SRKindredSpirits

In 2014, I stumbled across  Becoming Minimalist  and started reading with interest. In   January 2015 , My husband and I decided that we were going to make the choice to get rid of clutter and simplify our life.   It was one of the best choices we have ever made! Since then, we have cleaned out the house, garage, shop, barn, and attic, and have gotten rid of truck loads of stuff ( I wish now that we would have kept a total count ). Don’t get me wrong, we’ve never been ‘pack-rats’, but we simply had a lot of stuff that we didn’t use, just taking up space. Here are just a few pictures, but  they do not include all the truck loads of good things that were donated... We used our garage as a place to put the things that we gathered and then gave them away, donated them, recycled them, sold them, or took them to the trash. Our load to the landfill - isn't it sad how much stuff is wasted? This stuff was donated....  We sold some of the things that we

It's been a couple years since we had some good family photos taken. And with my Grandpa's Homestead for sale - I really wanted to get some updated family pictures taken by the old red bank barn that has so many memories for me and my kids... I remember helping Grandpa feed the cows, playing in the hay loft - making tunnels in the straw with my cousins at Christmas, bobbing for apples with the church youth group... and watching grandpa fix a something in his work area in the barn. I loved jumping off the sides of the banks and playing by the rocks.... or rolling down the hill... The Hubby and I Our Family The Man I Love... Our Kids Faith 14 yrs. Wyatt 8 yrs. Layia 6 yrs. I'm so glad we took the time to get pictures taken at my Grandpa's barn... they will be treasured!

  “All journeys eventually end in the same place, home.”  - Chris Geiger I recently started following  Becoming Minimalist  and have to say I really enjoy his posts. I find that the above is true.  Home is my Happy Place!  It's where I can be myself, where I find comfort. It's where I feel safe, loved and at peace.

Okay, so we bought three hamsters a few months ago for the kids, and had a cage like this....It was small, and messy, and I felt bad for the little guys every time I walked by it...  So, I decided to  do something about it.... We had an old, small, book case that we no longer used and I thought it was the perfect size for a hamster house. I took the cardboard off the back and screwed 1" x 4" boards above each shelf. I turned it and did the same to the front. Added a divider at the bottom and put wire over the whole back of the bookcase. (Yes, I made a mess in my house, as it was too cold out side and I'm not the most patient person...) I covered bird ladders with the cage wire and cut hole in the shelves for the ladders to go into. I covered the shelves with a vinyl, washable, laminate. We put up three exercise wheels, screwed in a food dish, and hung a hay feeder and a salt lick We made door frames from 1" x 1" boards and

Today is the first day of Spring. So to kick it off with some fun, we made little bird nests. One of our favorite things about spring (besides the warm sunshine and flowers popping up), is listening to the birds chip! What you need: Small party/paper plates paper/plastic Easter grass Graham crackers Icing Peeps Little eggs (we used mini malt ball eggs) Other spring candy and edible glitter or decorating candy Brake graham crackers in half and use icing to stick them together and to the plate. Use 2 halves in an upside down v shape to make the roof. Put the Easter grass inside to make a nest. Add eggs and put a peep (aka bird) on top of the eggs. Let the kids decorate their birdhouses with the candy. (Use the icing to stick the candy on) It's  fun to see each kids creativity and the kids always have lots of fun! Enjoy!

May you have the most beautiful Spring this year - it's a gift from God..... enjoy it! Spring is Natures way of saying "Lets Party"! - Robin Williams

With all the cold, dreary weather we have had lately, I decided Sunday morning that I was gonna make some warm yummy goodness for my family. I found this recipe the other day over at The Recipe Critic and just had to try it out. It turned out so good, I just had to share.... I did tweek it to our family's liking just a little. I made a double batch and was glad I did.... they tasted just as good 'leftover' as they did coming straight from the oven! Cinnamon Roll Twists Dough: 1½ cups warm water 3 Tbsp. sugar 1 Tbsp. yeast 3 cups flour 1/2 cup Instant Shaklee Protein 1 tsp salt Mix warm water, sugar and yeast together. Let that sit for 5 minutes. Add flour and salt to the water, sugar, and yeast. Mix this until smooth and let it raise for 10 minutes. I used my kitchenaid mixer with the dough hook and it was so easy and worked great! NOTE: I used about 1 cup more flour than the recipe called for. Roll out the dough in a large square on a flou