The Big White Farmhouse

intentional living, little by little

No.337: 2020 Gratitude // 03

A new series for 2020!  If I record 20 things every week, I’ll have over 1,000 items by December 31.  
That’s a lot to be grateful for.  Affiliate links ahead!
Sophie’s treasure box of rocks from our backyard (and some Instax photos too)
listening to D teach J how to make pancakes
experiencing The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe again
an opportunity for Mark to meet and get to know other men in our parish
wild berry zinger tea
freshly made beds with clean sheets
how jiu jitsu is helping M’s confidence
the surprise of getting a stain out of a sweater I thought I had ruined
paying off another student loan!
pick up football games in the front yard
Lego creations all over the house
seeing the moon through the telescope
getting a walk in everyday
a new daily practice of physically writing out a verse of Scripture
the huge strides TJ has made in his speech
listening to P count to thirteen
when Lucy lays her head in my lap
surviving the first week of 90 days without sugar
the ritual of applying hand cream before I go to bed (Mark says I’m officially an old lady now)
falling into a deep sleep after a full day

No.336: What I Decluttered // December 2019 & January 2020

Months #3 and #4 for my 1,000 Item Declutter Challenge!  Here are the ground rules:

  1. Only spend 10 minutes at one time and only in one specific area.  
  2. Monday through Wednesday, seek out items that we no longer need and make a pile.  Then Thursday through Saturday, make a plan for how to deal with them.  (This worked so well and avoided that dreaded box of “what should I do with these?” items.)
  3. Possible places to find new homes for items: Ebay/Poshmark, Facebook Marketplace, Trash Nothing website or the local Buy Nothing Facebook group and as a last resort, Goodwill

I feel a responsibility for the things I have and want to be intentional with how I dispose of them.  Questions I asked myself: If it’s here, what purpose does it serve?  Can I use it up?  Can I enjoy it vs. keeping it tucked away in drawers and boxes?  And if not, can I let it go to someone who may need it more?

I took most of December off from blogging, so I’m combining both months in this post.  Truth be told, there wasn’t a whole lot of decluttering going on anyway, as I allowed myself the time off to just enjoy Advent and the Christmas season.  But I’m back and ready to get back to work!

WHAT I DECLUTTERED THE PAST TWO MONTHS

  • 4 books.
  • 2 men’s suit coats.  Mark’s warming up to the idea of decluttering his own closet!
  • 7 Christmas books. As I prepared for Advent School, I separated out the books we never seem to read.  I posted them on Trash Nothing and got a response within a day.
  • One nativity set. Sold on ebay.
  • Four tea towels made by my late grandmother.  I found a set of tea towels in one of my Christmas boxes and decided that I should share a little bit of my grandmother with my siblings.
  • 12 Young Living essential oils.  I used to be all about essential oils, but they’ve been in a kitchen drawer collecting dust for over a year.  I haven’t done anything with them because they were $$ and I kept trying to convince myself that I may use them in the future.  Obviously, that hasn’t happened.  I decided to give a bunch to family members.
  • One pair of soccer cleats.  A surprising sale on ebay!  
  • One pair of bathing suit trunks and the matching rashguard. Another surprising sale on Poshmark!
  • 4 gift bags and 10 various rolls of ribbon.
  • Two curtain panels. Sold on Poshmark.  I had these panels made for me for my old dining room.  I loved them so much!  Unfortunately, when we moved to the farmhouse, I didn’t have the right window to hang them and they stayed in a box.  This was a hard one to let go, but I’m happy to pass them on to someone else and get a little money back in return.  
  • 3 magazines.  Into the recycling bin.
  • 6 various pieces of clothing. Sent to Goodwill.  These are pieces in good condition, but don’t have much resale value and weren’t substantial enough to warrant a post on Trash Nothing.

Items decluttered this month: 58
Money made this month: $75.98


Total items decluttered so far: 256
Total money made so far: $397.32


P.S. To “count,” the item had to physically leave my house.  So while I have listed a handful of things online, those aren’t counted until they have sold.

No.335: Another 100 Little Things Vol.06 Update

This post contains affiliate links.

I’ve been steadily working on my 100 Little Things list and am ready for another update!  (This is the original list and this was the first update.)  Here’s what I completed in October, November and December:

#65. PRAY A NOVENA.  I prayed the Saint Therese novena with Pray More Novenas for a special intention at the end of September.  While I didn’t receive a rose, J did bring home this holy card for me from his CCD teacher’s prize box.  He had no idea I was praying the novena and didn’t even really know who she was.  He said, “She just looked beautiful and I know you like flowers.”  It felt like she was saying, “I got you.  I’ll bring your intentions to the feet of Christ.”

#90. READ WHERE THE MOUNTAIN MEETS THE MOON AS A READ ALOUD.  I read this book to the kids for school and we really loved it!

#30. REPLACE THE AMERICAN FLAG.  Our poor old flag was faded and ripping.  We grabbed a replacement and made the switch in minutes.  So happy to get this task crossed off the list!

#35. PLANT BULBS IN THE FALL.  For my birthday, I asked for something a little unconventional: I wanted 100 daffodil bulbs!  My boys worked so hard to dig a new flower bed around one of our big trees.  They even planted them for me too!  I can’t wait to see them bloom in March or April. 

#44. HAVE FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN. and #79. SEND CHRISTMAS CARDS.  We decided to take our family photos ourselves this year and they actually turned out okay!  I ordered my Christmas cards through Basic Invite – I worked with them last year and really liked their website and options.

#16. ORGANIZE THE EMERGENCY CLOSET.  Another task that I’m so grateful to cross off the list.  Ever since the Wind Storm Fiasco of 2018, we are very proactive about keeping a full emergency closet, just in case.  We slowly replenished the non-perishables, batteries and bottled water and got everything in its place.  One new addition this year was the investment of freeze dried meals – super pricey, but gives me peace of mind that my children won’t go hungry if we run out of other provisions.  And bonus: they don’t expire for 30 years!

#80. SUPPORT THREE ETSY SHOPS. and #69. ROLL BEESWAX ADVENT CANDLES.  Crossing off two tasks in one: we purchased beeswax Advent candles from Beeswax Candle Company and rolled them on December 1!  A really fun memory for our family.   

#78. DONATE FOOD TO THE FOOD PANTRY.  We made birthday boxes.

#83. DONATE TINY GOING HOME OUTFITS TO GRANT’S GIFTS.  For Giving Tuesday, we donated little preemie outfits to a wonderful organization called Grant’s Gifts.  I sent them directly from Amazon because finding preemie outfits in stores turned out to be much more difficult than I expected!

#25. LEARN A NEW CARD GAME.  The kids got a book about card games for Saint Nicholas day and “Doublet” was the first one we tried.  Simple enough to teach the littler ones (TJ is five and got the gist quickly) and really fun.

#35. WATCH THE LOCAL CHRISTMAS PARADE.  One of the highlights of December!  We finally made it to our town’s Christmas parade and it didn’t disappoint! 

#84. THANK THE MAILMAN.  My mail carrier does so much extra heavy lifting with my Poshmark and ebay packages, so I made sure to say thank you during the Christmas season.

#70. MAKE THREE NEW KINDS OF CHRISTMAS COOKIES.  So technically, I personally did not make three new kinds of cookies, but my oldest boys did, so I’m still counting it as done.  They picked recipes from the back of A World of Cookies for Santa and baked them all by themselves.  Two new favorites are Hermit Cookies from Canada and Pineapple Bars from Hawaii.



#22. COMPLETE A DECEMBER DAILY ALBUM.  This was my second year participating in December Daily with Ali Edwards and I really enjoyed recording our Advent stories this way.  I’m so pleased with how the album turned out too!  Can’t wait for next year. 

CURRENT TOTAL: 27/100

No.334: Homemaking Notes on a Monday

This post contains affiliate links.  I didn’t link up with Happy Homemaker Monday because my post is a bit different, but the writing prompts are inspired by her.


The weather outside is // 

January is shaping up to be the month that can’t make up its mind!  4-5″ of snow last week, a weekend in the 60’s/70’s, and now a handful of mild temperatures.  I don’t know how to dress at this point.


On the breakfast plate this morning // a bowl of maple and brown sugar oatmeal with frozen Maine blueberries sprinkled throughout.  And a big cup of coffee.

As I look outside my window // I see brown: bare trees, dead grass and mud from the rain and melted snow we had last week.  There’s always beauty somewhere in nature, but you really have to look for it in January.  

As I look around the house // I see a lot of bare spaces – we took down the last of our Christmas decorations last weekend.  (I like to keep my twinkly star lights up throughout January, though.)  I am enjoying the breathing room while I decide how I’d like to redecorate.

On this week’s to-do list //
  • catch up on laundry
  • take everything out, wipe down, and reorganize the refrigerator
  • write a long letter to a penpal
  • organize a part of the garage
  • read 10 pages in The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs
  • make muffins


On the menu this week //
Monday: leftovers from the weekend
Wednesday: tacos
Thursday: sandwiches and chips

Currently reading // Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls and a book for Netgalley.  The first one is a re-read at the recommendation of my son and is as good as I remembered.  The second book…I’m really struggling through it.  A little over halfway to go!

What I’m creating at the moment // nothing, but I’d like to change that.  I have a winter-themed cross-stitch that I’ve worked on every January for the last two or three years and I’m soooo close to finishing!  Maybe I’ll pull that out this week.

New recipe I want to try this week // I stumbled upon a recipe for Fruity Overnight Baked Oatmeal that I’ve never tried.  I tend to eat the same breakfast over and over again, so this might be a good time to make something new!

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