My word of the year is Simplify. Even though it is only one word is had a wide variety of meanings. Being grounded and full present in the current moment is part of simplifying my life. So is eating more wholesome foods, as well as exercising more and decluttering my living environment. Remember to take quiet time for myself, as well as spending more one on one time with Michael is yet another aspect of simplicity to me. It is almost the end of the month so I figure it is time for a little personal evaluation to see how things are going.


Exercising is going well, though barely any of it is outside, unless chasing Damian around the yard every other day counts… I did 20 minutes of yoga this morning, which is almost forever in the timescale of a mommy with a toddler and baby. I tend to do about 30 minutes of workout a day, 10 minutes here or there, where ever I can fit it in. As I mentioned the other day, we recently bought a wii and working out with that qualifies and both fun and money saving. Though buying the thing took a bite out of the budget (though most of the money came as a Christmas gift from my father) we have been spending less outside the home because of it. I find the more I work out the happier I am, even when it is cloudy and dark out. I keep finding myself doing squats or leg lifts if I am waiting for something to finish (like something to cook.)

Decluttering is more of an uphill battle. We don’t really have a lot of stuff, it is just completely disorganized. Particularly the basement. I am as guilty as anyone when it comes to putting stuff back once I finish with it. A habit I am trying hard to break. I have a plan though, the Cleaning Grand Plan! One room at a time, slowly, consciously, everything needs to be evaluated, everything needs a place, even if that is in a storage box for now. I have been working on the kitchen since the beginning of the month. Next to the basement, it is the most in need of decluttering. I am saving the basement for last even though it is the messiest. Everything that will need to be stored will end up there. My mom always taught me the rule of thumb when cleaning is to do it from the top down. I want the kitchen to be streamlined for cooking but still pleasant to be in. Form and function are not always the best of friends but we are getting there. The next room I will face will be the pantry, which is technically part of the basement, but a separate room. Every rule has their exceptions. I am also making a home notebook to keep track of everything I am doing as well as creating cleaning schedules to keep up with all the changes.

Wholesome eating isn’t too much a struggle for me to add to our life as it is mostly already there. It is so important to me that Damian have a natural whole food diet. However I tend to eat more on the go, cramming quick snacks between activities more then making myself something balanced, and now with the lack of dairy products in my diet (because of Ivy) I need to be even more careful with my nutrition. Recently my main focus has been to have us all sit down to eat at the table rather then just grabbing a plate and sitting wherever, usually behind a laptop. This has been happening much more often. Sitting down to eat has also made our meal times more consistent which is nice for my routine loving self. An unplanned perk of wanting whole food sit down meals at consistent times is that I have started using my crockpot more frequently which gives me extra time to do other things. Tonight, minestone soup, salad and with the extra time I think I am going to make some fresh bread.

Am I working on being on being present in each moment, living in the Now? What about quiet time for myself and spending alone time with Michael? Well, there is a reason we give ourselves a year to work out some aspects of simplicity. I still do my daily affirmations at our family altar. I feel I am doing better at spending more time with Michael. Personal time… haven’t quite worked that one out yet. I have been finding more time to blog though and plan this year’s garden. There are days when I feel that I live each moment consciously, but then there are just as many days where I feel that I am in such a rush that I find myself at wits end by bedtime. It is a process though, and the more I work on the other aspects of simplicity, the closer I feel I am coming to personal balance.