simplify.

What do you do when your 'to do' list gets to long?  I'm starting to realize that my list isn't really a list at all.  It's a cluttered BOOK of chores, some i've started and some I probably wont get to for months.  I'm tired of feeling like I accomplish so little (although I seriously do constantly check things off the list).  I want to feel at ease. My desire: to simplify my home, my life, and my mind. My list was my way to feel that I already am 'simple'. I need to re-simply my definition of simple;  I need to restructure my way of living.


So now what do I do?  I go to my friend Mr. google.  I always search through google and so why change that now?  So I plug in 'how to simplify' and redirect myself to zenhabits.net to view the article 'Simple Living Simplified'.  The writer has published a newly structured list of 10 Things to simply your life (compiled from his original list of 72).  Ten, I can do that.


So what are the ten?
(I'm going to summarize)


1. Make a short list. Make a list of the 4-5 most important things in your life. What do you value most? What 4-5 things do you most want to do in your life? Simplifying starts with these priorities.

2. Drop 1 commitment. Think about all the things in your life that you’re committed to doing, and try to find one that you dread doing. Something that you do each day or week or month that you don’t really want to do. 

3. Purge a drawer. Or a shelf, or a countertop, or a corner of a room. Not an entire room or even an entire closet. Just one small area. You can use that small area as your base of simplicity, and then expand from there. 

4. Set limits. Set limits for things you do regularly: email, tasks, items in your life, etc. And try to stick with the limits. Today, all you have to do is set limits for a few things in your life. Tomorrow, try to stick with them.

5. Simplify your to-do list. Take a look at your to-do list. If it’s more than 10 items long, you can probably simplify it a bit. Shorten the list. ( I think this to me is the same as no.1)

6. Free up time. Free up at least 30 minutes a day for thinking about simplifying. Or alternatively, free up a weekend and think about it then. 

7. Clear your desk. Clear everything off your desk and put it in a pile. Process the pile from top to bottom, one item at a time. Be sure to get rid of any knick knacks. Your desk should have your computer, perhaps a notepad, and maybe a family photo. From now on, process it in the same way as above.

8. Clear out your email inbox. This has the same psychological effect as a clear desk. Is your email inbox always full of read and unread messages? That’s because you’re delaying decisions on your emails. Each time you check your email, process to empty. 

9. Move slower. We rush through the day, from one task to another, from one appointment to another, until we collapse on the couch, exhausted, at the end of the day. Instead, simplify your life by doing less (see Items 1, 4 and 5) and doing them more slowly.Eat slower, drive slower, walk slower, shower slower, work slower. Be more deliberate. 

10. Single-task. Instead of multi-tasking, do one thing at a time. Remove all distractions, resist any urge to check email or do some other habitual task like that while you’re doing the task at hand. Stick to that one task, until you’re done. It’ll make a huge difference in both your stress level and your productivity.


Starting my simplification:

There really are only 7 items on this list that I need to do since I feel no.1 and no.5 are the same and I don't have any commitments I need to drop (no.2). I cleaned out my email a week ago (from over 300 in my inbox) and man did it feel terrific. I'm back up to 36 items, so I will need to do this again, but it will take much less time than before.

Let's see what I can do in a month, if I use this list. Here's to simplifying!

It's time!

Here we go! Somebody got some cute spoons for a gift from Uncle Tony and now they are screaming to be used. That's Right....time for the first food! But we aren't starting with the old ordinary Rice Cereal. I personally feel that stuff should be left to the dogs. (Have you ever tried Rice Cereal? I needn't say any more.) To explain this to a 6 month old is impossible, thus the beginning of Elise's first lesson on food. 'Today we are learning about the Avocado. It's the most complete food there is, closer to breast milk than any other food. I feel okay feeding you this...as long as I can get you to eat it.' :)

And we're off...She reached right out grabbing the spoon from me before she realized what she was getting herself into, and shoved it straight into the mouth. That's right Elise! Uncle Tony's spoons are now full of yummy stuff!

As exhausting as it is to try and get ANY food down a baby's throat, it is absolutely hilarious and enjoyable and worth any bit of trouble. I must say it helps having such an easy going girl who will really put up with anything as long as you keep a smile on your face. My little trooper.

Mother, I have triumphed this so called pureed Avocado. What's next? Bring on the big girl stuff!

Elise's First Haircut

At the mere age of 5 1/2 months, Elise has officially taken her first step into the 'big girl' world.

Wild 'n' crazy!

Such long locks...the perfect Faux Hawk

What are you doing Tove?

Prepped for the first cut

Woah! what just happened?

Playing with Tove after the cut...no more hair in the eyes, yay!

Now for the bald spots to grow in from all the head rubbing in the crib :)

I now realized I didn't get a straight on shot of the new doo, but you can see it in the easter posting..coming shortly. 

Oregon and back again

We finally had the pleasure of being able to venture out for the first time after Elise's birth, and what a wonderful break it was for us all. We decided to go big and take on a nine hour trek up I5 to my beautiful home state of Oregon, a visit long overdue. With Elise's IV line finally removed we were able to travel without any worries or 'what ifs' tagging along. One of the more exciting purposes for this visit was that Elise could finally meet her great grandparents and her uncle Tyler for the first time. It was so special.

We spent time with old friends, family,  and had an abundance of relaxation time.  We even found time to venture out to Pleasant Hill to see where I went to school and lived for so many years. It was a little depressing seeing how much the school has had to let go of due to budget cuts. The soccer fields weren't nearly as nice anymore...sigh. We even got a new camera, which I sold my guitar for ( since I'm learning to be better about choosing hobbies, and the guitar for now just couldn't become one of them, although I hope to return to it in the future.)

All in all, we had a wonderful time and I can't thank God enough for healing Elise to make this trip and so many other things possible. We are truly blessed.

Mt. Shasta

Playing with Daddy's headphones

Kisses

Bows, bows, and more bows! My sweet little girl

Daddy loves his little girl

Elise and Grandpa...just loungin

New Game Detector

If the economy keeps getting worse, we are going to need to install one of these to hold both of us accountable! :)

Rick's Birthday and Boardgames, the perfect combination.

 Originally I planned on an extremely large board-gaming weekend for Rick's 29th bash, but due to my late planning, few were available to attend...however I am now thankful for that because it turned into a wonderful event with our close friend Brett, his wife Tanya, and their daughter Acacia.

 I need to give a little history about our board-game adventures to explain my excitement. We have grown to love playing board games and we owe this enjoyment exclusively to Brett. He talked us into attending a board game convention during the summer of 2008. We went to San Juan for the weekend and purchased tickets to Pacificon, one of many annual Avalon Game Convention events. The entire weekend was full of checking out (via leaving your license with a clerk) and playing games to your heart's content. A few of the favorites were: Arkham Horror, For Sale, Blokus, Stone Age, and Felix the cat in the sack. These are a good mix of sorts for the intense enthusiast to the casual social gamer. Long story short, three days of non-stop gaming opened our lives to a whole new hobby and a world full of nerddom.

 We attended Pacificon again in 2009 and plan to attend it along with other events in the years to come. This last year we played an epic 8 hour game of Descent (who knew 8 hours could fly by so fast!), the 1999 version of Acquire (which I got Rick for his birthday and just finding a decent copy is another blog all in itself), the hilarious Mystery of the Abbey (your gamers verison of Clue), Kingsburg, and many others.

There is no real way I can appropriately describe the joy of discovering new games! Brett brought two new games with him for us to test out, and boy were we impressed! We played Wasabi!, a delicious mix of chance and strategy with the goal of creating sushi rolls, and Chinatown, a build your empire via barter system game (similar to the classic game of 'Pit'.) where you build shops and restaurants in Chinatown, to see whose empire is of highest value in the end.

Every time we find new games, the first thing that pops into my mind is 'what holiday is coming up next?' so we have an excuse to purchase them...thus these two have reached the wedding anniversary list ;) We also use the excuse of going to see my parents as a reason to have new games, because thanks to us, they have been pulled into the board-game community and have now obtained the 'new game' itch.

Rick's birthday was a terrific time with friends along with board-games, and we couldn't have had a better weekend. With two new games to add to our list, we couldn't be happier. Even greater is the thought that once Elise starts to get older, I will have kid games to shop for as well...which will include a list of games from my past...a nostalgia I will be including in my 'joys of the past' blog, to come in the future :)

Hooray for Board-games and hubbies and babies to share them with. Right now life just couldn't be better. If anyone has the slightest bit of interest in boardgames, I will now have a page to share all our favorites, along with sites... Like I said, nerddom ;)