Letting Go=Simplifying

If you know me, you know that I am a planner.  I love to make lists, I love to plan for today, tomorrow and five years from now.  So this spring, the plan was to sell our house.  If you have read my previous post, we had a lot of showings.  Like 82 total...in 8 weeks.  It was at that time that Mike and I both felt we needed to let go of the idea of moving for the time being.  This does not mean we are staying in this house forever, but it does mean that we need to listen to God's plan for us.  So thankful that we are on the same page!  We took our house off of the market on May 15...two months after listing it.  Right now, we feel like we will wait a year and try again.

That felt so good...changing my plan because I knew that we were being led in a different direction.  The letting go did not stop there.  This past year I have choreographed 10 shows.  For those that are not familiar with theatre, that is a lot in one year!  Don't get me wrong, I love working on shows...the progress you see from start to finish; the relationships you build as you work together to create something for the stage; the audiences that get to sit and enjoy each production.  It's all so satisfying.  That being said, I was gone from my family a lot...after school, evenings, weekends.  Mike and I were tag team parenting, and it was hard.  I saw a quote that said, "Leadership opportunities will always be available to you, but your children will only be this age once."  (Totally paraphrased...)  This led me to realize that choreographing should not be my number one priority...so I resigned from several shows.  Wow!  That was hard, but so freeing. 

So...my one word for the year...SIMPLIFY...has finally started producing the fruit I was expecting months ago.  I was able to say no to some people that I love...my friends/colleagues.  And guess what??  They understood!  They were not mad or frustrated with me...disappointed?  Maybe...I mean I am too!  One week later I feel great about my decisions and I am resting in the fact that I am following God's plan for my family.  Can't wait to see what simplifying will provide for us in the months and years to come!

Parade of Homes Tour...

Our house has been on the market for 51 days.  In those 51 days we have had 73 showings...but who's counting?  This has been a time of excitement and disappointment for Mike and me.  The emotional roller coaster of real estate is really ridiculous.  There was one night we were expecting an offer from a buyer...I was elated.  There was a weight lifted off of my shoulders I flew through my day laughing, frolicking, and thinking anything was possible in my life.  Then we get the call...they decided on another house last minute.  Instantly my list was never ending and everything my children did got on my nerves. 

On Sunday morning I mentioned to Mike that our timing might be off...maybe we were jumping the gun on putting our house on the market.  (Our original thoughts were a year from now.)  We both decided to just pray on that for a bit.  After all, we are in no rush either way.  So we headed to church and I went to teach my 2nd grade Sunday School class.  It is the start of a new month, which means the start of a new virtue...and wouldn't you know, our virtue this month is "patience."  (OK God...I get it!)  Patience is described as waiting until later for what you want now.  What a simple definition for a very difficult word to embrace.  Right now I want a bigger house, I want to know where my oldest will attend first grade, I want to live closer to the schools where I work, and the list can go on.  The reality is that God is asking me to wait...to trust...and to live where I am for the time being.

So the real estate roller coaster continues...and as for the parade of homes tour?  I think we are the most popular house.  Who knows where we will be from this point forward...we are choosing to put our trust in the Lord.  He will guide us...and I pray we are smart enough to listen! :)

Remember Me?

So...January 12 was a long time ago.  I literally tried to log in and couldn't remember how to get to my blog...uhhhh...is this a sign that I shouldn't have one?!  haha!  I love the way I make a plan and then it literally take a 180 spin!  That is what the last three months have been for us!

January: Finished choreographing "Once on This Island" at HMS and started choreographing "Joseph" at DeSoto High School. 

February: Spent a week at Disney Land with Aunt Megan...it was awesome!!!  Finished "Joseph" at DeSoto High School. It snowed A LOT!  Potty trained Abby on said snow days!!!  We have NO MORE DIAPERS!!!!  That is my idea of simplifying.  Going somewhere without a diaper bag is amazing!

March: We decided to put our house on the market because interest rates are so great right now.  Spent two weeks running around like mad people getting it ready.  It went on the market March 15...and is still on the market.  (Hey, my house has been clean for a month!)  I started working on "Charlie Brown" with CYT and doing choir choreography at HMS and MCMS. 

April: House is on the market...we have had 51 showings with lots of nice feedback...but no offers!  Nooooo!  I am working on "Charlie Brown", HMS choirs, and a flash mob at Sprint...so much fun! :)

So...all of this to say that my ideas of simplifying have gone out the window.  It seems that I can only manage one task at a time...and right now it is keeping a clean house with three lovely littles.  It IS possible...and it IS a great feeling.  Consequently, we have eaten out a lot more.  It's a season I suppose!

This was just a catch up blog for my two (maybe three!) followers.  I am going to work on writing something meaningful...because I do enjoy the writing! 

More soon...SJP

Pintrest Project of the Week!

This week we made a chore chart for Luke! I used a file folder, some Velcro pieces, paper and markers. As you can see, Luke did the art work on the inside indicating his chores! He loved doing that!

Basically we will start the day with all of the flaps down, and as Luke completes the task he will lift the flap. We are hoping this helps us be a little more consistent with chores!

BTW, his daily "to do's" include:
Make bed/pick up room
Feed Pacey
Pick up toys
Set the table
Empty trash when needed

He loves it now...we'll see how it goes!

My One Word

sim·pli·fy:

to reduce to basic essentials

 Phew...a tough word for me to embrace.  I like to be busy.  I like to be involved.  I like to stay up late.  However, these past few months, during my quiet time (and let's be honest, it's not a set time!) I have heard the Lord saying,  "Simplify."  

I fought back a little...But I don't have time to simplify...I have a young family, we have lots of family and friends in town that we want to hang out with, I have shows to choreograph and shows to watch on our DVR, etc.  And finally it came time for new year's resolutions...SIMPLIFY came to me once again!  (Why was I not surprised?!)

 myoneword.org is a site that guides us to choose one word that centers on our character and creates a vision for our future...thus replacing the "New Year's Resolution."  Check it out if you struggle keeping your resolutions but want to try something new this 2013!

 So far simplify looks different than I expected, but here are some ways in which I am making it happen in 2013!

1. I am going to bed by 10:00.  Sleep is important, and I have to get up early...this late night stuff had to go.  (Tear...and more tears.  I love staying up late!)

2. No phone use in the car.  I had gotten really bad about needing to talk while driving, and checking my email/facebook/texts at stoplights.  I need to relearn how to sit at a stoplight and just be.  Plus, I want my kids to see me having good driving/phone habits.  

3. We use cash for almost everything now.  (Thank you Dave Ramsey and Financial Peace University.)  This seems to simplify our finances...once the cash is done, we're done spending!

4. This week I went to the grocery store in the evening...without kids.  That made life so much easier on Wednesday morning.  We weren't running from place to place in our short time between kindergarten drop off and pick up.  

5. I have been content to stay home...not feeling the need to go somewhere or do something every day.  

I am looking forward to the journey that my word will bring in 2013!  I know one of my biggest challenges will be saying no...I'm ready!      

3 Christmas Traditions

When I was a new mom I heard Amy Davis, from Inspiring Moms, speak about creating traditions in your family.  I love a good tradition, and I obsessively started to think about what traditions I would start with my little family.

Christmas is an easy time to start traditions...it's just that sort of holiday.  Mike and I decided we wanted to make the month of December family focused.  It's so easy to make it about parties, gifts, and the schedule. Last year we started the advent envelope countdown...and this year, Luke asked when we got to start the envelopes!  (Yay!!!  A family tradition!!!)

Tradition 1!  I decorate envelopes with fun paper and number them 1-24.  In each envelope I put a short activity for us to complete each day.  The activities vary from making a Christmas craft to family movie night.  It is not anything super complicated, and we make it work with our schedule.  For example, Ryan had a Christmas program at school, so that was our activity for the night.  Our goal is to make sure that it is not an added stress to the month!

Christmas Countdown begins!

I hang the envelopes around our dining room door way...and as you can see the boys were excited to begin!  My favorite part of the tradition is taking a picture of whatever we did with the envelope.  I then make it into a photo book!  I set our book out from last year, and we all loved looking through it!  

Our family at Ryan's Christmas program!  8 days until Christmas!

Tradition #2!  One of our activities involves going to see Santa.  We always get a photo and frame it.  I have an individual photo of each child on their first Christmas and then the family photos.  I then started framing the photos and displaying them.  It is so fun to see the kids with Santa through the years!

It's small...but you get the idea!  Our Santa pictures!

Tradition #3!  We started "Elf on a Shelf" this year after Luke saw it at a friend's house.  It was a fun addition to the month!  Our elf is named Dash, and the kids were very excited to see what he was up to when they woke up in the morning.  He never did anything naughty...we figured our kids didn't need any help dreaming of naughty things to do!