In The Silence

Photo: Betweennapsontheporch.net

It has been quite some time now since I’ve written.  I could say that I’ve been super busy, or blame the fact that we brought our daughter home in June and life has been more than a little hectic, both of which are true, but neither of which is really the reason that I haven’t written for the blog.  The truth is that I have lacked inspiration.  

Please don’t confuse this statement with lacking gratitude- I could write a book (volumes of books, actually) about all the gratitude that I feel these days.  And please don't confuse it with burning out on all that food and budget work that I was posting about before, because those things still energize, challenge, and reward our family daily.  But really, I realized that I am not a food or budget blogger.  That’s a huge part of my inspiration, true, but it’s only a part of my lifestyle, and I would rather this be a place where I can write about our lifestyle in its entirety.   Because a “home” is more than a place where you cook, eat, budget, etc.  It's a place where you live life and share joys (and frustrations) with the people you love most.  And those are the things I want to write about.  

On that note, here’s just a quick list of what we have been working on these past months:

-Minimal living: I’m talking about simplifying our belongings and our home. We have donated two thirds of our belongings this past year, and hope to cut it down another 30-50%…more to come about our reasoning behind this in the near future.  So excited!  

-Capsule wardrobes: Life-changing, my friends!  My husband and I now have 40 items of clothing each, including shoes and coats.  It may sound like a lot, but I challenge you to count the full hangers and pairs of shoes in your closet and let me know where you stand.  More explanation on this later as well.

-Parenting: Getting into a rhythm with our daughter and setting up a simple and engaging atmosphere where she can learn and explore.  I’m so grateful for my work at the Montessori school now, and also thankful for a resilient daughter as I try to determine her 16-month-old toddler preferences, if that’s even possible…

-Keeping within our $100/month on food budget: This has been though because we have decided in the past month to go as organic as possible, and -gasp!- I have started eating meat again, which is pricey.  Add in the extra mouth to feed, and -boom!- we are up to $150 a month.  I have also been working on getting our food preserved for the year, which I slacked on in the veggie department.  Oh, how we will miss those green beans and that corn this winter…lesson learned.

Reading: This is a personal one- I have forgotten how much I love reading.  I have found (and am excited to share) two new blogs that I read regularly that have changed my life.  More to come on these in the near future as well.

I am so looking forward to sharing and hearing from you.  Thank you for reading about this mindful home.