“The simplest things are often the truest.” Happy Tuesday!
love,
melanie
Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage
“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”
It doesn’t matter if your house, garage or list of accolades are expanding. What matters is that your courage, and in turn, your life are expanding.
Happy Tuesday!
love,
melanie
Spring Cleaning Our Airstream
Shiny again!
George and I have been doing some major spring cleaning around the ol’ Airstream. We washed the Airstream, planted flowers, pulled weeds, and at 11:00 last night I decided I needed to recaulk our shower. Home improvement projects are like that. You start one and then realize you need to do five more.
The Before!
It all started with our air conditioning system. It broke at the end of last summer. It was almost cool enough to where we didn’t need it, but not quite. So we bought a portable one instead of the rooftop unit. The portable one was less than half the price of the rooftop unit, but it did not work as well. The first one we had also had a piece fly off in the middle of the night. I woke up screaming. I’m pretty sure I lost a year off my life.
Since we have Bambi, we were really worried about it getting too hot in our tin can, so we shelled out the $600 dollars for a new rooftop unit. Or at least, George did. He’s been working a ton lately and that money went to a good cause.
Be careful!
Well, after we fixed the rooftop unit, we decided the Airstream needed a good wash. And it did. Lord, it did. The poor ol’ thing had endured some major weather since the last time we washed it and just rinsing the dirt off was an epic improvement.
My flowers!
George also surprised me with the flowers and I think they make our Airstream look much more homey.
Have done any sprucing up projects lately? Talk to me in the comments!
love,
melanie
Tuesday Thoughts: Ridiculous
“I end up not buying a lot of things, because I find them ridiculous.”
Most stuff we have isn’t stuff we need. It’s ridiculous stuff that we thought we wanted for a fleeting moment and then never used again. It’s ridiculous stuff that we got as a gift and didn’t want to throw away. It’s ridiculous new stuff that we thought we needed when the old would’ve done just fine. There’s enough ridiculous in our lives without buying more.
love,
melanie
A Small Life Book Club: May’s Pick
This month I’m going to be reading Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less* by Greg McKeown. Although I would consider myself a minimalist in terms of “things,” I often take on too many hobbies, tasks, chores, projects and just extra work. I’m incredibly interested in how to “get the right things done” instead of trying to get everything done. And this book promises to show me how. I’ll be discussing the book on June 1st and I hope you’ll join along.
Happy reading!
love,
melanie
*Affiliate link
Tuesday Thoughts: Success
I often have trouble defining myself as “successful.” I see other people my own age traveling the world, scrambling up the corporate ladder, opening their own businesses and living their dreams. I know that I shouldn’t compare myself to them, but I do. It’s so easy to get caught up in the usual standard for success– big house, nice car, extravagant vacations, etc. Instead, I’m trying to focus on defining success in terms of happiness. I have a happy marriage, the sweetest dog and a family that loves me. I’m still working on wanting just what I have, but I know that I have everything I truly need.
love,
melanie
Airstream Organization
This weekend was a rainy one, so if I had to stay inside for most of the weekend, I decided that I might as well be productive. I tried not to spend every last dime of my birthday money at the Container Store, but it organizational gizmos are better than candy to me. I may have had to stifle my urge to skip through the store.
I did spend most of my birthday money, but it was well worth it. I’ve been meaning to give some of the cabinets and drawers in the Airstream a little sprucing up for a while, but I just haven’t gotten around to it.
Before and After
Looking at the drawers, cabinets and closets now, I feel so much better.
One problem with the Airstream is that it has super deep cabinets. This is great for storing a lot of stuff, but it’s not great for remembering that you have 15 cans of potatoes. I got these holders that are intended for canned drinks in the fridge, but I used them for canned goods in our “pantry.” Now I can see everything we have to eat.
Before and After
I had always wanted to organize our utensil drawer, but George balked at it every single time I mentioned it. Sorry, honey, you have to organize our utensils now when you put them away. It had to be done! My sanity was at stake.
Sometimes it’s the little things in a little space that make such a difference.
How was your weekend? Let me know in the comments!
love,
melanie
Happy Birthday to me!
baby me!
In the past I’ve written goals for my birthday. I’ve set a lot of them: 27 before 27 and 27 before 28, but this year for my birthday, I’m giving myself a break. Sure, I’ve got goals and super big, super secret things I want to and will accomplish this year, but for now I’m practicing the art of leaving things undone.
I’m a seasoned “do-er.” I’m a list-maker. I’m committed and hard-working and fastidious. But I’m also often stressed out and burned out and quite frankly, tired. I don’t want to make even one goal, but if anything, this year, I want to learn how to relax. I want to learn how to relax and still accomplish things. I want to learn how to take a break and I want to learn how to not count my self-worth by my to-dos.
How have you practiced the art of leaving things undone? Let me know in the comments!
love,
melanie
Tuesday Thoughts: Too Many People
“Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.”
Don’t keep up with the Joneses. You don’t even like them. It’s time to impress yourself.
love,
melanie
Houseless, not Homeless
Last week we had a funny thing happen. Someone that George had known from the church he went to when he was growing up dropped off a card full of cash at our house! Apparently they had heard that George was unemployed (he’s not) and that we were having a hard time (we’re not). But they also had driven by and saw the trailer, so they assumed all of that information was correct. It was a super sweet gesture and I was certainly happy to receive the gift, but we are not “in need.” We’ve returned the money and I thought it might be nice to share the letter that I attached to the money. The long of the short of it is: We consider ourselves to be houseless, not homeless.
Dear _______________,
Thank you so much for your generous gift. It is comforting to know that in a time of need, neighbors, friends and strangers will be there for you. I am writing to you today because this is not our time of need and we cannot accept your gift. Please let me explain.
Almost two years ago, George and I were at a crossroads. I had a new job opportunity in the area. Unfortunately, the job requires me to work evenings. I knew with both of us working “regular jobs,” we would rarely get to see each other. At the same time, George was working as a teacher by day and illustrating by night. Together we made the decision that George should quit his teaching job to pursue his art full-time. In order to get George’s business off the ground, we knew that we would have to make some sacrifices. I make a decent wage at my job, but we knew that it would be difficult to pay rent or buy a house and establish a small business at the same time. Therefore, we decided to live a simpler, smaller life. It is the best decision we have ever made. I know it may look strange to others, but our lifestyle was and is our choice. We consider ourselves very lucky. Neither George nor I have ever known hunger and this lifestyle has given us the ability to save money to pursue our dreams.
I cannot thank you enough for your concern and your gift. Knowing that people care about us is a gift in and of itself.
Thank you,
Melanie and George
Matthew 6:22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If, then, your eye is simple, your whole body will be bright.”
Have anyone ever thought you were in need due to your lifestyle choices? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
love,
melanie