Awendaw Passage of the Palmetto Trail

Pictures of our first "long" day hike. We are training for backpacking over night so three of us have overnight backpacks on. My husband is recovering from a knee injury so we thought it best that he only carry his water. I carried his stuff and the dog's (Arwen) stuff. Ryanne (the 7 year old) had a day pack. Even when we hike overnight, she'll carry a day pack because I don't know if she's ready for an overnight pack yet. She's pretty small. :)

We hiked one leg of the Palmetto Trail. YAY!! I will say that today, all of us are a little tired and sore. haha! We had so much fun though! We were very worried because it started raining on us when we were about 2 minutes from the trail head. Ack! After checking the weather on our phones again.... we saw it shouldn't last long. So... we started off in rain gear. :)

First real dayhike

We just hike around local trails. However, I'm excited to say we are hiking a 7 mile segment of the Palmetto Trail tomorrow. We may only hike 4-5 miles of it, depending on how everyone is doing. The hikers are my husband, my mom, my 7 and 9 year olds, our dog, and me. I'm so excited.  In April I'll finally do my first overnighter, but we don't have the water purifier, backpacking stove, or backpacking tent yet. So, hopefully we'll have those by then.

We love you Baker!!!

Notice how his back legs were facing a different direction than his front legs. 

 Back in 2005, I was working at an animal hospital. A client came in with this adorable little gray tabby kitten. She said she found him in a dumpster and wanted him to get a check up. If he was healthy then she was going to adopt him. Well, he had giardia (an intestinal parasite). This owner did not want him. She said, "Just euthanize him." Well, the vet I was working for decided to take her money as a donation to getting him healthy. So, he lived at the vet's office for a few weeks as we got him healthy -- flea free, giardia free, hookworm free, and any other thing free. He stuck his paws through the holes of his cage and made biscuits in the air and sucked on our fingers or ears as if he was nursing. Shortly after that, Paul and I decided to adopt him.

He loved that we had boxes not unpacked. They made perfect beds.

He also loved to sleep on the gas stove in the winter with his feline sister because it stayed warm. 

The Christmas decoration box always gave him a hard time. He'd jump on top and it would be open so he'd fall right in. He never caught that. This is the same cat who once sprained his leg by falling off the dresser. He was a bit clumsy. 

Baker and his feline sister, Miss Callie.

Last night Baker came in, he ate dinner and then curled up in his bed and fell asleep. This morning we found him dead in his bed. We have no idea what happened. He was 10 years old and seemed completely healthy. He has been around longer than my children so there are lots of tears around our house today. He was our cuddle cat. He always wanted to be held and cuddled. He will be greatly missed.

Sustainable Happiness

I've been thinking a lot about the minimalist lifestyle and why BIGGER is better in our society. I really don't know why. I grew up in a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, a dining room, a living room, a den, and a family room. It was over 2000 sq ft and the only people who lived there were my mom, my sister, and me. My husband grew up in large houses as well as he traveled all over the world with his family.
I always had everything I needed or wanted. Christmas was always a big deal with lots of gifts from my mom and my grandparents. I had lots of toys I never played with. Then, I moved in with a roommate while I was in college. We rented a little 800 sq ft house, okay... it was 760 sq ft. I was rounding up. When I got married, my husband and I continued renting this same house.

Our less than 800 sq ft home we rented. Isn't it cute?

Finally, we bought a house. It was bigger and better and a whopping 1000 sq ft!!! haha! Over the years we had two children and accumulated quite a lot of stuff. The house that seemed so large at the beginning began to feel quite small. The children were sharing a little 10x11 bedroom and all four of us were sharing a bathroom.

I don't know why I keep using past tense. We still are doing all of the above. The difference is that we are trying to get rid of the stuff of enjoy the things that actually matter. I've been reading and researching becoming a minimalist for the past few months. I ran across this article. I want to have my family find sustainable happiness instead of being like the majority of Americans and think that everything should be super sized. So, my challenge for myself will be to take a picture of something that will help me to attain sustainable happiness on my Instagram account. I am really excited about this challenge. I'll use the hashtag #sustainablehappiness Feel free to join me!! :) It could be fun!

So, on my journey to find sustainable happiness I will be searching for things that bring real joy into my life and I will be minimizing all of our stuff to just what we need. I'll keep you updated on my journey. :)

Thinking Day

As a Daisy leader, I got to attend Thinking Day!!

All the girls and leaders of the troop who attended.

Checking out the Japan display with my Daisies. He was teaching them origami. I only had 6 girls there. You can't see them all in this picture, but they were there. 

Here's Ryanne swapping her S.W.A.P.S. (Special Watchamacallits Affectionately Pinned Somewhere).

The Daisies!! One of them had to leave early for a gymnastics recital. She made it in the big group picture and individual picture, but she didn't make it in this one. :( Sad.... Oh!! The man in there is the dad of one of the girls. There are supposed to be 2-3 co-leaders depending on the size of the group. I'm a solo leader because the co-leader backed out after 2 meetings. So, this dad has helped a couple of times and the girls love him. They're trying to convince him to be a co-leader. LOL! 

The girls were supposed to dress up as powerful or inspirational women. Ryanne dressed up as Misty Copeland.

You can almost see all the girls in this one. The astronaut is in the back with me and then Ryanne was there somewhere. I think we were checking out Mexico here. :) 

Capsule Wardrobe Challenge

This entire outfit came from Goodwill except the earrings which came from DYT store.
Dove Scarf - Miley Cyrus brand  (Not exact but similar found here)
Blue Shirt - Sonoma brand - (not exact, but similar here or here)
The Sweetheart Jeans - here
Earrings - DYT Pewter Posies Earrings - here

So, I decided to create a capsule wardrobe. This is a document of my journey. What is a capsule wardrobe? It's a simplified wardrobe.... a minimalist wardrobe. The goal is to get about 10 items as the core. Then you have layering tees and accessories to change up the outfits. I have mine narrowed down to 14 items. Yikes! That seems a bit crazy, doesn't it. I have 1 dress, 2 skirts, 3 pants, and 8 tops. I also have 3 pair of shoes, some tees, 2 sweaters, a jacket, a vest, and 7 scarves along with some jewelry. I'm going to see what I can do. 

 Day 2 --- This entire outfit came from Goodwill except the scarf and earrings (same earrings as in day 1)
a.n.a. Purple plaid shirt - (similar) here
Purple Jersey Knit infinity scarf (similar) here 
Gray Corduroys - (similar) here 

 Day 3 --- Entire outfit from Goodwill except earrings.
Earrings (I felt I needed a smaller pair with this vest) DYT - similar (here)
daisy Tshirt
Jaipur Vest
Jeans (mentioned earlier in post)

Day 4 --- Look, I finally figured out a collage was the best way to go here. :) The selfie is in natural light and more true to colors. My bathroom turns everything yellowish. ;)
Jeans - mentioned earlier in post
The shirt came from Goodwill and the tags were cut out of it so I have no idea what the brand is. Here is a similar one though.
Gray boots came from Payless shoes. Similar from here.

Day 5. I'm wearing the same scarf from Monday.
Scarf - mentioned previously in this post.
earrings mentioned previously in this post.
Gap shirt - (similar) here
LuLaRoe Maxi Skirt here (find a LuLaRoe consultant and then you have more options and better pricing) 

Day 6 - the t-shirt and jacket are considered "extras" and not part of the "core" wardrobe.
Necklace - don't even try to find... so old.
Bandolina Jacket - I can't find this color but here are more of this brand of denim jackets.
Rose Pink tee - it has burned out long sleeves. I love this tee and bought it from zulily but the tag was uncomfortable so I cut it out and I'm not sure about the brand. 

Day 7 -- church. It's hard to tell in these pics but the necklace and earrings are green and silver. I don't think I'm wearing any repeats today. The skirt is Pretty Angel -- one of my favorite brands. However, it's expensive so I always look out for good sales for them before I'll buy their products. I do love them though. The jewelry came from the Dressing Your Truth store and the shirt is from Goodwill.
earrings and necklace from DYT here
Pretty Angel Gypsy skirt can sometimes be found here, DYT, or on zulily.
Shirt is Maurice's but it'd old and I can't find  it.