Moving

Hello, hello! It has been VERY busy at our house the last few weeks which is why I have been absent around these parts. If you are just seeing this blog we are a military family and we are currently in one of the many stages of what we call a PCS (permanent changes of station) or otherwise known as MOVING.

This move, however, has been really interesting in learning what kind of minimalism I can live with and what I am really hoping to adhere to later on in life. Right now all of our home goods are boxed up and on four crates making their way over 8000 miles to their final destination. This has left us with some extreme minimalistic living. When you are stationed overseas you are given temporary furniture for the time period that you are either waiting on your home goods or having sent them, waiting to leave.

So at the moment we have in our 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath house : one two seat sofa, two single comfy chairs, two side tables, a coffee table, four lamps, a dinning table with four chairs, a high chair, one double bed, two side tables, one twin sized bed and two pack & plays/travel cots (one is ours we are taking and one was provided as a crib, which had I known, I wouldn't really have bothered with).

I think what I really miss is having pictures on the walls, and curtains on the windows. I want my home to feel homey, and well, it doesn't. So I can say I will likely never be one of those people who chooses like four pictures for their walls. I LOVE displaying artwork, and photos of those I love. However, I hate to say it, with the exception of a few pieces of furniture.. I kind of love the lack of furniture in our home. I miss our comfier sofa, but these work just as well, and while not like, beautiful, they aren't the worst either.

I am hoping these next 2.5 months (yes it will be that long before we see our things again) will be a lesson on what I really need and what maybe needs to go once we touch down on the other side. I did get rid of an incredible amount of stuff (clothes, housewares, etc) before we packed up. So here is too an even more insightful learning experience as all of my life is stored in boxes right now!

Kay xxx

Little House

Last night I watched a fantastic little documentary called Tiny. If you are not familiar with the idea of a 'little house' it is pretty straight forward. It is living in a home that is, well, little. I think by definition around 200sqft or less. I have to admit being in love and frighted with the idea. It REALLY appeals to me. I find that naturally the little house movement goes hand in hand with the ideals of minimalism, I mean, you can't have a TON of stuff if you are living in the space that is the size of some peoples walk-in closets.

Anyway, the concept of smaller not larger has been something I have been really playing with for awhile now. I think the problem with most houses is poor design. I firmly believe I could live in a tiny space if it was designed the right way. I have been slowly sharing that my ideals, and ideas about housing are changing to my husband. I am not sure he really understood what I meant until he watched the film with me last night.

While I don't think either of us are ready to dump our things and live in 200sqft (truthfully I haven't seen too many people with kids do this) I have stopped thinking that my life and it's success has to do with how large my home is and how much stuff I have in it. It is the mindset. One day, if we aren't military, we hope to build a home, or perhaps buy one. I think that depending on where our family is we, for the first time ever, will not be dreaming up a 2500sqft home. That, in its self, is so much growth for us as a couple.

So, what room could you really do without? Do you have a room in your home that you are almost never actually living in? Or perhaps it's a room totally dedicated to housing stuff that you never use. Do you have a guest room but never have guests? It's amazing what we could truthfully do without if we really thought about it.

Kay xxx

Minimalism in Dinner

This week has to be the first time in awhile I didn't feel utterly stressed out about the meal planning. It was kind of amazing. I typically feel the task of coming up with new and exciting meals for my family exhausting and draining. I often ask my husband's input, which honestly usually makes me more frustrated as he loves to come up with some outrageously big meals sometimes. Mostly he just goes with his cravings.

Anyway, this week I pantry shopped, and then made a decidedly simple meal plan of good, uncomplicated dinners. Not only has it helped my sanity this week but it has helped our grocery bill as well.

So, how do you simplify your meals or is that an area left untouched on your quest for a simplified life?

Kay xxx

Starting

As we prepare for our big move (81 days and counting) I have already pitched a lot of stuff. A few big bags of cloths and goods. I have not, however, been as bruital as I want or should be to achieve my uncluttered dream.

When we returned home from a stressful church morning (ya know, one of the mornings you wonder why you bothered to drag your children and yourself out at all) and I was  itching to dejunk some thing. So, I hit the kids room.

I recently read a great article about making a capsule wardrobe and thought I could stand to go through my girls drawers and sew if I could manage to make them a capsule style wardrobe. Not only did it seem appealing from narrowing down the size, but also it could help my husband dress our girls in clothes that make sense and allow my three year old to make choices for herself without looking so removed from presentable.

Not long ago I went through the girls storage bins full of the baby stuff and the sizes our youngest is waiting to grow into that was her sisters. I felt I had gotten rid of a lot. I only saved gender neutral baby items and a sprinkling of clothes specific to each girl that have meaning. I also went through and removed things that would never be seasonable for my youngest since we are moving to an extremely cold climate. So while I was eager to shed some stuff I decided to start with the clothes in the dresser.

After using serious judgement and thinking about comfort and what I tend to pick for her to wear I got the littlest little down to 19 items in her dresser and 11 hanging in her closet. This doesn't include pjs which will meet the chopping block soon. It is hard. I am always worried that family will take it personally if I don't keep something they bought but often it is totally based on the kids preference, comfort or practicality. Also we live 4000 miles away, they truthfully will never know but I still have that guilt! Anyway, I felt so accomplished to have a basket overflowing with clothes going out. I still have some tweaking to do. A lot of the tops we have are patterned which mostly doesn't matter but there is one skirt that doesn't match any of the tops I chose to keep. It is one of the cutest skirts that my oldest passed down and so I haven't been able to let it go. Especially since she just recently grew out of it and there is a lot of wear left. So it stays for now. Next step, Little Miss and my own wardrobe!



Kay xxx