Archive for the Category » Finding Our Way to Simple «
23
Mar
Today is Day 21 of the 30 Days to Less Stuff and More Life Challenge. If you want to jump in, go get the book at Amazon, Simple Living – 30 days to less stuff and more life.
I’m no fan of television. That doesn’t mean I never watch TV shows or movies, but it does not run mindlessly in the background of our house. I never watch one program after another after another or channel surf. Let’s just suffice it to say, there are a gazillion better things to do than sit like a zombie for hours on end being spoon [ ... ]
17
Mar
I’ve been strangely silent recently because we are preparing to move. If you haven’t moved 7 people twice in 14 months, you’re not walking on the wild side.
Anyway, in preparation for moving, I am trying to clean out the freezers. Yes, we have two. The goal is to use something each day from the freezer. Today, I used a pie crust, orange juice and what I thought was key lime juice for a key lime pie. Turns out the key lime juice was egg whites, so I made a rather bland custard pie. I’m going to have to start labeling [ ... ]
14
Feb
Today is Day 20 of the 30 Days to Less Stuff and More Life Challenge. If you want to jump in, go get the book at Amazon, Simple Living – 30 days to less stuff and more life.
Today we talk about one of my favorite ways to simplify my very busy life…meal planning. Simplifying food doesn’t mean you succomb to bad eating habits, and cooking from scratch doesn’t have to be complicated or hard. No, I don’t use a box for much of anything, and I’ve even greatly reduced my canned additions to a few cans of beans and tomatoes and an [ ... ]
04
Feb
Today is Day 19 of the 30 Days to Less Stuff and More Life Challenge. If you want to jump in, go get the book at Amazon, Simple Living – 30 days to less stuff and more life.
I’ve learned a lot from sharing 1,300 square feet with six people, five of them children. I won’t go into all of the lessons at this time, but let’s just say that floor space is important. And by floor space, I mean empty, walkable floor space. If you have a large room, you need big furniture (think four-poster bed) so that it doesn’t look like [ ... ]
21
Jan
Today is Day 18 of the 30 Days to Less Stuff and More Life Challenge. If you want to jump in, go get the book at Amazon, Simple Living – 30 days to less stuff and more life.
There is more to life than stuff. That’s a no-brainer, so let’s talk about relationships today. The true wealth of a person’s life is measured in relationships, not money or possessions.
So, rather than concentrate on acquiring more stuff or multi-tasking the day away, I want to invest in real-life relationships. Such an investment won’t fade in the sun, wear out with over-use, or [ ... ]
07
Jan
Life gets complicated, and I’m always looking for ways to streamline my meals. Usually it feels like rowing upstream. However, I employ a few tricks that have a return on investment in the time management department. A few extra minutes here often saves an hour later. That adds up!
Cook extra. Doubling a dinner recipe not only gives me twice the amount, it provides another meal, either for lunch later in the week or a freezer meal on a night I don’t have time to cook.
Use the crockpot. When cooking for a crowd, like I do every day, I use the [ ... ]
05
Jan
Today is Day 17 of the 30 Days to Less Stuff and More Life Challenge. If you want to jump in, go get the book at Amazon, Simple Living – 30 days to less stuff and more life.
Okay, so I took a break from decluttering, or at least writing about decluttering, but we’re back on track now. Day 17 is a no-brainer. Clearn off the front of the refrigerator.
I think a person’s personality is reflected in how many magnets she has on her refrigerator. It’s definitely directly proportional to how many kids she has. That should give you a hint about [ ... ]
15
Dec
We have accumulated lots of Christmas decorations over the almost 15 years of our marriage. We didn’t have much when we got started, and my husband decided we needed everything right away. I wanted to build our stash a little more slowly with meaningful decorations. We kind of did both. He went to the after Christmas sale and bought a cart-full of Disney ornaments, one of my least favorite themes in the world. I pick out yearly ornaments to commemorate our growing family. Every year each child gets a special ornament with her name and year on it, and we [ ... ]
28
Nov
Today is Day 16 of the 30 Days to Less Stuff and More Life Challenge. If you want to jump in, go get the book at Amazon, Simple Living – 30 days to less stuff and more life.
Lorilee likens dead plants to more than the stick in a vase. “Dead plants” is also a metaphor for all the dead stuff which fills our schedule and sucks the life right out of us. I have a veritable garden of dead plants here. All of it is good stuff, like volunteering, but there isn’t room for all of it at once. I [ ... ]
27
Nov
Today is Day 15 of the 30 Days to Less Stuff and More Life Challenge. If you want to jump in, go get the book at Amazon, Simple Living – 30 days to less stuff and more life.
We’re half way through!! Are you keeping up? Are you enjoying the exercises and tips? I am. I have a long way to go, though. So, let’s keep going.
Lorilee admits she might not have a green thumb. I’m right there with her. I keep a few plants gasping for breath around me, but I don’t have any of those thriving, green bushy plants. [ ... ]
