Minimal Bests

   I've been wanting to update this blog for a while because, even though I talk way more about being healthy than I actually do to follow my words and advice to others, I didn't like that the first photo I saw when I opened my blog each time was a big box of donuts! But this post is about minimalism and giving a lot of stuff away. I loved watching "How to Live Mortgage Free", a British show on Netflix, about people who live in boats or tiny houses, or built a tiny house themselves, or one family owned a duplex and paid off their mortgage in 7 years by living very frugally the last three years. However they did make at least 3x more than we do and maybe their mortgage was lower than ours. A lot of the people who were living in the boats were single or retired or the ones building the tiny houses on trailers and out of shipping containers were younger and did not have any kids.
    Michael and I really dream a lot about moving to Georgia. There are a handful of reasons for this, and I told him that I would love to move in the next 10 or 15 years, but after talking to co-workers and my dad about retirement and pension plans, I feel like we're going to be "stuck" in Florida for the next 30 years! Maybe we can really scrimp our money, while also paying our bills on time, putting a little extra towards our mortgage each month, adding to our savings accounts, and increasing our retirement funds. Then each year, we'll be able to take a week long cabin trip -always to somewhere different in the US, until we can finally move out of state when we retire. The picture of the super cute tiny cabin below is from Washington (via Pinterest), and I'd really like to visit Ashville, NC. I think I made that an idea for the year 2022, for my 35th birthday, but it's always nicer to go in the Fall when the weather is cooler and we can hike longer without getting sweaty from the summer heat!

   A month or two ago I started weeding out Emma's little clothes that don't fit anymore, my own clothes that I rarely ever wear, and also got rid of a lot of scrapbook paper. I tend to get those big 36 page packs, with 12 different designs and 3 of each page, but sometimes only like half of the pages. So I ripped up what I knew I wouldn't care to use. It seemed wasteful, but I've never seen Goodwill selling scrapbook paper, so I don't think they would be able to sell it either - especially since everything I had would be small cut out pieces or random 12x12 sheets. I mailed some of my stickers to my friend's son. I still have a TON of scrapbook supplies, but maybe got rid of 30%.

   I told Michael that I feel really good about getting rid of a lot of stuff. Today I pulled down a bunch of old mugs and water bottles that haven't been used in a long time- or ones we forgot I had. I was happy that Michael said I could get rid of about 20 pieces. Some I just tossed because they had been used often in the past and were stained brown from coffee, but I'll wrap up the ceramic mugs in paper towels and put them in a donation bag. On Monday, I also gave away three more grocery bags full of clothes. Those bags are not pictured.
   I also started reading "Everything That Remains" by Joshua Fields Millburn, one of the founders of The Minimalists, but am slowing down on that since I'm sort of binge-watching a Canadian comedy called Workin' Moms on Netflix this week. (I'm off this week so I can spend a couple extra days with Emma! I need to be editing the book I'm writing about her NICU year too.) So I've only gotten to page 74 of 203 in "Everything That Remains" and that library book is due next week. I'll try to renew it so I have longer to finish reading it, but if someone else has the book on hold after me, then I'll have to return it sooner.
   This photo below does not look minimal at all and is almost embarrassing, but luckily I did toss a few more items after taking this photo. I got rid of two small Bath and Body Works travel size lotions, because, although they smell good, my nose and allergies are a lot more sensitive than they used to be, so the Tahiti Island Dream gives me a headache now and the Velvet Sugar makes me sneeze. I also tossed two bottles of curling mouse- which I probably got from Mia when she moved to Colorado- but her hair is naturally curly. Mine is not, and I am perfectly fine with it being straight and air-drying 99% of the time. So why would I need those products?

    Next, shown below, I took pictures of all of the make up I am keeping, although I rarely wear it. The items by the bag are what I keep in there and the other items are less used, or haven't been used at all, but I don't want to get rid of them because of the variety of pretty colors that I might want to use one day.. They don't take up much space.. I never wear make up to work because I'm not trying to impress anyone with my looks there. Sometimes I will wear eyeliner, but I haven't done that for work in a while. Some of the stuff I decided to keep -like a Mary Kay mascara I got in 2011! is probably super expired and will give me an eye infection- needs to be tossed anyway. And I also don't think I've worn mascara since I started wearing glasses full time.. five years ago!! Yeah, I'm throwing it in the trash right now... done! :)

 ^^ The inside of the Classic 10 tin. I can't remember if I got this from Mia too or if it was from Michael's beauty make up stash. He prefers to stick just with special FX make up, so he gives me his left over beauty make up once in a while, but recently donated a bunch of supplies to the make up school where he works, which I thought was a great idea! Way better than tossing it. This eyeshadow pallet might be from Mia since Michael always buys the expensive Urban Decay pallets from Sephora or Ulta. But who knows, maybe I got it myself from Ross years ago.
   Lastly I went through my jewelry tonight. I had a big bag of necklaces, bracelets, and earrings stashed in the back of the closet for the past three years. I don't think I had worn any of that jewelry since before we moved into our house in May 2016! I should have just thrown the while bag into the Goodwill pile, but of course wanted to go through everything and did save a few pieces. The first photo is what I am keeping and the second photo is what I am giving away:

   Now for some super cute "baby" photos of Emma, who will be 2 years and 2 months old as of Monday, August 12th. She is a great minimalist and requires very little- from her personality. She does have a lot of needs due to medical issues, but she can't help that. She is sooo great at occupying her time and laughing at nothing. Her favorite "toys" are all the medical pieces attached to her and she loves to put them in her mouth, which is fine and safe for her.

A week and a half ago Emma kicked her legs enough that the momentum scooted her body off the soft changing mat and onto the hardwood floor, where she prefers to lay. She kicked her away over to the wall and proceeded to play and be entertained with the curtains for at least 45 minutes! She pulled the curtains up and down, then back and forth with her hands, then moved her legs so she could hold the curtain between her feet and kicked her legs back and forth. Happy as can be. Sometimes when I send the pictures like this to our parents they ask why I don't put her back on the soft changing mat. "What for? She's so happy right now! And if I move her back, she'll eventually kick her way to the wall again." I've done that experiment enough times to prove that Emma does what makes her happy. And that makes us happy too. :)

    A random picture on my Instagram page I found. ^^ I like this minimal water color I did of me, Sharanya, and Mia back in 2015. I forgot about it.  I did delete my apps a few weeks ago (just the apps from my phone- I did not delete the actual accounts) and I have been proud of my very minimal usage. I got on Facebook for about 3 minutes last week to upload a super exciting video of Emma (picking up small toys while sitting up, which she had never done before) and yesterday I used my mom's phone to see the pictures Mia had posted on Instagram recently since her older brother had visited over the weekend. However, even though I'm not scrolling through those apps all the time now, I have been using Pinterest every day, creating various new secret boards. Pinterest has 0% drama attached though, which is calming.

   Here's another picture of Sasha- to remember that she's still kickin'! She'll be 12 years old in a couple weeks, but still has the energy of a 2-year old dog, although she does look tired in this photo. She also is very low maintence and can be happy doing very little. We do open the sliding door for her probably 30 times a day so she can run outside and then relax inside when she gets hot. And it is bothersome when a friend comes over and she barks and barks so loudly, or when she growls at Emma.. But for the other 80% of the time she's a really good dog.
    Lastly, so I can get this posted and go to bed.. Here are some minimal photos from Monday and Tuesday when I spent the night at a condo in St. Augustine with my parents. I was roginally planning to share a bed with my niece, Peyton, but was told she's a night kicker, and when my dad said the couch pulled out into a bed, I decided to sleep there instead. I didn't bring much with me- although I still seemed like a lot when I had to take everything out of my canvas bag to find my phone at the bottom- and even forgot to bring an outfit for the second day, so I just wore the shirt from Monday and then my pajama pants on the drive home since my shorts were wet after we went to the beach. I loved how when I took my shower, all I needed was a bar of soap and an almost empty mini shampoo bottle. The drawer photo was from the night before we left the Ronald McDonald House in Michigan and flew back to Orlando. I was surprised how much bathroom stuff we "needed" and accrued during our 2 1/2 month stay while Emma was in the PICU there from December 2017-February 2018. I told Michael that I wish the drawer always looked like that. The small red pills were also for allergies.

Good night ~ Have a great day and don't spend any money this week! ;)