back to the drawing board..

I have been a bad blogger.  I get focused on the house, baby, or new job then forget how much I liked writing down what I've done for our home.  To get me back in the swing, I'm going back to Post #1 and checking off what I've done.  And printing off the list and putting it on the fridge to keep motivated!
I have, however, been really good at keeping living intentionally and minimally on a day to day basis.   Wednesday, I went to Menards for closet shelving brackets. They did not have what I was imagining. I proceeded to wander around Menards and fill the cart.  I looked down on my way to the checkout and thought, "Audry, you didn't need any of this before you got here."  Backed away from the cart slowly and walked out the door.  It was an amazing moment.  Today, I went to a second hand cloth diaper store and got TEN diapers for ONE DOLLAR!! I am so so so happy with this purchase. I came home and washed them and hung them out ASAP they look so beautiful hanging on the drying rack outside, I don't want to bring them in :)  Cloth diapering is going to be awesome.  I can't think of one reason to not do it. I have the time.  The difference is throwing the diaper into the washer instead of the trash can.  It will save us a couple grand AND I will be able to sell them when I'm all done having babies.  High five to me!

FUTURE GOALS

• Car trunk.. what have I been hauling around for years? (DONE! 5/21/14)
• Towels.. we have dozens. Why? DONE! Sewed together 2 different blankets with these holy towels.  Gave the blankets to the dogs. They love them :)
• Grant's Closet (part 2)
• Shoes
• Garage (DONE! 6/4/14)
• Tools
• Basement Shelves.. what is down there?
• Scrap Books/Picture albums
• Dog Toys
• Maternity Clothes DONE! Baby is coming in ONE MONTH!! I sorted through the hand-me-down maternity clothes I've been collecting from cousins and figured out what I will be wearing in the next few weeks and what is not going to work. BALLLIN
• Cleaning Products COMBINE AND CONQUER! Switch to homemade. DONE! Every time I use up a product I replace it with a home-made version. Or don't replace it at all. It's pretty awesome to have minimal cleaning supplies.  
• Paper Products
• Coin jars.. turn that in to cash money.
• Booze Cabinet
• Wine Glasses, so many glasses, so little to drink
• Mittens/Hats/Scarves (DONE 5/22/14)
• Dress Scarves
• Command center. Why do we have a calendar and photos hanging messily that nobody looks at?
• Small Appliances. How many blenders does one need?
• Our swivel office chair. One of George's favorite chew toys as a pup. The chair is comfy, and we get a lot of use out of it. But it looks like junk. This is a replace item.
• Our mattress. Another replace item.
• Our dressers. Both need to be replaced.

borderline horder

Today, I was cleaning out my old makeup desk that hasn't been touched since we moved here (one year ago). WTF, Audry?  I had so much costume jewelry, old makeup, hair junk, and makeup bags. What's with all the traveling makeup bags? I once subscribed to this really cool program, IPSY, that would send me samples every month and it included a makeup bag. (I now know I don't need to spend money on a subscription for junk I don't really use. So, bye bye IPSY, it was cool while it lasted.) But, do I really need to be keeping these bags? Then I thought about my baby.  What if I have a little girl who LOVES to play dress up and use makeup bags as her little clutch? Well.. she doesn't need 8. So here's today's purge. 6 makeup bags.  I kept one full of costume jewelry for my future daughter. Then, I kept one for myself for traveling or whatever these are for.. and put SIX in the Savers box. Ain't nobody need 8 of these things.

Purge and stuff.

3 trash bags full of clothes gone today - mine and Grant's.
Yay!

Yesterday, I cleaned out our garage. HOLY COW. I was able to burn an insane amount of wood Grant was "saving". All the leftover like 5 inch pieces and little chunks from our ceiling. 3 bonfires FULL. I couldn't believe it was all hiding in there behind his car.  I also found a bunch of garbage and shoes and broken junk I was able to get rid of.  Our garage is so big now!! It's embarassing, but I didn't even know we had a built in dog kennel in our garage because there was so much stuff piled up around it.  I don't think I would ever lock our dogs in there but nice to know we have one.  I also put up a shelf and lined up all the jugs of oil/gas/paint/whatnot. I'm really proud of this garage cleaning accomplishment, it took me the whole afternoon.  I was able to find my "weiner flipper" (a tool for roasting marshmallows and hot dogs over the fire. Woohoo! Successful day :)  There is still a huge pile of cardboard I need to break down and get to the community recycling center. I can do that today.

I LOVE HAVING THE TIME TO DO THESE THINGS!!!!!

Today, I set up a drying rack outdoors. ooOOOOoo I know, small step for most people. Big step for me. Waiting for my first load of laundry to finish washing that will be hung outdoors to be dried outside.  Last week I made all homemade laundry and dishwasher detergent.  The laundry detergent is working well and makes our whole upstairs smell fantastic. I'm not sold on the dishwasher soap quite yet. I need to get better at rinsing, or the dogs need to get better at licking. One or the other.

That is all.

seeking significance

"1. Realize life won’t last forever. Everyone knows that life will come to an end – but no one likes to think about it. That’s unfortunate. As soon as you start thinking about the end of your life, you begin to live differently in the present. You are never too young to start thinking about your legacy. How do you want people to remember you? And what do you really want to accomplish before you die? Make a list. Post it somewhere… because rarely will “drive a really nice car” ever appear."

Life isn't forever.



I made my significance list today and hung it on the fridge. Wouldn't it be awesome if it stayed there for decades? With space to grow? 

living without goals.

I am so so SO excited I came across this blog!!! I have always lived knowing what I want to do, but there was no need to set goals and reach for the stars, so to speak. I was asked to write a final essay in college about my future plans, knowing I would have a degree in hand soon. I wrote a really freaking good essay on not having goals for the future, living in the present, and that I only went to college to get it over with and just say I did it.  I really wanted to be a stay at home mom.  My professor didn't understand that.  I failed that paper. Miserably. My professor said that it was impossible to live without real goals and that I need to get my shit together and stop being a turd (in more or less words).
Well, check this out. There are other people out there, happy people, who do not live with goals. You know what? They still get shit done.

Here is an excerpt from the blog.

get excited and do things

You don’t need goals to tell you what to do. You know what to do (if you don’t, read this). You’re excited about doing it already — you just need tofocus, and get to it.

Goals keep you focused on something in the future, instead of being present and enjoying what you’re doing right now. Goals keep you fixed on one path, which might not be the best path in a week or a month or a year. They keep you fixated on one thing, rather than being open to new opportunities, being flexible as the landscape changes, being free to pursue something you’re newly passionate about rather than sticking to something you’re tired of.

Being liberated from goals means you will always be excited about what you’re doing. And yes, you’ll accomplish things. You’ll get somewhere great — you just might not have known you’d ever end up there when you started.

Get excited, and do stuff.

Also: shake yo bambama."

http://zenhabits.net/achieving/

Purchases that make you feel alive.

Grant and I are very, very excited to get a deck put in this summer.  Plans are being drawn.  I have  a Pinterest board full of ideas for it.  I imagine our little baby crawling on it while we BBQ. Oh, to have a deck where more than 5 people fit (standing).

Then, my husband asked "Is a deck necessary, does it fit in to our new minimalist lifestyle?"
Ummm.. no. We don't NEED a deck.
"Yes dear! Of course we can still have a deck!"  Totally doubting my words.

Later that evening, I was browsing minimalist blogs and came across one that said purchases that make you feel alive are totally fine.  Purchases that allow you to experience living life are important.  Since Grant and I want our lives to revolve around our small family and experience life with them, a deck makes total sense. Yay!  For some people, "purchases that make you feel alive" might mean a vacation, going to movies, or weekend drinks with friends. For us, it means having a calm retreat for us to enjoy just us 2 or with a big family surrounding us.

I really wish I could find a link to this blog. :/

"Make intentionality your highest pursuit. Not consumerism."

why I skipped blogging this weekend...

Part of being a minimalist is putting intention and focus on what really matters. Actually, that's the whole point of minimalism. This weekend I put my attention on my husband and family. Blogging and purging, didn't make any of the weekend days top priority.
So there, blog.

Day 3 - Winter hats and mittens

This wasn't an awesome one, but progress none the less. 

GONE!

don't mind all the nasty dog hair and saw dust.. these had been sitting out during our kitchen project. 

I was able to throw away 8 gloves/mittens without partners. Woohoo! I almost threw away Grant's old stocking hat that I had shrunk in the dryer but then I remembered we're having a baby :) 

Kept that little shrunken hat!

As for the two baseball caps.. 

Grant hasn't worn them since I met him and told him he looked better without a hat on.  

I bet he will let me donate them.

\

Goal - technology free bedroom

An article has re-inspired me!

I need to get our T.V. out of our bedroom. We used to live that way. I want that back.
Also want to start charging our phones in another room and rely on a real alarm clock. And *maybe* someday get rid of the alarm clock altogether.

Day 2.

Got my car cleaned out today! Didn't find anything to donate. Threw away a bunch of garbage and vacuumed it though.  B.e.a.utiful.

Today's purge - 2 winter coats of Grants. He doesn't need them; somebody else does.

Day 1

Kitchen drawers..
Found a few gems in here.

GONE! Well.. in my Savers donation box.

We don't need 2 ice cream scoops, cheese graters, or whisks, or oven mits. 

We don't use the lemon juicer, broken garlic masher, shitty cookie sheet, or plastic awkward measuring thing.

My mom made me beautiful hot pads (yes, hot pads can be described as beautiful) no need to hang on to these nasty rummage sale ones. 

one thing at a time intro

I am new to this minimalist thing.  I want to be good at it. I want to have one of an item.. instead of 3 that work okay. I want ONE really awesome one I love.
I want my energy to be able to exert itself towards goodness. Not piles of junk.

I am going to keep track of my journey here.  Posting quotes for inspiration and tasks completed.





I am going to purge at least one thing per day OR trade out an old item for a new one.  This is my plan for the whole summer.  I am due with baby August 29th. At which point my house better be pretty put together and no more useless shit laying around.

Before I started this blog I...

• Gave my sister the majority of my makeup, washes, curling irons, brushes, and any bathroom products I don't use on a weekly basis.
• Donated half of my wardrobe. (Currently have one box of clothes still in my car that needs to be sold.)
• Cleaned out both "junk" drawers in the kitchen, checked all the pens, threw out SO much. They are not "junk" drawers anymore :)
• Tossed out a dozen wine bottles I had been saving for God knows what.
• Converted 4 pillows into dog pillows. (This counts as purging because they are being used for better, right?) We now have 4 pillows instead of 8 on the bed.
• Quit my job. We don't need the income and I can focus on things that matter more than money.
  
• Tossed all mine and Grant's college textbooks.  Ain't nobody gonna read those.
  
• Sorted through all our tax/health/car/pet file cabinet. THIS WAS AWESOME
• Tossed out the dog beds that have holes in them and were spilling filling everywhere, everyday, that I swept up every day, for months. Whew. The dogs now have pillows and blankets and guess what? They don't shred them.
• Tossed a chair that belonged to Grant's grandpa. I know, sentimental, but mostly a dog chew toy that nobody sat on.
  
• Purged Grant's closet (part 1). How many dress shirts does one man need? This task needs a part 2.
• Purged all purses but one. Held on to a few totes and suitcases.
• Purged EVERY single CD I own. Yes. EVERY SINGLE ONE. When was the last time I threw a CD into a CD player? 2008? Gone.

FUTURE GOALS

• Car trunk.. what have I been hauling around for years? (DONE! 5/21/14)
• Towels.. we have dozens. Why?
• Grant's Closet (part 2)
• Shoes
• Garage (DONE! 6/4/14)
• Tools
• Basement Shelves.. what is down there?
• Scrap Books/Picture albums
• Dog Toys
• Maternity Clothes
• Cleaning Products COMBINE AND CONQUER! Switch to homemade.
• Paper Products
• Coin jars.. turn that in to cash money.
• Booze Cabinet
• Wine Glasses, so many glasses, so little to drink
• Mittens/Hats/Scarves (DONE 5/22/14)
• Dress Scarves
• Command center. Why do we have a calendar and photos hanging messily that nobody looks at?
• Small Appliances. How many blenders does one need?
• Our swivel office chair. One of George's favorite chew toys as a pup. The chair is comfy, and we get a lot of use out of it. But it looks like junk. This is a replace item.
• Our mattress. Another replace item.
• Our dressers. Both need to be replaced.