Planning Our Move

The good thing about our move is we are only moving from the country to a small town. The bad thing about our move... oh let me tell ya, I have a list of bad things about our move, so we won't go there today.

I will tell you this, we've lived in our house for nearly 30 years. We have a lot of stuff. Tons and tons of stuff. I don't know what to do with it all. I've been sorting to get rid of the stuff, but as I've said before, it's really hard to toss everything.

Considering we haven't moved in 30 years, I have no idea where to start. I feel like I'm running around in circles doing dozens of things I know need done, yet nothing is prioritized. Seriously it feels like complete chaos right now. Things are getting done, but nothing is getting done. I know. I confuse myself too.

Anyway, I'm trying to get on with things here. I have just over two months to move. I figure the best thing I can do now is write out a plan.

Two months to move, last month I had 3 months to move and it felt like I had all the time in the world to get things done. Now I'm feeling the pressure. It feels like I am out of time to get things done. I've got to get a hold on my time... a plan is the way to go.

That's it. That's the key to my sanity right now... my plan.

Lazy Afternoon With Family

I can remember walking into Grandma's old country farmhouse when I was a little girl. Grandma would be working in the kitchen, something was always baking or fresh out of the oven, so her home smelled warm and inviting. There was usually a puzzle in progress spread out on the kitchen table. It's a lovely memory... my family sitting around the table, talking, laughing, and putting the puzzle together one piece at a time. It was the perfect way to spend a lazy afternoon.

My mom recently found this beautiful box of puzzles. Three puzzles in one box. I especially love working on pretty puzzles like this. The magnifying glass with the metal rim is an old family heirloom. It adds to the sentimental feeling I get when I am with my family, working on puzzles.

Since my uncle passed away, my elderly aunt has taken up putting puzzles together to fill her lonely hours. About twice a week my mom and my other aunts all gather around her dining table to spend an afternoon chatting and working on puzzles. They've already put together a couple of beautiful picture puzzles.

Every once in awhile I get to join them for a wonderful afternoon. Sitting around putting together puzzles, sipping tea, chatting, and laughing on a lazy summer afternoon.

I tell ya, life is good.

Glimmer Mist Scrapbooking Technique to Try

One of my many hobbies is scrapbooking and card making. I just found a technique, created by Elizabeth Hicks, I have to try. Glimmer Glaze. I love anything sparkly, glittery, shimmery... glimmery. Glimmer glaze looks like it will be simply beautiful for some of my holiday cards and pages. I can't wait to try this new technique.

We are Moving - Downsizing by More Than Half

The past couple months have been crazy around here. We are moving out of our old country home after living here for 28 years! When I first found out we would be moving, I was devastated. Excited. But devastated, none the less.

We raised our six children in this big old country home. We have a lot of memories here, needless to say.

My honey bunch bought this place before we were even dating. He was in his teens, graduated from high school, but going to college, and working full time. He didn't really want to buy a home, but his dad advised him to spend his money wisely. Invest in real estate, rather than throw money down the drain with rent.

Problem is, we are moving from a big home to a much smaller space. I have been trying to sort and get rid of stuff. I figure I need to get rid of at least 50% of the stuff we own, so it fits in our new home. I'm extremely sentimental so how do I decide which of my cherished possessions I should get rid of?

This process hasn't been fun so far. I think it is going to get harder as time goes by.

We will be moving out by October, and I haven't really tossed a thing. I guess I need to get myself into gear, or this is going to be much more stressful than it needs to be.

Summertime Homekeeping Blues

I'm having a hard time keeping up with my home this summer.

Yeah... I got the blues.

Simply put, I don't want to wash the dishes.

Oh yeah. I got the blues.

I would rather be hanging out at the beach with the kids.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I got the blues.

Tomorrow is a major catch up day

I really got the blues.

Because I don't want to come home from the beach to a dumpy house.

I got the blues.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I got the Housekeeing blues.

Amish Friendship Bread

The other day I was at my daughter-in-law's home. She had little plastic bags of dough on her table, and a couple of loaves of freshly baked bread on the bread board. 

This is not normal bread dough, it's more like batter. It's called Amish Friendship Bread. The loaves of bread aren't like sandwich bread. This is a dessert bread.

The idea behind Amish friendship bread is much like the yeast starter that is passed around from homemaker to homemaker. 

Of course, I now have my own batch of starter.  Oh wait. No! It's been several days since I first received my baggy of dough. Now I have several batches of starter to pass out to my friends! That stuff grows in Ziploc bags right there on my kitchen counter. While the loaves are baking, the house smells amazing.

My Amish bread batter came with directions to make Amish friendship bread. You can find the copy I have on this website: Amish Friendship Starter Dough. The instructions are simple and very easy to follow along day by day.

Bottled Water Is Unhealthy

After reading several articles about bottled water, and impact it has on our world, I'm going to encourage my entire family, friends, and my on-line friends to make the switch to filtered tap water.

Here in the United States, it takes 1.5 million barrels of crude oil just to make the bottles we use in one year.  When it comes to disposing of the bottles, not even 20% of the bottles are recycled. The rest of them end up cluttering up the earth or as air pollution, if they have been incinerated.

Bottled water isn't as highly regulated by the feds as our city water supplies. City water supplies have high standards for purity. Water filters like Brita take care of a lot of the impurities in the tap water. Ther pitcher style is inexpensive and super easy to use.  

I'm going to invest in a few kleen kanteensfor my reusable water bottles. They are stainless steel, and there is no leaching of harmful chemicals into my water.  You can find kleen kanteens at REI and Amazon.

Even if you don't invest in a good quality reusable water bottle, at the very least, make the commitment to stop buying bottled water in containers smaller than 1 gallon.