No New Clothes This Year

      I wrote a while back about reading the book Seven and becoming a healthier version of myself.  I can gladly say that I am becoming healthier, and it is amazing to see that eating better really does have a lot of benefits.  Imagine that.  Another thing that John and I were convicted by as we read the book was just the sheer amount of stuff that we have.  One action item that we are taking on is to stop buying anymore clothes for ourselves this year.  I will still be buying clothes for the girls, though I am trying to be more disciplined about that as well.  For us, it is simply a choice to do with what we already have - which is a lot.



      My closet is chock full of perfectly good clothing, and though I will not be super trendy this year (I never really am anyway), it will be good to see which clothes I do and don't wear as the year wears on.  I am also already realizing how much I just pick up a cute shirt at Target or grab that skirt at Old Navy, because they don't cost that much and they are cute, after all.  I haven't spent much time thinking about what I actually "need" and the things that I already have.  Which are plenty.
      Now, I am not saying there is anything wrong with getting new clothes.  I am sure I will shop it up in 2013.  But, in 2012, we need to downsize and get a little more connected to using what we already have and thinking about our purchases with intentionality.  I am glad God is taking John and I on this journey, though I know I will miss picking out a few new summer things as the weather gets warmer.  We do have a few exceptions built in - we can buy new underwear and if we find we absolutely need something, we can buy it at Marshall's, which should be opening up soon.  We are trying to limit our options, because, honestly - there are so many.  We just have so stinking much in this country, which can be such a blessing.  But we don't want to drown in the excess, so this is our little experiment for the year.
      In a totally unrelated note, I spent about 45 minutes between last night and today scouring our house for my old iPhone that we use as Bella's noise machine.  I knew that I had seen it in Bella's little hands but could not locate it for the life of me.  Apparently, Bella was into baking all her favorite things yesterday as I found it in their little oven.



Just in time for nap time today, so that was a good thing.