ALL IS MERRY AND BRIGHT

Family hanging out.

During my family's Christmas celebration this past Thursday I was reminded that the

"Universe gives us everything we need." 

As I reminisce on that day, a number of images weave themselves in my mind's eye:

- My Mom kneading, buttering and baking Serbian "pogaчa" (a sort of pastry-like bread) that morning

My brother-in-law and eldest brother getting the holiday meal ready!

- Arriving at my sister's house to half a dozen people opening the door, smiling and wishing us a "Merry Christmas"

- My five nephews' and nieces' anticipation and sweet impatience to start opening the gifts

- Pouring our homemade eggnog for the family, the sound of clinking glasses, everyone saying "cheers!" and "жiveli!", and the subsequent "oohs" and "aahs" at the deliciousness 

- Seeing my SO (significant other) running around the backyard, playing frisbee with the kids, his Mom and the dog 

Frisbee time!

- Getting to sit at the "children's table/the coolest/funnest table" for the holiday lunch

- The absolute mayhem of paper tearing, endless smiles, "thank yous", and hugs and kisses that ensued with the gift opening extravaganza 

- My sister-in-law and niece asking me in their animated way if my SO and I "REALLY did make the Nutella" that was part of our gift for everyone

- Going on a walk with my youngest nephew, niece, oldest brother and SO

- The whole family hanging out in the living room by the fire, while Skyping with relatives in Serbia

- Watching my youngest niece play with a new toy she really, really liked and wanted to show everyone

- My youngest nephew having the grandest time playing with one of the empty holiday bags 

My littlest nephew found the best gift! 

The entire day was made up of so many beautifully simple and precious moments that speak to the beauty and wonder of families and the quality time we spend together. To me and my SO, this is the essence of holidays. 

Merry everything!

~Modern Akhmatova

JOYOUS GIFT MAKING

As I returned home from a brisk afternoon bike ride earlier today and opened the door to our home, I was embraced by the exquisite smell of fresh baked dough. My significant other (SO) shouted from the kitchen "Just pulled the pizza out of the oven." I took off layers of winter clothes and walked over to him, smiled and said "There is truly nothing better in winter time than coming home to the smell of fresh baked dough." 

I truly meant this and it's because this is how I grew up in Serbia with my Mom's incredible cooking that made our small home so warm, cozy and loving. Ah, the sweet memories of childhood.

But they don't have to remain in our childhood. 

Last year, right around this time, my SO and I embarked on an epic "baking extravaganza." We actually started planning as early as October, but spent five weekends leading up to Christmas baking 60 DOZEN COOKIES (740 cookies to be exact). :) We really wanted to make our own gifts for our loved ones and found inspiration in what Grandma Bernie used to do. She is my SO's 94-year old grandma who used to bake 100 DOZEN COOKIES every Christmas! We tested a number of recipes before settling on the ones we loved the most (complete list of cookies is at the end of the blog post), both old and new, and those that we grew up on, like Grandma Bernie's Banana-Chip bars and my Mom's Vanilice, Baklava, and Strudla. These were going to make up the cookie baskets that we would then give to our loved ones in special holiday tins that Grandma Bernie used to use to store her cookies. 

Vanilice

Banana-Chip bar

Strudla

With our recipes in place and a Google spreadsheet to track all of the ingredients we headed to COSTCO on our two bikes and a "child" trailer. We biked 6 miles to COSTCO, filled our three bike baskets and trailer with 100+ lbs of groceries. SO biked back while pulling the trailer with 90+ lbs of groceries home. We even made a rest stop at a park on our way back and ended up having such a fun and relaxing time. No need to fight over parking spots at the mall or get stuck in traffic! We loved it :). 

Our awesome wheels and "child" carrier :)

So we didn't quite plan for everything, like where and how we would store 740 cookies for an entire month leading up to Christmas. CRAIGSLIST to the rescue! We bought a giant chest freezer and the problem was solved! :)

Throughout the month we listened to lots and lots of Christmas music (e.g. Diana Krall, Frank Sinatra, She & Him, and not so classy (SO's choice of course) Aqua Teen Hunger Force) danced, enjoyed the snow, drank, took pictures, and enjoyed every moment of baking for our family and friends. 

At the time, we hoped that our efforts would continue grandma Bernie's tradition in the family for years to come, and while we had an awesome time doing this last year and will probably do this again later on in our lives, we decided to do something a little bit more low key this year! To be revealed...after Christmas of course. Hint: our kitchen is already starting to smell SO good! ;)

Happy Joyous DIY Gift Making!

~Modern Akhmatova

COOKIES WE MADE:

1. Sour Cream Raisin Bar 

• A sweet and sour juxtaposition of raisins in sour cream sandwiched in an oatmeal crust. 

2. Hungarian Raspberry Pastry

• A superb combination of raspberry jam and walnuts set in whipped egg whites baked on a shortbread crust. 

3. Banana Chip Bar

• A delicious combination of chocolate and banana flavors, and when properly baked is still a bit moist.

4. Strudla

• A classic Serbian dessert. A delicious combination of sweet poppy seeds and raisins rolled into a doughy crust.

5. Vanilice

• One of the most common sweet delights from Serbia. A delightful combination of sweet dough with tart apricot jam and a hint of lemon in every bite.

6. Baklava

• The one and only! "Walnut" filling surrounded by the flaky, yet moist filo dough topped with lemon syrup.

7. Apple Gouda Oatmeal Cookie

• Not a particularly sweet cookie. It combines the sweetness of apples and raisins with strong olive oil and cheese flavors.

8. Peanut Butter Cookie

• A classic peanut butter cookie. Included homemade peanut butter and a sugar coated finish to give it a delicate crunch. Some sported cross hatches while others were dotted with chocolate chips.

9. Vegan Thumbprint Cookie

• A nutty cookie, with a hint of maple flavor and topped with apricot jam. 

A YEAR IN!

At this time last year, we had instituted for the first time our annual "No Spending November" activity for the month. We had just started experimenting with our new-found lifestyle ideas: spending less and saving more; driving less and biking more; running around less and prioritizing quality time with each other and our  loved ones; and eating home-cooked food instead of processed and restaurant food. Here we are a year later in another "No Spending November" month and it's exciting to look back at how much we've done over the past year to turn our dreams into reality.

We continue to be committed to this lifestyle and we're finding out what works best for us and our preferences. There is a lot of information out there about "alternative/green/sustainable/etc." lifestyles. This is great, but every person, couple, and family has to figure out what works best for them, because you won't be able to do everything that you come across, that you like, that everyone else is doing, and in the same way that they're doing it.

What is more, most of the blogs and books we've read about this suggest that lifestyle changes, as with anything really, work best when you embark on the journey in a gradual and experimental sort of way. After all, there is a lot of self-inquiry that has to take place in order to change one's habits for the long term, and this takes time, energy, and commitment. Thus, prioritizing too many great ideas at any one time is probably not going to work out in the long run.

And so here we are, a year into our "lifestyle-change" journey and I'm delighted and proud to say that we've done a lot to align our daily life with the four aspirations I listed at the beginning of this blog:

Saving is the key to financial success.

We've achieved a 75% savings rate, primarily because we've been brutally honest with each other about our spending habits. Using the Mint software and Google spreadsheets, we sit down at the end of each month to review, discuss and analyze our spending and savings activities during the past month.  During these discussions we figure out whether there is anything that can be cut out in the future and plan for upcoming expenses that are unusual in nature. This has been a very powerful and revealing exercise for us over the past year.

Our bikes and trailer in front
of our old apartment.

Biking, walking, trains, and metro are our main forms of transportation. Seven months into our experiment, we sold my car (for more details check out this blog post). At that point we had already moved closer to my SO's work, so he could bike to work, and I negotiated with my company to work from home full-time. Then, nine months into our experiment we sold my SO's truck, and are now left with a Volkswagen Golf that we only use on special occasions or when we need to go somewhere that we can't get to easily with our bikes or public transportation. We see ourselves getting rid of this car too, once we decide where we want to settle down.

SO and my nephew playing music
in a Baltimore park.

Prioritizing quality time and experiences over things is our daily mantra. One of the primary reasons we embarked on this lifestyle exploration is that we were fed up with the constant accumulation of stuff and the way consumerism wreaks havoc on people's sense of presence and joy within everyday life. We observed people around us and ourselves running around in cars from one thing to the next, constantly busy and stressed out, and shopping without end. So we decided to STOP and SLOW DOWN.

• Nowadays, we don't plan to do anything after work during the work week that requires us to drive anywhere. We also try to have at least one or two weekends at home in any given month. When we do make plans to go somewhere for the weekend, we try to have only one engagement per day. 
• When it comes to holidays and any sort of gift-giving tradition, we either make a gift ourselves (i.e., arts and crafts, food, etc.) or arrange for an outing/meaningful experience with the person.  We apply these rules to our own relationship, as well, and it's been wonderful each and every day.

We cook 99% of our food and compost almost all of our food waste. Both SO and I care a lot about our health, because we can't imagine living without being physically and mentally active pretty much all the time. In addition to wanting to make sure we ate nutritious and delicious food, we realized over the last year that we needed to get smart about buying food, because organic and locally-sourced can be pretty expensive (ever tried shopping at a farmer's market, Whole Foods or MOM's Organic Market?). The more we researched this the more we realized that our food consumption habits directly impacted our environment. As a result, we've tried to buy as much food as possible in bulk and unpackaged, and then whatever food waste we do have has gone into our compost tumbler (for details check out earlier blog posts on composting, landfill waste, and grocery tracking).

It's really inspiring to look back and realize how much we've been able to accomplish in just one year. I'm excited for all that we'll discover and do over the next year as we continue to experiment with our crazy lifestyle.

Happy Living!

~Modern Akhmatova

CELEBRATE!

"The more you praise and celebrate life, the more there is in life to celebrate." - Oprah Winfrey

I'd like to dedicate this post to celebrating our life throughout the month of October!

My almost done
magical tree costume. :)

• First, how fun, creative, and exhilarating this Halloween has been for us! We planned and made our costumes from June to the beginning of October. We spent countless weekends sourcing and playing with all sorts of stuff while making our costumes. I was a magical tree and SO was a pyro magician. Basically, I was one giant, glowing, and eclectic tree, while SO set stuff on fire with propane gas. We also planned and choreographed a live performance for the family friends we visit in upstate NY every Halloween. We picked the music, choreographed the show, and practiced a number of times. All  of this anticipation and preparation led to a memorable and fantastic experience with our family friends who also had a surprise for us. They unveiled a ginormous spaceship in their garage, and played all kinds of awesome music while aliens, zombies and wolverines danced at the top of their driveway.

Beautiful fall leaves that I
found on one of the trails.

• Second, how wonderful it was to be camping and hiking in the Shenandoah National Park during autumn! After our long weekend in upstate NY, we worked 3 days and then left for a long weekend in Virginia. SO's parents came along too, since this camping trip has been a family tradition for them for many, many years. We hiked, cooked and hung out at the campsite, shared all sorts of stories, read together side by side in the tent, and had the pleasure to see and hear the one and only Charlie Maddox sing at the Big Meadows Lodge. SO has seen Maddox perform almost every year since he was a baby. Watching him and his parents sing all of Charlie's songs in unison was a beautiful and really fun experience. 

• Third, that I succeed in making creamed spinach taste just like my Mom's! Creamed spinach is one of my all-time favorite foods, but that's really only true if it comes out of my Mom's kitchen. So finally, I decided I was going to try to learn how to make it and it turned out great! It was so satisfying to breathe in the familiar aromas of cooked spinach and garlic, and to realize I could continue the Serbian recipe tradition! 

"Lifetime" compost tumbler

• Forth, we got a big, awesome COMPOST TUMBLER!! This is super exciting for us. In my earlier post on composting a few months back, I described the time-consuming and not-so-green way we were going about composting our kitchen scraps at the time. For a while my SO and I have been discussing getting a composter of our own. So we did some research about what works best for apartment dwellers, read customer reviews on Amazon about different compost bins and tumblers, and decided we were going to get one by November 1st. Between last month and a week ago, I had been tracking local ads on craigslist. Finally one showed up that looked good and voila, it's now sitting on our balcony. Loving it!

• And lastly, toasting to the 20 year anniversary of the California Desert Protection Act! The Joshua Tree National Park, Death Valley National Park, and the Mojave National Preserve were established in the California desert as a result of this Act that was signed on October 31, 1994.

And now I'd like turn to the whole idea of celebrating holidays and traditions, and why my SO and I decided to make up our own.  

So much of what we celebrate is prescribed by the society and culture we happen to live in. Most people follow along because they get a day off work, believe in (materialist) reciprocity, and/or because everyone else is doing it. Having realized all this, and primarily because we've come to despise the "biggest sham holiday of them all" - Xmas, my SO and I wanted to start celebrating things that we actually felt joyous about and that made a difference in our lives. 

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Along the way we also realized that in order to keep peace with the family we needed to make the best of all the consumerism-driven events such as Xmas and birthdays. That said, we've adapted by making homemade foods and crafts for Xmas gifts, and treating our friends and family with quality experiences. 

While we can't wait for the day when we no longer have to deal with the religious and retail tyranny of Xmas, we will go along to keep family peace by treating it like a family breakfast that we bring homemade treats to for our loved ones. 

On the other hand, we're big fans of Thanksgiving, which will get its own post at the end of this month. As far as we're concerned, and everyone we've every talked to about this, Thanksgiving is the best "official" holiday ever. 

Happy Celebrating!

~Modern Akhmatova

Autumn Joys

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns." - George Eliot (a.k.a. Mary Ann Evans)

Ah, the autumn breeze and warm colors have arrived. To celebrate the wonders and the comforts of the new season we decided to go bouldering this past weekend in the Coopers Rock State Forest near Morgantown, WV. Three other couples joined us on this spontaneous adventure. The park is three hours away from where we live, so we joined up with one of the couples to share the ride, reduce our carbon footprint, and enjoy each other's company (and their dog Milo :)).

During our drive there and back, I couldn't help but stare out the window, mesmerized by the scenery whizzing past us. We were surrounded by endless hills and fields of intermingled red, green, yellow, orange, and light brown canopies. What a beautiful sight accompanied with myriad moments of silent inspiration.

Coopers Rock offers a great concentration of high quality boulder problems within day trip range of Baltimore and the Washington D.C. area. Two of the couples we went with are veteran climbers. SO and I, along with the other couple we drove with, are less experienced climbers, but we could still hold our own and have loads of fun bouldering. That's the beauty of climbing, especially in the outdoors; it's a very chill sport with a gorgeous setting to boot.

The rock and the act of climbing are also good reminders to meditate and the benefits of clearing one's head. As humans, we assign meaning to the world around us and nature reminds us that our conception of meaning is often inadequate and unnecessary, especially if one desires to truly be present in nature. To climb well and "be one with the rock", an almost meditative state of mind is required. The  moment you start to think too much, your body tenses up and you're pretty much done climbing. To me, at its best, bouldering is like ballet on rock.

Me walking on the trail on our way
to the next bouldering project
(that's a crash pad on my back)

One of my favorite moments of the entire trip was making food over the two fires we had going (in large part thanks to my SO who loves anything and everything to do with fire :)), drinking wine, sharing stories and hanging out together under the starry sky. The next morning was just as sweet. SO and I were the last to wake up, and as I walked from our tent to the picnic tables, everyone else was already eating breakfast and chatting. I realized afterwards just how much I enjoy hanging out at a campsite, making food and spending quality time with others. To me, there is something instantly relaxing and quietly joyous about a campsite.

Shortly after breakfast, everyone packed up and we were off to the rocks for some more bouldering action. By the time 3pm arrived, we were all desperately sore, yet so grateful for having spent the weekend together surrounded by natural beauty and pushing ourselves and one another physically. My new outlook on being young is that we are blessed with strong bodies and should use them to fully experience the natural world as much as we can, while we can!

SO coming down
after a successful climb!

SO and I plan to return to the gorgeous autumn woods in two weeks again. This time it will be a 3-day camping trip in the Shenandoah National Park with his parents, who are also avid hikers, campers, and outdoor adventurers!

Happy trails!
~Modern Akhmatova

IMAGINATIVE LIVING

“Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction” - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

At the beginning of each calendar year, I spend an hour or two writing my 1, 5, and 10 year visions. The key to do this is to write it in present tense, as if today is taking place in 2015, 2019 and 2024. It can be about anything that's taking place in my life at that time (i.e., relationships, family, job, hobbies, health, achievements, etc.). I started doing this in 2010 after attending a workshop that was led by the CEO of the company where I still work. She explained that this is something she does every year and how fascinating it is to return to them years later and discover their accuracy.

This past weekend I sat down to review all of the visions I had written over the past 4 years, as well as the 1, 5, and 10 year goals my SO and I started to write together in 2012. He didn't take them seriously at first, but has since become a fan of this simple visioning act; so much so that we now discuss our goals and dreams on a quarterly and sometimes monthly basis. The goals differ from the visions, because they are lists of specific actions we want to take to achieve our visions. 

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This simple and easy activity has done wonders for our communication and growth as a couple. This format creates a fun and safe space for us to discuss some serious topics (i.e., lifestyle preferences, finances, marriage, kids, etc.). It has also enabled us to be vulnerable and imaginative by opening up about our innermost hopes and dreams. In this way, we are able to voice and acknowledge our individual desires, and then discuss them in the context of our life together. As a result, we get to:

• know ourselves and each other better;
• imagine and plan what we need to do to make our dreams come true; and lastly,
• hold ourselves and each other accountable on an ongoing basis.

I'm currently compiling all of our visions and goals into one notebook, so that we can more easily review what we've written over the years, and reflect upon our progress thus far.

Happy imaginative and actionable living!

~Modern Akhmatova

THE SWEETEST PART OF MY HEART

You are wondrous
I see you in the origins of snow-capped mountains, river valleys, and wild flowers.

You are the sweetest part of my heart.

My being opens up in the presence of your understated beauty, honest joy and silent wisdom.

~Modern Akhmatova

AS THE SUN SETS

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SO and I drove last night to run some errands around neighboring towns. We stopped at MOM's market to drop off our compost and buy a few things. When we walked out of the store on our way to the car I noticed the sky above us and told him to look. 

It was just after sunset, so there was still a misting of light behind and in between the stretched swaths of clouds. They were the color of soft yet deep blues, accented by a gorgeous magenta throughout the expanse, as far as the eye could see. SO suggested that we take a moment to take it all in. We put the rest of our groceries in the car and then embraced while looking at the sky in silence. 

What a great way to welcome the upcoming fall season and bid farewell to an eventful summer!

The highlight of the last few months was of course our siblings' wedding in Cape Hatteras, NC and the week we spent there in the same house with the rest of our family. I wrote about this experience in an earlier post, though it was really more about SO's and my stance on weddings in general rather than the overall experience of the week-long vacation at the beach.

A scene from the loveliest wedding <3 

As I said, the whole family stayed in the same, gigantic house for the entire week. This was a first for our family and something I had always dreamed of. My brother and his wife made all of this possible with their desire to have all of us in one place for their special day and then to spend some quality time together in the same place where they got married. I am grateful to them for their generous spirits and loving embrace of everyone in the family.

When I look back on this summer I will always think of their beautiful wedding and the gift of togetherness that they gave to all of their most intimate loved ones.

Happy summer reflections!

~Modern Akhmatova

WILDERNESS 50

View of the top of Arrowhead mountain from Gavan Hill
trail that goes along Harbor Mountain in Sitka, AK.
SO took this photo during our trip to AK in July '13.

The Wilderness Act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson fifty years ago, almost to the day. It was a watershed moment for the conservation movement, having established the National Wilderness Preservation System, and a necessary reminder that man needs to preserve and protect nature.

My SO and I visited Alaska for two weeks in July, 2013. He wanted to show me the place where he feels most at home. He visited AK for the first time with his Mom when he was just 10 years old, and has gone back almost a dozen times since then. Last year was my first time to venture "North to the Future" :). 

SO hiking in the meadows on the Harding Icefield Trail alongside
Exit Glacier in Seward, AK. (July '13)

While there, my sense of humanity in the great scheme of life came alive. 

I had known for some time that being in the great outdoors was healing and inspiring on multiple levels. However, it wasn't until I visited the wild places of AK that my sense of responsibility and genuine love of nature arouse within me like the first sounds of a bird's song at dawn. 

Since that visit, my life has changed in myriad ways and this blog attest to that evolution. My partner and I seek to live our daily life in a way that contributes to and honors the life around us, in whatever form it comes. We also seek, on a regular basis, the spiritual and physical refuge of the wild. 

It is home away from home. It takes our hearts deep beneath the ground; our minds among the diversity of life; and our souls high among the forest canopies and breathtaking skies. 

Me overlooking Exit Glacier in Seward, AK. (July '13)

May this 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act inspire all human beings to recognize the connective tissue between us and all of life that surrounds us for generations [of species] to come! 

Be WILD-ly happy!

~Modern Akhmatova

CELEBRATING LACK OF LANDFILL WASTE

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"In the garden of your days cultivate festivity, play and celebrations." - Mary Anne Radmacher

A couple months ago, I believe it was right around Easter, I told my SO that we should start creating our own holidays to celebrate. It makes perfect sense to figure out the things you really honor, love, and/or admire, and then designate hours, days, weeks, and months to celebrate those appreciations. Some things we came up with were "Off the grid" a.k.a. celebrating no electricity Sunday evenings (5pm-bedtime); "Nature Wonder" a.k.a. celebrating all that Mother Earth has to offer - so some days can be about food, others can be about sunshine and stars, yet others can be about insects, and so on. 

Over the last few weeks we've realized we should start celebrating our lack of waste for the last four weeks or so! I'm so excited about this, because it directly speaks to the zero waste lifestyle principles - Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rot - that we read about in Bea Johnson's book "Zero Waste Home". So first thing's first, this is what we achieved over the last month: we reduced our regular trash, meaning stuff that goes to the landfill, to one grocery bag-worth per every two weeks or more!

How did we do it? 

1. First, we refuse to buy packaged things (mainly groceries, since that's mostly what we shop for regularly) and are trying really hard to avoid plastic. The exception to this rule is glass, because we're still in the process of collecting glass jars to then store our food in and use to buy bulk foods in the future. And actually one of the key ways to avoid packaged foods, is to buy in bulk at the farmer's markets or local health food stores. We now bring all of our bulk food containers when we go grocery shopping. It's kinda fun. I feel like a kid carrying all of its stuffed toys out and about. :) 
2. Second, we reduce how much we buy. This has actually been happening for about a year now. We're trying to simplify our lives, by going through every single thing in our home to examine what we really need to keep and what can be re-purposed, donated, or tossed. This also allows us to see what we are missing and need to buy. So far, we've been astonished to find that there isn't much that we need when it comes to clothes and most house-items. 
3. Third, we are committed to finding ways to reuse things we already own and shop with this purpose in mind. Some of the clothes we decided we don't need as part of step #2, have now become cloth shopping bags, food storage bags, cleaning rags, etc. This is also critical when it comes to groceries. We have a growing collection of glass jars that we use to store food, serve drinks and desserts in, or use as water bottles. 
4. Fourth, we recycle all of the plastic, paper, and cans. This is something that we'd like to improve upon actually. When we started this whole waste management experiment, I decided that we should designate our regular, tall-size trash bin as the recyclables bin and a bucket for our regular trash. While regular trash has been minimal, we were shocked by how much recycling waste we were producing every week. It's really incredible and unfortunate, because we are trying so very hard to reduce our use of packaged goods. Then again, we're just starting down this road, so I am sure we will get better with time. 
5. Fifth, we rot EVERYTHING that can be rotted. We are passionate about this step! Although we don't have a composting bin yet, since we live in an apartment and are hoping to have our own home and land in the near future, we are trying to do our part as best we can to save our food scraps. We currently put all of our food scraps in bags and store them in the freezer throughout the week. Granted, we have two freezers, so this makes it easy on us when it comes to space. This way, we don't have to worry about fruit flies and the smell. Then at the end of each week or every two weeks, when we do our grocery shopping, we stop by Whole Foods or MOM's to toss our compost in their bins. It's worked out really well so far. 

All in all, I'm super excited about the work we've done thus far to go down to one grocery bag-worth of landfill trash on a bi-monthly basis. There is of course always room for improvement, and that's what we'll continue to do as we try to refuse and reduce our acquisition and use of packaged goods of all kinds.

Happy waste reduction!

~Modern Akhmatova

AMERICAN SUBURBIA

I sat on a train headed to Washington, D.C.

Looking through the trees passing by,

I wanted to imagine immensities;

not houses filling up the empty spaces in between.

~Modern Akhmatova

A RAY OF SUNSHINE

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People that affect us deeply

People that we think of often

People that inspire us

People whose spirits are connected to ours

People that make our hearts smile

They are like rays of sunshine

Bright, warm, otherworldly and immense in our lives.

They are there everyday

in spirit

Present in the most beautiful and necessary way.

Their energy shines on us from above.

And all we have to do is look up, recognize, and enjoy.

~Modern Akhmatova

THE BLOG THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING

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When my SO and I started living together over a year ago, we didn't know that we were embarking on a lifestyle change. As mentioned in one of my earlier posts, getting bikes and using them regularly, is what started us down the path of healthy living. The more we biked and observed our lives from that vantage point, the more we became interested in living our life in a way that would not only benefit our bodies, but our wallets and planet earth too. It became an intoxicating idea.

Once we started to explore this online, we were gratified to find out how many people out there were trying to do the same thing in their own way. Actually, it was my SO who first started reading blogs about alternative lifestyles. I started to appreciate blogs much later on, when I realized how inspiring and comforting it is to know that what you are trying to learn about and act upon is part of a collective effort to make this world a better place.

But as with anything, there was a pivotal point that sparked our imagination and made us believe that indeed, we could live a more mindful, sustainable, and fulfilling life in the midst of the consumerist, stressed-out, polluted, and disconnected society that surrounded us. The moment came when my SO discovered Mr. Money Mustache's (MMM) blog in October, 2013. In short, this blog is about how to take control of your finances, so that you can live a meaningful, creative, and healthy life, free from society's constraints and status quo pressures. The idea being that if you can figure out what you're spending your money on, what you'd like to have money for, and what you can afford, then you can proactively manage your finances in order to create the life you want.

MMM doesn't just discuss the idea in abstract. He is a living proof of the idea itself, and uses his blog to share his family's experiences, useful tools and tips on how to achieve an authentic lifestyle through financial freedom. So much has happened and changed since we started discussing and trying out some of MMM's suggestions a little less than year ago:

• We started tracking all of our expenses using MINT.com and scheduling financial check-ins at the beginning of every month. 
• SO fixed up and outfitted two bikes that we bought for cheap on Craig's List. I immediately started riding to work, while he worked from home. We did all of our errands by bike, including shopping at COSTCO and riding 90 lbs. worth of groceries back home in our "child" trailer. 
• We decided that at least one of us would always be within biking distance from work. 
• I biked to work and back, 12 miles a day, throughout all of winter season. It was one of the hardest and most exhilarating experiences I've had thus far in my life.
• We gave "homemade" gifts to all of our loved ones for Christmas. Not one shopping trip at the mall or any (online) store, other than the grocery store, during the entire Christmas season!
• We started tracking all of our grocery spending.
• We moved closer to SO's work, so that he could bike to work and back (18.5 miles/day), while I started to work from home. 
• We sold my car and are down to one car (see earlier post on this) now! 

All of the above happened in large part because my SO discovered the MMM blog. There are many other blogs and resources we discovered along the way that I will share in a future post. For now though, I just wanted to express how this wonderful journey of ours started and the power of blogging.  

Happy beginnings!

~Modern Akhmatova

WASTE SYNCHRONICITY

~beautiful food~

This past weekend my SO and I picked up Bea Johnson's book "Zero Waste Home" from our local library. We've enjoyed reading it so far. As the title indicates, the book is about reducing waste in one's home and life by following the 5R rule - Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rot - and in that order. That last R interests my SO and I a lot, because we've been wanting to compost for a while now. This has been hard to do though, given that we live in an apartment and in a community that has yet to get recycling bins, let alone have sustainable waste management practices that include composting bins and pick-up. 

So after a few failed attempts, I finally just decided two weeks ago to start saving our food scraps and figure out ways to compost them somehow. Interestingly enough, without worrying about what we would do with the food scraps once our bins got full and the fruit flies started to amass, an easy solution has appeared at the end of each week. Last weekend we had planned to do a "collective errand run" on Saturday morning that also had us stopping at the MOM's organic market. They have a public composting bin, so in went our food scraps! 

While at MOM's, I discovered that to avoid fruit flies you can just put your food scraps in the freezer. So that's what we've been doing all this week, but there's only so much freezer space we have, so what to do? Again, a solution presented itself without me thinking much about it. I was going to go into the office (I work from home now) this week for something and there is a Whole Foods right across the street. I remembered that they had a public composting bin there, so all those bags of frozen food scraps came to work with me! 

What happened at Whole Foods that morning convinced me that there was synchronicity at play here... 

I went into Whole Foods to ask where the public composting bin was and this nice lady said I could bring in my food scraps and she'd take care of it. Before I started to go to my car she asked me if I had a composting bin, and I said no. She then said, ok we can give you one. I thought, alright fine, let's see how much it costs. I was curious to see what she would present to me, so I went along with it. She brought out a long, rectangular box and proceeded to hand it over to me. As she said bye and started to walk away, I asked her how much it was and she said nothing; that it was free from the county. Wow, I thought. How cool!

Granted, we can't really use this bin because it's meant for a yard (we'll give it to one of our relatives); and neither MOM's nor Whole Foods are within walking or biking distance for us, so none of these experiences present a sustainable solution. However, they did encourage me to continue down the composting path. Before embarking on this journey, I hadn't thought of everything nor figured out how exactly we would turn all our food scraps into compost, but I realize now it's totally ok. Even though we live in an area that's not consciously green, these experiences have shown me that there is so much energy around this cause from different places and people, and that gives me a lot of hope for what we're trying to do with our little bins of food scraps.

Happy composting!

~Modern Akhmatova

LESS ELECTRICITY, MORE CONNECTIVITY

Source 

I've been reading about Japanese aesthetics lately and in particular 'wabi sabi'. One of the key principals of the wabi sabi worldview is the idea that we exist in a constant state of impermanence. In other words, our reality is evanescent, or simply put, nothing lasts. At first this may seem quite depressing, but what I'm discovering instead is that, as this idea settles into my everyday thoughts, I've become much more aware and grateful for the people and experiences that enrich my life and make it wonderful. At the same time, I see how important it is that I consciously make time for those people and experiences that I value most. And this brought me to the broad realization that "less electricity offers more connectivity" - in that spending less time watching TV, looking at apps and answering emails on the phone, and browsing the internet on the laptop means having more time to look at, listen to, speak to, interact with, touch, and connect to those people that mean the most to us. It also means having more time to engage all of our senses in hobbies and activities that fulfill our curiosity and creative desires.

Happy connecting!
~Modern Akhmatova

2 BIKES, 1 CAR COUPLE

Yesterday was a big day for my SO and I. We sold my car on craigslist! We're now down to 2 bikes and 1 car as our main source of transportation. This is something we've wanted to do for about 6 months now and finally the time was right to take this huge step forward toward our dream lifestyle. In a way, we're already living our dream lifestyle. We may not be 100% there, but we've done a lot over the last year to change our habits in order to live in a way that's -

• good for the planet,
• cheaper, and
• better for our mental, physical, and spiritual health.

Selling my car yesterday was one more step in the right direction and a really important one, given the amount of CO2 emissions we will reduce as a result of it; the money we'll save not having to pay for car maintenance, gasoline, and future health care costs related to sitting on our butts for long periods of time confined to a small space, surrounded by metal, smog and unpleasant noises coming from other similar machines; and finally, the extent to which we'll enjoy our daily life that will be slower-paced, mindful, and more connected to the life around us as a result of this sale.

happy biking!

~Modern Akhmatova



BIKE LOVE

One of a few wall decorations in our place.
Here are our bikes.

A little over a year ago, in May 2013, is when all of this began...our "alternative lifestyle." The first step in our journey, and what I believe was the most important one and one that we stumbled upon fortuitously was deciding to own bikes. The transition from car-commuting to biking was ripe for the doing, given that we moved into a place that was about two miles from my workplace and my partner was working from home at the time. Suddenly, I could choose whether to walk or bike to work. Most people I work with, know, or can imagine living in today's US cannot even begin to fathom this choice. This is unfortunate, given all the benefits that come with working close to home and vice versa.

When we were deciding to get a place near my work that I could walk or bike to, we were unaware of the extent to which this decision would make us realize how little independence we had in today's consumerist society and thus, force us to examine our lifestyle choices and their impact on our environment. Either way, with that decision the floodgates opened and our outlook on efficient living and priorities shifted drastically. It also helped that we moved into a pretty urban area, because everything we needed, except most of our family, was within biking distance.

As my partner was learning the best ways to fix and maintain our bikes, he began to stumble upon all kinds of blogs about biking, existential philosophy, and the unique lifestyle it offered. The more he read, the more he discovered how much of what he and I were talking about in terms of health, finances, and generosity, aligned with what these people were describing. With time and a virtual community to learn from, we started to experiment with our daily choices and actions:

• We planned our errands around biking and spent time looking up maps for safe routes. 
• We discussed and tracked our spending, which led to many an important conversation that all couples need to have on a regular basis (we have them at the beginning of each month). 
• We started to look at what we ate, where we bought our food, and how we prepared it. 
• We reviewed our daily activities and decided on what we really wanted to be doing with our time.
• We discussed, developed and recorded 3-month, 1-year, 5-year, and 10-year goals. 
• The more we explored, discussed, and decided on a plan of action, the more we found ourselves committed to a low-waste and low-stress lifestyle that comes with knowing "what is ENOUGH." 

The catalyst for all of this was the bike. The power of disconnecting our lives from the car in today's day and age is infinite. The source of this power is a sense of liberation and connection that one gets from being able to engage with all that is in our world in a mindful and direct way. Bikes benefit our well-being in myriad ways, from physical health, to lowering our financial expenditures and environmental impact. While cars deplete our sense of humanity and wonder, bikes restore it by fostering our connection to physical space, and thus the living beings in it, as well. 

It's also hell of a lot more fun than driving a car!

Happy biking!
~Modern Akhmatova

Resurrect, reconstruct, redefine...

"At this moment, let us calm down, with grateful, merciful and uneasy mood to embrace the past, present and future." - Chinese proverb

Neckar river, Tuebingen

During my junior year of college, I decided to study abroad in Germany. Those six months changed me in ways I continue to discover. Living in Berlin for the first month, I fell in love with a well-designed and connected city that was reasonably priced and full of green spaces. Germans respect the old and embrace the new, with a great deal of collective reflection and awareness.

During the remaining five months I was in a small college town outside of Stuttgart in southern Germany. I arrived in Tuebingen in January, crying my way through the first night at the local hostel. I felt alone, scared, and upset about where I had come - a sleepy place that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere compared to the eclectic and energetic spirit of Berlin (it didn't help that it rained the first day too!). With time however, I learned to adapt and get comfortable with the town. However, I never fell in love with it. Throughout my visit, I counted the months, weeks, and days until I would get to see my family again. 

It was only after I returned to the US that I began to realize how much Tuebingen had changed me. Once back in the US -

• I remember getting furious that I couldn't recycle all of the trash properly in six different containers. 
• I remember being depressed that I had to drive everywhere all of a sudden.
• I remember wanting quiet more than anything, so much so that I would drive an hour to the closest mountain trail to hike and be silent among nature.
• I remember being early to all of my appointments all of a sudden and not wanting to rush to places. 
• I remember wanting more daily discipline and planning out my daily schedule.

Suddenly I began realizing how deeply living in Tuebingen had affected me. I don't know how that happened exactly, but it did, and I continue to shape my life in ways that align with the values I absorbed and experienced during my time in Germany. 

Since last year, my partner and I have been committed to biking everywhere as much as we can; working towards owning a single car; buying and consuming less (i.e., food, clothes, technology, electricity, etc.); spending more time in nature - camping, hiking, and hanging out; cooking at home; learning new skills and how to make our own stuff; and being kind to our universe and the life in it. 

I say all this so that you know where the source of inspiration comes from to write this blog. It is a blog about how two people, my partner and I, are creating and experiencing a lifestyle that suits our emotional, physical, social, environmental, occupational, spiritual and intellectual values. As such, I (and sometimes he - I hope :)) will discuss the evolution of our journey to date and what we are doing to continuously optimize our lives for the good of ourselves, our loved ones, and our universe!

I also hope that I will get to learn from the readers who leave comments and that this will become a collaborative learning space full of stories, successes, trials and errors. Above all, I intend for this blog to be a positive and useful read for people that come across it. Apart from that, it will be a useful and fun way for my beloved and me to record our beautiful and curious journey together. 

And because I love quotations, here is one from Bob Dylan to close this post off:

"There’s enough songs... Unless someone’s gonna come along with a pure heart and has something to say. That’s a different story." - Bob Dylan (posted on Brain Pickings)