less is more...unless you have kids at Christmas.

So I would love to post an intensely successful message here about restraint and all the happiness found within it. But alas, I have two children and it's Christmas. I guess I will start with the success stories of this holiday season. The first and most exciting for me is that we survived the season without increasing any consumer debt. Yahhhhhhh. In fact we have successfully paid one thing off completely! Yahhhhhh.  Secondly, we were able to restrain ourselves regarding the adult's gifts. Keeping it simple, and to the bare minimum bringing in only a few household items that are meant to replace older outgoing items. Can opener, Tupperware, Measuring cups. 

As mentioned we did buy a fake tree. boo. But I had no allergies, we do have the room in the attic and next year we will not have the expense of getting a tree. So I count that as a success. Furthermore 20% of the kids gifts were much needed PJ's. 

Where we fail miserably is that we have parents who spoil our children and we like to do so too. As a result the kids have made little sacrifices in the gift department. Mind you they both wanted ipads or tablets and did not get that so we did keep it traditional. With an 8 year old we figure we don't have much more time before he doesn't want "toys" anymore. But there were no complaints. 

We managed an 8lb turkey in our little oven and a full fledged meal in our little kitchen. 

As the new year approaches we have a few unexpected and inevitable "surprise" expenses. You know the kind of random things that happen just when you are about to get ahead. My husband has decided to grow a "payoff" beard. The beard stays until the credit card debt goes. Fair deal I think. Maybe I should stop shaving too and we will save money on razors. We are trying to keep our sense of humour about the little things. We forgive ourselves for the kids gift overload because they are sharing a room and learning about sacrifice enough for now. Their biggest complaint coming only when they have to go to the bathroom at the same time. We are really appreciating being close to the school for snowy road days and when we don't have the car. My husband now favors the bus ride over the car ride. 

Feeling a bit more like home now, not minding the loss of space truthfully. The biggest complaint I have is that everything needs to have a place and needs to be put back in it. My clean freak husband has his routine down to a 20 min. science. We're looking forward to the new year. I hope you are too. 

...were hung over the TV fireplace with care...

I love a real fire. A wood fire. The only thing missing from this cottage is a good old fashioned fireplace. As we reach for an explaination of how Santa will get into our house sans fireplace, we decide to use a stick from our yard to hang the stockings with care over our T.V. I tell our kids we will turn on the Shaw fireplace channel the night of Santa's arrival.

It really doesn't take long to heat up this little place. If we close the closet and bathroom it's even faster. Have I seen a reduction in our heating bill? Not really. In fact sitting on the couch near the bank of front windows I must admit I feel an aggressive breeze. My husband refuses to plastic the window until we get exterior blinds so we don't lose the view. But it hasn't gotten really cold yet. The curtains around our bed seem to keep the heat in and the cold out better but we can't line every wall in the house with curtains, can we? It may be cheaper than buying new blinds for the eight windows. For now we just grab a blanket and a hot chocolate and wait for the big man to find us.

Atleast for the next week the holiday spirit will keep us warmer. May you have enough spirit to keep warm this holiday season. Merry Christmas.

Special Space for privacy

Maybe having a boy and a girl is not the best idea for room sharing. Luckily they are young and like one another. We installed curtains on their bunk beds for added privacy. We are doing our best to use the stuff we have from the last place, so I just sewed them to size. I had a million cute ideas for this room but with Christmas coming we are making due with what we have and it seems to be working. In a school essay my son recently wrote that his favourite thing to do was read a lot in his cozy bed. I often catch them together in one "tent" giggling and reading. And the ol'gang have all found a place at the end of the bed. There is even a snake for security. We gave them their own little light and bought some bins for extra toy storage. They each have a shelf for storage on the wall and we will soon be putting up their cork boards and book shelves. 

Size doesn't matter.

Somehow, 3 months have passed. And there have been no major set backs in our new small home life style. In fact we are finding that there is more than enough room to hide gifts in the attic. A new place always feels like home once you have shared a Christmas there. I think that is why we ended up putting the tree up so early this year. We had originally anticipated getting a real tree this year so that we would not have to store it but because the only space we have in next to our bed, and I am severely allergic, we opted for an artificial tree again this year. It also lends us the opportunity to put it up sooner. 

I love the soft glow of the lights beside my bed at night. The whole house glows with the ambient light. There goes the electric bill! I think I shall get a plug-in timer so I can fall asleep with the light on and have them go out after I'm asleep.

We're wondering how Santa will get past us this year, surely one of us will hear him since we are all so close together. In the end, we have big excitement in our small home....size doesn't matter. 

Head in that direction

Room to breathe. It's been just over a month and we are almost settled in. There are hundreds of things we need to do to get the space working in our favor. But we have hung some photos and it is starting to feel like home. Just like the leaves, the views and colors are changing daily. 

As we get back on track we find ourselves having to remind each other of our goals. We can see a future now filled with options. We continue to work towards complete financial freedom. We are also surprised to find the space is more than we need. Cleaning up is easier, keeping things simple and removing clutter fast comes natural. It has been a challenge to get use to our new schedule with my little bits of work, my husband bending his schedule around it and both kids in school for the first time. The biggest sacrifice has been the kid’s extracurricular activities. They however, have not complained. We are working on integrating new activities this month. 

I love the fall and I really feel like I too am shedding a lot of the old stuff and getting ready to hibernate in my new cave. I am not as worried about enduring another wet grey winter. Because even under the clouds the view is beautiful and there is hope on that horizon. Be sure to put yourself in a situation that parallels the path of your soul. Or at least gives you options to head in that direction.

Shady Medicine.

There isn't much I can do about the electric teal blue walls right now but the shady rusted metal medicine cabinet got a facelift with $5.00 spray paint. I might actually leave something in it now. I am still going to line it with contact paper.

A penny saved...

So with size restraints comes a new appreciation for the 3 R's. We have reduced and are always looking for ways to recycle and reuse.

After weeks without a dishwasher I still do not miss it.  But I have been putting off buying a dish drying rack. It was a lot of work to reduce our household items and now the purchase of anything new for our home is carefully scrutinized. 

So as I was loading another donation box, this one filled with baking pans that no longer fit in my new apartment sized oven, it occurred to me that paired with a baking rack the two would make a very functional dish rack. Not a penny spent and another problem solved. Now I'm saving on laundry by not having to wash as many wet dish rags!

Home Sweet Home

I'm not one to wish away a year or a month for that matter. The older I get the more I appreciate the value in each day. Having said that, it has been a whirlwind six months and I am glad that is over. As displaced and inconvenient as our summer of camping was... it was also as romantic a summer as I could have hope for, for all of us. 

Where to start? I guess you don't really need to know all the details of our summer in transition. It went fast and furious. We visited our storage locker on several occasions to return items we thought we needed and hunt down new ones we didn’t know we would need. We broke a bike but came away with both pets intact. We learned to appreciate access to basic necessities like a bath, stove and washer/dryer. We got used to being on top of one another, which essentially made the new place feel a lot bigger. The kids made several friends and I learned to relax and let go a bit.

Personally, the whole summer became a revelation to me. I let go of a lot of personal issues and shed many of my uptight ways. I started to become really comfortable in my own skin and appreciate the small things. I don’t know if this was a result of our lifestyle change, which felt like coming “home” to me. Or maybe I am just getting older and I don’t care as much about filling other peoples expectations of me.

The move was messy but fast and uncomplicated. We did get it all done in time to get the kids school and for me to start my new semester of classes. We’ve been living in the space with the furniture and things we decided to keep. Everything fits for now but it is not necessarily the best use of our space. We plan to slowly change out pieces of furniture that will make life here a little more functional but for now there is a lot more stability and tranquility than we have had since the kids first came into our life. Things look good and we are excited to take on the small challenges that will make it all feel like our home. 

Summer of fun...and transition

We have survived our summer of transition. I am back online and ready for the next phase. I will fill you in on how and if it's working.

What to do with that ol' box of baby clothes.

If you're like me and you still have a couple boxes of memorable baby clothes that you can't bear to part with because you still remember the moment they wore it, here is what I suggest. To save on room I first remind myself that it is the memory not the item that I love and usually I have pictures of that day or time that I can look back on. I suggest that you cut out the most valuable part of the item, some part of it that will evoke that memory for you still, and store it in a box to make a quilt out of later. The rest of the garment can be thrown out. I was originally going to make one for each of my kids for graduation but then I thought I will make it for myself.

When they are out in the world and away from me I can wrap myself in their baby clothes and all my memories. There are thousands of "how to make a quilt out of baby clothes" videos and even if you are not a sewer this project might be worth exploring. There are also hundreds of experienced quilters who will take your precious pieces and make the quilt for you. Worth it, I think. And when downsizing I always say to myself that I "can't take it with me" but I am not entirely sure I wouldn't want to be buried with my babies clothes. Is that morbid? It is atlas the one sentimental item I think is worth holding on to for now. I donate most things but these lil' squares don't take much space, except for in my heart ;)

I agree.

http://www.becomingminimalist.com/minimalism-benefits/

Waking from suspended animation

The last month is virtually a blur. There have been so many important events, purchases and recitals because the school year is ending. I have been floating above myself narrowly observing my life through this layer of stress that was consuming me. Would we get out of our lease? Can we? How can we? We did everything we could, offered all we had and thankfully due to the stability of our long time relationship with the management company and what little bit of faith I had left…we are there. Doing the right thing pays and we did not have to sacrafice our integrity. 

We are on to phase two of our downsizing adventure. The extreme downsize.  We have some odds and ends to clear up of course. Mainly, a birthday party to throw for my daughter so she doesn’t miss out while we are in limbo. But all in all we are preparing to move our stuff into storage for the summer and embrace our gypsy homeless holiday. The guinea pig and ol’dog in tow. We have the smallest cabin booked at a local RV park for the first 19 days. This is because my husband is still working in town. I have been so lucky to have had the option to opt out of work this summer which I embraced due to our unpredictably situation.

After that we are excited about our road trip back home to visit friends and family alike. We have about 10 more boxes to comb through in the garage. 5 are the kids’ old clothes and 5 are christmas decorations. I plan to pare both categories down to two. We have already thrown out the fake tree and look forward to shopping for a temporary real one when the season comes. 

Beyond that we are packed. And what surprises me the most is the kids resilience. They are sleeping on their mattresses on the floor of their empty rooms. I have heard little concern from them about this. Feeling like we are on a gradual downward slope of which started as a great adventure. We encountered some challenging obstacles but I can see a clear path to the finish line and just want to enjoy the view from here on out.

If you are on a cliff somewhere out there, hold on.
Hold on, don't panic and breath.  
I've been there and help is coming. 

Technical Difficulties.

So this is the hardest part. A situation that is out of my of control. As we have lined up all our ducks in a row we sit helplessly as we await word to get out of our current lease. We never imagined that this would be the one sticking point that would delay our plans. Units rent all the time and we just assumed that given 2 months full notice that this place would be off our plate by now. But alas it is not. We are currently trying to decide what our next course of action is as we stuggle to balance our obligations with our families needs and some kind of summer enjoyment. My poor daughter's birthday is again amoungst the packing boxes this year.

The upside of downsizing

Downsizing makes me question my values everyday. When my impulse to buy kicks in I have to stop and think, where would I put that? Which leads to the inevitable question, do I need it? It makes me value my space and constantly re-evaluate my options. As we continue to simplify our lives I have come to wonder. If I had all this crap in my house....what kinda crap do I have in my body? Have I been just as lazy with that to? Yes I have. 

Not only are we letting go of the non-essentials but now we are striving to add more natural necessities. For once I feel like I am walking in direction instead of surviving or wondering aimlessly. 

What are you eating tonight? And where did it come from? Food for thought!

How to work our space?

Welcome to our cozy cottage. 

The Double D Queen

Never in my life did I think I could call myself the Double "D" queen but here we are.
D= Donate + D=Dump. These have become my two go to questions. There are a few things we will attempt to sell but truth be told there is not much worth in anything left. So much of what we have has survived over ten moves, two kids and a dog. Much of what I still have comes from my wedding or before some 15 years ago. So we are at another Dump run. This time the vacume my husband used to death that is now missing a wheel. Two boxes of beautifully framed artwork that I am embarassed to say are mine but I spent too much on the framing for the show so I had hoped to recycle it. That was six years ago. Broken kids furniture and toys loved and abused through all the crazy toddler stages.

Our next hurdle seems to be getting out of our current lease. Beyond that we have to keep the place reasonably clean for last minute viewings. We need to pack and clean and book a truck. June will prove to be a busy month with school ending, extra work shifts and extra curriculars. But I look forward to our simpler summer in limbo. I hope it feels like a vacation but doesn't go by too fast.

The benefit of time

For once in our life we have the luxury of time to stew on our decisions before they are implemented. There is breathing room. I hope you all get this indulgence at least once in your chaotic life. It is necessary to exam all the details in advance so as not to have to reflect on them later in regret. I can say we have really thought about this in a calm rational manner, but only after some time. I am still moved with the anticipation of a less stressful near future. But I am finding the benefit of time in making such a life altering decision.

Small rooms with a view

Just signing the papers on our downsized rental. Our venture affords a tiny amazing view! 

I will post more very soon as we begin to really pare down for our new layout and take the lengthy transition (four months) into the simpler life. 

Just a moment

So we trashed another van load of garbage at the dump. I was surprised at how solemn I felt immediately afterwards. I thought I would feel lighter but I did not. There was a wierd sense of not loss but embarrassment I think. I was more disappointed in myself for having gone on so long with all this stuff laying around. It eventually went away but I am now missing my parents in an inexplicably desperate way. I guess I am just having a moment. A part of the shedding process. But I wanted to record that it is not all fun and games in the downsize and more so it can be a bit confusing. I am having to take just a moment.

Hiding drastic measures in a summer of camping holidays.

So as we prepare to leave our current residence and downsize to our "Cozy Cottage" we find ourselves virtually homeless for the summer. We were lucky to obtain a cabin rental but only for four sporadic weeks throughout July/August. We have booked holiday time in between for road trips and family visits. The one room cabin we secured is super cute and small. In a nice little RV part not too far from home. It boasts mini putting and a tiny pool and playground. We even have a TV! So we are not exactly roughing it. It appears to us that our summer of constant camping gypsy style will offer an even more drastic downsize that causes us to store ALL of our belongings away for two months, or what's left of them by then anyway. This unforeseen benefit, I imagine, that will provide the kids with insight into how much we can live without. Additionally it will make our new cozy cottage look like a serious upgrade! We spent much of last summer under so much stress with our panicked unplanned move. This summer will just be one big holiday. The perfect way to begin our newest adventure in downsizing and finding the simple life.

The sacrifice of the collector

My son's room is not always this messy but some panic ensued when I explained the "100 things" challange to my family. To find out more about it yourself visit http://www.100thingchallenge.com/about-100tc/.

So we started simply by mentioning that in order to move we would give each kid a generous 100 items to choose from thier room. As mentioned earlier I took it upon myself to photograph other precious objects of affection that did not make the cut but will hold it's memory in a picture. My 7 year old son proceeded to count out 53 stuffies on his bed and then began shoving items in his treasure box so it would all count for one item. Although I plan to thin out quite vigorusly myself, moving in waves over the same boxed items, I am finding it challenging to ask my kids to give up anything. I want so desperately for them to jump on board but they are not fully understanding the concept yet. As heart breaking as it is - this proves that they value their stuff too much already and that we are making the right move at the right time. At the impressionable ages of 4 and 7 I am confident that the lessons I want learned in this moment will come full circle. With a patient hand and gentle direction I hope hindsight will create valuable priorities in the future for all of us.

Quick Tip - Downsizing with creative kids is heartbreaking.... or is it?

If you are a parent who encourages creativity or simply has children who use art for expression then you have a lot of boxes of expressions lying around. And like most parents each one is too precious to throw away and it’s all put in a box that you will “sort through later.” Well later is now. My original thought was to take all similar sized art into Staples and have it bound. Maybe even laminate my favorite for the cover. This will be a daunting but precious task. I have kept my most prized art treasures with this goal in mine.

However in my motivated state, as I was sorting through my kids rooms, I grabbed my camera. Every time I was compelled to thrash simple artwork and my heart skipped a beat I simply took a picture of it. Building a digital album of my kid’s artwork with the hope of turning it into a graphic scrapbook someday is another new obsession I will have to put on the back burner. But now I have it forever and in a much more “downsized” format. It's also great for 3D artwork and materials that will not last the test of time. 

Maybe soon they will have their own art blog!

Enjoy.  

How much would you give up to have the simple life?

Everyone defines "the simple life" differently. If you feel out of control and disconnected with your true self ask yourself...How much would I give up to have...less stress, more money, more time with family, more focus on gardening, more days to sleep in, a job you're excited to go to. How much would I give up to have dreams again. I think so many families are striving for success but somewhere along the way they lost thier definition of it and bought into what society has been selling them. A bigger house? A nicer car? A better roll of paper towel? A quicker way to make dinner!

What is success for you? For me it is stripping away all the bull I bought into over the last four years and getting back to basics. NO MORE STUFF for starters. Being aware of where my food is coming from and what's in it. Asking more questions and living more purely. It means for us moving into a cozy space. A place where I will be living side by side with my kids, not up or downstairs from them. A place that promotes walks and outside living and enables us to bus rather than drive. A yard with trees instead of a view of the Best Buy Sign.

Someone just thought, well that's great for you but moving isn't an option for me. Let me be clear. We are not moving away. For the first time we are not running away from our problems. We are still here but just in a smarter way. Maybe you bought too much house. Maybe you don't need the things you think you do. Maybe you can be where you are but be closer to your true self. Be honest with yourself. Maybe you made a boat load of bad decisions and your dreams have slipped away and you feel stuck. Look again, there is another way. Feel hopeful and not hopeless and solutions will find you.

  

I am willing to give up the contents of my bedroom closet. (above)

Falling into the Trap

The first rental...

I would never say we did everything right. We are survivors that react to problems rather than solve them. We come up with solutions but generally it is under much stress and with little thought of their impact on our future. We live less in the now and more in the “what do we do now?” I am learning that we are not alone. Many others have fallen into the rat race and begun running with the crowd so as not to get run over. But today we stop. Today we ask what are we running from and where are we running to?

Some four years ago after many a layoff and the birth of our second child we took a chance on a career change in a part of the country that was not only expensive but virtually unknown to us. British Columbia, B.C. my husband jokes means “Bring Cash." Our first home here was a huge beautiful brand new $800,000.00 home. We rented. It was far bigger than anything I ever lived in and too much house to make a home. But we had a basement suite we could rent out to supplement our costs.

Our furniture barely filled half the house. And we had no desire to fill it as we have always been simple at heart and we couldn't afford it. We occupied this residence for 3 years. After a short notice on our summer vacation we quickly returned to town and found a new townhouse to rent. It was marginally smaller but still unexcitingly modern. We spent a little bit of money on picture frames and curtains to make it feel like home but it remains mind-numbingly dull. And just not us.

With commuting costs, children’s activities, and a rental property in another province we can’t sell we continue with life’s daily demands with shrinking hope of achieving any of our past dreams. We have been one step forward and two steps back for four years. With our job prospects proven to be very stable there is no desire to move away. Our kids have a great school here and we have met the most amazing friends. 

Only recently have we begun to dream again. To have hope for a future that resembles more of who we wish to be. Dear friends have found an opportunity for us to rent a small cottage at a very reasonable price that will in turn give us a chance to recover from the past four years of high living costs and build a better future for our family. When many people hear about our cost of living here in British Columbia they say “I don’t know how you do it” and the truth has been that we are not doing it. Every year spent here has cost us. It is with a light heart and so much enthusiasm that we begin our journey by purging the last ten years of stuff. As we begin to strip away the accumulation of our mistakes we are eager to uncover a renewed sense of family, simplicity and optimism. 

We cannot move into the cottage until September 1st. So we are forced, for once, to take our time and really analyze this choice. With all this time we begin to ask if this is all too good to be true…will it fall through? Either way we are committed to a downsize and we will soon begin our elimination process. Keep posted for our progress and hopefully you can view more successes than failures.