Simply Sunday #15

Hello!

So, here is something I've done recently to simplify my life...

I organized my bedroom closet!  So simple, but it has really lifted my spirits. 

Though in the last year I've given away a tremendous amount of clothing and reduced by 75% the amount of closet space I was consuming, my closet still felt cluttered.  At this point, I don't want to get rid of anything else.  But the problem was that everything was a huge, chaotic mess.

One problem was that clothing I only use part of the year was taking up room in seasons when I couldn't use it.  As we are now well into summer, I took the opportunity to collect all the winter clothing and put it in one location, out of the way.  That thinned the rest of the closet and freed up more space.

I also gathered together things I need to hold onto, but don't need frequently, e.g., formal attire.  Those items too are now out of my way.

It has felt so liberating to have a de-cluttered, more organized closet!  If I get time, I would like to organize it more.  But for the time being, just getting out of the way out of season and occasionally used items has helped tremendously. 

I feel like I've expanded my closet space simply by organizing the existing space better.  That same reality happens all over our homes.  We sometimes think we need a certain square footage and/or rented storage space to hold all our stuff.  But in truth, we often can make due with less through a combination of being realistic about what we actually use and need, and organizing our existing space more wisely.

I hope this helps!  Have a great day.

Simply Sunday #14

Hi!  I hope you are having a FABULOUS Sunday.

Here is something I have done this week to simplify my life...

I cleaned out some kitchen cabinets! 

My husband had been using multiple shelves as a storage place for leftover party paraphernalia.  Plates, plastic utensils, paper napkins, birthday candles, etc.  Most emblazoned with Disney Princesses or Spiderman.  It was such a jumbled mess no one ever went near it. 

When you begin to embrace voluntary simplicity, you have to avoid the urge to hoard.  My husband and I are frugal and we hate to throw things out that may have use.  We don't want to waste money or consume more landfill space.  So we often hang on to things to use them up when others might throw them out.

That is not a bad habit.  It is in keeping with the concept of voluntary simplicity to use all resources wisely.  But you do not use them wisely if they are kept in a disorganized mess that everyone avoids!  Some semblance of organization is important to make sure you are storing for later use and not just occupying more space needlessly.

So I took some time this week to take down all the stuff my husband had kept on these shelves.  I went through it all, took out stuff that didn't really belong, and reorganized the stuff that was there.  I got the stuff down to just one shelf.  And now it is organized and ready for use. 

In fact, my husband is taking our girls on a father-kid camping trip through our church in about a month.  This stuff is going to be put to good use then.  He'll need a table cloth, napkins, plates and utensils.  It will make his life easier on the trip to use disposable stuff, and we already have these items on hand.  That is what I call a win-win.

Simply Sunday #13

Happy Sunday!  I hope you are having a terrific one.

Here is a brief list of how I incorporated voluntary simplicity into my life this week:

(1) Exercise.  Voluntary simplicity involves focusing on people (not things).  Too often we get so busy we neglect our health.  That was a real struggle for me when I was still in the rat race.  I've never been skinny, but early in my career I began to pack on pounds due to my insane hours at my desk.  That continued for a number of years until I became a mom and I wanted to be healthier for my kids.  I've been a fairly healthy eater throughout my adult years, but lack of exercise had been my pitfall.  So, as a young mom, I joined the Y near my office and faithfully went to workout every work day at lunch time.  Over time, I lost over 30 pounds.  And I kept it off for several years.  I also aspired to lose a bit more but was not able to.  To do so, I really needed to up my exercise, but I just didn't have enough time for that.  I barely had time for what I was doing.  But then things changed, my professional demands intensified greatly.  My ever more demanding work life meant I had little control over what I ate at times, and eventually I had to give up my dedicated exercise schedule.  Despite having kept the weight off for several years, once my work demands forced me to give up regular exercise, it all came back--and surprisingly fast.  How depressing!  I realized that the only way to change the situation was to exercise regularly again, and I vowed that when I stepped down from my paid gig and had more control over my schedule, I would get back into the swing of it.  That worked well initially this fall, but then we went on several family trips and Thanksgiving arrived.  Basically, my schedule got crazy and my exercise schedule fell by the wayside.  Earlier in the fall, I had re-lost some weight, but things stalled as my exercise waned.  This week, however, I've renewed my resolve.  I'm proud to report that I did not miss one day of exercise.  There are so many benefits to exercise.  It is not just about weight loss or weight control.  When I exercise regularly, I am a happier person on so many levels.  It really is not to be missed.  So, I share this in the hopes that it will encourage anyone who struggles in this area.  Particularly moms of young children, we find it difficult to find time to take care of our health.  But I think the flight attendant advice is apt in many aspects of life--we need to put our own oxygen mask on before we attempt to put on the masks of our children.  If we expire before we get anyone else's mask on, we're not helping anyone.  It is not noble to sacrifice oneself in that manner.  Taking care of ourselves means we're more likely to be here and be in a position to help others.

(2) Meditation.  This week was the second time I made it to my church's weekly meditation session.  This time, it was a "drumming meditation," which was something new for me.  Frankly, this was not my cup of tea.  All the pounding of the drums gave me a headache and stressed me out a bit.  But it was great to try something new.  The drums were pretty.  And the second half of the session involved just a regular meditation, which was nice.  It's always important to try new things.  Even if it was not my favorite type of meditation, I learned a lot and was inspired by the people who attended.

(3) Advent.  As a Christ-follower, I'm preparing for the celebration of Christmas.  That celebration means different things to different people.  After all, many non-religious people celebrate Christmas as a secular holiday.  To me, at this point in my faith journey, I think Christmas means reflecting on what it means to have Jesus in my life.  Carrie Underwood bravely took on the iconic role of "Maria" in a live TV version of The Sound of Music recently.  I don't follow her on social media, but I've heard that she responded to the barrage of vicious criticism of her performance by simply stating that there are a lot of people who need Jesus in their lives and she will be praying for them.  I've been thinking about that response.  To me, what she is saying rings true--a lot of people are worn down by the negativity of the world, the lack of hope, and the absence of love in their lives.  They don't know any better than to attack others.  To me, having Jesus in your heart means understanding that there is a better way to live--to have hope and love in your heart.  If we keep Jesus in our hearts, then we will radiate his hope and love to others who need that encouragement and peace.  This week, I've tried to be mindful of this.  I've tried to reach out to others to encourage them in various ways.  And I've thanked those who have done the same for me.  Christmas is a time of light in the darkness of winter.  I believe we're called to be light to one another.

Cheers!  And have a lovely Sunday.  If you celebrate Christmas in a religious sense, I also wish you a meaningful Advent!

Simply Sunday #12

Happy Sunday!

I've got just a short list this week.  More is not always more. 

(1) Simple Date Night.  Our kids had a sleepover this weekend, so my husband and I had a date night.  We had had plans to go to a particular restaurant we'd wanted to try.  But when we dropped our kids off, we visited for a long time with the hosting parents and started our date late.  The restaurant was fairly far away.  It is family owned, and we've been unsuccessful in the past because they aren't open as many hours and don't keep as predictable a schedule as an Olive Garden or Taco Bell.  At that point in the evening, we weren't sure if we could get there before they'd close.  So we went with the flow and just got a burger on the way home from the sleepover home.  It was delicious!  We don't eat a lot of meat, rarely eat beef or fried foods. So it was a real treat.  Not fancy or anything.  But yummy.

(2) Wisdom.  I have always loved learning from life experiences--mine and those of other folks.  Now that I'm in my 40s, I feel like I've learned so much.  Though there is still so much more to learn, I'm so much wiser than I was earlier in my journey.  I enjoy sharing the insights I've learned with folks who are receptive.  And I love to hear the insights of folks who've lived a different lifestyle or who've lived a similar one but began their journey earlier than me.  Along those lines, this morning, I came across a blog post that I found very helpful: http://gnowfglins.com/2013/10/14/rural-homesteading-four-things-i-wish-i-had-known.  It is by a woman who is a former missionary turned rural homesteader.  I am very drawn to both the lives of missionaries and homesteaders, though my husband rightfully laughs a bit at both interests because I'm not very hearty and I'm terribly squeamish about critters.  At this point in my life, I'd never be able to live without certain modern urban comforts.  Nonetheless, this particular homesteading blog post was really insightful to me.  Though the writer lives such a different lifestyle from me, her words of wisdom are actually pretty transferrable to other ways of life.  Much of what she advised are things I needed to hear about my life in the 'burbs as I maintain a home and educate my kids.  We all get socialized to constant busyness and beat ourselves up if we aren't achieving everything on our to-do list.  That is not healthy.  That is not helpful.  So, even if you aren't a homesteader, take a read of this blog post.  It may speak to you even if you don't know a thing about growing your own food!

Make it a great day!

Simply Sunday #11

So this week, I don't think I did all that much to simplify my life.  But the point of voluntary simplicity is not simplifying for simplicity's sake.  It is to simplify so that you are spending your finite hours doing things that are worthy of your time, not wasting your life on pointless pursuits.  I have done several things that are in line with an attempt to get more out of life.  Here are a couple things I did (or didn't do) this week that are in line with this ethos:

(1) I'm appreciating my belongings.  I have been cleaning out my house slowly this fall.  Trying to get rid of things that I don't use or need.  I've given a lot to thrift stores.  And cleaning out helps me to see what I own.  I've realized some things I was holding on to are just broken and need to be thrown out.  And some things I'm rediscovering with gladness.  I recently realized my 17 year old tea kettle needed replacement.  I did that last week and I've been enjoying tea again.  I've even learned out to make chai latte, which is a fun way to start my day.  Several of the items in this list flow from this new found pleasure in tea drinking.

(2) I had some herb tea one afternoon.  I always start my day with some tea for the caffeine.  But that is all I have.  I'm too sensitive to caffeine to have more than that.  And I'm always running around, too busy to have tea without caffeine.  The other day, however, I made time to make myself a little pot of herb tea and enjoyed it throughout the afternoon.  What a lovely little luxury!

(3) I rearranged my teas.  So, I wasn't even drinking tea much, but I had quite a collection.  I've been slowing working my way through it this fall.  But particularly as I have been drinking more tea this week, I've found that the little containers I used to organize different types were chaotic.  So, I took a few minutes (while waiting for water to boil!) to organize my stash.  Now I can find non-caffeinated teas quickly if I get a moment to enjoy some.

(4) I have been focusing more on relationships.  I haven't gotten as much done in terms of de-cluttering our home this week, but that is ok.  I'm focusing more time on relationship.  I am blessed to have a lot of wonderful folks in my life, but that takes time to make time for us to spend together.  A good chunk of my free time this week went to that.  Our garage is still a disaster area, but still it was time well spent.

(5) I have also been focusing more on my dreams for the next phase of my life.  There are several different "projects" I want to embark on as I enter this new season of my life.  It is hard to get started and to figure out all the details.  But I'm not getting deterred.  I'm moving forward and making solid steps to make things happen.

(6) I've fed my spirit.  There are a couple things that fall into this category but one is that I went to a meditation class offered at my church this week.  They have been offering these every week for a long time.  They always sounded neat, but I couldn't ever find time to go.  When I was working, Sunday nights were a busy time when we were all trying to get ready for the week.  And this fall, I've been keeping a standing commitment with my mom to attend a concert series.  Now that is over, and I finally got a chance to attend the meditation class. 

As I prepared to go to the class, I was nervous.  Meditation is a little whoo-whoo in my book.  I'm a native Texan.  No offense to anyone, but culturally I get a little skeptical about things that are at all new agey.  And I'm a Type A personality with a never ending to-do list.  It is hard for me to sit for long periods and "do nothing." 

In college, I also had a bad experience at a Quaker quiet meeting.  Only five of us showed up.  Everyone was so sweet, but we almost immediately went into a 60 minute session of everyone sitting quietly in silent prayer in close quarters.  I spent the whole time desperately trying to not look at my girl friend whom I had convinced to go with me, I knew we'd burst into a fit of giggles if we made eye contact.  I was also struggling to not giggle even with my eyes closed.  And I was very worried my tummy would grumble because it was lunch time.  It was not exactly a spiritual experience as I prayed over and over: "Lord, help me not laugh or have a growling tummy!"

With that history, and some trepidation, I went to the meditation class at my church.  It was lovely.  And I did fine.  No urge to giggle.  I don't think I had any tummy noises, though I heard some around me.  That is fine.  And I was amazed at how long the class lasted.  I had told my family I'd be home in an hour.  The class lasted 1 1/2 hours!  But I thoroughly enjoyed myself and felt at peace.  I've also felt like I've had several important epiphanies and important moments of self-understanding this week.  Anyhow, I cannot go again this week, but I am going to make a tremendous effort to go again soon.

I hope you are having a lovely Sunday!

Simply Sunday #10

Hello!  Hope your Sunday is going well.

Because we've been traveling, I haven't posted for a while.  And we just got back home from our final trip, so I don't have a whole lot to offer for this week's installment of Simply Sunday, but here goes:

(1) Reorganized some kitchen cabinets and laundry room shelves.  For most of our kids' lives to-date, my husband was the stay-at-home parent and I was the sole breadwinner.  So he was in charge of the house.  He is very good at many domestic things, but he is organizationally challenged in a major way.  I'm not organized by my inherent nature, but I've seen what happens when there is not structure and organization.  Resources get wasted--be they time, money, appliances, etc.  You just get more out of life with less effort if you are organized.  So I always joke that if being disorganized were a disease, I'd be working my way through the 12 Steps, while my husband would still be in denial that he had a problem.  So with that back story, imagine the transition as we flip roles this fall such that he becomes the sole breadwinner and I take charge of the home!  Yikes.  Suffice it to say I've been incredibly frustrated at the amount of clutter and flat out mess as I open cabinets and doors I've ignored the past many years.  I've been trying to declutter my own excess, while encouraging him to clean out/up his many messes.  Having lukewarm success on these things.  Rome was not built in a day, and meanwhile life goes on, so we cannot focus 100% on construction.  (Or de-construction, in our case.)  So, this week, I've tried to begin focusing on reorganizing the kitchen and laundry room now that I'm using those parts of our home more.  I'm really excited!  Not nearly close to being done, mind you. But I'm seeing light at the end of the tunnel.  I'm finding things I didn't know we had that frankly will come in handy.  Christmas has come early!  And I'm looking forward to taking care of business more now that at least some things will be easier to find.  Although please pray that the organization takes root.  Despite my pleading over the years, my husband has a not-so-endearing habit of stuffing junk places it doesn't belong.  In the immortal words of George Costanza: Serenity Now, Serenity Now!

(2) Used neglected appliances, got rid of broken one.  So one of the by-products of my reorganization of at least some kitchen cabinets is that I'm finding--or at least getting access to--appliances that had not been used in a while.  I don't want to keep things we won't get use out of.  That just clutters our home, complicates our lives, and they could be used and appreciated by other folks.  So, in light of this situation, as I write there is fresh bread baking in our bread machine.  Booya!  And paninis and/or waffles may be in the near future.  I'm also thinking of the many types of hummus I could make with the food processor.  Meanwhile, as I do this initial inventory, I have come to the realization that the tea kettle we got as a wedding present 17 years ago has bit the dust in multiple, unfixable ways.  It is in the recycle bin, not appropriate for donation to a thrift store or other charity.  And because I drink tea every morning to get my caffeine fix, my husband researched and bought me a handy-dandy new electric tea kettle that goes on the kitchen counter and will no longer take up space on my stove, which made cooking tricky.  Simple pleasures!

(3) Been more cognizant of the façades we build.  Another thing I've been doing lately is inspired by my recent traveling.  When we travel, we get out of our homes, our routines, our ways of doing things, and we're exposed to different people and different ways of living.  I find that fascinating!  In doing that, I've just become more and more cognizant that no one's life is perfect.  Every relationship, every house, every job has flaws.  When we only look at the surface, things seem glamorous and in place.  If we then compare that façade to our imperfect lives, it is depressing and demoralizing!  But I've been thinking more and more about how there is imperfection in everyone's lives, and as I'm traveling, I see evidence of that all around me.  It is a real comfort and encouraging.  It helps me feel less frustrated about the imperfections in my own life.

(4) Taking time for fun, people.  Traveling has also liberated me from routine to focus on having fun and making the people in my life a priority.  I'm always so task-oriented.  That has served me well in both my professional and personal life.  I've had a great career, and I have a blessed home life.  But being so task-oriented, that can get in the way of having fun and building memories.  As people I've known pass away--sometimes in old age, but sometimes prematurely at way too young an age--I have sometimes been struck by how I missed opportunities with them.  I don't believe in wallowing in guilt or regret.  That is not productive.  But I do believe in seeing where we went astray and trying our best to not make the same mistakes (or similar ones) in the future.  None of us knows how much time we have on this planet.  We're fools if we think we're guaranteed a certain number of decades.  So it is important to recognize this dynamic and take every day as a gift, get everything out of it we can.  I've made some great memories with my kids recently, from collecting shells to trying new kinds of olives to teaching them about the internet.  I'm so grateful for those opportunities.  Don't want to pass up others!

So in that spirit. . . go out and make it a great one!

Simply Sunday #9

Greetings on a beautiful Sunday afternoon!  Hope you are having a great one.

Here is a quick list of things I did in the last week to simplify my life, to be more present and stop to enjoy life:

Cuddled with my daughter at a community concert.  We went to a free outdoor concert this week.  My younger daughter got cold and was tired, so I invited her to sit on my lap.  We cuddled and rubbed noses and acted silly.  Then she fell asleep in my arms and I just looked at her, occasionally kissing her head.  She is so beautiful and I'm so lucky to be her mom.  She is getting to be a big girl.  She doesn't normally sit on my lap any more.  So, this was so special.  I am a Type A gal, but I tried to just savor the moment.  It was precious!

Acted as an audience.  A friend from church was going to be playing a duet at a local concert of classical music.  Out of the blue, she asked if my kids and I could be an audience for a run-through of their performance a couple days before the actual show.  I'm not sure why she asked us, but we re-arranged our schedule and dropped some nonessential things to do it.  She needed an audience and we wanted to help.  We don't know anything about classical music, but it was pretty.  It is nice to help and to try new things.

Social media posting fast.  Like many people, I have mixed feelings about technology.  I essentially lived the first half of my life without computers, the internet or cell phones.  Certainly, those things have been tremendous gifts in many ways.  But I also see what a distraction and time-suck those are.  You can lose many hours in an empty way just using those items so frequently or for such long periods of time.  I'm fairly new to social media and often find it exciting how much interesting information is out there.  Sometimes I get particularly excited by what I read and like to share it.  But I see a couple problems with that.  First, that takes up more time than I'd prefer in my own life.  Second, I may be contributing to a similar problem for others who then have to take time to process what I've shared.  To alleviate this problem, I vowed to not post anything for one week.  The last thing I posted was a simple living themed meme reminding us to value people, not things.  My account has been silent since then.  It has been rather liberating!

Play dates.  I made time in our schedule for a play date in a park with a lovely family from our church.  We spent a lot of time after services letting our kids play and the parents visit.  Such a neat family!  And in the process, we met another neat family whom our friends knew and happened to be playing in the park.  Turns out they live in our neighborhood.  Later in the same week, I hosted a slumber party for my kids' friends who have moved to the other side of town and we rarely see anymore.  I also got to visit with their mom with whom I have a lot in common.  We all had a great time.  Good to stop and smell the roses with other people.

Happy Sunday!  Make it a good one.

Simply Sunday #8

Hello!  Hope you are having a stupendous Sunday.

Here are a few things I did this week in my journey towards voluntary simplicity:

(1) Went to the drive-in movies with our family.  We just recently found out there is actually a drive-in movie theater in our metropolitan area, and it is not that far away.  Tuesday is "family night" where the price of admission is a little lower than normal.  But frankly it is a pretty good deal all week for families.  Parents pay about what they'd pay at a regular theater, but kids are just a dollar each and you are welcome to bring your own food, which everyone does.  And we even got a double feature of kid films!  We brought our camping chairs and a picnic.  What a fun evening!  The weather is perfect right now in our neck of the woods.  Watching movies under the stars with my lovies while munching on treats.  Who could ask for more?!

(2) Cleaned out a dresser.  We have an antique-ish dresser in our hallway that we inherited from my husband's grandma.  (I say "antique-ish" because it is old, but not valuable in a monetary sense.  To me, the term "antique" sounds like something in a museum that needs to be insured.  Grandma's dresser ain't that!)  Unfortunately, this inherited dresser had become a junk drawer where my dear husband has hid things he didn't know where else to put.  I am happy to announce that I've cleaned out all the drawers in that dresser.  I've put two drawers to good use, and am now contemplating the best use of the others.  Yeah, organization and de-cluttering!

(3) Removed all purses from my husband's closet.  In our bedroom, there are two closets.  Because women have societally imposed expectations with regard to how they dress and I was working in a professional environment, I had a lot more clothes than I would have ordinarily wanted to own.  As a result of all this, for the past few years, I unfortunately occupied BOTH of the closets in our bedroom, and my husband used a small closet in the guest room.  Since leaving my paid gig, however, I've given a lot of my professional clothes away.  And I have more to sort through as I get time.  So, even though this paring down of my wardrobe is still a work in progress, for a couple weeks now my husband has been able to share one of the closets in our bedroom with me.  Rome was not built in a day--and unless you are Nero, it is not deconstructed in a day either!  I keep plugging away and this week I was able to give away more clothes and reorganize my main closet to take my purses out of the closet I share with my husband.  They are now on a shelf in my main closet.  He now gets 100% of the shelving space in our shared closet.  Progress! 

Don't tell my husband, but my eventual goal is that I will be down to one closet and he can have one closet fully to himself.  To be honest, voluntary simplicity is only part of the motivation.  He is rather a disorganized mess, so sharing a closet is stressful!

Multiple closets, antique-ish dresser, lots of clothes, the plural of "purse."  This may not sound like true voluntary simplicity.  But remember there is the ideal and then there is reality.  I'm not Mahatma Gandhi weaving my own cloth.  I'm a suburban mom in the 21st century in the U.S.  So, I share this kind of mundane stuff as an encouragement to you.  Voluntary simplicity is a journey.  It is not an all or nothing proposition.  You don't have to move to the country, raise all your own food and live off the grid.  Just start where you are now.  Everything counts.  All progress should be celebrated.

Simply Sunday #7

Hello and happy Sunday!  Hope you're having a great one.

I've got a list of a few things I did this week in my effort to adopt a life style that is more in keeping with the concept of voluntary simplicity:

(1) I learned some lessons from my child about the real point of sports.  My younger daughter is adopted, and though we share no DNA, she has somehow inherited my complete ineptitude for anything involving the throwing/hitting/catching of balls.  But I like her to get exercise and learn about team work, so at my encouragement, she agreed to participate in a recreational volleyball league this fall. 

She and I practice most week days for 30+ minutes, but she doesn't seem to make much (if any) progress.  I have not mentioned this, but she has noticed it and it has frustrated her a bit.  This past weekend was her team's first game.  It was very close and it came down to the last few plays.  Ironically, these involved some failed attempts by my daughter to serve and return the other team's serve.  She was not phased.  I'm not sure that she even realizes that one could accurately characterize her as having lost the game for her team.  Her coaches were so gracious and encouraging.  On the way home, she was glowing.  She talked about how much she enjoyed the game.  She said she wanted to play volleyball again next season.  Later she added that when she grows up she wants to be a volleyball coach.  How great is that?! 

Over the weekend, a lot of my friends on social media were posting about how their kids had scored touchdowns or goals, and their kids' teams had won games.  I was tempted to post something along the lines of:  "My daughter caused her volleyball team to lose their first game, but she had a great time, everyone was supportive and she wants to play more.  Life is great!"  I didn't want to seem like I was putting down the parents who rightfully get excited about their kids' accomplishments.  But my daughter reminded me that the accomplishments are not what are most important.  This isn't the Soviet Union.  Trying your best and having fun is the point of sports.

(2) Girls movie night! One evening, I spontaneously decided to make it a chick flick night.  My husband was working and I told my daughters I had a great film for us to watch about a princess who goes on a vacation.  I explained it that way instead of focusing on the fact that the film was about 50 years old and in black/white.  The film was Roman Holiday with Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn.  We watched it and had a blast.  My kids loved it!  Yeah!!

(3) Celebrated the Life of St. Francis and Appreciated Our Doggies.  My husband and I deeply admire St. Francis of Assisi.  We named one of our children after the saint.  Francis renounced worldly possessions to commune with nature and serve the poor.  I'll blog more about him some time, but for now just know that Francis is the patron saint of animals, but might also be considered the patron saint of voluntary simplicity! 

Our church has an annual Blessing of the Animals service, which is a little chaotic but lovely.  It took place this weekend, and my daughters and I took our doggies to be blessed and to love on them.  It is a wonderful service and is a great time to reflect on what an amazing blessing animals are to us.  Our doggies are both "rescued" and aren't anything fancy.  But they are very sweet and we love them very much.  They bring so much to our lives.

(4) Kept the Windows Open and the A/C Off All Week.  It is still pretty hot in our neck of the woods, but mercifully the hottest weather has finally broken.  Having the windows open in the evening, night and morning feels FABULOUS!  It is just delicious and makes me almost giddy. 

The afternoons are a tad warm, but we've kept the windows open anyhow.  There are a bunch of benefits to this.  We save lots of money on our electric bill.  We are less cut off from nature, more in tune to what is going on in creation. 

And I'm trying to live a less luxurious lifestyle.  Not because I'm a sadist or anything.  But I aspire to one day do some missionary work.  I honestly don't know if I'd ever have it in me to do that, I'm rather a wimp.  But I figure that if I'm ever going to try, I need to cut back on my luxuries and live more like I would if I were in an underdeveloped community. 

Moreover, cutting back on luxuries like a/c also helps me better empathize and identify those who have no choice but to go without such things.  And then when we do experience such luxuries, we're more grateful.  I had to get in my car the other day after a rather toasty afternoon in the house.  It felt almost decadent to have that blast of cold air from the air vent!

(5) Served Left-Overs to Our Brunch Guests.  I like to entertain because I enjoy people.  I like having friends over, but I'm no Martha Stewart.  I don't have a wide culinary repertoire or a lot of patience to spend lots of time on cooking.  So, recently as we've been entertaining, I've tried to just make a couple simple dishes.  No need to put on airs.  And today, we had some friends over, one of the dishes I served was actually just a left-over squash-tomato dish.  Our friends loved it, it fit in well with everything else, and we had a great time.  One less thing to have to worry about to have some pre-made food to serve.

Simply Sunday #5

Hello and happy Sunday!  Hope you are having a great one.

In no particular order, I've got a few things I did this week in my effort to simplify life:

I took time to enjoy a monarch butterfly while helping my daughter practice volleyball.  It was hot and we had a lot to do, but butterflies don't come along our path that often and they are beautiful.  We stopped and watched for a few minutes as it went from plant to plant.

I had things I needed to do the other night when my daughter came to me and asked me to read to her.  I put those things aside, we got in my bed, cuddled and I read a book to her that she's read before but really likes.  (What an honor to be asked to read a book that she already knows and can read herself!)  It was so much fun that when we were done, she asked if she could show me another book she likes about bug-themed crafts. How could I refuse?

The other night I spontaneously made a chocolate cheesecake with my daughters.  I had made something with heavy cream, an ingredient I rarely have in the fridge.  I still had some left over and was trying to think of how to use it up.  I hate to waste anything.  My daughters are wild about cheesecake, but get it infrequently, so on a whim I decided to make a chocolate cheesecake!  We didn't even have all the ingredients.  With only 1/3 of the amount of cream cheese the recipe called for, I improvised by substituting sour cream and adding two more eggs.  It was amazing!!!  You'd have never known I didn't have all the ingredients.  Wow!!

My daughters and I saw two classic films I love this week.  I borrowed Chariots of Fire from the library.  That is one of my all-time favorite films.  I've seen it a cajillion times, but not in many years.  They loved it too and have been talking about it all week.  Then last night, we went to Grandma's retirement community to see An Affair to Remember.  It was a great night!

Enjoy your Sunday!!

Simply Sunday #4

Hello and happy Sunday! 

Sometimes--perhaps many times--more is not more.  Actually less can be more.  At least with the right attitude.

So, with that in mind, here is one thing I did this week in my on-going journey to simplify life:  I watched the rain. 

Yes, it rained this week!  In our part of the country, this is a rarity. 

And the rain was such a beautiful rain.  It was not the sudden, violent kind we often get that blows trees, outdoor furniture and toys all over the place. 

But it was also not that anemic sort of rain that we get sometimes that is teasingly disappointing.  The kind where we get all excited that rain is coming, but then only a few drops actually fall. 

This week we got a steady, soaking rain.  No intense winds.  It cooled everything down for a while.  Gave our few plants a good drink.  And made little temporary rivers in our backyard along the paths where our doggies tend to run to get to the side gate.

The whole thing was so exquisite that I pushed back the blinds and curtains to just stare at it for a while. My kids were excited too.  They watched with me for a bit, but they are too frenetic to stay put for long.  Eventually I pulled up a kitchen chair, opened the sliding glass door to our backyard and closed the screen to just take it all in. 

To understand why this was a big deal, you should know I am a real Type A sort of person.  I am not good at that contemplative, quiet stuff.  Nonetheless, I tried to be mindful of all I was experiencing to really enjoy the moment.

I sat down on my kitchen chair, and was just amazed by the whole event.  The breeze felt so refreshing on my skin.  The cool dampness smelled lovely.  Very wholesome and earthy.

I looked around at all I saw from my perch inside my kitchen by the screen.  The poor crickets were freaking out, hopping to the refuge of our small concrete patio.  The river rocks that pave our backyard were so lovely as they glistened from their bath. 

Our back neighbors' huge palm trees were swaying in the breeze.  It was funny because at one point, a single palm tree was swaying pretty intensely while the others were almost still.  I'm assuming a micro-gust caught the swaying one.  It was strange to watch.

The sky was gray, but it wasn't a depressing shade.  I grew up in a part of the country where there is a lot of rain, where the sky was often overcast and made everything look sad.  The gray sky during the rain this week was not a dark color, it was light and almost cheery.  It was optimistic.

What a glorious rain!

Simply Sunday #3

Happy Sunday!  Hope you've been having a great one.

Here are a couple of random things I did (or did not do) this week in my on-going effort to simplify:

First, I decided to limit myself to checking e-mail and social media to just once a day.  This was huge!  When I was in the rat race, the nature of my job required me to be in fairly constant communication in case someone needed me or there was an emergency.  It became such a constant focus, I never felt off-duty.  No matter where I was or what I did, I felt compelled to check e-mail every few hours.  When I began this new phase of my life, however, I realized that I was still obsessively checking my personal e-mail and social media throughout the day.  But it was highly unlikely that anyone would contact me with an urgent item via my personal e-mail account.  So this obsessiveness was silly.  And I realized it was becoming a real time suck.  While I was checking e-mail, I often figured I should check social media too.  Instead of being present with my family or doing all the things I needed to get done around the house, I was wasting too much time on e-mail and social media.  This week I decided I would check those things once every day and only for a limited time.  It is liberating!

Second, I am reading a novel.  I'm actually on my second one since stepping down from my paid gig.  This is really unusual for me.  I always read a lot, but typically I read non-fiction.  A lot of that has to do with my job, which required me to keep abreast of certain legal and policy issues.  I enjoyed that kind of reading, but I came to view fiction as almost decadent.  And for years I just didn't have enough time in my busy day for it.  I'm still reading non-fiction, but I've deliberately opted to read fiction recently.  This week I began Victor Hugo's Les Misérables. I had always wanted to read it.  The novel has a lot more detail than the Broadway musical!

Finally, our family took a short road trip.  This was really a big deal too.  Our family hasn't had a vacation in a year and a half.  We've been trying to hit certain financial goals associated with eliminating debt, so we've really tightened our financial belts and travel was out of the question.  We have now come within striking distance of our financial goals.  And we're exhausted because we've been keeping up a frenetic pace for about a year.  This was the first break we've had in all that time.  We went out of town.  Nothing fancy.  Nothing that most would find exciting.  We just had downtime for a couple days.   We swam, slept late, watched TV in bed, walked around to see sights and ate lots of yummy food.  We had a blast!

Hope you're enjoying your Sunday.

Simply Sunday #2

Hello!  Here comes the second installment of Simply Sundays. 

The following are some of the things I did (and didn't do) to embrace voluntary simplicity:

I took a first pass through my closets (yes, plural!) to bag up shoes and clothes I don't need.  For my paid gig, I've had so many professional clothes, many of which I wasn't even wearing.  But until now, I never had time to go through what I had to whittle it down to a more manageable amount.

Not only did I pull together a bunch of shoes and clothes, I also took them to donate at a local thrift.  Hopefully, it will help the charity make some money, some buyer will get good use of the items, and it will keep the items out of the landfill for the time being.

I said "no" several times to invitations to participation in church activities.  I actually feel guilty about this, but I carefully considered them and they were not a good fit.  I wouldn't have been all that helpful in those activities, and those commitments would have spread me too thin.

Instead of watching TV before bed, I read books.  I finished one, and have made headways on another.  It is fun to read books I've heard about for so long.

Finally, I attended a free concert with my mom in her retirement community.  One of the residents sang with great gusto a bunch of songs from the 60s and 70s including John Denver, Neil Diamond and Joni Mitchell.  They had an ice cream social and grandma brought sandwiches for me and my daughters.  It was a feast!  We all had a great time.  The finale was "Sweet Caroline," and we all swung our arms in the air in time to the music.  When I'm a retiree, I hope I have as much passion for life as the lovely gentleman who gave the concert.  Though I'm not musically talented, he reminded me of the pure joy of singing.

Hope you are having a terrific Sunday!  Be well.

Simply Sunday #1

Hi!  Happy Sunday!

I'm going to start a tradition that I'll call "Simply Sundays."  Every Sunday, I'm going to try to set aside a bit of time to just reflect back on the week--particularly the things I did (or didn't do) in an effort to simplify my life and that of my family.

To be honest, I had mixed emotions about this brainstorm initially.  Because of my professional life, I've become such a goal-oriented, Type A personality over the years.  Lists can kind of feed that tendency, and discourage me from simplifying. 

We also live in a culture of lists that are given more significance than they actually deserve.  ...It's midnight but I can't go to sleep yet because I haven't crossed off everything on my list.  Your school is #25 on the list, mine didn't even make it, so I'm a loser by comparison.  I'm ranked higher on the list than the guy in the next office; I get a bonus and he gets canned.

With all that, I'm a little wary of lists at times. But still, I'm going to give this tradition a try.  If I don't like how it is going after a while, I'll discontinue.  No prob. 

Right now, however, I do think there can be value in taking a step back to reflect on the week.  It can be insightful and encouraging to remember ways in which voluntary simplicity was integrated into the days that have just past.  After all, the point of this blog is to memorialize the journey as I try to embrace voluntary simplicity in a greater way.

Here goes...

This week my daughters and I were coming home from the grocery store when a voice from the back seat spotted a butterfly.  I pulled the car over in a safe place and we just watched it for a while.  How beautiful!  So fragile.  So precious.  We didn't literally stop to smell the roses.  (We didn't see any.)  But we did it figuratively.

As I'm winding down my responsibilities with my paid gig, there was an unexpected and very frustrating delay that was beyond my control.  This caused a bunch of headaches for me and normally it would have stressed me out a heck of a lot.  But I took it in stride, even put it out of my mind for the most part.  I went about my business without dwelling on the situation.  The quality of my week was greatly improved as a result.

In the middle of the week, I took time out to help my older daughter make her first cake.  I didn't rush the process or fuss when she made a mess.  I just encouraged her and was present to give her guidance.  She was very proud of herself at the end.  We all gave her a round of applause for a delicious dessert.  She seemed to enjoy the kudos.

Later the same day, my younger daughter asked me to color with her.  And I did!  We sat on the floor, plopped the coloring book on the coffee table, and colored with much contentment.  However, I admit I was a little too fast.  I have to remember it is about the journey, not the destination.  Especially when crayons are involved.  It is not a race to see who finished their picture first.  And it doesn't matter if the leaves are fuchsia. 

One more!  I tried out a new vegetarian recipe: carrot soufflé.  It sounds harder than it actually was.  Pretty simple, pretty frugal.  Quite yummy and beautiful!  A hit with the whole family.

Enjoy your Sunday!