Showing posts with label home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home. Show all posts

Thursday, February 28, 2019

Another Brand of Happiness


I do not remember a time when I was not a dreamer.  From my earliest memory, everything I saw had life and noises were full of wonder and mystery.  I was a weird child.  Luckily enough I did have amazing friends that tolerated my strange obsession with fantasy-thinking and loved me for who I was. (Thank you Krystle, Jenny G, Glo, Jenny B, Ashlee, and Kae)

Good thing about weird children is that they grow up to be eccentric adults.  Truth be told, we are just really fun people...you know we are. 😂  There was a magic all around me, and I can still feel it today.  A feeling that starts in your chest and moves outward...it's a calm excitement that has phantom tingles as it travels.  I believe the words that have been circulating around recently are..."spark joy".

In my earlier post about our Minimalism transition, I talked about this a little bit.  You can read about it here.  I want to talk about what happens when all you wear, everyday, are things that create this feeling of joy.  An amazing thing happens...

You feel it.


It is another brand of happiness (a more expensive and well made version), and it shares space with confidence.  I believe this happens because you are connecting to artistic reflections of yourself, granted you've got to do a bit of soul searching at the beginning (hardest but most rewarding part).  There is more to this than just connecting to a article of clothing, its the creativity that helped design it, the skills that made it...a creative-designed-skill that connects you to its Beauty.  It's the same force that keeps us silent starting into each sunrise and sunset.  It's the same pull that draws us to stillness on each beach crashing with gentle waves.  I believe with everything that I am, this is an attribute of God that we are uniting to.  It's something that He wants us to remember about Him.  Like a thank you note that was sent to us, or a sign that leads us back to Himself.


With that said...imagine your life putting on something that genuinely sparks joy for you...everyday.  Think about how your days would start and end differently knowing that you would carry this feeling about you...All Day.  Realize that big things would happen from one small act.  That is why creating an environment around you that carries these 'joy-messages' to you actually changes your life because it transcends created things to the One that Created Everything.  💓

Now, enough of this deep speech.  I LOVE THIS SWEATER!  PomPoms spark joy for me, so do natural colors, and the color white.  Leather and blue jeans will always be a staple in my wardrobe.  Also, something you might not notice is that I do not own a top that has a sharp collar on it.  Those bring me the opposite of joy. 😂  I don't know why, I've never liked them. To be fair, I have cut the collar off of this shirt...like I have on all of my sharp collared shirts.  I make them all mandarin collars.  True story.  Peter Pan collars are fine with me, I just don't own any.

Like I said...Eccentric.  😏





So...what are you waiting for?  Maybe take some time to go through your closet or home and evaluate the items that connect you to something/Someone much greater.  💗

Wardrobe
Jeans and white button down are from H&M, sweater is from T.J. Maxx, belt from Banana Republic, watch band from Amazon.  

Makeup
Tan MakeSense Foundation, Bronze BlushSense, Toasted Rose BlushSense, Copper Rose ShadowSense, Rustic Brown ShadowSense, Onyx ShadowSense, Sandstone Pearl Shimmer ShadowSense, Black LashSense VolumeIntense Mascara, Praline Rose LipSense, Red Glitter Gloss

📷 Iron & Oak


As Always Admire Our Image


at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

Monday, February 25, 2019

Separating Self from Stuff


My husband and I were recently having a long in-depth conversation about life (which I love talking to him 😍 in such ways), and I was asked… "who do you want to be”.  I knew I had more issues when all that came to mind were things I felt I wanted, or maybe what I wanted to look like. I had a mental social media feed of everyone else and what they have. That's a problem.

Being the processor I am, it took a couple of days for me to come up with something real and tangible. 



Then when I wrote down what that looked like, I realized that I didn’t have one-single-physical look, but that these qualities would mirror my style, they would reflect on what I gravitated toward, but they were not a single item or look.  I felt more freed from this exercise, and more able to make style choices knowing these were what I wanted, this is what I wanted to imitate.


  • Lead by Jesus/Submitted to God
  • Natural/Real/Honest/Meek
  • Kind/Encouraging/Happy/Loving
  • Emotional/Artistic/Deep/Creative
  • Wise/Discerning/Understanding/Relatable/Helpful
  • Beautiful/Comfortable/Confident
  • Warm/Full of Light & Life/Reflect Creation/Wild

When I looked at my closet, makeup, bedding, decor, books, and such…it now made since and each piece fit closer to me than it had before.  Style comes from Self…self should not come from your style.  Maybe take time to write down who you want to be, then look at what you love and see how it all makes sense…think about donating the things that do not belong or that don’t make you happy.

I start to lose myself when I focus on style, clothes, makeup, ‘things’, and not start with self.   It looks like this… I am scrolling social media and I see a person or company that captures my attention and appears to have so much going for them, and in such a beautifully documented way!  I attach their style to who I want to be because of the beauty they have displayed.  I start yearning for their beauty-life for myself, instead of seeing the beauty they have reflected, admiring it, and be inspired by it instead of wanting to become it.  Don’t be afraid to produce your own personal beauty through being inspired by someone else’s.  Take courage, work hard, and create your own Beauty through the stimulation of your social media feed.  Can you image how much greater our feed will become if we take in the beauty that we see and create our own personal version?



📷 by Iron & Oak 

Sweater from Simply Southern - Leggings & Glove/s from Target - Hat from C.C. Beanie - Boots are Vintage 1970s Thom McAn - Bag is Vintage Gun Club Sportswear 


at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

Tuesday, January 15, 2019

Minimalism & Me


If you know me at all, you would think that I’d never be on the minimalism train…nor getting close to the station.  I am more than a pack rat, always keeping everything for the ‘what-ifs’.  I’ve had two tee shirts & a jacket since Elementary School for goodness sake!  But this past December, before Christmas my husband Austin (Aud) and I were feeling the weight of ‘more stuff’ in our house and where we were going to put it. 

Our cute house was built in the 1930s, was redesigned before we bought it, and we’ve also torn down a wall, put new electrical in, painted about 10 times, and redesigned our kitchen almost 5 times.  We have two closets, one in each bedroom.  We have a cellar, mudroom, kitchen, 2-bedroom, 1 bath, dining room, and living room.  It was a constant battle where to keep bedding and towels.  Before we had our son Ryne (Ryno), Austin kept his clothes in the 2nd bedroom closet…but once we had a child we needed to pare down.  So, I came up with a solution of keeping two seasons in the closet at a time the rest would be stored in our cellar until a major season change.  This lasted a year or so.    The feeling of not having control over our home was a daily battle.

We both had to get to a place where we were comfortable with what we owned, but also a place where we were ready to only keep our favorite things.  Right before the New Year, we were writing on the same page and ready to go.  We attacked one room at a time.  I was surprised with how much freedom we felt with each room.  Only keeping what made sense, and what we loved, getting rid of things we didn’t know we had or ‘why do we have this still?’.  We laughed at things we had that were broken, torn, or maybe once was a pair of something that hadn’t been a pair for years.  We were on a freakin’ roll, and we were really happy.  Living room: check, Dining room: check, Kitchen: check, Bedroom/Clothes….

This was a tough one for me.  I have clothes that I currently can’t fit in because I am holding onto some weight after having Ryno , all the ‘what if we have something fancy to do too’. What if, what if, what if… I had to let go.  So, I started with everything that had a hole or stain (except for one tee shirt I wear when I dye my hair).  If I didn’t love it, I put it in the donation pile.  Then I realized that I didn’t love a lot of what I had, I was just wearing it because I had it. 💡  Light Bulb.  My whole clothes buying life, I always looked at the price tag first, and the clothing item second or not at all.  When I started piling everything I didn’t love, I realized that the most items I kept were either sentimental (like my mother’s sweater & sweatshirt) and a bit more expensive.  Or well…more than $25.00


We went through everything.  Coats, Jackets, Sweaters, PJs, Undergarments, Tops, Button Downs, Tee Shirts, Socks, Tights/Leggings, Shorts, Pants, Jeans, Bathing Suits…and everything in between. We were pretty proud of ourselves.  We were able to fit in one closet, all seasons, and put our other clothes in the dresser.

Then we watched Tidying Up on Netflix…and after the first episode we hit our clothes again!  This time we donated more and learned how to fold our clothes in a way that neatly showcased everything.  Now we had plenty of room in our closet, and my socks, underwear, tights, hose, shorts, pjs (tops & bottoms), undershirts/tanks, and shorts all fit in a bin under the bed.  Our shoes are lined up on one side underneath the bed, and our robes on the back of the bathroom door.  The dresser now holds winter gear, bedding and towels.  We are ecstatic.

The next week is when it all started making sense…

I was able to keep up on household chores.  For the FIRST TIME in my LIFE. 💪 The sink was clean every night because I was able to wash-up the small number of dishes each evening…it took like less than 10 mins even with Ryno asking us questions and wanting more blueberries every second.  We were able to take time and relax together every evening, and really relax because our chores were done.  The laundry bin was full on Saturday.  I was able to fit everything in one load and folded it (my share & Ryne’s share, Aud puts his own up) and put it away. ONE LOAD Y'ALL! 

Getting ready for work has never been easier, but also, I get to be creative and I really love that.  Everything I own is my favorite, so I know how it fits, I know how to wear it and what do pair it with, and I feel confident every day because…they are my favorite, they make me feel good.  I do have a birthday gift card to TJMaxx burning a hole in my pocket because I only kept 1 sweater, so I will be using that to get a couple of things I do not have and making sure I love them (not just a good price tag, but the item itself).  I’ve been wanting an open back sweater for a couple months now, so we will see if I can find one that is perfect for me.

I’ll be posting more on my what I kept, and what outfits I make.  Follow me on Instagram & Facebook to see more!

My Minimalism is holding onto what I love...period.  For example, my favorite sweatshirt is atrocious. I'm serious, it's hideous but it brings me so much joy.  It's an over-sized, lumpy, electric green-blue sweatshirt that has a black & white long-haired CARPET kitten with bright green eyes. 😳  It was my mothers.  Someone in our church, decades ago made it for her...and I adore it.

Also, I love answering questions so fire away!  I'm excited to answer them!

Who knew that all the mediocre mounds of stuff was not adding to my life, but actually taking away?  And not until I gave it up, I started to receive.  That sounds very familiar to me…

Luke 9:24 Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will save it.


😉

As Always Admire Our Image
at No comments:
Labels: , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)