The Year of Less: 2012

Friday, November 9, 2012

An Unfortunate Announcement Concerning The Year of Less blog

We had no idea when we started this year of less how much it would change our hearts and bless our growing family. More than ever we are committed to downsizing our lives, to be content with less, to give more, and to make greener choices, not just for the sake of the planet, but for the sake of it's people.

We also had no idea how overwhelming it would be. Sharing your life online is a lot of work. Every blog post involves so much work, from brainstorming, writing, taking photos, answering comments and emails, not to mention the introspection and emotional work involved in sharing yourself with would-be strangers. It's hard. And right now, with so much else going on in our lives, it is too much.

I've spent the last week realizing that one of my blogs needed to come to an end. A Unfortunately it is this one.

Our commitment to a simpler life is still going to be reflected in the blog posts on my other blog, The Complete Guide to Imperfect Homemaking. Many of the posts I had in the works for this blog will be shared over there. We have no interest in giving up our journey, we just won't be blogging about it here anymore.

Many of you have contacted me to let me know that we have motivated and inspired you in your own journey to a simpler, less stuff-filled life. I am so glad to have encouraged some of you and I hope you will continue in that momentum to let your life reflect your priorities more and more.

I will soon be closing comments on this blog because I have been receiving a massive amount of spammy and offensive comments, and monitoring to remove them has become quite time consuming.

Thank you so much for those of you who have followed along and left comments of encouragement and support.

So I guess the task for day 111 of The Year of Less is this: Blogging Less. Thank you for understanding.

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

The November & December Challenge: A Buy Nothing Christmas

This monthly challenge is a big one. So big that we're going to spend 2 months on it. For November and December we are going to gear up for a Buy Nothing Christmas. Will you join us?

Before you call me a Grinch and run away screaming, please watch this video.

I think we all get a little disillusioned with Christmas sometimes. We know it's not about the stuff. We know that even if we strip away the gifts and the wrapping paper and the decorations that we can't strip away the meaning and the joy of the season.

But we don't shop as if we believe that, do we?

And so many of us have tried before to have a simpler Christmas, but somehow we get off track and end up giving in to the pressure to give the perfect gift or to have everything just right so that our kids can really soak up the magic of the season. As if all the right stuff will create that warm fuzzy feeling we get at the end of It's A Wonderful Life.

So this year I am daring us all to rethink Christmas. And to do something that is very radical in our culture: to opt out of the empty,commercialized, stuff-based version of Christmas by choosing not to buy more stuff for people who are already drowning in too much. To not cheapen our love for other people by giving it in the form of a made-in-china trinket. To practice an environmentally and socially sustainable Christmas by not buying, giving, and hoping for things we don't need.

The best thing about a Buy Nothing Christmas? You make the rules. You can choose not to buy anything except the materials for homemade gifts, or choose not to buy any gifts except for second hand items in good repair (it is absolutely okay to give someone a thrifted gift!) Or to only buy local, or to really truly buy nothing at all except the bare necessities and give all the money you save to the poor. You decide how deep you will dive in.

For our family, this is what our Buy Nothing Christmas will look like:

What we will buy:

Materials for homemade gifts.
Second hand items for upcycled gifts.
Local, natural elements like a live potted Christmas tree (more on that to come).
And actual necessities, like food and soap.

What we won't buy:

Gift wrap.
Cards.
Christmas gifts.
Any new consumer goods that aren't a) actual necessities or b) materials with which to make handmade gifts.
Fancy new Christmas outfits for the kids.
Baubles/Tinsel/Mugs with little snowflakes on them.
Clutter.

I've made a button you can share on your own blog if you are joining in on the challenge. Just copy and paste the code below:

Check out BuyNothingChristmas.org for some ideas on alternative ways to celebrate Christmas. And stay tuned to the blog because I plan to share some ideas for homemade gifts (even if you aren't particularly crafty) and some ways to enjoy a simpler, greener, more intentional Christmas this year.

How was Sermon On the Mount Month?

If you are new here, we do a small monthly challenge every month and October's challenge was to read The Sermon on the Mount every single day.

I confess that I missed a few days,and that there were definitely some days where I was reading it more out of obligation than to really seek the face of an almighty God. But I was definitely blessed by this challenge.

A few of the days I switched things up by listening to it as an audio file on BibleGateway.com. That was a nice change and I found that every time I listened to the audio version I would get chills at the very end when the narrator reads the part about how the people were astonished because Jesus taught as one who had authority. Sometimes I needed to be reminded that the scriptures aren't just nice heavenly advice.

What struck me over and over again was how much folly there is in my desire to fit in and be normal and look like a super holy soccer mom who has it all together. God wants so much more for us than that. God's call on our lives is a radical one.

If you did the challenge, how was it? What did you learn? Did you miss a few days, or give up mid month? Did God show you something you hadn't noticed before, shake your heart up a little, tenderly lead your life in a new direction?

What's that? You want to know what the November Challenge will be? Well...normally I announce the monthly challenge a few days early, but I am so excited (and nervous...) about this one that I want to wait until November 1st to announce it. So you'll have to come back tomorrow to find out what it is!

Monday, October 29, 2012

Day 100: Eight Towels

The Task: To have only one bath towel per family member, and give away the rest.

The How: We kept eight because our sixth baby is due in December and she'll need a towel too.

Mostly we got rid of baby towels and hooded kids towels and instead kept the more versatile regular bath towels. The nicest of the extra towels were given away to people expecting babies, a few became rags.

The Verdict: We really don't miss the extra bath towels at all. I'm not sure why we ever had more towels than people. It's just another example to us of how not intentional we were being about the things we brought into our home. We want to be more mindful of what we need and not hoard things in our home that other people could be using!

And when we have overnight guests we can use beach towels as extras!

In other news: Today is day 100! For one hundred days now we've been purging, decluttering, simplifying and making greener choices. We've given away van loads of stuff, everything from knick-knacks and vases to furniture, kitchenwares, toys, books and clothes. Our home is so much more functional, comfortable, organized and easier to keep clean. But more importantly, we are more content than ever with what we have. Consistently giving away our possessions has brought us to a place where we can really see the difference between something we need and more clutter. We almost never need to shop, we aren't looking to the stuff in our home to provide us with a sense of comfort and security and community, and we're spending less and living more! Hooray! I am loving this year of less!

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

13 Reasons to Live with Less

1. Because time is too precious and short to spend it looking for, organizing, sorting, cleaning, buying, desiring and managing our stuff.

2. Because to somebody, we are the Joneses. Somebody is watching you and I and trying to keep up with our lifestyles. By living and thriving with less we help to create a new status quo.

3. Because the world simply cannot afford the American dream.

4. Because everything we bring home must eventually be disposed of.

5. Because being the hands and feet of Jesus to a starving world costs something, and having less leaves us with so much more to give.

6. Because nobody has ever found joy by acquiring more trinkets.

7. Because the appropriate response to our own gratitude is generosity. If we are truly thankful for all that we have, we will give it away.

8. Because wanting to buy as much as we can for as little as we can drives an economy that loves money at the expensive of people.

9. Because all of the most beautiful things in life are simple, often intangible, and almost always nearly free.

10. Because less stuff means more room for people and life. More room for epic board game battles and monster Lego creations and impromptu tickle fights on the living room floor.

11. Because someday somebody we love is going to have to sort through every item we chose to hang on to.

12. Because it becomes increasingly difficult to see the difference between our needs and our wants when we are surrounded by so much more than we need.

13. Because we have the choice. And with choice becomes responsibility. Much of the world cannot choose to live with just enough because they don't have enough to begin with. We must choose to live simply so that others can simply live.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Day 93: Cloth Baby Wipes and Homemade Wipe Solution

The Task: To switch from disposable baby wipes to cloth ones.

The Why: It's cheaper, it's better for the environment, and it isn't wiping my kids butt with god-knows-what. Besides, once we made the switch to cloth diapers, disposable wipes kinda become a real annoyance. Wipes that can get tossed in the wet bag with the diapers make way more sense than little poopy cloths than need to be carted to the outdoor garbage can.

The How: I'm using some old receiving blankets cut into squares and some inexpensive baby wash cloths. You can buy cloth wipes from most cloth diaper companies, but this seems to be working fine for us. I make my own wipe solution and keep it in a spray bottle. I labelled it "bum spray" but really we spritz it on the cloth before using it, not directly on the baby. Used wipes just go in the wet bag and get washed with the diapers.

Homemade Bum Spray (a.k.a Baby Wipes Solution)

The ratios are approximate, I just eyeball it. In a small spray bottle combine:

1 part Dr. Bronner's Castile soap
1 part olive oil
3 parts water
a few drops of lavender essential oil

(The oil and water will separate. Just give it a gentle shake before using it)

The Verdict: I like this so much better than disposable wipes. It works better, smells great, and avoids the whole wasted-pack-of-disposable-wipes-because-they-were-left-open-and-dried-out problem. The fact that it saves money and is better for the environment is pretty awesome too.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Day 88: Kicking the Water Bottle Habit

I have a confession to make: We drink bottled water.

Or at least we did, until a friend (politely) called us on it this weekend.

Until recently, our well water was not potable. We couldn't even use it to brush our teeth. Thanks to a battery cage egg "farm" that spreads it's massive amount of waste on a small plot of land across the road from us, our well water is dangerous to drink. (Go ahead...ask me how I feel about factory farm eggs. I dare you....)

We were eventually able to put in a UV filtration system, which makes our well water safe. But we were still in the habit of drinking bottled water.

When our friend brought the topic up while at our house on the weekend I decided to look into it a little bit. Up until now I've been convincing myself that bottled water is okay as long as we are careful to recycle all of the bottles. Not so.

Check out this video by Annie Leonard of The Story of Stuff:

So we are done with the bottled water (except for a case or two of it in the basement just in case the UV light on our filter dies or the power goes out) and I am learning to love our tap water.

The toughest part is to remember to always fill up our stainless steel water bottle on the way out the door instead of picking up a bottled water at a convenience store when thirst strikes while we're away from home. But I think we'll manage.

You know, we didn't start this project to become environmentalists. Until this year, I've always just sorta kinda cared about the planet, with little passion to let it actually guide my lifestyle. But what I am learning is how intrinsically the well being of the planet is wrapped up with simple living, social justice, and loving one's neighbour as oneself. We can't love our neighbour while throwing our trash in his backyard or polluting his children's drinking water or poisoning the air he breathes. These seemingly little decisions you and I make really do matter, and really do effect the world around us.

"Let all that you do be done with love."

{1 Corinthians 16:14}

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Day 87: Better than Disposable Dishware

Last weekend we hosted a potluck for nearly 45 people and it was great fun! Lacking enough dishware to serve everyone, we had to decide what to do. Ordinary disposable dishes are wasteful. Eco-friendlier options, like dishes made from recycled products or compostable dishware are better than their originals, but still aren't great. And they are pricey!

Luke had an idea that solved our problem and fit well with our goals and priorities (and budget!): Go to the local thrift store where dishes are sold super cheap and stock up on white plates and bowls and mugs. And, here's the best part: when we were all done, we just washed the dishes and returned them to the thrift store. Yay!

I loved this solution!

It was cheap. At 10 to 15 cents a dish, I paid a total of 6.50 for all the plates, bowls and mugs we needed to accommodate our large potluck. That is cheaper than disposables!
It's environmentally friendly. Nothing to end up in a landfill!
It supports a good cause. The thrift store we bought them from funds great community services.
It's nicer (and easier!) to eat off of a real plate than a paper one.
It adds no extra clutter to our house. Everything has been taken back to the thrift store to be sold again and well used.

The guy behind me and my cart full of dinnerware at the second-hand store clearly thought I was insane. His child even turned to him and said "That is a lot of dishes..." But when I turned around and politely explained what I was doing I think he decided I wasn't completely insane. I hope.

P.S. While typing this up I remembered this infographic and giggled to myself a little bit.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Day 82: Making the Switch to Cloth Diapers

The Task: To switch from disposable diapers to cloth diapers.

The Why: When we started having kids we used cloth diapers. Cheap, leaky, crummy, flannel cloth diapers. They were the only cloth diapers available in my local stores at the time, and because I didn't have internet at the time, I didn't know about the bounty of wonderful cloth diapering options out there. When I was pregnant with our third child I was thrilled to discard our thread bare fitted cloth diapers and torn and stained plastic pants and switch to disposables. I think I did a happy dance and everything.

But then all my posh friends started having kids. And I started seeing the cute, functional, absorbent diapers they were choosing for their kids. And I browsed online and my eyes were opened to the possiblities. Cloth diapering doesn't have to be a miserable, horrible, what-smells-like-pee, oh-it's-the-rug sort of experience!

So we're making the switch back to cloth. And this time around, I am loving it!

The Benefits of Cloth diapering:

Cloth diapering reduces the amount of trash going to our local landfill.
It also reduces the amount of manufacturing waste involved in making paper products.
There are some serious concerns about toxins present in disposable diapers.
It can be a lot cheaper.
It can result in less diaper rash
Plus, little babies with their colourful cloth diaper bubble butts are pretty much the cutest thing ever!

The How: We are using organic cotton prefolds and cute little diaper wraps from this fabulous etsy shop. Although it means that there is some assembly required at diaper changes, I couldn't be happier with this system. I also have an assortment of All-In-Ones and pocket diapers that we like to use at night time and for outings. I plan to try my hand at making some wool diaper covers as well.

I have a couple cute waterproof wetbags that I hang on the bathroom door and stash all of the dirty diapers in until it's time to wash them. So much cuter than the big yellow pail I used last time we cloth diapered!

The Verdict: Because our three year old son is still in diapers at nighttime, our twins are 15 months and we are expecting our new baby in just 7 weeks (yikes!) we are going to soon have 4 children in diapers! So spending a couple hundred bucks to start our cloth diaper stash seems like a mighty good investment.

The truth is that we were never really comfortable with our choice to use disposables. It just seemed so wasteful, another symptom of our throw-away-and-don't-think-about-the-consequences culture. We just didn't know the awesome options available to us. I love cloth diapering!

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Day 81: Computer-y Clutter

The Task: To finally sort through drivers, adapters and power cords that do who-knows-what and get rid of the things we don't need.

The Why: Some of the tasks we've done have been deep heart-matters sort of stuff. Not this. I just want to have less useless junk in my house. Period.

Why we haven't done this until now: Even before this journey, I would consider myself a pretty avid declutterer. I like to get rid of things, to organize and sort and streamline. But I am almost always doing these things while the hubby is at work, and I am never confident enough that I actually know what a computer-y item does to discard it. So I hang on to it, just in case....

The How: Luke was home with the flu today, so I cornered the poor guy with a stack of computer drivers, power cords and CD roms. I asked him about ever item in the stack, and got the affirmation I needed to throw almost all of it out.

The funniest items we still had: I swear I'm not a hoarder. At least, I don't think I am. But for some reason I still had the driver to a dial-up modem we had years ago. And the charger for a cell phone we got rid of last year.

The Verdict: It was kind of fun to laugh at computer games we used to play and joke about how slow dial-up Internet was. And now we have one less basket of junk in our house. Sometimes minimalizing is easy.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Day 80: Borrowing Instead of Owning

One of the ways we've been able to radically reduce our possessions (and it's a big journey, it still feels like we have so much stuff!) is by choosing to borrow rarely used items instead of owning them. Here are some of the things we've discovered we'd rather borrow than own.

Large Kitchen Items: We've given rarely used items such as a second roasting pan and a large chafing dish to my sister-in-law who caters weddings. This way, these things are being used many times throughout the year instead of the once or twice we may need it. And when we need those items for a big shindig, we are welcome to borrow them back (along with anything else we may need!)

Movies and Television Series' on DVD: Let's face it, we probably won't watch every single episode of Corner Gas ever again (it would, after all, be the forth or fifth time...) but if we ever decide to watch them again, there is a good chance that we can borrow them back from the library we are donating them to. I wouldn't suggest donating anything to your local library that you know you will need again, it may end up getting sold in a book sale or damaged. But for items you may-sorta-kinda want to refer to again someday, this is a great solution....because it's actually getting used in the mean time!

Camping Supplies: Unless you regularly go camping with everybody you know, there is really no reason for every household to own every possible camping item. We can avoid buying some things by borrowing them from friends and family who weren't going to be using them that weekend anyways.

Serving Utensils: When hosting a potluck or large holiday dinner where everybody has committed to bring something I can just remind people to bring the serving utensil needed for the dish they are bringing. That way I only need to own one ladle, one pie server, and one slotted spoon. This keeps my kitchen drawers more manageable for all those days when we don't have 3 different pies to serve.

Some benefits of borrowing (and lending) instead of owning:

It saves money.
It builds and encourages community.
It allows our things to be used, instead of collecting dust, when we don't need them.
It means we don't need to devote space to storing infrequently used items.
It reduces rampant consumerism. Which means less stuff being manufactured, less stuff being transported, and less stuff being disposed of in a society where the richest 16 percent of the world (if you are reading this, that number almost certainly includes you) consumes 80% of the worlds natural resources.
Stuff begets stuff. I'm not sure I can explain why this is, but the more stuff we have/want/buy the more we think we still need. In some backwards way that I can't quite articulate yet, having less = wanting less.

I think this is an important principle of minimalism, but also of being a conscious consumer, building community and living with a global perspective. We are looking around our home for more ways to put this idea into practice. And we get all excited when a friend asks to borrow a tool from Luke's necessarily large tool stash instead of buying one they will rarely use!

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Day 74: Rethinking the Christmas Budget

The Confession: When Luke and I first started talking about a project like this, about reevaluating our status quo and seeking to let our lives better reflect our priorities, the first thing that grabbed my heart and filled me with panic was "but...but...but...what about Christmas?"

It's like part of me was saying "Okay God. You can turn our lives upside down. Change our hearts. Convict us of our apathy. Break our hearts with what breaks yours. Show us your way, your truth, your life in a way we've never encountered before. Just don't touch Christmas, capeesh?

Because, honestly, Lord, I kinda like celebrating Christmas my way."

But God is changing our hearts.

The Task: This year we are committing to give away to those in need, dollar for dollar, just as much as we spend on Christmas.

And since we aren't loaded stinkin' rich or using our credit cards, practically speaking that means that we have half as much as normal to spend on Christmas this year.

The Why: Where do I start? Sometimes you need to do something because the very thought of it makes your mind and heart go to war.

Like when you're standing in the bathroom mirror, fiddling with your dreadlocks, saying "Half? Really? Could we do it? I mean...will we have enough? For presents? And a tree? And a turkey?"

"...but presents are already a good charitable thing, right? Surely Jesus doesn't want me to cut back on those."

"And the cute photo cards like last year. Those are a must...aren't they?"

But I can't continue spending my life praying words like "Your kingdom come, Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven." and then ignoring his call to actually be His hands and feet, to bring His justice, His reconciliation, and His economy of love to a community in need. I can't have one foot in God's radical backwards kingdom where the least is most and the poor is rich and the blind will see while having the other foot firmly planted at the local stuff-mart.

Scripturally, if we have more than we need it belongs to the poor. John the baptist instructed people who have two shirts to give one to the poor. (Luke 3:11) and Jesus tells a Pharisee to hold feasts, not for his friends and family, but for the poor and maimed who cannot repay his kindness. (Luke 14:12-14). We're also told to give to anybody who asks us (Matthew 5:42) and to love our neighbour as ourselves. (Mathew 22:39)

I'm not going to pretend to have these verses all figured out. It is no easy calling. But it seems pretty clear to me that Jesus wants bigger things for his people than shiny trinkets and obligatory sweater gifts.

The Verdict: So we are saving for Christmas like we always do around this time of year. From each paycheck, we add a few bucks to an envelope. Only this year we do it knowing that half of it is going to our local homeless shelter. And I have become really excited about this decision.

The Dare: Normally I tell people that this is our journey to simplicity and that we have no expectations that others will do what we do. We are sharing our lives, not asking you to change yours. We don't expect you to get dreadlocks, or give up paper towels or to put your bed on the floor. But tonight, if it's okay, I would like to dare some of you to make a similar commitment. I trust you'll know if God is drawing your heart to that same place, even if part of you is running away screaming inside.

In the words of Basil the great. “When someone steals another's clothes, we call them a thief. Should we not give the same name to one who could clothe the naked and does not? The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry; the coat unused in your closet belongs to the one who needs it; the shoes rotting in your closet belong to the one who has no shoes; the money which you hoard up belongs to the poor.”

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Day 73: Not Killing the Herbs

The Task: To successfully (hopefully!) overwinter some herbs so that I can stop buying new ones every year.

The Confession: My husband is the aspiring green thumb in the family. He does all the real gardening. I am responsible for the flower gardens (a.k.a overgrown weed beds), the culinary herbs, and the occasional houseplant that is given to us and inevitably dies from neglect. I like to blame it on the fact that I am perpetually pregnant, tired and distracted...

The Why: Okay...so here's the thing. So much of the problem in our crazy, hyper consumptive, would-need-five-planets-if-everyone-lived-like-a-North-American culture is that we don't have any, um....skills.

I mean, I'm a pretty domestic type gal. I know how to make bread and raise chickens and sew. But I don't know how to darn socks or spin wool or make candles or not kill a rosemary plant over the winter. I just buy a new rosemary plant in the spring. And sometimes half way through the summer....

But part of this challenge is to become producers as much as we are consumers. And to raise our children to have skills so that they can consume less in a consumer world.

The How: I was listening to a gardening show on the radio in the van the other day. (As in, Luke was listening and I was trying not to die of boredom) and the host mentioned herbs. I immediately became interested, because I had just been thinking the other day that I should stop, you know, killing the herbs. The radio show host told me three things I didn't know:

Put the herbs in clay pots. I can do that! Clay pots are cute!
Put them in a sunny window. Not on a table near the sunny window, but actually on the window sill. So I can't just move them around my kitchen to wherever I think they look nice that day and hope for the best? Good to know.
And finally, don't water them until they are dry. In the past my instinct has been to water them pretty much every time I remembered they existed, which, as they started to look dead was more and more often. Now I know I've been over watering!

The Verdict: So far so good. I haven't committed plant murder yet, although it's still too early to tell. I'm determined to make it through the winter with a live rosemary plant ready to go back in the soil come spring. Wish me luck?

Monday, October 1, 2012

Day 72: Sermon on the Mount Month!

It is the first day of October, and the first day of the October monthly challenge: Sermon on the Mount month! Are you in?

The Task: Read Matthew chapters 5,6 & 7 every single day for a month.

The Why: I shared the why of this challenge when I announced it last week. Basically, I believe that the Sermon on the Mount is radical and challenging, that God's economy of love and redistribution and reconciliation is powerful and relevant and...beautiful. I want the red letter words of Christ to shape me and change me.

The How: I'm not a super disciplined person, so I need to make little rules for myself in order to make God's word the priority it ought to be. Like not allowing myself to use facebook in the morning until after I've read the scripture passage.

Many of you have expressed that you will be joining the challenge. Yay! Please feel free to come back to this post throughout the month and share how the challenge is going, what you are noticing in God's word that you've always seemed to miss in the past, what you are struggling with or convicted of or inspired by. May the Spirit of God move boldly in each of us this month!

Friday, September 28, 2012

Day 69: Why the heck do I own so many vases?

So far on my 100 days of decluttering on facebook I have given away 8 vases. Eight. And you know what? A quick glance around my living room reveals at least 4 more. I had no idea that I had a thing for vases.

And the weird part is that I don't even know where most of them came from. Stuff just kinda shows up and moves in, right?

Before this journey began, I don't think I gave much thought to what I brought into my home. Sure, I discouraged my husband from bringing home mostly broken furniture he found at the dump, and I only bought things that I thought were sort of pretty (at the moment, anyways) but I didn't really think "Hey, Kelly, do you actually need 12 vases?" Nope, I don't remember ever asking myself that.

But I don't need 12 vases. In fact, truth be told, I don't really need any vases. I could put flowers in a pitcher or a mason jar. Mason jars are minimalist workhorses. They can hold flowers, or candles, or pens, or pickled beets....talk about a multitasker!

But I digress. My point, I suppose, is that I am realizing that I need to start asking more questions about the items I bring home. Like "Do I need this?" "Do I already own something that could fulfill this purpose?" "If I was moving across country and only had a couple days to pack, would I pack this item?"

"Is this item more valuable than the otherwise empty space it will take up?" Because space is beautiful and empty surfaces are a beckoning to play and create and share ourselves with one another.

And the big one: "Is there something more valuable my money could go towards?" Like, you know, food for the hungry? Or a card for a neighbour who needs to know I'm thinking of them? Or a couple Pumpkin Spice Lattes for me and a friend while the conversation oscillates casually between the trivial and the heart-cries in that way that can only happen over a hot drink with a good friend?

I'm actually going to keep a couple vases. There is nothing wrong with owning something pretty to plunk your flowers in. But I'm going to stop buying vases. And, more importantly, I'm going to ask a lot more questions of the stuff I bring home. I'm going to be a better curator of our possessions, because rooms with less stuff have more room for people and life and laughter.

And I'm going to treat a good friend to a Pumpkin Spice Latte.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Announcing The October Challenge: Sermon on the Mount Month

Each month we encourage you to join us in our pursuit of radical simplicity by doing one small thing with us for a whole month.

The October challenge is to read the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5,6 & 7) every single day for 31 days.

Why? This summer our church studied the Sermon on the Mount. Our pastor encouraged us to read it every week all summer. Although, truth be told, I didn't actually read it every single week, I did read it a lot. And I was stuck by 2 things: First, that these passages are so very relevant to the journey that our family is on. If you want a manifesto for a simple, radical, authentic life you will find it in the Sermon on the Mount. And secondly, that it never gets old. There is so much in these chapters to change us and guide us and move our hearts that it never seems to get stale.

The timing is on purpose here. By the end of October most of us will be thinking about the holidays. Our pinterest boards will be filling up with ideas, our schedules will be filling up with events and parties and commitments, and what I want more than anything for our family this Christmas is that we would know what it is that Christ wants for his birthday. That we would seek to give these red letter words their rightful authority in our lives. That it would be more than advice or ancient wisdom, but the earth shattering truth of a God who was willing to love until it cost him everything this life can offer.

So, will you join me? Starting next Monday, will you find the time to read these three chapters of Matthew every day for 31 days?

If so, feel free to use this banner to share the challenge on your own blog. Just cut and paste the code below:

In unrelated news: Our family is currently fighting off an illness, catching up on laundry and life after having weekend guests, and preparing for 31 days to Savour the Season (my October blog series that starts on my other blog next week.) Plus, we have a new puppy! Soooo....all that to say that posts might be a wee bit sparse this week while we are busy juggling life in general. Please be patient, I promise I haven't gone anywhere!

Friday, September 21, 2012

Day 62: Vigilant Composting

The Task: To become zealous composters.

The Why: We've been composting for years. In fact, Luke loves compost. As in, he's been at peoples houses and noticed that they were about to throw out a bunch of rotten fruit and asked if he could take it home with him. Seriously, it's a little embarrassing. The idea that we can turn kitchen waste into black gold for our garden appeals to our trash-to-treasure hearts.

But honestly, in our own kitchen, we get kinda lazy about it sometimes. If we fill the compost bin in the middle of meal preparation, we just start throwing the rest of the compost in the garbage. I'm not the kind of avid composter who picks banana peels out of the garbage if my two year old gets confused about what bin it should go in. Or at least I wasn't, until today.

The Benefits of Composting:

It creates good, nutrient dense soil for the garden for free! Hooray!
Compost actually helps to detoxify the soil. That is something our world could use a little more of!
It diverts kitchen waste from landfills. (I used to wonder about this. Doesn't the compost just break down at the landfill? Does it matter where you put the things that will biodegrade anyways? But it does matter, because the landfill doesn't create the right conditions for composting. This site explains it far better than I can.)
It saves fuel. Twenty seven percent of the trash being trucked to landfills is food waste and yard scraps. Then that waste gets shoveled around at the landfill. Imagine what a difference it could make if everyone with a backyard started composting their vegetable scraps instead of throwing them in the trash?
It saves money. Where we live we pay a two dollar fee per bag to dispose of garbage. This is on top of the municipal taxes we pay that fund the garbage disposal site. Less garbage = more money in our pockets.

The How: So, as of today I am the kind of person who picks banana peels out of the trash. We toss all of our veggie and grain scraps (as well as things like dryer lint, facial tissues, tea bags and coffee grounds) into a pail under the kitchen sink. Each evening (and sometimes more often!) we take the compost out to the big 3 section compost bin I built a few years ago while Luke was at work and I was looking to overcome my fear of power tools.

We never ever compost meat or dairy or anything cooked in animal fat. I know many people do, but that just encourages a whole host of other issue, such as slower decomposition and maggots. Ick! I'm pretty sure that if there were maggots in my compost heap I would have to cry and/or vomit and/or move. Just kidding.... sort of.

We don't obsess over the ratio of nitrogen rich and carbon rich materials, we just put compost in the bin as it becomes available, give it a little turn with the pitchfork now and then, and it always breaks down beautifully. We periodically switch which section we throw our scraps in to give another section a chance to break down into happy soil.

The Verdict: I know that there is nothing glamourous about a heap of rotting produce, but I can't help but love our compost pile. I can't believe we've been so lackadaisical about it, it's such a beautiful thing!

Thursday, September 20, 2012

How is Eat Your Pantry Month Going?

We are two-thirds of the way through the month and two-thirds of the way through our Eat Your Pantry Challenge. If you're doing the challenge at your house, I'd love to know how it's going!

Today I thought I'd share some of the best, worse and funniest ways this month's challenge has affected our dinner hour.

Most kid-pleasing pantry recipe: Lentil and Brown Rice Tacos. I used to make these all the time but kinda forgot about them. I am so glad that this challenge reminded me of this dish, because my kids love it and I'm pretty sure it is the cheapest thing I could possibly feed them.

Most likely to convert me into a bean-eater: We tried this recipe. Oh. My. Goodness. Maybe it's the bacon, maybe it's the quarter cup of minced garlic in it, but this recipe made me temporarily forget that I hate beans. And my bacon-and-garlic-lovin' family devoured it.

Most awkward pantry moment: I invited guests over for Sesame Chicken so that I could use up the sesame seeds I had in the pantry. In all the last minute busyness to get dinner served I forgot to toast the sesame seeds and add them to the sesame chicken. So we had not-so-sesame chicken. And the sesame seeds are still in my pantry. I guess we'll have to try again....

Biggest Eat-Your-Pantry Month cheat: We used red kidney beans as bingo tokens. That might honestly be the only thing they are good for. Did I mention that I hate beans?...

How is Eat Your Pantry Month going at your house? Have you reached into the far corners of your dried goods and discovered some fabulous new recipes? Please share in the comments below!

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Day 59: A Simpler Approach to Seasonal Decorating

When it comes to simpler living, Ma Ingalls is my hero. I know she wasn't a minimalist on purpose, and that she is at least a little bit fictionalized, and that her life was oftentimes very difficult, but when my girls and I cuddle together on the couch to read from the Little House series we sigh and swoon at the beautiful simplicity of the life they lived.

My 4 year old would be thrilled to spend her days playing barefoot in plum creek with a homemade bonnet swaying on it's strings down her back.

So as silly as this may sound, sometimes along this journey to a simpler life, I ask myself what Ma Ingalls would have done. I've stood in my kitchen holding single task kitchen tools asking myself "Would Ma Ingalls own this?"

And lately I've been contemplating how Ma Ingalls celebrated the seasons. In fact, how anybody celebrated the seasons before pinterest, and magazines, and entire aisles in Walmart devoted to seasonal decor.

I live in a place that has four distinct, beautiful, humbling seasons. The notion that I would need to store boxes full of manufactured decorations in order to savour these seasons is starting to seem a little bit ridiculous to me. It seems especially odd as autumn approaches, a season marked by contentment and thankfulness.

The rhythmn of the year is a beautiful thing, and it is only natural that we would want our homes filled with the sights and smells and festivity of the seasons. But the fact is that there is nothing in those seasonal aisles at Walmart that will make the season more meaningful for our families. Nothing. There, I said it.

So instead of decorating for autumn this year, I am letting autumn permeate our home. The pumpkins waiting to be turned into pie, the sunflowers from the yard, the apple pie jam we will make and cool in jars on the counter top. The lovely braided garlic from the Farmer's Market that will be disappearing a little with each stew and pot pie we enjoy together.

I have a wire wreath form that I will be adorning with seasonal foliage, and I might splurge on a scented candle if I find I have a spot to enjoy it. But aside from a few small items, our goal is that most of our seasonal decorations would be consumable or compostable.

The Verdict: I feel like a weight has lifted. I don't need to craft a fall mantlescape or create a charming porch vignette. My seasonal decorating can happen organically, as I find a place to perch our winter squash until it is time to make soup or fill our house with the scent of autumn while I heat apple cider on the stove.

I like to think that Ma Ingalls would approve...

Monday, September 17, 2012

Day 58: Switching the Lightbulbs

The Task: To (finally) switch our incandescent light bulbs out for energy efficient Light Emitting Diode (LED) and Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFL)

The Why: It's kind of embarrassing that here we are on day fifty-eight of this journey doing the first thing most people do when they want to decrease their energy consumption.

When the CFLs first came out we did buy a box of them with a 50% off coupon and replaced three light bulbs in the house. That was about all we could afford that day, so we figured we'd switch the rest out over time and it just never happened.

Incandescent light bulbs are notoriously inefficient. I've read many times that they release 90% of the electricity consumed as heat and only 10% as light! Plus, they burn out more often, which means more manufacturing, more packaging to end up in landfills, and more fuel needed to ship them to our local stores.

So this weekend we had some light bulbs than needed replacing, a reasonably fresh paycheck still partially unspent, and great sale at a nearby hardware store. It seemed like a good time to upgrade.

The How: We replaced most of our lights with CFLs. There is one light above the bathtub that we leave on at night as a sort of nightlight (we live in the country and there are no street lights outside, so we would literally be walking into walls on our way to the bathroom if we didn't leave some sort of light on!) so we splurged and switched that one out for an LED that uses only 4 watts of electricity. Now I can feel so much better about leaving that light on all night!

There are two lights in the master bedroom that are on dimmers, and dimmable CFL's weren't on sale this week, and we aren't bazillionaires, so we're going to wait for the mega expensive dimmable CFL's to go on sale before making that last upgrade.

The Verdict: I added up the watts of our before bulbs and after bulbs. Before making the switch we had 1546 watts of light in our house. Now we have a total of 413 watts of light!

Plus, we did the math, and if these bulbs really last the 6 or 7 years they are supposed to, compared to the old lights that needed to be replaced approximately twice a year, we are actually spending less on light bulbs, albeit, all at once. So the situation feels kind of win-win.

Friday, September 14, 2012

Day 55: Decluttering the Clutter Busters {ha!}

The Task: To get rid of some of the racks, dividers, totes and baskets that are now useless because I'm no longer trying to cram as much stuff as I can into our space!

The Why: Today's task is as much a celebration as it is a chore. In the last 55 days of decluttering we have made a huge stack of empty totes, bins, and organizers in our basement.

Minimalism is turning all those storage solutions that we thought would fix our clutter problems into clutter!

The How: I am keeping a few favourite baskets until we are done decluttering/reorganizing because I may find that a certain basket is useful in a place I haven't dealt with just yet. I'm also keeping some large totes because they make for a great place to brood baby chickens (if you don't know what I'm talking about, that's okay) but for the most part, these things can go. I can't believe that just 2 months ago we had enough stuff to fill all of these baskets and totes and bags and bins!

I'm giving away some of these things to friends on facebook and I'm packing up our thrift store donations in reusable bins, the thrift store can either sell the bins or use them!

We talked about saving the bins until we move, but there isn't a move on our immediate horizon and free cardboard boxes are easy enough to come by.

The Verdict: This just makes me smile. It feels like a reason to celebrate. I no longer stroll through stores looking for clever ways to stash my stuff. Our closets have tons of room because they aren't filled with things that add nothing to our life. I am loving how much easier it is to keep our spaces tidy and organized with less stuff. Hooray!

Plus, I feel a little bit like we're "sticking it to the man", so to speak. We are solving our clutter problem without making a trip to a fancy home store or buying the latest clever storage solution. We're learning that the answer to a more peaceful, cozy, welcoming home is not about having the right stuff, but less stuff.

What about you guys? I know many of you are following along, radically minimizing your own belongings as well. Do you have a pile of totes and storage devices that are evidence of how far you've come? Are you finding your home easier to keep tidy and organized with less stuff around?

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Day 54: Choosing a Better Thrift Store

Not everything we're getting rid of is going to a thrift store. Some things are passed on to friends and family, some to people we know in our community who need them, some to shelters, pregnancy crisis centers and other charities. A few large items have been sold online (with the caveat that we must immediately give away or put the money we receive from it towards our debt!) But many of the things we are decluttering are going to the thrift store.

In the city near our home, there are a number of thrift stores.

There is one that is situated in the fancy, shiny, commercial part of town. It's a giant department store style thrift store that sells things for just a tiny bit less than they would be new. It's not uncommon for dollar store items to be priced at 99 cents or a pair of jeans to be seventeen bucks!

This store is really easy to donate to. They're located across from the mall, around the corner from our church. They are open long hours every day of the week and they have one of those bells that rings when you pull up to the donation centre so that a store person can come out and help you unload all of your junk.

Up until recently, we didn't give it much thought. We just took stuff to the convenient donation centre at the side of the great big fancy thrift store. Our motivation was to get the things out of our home, not to see them redistributed to those who need them.

In contrast, all over the city there are small not-for-profit thrift stores that are intentionally located in the parts of town where they are needed most. These places have a reputation for selling baby clothes for a quarter and giving deals to single moms with armloads of back to school clothes. Many of them use the proceeds from the thrift store to fund valuable community services such as food banks and shelters. They aren't as convenient to donate to, they have fewer hours of operation and no extra staff members to help you unload. But for us, once we thought about it, the decision was easy.

The word redistribution has been on my mind a lot lately. Some of us have way too much while many have too little. We are carefully choosing to take our unneeded items to a store that was designed to redistribute these things to those who need it, and it's desire is to serve and bless the community.

So that's today's task. To be more intentional about where our stuff goes. And to give things away with reckless abandon knowing that it will end up in the hands of somebody who needs it far more than I do.

By the way, this post was originally slated for yesterday. But then Luke's work crew, who was planning to be out of town on a job all week finished their work early and Luke came home unannounced 2 days early, surprising me with a few flowers and fancy truffles from a lovely little chocolate shop on route.

So I ate chocolate and snuggled my man instead.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Day 52: Sorting and Storing Kids' Clothes

The Task: To radically reduce the amount of kids clothes we have stored in the basement.

The Why: Our 6th baby (a girl!) is due in December, less than a week after my oldest child will turn 6. That means that we are approximately one week short of having six kids in six years. When you are perpetually pregnant, you acquire a lot of baby clothes.

It isn't uncommon for friends who are done having kids to give us big black garbage bags filled with clothes. We've also received clothing as baby gifts and I've been known to browse my local thrift store for great deals, especially when that pregnancy nesting urge causes me to swoon at the sight of anything itsy-bitsy.

My solution, up until now, has been to immediately donate any items I know for sure that I won't use and to store the rest in totes, sorted by size. This "solution" has resulted in us collecting hoards of children's clothing. It's like a Baby GAP outlet in our basement.

This is embarrassing...

Eeek! Insane, right? Yesterday I had to haul all of this up from the basement (in my pregnant, tired, grumpy state) tote by tote and sort through it all. I swear that the best way to become a minimalist real quick is to haul all of your crap a long enough distance from where it was hiding that you just don't want to haul it all back!

The How: My favourite decluttering technique that I've embraced on this journey of less is to set limits for our stuff. It allows us to keep only what we've decided we can reasonably use and store, and it discourages shopping because we have a limit on how much space our stuff can fill up.

So I set a limit of four bins of clothing for our kids to grow in to: one for the baby girl on the way, one for our twin girls, one for my little boy, and one for my two oldest girls (who are close enough in age and size that things get handed down without needing to be stored anywhere in between.)

I'm giving away all of the clothing items that I never particularly liked or that we have too many of. Very worn and ratty things are becoming rags.

Also, I'm giving away all of the boy stuff my son has grown out of.

*sniff*

I asked a good friend yesterday if she would like some of the baby boy clothes for her son and she responded by asking me the very thing I had been asking myself. You're getting rid of the baby boy clothes? But what if....?

What if we have another baby after this one? And what if it's a boy?

The math of the matter suggests that if we have another baby after this one (undecided) and it's a boy (turns out the whole "it must be a boy, since you have so many girls" thing is not actually scientifically sound), my son will be nearly 5 years old by then. That is a long time to be hoarding adorable little boy clothes, just in case.

It should be a crime to keep spiffy little outfits like this hoarded in the basement when some other little man could be wooing hearts in it. No?

The Verdict: I know I told you all a while back that I'm not very sentimental, but I'll confess; packing up the little boy clothes choked me up a little bit. I'll get over it.

I have 5 big blue recycling bags full of clothes to take to the thrift store, plus a box of girl stuff for a friend having her first baby girl this winter and a box of the best of the boy stuff for my friend's little man.

And I'm left with my 4 totes of clothing plus 3 smaller totes of winter gear such as snow suits and boots.

And my favourite part: because I got rid of so much stuff, I'm able to store everything I'm keeping in matching totes. Yes, that's the kind of thing that makes me giddy!

The Lessons We're Learning: Honestly, decluttering is a hassle. I don't want to do all this work and then keep collecting and consuming stuff and have to do it all again in another 5 years. We don't want to spend our lives moving our stuff around, and having yard sales, and finding versatile organizational solutions so that we can cram as much as possible into our storage areas.

We need to be more careful about what we bring into the home, pickier about how many hand-me-downs we accept (although we are certainly grateful for them!), and quicker to redistribute things we don't need.

Oh, and free stuff is never entirely free. It costs time, energy, space, and sometimes even a trip to the mall for a cute little cardigan to go with it.