- A lengthy post -

I finished reading "The Simple Home" yesterday and want to share a couple more things that were in the afteword that pretty much sums up the entire book.

"What matters for the simple home is not gadgets, ornament, or the stuff you put in it. Rather a home simplifies and enriches life if it truly helps you to enjoy your own simple pleasures. Thus the first step is to consider what your own pleasures really are, along with a few simple places that you may already enjoy..." <- i.e. kitchen, the backyard, your garden etc.

"Find your inner journeys, not the right set of designs and posessions, but a sense of who we might be."

"Finding your own simple home is more than finding the right house; it reflects considered choices for how to live, what to consume, how to be with others, and how to edit out the noise of today's mass media."

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Those topics have been mentioned in different ways throughout the book and have been on my mind since I started reading it... and I have kept asking myself: "What really matters to me in this life, how do I want to spend my days at home, especially when we start a family and I will be at home full time?" That book couldn't have come at a better time, since Jesse and I have been looking for a home to purchase. And it was just a couple weeks ago that the second house we put an offer on fell through...I don't think that was an accident...because it caused a stir in me. Both homes we put offers on were in Bountiful, and as much as I enjoy that town and the people there, it's not a place that makes me emotional inside as it does for Jesse... so after some frustrated discussions, some tears {i'm not going to lie} and total honesty...we decided that perhaps Bountiful is not the best place for us to settle down... with that said, we have been on plenty of drives around Salt Lake County and Davis County {north of Salt Lake City} and we came across a town {Farmington} that we once visited back in the early fall...but didn't give as much thought too.  Second time around, we are set on finding a little home there. Yesterday we took a drive over to Farmington and arrived just as the sun was getting sleepy and wanting to go to bed...the lighting and weather was just beautiful. We spotted 4 different families out walking together, a lot of kids playing in the streets, it definitely has that small town feel that Jesse and I want so badly....and many of the homes all have pretty big yards...we would much rather have a small home with a big yard than the other way around.  I wish I would have taken more pictures of the homes there, they are just so quaint.  And check out the home with the mini horses in the front yard...I want to be this familie's neighbor.  Aside from all of that...looking for a home, is exhausting, and somewhat stressful...but just tells me that this is a patience thing for us, and the right home will come along. :]

Back to the book - in there it talks about collections, and your possessions...I think it's safe to say that most artists are inspired by nature....plants and flowers specifically. In our home, there are a lot of handmade and real life references to the both. I have a collection of plants in our home and a lot of flower "things" all over... after reading The Simple Home though, I realized that I don't need to have hoards and hoards of flower things to express that I like flowers. lol Amongst other things/collections as well. I have been scaling back a ton! I have a good little system going that is like this: I have been going through everything and all the things I am getting rid of I have put outside our door in our little entry way that we hardly use... This has helped with me being able to prove that I can live with a lot less because those items in the entry way that I don't see often...I have forgotten about.  My mood board above my sewing table that use to have tons of images all over now has just a handful of references that inspire my designs. However, my collection of plants and vases of flowers is something that one can never have to much of...the fact that they are living and add so much beauty and scents is something to soak in.

Lastly, my collection of children's books....it has been hard, but I went through it again and have set aside many books...I just keep reminding myself this: we have wonderful libraries with free books which then will save us a lot of money in the long run. Plus, I have so many fond memories of going to the library every week as a child and checking out 10+ books for each kid...there is 7 kids in my family, that's a lot of books! Anyways, it goes back again to why do I have to have all these things...and honestly, I believe {for me} that it is this thing of the more I have of something means I like that item so much more...and I don't like that feeling. I've had to really look inside myself and ask a lot of questions about what do all these "things" mean and what do they do for me? I really want to be happy with just a little bit here and there, I want to lead a simpler life and I want to stop wanting things every day, and every week...it's not an easy thing...and that book talks about just that and says that it is a life long journey and that many of the clients home's that were featured in the book weren't born that way... and that it took many years to realize that simplicity was where they found the most peace. That made me feel good to read that, because I somehow thought that I needed to get to that point in a week or a month... lol but it's a journey and if anything...a peaceful one.

So with that said. This book "Lobsterman" {written and illustrated by Dahlov Ipcar} just arrived the other day in the mail from Amazon...another 1 penny book... is the last book I will purchase for a very long time. The story is so darling, A father and son get ready for lobster season by fixing their traps, painting buoy's, the boat etc. and work together to catch lobsters. I love this book and the example of the father, teaching his son to work hard and have fun. A great book to own....OR checkout! :)