Enjoying life

Thanks to friends for the comments on my previous post. To the friends that emailed me, I will get back to you - I have not been online much at all, but will catch up soon. I've actually been enjoying just BE-ing. Taking time to enjoy our water view, to listen to the wind through the trees, to be in the moment as much as I can remember.

I'm reading 'Conversations With God book 3' at the moment. Enjoying it slowly and letting it absorb as I go. A couple of nights ago I was wide awake in the middle of the night. I got the book and went outside and sat under the stars to read with my little headlamp on. I'd read a bit then spend time enjoying the magnificent sky. It was a brilliant setting to enjoy such a book. Really easy to Be in the concept that we really are All One.

Big news - the day after my birthday, Sami started riding her bike! She'd been on and off it a few times but hadn't really wanted to ride it strongly enough. I guess she got to a point where she wanted it so much that she was able to get over her fears and focus on the goal. Having her own bike, getting a new larger seat and a bell for it and seeing AJ having so much fun on his bike all contributed to her desire, but ultimately, she had to overcome the 'stuff' going on in her head that was stopping her. Cary held the seat while she got used to the balance and pedaling, walked around the block with her two or three times and then she was off! She now jumps out of bed in the morning and jumps on her bike. She is so excited about riding! It has increased her confidence in herself and she is more comfortable socially. She's mixing with the other kids here a lot easier, and will even go up to new people to chat to them. It is such a change from the Sami of a week ago. She puts so much pressure on herself that she talks herself out of something before ever really trying. Or she used to do that. This has been interesting for us to see how learning happens with her. She often says things like "I'm stupid". Boy, does that bother me! Being such an optimist and after years of positive affirmations etc, I don't know where she comes up with this. I used to say something like "no you're not...you're very smart, loving, etc". That just didn't work so then I started saying "well, if that's what you think, then that's what you'll get. If you want to think that you can do this, then you'll be right about that too. It's totally your choice." She used to get annoyed at me for saying this, but I'm pretty sure she's given it some serious thought.

What else has happened this week?...After deciding against getting a house, we drove past a place with a "for rent" sign out the front that Cary wanted to look at. We called the owners and they came over. They were coming over anyway for an open house for it. Everything seemed to be falling in line. It was a nice enough place with a lot of room for Cary to store cars etc he'd have for sale. Cary seemed excited about that and I thought "if we get approved, then it must be meant to be". That night, the owners called and said that out of all of the applicants (rentals are very competitive here at the moment), they'd like to offer the place to us. I was not excited at all. So much for being "meant to be" - it just wasn't feeling right. After sleeping on it, thinking of all angles, Cary and I chatted about it the next day and decided to turn it down. I can't give up this lifestyle, I just love this freedom and outdoor living!

So we've been back and forth to the camping store looking at different options to make the outside a bit more protected but still open. We've put up a tarp on one end of the awning, angled down to the ground and at the other end, we put up one of those easy set-up gazebos with 'solid' walls on it. The walls are made of a very lightweight material but they give excellent protection from the wind and rain. In there we have our little fridge, the front-loading washing machine that I picked up from a yard sale for $40 (one load of washing at the laundry here costs $4 so it won't take long to be in front), the breadmaker sits on top of the washing machine, we also have two folding 4 shelf cupboards - one for clothes and the other is a pantry, and two plastic 5 drawer units, one for towels and one for craft supplies and games. The gazebo is 3m x 3m and we also have room for a few camp chairs in there (if it's too windy or wet to be outside) and a couple of other plastic storage boxes.

In trying to live more consciously, I do consider the type of material that our purchases are made from. If I buy something new, firstly I think "do I really need this?", then I think about what will happen to it when we've finished with it - can it be recycled? Living this lifestyle, I also need to consider weight for when we are traveling and the weather in case things get wet. The other factor is space so things that fold or stack are great. I'm happy with the way things are coming together and the choices we're making.

In the area outside of our camper, under the awning, we have our long folding table and bench seat as well as a folding 'camp kitchen' shelf which has a little 2 shelf zippered cupboard on one side under a flat top and an open shelf on the other side under another flat surface that our two burner stove sits on. Our plates, cups, mixing bowls and saucepans live in that. On the long table, we have a toaster, kettle, toaster oven, water jug and a little two drawer plastic unit for cutlery, wooden spoons, scissors, and all those other little kitchen bits and pieces.

I have remembered to charge the batteries on my digital camera so I will get some pics later today and post them soon.

Have a great day everyone!