Down to the Nitty Gritty

So as the saying goes, I am down to the nitty gritty of downsizing.  I have learned a lot from watching videos of other people's downsizing strategies and experience.  I must say that mine have been pretty similar.  It's a process, like most worthwhile things in life!

I found the early stages overwhelming because we had so much stuff, but mentally easy because the items we were parting with didn't have too much sentimental value to me.  I saw each item as unimportant and replaceable if need be.  As a matter of fact, I have felt that way pretty much through the whole experience up until now.  Also, moving into the camper and living in it for a while now really puts space and clutter into perspective!

In the beginning, we got rid of things like excess kitchen items, bathroom clutter and way too many blankets and sheets.  Passing on the games we no longer played and books that we would never read or use again was pretty easy.  I did struggle a bit with some of the kids old school books and items that we had paid a lot of money for at the time, but other than that it wasn't very difficult.  This was all while we were still in the house in Virginia.  I figured that I was better at this than other people because I hadn't really felt the pain of letting go yet.  Well, needless to say, I had only scratched the surface of what was to come.

I pretty much figured we had disposed of all we were going to and I was okay with that. Well, plans changed as the often do.  Justin and I discussed it and decided to give what we had left to our adult children.  We made the decision not to store our extra stuff for years on end.  We realized it would be cheaper in the long run to purchase these things again if we decided to move back into a regular house down the road somewhere.  At the same time, we thought that our adult children who are out on there own now may benefit from having these things.  We especially thought that they could use the furniture as it is of really good quality.  It took us years to be able to buy nice things, so this will give them a jump start.

We are done passing on the easy items.  Onto the tough stuff.  The emotional stuff.  This is when I really found out how hard it is to let go.  I have things that I have kept from childhood that really aren't of any true value in a monetary sense.  However,I have an emotional attachment to many of the things I need to part with now.  I also have many items that belonged to my Mama before she passed. 

Here's the thing.  I have held onto many of my Mama's things simply because they belonged to her.  I think it was like I still had a piece of her if I kept those things.  When in truth, I don't even know if these items had any true value to her and unfortunately she isn't here to ask.  I have love letters from boyfriends she had and little trinkets that I don't even know what they are.  But, they were hers so I kept them.  It's been 20 years on the 15th of February that she passed, and I still have all of these things.  Well, at least I did.  I have already begun the process of letting go of some of these things, but it hasn't been easy and it's not over yet.  

I still have my wedding dress, Mama's wedding dress, wedding albums and baby books.  All my picture albums and home movies.  Many, many cards and letters from my husband, kids, my Mama and Daddy as well as my friends.  So it came down to making some very necessary decisions.  Not easy, but extremely helpful in this process.  I am really focusing on keeping what means the very most to me.  The items that would cause me true grief if I had to part with them permanently.  Surprisingly, up until now, not much has made the cut.

Top of my list of must keeps though were pictures, movies and letters.  Then I had items that needed to be passed on to the kids or extended family. So I am currently in the process of transferring all of the VHS tapes to DVDs and saving a copy to my hard drive.  That will save tons of space.  I went through all the cards and letters, saving only the ones that were the most special to me.  I have taken pictures of my Mama's yearbooks and will be passing those on to my brother.  I also took pictures of mine and Justin's yearbooks and we parted with those.  The kid's baby books are being passed on to them as well as all of their baby items.  My wedding dress is going to my second daughter because she would like to use pieces of it in her own gown one day. This one made me happy!  Not sure what to do with my Mama's dress now though.  Still pondering that one.

So I am down to my Mama's hope chest and my own hope chest.  They are filled with the most precious items to me and I think they were to her as well.  So this part is going to be harder than anything I have had to do yet.  I am trying to condense it down to one or two totes that I can store in the loft of our 5th wheel.  So grateful for that loft right now.  

This has been such an incredible process.  I have felt so many emotions, from exhilarated to sad and everything in between!  I have learned a lot about life, what's important.  I have learned even more about myself...I have definite emotional hoarding tendencies ha ha!  I can look at the personal items that I have held onto all these years and tell that I am attached to my memories through things.  For instance, I had yearbooks all the way back to kindergarten, Valentine's day cards from the 3rd grade, my Brownie uniform and my recreational cheer leading uniform...and the list goes on!  

So in the end I am learning to let go.  I am learning what items are truly of value to me and what items simply weigh me down.  It isn't easy, but it is very necessary for me to de-clutter the past so that I can clear a beautiful space for the present and the future. Besides, the memories are all still in my mind, heart and soul.  Having the tangible item or not, those memories will always be there.  And I will have photos to jog my memory when the time comes, as it surely will, when I don't remember so easily anymore. 

Peace and blessings

My plant-based vegan year in review

So I was thinking about how my lifestyle has changed for the better in the last year.  It's been a year now since I cut all animal products out of my diet.  Wow, the year just flew by!  I did eat animals products on a couple of occasions, but only a handful of times.  Might I also mention that I never felt good after eating those things, not physically or emotionally! 

When I began this journey a year ago, I was overweight with high blood pressure and just overall unhappy with where I was at with my body and health.  It has since become so much more to me than just getting healthier. 

I have learned about things that I never knew about before such as the horrors of animal agriculture, the leather/fur industries, animal testing and the completely  unnecessary suffering I had participated in.  I had no idea about some of the things going on, but somethings I knew and sadly choose to overlook.  Not anymore :) 

There has been quite a bit of education and even more soul searching.  Compassion and respect for all sentient creatures equals abstinance.  How can I claim to love animals and then turn around eat them, buy their skins or even products that cause immense suffering with their testing practices?  I may not personally end animal suffering or save this beautiful planet, but it doesn't excuse me from doing my part.  My heart and conscience are clear now! Besides, the way I see it, it's a win win all the way around.  When I don't participate in the suffering or killing of animals, I am doing as much as I can to leave a smaller footprint on the planet and I'm healthier for it!

I have also learned about organics,  GMOs, nutritional needs, blood pressure, cholesterol, adequate sleep, and more about my overall health than I ever knew before.  Yay me!

I learned very quickly how beneficial a whole food plant based diet was for making me feel amazing!  I also learned how delicious vegan food can be!  I remember feeling overwhelmed in the beginning about what I was gonna eat and what it would taste like.  How do you give up dairy?  What a pleasant surprise it has been that I love what I eat now so much more than I ever enjoyed what I used to eat!

There have been some very visible changes, as well as some that are not so noticeable.  I've lost about 35 pounds without any deprivation.  I eat as much as I want until I am completely satisfied.  The only thing I did was change what I eat!  I will admit that I did let myself get sucked back into calorie counting briefly and found it detrimental to my happiness and physical wellness!  I am so much happier than I used to be.  I chalk this up to being at peace with my personal choices, my physical appearance (self-acceptance), better over all health and adequate sleep.

My sleep is amazing and I always feel full of energy.  I can't rave enough about how amazing it feels to be energetic and never mentally foggy.  Being able to focus is so huge for me as I have always been a bit scatter brained ;)

All in all it's been an incredible year and wonderful beginning to my journey towards health and happiness! 

Stay tuned for more changes that took place this year.  I will be writing about living in less than 400 square feet,  minimalism vs. consumerism and what it took to get where we are today.  Another work in progress that is enhancing my life every. single. day. 

Peace and Blessings ♡

San Diego, Serious Downsizing...the Purge

When we began this journey almost a year ago we didn't have a clue where we would be today.  We began purging between March and April 2015.  It was slow at first,  but picked up momentum after we got orders to Alabama.  We decided to trade in our 2008 travel trailer on a new-to-us 2014 Heartland 5th wheel.  Then we began downsizing in earnest! 

Our weight when we moved from Colorado to Virginia was 14,000 pounds!  The new weight from Virginia to Alabama was 8,000 pounds!  We have done a pretty good job I think.  We sold some stuff, gave some to the kids and donated the rest.  So now we have a storage unit in Alabama with what's left.

We've been living in the camper full time now since June of 2015.  We love it so much that we have made the decision to continue living in it full time even when we move next. 

So a few weeks ago we received our next set of orders.  We are being stationed in San Diego, California!  We met in California 22 years ago (in the San Francisco Bay area) when we were both active duty Navy, and now we are headed back to Cali...southern warmth in our future!  Perfect weather for camper life for sure!

While we were very excited about our new duty station, we were left with some decisions to make concerning what's left of our belongings in storage.  After giving it a lot of thought, we have decided to get rid of everything...gasp!  I, personally, had no idea what an emotional roller coaster it would be!  In the end the decision was based on cost and need.  It was going to cost us so much money to store our belongings indefinitely and we didn't need any of those things because we have been living without them for months now.  We didn't want our life's collection of stuff to go to waste, so we asked our adult children if they wanted our things.  Of course, they did!  

I don't want our children to be "saddled" with our (mostly mine) personal memorabilia so we went through everything!  One. Box. At. A. Time.  We did this in 2 sessions and finished last weekend.  It was so much harder than I thought it was gonna be.  Maybe, it was because I had already gotten rid of so much stuff before leaving Virginia.  Maybe, it was because the stuff I had gotten rid of thus far I had no real emotional attachment to.  I don't know.  But, this time it was really difficult to let go.  I felt like I was boxing up what took more than 22 years of a life together to accumulate.  No matter, it was emotionally draining, but in the end it was also very freeing.  I am so grateful that our children will have some good quality furniture, appliances, kitchen ware and tools.  It will help them a great deal as they start their adult lives.  

We still have a few boxes to pare down that we had set aside to take with us.  I know for a fact that we aren't gonna have room for all of these things, so there are still a few more difficult days ahead. Pictures have to come out of frames, photo albums have to be pared down or given to the kids, cards letters and gifts from the children have to be sorted out.  We'll get there, but I am sure that there will be more than a few tears along the way.

Sometimes the hardest things to do for me are the most freeing and rewarding in the long run.  I can't even remember what 90% of the items were that we've parted with over the last year.  Life is so much easier without all of the stuff to clutter it up.  You can focus on living and making new memories instead of cleaning, organizing or storing needless items.  And in the end, the memories are all in my heart and mind...that is all I'll be taking with me when I journey beyond this world anyway!

Peace and Blessings

Florida Campground Review

Treasure Coast RV Resort
Fort Pierce, FL

Well, it has taking me long enough to get around to writing this review don't you think?  Everything was great...the end!  Just kidding, but in all seriousness, it was a pretty sweet campground. 

The grounds were fantastic and very well manicured. Each space has their very own palm tree... what more could you ask for really!  The lots were fairly close together,  but the neighbors were all very nice so it didn't seem like too big of a deal.

There wasn't very much room for our chairs on the concrete pad along with the provided picnic table either.  Our 5th wheel is 44ft. long and has three slides so it really takes up a lot of space.  Other folks with smaller rigs were better off space wise obviously.  We didn't spend much time at the campground as we were visiting family,  but if we were hanging out there longer it might have been less than comfortable for us. 

The pool area was lovely surrounded again by palm trees and plenty of deck chairs/tables. The pool was located right next to a nice pond which had ample park benches to sit down by the water.  It gave a very relaxing vibe. 

There were several little extras that we appreciated as well - like coffee pool side in the morning and popcorn was available all day!  We love popcorn, so this was a treat for sure.

They also had lots of activities to choose from daily.  There was water aerobic exercise,  live music, bingo and poker night to name a few.  Again, we didn't participate in too much because we were busy with family! 

Unfortunately,  I can't comment on the restrooms or laundry facility because I never used them, but they looked well maintained from what I did see.  The poolside restrooms were very clean (we did use those of course). 

The location was fantastic for shopping and accessing major roads.  Huge bonus for us getting to family in neighboring towns every day!

So all in all I would most definitely stay in this campground again.  Sorry that I didn't include the rate,  but Justin already left for work and I forgot to ask him.  I'm pretty sure it was reasonable because he never mentioned it being too pricey.  Hope that this review will help of you're ever traveling along the Treasure Coast of Florida...big thumbs up!

Bittersweet

Well we had a wonderful week with my son,  but he had to be back yesterday.  It has been a great visit, but somehow I didn't get nearly enough pictures.  It was a bittersweet Christmas as this was our first Christmas away from our two older daughters.  It was very surreal for sure.  We did skype with both girls so that was really nice.  Sometimes we sure love technology!  We have also been to the pool several times, to the beach (sort of), and visited with extended family.  We've had really nice weather up until yesterday.  rained pretty much all day!  Today isn't looking too promising either.  That's ok though because we're silk having a great time with family!  We only have 6 days left and we'll be pulling our house on wheels back to Alabama.  The weather there has been really bad, so we're certainly glad that we missed it.  I'll post about the campground after we leave, but I'll say this, it is very nice.  Hope everyone had a great holiday!

Florida Bound

It's time!  We'll be getting on the road, house in tow, in the morning.  I've got everything as stable as I can get it and hopefully it'll all ride well.  We'll see if I need to make improvements when we arrive.

The trip should take around 8 hours if all goes well.  We have to be in the campground by 9 pm or they lock the gates!  So we're hoping for an uneventful trip.
My son arrived there this morning!  I'm so excited to see everyone.  We'll be seeing my brother and his sweet family, my son, my daughter, my grandmother, my husband's cousin and her family, and several friends!

We'll be there for two weeks.  The campground has a heated pool and hot tub... so we're hoping for nice warm Florida weather for sure!  I'll post a campground review at the end of the trip.  I'll include the name and contact info. I'll also make a list of pros and cons for anyone who might be interested.

Hope your holidays are wonderful and filled with quality time with those you love!  Merry Christmas to all y'all ♡

Time to ponder...life.

Once in a while I will come to a point where I simply can't understand what's going on in the world around me.  I literally cannot wrap my mind around the chaos. It usually hits me like a ton of bricks, even though it's been building up for some time.  It's really weird that I can see it coming, but then my mind and spirit react like it came out of nowhere. This is one of those times.

I recognize when this happens because I find that I reach for my phone to post on FB about something and then a) I delete it before I can hit send or b) I get so caught up in the confusion I feel that I don't even attempt to post at all and c) I don't even want to discuss whatever "it" is with my family.  When "c" happens it's definitely time to be still and refocus.

I'm pretty sure it has to do with a bunch of random moments of hyper clarity wrapped in "I'm so clueless as to how to make it better" thoughts that seem to envelope me.  It's in these times that I can feel myself withdrawing from friends and sometimes even family.

The clarity I mentioned isn't what you might think, it's more like I can see that my heart, mind, spirit and thought process are... well, a little "out of whack" so to speak. 

I get so wrapped up in the emotions of what is going on in the world, and then get myself into mental "slow-motioned" frenzy.  I find the problems in the world to be so overwhelming that all I can do is retreat and cry a little at the sadness of it all.

Running through my mind I hear... war is around the corner, people are killing each other, people are starving, humanity is destroying our planet, what kind of future will my children have, why are people so apathetic, there is a holocaust of babies and animals, cruelty is everywhere, you need to do something, this really makes me angry...oh yeah why?, you're only one person-you'll never make a difference, well that's a great excuse...  The list just goes on and on, questioning my sanity next due to the ongoing internal discussion.  Ha.

Anyway, I find it's at times like this that I need to retreat just a little.  I owe it to my conscience, my heart and to the precious world around me to ponder what is weighing down my spirit.  I need to take a good hard look at what needs to be addressed as well as what I have no control over. 

Things that I can address aren't always easy, but at least I can take action.  Areas that are out of my control, such as the actions of others...I just have to take a little time and make peace with that fact the best that I can.  I didn't memorize the "Serenity Prayer" for nothing, that's for sure!

So if it happens that friends and family don't hear from me for days, weeks or months, don't be alarmed.  I'm just trying to figure out my place, responsibility and direction in this crazy world we live in.  Who knows, maybe it'll happen quickly, maybe it'll truly take months.  
Until then, I will be in my own little world, soul searching my way back to my own centered place of calm and inner peace! 

Wishing everyone a happy and safe holiday season ♡♡♡