The Return, and Discovery

Since coming back from this trip I've begun to understand why some people say you need "a vacation from your vacation."  Our trip was structured and fast-paced, so we didn't have much time to relax. We were up early every day (which, if you know us, is really saying something) because we had so many things to see and not enough time. 


Oh...and check out a good assortment of additional photos here, on my photo blog!  (I sorta tried to put different photos on the blogs, because different people read them, but there is some overlap.)


For the first full day of our trip, we drove through the south part of Wyoming and headed north into the Tetons. I was pretty stoked to see the Tetons, and let me tell you why. When I was young and bored, I had a stamp collection. Quite the hobby it was. One of my all-time best stamps was a longish one with a painting of the Tetons on it! The sunset was glowing on those tall, jagged, craggly peaks, sharp like razors slicing through the clouds. The Tetons always looked so much better than the Colorado mountains I was used to seeing all the time. Those ones were like dull butter knives, soft and swaying in shape. But the Tetons...now THOSE were some serious mountains.


As we got close to the park, I still hadn't seen them, even from a distance. I was looking SO hard for them. Then, just for a split second as we wound our way through the town of Jackson, I saw them jutting through the green butter-knife hills, sharp as they were on the postage stamp...

This is what they looked like when we got closer.  Aren't they absolutely breathtaking?

The Bulk Bins (& Making Less Garbage)

I really wanted to blog about my trip, but I haven't gotten to it yet. I've had this post waiting patiently in the wings for awhile, and it wants to be read. Vacation posts (and photos) to come shortly! :)

One of the best ways to stretch your dollars while buying natural, whole foods is to use bulk bins as much as possible. Most of us are used to grabbing a prepackaged, premeasured, prepriced version of something off a shelf, but once you have a good system down, it's easy to use the bulk bins to
produce much less garbage,
spend only what you want,
buy only what you need, and
buy the very best you can. 

Bulk buying is part of my effort to create less trash (and not-recyclable-in-Lincoln trash at that). I've been thinking about this a lot: our culture is highly consumerist, and very disposable-minded. Even the clothes we buy are supposed to be disposable after the trend has run its course. Electronics and appliances aren't made to last; they're made to stop working in a few years, at which point we will assumably desire a newer model anyways. Creating less garbage should be a priority for all of us. The amount of trash we produce is shameful, and our perpetual carelessness with it demonstrates an inherent lack of respect, or even basic appreciation, for God's creation.  How is throwing it in a landfill any better than tossing it on the side of the road? If it's disrespectful to litter in your neighbor's lawn or in a pristine national park, it's disrespectful to trash any other part of God's world. Christians should be leading the charge in this area.  (More to come in another blog...)

When we get out of the habit of constantly buying packaging, in the meantime, we find ourselves saving money.  At our house, we don't use disposable cups, plates, silverware, grocery bags (most of the time), napkins or paper towels. And I've been trying to cut way back on plastic packaging - check out Fake Plastic Fish for some hard-core inspiration! This sort of lifestyle shift will really realign your perceptions about stuff in a lot of good ways. Not to mention you will end up with longer lasting clothes, less expensive food, and better quality things in general. (Or maybe even...dare I say it...fewer things? Hmmm...)

Now I will climb off my soapbox and wander back into the grocery store. Yes, bulk bins. I think people have this idea of "bulk bins" as a place where you get a 25lb sack of something, then throw it on your horse and ride back out to the farmstead. But 'bulk' just means the store has it in bulk, which lets you get however much you want. Need a quarter cup of something called ''teff'' for a recipe? Or want to try a serving of steel cut oats for breakfast before committing to a whole bag? You can use bulk bins to get whatever amount you need. And you don't have to use a horse.