from food to clothes

Hi ladies living with less!

i'm so sorry it has taken me till now to contribute to this blog... i've really meant to chime in and share my journey in this as well.... 

intentions intentions....

:)

so our food month is winding down and our living with 7 items of clothing is soon beginning!!!

i did a very very modified version of the food... 

started later than you all (probably) due to our disney trip, and probably only had 2 weeks of it eating 7 foods.

aaaaand i failed a lot.

started out good, but "cheated" here and there.

darn it, i really thought it was something i could do! 

i just love food!!!!! 

our disney trip kinda prepared me a bit for this month which i didn't expect to happen.

the quantities and portions of food in disney....gosh.

the amounts being wasted. 

the unhealthy foods that are consumed...

i kind of was disgusted at times.

it made me aware of how careless we are with food and how many starving people in other countries could would do anything for the food that was being thrown away.

one of my favorite days was when we hopped around to different countries in epcot and tried some samples of foods at the food and wine festival.

the portions were SMALL. 

but i savored them. i enjoyed the diversity. i enjoyed how different they were.

i don't know, it just made me think a bit with the food month that was about to come.

when i started, a couple days after returning, the days that i did it full out went well. 

i became sick of sweet potatoes, missed snacking somewhat (i'm not a huge snacker, but the salt and vinegar  sweet potato chips i found helped a ton!), and really really wanted some pork or roast in the crock pot. 

chicken soon was boring.

my foods were chicken, sweet potatoes, apples, spinach, butternut squash, bread/tortillas, and beans. i allowed myself coffee, wine (it probably should have been one of my seven items!) and small amounts cheese and dark chocolate.

however, i never counted condiments and dressings as one of my 7 things, so i was totally eating "jazzed" up chicken which again, helped.

maybe i knew myself too well - if i went all out with bland plain chicken, i'd probably have caved a lot more. i made pizza with chicken apple sausage/sweet potatoes, i made butternut squash/sweet potato soup, i made chicken/sweet potato/black bean burritos.... yummy stuff for awhile!

but i did miss other foods.

i had to make conscious decisions to grab that apple when i wanted a muffin for breakfast, eat a spinach salad when i wanted a piece of my kids' leftover pizza.... 

there was some checking of myself.

i realized how easily we don't think about grabbing whatever we want that it's our fridge and cabinets and how many choices we have. 

others in some places don't have these choices. they eat minimally and only a couple items. 

they take what they are given - plain as anything - and are THANKFUL for that food for survival.

while we can pick up a bag of chips or cookies without even thinking twice.

i did think about that, i did.

i tried not to be TOO hard on myself with the rules, since that wasn't the purpose - it was about the heart of the matter.

but i still wished i went all out a bit more so that i could really put myself in a simple simple place. what good is this book if we really don't experiment with simplicity? 

i have far to go.

moving on, we are about to venture into wearing 7 items of clothes for a month.

ummm.... 

you may or may not know, but i LOVE clothes. 

i love them.

i love putting cool stuff together and expressing myself with what i'm wearing.

i love finding unique and cute things.

i love looking put together, i do.

(i love being "bummy" too).

it makes me feel good. it makes me feel confidant.

i don't necessarily care if others are "ooooh, look at her" type of thing - sure it's nice, but i'm not about the attention.

i just love clothes. it's fun.

fall is a fun time to dress. 

accessories, scarves, new boots....

why did the clothes chapter land in the fall season??!

darn!

being honest....

i just bought cute shoes.

the day before we're starting clothes.

i used a gift card, and have only bought 1 cardigan and 1 headband for the fall months so far but...

(stop justifying renee)

UGH.

this is the time i like to buy clothes.

this is going to be hard for me. not sure yet if it will be harder for me than food, but we'll see.

it will be a very good experience. 

good for my wallet, good for my heart, good for simplifying.

good for finding my confidence & identity in Jesus and not through what i'm wearing.

people will see me in the same items. 

i'm okay with that.

am i? 

i mean, around you all, yes. 

but others? moms at the bus stop? picking up mia from school? 

people at church?

what are your 7 items of clothing?

here are mine:

2 tees

2 cardigans

1 long sleeve shirt

1 pair of jeans

1 pair of sweats/yoga pants

*i'm going to try not wearing a coat, i'll keep you posted.

*scarf and earrings??? really want to wear those. not sure whether to allow myself those or not (maybe the same scarf and earrings, not switching up?)

some specifics need to be worked out, but there you go.

enjoy your food this next month ladies. make some creative dishes to share with you family and say an extra thank you to Jesus for the choices we have.

here's to the next month.....i'm excited to hear how it goes with everyone.

enjoy having a little less laundry!!!!

;)