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.