Thursday, August 28, 2014

30 Day Minimalist Game

My dear friend, Heather (today is her 30th BIRTHDAY!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIRL) and I have been doing this minimalist game.  We tweaked the "rules" a bit to fit our lifestyles but it has been so much FUN and such a relief.

The basic gist of the "game" is to get rid of stuff...a lot of it, 465 items.  On day one you get rid of 1 item, day 2, 2 items... You get the idea. Well I knew once we got into the 10's 15's, etc. I wouldn't have time to find those items and actually get rid of them that same day.  I have a toddler that requires all of my attention until nap time and I also didn't want to be making trips to our church to donate items every day b/c that doesn't equate to minimal driving and saving money on gas, etc.

So, instead I just started going through my house purging AGAIN...round 3 people!!! I didn't count the items that I threw away (40 pair of socks, old tee shirts, etc.).  So far, over the course of about 5 days I am up to 452 items.  I loaded up my car this morning and took a full load to my church (we have an awesome ministry that is basically like a Goodwill store but our church operates it).  Here is a photo I took before leaving:
I come from a family of HOARDERS!!!! I have always known this and never wanted to be a hoarder and took the steps I felt were necessary to ensure I wasn't one.  Well, news flash: I'M A HOARDER!!! I just hoard nice/useful things and not junk like some people I'm related to.  See the picture below..
That's my spice collection.  I had just purged it about  a month or two ago and got rid of probably 10-12 spices that I had multiples of or were old.  Yesterday, I got rid of 10 more spices!!! Ya'll, I'm sick, help me!

What has this purge taught me? Well, I already knew I had too much stuff.  What I didn't realize is how unattached I truly am to my things.  I thought it would be really hard for me to get rid of 465 items, especially since I've taken 2 full carloads of stuff to be donated in the last month!  Guess what, it hasn't been hard AT ALL!! I realize I still have some more items to get rid of, but for the most part it's been super easy and the more I'm getting rid of, the more I want to get rid of.

I have decreased by clothing wardrobe by about 65-70%.  I got rid of over half my kitchen utensils...I seriously donated a whole kitchen's worth of serving ware, cooking pots, baking dishes, etc.  If someone was just getting started and needing EVERYTHING for a kitchen to cook a meal, I probably gave it away, times 2! And ya know what? I STILL HAVE EXCESS!!!!!!!!

I gave away 12 pillow cases!!! WTH (what the heck). And we still have 8, including the one's on our pillows.  The more I've been getting rid of, the more I realize how wrong it's been of me to keep all these things, not using them, when someone else may actually NEED or ENJOY them!

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Recent Projects

I love to crochet in my spare time (nap time).  Right before I found out I was pregnant with Patrick my mom and I had started crocheting again.  Once I found out we were expecting, I was crocheting baby hats and blankets like it was my job!  They weren't the best quality or anything but it was a fun hobby and really got me into "nesting mode".

Since then, a lot of my friends have been having babies and I have enjoyed honing my skills and making more blankets and some hats.  I've been really bad about taking pictures of each project...my mom tried to get me into doing this so I would have a record of all the ones I've made.  For whatever reason the time was never found and I ended up giving away most of the blankets, hats, and scarves without ever taking any photos.

I decided this might be a good space for me to record and keep track of my projects.  This week I finished a blanket for a guy I used to work with whose wife is expecting a little girl in a few months.

Large V Stitch

 I also started and finished a scarf for my good friend, Heather's daughter.

Bobble Stitch




Monday, August 11, 2014

The Home I Want


Photo Credit
I want a home that is filled with love and laughter.
Photo Credit
I want baked goods around for my family and guests.
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I want people who visit to feel at ease and able to relax and enjoy themselves. Ok, maybe not like the dude above...

I'm pretty nostalgic and as I get older, it just gets more intense.  Recently I've been thinking more about the environment I want for my family and I realize that it's really the simple and easy things that come to mind.  I want to have memories of baking and making a mess with my children, painting outside under our car port, building forts in our living room, reading stories in bed to one another.

I want my children to look back and smile at all the fun we had together.  I want to look back and think of how tired I was as a mom because of all the things we did together. 


Friday, August 8, 2014

{ON} Mission

photo credit*

My church just wrapped up a series called "The Satisfaction Trilogy", you can find the sermons here in case you want to check them out.  I just watched them online because we were gone for the first two (vacation) and last Sunday we worked in the nursery so we didn't attend service.

All 3 messages were great but the last one really rocked me.  Jon, our minister preached on our mission and that Jesus told each one of us what "our calling" was.  In Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus tells his disciples to go out into the world and make more disciples and that he would always be with them.  It's that simple, go out and love on people and spread the Gospel.  Simple, yes. Easy? No.

One question that was asked during the sermon: Is there a welcome mat at the entrance of my home? This wasn't about a literal welcome mat but about hospitality.  Are others welcome to come into my home and be part of my family? At first I answered, "Yes, of course! I love having people over into my home, sharing meals, telling jokes, just hanging out and 'doing life'." But then it hit me, this is not the case with just anyone.

You see, I'm the type of person who loves to love...those close to me.  I love my family and friends and would do anything for them.  Any need I can meet, done.  Any want/desire that I can fulfill...sign me up! But when it comes to everyone else, those I don't know, who aren't in my close circle....that's another story.  Not because I don't care for them, but because I'm too worried about what they might think of me, what others will think of me.

Who can I love on that I don't know, how can I help the people of my community, what's the best way to minister to them?



*I have no ties to the church linked in the photo, I just liked the image.

Friday, August 1, 2014

Finding Joy Challenge

I decided to take the "Finding Joy Challenge".  Do you read the Finding Joy Blog?  I've read this blog for a little over a year now and absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!!  So when Rachel said she was going to do a finding joy challenge I blindly accepted.  I thought it would be something fun.  HA!!!

I HATE HATE HATE pictures of myself!!!!!! I cannot stress it enough.  There are maybe 5 pictures of me that I have ever liked.  I have an issue with keeping my eyes open, I normally look like a drug addict because my eyes are either on the way to shutting or have just opened from a blink.  And even if my eyes are open and I look normal I am just not photogenic.  So naturally, the first challenge would be to take a SELFIE!

As if pictures of me aren't bad enough, let's make it worse by having me take it of myself! UGH! I honestly thought about just bailing out and not doing the challenge.  No one knew I was doing it anyway so who would know? But I felt like I need to get out of my comfort zone and who really cares if I post a horrible selfie on instagram, right?

Since I couldn't take a "serious" selfie, I made a stupid face...baby steps people, baby steps :)