Ok so it's been FOREVER since I've been over here, but I feel like I owe you all an explanation. Most of you will get it. Those who don't probably didn't get me in the first place and so didn't care that I fell off the face of the planet for months. So here's an update that covers everything:
- 30 Days to a Clutter-Free Life- If you have followed my blog even remotely you picked up on the fact that I am VERY all or nothing. I've found in life that there are many people who are similar and that those who aren't just don't get it at all. When my blog started having issues with posts and comments not being able to be published I got annoyed, frustrated, and unmotivated to post the rest of the challenge. I felt like it was already ruined, so why bother? Also- being someone who has TWO jobs in addition to running a family, I couldn't justify spending hours working on blog posts and long responses to comments only to not have them post. I am sorry for those of you who had followed along eagerly awaiting the remaining posts. PS- I received hate mail (from some clearly deranged people) over not completing it, so being the spiteful person that I am, even though the remaining before and afters are saved on my computer- I don't think I'm going to post them. That's the way I tick.
- Sew Crafty- Dudes, I legit opened a sewing studio in my town! The opportunity presented itself and it made sense to just go with it. It's been like 5 months and I'm really loving it. I'm hoping it will give me more opportunities to grow and learn and meet awesome new people. Check out my page if you're curious: www.sewcrafty.squarespace.com
- Downsizing and Simplifying- Hubs and I are realizing that life can be way less complicated than we pretend it has to be. We bought our house 6 years ago with the intention of buying something bigger within 10 or so years. Never in a million years did I think that 6 years later we would be hoping for something smaller. After analyzing the space that we have in our home vs. what we actually use daily, we realized that we are essentially wasting money (which translates into wasting time) by paying for space that we don't actually use. If you include our full finished basement, we have 2400 square feet of living space. In the basement, we really only use the workshop area and the laundry room, but both are far bigger than our actual needs- so I'd say about 600 square feet is wasted. On the first floor we found that though we utilize all the rooms (kitchen, dining room, bathroom, living room, office/study) the rooms are way too big. The office for instance is 11x15 and it has a long built in desk with two computer stations and an armoire for some games and toys. That's it. I would say on the first floor another 400 square feet is wasted. Upstairs, the master bedroom is enormous with two walk in closets that we only fill with clothing and shoes because it looks dead and wasted if we don't. If we had a smaller closet we would keep our wardrobes simplified, keeping only what we love and wear all the time, instead of submitting to the strange psychological need to fill empty space. I would say that upstairs there is another 400 square feet of unnecessary space. That comes to a grand total of 1400 square feet!!!! That's more than half of my house! Let's not even talk about how much it costs to "heat" all that wasted space. (I say "heat," because 65 is hardly considered heating a place!) The long and short of it- it doesn't make sense to continue living in our house. There's no real positives to staying in place. NONE. After putting our feelers out a bit, we found ourselves a gorgeous house that is the PERFECT size, with a big, flat, fenced in backyard, with a HUGE shed, on a quiet little road. Our chickens are more than welcome to come and the landlord is so nice and welcoming and has told us we can do whatever we want with it while we are there. The rent is a tiny fraction of what we are currently paying for our house. It's a no brainer! I had put an ad online for our current house just to feel out the response based on size and rent and I was surprised by the amount of emails that came through. Though we haven't started showing it and getting down to the nitty gritty, I feel pretty good about renting it. Are we nervous about the idea? Yep- but nothing is scarier to us than continuing to live the way we do. I know lots of people who are in the same boat- parents working opposite days/shifts, the kids can't really participate in sports and activites because the parents' schedules don't work for it, family vacations are rare if they ever happen because there are no mutual days off for the parents. It's risky to do this, but we feel like this is an opportunity for us to streamline our lives, minimize waste, maximize time, and focus on what's important in our lives. My goal is one mutual day off with hubs and the kids and a weekend getaway once in a while with just hubs and I. We have literally NEVER had either. I know that some family members and friends will probably lose their ever loving minds about this plan, but if they can just dig a little deeper and see that we are thinking of our kids, our own sanity, and our future they would feel proud of us for laying low with The Pimentals instead of keeping up with The Joneses.
So... yeah. That's where we are at. There's always more to say, but I've talked at you enough for today. I'm hoping that with this downsizing on space and upgrading on time that I'll be able to blog a little bit more. I think everyone in my life would agree that I'm a happier person when I'm making and blogging :)
Lots and lots of love,
Jill
Oh god it's been so long that I lost the signature I made. Yipes.