Along with traveling about half the year, Nate and I own a low maintenance farm in the rural hills of San Diego. This is definitely one of the things we get asked about most. How on EARTH can we manage to be away for days, sometimes even weeks at a time, while still keeping a bunch of animals alive?
Living on a small farm, we’ve had a LOT of cats. Indoor cats, outdoor cats, feral cats, domestic cats. Fancy breeds and mixed, short hair and long. We’ve adopted both kittens and adults, and talked about it all here on the blog. It’s not surprising, then, when readers email us with questions like: wet or dry food for cats? Which should I pick?
There were few things I was sure of as a small child growing up in Southern California. One, I loved dogs. I always knew I wanted one and after watching All Dogs Go To Heaven, I knew I had to have a German Shepherd when I grew up.
So, a few months back, Chelsea and I were perusing a blogging conference and ran in to some of the great people from Kidde. I was excited to speak with them and was stoked when they reached back out to us last month and asked if we could talk about Kidde carbon monoxide alarms. Despite the fact that we’ve been a Kidde family for…well…as long as I can remember, they still sent over a plug-in CO alarm. I’ll talk about that later, though.
We still have that quirky outdoor laundry shed that I told you guys about a while ago, with no plans to bring the laundry machines back inside. We get emails asking us how we feel about this setup every few days, and the answer is that we love it! We’ve gone full steam ahead converting the old indoor laundry area into a master bathroom, and our whole family has easily adjusted to using the space opposite the washing machine as our new home stockpile. Since so many people have asked to see the other side of the room where the magical washing and drying stuff happens, we’re bringing you into the mix. It’s time to see how we store ALL the things. Come along and tour our laundry area!
Smart home gadgets have LONG been a conversation piece around here. We’ve shared how we keep our home running with the help of a smart refrigerator, automated lights, video doorbell, and internet hub. A few readers have emailed asking for a complete list of connected smart home items we use to keep things running smoothly while we travel. Not just one-off features, but an item-by-item list of stuff that helps us keep it all together.
I’ve heard people say, “Before I had kids, I was the BEST parent on the planet.” It’s funny how that works, isn’t it? We all have the greatest intentions, and then life gets in the way. When I was pregnant with my first, I bought small-batch homemade lotion from a local boutique and stocked up on cloth diapers. Then kids came along, and we basically just tried to survive. Things got…cluttered. And confusing. I felt like I was drowning under the weight of it all and I just wanted to go back to a life that was simple.
I know what you’re thinking right now. “Woah, Chelsea, that is like a metric ton of toilet paper.” Indeed. People often ask how we juggle travel and home life with a big family. We’ve shared a ton of tips and tricks, but this is BY FAR the most important. The home stockpile.
We’re still renovating our farm and our house, and our current big project is putting a bathroom in the master bedroom. There’s a lot going on in there. Plumbing, tile, demo. The works! Nate and I can’t sleep in there while all that’s going down, so we had to find an alternative. We thought about sleeping in one of our offices (too close to the back door), the playroom (too messy) and the boys’ room (too stinky). The solution? Putting a bed in our living room.
Christmas has come and gone. You’ve got all sorts of fun new technology itching to get out of the box and get put to good use! We’re here to help, with quick and easy rundowns of all our favorite new smart home gear to get your New Year house ALL jazzed up. First on the list? Amazon Alexa and her best pal, DISH. Oh yeah, these two pieces of tech mastery play super well together.