Faucets and Other Victories

For those of you who've been following David's epic battle to install a new faucet

Sink Before

Pipes Before

Sink After

Pipes After

Finishing our first 2000 piece puzzle

David's Valentine's gift this year

He did 85%, I chipped in 15% (Obsession vs. Hobby)

Man Vs. Rabbit 2012

This is approximately how big our lettuce got last year before bunny devastation (they're about 3" high)

Our garden this year!

The (fenced in) lettuce patch. We've already gotten to eat lots of our own greens!

Victories are great, but we wouldn't have gotten here without our defeats    : )

Project Simplify: Master Bedroom

If my life was a movie and clutter was the villain, the master bedroom would be my arch nemesis (we won't discuss his henchmen, the guest room and basement in this post). I feel a sense of foreboding anytime I think about trying to tackle it. Like a magpie, my "nest" is where I tend to stuff all the little odds and ends that have meaning to me, but no designated spot in my home.

Lest anyone still be worrying I spend too much time cleaning and not enough enjoying motherhood, let these "before" photos put your mind at ease ; )

Check out those dressers. See that big stack of cards on the right? One is from our CPA, circa Christmas 2010. That's when you know it's time to get. a. grip.

Ah the bookshelf. The third shelf down is almost completely filled with magazines I will never ever open again, but that might have something desperately important in them. *Sigh*

Ironing board. Not just a place to heap clothes that need to be de-wrinkled, but also to hold very important sermon notes I convince myself I will read again, but never do. Please don't refer me to Hoarders.

Getting started was the hardest part (it always is). Not only was I in some additional pain from my physical therapy appointment on Monday, but it never ceases to amaze me how much debt and clutter relate to one another. Both make you feel overwhelmed and unsure of where to begin. It seems like avoiding the mess all together would be easier, but deep down, you know the mess is what's draining your energy.

I decided to get my "clutter-debt" snow ball rolling by cleaning off the top of the lingerie dresser. I tossed the calendar that hadn't been turned since October into the goodwill box, removed every item, dusted, and replaced only 2 things. As expected, doing one small project and seeing quick success gave me the motivation I needed to tack "just one more" area.

With the help of David, we "just one more" thinged our way to these after photos:

It involved a lot of asking myself these questions:

"Is this beautiful?" Then how will I display it?

"Is this useful?" Then how will I make it easily accessible?

"Is this worth the space it's taking up in my home and the time it costs to care for it?" If not, read it one last time or take a photo and then let. it. go.

Obviously, I still have a pretty big stack of papers and knick-knacks I still have to sort through, but I feel great about the progress we made on the flat-surface areas of this room. The dressers are clear, the cedar chest is accessible again and the ironing board is put away. I plan to tackle the closet and drawers during this upcoming weeks "choose your own adventure" in Project Simplify.

Project Simplify: Kitchen Edition

During our house hunting days, our Realtor would send us batches of a dozen or so listings, I'd peruse the photos, check out the neighborhoods and weed out the non-contenders before submitting the potentials to David.

Certain photos would get a listing kicked out immediately. Wet basement. Busy street. No Yard. Only one house got nixed because of the ugliest kitchen I'd ever seen. Ours. Yup, I discarded the listing for the home we currently live in because the kitchen cabinets were painted a hideous crayola green, the counter-tops and back-splashes were dated, and the oven was undersized. Kitchen renovations start at around 20K and are a huge hassle. It just wasn't something I wanted to get into.

Fortunately, David re-combed through the listings and questioned why I'd dismissed this house. After I explained my reasons, he agreed it could be a deal breaker, but sometimes the colors in photos lie. Everything else about the house seemed good and the price was right. I did a drive by and fell in love with the neighborhood. The mountains, the hills, the charm of the giant trees and streams lacing the area. I really really hoped the reality was better than the photo.

It was the first home we looked at. The cabinets were a rather dark and unflattering shade of green, but not as bad as the photo I'd seen. The counter tops and back-splash weren't my cup of tea, but they were in great condition. The rest of the house seemed perfect. After seeing the other homes the area offered in our price range, it became clear that dismissing an entire home because of the color of the kitchen cabinets was more than a bit rash.

Obviously, we decided to make an offer on the house. I've never regretted our choice. We have the best neighbors anyone could ask for, an affordable mortgage and a house that meets 95% of our wants and 100% of our needs. Really, what are ugly cabinets and slightly too-small bathrooms compared to that?

And that, my friends, is the somewhat interesting history of our kitchen. Now, onto the cleaning!

I usually plan our days so that we have an activity in the morning OR in the afternoon. This "before" photo is the result of two back-to-back days of being in and out of the house all day. In short, we spent enough time at home to eat meals and make a mess, but not enough time to clean it up.

Before

After pondering the mess for a few minutes, I decide my goal is to deep clean the counter tops and island (we're talking toothbrushes and appliance moving). I also want to wash the front of the cupboards, something that basically never happens, aside from an occasional spot clean. Obviously, to do these things, I'm going to need to wash a lot of dishes and make some choices about what does and does not deserve to live on the counter to begin with.

Close up of the crusty cabinet.

Two loads of dishes and some hand-washing later, I'm ready to begin clearing the counter tops. I start with the island. I wash the vegetable bowl, put kitchen items away, move other items to their homes in other rooms and take everything off while I give the counter a soak in some non-toxic homemade cleaner. My little helper already has his hands squishing around in it, delighted that mommy is spraying water. After a few minutes, Caleb and I scrub the counter top and I carefully consider each item I place back onto the island.

Island soaking

After. David surprised me with this beautiful bouquet when he came home from work today. The florist also sent him home with a helium balloon for Caleb. He is enchanted.

After cleaning the island, I decided the kitchen counter and cabinet deep clean will have to wait. Sometimes my chronic pain issues mean I can't do quite as much as I think I can and I'm learning to be ok with that.

At least the counters are much less cluttered!

Next up: The Master Bedroom. I've been chipping away at the clutter in our room for several months now in the typical "2 steps forward, 1.75 steps back" dance that comes with having a toddler in the house. I'm looking forward to seeing our entire room clean all at once for a change!

Clothing Purge

Ever since Caleb was born I've felt like I had a ton of clothes and not much to wear. It's a pretty common post-baby problem. I didn't even begin to resemble my pre-pregnancy weight until 9 months after Caleb was born and only in the past 4-5 months have I been at my college weight. I'd love to say it's because I took great care of myself, ate well and exercised, but I can thank 3 back-to-back stomach flus for shedding those last few pounds. It's not a weight loss program I recommend.

That said, I still feel like I have nothing to wear. Being a mom is hard on your clothes. Even though I'm back to my pre-baby weight, my body has totally changed. I've gained 2 cup sizes, so most of my shirts are too tight, the skin on my lower stomach still has a slight sag from carrying my precious babe (this took me a looong time to come to peace with, but I'm finally there!), and I lost numerous shirts to baby spit-up stains. Apparently, stomach acid works a bit like bleach.

Combine all that with the fact that, frankly, I haven't done much clothes shopping since before I started grad-school so most of my clothes are at least 5 years old. They are starting to fade, shrink, pill, and get weird squiggles and sags around the necklines. Since I'm not a fan of shopping, it's hard for me to motivate myself to go looking for new cloths until my wardrobe is in this sad state.

My overstuffed closet, filled with clothes that no longer fit and/or make me look like I'm in high school again, and not in a flattering way.

A few weekends ago, David and I decided to use our once-a-month date time to get some shopping done. I figured going through my closet and determining what I had, what I needed and what mistakes NOT to repeat would count as my warm up for Project Simplify.

Here are my lessons learned:

1. If it needs to be ironed, I am never going to wear it.
2. If I don't absolutely love the fit and color in the store, it doesn't matter how great a deal it is, I won't buy it.
3. If it shows my bra strap, cleavage, or is sheer I am not going to feel comfortable wearing it anywhere, ever.
4. The item must flatter my new mom body and not make me look 15 or 85.
5. I don't work outside the home anymore. Professional button down shirts are out, but some sassy looking jeans and pretty shirts are in. Patterns that hide stains well are a bonus.

Clothes to be donated are in the back pile. Clothes to be tried on are in the front pile.

Even with all this gone, I was left with a pretty full closet, which Caleb is making even fuller in this photo : ) A number of the clothes that are left are showing signs of wear, but are still passable for now.

Mistakes not-to-be-repeated fresh on my mind, it was time to make my shopping list. My wardrobe is another area of my life I'm trying to simplify. I have a dresser and a closet for clothing storage. I could probably fit all the items I actually wear into one or the other. The rest is just wasting space and adding to the things I need to clean and maintain.

That said, to make a small wardrobe really functional, each peice should be able to mix and match with several others and should reflect the stage of life I'm in (ie: no ironing, dry cleaning or handwashing required).

Here was my personal shopping list for our day out:

- 3-4 Basic long sleeve shirts. Mine need to be replaced badly.

-Nice looking fleece pullover. I have one fleece, but in a color that isn't the best for my skin tone, not to mention shows every smear of baby food and piece of lint. It kills me to spend money to get something I already have, but this is such a staple of my wardrobe (as a layer in the winter and my go-to jacket in the fall and spring) that I think it's worth it to have one that really works for me.

-Ivory peep toe shoes.I'm a bridesmaid again!

-Non-sneaker everyday shoes. I'm thinking knock off Tom's.

-New slippers. Mine are falling apart.

-1 pair of jeans that fit perfectly. I currently have 3 pairs of pants (1 khaki, 1 corduroy, 1 pair of jeans) that fit me well and I find myself typically needing 1 more before laundry day.

-Cute yoga pants. Confession: I'm a huge fan of the elastic waist band. David is ok with that, as long as I still look cute in them. Meaning sweatpants are out, which is fine by me because they make me feel frumpy anyway!

I knew shopping at the mall (even an outlet mall) was going to be a challenge for me. I tend to be a bit of a tid-wad very frugal when it comes to clothing. Going through my closet, I had to own up that my frugality has actually contributed to the clutter. How many shirts were in my donate pile that I bought just because they were a good deal and looked "ok"? If I hardly ever wore that item, it wasn't a good deal.

In an ideal world, I would buy everything from thrift stores. Not only do they save money, but I like the fact that I become one more step removed from a clothing industry that tends to pay it's CEO's well and it's factory workers less than a living wage. However, since moving to a small town, I've had difficulty find clothing in thrift stores that isn't already looking pretty worn out. Baby clothes are the exception, although even those racks require quite a bit of picking through.

As it turned out, our outlet mall was having an awesome President's Day sale and I was able to find 1 long sleeve shirt, 1 short sleeve shirt, cute yoga pants, and the perfect pair of jeans for about 50% of their usual outlet price. We also found 2 pairs of much needed shoes for David and Caleb's last set of onesies ever *sniffle sniffle* (they don't make them in sizes larger than 24 months. I guess I'm supposed to start potty training or something by then ; )

Here are two articles that inspired me to have a "less is more" clothing philosophy and to be willing to pay a little bit more for clothing that is quality and really works with my body type and lifestyle:

How to Choose a Shirt

Creating a Wardrobe that Works for You

In case you're wondering if I have such severe "mess blindness" that I missed the clutter filling the rest of the closet, I'm happy to say my condition is not so severe. I'm looking forward to tackling that on week 3 of project simplify. I'm so excited to be making progress, one bite at a time!

Simplification Begins: An update on our goals

Keeping house has been a challenge for me ever since we got married. I really admire women (and men) who seem to organize naturally. For me, it's been a skill to be learned, painfully and slowly. Not only do I have chronic mess-blindness and a tendency to be lazy, but we haven't exactly had a lot of time to just...clean.

We moved into our home during the first trimester nausea, had a productive 3-4 months in mid pregnancy and then a painful and difficult last 2 months. After that, our colicky bundle of joy arrived and just as the colic ended we moved to Florida for 6 months. When we returned we were greated with scenes like this one:

A frightening view of our master bedroom. I didn't take any of the main rooms, but imagine ever surface covered in clutter and burp clothes stewn about on the floor

Although our house hasn't been at that level of disorganization in quite a while, it seemed like we were always 2 steps behind the clutter. Honestly, it was a lot like being in debt. We were already behind, so getting ahead took at least double the effort. We decided that we needed to get out of organization "debt" and make our house start working for us.

Over the month of February, David and I threw every spare minute of our time into getting the 3 main rooms of the house in order. We decluttered the kitchen island, dining room table and desk. We set up a paper mangement system to keep paper from taking over again. We (and two of David's awesome brothers) rearranged living room furniture to make the room more functional.

To do all this, while keeping up with cooking, dishes, floors, laundry and our teaching commitments at church, we sacrificed a lot of time with one another and a little sleep. We decided that for a short season the loss was worth the gain.

Boy was it ever! Having a living space that works for us is so refreshing.There are still a few small projects to tackle in each room, but our decluttering goal is well under way and our paper management goal is officially checked off! Sadly, I forgot to take "before" photos so you'll have to just imagine papers piled on every flat surface in the room.

A look at the dining room from the kitchen entrance. Note the easy access to the high chair. Nothing must delay food from reaching that destination. The hearts on the wall are from Valentine's Day

I can see my desk again! I still need to sort through the dozen binders and notebooks stacked on the right side, but this is serious progress.

The livingroom. The lighting isn't as good because I had to take these shots at night. Let's face it, with a toddler in the house, it's the only time of day the floor isn't covered in toys.

The view from the diningroom. In case anyone is wondering, the indoor slide is how you keep an active toddler from going crazy during a wet winter here in the north

You'll notice there's no photo of the kitchen island. That would be because it's gotten cluttered again. That is definitely our "catch all" spot!

Not surprisingly, all this sucess has left me even more motivated to keep chipping away at the clutter. Next month, I'll be continuing the process with Project Simplify. If you'd like to join me, just click the button on the side bar : )

Welcoming 2012

It's hard for me to believe February is here already. I've kind of been in denial that 2012 is underway. Last year we rang in the new year with an at-home date where we talked about our hopes and dreams for our family in 2011. We crafted a family mission statement and my guiding word was "routine". It was all very purposeful and refreshing.

This year, we hung out with family, shared a quick kiss and midnight and then hopped into bed since our toddler would still be up at the crack of dawn the next morning. As soon as we got back to Pennsylvania, we hit the ground running with new commitments like leading our small group on Weds. night, preparing for another 10 hour trip, and (David) teaching Sunday school for 2 weeks. Not to mention taking down Christmas decorations, unpacking and reclaiming order in the house.

So perhaps it's not surprising that January was almost over before I felt like we had a chance to step back and evaluate how last year went and beginning planning for this year. David and I tend to use our long drive to DC for pain clinic appointments as an opportunity to catch up, regroup and plan. Last week, we carved out some time in between preparing our lessons to discuss family life. Here's what we found:

Recaping 2011
Developing a routine with a new baby and a 1000 mile move was no easy task. In fact, when our conversation first began, I thought we had made very little progress at all. However, as David guided my memories back to what life was like in our very first months of parenting, I could see a huge difference. The growth of a family rhythm is like the growth of child, it's something you're immersed in, and it's hard to see without looking waaay back for perspective. It would probably bore you to list all the teeny tiny goals our family reached, but it was so encouraging for me to hear David's perspective on how I've grown as a home manager in the past year.

While we still have much we want to improve upon this year it's nice to have figured out ways to minimize dishes, keep the clutter from completely taking over, cook healthy meals almost every night and still have lots of time to spend with Caleb.

Moving forward in 2012
Although 2012 has had a very busy start, David and I are both so thankful for the way our commitments have forced us to put down our books, turn off the TV and spend concentrated time reading the Bible and praying. I've seen a huge difference in how much I talk to God throughout my day and my attitude towards disappointments and frustrations. Less time spent with entertainment and more time spent with God is definitely a trend we'd like to see continue this year.

Now that I've developed a pretty good routine for keeping the basic household tasks up-to-date (who knew rinsing dishes immediately could be so helpful?) we have 3 major home-related goals this year:

1. Declutter and deep clean the house. As we began to learn last year, a house with fewer things is a house that is easier to enjoy and maintain. We are planning (as in, need to pick dates on the calendar) a room-by-room declutter and deep clean as our spring cleaning this year. I'm dreading the effort required, but know the results will be worth it!

2. Develop a paper management system. My desk is supposed to be our home management hub. With no system to organize the receipt, bill, file and shred piles though, you can imagine the pile of paper that has resulted. Not to mention all the little stacks of paper shoved in various corners of the house before company comes over...I'm nervous about this goal because it's going to involve building a new habit, which is always a challenge, but I can't wait to not worry if I've misplaced a bill or wonder where a receipt is!

3. Make our home "ours". There are so many decorating projects David and I have had on the back burner because we felt overwhelmed just trying to keep the house clean. Our reward for taking care of these not-so-fun tasks will be to finally get to do some of these long awaited projects.

I can't wait to post before and after pictures : )

Finally, a personal goal of mine is to make David and I's marriage my biggest priority after my relationship with Christ. I must confess that all too often, we put our time together and cultivating our friendship behind other obligations. Interestingly, the focus on cleaning our home is a big part of that goal because David especially needs the peace and calm of organization to relax. I enjoy it too, but not in the same way. Just as he gives me the gift of long conversations, I want to give him the gift of service this year. Neither comes easily for us, but what could be worth more effort than truly speaking to our spouses heart?

I've never been big on making new year's resolutions, but the start of a new year has become a great time for us to take a step back, assess what worked well last year and what needs some tweaking and plan to live more purposefully with the time we are given. I hope 2012 is off to a great start for each one of you!

Hot Spot #4: Pantry and Fridge

Yet again, this weeks hot spot was the perfect preparation for our upcoming move. We're less than 2 weeks away from packing all our belongings into our two cars and making the 17 hour journey home. Needless to say, with space so precious, I don't plan to take many pantry items. So we're trying to eat what we already have and will send any extras home with extended family members who are coming for a final visit/packing party next weekend.

I've gotten much better at keeping the fridge organized. I realized how much food we were wasting just because it got buried and forgotten about and have since learned a few tricks that help keep moldy surprises to a minimum.

-I stack leftovers together. This way it's more obvious to me that there is a meal waiting to be eaten rather than a few random tupperwares scattered here and there.
-I put half used bags of shred cheese in the door. Other wise the new ones I bring home from the grocery tend to end up on top in the meat/cheese drawer and the old ones languish in the bottom.
-I open the veggie/fruit drawer almost every day and try to plan our dinner based on what needs to be used in there. Meat is usually being defrosted anyway so I try to let our produce guide our menu.

Actually cleaning the fridge, however...is another story. Check out these before and afters and try not to judge!

Before

After

I've been deliberately keeping our pantry on the low side for the past month knowing we'll be moving again soon. I didn't find much to throw away, but I did use take note of what dry ingredients need to be used up and planned meals for our remaining days here based on what's available. We'll be having tacos, casseroles, chili, spaghetti and soups. I'm also looking forward to "getting rid of" a few of our baking items. I mean, we can't waste those chocolate chips, right?

Before

After

I did notice several things that won't be gracing my pantry again (I hope...). We've been taking baby steps towards eliminating processed foods from our diet. We still have a long way to go, but I did find a few things in our pantry that I think we're about to get rid of for good.
-Soup in a can. I just don't like the taste any more. I make amazing soups and I have a recipe for making a white sauce (cream soup replacer) for casseroles that looks pretty simple.
-Granola bars. Don't get me wrong, I love granola bars! They are such an easy grab-and-go snack. However, the ones in the store tend to be high in sugar and have a lot of things I don't want to eat in them, particularly soy. I'm hoping to replace this beloved snack with fruits, veggies and occasionally my own homemade bars.
-Salad dressing. I love making my own dressing! It's simpler than I ever thought, tastes better and again, allows me to avoid the soy and other GMO oils in typical salad dressing.

There's another item in my pantry I'm hoping to get rid of soon...but it's a big commitment. I'd like to say goodbye to breakfast cereal or at least become much more distant acquaintances. This means actually waking up to cook my husband breakfast. It's only an extra 30 minutes of sleep to give up, but boy do I love those 30 minutes, especially since Caleb just started waking multiple times/night again. This is a more long term goal, but the idea of starting the day over a warm breakfast with my best friend does sound pretty wonderful.

Hot Spot #1: Our Master Closet

For those who haven't read already, over the next 5 weeks, I'll be participating in project simplify. This weeks hot spot was the master closet. I thought this would be a snap considering I only have to sort through the few clothes I brought down here with me. Then I had an unfortunate realization...the master closet is my "stash space" before company comes. Everything that doesn't quite have a home ends up on this shelf (or the guest room closet, but that's another story!)

Here are some "before" photos:

There were a couple things I knew I wouldn't be able to do anything about. The pillows and blankets cluttering the top of the closet are government issue. We replaced them with our own from home as soon as we arrived. Also, notice the box of books on the floor? We were blessed to be provided with a furnished apartment. The one thing missing? A book shelf! So, that's been our make shift "book spot" these past 5 months.

The first thing I did was pull everything off my "stash" shelf and onto the bed. Here's what I discovered:

2 purses in desperate need of being cleaned out (as in, I found cough drops in there that I know, for a fact, were given to me by someone at church in Tallahassee almost 3 years ago...)

Baseball caps

An ice scraper

3 pedometers (provided by our health insurance company as a bonus for filling out a survey. One for each insured member they proudly proclaim. I'm temped to strap one on the back of Caleb's diaper and take a picture : ) It was fun to discover we walk 2300 steps during our evening walk (or 4600 if we do 2 laps, it depends on the night).

Lots and lots of paper clutter that should have gone to the trash can instead of the closet (are you surprised?)

Probably the most interesting find was a stack of magazine articles I've saved out for my "mom notebook". My mom notebook is my attempt to keep things organized in our crazy, frequent travel, life. It has Caleb's medical records and some of mine and David's as well, the phone number for my lactation consultant, recipes I didn't want to be without and new ones to try, activity ideas for kids I loved and want to try when Caleb is ready for them. However, these things are supposed to be stuffed into plastic page protector sleeves and organized by section. In reality about 6 of them look like that, the rest are stuffed in the front or back pocket or in this stack in my closet. Seeing the stack motivated me to purchase more page protectors and actually get my notebook functioning this coming week!

This hot spot was perfect for helping me meet my goal to get our apartment ready to move one step at a time, rather than scrambling at the last minute. Because of this project I:

Got rid of a bunch of trash

Organized important papers

Packed all our winter clothes into a suit case for the return trip

packed another bag for good will

and organized all our random electronic bits into one spot

And the result of all that hard work?

I really need this accountability to stay motivated for things that don't need to be done right now. I'm looking forward to the next 4 spots!

One Small Thing

It's been a while since I updated my progress on January and Febuary's goals.

In January my word was routine. I sought to begin the day with a warm breakfast, do 10 minutes of tummy toning 3x's/week, take a morning shower and ditch the jammies for real clothes, and most importantly make time for scripture and prayer.

Of course, I was hoping building this habit in January would help it continue through out the year and it has...sorta. I do eat a warm breakfast every single morning now. I think of it as cafe mom. I wait to eat until Caleb's morning nap (usually around 8:30am since he's up at 6:30). Then I head to the kitchen to make a bagel sandwich and small cup of coffee. It takes about 5 minutes from start to finish(seriously!) and then I can sit down on the couch sipping my home made latte topped with whip cream and eating a meal that actually fills me until his afternoon nap! During this time I read a few inspiring blogs or messages from friends. It's such a wonderful way to start my day.

Tummy toning did not survive long past January, but I feel like it did it's job. I still have a little preggo pooch, but it's less noticeable now and I feel comfortable with my body again, which was the whole point anyway : )

I'd say getting out of jammies before noon happens 70% of the time now. I can live with that success rate at this stage of our lives!

I had a 2-3 week lapse in time with God in February that I'm happy to say has been reversed. I'm back to enjoying opening most days conversing with God and reading through 1st Samuel. I love getting to see how over and over again David prays and trusts what God has to say about each situation rather than what his own experience tells him. It's a reminder I need often right now.

February brought 2 new goals: updating the budget and becoming less critical in my heart and in my speech. Not surprisingly, I had a really hard time being less critical when I wasn't spending time with God. I was invited to a wonderful study on peacemaking that convicted me in so many areas and brought me back to scripture again and again. If you've never seen any material written by peacemaker ministries I highly recommend this site about Biblical responses to conflict. It's been so helpful in seeing my own role in conflict more clearly and addressing unhealthy responses. Overall, I've seen a lot of growth in this area of my life with plenty more room to continue : )

And finally, I did manage to update the budget weekly in February. However, it didn't stop my from blowing right past my grocery "magic number". After some discussion with David we decided we couldn't meet our current health goals with the old number. So we eliminated another area of the budget and added that amount to grocery. It was a tough choice because I really wanted to make the old number work. However, with this season of preparing to move again I am finding giving myself some grace makes for a happier mommy and happier family. I'm so thankful for David's support during times like these!

I'm not making any goals for March or April. We'll be transitioning from FL to PA in the middle of next month and I expect I'll be using extra time and energy to prepare for that as well as prepare my heart for Easter. Although I'm not Catholic, I've found Lent to be a good time for me to step back from other obligations and focus on my relationship with Christ. It seems to reset my compass for the year. Since I do have many Catholic friends, I find their thoughts during this time very encouraging to that journey as well.

I am participating in Project Simplify however because I know it will motivate me to get this place packed and cleaned in small pieces, which is what I need to be doing anyway!

I also plan to do one small thing over these next two months: keep my stove top clean! If you've ever tried the "fly lady" method of house keeping, you know she recommends a shiny sink as the one thing to make sure gets done each day because it just makes you feel good. Shiny sinks don't do it for me since I (confession) really dislike doing dishes. But I love cooking. And something about cooking on a nice clean stovetop makes me smile.

A Mission Statement at Last

Way (way, way) back in November I blogged about creating a family mission statement. We found ourselves feeling a little lost between moving 1300 miles (again) and having just become parents. David and I were hoping to craft an encompassing statement of values to help us know where to focus our energy in a world that offers us almost limitless choices.

After a season of prayer, conversation and learning about ourselves we crafted this statement:

We, the Gainey family, believe that our purpose as a family is to bring glory to God. We hope to accomplish this by:
~valuing scripture and prayer as our guides.
~making our home a place of simplicity, stewardship and teamwork.
~prioritizing relationships over lesser values.
~interacting with each other in a spirit of love and respect.

While I can read this and know the depth of each word as it resonates in our hearts, I think a brief explanation of each section might be helpful (and good for me to look back on in the future!)

We, the Gainey family, believe that our purpose as a family is to bring glory to God.
If you're not a believer, the idea that we think our family is here to glorify God may sound a bit strange, if not narcissistic! We believe that the more joy we have in knowing God, the more glory we bring to him. Just as, when you enjoy who your husband or wife is and share that with others, it brings glory to them, although we might not typically think about it that way.

valuing scripture and prayer as our guides.
If we are going to enjoy who God is, how better to get to know him than through scripture and prayer? Sadly, we often choose to entertain ourselves rather than fill ourselves with the relationship our hearts most crave.

making our home a place of simplicity, stewardship and teamwork.
As we talked about how we saw our home (both the physical dwelling and the people in it) several themes kept resurfacing.

Simplicity: Having fewer things to maintain, clean, etc. to allow more time for relationships.

Stewardship: of our bodies, of the earth, our time, our finances, etc. This was just a huge topic for us.

Teamwork: David and I love to tackle things as a team. From rock climbing to loading the dishwasher we find life more fun when we work on things side by side.

prioritizing relationships over lesser values.
When life gets crazy, what is the one thing we refuse to sacrifice? Relationships: With God, each other, our children, our extended family and our friends. Will we be perfect? Nope. However, it's a great reminder that an unexpected visit with a friend in my messy house trumps putting off spending time together any day.

And finally, interacting with each other in a spirit of love and respect.

David and I find those two words sum up what needs to happen for us to feel close to one another.

There's nothing magical about having a mission statement. We'll still feel overwhelmed and unsure sometimes many times, but it's an anchor to come back to. Simple words, simple conversations, but I learned so much about my husband's heart (and my own) on our journey to write them. Thanks for letting me share them with you.

If you'd like to craft your own family mission statement, this post was our primary resource.

How moving 1300 miles helped me learn to let go

October 2010 was a rough month for our family. We'd known David would need to do a job rotation in the next year. We figured it would last about 3 months and be in a location close enough to our permanent residence that we could return home on the weekends. We also thought we'd have plenty of notice as to when this move would occur. However, God had other plans for us. We found out in late September we'd be leaving our home, moving 1300 miles away, packing everything into 2 cars for 6 months. Did I mention our colicky 3 month old had been waking every 45 minutes during the night for a month at this point?


Fortunately, God also provided my mom, who had already bought her plane ticket to visit us months ago. Her stay fell on the week prior to our move. She graciously helped us pack and forfeited her return plane ticket in favor of entertaining Caleb in the cramped back seat of my Pontiac for 997 miles.


So what did we pack into our cars? Each person got a suitcase of clothing, then there were toiletries, basic pantry items like pasta, rice and broth, two small boxes of cherished books (one for us and one for Caleb), linens and towels, a few cooking items I didn't want to be without (you know how I feel about my crock pot...), and lots and lots of baby stuff. We packed his crib, mattress, pack and play, booster seat, toys, diapers and the next 3 sizes of clothes since they change every 3 months!

At first, I felt a little deprived. I missed unlimited kitchen utensils and bowls, a bookshelf full of books, a closet full of clothes. Slowly, I started to discover something: even with the few things we brought I still only wear about 50% of my clothes regularly, I tend to cook with the same pots over and over because they're my favorites and I have a lot less time to read than I used to. Not only was I not missing my overabundance of stuff, I found an even greater treasure- with fewer things to take care of (straighten, clean, find a home for, etc.) I had more time with my family and less stress over house work.

If you read my blog often, you probably already know I find a lot of my inspiration from Simple Mom. Until this move, I never fully grasped the reality of her basic premise: Fewer things leads to more happiness and time. Of course I could have found this inspiration elsewhere, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal." -Matt. 6:19

I understood the verses about giving to those who have need. Before this trip, I didn't understand my need to not be encumbered by things. Living in America, I doubt I'll ever be done with this journey of having less stuff, but I'm thankful God placed this move in our life to get us on the road to living more simply.

If this post resonates with you, but you're not sure how to get started, click the "I'm decluttering" button near the top of my blog. Starting March 7th, I'll be joining lots of other moms in tackling 5 household hot spots for clutter and posting my before and after pictures on here (prepare yourself not to judge!). I'd love to have some of my "real life" friends decluttering along with me. And despite the name of the blog, you definitely don't have to be a mom to benefit from her writing.

It's hard to believe that I have lived without every single thing that is still cluttering our home in PA for 6 months, quite happily in fact, with very few exceptions. I'm looking at learning to let go of the things here that don't add beauty to or have purpose in our home as practice for doing the same thing again when we return to PA. I could write so much more on how having less in our home has been good for my heart, my creativity and has actually helped me enjoy the things we do have more because it continues to amaze me each day!

Warm Thoughts

I wish this title was: Warm thoughts for a cold day. However, as the expected high today is 73, I'll just have to give up on being witty and share the thoughts that are warming my heart this morning:

-There is nothing better than hearing my husband say, "I have to say, I'm really excited about dinner tonight. You make the best omelets!" This would be wonderful to hear regardless, but you have to understand A.) I make things a lot more time consuming than omelets that don't receive this kind of compliment and B.) My omelets may taste good, but they are UGLY. Fortunately, men don't seem to care about aesthetics when it comes to food!

-If toe wrangling (aka clipping baby's nails) was an Olympic sport, I think I could compete. Getting all 10 of those tootsies clipped at one sitting always makes me feel like supermom.

-The livingroom is clean. I have to be sure to type this in the morning because by the afternoon it won't be true.

-Caleb is pushing himself into crawl position and using his upper body strength to move in a semi circle. I'm not sure if this is heart warming or terrifying...

And perhaps most importantly...

-This morning I realized I can't do it all. Which was what I told David when I asked if we could take time to pray over and write a family mission statement. I said, "We have limited time and almost infinite opportunities for how to spend it. I want to pray for God's direction on where our family should focus our energy." And while those may have been the words coming out of my mouth. My heart was saying, "And maybe, just maybe, we will discover the secret to actually doing it all instead!"

So as I was cooking my messy, but "delicious" omelet this morning from the left over ingredients, looking at my cluttered counter tops and wishing the kitchen looked as nice as the living room. I felt God reminding me that there truly isn't time to "do it all". We will need His wisdom about where to direct our time and energy. And, if He isn't our first love, all the other good things we could fill our time with will become idols to try and fill that void.

My prayer for the new year is that God would show me the good things I love too much, and that he would become my first desire.

Home at Last!

After a year of being apart, it is still surreal to me that David and I are finally married. We both still feel like I'm going to have to pack up and go back to Florida again. Of course, part of the reason could be that the majority of my stuff is still there minus a few suitcases.

I'm really enjoying being a house-wife. It's amazing to me that I have all day to plan meals, grocery shop, cook, clean and organize instead of having to pile those things on after 8-9 hours at school. David has been loving it too since now he doesn't have to pile all those things on after a long work day (and, apparently, because he likes my food : )

The honeymoon was absolutely amazing. It was such a relaxing, peaceful time to enjoy one another. There have been a few bumps as we've had to "get back to reality". I've been swinging between elated that I'm finally married to such a wonderful man to sad that I'm so far from friends, family and places I'm used to. David has been wonderfully patient and understanding of those changes though, so it's made it much easier. Another fun game we have is: I like my routine and you like your routine and now we have to make a routine that we both like lol. It actually is fun most of the time.

In other news:

We have amazing neighbors: Matt, Ann and their 3 year old Gray who are really helping us learn the town.

I'm warming up to the grocery store here

I had to wear a fleece to the grocery yesterday because the high was 63 degrees

I actually liked that

I did not like that it was raining

I'm praying for God's direction about how to best use my time once the house is set up and all I have are my "cleaning routines"


That's all for now!