Reality setting in...

Well, here we are 4 days away from the launch date. We have finished all the birthday festivities for our 2 year old (as of today) and we are starting to think, uh oh... no more new stuff... do we need anything? We have 4 days left how many stores can we hit before we can't anymore. Well actually we found ourselves in the mall a couple of days ago and I said, "I am not going to miss this place"... Well at least that's what I said then. We'll see a month from now, or even a couple days in. We want what we can't have. Hopefully I will be able to break that habit. Carissa's cake turned out great despite the upset stomach, here's a peak:

Dane and the kids loved it. The parents weren't sold on us giving it to their kids... It was a great day. Excited about what is creeping closer and closer. Oct 1 is coming quick, the adventure is imminent.

Cake Shananigans!

The countdown is on but I feel like we have already begun. I went to the grocery store tonight to pick up a few items to make a cake for Dane's birthday. I stood and stared at the cashier after she told me my total was $77 something.... WHAT? I felt like I might throw up. I didn't know what to do so I sheepishly handed over the old MC and headed out the door with my cake mix and candy. How often has this happened to me, where I walk out of the grocery store with a bag full of junk. Don't get me wrong... I love the junk and my little boy is worth every penny and more but could I show him in a different more meaningful way? I know I can. I need to.

- Carissa

Carissa walked through the door after grocery shopping, and I thought she was going to fall over or something. She looked absolutely stunned... I asked her what was up to which she replied, "I spent $70 on a birthday cake, I feel sick to my stomach" As we searched the bag we realized there was a little more to it than that. Eggs, vitamins, milk, yogourt, and some baby needs, wipes etc... So it wasn't all cake, but either way it definitely showed us how quickly wants add up. Quite an eye opener. Looks like we will have a lot to learn.

-Jason

9 days...

Lately we have been challenged to think of what life could look like if it were simpler. Books, conversations, and the desire for a more meaningful life have brought us to these questions. What would we do with ourselves if we weren't frequenting the malls, or taste testing the newest Boston Pizza menu? Could we cut out shopping, and live Simply? What would THAT look like? We don't know but we have decided that this year we will find out.

A couple years ago we read an article about a family of 6 who lived on $35,000/year, you can read the article here. This inspired us, but not enough to launch us into action. Perhaps we were not ready or more likely not willing to make the necessary changes to live simpler.

This year a new friend of mine told me about a year long journey she took with her family of living a "compact life". They took a compact to take a year off of shopping. You can read about their experience here. Their experiment trigger more interest and inspiration in our lives but still not enough to push us out of our comfort zone.

I then read the book "Eat, Pray, Love" and was challenged to live a more disciplined life. Thinking of discipline, I picked up a book that I have read before "Celebration of Discipline" by Richard J. Foster and began to seriously consider a simpler life.

My husband was also on his own journey. Mounting external stresses and the realities of having a job relying on fundraising to get paid had begun to take its tole. He began to talk about the need to buckle down on spending and simplify life for the sake of our family. He was given the book "Freedom of Simplicity" to read. Funny, it is also by Richard J. Foster. We began to talk about what this Disciplined Simple Life might look like.

This is what our next year will look like:

Disciplined and Simple. We have decided to take a year off of shopping.

To take a year to separate needs from wants.

To learn to be creative and resourceful.

To make our relationships more meaningful.

To be generous with what we have been given.

To save money.

To be good stewards.

To grow in our faith.

It is our hope that as we tune out our desire to consume we will tune in our desire to be consumed by Christ. We hope that this experiment will remove distractions in our lives and allow us to live a more centered, meaningful, simpler life.

Feel free to follow us in our 365 day journey. We will begin in 9 days, October 1st.