7: The Experimental Mutiny Against Excess

7: The Experimental Mutiny Against Excess


This was our most recent book club selection and it really stirred up a whole lot of thoughts and emotions.  A very general recap of the book is that Jen decides that her life is filled with excess... excess food, clothes, stress, calendars, etc.  She decides that she is going to try this crazy experiment for 7 months where each month she makes a huge change  and gives something up or limits herself to 7 items....  The 7 themes are:

Food.(only eat 7 foods all month)
Clothes.(only wear 7 items of clothes all month)
Possessions.(give away 7 items every day all month)
Media. (get rid of 7 items of technology for the whole month)
Waste. (she did a lot this month- recycling, starting a fresh garden, shopping only local, eating all left overs...)
Spending.(can spend money in only 7 places all month)
Stress.(honored the Sabbath day and stop 7 times a day to pray and reflect)


Now I couldn't do this experiment to the extreme that she did!!!  I was really impressed at her dedication to the whole process.  But I did get at least 1 or 2 mini goals and changes from each chapter.  Here is my list of new goals and changes I want to make!  I figure if I write them out, I am more likely to hold myself accountable.


1. We are going to tighten our grocery budget and try to eat more of what we have in the house.  We have a pantry full of food and a fridge/freezer full of options, but we always feel like "there is nothing to eat".  Both Mike and I are trying to be more aware of when we actually need groceries.  I am trying to meal plan around what we have in the pantry, eat more left overs, and be flexible with meals instead of eating the same thing as we always do.  I have realized that we don't have to run to the store as soon as one of our staples runs out, and when I do go grocery shopping I stick to a tight budget and only buy whats on the list.


2.  The clothes chapter led me to realize that even though when I"m getting dressed to go out I feel like "I have nothing to wear",  I really do have a closet and dresser full of clothes.  From now on, I'm going to try to live by the "Do I need this or do I want this" motto.  I do not need to buy clothes just because its cute, or just because its on sale.  To help with our budget and saving money, I need to be smarter with all of my little purchases (for both me and Ryan).


3. I want to purge our entire house!  I want to clean out closets, cabinets, toys, drawers etc.  Between the book, and nesting, and the thought of moving soon.... I can't wait to clean out house.  I am not sure I can be as generous as Jen was by donating everything, even big pieces of furniture, but I do plan on separating my whole house into 4 piles: keep, sell, donate, and trash.


4.  I will not be giving up technology, or media, or TV... but it did force me to be aware of how much I use it.  The two things I really want to change are 1) Not checking facebook/instagram/email/pinterest when I am super busy.  All of those things are great time killers and I need to resist the urge when I'm having a stressful day trying to get a lot accomplished.  2) I will stop playing around on my phone when I am around friends and family.  It is sooooo easy to constantly have to check something on the phone, but it really is rude to spend time playing on your  phone when around company (and we are all guilty of doing it).  SO I will try to be more present when around other people and save my phone time for when I'm home by myself.


5.  I really want to start a garden!  It is one of our projects for the new house.  Having your own garden will help accomplish two goals... eating natural local food and saving money.  I have never ever had any luck with gardening and I am clueless on how to start, but I look forward to learning.

6.   The Taynors need to spend less money.  Period.  We are already on a tight budget, and watch all of our spending closely, but I still feel like we are over extended every month.  No more excuses, we need to cut back.  Like I said with #2, I need to be more aware of my purchases and really decide if its something we "need" or something we "want".  I don't NEED to get that pedicure,  I can do it myself.  I don't NEED to get another pair of pajamas for Ryan when he already has a drawer full.  I don't NEED to order out, we have a fridge full of food.  I don't NEED to stop for that Pumpkin latte from Dunkin.  I'm refocused, we are going to spend less money.


7.  Last was her stress chapter, and this one was important to me.  Just like most families we are caught up in the craziness of life.  Every day is packed from morning to night.  I am balancing 3 jobs and being mommy, Mike is balancing his two jobs and the stress of work, we book all of our free times with family and friends and errands and scheduled stuff.  The days and weeks are just flying by without taking much of a break!  So we need to really do this.  I loved her idea of honoring the Sabbath day (whether you are doing it for religious reasons or just as a way to refocus on spending quiet time with your family).  I also loved her idea of stopping multiple times a day to pray.  Again whether its for religious reasons or just as a way to take a pause and refocus on whats important, I think its a great idea.  Sooooo I'm going to do both things.  I am going to try to make sure we have one day every weekend that we have a quiet, relaxing family day.  And I am going to try to stop several times a day, take a deep breath, be thankful for what I have been blessed with and to clear my head from the chaos of day to day life.


The topic came up about the theory that what you put out into the universe comes back to you, and I totally believe in it!  Sometimes its easier said then done, but I am going to be more aware of this each day.  I am going to work on being positive and patient and grateful each day.  I am also going to pray more often, put out in the universe the things we need help and support with.

Obviously the book was a good read for me, and it really made me think.  I hope when I read back on this post, I will feel like I have made these changes and ultimately have helped bring my family to a better place.  Lets give it a try!

Things I am loving...

Its easy to get caught up in the busy days and time is flying by... so I wanted to take a minute to breath and be thankful for some of the things I am currently loving!

1.  Fall!!  The weather, the pumpkins, the apple picking, the Pumpkin Spiced coffees (even if I am drinking decaf these days), the time spent with family doing fun activities, getting ready for Halloween and my birthday... I pretty much LOVE fall!

2.  Keeping the windows open as much as possible, ahhh fresh air.

3.  Having a 2 1/2 year old... I love this age.

4.  The fact that I am almost done Christmas shopping.  This is the first time I started so early, and its a little weird doing it before the official "holiday season" but it will definitely make the end of my pregnancy a bit more relaxing.

5.  All my favorite TV shows are back on, we have something to watch every night.  Parenthood and Modern Family are my current favorites.

6.  The land has been cleared on the property of our new house and we are starting to pick out options.  Super excited about this next step.

7.  Pinterest-  The process of designing and decorating an entire house can be overwhelming, but Pinterest has been my obsession.  Apparently I'm a visual person so seeing examples of kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms, etc is helping me make all my decisions!

8.  Freezer dinners (Thank you freezer exchange).  I love having pre-made dinners in the freezer ready to just be warmed up.  Its awesome to have home made yummy dinners without the prep work!

9.Home made air freshner.  I found it on pinterest (of course) and its made our house smell fresh and yummy all week.  I pretty much put an apple, an orange, a lemon, Cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, and pumpkin pie spice in a small crock pot with water, and keep in on low all day.  The house fills up with a fresh cooked fall smell!

10.. Last but not least, the last book club book! We read "7: The Experimental Mutiny Against Excess" by Jen Hatmaker.  and I loved it!  Which leads to a whole other stream of thoughts.  Check out my next blog post all about the book and the changes we are making in the Taynor house!

Third Trimester... here we go!

When people ask how far along I am, I seem to always say "I"m still pretty early, newly pregnant".  I don't know why, but I feel like I just got pregnant.  Well I guess its time to stop saying that, because I am officially in my 3rd trimester.

Here are the updates and happenings of my pregnancy as of now...

- I have gained 16 pounds so far, not bad
- Heart burn has returned this week and its been ugly
-Generally I feel really good, pregnant, but good!
-The baby gets the hiccups every night around 8-10pm, just like Ryan did
-I have to pee every 5 minutes 24 hours a day
-No gagging when I brush my teeth :)
-I am starting hypnobirthing classes next week, more about that another day
-I am "nesting" already.  I just want to clean and organize!
-This baby is a mover... kicks, jabs, rolls, flutters... their is a lot going on in my belly


One new development is that I failed my 1 hour glucose test...booo!  I am scheduled to go for the 3 hour test on Thursday morning.  This whole process is a little bit frustrating to me, because I have had blood sugar issues my whole life.  I am aware of it, and I know how to change my diet to feel better and level out my "sugars".  So I am not surprised that my blood sugars are out of whack after they make me drink an awful sugary drink in 5 minutes and then test my blood and hour later.  I don't have high expectations for my 3 hour test either.  I have to fast from midnight the night before until the test is over.  Then they will make me drink that sugar crap again (on an empty stomach) and test my blood every hour for 3 hours.  I am sure I will have the shakes big time and its going to make me sick.  I don't really know the point.  What are they going to tell me...I have gestational diabetes and I have to watch what I eat... well duh, I do that all the time anyway.  I guess we will see what happens.

As I am getting further along, I am still changing my mind all of the time about what the sex of the baby is.  First I thought girl, then I was sure it was a boy, and now I"m back to undecided.  I feel like a lot of people are thinking girl these days.  I took a silly online quiz that predicted 80% girl and 20% boy.

Apparently the way I am carrying, my skin, and the lack of change in my face shape all point to it being a boy.  But my hot feet, small boobs, pee color, sweet cravings, and thicker hair are all reasons why its a girl.

Only a few more months and I guess we will know! 

28 weeks

 29 weeks

Ryan 2.5

Stupid blog press app! Yet again I wrote a 75% complete post, then Ryan woke up so I left my phone unattended, and when I came back my phone was in shutdown mode and the post was gone. Ugh
Lets try again...
Here are some fun happenings in Ryan's world.
- he is officially 31 months, just over 2.5
- he has turned into a real "big boy". When I ask him what happened to my baby ( meaning him) he simply responded "baby is in your belly silly mom". I guess he is right.
- yesterday he told me, totally unprompted, that I was the best mommy in the whole wide world. Awesome mommy moment.
- he is 36 inches, 34 lbs, wears a size 2t but almost ready for 3t, and his shoes are a 9W (big fat feet).
- he still takes a good 2 hour nap from about 1-3 and goes to bed between 7:30-8. Normal wake up is still 7am. Can't complain about that schedule!
- potty training is going well. He is totally trained during the day and peepee, but not overnight.
- he likes to be "nakey"... I'm going to be in trouble when he gets older.
- he is in Mrs. Ennis' class at Westminster Nursery school and really loves it as far as I can tell. He is going to have another speech eval next week to check out his drooling, speech, and fine motor skills.
- he talks ALOT! I have gotten pretty good at interpreting his sentences. It's fun to be able to have back and forth conversations. Especially in the car, he talks non-stop.
- some of his favorite things are construction trucks, cooking, "helping" mom and dad, building with blocks, and making forts with the couch pillows.
-he is pretty excited about Halloween, he is going to be a monkey.
- our favorite time of day is Saturday/Sunday morning cuddle time in bed with mommy and daddy
- his cousins JJ and Sophia were born last month. It helped make him understand that we are going to have a baby like that at our house soon.
- he is really curious, asks lots of questions, and remembers everything! He surprises us everyday with his thoughts.
-favorite shows are still Disney Junior (Jake, Mickey, Einsteins) but he also likes Super Why and Go Diego Go.
- favorite color is "blue"
- and that's all the pops into my head for now.
Some random pictures from my phone!




















- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Ryan 2.5

Breaking Point

It has finally happened.  I have reached a breaking point.  I spent the last 1/2 hour in the bathroom just crying it out.  The stress of all of the things we are juggling, and have been juggling, since the spring time has finally caught up to me.  I have been so good, positive, going with the flow, trying soooooo hard not to over stress about the things that are out of my control... but I hit a wall this past week.  Here is my quick vent to get it off my chest.

1.  This house!  Selling this house is going to break me down.  It's like a snow ball affect and we can't take the first step towards progress until we sell this house.  Simply put...
-we have to keep our house clean constantly
-that means this exhausted 27 week pregnant mommy has to spend most nights cleaning and organizing the house after Ryan goes to bed
-because it always needs to be clean and ready to show (you never know when someone will come see the house), I can't do any of the projects I want to do
-I can't start cleaning, purging, or packing until after we sell because  we all know the process of doing these projects makes a huge mess with lots of junk before it actually looks clean
-I also can't set up a nursery.  Same thing as above.... if we start this project of moving furniture, painting, moving the office into our bedroom, etc. etc. the house will be a disaster for a while... and that is not a going to help us sell any faster.  Plus what is the point of putting this time and effort into setting up a new nursery if our goal is to be moving into our new house shortly after the baby is born.


The fact that our deadline is slowly ticking closer makes me nervous and anxious... we don't exactly have a plan for what will happen if we don't sell (they are breaking ground on the new house this week!!!).

The fact that I can't set up a nursery and start putting together my baby stuff kind of makes me sad... that's one of the fun parts about preparing for a new baby, and it makes it feel real!

And the fact that its out of my control makes me crazy!  I am trying to be patient, I pray every day, I put out positive vibes every time we get a new showing... but so far nothing.  I hate that I can't do something to be more proactive.  We already lowered the price, made some cosmetic changes, de-cluttered.... you know all of the things they tell you to do if you want to sell fast. 

Uggghhhh I could go on and on, but I think I made my point.  Selling a house, with a 2.5 year old, while very pregnant, with a specific deadline IS NOT FUN.

Ok breath Shannon!

2.  To add to the pressure, this past weekend was one of the biggest work events I have ever planned.  I was the main coordinator of a BabyLife Expo.  We started working on this almost a year ago. It was a year of planning, trial and error, coordinating people/speakers/vendors, creating budgets, starting up a non-profit organization...and the actual expo finally took place on Saturday.  So on top of all of my other stresses, the past 2 months of work have been insane.  I am doing way more hours, coming home with piles of work, and literally thinking about Baby Expo details 24/7.

It went pretty well... as always with a first event there were great aspects and some areas that need to be improved.  But overall I was happy with they day... exhausted but happy. 

3.  I am feeling a bit overwhelmed with my "pre-baby" to do list.  There are so many things I want to do, figure out, plan ahead, prepare, blah blah blah... I guess normal nesting feelings.... but I just don't have the time or the energy.  Between the house stresses and the work stresses, I don't have it in me to spend time concentrating on what's really important to me.  So instead of feeling excited, its making me feel overwhelmed. 

4.  And add to the mix, Mike's company just got officially bought out by another big company.  After 8 years of a being 100% loyal and having a reliable salary with benefits, he is suddenly unsure of his future.  He has to re-interview to keep his same position later in the month.  We really have no idea what to expect... this could lead to great things and new opportunities, or it could lead him to the unemployment line.  Yet again, timing couldn't be better with a baby and a new house on the way.

5.  Last but not least MONEY.  The stressed of money, our budget, the extra expenses, and keeping it all together is wearing me down.  I know, I know... everyone is facing the same issues, but its been a rough year.  Both Mike and I are extremely organized, so we are on top of every dime we spend.  But the constant effort and worry is exhausting (and I won't even get started on my maternity leave... or lack there of... concerns). 


I guess that sums up my mini melt down.  I'm pregnant, tired, stressed, and generally have a 1000 pounds of pressure on my shoulders.  I'll cry about it today, but tomorrow its time to go back to "go with the flow, don't get upset, everything happens for a reason, it will all work out" Shannon. 

Again, just breath!