detoxing everything can be so good

We love inspiration. It comes from all different places! I saw this on a friend's FB page and quickly borrowed it. I hear detox and I think diets or treatments or skin care regimens. Detox means so much more than that!

When you clean it up, clean it out, downgrade, downsize, simplify, tidy up,  and rearrange, it can be so much simpler. Granted, it takes some practice. It takes mindfulness. It takes patience. It takes awareness. 

Every winter and summer break, we clean out the junk drawers. We clean out closets. I clean out phone contacts and social media accounts. We toss expired products. We go through coloring books, dried out markers, journals, the whole craft room. It took some time, but we created and established routines.

Now that it is second nature, everyone jumps on board. For 2 or 3 days over each major break, we work together. And then we enjoy. We enjoy the simplification. We enjoy the cleanliness. We enjoy the detoxification. We have less to focus on, mess with, clean around. This leaves more time for fun and laughter and making memories. 

finding gratitude makes us smile

We started doing fun New Year's challenges instead of resolutions I will eventually forget or give up on. A few years ago, we did the coin challenge. We did the hanger challenge. The clutter challenge was a good one. This year we focus on gratitude. You notice we got classy and decorated a Hawaiian Punch bottle!? We also get resourceful for these!

This year we focus on gratitude. It's that time of year when we are itching to get outside, to go on a bike ride, go swimming, or for a walk. We typically go to the Dells in February just to break up the cold and have a little fun. Not this year. Everyone got so excited for 2021 to arrive without even realizing it's the distant, evil cousin of 2020. Instead of focusing on all that snow, the temps, and everything else that hasn't resumed like usual, we're focusing on gratitude. 

We write on slips of paper and drop them in. Done. I even made it easy and put paper under the jar and left a few markers behind it. I don't ask what she's written. I just remind her to put the date on each entry. I do the same. Om New Year's Eve we will dump them put and go through a Year's worth of memories, fun, and gratitude. 

Hopefully it will be enough to fuel us up for a year of positive attitudes and being able to see the bigger picture. One site I saw suggested having each person read someone else's. You could even collage them when you're done (probably won't do that, but it's a nice sentiment). We have a year of camping adventures ahead of us. We have plenty to be grateful for, so I am hoping for a full jar by the end of the year full of memories and gratitude we can all be proud of.

the fun of having a girly one

Sometime during quarantine we changed my daughter's room to a unicorn theme. It's nothing fancy, but there are details here and there that are really cute. We even flipped over her summer quilt and put a huge unicorn on it. Then we made a matching pillowcase. It was a fun way to craft away a day in quarantine!

For the winter months she is back to the trusty paisley duvet set. I was scrolling Amazon the other day and came across this set. It is holy adorable! Of course I had to screenshot it to show her. I immediately thought two things: I am SO jealous we didn't have cuteness like this when I was a kid and Is she too old for this now? (Tear, tear at that thought!)

The good news is that she loved it. She was actually ecstatic. The unicorn theme lives on! And now during the cold winter months, she has something bright and cheery to enjoy. We all need a warm, fun pick me up in the cold winter months and I do believe we will be bonding and smiling over the magic of unicorns ;)

We love thrifting!

We get this magazine every month. Not sure why we get it, but I read it. There are always fun recipes or local places highlighted. It's a fun little magazine for those who love their local areas (aka- me!). 

This month they highlighted thrift shops. We LOVE thrift shops! It's not classy, but it's fun. You support local, you score fun finds, it's like treasure hunting :) 

Two years ago my lovely daughter asked for a Goodwill giftcard for her birthday. I just smiled and got on the phone. The lady at Goodwill was so kind. They even gave her a scratch off card to get a discount off for her birthday. And you know what? She walked out of that thrift shop with a big smile and 2 bags of fun. 

Support local. Local businesses are suffering due to Covid. Go shop for treasures! We plan to tour the midwest this summer and do a lot of treasure hunting :)