I’m in the midst of preparing to move and I have been really getting into the concept of minimalism.  I love the way she puts it over at The Everyday Minimalist (great blog, click and check it out).  She says:

A Minimalist’s Train of Thought

Less money spent means more money saved

More money saved means the longer you can live in financial peace and security

Financial peace and security comes from owning less

Less stuff owned means less to carry around, move or have to travel with

Less responsibility for your stuff also means less maintenance and more time

The more time you have, the more relaxed you will feel

The more relaxed you are, the less you will care about stuff

If you care less about stuff, it means you’ll care less about image

If you care less about image, you will care more about experiences and memories

If you care more about experiences and memories, you will be happier with less

If you are happier with less, you’ll never want or need for more

The less you want or need for more, the more you will feel free

– The Everyday Minimalist
I love this concept!!! A few weeks ago, I started my journey of De cluttering and simplifying.  I have been Cleaning Out and moving On. I have been through everything I own at least once, and some things two or three times, analyzing them and my attachments to them and letting go of the past.  Clearing space for a wonderful present and future.  It’s really interesting to sort through the “things” I have acquired and question my attachments to them.

I love the idea of living in a space with only things that are useful, beautiful or truly special to me.  I have shed so much unneccessary clutter these past few weeks and I know I have a lot more work to do.  Another beneficial side of  the idea of minimalism is that I will not purchase “things” as I have in the past.  If I absolutely love something, of course I will, but I will greatly limit new purchases (except for clothes and shoes 😉 ) I still have to work on that area.

Here’s some piles of things I was able to clear from my life this weekend;

Everything but the Boo kitty of course 😉 And I sold my twin beds this weekend, yay!!!

Here’s some ideas of how I imagine my living spaces:

Bedroom

Family Room

Kitchen

Bathroom

Someday I tell ya!!!!

I even got honey aboard the de clutter train (although he’s not quite as enthusiastic about it as I am, he is on board and making good progress 😉 )

We also did plenty of relaxing;

Check out the beautiful view I woke up to Saturday morning:

We also had some good eats.  Friday night Chinese food;

Saturday Subway:

And Mexican today:

My belly is full. My heart is content.  And my spirit is soaring with the possibilities of my future!!!!

I had another wonderful weekend.  It’s hard to believe only 6 more weeks until our wedding season kicks off.  That means 6 more free weekends and I plan to make the most of them.

Friday I dropped Matt off at the airport after we had a great dinner at Paninoteca Cafe in downtown Tampa. Their paninis were very good, we split the chicken pancetta panini, and prosciutto tomato mozzarella, the chicken pancetta was my favorite, but both very good.

We also tried the adjvar appetizer which is a roasted red pepper spread served with pitas:

Twas yummy!

His flight was delayed, so by the time I got home, it was pretty late so I crashed.  I did have to work for a few hours Saturday.  I try not to work the weekends during the summer because they are the only weekends I get.  I don’t want to be selfish, but I need that balance in my life.  However, it was an out of  state bride and honey was gone for the weekend, so I made an exception.
I still got to spend plenty of time with my twinkies.  After work on Saturday, I headed to my sister’s house to spend the night.  Her hubby was out of town too, so it worked out to have a girl’s weekend 🙂  Saturday evening, we chilled and played with my niece and nephew:

Dinner was take out from Fridays’. I got the Dragonfire salmon and traded some for Alley’s chicken pasta:

My plate:

There was also a giant rice krispy treat for dessert.

Sunday morning we played some more, then went to my mom’s work to visit and feed the kiddos lunch:

We had a hot dog picnic and they played in the water:

Then we went to the YMCA and swam. We had so much fun.

While they napped, after swimming, I got to prepping dinner.  I made veggie, chicken, and steak kabobs:

And a caprese salad whose picture has disappeared along with the tiramisu from Publix for dessert.  seriously the best tiramisu I have ever had.  Try it please. you will thank me.
Matt’s returned flight was also delayed, so I got home really late Sunday night after picking him up.  Monday and today have been busy at work.  It seems to be picking up as we get closer to wedding season.  I love my summer’s but I’m also looking forward to the season.  I love seeing the planning, hard work and design come together on wedding day and the look of the bride’s face when she sees it all is so worth it.  I can honestly say I love my job, and I feel so blessed for that 🙂