a bit of self-promotion

I believe most of you, if not all of you, have read my piece over at Rhythm of the Home.  It is an online magazine that focuses on simplicity, homesteading, Waldorf Education, and much more.  If you haven't started reading it, you should.

If you haven't read my piece "Getting Lost in Life's Cadence" you should do that too.  When it was published at the beginning June, I was beyond thrilled.  

so, what's in a name?

I am not married until September 15th of this year.  But to be honest recreating my bio, my about me, etc seemed difficult so I jumped the gun.  But I will be married in September.

No it won't be legal, thank you for the reminder.  And no it doesn't come with the military benefits that most wives get upon the completion of their nuptials. 

To be honest and I am sure this is unsurprising, the military is still not super friendly with the idea of gay families. The repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell marked a huge step forward in the sordid history of the military, and allows my partner the freedom to serve without fear.  Freedom to serve without worry, concern, or agitation.  Freedom.  What it didn't provide was stability, equal benefits, or intrastructure to protect gay and lesbians in the military.  They say it is coming, but not without a legal battle to be certain.

When I was building this blog I was struggling to name it.  I must have registered and re-registered my domain a million times.  Then it hit me.

Being a wife is in a number of ways my 'incognito' status, as I am not recognized nor supported equally.  Hence the name CALL SIGN:  wife.

Enjoy your stay.  :)

adventures in composting

Generally speaking, discussing trash is less than fascinating.  But the reality is, as of late, I am in love with it!  I love talking to my neighbors, family, and friends about it.  Why?  Well Evie and I finally started our own compost bin.  We started small, took a piece of wire fabric and wrapped it into a circle, zip tied it, and then simply stuck it into the ground.  To give the compost a boost we threw in some already decaying debris from our yard, added a week's worth of food waste we had kept in the freezer, covered it back up with leaves and voila! 

The upside:  We try to buy in bulk to save money, which means that we sometimes have some waste.  We used to dread throwing that waste away.  Now not only do we get to compost the waste to put in our garden (thus making us feel 100 times better about it!), but now we are aware of our food waste and tend to waste less.  We see this as a double win. 

The downside:  It is open air.  But to avoid buggies, we cover most of our food waste with dead leaves from our garden.  (Thankfully we have a tree that loves to shed!)

Total cost?  $8.50

Far better than spending over $100 for a plastic composter that is an eye-sore and an expense we simply cannot manage!

Oh hey, did you know you can compost A LOT of things?  Here's a handy dandy list of 75 things you can compost... 

welcome :: so glad you are here

*In the coming weeks (once or twice a week), I will write a 'get to know me' styled post tagged with 'introduction'.  These will give new readers a chance to get into my brain and figure me out.*   

Hello!

Allow me to introduce myself.  I'm Makenna, a teacher/writer/doula based in the deep South by way of my Air Force fiancée.    

This is a journal, a blog, a place for me to rest my thoughts.  An overture to simple, organic, healthy living.

I've spent my first 27 years on this earth attempting to 'live the dream'.  Life in the fast lane, eyes set on making money.   Since moving to the South, I have realized that my life was unsustainable.  As such, I began slowing down, living in the moment, laying roots.


Here you will find a number of things blogged about including:

• Clean eating (Including Vegan, Paleo, and Local recipes...I'm NOT a vegan though.  :) )
• My writing (I'm currently an MFA student in Creative Non-Fiction)
• Lots of information about intervention-free childbirth
• Musings on simplicity and divesting
• Thoughts about newlywedded bliss
• Excitement about the power of Local Movements
• Ditties about preparing for motherhood
• Photography of my environment, garden, etc
• Goddess living (inspired by Leonie of course!)
• What I'm thinking about:  Feminism, Development, and more
• Trials and Tribulations of being an Air Force wife in the age of DOMA

This is my space, and your space too!  Come visit, chat, explore, and grow with me!