As spring blooms around us, we’re digging into gardening! By gardening, we mean planting something in the ground and it growing. Veggies, flowers, herbs, whatever! Join us over the next two weeks as we learn the history of gardening and find out more about victory gardens, take a “Smart Gardening 101 Class,” and plant our own gardens!
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I’m on week 6 of social distancing at home. A reprieve from all the indoor time has been a daily walk outdoors. Never have I been so thankful to get out in the fresh air and be somewhere other than inside my house! The weather is turning nicer in Michigan and I feel like I am experiencing spring in a whole new way. Because I spend a lot of time looking out my windows a home, I am feeling closer to nature.
The “Wise Walker” walking badge will encourage us all to get a bit closer to nature. Don’t just walk outside, but walk mindfully and walk often! Join us over the next two weeks as we learn the science and benefits of walking along with a little history and a lot of fun facts. We will share our experience taking a class on Good Form Walking to make sure we are caring for our bodies while we walk, joining a walking challenge to walk 20 minutes a day for a year, and embarking on a few mindful and contemplative walks to commune with nature.
The last couple weeks have been hard. We’ve been glued to our phones, TVs, and computers taking in the news. We’ve been working from home. We’ve been staying away from our friends. We take comfort in the fact that humans are amazingly resilient. In the midst of struggle and chaos, we can find beauty and even happiness. In order to practice our own resilience and encourage you to engage in resilience, we’ve decided to dedicate our next badge to the feeling of joy and how to find it. We call it the Joy Seeker Badge. Since we are “at home” for the foreseeable future, we will pay special attention to finding joy at home.
Join us over the next two weeks as we learn about the science of happiness and joy, take a class on making our homes more joyful, and create a couple of “joy projects” to bring more joy into our daily lives.
Our next badge captures the aroma of a lazy weekend morning. We are excited to announce that our next badge is focused on coffee! A barista is a person who prepares and serves coffee drinks. In this badge, we focus on more than just making coffee drinks, but the history of coffee, the flavor profiles of coffee, and the tools and terminology associated with coffee. And of course, we will teach you to make some great coffee drinks. We also invite you to follow along with us as we go to a “cupping” or coffee tasting class.
If you are interested in earning the Barista Badge, follow along and complete the steps with us.
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Just in time for a fresh start in a new year, our next badge is all about yoga! Join us as we earn the Yogi Badge over the next couple weeks. We’ll cover the timeline, types, and terminology of yoga. We’ll explore the many benefits of yoga and learn some beginner and basic poses. Then, we’ll take a 30-day yoga challenge and let you know how it goes, how we feel, and what we learned. Finally, we’ll create custom and easy-to-make yoga mat bags and design and set up dedicated yoga space in our homes.
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Our next badge was inspired by our desire to dig deeper into a practice we already enjoy: journaling. Doing the research for our Journaling Badge taught us about different types of journals people keep, the benefits of daily journaling, and the history of when humans started keeping journals. We learn about a few famous journal-keepers and the first published journals.
Join us over the next two weeks as we learn about the benefits and history of journaling, take a hand lettering class in Chicago, and give the gift of journaling to a few loved ones. We’ll share with you our favorite types of journals to keep and take you along on our hand lettering class.
Just in time for holiday baking, our next badge is the Cookie Connoisseur Badge! Join us over the next couple weeks as we learn the history of cookie baking, tips and techniques for decorating cookies, and how holiday baking has evolved over the years.
If you are interested in earning the Cookie Connoisseur Badge, follow along and complete the steps with us.
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Our next badge is the Eco Holiday Hero Badge! This badge is so important to us, we are devoting the whole month of November to exploring the topic of sustainable holidays.
Join us over the next month as we learn about the impact our holiday traditions have on the environment, easy Earth-friendly alternatives for the harmful holiday-habits we currently have, and how to get our families on board with making changes to our holiday traditions. We will also discuss the many benefits an Earth-friendly holiday brings to all of us! We’ll make DIY gifts, seek out presents that promote sustainability, and shop local. We will speak to experts on sustainable holidays and share a long list of experiences you can give instead of traditional gifts.
Along with this badge, we are issuing an Eco Holiday Challenge. We challenge you to make your holidays a bit greener this year by following a few simple guidelines.
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Our next badge is all about the moon! Join us during this spooky season as we examine the dark and light sides of the moon. Over the next two weeks we will learn moon facts and history, lunar lore, and all about the mysterious moon phases. If you are interested in earning the Moon Explorer Badge, follow along and complete the steps with us.
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We are very excited to announce our next badge… Mixology! Mixology is “the art or skill of preparing mixed drinks.” Join us over the next two weeks as we learn the history of cocktails, figure out what various bar tending tools are used for, take a cocktail making class at a local distillery, and host a cocktail party!
If you are interested in earning the Mixology Badge, follow along and complete the steps with us. The Mixology Badge taught us tips for making delicious cocktails and showed us the history of cocktails from Europe to the US and the Caribbean.
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Badges for All 