Minimalism

I live in America. I therefore have owned, in my lifetime, more than is ever necessary. Actually, the way that we even define necessity is excessive compared to other countries. My parent's house is beautiful like living in a magazine (and they are great at keeping clutter out- everything has a home). Living in a much tinier space (big house to under 500 sq ft) causes you to think through all the things you think you need. I have boxes of things I haven't really used. Or shirts I only can bring myself to wear a couple times a year since I'm never in the mood for it. Yet, I'm storing it. We are paying rent to house all our STUFF and dealing with the visual noise of it all. But I am done, done! I have been going through my things, getting rid of those things that are holding me back from walking in the door and feeling peaceful. A few small bags of clothes and some kitchen things have gone so far. I'm hoping J will be able to sit down with me soon so we can go through all his school related things. I remember how hard it is to get rid of all those papers you worked so hard on. It's hard not to think you'll need them again. In J's case, I don't know, he might need them. My scribbles on my professor's ideas about the deeper meanings of Walt Whitman will never be useful again. Ha! And so, I'm excited to pare down our life to more of the truly essential and beautiful things. 


A lot of pictures have been inspiring me to keep this up: 

 I love lots of light and all the neutrals

 Such a sweet breakfast nook. All white dishes make for pretty open shelving.

 Love the simplicity

 Beautiful floors add nice depth to the lighter pallet 

 Love this reading spot

Happy yellow kitchen :)

If I want my house to embody these photos more, pointless stuff can't get in the way. I want our space to look like a magazine and have space for creativity. Off I go to de-clutter, de-junk, and minimalize our space!

The Little Ones

I have spent the past 6 or so months as a substitute teacher here in Vigo county. There have been good days and bad days, and I've learned a lot about the different ages of students. For starters, I thought high school would be the most enjoyable. This isn't the case. Usually there are enough low achievers to make my life interesting, enough phones out to make me the bad guy, and a few students sent to the Dean's office for really bad behavior. Alright, not all in one day but easily in each week. Most of the time it's so stressful I wonder if it's even worth it at all. And then the next day I'm with an AP class watching movies and amnesia kicks in. Middle school is pretty much the same as high school, just less attitude and more constant questions. Upper elementary school has been the worst so far for me. Constant chatter, us getting nothing done, and no one doing anything quite bad enough to get sent to the principal's office. So I avoid 4th and 5th grades now. However, I think I have found my love. I love love LOVE kindergarten and preschool. The children are adorable and love to learn. Time-out is still a big enough consequence, play-dough is the best free play option, and stickers are the ultimate in rewards. Coloring is a skill, reading is enjoyable but hard, and they all are learning their numbers. They tell you the sweetest things (no lies, just more information than their families realize :), and they see the best in everybody. I don't know exactly where we will be next year, but I'm going to trade in substitute teaching for something else for sure- perhaps a bank teller, secretary, or preschool teacher :)

The Job Hunt

It's been awhile since I have posted, but that is not for lack of things to write about! I'll be posting over the next couple days to try and catch everyone up on the important (and trivial :) details of life.

First and foremost, J's job hunt is at full speed. He had 3 interviews this past week (all over the country. He's such a world traveler :). The first was last Saturday in Dayton, Ohio. Well, technically Fairborn, but really it's just a suburb of a suburb of Dayton. He felt interview went well and the company and job I think would be a really good fit. Only problem- Dayton is not any closer to home sweet home. We're waiting to hear back and see if this is the door the Lord has held open for us.

 For part of my Valentine's surprise, I got to come on the 3 hour drive and J turned it into a romantic getaway. We stayed at the most adorable bed and breakfast called the Simon Kenton Inn, just 20 minutes away from Fairborn. We had a romantic dinner at the restaurant there, definitely took advantage of the HUGE tube and enjoyed being homework free for the first time in months. 

 The next day we checked out air museum in Dayton. It was enormous. I've been to a few hangers in my time, but they did not compare. It was hard to go and enjoy it knowing that the other three men in my life. My dad was in the Air-force, Zach stored up plane info like the stat-spewing kid from How To Train A Dragon, and Caleb is hoping to fly after college graduation. So, it was amazing to see that many different aircraft all together, but it made me miss you boys. :) 

J left for his interview in Sacramento, California on Sunday for a quick trip and was back Monday. This interview also felt like it went well. J has family in the area, and we were definitely thinking this would be an amazing place to land. Unfortunately, we found out today that this one isn't going to be the job for us. The search continues!


Thursday J left for an interview with Schlumbeger (pronounced Shlumberjay, with the french j as in jauques). This is a trickier position as the hour are very demanding and we would be apart for many months at the beginning while he trained. And I planned a little trip around Indianapolis when he came back for the afternoon. We went and saw the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

 We are inside the track. It is HUGE. 

 We also went to a Deli for an early dinner. These were the BEST Rubens I've ever tasted. Go to Shapiro's in Indy!

(Also, my awesome friend Jess cut my hair. I'm working on growing the length out a bit and the layers feel so fresh!)

There is an interview with Halliburton in a few weeks and although the job would be also be a field engineer, we probably wouldn't have to be apart as much. 


Please keep us in your prayers. We are know the Lord has plans to prosper us and not to harm us. It's just hard not to be anxious for this little lady :) And if anyone hears of any openings for a civil engineer, let us know!

Something Old, Something New

I love the show Pan Am. Not really even for the drama, but for the outfits. The styles are so sweet and refreshing. The women dress to flatter their figure. There are ladies with tiny waists and fuller figures and they all celebrate their body in a flattering way. And so, my high waisted black skirt has become my go to when I want to feel pretty and sophisticated. The other day I wore this to our Amway meeting:

Now, to the real reason I am up past my bedtime to write to you all, whoever you are ;) I went back to that awesome thrift shop..


 The coloring is a little tricky in these pictures, but I'll try to get some more tomorrow outside before work. Using the tutorial I posted the other day, I was able to transform it! Most of my recent sewing endeavors have ended with more frustration that positive feelings. Thankfully, this one has redeemed all those bad ones! I picked the shirt up this afternoon, did other housely duties this afternoon (made up a bunch of potstickers! Yum!!), brought J dinner at work, and then spent the evening focused on this. I am finishing it before sleep, and that feels so good! I only could get off this one shot before my camera battery got tired. What do you think?

Much better than this, right? 

Not a bad new blouse for $0.80 right? ;)

Thrifty Day

Alright, confession time: thrift shops have always scared me a bit. The organization doesn't make sense to my brain, things are often dusty, and once I finally find something pretty it never seems to be my size. Usually I walk out disheartened and frustrated. But I read this one particular blog post that used some simple sewing to make a funny shirt into a beautiful and wearable blouse. Maybe the clothes will get another chance soon.

As far as other things go, I'm much more optimistic. And I do like that I can drop off the things I don't need and buy thing someone else doesn't need. It feels good to help cut back on waste. Today I ran into a new-to-me shop and was able to grab:

a fruit basket,

a sweet tea cup,

and a few greeting cards. The total was less than a $1.10. Are you serious?! We no longer have fruit strewn about the counter. That's worth the whole price to me. :) And since I went in for the basket, it's a good thing that the other items were a cheap splurge.


On a side note, I've never been a big collector of things. It always seems like if you say out loud that you like to collect something, you will be getting that for every holiday from everyone you know forever, which is quite daunting in most cases. However, I love tea cups. Something about them is so precious and light. Please note family and friends, this does not mean I want to have a house full of every type of tea cup :), but if someday I had a wall similar to this in my kitchen, I would be thrilled. 

From Girlfriend to Wife: A Testament to Joy

It's been an incredible transition from being a single girl to a married woman. Part of that reason is due to the huge location move. Although there were many teary days and nights after the excitement wore off, I have settled in a bit now. It takes much effort on my part to meet new friends and even more to let them into my confidence. Those first months were very lonely with J so busy with school. And then a funny thing happened. We came home for Christmas break and it just didn't feel like home the way I was expecting. I couldn't wait during those last couple days to come back home to Indiana where we had our own rhythm of life, simple as it is.
In the last two weeks the Lord has done such a great work in me. Some of you may know that I struggle on and off with the stumbling block of depression and overwhelming feelings of despair. Some days it was unbearable. Some days it was just on the back burner. And others, I felt totally free. During one of the unbearable days, I was able to talk with my dear friend, Kaaren, from home. I felt totally useless. New wife, not very patient and loving, surely not doing the best job in that department, working a job that is bearable on the best days, not making an impact in any of the children's lives, lacking close and meaningful relationships, missing the fellowship I had had not many months before, no longer in school (something I knew exactly how to do), exhausted, and unable to see any point to what I was doing. I tell you this (really, putting it out there for the whole world to see) not for you to feel sorry for me, but to show you how powerful and faithful our Father is!
Kaaren so helped me see the light. I have been entrusted with a great responsibility. I am to take care of the adopted and loved son of a king! Is there a more important job than that? In our society, the roles put on women are very interesting. What is expected is to be married, gracious, loving, sexy, fit, to work full time, to love your job, to be involved in other things, and to have children (whether or not you are actually the one raising them if you are working full time is another topic for another time).

Here I am, hardly doing any of the these. But I am not judged by societies expectations. I have been given certain responsibilities and not others. I can praise the Lord that I do not have more on my plate! It feels like it's overflowing as it is. Instead, I can now focus and become better at doing the little things.
What this has looked like in the past week may seem small, but my spirit is so joyful I refuse to discount the importance of these steps:

• I wake up just a half hour earlier each day (6 instead of 6:30) so that I can collect my self, get ready, pack up lunches, and make breakfast with time to semi-clean up so that the morning is not stressful and chaotic for J and I.
• During the day I focus on putting J first. I strive for "yes, of course" to be my default answer instead of being prickly and annoyed, which is so easy to fall into. I remind myself to act with the grace and excitement that mirror the gratefulness and love I have for this man. He's wonderful and I want to treat him so.
• I also am doing a better job of getting in physical activity. Some days it's easy to go for a walk with the sun shinning. When it's so cold, I hardly want to move though. I've been making efforts to get to the gym (and HGTV shows really help make the time feel fun and short). I don't usually want to go, but I am never sorry I went. 
• I take time out of each day for rest and reflection. This would look different for everyone, but for me it is a nightly bath. It's a time for me to clear my racing mind, get nice and warm, pamper myself a bit, think over my day, and pray. It is the perfect way to end each day. 
• I have started focusing more on studying and learning more about God's word. How am I to someday teach my children to be lovers and doers of the Word if I am not already? Even though children are not on the horizon yet, this was a great kick in the pants for my priorities. 
• I clean less and worry less about my house. Mom, please don't freak out ;) It's not that the house is dirty; now, I just choose not to let the guilt of the bathroom not getting cleaned for a week and a day to totally derail my peace.

Finding things that keep your spirit peaceful and joyful, and staying focused our Heavenly Father are the only ways to battle depression. Some days it's a little fight and some days it's a war. For any other's in the trenches: Keep fighting the good fight!

Productive Afternoon

Today I didn't get any subbing jobs. This has only happened once before since I started at the end of September. So, what should I do with this unexpected free day? Well, let me just tell you.

I had made a to-do list for myself just last night because I had so many things floating around in my head to finish. I totally tackled it! I cleaned out from under our kitchen sink because... eek!.. we have a mouse. Yes, totally gross and sick. I can hear it scamper through the walls sometimes and it is driving me crazy that we haven't caught it yet! So, I took everything out from under the sink and put a piece of cracker in the middle of the sticky trap. I hope I can report good news soon! (One good thing, apparently it's only entrance is into the sink cupboard since no other place has been nibbled on.) I also reorganized our linen closet. We had all these extras (deodorant, soap, shaving cream, etc) taking up prime shelf real estate. Lots of things got moved under the bathroom sink cupboard, which was previously basically empty, and now there's room for what we actually use on a day to day basis. Then I reorganized our shoes in the entry closet. We have a lot of shoes. I think we're about even on the number of pairs and I'll leave you to guess numbers ;). It gets out of hand sometimes even though we have a bunch of shoes organizers. So I did the same thing I did in the bathroom- put the most used items in the easiest to get to spots. And I sorted and folded our glove/hat/scarf/my purses bin, which was out of control. After that I took down all our sweaters and sweatshirts off the top shelf of our closet and re-folded and re-stacked. Ah, they look so much better. The house is slowly feeling better and better. It seems like every month or so, something gets moved or a picture put up or something switched or turned. I like it more and more!

On another note, J and I celebrated our 6 month anniversary this past Sunday! I cannot believe the months have gone so fast! We kept things pretty simple and it was perfect. After going to church, we stopped by the grocery store to pick up fresh salmon. We cooked up a lovely lunch of salmon, steamed broccoli, homemade rolls (made by J, mentioned a post or two back), and we had Gouda cheese and a little Chardonnay wine for an appetizer while things cooked up. Homework and the Superbowl took up the rest of the day. It was lovely.

One more thing, yesterday I started going to a Bible study at my church specifically catered to young wives and moms. It was so wonderful. I'm involved in a few other things, but all of them are with college students. I have been out of classes only since May, but I can see that non-college students are going to be lovely variety. And, I felt very cute- I had time to work out before and I had a fun outfit :).

Cardigan- Halogen, 

Awesome lace shirt- Mom (thanks for the extended borrow!!), 

Belt- Macys, Jean Trousers- Jag Jeans, Shoes- Ecco