I'm More of a Cotton Sundress Girl

A few months ago when Michael and I started talking about moving, I decided that was the time to begin going through our stuff and slowly removing things from our home that we no longer wanted to keep.

You may already know about how I feel about clutter and unwanted items, but if you don't here's the long and short of it: I can't stand it. If there is something sitting around my home that I don't plan on using or don't even like, it MUST go.

So when the possibility of moving showed up in our radar, we sat down one Saturday afternoon and started going through our things. We began by going through each of our own wardrobes. Well, since Michael only has about 5 shirts total and maybe 5 pairs of shorts, he was done right away.

He came over to my side of the closet and began to help me out. He was amazed, to say the least. I had a LOT of clothes. I still do have a lot of clothes. Yes, I know most people aren't amazed to hear that a woman my age would possess a small mountain of clothing, but it was shocking for us.

You see, we rarely go anywhere fancy. I really don't wear heals or expensive clothing on a daily basis. Most days if I'm not wearing jeans and a comfy top, I'm wearing jean shorts and a comfy top. What can I say? I like to be comfortable. On top of that, the only things I do that require special clothing are hiking and spending time in the snow at the cabin. Southern CA really isn't known for its wide variety of weather, so we get away with wearing generally the same types of clothes year round.

My abundance of unnecessary clothing got me thinking, "Why do I have so much clothes, and yet I often feel like I have nothing to wear?" Is it just normal for women to feel like they have nothing to wear even though they have a walk in closet larger than my college dorm?

What was MY deal? I truly had a lot of clothes that I never wore, that I thought were ugly, or that I just never had an occasion in which to wear them.

Sitting in my bedroom going through my drawers and pulling out the unwanted items, I was able to recall almost every moment I had purchased the items I was holding. I realized that for each piece of clothing that I didn't want anymore, I had purchased it for someone/something else. Not for me.

Every time I bought a piece of clothing that I thought would make me more like someone who I thought was more beautiful, sexy, thin, attractive, or smarter than me, I ended up not being happy with the purchase and quickly lost interest.

You see, when I was younger (middle school-ish) I had a lot of people tell me that I should stop wearing such plain clothing and should start wearing cuter clothes (I know they meant it in a loving way). The thing is, I don't think I dress very plain. I think I dress comfortably and cute. I've never been one of those girls who can wear stilettos all day and make it look like her toes don't feel like they've spontaneously caught on fire.

why am i suddenly wishing i had put on foundation this morning?

Yes, I enjoy wearing skirts and dresses and looking stylish, but I'm more of a cotton sundress with wedges girl than a polyester blend dress with spike heels. That's just not Rhiannon.

The most common argument I get from people trying to get me to "branch out" from what I normally wear is that I have a nice figure, and I should take advantage of it. But I don't think I need to wear skin tight clothing on a Sunday afternoon when I'm trying to relax, to take advantage of my figure! I think I need to wear what I like and what I think looks nice on ME. After all, I feel more confident when I'm wearing something I'm comfortable in, and isn't confidence the best accessory??

So, I've resolved to dress like myself (what a revelation, huh?). I donated everything I ever bought because I thought it would make me more like someone else I admired. Or anything I ever bought because I thought it's what I SHOULD be wearing. Once that was through, I decided not to buy any more clothes. Not for a while. Not that buying clothes is wrong, or the main issue here. I just need to focus on what I already have.

Not to mention, getting rid of the clothes I didn't even like, has forced me to explore new ways to wear the clothing I already own. I often felt uncomfortable or just grumpy all day when I was wearing something that I didn't really like. I was just forcing myself to wear the clothes because I felt guilty owning them and not wearing them. By not buying new clothes for a while I've rediscovered some pieces I really love and that are really comfy and flattering.

Going on a clothes buying "fast" (I'm coming up on almost 3 months!) has really been a small victory for me. I used to buy at least one item of clothing a month in the past. That's a lot when more often than not, I was buying multiple items of clothing. I'm pretty proud of myself! It's also been a nice break for my wallet. :)

Weekend Adventures

We had a nice weekend of running a few errands and visiting with friends and family.

Saturday morning we got up early to take Michael's car in for some scheduled maintenance.  A bit of a stressful day, that ended well. :) Sunday afternoon we made a trip to the beach with two friends. It was a lot of fun, and such a gorgeous day. To be honest, I am actually looking forward to going for walks on the beach, sitting and reading in the sand, people-watching while I tan... All things that normally wouldn't be so easy to do if we lived farther away from the beach (traffic would be nightmare if I left the beach too late).

While we were apartment hunting, I kept repeating to Michael how if we were going to live smack dab in the city I wanted to live somewhere that was "walkable". My word for describing an area that had a lot shops, grocery stores, etc., within walking/biking distance. Even though I consider myself a fairly introverted person, I do enjoy walking to nearby stores, crossing paths with strangers and such. I guess its the residue from my this dream I had when I was about 14. I had daydreams of moving to New York City and just living this fabulous life, where I had a fantastic apartment, walked to my awesome job as an artist of some sort, and took the subway everywhere. And I was the beautiful and mysterious girl on the subway...

Needless to say, that is no longer my dream. My dreams involve much more rural scenery. Maybe some pigs, horses, cows, and a huge garden with little babies running through it with dirty feet and chubby faces. And my handsome husband off chopping some wood without a shirt on(TMI?? :P)

Although, now that I'm learning my way around our area, I'm starting to see the bright side of living here (I'm done complaining, I promise!). I see a lot of people walking to and from work in our neighborhood, or just out exercising. That gets me excited to walk to the store, ride my bike (when we buy one) to get a cup of coffee, or just walk around the city. Things that were really difficult to do at our last place, since everything was pretty far away.

I also dropped off our old apartment keys to our manager. It was sort of bittersweet. Even though most of our neighbors weren't really on the friendly side, our manager was really nice and worked really hard to make living in the building comfortable. Not to mention, that will be the apartment we'll always remember as our first home together. I imagine us looking back with smiles on our faces and thinking, "Remember that teeny apartment we lived in right after we got married???" It was a small but comfy and clean home for us newlyweds.

So it is the end of a chapter in our lives, and the beginning of a whole new adventure. I'm excited to be side-by-side with the one I love.

I'll be back soon with the photos of our home tour, so come back soon!

That's Life. That's Marriage.

We are in. I'm now a West LA-er. Something I never thought I'd call myself.

The entire time I've lived in Los Angeles (about 13 years), I've lived in the valley. If you're not familiar with LA, the valley is more suburban. It's still pretty busy and can still have a lot of traffic, but it is generally slightly cheaper to live there and isn't as crowded as the rest of LA.

Well, we are now smack dab in the middle of the city. For someone who really wants to live on a farm in the middle of nowhere, I've been having a tough time adjusting.

There are a lot of angry drivers here. A lot. It doesn't help that I tend to take it personally when people are rude drivers or are visibly upset with me while driving. I'm working on just letting it go, though. I know it probably has nothing to do with me (usually, I think!), they're probably just having a rough day.

But that is life. And that is definitely marriage. Making sacrifices, compromising, and remembering what it is all for... the one you love. That is what I keep reminding myself. And when I look at that handsome guy with his perpetual smirk and dreamy eyes, and his tender heart, (ok, I'm done with the mushy stuff) I'm glad to do it.

He doesn't have to drive in hours of traffic to and from work anymore, to come home exhausted and just mentally worn out. We have more time together, and it's a whole new area to explore together. That makes this more than worth it.

I'm slowly starting to see the perks of living here. Just the other night we found a cute little hole-in-the-wall Mexican/Salvadoran restaurant that ended up having delicious food. There are a ton of cute little places like that around us. One of the things I didn't like about where we used to live, was the lack of independently-owned coffee shops. Sometimes I just want some delicious espresso, and it was also a drive to get to a really good coffee shop when we were living in the valley.

Also, our apartment is so much more unique than our last place. It's old and it has tons of fun little nooks and storage places. I also love that it's on the first floor since that means no more dragging piles of laundry up and down stairs.

It'll take some getting used to, but I'm sure I'll grow to love it. Or, we'll realize it just isn't the place for us and we'll move.

I definitely want to share a photo tour of our new place just as soon as we've got everything set up and put away.

See you on Monday with a new post!

Photos From Our Trip and An Update

scenes from our trip to San Antonio

Since returning from our trip to Texas, we have had a busy weekend around here. Packing up, hiring a moving company, getting our new apartment in order...

It's exciting but a little scary, too. Even though we'll still be living in Los Angeles, we'll be about 20 miles from most of our family. Because it's LA, 20 miles can sometimes mean an hour or more of drive time to see any of them if there's traffic. I just keep reminding myself that moving out of state (which we eventually would like to do) would mean an even longer trip to see our families, so it's really not too bad right now.

Speaking of moving, boy do I want to move out of California. Actually, I mostly just want to move out of L.A. I went through a time where I just loved Los Angeles and everything about it. I couldn't imagine what the heck anyone else did for entertainment or how they pretty much survived anywhere else in the country. Oh to be young again... :P

Don't get me wrong, I do still like L.A. (not trying to bash the city or the people in it!) I have a lot of family here, I have a few good friends, and Michael has a great job here. It has it's perks. But it's just not for me anymore. Have you ever felt that way before? Like a place--physical or not--that once was THE place for you, no longer isn't?

We've talked a lot about moving and where we might want to live, and what we would do once we got there. It's amazing to dream. I love the fact that I even have this dream. I remember being a little girl and thinking of things I wanted to do one day, the places I wanted to go, the people I wanted to meet. But as I grew up, my tastes changed, my life changed. I stopped dreaming as much and just focused on getting myself through things like college, jobs, becoming an adult, etc.

Now that I feel like I've come through a lot of those bumps, I feel like a kid again! I just have all these hopes and dreams of places I want to live, the sort of home I want to raise our children in, the farm I hope we can have one day. It's amazing and terrifying at the same time. Sometimes I catch myself wondering (and sometimes getting frustrated, if we're being honest here) why God still has us here in L.A., when we both want to move to a more rural and family-friendly area.

Then, I remember this verse: "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." (Rom 12:12 NIV) And I am reminded that the life I have now is not the life I would have chosen for myself, but it is better than any of the situations in which I could have imagined myself. Why wouldn't the same be true of the gifts and joys that Christ has planned for us?

The Great Moving Adventure of 2012

And so begins the great moving adventure of 2012...


We went out and purchased some packing supplies yesterday, and began packing. Ugh. I'm trying to keep a positive attitude through it all, but I mostly just feel like throwing everything away and starting fresh. I know I'm just saying that now... but seriously. I REALLY don't like having a lot of unused stuff around, so thankfully we don't have a lot of junk around here.

this guy was picking up some tools while we were buying our packing supplies :)

We do have a lot of paper, though. M's got a ton of important papers we need to keep for a while, so that makes it feel like there's more stuff. Me? I angrily shred my important papers up and throw them away ASAP (at least that was I did during wild days). Not saying it's the best system or anything, I just take out any stored up frustration and anger on old legal documents, bills, etc. I tear them up to pieces and throw them out with a final "Good Riddance!"(please don't follow suit, I enjoy living dangerously).

Yesterday afternoon we started packing up knick knacks and things on our shelves (and when I say "we" I mostly mean M did the packing). Although, I did start packing up my vintage Pyrex dish collection. I thought they might only take up one box, maybe two... Har har! My collection took up three whole boxes. By the time I was done, I had resigned from packing duty. Actually, it was time to make dinner by the time I was finished, but I do wish resignation from packing was a viable option.

M started off doing most of the packing because I had been having a really awful stomach ache. It started as soon as I finished eating my lunch earlier that day. I realized that I had had the same ache the night before and a couple days before that after eating a slice of very cheesy pizza. After thinking about what each of those meals had in common--that I could possibly eliminate from my diet, so that the pain wouldn't come back--I came to the horrific conclusion: DAIRY PRODUCTS, AKA: CHEESE, AKA: ALL THE FOODS I LOVE.

NO.

But seriously, dairy??? Noooooo!! I love cheese, and I've never had an imitation cheese that didn't taste like (and look like) plastic! Now, I have no idea if I'm actually lactose intolerant or maybe just going through some weird stomach bug (no, i'm not prego), but I decided to eliminate dairy from my diet for the next few days to see if the stomach ache stays away. ::sniff::sniff::

I'll just be sobbing in a corner... gnawing on some soy cheese, if anyone needs me...

I'll let you guys know how it all goes. In the meantime, does anyone have any really great dairy-free products that actually taste good?? I'd welcome any suggestions!

Thanks for stopping by!

On Moving and Dreaming

i love this picture of molly, our cat.

those are wild parrots, right outside our apartment.

I know, it's a little difficult to see the little guys, but my entire upper body was hanging out our apartment window to get this shot. They were pretty far away. :( Thankfully, Michael took off the screen from our window so that I didn't have it in my shot. On a side note: why is it whenever I'm hanging out of a window with a valuable piece of equipment in my hands, my arms turn to jello. It's like, suddenly the camera is a thousand pounds and I no longer have any muscle strength. 

Even though I'm excited to move, the wide variety of birds we see at our apartment, is something I will definitely miss. I mean, wild parrots? I never expected that when we moved here. I also never expected to hear owls at night! Every night we hear some sort of owl screech right by our apartment building. I've never actually seen one, but it never fails to scream out when we're lying in bed. In the winter instead of screeching we hear it hooting. :)

It was such an unexpected treat to hear owls outside our windows, when we first moved in. I remember the first night I heard the owl screech, I FREAKED out. I ran and woke Michael up to tell him I thought I heard someone screaming outside. Even though I'd heard owls before, the last thing I expected was to hear an owl in our part of LA! I'll definitely miss that when we move closer to the beach (in case you haven't heard, I'm not the beach's biggest fan). 

watching michael fish.

But, it'll be an adventure, and I'm all for adventure. I have loved moving since I was a kid. Every time my parents discussed a possible move I was always all for it. That may have to do with the fact that I never really had close friends growing up (my brother did, which is why he was always against moving). In fact, right before I met Michael I was planning on saving my money to just get up and move out of California. I wasn't sure where I'd go, but I just wanted to move on. 

Now, that I'm married and supposedly "settled", ALL I want to do is travel. I know moving around is hard. I don't have any delusions about it being easy and romantic all the time, but I love the adventure. And when I have my best friend around 24/7, I'm eager to experience new places and things with him. It doesn't matter where our physical "home" is, as long as he's there, that's my home. It's like that song, "home is wherever I'm with you."

Heck, if I could I would live in a cute little trailer. I'd fix it up so that it was cozy and comfortable. Then we'd drive it across the country, stopping wherever we wanted. We'd meet new and interesting people, see beautiful things, eat amazing food, see God's amazing work, and push through the hard times together. One day that'll happen. Even if it's when we're a little wrinkly and we have kids with kids of their own. :)

via

What are your dreams??