What makes you happy?

I thought I would take a few moments to reflect on those 'things' in life that make me happy. And, no, they are not material 'things'.

* Enjoy my morning coffee while reading many blogs.

* Playing hide n seek with my cat, Cosmo

* Fishing or hunting with my DH

* Going for a non-competitive bike ride with a group of friends

* Scrapping with friends or by myself

* Cuddling up on our favorite chair & watching TV and eating popcorn with DH

* An awesome run or bike ride

* Any mountain bike ride - good or bad!

These are just a few of my favorite things. They don't cost me anything, or in some cases, very little. Although I have fallen into the Consumerism mindset in the past, my values have returned to where they were when I grew up: frugality, savings and simplicity.

What makes you most happy?

A Fun Day Off

The ocean was flat & I had the day off which equals Fishing! DH & I headed out and had an awesome day. It started when we were catching bait & I was able to hand feed a porpoise! There was a feeling of calm and excitement in taking a bait, slapping the water to attract the porpoise's attention and then watching as I let go of the bait when he swam within inches of my hand. He (or she) was so gentle and graceful in the water, as if he had done this millions of times before.

After acquiring sufficient bait, we headed out to sea and found a spot to begin our fishing. Within minutes of putting bait in the water, the lines started goi

ng off & we spent the next 2 hours reeling and reelin

g. We caught a tone of bonito, and I scored a small (40-50 lb) sailfish. The action started to slow again and that's when this guy came along:

He wasn't all that big, but we fed him off of the chum line. You never know what you'll see out in the ocean and it was exciting to see this small hammerhead shark circle the boat (insert Jaws theme music here).

A day off doesn't have to be about consumerism - it's about time spent with those who are important in your life, and DH and I created yet another memorable day.

New Design for the blog!

In my efforts to reduce the clutter and now plastic in my life, I felt a more clean look was in store for the blog. Simplification to me means several things. First, life should be as easy as possible. For example, it's my DH's birthday today and he loves apple pie, so I thought I would make him one. I had this recipe for one from Alton Brown on the Food Network. We enjoy watching him because he teaches as he cooks. I dug out his recipe and it was way over my head. There were ingredients on his list that I had never even heard of! When we watched him make it, it looked easy and absolutely delicious. Not so much when you see the recipe!

I decided to whip out my 'go to it' recipe book, The Joy of Cooking, and make the pie, from scratch mind you, from that book. My MIL went through it with me at Thanksgiving and showed me how she made apple pie, so I plan to do the same. Now, you may argue that it would be easier to go buy a frozen one from the grocery store or go to my local bakery & buy one. And yes, that is the most simple way to do it. However, it is DH's birthday & I love him and want to make this for him. It's the simplest recipe I have for making one.

Simplification also means to live with the basics of life - nothing more and nothing less. I guess that's one post for another time......

Also, in my get rid of 5 things daily challenge: Friday, May 20th I decluttered a plastic flashing ice cube that you put in drinks, a pedometer I never used, a stainless steel, plastic-lined water bottle (no plastic!) a mini photo frame and one of those Easy buttons from Staples that someone gave me.

Shorts & t-shirts

What more can I need in life than shorts & t-shirts? I live in S. FL where 70% of the year (or more) I can get away with wearing shorts & t-shirts. However, in my decluttering challenge, I took a look at the t-shirt pile & decided I have too many.

This decluttering thing is hard. I looked at many of my t-shirts and found that my DH gave me lots of them! And, I can associate memories with them as well. I was running some 5k's back in '09, and have those t-shirts which I can't give up yet too! However, I did manage to find 4 of them to get rid of; 3 of which were volunteer t-shirts. These 4 t-shirts will go into the rag pile for use in the many projects my DH is involved in. I also threw away a workout shirt that I had from, sit down for this one, 1996!!!! Bye, bye - you've had your usefulness!

One thing I haven't mentioned yet is my scrapbooking room. I have sooooo much stuff in there and it's probably going to be the biggest challenge for me to declutter. So, I scrapped a quick layout today and I'm happy to use some of my 'stuff'!