The Kitchen and the bathrooms~

Well, I have decided that I really want to cut back. To live in an RV, means to have less and do only with what you have.


In the kitchen, I have Christmas plates, regular plates, extra plates, etc.

I was thinking that we only pull them out once a year for about a month and then I store them again. I don't really need them. But what my thought is this...

Christmas mugs can be fun, but isn't it more fun to have a regular mug with hot cocoa and a candy cane. Who says that we need to have it be special on the outside or have specific outer ware to make days special...I am thinking that it is what we put into it.

That can go for anything. We can have the items that society says we should have in our rooms, dressers, baskets and bins full of storage stuff, to hold onto just in case, nik naks, etc. But if we only have what we really use and need, then our lives will be less cluttered, the space is more special and less stressful as you don't have much to organize or dust, there isn't so much to put away or fold.

I have filled a few boxes from my kitchen of things that I think that I would use someday or could use someday. They are going to leave my house. Why do I need to have 4 huge stew pots? Seriously? I hate cleaning them, they are big and bulky, they are always catching on the lazy suzanne cabinet, making the thing jam every time I turn it and seriously, do I ever make that much food? It could really be used by a local church that does soup feeds or chili feeds, etc. Ya know.

I was listening to someone last night that I had come across in someone else's blog.

His name is Shane Claiborne. My husband and I sat and listened to one of his talks on Youtube. At one point, he commented "Why is it ok for me to have two of this item when there are others out there that don't even have one and could probably use it."

I know the argument that could be made with this, that there are some things that we could use two of, but I don't need 4 large stew pots. And I started thinking, where else am I doing this in my life? And being that we have 3 kids, what damage am I causing them by showing them this example?

Get rid of the clutter and take care of the one you do have.

That is my thought for the day.



Also, we have decided to go down to one bathroom. We have cleaned the hall bathroom and we will use it when special company comes, but the thought is that if we can't handle sharing one bathroom, how would we do it in an RV? It will also take some pre-meditated thought of being considerate of others and letting them know of your intentions to occupy the toilet for 20 min prior to occupation and giving them a chance to do a quick stop before lock down...lol

We'll see how this goes.

I've Done It~

I've made a meal menu that I think will work, for our family, this time.
Instead of having a Wednesday: Breakfast, Snack, Lunch, Snack, Dinner and then Thursday....
I have created 8 Breakfasts, 8 Lunches, 16 Snacks, 8 Dinners and labeled them 1-8.
On day 7, I will create the new menu.
This way, if we decide we want to eat #5 Dinner instead of #2, I don't have to make any notes next to the day.  I will just be able to see which dinners are leftover on the Dinner list, when I do come to day #5.

Example:

August 26th through Sept. 2nd

Breakfast:

1. 
   
   Scrambled Eggs w/Toast & 1/2 Nectarine
2. 
   
   Pancakes w/ Syrup and PB & 1/2 Orange
3. 
   
   Quiche w/Grn Pepper, Red Onion, Spinach w/Oranges (Saturday Morning)
4. 
   
   Bran Muffins, Hard Boiled Egg w/1/2 Nectarine (Sunday Morning)
5. 
   
   Blackberry Yogurt & Fiber One
6. 
   
   Oatmeal w/Bananas and Pecans
7. 
   
   Pancakes w/PB and Syrup & 1/2 Orange
8. 
   
   Scrambled Eggs w/Toast & 1/2 Apple

Daily

Coffee w/ 1/2 & 1/2

Cup of Milk w/Breakfast

Lunch:

1. 
   
   Cheese Quesidilla w/ Salsa & 1/2 Apple
2. 
   
   Bagel w/Cream Cheese, Celery w/ranch & 1/2 Nect.
3. 
   
   Turkey Sand. w/ Carrots & 1/2 Apple (Saturday)
4. 
   
   Bean/Cheese Burrito w/Salsa & Shredded Spinach w/ Oranges (Sunday on the go)
5. 
   
   Cheese Quesidilla w/ Salsa & 1/2 Apple
6. 
   
   Bagel w/Cream Cheese, Carrots & 1/2 Nectarine
7. 
   
   PB&J w/ 1/2 Apple, Carrots w/ Ranch
8. 
   
   Turkey Sand. w/ Oranges and Carrots

Snacks:

               11:30am                                         2:30pm

1. 
   
   Graham Cracker w/ PB                     Cucumbers w/ Ranch
2. 
   
   Cheese Sticks                                  Pumpkin Bread
3. 
   
   1/2 Apple                                       Celery w/ PB
4. 
   
   Carrots w/Ranch                             Choc Chip Cookies
5. 
   
   Pumpkin Bread                                 1/2 Apple
6. 
   
   Celery w/PB                                    Pudding w/Golden Grahams
7. 
   
   Cheese Sticks                                  Choc Chip Cookies
8. 
   
   Fig Cookies                                      Celery w/PB

Dinner:

1. 
   
   Turkey Leg w/Baked Beans
2. 
   
   Nachos *Friends House* Bring Chips
3. 
   
   Swt and Sour Chicken w/ grn peppers and rice (crockpot) (Saturday)
4. 
   
   PB&J Sands, w/chops and choc chip cookies (Sunday on the go)
5. 
   
   Fried rice w/eggs, veggies and soy sauce (bible study dish to share)
6. 
   
   ? (Out for dinner with friends)
7. 
   
   Thai Coconut Curry Chicken w/rice
8. 
   
   Chicken and Cheesy Tatertots w/ chopped spinach

Our Bus~

It's sounds like we are going to be getting our bus, after all!
My uncle is suppose to be giving us an old 30+ foot school bus.
We are planning on converting it into an RV!
We are suppose to be getting it in the next few months.
We have a bunch of wood flooring left over from our house remodel and are thinking that maybe we will use it to do the flooring in the bus.
I am trying to not get to excited until it is actually here! :o)

Here we are in August..

This summer has been taking it's time, which is nice.  We have been to a new water park in Tacoma.  Not bad.  We have attended family dinner nights, gone for walks, family reunions, Grandma Ethels burial, the Quarry, the beach, Lake Fair, planted our garden.
Speaking of gardening, I am still trying to figure out how this garden thing is going to work for us.
Overall thoughts...
I am thinking that I need to stop looking out so much and start looking in.
I see the world as a whole but need to focus on my family as a whole, like it's own little planet that I am wanting to direct my focus on.
The overwhelming feelings that this life brings to me, I can't find words to describe.
I know that I am in a new season of my life.  Trying to figure some things out, so that these last few years of my children being home won't fly by and leave me feeling regret.
The thought of that regret already angers me.
It means that I am going to have to make some drastic changes in my life and those changes affect those around me.
Very random, sorry.