Remodeling This Life

Simplify It: Declutter

Emily — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:47:16 +0000

Do you realize that the holidays are coming? Does this mean the same thing for you as it does for me each year? I got started early. I will not wait until after an influx of gifts to declutter. I will not be the person spending the week between Christmas and New Year’s giving away all of my children’s old toys. I am starting now. It’s not just the toys. It needed to be done. Have you ever looked around your house and thought, “how did this all get here?”. I know how it got here. Little by little, not being conscious of every last purchase, things made their way in. Clothes that were too small still hung in closets or sat folded in drawers. Adorable new outfits that they just don’t seem to ever choose sat unworn. They all got donated. Their favorite toys were buried under piles of other toys until no one could find anything and no one played with anything. Now? Trains and puzzles for him, dolls and animals and bouncy balls for her. And books – lots of books. No one has to weed through the things they don’t want to get to what they do. It’s all simplified. I am just keeping it real here. Last week, my daughter opened a cupboard full of food and proclaimed we have nothing to eat. Granted, she is 5, and if there is no applesauce or string cheese, the kitchen is deemed empty. But it struck me that my children who have all that they need and a lot of what they want don’t understand how good their life is. I know, this is not the time for the talk about walking up a hill 3 miles both ways in the snow to school each day. It is about making sure that they don’t have so much that they forget to appreciate it. The moment The Great Toy Purge was over and they came home from school, both of them were immediately playing with the things that were out. They had what they wanted, we donated what they didn’t want, and everyone is happy. Almost a week has passed and not one mention of any of the things that got piled into the car. Just simplification here at home that has made everyone’s life a little easier, enjoyable, and hopefully will make a little room for appreciation.

I was talking to some friends throughout this process of decluttering. We were talking about all the stuff, how it seems to just show up, and how the holidays are coming. We all unanimously expressed our desire for a simpler Christmas this year – one that focuses on what the holiday is all about. One that gives our families the opportunity to appreciate and enjoy what they are given instead of tossing gift after gift aside to get through the pile. So, the mantra this year is “Something they want, something they need, something to wear, something to read”. Are you with me? I have never been more excited about the looming season of chaos and joy. My house is simplified, my mission clear. I can’t wait.

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Simplify It: Declutter

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Link Love: Decluttering Edition

Emily — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:02:44 +0000

The blog has been quiet this week. I’ve been busy decluttering. It took many bags and a couple trips to drop off donations to even see a dent in our home it was getting so out of control. I will be sharing some of what I worked on in the coming week.

While I’ve been making my home simpler, some of my favorite bloggers have been sharing some wonderful stuff, so here’s a little of what I enjoyed from my reader this week.

First, Kelly at Almost Frugal interviewed me what feels like 3 years ago (hee hee, I think it was only about 2 months ago) and my interview was up this week as part of her This Is Frugal series. If you want to read about some more in depth thoughts I have about frugality you can head on over to mine here. I don’t talk about too many everyday adventures in grocery savings and such, so if you want to know why, go read

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With Butterfly Wings

Emily — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:06:54 +0000

She was a butterfly for Halloween. A beautiful monarch butterfly. The rush from the holiday has worn off, but she still asked if she could put her wings on for bed tonight.

“So I can fly with butterfly wings in my dreams.”

She curled her long body into my arms and asked me to tell her a story about her and a butterfly. I started sentences, she ended them. I am a terrible story teller so it was boring and choppy but I made it fun by starting sentences and letting her finish them. The butterfly landed on her nose.

Afternoons and evenings at home can be quite the challenge, trying to combine what needs to be done with what she wants to do – be a kid. She talks a lot, bounces a lot, has a lot of energy. A lot of days end with frustration.

Not today. This day ended with understanding a little girl’s desire to fly free in butterfly wings.

Blogged for Tuesdays Unwrapped at Chatting at the Sky.

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With Butterfly Wings

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Monday Link Love

Emily — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:01:46 +0000

I hope you enjoyed the weekend. Here are some links I’d like to share to start the week.

First, I’d like to direct you to Blog 4 Cause. From the page, “This is no ordinary e-book. This is the collective effort of over 150 writers from throughout the world. Writers uniting together in a race for the cure. Every one of these writers has contributed a favorite article to this e-book, creating a wonderful collection of stories. Stories of inspiration, personal growth, fitness, food, humor, and more.” All this with the mission of ending breast cancer. I am happy to say that I contributed to the e-book.

Other links I’d like to share:
The Measure of My Success
The Pillow In The Middle
Pumpkin Cranberry Cornbread
Simple Living Myth: Real Life is Real Simple

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Monday Link Love

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A Special Day

Emily — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:13:36 +0000

Surrounded by the people I love helping me celebrate being firmly entrenched in my thirties, Friday was fabulous. Thank you for the birthday wishes!

The kids were off school. We went to a costume party. We ate a lot of cake with friends. My mom took me to lunch and out shopping for new sheets. I guess I am getting old and practical when that’s all I can think of when she asks what I want for my birthday.

The kids helped me make and frost a lot of cake

Flowers from a friend

A cookbook (who am I kidding – THE cookbook!) and a photo book (my sister-in-law dug through 4 years of photos on my family blog, saved them to her computer, uploaded them to shutterfly and printed me a book. Talk about an awesome gift!!)

A Lisa Leonard necklace that I got for myself.

And dinner on the water with people I love

Things that make my heart smile, make my home more cozy, and are part of making more beautiful memories.

I hope you are having a fabulous weekend!

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A Special Day

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Happy Halloween

Emily — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:09:51 +0000

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Happy Halloween

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Thirty One

Emily — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:07:54 +0000

Today, I am 31.

31 things I am grateful for. Hot coffee, sleeping kids, silence. Running shoes, jogging stroller, cooler morning air. Cake, lots of cake. Family, friends, phone calls. Comfort, inspiration, nature, laughter. Curly hair, my favorite jeans, flip flops. Criticism so I know how to do better. Compliments for encouragement. Fruit in my yard. A beach to walk on. A clean kitchen and a messy living room reflecting that we *live* here. Time to read a good deep book or a light magazine. My amazing hubby. Quiet. Calm. Chaos. Noise. Color. You.

I hope you feel special today and find the time and space to reflect on all that is around to be grateful for.

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Thirty One

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Homemade Pizza Night

Emily — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 02:44:36 +0000

Tonight we had homemade pizza for dinner. I think it might be the first time ever that pizza night was on a Tuesday. I’m wild and crazy like that. We almost always do it on Friday or Saturday depending on what’s going on. This past weekend was busy though so I didn’t get a chance. Since every time I have to make a meal now, I try to come up with something that I can use my new toy for, pizza was perfect tonight.

That’s right. I finally got my red kitchenaid mixer last week. As usual, my birthday gift didn’t make it to my birthday. Thank you, hubby! I would be remiss not to mention he got a fantastic deal on it too.

On with the pizza I make on pizza nights.

I use the Moosewood Cookbook calzone recipe for my dough, with modifications.

What you’ll need
(I double the amounts to make two pizzas)
1 cup water, wrist-temperature
3 cups flour **sometimes I do half whole wheat, half white other times I use all white depending on what I have at the time
Olive Oil, 1 tsp
3 tsp honey
Salt 1 1/2 tsp
Dry yeast 1 1/2 tsp

What to do
Place water in a medium bowl, add yeast, honey; stir until everything dissolves. Whisk in salt and flour, and when it gets too thick, stir with hand. Knead in bowl 5 min. Brush 1 tsp olive oil over dough, cover, let rise until doubled.

Go outside and play for an hour or so while your dough does it’s thing.

When the dough is ready, punch it down and knead it for a little while, then split it into two sections and place each one on a sprayed baking sheet, let rest.

Over the next 10 minutes or so, I get my toppings ready and stop to spread the dough flat. It takes a few times of spreading and resting before it is all out on the sheet evenly with no holes. At least for me it does.

Once the dough is ready, I put my toppings on. I do one white pizza and one red pizza. The red one is just pizza sauce, mozzarella and pepperoni usually. For the white one, I start by cracking black pepper on the dough, then spreading olive oil on top. Top that with sauteed onion and garlic, then kalamata olives, artichoke hearts and feta cheese.

Bake at 450 for 18 minutes, switching the pizzas on their racks every 6 minutes.

Let cool, eat and enjoy!

Added to Kimba’s DIY Day.

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Homemade Pizza Night

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A Place To Play

Emily — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:16:33 +0000

We bought this house because of the yard. Just like the house, the outdoor space needed a lot of work. There was a huge mound of dirt that had never been spread. Weeds, oh the weeds. Trees. Dead trees. And truth be told, it still needs a lot of work. But the dirt mound is gone, so are the dead trees. We won’t talk about the weeds. While we have visions of a nicely landscaped space behind our house, for now we are happy with a wide open place for us, the kids and the dogs to play.

I stood in the kitchen last night making dinner, watching out the windows that I groaned at hubby for installing when he did the kitchen makeover. I groaned! I grumbled! Where were my cabinets? Where would I put all the things I think I need in a kitchen but really don’t?! That is how it was then. Now, I’m glad I have a wall of windows instead of cabinets. For the first time ever, my hubby was right.

I cooked while hubby and the kids played. I prepared dinner with the windows open, listening to giggling and squealing, watching them run and play. They played tag. They played a game, I don’t know what it’s called, but it’s a very tricky game. You run in circles, then fall down. Then get up again and run in circles until you fall down again.

Those photos aren’t from last night. I was cooking, remember? But you get the idea. Run. Fall Down. In a yard that is all ours. A place to play. A place where running in circles and digging in the dirt is all two little bodies need to tire themselves out.

I stood in my little kitchen with big windows watching them play, and it all seemed just right.

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A Place To Play

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Link Love

Emily — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:53:47 +0000

Some links from my reader that I loved this week:

I think that’s enough to keep you blog hopping over a cup of your favorite warm drink. Enjoy your weekend!

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Link Love

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