Our 5 Goals After Vacation

"After a while, just staying alive becomes a full-time job. No wonder we need a vacation."

Micheal Zadoorian

Hello, Hello!! We have missed you all!! How have you been?? What's been going on in your lives??

I was hoping to have a vacation post for you all today...but I do not!! Deep sigh!! It has been feeling quite crazy around here this past week!! I am working on it though!!! I'm hoping to create a beautiful post...{ with FINGERS CROSSED, possibly even with a video, if I can figure THAT out}...just for YOU!! Please be patient with me as I'm learning new things!!

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It's been kinda tough this week being back home after our vacation. I've felt like I was dropped in some strange land with no sense of direction, not a reference point in sight, no way of telling where I am or where I need to be going.

I don't feel like I fit into my surroundings anymore. Don't get me wrong here...we are SO happy to be back home. We adore being back with our boys. Missed our puppies terribly! Our own bed feels extremely comfortable to sleep in!! But, for some reason, it just doesn't feel the same as before. Things seem so different. Nook is bigger, and has lost some of her training...Clementine looked at us in such a way, like she was almost unsure that we were actually in fact US for a couple days...Eevee has been SO intense ever since we returned. I'm still trying to get caught up on what all the boys did while we were away...I'm pretty used to having front row seats to everything they do, so I feel VERY out of the loop. There is a remarkable amount that needs done around the house...chores have piled up a bit, and I can't get a good grasp on where to start. The house outside looks different even...after being gone for 10 days, plants have really overgrown...even more so than they were before we left! There was even some excitement of the police showing up looking for a guy who was on the run, and who was spotted in our backyard!! {No worries though...our amazing friends & family were here to make sure everyone and everything were safe & sound!!} Being on vacation, we were able to taste test that simple life!! It was incredibly intoxicating. Even though we only had a small taste, it has become tough being without it! I'm not afraid to say that we just possibly may be now obsessed with the simple life...even beyond what we were BEFORE vacation!!

So how do we bring more of THAT into our lives we have right here, right now?? How to we pacify ourselves until we can get ourselves that cabin in the woods...the one just for us?? In what ways will make us feel more like we have more simplicity in our lives?? To live a life that feels more like a permanent vacation instead of just "normal life"??

1. First things first...I need to get a handle on being back home! Ease myself back into our routine & work on getting this house in order! I will definitely start with our Kitchen...it's that main hub in the middle of our house...so many coming & going all throughout the day...with so many flat surfaces to just drop a little of this & a little of that which ultimately becomes MY huge mess!! Deep sigh. After my kitchen is feeling a bit more in alignment, I will be able to start moving on to the rest of the house! 2. Time to purge...after things are not such a mess, it will be easier to move thru the house to find things we no longer need, use, or enjoy. Work on making more space for that rest & relaxation we are so very much missing from our "vacation life". More space to just BE in our home & enjoy being here...not worried about what chores & tasks "should" be getting done!! 3. Make-over...not for me, but for our home!! She definitely deserves a bit of an update!! We haven't really done anything too over dramatic since we've moved it...so, it is definitely time!! We have a couple projects of "remodeling" we've been wanting to do, but it just keeps getting bumped & put off. Oh, the lives of procrastinators!!

We can't forget the outside either! LOTS to do to pull our little abode together out there, as well!! Enough to keep us busy until this time NEXT year, I imagine!!

4. Create Spaces of Light...this one kind of ties into & goes along with the one above, but thought it also needed it's own step. I would like for us to create little pockets of spaces around our home...inside & out...that are just comfortable, cozy, meditative, creative, places to just sit & think, or read, or listen to music, or relax, or have time to ourselves or together that will refill our light inside us. Help us to refocus & reboot when it is needed. Stress-free zones we can escape to when life is being difficult. It's not just about having a clean space, but a place of rejuvenation. To refill our light inside our souls when life is set on dimming it for us.

5. Become even more home-centered...this is something that we have talked & dreamed about for the longest time. We have the hearts of homebodies, for sure. If we aren't doing work things, or kid things, or errand things...we are usually at home, where we prefer to be! Living life inside our bubble...in our own little world...yeah, that is how we like it best! We've homeschooled for the past...well, forever...to bring the kids home, as well. The next step would be "work from home".

We most definitely want to explore this alternative. It's been included in our chats together for YEARS, long before the pandemic world showed us ALL there are other ways to earn a living besides leaving your house to go "bring home the bacon"... but...it's a HUGE step!!

There are more steps, for sure!! Things like finding our financial freedom...ways to be able to travel more...but, for right now...THESE are where we start. Which remind me of...

"Start where you are."

I've heard this little quote so many times. And it is certain truth in this situation of ours. WE ARE HERE. This is where we must put our focus...so we can create the future that we long for. A simple life with a sweet combination of slow living & travel!!

We'd love to hear from YOU!! What are you doing "TODAY" to work toward your "TOMORROW"?? Share in the comments below!

Sending Love & Light to YOU!!