Inspiration

- Oh Happy Daze

My coffee is still warm.

Hello friends.
I’ve missed you. I have been begging and pleading with my schedule to let up and allow me some time to write, but no such luck.
Until today, when I dropped my sweet almost 2 year old off for her first day of summer preschool camp.
Charlotte's first day of summer preschool
 
haha, let’s play a game called “how many dead plants are there”?
Charlotte's first day of summer preK2
 
So here I am drinking a cup of still warm coffee and writing a few of my thoughts down. And now you get to enjoy the ramblings of my brain displayed on paper:

  • Remember my experimental mutiny against excess {inspired and imitated from Jen Hatmaker’s book} ?  Well, I already completed month 4 without you. I sat down at the computer on June 1st to tell you all about how we were going to tackle reducing Waste together throughout the whole month. Today is July 9th, and I still haven’t completed that post or shared an ounce of my month’s experiences with you. I will catch you up later, I know you’re waiting at the edge of your seat to hear more about how much of a waste monster you are.
  • I have been purging again. The struggle is real folks. It sort of never ends. I think my tolerance level for the amount of possessions in my house is decreasing. er, increasing? whatever. The first month of purging stuff was painful. nay, brutal. The second was slightly less  painful and a lot more annoying (as I realized how much of a hold some things truly had on my heart). It is becoming easier and easier for me to let go of things and have become more and more annoyed when things pile up again. Thankfully, I’ve had a lot of motivation to continue down this new fangled path in life called ‘being content with what you have’ in the last few weeks. We’ve needed to make space in our extra room {previously my ‘craft’ room, Chris’ ‘guitar’ room, and my beloved ‘store the junk here and close the door’ room} for a friend who will be staying with us for a bit. I wasn’t sure how I would fit all the contents of that room into other places in my house and I eventually had to come to terms with the fact that it wasn’t really possible, so I had to purge more. Fortunately for me I have the most awesome friends in the world. This is how it played out:

me: hey friends, I am calling out for help. I need to get rid of more things and I am feeling overwhelmed. I don’t know where to start or when to find the time and am dreading it because all that stuff in there is stuff that already made it through the first three rounds of purging so I obviously love it and value it and want to keep it but know I have to make some hard decisions to let things go and make room and I don’t know if I can do it as quickly as it needs to be done.  I mean, I don’t want to burden you guys and I know you have your own stuff going on. I hate to take away from your time when I know you have your own schedules to deal with, just let me know if possibly, just maybe in the next few weeks or months or this year some time you can spare a minute to help me out a bit. Kthanks.

friends: ok. see you tomorrow.

And they came. and they brought liquid encouragement in the form of a large fresh-squeezed lemonade. And they stayed pretty much all day even though I said repeatedly “don’t feel like you have to stay all day”. And I am so, so thankful for them.

So, seriously if you don’t have a group of people who do this kind of thing for you please reach out to me and I will be that for you!

  • On Tuesday I ate 9 mini reese’s peanut butter cups while at work. Tuesday was a tough day for some of my patient’s, so it was a tough day for me emotionally.
  • The community garden is going very well. We are dealing with some finicky soil, some annoying rain barrels, and some brazen deer… but we continue forth in our efforts to grow green stuff. I’m not gonna lie, gardening is a little bit addictive.
  • I haggled at a yard sale for the first time in my life last weekend and afterwards I all but ran back to the car to proclaim my boldness to Chris. I still don’t think he realizes the magnitude of this life experience for me. I mean, I was that kid who wanted ketchup but would suffer without it just so I didn’t have to go up to the counter and, gulp, speak to someone. This is big folks.

Brain purge: 20% complete, but alone time is over so the rest will have to wait for another day.

- Oh Happy Daze

Popcorn + a lesson in love

So this happened in our house this week:
rose and Charlotte June 2014
I know, my heart exploded into a million happy pieces too.
We’ll call her Popcorn {since she devoured my entire supply}. She only stayed with us for the week but she and Charlie formed a quick bond, though it was more like a love-hate relationship with occasional jealous spurts when they both had their eyes on the same toy.
I am so glad I captured this moment. A moment of pure sweetness and friendship.
It is my hope that this image is a reflection of Charlotte’s character now, and in 2 years, and in 20 years.
I think one of my most important jobs on earth as a parent is to make sure Charlotte develops a deep love for the other people on this earth. After all, it is what Jesus tasked us with:
Love your neighbor as yourself. Mark 12:31
I love myself a lot, so that sets a pretty high standard for the amount of love I am to show towards others. Sometimes it’s easy to love people with an even greater love than I reserve for myself. I’d say most of the time, though, it’s hard to love other people. so dang hard.
Loving others. It’s simple to say, but impossible to carry out on our own. The only reason we can truly know love and show love is because Jesus showed it to us first {and he continues to show it every second of every day}.   I think the best way to have Charlotte learn and internalize that is to see it demonstrated in us, her parents. So we continue to try and focus our efforts and priorities so they point towards our creator, and only then will our actions truly reflect love towards others. It’s a process. It’s a daily choice. It’s so hard to keep our priorities centered. I don’t want to reflect on another year passed and find we had some priorities mixed up, but it’s so hard to do it on our own. I know we aren’t the only ones out there who struggle with priorities. Who are wondering if what they have filled their days and weeks with is stuff that actually matters. Do you struggle too? Here is a modified excerpt from a sermon I listened to recently:

When I run after God then I become the woman God intended me to be, that I was always meant to be. When I become the woman God meant for me to be then my husband gets a better wife, my kids get a better mom. I could run after/put my focus on only being a better wife, and my husband may get a better wife. I could focus on being a better mom, and my daughter may get a better mom. If I run after God, though, then my husband gets a better wife, and my daughter gets a better mom, and you get a better friend, and my boss gets a better employee…  Me running after God personally {internally} makes me a better woman publicly {externally}.

I love that and I am so thankful I was able to listen to that sermon and hear those truths. If you have the time {and if you say to yourself that you don’t have time I would recommend carving out some time}, listen to or watch this sermon series from Flatirons Church in Colorado: Unsinkable {the sermon the above quote is from is titled Rearranging Chairs on the Titanic}. It has helped me focus my priorities on things that last, instead of possessions, my career, or even keeping up with the Jones’ {who do those Jones’ think they are?!}. I hope my heart continues to change and become more compassionate towards others so that I can live by example for my daughter. I want her to grow up in an environment where compassion and selflessness are the norm, instead of the opposing message most of the world has to offer.
Who’s with me?! {raises fist in the air}
also, pray for Popcorn.
 

- Oh Happy Daze

Month 3: Clothing {update 5}

May is over. If I had to use one word to sum up this month of my self-reduction project it would be EFFORTFUL. If you are just joining me and have no idea what I’m referring to you can read about my ‘project 7’ here.  If you need a refresher on this particular month {as if you could have forgotten with me rambling on and on about my lack of clothing options} you can read about that here.
So far, the other months in my 7 experiment have been difficult in an emotional ‘I prefer to keep things the way they are’ kind of way. Reducing the number of possessions I had or the amount of money I spent during those months required self-control and really just letting go of the widespread ‘have everything’ mentality I was clinging to. Wearing only 7 pieces of clothing, though, has definitely been more time consuming and actually more work than I anticipated. I really thought this month would provide me with a few extra moments in my day, since I didn’t have the option to stand around and hem and haw about what I was in the mood to wear each morning. Those few extra moments were taken up by trying to get my 7 pieces of clothing washed and dried before the next day; sometimes that meant tossing them in the wash at 10pm and setting my alarm for midnight so I could run down and toss them in the dryer – snap, that’s commitment y’all!
Also, now that the month is over I have a strong urge to burn my 7 pieces. I’ve resisted so far, because those pieces are some of my favorites and I think if I make a rash decision I will regret it in a few weeks when I look into my closet and ‘have nothing to wear’.
images-17
I learned a few things about myself and about my clothing this month:
1. I really love wearing pretty things. I guess now I appreciate the value of having something pretty to wear – it boosts confidence and self-esteem. I felt less comfortable, less confident, less secure throughout the month simply because I felt ‘blah’ in my clothing. I don’t think that is necessarily a reflection of my priorities being misplaced on my appearances, though. Let’s face it, I’m a mom. More often than not I sport a schmear of snot that has been lovingly wiped on my shoulder. Sometimes it stays there, not because I don’t have time to change, but because I choose to use those times for something else. I’d say in the grand scheme of things I am usually not focused on my appearances, but even so I felt as if my personality was completely stifled during this month.  Having pretty things doesn’t have to be expensive, though – I am definitely not advocating spending money and filling your closet with more things {we’ve been over that in months 1 and 2, stay strong people}! But I do want to take this chance to promote a wonderful place to buy beautiful things for yourself or others that also has a beautiful mission: Noonday Collection.  hugs all around for beautiful things.
2. Even though I severely reduced my clothing stash during month 1 of my self-reduction project my closet and dresser were still in a ridiculously full state. It’s like my clothing experiences mitosis through the night and when I wake up there are pieces in my closet I’ve never seen before. Did I buy that? This one still has tags! Surely this is occurring through some scientific voodoo and not simply because I am a clothing addict, always looking for a fix. TJMaxx anyone? After seeing how I was able to survive life with only a few garments, I revisited my clothing and made some tough decisions. I am happy to announce that I have reduced my clothing by almost 1/2 {again} and will probably be able to reduce things a little more once I get my precious, sweet, energizer bunny of a daughter to end her angry teething toddler rampages.
3. My priorities are changing. My heart is changing. and yet, I still think to myself every day:
4b91a568c65126567ee63586dac57ad5
 
anyone else suffer from that?

- Oh Happy Daze

Month 3: Clothing {update 4}

So it’s day 25 of my month-long attempt to wear only 7 pieces of clothing. If you’re thinking that sounds crazy, you’re absolutely right, and you can read about all the sordid details here.
At this point I’m feeling a bit ripe. Now don’t read too much into that… I swear I have been washing these clothes like usual. There’s just something about wearing the same things over and over, regardless of how clean they are. I chose my 7 articles on May 1st after days of careful consideration. I chose those 7 because they were practical, gave me the most flexibility with weather changes, and mostly they were just some of my favorite pieces. Well, not any more. I am really starting to loathe those horrid green running shorts. And black scrubs at work every day? BORING! also they pick up lint. oh the lint!
In general I have ‘kept to the code’, but just as in the pirate world, I’d say these rules are more like guidelines.
pirates_of_the_caribbean_015
 
 
I wish I could say I was enduring this exercise in self-reduction flawlessly….but let’s be real here – I have definitely cheated on more than one occasion and, ready for even more brutal honesty? I don’t feel bad about it! Not even one bit. In general, I’ve been  able to follow the guidelines fairly easily, but I’ve made a few additions to the 7 pieces.
If you recall, my articles of clothing for month 3 were:
1) Dark wash skinny jeans
2) aqua running shorts green running shorts {still haven’t found those original shorts…. how can they just disappear?}
3) Grey V-neck short sleeve shirt
4) Flowy white sleeveless shirt
5) black scrubs
6) A formal dress {+ shoes and jewelry to go with it for 2 weddings this month} – aka cheat day, wink wink.
7) 2 pairs of shoes that count as 1 item: brown flip-flops and black sneakers.
Somewhere along the way I added a pair of brown shorts and a black tank top to those pieces, bringing my total to 8 items.
This is pretty much what I have worn every single day this month (aside from my scrubs on work days):
month3 clothing
I did end up going to the beach twice this month and decided that wearing my bathing suit didn’t count as another item; it is, after all, practically an undergarment. so doesn’t count.
Only a few more days until this month is over. hallelujahpraisetheLord.  I miss my jewelry. I miss my shoes. I miss just being able to choose what I want to wear based on how I’m feeling. I am very much an emotional garment chooser. This month I have gained a new appreciation for the beautiful items hanging in my closet and am excited to be able to express my personality through them once again. oy, I am praying that I continue to realize I can survive with less…. clothing may be the death of me.
Updates on the rest of our recent family activities will be coming soon, if I can stop watching episodes of Bones long enough to get my to-do list accomplished.