Clean, Clean Inside & Out

As you may have guessed from the last post, we are going through some big changes here at the W household.  We have been doing (and are continuing to do) a lot of soul searching and praying and talking, talking, TALKING endlessly about our future, what that looks like and how we get there.

I am not going into too many details on this post (oh nuts, I know) but super-dooper promise that we will go into things more, soon.  What I can tell you is I am cleaning.  I would describe it as a complete overhaul of my family, my life, my soul.  I want to be simpler, lighter, and live more genuinely toward happiness. I know my happiness is with my family, with the time we spend together, with the memories we make.  It is definitely NOT in stuff. Hell, a cluttered house is a cluttered mind and all that jazz, right? Don't get me wrong, I love Target as much as the next girl, but...

So step one, an EPIC garage sale. If we don't NEED it, it's gone. This weekend I will finally get rid of all that crap I don't use.  Second, we are downsizing. Our house is being listed this week and we begin the search for an apartment.  We no longer want to be owned by our house, choose our jobs based off of how high our mortgage payment is vs. what makes us happy, and decide what we can buy, do or eat (or rather, not buy, do or eat) based off of what expenses we foresee in the future (broken garage door, warped siding, replace furnace, hey what's that knocking noise in the car engine ohmygodhowarewegoingtopayforthat!!).  These are our first steps.  They have been met with a mix of emotions from those surrounding us.  As usual, we are not living within normal American expectations.  Those W's, going against the grain again.  If I've learned anything, though, it's that no matter what odd, stupid, or occasionally brilliant-by-default choices I make, my family always loves me.

Are we nervous? Yeah.  My last apartment experience left something to desired (thanks to the sex-crazed single mom living above us that was singlehandedly raising a pack of wild kangaroos). Am I sad? A bit.  I love my garden, my roses, my sweat and hard work went into much of this place.  I will cry, it's a given.  Am I excited? You bet. I am feeling lighter already; I am feeling at peace; I am feeling cleaner.  After all, it's just a house. No matter where I go, I will take those memories with me. My peonies are NOT my great-grandmother and my rose bush is NOT my children. They are in fact, just flowers.  However, I will not get back all of those moments I spent elsewhere rather than with my children or with my husband.

Will we regret it, most likely not.  I am living by the motto "Will I regret this on my death bed?".  Will I regret having sold our house to live in an apartment if it means getting to make more memories with my family rather than be weighed down with worry about finances? No, I don't think I will.  Will we fall flat on our face with our future plans? Possibly, but we are here to lift each other up and support one another. We have each other, we have love, we have faith, and we have hope. I think it's a hell of a start, don't you?

Maybe I'm being naive, but there is a certain sense of freedom as you start to step outside of the box labeled "Normal".  When you start to see things about the experiences of life and the other options for living it that aren't the typical 2 income 9-5 someone else raise our family while we go further and further in debt for a bigger car and fancier watch and nicer clothes. When you start to strip all of that BS away and decide to do what makes you happy. Whatever that is.  Maybe part of it is being in nursing and seeing over and over again that there is no guarantee for any of us, for parents or for children.  We can all live our lives for what we want things to look like when we are 60, 70, 80, but there really is no guarantee that any of us are going to make it that far or that our family is coming with us.  So, "Will I regret this on my death bed"...?

Step 2, well, that is where there is more to come.  We could perhaps look at Step 1 part B- Norwex.  Yes, an odd segway, but deal with it I guess.

I went to my first real, grown up, I'm selling something from a catalog party. Yep. Norwex.  Now, I've had the beginner pack for about 1 yr now, but having gotten it more as a gift, never got the chance to see the magic of Norwex up close.

Boy, was I amazed! I have not been giving my products enough credit.  For those whom aren't familiar, Norwex are specialized cleaning cloths that allow you to clean with only water.  Yes, water.  They are amazing, self-sanitizing, don't get stinky, make your house shine, freaky awesome! I had saved a bit of mad money and bought myself the cleaning paste, the rubber bristled toilet bowl cleaner, the facial cloth 3 pack, the lint mitt, and the fruit and veggie scrubber.

Of course, being a huge nerd,  I spent the next day testing out my cleaning mitt to clean my screens and polishing my windows. AMAZING!! I think I killed a whole family of birds those windows were so friggin' clean! Receiving the rest of my products yesterday, I had the chance to test out my lint mitt on our cat's favorite chair.  I'm sold! That thing is simply amazing!


I love that it is reusable, that it is safe to let my children use (they love to help wash windows and dust!) and really just make the hippy inside of me do cartwheels!  What other type of product would you let your 4 year old handle?

So, I am feeling my house grow cleaner and lighter, my mind more at ease with a lack of clutter and with the choices we are making, and I feel my soul smiling.  I don't know how to describe that exactly, but I hope that you have experienced that at least once to know what I mean.

P.S. Thanks for all of the feedback on the last post!  I love, love, love hearing from all of you!