Friday things

Well, Christmas is over and all through the house, everything is everywhere. We have been slowly putting things away since the holiday hustle and bustle has ended, but I still feel overwhelmed with "stuff." I really want to cut our possessions more, but I can't seem to get a handle on what needs to go and what needs to stay. We have cut our Christmas decor down to one small tote instead of the three large ones we had. (I can't even believe we had that much crap!) -Seriously!

Minimalism is always a work in progress, but one thing is for sure, we have changed one habit that I think is a great change for us. We have begun to be more conscious of what we spend our money on. We started now, but our goal for 2017 is to not purchase anything other than needs. Needs over wants. Nothing more. Needs being food, water, etc. A year of living more mindful and with less. It can be done! Hopefully on the blog I can share our progress in this step toward downsizing and being more minimal with our lives.

This coming New Year's Eve we are having a small get together with friends and are going to ring in 2017 with a bang! I can't wait to share the pictures.

Here are the things that made this week great!

1. Tree

With our recent visit to the Trees of Mystery, The Bean picked up a Redwood Tree in the gift shop. We have recently replanted it into a terracotta pot and given it a home-for-now in the window. We hope to be able to plant it permanently real soon.

2. Oatmeal

When we attended the Fill Your Pantry program we snagged some Rolled Oats from the Greenwillow Grains vendor. We cut into the bag this past week and enjoyed a breakfast of them. I have plans to make some no-bake cookies with some of them soon. Maybe New Year's Eve?

3. Kitten

This little kitten has been a mess lately. She has been really getting to our older cat, Meia, and wants to play, but she plays so rough. We are hoping a scheduled spaying will calm her down a bit and the two can get along.

4. Gift

My sister, Kendra, recently sent us a Christmas care package and the wooden board this cookbook sits on was part of that care package. It is actually sitting upside down to hold this book. The clothespin holds a photo and acts as a picture frame. Not sure exactly how I want to use it yet, but for the time being it is working as a great holder for my new cookbook. Check this cookbook out here.

5. Christmas recap

We spent an evening shortly before Christmas at The Grotto in Portland, with MacKenzie, Charlie, and Addison (here). We had a great time and I loved this picture of us taken by MacKenzie.

We ate that evening at Famous Dave's Bar-B-Que and I couldn't help but share the names of their BBQ sauce. The "Devil's Spit?" Clever!

Santa left The Bean a few Star Wars figures he has been wanting and packed his stocking full of fun things he can actually use. And some candy, of course. The Mr. and I sported out new Arkansas jackets from my parents and The Bean grabbed a quick photo of us as we were cleaning up the wrapping paper mess. We actually needed new Arkansas gear, so these were perfect! GO HOGS!

Note from S. Claus and his unfinished milk sits on the fireplace. The Bean left him a cupcake and Santa was quite stuffed by the time he hit the west coast, so he just took a few nibbles from the cake and left with a flash. Next year our Christmas might be slightly different as The Bean is going to be 14! I hope we can still hold onto the magic, but time will tell.

We will keep our gingerbread house a few more days and then it must retire to the compost bin. For now, it sits on the mantle looking quite delicious.

...And remember this thought