Four months 'til Christmas

This year is three-quarters of the way over. That hit me a couple of weeks ago, but I still can't process the information. For the first time in my life, I have stuck to resolutions for more than a couple of months - this is stupidly exciting to me.


It's been a while since I've posted, and I refuse to apologize for that. Life has been busy with living, not with writing a blog that maybe seven people read. For those who care, however, here's what's been happening ... 

• Simplify. In February, I got rid of stuff. Lots and lots of stuff. In June, I was challenged to do it again. One thing on day one, two things on day two, etc. Once again, I said, "Well, I'll give it a shot and maybe make it through day 14." Once again, I was wrong. Once again, I made it through 31 days (even though there are only 30 days in June). Admittedly, the second time around was harder, but that made it more satisfying. This time, I focused more on my closet. I got rid of clothes, although I still have a long way to go with that. I got rid of shoes - not just any shoes, but shoes that still fit and were in good condition - just because I didn't wear them too frequently or didn't love them the way I used to. I got rid of more books, more junk, more stuff that I didn't want or need. I scanned in old photos and mementos from high school so I can quit lugging around a giant box o' crap from attic to attic. It's a work in progress, and it's nice to be freeing up space in the house.

• Better myself and my family by cooking and eating better. The whole family has been doing well with this one, although Aidan complains a little more about it than the rest of us. We have slipped some this week, primarily due to post-vacation exhaustion, but for the most part, healthy cooking is the new way of life with few exceptions. We've started using a visual plan for food (Heather McCabe, if you're reading this, it's all because of your husband's Facebook post about your awesomeness - thank you!!), and it's done wonders for keeping us on track. We also throw away less food, because we remember to use whatever we're supposed to use before it goes bad.

• Purchase no clothes, shoes, or purses for a year. Like healthy eating, this has simply become a way of life. (I did cheat slightly on vacation, because my sneakers tore up while we were gone, so Jonathan bought me a pair to replace them. In this case, it was somewhat of a necessity - we were in Philadelphia without a car, which means a lot of walking. Flip flops are fine for one day of walking, but we were going approximately ten miles a day.) I have a few more months to go without shopping. People keep asking me if I will binge shop at the end of the year, and my answer is no. I have what I need and more. We'll see if that is still how I feel on my first day of freedom, though!

Fitness is the new thing for me. At the beginning of the year, I had goals related to getting in shape. The last time I posted, we'd gotten a YMCA membership, and it was great for the first month or so. Then, as so often happens, I got out of my routine due to a business trip and never went back. 

For months, I'd been talking to Jonathan about finding a personal trainer, but the expense was a barrier. One day, though, I saw a sign for a trainer, called her and found out she was incredibly reasonably priced. I signed up a couple of months ago and have been working out with her three times a week since then. She's a lightweight bodybuilder and scares me a little, but she's quite encouraging during a workout. While she's a little tyrannical when it comes to my food journal (I like to eat a variety of things, she thinks I should subsist on Shredded Wheat with water), I'm finally, finally, finally seeing results. Clothes are fitting again, and I feel great. In fact, she said that if I keep at it, I could do body-building as well ... I said no thank you. :) I've learned that I respond well to the accountability of keeping a pre-set appointment as opposed to only going to work out when I can drag my exhausted self out of the house. 

In addition, a couple of friends from years ago convinced me to sign up for kickboxing. I've been to one class but plan to start doing that once or twice a week as well. Seeing results has given me the motivation I've been seeking, and rekindling friendships is an added bonus.

Anyway, life is good. I'll probably post a couple more times before the end of the year, but in the meantime, just assume I'm still working on bettering myself - because there's always room for improvement!

Has it really been two months since my last post?

As you can probably tell by the fact that I haven't written since the beginning of March, I can sometimes get a little off track. However, I'm happy to report that, while the blog might be a little behind, the rest of my life seems to be moving in the right direction.

Since it's been a while, I'll give you a brief recap on the goals for the year by pasting from my first post:

• Simplify. This encompasses a lot of things, some personal and some for the household. It involves things like getting rid of things that aren't needed, being more organized at the house, and doing anything feasible to make a complicated life as simple as possible. My guess is that this goal is going to be the most-discussed aspect on this blog. 
• Better myself and my family by cooking and eating better. Expect recipe ideas for our CSA share and from my favorite cookbook ever (Skinnytaste), comments on those recipes, self-flagellation on how much food we purchased and didn't eat, and similar.
• Purchase no clothes, shoes, or purses for a year. That started on Thanksgiving. I plan to add at least one new thing to that list each month. December was scarves, which were initially excluded from the clothes category. I hope to try to make paper towels the January addition, but I have to work a little to convince my husband. It might be modified to be "no more than one roll a month."



Simplification is bringing me a lot of joy. I am still removing items from the house. There's a box in the dining room in which I'm tossing unnecessary items as I find them, and the box is full. Instead of thinking, "Wow, maybe I should stop getting rid of stuff," I'm all like, "I think I need a bigger box." My wardrobe is decreasing - gradually, but it's happening. Things I couldn't release in February no longer seem so important. When I started on my journey to simplify, I hadn't even considered becoming a sort of minimalist. Now, though, I'm well on my way, and I'm loving every moment of it.

I've also realized that, at this point in my life, I don't have the time or inclination to start a real garden, as much as I want one. It's a complication that I don't want to make time for this year. We will in the future, but there are too many other things I need to take care of first. It stinks, and I was disappointed in myself at first. Then I decided that it's my time, and I need to prioritize it in a way that works for my family - as long as I'm doing that, it's progress, not failure.

Cooking. Eating. These are things I like. Pinterest has become the best friend I never knew I needed. A few weeks ago, I needed to get rid of a lot of eggs, Swiss chard and collards from the CSA? Pinterest was there for me. Italian sausage and kale?Pinterest to the rescue! We've stopped making a weekly shopping list based on what we want to make. Instead, the list is based on what we are making to use what we have on hand. (Proudest moments so far -  we had everything on hand to make this other than pineapple/juice, and everything to make this, subbing gnocchi for pasta) It might not seem like much to you, but this is a mega big deal around here) I LOVE having all of these fresh veggies on hand. It's exciting, and it's making cooking a blast. Best of all, though, our grocery bill is still shrinking, and we're throwing away MUCH less food.

We also joined a gym. We chose the YMCA so Aidan can go to the group fitness classes with us. Last week, I convinced Jonathan to try Body Pump. After five or six days of being sore, he now believes it's an effective workout. And last night, I took the kiddo with me to Cardio 30/Core 30. I had a hard time keeping up with the workout because I was laughing at him. When the lady told us to go slowly into a squat, he popped down into something that looked like this. We were kicking to the rear, and he looked like he was in a taekwondo class . When we finished, he said, "Now we just need to find a class for Thursday and Friday." I'm so pleased that he's enjoying healthy choices as part of his everyday life ... hopefully it will be easier for him to keep it up into adulthood than it is for us to kick start it as adults.

Shopping is a bittersweet memory. The only time I've been REALLY tempted is going through Dillard's to see my fantabulous hair dresser and spotting all of the lovely spring dresses. Easy enough to deal with as it's just a momentary pang of desire, but oh, the clothes are so cute!! It's interesting to me that shoes and purses haven't tempted me yet - maybe it's because I'm avoiding those sections of stores? Whatever the reason, I don't want to consider shopping again until my wardrobe is pared down, so I'm thinking the moratorium might last longer than Thanksgiving.

I haven't given up paper towels. We got a puppy - 'nuff said. And while I haven't given up shopping for specific things, I'm really not shopping any longer for anything unnecessary, so it's been a non-issue.

Full disclosure: I did cheat one time, unhappily. It was Superhero Monday at work last week, and my whole team was dressing up. I had no superhero clothes, so I got the cheapest Batman t-shirt I could find. I felt, and still feel, guilty. 

In the past couple of months, I've gotten to talk to several people about the minimalist challenge and the lack of shopping. It's fun to hear people's reactions and to convince them to give this a try ... or to have them tell me I'm crazy. Either way, it's an interesting conversation.

Next time: can I go a whole month without a Lofthouse cookie? Hmmmmm.

Thanks for reading!

Piles o' Stuff

February's focus was on simplification. The goal was simple: to reduce the amount of stuff in the house. If you read my last post (long, long ago), you'll know that I began participating in a minimalist challenge on February 1. Get rid of one item on the first, two items on the second, etc. In the beginning, I wasn't sure how far into the month I'd make it (I guessed two weeks, max), but I found that it actually got easier rather than harder as the month went on. It was only around Day 24 that I started having to stretch a little.

My friend Melissa and I texted each other daily to share the pictures of our piles o' stuff. It was incredible watching how the piles grew as it got later in the month. What surprised me was how  fun it was, though. In fact, I decided a few days ago that it was cheating to do this challenge in February rather than in a 31-day month, so I extended my personal goal to 31 days. Below are the results in pictures.

What I want to share about this process:

1. My husband and son were actively involved. They willingly let go of items when I asked and made few objections to my choices. I am grateful for their support of my craziness and proud of their efforts. Jonathan is even selling some of his mint-condition game consoles, which is not something I ever expected to happen.
2. If you see items that you gave me in these piles, please don't be offended. While some of the items I selected for removal were actual trash (see the piles of magazine pages I'd torn out over the years and the detritus from the bathroom closet), many of the items were useful, loved and/or valuable. It doesn't mean I didn't appreciate your gift. One of the most challenging aspects of this task was to separate my practical side from my sentimental side. 
3. All of these items were disposed of in some way or another. We trashed, recycled, donated, gifted or sold all of them. You'll probably see a ton of this stuff in Joey's thrift store in the upcoming months, and I am excited to get some money back for our efforts. 
4. The most fascinating thing about this process to me has been that it's completely changed my thinking process when it comes to what I buy. On February 2, I chose two colanders as my daily items. A few days ago, after using a salad spinner for the first time, I realized I couldn't live without owning one (seriously, y'all, that thing was crazy cool and useful!!). After buying my own salad spinner, I got rid of a third colander, because the basket of the spinner will serve the same purpose. In the past month, I haven't bought very much at all, which has been surprisingly easy. But with every item I've purchased, I've thought carefully about what I no longer needed as a result. Shopping seems to negate all of our February efforts.
5. Books take up a lot of space. Everyone in this house loves books. These two things cause some conflict in the battle to get rid of stuff. Getting rid of books was HARD. I'm proud of myself for doing it, and I am proud of Jonathan for doing the same.
6. Our house still feels like home. It doesn't feel empty. It just feels less cluttered.
7. It was amazing to me that I could completely clear out an area and be 100% sure that I still needed or wanted whatever was left, but two days later, I'd find three more things that could go.
8. I highly recommend that everyone I know try this. It's fun, thought-provoking, satisfying, and freeing. One of the things that I didn't get rid of in February is a marble plaque I've had for ages. It is engraved with a quotation from Spurgeon … "It is not how much we have but how much we enjoy it that makes happiness." I think this is my new mantra.
9. 4DX principles of focus are right. I didn't focus at all on health in February, because I was focused on stuff. March will be the month of health!
10. 31 days = 496 items from the house. I did day 24 twice in error, so that's 520. Many of my items were sets of things. One book of CDs counted for one item but was actually 300+ CDs. A set of 12 cookie presses counted as one item. Hundreds of magazine pages counted as one trash stack. Altogether, I'd estimate well over 1,000 individual items are gone. The results for February made me happy.
11. Nothing to do with this challenge, but I wanted to point out that I've made it more than three months without shopping for clothes, purses or shoes. Woot!

The journey has been great. Enjoy the pictures!

Less is More

Today is the beginning of the month of letting go. In case you didn't read the last post, the goal is to get rid of one thing on February 1, two things on February 2, and so on until I've thrown away, sold, or donated over 400 items from the house. It is doubtful that I'll make it through the entire month, but I'm going to try (with the support of a minimalist friend whose 2015 goals closely align with mine). If it isn't a necessity or something that brings me joy, it is wasting space. 

This concept isn't totally new to me. My family loves Legos. We love them - we give them to each other as gifts, we put sets together as a family then display them, we have Lego artwork. We even decorated Aidan's room with a Lego superhero theme a couple of years ago. Here's what I don't love about Legos: they collect dust. Dust builds up in every nook and cranny of every set we have, and every time I move a set to clean around it, I break something off, meaning I have to dig out the instructions before spending time making repairs. One of my sets is the Haunted Mansion, which is a huge, complicated set that I convinced myself actually looked more authentic with dust bunnies. But a few months ago, I hit the "over it" point. I carefully packed up all but one of my Lego sets to store in the attic until the family feels like rebuilding. My Legos were becoming a pain instead of bringing me joy (except the Tower Bridge, which still makes me happy from its bookshelf perch). 

While I'm not ready to let go of the Legos completely - rare sets increase in value and are fun for the whole family - I am ready to get rid of a lot of other stuff. Jewelry that I never wear, kitchen items that are taking up space (I seriously don't need four colanders), the cat water fountain that is used for play instead of hydration, books I haven't read and don't intend to read - these things are pointless. I feel like they're in the house only so I can move them out of the way when I'm looking for something I actually want to use. So this February, I'm happily decluttering the cabinets, bookshelves, closets and junk drawers. As I'll be out of town for a few days this week, I've gotten the items from February 1 - 5 together already and taken pictures (see below) to send to my accountability partner.

On a completely unrelated simplification note, my husband finally cut the cable cord! To those of you who don't know him, this is HUGE. He is a politics junkie, and he's been holding out only to have access to cable news channels as they don't have full online streaming access - and when they called the next day to offer him a cheap price and a $200 Visa gift card for changing his mind, he stood his ground. I haven't turned the TV on for anything other than Netflix/Amazon movies or SEC football in at least a year, so I'm really excited to have one less bill to worry about. 

These past couple of weeks have been somewhat more difficult for me in the food/personal wellness categories. We're doing very well with cooking healthier foods at home (but I know we could do much better), I'm drinking more water and very little soda, and I've even managed to work out four times this week. I know I could be doing more, though. It was hard for a couple of weeks because my mouth was sore from surgery. Then came the first business trip of the new year. I ate healthier than I've eaten on many previous trips, but I have two more trips over the next two weeks. One of my absolute favorite things to do on trips is to sample the local food. So with trips three weeks in a row, it's going to be hard to make sure I maintain healthy habits. If you travel frequently, please share your tips on eating clean while on the road.

While I'm not particularly proud of the eating better category, we're all still happy about the CSA and are excited to start planting some of the seeds we've received. And I'm hoping to start a compost heap soon so we can use it in the small garden that WILL happen this year. If you have tips on that, please share those as well.

4DX is working pretty well for us. It's keeping us honest if nothing else - I can look at my scorecard and know exactly where I've failed for the week if I don't see results. Progress is slow, but it's steady - baby steps will get us there eventually, right?!

Thanks for reading my rambling. :)

Feb. 1

Feb. 2

Feb. 3 (the cat fountain is in the bag)

Feb. 4

Feb. 5

Feelin' All Right

So far, I'm feeling good about the changes in 2015!

Foodstuffs:
The CSA is treating us well. We've eaten almost everything that we received in the first two shares, which is where I was afraid we'd fail miserably. I also realized today that our grocery bill has decreased significantly. Because of the holiday craziness, I wasn't able to tell if the food bill dropped from mid-December through January 1, but I can definitely tell a difference in the last two weeks. Pinterest is great for recipes that are helping me cook with what we have on hand instead of dropping into the grocery store for small purchases a few times a week. Other than things we eat all the time like zucchini, peppers, onions and potatoes, I don't think we've had to get much produce at all. 

Simplification:
As of Sunday, my closet is cleaned up. It's not cleaned out yet - that will come - but it's getting there. My clothes, when they weren't strewn haphazardly around the closet, have always been organized by pants, dresses, skirts, shirts, tank tops, etc. This time, I went through almost every article of clothing and have it arranged by what fits me right now, what should fit me in a month (if I eat well and treat my body right), what should fit me in three months, and what will be donated/sold if it doesn't fit me by summer. By summer, I plan to start on whatever version of Project 333 I decide to use. So the change in my closet is a process, but I hope to see excellent results over time.

My friend Melissa sent me a challenge earlier this week. Starting February 1, I will get rid of one thing from my house. On February 2, two things. And so on until Day 28, when I get rid of 28 things. While I know that I might not make it the entire month, if I make it, I will have gotten rid of more than 400 things that I don't need or that don't bring me joy. That's a lot of stuff I wouldn't have to wash, dust or deal with in any way.

Other:
Our 4DX scorecards are posted on our bathroom door and in use as of Monday. I'm supposed to be doing 30 minutes of cardio four times a week. I expect that to start next week (minor oral surgery Monday morning has put a little hitch in my get-along), but for now, all of my non-exercise goals for the week are being met. I'll find out Monday morning if my goals for the week are moving the levers. Cross your fingers for me …

I hope you're all having a wonderful New Year!

Yum

Progress continues! I returned to work today after two glorious weeks off. While I wasn't quite ready to go back, I took advantage of a rare day with no meetings. My inbox is cleaned out, my to-do list for the week is ready, and late in the afternoon, I took an hour to get rid of a bunch of unnecessary desk items that I don't use. By next week, my goal is to do a quick review of the business magazines that have piled up so I can clear out a particularly piled up corner.

On the food side of things, the CSA veggies are treating us well this week. Sunday night, we tried a fantastic slow cooker stuffed cabbage casserole (the link will tell you it might be an "unseemly" site, but it's safe). We used ground turkey instead of beef and quinoa instead of rice. Absolute perfection if you need to use a lot of cabbage, and it was simple to prepare. Jonathan and I loved it. Aidan  hated it. I mean HATED it with a passion I've rarely seen from him. The meal quickly descended from a pleasant family dinner to a nightmarish temper tantrums that led to the kiddo being sent to bed an hour before bedtime. Lesson of the night? Aidan is not a fan of cabbage.

Pinterest is becoming my best friend for recipes with the strange CSA foods. I found tonight's recipe while looking for a way to use fennel - seriously, what is this stuff, and why do the cats love it?! We ended up having a vegetarian roasted vegetable quinoa salad with a few minor changes to the recipe. We used two zucchini instead of a squash combo, no dressing, and added a small potato. I didn't have Herbs de Provence on hand, so I mixed up basil, marjoram, sage, thyme, coriander and some of the fennel leaves. The mix turned out really well. I'm officially a fan of the fennel bulb. I'll figure out what to do with the stalk on another day.

As there was no cabbage involved, this was more of a success with the family child. He requested that we use wild rice instead of quinoa next time, and he would like us to add either kielbasa or chicken. But there were no tears, so I'm happy.

By tomorrow night, I'm going to set up a scoreboard for my Wildly Important Goals as they pertain to health. Tonight, I taught the family the 4DX concept of focusing on one or two primary goals, and while somewhat skeptical, Jonathan is willing to give it a shot (The man obviously loves me a lot). Aidan, on the other hand, is raring to go with his goal - increase the number of push ups he can do from 40 to 50 by March 24. I didn't know he could do 40, so I'm interested to see how this turns out … 

I resolve to change

I want to have a personal way to keep track of my new year's resolutions, which include plans to:

- Simplify. This encompasses a lot of things, some personal and some for the household. It involves things like getting rid of things that aren't needed, being more organized at the house, and doing anything feasible to make a complicated life as simple as possible. My guess is that this goal is going to be the most-discussed aspect on this blog.

- Better myself and my family by cooking and eating better. Expect recipe ideas for our CSA share and from my favorite cookbook ever (Skinnytaste), comments on those recipes, self-flagellation on how much food we purchased and didn't eat, and similar.

- Purchase no clothes, shoes, or purses for a year. That started on Thanksgiving. I plan to add at least one new thing to that list each month. December was scarves, which were initially excluded from the clothes category. I hope to try to make paper towels the January addition, but I have to work a little to convince my husband. It might be modified to be "no more than one roll a month."



As there are people who don't care about my progress, this blog is a simple way to capture my journey without boring my friends and family to death. I am not making any commitments to post regularly or to keep it interesting for the sake of potentially non-existent readers. This is the best way I could think of to create a public record that will keep me honest about what I'm doing while holding me accountable.

So far, a whopping four days in, I'm sticking with my resolutions! :)

Progress under the simplify category has included these things:

- The game closet is cleaned out and organized. We have gotten rid of games that haven't been played in years and made room for the new games Aidan received for Christmas (one of which was sent from the Colorado Barrons that we're trying out tonight). We made room in the closet for all of the outside toys so that they are no longer in Aidan's room. This makes it much easier to keep up with where they are, gave him more space in his bedroom, and has the added bonus of preventing Aidan from getting in trouble because he tries something like, I don't know, stopping a ceiling fan with a baseball bat - a trick he could learn from his uncle Richard. While I was working on the closet, I finally gave up on finding missing puzzle pieces (also known as "cat toys") and threw away the puzzles that will never be whole again.

- We have several glass-front cabinets in the kitchen that I set up to look gorgeous when we bought our house. Now, I'm taking steps to arrange them so that they're appealingly functional rather than only pretty. Work in progress, but I'm getting there. And I already like the results of the one cabinet that's done.

- Since I'm not buying clothes, I'm unsubscribing from all promotional emails that always tempt me to shop. I think I've unsubscribed to all of them, but as new ones come in, I'm requesting removal.  I think I was getting about thirty a day, only one or two of which were even interesting to me, so the removal has made checking email much faster and efficient, especially since only a handful of people I care about actually use email!

We're trying a new recipe tonight to use some of the cabbage from the CSA. Cabbage, quinoa, ground turkey, bell pepper, onion, and seasoning are simmering in the slow cooker now. Here's hoping for good results.