It’s a new year and a new day for the Next Generation Housewife.  After getting busy with other endeavors and falling a bit off the blogging wagon last year, I’m starting up new again for 2011.  I have all kinds of exciting plans and ideas in store for this year and am excited to keep you updated on them all.  But first, let’s take a look back at the beautiful ending of 2010.

We ended 2010 with a nice 1 ½ week “Christmas break,” reminiscent of our school days.  We enjoyed spending lots of time with family, seeing old friends, celebrating special events, and not having to be anywhere at any specific time (well, unless food was being served we wouldn’t miss that).

We started the trip a little earlier than planned in order to beat a storm, but it gave us a nice chance to spend extra time with my Grandma, make cookies with NGHubby’s family, and finish our Christmas present wrapping.  The “official” holiday celebrations began with church, music, and oyster stew on Christmas Eve.  NGHubby, who some people call Adam, has an amazing way of putting babies to sleep – I like to tease him that he’s just boring, but it’s probably his loving, caring blah blah blah

Soon after, we were all tucked in for the night to prepare to start early Christmas morning with stockings and presents with my family…

and then headed over for a day of festivities with NGHubby’s family.

We enjoyed Christmas dinner, Christmas presents, Christmas reading time…

and Christmas tormenting the nephew.

Don’t worry, he’s still happy.

The large-scale family fun spilled over into Sunday as we celebrated the baptism of our newest niece.

Again, babies just love Adam.

I appreciated our personal time, but clearly she is just looking for Uncle Adam

Meanwhile, he was having fun in the sing-a-long.

The fun continued all week with reunions with friends, fun with family, and more scrabble games for NGHubby than one can count without taking off shoes.

Luckily, just before it was time for us to head home, the temperatures took a downward turn so we didn’t feel bad getting in the car to head south.  Thanks to all for a  fun-filled week, and sorry to any we were not able to catch during our Christmas marathon.

- Clarissa

I recently had a debate with myself about getting prints of my photos.  When I received my first camera as a child, prints were the only option.  We took 24 pictures — being careful not to waste any pictures on “unnecessary” subjects — then we dropped the film off at the store, waited a day (an extremely long wait for a 10-year-old), and came back to pick up the prints.  Simple as that.  We then put the prints neatly into an album and the album on a shelf.  Done.

Now, with digital photography completely taking over, we can take as many pictures as our hearts’ desire with no regard to “waste.”  We see the photo immediately on the camera, and take another and another, as many as those ever-increasingly-sized memory cards will hold.  When we feel like it, we upload/email/sync the photos to our computer.  And then what?  We can email the photos, post them on blog, share on Facebook, and on and on.  But what about those prints and albums we used to set on the shelf and pull out when the grandparents came to visit? That’s the exact question I’ve been debating.  For quite a while, I tried going totally digital and not buying prints or albums.  After two years, though, I realized that I never looked back at those photos on my computer, and missed just pulling out an album to look back through the great memories it holds.  Well, last week I ordered some 300+ prints from events over the last two years.  So, the sentimental me who likes to pull out a photo album to browse occasionally won over the practical me who thinks about the 9 cent per photo cost and about packing those albums next time we move.  I’m sure I’ll have the same debate next year   What do you think on the prints vs. digital debate?  Have you gone completely digital, or do you cling to the album of prints?

Here’s an idea for somewhere in the middle — use photos as your home decor.  It’s personal and a whole lot cheaper than art – so it fits both the sentimental and practical sides.  I created this wall collage from photos NGHubby and I have taken in our travels.

We also use family photos in our decor, from our wedding pictures to this frame — perfectly made for those of us with nine siblings

How do you use your photos?  I’d love to hear your ideas.

- Clarissa

I will admit, I was once quite skeptical of the “organic” and “natural” movements.  And honestly, I still am a bit.  I saw it as a way for food producers to increase prices for picky buyers.  And, of course, that is what it does, but is there good reason behind it?  Is organic worth the extra money?  Those are questions that could, and probably will, be debated for a very long time.

I’ve always been about eating good meat and fresh vegetables, but it wasn’t really because I thought it was better than anything else, it’s just what was served to me.  Did my mom serve it to me because it’s better for me than Cheetos?  Well, probably yes, but likely for the nutrients they provide and not necessarily because of any “pureness” of the meat over Cheetos.  Although I may be wrong because growing up in a household that disallowed diet pops due to their chemicals started me at an early age to distrust artificial ingredients.  Now I wouldn’t say I’m crazy about it, but I don’t drink diet pop or coffee, I try to limit the juice, fake snacks, and frozen foods, and try to load up on good meat and fresh vegetables.  But really, everyone needs a frozen pizza every once in a while!  It seems like common sense to me to eat mostly natural foods, but then what happens when those “good for us” foods contain bad things?

I read an article yesterday on CNN.com about the “Dirty Dozen” vegetables that contain 47 to 67 chemicals each in an average serving by the time it reaches a consumer’s home.  Now we don’t know if those chemical pesticides actually hurt us, but I’m betting they don’t help.  So what do we do about it?  Buy at Farmers’ Market is a common thought, but even then we would need to clarify the pesticides used with each vendor to ensure “organic” vegetables.  Even the use of organic is unregulated – only “certified organic” comes with any government backing.  We could then grow it ourselves?  But then, who doesn’t use some kind of Miracle Grow additive at some point to get those nice, pretty tomatoes?  And if you don’t, does your uphill neighbor use it?

And then what about “good” meat?  Who knows what chemicals are in the meat we eat.  Ok, that was a trick question because I happen to be married to someone who does actually know some of the chemicals in the meat – and it’s not always pretty.  Even meat labeled “all natural” is regulated while the hog is alive, but can have pretty much anything the producers want injected in the meat post-slaughter.  NGHubby even said some producers (not Farmland, of course) inject the “all natural” meat with pork broth from hogs that may or may not have been “all natural.”  So if a piece of pork comes from an “all natural” hog but is then injected with preservatives, color and flavor additives, and non-natural pork broth, is it still “all natural” to you?  That’s the question with no real answer, I suppose.  But am I going to quit eating meat because of it?  That has a definite answer — heck no!  Then you have some companies going above and beyond to make things more natural.  Like Farmland (I use them as an example again only because that’s the only food company I really know) has a Simply Natural line of pork that comes from a very specific herd of hogs that have been given no antibiotics or hormones, and the meat is not injected before hitting our table.  That line, however, struggles to maintain sustainability because there are a lot of people like me who care, but not quite enough to pay double for my pork chop just because my pork chop cost Farmland double to produce.  Another example is Whole Foods.  We are excited to try out the new Whole Foods grocery store that is moving into my workplace.  The interesting question will be…are there enough people in the area to pay extra just for slightly more natural food?  Extending that question…am I even willing to pay extra for slightly more natural food?

I’m just starting in my casual research of the foods we eat, so I’d love your input or reading suggestions.  I have neither an argument nor solution in this organic post, but simply wanted to start the conversation that I believe needs to be started throughout our food industry.

- Clarissa

Phew — it’s been quite a month for our household.  It all started about 1  1/2 months ago when I decided to find a  job out of the house.  I was happy with my web design work, but felt I could fit more into my schedule.  I wasn’t sure if I’d do volunteering, part-time work, or a full-time job at that point.  Then this opening came up for exactly what I love doing at a great company, so I decided to go for it.  It was certain to be a MUCH bigger comittment than I had originally set out to do, but NGHubby and I decided that would be a bad thing.

Now here we are one month later and loving it.  My crafty time has been cut to almost nothing, but I still enjoy cooking, baking, and working around the house as much as I can.  A nice side benefit of me working out of the home is that NGHubby and I really cherish our time together even more since there’s less of it.

Also, while I’ve always referred to him here as NGHubby, now he truly is a Next Generation Husband.  Because his commute to work is only about 15 seconds (if he walks really slow), he has taken over preparing breakfast each morning, doing the laundry each week, shopping for groceries, and cooking some dinners.  He even packed a lunch for me this Tuesday when I had to take one to work.  I consider myself quite lucky  But what really makes it work is that he likes doing the extra household work.  Having less time has taught forced me to give up some of the responsibility which NGHubby has happily picked up.

It’s taken me awhile to get used to the schedule, but rest assured there’s plenty more fun coming up on NextGenerationHousewife.com.  Earlier this week I created a nice chicken recipe that is both quick and decently healthy that  I think you’ll like.  Last week we dug up a section of the backyard to build a raised flower bed.  After this weekend I’ll have some good stories on that and probably some “fun” advice at least of what not to do.  Thanks for joining me again!  Happy spring!

- Clarissa

Long time no see, my friends!  I hope you enjoyed a wonderful holiday season.  I had a fun time skating around on the roads of Iowa.  Although, I can’t complain too much because while we were freezing in Iowa, our neighbors were freezing in Oklahoma under 11 inches of snow.  That’s an all-time record and we missed it!  I’m not sure if that makes me happy or sad, but it’s a good stat either way.

This year the Next Generation Housewife has all kinds of new stuff planned (not including speaking in the 3rd person, promise).  While the basis will always be giving you good ideas, suggestions, and stories about home activities, I plan to branch out a little this year into learning and improving as a “whole person.”  I plan to give you more stories of my ventures outside the house as well as suggestions of good books, volunteer opportunities, and travel adventures.

To help me out, what topics from 2009 did you like best?  Cooking, sewing, decorating, travel?  And what topics would you like to see more of (whether continued from ’09 or new) in 2010?

- Clarissa

I’ve been sharing some fun home-made gift ideas, but also wanted to give you a quick way out if you’re still scrambling for that perfect gift.  Next Generation Housewife is now partially sponsored by Amazon.com.  That means you can take advantage of their great deals while helping to support your favorite website (it is your favorite, right?).

So, if those cute home-made gifts are looking a little out of reach for you for this Christmas — run on over to Amazon for just about any gift, or even a gift card, for those last couple people on your shopping list.  Even better, if you do it in the next two days (by end of Dec. 17) they’ll give you free shipping with guaranteed Christmas arrival on any purchase over $25.

And don’t worry — just because we’re starting to get some sponsors, nothing will change.  NextGenerationHousewife.com will still be the site you know and love only now with some deals in it for you.  Plus, your incentive is this: the more you shop at our sponsors (by clicking to visit them from this website – the links in the sidebar or in any post where I mention them) the more you help NGH and the more we can do fun things for you like freebies and giveaways!  Deal?

And just to keep you in the Christmas spirit, here’s a pic of our outdoor Christmas decorating this year…

- Clarissa

I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving holiday!

This year we decided to pretend we were back in college and take the whole Thanksgiving week as a vacation.  We had a great time tailgating with friends, celebrating with family, and just enjoying the time with those most special to us.  It was a wonderful week.  However, it has set me a little behind in preparing great blog posts for you.  There’s lots to look forward to, though, including chocolate cupcakes, a great (and simple) mashed potato recipe, Christmas decorating, and some (hopefully) wonderful homemade Christmas gift ideas (I say hopefully because I haven’t actually made them yet, but they sound wonderful in theory!).

And charades?!  No, I just had to include this goofy picture of me trying to act out “What is and what should never be” in our regular game of charades.  I even had to keep the little paper in my hand to keep checking the word counts – yikes.

- Clarissa

You guessed it — we’re back from our big trip to Ireland.  It was a wonderful trip full of great memories, wonderful food, and many new friends.  Of course, I have tons of pictures, videos, and stories to share.  Right now, though, I’m caught in restocking the fridge, doing load after load of laundry, and trying to get my body back on its correct sleep schedule.  So, please stay tuned for great stories and plenty of pictures from our trip!

- Clarissa

Welcome!  I’m so happy you’ve come to check out the site.  I call myself the Next Generation Housewife because I am a modern young-ish woman who loves to keep up with activities around our household.

I believe the modern “Next Generation” housewife is a strong woman interested in improving her household and the lives of those in it.  Although historically the term “housewife” pertained to a woman who worked only in and around the house, I believe the new generation of housewives are those working IN the house, FROM the house, and OUT of the house — all sharing the desire to make life wonderful for ourselves and our families.

So, who am I?  I’m a Midwestern 20-something girl living with my wonderful husband of almost 2 years and our cat.  I’ve got an education in Industrial Engineering and a career as an Information Technology consultant.  I currently work from home in my personal Web design business, Aclaris, do some virtual consulting, and manage our household.

I enjoy working around the house with cooking, baking, sewing, and decorating, but also like to indulge my nerdy side by keeping up with the latest technologies, fixing things around the house, and making massive spreadsheets on just about everything.  I know most people wouldn’t call creating spreadsheets a hobby, but what do they know?  I also just started learning to decorate cakes, so I’m sure you’ll hear about that from time to time as well.

On this site I will share my adventures in marriage and the activities described above in hopes of inspiring my fellow NGHs.  For you more seasoned readers out there, I hope you will share some of your knowledge on the topics with us, in addition to finding some comic relief in my trials and errors (because there will most certainly be errors).  I’m not an expert in hardly anything I do, but I love to learn and have fun along the way.

Over the next few days we’ll catch up with some of the different projects I have going on and talk about where we hope to go from there.  Be sure to subscribe today so you don’t miss a moment of the adventure!

- Clarissa