Simplifying Ain't Simple!

Today was supposed to be about deep cleaning and getting the house ready to put up for sale.  Yeah, it’s amazing how a day can seem to start well and then go downhill quickly.  I don’t want to go into details since it involves others but, let’s just say, that today was disastrous and I am spent.  I am cried out and my brain is fried.  In less than a 10-hour span today, I have gone from mildly irritated and impatient to extremely angry and hurt to worried to scared out of my mind to relieved to angry and hurt again and then to just plain worn out.  Now I’m left wondering what I could have done differently and how to help the other person in this equation.  I’m also praying…a lot!  And I know I will be okay.  Jehovah God will not forsake me and, as Scarlett O’Hara says, “tomorrow is another day!” 

There are just so many balls that I’m trying to juggle right now.  It’s so overwhelming at times.  As I’ve mentioned briefly before, I’m trying to simplify.  For me, that means selling my house.  It is too big and the payments are more than I’d like.  I can afford them but I am what you would call “house poor”.  I don’t have much left over to do any of the things I’d like for me and my kids.  I’ve actually wanted to sell my house for years but have held back out of fear and uncertainty.  If I sell, should I buy something else or should I rent?  Should I try to buy something with a few acres out in the country and get chickens like I’ve always wanted?  If I rent, I won’t be responsible for the repairs and other costs of ownership plus where I rent may have amenities like a pool, exercise room, etc.  But what if no one buys my house?  The economy is bad and home values are down.  Plus, it’s a nice house and a nice neighborhood...Ugh!  These are just a few of the wishy-washy thoughts that have plagued me for too long!  At least now, I know for sure what I want to do—sell the house and find a place to rent that is a lot cheaper and easier to care for.  I don’t want any more of my time or energy spent on the home than necessary because I want that time and energy focused on spiritual goals, paying down debt, and doing things with my kids.  I’d like to enroll my kids in art classes; travel with them; get them cell phones; help my daughter get a car and cover insurance when she starts to drive, or give her my car and get me a new(er) one; get new tires for my current car, etc.  Yikes!  There is always something!

Along with selling my house, I am also selling furnishings, decorative items, and other things that I either don’t use, don’t need, or don’t want to dust and care for.  I e-mailed pictures of some of my items to a local furniture consignment shop and just got a reply back that they may already have some buyers so we just need to seal the deal and have them pick my items up.  Things are starting to happen.  That’s a bright spot in the day! 

I also have some items ready to go to a different consignment shop and I’m getting some things ready for a yard sale and the rest will be donated.  Sounds like a plan, right?  Yeah, it is but it’s sad that this is not my first purge.  When I moved from my previous house, I got rid of a lot of large pieces, including a piano, and lots of other items.  Then, while in my current house, I’ve had two yard sales; sold things at a flea market, several different consignment shops, and book shops; and given things away.  How do I still have so much to get rid of?  Believe me, I’m not a hoarder like you see on T.V.  Much of my stuff looks brand new and has been either displayed nicely or packed away in a storage room in my basement.  There is not junk lying around.  My house is neat.  Still, earlier in my life, I fell prey to consumerism and materialism and keeping up with the Jones’.  Now it’s sickening to me.  Thankfully, I am finally at a place in my life where none of it matters.  If I didn’t have kids, I could easily pack up just the necessities and travel in an R.V., live on a houseboat, or live abroad.  For now though, I feel I need to give them more stability than that.  Instead, I’ll simplify as much as I possibly can and enjoy the sense of lightness and freedom that comes with it!

P.S. My son has spent the last couple of hours in his room doing his own purging and cleaning.  I’m really proud of him! 

Strawberry Muffins - Yum!

Hey, everybody!  I just wanted to let you know that I tried the strawberry muffin recipe that I found on  allrecipes.com and they were delicious!  I meant to add chopped pecans but forgot.  Still the recipe was super easy to follow. 

As an extra step, I added a cream cheese frosting from a recipe found on marthastewart.com.  

 Give it a try, I know you’ll love it!

Stawberry Dreams for the Budget Conscious

It’s so funny how things work out sometimes. I was supposed to go strawberry picking yesterday but decided not to go to save money. So, instead the strawberries came to me. Here’s what happened…

Last year at this time, I went with my mom, my son, and a few ladies from our congregation to pick strawberries at a wonderful farm in Nelson County, Virginia called Seaman’s Orchard. What a beautiful day we had! The surrounding area was so picturesque and we got so many deliciously sweet strawberries! (I’ve included some of the pictures I took last year on my phone.) 

This year, we wanted to go back and there were a few other ladies that wanted to go as well. So, on Wednesday I tried to make plans to go yesterday (Friday). The weather forecast was good and it hadn’t rained in a couple of days so it would have been a good day for strawberry picking. However, truth be told, I couldn’t really afford to go what with the price of gas and then having to pay for the strawberries with a depleted grocery fund. I confessed my budgetary concerns and bowed out of going. No problem. I was happy with my decision. Besides, I figured maybe things would look better in June and I could go pick cherries instead.  

Well, that was not the end of it. My friend Patrice called later in the day and advised she was at a different farm picking strawberries and asked if I wanted to come over. It was closer (so less gas) and the day turned out to be absolutely GORGEOUS! I was so tempted! But no, I advised I couldn’t go and I was proud of myself for sticking to my guns. Instead, she invited me and my family over for dinner and a movie later that night. Yay! Time with friends and within my budget!  

So, I made a pie to take and went to the grocery store for a couple of sodas. On the way to the store, my mom and brother called. “It’s such a beautiful day”, they said. “We want to go riding and maybe pick some strawberries. Do you want to come?” What?! A third chance to go strawberry picking on the same day?!  I don’t believe in fate but this was getting ridiculous. I advised I had other plans and declined but said if they could wait until the next day, I would go with them. Hey, at least the gas would be paid for and I wouldn’t have to buy anything if I didn’t want to. Well, they were non-committal on that and I kept my plans with my friend. 

When I got to Patrice’s house, she had about 20 jars of strawberries she had canned (which I tasted and it was yummy!) and two trays of beautiful, plump strawberries she had frozen and was putting into freezer bags. Yay for her! Waah for me! Still, we had a fun evening. I absolutely love her family!!

Well, towards the end of the evening I missed a call and had a voicemail message from my brother. He advised that he and my mom did go strawberry picking at Seaman’s Orchard and got extras so I could pick them up on my way home. Since all good things ultimately come from Jehovah God, I will consider this to be a gift from Him as well as my family. And what a lovely gift it is. Sweet, fresh, and local strawberries. Doesn’t get much better! 

So, late last night and eyeing my bounty, I considered all of the ways I could use them (after I give some to my sister and niece). I didn’t want to get out my canning equipment to make jam this year, at least not the next day. So I brainstormed what I could do with my strawberries. It was late and a late-night snack was called for so I was just going to have a mayo and American cheese sandwich, however, a light bulb went off! What if I slice a strawberry and put it on the sandwich? Is that too weird? Well, I tried it and it is not weird at all. It was actually quite good! Here are a few other budget friendly ways to use fresh strawberries:

·        Make a cool, refreshing pie by mixing whipped topping with about a third of a box of strawberry gelatin. Stir in chopped strawberries then transfer the mixture to a graham cracker crust. Top with more whipped topping and add a few decorative strawberries on top. Yummy!!

·        Make freezer jam. I haven’t tried this but another friend says it is easier and tastier than canning. I found super easy instructions at about.com and this is what I will try soon!

·        Make your own angel food or pound cake and top with sliced strawberries that have been macerated in a little sugar. Yum! You can find cake recipes online and even find recipes to make your own whipped topping. Here are links to two recipes that I found on cooks.com--option1 and option 2. I’m going to try it and, if it works, may never have to buy whipped topping again!

·        Melt some chocolate to dip your strawberries. Yummy and decadent! Don’t know how to melt chocolate? Try following the tips given at about.com.

·        Add a few strawberries to cereal or oatmeal.

·        Make strawberry muffins. I haven't tried this yet but found a link on allrecipes.com to what looks to be a good recipe that I will try in the near future.

·        Slice strawberries and put in a nice spinach salad with walnuts or pecans and your favorite cheese.

·        Look up a recipe online that suits the ingredients you have on hand and make your own strawberry salad dressing. I found one at recipe.com that I tweaked for my ingredients. Instead of balsamic vinegar, I used white vinegar. It got the taste test seal of approval from me and my son.

·        Make your drink of choice better with fresh strawberries—daiquiri; strawberry lemonade, smoothie, or milkshake; or add sliced fresh strawberries to some sparkling water or lemon-lime soda.

 

And the list can go on and on. But you get the idea. If your gas and food budget allows, go pick your own fresh strawberries (I’ve seen as low as $1.30/lb.) and enjoy their natural sweetness in any number of creative, unique, and frugal ways!

Where have I been, you ask?

Hey, everybody! If you read my other blog (www.explorevirginia.blogspot.com), you know that I haven’t been keeping up with either blog very well as a little thing called "Life" keeps getting in the way. You see, since January, I started home schooling my son; have been trying to simplify my life by getting rid of things (that’s actually been going on for years!); lost a family member; have been doing work to sell my home; looking for a job that will enable me to work part-time from home; trying to be a good Mom; cooking, cleaning, paying bills; learning some new job skills via online classes; trying to maintain a spiritual routine; etc., etc. And, for me, it gets really hard to focus on too many things at once. I can only keep so many balls in the air at one time. Inevitably, one or two drop for a while until I can pick them up again. In this case, my blogs were dropped for a bit.

Plus, truth be told, I got into a little funk there too. You know, self-doubt. What’s the purpose of my blogs? Who is even reading them? I’m not a good enough writer. Wah, wah, wah! I have to say that it is very heartening to look at my blog stats from time to time and see interest from people all over the world. I don’t know how you guys stumble upon my blogs but it is the coolest thing ever to know that people from Russia, Indonesia, Brazil, Germany, the U.K., Japan, Latvia, Columbia, South Korea, and many more places are checking out my blogs! So, thank you!!

And, yeah, I am definitely a wanna-be world traveler! The only times I have been out of the U.S. I went to the Bahamas and Canada. That was great but not enough. There is a vast, interesting world out there full of fascinating people, languages, cultures, wildlife, and topography. Hence, one of my major motivations for simplifying my life--getting out of debt to live the life I want and teach my kids a thing or two about what is really important. I recently stumbled upon blogs by two families that are doing this very thing. You can check them out at www.manvsdebt.com and www.discovershareinspire.com.

For me, these families have helped me solidify my plans for the future. I have a goal to work toward and I'm very excited about that! I'll have more about the changes I'm making and how I’m working to accomplish my goals in future blog posts. I hope you’ll keep coming back and give me feedback or even just share how you simplified your life in the comments section! Maybe we can inspire one another! Until next time, this southern fried and tied up girl wishes you all well on your life’s journey!