the good stuff (By Laura)

I was really, really annoyed at 7:45 this evening.  It was a little bit past the girls' bedtimes (yep, they go to bed that early, my friends) and I had been jumped and climbed on one too many times.  We had eaten an early dinner of burritos (for the little ladies) and yogurt and granola (for us adults).  The dark, rainy day had left us all feeling cozy and wanting an easy, enjoyable dinner, and while the girls watched "Alice in Wonderland" on YouTube, I whipped up the food and let them eat while they watched so Ryan and I could sit in the living room and munch our food over a nice conversation.

It was a lovely idea until Pony, who's 2 and a half, started wandering in and out with her sour creamy fingers, and then asked for a mandarin orange which she squirted and sprayed all over the coffee table.  Juice and chunks and pieces of peel spread around, and she headed back to her burrito to finish the job, naked as the day she was born.  

Nudity at dinner is totally acceptable around here.  :)

If it hadn't been for Ryan feeling under the weather and myself feeling tired and a little achy as well, we would have possibly been a little more concerned about the mess(es) she was creating, but we just let it slide and it felt good.  Dinner in front of the computer, after all, is quite an exciting event around here!  We fight the urge to use screens to entertain the girls (and ourselves) in general, but the weekends are much more relaxed and we often end up watching a movie or two together or having them choose one to watch.  YouTube is really wonderful.  :)

The movie ended and we cleaned up, returning our house to its previous immaculate state.  You see, we had a showing today!  In fact, it wasn't the first!  It has been exciting to see the interest begin since we put it on the market about a week ago.  Having the house this clean is both a joy and a little bit of torture.  A joy because Ryan is completely at peace.  He LOVES it to be immaculately clean, and it makes him feel like he can relax and just chill out.  If it's messy, he has a really hard time with it.  

Myself, I don't mind a bit of clutter, or a bit of "stuff" lying about.  As long as it's tidy-ish.  I don't mind the odd pile of papers, the "special nostalgic items" sitting on top of the piano or the mantle, or things artfully decorating corners of the rooms.  I'm rather artistic in my design of things, and kind of like an eclectic feel to a space.  Ryan does win out though, because really, immaculate spaces don't entirely stress me out like messy spaces do him.  I do feel a little uncomfortable in a place that feels like a museum (this is what I like to argue he wants our place to feel like), because it feels like you can't lay a finger on anything for fear of messing it up, but I just make sure it still feels like home in my own ways. :)

So after our rather informal dinner, the girls got off the computer (amazingly, with no complaints!) and joined us in the living room where we did a little tradition that we've been getting into casually over the past many months: highs and lows.

Highs and lows is just as you might imagine - we each take a turn to tell the family a good thing about our day and a not great thing.  Some people say, "something you're grateful for and something you're not grateful for", or "something that brought you life and something that didn't bring you life" or other similar ideas, but highs and lows is just simple and easy to understand.  Even Pony tries her best.  Tonight, her high was, "playing" and while I could think of a number of times when she hit low points today (thanks to the ever communicative tantrum), she said she wasn't sad today at all.  And so be it.  

It's always interesting to hear what the other two say.  I'm often surprised that what I perceived to be a low point in, say, Pito's day, wasn't such a big deal to her, and that Plava's high points were points that I wouldn't have necessarily guessed.  Now, today wasn't like that.  Plava's high points all had to do with candy and cookies she got at church, but you know.  There are those times too!  :)

The nice thing about doing the highs and lows is that it's great to get a chance to really reflect on the day, and what brings life to us individually, and what takes life away and brings us down.  We decided tonight that it would be interesting to keep a family journal, or a list, of our daily highs and lows, and look at it from time to time to see patterns and learn more about each other.  Wouldn't that be interesting?

For instance, my low was a moment this morning when I was feeling sorry for myself because of something I wished I had.  And that speaks to my general feelings of self-pity that I deal with on a daily basis.  My high was visiting my clients this afternoon and getting the chance to breathe some confidence into the mom as she doubted her ability to breastfeed her baby.  I got this amazing chance to be a true tool of change for her, and that is a gift that I can't take for granted.  I think it speaks to how much I yearn to really make a difference with people outside my general circle of friends, and how much life I receive from truly serving the people I work with!

After we shared highs and lows, we got the girls into PJ's and went down to their bedroom to read the final few chapters in a novel I've been reading to them.  I know, it sounds so quintessential, right?  A cute little family all huddled around a book in the evening, in their "jammies", snuggled and giggling and just as happy as can be.  Nope.  Pony jumped on and off my lap so many times that I was needing to whisper "patience..." to myself just to keep from throwing her physically onto the floor and away from me.  Plava was listening intently but rolling around on the floor, nearly kicking my in the head again and again.  Pito was jumping around the room, poking Pony and causing screamy tantrums, and then whining that she "didn't know what to do" and just wanted to watch the movie (the book was made into a movie - note to self: don't tell them that before you read it....).  I had just about reached the end of my rope by the time the book was over, but managed to calm myself enough to enjoy a loving good-night before scooting out of the room and upstairs.  

And now they're all asleep.

It's these small things within our family that are so good.  The laid-back Sunday meals in front of the screen, the sharing of highs and lows, and sitting around reading a book together - these things are the things of life!  What would we do without them?  We'd be less connected, possibly less happy, maybe even feel that we knew each other less.  I love these things, even though I felt so fed up by the end of it.  I wouldn't trade these times for anything.  

I really do hope that as we make the transition to a smaller place and enter a life in which we don't have as much yard work, things to fix, stuff to put away, and physical distance between us, we have more space to do more of this.  I love the idea.  Love it.  

Simply wonderful.  Wonderfully simple.  Can't wait.  

the (sweet) small things (By Laura)

It was a crisp, sunny afternoon yesterday, and the sun glistened off the wet road and grass and leaves that had been rained on only hours before.  It was the kind of sun that was sharp and more distant than the summer sun.  It was warm, but not hot; it felt like fall.  No leaves had dropped off yet, though the trees seemed to show signs of fatigue, and even the smell in the air spoke of the season to come.

It was the first day of school for most kids.  Many of our friends' children would be nervously entering their new classrooms and meeting their new teachers.  Part of me remembered with nostalgia the excitement and nervousness of the first day of high school, feeling older and yet so young at the same time.  Oh the torture of that morning routine.  How could one brush their teeth when their teeth were chattering?  Fall, and particularly that day after labour day, bring new things, new beginnings.

Even though we homeschool, we all feel that same jittery feeling.  In my own heart, it displays itself both in bubbling excitement and in a wee sense of dread that it's going to be a really hectic month.  September is just crazy.  Just.  Crazy.  New routines, new activities, new leaves to turn over, and now, a new way of living as we embark on this simplicity thing.

I was amazed and gleeful when I heard my two older girls say, "Mom, we wish we were starting homeschool TODAY."  Our two days of classes don't start for another two weeks, and I had been planning to start homeschool next week.  We just got back from our road trip two days ago and I needed some days to organize my thoughts and ground myself.  Apparently they had something else in mind!  What a great way to start the school year - with excitement and longing.

This year, we will be trying to keep things simple, and let me tell you, it's not easy with kids.  As a parent, it's so easy to fall into the trap of living vicariously through your kids.  That parent within me wants them to try EVERY ACTIVITY AVAILABLE because, well, there's just SO MUCH to try!!!  Horse riding lessons, learning an instrument, sports, art classes, cooking classes, gymnastics, dance, the list goes on and on and on.  And I'm just talking about extracurricular stuff here!  (Although it kind of all melds into the school experience since we generally do homeschool classes held during the day...)  The girls are also really excited about a homeschool theatre program they'll be in this year.  They get to rehearse once a week for the entire year, and then put on a professional-level musical in the spring.  THIS, my friends, is exciting.

But to fit in all these things as well as school....let me just say that I need to be REALLY deliberate about how choosy I am.  Schedules can NOT be overly full.  That just doesn't fit with our philosophy of simplicity, and I just don't think it's a good thing in general!  Kids need down time, people!  They need quiet, restful, creative time!  Alone!  (But I digress...)

I sat down to get some things sorted and after a wee bit, decided to make some chai.  It's a recipe a friend gave me that is so delicious, so sweet and spicy and warm.  It reminds me of fall, and it reminds me of being simple.  It's the moments in which I get to sit with a cup of chai and read a book or gaze out the window that make me feel human, afloat, grounded.

And so to you all I wish the most wonderful, joy-filled, exciting, and fulfilling September imaginable.  I intend to do it up right, with chai in a mug, a good book in hand, and three rascally, funny, lovely girls by my side.


Recipe for Chai
I never received portions, so I just throw a bunch of stuff in and it tastes great every time!  Just try and put more tea than spices.

Loose Leaf Tea - Assam or Rooibos (or both)
Cardamom Seeds
Fennel Seeds
Cinnamon Stick
Black Pepper Seeds (optional)
Fresh Ginger (not optional - a whole chunk of it!)

Throw it all into a pot with, oh, 6 cups of water?  Boil, then reduce and simmer for 1 hour.

After an hour, pour it all into a pot.

Add the same amount of milk/soy milk/almond milk (6 cups?), add honey, another cinnamon stick, and more ginger, and heat.

Strain and serve immediately or cool in the fridge for a lovely cool chai drink!

reconsidering connectivity (By Laura)

This was my facebook status yesterday:

"So far, I am more frustrated than pleased with the new iOS. This is a serious first world problem. Someone bring me some cheesecake."

I thought it was funny.  And it's true - the latest download of for the iPhone system has bogged my smartphone down and it is now jamming fairly regularly.  Annoying, especially when I use my phone for all sorts of things throughout the day.  Google maps, email, facebook, surfing, calendar, camera... the list goes on.

(Why do we still refer to them as "phones" anyway?)

I'm guessing most people would decide that the system needs to be tweaked so we can get back to our normal use of the phone.  I feel somewhat differently.  My beef lies with the fact that I've become completely reliant on the thing.  This bothers me.  I can't tell you why.  It just does.

I guess I feel that I don't want to be a slave to a little computer in my hand.  I don't actually enjoy being connected all the time, everywhere I go.  I don't enjoy that I pick it up at all hours of the day just to fill a moment of boredom.  Boredom is a GOOD THING, people!  Those are the moments in which we think about things, about life, when we get creative ideas, make plans, make decisions!  If I am filling up every little empty moment with my phone, I am missing out.  MISSING OUT.  I can't emphasize this enough.  I can say that my life has become more full and less thoughtful since I got the iPhone.  

I was watching Harry Potter: The Philosopher's Stone the other day with Plava (note to self: that movie is too scary for an 8 year old!), and reflected on the fact that when the kids were wanting to know about a certain character that had been named, they had to do some research in the library...in BOOKS.  When do we do that now?  Remember having to do that in school?  I mean, I never liked research.  I found it tedious.  But really, there is something lost when we wonder something and then just reach for our phones and google it.  Instant access to all sorts of information, good or bad.

Louis C K, the comedian, was recently on a talk show talking about this smartphone business and really says some good, and sad, things about it.  Here - watch it.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/yR8E8wQhseA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

And so here I am, wondering, for the thousandth time in the past year, whether I should trade the iPhone in for a good old flip phone.  My cousin suggested this humorously in the comments of my status, and it reminded me of the huge impact this would have on my level of constant busyness.  A simple flip phone with calls and texts only.  That sounds so heavenly.  Yes, it would be harder to go back to using a map book, and reducing the frequency of my email and facebook checks (from 50 a day to 2 or 3), but doesn't that sound refreshing?  Doesn't it sound like there would be so much more room for, oh, reading, thinking, sitting still and listening, enjoying the flavour of a good cup of coffee, feeling the warm sun on my face, smelling the crunchy leaves of fall?  It's enough to make me swoon.

Well, we shall see.  I think it may fit very well with this whole simplifying thing....

(PS - here's a link to another great piece on the overuse of smartphones!)
http://gawker.com/short-film-about-smartphone-overuse-is-smart-poignant-1189811144

because we like the "little things"... (By Laura)

So we have been doing lots of making of things.  The girls and I made a rubber egg over the past few days with vinegar, an egg and a jar.  Remember that experiment?  Fun!

We've been making chai, as you know, and (a family favourite:) kale chips....

(YUM!)

...and caramel apple cider (so delicious!)...

And Ryan has made, once again, his famous home made yogurt.  How I love it.  Yum!  

This is all a part of the change.  It's not just about a smaller home.  It's not just about less stuff.  It's about enjoying the simple, enjoyable things in life - having the space the enjoy it!  Having the time and the moments to enjoy it!  Even though life has been hectic over the past while, we are carving out space for these things, and it makes all the difference.  

Here are some recipes fer y'all.

Caramel Apple Cider

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/caramel-apple-cider/a2c74261-0a5c-4bbf-8e08-ed347ff58e75

Kale Chips

Ingreds: Kale, Olive Oil, Sea Salt

Wash, dry and tear the kale into pieces.  Place in bowl and toss with olive oil and sea salt.  Put in oven at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes, until crispy but still green (not turning yellow).  EAT!

Homemade Yogurt

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2013/05/homemade-yogurt-recipe/

blustery, beautiful fall (By Laura)

We are in it!  It's autumn!  I love it!  Aaaah!

We happily welcome the wearing-pants, cozy-drinks,warm-inside-and-cool-outside days.  Today is a windy, grey. wet day, and I love it!

I've been expressing a lot of our difficulty lately on the blog.  I'm aware of it.  In fact, it has been a very challenging few weeks.  I can't quite describe it adequately except to say that apparently making a counter-culture change that requires courage and a shift of mindset is not as easy as we anticipated! What I can say, though, is this.  Along with the nerves and the hard parts (in fact overwhelming those things) is an intense assurance that we're on a good path.  Not only that, but we're REALLY excited!

It is actually fun to set up the house for showings.  I'm not kidding.  The kids even get a bit excited about it.  Setting things up as perfectly as possible, pretending that we live in a pristine environment all the time...hahaha.

Things are exciting.  We are excited about the potential of a smaller home, and a larger life.  We are excited about having less stuff to clutter our home, our minds, our time, our bank account.  We are excited about being more generous*, more open to possibilities, more adventurous, less tied down to debt, less reliant on every dollar, less embarrassed for having "more".  (Okay, that last one is one of my skeletons that have been unleashed throughout this process.  Have I mentioned it's been a challenging few weeks?  I've met some deep parts of me that I have kept hidden for a good long time... If for the inner-purge alone, this has been a really meaningful process.  I feel another blog post coming on about just that!)

* Aaaand if I can just speak into that comment about being more generous.  Ryan and I are true believers in giving, no matter how much we have, and even if it hurts a bit.  We don't feel that having more money makes us any more able to give than we are now.  It just excites us to truly (potentially) have more to give.

So we are feeling great.  The cloud of the past few weeks has lifted off my head.  I can't tell you how dark and dreary it was for me.  (Ryan has a different experience himself...) I couldn't think straight, and instead just had to hold on to what I knew made sense when we made this decision.  The clouds have cleared (the metaphorical ones, at least) and I'm back on track as eager as before, if not more.

So here's to squishing ourselves smaller and smaller!!  Bring it on!

sad news (By Laura)

I stood there awkwardly with the newspapers and mail in my arms, wondering whether I should have waited a bit longer.  Pito and Pony were climbing in one of our front yard trees and I was standing, watching the back end of our neighbours' car that had just pulled in, down the long driveway that separates our lots and into their back yard area.  

"They're probably really tired after a long drive. I should just come back in a bit..." I thought to myself, reminding myself that they're older, and they might not be up for news such as this right away.  

So I turned to walk back into our house when I heard, "Laura!" 

She had just gotten out of the car and spotted me holding their mail and papers and wanted to take them off my hands.  Janet (we'll call her) has a soft spot for us, and particularly the girls, and is always happy to pop out and say hello, asking the girls what's going on in their little lives that day.  She walked back and I went to meet her, handing her the mail.  Chatter ensued.  They had a nice trip, were heading off again in a few days and we would be watching their place again while they were away.  Same old story - the loveliest of neighbour relationships.  We watch out for each other, water each others' plants and gardens, and make sure the house looks secure while the other is away.  They almost always bring back little gifts or treats for our girls, and we have even come home to fresh groceries in our fridge.  You really can't beat that!  We've received soup when we had strep throat, and lots and lots of stories of the neighbourhood in the "old days".  Bob (we'll call him) is a talker!  He has a good two or three stories to tell every time we see him, and a good story-teller he is with his smooth radio persona kind of voice!  He loves putting on funny voices for the girls and making them laugh, ranting about how things aren't as safe as they were once (back when he would just call the police when they were going out of town so they'd keep an eye on the place), and making sure the girls are helping their mom bring in the groceries and empty garbage cans.  He's an old school hero, and we love it!  

So when there was a pause in the conversation with Janet, I had to begin to tell her what I had come out to say.  "So, we wanted to let you guys know that.... (pause, and she looked at me with a sad, knowing look)...we've decided to put the place on the market and move on."  I didn't know what else to say, so I just kept going with everything in my brain.  "We are so sad to leave you guys.  In fact, you were a huge consideration in whether we would leave at all, but we just feel the need to pare down and have a smaller place, which will allow us a little more financial space to do more as a family.  It's so hard but we made the decision.  We're really sad to have to tell you."  

She nodded and looked understanding, and said, "I understand, but oh that makes me feel almost like crying!" and then she teared up.  And then so did I.  And I said, "Me too!!  It's so hard because we have such wonderful neighbours and we'll miss you guys a lot!"  "Well, so do we!  But I understand." Smiles and trying to choke down tears.  

Then the girls ran over and started chatting, and Bob rounded the corner, telling jokes and chatting.  I bid them farewell with a quick, "Tell him the sad news..." towards Janet, to which she nodded and smiled.  And I went back in.

Tears.  More tears.  Then a good blubber in the bathroom.  

That was so much harder than I anticipated.  I knew it would be hard.  In fact, I had been anxious about it all week.  We needed to tell them as soon as they got home because the sign would be going up soon and we didn't want to surprise them.  Oh the pain of that moment!!  

It's a day later already but I still feel sad.  I still feel teary over it.  I wish I could bring them along to be our next door neighbours wherever we go.  But we can't.  It's one of the hardest parts about leaving this place.  I would argue that it's harder than anything we've had to do yet, including taking the step to list the house.  

I love those neighbours.  Last year we had them over for Thanksgiving dinner, and we will again this year, and I hope to keep inviting them as the years go on, because all it takes is effort to keep connected, you know?  All it takes is a call, or an email, and you're back together.  

I'm usually okay with goodbye's, but this was a really, really rotten one.  Don't really know what else to say...!

the toughest steps yet (By Laura)

Well, after a lot of thought, preparation, purging, viewing some places around town, talking, more thought, and more talking, we made the surprisingly difficult leap and listed our house.  This is not as easy at it looks, people!!  It's great to talk about simplifying, and paring down one's possessions, and moving into a smaller space, and living a simpler life, but actually doing it?  Yikes!

Purging has been fun.  I can't deny that.  There is something really freeing, and dare I say addicting, about getting rid of stuff.  Emptying out closets that we haven't touched in years, clearing out the "extras" in the garage and crawl spaces, these things feel good.  It feels like a kind of "spring cleaning", even though it's fall.  It feels fresh, a little less cluttered, and brings about a feeling of peace.  This is the easy part.

And talking about simplifying is fun too!  In fact, lots of you have gotten excited along with us about this idea!  Simplifying one's stuff really DOES lead to less time spent cleaning, less stress over where to put things, how to keep things in good shape, and where to put new things we buy!  It has been by far the quickest change that we have been able to enjoy - less stuff really is better.  My days at home with the girls, because we homeschool, tend to be really, really cluttered and messy.  I mean, we are bringing out art supplies, books and notebooks and pens and pencils, science experiment stuff, poster presentation stuff, not to mention dishes and food!  All of these things are enough to drive a mom batty, but adding in a toddler who just loves to empty drawers and toy bins while we do all this exciting stuff, now that just stresses me out.  I watch her do it, while trying to focus on helping the older girls do their math (no easy task!), and I have this growing feeling of anxiety over the progressively larger mound of clean up I have to do.  

I know, I know.  The kids should clean up too.  And they do somewhat.  But really, when I compare the amount of energy it takes me to clean things up against the amount of energy it takes me to nag them to clean up after themselves....oh my.  Not comparable.  Nonetheless, I try and ensure that they do some cleaning, and clean they do.  (Am I off track again...?)

So we have purged, simplified (at least stuff...) and we have also viewed a number of places - apartments and townhouses exclusively.  It has been fun, and educational, and inspiring, and scary.  I won't deny it.  This is a bit of a scary jump! 

Here's a little insight into my brain as I go back and forth over this:

"What if it's just too small?"

"Oh, poor first world family, having to fit into 1200 square feet.  Snif!"

"What if I regret losing the big yard for the girls to play in?  I have a strong belief in the importance of the outdoors!"

"There are parks.  Especially if you chose a place close to one.  And it's going to take some effort to get out, but you can do it!"

"But our beautiful house!  I do love it!  And our neighbourhood is so nice!"

"And you've enjoyed it for a good long 4 years.  Be thankful!"

"But we will miss our neighbours!  And they have been such good neighbours!"

"Yes, they have.  And you can still see them, with a little effort.  You'll have new neighbours too."

"But what a huge thing moving is!  So much work!  It would be so much easier to stay!"

"Yes, but think of your values.  Think of the reasons you're making this change.  Think of closer proximity with your family, less time upkeeping and more time together, more room in the budget for family adventures, feeling more satisfied with how your making use of your resources, being able to give away more than you do now, being able to enjoy the small things in life rather than being bogged down with housework!"

And on and on it goes.  Honestly, these are daily arguments going through my head.

But we are sure.  Some days more than others.  It's exciting and terrifying.  

So we went and listed our house.  We had no further steps to take.  We had reached the crossroads, and so there was nothing left to do but bail on the whole thing or take that leap.  

It was a bit of a nerve-wracking meeting.  Thankfully we love our realtors and they know us fairly well.  We came up with a price and signed the papers.  Woo!  I feel the kind of adrenaline that only someone who is doing something wild and crazy would feel, like as if I'm about to bungie jump!  It's going to be great but I'm nervous!!  Aaaah!  Wish us luck!!

slogging through the pit of despair (By Laura)

This has been a difficult week.  Why do I feel like I've said that before?

It seems that at every turn we experience resistance. There's tension between us, one of our daughters has turned against the idea of moving, I'm feeling low and tired, we're all sick with colds, it seems like no matter how strongly we feel about this change, we're bombarded from every side.

This isn't the first time I've felt this kind of oppression. There have been other times that I've had great ideas that felt so right, so good, and I have felt resistance from every side then too. But I've never experienced it to this level before.

We saw some places this week. We went out with our realtor to get a feel for what different sizes of places would be like. We wanted to know what an apartment would feel like at a certain square footage, or a townhouse at smaller square footage. It was educational, but emotional. As I said, one of our daughters has decided that she doesn't want to move. She's putting her foot down pretty strongly. Try as we might, we can't seem to convince her that it's a good idea. It's a tough time for her as she reenters the school year, starts new extracurricular activities, starts a new year of life. We're pretty sure it's all wrapped up in that, but the resistance is strong and we're struggling to know how to deal with it. No doubt she just wants one solid thing in her life right now: her home.

That's a hard thing. We're not totally sure how to navigate it. How much should a child's opinion of things we taken into account? Of utmost importance is that she feels heard and understood. But what if we just decided we were going to do it? How do we communicate that her feelings and thoughts and her anxiety means something to us while still going ahead with the plan? We know she will adjust, particularly when she sees that we get to be together more, and that we would get to be closer together physically. Of all our kids, she's the one that wants that close proximity, the snuggles, that family time - she pines for the nights that she gets to sleep on our bedroom floor with her sister (a weekly occurrence).. Still, it's not easy to figure out how to do this well.

We've been working on our house a lot. Purging, getting rid of things, giving things away, taking things to swap meets, and it all adds up to two tired adults and three tired children. I guess I'm feeling discouraged.

Nonetheless, Ryan and I still feel very convicted that this is the path for us. We need to walk in it. We need to figure out a way to do it in the best, smoothest, most peaceful manner. Neither of us could have imagined it being so difficult to simply carry through with a plan. We feel like we're in the pit of despair - there's a little shout out to Princess Bride for you… :)

We have appreciated so much hearing the words of encouragement from so many of you. In the form of emails, Facebook messages, phone calls, in-person chats, you've encouraged us and told us how inspired you are about this idea. You've told us that it has started your own wheels turning, that conversations have begun in your own lives. We can't tell you how amazing that is to hear, and in the difficulty of these days it really makes things brighter. We didn't really know what the reaction would be to this crazy idea. We had no idea it would have a positive impact on anyone. So it's really encouraging to see that happening.

So onward, into a new week. I wish each of you a happy, joy-filled, meaningful week in which you share rich moments with those around you. Thank you for tracking with us thus far. We look forward to telling you of the great things to come.

sacrifice (By Laura)

There's this movie.  It's kind of famous in my family.  My sisters and I used to watch it every now and then, and often sang the songs from the soundtrack.  It's called "Brother Sun Sister Moon".  It is very, very 70's, my friends.  But it's the story of St Francis of Assisi, and his spiritual journey.  He was a rich merchant's son who went off to war during the Crusades.  He returned sick, and spent some time in a feverish state, and when he woke up, had a spiritual revelation.  He saw for the first time the horrible separation between the rich and poor.  The rich were elegant, extremely haughty, and controlled everything.

The poor were the lowest of the low, and were treated like animals.  St Francis couldn't handle the injustice, and so he chose to follow his God-given conviction: to leave his parents and become a beggar.  He worked for the rest of his life with the poor, serving them and giving them dignity through his love and kindness.

I can't watch this movie without bawling.  And I mean, big, ugly sobs, people.  Numerous times throughout the thing.  Be warned if you ever sit down to watch it with me.

Now if you're thinking, "Oh! I need to see that movie!" just be aware that it's really, really slow.  I mean, when I first sat down and watched it with Ryan, he nearly died.  (He doesn't like slow movies...haha!)  So bearing that in mind, enjoy!

But this post isn't about that movie.  It's really to draw the conclusion that we are not the first to do this simplification thing.  So many have gone before us, centuries ago, and even in this generation!

The other thing that this post is about is explaining a little more deeply our reasons for wanting to downsize.  Because it's not just about size, you know.  And it's not just about money.  Or time.  Or shortening our mortgage.  Or having no yard work.  (YEAH!)

At the centre of all this is a true desire to live our lives the way we feel called to.  The way we think we'll be proud of at the end of life.  Will we look back in old age and say to ourselves, "Aren't we glad we held on to that nice house and two cars in that nice neighbourhood?" Or will we say, "Aren't we glad we made that tough choice to live with less stuff, following our feelings that the distribution of riches in our world just isn't fair, and teaching our girls along the way?"  This is about so much more than making our lives more comfortable.  This is about adding a little justice into the pot.

There is SO much more we could do.  I write these words and I think, "Why aren't we considering moving into a shack?  We could give every penny we have to people who are in need!"  But this is a small step in that direction, I think.  I hope.  To have less not only speaks to our desires to have less to clean up, less to have to upkeep, less to have to pay for, but it also speaks of not being okay that we have big expensive things while others have so little.

Ryan works on the Downtown East Side (DTES), raising money for a mission that serves the poor.  The DTES is known as "the poorest postal code in Canada".  It has a population of roughly 18,000. Thousands here are homeless, and about 5,000 are intravenous drug users.  It is estimated that 40% of the homeless in the DTES are mentally ill.  So, while we live in this city by the sea, a nice hour drive away from the madness of the DTES, we experience it.  Ryan is surrounded by it daily.  It's hard to avert your eyes and live a blissfully rich life when you are faced with poverty of that magnitude.

And so this is our answer, at least at this time.  It seems only right to shed the "extra" we have, pare down a little, pour our resources (both time and money) into more meaningful things.

And if I can speak to the souls who may read this and feel guilty.  Or judged.  Or anything of the sort.  We are NOT doing this with an eye on others' lives.  We are NOT looking around judging people who have money.  We are NOT claiming that we have "found the right way to do life".  We are simply following our hearts, and what we feel is right for our family.  For us.  If we inspire along the way, get conversation started, influence some positive change, all the better.  But when it comes to each person, they have to ask the questions themselves of how they plan to spend their lives.

What acts or choices would make you proud if you were to look back in old age?

unexpected goodness (By Laura)

We were exhausted and moody.  We had been cooped up in the stinky van for hours, and we still had a few hours yet to drive.  The kids had been fighting, and us in turn fighting with them.  Parenting shows its ugly side on long stretches of highway.

The van had a stench to it unlike many we had endured on road trips in the past.  We had been on the road for about a week and for the majority of that time, had been camping, so it was packed to the brim.  Pillows, blankets, backpacks and shoes, camping chairs, equipment, tarps, and food.  It was all jammed in there.  We had a bin full of books for the girls to read while we drove, many of which were library books borrowed shortly before our trip began.

Note to self: don't bring library books on a road trip.  The wear and tear is unimaginable.

Camping itself doesn't cause the odour we were putting up with.  But camping in the rain, that's another story.  It had poured.  Torrentially.  With much wind.  We could hardly light the camp stove, and so meals were quick and simple, and often cold.  It was a long three nights, and we were at least happy that we had opted to rent a mini cabin at the KOA - one room with beds that was out of the elements.  But what is one to do when everything, EVERYTHING, is wet?  We had wet clothes and towels, little Pony had seemingly peed on everything, since her wonderful toilet training had gone out the window on the trip, and so after the third night, we packed up all our wet stuff, and headed to meet up with friends for one last night before heading home.  The weather changed that day as we were driving and was absolutely beautiful.  In fact, it was HOT.  Uncomfortably so.  And what did we do?  Did we think of unpacking the van and letting it air out?  Did we think of bringing out the wet clothes and towels and letting them dry?  Nope.  We decided to leave them in the sauna that was our van and bake them for a day or so.  Result = stench.

So, there we were in our stinky van on the I-5, driving along on hour 4 or 5 or so, and everyone had finally quieted down.  Ryan was driving, two of the girls had drifted off and the other was reading quietly.  I was drifting myself, dealing with the beginning of a nasty cold, when all of a sudden Ryan said, "Laura, that woman is trying to say something to you!"

I opened my eyes and looked out my window and there was a nice looking older woman waving her arm out her window beside us, kind of pointing to the side of our van, and asking us to pull off.  What's more, she had money in her hand and was waving it around.

What. In. The. World.

We pulled over, wondering what this could be.  I won't lie.  We felt a little nervous.  Was there something on our van?  Were we losing money out the back?  (All that cash we had stashed in the bumper...) But out she hopped, as well as a nice looking older man, and with huge grins on their faces, they ran towards our van and up to Ryan's window.

"HI!" She bellowed.  "We saw the sign on your van!" ("peace arch doula - pregnancy, labour & birth, postpartum") "Do you do birth work?"

"Yes, I do!  I'm a doula!" I smiled back, rather unsure but eager to hear what she had to say about it.

"OH THAT IS JUST WONDERFUL!" She hollered, "We love LOVE that!  We kind of work in similar fields!  I'm a social worker and my husband is a physician.  Our daughter is a nurse too!  We just wanted to say that we think it's such important work and we want to support you and give you some money towards your work!"

And then they handed us $100, and after our baffled 'thank you's' and 'wow's', they ran back to their car, gleeful and cheery, and drove off.

That was a crazy next half hour.  It was so random, yet so lovely, to have such a gift dropped into our laps at the most unexpected time.  Why had they done that?  What goodness had urged them to stop us and give us that "blessing", and that money?  The money was so much less amazing than just the simple act of stopping us and giving us such kind, supportive words, and we drove on amazed and thankful for such unexpected goodness that we encountered that day.

Ryan and I talk about these kinds of things - that goodness is something that we can choose to engage in.  Sometimes it's in deliberately doing things like paying for the person behind you at the drive-thru, or giving to charity.  But other times, and this is what we strive for, it's simply an openness to those little urges we feel.  When we see someone we don't know but feel they could use a smile, or a kind word, or a $20 bill, and just going for it - these are the moments that make such a difference.  They bring light into the world.  They lift life out of the dreariness and transform it into something beautiful.  I would argue that those little urges come from a spiritual realm, and that our job is to tune our ears and listen hard, acting as we feel led.  We can make a world of difference for each other in such simple ways.

guilt (By Laura)

It has been a roller coaster day today.  Neither of us expected this process to be quite so emotional, to be honest.  It seemed like it would be fun, and exciting, and inspiring.  And in many respects it is.  There is something really, really fun and satisfying about letting loose and being really free with our "stuff".  What a great feeling to just say, "GET RID OF IT!" "RECYCLE!" "GIVE IT AWAY!".  There is something really freeing about loosening our grip on our stuff and embracing each other, a different way of being, the promise of less time and money spent on the ownership and upkeep of things and more time and focus spent on each other, and the people around us.

I've been battling a cold, as has our middle daughter, who we'll call Pito.  She and I have been sluggish and sniffly, and at the worst of times, a little emotional and weepy.  The other night her big sister, who we'll refer to as Plava, slept over at Grandma and Grandpa's house, and let me tell ya, there was a mighty sad little girl in the house that night.  Tears and hugs and sad, loving things said about her big sister.  It's touching to see how close they already are at this young age.  It's not always like this, because of course they are siblings after all, but it's nice to witness nonetheless.

The thing with this cold is that it has just knocked me over.  I feel exhausted.  Wiped.  So tired that I feel foggy-brained.  If I didn't know any better (*BUT I DO), I'd think I was pregnant (*BUT I'M NOT).  (Parentheses and CAPS in honour of suspicious family members who might assume otherwise....!!)  And so on a morning in which we planned to do some more serious purging, I found myself exhausted and longing to lie down and sleep.  It didn't help that my dear two-year-old, who we'll call Pony, was up and pulling me out of bed at 6:30.  That is no way to get better from a cold, dear little one.

So we purged, amidst feelings of exhaustion and a fogginess of brain that had me wondering what on earth we were doing thinking of moving.  I couldn't see my thoughts clearly, and certainly couldn't muster up any excitement about this whole thing.  But, knowing how horrible I was feeling and how it was affecting me, I chose to continue on and just wait until the clouds cleared and I was better, thinking straight again.  And so I purged.

I worked through one of the most daunting rooms yet - the homeschool room, which happens to double as Pony's bedroom.  :)  This meant facing all of last year's school work that I hadn't sorted through during the summer (which I had intended to do before the summer) and also making some tough decisions on what to keep and what to turf.  It's tricky people!  Do I keep the math curriculum that didn't really work for Plava but may at some point work for Pito or perhaps Pony?  They're expensive to buy!

I didn't do too badly in the end.  I realized that I didn't have all that much to work through - there was just a lot of garbage.  And this is when I started feeling gross.

Not gross in the physical sense, but gross in the "I can't believe how much garbage we need to send to the landfills" gross.  The kind of gross that makes you ask yourself what on earth you were thinking casually accumulating all this junk.  This process has already had a huge affect on us in terms of how we buy things.  Watching large plastic items sent off to the recycling depot, bags and bags of garbage picked up on their way to the landfill, and countless other things that we had hoped to donate but haven't had luck at any thrift stores, leaving us wondering if they just need to be thrown away - it's embarrassing.  What a wasteful, disposable attitude we have had for so many years!

It's not even "junky" things that I'm referring to, either.  It's things like cheap school backpacks for the girls that were bought at Walmart.  They fall apart before the year is over and need to be thrown out.  Board games that we bought, thinking maybe we'd "get into boardgames", only to have them sit in the closet for years, untouched.  Random art supplies that got tucked into a corner, never used.  The clarinet that was given to me by a friend when I was younger that I always thought I'd try and learn how to play.  And I'm certainly guilty of being lured by "free stuff" that people are getting rid of, so there's always a certain amount of that kind of thing hanging around.  "We'll definitely be able to use this!" I'd say.  Ryan is really good at realizing the fault in that and calling me on it.  In fact, in our little city by the sea, there are always a good many items out on the street with "free" signs posted.  Ryan will see me looking and just say, "NO."  It's a source of humour some days, and just plain annoying on others.  :)  I mean, it's FREE!!!

Aaaand therein lies the problem.

So it's humbling.  More humbling than we expected.  We aren't ones to keep a lot of "stuff", but we're finding that everyone has a certain amount of unused junk lying in corners and drawers and garages and closets.  I mean, you have a house, and what do you do?  You fill it!  To the brim!

So, it feels good, and bad, to unearth the mysteries and open the drawers, and I'm glad we're doing it.

purge progress (By Laura)

Ryan and I set out to do some serious, SERIOUS, purging the other day, as I mentioned.  It was satisfying, and challenging, and in spite of the fact that we were getting rid of some precious items from our past (many, not all), we managed to get through without much marital tension at all!  Ha!

In reading our most recent book, "You Can Buy Happiness, and It's Cheap" by Tammy Strobel, we have tried prepared ourselves for the potentially emotional job of purging.  Getting rid of junk is one thing, but to be honest, we're not really junk keepers.  I can attribute many of my junk-less habits to my dear Dutch husband who learned about cleanliness from his parents, and moreover, from his cultural heritage.  (Those Dutch are clean!!)

I grew up in, well, a rather messy house.  Happy, but messy.  So in the first few years of our marriage, or perhaps the first decade, we had some "ironing out of differences" do deal with.  This resulted in (a) me becoming much more tidy, and (b) Ryan simmering down a little on what I like to refer to as "his problem".

But I digress...

Purging sounds great in a book.  It sounds great when you talk about it with friends.  It sounds great when someone else is talking to you about their purging.  But in reality, it is hard work!  Where is that line between "this is too precious to get rid of" and keeping everything that has some sentimental value?  Thankfully, Ryan and I each only had a few things we felt strongly enough about to really put our foot down, and were (so far) able to respect each others' feeling about said items.  

A few items that we have discussed and left until later to decide on?  Read on.

Whether or not to lose the piano and find ourselves an apartment-sized one.  This is really tough, because I, the piano player, am very attached to having a piano, and one that is decent.  The piano we have really isn't much to talk about.  It was a "hand me down" and has hammer marks in the top from some kid who got bored (previous owner's kid, obvs).  It spent a year or so outside under someone's deck before we came and adopted it.  (It was free!!)  But it is a full sized upright piano and it sounds like one.  No, it doesn't hold its tune, but it has weight to the keys, a full booming sound when I plunk hard (which I tend to do quite often), and it is a source of calm and therapy for me, as piano playing always has been.  So to downgrade to a smaller, weaker version is a little daunting for me, and there's no saying that we will have to, but there's a chance of course.  A chance.

Whether or not to keep our large Mac or "trade" it for an ibook.  We have a nice, large Mac, which requires a table or desk.  We use it to watch movies, shows, and for the internet.  Since we're getting rid of our TV (we haven't had cable for a good many months and prefer it that way), in the event of getting rid of this screen, we will only have a laptop sized computer to use and watch movies on.  Is this the end of the world?  For me, no.  For Ryan, possibly.  It would save a lot of space not having a desk space needed, and from my homeschooling perspective, it would save me a lot of strain of children constantly seeing the screen, and then constantly begging to stare at it.  I have seen this completely change before when we moved our computer out of the main living space.  Suddenly no one even considered going on the computer during homeschool time!  Ha!  But yes, this is a decision we must make together.  And make it we shall.

So, there are decisions, and there are things to consider in each of these.  Not always easy, but at least we're processing, right?  We're not static.  That's a good thing.

We have done about two fifths of the house, I'd estimate.  We have more to go, and some improvements on the place as we prepare to show it.  (Ack!  We are still hardly able to say that out loud!)  This is a big deal for us to decide to move, because we love our home, and our neighbours, and our street.  But principal is speaking more loudly and so on we push, and we are excited.

So wish us luck as we continue on!  Next steps: wash walls, patch and paint, replace downstairs carpet, fix up back yard, oh, and start the homeschool year on Monday.  Whew!

the purge (By Laura)

So here we are - at the beginning of a journey.  Truth be told, we have been on this journey for a few years, but this blog is a nice way to package it up and declare a beginning.

Our first task, as we see it, is to purge.  And when I say purge, I'm not talking of a light "sorting through our stuff".  I'm talking about going through every room, closet, and box (yes, even the boxes we haven't opened since the last move...!), and aiming to rid ourselves of HALF of that mass.  Then, take the remaining half and do it AGAIN, being left with 1/4 of our original belongings.

Okay, so that sounds really technical.  We don't actually have a goal of a certain amount that we want to get rid of, but what we found as we started this purge a few years ago is that it happens in stages.  The first purge felt great...so many little pieces of junk (McDonald's happy meal toys, sets that were scattered in all corners of the house, clothes that had been living in the corners of drawers and closets for years, unworn...).  We felt refreshed after it was done.  We had no idea it was only the beginning.

There was one day when I set down with the two older girls to conquer the "stuffie" problem.  As any parent knows, stuffed animals/friends/dolls enter the house at an alarming pace.  Even without purchasing them, they come in the form of gifts, prizes, goodie-bag items, and hand-me-downs.  So, with the girls, I searched the house and made a mound, nay a MOUNTAIN, of stuffies in the middle of their room.  There must have been 150.  I used the method described above and with the girls, made two piles: the "treasured stuffie pile" (TSP), and the "not treasured stuffie pile" (NTSP).  I was really impressed with how the girls, then 6 and 4, handled this exercise, since it required them to release some dear friends.  Once the piles were made, we shoved the NTSP into some large garbage bags.  Then, we looked at the TSP and we went through it, creating a new TSP and NTSP.  Once that was done, we put the new NTSP into the bags.  At last, we were left with about 30 stuffies.  I had them each pick out their absolute favourite stuffies to keep, and they each chose about 7.  We kept one or two for the baby as well, since she didn't have a voice and there were a few sweet ones that she had been given at birth.  And that was it!  We bagged the rest and took them to a thrift store!!

This is an example of the level of purge we're getting ourselves into.  We have cleared out about 70% of our closets and dresser drawers and 75% of the kids' toys (with surprisingly minimal complaint....goes to show how much they used them!).  Just yesterday, we spent a good portion of the day clearing out some of our bigger rooms - our bedroom (what was left of it!!), two of the three hall closets (linen and coats/instruments/travel bags), and both the kitchen and living room.

It's amazing what one holds onto...

The thing that really started us purging, apart from Ryan's inate desire to live in a clean, shiny environment (with nothing on the walls, surfaces, and floor....according to his slightly more artistic-minded wife) was reading the book, "Simplicity Parenting", by Kim John Payne.
(website: http://www.simplicityparenting.com/)

This book is meant to be a parenting book, but requires the reader to adopt the principals of simplicity themselves before implementing the simple philosophy on his or her children (this is kind of obvious...no?).  The main idea of the book is that children (ahem, and adults) have way too much stimulation.  They have screens, toys, books, clothes, and activities coming out of their ears.  It suggests simplifying not only possessions, but schedules, rhythms of life, and home environments into calmer places, to help kids "settle down" and not be so overwhelmed (which theoretically causes them to act out).  By reducing children's level of stimulation, as well as offer them time to be quiet and alone, they relax and are able to enjoy life more, have space to become more creative, and learn to be more independent little creatures.  I could talk and talk about how effective making these changes has been on our little family, how the insistence of an afternoon "quiet hour" has led to such good things, how less options for what to wear in the morning leaves them less overwhelmed and more able to handle getting dressed on their own, but I would be writing for hours if I did.  So let me direct you the blog of a dear friend of mine who is a "Simplicity Parenting Group Leader", and see what she has to say about it.  Who knows....maybe I'll even ask her to come and do a guest post here!

Introducing, Kirsten.

http://www.seatoskysimplicityparenting.com/index.html

genesis (By Laura)

The van smells like there is some rotten food hidden somewhere under a seat, or in a crevice that we can't see, and search though we might, we can't find it.  We just returned from a road trip, and even though we've cleaned the van, the smell tugs at our noses, irritates us as we drive, and keeps us pulling over and searching in new cracks and secret corners, wishing with all our might to discover whatever it is...

This is not unlike our life over the past few years.  Or has it been a decade?  Ryan and I have been trudging along together, continually feeling the itch for something new, but not knowing what, or how to satisfy the need.  We've moved, changed jobs, bought and sold cars, had a(nother) baby*, but while the itch would be temporarily relieved, within a few years it would creep back in, nagging at our brains and setting us on yet another search for our next fix.

(*Now let me explain here, that we have three lovely daughters, and we can't truly say that any of them were conceived out of this itch.  They were each brought about by a desire to add another person to our family.  We often joke that kids were a distraction from the itch, but it couldn't be further from the truth.)

What, pray, is this itch we are describing?  Well, it has taken us quite a few years (14, to be exact) to pinpoint what it is, and we're still digging deeper and exploring it.  We once thought we were just people who needed change.  Maybe we were in some way "change junkies", loving the thrill and challenge of creating a new life in a new city, or starting over in a new job.  Our friends and family started joking about the amount of times we moved, and while we saw their point (and might I say, felt somewhat embarrassed), we still couldn't seem to resist getting that wanderlust, or "changelust" every two years or so.  And so we moved, we switched things up, we followed our antsy-pants need for something different.  To. No. Avail.

It was about four years ago that we moved into a home in a lovely little city on the sea, surrounded ourselves with good people, a warm and lovely community, and started putting down roots.  "We'll be here for a long time," we told ourselves.  "Oh yes.  This is really it.  We have really arrived."  And we felt we had.  We had started out as a young couple fresh home from a two-year stint in Japan, living in a basement suite, renting.  Then we moved into another suite.  Then we moved "up", and purchased our first home - a lovely, three bedroom townhouse.  Then we got pregnant, and thought, "this lovely three-bedroom townhouse won't possibly be big enough for a growing family like ours!" and so we sold it and bought a big house.  It was a lovely, older house with 2700 square feet to spread out in.  Five months later, we were in the hole and only sinking further and so we moved, with our baby, back to a townhouse.  Then, after two years (hmmm, that itch!), decided it was time to move back into a house, and here we find ourselves, in this lovely little city on the sea.  We have a house with a yard, two cars, nice neighbours, and good friends all around.  What more could we ask for?

Then, after about a year and a half of living here....wait for it....WE GOT THE ITCH.  It started slow, as it always did, and grew from there.  But this time, we had a different reaction.  First of all, we looked at our life as it stood.  There was nothing that needed "improving".  Our home was wonderful.  Our jobs were wonderful.  Our family was wonderful.  Our cars were wonderful.  There was no big thing that seemed changeable.  Every change felt wrong.  And so we started asking a different question.

"Why do we keep getting this itch?  Why, when things are so good, do they not feel right?  Why can't we remain content?  Is there something deeper going on?  Is there a direction that we are being urged in that we have continued to miss?"

So, we decided to do something radical.  Something so wild and unusual that it nearly knocked us off our feet.  We decided to NOT DO ANYTHING.  Yep.  We told each other that we would stay right where we were.

We also agreed that we would try and figure out why we kept getting this itch.  

And thus began our new journey.

There was, along with this itch, a growing desire in both of us to do life a little differently, a little more thoughtfully.  We were being pulled in directions based on convictions we were both having.  Living with less "stuff", living in a more earth-friendly way, giving more of ourselves to people around us, living more generously, spending more time together as a family, building community around us - these were some of the things stirring in our brains.  Once we started verbalizing them, it became more and more clear that we had something else on the back burner beyond just an addiction to change.  We had some good stuff brewing, and we decided to pursue those things.

We sat down one day with a pen and paper.  We were going to decide and write down our "family values" - the things that were most important to us in how we lived our lives.  They were as follows:

God's presence and leading in our lives 
We are people of faith, and this was the top priority, and the thing that we feel binds them all together.

Living Intentionally
Speaking to all of the things mentioned above, this is our desire to live life with meaning, and not just pass through it in mediocrity.  We want to analyze, criticize, and be deliberate about how we do life.


Family Time 
We love being together, and so the more of this that we can have, the better!

Living Simply
This speaks to our desire to do with less "stuff".  The more we accumulate, the more time we take to maintain the "stuff", and the less time we have for each other, our relationships, and things we want to dedicate time to.  Not to mention, so much stuff causes a lot of stress!!

Creating Community
In our neighbourhood, in our community, with everyone and anyone we are in contact with, there is the potential for beauty in relationship.  We love that we have gotten to know our local supermarket checkout guy, and know a bit about his life.  He knows all our names and says hi as soon as he sees us.  It's these small things that make our life rich.

Adventure
Ryan and I are adventurers at heart.  We love travel, seeing other places, and just being on the move.  We have crafted our summers over the past number of years to include an end-of-summer road trip, which is one of our richest family memories each year.  (And this year, is the source of that stink we keep smelling in the van....!)

_________________________________________________________________________________

So, we wrote these things down.  The next step was to compare these values with our life as it was at the time.  We needed to hold up our life under the magnifying glass, and what didn't work with our values would have to be changed!

Things we came out with?  Well, I'll sum it up as it stands today.

We want less stuff, and more time, more energy, more love and relationship, more freedom, more financial freedom, and more adventure!  Simple, right?

Well, kinda.  Yeah.

There have been a few books read.  Some have been particularly meaningful.

Simplicity Parenting, by Kim John Payne
AMillion Miles in a Thousand Years, by Donald Miller
Love Does, by Bob Goff
See You in a Hundred Years, by Logan Ward
The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin
You Can Buy Happiness (and it's cheap), by Tammy Strobel

(Judging by these covers, you'd think we were self-help junkies, but they are all VERY good books, and have really shaped our thinking over these years.  Check them out!  Really!)

So where does this leave us then?  Well, we are about to foray into a most counter-culture world.  It's a world in which people often either draw blank or grow silent.  It's the world of LESS.

We are taking some serious steps towards downsizing.  Yes, we have three small daughters who are only getting bigger!  Yes, we have "arrived" at suburbian utopia (a house with a yard and two cars...)!  Yes, we may sound crazy, but we're DOWNSIZING!

What will this do for us?  How will this help us to see our values reflected?  Well, here is how.

We hope...

• that by having less stuff, we will have less to clean up, maintain, and worry about
• that by having less space, we will be forced to be closer to each other (as we discover every summer on our road trip!)
• that by having a smaller home, we will have a smaller mortgage, freeing us up financially
• that by having less material stuff, we will teach our daughters that "things" are not what is important in life, but that time together, relationships, and experiences are what makes a good life.
• that by living differently, we will inspire others to do the same!

And so here I am at the end of the explanation of the beginning of our adventure.  Our hope, our plan, is to document this journey here on this blog.  We want to share it with you, because frankly, WE ARE SO EXCITED ABOUT IT.  We want to knock your pants off!  We want to inspire you to do life in a way that is meaningful to YOU!  We want to live life to the fullest, in the best possible way that we can!  

So we welcome you here.  Track along with us as we walk into this unknown land, trip and fall along the way, but always pick ourselves up again and keep on trudging.  Heck, maybe some of you will want to come along!