Less Really is More

I don't know if it's the nesting that's kicked in full force, my hormones, an epiphany, or all of the above but I have been trying to make a positive shift in our life as far as keeping things "simple." 

It all started over our Chinese New Year holiday. I began the task of taking all of the tags off Rosalie's clothes to wash them and went through Sawyer's old baby things. Suddenly, it all just seemed so overwhelming. I went to look for something and it was hidden in piles of other boxes full of stuff that I kept or saved for some reason or another. 

I'd like to think of myself somewhere in the middle to low end on a spectrum of being considered a "hoarder." I usually don't get too attached to stuff. Sometimes it's necessary to stockpile particular items living abroad because if we run out of something like deodorant, we can't just run to Target and pick up a new one (they don't sell it here). My family always gave me a hard time when I was younger, because I was known to throw things out in order to clean the house (whoops). 

When we moved to China, we came with only four suitcases. After living here for four years, I always thought, "We really don't have much stuff." But, it's amazing how quickly "stuff" accumulates and begins to take over your life. So over the holiday, I decided to declutter and purge anything that I didn't love. I read a quote somewhere, "Would you pay to replace it if it was lost in a fire?" This was my mantra. I was ruthless. I really started to think about:  What is the purpose of this? Why do I have things that just sit on a shelf? Am I keeping this because I got as a gift and feel guilty? I downsized my closet to about 1/4 of what it was. I worked the entire break, non-stop. It wasn't about getting rid of stuff for the sake of getting rid of stuff. I really felt like it was about keeping and treasuring the things we do love.

After the break, I felt so much...lighter, relaxed, and free. As a family, we are trying to keep things simple. Here are a few examples of how we're trying to embrace a more simplistic approach to our life:

• Not overcommitting to things (learning to say no more without feeling guilty)
• More quality family time
• Let Sawyer explore and discover the world on his own (without us there to entertain him or show him how to do something the "right" way)
• Letting Sawyer be bored (without 3894384 toys to "distract" him so he can learn to be creative and a problem solver with the things he does have)
• Slow down, be more present, and live in the moment 
• Doing more of what we love (for me that's reading, decorating, planning, baking, spending time with my family and close friends, going on walks)
• Being very mindful of what we do purchase and put into our home (i.e. not buying something just because it's on sale)
• Paring down on beauty products and using as many natural products as possible

Below are quotes and books that have really inspired me incase you're interested :) 

"Minimalist Parenting is not an exercise in deprivation. You can still enjoy shopping, decorating, and aesthetics. The trick is to focus on the worth. If you use it or you love it, it's worth making space for it in your life."

-Minimalist Parenting 

Christmas in Bali Part 2: The Truth

I decided that I needed to write this post after our Christmas tree literally came crashing down in our living room this afternoon. Ornaments shattered in hundreds of pieces on our floor. I was heartbroken. I collect ornaments from friends, family, and from our travels. They're really sentimental to me and now a quarter of them were in pieces on our floor, irreplaceable.  Our tree falling over was the icing on the cake after Christmas this year.

  I feel like I need to write this post because I usually post all of the amazing and happy things about living abroad, but it's not always butterflies and rainbows. I want to post the hard stuff too, the truth. 

Christmas this year was extremely hard. Living overseas has many positives that usually outweigh the negatives. When the holidays roll around, I feel lonely and homesick. If you know anything about me, I absolutely LOVE everything Christmas. For me, it's the "magic" of the holiday, listening to Christmas music, baking cookies, the smell of the pine tree in the air, traditions that have been made since I was very little year after year with my family. 

Moving overseas changed everything. The first year living abroad, we were in Thailand with Kurt's parents. I remember Skyping my family and afterward, I was a crying mess. I kept telling myself, "I am in Thailand, what do I have to complain about?! Snap out of it!"

The second year, we were in Cambodia with Kurt's parents. I was pregnant with Sawyer and again, I Skyped my family, this time to announce the big pregnancy news. Same story different year, I'm a bawling mess afterward.

Last year, we went back to Wisconsin for Christmas and also flew to Canada after for my dad's wedding (all in about two weeks). It was honestly a whirl- wind and pretty crazy. Sawyer was only five months old and he was jet lagged and we were jet lagged. Our thoughts were something along the lines of, "What were we thinking coming back for Christmas?!? We are insane. We are NEVER doing this again!"

Fast forward to this year. We put our tree up the second week of November since I knew we'd be traveling to Bali early the next month. I wanted to make Christmas magical for Sawyer. I wanted to create traditions like I had growing up. I baked cookies, we listened to Christmas music, I put Sawyer in Christmas footie PJs. I even wore my reindeer antlers and Christmas sweater to school and helped plan a staff holiday potluck.

Then, I blinked and it was Christmas...in Bali. Except, it didn't feel like Christmas. My grandma had just passed away, we were at a new hotel that was giving me an asthma attack from all of the dust, and we had lost over half of our clothes (we left them at the previous hotel). I was crabby. There was no tree, no presents, no snow, no magic. To make matters worse, the internet was so slow it was pratically unusable, so that meant no Skyping my family. Here I am in Bali, on Christmas and my family is thousands of miles away, without me. I scroll through Instagram and Facebook (by the way...worst idea ever when you're feeling homesick) and I am jealous. I am jealous of everyone surrounded by their big families, Christmas trees, presents, and food. I cried, and then I cried again. I hate feeling lonely on Christmas. I shouldn't feel lonely, I mean I have Kurt and Sawyer. My dad and his wife were in Bali and we were also with our best friends. But I still couldn't help but feel lonely. Our Christmas day was an ordinary day. We ended up having a nice, low-key dinner with our friends, so our day ended on a positive note. 

Christmas Bali style

Lennon and Sawyer munching on Christmas corn

Only family picture I took on Christmas

I am slowly discovering that we need to find a happy balance of creating our own special traditions as a small family unit, when we can't go back to the states and also keep traditions that are important to me, even if that means shelling out $$$ to travel back to Wisconsin during Christmas time and enduring jet lag. Side note: Kurt grew up overseas, so traveling during the holidays with his parents is/was a totally normal Christmas tradition for him :)

Before we know it, Sawyer is going to grow up right before our eyes and so will Rosalie. I want them to experience holidays with extended family, even if it is a bit chaotic. I want them to see houses decorated with colorful lights, bake cookies for Santa, feel snow crunch beneath their feet, smell a REAL pine tree, and wake up super early on Christmas morning to see what Santa left under the tree. It's important to me that they have those memories too in addition to all of the amazing travel memories.

 Here's to hoping that next year's Christmas will be the best Christmas yet...as a family of four (crazy!)

Our November

November has been a bit chaotic and busy. Here's a little breakdown of our month.

EAL Conference

A couple of weeks ago, our school hosted an EAL conference with almost 200 participants that my team organized. Kurt was away for part of the weekend coaching basketball and I didn't get to see Sawyer much. Our ayi (nanny) stayed with Sawyer and the poor guy had a 101 fever, so I had to run home to give him medicine, and get hurry back to the conference. I think the culprit was teeth as a few new molars have sprouted and he was quite fussy for a few days. 

There was even cotton candy

Sawyer Update

Sawyer is turning into quite the character. He knows what he wants and has an opinion about EVERYTHING. He's starting to have temper tantrums (throwing himself on the floor crying if he doesn't get what he wants) and very clingy, pulling on my leg demanding to be picked up. Terrible twos early?!

He's loving reading books and watching Jake and the Neverland Pirates before bed. Good grief that song is going to forever be stuck in my head! He dances around to the songs and will lay down on a pillow and blanket and cuddle me.  Today, he was pretending to mix food in an empty jar and then began feeding me with the spoon (so sweet).

He definitely loves the holidays like his mom. Sawyer is obsessed with our Christmas tree. If the lights aren't turned on, he will point and whine at the tree until someone turns them on...then he starts to clap and giggle. 

Our little Christmas tree

He's not talking yet...he will say momma and dadda but that's about it. For all I know he's trying to speak in Chinese! He understands far more Chinese than English, since our ayi, Karen speaks in Chinese to him all day. She will ask him to get his shoes and he will do it. We will ask him in English and he stares at us. I'm not worried though, because the language will come on it's own time. I have also heard that language can be delayed in bilingual households. 

Sawyer having the time of his life at his friend's 2nd birthday party.

Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving with two other teacher families this year. I made pumpkin pie for the first time ever...and I'm happy to report that it turned out great!  I may have eaten pumpkin pie for breakfast the next morning too. My friend Kristin made the most delicious homemade stuffing that I'm still dreaming about. Sawyer didn't want any of the food, go figure. So instead, he ate oranges (at least someone ate healthy to balance the rest of us out). It was nice, low-key dinner and I left feeling stuffed. Thanksgiving 2014 for the win.

Sawyer and his Thanksgiving oranges

Winter Bazaar

Every December, our school hosts a Winter Bazaar featuring yummy food from all around the world, games, and some shopping. We haven't been able to go for the past two years, and I was excited that we were able to make it this year. The Bazaar was packed and there was a ton of good food, but the booths sold out quickly (aka basically, I just ate deserts). My favorite were the Swedish waffles (which reminds me... I REALLY want a waffle maker) and Brazilian treats. Santa even made an appearance. 

I love the festive international flag decorations.

We couldn't pass up this photo op 

Santa is a popular guy

A snapshot of the Bazaar

Movember booth

...and onto December!

Back Into the Swing of Things

I realize that I've been absent from blogging for quite some time. To say it's been a busy year is an understatement. I have a new job this year as a 2nd and 3rd grade EAL (English as an additional Language) teacher, so I've been trying to get used to my new role and spend as much time with my little family as possible. So far, I am loving my new job. Basically, I support EAL students (kiddos whose first language is not English). This means, I run around all day going from classroom to classroom...but I love being in all of the different classrooms and working with teachers to support these students. I will admit, I miss having my "own" class of students to bond with, but a plus is that I see different students all day.

                                                       

The Chinese just celebrated the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. One of my friends hosted a lovely little moon party full of DIY flower crowns, delicious treats including both moon cakes and macaroons (perfect mix!), and of course...great company. From my understanding, the moon festival was originally celebrated to "give thanks" to the moon and a changing of seasons. Families get together and eat moon cakes which is the special desert of this holiday. The students at our school even got to make their own moon cakes in Chinese class. 

Beautiful Moon Festival party (Brittany even painted us our own full moons!)

My friend, Laura, just made a mini visit to China! I feel so blessed to have had family and friends visit us since we moved to China over 3 years ago. Laura arrived on last weekend and I was able to show her a little bit of China. We ate some yummy Chinese food, got a foot massage, visited a temple, showed her around school and our neighborhood. I'm so very thankful that she could spend time with us! 

Visiting a nearby temple

Sampling tanghulu (candied crabapples)

My favorite noodle place

Sawyer is walking up a storm. He's been walking consistently for a couple of weeks, I'm so proud! I can't believe how quickly he's growing before my eyes. I swear sometimes I look at him and see a little boy...what happened to my baby!? 

 

Two weeks from Friday is our first vacation since being back at school. We have off for a week and we will be traveling to Thailand for a conference in Bangkok and also going to Koh Lanta with some friends. I have been dreaming of mango sticky rice, fruit shakes, and the beach for the last couple of weeks.

Happy hump day! 

My Wisconsin Summer Top 5

image via

Lately, I've been counting down the days until summer vacation. Our last day of school is June 13th, and we hope to fly back to the states the very next day. Don't get me wrong, I love our life here in China... but there's something magical about a summer in Wisconsin. Here are my top 5 things that I'm looking forward to (other than of course spending time with my dear sweet family and friends!)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  

5. midwest courtesy/friendliness.

Holding doors open. Waiting for your turn in line. Waving other drivers or walkers to cross the street. The friendly driver "wave." Strangers that ask you how you are and say hello.

It's the little things. They go a long way. It's funny whenever I return to the states, I find myself in my "China mode," trying to beat someone in line, looking 2839283 times before I cross a street, etc. It is a happy surprise when strangers are courteous. It honestly brightens my day (what "bucketfillers" as I would say to my 2nd graders).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. food.
Need I say more? Ok really though... I can make all of the recipes that I miss while living in China with ease and for a fraction of the price. I mean it costs almost $8.00 for a bag of chocolate chips here, about $7.00 for a bag of shredded cheese, which by the way is imported from guess where? Wisconsin, go figure.  Also, I can get everything I need for groceries in 1 glorious trip instead of 5+ trips a week to different stores to find ingredients.  There are a few restaurants that I can't wait to visit as well. My husband might be living at Chipotle. If you ever want to know what to get him for a gift? There ya go. My husband is easy to please.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. target.

Does it really surprise you that this makes #3? Let's be honest, Target rocks, seriously. All of life's problems seem to melt away as soon as you walk through the door (until your husband asks what you bought and all you have to show for it are 1-2 puny bags $100.00+ later, whoops.)

Target, until we meet again, I'll be dreaming of your shiny, red carts and your aisles upon aisles filled with goodies that I clearly NEED to have in my life.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

image via

2. driving.

I haven't driven a car since summer 2012...it's been a while. There's something liberating about driving in the summertime, windows down, radio turned up playing catchy songs. Maybe I'm painting an unrealistic picture now in my head now that we have a baby.

Reality: Probably trying to turn the radio louder than our crying baby in the backseat.  A baby who is not used to riding in car seats since they are pretty much non-existent in China...oh this should be a treat.

                  

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. our soon to be cabin.

If we ever close on our house... sheesh! We are supposed to close this coming week and sign all of our papers at the embassy in HK (please cross your fingers for us). Apparently, we make life more complicated since we live overseas. I am ecstatic to have our own place on the lake. I cannot wait to wake up every morning with my little family with a view of the lake.

So many plans, so little time. Here's a bucket list that I've started.


-plant sunflowers.
-swim everyday.
-take walks.
-explore with Sawyer. (leaves, squirrels, rocks, worms, everything!)
-bonfires. (at least 3x a week)
-s'mores. (what kind of bonfire is it without gooey, yummy s'mores?!)
-waterskiing. (Maybe try to slalom successfully this summer? )
-stargaze. (we can actually see a clear sky...something I do not take for granted anymore living in China)
-picnic in our yard.
-bbq.
-host sawyer's first birthday party.
-outdoor movies.


What are you most looking forward to this summer?