2017: Less is More

As I sit down to write this post, I am initially compelled to apologize and to state that, yes, I know, New Year Resolutions are cliche and overdone. I feel the need to express this, though, simply to negate the instinctive eye rolling from potential readers who just don't want to sit through yet another "New Year, New Me" article. And how sad is that?

How unfortunate that we, as a society, have become so unenthused with the idea of an individual who wants to better themselves or their lives in any way. I, personally, choose to support any resolutions or goals of my family members, friends, acquaintances or strangers. If you want to try to lose those last 15 pounds for the 12th consecutive year - yes! I applaud you. I will 'like' every filtered photo of your treadmill results that you share. If you have decided that this is your year to save more money, I salute you. I will gladly trade in out-for-dinner dates with made-at-home visits. If you want to spend less time on your phone - I won't even bring mine along with me the next time we plan to meet up.

The truth is, we only have so many trips around the sun, and for that reason, I say, make those resolutions. Make them and break them and make them again. Invest in yourself, make this year "your year" - whatever that even means to you! Disregard the eye rolls and pay no mind to the naysayers. Do not apologize for having goals or feeling the want or need to express them publicly, whether it be for accountability, support, or otherwise!

And so, here it is, unapologetically - my New Year Resolutions.

1. Live with Less.
This year, I want to live with less. It has been a long time coming, and I have slowly started to make changes within my own home and lifestyle that will assist me making this resolution attainable. One of the ways I will be kickstarting this particular resolution is by taking part in the 30 Day Minimalist Challenge for the month of January. We have placed a large storage box at our front door. On the first day of January, we placed one item inside. Today, the 2nd of January, we placed two. Tomorrow we will place three, and so on, until the month is through. This will allow us to rid our household of over 400 unnecessary items in the month of January alone!

I have also started a "Wants and Needs" board. Every time we run out of an item that we are in need of, it goes on the board. Every time we discuss something that would be helpful to have, or something that we would like to purchase, it goes on the board. So how, exactly, will this help with living with less? By sticking to the uncompromisable rule that if it's not on the board, we don't buy it. I can't believe how much money we spend (and more importantly, how much "stuff" we accumulate) whilst running daily errands, browsing online Mom-Swap sites or while out, simply because "it was on sale".


So, that is my main resolution. Of course there are little goals that I hope to accomplish throughout the year, like posting to my personal blog more regularly. Hey, look, I'm already off to a great start! And then of course, come March when we welcome our newest member into the family, I'm certain I will be determined to lose the baby weight .. and then some! You know, the usuals. But, for now - intentionally trying to live with less will be top of mind, for me. With less 'stuff' in our lives, it is my hope that there is then more room in our home, in our minds and in our lives for things of more importance.

2017: Less is more! 

It's been a while...

Well... it's been a while!

So long, actually, that the last blog post I made,  I was patiently awaiting my over-due daughter (Ryan Alexandra), who is now two, and in a few months going to be a big sister! Some women "nest" when they are expecting, but apparently, I write.

This is us - Kevin, Ryan and I, announcing the growth of our tribe. Photo compliments of Open Shutter Photography by Rebecca Kalp. 

The last couple of years have been the best of my life, and I mean that. I've learned so much about myself; learning  who I am as a Mother has forced me to also learn who I am as a Christian, who I am as a wife, and who I am as an individual - something that any mother will tell you is usually the first aspect of ourselves to go out the window when we enter the raw, real, beautiful, challenging, life changing world of motherhood. But this is a little deep for a re-introduction to the blog. So, I will get into some of those details in posts to come, when I need to unload my thoughts onto someone other than my husband, who *bless his heart* has had to deal with my never-ending curiosity and middle-of-the-night epiphanies for the last 8 years. 

It's November! And what that means, if you are a fellow holiday-lover like myself, is that we are smack dab between two festive seasons. I can thank this stretch in the calendar for my most recent (actually, my first-ever) "Letter to the Editor" of my local paper, The Chatham Daily News. I believe in what I wrote in that letter, even the chopped up, character-maxed version which was submitted to the paper, and so I share it with you.

Dear Editor,

With the holiday season fast approaching, I believe this letter to be quite timely. Everyone, whether they are a parent of a child attending a local public school or not, has their own opinion on how public schools should go about celebrating holidays. 

On one end of the spectrum, you have those who believe that all Christian holidays should remain in public schools; there should be Christmas concerts and Easter egg hunts, and everything in between. On the other end, there are those who believe every holiday – religiously founded or otherwise, should be removed from every public school in order to avoid the possibility of offending anyone who’s cultural and religious beliefs do not condone their participation. 

I am not sure if I belong on that spectrum at all. Here is why:

I whole heartedly believe that it is important for my children to take part in festivities that celebrate our Christianity. So important, in fact, that I would never leave it up to the school they attend to lead those festivities. Yes, it is a matter of such significance, that I would (and do) take the time, every single day, to educate them on Christian heritage, teachings and tradition so that they are sure to never solely equate Christmas with presents, or only associate Easter with chocolate treats in baskets. Celebrating their Christianity is not the responsibility of the public school that I send them to, nor do I rest it on the shoulders of the educators employed by those public schools, whose own personal beliefs may (or may not) reflect our own. 
However, I have a difficult time wrapping my mind around the fact that washing our public schools clean of any religious holidays is the right answer. We say it is in the name of progression, for the purpose of diversification, but is it? I attended public elementary school in Chatham for 9 years. Some of the memories that stand out to me, are:

-Spinning dreidels and singing along to what we learned were traditional Jewish songs used to celebrate “Hanukkah”, as one of my Jewish classmates gave a speech on how the holiday came to be. 

-Attending an annual assembly in our school gym, where if we sang the lyrics to “Christmas in Killarney” loud enough, our Principal would run through the aisle and “click his heels” in the air to the lyric “how grand it feels to click your heels” while the entire auditorium of children roared.

-A guest speaker visiting my second grade class, bringing with her a large drum and teaching us 7 different African greetings. We learned this was a Kwanzaa tradition, and although I couldn’t reiterate those greetings verbatim for you today, I do recall being so interested in this celebration that had existed for hundreds of years, one that I knew nothing about.

Those school memories differ greatly from the home memories I was making at the same time each year, those consisting of packing Christmas Shoeboxes in our church basement to send to those less fortunate overseas, participating in my churches Christmas concert, setting up our living room nativity set and reading the story of Jesus’ birth. Never did I feel offended, though, to learn of how other cultures across the world celebrated their holidays.

So my questions is, is removing these celebrations, and in turn the corresponding lessons and teachings that invoke thought, wonder and exploration of cultural differences the answer? Or instead of taking holidays out of our public schools, should we be making the necessary changes to include more? Should we be less invested in making sure that nobody is offended and more concerned with the idea that everyone is involved, trying harder to guarantee that each student is given their own stage (in an environment free from judgement) to educate their classmates and teachers on the customs and traditions that they and their families take part in, whether those families be Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Agnostic, Atheist or otherwise? 

Nice to meet you.

My name is Caress Lee Carpenter and I do not regret to inform you that I am, indeed, as country as the name would lead you to believe. I was born 'Caress Lee' but in October of 2012 I married my love, Kev. (I'll post a wedding photo album later so you can have a tiny insight into just how DIY obsessive I am, and believe me, it has only grown since then.) Together, we've spent over half a decade building this little life we have.

Kev is my guinea pig when I'm trying out new, never-before-attempted, don't-try-this-at-home, from-scratch recipes. Actually, not recipes. In fact, if the word 'recipe' had an antonym, that's what these concoctions would be. I am my Mother's daughter when it comes to "a dash of this and an ounce of that". Sometimes, Kev is the fortunate first taster of an incredible culinary masterpiece and sometimes ... he is not. Let's just say that, on the rare occasion, I have been guilty of over-seasoning. Blame it on my aversion to moderation. Regardless, I promise that this blog will showcase both ends of the spectrum - it's only fair.

Kev is also my go-to when it comes to carrying out the many, many, many around-the-house, do-it-yourself projects that I dream up. I tend to lean towards the country, rustic, shabby and chic of things when it comes to decorating our home. I am forever armed with mason jars, burlap and twine and, as of recent, I have taken a liking to refurbishing old, junky, throw away furniture into pretty, unique pieces. Kev helps me with pick-ups and unloads. I'm currently just over 6 months pregnant, so I am temporarily rendered useless when it comes to the heavy lifting.I'm also trying hard to keep my distance when it comes to using paint removers, wood stains, and all of the other goodies that scare-you-shitless parenting articles strongly advise against.

Much of what I want for my own home - and my own life, really - was inspired by the way I was raised. I am one of my parents 4 daughters and we all grew up on our family's Century Farm - a hundred acres on the outside of town. It was that very property that Kev and I got married on and the same property that, eventually, we want to build our 'forever home' on. In many ways, my upbringing on the farm was one that most country kids can relate to. My Dad spent long hours in the field and my mom spent equally as many hours keeping up the home - both of which are no easy tasks when you are perfectionist, over-achievers with no hired help. In every way they are different they are just as many ways the same and I can thank both of them for many of the little habits that I have in terms of caring for my own home and my own family. For instance, I do tradition. I do family dinner at the kitchen table. I do back roads. I do natural. I do it because for a very long time I didn't know there was any other way and after learning there were and then faced with the opportunity to choose other ways, I realized there was no better way. There are a million little things that I carry with me from my childhood, as most people do, but I never realized how home-grown I was until I left the farm.

I chose to start this blog, partially, so that I could document all of the little home grown, do-it-yourself, and from-scratch moments of my little life. I also started this blog because I’ve always been fascinated by other lifestyle blogs and how other women have been able to share the triumphs and tragedies that come along with being working wives and mothers (amongst other things) in one, neat, little, organized place with a catchy font and pretty matching side panels. Another reason I started this blog is because so many of my friends and family members have told me that I should keep track of my recipes, house projects and decorating ideas and compile a book. Well, it’s 2014 and starting an online blog is the next best thing. I figure if a handful of people around here find the things that I do on a daily basis inspiring, maybe there is another handful out there somewhere. Lastly, I started this blog because I, too, am an over-achiever.  The thought of being a brand new, first time mom, chairing a couple of community fundraising campaigns, actively volunteering for a few local organizations that I hold close to heart, keeping up our home , coaching a local sports team and taking part in a number of professional development courses once September's maternity leave rolls around just wasn’t enough.

I came to the conclusion, long ago, that the absolute best and most beautiful things that have happened in my life have come from less-than-ideal, overwhelming and messy places.

This is the little life I've built, From Scratch.