Lasso The Moon

Spending Freeze - Two weeks in

I didn't go into very much detail about why we decided to freeze our spending this month.  I realize that most people choose this route when money is extra tight, and while I can't say that we are splashing in cash fountains around here, we really are well taken-care of financially.  We really decided to do it on a whim--to see if we could, and to slow the rate of mindless purchases, which would in turn slow the rate of "stuff" piling up on me while I'm trying to unbury us.

We made a few ground rules regarding the spending freeze.  1. No unnecessary spending.  Obviously, this can differ from person to person, so we defined the boundary further...no clothes, no toiletries, no restaurants, no home depot (ouch), no drive thrus, etc.  We can fix the car if it breaks.  We can buy groceries, if they relate to other items in the pantry to complete a meal. We can put gas in our cars.  2. Donnie insisted that we be allowed to spend any saved cash that we had on hand when we started.  That means, if I freak out and head out for a diet coke, it has to come out of my pocket.  Literally.

I have noticed a couple things about myself these last two weeks.  One, I rarely leave the house for any reason unrelated to spending money.  Friday and Saturday last week, I never left the house.   Considering my desire to be more human this year, I'm going to have to change something in my routine.  If for nothing else,  for the sake of putting on pants.  Note to self: A drive to Sonic happy hour does not count as an outing.

Two, when I'm not coming up with excuses to leave my house, I can actually get some stuff done!

Three, I have done the impossible.  I have fed my family, out of my own kitchen, every day for two weeks.  I did not poison anyone, and the task did not kill me.

Four, not spending money inspired some creativity.  We take the kids for ice cream after school every Friday (known around here as Fun Friday) if they get good behavior reports from their teachers.  The past two weeks, I actually dug out the ice cream machine that we got as a wedding gift 10+ years ago, and made the kids ice cream from scratch. 

And it was awesome.  Chocolate chocolate chip, and toffee caramel swirl.  (Oh.  My.) We may just have a new Fun Friday tradition!

Five, when you go on a spending freeze, things start breaking.  Yep, on day two the check engine light came on in my car.  We dropped some (a lot of) cash into it for some new spark plugs, and the light went off.  And then last night it came on again.  AGGGGGGHHH!  Oh well, at least we have some extra money in the account to deal with it.  Although we may have to go on a second spending freeze to pay for this month's spending freeze.  Honey...?

 

 

On the 12th Day of Christmas

The holiday season is officially over.  How do you feel?  Relieved?  Energized?  Exhausted?  Depressed?  I'm sure most of us feel a combination of several of these. 

napkins from paper source last year!  Now you can find them here .

Personally, I'm feeling crowded.  Since we live in a 3-bedroom ranch that is (well) under 2000 sq ft, with 6 people, we try to keep our belongings to a minimum.  Sometimes we succeed.  Sometimes not so much.  But no matter how well we've been doing at this throughout the year, it seems we start really drowning in the "stuff" after Christmas.  This has always bugged me a bit.  I'm not a great housekeeper naturally, so the more there is to pick up, the less often the house is in order.  I like cleared surfaces, sparse shelves, and empty tables.  At least that's the goal.

We have mentioned to our loved ones that we'd like to keep the gift-giving to a minimum, and I have to say, they have complied for the most part.  But really, we have so many children now, that just a gift or two from each grandparent, and it's already too much.  On top of that, Emma and Ethan both just had birthdays.  Enter more stuff.

I started feeling anxious about it all sometime around noon on Christmas Day.   By the 26th, I had posted on Facebook that the "Great Toy Purge of 2013" had begun.   And it had.  I went through every toy in each kids' room, the under-the-bed toy stash, the toys in the living room, and all of Emma's books.  Then we found some things in the garage to give away.  By the end of the 27th, we had filled up Donnie's truck bed to overflowing. 

But guess what?  I still feel like I'm in an episode of Hoarders.  In the last few days, I have piled another truckload of stuff next to the front door.   Christmas decor, wrapping paper, maternity clothes, fat clothes, skinny clothes (why do I have clothes in so many sizes!?), pots and pans I never use, craft supplies I haven't touched since before we moved here.  Nothing is safe.  I have to have some room to breath.

The crazy thing is that I'm not actually a hoarder.  I actually don't attach sentiment to very many things.  I love throwing things out, making space on a shelf, and focusing on the present.  How did it pile up like this?  I think part of it is that my life has drastically changed in the last 5 years.  We moved from Indiana, where I had a whole basement to spread out and work on things.  Then we moved here, where I used the third bedroom as a studio.  Until I got displaced by Esther.  And then Eli.  And all of my "stuff" got sent to the garage.  And part of the reason I haven't dealt with it before now, is that I thought I would get to it eventually.  Maybe I was in denial about how much more time 3 kids would take than 2.  And now with 4...well, it's time to be real. 

I must have really been feeling crazy, because I suggested to Donnie that we go on a month-long spending freeze.  On the surface, I know that probably doesn't seem connected to the "stuff" problem, but it is.  Dealing with over-crowding, organizing, purging, and cleaning can be overwhelming, mind-numbing, and just plain boring.  And I was afraid I'd take a nice trip to Target as a way to cope with the stress of it all.  Why deal with pbj's when you can just drive thru somewhere...and the kids are buckled down for a few blessed moments.  Escapism--a mom's best friend.  But I cannot use escapist tactics to avoid this project.  We have to make room.  And we can't bring anything new into the house!  We aren't looking to spend absolutely nothing this month, but nothing that is not totally necessary.  For example, I'll be going to the grocery store, but only when I absolutely need to.  My pantry could use a good purging, too.  Where did all this soup come from??

So, have you had your post-holiday break-down enlightenment yet?  Tell me what you're up to!

Woman's Day :: My Sweater Wreath Goes National!

A couple years ago, as I was preparing to set up a booth at a big market in Dallas, I invented the Sweater Wreath.  They were popular at the show, and those that didn't sell were soon scooped up by my etsy customers.  And then I forgot about them. 

Until this fall, when Woman's Day Magazine held a contest asking what to do with cast-off sweaters.  I entered my wreath design, and guess what!

If you follow me on intagram or facebook, you have already seen this silly totally cool and collected picture of me buying a dozen couple copies for myself.  But there I am, in the January 2014 issue. On page 36.

It has been so fun hearing from new readers that found this blog via the magazine! 

If you are visiting as a result of that magazine issue, WELCOME! I'm so glad you're here. 

Feel free to browse around in the archives, leave me a quick "hello" in the comments, or check out my presence on these other sites: Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest

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P.S. If you have been following along with me since the beginning, I'm pretty glad to have you here, too.  I love all of my readers, long-suffering  faithful and new! 

Welcome, 2014!

I love a new year.  Everything seems fresh and possible, clean and new.  For the past 7 or 8 years I have been making resolutions--and sticking to them.  It's a great way to measure progress and watch myself grow closer to being the person I'd like to be.  I don't take the process of choosing my resolutions lightly, though.  I usually start thinking about them some time in the summer.  Because I don't hate myself, I am careful to choose resolutions that are actually attainable. They are about following a direction of improvement--not losing weight, quitting a certain vice, or keeping a daily exercise routine.  Those things are too easy to call failure, and I fail at enough stuff in life without inventing new ways for myself.

So here they are:

1. Have a heart of hospitality.  The word hospitality has been on my mind for almost a year.  I am excited to find out what this word really means.  I am collecting quotes, verses, and sayings that reflect hospitality, and how it can be reflected in daily life.  I want to remember to be hospitable to my family, not just company.  I want to welcome others to my home, even if it is not company-ready at the moment.  (I have been practicing this one with my extended family members in anticipation of this new year's resolution.  Um, it is not easy to welcome even loved ones in when all three couches are covered in laundry.)  In all honesty, I'd love to figure out how to make my home company-ready more often.  I'm not sure what that looks like with four kids and all the toys and laundry that come with them, but I am willing to find out. 

The thing I really love about this resolution is that I can incorporate last year's goals into this one.  Making our house a home.  Getting comfortable in the Kitchen.  Doing Something Small.  All of these can be worked into having a heart of hospitality.  I am excited to see where this one takes me.

2. Be more human.  My fellow moms will understand this one.  While hospitality is about welcoming in, this goal is about going out.  I hope to show up at church, spend time with friends, and just get out into the sunshine more often.  This will not take much to show improvement.  In the last four months I have made it to church exactly 3 Sunday mornings.  I am a pastor's wife!  Having baby number four has pulled the rug out from under me like never before, but I am ready to try standing again.  You know, take a shower, fix my hair, wear shoes to walmart instead of slippers.  It's the little things that make us human.  And I'd like to be one this year.  (It's funny how this resolution is making me the most nervous of all three!)

3. Preserve family memories.  I have come to the realization, way too late in my mothering career, that I don't like to scrapbook.  This may seem funny to those who know me well, since I actually owned a scrapbook supply shop at one point in my life.  But since becoming a mother, I have not completed a single scrapbook.  I haven't even attempted one since Ethan was born.  He is 7, y'all.  This year I am throwing in the towel on scrapbooks and taking control of my family's memories my way.  I am going digital.  I have found a company that I like, and I am going to systematically have our photos, stories, and quotes bound into professionally printed books.  I'd love to say that I can have 10 years worth done this year, but let's be real.  I'm hoping for one. 

In addition to making ONE family year book, I have to try to recover my  lost Walgreens account from before we moved back to Texas (over four years ago!).  There are photos in there that we lost when my laptop crashed.  I also want to print my favorites from each year to keep in a photo box for each of my children.  And as if that wasn't enough, I'd also like to figure out how to take better pictures with my camera.  And maybe get the next lens on my list? It all kind of works together.

Well there they are...out there for all the world to see.  Yikes. 

Do you make resolutions? Do you keep them?  Do you hate resolutions and want to tell me why? I'd love to hear your thoughts.  I'll be hanging out in the comments if you want to chat!

Here's to a year full of hospitality, humanity, and memory-making!

Best of 2013 :: Doing Something Small

Finally the last resolution update of the year!

Here are my resolutions from 2013:

You can read about them in more detail in the original post: Welcome, 2013!

Number 3: Do Something Small. 

If you are new to this blog, please please please take a minute and read the post about Doing Something Small.  It may be the most real thing I've ever written.  And more than a year later, God is still using it to speak to others who are feeling the pressure, not from Him, to do too much.  To save the world.

It might be difficult for me to link to specific examples of myself doing something small--after all I didn't write a blog post every time I put dinner on the table, cleaned up the house, looked my child in the face when he spoke to me, or read a book to my daughter when I'd rather be doing something "more important".   And thank goodness for that, right.

So instead, since doing something small is ultimately about taking myself out of the center and listening to God speak to my heart and show me Himself, I've decided to link to my favorite posts from the past year that speak to that very thing.  These aren't photo-rich posts, and you probably won't see them go viral on pinterest.  They won't help you decorate your house or win any awards.  But they are an honest and from my heart, and I hope they will point you back to the Lord and all the tremendous love He has for me and you.

Power Perfected in Weakness?  ::  Near the end of my last and most difficult pregnancy, God showed me who He is, who I'm not, and who He'd like to be in my life.

The Story of Two Great Losses and Immeasurable Gain :: A year after the loss of a baby, I wrote about how God picked me up and carried me through a time that I could never imagine surviving. 

I Am a Sunflower :: While driving down a country road, God gave me the most beautiful vision of His Kingdom.

All About Eli :: If you are into pregnancy stories, birth stories, or stories about the hardships of parenting, read this one.  The twist at the end still surprises me to this day!

If you have a story about how God has moved mountains in your life, feel free to link to it here in the comments! 

And if you missed the other two "best of" posts, here they are:

Best of 2013 :: Making Our House a Home

Best of 2013 :: Getting Comfortable in the Kitchen