sunshine, please come back soon.

I'm at the point now where I have to continually remind myself that I love snow and winter. The problem isn't the cold and the fluffy white stuff, though. It's the fact that the sunshine has disappeared and won't show its warm face. I love bright and cold winter days, when the sun is shining down from the clear blue sky onto a brilliant blanket of snow. But these gloomy not-quite-cold-enough days just drag me down.

To keep my spirits up, I'm writing my spring cleaning list (to be begun as soon as the windows can be opened), looking up places to go snowshoeing, planning my garden, and drinking floral teas. Specifically, Berryblossom White by Tazo Tea. SO GOOD. I have my amazing friend Becca to thank for introducing me to this tea, way back when we were still in college. Okay, that wasn't way back, but I graduated almost two years ago, so....

And I just remembered that I have homemade dandelion wine to try! I'm nervous...it's probably terrible. But I hope it tastes decent. And that it tastes like summer, even though I'm not a huge fan of the summer temperatures.

Of course, Valentine's Day is just around the corner, too. I've never been a huge advocate of the Hallmark holiday, but hopefully Nate and I can do something fun. At the very least, I'm going to cook us a fun dinner. I found a recipe for red wine pasta which looks and sounds delicious. I also plan on making some heart-shaped doughnuts for breakfast. Though those might have to wait until the weekend when Nate doesn't have to get up at 3:30 am.

How are you keeping back the weather blues? And what are your Valentine's Day plans?

minimalism can be good for the soul

In the course of my life, I have always been the kind of person who liked things. Especially as a teenager; posters and pictures covered my bedroom walls, books overflowed the shelves (they still do, but that's another story altogether...hehe), I wore tons of jewelry, and had more colors of nail polish than I needed. Now, not much has changed; I still like things. I still have all those posters, most of which I hope to hang in a movie room/den someday. The books have multiplied and I'm certain will continue to. I don't wear as much jewelry, partly because most of what I did wear over the last decade is broken or faded or hopeless tangled with bits of my hair (ugh). As for nail polish...I have bought a few select colors recently, but since my signature polish is still black, I don't feel the need to have a ton of bottles.

But see, it's one thing when you only have a bedroom in which to cram all your things and you can go to another part of the house at any time. (In my case it was usually the kitchen. I always wished I had a way to boil water for tea in my room. And that I could keep a stash of biscuits. Anyway.) When you join your life with another person, things multiply quite fast. Nate and I both have a lot of things. Granted, in the last year we've managed to pare down a lot of what we don't need or want, but that doesn't change the simple fact that our house has no storage space. I've mentioned that before. And when you have more books and musical instruments than you do dishes (I kid, of course. Well, maybe not the books.), that becomes a bit of an issue.

I am thankful, however, that we are in a small place. This allows us to evaluate what is truly important. In the last week I have been reorganizing our kitchen cabinets. We're getting rid of as much of our plastic food storage as is possible, and hoping to purchase less in the way of canned goods. Most of our containers are glass, which is wonderful and terrifying at the same time. Both of us can be very clumsy...so we'll see how well this goes. But we have decided that we don't like the idea of plastics and food. Just...ew. (I really am becoming a crazy hippie, aren't I? Oh dear.) So the food cabinets are organized, and I even have a fair amount of items (all good, of course) to give to a local food pantry. Next will be the dishes, the cleaning supplies, and so on.

At the outset, this project seems overwhelming, and possibly expensive. But in the long run I know it will be very, very worth it. Lately I have been seeing many posts in the blogosphere about minimalism. I am not a minimalist, not by any stretch of the imagination. Nor is Nate. We don't want to be rid of everything we own; two sentimental people, that's us. But the satisfaction that comes with keeping a truly clean and clutter-free house is certainly a step in the right direction.

Though this may sound odd to a few of you, I believe that God has laid this all on my heart. Very firmly, in fact. Think about it, though. As I work my way through the house, evaluating and paring down and cleaning, I am slowly replacing things with more time to spend together in the future. Eventually, I will be spending more time in the kitchen preparing good, wholesome food, less time cleaning, and certainly less time worrying about clutter when Nate gets home from work. We'll be able to spend more time on each other without constantly thinking about the housework. (At least in my case. I'm sure Nate doesn't think about it as much as I do, haha.)

I don't know about you, but that sounds like a fair trade. Besides, what else is there to do when it's barely above zero degrees outside?

organizational chaos

I should have titled this post "why don't we have a basement?" but since we don't have one and won't until we move out of this place, there's no point in belaboring the fact.

But it sure does make for some sketchy organizing jobs.

Like shoving everything not necessary for everyday living into the back bedroom, which then has to be cleaned out whenever we have people stay over. Or I need to find something. (Getting the Christmas decorations out was kind of a week-long job. Ignoring the fact that I kept remembering various decorations after I thought I was done.)

To be honest, I've come to terms with the fact that our house will never be clutter-free at this stage in our lives. That doesn't make me any less stressed, though. :P

So I decided to make a list of good things about this "organizational chaos" I have found myself mired in. Here goes.

• My new found love of natural cleaning products is slowly but surely reducing clutter in the laundry room, kitchen, and both bathrooms. I call that a HUGE win.
• When you decide you're only going to cook real food (which I honestly always did, but when you really take the time to think, you end up with much less boxed/canned food), the kitchen cabinets, counters, and refrigerator become less cluttered, as well.
• As I clean and organize, my crafty side is coming out just as much as my frugal side (How many sides can a girl have? A lot, I guess.), and I like to think that decorating the walls with cute/pretty things helps to take my mind off the clutter that won't ever disappear.
• And last, but certainly not least, I can always take comfort in the fact that God (and my husband!) will always love me whether the house is clean or not. :)

Obviously, keeping house is a labor of love. If you don't believe it is, maybe you're not trying hard enough. Just kidding. Let's get real here; when I started college I didn't necessarily expect to be keeping house and cooking meals everyday so soon on the other side of graduation. I had hoped to be able to do some traveling with friends, or something of the sort. But God had other plans, and I am very glad of them. After all, I am learning many things about myself, and that is never a bad thing.