Aloha from the newly established Hale {House} Saling!
And I do mean newly established. At least that’s my excuse for still having stuff everywhere. Oh, and for my idea of Sunday fashion to be an old t-shirt and cut-offs and please, let’s not even talk about the hair. Or the pile of stuff on my desk. Just give me caffeine and let’s play nice today, mmmmkay?
After more than a week of carrying boxes up and down stairs, unwrapping, hauling literally thousands of pounds of stuff to Goodwill, the post thrift shop, and the dump, and cleaning, cleaning, cleaning, we now pronounce our house…livable. Cozy, perhaps. Cheerful even. But definitely livable. We still have a lot of work to do, but I define livable as the state where I no longer want to rip my hair out or collapse on the floor in a toddlerish fit at the sight of boxes and stuff. Oh, stuff. We’ve managed to get rid of most of our stuff – remember the keep, store, sell, donate, and toss piles? The last four are gone! – but it was really hard at the end not to just push everything into the toss pile!
I’m really grateful that we got to the point where we were forced to downsize. It was just too easy, before, to look at something {i.e. a pair of expensive heels I’d worn once, because they’re extremely painful} and think, “Those are really nice, I bet I can find a place for those until I need them again,” even though I was pretty sure I’d never need them. Now, we don’t have that luxury. Now if it’s not useful, if it’s not needed, it’s out! And life is cleaner for it!
Or it will be when all the remaining things find homes and don’t just sit in piles on my desk…
So the lesson learned from all of this is…
Downsizing has really forced us to think about the things we want to keep around us. I think we even got into that mindset on vacation, because each place we went, instead of picking up lots of souvenirs, we usually came up with one thing that really represented the trip to us, something that was functional and fit in our space, and that was it. Now that we’ve gotten through the headache of going from an 1800-square-foot house with an equal-sized basement to a 1000-square-foot townhouse with no basement, I think it’s going to be easy to keep it that way. I think we’re going to be a lot pickier about how much we shop for and what we decide to fill our space with.
Currently…
In…that dang Hawaii townhouse I’ve been talking about for months. Finally! And it’s ours. Which means that even though it needs an awful lot of lovin’, we can paint the walls whatever color we want, or even rip them open, we can install new fixtures and features, or even a new kitchen, and we can DIY to our hearts’ content! We’re not first time DIYers but we’ve still got a lot to learn, so this is going to be nothing if not interesting!
Feeling…confident and inspired, and really psyched up life! I really did have a little light-bulb go on between writing up our trip on Alaska, reading some inspiring words from other bloggers, and carrying boxes up and down the stairs. I know a little about a lot of things…but I know a lot about motivation, tackling challenges, making goals and planning to achieve them. Not only that, but I love those things. So why the heck not blog about them? Hence the name change now and new content and events in the works. Please do let me know what you all think as I work this through – your feedback has helped me get to this point, and after all, isn’t the discussion and social bit what blogging is all about?
Reading…a lot of articles on the photography blog f-stoppers. They publish loads of great photography and software tutorials, behind the scenes tips tricks, and videos, and inspiring shoot ideas. I’m also looking up recipes now that I’m finally back to…
Cooking…again! I can’t tell you how happy I am to be cooking again in my own kitchen! And let me say that our bodies are definitely glad for regular food and not restaurant food. We were really starting to poof up. Good food and the exercise that moving in has been have been really good for us, and we’re trying to go on regular walks a couple times a day. My calf has healed up to the point that I think I’m ready to start running again next week, so let’s bring on the fitness!
Clicking…on a number of different paleo {this is my fave so far} and gluten free {again, current fave} websites and blogs for cooking ideas. While I’m not going paleo or gluten free and really don’t support going on any specialty diet if you don’t have the health conditions that require them, I do find that searching those sites helps eliminate a lot of problem ingredients – over processed foods or metabolism-killers that do a number on any health plan.
Writing…pretty much the same things I was working on last week. I’m trying to at least work on my blog editorial calendar and get a few posts in the works. I start work tomorrow {!!!} and while I’m looking forward to it, I won’t have the same latitude with my schedule that I had in my previous job, so I want to clear my slate and get focused!
Listening…to the breeze in the trees outside our office window, and the cheerful humming of the fans. Right now, they do the trick, but when my husband sets up all his computer equipment, we may need to put in an A/C unit.
Smelling…sweet Hawaiian air. There’s nothing quite like it.
Thinking…that keeping focused on fitness will not only keep me busy but will distract me from spending money on all the stuff we need for the house. Like a kitchen renovation. Yeah, that’s not happening anytime soon, although we’re starting plans for the overhaul this place is going to get! I’m also thinking I’m going to build in some new challenges – budgeting challenges, no-drive days, no-spend weeks, and things like that – to help me save up for these renovations!
Wishing…I didn’t always want to do everything right away, and that I couldn’t figure out ways to make it happen. I’m going to put a poster on my wall that says “Financially – just because you CAN doesn’t mean you SHOULD.” Actually, that pretty much applies to all things, doesn’t it?
Hoping…for good things at my first day back on the job tomorrow. Yes, I’m headed back to work!
Wearing…what’s in the picture. T-shirt and shorts have been the daily uniform around here. Don’t judge me.
Loving…Hawaii. Scott and I are really happy to be back here {who wouldn’t be?} and really excited about being back in this house! Even though I’m complaining about it, we’re two DIY nerds who are really excited to do patching and painting and flooring and whatever else this house needs! Bring it on!
What’s on your mind, currently?
KCS
P.S. Linking up with Lauren at Siddathornton for the Sunday Currently.
