wow i am so behind.

I have had a pretty rough winter, dealing with depression and family drama, and I feel like I am finally coming out of it. The change in weather has been good for me, and I hope to get on this more frequently. I have so much to share with all of you! For now, I am trying to get our house company ready. NO before/after shots, as I am truly embarassed at the amount of clutter that has built up around here the last 7 months!

To do:

Prep lasagene, start foccacia, make salad dressing
Tidy up and vaccuum front room
de-clutter kitchen
fold and put away laundry
scrub out bathroom


If I have time:
organize paperwork
boil and sun pocket diapers (they have developed a smell lately)
make apple pie

waiting, and waiting and waiting.

I am learning about paitience.

In my previous two pregnancies, I went into labor about a week before my due date. This time around I have been having contractions for several hours a day for over a week now, and I have officially passed my due date. It has been very very hard to practice peace and try and just be in the moment. I am incredibly anxious at this point to just have labor start "for real" But, as always, God is in controll and I have something to learn from all of this. I am continuing on in my little home projects. Right now I am in the middle of sorting out my sewing box---a giant jumbled mess, and at naptime today I will be quickly mending up a pile of laundry and sewing some cushion covers for some pillows I have laying about.

The de-cluttering process has nearly been completed! I went through every box stashed under my bed, my dresser, and my half of the walk in closet. EVERYTHING fits now! no more jumbled messes! I actually gave away 2 huge trashbags of clothing, most of it I was just not wearing. I have done the same with the children's clothing.

We now all have roughly 8 matched outfits for Summer, 8 for winter and 8 for Spring/Fall. The Spring/fall will always stay in the drawers and the winter/summer will swap places as needed. I am LOVING it! I managed to hang up all of my outfits in the closet, each outfit to a hanger. It is making my mornings soooo easy, as my brain dosn't work upon waking and I have absolutely no decisions to make, just grab a hanger and pull it on. I would like to purchase two or three more nursing tanks in various colors to match up permanently with my outfits so I don't have to hunt for them in the morning.
The boys have matched outfits folded together in their drawers, with the shirts outside and the shorts tucked into them. J. is now able to simply grab the shirt he wants to wear, and, more often then not can actually get dressed all by himself! He is thrilled with the arrangement. we just need to work at keeping the clothing on him now!

I am learning to be grateful for every day I have with just my boys, and I am doing much better at keeping up with our little routine. I am hoping to have everything settled in before she arrives. well, we will see! At this point, labor can begin at any moment.

Grandpas gone.

Garrett is holding in strong, helping grandma with the arrangements and paperwork. It is surprising how much you need to do, in her case, Grandpa was in the military for nearly 40 years, and it seems every office there wants forms in triplicate. I am just praying she gets her survivors benefits as promised, otherwise she has nothing--well, the house has been paid off for a couple of decades so that much is a relief.
I am back at home today trying to make a small dent in the chaos that has become our home.
Everything just feels wrong today. I guess that is normal. I am unsure as to what is going to happen over the next few weeks. I just miss things the way they were. It's funny how absolutely everything changes and I seem to always be mourning the past.
Back to the tidy-ing up now.

Be where you are...

"Be where you are, and do what you are doing." was the single best piece of advice I ever got while I attended college. Unfortunately It was given by an extreeeeeemly dry English professor and I had a great deal of trouble focusing on his classes.....

So, Yesterday was a disaster according to my schedule...but a total success family/relationship wise. After paying the bills, we all loaded up in the car and had a family fun day! We had a fast food lunch (not such a good idea) and went to the mall play-place and let the boys run around. J. slept so hard afterwards! In fact, I didn't get to clean their room at all as it was being occupied by a sleeping boy during nearly all hours of the day! The other hours were spent snuggling and having meals.

I did get a head start on today's work, which is the Family room....or as my mom has nick-named it the "Welcome room" which now alliterates with Wednesday and also gives me a good perspective on what that room's purpose is, as this is where guests enter my home!

So, Today's task list:
1. De-Clutter all surfaces
2. Dust
3. wipe windows and sills
4. Vacuum
5.re-organize one area.

In addition, I will be "purging" again, and try to find one trash-bag worth of items to donate to charity. I am so tired of clutter.

Our menu:
Breakfast: Orange/Cranberry oatmeal (which the boys are happily eating/wearing at the moment)
Lunch: Been and cheese quesadillas with guacamole (made with whole grain tortillas)
Dinner: Chicken Parmesan with spaghetti and green salad (mom's recipe)

Alright....lets go!

Beginning the journey

At last, both of my little ones are down for a nap, and I have about 10 mins of "quiet time" to myself. I have been doing a lot of reflecting lately on how cluttered life can get, both physically with possessions and activities as well as mentally and emotionally. This year I am attempting to Simplify my life, and learn how to be satisfied with what I have...hence the title of my blog "Simple--Satisfaction"

When I think about living simply it conjures up images of rolling country side and sheep scattered about, a large flock of hens scratching through a garden, long lines of freshly laundered linens drying in the sun, along with lots of children running about climbing trees and swimming in creeks.
I do not have that.
I have quite the opposite of that.
We live in a condo, an upstairs condo, with a sun-deprived balcony in a smallish city that has more than its share of violent crime, foreclosures, and the distinct honor of being one of the top five "most miserable places to live" in the USA. We do, however, have a cat, and two beautiful little boys, and I am the proud owner of a mostly sturdy drying rack which will hold exactly one small load of laundry at a time.

This lack of the ideal setting will not stop me in the journey towards simplicity, however. I believe that a simple life can be lived anywhere under almost any circumstances. So here I stand the woman living in the fine line between city and suburbia seeking out what Simplicity means to me, and to my family.

The current focus is "Clutter" I am going to go through my house and get rid of the clutter. not just bag it up and set it by the door to sit for months on end before I get back down to the Goodwill, but actually bag it and give it away.

Today I cleaned out the medicine cabinet and tossed quite a few empty bottles and expired medicines. I also re-organized the area under the bathroom sink and found I had more than enough shampoo, sunblock, toothpaste and cleaning supplies to last me through the Apocalypse. In adititon to thet, I had an overwhelming feeling of peace and joy, and need i say, Satisfaction? Now when I open my cabinet I am no longer privy to a hail of perscription bottles, I am instead greeted with cheerful rows of boxes and bottles organized on shelves, one for each family member.

So, what are you going to do today? What one simple step can you take to de-clutter your life?