Going Mimimalist

Have you ever been just overwhelmed by all the stuff that you have consumed throughout the years?  I am not a fan of how much stuff husband and I own, therefore I want to become semi-minimalists.  After thinking it through, I would rather own a small amount of things that are higher quality (meaning we actually put money into the purchase), than just things that were spur of the moment purchases and not good quality at all.

Here is my problem though, how on earth do you know how little to go down to?!  Like clothes for instance, how many of fill in the blank should you own?  How does it work if you go to the gym a lot and need separate clothes for that?  Or how about determining what is necessary for each season?

Besides clothes I am wanting to downsize EVERYTHING that we own, yes, seriously everything that was not an investment.  We live in a two bedroom apartment with enough stuff to furnish and fill at least a four or five bedroom, two bath, house.  You know how it goes, you pick up something here and there and before you now it, BAM you have a ton of just plain useless and meaningless stuff.

So, what do I want to keep?  Things that have meaning, things that were my grandparents and given to me after they passed away.  Things that were made for us like a bear snow/rain gauge or my rehearsal dinner dress that my mom made out of her wedding dress.  Husband and I were folding clothes and talking about this and asked, "if a tornado took away all of our stuff, what would you miss"?  Besides each other and our pup we came up with: camera (big investment), rehearsal dinner dress, and his suit (big investment).  I admit I would also miss photos, maybe putting important ones on disc and keeping them in the fire safe would be a good project for the future.  Everything else was merely just not that important to us to want to save in the event of a tornado or fire.

What is minimalist?  I think that there are some rules to follow when decorating with a minimalist style.
^Furniture~only the essentials, nothing extra
^Surfaces clean of clutter
^Decor~simply, clean lines, with accent decorations that make the room pop
^Quality, quality, quality~pay good money for things that you love versus a little bit on money for the crap you buy at Wal*Mart (for those who don't know, I DESPISE that place!  Hate it, hate it, hate it. I will admit some things are okay but most of it is just crap.)

Because honestly, what else do you really need in a bathroom besides the basic appliances.  Everything else can be put in drawers and have clean counter tops.

This is totally unrealistic in my book; however, I could see utilizing this style into an actual mud room closet.

How many utensils do you actually use out of all those you own?

Even with a bunched up throw, this still looks nice and tidy.

I'm loving the accent wall of brick!

A nice re-purposed desk from floorboards.

What more do you need in a bedroom than beds and a dresser?  Besides everything in this photo is amazing.

 My goal is to get rid of as much as possible.  I want to be able to enjoy the time with my family rather than constantly cleaning, decluttering, and picking up junk that serves no purpose.  I really believe that having less will make life so much better.  Less stuff also means you have less stuff to clean!


Things that I got rid of in 5 giant black garbage bags so far today:
1-1/2 bags of clothes (so much more to go!)
old school books
purses
shoes
towels, rugs

Have you ever tried to go minimalist?  What worked or did not work for you?  I am willing to listen to the advice from those who have done this before since we are going in blind.

Blog Challenge: 5 Senses

Sight: Derek's video game on pause, Bentley walking back and forth between Derek in the kitchen and me in the living room.

Sound: The hum of the PS3.  Derek singing in the kitchen.  The microwave running.  Derek's video game.  My stomach grumbling to be fed.

Smell: Coconut candle that is burning.  Parmesan chicken cooking in the oven.

Touch:  The keys on my laptop.  Very uncomfortable chair that needs to be tossed.  Blanket.  Bentley's head as I pet him with my foot.

Taste:  Nothing!  At least not yet.  Dinner is in the oven and I cannot wait to eat parmesan chicken and some corn on the cob with a side salad.

Blog Challenge: 10 Songs You Love Right Now

I have never been a fan of the song "Amazing Grace" until Citizen Way came out with this version that I absolutely LOVE!

The first time I heard this song I almost cried it was so powerful.

I adore Britt Nicole and her music.

Seriously, every time I hear this song and most songs by Shakira I just want to dance!

I am a recent listener to Katy Perry.  She has such a great voice and the video for "Dark Horse" is just crazy.

Whenever this song comes on at work I tend to just belt it out.

I love p!nk.

Because I will never outlive my youth and love for punk music.

Again with loving my youth but with recent releases.

If you take Disney and pair it with classic, you get amazing!

Blog Challenge: What are you afraid of

~I am afraid of the same things most people are, losing their loved ones.  It has always been a fear of mine and I know that it is inevitable but still very hard to even think about it.

~Having a break-in while husband is at work.  This is a totally rational fear, we had beak-ins about a mile away from us where people were getting tied up and hit over the head with the butt of a gun.  Crazy scary!

~Needles.  You know how people who are scared of heights get sweaty palms when even thinking about it, that is what happens with me and getting my blood drawn or an IV in.  It seriously feels like they are putting a gigantic needle into a hole the size of a pin.

~Medium size spiders.  Think about it.  Small spiders are just barely there.  Large spiders like tarantulas you definitely know they are there.  Medium size spiders though, those guys are wicked fast and kind of creepy.

Other than that I try to live life to the fullest and enjoy every moment.  We really do not know how long we will be here for and what we will encounter on our journey.

Blog Challenge: Favorite Quote

Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you. —Luke 11:34-36 -

This is one that I found recently but I think it is very powerful.


Be the change you wish to see in the world. -- Gandhi

A quote that inspires me to be better than I am.


I still believe, in spite of everything that people are really good at heart. --Anne Frank


We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. --Sir Winston Churchill

Blog Challenge: 20 Facts

1. I cannot go a year without a vacation that requires me to fly somewhere.

2. My middle name came from my Great Aunt.

3. I always knew I would marry somebody younger than me and somebody from a different state.

4. I cannot remember about six years of my life, just one or two things from those years.

5. Husband and I have lived in Illinois for four years.  I am still not used to everything here.

6. I LOVE knowing about my heritage.  It is so fascinating to know where your ancestors came from.

7. Saying that, I would love to visit where my families began.  Husband and I will eventually make it to his birthplace, Germany!

8. I am crafty.  I grew up doing crafts and working with my hands.  Sewing, drawing, and painting are the things that I do most often.

9. I have two scars on my face because my brother and I would race in our house, and two times I ended up cutting my head open.  I actually remember going to the ER when I was three years old for stitches, including what I was wearing.

10. I also have three birthmarks.  1 brown and 2 white.

11. Husband and I married on our five year anniversary.

12. My favorite color is green.

13. I love watching husband and our pup interact.

14. I have yet to finish our wedding album.  Seriously, when you hire a photographer that should be included in the package so you do not have to do it yourself.

15. I hate that "'Merica" is a thing right now!  Men and Women have not died for our freedom and our country to have it called 'Merica.

16. I have always wanted to live near the mountains.

17. I am super excited to be a homeowner one day.  Everybody complains about hidden costs coming up and always having to fix things.  I grew up watching my dad fix things around the house and helping him with them, he still has to teach me more but I am excited for that day I get to use what I have learned.

18. The first concert I ever went to was Matchbox 20.  The opening bands were Old 97 and TRAIN!  Train before they were this big band was the opening band!

19. I cannot watch the movie My Girl.  It came out the about the exact time that I had lost one of my best friends in a car accident.

20. I LOVE LIFE!  I have learned at a very young age to never take life for granted.  Enjoy each day and strive to make somebody else's day even if it is just smiling at them.

21. I am astonished that I was able to write 20 things!

Blog Challenge

Since I am going to have a little more time I thought a blog challenge might be fun to try doing again.  My goal is to actually do each day and have some other posts in between.  I got this challenge from Kristi but I changed some things here and there.

Day 1: 20 Facts about you (I'll try to think of some you haven't heard!)
Day 2: Your favorite quote
Day 3: What are you afraid of
Day 4: 10 songs you love right now
Day 5: Your 5 senses right now
Day 6: What's in your handbag
Day 7: What are your worst habits
Day 8: What have you made lately?
Day 9: List of your favorite things
Day 10: What's inside your fridge
Day 11: If you won the lottery....
Day 12: Timeline of your day 
Day 13: Your bucket list
Day 14: The meaning behind your blog name
Day 15: What do you collect
Day 16: Your favorite vacation spots
Day 17: The best thing to happen this year
Day 18: A difficult time in your life
Day 19: Your dream job
Day 20: Your 5 favorite websites/phone apps
Day 21: An old photo of  you
Day 22:  Post your favorite recipe
Day 23: What are you looking forward to
Day 24: Where have you traveled
Day 25: What's in your makeup bag
Day 26: 3 Personality traits you are proud of
Day 27: Piercings and Tattoos
Day 28: First celebrity crush
Day 29: What makes you feel better, always
Day 30: Weird quirks
Day 31: Why do you blog

grateful

For a long time now I have wanted to create a grateful journal for myself.  Since I have felt that I have been slacking lately on praying and thanking God for the wonderful things in my life I thought that having a grateful journal may help me keep up to date.  Those who know me really well know that I cannot just go out and buy a journal but I have to put my creative touch on it.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of the cover but trust me it was not pretty.  I just looked for a journal that had blank pages, as in no lines which will give me the ability to also use my grateful journal as a sketchbook.

I added a little bit of padding to the cover because there was a bumpy design on it that I did not care for.

Measuring out for size just like I did in Elementary school to cover books with paper bags.

Final product.

The inside cover and a blank canvas.

Some new colored pencils to create things in my journal.

I have also had the creative bug in me lately to make a new wreath for our front door.  In all honesty, I replaced the Easter wreath (which happened to be about two weeks ago).  My goal was to make something that would both be springish and summery and then I thought about adding a nautical feel to it.  The ribbon happened to be buy 2 get 1 free which is perfect because it takes three rolls for one wreath.  The flowers were also 50% off which is huge because they are so expensive.  

Have you ever kept a grateful journal?  Do you have any tips for keeping up to date with it?

how sweet it is

how sweet it is to be loved by you.  you brighten each of my days, even if you are sick.  i love so many things about you:
how much life you have in you
the love and energy you have with bman
you want to try the most random food creations
the way you cuddle into all the blankets to make them a cocoon
that you always want to pick a flower for my hair
all of the creative names you come up for me
your love of movies and trivia
the way you interact with our nieces and nephews
i love so many things about you it would take a lifetime to list them all
i love you for picking me to love

December 2009 Brave New Workshop

December 2010 at a Chiefs game.  they lost and we froze but had a great time

January 2014

2010 4th of July

Minnesota State Fair

April 2012 at Disneyworld

2011 St. Louis Festival of Lanterns

November 2013 St. Augustine, FL

February 2014 Snowstorm

Bathsheba, Barbados 2012 Honeymoon

12.02.12

April 2014 Sea World

Orlando 2014

Every now and then it is nice to get away for a short trip.  Trust me when I say that vacationing for 8 days in Orlando was desperately needed!  Work has been absolutely insane (more on that in the future) and I have missed spending time with my wonderful husband.

We had absolutely marvelous weather... until about 6:00 PM our very last day there.  Instead of hitting up Disney like the good majority of people that go to Orlando, we chose to go to Universal again.

Woody Woodpecker @ Universal

Harry Potter World @ Universal

Something that my folks did during their last visit to Orlando was an air-boat tour.  Derek had done one in high school but didn't remember it much so we thought it would be a good time.  We ended up checking out Wild Florida Airboats and had a great time with our guide Dennis.  They were located about an hour outside of Orlando but well worth the drive!  While they are still developing their facilities and adding animals it was nice that there were animals to check out before the tour.

I'm a sucker for trees

I love him and our poor sunglasses reflections

I love all the texture and contrast of light and dark in this photo

These little guys were too funny, butting heads for close to ten minutes

This beast is called a Watusi, he looks tiny here but in person was enormous

Cow crossing on the air-boat tour

Spectacular views from the tour

 Finally, our last thing we did was Sea World.  I was probably the most excited about this because the last time I went was probably three years old.  There is a lot of controversy about Sea World but I absolutely loved it.  We ended up taking a behind-the-scenes tour to see what all goes on where guests don't normally get to visit.

The tour was great!  It ended up being a lot about their conservatory work, helping injured or stranded animals, and what they do to get the animals back into their natural habitats.  We loved getting to see manatees, dolphins, and some penguins that regular guests would not get to see.  Next time, probably the arctic tour to high five a walrus! 

SEA WORLD!!!!

I never knew that dolphins were so BIG

Petting a shark

We didn't get to see the Antarctica penguins (mostly because we didn't want to stand in line) but we did get to see these Magellan penguins that are separated because of the habitat temperature they are accustomed to living in.  Much to my surprise they felt like rubber even though 70-80 of their feathers are within the size of a quarter.

Petting a Magellan Penguin

For years I have adored sea turtles.  Of the large ones Sea World had, they were all rescues.  There was one that had been attacked by a shark.  Another that had gotten a disease in their shell and become paralyzed in its hind flippers.  We missed what happened to the third but they were all so adorable and active.

TURTLE!!!!!

 They had four pilot whales that were abandoned by their pod of 25.  The government has determined they would not survive without Sea World which means they have a new home.

Pilot Whale rescue

Amazing jumpers

 We unfortunately did not get to see the Shamu show as it began to downpour with thunder and lightening.  Sitting in the soak zone and close enough to see where the whales were playing around before the show was supposed to start we did get to enjoy seeing them.  They were so funny and were doing jumps and flips acting as though they wanted to perform.  When the weather really turned sour we had all of the sudden seen 8-10 trainers running out to get the whales attention to feed them and try to get them back into their bigger pool.  It was sad we didn't get to see the show but great to see how attentive and caring the employees were to the whales.  Until next time Sea World!  Next time we know to buy more than a one day pass!

The only view of the Orcas we got to see :(

Family

Family is everything to me.  Back in January my husband and I went back to the homeland to visit family to celebrate Christmas (I would talk about Christmas when we are coming upon Easter).  My sister was gracious enough to set up family portraits to be taken by a friend of hers.  The photos turned out fantastic!  If you are ever in the metro area and looking for a photographer I would definitely recommend: Erin Bell.  She is an absolute joy and we all couldn't stop laughing.

"Don't look at me.  Everybody look somewhere else"

Handsome with Mickey, Beluga and teething, Sassy Pants and Frozen

Family

We are crazy for these littles

The love of my life

My parents are incredible

Monkey see <--> monkey do

Beautiful Seester

These two through thick and thin I will always love

Teej & Bogusia

These two are completely obsessed with their Uncle Derek

Baby Beluga loves cameras