect and rest.

I have not been able to sit in my favorite chair nearly as much since starting My Grandma Was Green.  I am okay with that since I knew this would be a season of action.  However, I do feel the need to take a little break in order to rest, regroup and reflect on what I have learned so far.

Stay tuned for for my next post on Tuesday, October 7.  I will share some of my reflections and return with a new set of Grandma Challenges as well as some updates on the ones I have already implemented. 

In the meantime, please continue to collect your best “grandma” stories and dig around in the archives if you are new to my site.  Although I am taking a little break, feel free to leave a comment or drop me a note at april@mygrandmwasgreen.com  I will still check my site and take time to respond to your comments and stories!