As always, another year has seemed to fly by. The end of one year and beginning of another is often a time of reflection. 2017 was another busy year for us and we accomplished quite a few things. My mom came over and helped me paint the hallway one Saturday. In early spring, we decided to upgrade to a larger RV for our camping trips and sold our old one to our nephews. With R now a teenager and usually having at least one friend along for the trip, we really needed a floorplan with a separate bunkroom for the kids and it proved to be a wise purchase as our camping experiences this year were a lot more fun with everybody having more room to spread out, the dining/kitchen/living areas being free of all the kids clothes and other stuff, and having a separate TV and DVD player in the bunkroom allowing them to stay up watching movies as late as they wanted and allowing us to peacefully sleep without disturbance. We also built the garden shed/firewood lean-to and ran electrical and water lines to the storage shed, garden shed, shop, and pig pen. Sixteen trees were cut to make room for our next building project, a large shed to house the RV, tractor, boat, and flatbed trailer, which we plan to build during the first half of 2018. Moreover, we began putting up our cross fencing to create our pasture area, and completed the first portion, along with a stall, for R's big Christmas gift, a horse! Additionally, we designed and built a movie cabinet using wood crates, which I will share soon on the blog, and I finally managed to hang pictures in the house and create a gallery wall of family pictures in the hallway.
Even with all of this forward movement and accomplishment, there are still things that need improvement. While I have never been a big fan of making resolutions, some changes have been on my mind for the new year. I am trying not to think of them as resolutions, though. Rather, I prefer to think of it as a process of refinement, a way of making things better and honing in on priorities instead of making radical changes. In reality, it is almost like having an intervention for myself. Four years ago, inspired by Jitterbug's Destination 1940 blog, I was on a quest to get my house and life in order, 1940s-style. Later that year, I met J and the focus on my little project waned as I found myself swept up in a fast-paced and glorious courtship culminating in a Christmas engagement and April wedding.
When I got married and became a mom nearly three years ago, my life changed forever. I absolutely love my family and the life we are building together, but we have been through so many changes and have spent so much time continually working to build our farm that I haven't focused on trying to establish the kind of housekeeping routines that would help things operate more smoothly and efficiently. As a result, things have been running kind of "catch as catch can" around here. For example, I spend way too many days in a week stopping at the store after to work to pick up something I need to make dinner, often something I only thought of in the last hour before work ended. Instead of going through the mail everyday and paying bills religiously on every other Friday when we get paid like I used to do when I was single, I sometimes procrastinate, which leaves me with an overwhelming stack of mail, an unorganized checkbook, sketchy budget, and occasional late payment. Furthermore, I have gained about 20 lbs. since getting married, which does nothing to help me feel good about myself. Our busy lifestyle has left us eating out more than we need to and my family's dietary needs and preferences are vastly different from the meals focused on lean protein and lots of vegetables, along with a little starch, that I used to eat. Before marriage, I hardly ever bought or ate snack or junk foods. About the only type of chip I had around the house was plain tortilla chips, I never bought cookies or sodas, and I generally did not do much baking of sweets. In fact, thinking back, I don't think I did a lot of snacking between meals in general, other than some baby carrots or a piece of fruit. However, my junk food intake has increased exponentially since marriage. We always have snack foods around because J takes small bags of chips and Little Debbie snack cakes in his lunches. Plus, my blues about work and an increased sedentary lifestyle are contributing to the weight gain as well. We spent time as a family back in the summer weight training and I was starting to feel better but it was hard to both lift weights and cook supper in the evenings. In addition, the number of unpacked moving boxes in the shed and spare bedroom create a low degree of stress for me all of the time. Even though I am not an advocate for minimalist interiors, I do like it when there is less in the house. It is easier to clean and brings a greater sense of relaxation and calm than a lot of clutter lying around or hanging on the walls. I had accumulated a lot of knick knacks while living on my own and it has taken some time to figure out how much of that I want to bring forward with me and what decorating style I really want to focus on for our home. Knowing that there's still a lot of "stuff" to deal with is depressing and I rationally question how much need I have for even keeping the things that are still packed away if I have managed to live without them for the past two years.
I know I need more decluttering, organization, and planning to make things better. In fact, I thrive when taking chaos and turning it into order. The thing is, the organization must be easy to maintain. Otherwise, things will just revert back to the way they were before. I've spent a lot of time thinking about exactly how to do that and the only thing I can really come up with is simplification. I need to look for ways to simplify while establishing routines so that life doesn't seem so hard and overwhelming all the time. I truly believe that life has become way too complicated in this day and age. There are so many distractions and we all suffer from trying to do ALL the things and be everything to everyone. Even though it is hard to admit, I simply cannot do everything I would like to do all at the same time. I might love to be a gourmet cook, but getting a nutritious meal on the table that everyone in the family will eat, and doing it in a reasonable amount of time is more important for this stage of life. Moreover, I need to make changes slowly to create lasting habits.
So, vintage simplicity is going to be my new mantra in the days ahead. Accordingly, I'm going to tackle my household using methodology from the 30s and 40s. I once again want to try to create a lifestyle inspired by the 1940s and I freely admit that I will be looking back at all Jitterbug accomplished when she took this approach on her blog and utilizing some of her routines with modifications to suit my lifestyle. There is an important caveat to mention. I am not seeking complete authenticity to the past with this project. I plan to take the ideas and adapt them to modern times. For example, I may choose to use modern cleaning supplies or methods, do a different exercise routine, or use a slow cooker to help me get the meal done. I don't feel that these changes will adversely impact the overall goal of bringing order and positive change to my life and household.
Even with all of this forward movement and accomplishment, there are still things that need improvement. While I have never been a big fan of making resolutions, some changes have been on my mind for the new year. I am trying not to think of them as resolutions, though. Rather, I prefer to think of it as a process of refinement, a way of making things better and honing in on priorities instead of making radical changes. In reality, it is almost like having an intervention for myself. Four years ago, inspired by Jitterbug's Destination 1940 blog, I was on a quest to get my house and life in order, 1940s-style. Later that year, I met J and the focus on my little project waned as I found myself swept up in a fast-paced and glorious courtship culminating in a Christmas engagement and April wedding.
When I got married and became a mom nearly three years ago, my life changed forever. I absolutely love my family and the life we are building together, but we have been through so many changes and have spent so much time continually working to build our farm that I haven't focused on trying to establish the kind of housekeeping routines that would help things operate more smoothly and efficiently. As a result, things have been running kind of "catch as catch can" around here. For example, I spend way too many days in a week stopping at the store after to work to pick up something I need to make dinner, often something I only thought of in the last hour before work ended. Instead of going through the mail everyday and paying bills religiously on every other Friday when we get paid like I used to do when I was single, I sometimes procrastinate, which leaves me with an overwhelming stack of mail, an unorganized checkbook, sketchy budget, and occasional late payment. Furthermore, I have gained about 20 lbs. since getting married, which does nothing to help me feel good about myself. Our busy lifestyle has left us eating out more than we need to and my family's dietary needs and preferences are vastly different from the meals focused on lean protein and lots of vegetables, along with a little starch, that I used to eat. Before marriage, I hardly ever bought or ate snack or junk foods. About the only type of chip I had around the house was plain tortilla chips, I never bought cookies or sodas, and I generally did not do much baking of sweets. In fact, thinking back, I don't think I did a lot of snacking between meals in general, other than some baby carrots or a piece of fruit. However, my junk food intake has increased exponentially since marriage. We always have snack foods around because J takes small bags of chips and Little Debbie snack cakes in his lunches. Plus, my blues about work and an increased sedentary lifestyle are contributing to the weight gain as well. We spent time as a family back in the summer weight training and I was starting to feel better but it was hard to both lift weights and cook supper in the evenings. In addition, the number of unpacked moving boxes in the shed and spare bedroom create a low degree of stress for me all of the time. Even though I am not an advocate for minimalist interiors, I do like it when there is less in the house. It is easier to clean and brings a greater sense of relaxation and calm than a lot of clutter lying around or hanging on the walls. I had accumulated a lot of knick knacks while living on my own and it has taken some time to figure out how much of that I want to bring forward with me and what decorating style I really want to focus on for our home. Knowing that there's still a lot of "stuff" to deal with is depressing and I rationally question how much need I have for even keeping the things that are still packed away if I have managed to live without them for the past two years.
I know I need more decluttering, organization, and planning to make things better. In fact, I thrive when taking chaos and turning it into order. The thing is, the organization must be easy to maintain. Otherwise, things will just revert back to the way they were before. I've spent a lot of time thinking about exactly how to do that and the only thing I can really come up with is simplification. I need to look for ways to simplify while establishing routines so that life doesn't seem so hard and overwhelming all the time. I truly believe that life has become way too complicated in this day and age. There are so many distractions and we all suffer from trying to do ALL the things and be everything to everyone. Even though it is hard to admit, I simply cannot do everything I would like to do all at the same time. I might love to be a gourmet cook, but getting a nutritious meal on the table that everyone in the family will eat, and doing it in a reasonable amount of time is more important for this stage of life. Moreover, I need to make changes slowly to create lasting habits.
So, vintage simplicity is going to be my new mantra in the days ahead. Accordingly, I'm going to tackle my household using methodology from the 30s and 40s. I once again want to try to create a lifestyle inspired by the 1940s and I freely admit that I will be looking back at all Jitterbug accomplished when she took this approach on her blog and utilizing some of her routines with modifications to suit my lifestyle. There is an important caveat to mention. I am not seeking complete authenticity to the past with this project. I plan to take the ideas and adapt them to modern times. For example, I may choose to use modern cleaning supplies or methods, do a different exercise routine, or use a slow cooker to help me get the meal done. I don't feel that these changes will adversely impact the overall goal of bringing order and positive change to my life and household.
