Decluttering Your Fantasy Self - You're Going to Feel So Free!

 

Hello my friends!

Let's talk about decluttering...because, you know...we haven't heard enough about that topic over the years. 😅

But this is a different type of decluttering called "decluttering your fantasy self" and it's going to free you up in ways that you will greatly appreciate in the future. It may even save you some money and who doesn't want to save money?

I recently heard this term and it caught my attention right away, because I'm always up for decluttering what I don't need. But what about all of those things that I just knew I would use "one day?"

Decluttering your fantasy self involves things that you have acquired as part of a fantasy of who you might become. 

For instance, I have buckets of fabric, just waiting for me to become a fabulous apron maker one day.

I have photo albums waiting to be filled with all of the pictures I currently have organized in a box.

I have paints I never use. I have dresses I never wear. I have dishes and gadgets I'll never cook with. And the list goes on and on. 

Maybe you saw an influencer on social media demonstrate their amazing passion for cooking, so you went out and bought the entire line of cookware and it's still in the box. (In the old days these were called infomercials and the result was just the same). 

Maybe you imagined yourself as an expert embroider and now you have a closet full of embroidery items you never use. 

Maybe in your fantasy mind you are a master woodworker and now your shed is full of tools and random pieces of wood that, in your heart, you aren't even half-way interested in. 

Or maybe you just knew you would rock those big, bulky earrings and you took one look in the mirror and realized they just aren't who you are, so there they sit, taking up valuable space.

These are the fantasy people we create in our minds, but they never really fit or maybe we just grew out of that phase, but can't seem to let it go. 

We've all been there! 

So imagine if you decluttered your mind and your fantasy stuff and set yourself free from having to live that lie that you're really going to use up all that yarn you bought years ago. I mean, how freeing would that be?

I can speak from experience, it feels great! And I need to do this again and again, because what you gain is a clear sense of what is really important to you. You also gain the wisdom of not buying things that you're not really into, but just wanted to try or were influenced to buy. We get better with practice. 

Years ago, when I realized that I detest scrapbooking, I gave away every stack of paper, decor, albums, etc. because it was a constant source of stress when I looked at it. I've never regretted doing that. 

There have been other things I wish I wouldn't have given away, such as my salad shooter 😅 because I really used that thing! But, the things that gave me stress, those things felt like a weight off my shoulders and I learned not to spend money on those things again.

This has happened to me numerous times with clothing. (Sometimes it takes a few dollars before we learn the lesson). One summer I decided that I wanted to wear dresses, so I went out and bought a few. I tried them on, but never felt comfortable, so I never wore them. I would see other women wearing cute sun dresses and I wanted to be that girl. But there the dresses hung and eventually I gave them away. I'm ashamed to say, this has been repeated several times over the years. 

That's ok. I'm not going to beat myself up for trying, but I don't want to keep repeating the same mistake. It's too costly.

So, what is your fantasy self hanging onto?

Is it the fantasy of being a master gardener, when you really detest dealing with plants? I can relate. 

Is it the fantasy of being a famous writer, when you would rather read than write?

Do you fantasize over fancy spices, delicious meals that take hours in the kitchen, when really you would rather cook simple meals and play with your kids instead? 

We all have fantasy selves we've created in our minds, but they just aren't who we are, at the core. It's time to be ok with that. I think it's part of accepting ourselves, as we were meant to be. Not that we can't try new things and acquire new hobbies or interests or even styles, as we age. It's always great to change and grow. But it's about being authentic and not trying to do something, just because it's the trend or because someone else makes it look so fantastic and we want to look that way too.

You're going to be good at what you're naturally good at and for some of us, that may be rocking a pair of jeans and a t-shirt every single day of our lives. Because being comfortable and joyful is going to beat wearing a dress and hating every minute of it. 

Be that girl!

So go on...purge something today that your fantasy self was hanging onto. I dare you! You're going to feel such freedom when you look around and you're surrounded by things that are truly YOU. And that's who you needed to be all along.

I love and appreciate you!

Until next time...

Blessings! 

This Week and A Cute Video

Hello everyone! 

It's Tuesday and I'm finally sitting down for another post. I haven't been taking many pictures lately, so that affects my writing, for some reason. I need to get better about taking pictures throughout the day, but sometimes things just seem so uninteresting that I don't bother taking pictures. However, I did snap these yesterday as I was working in the kitchen.

Gingersnaps in a jar. I just about love the look of anything in a jar, don't you? There's something old fashioned about putting things in jars, in my opinion, and I love old fashioned ways. 

I also got a shot of the brownies I made for family dinner coming up (tonight). After they cooled, I cut them into squares and put them on my cake plate and as I was doing that, I was thinking about how the girls walk into family dinner every week and spot the dessert right away. It's amazing how little girls (namely a 5 year old) can get so "full" while eating her dinner, but have plenty of room for dessert 😉

I also made a pot of spaghetti sauce yesterday, in preparation for the lasagna I'll be fixing for dinner tonight. I try to do as much as possible on Monday, in preparation for Tuesday night dinner, so that I'm not exhausted by the time the kids get here. 

This morning I have a grocery pick up and this afternoon I will put two lasagnas together, prepare the garlic bread and side dish, vacuum, wipe down both bathrooms, set the table and then hopefully get some reading done while cooking dinner. 

I got 4 books from the library last week and have read one and started on another. I got side tracked reading 2 ebooks on my tablet, so that slowed me down a bit. 

These are the books that sidetracked me. They are two in a series of short stories and I really enjoyed them. The third one isn't due out until February, so I will be waiting a while to read it. They were good and short, but still found a way to endear you to the characters quickly. I'm looking forward to the third book.

I will admit, I had time to read yesterday while cooking, but I had clothes to fold, so I indulged myself in some tv time while the sauce was cooking on the stove and the laundry was going. I started watching America's Sweethearts on Netflix. It's the show about the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and the process of the organization and all they go through to be on the team. 

David and I had recently watched the documentary on the Miss America Pageant organization and it was really eye opening, as to what these women endure just to be in the pageants. So I thought this would be similar and it is. The thing that surprised me the most (so far), was the veteran cheerleaders having to try out every year, no matter how long they've been on the team. Most of these women have full time jobs, in addition to being at practice every night for hours and hours. What a grueling schedule! Of course they showed the history of the organization and in the 70's, when they first started the team, the girls only got paid $15 per game! I found that so surprising, considering the enormity of the salaries of the NFL and how much money the football team brings in. But enough about that!

Last Thursday, when the girls were here, we kept seeing this butterfly in the driveway. When we went outside to check it out, it didn't fly away, like they usually do. It kept flying around us and got so close to us, like it was playing with us. I got out my phone and tried to capture it all, because the girls were having such a good time with it.

Here's Ella trying to get close to it.

🦋

Well, I hope you enjoyed this little recap of my life lately. I'm off to start my day. I'll remember to take more pictures this week and hopefully be back with another post or two. 

Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you soon!

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

Two New Mugs and Some TV Talk

 Hello everyone!

I hope you've had a great week so far. It's Thursday, just before 7:00 a.m. and it's currently thundering outside. We have a big line of rain heading our way. It feels like the perfect day to be inside with a good stack of books. However, it's also Millie Day and my day will be occupied with 3 little girls in a few hours, so no resting for me! 😅

I've had somewhat of a slow week. We didn't have family dinner Tuesday. We've decided to all meet up for lunch on Saturday instead. That means that I had some extra downtime at the beginning of the week. 

I've stayed busy making bread, doing a grocery pick up, going to the library, cooking and working on the budget for the rest of this month and prepping for next month. 

I've caught myself moving a few things on my To-Do list to the next day and the next and the next. Do you ever do this? Why are some things just too easy to put off? I figure I will get to them when I'm in the mood, one day. 

I did manage to buy myself two new mugs 😀 I love them. They are gorgeous! They are from my daughter-in-law's shop and you can find them HERE. They have some beautiful floral mugs, plus several vintage designs. Of course I had to choose a cottage and books. I mean, what else would I have chosen?

Lately I've been in "budget" mode, watching videos on budgeting and personal finance. I've always been a budget nerd, as they say, and I love figuring out new ways to make the budget work. To me, it's like a puzzle and it's fun to discover new ways to make all the pieces fit just right. 

David and I have also been watching America's Got Talent and we're actually enjoying it! It's a nice change from our usual British crime shows. Our question is...how will these people who do outrageous acts, do even more the next time? And then some of the acts are so lame, you get embarrassed for them. But it's all in good fun and entertainment. Of course, the singing acts are my favorite. 

I'm also watching one of my favorite shows, Claim to Fame, which I've mentioned here before. I love that show and have enjoyed trying to guess who is related to whom. The premise of the show is this: all of the contestants are related to someone famous. The point of the competition is to figure out who each of their famous relatives are. There are games and clues along the way and at the end of each episode, someone goes home. It's hosted by two of the Jonas brothers and it's lighthearted and just a fun show to watch. 

Then, of course, I'm watching The Bachelorette's new season. I've been watching this show for 25 years, with the exception of a few seasons. 

It sounds like I watch a lot of tv, but I only watch it during lunch and at night, so it's not as bad as it seems.😅 

What are your go-to shows right now? I would love to hear about it in the comments!

Well, I'm off to get prepared for my little visitors. I hope to be back soon!

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

Things You Might Not Know (about me)

 Good Monday Morning Friends!

There's so much to say about the weekend news, but I'll leave that for later in the week. Today I'm linking up with Sandra (HERE) for a post about old fashioned blogging. I hope you enjoy getting to know me a bit in this post. 

1) How long have I been blogging and why did I start this blog?

I started blogging back in 2008, on my blog called A Million Skies. As a young homeschooling mom, I wanted to connect with other moms at home with their kids, so we could compare notes and share ideas. It was a great community back then and I am still friends with several of those ladies today. We've watched each other's kids grow and become parents themselves. What a blessing that's been! 

I quit blogging for a while, when blogs became all about making money. I just didn't want to play the game. I lost my mind one day and deleted the entire blog, which I still regret, in some ways. 

But a few years ago I was longing for another community, that wasn't social media, so I started my current blog and have, once again, met some of the best ladies, who are also just wanting to share their lives through blogging and it's been such a blessing. 

2) How did I choose the name of my blog?

Millie's Cozy Cottage comes from the name my grand babies call me...Millie. We live in a small cottage and my goal is to make it cozy, colorful and very homey, so that's how the name came about. 

3) What is my blog about?

My blog is mostly about my family, some daily routines, books, and many times...my thoughts on various topics. I love to write deeper pieces, but I try to keep it to a minimum here on the blog. As a writer of my feelings, I can tend to want to share my thoughts and feelings about things, but I try to save that for my journal and my books, unless it's something I think would benefit others. 

4) Tell us a little about yourself and your family.

I am a Texas girl, about to turn 59! I've been married for 35 years to my husband David. We met in Hurricane Gilbert, down in Corpus Christi (1988) and we've been together since then. We have 2 boys, Ted (31) and Collin (25) and we think they are amazing, of course. They are both married to beautiful young ladies, who we love like they're our own (Alex and Morgan), and they have given us 5 grandchildren with two more coming this winter! We are blessed. 

Thankfully, we all live in the same area and we have Family Dinner once a week, Millie Day with the granddaughters on Thursdays and I try to keep Asa when he's free 😀 Calem and I are still forging our relationship, so one day he'll come for a visit, I'm sure (he's not even 2 yet). 

5) A few of my favorite things (collections, things that make me happy, etc.).

My biggest collection would have to be books. I love collecting books about homemaking, personal finance, cozy living and heartfelt essays. My favorite authors that I have multiple books from are: Fiona Ferris, Sharon White (Mrs. White), Jennifer L. Scott, Ruth Harms Calkin and Marjorie Holmes. 

Around the house, I collect magazines, decorative birds, candles and lots of stickers for my journaling. 

6) What do you like to do in your spare time (hobbies, crafts, etc..)?

I love to read, write, create things with paper, journals, stickers, watch tv, organize, rearrange furniture 😅 I also love crosswords and other "figure it out" type games I can play while watching tv. 

7) What does your dream house look like? (Describe and/or include photo)

My dream home is an old Craftsman style house with a front porch. It would be on a tree lined street, with other Craftsman style homes, in a little town where people walked every evening, neighbors stopped to talk and kids could still play outside like kids. 

8) If you could visit anywhere, anytime, where would it be and why?

I would love to go to England and walk through an old English village, visit the church, the pub, walk along the canal. 

9) Would you share with us a favorite homemaking/organizing tip or recipe, etc..?

Well, I believe in tweaking a room until it feels good, every single time you walk through. Eventually you will get it right. But it's important to love your home, so keep working on each room until you are happy every time you are in that room. 

I also believe that it's important to have a place in a corner (or an entire room, porch, etc.) where you can call it your own. It needs to have a cozy chair, basket of books or craft, cozy blanket or throw and a little table to set your coffee on. Even in the smallest house, a woman can create a cozy spot where she can relax and just breathe. 

10) Tell us something about yourself that we might not already know from reading your blog. (something unusual, etc..)

I was in the Miss Teen of Texas Pageant in 1984. It was 3 days of prep and I competed in formal gowns, interviews, and poise. Of course I didn't win, but it was an honor to compete and fun to do something out of the ordinary. 

11) Tell us a way God has blessed you and/or your family.

Well, God has taken such good care of us all of these years, but I have to marvel at how he pursued me when I was 22 years old and as lost as could be. He began to call me out of a lifestyle and change my desires, before I even knew him. That led to me going to church with my stepmother and sisters, hearing about Jesus and laying down one night and giving my life to him.

From that moment on, the events were all divine timing, because one month after I gave my life to him, I met David and my life has only gotten better since then. 

He continues to provide for us and our family. He is our comforter, friend, guide and our father. We would never make it through this crazy ride, if not for God. 

12) Share any words of wisdom and/or a favorite quote you'd like to leave with us.

Worship the Giver, not the gifts. Worship the Creator, not the created. 

When we look so much for the gifts (even the gifting), we take our eyes off the Giver. When we focus so much on what's been created, we often forget the Creator. We are here for him. Everything we do and how we live should be about him. 

Well, this was fun! I hope you've enjoyed learning something new about me in this post. Thanks to Sandra for inviting us all to participate.

Until Next Time...

Blessings! 

A Clean House and A Grateful Heart

Happy Wednesday, Friends!

I'm having trouble believing it's already Wednesday. The week is halfway over. We started our week with Hurricane Beryl, which brought lots of heavy rain and some winds, but thankfully we didn't get the worst of it, like the Houston/Galveston area. David worked from home that day (Monday), so it threw me off for a day. 

But, here we are!

 I spent yesterday preparing for Family Dinner, which happens on Tuesdays. 

It always feels good to clean the house and put everything in it's place. It's such a satisfying feeling.

As I was cleaning yesterday, I was thinking about the "rules" of housekeeping and wondering how often everyone else cleans those random things, such as baseboards, ceiling fans, windows, etc.

Have you ever wondered that?

You can find all kinds of suggested schedules for cleaning, but they wear me out just reading them!

When I have questions like that, I actually prefer going back to the 50's wives and reading about their methods. Which reminds me that there are some fun posts on YouTube that show women of today trying to keep up a 50's wife's schedule. It seems like a lot of work! But I like the simplicity of that era. 

Today there are too many methods, suggestions, courses, etc. and it takes something simple and makes it way too complicated for me.

Anyway...back to family dinner...

We usually order tacos from a local restaurant. It's delicious and everyone likes it, so it has become our favorite way for that particular night. But for dessert last night, I cut up some frozen pound cake, strawberries, blueberries, mini chocolate chips and whipped cream. Everyone loved it and the kids had fun making their own creations with the chips and cake. At one point, Addie (she's 5) just requested whipped cream and chocolate chips on her plate. 😀

Sometimes, for a late night snack, I will just have strawberries with whipped cream, sprinkled with chocolate chips. It's light and yummy.

Today I have a list of to-do's, plus some toy organizing to get done. I haven't really felt like working on any specific projects lately, such as the never-ending photo albums I'm trying to put together.

Is it the heat? Maybe so. I've just felt kind of lazy all summer. I guess this isn't my most productive season. 

I have a feeling my energy will kick in, as soon as I feel that first autumn breeze blow in. It could be a while. 😅

I've enjoyed catching up on most of the blogs today. I hope to write more this week. In the meantime, here are some cute pictures from the 4th of July.

Emmy was brave enough for the sparklers.

Calem and Ted on the side here.

Calem going for a drive.

Calem (and me) enjoying the watermelon that Morgan brought. 

Isn't it cute? She put popsicle sticks in each piece, which was such a great idea. 

Here's Emmy enjoying the evening.

Look at her shoes and cute dress.

Now, look at the next picture...

Addie, who insisted on dressing up fancy and wearing heels 😅

Don't you just love this age?

All the dressing up and costume changes

are so adorable.

This was our first time to have a "kid's table" and

Asa was determined to sit there with his favorite girls.

I just love this picture that Alex got. David (the grandfather), 

Ted (our oldest) and Calem (the youngest baby). 

Just looking at these pictures makes me so thankful

for all that God has done in my life.

I'm truly so blessed to be able to have this little family.

Well, enough for today.

I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday and I will be back soon!

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

Busy in the Kitchen

 Hello Friends!

How's your week going so far?

I'm enjoying some slow days around here this week. Other than the grocery store Monday morning, I haven't been anywhere, which means I've had plenty of time to work around here. 

Look at this cute little cup I bought myself. Isn't it adorable? It's too small to be a coffee mug, so I have used it for tea instead. With the roof/lid, it's the perfect cup for letting the tea steep. I got it from a website I visited while looking for pillow cases and well...one thing led to another and the next thing I knew, I had a new cup. 😁

So, speaking of working around here...

I've been busy in the kitchen making a few easy recipes.

I made this gluten free Focaccia bread, which I have made once before and really liked it. It's made from oats and a few other ingredients that were on hand. Bake it for 30 minutes and you have a nice treat when you want a piece of bread with your meal. Today I'l try it with some butter and jelly and see how it goes.

This is the simple dough for the bread. You put everything in a blender and mix, then set in a bowl and let it rise for an hour.  The ingredients are: 2+ 1/2 cups gluten free oats, 1 cup warm water, 2 TBS raw honey, 1 tsp active dry yeast, 1 egg, 1+ 1/2 tsp olive oil, 1+ 1/4 tsp sea salt, fresh thyme leaves if desired. 

Spray your pan with cooking spray and bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes. 

Next I made a batch of homemade Ranch dressing and dip. This is one of my favorites and I've been craving it lately, so I'm glad I had time to spend in the kitchen this week.

What I like about this recipe is that one batch of mix will make several jars of dressing or bowls of dip, whichever you prefer.

I had to get a shot of this adorable set of measuring cups (Pioneer Woman, of course). Apparently I'm partial to cute cups of all kinds. 

I always keep a can of this powdered buttermilk on hand. I don't make too many recipes that call for buttermilk, but when I do, I am prepared. 

The dressing calls for mayo and sour cream, plus all of the spices, and it comes out just as Ranch dressing should. It's so yummy!

I pour it into a mason jar and use it up within a week. I also keep the powdered mix in a jar and store it in the fridge. That one small jar of mix will make about 3 batches of the dip or dressing, so it goes a long way for us. 

I decided to go ahead and make a batch of both dressing and dip this time, since we will have extra people here for the 4th of July. 

Here's the recipe for the Ranch dip and dressing.

Today I will be busy cleaning and getting ready for all the kids to come tomorrow for the 4th. David will be grilling burgers and we will get some sparklers for the kids to play with outside when it starts getting dark. 

There's a hurricane blowing out there, which we will probably get some rain from eventually, but hopefully not tomorrow. The temps have been up to 99 this week, so it's been very toasty during the day. We've been waiting until 7:30 each night to water the flowers. This is summer in Texas 😅

Well, I hope you have a great celebration tomorrow! Have fun, be safe, and I look forward to reading all about it on your blogs in a few days 🧨🍔🍉

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

Wedding Memories for Our 35th Anniversary

Hello Friends! 

I hope your Monday was great. David and I celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary yesterday. 

Here we are at 23 and 25 years old with lots of white and lace 😅 We had the simplest wedding. Here are some of the highlights of my memories back then...

*It rained so hard that day and flooded the Main Street underpass, yet people still made it to the wedding. 

*The bridal dressing room was on the outside of the church, so I had to walk in the rain, down a long flooded sidewalk to get to the foyer of the church, where I would walk down the aisle. A nice man, named Mr. Wells had the biggest umbrella I've ever seen, and he walked me all the way to the doors of the church and made sure I didn't get rained on. I've never forgotten that. ☔

*My dad looked so handsome in his tuxedo and cowboy boots. He was so excited to walk me down the aisle and just as we were about to walk down, he calmed me down with his smile and said something like "Let's do this!" 😉

The ceremony was short and sweet and so was the reception, which was a simple one with cake and punch in the Fellowship Hall (remember those?).  David and I paid for our own wedding, which only cost about $1000.00 at the time. Of course our parents provided the rehearsal dinner and my dad bought my dress, which was about $350.00. All in all, maybe $2000.00 total was spent on our wedding. Imagine telling a bride these days, that she had a budget of $2000.00! 😅

For our honeymoon we traveled an hour up the road, to a lake cabin, where we took the boat out daily, hiked on some nearby trails and got so sunburned, it was ridiculous. 

A week later we came back to our rented house, which was David's grandparent's old farmhouse, where we paid $100.00 a month for rent. We would stay there for 4 more years until we had our first son and then move across town to our very first house, bought with our own money. 

Many years later we would go back to that old farmhouse, totally renovate it and live there with our two boys for 13 more years.

Since that day, in 1989, our family has grown to include 2 sons, 2 daughters-in-law, 5 grand babies and 2 more on the way. 

We still live a pretty simple life and I guess we like it that way. 

We have the Lord guiding our way, the kids and grandkids who bring us so much joy, enough money to live our lives and friends and family all around. 

And we have each other 💗

I'd say we're living a pretty good life. 

I hope you are too 😊

Until Next Time...

Blessings! 

 

Somewhere Past All the Figuring Out

Happy Friday, friends!

I hope you've had a great week 🌸 

Recently I came across a great quote in a book I was reading and it was just one of those sentences that stood out to me, so I had to write it down. I wanted to share it with you today.

🌼

She seemed to love the stage 

of life

she was in…

somewhere past all the

figuring out.

Somewhere solid.

(Rebecca Serle)

🌼

I love this quote! It reminds me of all the stages of life we go through and how finally, somewhere around our 50's, we start to settle into who we really are and have been all along.

As women, we spend a lot of our time being defined by our stage of life and other people. For instance, when we are young girls, we are defined by our moms and drastically, our peers. As pre-teens and teenagers, we are very much defined by boys and our desire to be liked. 

In our 20's it's college, marriage, babies, and all of a sudden we are defined by what we do, who we serve, and the wife and mom we're trying to be. 

Sometimes we're defined by what our grown kids are going through, what our aging parents need, what our husband needs and maybe even what our job still needs.

But eventually we get there...that place where age starts to settle in, life gets a little quieter, the nest gets less crowded, our arms get flabby and our hair is showing our wisdom, if we allow it. 

We start to care less about the opinions of others, as it might define us, and we start to care more about doing what makes us happy and content. 

There's a shift in our mind that says, "It's time to be yourself." and so we grow comfortable with the haircut we've always wanted to try, the wardrobe that makes us feel ourselves, the food we like to eat, and not having to prove ourselves so much. 

The woman you've kept hidden, or quiet, or in the corner, can finally show up and not be ashamed or quieted, for fear of rejection, because at this point, your true friends are already aware of who you are and if they're still here, they really care. 

You're done figuring things out and your beliefs, likes, dislikes, quirks and things you still need to work on are there, where they've always been and you can finally just be who you are.

It's a journey getting there, and I surely have a long way to go, but I think I'm going to enjoy this stage best. 

I'll be 59 in a few months and it feels like a new era is coming up...one that will feel more authentic than any other stage, so far. 

It's one of those lessons in life that you wish you could go back and tell your younger self, but the journey is all part of it. Without the journey, we wouldn't appreciate the revelation.

And the revelation is this...

the real you is the best you. 

When you're past all the figuring out, she'll be waiting for you there. 

Have a great week, my friends 💛

Until Next Time...

Blessings!