remodeling this life

We leave soon on our yearly summer vacation to the cottage. I have hinted at the fact that I am undecided on whether or not I will blog from there this summer or not. I haven’t even left yet and already haven’t blogged in over a week. Things have been crazy. My baby girl graduated kindergarten this week, we threw her a birthday party since she has a summer birthday and we are mean and leave for the summer so she can’t even have a friend party over the summer. So we did one last week before we go. And my son, my little man, my baby finished his first year of pre school. The little guy I thought would get kicked out for hitting, or not talking or any number of things blew me away and had a fantastic year at school and is a far different boy than he was this time last year. I could not be more proud of them.

I could also not be more overwhelmed at cleaning and packing and packing and cleaning and getting ready for our trip. Overwhelmed = blog block. But really, I feel quiet for a number of reasons. Part of me wonders, in all honesty – not like I am not honest otherwise, but just to be clear – that sometimes this whole blogging thing isn’t everything. I feel like it’s not always what I want it to be, and for all I put into it that it consumes so much and doesn’t give as much back. I love writing. I love photographing. I love documenting and sharing. Part of me wants to evaluate quietly what that all means and where it means I’ll go from here.

I won’t know until I am there whether or not the inspiration will strike to share. To blog. To document. Right now I just don’t feel it. But that could be a zillion times over that I am just overwhelmed and uninspired. My house is covered in drywall dust, I have piles of laundry to put into bags and things are just unsettled. I think it’s safe to say I need a vacation but even saying that makes me feel like a spoiled snob. I am at a place in this moment that I feel like everything I could possibly say isn’t what I really want it to be. So I write. And delete. And write again and delete again.

I should stop this ramble-fest to say that I appreciate all of the people who have been here reading and encouraging and sharing your stories. Even if you’ve never shared, trust me that I know you are here and appreciate you. Thank you for helping me to see that living a simpler life isn’t a lonely place to be.

If this post is to sit for a while as I enjoy my vacation unplugged, here are some posts to enjoy in the meantime. Some things from far back that are near and dear to my heart and make me remember why I started this journey. Not to share pretty pictures and be patted on the back. But to share my heart and find myself and encourage others at the same time. Thank you for always letting me know that in that regard I’ve been successful.

• Watching For Beauty
• Seeking Simplicity
• Unexpected
• A Simple Girl
• Finding Comfort
• Good Enough

I posted a while back that we adventured in to the life of raising backyard chickens and I realize I have yet to update on our newest feathered friends since then. Sadly, 3 weeks ago, we had what we can call nothing other than “the chicken incident”. One Saturday morning while I was out doing errands, hubby and the kids went outside and the chicken coop was open, all of them were missing, and one was dead in our yard. Hubby found one of them just on the other side of our fence and the other two have been MIA since. It was so sad. We had gone into this adventure gleefully and thought little about such a thing happening. We still don’t know what did happen. Left with only one chicken, we went that afternoon and got 4 more, so now we have 5. The kids have taken to calling the older one the mama.

We say she’s all knowing. She’s the only one who knows what happened and let me tell you, it makes me sad. She’s skittish and cranky. The Black Stars are so sweet and friendly. They are such cuddlers. Total opposite of cranky mama chicken.

My kids cannot get enough of the chickens. We have had so. many. talks about just letting them be and letting them roam. All the kids want them to do is curl up in their laps to take a nap like a puppy. The chickens are very sweet and patient. My son, all 3 year old boy of him, tried to play soccer with one last week. Not like using it as a soccer ball but like trying to get it to kick the ball back and forth with him. I had one disappointed little guy when he found out it just wasn’t going to happen.

He’ll just have to settle for it climbing on his lap to get a better view of the world.

Hubby built the chicken coop himself.

Backyard Chickens has been a wonderful resource for all of our questions about what to expect in all of this. For those who are probably wondering, we won’t eat the chickens. We will be eating lots of backyard eggs soon enough though!

My friend Katie of the blog Making This Home has a lovely shop called Gadanke. I visit her shop and feel instantly relaxed. It’s beautiful, the products – journals for celebrating your story – are so full of care and consideration, simplicity and lovliness.

The pages are made for you to fill with moments – simple and mundane – that make up your story. I love the {Love Where We Live}: A Home Minibook. From Katie’s description of the journal:

Writing prompts will have you thinking about bits of your home – everything from that big splurge purchase to the smells of favorite meals, from together time and holidays to remembering the day you knew this house would be home.
Additional prompts help you capture favorite spots in town – Celebrate those beloved restaurants, places to take guests, and even your all-time favorite tourist trap. Your family changes over time; so does your town.
Photo frame pages will inspire you to snap pictures – You’ll want to record where you scrub those teeth (bathroom), dream at night (bedrooms), and laugh together (living room, dinner table…). And why not take action shots? Get the whole family documenting the days together.

I love the idea of celebrating where we are in life. This journal will help you to remember and to celebrate the beautiful and small things around you – at home and out and about.

Katie is generously giving away one {Love Where We Live} journal to a lucky Remodeling This Life reader. All you have to do is comment to be entered. The giveaway will run until May 19th at midnight when I will choose a winner at random. The winner may choose the color of their journal.

Go visit Katie at her blog and shop. You’ll be glad you did.

*******Please note, I am aware my comments aren’t working for everyone and trying to fix it. Until it is fixed, if you have trouble leaving a comment, please use my contact form with your comment and I will enter it for you myself. Thank you!! *******