there have been a few posts in the works in my head, but finding time to write it all down (with accompanying photos, of course) in a way that is cohesive and clear has not been easy.
and my biggest excuse? nesting (and we really have just had a busy couple of weeks...meetings, block party, 4th of july...).
at least i think it's nesting. i've been reading through the book, organized simplicity by tsh of simple mom, the past couple of weeks, and i think it kicked the whole 3rd trimester nesting mode into high gear for a bit. the book is wonderfully written. simple, straight-forward advice about simple living and your stuff.
most of the methods she writes in her book, we are already implementing as a family, but her thoughts on simple living are encouraging and inspirational. the whole book pretty much embodies our own views on simplicity and simple living.
one of my favorite points in the book is the idea of valuing relationships over stuff (and by "stuff" it includes material things, over-scheduling, TV, work, etc.) and living with intentionality. which is more important to you? the more stuff you have, the more things you have to take care of, clean-up, etc. does that take away time from investing in a relationship (or relationships)? how does the whole relationship vs. stuff reflect on your children? what are you investing your time in? and why?
aaron and i have embraced the whole idea of having minimal "stuff" and doing our best to be more intentional about our choices. but one of the challenging parts is keeping the accumulation of our physical stuff under control. especially when you have 4 kids. i know for us, our home environment becomes very stressful when we begin to find that our stuff is taking over our home and our lives. there's more to clean. more to put away. more energy you need to expend to keep your stuff under control. it's distracting and suffocating.
when my husband spends more time during the week at work than at home, our time together as a family (and as a couple) is very, very valuable. and the last thing i want to be doing is spending our free time together catching up on cleaning, putting away, fixing up, etc.
anyway. back to the whole nesting thing. baby is coming in about 1 month and i have had this underlying sense of urgency in cleaning, organizing and simplifying. reading that book really didn't help.
so, i've been organizing things, throwing things out, cleaning, giving things away, and more cleaning...
not to mention we have to schedule house painting, chimney and gutter repair, and tie up loose ends before the baby comes. and i kind of want to make some clothes for the baby since we have hardly any newborn/infant items at the moment.
then there's food prep. we have been transitioning into a more traditional diet over the past few months (i'll have to save this for another post) and there's a number of grain-related food items i'd like to make and freeze before the baby comes. but the grain prep takes time. and then when i do try to make an extra batch to freeze, there isn't really a whole lot left to freeze because it tastes so good who wants to save it for later?
so there you have it. so much for simple living, huh?
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