No More Excess

I just went to the opening class of a new Bible Study this week and we are studying the Beatitudes, the eight "Blessed Be" statements Jesus gave us at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount.  

Tonight we studied and discussed the first Beatitude - Blessed Are The Poor In Spirit For Theirs Is The Kingdom Of God. In discussion we talked about our possessions. We talked about our country and how it is less Christian than Africa and why. We discussed what it means to be poor in spirit and to humble yourself.

We as Americans live in excess. We have too much stuff. Everywhere you look is an advertisement for why you need a product. It's really ridiculous. It's everywhere and I am certainly guilty of it. When you are faced with losing a loved one it smacks you right in the nose because then you have to deal with getting rid of your loved one's belongings. It can be overwhelming.

It smacks me in the face every day. We are so spoiled to have things to make life easier. When I think of this blog and all the silly little things I do around our house that are fluff and so not necessity, I get very agitated and angered with myself and feel like I am not living like Jesus would. 

It doesn't mean getting rid of every single possession but definitely it means living a richer life in faith, in your heart, and in doing for others. Lightening the load doesn't just mean getting rid of your crap. It means you fulfill your heart doing things for people, by prayer and love for one another.

I can certainly stand to rid of some things and it does make me freer to lighten the load physically but what I'm learning is that getting rid of all the unnecessary in our house and all the extra fluff and ideas of you have to have the best of the best is not Jesus-like. It's more than just a fad of minimalism. It's to live a more fulfilling life because that is what God wants. God is calling all of us. Instead of talking we need to listen. I am one who needs to listen. Well, I'll jump off my pedestal but I hope you have a happy week and I'll be working on my vocation as a wife and mother.

I've got a little sickie who is home all week with the flu and he needs to be fed lunch. 

Happy Wednesday. Wash your hands lots!

Keep It Simple YAY!

KISY for short :)

Snowmagedden 2018

Snow! SNOW!!!! Woot Woot! We got snow

We love it! We've been snowed in half the week. We were out on Monday, went to school Tuesday then it snowed early Tuesday morning and school was cancelled yesterday and today. 

It has been nice though I'm not spending much time in it with my injury but it is nice to relax! I've got a lot of hobbies I've been enjoying and the kids have been in and out playing and warming up. Check out all the snow we got! It's beautiful and lovely! Where are you? Have you seen any white flakes this year where you are?

New Roof! YES!

We've been in our house for eleven and a half years and it is our home. We love it. There are so many things we have done to it to make it home -wallpaper and border removal, changed out light fixtures, ceiling fans, insulated and dry-walled(did I make a new word?) our garage, replaced the garage door, added a glass door, a fence, framed bathroom mirrors, flooring, interior and exterior paint, landscaping, etc.

We chose this house because at the time we wanted a clean house and a floorplan that had enough rooms for kids and to change things up if we needed to. So far we have changed rooms around quite a bit to make room for different activities. After eleven and a half years we still love it!

One of our big purchases/redos in 2017 was our roof! A roof sounds so boring but we were ecstatic to finally be able to get a new roof. We filed a claim with our insurance company more than eight years ago due to hail damage because almost every other house on our street had their roof replaced from hail. We were denied though we were told by three roofing companies we had a lot of hail damage, not to mention the sludge that was flowing out of our downspouts. After that our insurance rates were jacked up because of everyone else who got new roofs. We jumped ship from that insurance company.

After eleven years we had a storm blow off a shingle that was nearly disintegrated and deformed. We finally got the courage to file a new claim and were excited to be approved and got a new roof. YeeHaw! 

Here is the day before installation.

Our old roof was gray and nineteen years old. 

Here is the new roof after installation.

We chose a dark architectural shingle. 

We love it and are so proud of the way

our house looks now! It feels COMPLETE. What is your roof like? Anyone had a similar experience?

Keep It Simple YAY!

KISY Smooches

2018 Stuff!

Hope this finds everyone doing well. I'm doing pretty good on this end. It's 2018 and I'm ready for new beginnings. This year has had its ups and downs and I'm finally on the upswing from the downs working to rehab myself from a leg injury. I've been through months of medical testing to try and figure out a lot of different symptoms. Finally I'm rehabbing my leg back into shape so I can do all the normal things I like to do. It's been quite the journey and I'm so thankful to have medical answers and a solid plan to build my strength back. It's been a mental and physical struggle for more than half a year. The physical pain has been excrutiating and debilitating so I'm very happy to get help. YAY for 2018!

On top of my physical goals I've got some house goals for the new year. I don't plan on starting them today though because I'm cold(I'm always cold), want to get under my electric blanket to read, and I've spent half the day at two car dealerships handling maintenance issues for my car and my husband's. Do you have any goals for the new year? I've got a silly little list of things for 2018. Here goes!

1. Get computer organized
2. Organize phone
3. Pull out new dishes and organize them
4. Brush our cat daily! he's long haired :)
5. New curtains for our living room
6. Tackle kitchen table
7. Think about kitchen cabinets - do I want to paint or stain them?
8. Touch up paint spots around the house
9. Clean / paint baseboards
10. Clean / paint back door
11. Catch up on all the blog posts I've meant to post that I haven't. Sigh! We did a lot of things in 2017 and in years past to the house.

I think that is a pretty good list. It's long enough anyway! So what are you up to? Do you have any big plans for your home? I'm signing off but hope you have a wonderful day. Happy Almost weekend!

Keep It Simple Yay!

KISY Smooches