A year of living simply...or is it simpler?

Could I do it? Could I live a more minimal, simple life? Less consumerism?
I'm going to start. It's perfect timing too since I really want to work on home improvement stuff this year. My home is small, but I love it, and I think I'll love it even more once it's more me, more organized and reflects how I want to live.
As a child of a military family, I have very little that's leftover from my childhood. I think that lends itself to my slight hoarding attachment to things. But, I'm working on it. My current project is getting rid of extra furniture pieces from our move from a somewhat larger home last year. The storage here is better, with ample attic space, but you don't want to have a house full of crap in the attic for your kids to get rid of you, do you?
I'm a work in progress, but it's worth the effort. Cooking from scratch, eating more meals at home, sharing time with family doing things to build memories, trying my hand at diy.
It'll be interesting to be look back a year from now and see what changes I've been able to make.

It's here! It's here

2014, that is! I can't say I was awake to ring it in. After all, I worked on the 31st. But we did some fun stuff. A family dinner, set off fireworks before heading off to bed. And now, it's 2014.
I have so many plans.
Of course, there's learning my new job and making many memories with my family.
Finances and living simply are high on the list as well. Living in a great neighborhood (ya know, location, location) makes it so much easier to embrace your space. Even a small space.
I have tons of projects for the house planned, of course time will be an issue, but you have to have dreams. That includes stepping outside my box and doing some stuff in the yard. I totally am out of my depth when it comes to landscaping, but that's what library and you tube are for. I have plans to rebuild the deck and create a firepit.
I also want to repaint the kitchen cabinets and maybe do a something to the counters and put in a backsplash. I'd love to get these projects started. It's about finding the time. For now...you tube has become my bestie, along with Apartment Therapy and pinterest.

2013 in review

It was a very good year. But, certainly one that brought so, so many changes. Let's see, so many things happened
I finalized my divorce at long last (it was a good thing)
I completed my graduate degree
I purchased a new home (solo, you go girl) for me and the kids
Moved to a new town and awesome neighborhood
Sent my first born off to college
Obtained my pediatric certification
Got an awesome new job

For 2014 I will be working on learning a new job, spending as much time as possible with my family, doing some diy on the house, crafting, traveling and saving for the future. Here's to a great 2014, I can't wait to meet you.

Priorities

Lately, my main priority has been to find a new job, post graduate school. I'm happy to say that I will be starting a new position the first of the year. I'm excited and nervous. I've been a bed side nurse for so long. I KNOW how to take care of a patient. My new position will be challenging to say the least.  I'll be a novice for the first time in a long time. But, it's going to provide me growth I wouldn't have any other way. It's going to fulfill professional goals that I've long held. But most importantly, I'll be able to care for my family financially.  There's been many sacrifices, but now I can look towards the future.
I look forward to the future. 2014 is looking bright. Hopefully, I'll balance learning new things with fun projects. I look forward to sewing, knitting and home improvement. I've gotten some new tools that I want to break in. Ahhh...good things to come.

On Courage

Sometimes you encounter certain people, however briefly so that you can learn something that you need to learn. I recently encountered a man who reminded me that you're only inhibited by your own fears. That failure is ok.That if something doesn't work out, you just try again. We were talking about home improvement at the time, but I realized that it was actually relevant to everything in life. Sometimes you just have to go for it, even if you might fail. You have to be willing to take risk. I knew that, but maybe I had forgotten. I can be fearless in some ways, but sometimes my practicalness inhibits me. But, now I'm reminded to have courage. Courage to accept how things are. Courage to wait for what is to come. Courage to change. Courage to embrace the unknown, uncertainties of life. Have Courage.

Home tours and a space for myself.

I'm fascinated. I can't get enough of Apartment Therapy, Houzz and shelter blogs. I confess, I'm drawn to the ones that feature homes under 2000 sq. ft that don't look like they're waiting to be photographed for a spread into House Beautiful...you know what I'm talking about. The ones that look like real people actually live there.
Looking at all those tours have motivated me to document my own humble home improvement journey. When I say the budget is tight, I'm talking the kind of tightness that squeaks. I don't want to comprise though, so I'll go slow, look for bargains and buy what I love. This is my forever home so there's no deadline.
I haven't had a ton of time to work on my own home lately (I mean between working fulltime and being a single mom), other than getting mostly unpacked and repainting the living room. Today I'm starting on the master bedroom. I'm repainting the dark blue green walls to BM Gray Cashmere. It's a subtle sophisticated blue green gray color. I'd love to pull up the carpet as well to reveal the hardwoods, but that's not in the budget at the moment. I'll keep my eyes out for a great rug. I also have some dark chocolate curtains for $3.59 and some bamboo shades I got for $4 at the thrift store. All the furniture came from the thrift store. All the pieces are structurally sound, but have seen better days and need to be refinished. All in good time though.

Moving in day

Yesterday was a really big day in the life of a mother...and of course the child. I drove my eldest to college. It seems like only yesterday I was looking into the face of a newborn and now I'm looking up at young adult. I'm extremely proud of him and excited for him as well. Good luck baby boy...you're on your way!