Getting back to Basics

Yesterday afternoon, while I sat making up some quizzes to give to my students + developing a power point presentation for this week's lectures, I thought, "wow, it's been a while since I have posted anything on ye olde Monked + Fifed!" It certainly hasn't been for lack of wanting to! Or even lack of activities; there is no shortage of activities in this house. No, lack of time has been the cuplrit...{Circa 2005}

Lately, my Mister + I have made some big changes in regards to our health {that I will post more on later this week}. This crazy life we live, with both parents working + raising 3 kiddos...well, it got us thinking about simpler times...of when we were first married + had the Monks...of our perfectly neat apartment that had white carpet! We loved that place! And seriously, look at the apartment in the background of this picture above...yeah, right past my insanely thin thigh there. We did yoga every day, I watched Signing Time videos with the Monks each morning in bed + we cooked the most amazing vegan dishes! When I think back over that period of time, it seems as though my memories play in slow motion. John was tattooing in the city then, we kept totally diffferent hours; so much was so different! Today, we really have a most amazing life, the life I always wanted. So while I wouldn't say that I took those early years in our little apartment for granted, I always kind of felt like I was kind of playing house...it was just too easy. I spent alot of time dreaming of having a house + being able to have another baby, etc.
I didn't realize then, that the house, jobs and more babies would mean that other things would have to change too. Before we knew it, our days were non stop between family + work, we couldn't shop exclusively in health food stores anymore,we'd go to bed at 9pm so we could wake up at 6:30am and stress was often abundant. Recently, though, we wondered if there wasn't some way that we could incorporate some of that old simplicity into the wild life we lead today? Sure, why not! Ofcourse, you can't change the business of having 3 littles, or of living in a small town without buses for school, where you see people everyday {I hate for my neighbors to have to see me in sweats without my eyebrows on}. And we can't change having a mortgage to pay, or jobs to work... But like we often do with our littles, my Mister + I started with small changes we knew we would be successful with. Those little victories ultimately left us feeling not only successful, but also more ambitious in attampting to simplify our lives in other ways. It also helped us to feel more connected to each other...kind of like those early days of being together.

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So our eating has changed, we are exercising more, we are setting limits on our activities...and the TV is off more often than it is on. They are little changes, but they are helping us to get back to basics; to get back to where we were when life was more simple. I'd have to say that we all feel more connected to each other + more grounded. It's a great feeling. So why wait for New Years...what changes would you like to make to get back to basics + simplify your life?

xo.