Sorting Clothes...

Yes, it is THAT time of year again.....the time of changing seasons and the dreaded changing of the wardrobe.   Putting winter stuff away and pulling out the summer stuff.  For us adults, it is not too big of a deal if we have not fluctuated our weight too much.  But for those of us who have young children at home, this can be the most challenging spring cleaning project there is!  This used to be harder for me...when the kids had more clothes.  But after downsizing to a travel trailer, let's just say we have to be VERY conservative about what we bring and what we wear.  We each have one small drawer for socks and underwear.  Then we have 2 small closets to fit 5 people's worth of clothes.  One closet for the kids, one for hubby and I.  We have hanging pegs everywhere they will fit for jackets, bathrobe, clothes worn but not dirty, towels, etc.  So here is what we do:


Each child gets about 8-10 pairs of socks and slightly more underwear.  During the summer they get 7-8 t-shirts (G gets more as she inherits E's tops).  They each get 2-3 long shorts/capris and we keep 1-2 pair of jeans for the cooler days/nights.  We also keep out 1-2 sweatshirts.  They also get 2 sets of pj's - they wear their shorts and pj's for 3-4 days in a row (depending on how dirty they get playing outside).  This helps keep laundry down somewhat.  When hubby was the only one working, I did laundry once a week.  But with both of us working, our laundry pile grows very quickly as we HAVE to change our work clothes each day due to the nature of our jobs.  So laundry now gets done about every 5 days or so depending on our work schedules and who has had the most sleep.  :) 


As for us adults, I own 1 pair of jeans and 3 capris for the summer (I bought a pair as I couldn't find mine from last summer - found them today so now that makes 3!).  I have about 8-10 t-shirts - but those include some for sleeping in as I have 2 yoga pants I use as sleepwear with an over sized t-shirt.  I now have only 1 sweatshirt - I had 2 until today when the puppy was playing and his tooth got caught in my sleeve and ripped a nice gash.  Hubby has about the same amount of clothes - plus we have 3-4 outfits for work.  We used to have more, that is when we had a house and all.  Clothes were much more time consuming to do when the seasons changed.  But today it took me a total of an hour to get it all done.  Not bad.  We have one bag to go to goodwill and 2 bags to go to storage that holds all our winter stuff.  We could keep it here but being so close to our storage and having leak problems with our trailer, I would prefer to keep our clothes dry and in good condition, given we have so few of them now!  :) 


So time to get those summer clothes out, open the windows, air out the house, and enjoy the spring days! 


Below are the kids' closet and a few drawers.  The closets include a few long sleeved shirts as the weather is still finicky!

Welcome!

Welcome to a new beginning for me!  I have had a few blogs over the years...some designed for homeschooling, some for traveling.  I realized I just needed to throw it all together into one simple blog.  I LOVE blogging....it is so awesome to go back over the years and look at the pictures and read what we were doing....like a high tech scrapbook!  I can type and upload faster than I can hand write and print pictures on the printer and tape them into a scrapbook!  Don't get me wrong....I love a good old fashioned photo album, but blogging offers a different aspect that one cannot get from a photo album....interaction with others across the globe!  :)  I will be more involved in reading other blogs as that is where I learn A LOT about everything!!!!  :)  I will also be providing some very useful links to websites that I feel has helped me become the person I am today.  And of course I will be offering reviews about books I have and will read.  I am an avid reader!!!  I spent more time in libraries and bookstores than the mall growing up!  I am not a window shopper!  I despise going to the mall unless I have a purpose!  :)  But the bookstore??  Ohhhh, I could browse for HOURS!!  If only the little ones would stay quiet long enough for me to browse all the sections!  :) 

Seriously though, I am here to offer many tips and advice about living a more simple life.  Some will be extreme, and others will be, well, more simple!  :)  The thing is, life is so chaotic for so many people.  It was for us and we are heading down a more simple path.  We are not there yet, but getting closer day by day!  Our idea of simple will be different than other people's idea of simple.  That is a good thing as we can all learn from each other!  One thing to remember....trying something new may seem more overwhelming and difficult at first....almost not worth the time.  BUT the benefits of changing to a more simple life far out weighs those frustrating moments!  Trust me!  I am 5 years into changing our lives and there were days that I didn't think I could do it anymore!  But here we are....more healthy, more financially stable, and by far HAPPIER! 

More about me:  I am an RN, a wife, a mother of 3, and a Christian.  I had 5 years off from working outside the home.   I returned to work last August, but this is only temporary for 1-2 years.  While I work among modern medicine, I believe in a more holistic approach to health....including but not limited to homeopathy, chiropractic care, herbs, proper nutrition, and energy healing.   We went from a 3 bedroom, 1200 sq foot home to traveling from one apartment to another (for work) and then finally traveling in a 28 foot travel trailer.  I learned what was REALLY important in day to day life!!!  Now we are in the process of buying 35 acres on the country to homestead!  Hubby and I share the responsibilities of homeschooling our 3 children.  It is a blessing to have them home everyday with us!  We eat a very natural diet (think organic produce, grinding our own wheat, drinking fresh (aka raw) milk), and even feed our puppy an all raw diet.  We are not perfect and often stray from what we should be eating to what we would love to eat!  But to date I have dropped 80 pounds and hubby about 20-30 pounds.  I follow the Bible and have learned the most about being a better wife and mother from Michael and Debi Pearl.  Their teachings are controversial but are truly life saving!!!  They helped me save myself, my marriage, and my children. 

So I invite you to embark on this journey of making life more simple.  It may not be easy, but once the hurdles are jumped, one can truly see just how simple it can all be!!!

P.S.  I will be having a separate page for family happenings to include pics of the kids!!!!