As you may, or may not, know I no longer have a kitchen to clean out so this month’s posts didn’t exactly help my productivity. I spent days trying to rearrange everything into dysfunctional cupboards and then ended up removing it all and throwing it all in my home office!
Read MoreThe kitchen is the hub and heart of any home but what happens when the kitchen is a hot mess?!
Our kitchen is small, old, and extremely dysfunctional. It needs a renovation, it cannot be helped much without one. Although we’re saving our pennies and a renovation is in our future, it’s important to my husband and I that we can pay for it and we’re not accumulating more debt.
Read MoreGoing to Europe with three children for two weeks is a feat! Thanks to Tidying Up star, Marie Kondo, luggage for five doesn’t have to be overwhelming. All you have to do is Marie Kondo your suitcase!
We went to Europe a few years ago and the hardest part about travelling for me was the lack of sleep on the plane and trying to lug our suitcases up and down the European train station staircases. I brought way too much and had a heavy stroller (relatively heavy, it’s quite a small, light stroller compared to the average North American stroller).
Read MoreIs it possible to go to Europe, with a baby, a toddler and a tween for two weeks… as minimalists?
I’d first like to say that I am not a minimalist, yet! I’m merely a girl looking to simplify her life and get as bare-bones as possible so I can Marie Kondo my life to spark joy in as many areas as possible.
I did not plan the Fresh 2019 series to fall so perfectly in-time with Marie Kondo’s home takeover but she is here and it happened and it feels a little bit like fate. Although I will not be introducing myself to my home and thanking my belongings for their time with me (with the exception of my favourite sweater my husband sent through the dryer to which I mourned for a few weeks on chilly mornings and needed to give it a proper goodbye to let it go) I will happily buy tiny boxes and organize my drawers into slivers of tiny folded gifts.
Read MoreMy husband and I decided we would try a no buy month. Actually, I announced to everyone suddenly that it was “no buy month” and demanded they all follow suit- effective immediately.
Hm.
It last for about 15 hours before my husband had spent over $100 on a diet program. I have to say, I thought for sure what broke him would be Home Depot. I am honestly scared every time he goes there because I never know what he’s going to come home with. It won’t be what was on the list, though!
Read MoreParenting is difficult. There are no bones about it.
With each child, I have three most of the time, four on occasion, they require something different. One tries my patience with his sass, the other tries it with his constant bouncing off the furniture, the other, well, she’s beautiful but she’s one year old and thinks her crib is a jail cell and has boycotted it’s existence.
Maybe I should paint it pink?
Read MoreBeautiful, healthy skin. Skin so flawless it requires wearing little to no makeup…ahh! Every girl’s dream.
How does one get perfect skin without spending all our time and money trying to get there? Plus, isn’t focusing on our beauty a little vain? Shouldn’t we instead be concentrating on cultivating our inner beauty?
“Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”
-Proverbs 31:30 (NIV)
Let’s start with setting the record straight concerning vanity. According to Webster’s dictionary, vanity is defined as, “inflated pride in oneself or one’s appearance: conceit.”
Read MoreHoley toledo.
[suspenseful music- duh, duh, duh, duh….]
I knew my bathroom was going to be a mess but I had no idea that there was so much “stuff” in there, that placed on the floor, I would no longer be able to walk. My bathroom is not massive, but it is also not small! It should have been large enough to contain the essentials.
Read MoreA short post to show the fruit of our hard work! We would love to see YOURS!
Use our hashtag #freshminimalism so we can see what you did in your home, too!
I also did my husband’s and children’s closets.
Before cleaning out my closet, I felt like I never had anything to wear. I didn’t like the majority of my clothing and a lot of it was uncomfortable. I could hardly fit anything into my closet it was so cramped!
Read MoreI did capsule wardrobes for all my children… while I was supposed to be making one for myself. I did tell you not to do that :) I’m working on my own and started my husband’s capsule as well.
The children’s wardrobes were much easier because theirs needed to only last for a season (not the next twenty years!) but I tried to make sure I had a lot of pieces that would easily transition into the spring and summer and hopefully, will still fit next fall. For my older son, I tried to buy items I thought would last long enough for my younger son to wear them after. That may mean I spent a bit more on some things but that cost can be divided between two children.
Read MoreCan you think of at least five, awesome outfits you like wearing and feel good in, down to the accessories, right now?
As we get older, our personal style evolves and changes. What worked for us before doesn’t keep working. Like the short shorts we might have worn in high school or the club clothing from college. You may not still have these items in your closet, I don’t, but it can leave us in a style wonderland, not sure where to turn to “go home”.
Read MoreIf you’re on this journey with me to “cut out the clutter” from your closet and make room in your brain for living life- you should be down to less clothing by now.
So today, I want to talk about,
Before blogging, I was a hairstylist. I did hair for almost ten years, but left after God slammed the door in my face! Yup. He told me to quit and I didn’t. You can read the whole story in my upcoming book, “No One Brings You a Casserole When Your Husband Goes to Rehab”.
Read More
