Hello again minimalism...

...minimalism has been a huge part of my life right now. I didn't dare say it because I was afraid people from New York would parachute into my parking lot and come chew me out on how NOT minimalist I was. Which is totally true. I'm working on it. My minimalism is not their minimalism. Isn't that cool? Just like we all parent differently. 

I could make this blog post really short and say I've gotten rid of a lot of stuff and want to get rid of more stuff.

The end.

But if you want to read a bit more than I guess you can.

Lately I have been focusing on crafting stuff.

I have one tote of craft stuff to some thats a lot. To others thats a little.

To me its a work in progress. I had a tote just for fabrics. Some I didn't even really care for

I just didn't know if I might need it some day. 

What did I get rid of?

Fabric lots and lots of fabric

Scrap book stuff all of it

(other than the book which now is out so we can look at it) 

Yarn 

knitting needles

Random goggly eyes

BEADS

buttons

ribbon

...

I could keep going. 

I just kept my favorites and decided I can't craft everything I see on pinterest. 

What gave me great courage was this blog post found here. 

She gave a great idea to just buy a cheap kit for kid crafts and when they are done get rid of it

all of it. Don't save pieces just in case you might sort of need them 20 years down the road. 

WHEW! It helped me so much it was hard to get rid of things I had even started to make, 

like a jean quilt I finally gave it away. hopefully it will make someone else happy. 

Every time I looked at it I just got frustrated. 

I still have a long way to go but for now I have found much more time to enjoy things like this...

and this...

hiking around beautiful Cache Valley.
Thayne walked 4.5 miles all on his own. We are so proud of him! He finally let us carry him when there was only a mile left. He loves being outside... I wonder where he gets it from?

Less stuff=less cleaning/organizing time.
Less cleaning/organizing=more time outside
more time outside=happy family
:)

Spoiler alert next blog post is going to be about a big outdoor adventure... stay tuned!

Bye bye 2013

2013 was a crazy year.

We managed to be in Logan the whole year and plan on being in our same apartment for at least another 6 months. (That's when our lease is up). I'm hoping to not have to move for a little while. 

Somehow we survive every month with Adam working a good job for a student. Adam has a vet school interview on the 21st of this month. Although he is now thinking he would like to go to PA school. (He would make a lot more money and have less school debt and be done with school faster. ) He is so smart and hard working I know he can do whatever he sets his mind to. 

Thayne is 2 1/2 and is a riot. He is pretty well behaved but definitely can get into some mischief. He loves trains, boats, tractors, cars. If you think it's because we programmed him that way you are dead wrong. He has grown up around dolls and stuffed animals and even had a thing for tangled for awhile but that ship has sailed. His fav movie right now is excuse me 2 (despicable me 2). He is excellent at singing and dancing. He knows almost the whole alphabet and could careless about his bed. (He likes to sleep on the floor next to me right now)

Joslyn is the toughest little gal I know. She loves anything Thayne is into and is a crawling machine. She likes to stand but not taking steps (which I don't mind). She loves smiling and laughing. She is 9 months old but already her little personality is shining through. 

As for me I'm pretty boring. I still love the same stuff. I am in a yw presidency at the moment and enjoy my girls so much. Adam and I made a goal to ski at least once a month in the winter and so far so good. We have been twice. Although we might even get to go twice this month. We want to take thayne at least once too. I'm thinking about getting my personal trainer certificate in April  so I can work a little too. 

I think that's about it for us! Here's to 2014. Come see us in Logan! 

October catch up post...

Don't you hate it when bloggers do a catch up post because they got behind?... Hopefully you don't because that's what you are about to get.

First item of castle of hassell... 

We bought a bed. A fancy memory foam KING size mattress. I haven't slept this good in years... I mean years. So lately we have been very very busy building a bed frame for our new bed. When I say we I mean Adam and our friend Taylor. Taylor and Christin were/are nice enough to let us build this bad boy in their garage. Its been there for weeks now and they still like us. That is definitely one of the hard things about living in an apartment, not able to build in a garage.

Here is the latest on the bed. Adam and Taylor feel 215% more manly by working on this. We should finish this week. More details on that. 

Adam also applied to vet school this week so we are praying that all goes well in that field. This will be his last year applying if he doesn't get in we will have to move on to plan c... D? Maybe Plan V. More to come on that. 

Today... Thayne, Josy, and I went on a walk. Thayne found this praying mantis and had to have him on his arm our whole walk. 

Josy today decided to feed upon the words of the apostles by eating aunt Lauren's conference notes.

Thayne also had me working on a sewing project today. It's in the process I'll also have to show you when it's all done. It's a sweater blanket from all our high school sweats.

What do you think?

Adam and I got to go to conference this weekend. Our first time together ever. So awesome. I know you can feel the spirit at home when you listen, but the feeling when the prophet enters the room is indescribable. I was so touched by each talk and learned much. Now I need to change my ways and act on all the promptings I got.

I also did a cheap update in the kids room... Christmas lights. Thayne loves them. And it makes the room look bigger. Have you ever used Christmas lights for anything other than Christmas in the house?

So totally random post. Lots of projects going on lots to write about later. Glad you can see our life in the process. These past few months have brought a lot of craziness. Things are definitely in fast forward. 

Easter

Easter morning was pretty crazy as you can imagine with a brand new 

baby at home. But Adam... I mean the Easter bunny still was very diligent in making 

sure Thayne got an Easter basket and eggs.

He did not know what to think when he found an egg trail. (The Easter bunny thought maybe we should wait till next year to hide the eggs)

He found his basket and was very excited to find toys 

once he figured out what was in the eggs he couldn't wait to collect them all!

After church we were able to visit with our cousins Stacey, Kiah, and Ramon! Stacey grew up in 

Logan and know all the secrets. She told us about this super cool tradition that people

do every year on Easter. Everyone goes to "Old Main" which is a hill by the USU campus,

they decorate their eggs and then roll them down the hill.

We were a little busy so we didn't decorate any eggs but...

we found this egg down the hill still intact. 

So we rolled it down the hill. That is about all the attention span Thayne had so 

its probably good that we didn't decorate a bunch of eggs. 

These are the seagulls flying in to eat all the eggs. 

Thayne loved picking up all the broken eggs. 

He would not let go of these two pieces. He checked the ground over and over again to make sure he 

had the best pieces around.

Adam got Joslyn and I hanging out watching the boys run around.

Thayne smelling his egg. He kept saying MHHHHMMMM! We tried to tell him eggs don't actually

smell good they just smell. But he just kept going on MHHHHHMMMMing. 

What traditions did you find this year? 

Interview time

Adam applied to vet school clear back in September. 

He applied technically to Washington State. 

Utah State has partnered up with Washington to be able to get more students into vet school. 

What does that mean?

Well, it means that we are here for two years then off to Washington State for the last two. 

Just last month we heard that Adam had an interview for this month!

He just did it yesterday! Oh my goodness! 

What was it like? 

Well it sounds like there is a panel of vets who decide if you are man/woman enough 

to make it through vet school. 

They like to ask about your chemistry... 

They also like to ask you questions about specific vet issues.

They also want to know how you are going to pay for vet school (seriously? student loans!) 

So glad the interview part is over. Now we have to wait two weeks to hear back from them!!! UGHHHH!!!

I got to go to a mix and mingle type of social with Adam last night. 

While there you get to talk to students who are working on their first year of vet school, professors, and vets. 

It was interesting to talk to different people going into the same professions with completely different plans. I learned last night there are vets who specialize in fish. I had no idea. 

They also had a question and answer session for those who are interested in vet school and those already in attendance. A wife raised concern about how students manage to juggle everything. 

It sounds like none of the vet students work and that their spouses do (poor Adam) 

so they put in the time they need to study and try very hard to be done at 5:00 every day 

just like a job. The weekends they try to focus on family time and fun. 

Meanwhile back in Washington we have friends who are at vet school there and the husband is going to vet school and working two jobs... he is also someone who doesn't need a lot of study time. 

Everyone is so different. I know that vet school will be doable and I know that it will take a chunk of time but so does work. We can't wait to hear back and see what our next step will be. 

A real apartment

Welcome to a quick tour of my home. 

Its not a house. I can't paint the walls, I can't change the layout, I can't really hang too much on the walls either.

But what I can do is make it fun, work, and look super cute. 

I have been trying to get ideas of apartment decor online, but everything seems to be a studio 

apartment that they revamp and can paint everything. 

I thought I'd do a post about a real apartment with real decor problems. 

I am in love with the idea of living with less but there is a balance

that I find myself struggling with. Which is what in the world to keep and 

what to get rid of. 

Is it this time of year or is it just because I moved that I want to organize so bad?

Is anyone else feeling it? 

Our apartment is a spacious 2 bedroom (approx. 1,100 square feet) 

We have a laundry area (which you will NOT be seeing today)

2 bathrooms (so spoiled I know) 

Here is the master bath which holds 95% of all bathroom things because Thayne can 

get into the cabinet in the other one. 

When we first moved in I immediately noticed a HUGE storage problem the only storage that 

came with the apartment is that vanity which has two teeny tiny drawers. Can you see them? So we went out and got this beauty...

I know its not much. But it is so functional and holds so MUCH!

P.S. I got it from Wal-mart and also the shower curtain which brings some life and color into this otherwise very white bathroom. Too bad no one ever sees this bathroom.

Still have our robes hanging on the back door.

All our bathroom "stuff" fits in here. I wont show you the nitty gritty details of the cupboards yet...

(Give me a break we haven't even lived here a month yet)

But here is a very helpful thing when organizing a bathroom: remember that you have too much.

Seriously! I had about 10 different bottles of lotion when we moved here and I thought I was doing good. Most were on the emptier side of life. Here is a little solution for that.

This is my travel kit. We go on weekend trips and long trips all the time. This is so handy 

because all I have to grab as far as bathroom supplies when we leave town is our glasses, toothbrushes, and razors because I have everything else that we could possibly need ready to go. 

I highly suggest getting one together. For the lotion problem... 

See those bottles I have out? I just did a lotion collection bottle, a shampoo one, ect. All those

hotel ones I kept "just in case" were driving me crazy and almost empty bottles that I 

couldn't throw away. Less things, more easy to find what you actually need, more organized. Trust me its a beautiful cycle. 

Out of the master bathroom you will find our room... its long and narrow. 

We put our desk in here so Adam can study uninterrupted by me and Thayne.

We also downsized most our office stuff. That was so wonderful. Before we had 

a wall of a desk and somehow we filled it with stuff. Love this desk so much better.

Haven't gotten everything up on the walls yet. But we hung the curtains. 

Curtains help so much in making a place feel like home. 

Not very exciting but my nightstand.

My ikea organizer I am using for my favorite scarves.

Blah these pictures of the closet didn't turn out so hot. I will have to retake some later...

Yes I know we are spoiled by a huge walk in.

ikea baskets for our sweaters, snow gear.

My "nice" shoes aka not enough room out front to hold these ones.

better picture of the desk in our room. Adam keeps it nice and clean. 

This is my kitchen... its tiny. Look close at all the cabinets. where in the world is there space for food? 

Ta-da! This shelving unit is my open pantry. Its not perfect, Martha Stewart would probably not approve but it works for us. I hold extra appliances on top and then have some baskets that I hold like things. I have a ikea step stool to help me reach everything and also so Thayne can help in the kitchen. I choose cream colored baskets because I can use them through out the whole house. Then I can buy the same type of baskets and not have to worry about it not matching a different room if I take it out. 

My kitchen island (wal-mart) also helps with my lack of counter space and storage. I keep most my baking supplies in there. I also managed to squeeze some fold out chairs for extra company. 

I no longer have a knife block (don't have room) I use this ikea magnetic strip to hold my cutting knives and they are very much out of Thayne's reach. 

  

Our entryway. Shoe racks are the way to go. I have our most commonly used coats out. 

See the baskets? They work everywhere.

Here is a room that still has a lot of work. Where the love sac is, is where the desk was. I am going to have to probably rearrange and get another chair to make this room work. Another ikea buy is the entertainment center. Again I am not doing any close ups yet... 

I need to figure out how to decorate the book cases better.

Well thats our apartment so far. I have been learning lots about apartment living. This will be my 6th year of apartment living. With hopefully only 3 more to go. I am enjoying the simplified lifestyle and 

feel like I have plenty of room. We will see when baby #2 comes along. 

I will have to show Thayne's room off another day. He is sleeping like an angel and I am enjoying the blogging time :)

Downsizing while nesting

We are moving... again.

I'm hoping the next post like this wont be for another 2-3 years.

We have been very spoiled/blessed with an open concept basement 

although its had its own challenges (like you can see ALL Thayne's toys)

we have been able to fit everything comfortably and have lots of storage space.

Something we wont have when we move. 

We are facing a few choices as we look for housing.

Obvious choice close to campus! That one was easy.

Not so easy choice 2 or 3 bedroom?

townhouse or flat? 

Newer (meaning more expensive) or older (cheaper but NO storage room)?

Don't worry we have a month and half to figure it out. 

 Ok so thats not much time. I believe we take up about 1,000 square feet at the moment

BUT I really feel like we don't need to (remember we have a pool table taking up space as well that

isn't ours)

I really feel like we could fit into a 2 bedroom that had excellent closet space (we have done it before)

but the city we are moving to is an older city and most apartments were built in the 60s. 

Mum has offered to let us leave things that we don't need to take with us in the basement.

I am so grateful for this because otherwise I'm afraid we would have to get rid of a lot.

We had to downsize after moving from a 3 bedroom house to a basement and now possibly a 2 bedroom apartment. 

Lots of decisions in the next month. Our hopeful move date is around December 15th then we can enjoy Christmas and have our own place to retire to when all the holidays are over. 

Its so hard to decide what baby things to save and which ones to let go of (seeing as little one #2 is making their debut in April) I guess I could leave the baby stuff with Mum then I can share with siblings someday and use what I need at the time. 

UGH! So many decisions so little time. 

Anyone else ever moved in the winter?