Be Ye Separate

Consolidation...another word for downsizing:)

Blessings!

   It's always my desire to downsize. To get rid of things that I truly don't need. To give our lives more room and less chaos.

   This past week, despite the pain from having my wisdom tooth pulled and the subesquent dry socket that affected me a few days later, we've been consolidating. Consolidating is a nice word for "getting rid of", "decluttering", "downsizing":) It encompasses those things that you need or want but don't have room for in their present state.

   As most of you know, we don't have television. We have a library of DVD's of all sorts of genres' and a projector. We had accumulated an outrageous amount of DVD's over the years and they were taking up more than their fair share of the room around here:P

   We had a lovely cabinet made to hold them and when we outgrew that we had a second cabinet made that sits on top of the other one to the ceiling...sadly, we've outgrown that too! My goodness the amount of DVD's that have accumulated over the years is staggering and though we weeded out movies we don't want anymore, passed some on to grandchildren (my baby is 16 now) and sold some at barn sales, we still had far too many to hold in those cabinets.

   The girls and I bought some regular binders and some CD pages that hold 8 discs per sheet. Each binder is decorated by the girls (they aren't finished with that part yet) according to the genre. Each binder, and in some cases more than one binder due to the amount of DVD's, is labeled. The are able to hold 6 pages each. I don't want to go bigger because DVD's start weighing a lot and the pages would drag down, tear out the holes and be too heavy for me to lift carefully.

   We have Family, Classic, Action, Western, Christian, Comedy, Drama and Television. I decided to combine the musicals with the Classic since all our musicals ARE classics:) Oh and we have Silly Sci-Fi and Funny Scarey. Those are the ones that are movies that are more period type or very old scarey ones. We enjoy the old black and whites of Alfred Hitchcock, the old Mummy movies from the early 50s etc.

   These are all fitting nicely into our regular book shelf in the library so we don't need a whole wall and then some to hold them all:) I was amazed how we could "consolidate" a wall full of them into just 10-15 1 inch binders:) Just 15 inches of space! Wow!

   This freed up the cabinet to put it into my bedroom to hold not only our smaller books like devotionals, extra bibles, spiritual encouragements etc but our heirloom knick-knacks too!

   Today has been very productive and we've enjoyed each other tremendously. I am always amazed at how much more our family enjoys each other once we started playing and working as a family almost 15 years ago! The Good Lord showed us the way and what a blessing it has been once we decided to heed His direction:)

   Praying your day was blessed and family filled!

God be with thee!

Sister Lori

Look Familiar?

Blessings!

   Yesterday morning we awoke to a blanket of snow. How beautiful! This was the scene from the front door...It snowed most of the day in light flurries making a fine powder. Definitely no snowman material:P

What better motivation than this to spend the day inside and warm and dry! Speaking of dry...we also had no water as the pipes in the pumphouse had frozen:P After getting a heater set up out there to warm things up, we finally had running water around noon:) Last night we left the taps dribbling so we wouldn't have more issues with that...thankfully it worked!

Anyway, we were motivated to stay inside. The outside being so clean and fresh, beautiful and organized...not so on the inside:P

Since we had the unexpected time to just be home we decided to get some things done. One of which was swapping bedrooms with our daughter Miss Mary-Ann.

This is what it was looking like...keep in mind that things always get worse before they get better:P Miss Mary-Ann's room first...

Notice the poor cat. Spot always gets nervous during moves and even though we aren't actually "moving" she THINKS we are and was constantly in the way, making tons of noise, grabbing us as we walked past her with an armful of things etc. Poor pesky thing:P

Now for our room...

I suppose I'm looking for a little understanding and comfort...please...someone...tell me that you've had things look this bad before:P That your bedroom above all else (especially when expecting company or just too busy to put something away just yet) gets used as the "catchall" for STUFF:P In fact, that box on the dresser marked "chocolate" still has my crystal breakables from when we MOVED HERE!:P

I haven't taken pictures of the debris in the front rooms yet. I'm not sure that I can get in there far enough to actually TAKE the pictures:D

I know that when the switch is finished we'll have everything in it's place and the chaos will have disappeared. I know there is a light at the end of this tunnel. And I must say, I am so thankful it's not summer because all of this would be left as is for weeks at a time while we took care of the outside tasks and would be too tired to finish up in the house! God provided us a way to get this done in a timely fashion and the motivation of the snow, husbands surgery and Christmas just a week away, is just the beginning:)

Oh, and in the midst of this we've had our beautiful granddaughter Little Miss Shea with us:) She's visiting at her Auntie's house just down the road from us. Auntie Ursaula had the day off and wanted her for a night. I have to say that I was feeling very selfish but I overcame and let her go:P

I must say I am so thankful that my girls are willing and able when it comes to these things. Not only do they help me with the heavy things that I cannot do but they turn easily to the needs of the baby as well. She's been such a joy to have here (I'm having baby withdrawal) and no trouble at all. She will be back with us today unless the roads become clear enough in which case, her papa will come get her or Auntie Ursaula will take her back home along with our Miss Mary-Ann who will stay to help Kristina (Shea's mamma) who is still recovering from gall bladder surgery.

Okay, back to the task at hand. Thank you Lord for this mess, showing me Your abundant provision :)

Have a very blessed day!

God be with thee!

Sister Lori

P.S. I'll take pictures of the finished rooms (hopefully tonight) and share them with ya'll:)

A frame of mind

Blessings!

   I have been pondering, for many weeks, about some things that the media has been reporting on. As if there isn't enough bad news out there right?

   What I've been pondering on is the housing market, the economy, the rationality of people in general. Here's my point...

   I know someone who lives in a beautiful house, lots of lovely furnishings, many many toys (quads, sandrails, skidoos, ski mobiles, and the list goes on) and several new to nearly new cars. Her husband has a wonderful job, she works outside the home while someone else raises her children all to help her husband to pay for all these things. Today I spoke with her and you know what? They are losing it all! Every last bit of it! They don't "own" a single thing!

   Now this friend is a very long time friend. She knows how I have felt about her outlook on certain things so it's no surprise when I have to bite my tongue to bleeding to prevent myself from saying "I told you so!" She and I have spoken about her "situation" for many many years. She would nearly pay off a car and just before she did it she would trade it in on something knew and have a new payment all over again obligating her family to another 7 years!

   They owe more on their home than the home is worth! They can't possible get out from under this house nor can they catch up with the bills that are sadly sucking them dry. They pay the minimum payment on all credit cards and charge accounts so they are simply paying interest on the interest and compounding their debt.

   Today she was angry, frustrated and kicking herself. But not for the reasons you might think. She is doing all this because she thinks she should have gotten a few more things before deciding to declare bankruptcy so she could "own" them. Ugh! She just doesn't get it! Her husband doesn't get it! It's not like they haven't talked to us about all this in the past asking us how we manage to not be in debt and still have things. We tell them. They ask advice how to stop what they are doing. We give it. They ignore it because they found "such a great deal" and couldn't resist!

   Why is it that people everywhere and especially Christians, have such a frame of mind of acquisition over common sense contement? Why are people so weak as to fall for that "gimmegetmebuyme" philosophy? What are we as a society doing to the children when we show them such examples? And why are families so surprised when their young children have no remorse over broken things, they have no respect for personal property let alone anyone elses? They are a disposable generation!

   We are debt almost debt free with the exception of our one car. How? It was a long and hard road as we came from that worldly place of "things". We fell flat on our keesters from debt, repossession and humilation. Aside from having a few doctor bills that need paying we are now debt free. At this time we don't even have a mortgage because we are renting. We don't WANT a mortgage! We are saving to purchase land outright and go from there. We want to "owe no man".

   Our children have come a long ways in understanding the responsibility of providing and budgeting so your family has all they NEED. This doesn't necessarily mean we get all we WANT. Unless our wants line up with our needs we simply don't have it:)

   It's nice to have things, don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong with having pretty things to look at. There's no sin in having a home with decorations and such. But when those things become so important that you schedule in shopping sprees and sales at special stores but forget to pray diligently every day and get into the Word then you are sinning! You are putting things before God. You are creating an idol to worship. A god! Again...I know...we were there. Our God is a jealous God. When we put things before Him and created our god leaving Him behind, he took it all away. It was humbling, I was hurt, angry, sad and humiliated. After all the dust cleared...I still had my Father in heaven. He still loved me. He was there to pick me up and dust me off and show me where my priorities were and where they should be. I am thankful.

   Being out of debt isn't that hard. It's time consuming, and one must discipline oneself or it won't work. One must desire to be free of the worldly weight of acquisition. Keeping up with the Joneses as it were. If we could do it anyone can:) As I said the only thing we owe on is our car. However, with the doubled payments we will be out from under that in just 18 months instead of the 7 years loan they gave us. We chose the longer loan because the interest rate was lower with no payoff penalty. But that's another post:)

   Our last payment for a doctor bill will be in June. No interest mind you, just a straight amount as my husband had to have a procedure done for his eye over the last two years and it hasn't been inexpensive. Even with our insurance, this has been costly. These types of things happen but we don't consider that to be debt but rather paying for services rendered. It's the credit cards, the revolving accounts, the interest rates of 18 -30%!

   I am content to be at home taking care of my family and home. I am content to have what I need to feed us, clothe us and keep us warm. I couldn't bring myself to give my children over to someone else to teach them THEIR beliefs and values. Even Christian caretakers can be counter to what we believe for our family. Again, this is for another post:)

   I just wonder what it is that we as a people have been thinking that we cannot or will not be content with our basic needs. Why must we desire more than we are able to really afford? I am so blessed that our family has figured it out for ourselves. We are content in having only our basic needs met. Does that mean I don't go shopping or barn saleing and pick up little things here and ther? Of course not! But I don't NEED to and I can turn my back on buying something. Especially when I have to look at the money in my hand and ask myself..."Am I justified in purchasing this? We have a little extra and we are not jeopardizing our budget...but am I still justified? Or should I put that little bit of money away for a rainy day?" Let me just say that I have a special can with rainy day money...and no, I couldn't justify the purchase:P

   I used to have a system for deciding on purchasing things. I would ask myself if I could make it myself. Usually the answer was yes. Then I would ask myself if I WOULD make it. Usually the answer was NO! So I would buy it. Now I use the same formula only my conlusion is different. Now I ask could I make it and the answer is yes and would I and the answer is no. So, if I'm not willing to make something I COULD make then I must not want it badly enough to have it:) So I walk away:) It has saved me countless amounts of dollars:)

   Our outgo on purchases throughout the year is so much less than it was 10 years ago. Our budget has allowed us to put away money for purchasing our land one day. Cash! What a blessing it will be to hand over that money for something that I truly can't make myself...land! God has been so good to us and He has really shown me how to do it better.

   Take a look at your own finances. Take a look at your income vs. your outgo. I bet you could do like we did and cut your outgo to half of your income allowing you to put away so much more than you imagined:)

   Well, that was my ponder. I wonder if society will ever become really conscious of their needs vs. their wants. It's more than a frame of mind, it's a mindful deed.

God be with thee!

Sister Lori

Can't sleep as usual:P

Blessings!

   Well, I can't sleep again, as usual!:P It's times like this that I am usually found at my computer writing on my manuscript. Well, I did that for awhile and emptied my brain so now I figured I would visit here for a few minutes before turning back into bed:)

   Someone made mention how I am still unpacking. Yep it's true...I'm still unpacking:P We began our move the 1st of January. We finally ended on February 11. Now we weren't actually still living at the OLD place after the 2nd week of January but we didn't get the rest of the stuffs from the garage and barn until the 11th. Largely that was due to weather conditions. We had several days that we were snowed in here on two separate occasions and then another two days of heavy fog and ice kept us here. But I digress!

   After having taken 3 car loads to the second chance shoppe I was beginning to feel overwhelmed with all the boxes and wondering what was wrong with me that I didn't have everything unpacked and organzed and all that "normal" stuff. It can get frustrating over time when you feel like you'll never be completely settled.

   Well, today I had to take Brother Craig in for another injection in his eye as well as the tri monthly tests, dyes and pictures etc. Long morning. We finally did get home to find my dear friend and her children here visiting with our daughters:)

   It was a planned visit but WE were a little late because of the eye doctor being behind schedule. No harm:) Anyhow, as usual, I had a great time. It's not often that I get to visit with like minded folks and they are wonderful folks.

   She and I ran to town to order a pizza. While we were waiting for them to make it we went to our second chance shoppe and looked around. I found another basket for my bathroom shelf that will hold a few necessaries and a very sweet dress for our Mary-Ann. But this isn't the point...the point is we had a chance to just gab about things. I mentioned my little frustration over the boxes still needing unpacked. She is alway sweet to mention the changes she sees when she comes over. This lets me know that I am indeed making progress:) Anyway, as I said, I mention being frustrated over the boxes STILL full and she reminds me that we moved from a HUGE house to this little one.  

   I already knew that but sometimes I have to be reminded:) Well, she made my whole week:) With all the fretting I was doing I had let it slip my mind that I am trying to go from a 2700 sf house to a 1250 sf house. Of COURSE things aren't going to "fit".:P The three carloads (mind you I have an excursion which is just a newer/fancier suburban) were filled from the back door to behind the front seats. That's a LOT OF STUFF!

   I have to keep thing in perspective for sure. I still have quite a bit to go but really what I have isn't all that much. Let me explain...I have a small mountain of boxes in my frontroom. Those boxes belong in the sewing shed. The sewing shed is still full to bursting because I haven't gotten those unpacked and organized out there. Why? Because it's been raining and snowing for weeks! I can't get the things out of the shed and set outside so I can organize the insides of the shed so I can get those things back inside the shed and put away because it's too wet! This can only mean one thing...the things in the frontroom can't be moved out there because it's not dry enough to put away what is already in there!...make sense? Probably not, but I get it and that's all that really matters, right?8^D

   Well, the long and the short of it is, I'm not insane, I can make this fit and it will all get put away in it's proper place in due time:) Oh sure, I still have a lot that is going to be taken to the second chance shoppes and mission, and that will happen in due time. I still have organizing to do in some rooms like the kitchen, mudroom and frontrooms but it's all coming together, even if it IS slowly.

   Oh...did I mention our meat birds are here?:P Yep! Those are now residing in my mudroom for the moment. I keep reminding myself it's only for a few weeks and in 8 weeks they'll be in my freezer! Can't wait:)

   Well, now that I've cleared that up in my head, I guess I'll head back to bed:)

   Have a very blessed and safe weekend. I'm watching it snow even as I write. I think I'll get back under my warm covers and snuggle till daylight:) HOpefully I'll get a few moments of actual sleep before that:)

God be with thee!

Sister Lori

Reorganzing in a new place

Blessings!

   It's that time of year again, when we begin to get cabin fever. We begin to look at what has happened over our winter when we seem forever sequestered into our homes. All the indoor activities that we've done including, but not limited to, cleaning, crafting, tasking, projects etc. now need reorganizing. Our go-downs are emptying because our winter is nearly finished and it's time to start planning to restock it for the next winter, not to mention our summer:) At least it's the way it is for me:)

   Having moved to a new house in the middle of our winter upset the fine balance I have in my routines and organization. Not that it's insurmountable, but it's definitely something to keep me busy for awhile longer. The comfort of our winter time activities was seriously offset by these disturbances to our life and lifestyle. We are, however, recovering nicely and now for our new organizing endeavor:)

   I have always had a go-down. Well, until we moved here, that is. We have no such thing here and so we must utilize what space we do have. It's a challenge but not one that we cannot overcome.

   My jars no longer have a tidy place to be and so I must figure out what can work without looking like I am cramming things in. I am not so fixated on cute but I do like to avoid things being an eyesore. Asthetics is partly what helps us all to enjoy our homes and makes it inviting to our guests. It is important to me that my rooms are not "noisy".

   What IS important to me is utility and functionality. I like to have things in an orderly way and easily reachable. I like to have useful things rather than just decorative things. Not that I don't have decorative things mind you, but most of my decorative things are useful as well as nice to look at:)

   Often, folks tell me that my cupboards are more like a "store shelf" than a kithen shelf. I think it's mostly because I have like with like. For instance, my canned goods are organized into categories and within those categories are specifics. Keep in mind that these are not my bulk, dry goods.

   For instance, canned beans! Beans is my category. Within that category are black beans, kidney beans, refried red beans, refried black beans, pork n' beans, and the list goes on. I have a minimum of a dozen cans on hand most times. Each can is dated on the day of purchase and as others are purchased when there is a need those cans are dated and put to the back so as to use up the oldest ones first. Same with corn...creamed corn, whole kernel corn, hominy and so on.

   This way I can keep track of all our canned goods at a glance. This then leads to my shopping lists which I keep in a convenient place where I can mark every day what I've used. Then when it's time to shop, all I have to do is grab the list down and write down how much I need of each item. I'll go over my shopping list in another post.

   Organizing my kitchen is very important to me. I have done many things over the years to accomodate my desire to keep things orderly and at arms reach. Not just for me but for my family. They all know what and where everything is. If there's an empty space, then we definitely don't have it. There is no searching to see if it's among other things because it's always in the same place each time. So if I want creamed corn for a meal or receipt and all I see are whole kernel then I know I have none at all. There is no sense in tearing apart cupboards (and thereby disorganizing everything) because I know it's not there:) I can then choose to make creamed corn or I can choose to wait and purchase it.

   This also brings me to my quarterly menu planning but again, I'll save that for another post:)

   I don't know that anyone is interested at all in how I organize things but I would be more than happy to share it. It's really rather easy and once it's in place it's easy to follow and stay organized:) Many folks want a quick fix to organizing but that's not realistic. Organizing is a step by step process that has to fit in your schedule, your lifestyle and your temperment. What works for one doesn't necessarily work for another. It is entirely dependent upon space, time and desire.

   Well, I suppose it's time for me to get back into that kitchen and do a bit more. After all, it's important to me that it be user friendly:P

God be with thee!

Sister Lori