The "Nomad' Adventure

Through a wild amount of "serendipity" in the past month, we are now "homeless" in the best sense of the word.

I'll save you the whole month of twists and turns and just highlight the past week...

A week ago sitting in the Fort Myers Airport, we received a call from our property manager. He told us the owner of our house offered to release us from our lease. The roof has major problems and water had leaked into three walls. The owner plans to do major repairs and then put the house up for sale. However, we needed to be out of the house in a week. We told them we'd let them know our decision the next day.

It was not a difficult decision to make, because we wanted out of our lease. We had planned to honor it and stay until the end, but we really did not want to be there.

Last Wednesday, after arriving home at 2 A.M. after lots of plane delays, we signed the paperwork and began the moving out process...in SIX days, we sold ALL our furniture, packed up mementos and items we did not want to part with, put them into a small controlled storage unit, and moved out of our 1876 Sq foot rental home (which had been a downsize from our former 2,400 Sq foot home we moved out from last December).

Now we are sitting in a hotel room with two suitcases each and ready to begin our "Nomad Adventure!"

MTHFR

Almost looks like a bad word.

 In fact, I have seen t-shirts that say, "Genetically I am one bad MTHFR."

MTHFR aka Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase

"Methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase is the rate-limiting enzyme in the methyl cycle, and it is encoded by the MTHFR gene." ~ Wikipedia

I recently found out that I have two copies (homozygous) for MTHFR C677T.

It seems to a large "missing piece" of my health puzzle. Perhaps several missing pieces!

Some more information on MTHFR:

MTHFR.net

10 Health Tips for Anyone with a MTHFR Gene Mutation

MTHFR Mutation: A Missing Piece in the Chronic Disease Puzzle

My Hawaii (and Florida) Travel Capsule Wardrobe

Yes, we are heading back to Hawaii for three weeks. Yay! For those of you who may not know, I have lived on two of the islands in the past and we like go back as often as possible (plus, I like my dentist there). After we return from Hawaii, we'll be heading to Florida two weeks later for about two weeks, so this capsule will work for that trip, as well.

Note: These are all items in my current Project 33 capsule wardrobe, I just made a smaller capsule for travel.


My tropical capsule travel wardrobe:

Sundress (1)

Shirts (8):
White tunic (that doubles as a swimsuit cover-up)

Light pink oversize shirt (also doubles as a swimsuit cover-up)

Blue Ginger tropical print tunics - blue and red

Purple knit shirt

Light grey tank

White tank

Black cami

Bottoms(4):
Black cotton crop pants

Black cotton shorts

Grey cotton crop pants

Khaki cotton crop pants (these are old and falling apart, perfect for sea glass hunting...this will probably be their last trip though)

Sarong (1) - white, black, silver pattern - (doubles as cover-up, skirt, dress, blanket on the plane,etc.)

Swimsuits (2) - black and purple 

Flip flops/Sandals - 2 pairs - grey and black - (brand is Vionic, so they can be used for walking, beach,etc.)

Short robe (for sleeping or cover-up), underwear, 2 bras

Hat, sunglasses, tote, and small grey purse

(On the plane rides I put my small purse in the tote and then later use tote for the beach.)

Update: 5/16/2015 - After using this wardrobe for three weeks, there are several items I never wore. I could easily remove at least five items (and probably will before heading to Florida in a couple weeks). My husband and I were talking yesterday and decided if we added a few items to what we brought that is all we'd ever need. It has again shown how little we actually need/use. 

Big Sur Coast

 San Simeon to Carmel, California

Elephant Seals

Ragged Point

Beautiful Big Sur

Carmel Highlands before Sunset

Carmel Beach Sunset

Avenue of the Giants

Our Slow Journey to a Tiny House or Small Home

2015 is our year to get ready for a smaller footprint. We are decluttering, rethinking, researching, and on our way to a smaller home, perhaps even a tiny house. It is nice to have a year to get ready, makes a slower gentler process possible.

"What makes you think you can live in a smaller space?" A question some ask, often in a round about sort of way.

For me, I have done it before!

When I was younger, I lived on a 42 foot boat with my family (5 of us). It was an incredible experience! I never missed "stuff."

When my daughters were younger, we moved to Oahu, Hawaii. The five us lived in 1,000 sq feet. While not a "tiny house," it did show me that we do not need that much space. We later lived on Maui, also in about 1,000 sq feet.

Our view in Kaneohe

Fast forward to 2012 or as my husband and I call it, "Our Year of Being Homeless" (in the BEST sense of the word)! Our plan was not to be "homeless" it just happened. We returned to the mainland from Maui and were not sure where we wanted to live. I should also mention that we were job-less at the time. In January, we stayed with family, a hotel, and later a small two-bedroom rental. Then a job came in February...which required a lot of travel. So, we just traveled...all year! My youngest daughter (age 21 at the time) was with us part of the time and the older two visited when we were in exciting places like NYC. We stayed in all sorts of places...mostly small places, so I know we can do small. The two things about the year I'd rather not repeat...do not bring two suitcases (one will do just fine..."Less IS More"...it really is, even for a year) AND avoid hurricanes! We just happened to be in NJ for Hurricane Sandy!

Post Hurricane Sandy

Back to the whole tiny house idea...not sure if we can do a tiny house, but I know we can do a small home. We keep flirting with the tiny house idea though...Tiny House Nation makes it look very doable!

The Capsule Kitchen Challenge Update

In January, I started The Capsule Kitchen Challenge. Basically, you choose 33 items of food to use for three months. The goal is to simplify meal planning, save time, and save money! For me, it has done all that and more! We are eating healthier, too!

After about three weeks of doing this challenge, we had an unexpected trip out-of-state to help my mother-in-law declutter, pack, and get ready to move into a better situation for her. I packed up a cooler full of many of my 33 items, took a quick trip to the grocery store for some items I was out of, and took it all with us. While I cannot say we stuck to the 33 items the whole week, I can say that meal planning was much easier, we saved money, and putting together meals that week was much less stressful than it might have been given the circumstances.

Currently, I am on a trip. At least part of the time, I'll have access to a small kitchen or kitchenette. I am still sticking to the 33 items (so far). It made grocery shopping a breeze once I got to my first destination! Since, I do not have an oven and I do not use a microwave, I edited my recipes.  However, "When in Rome" will come into play...at least a couple days I'll be in the Napa/Sonoma area and will be enjoying some of my favorite places to eat there!

As part of the challenge, I stopped eating sugar and with the exception of my birthday (I ate one small piece of my birthday cake), I have not had any sugar!!

My kitchen for this week

February Travel Capsule Wardrobe

Saturday, I am heading to California (mostly the San Jose/San Francisco/Napa area) for about five weeks. During this time period, I may also have to fly to the East Coast. So, I am bringing layers, since the weather may vary.

Here is what I am bringing...

Pants, camis, and one tank top

Purse, scarf, and coat

Tops and sweaters

These 21 items are all part of my Project 333 wardrobe for January to March.

Even though I am driving to California, I may have to fly elsewhere during this time, so it is important that everything fits into one carry-on suitcase.

My neutrals are black and grey and my accent colors are purple, wine, and teal. I have so many different combinations I can make with these pieces and most of them I can hand wash in the sink, if needed.

Pants:
Black
Grey
Jeans

Camis:
Wine
Black
Grey

Tanks:
Black
Teal

Tops:
Black knit wrap shirt
Grey and black tunic
Grey, black, and white short sleeve
Purple knit wrap shirt
Wine short sleeve

Lightweight Sweaters:
Black
Teal

Outerwear:
Black coat
Purple purse
Purple, grey, and black scarf

Not pictured here:
Boots
Ballet flats
Black dress

My complete current Project 333 on Pinterest.

Books

On my journey to see what to find out what "minimalism" works best for me, I have decluttered many items that do not serve my life right now. Books have been the hardest items to part with over the years. However, we have gone from a whole room/library of books to much less! Recently, I "right sized" to what is shown in this picture. Many of these books I am using for courses I am currently taking.
(Full disclosure: I have a Kindle. It took a while to get used to not holding a book in my hands, but my favorite books are all on Kindle.)

Edit

My word for 2015 is "edit."

Part of editing has been getting rid of clutter. January has been a good month for letting go! I was bumping along on my own and then serendipity happened and I found out about A Simple Year. A Simple Year is a 12 month course of guided simplicity. Finding the course when I did was perfect timing! It is nice to have even more inspiration, motivation, and direction on this journey! I also am doing the 2015 in 2015 Decluttering Challenge.

2015

A brand new year and a brand new blog...

The new year came in with snow.  A rare site for Tucson, AZ!