I know its time for an update and more photos, but I'm not ready yet.

This is the slowest unpacking for me Ever! I realized this week why.
We are still purging. We intentionally bought a smaller house, and making the decision of what stays and goes is hard. Harder than I realized. But, so far I have given away over 16 boxes of stuff, 2 lamps, 6 bags of clothes and 2 desks. I've even thrown out at least 2 boxes of stuff that just wasn't really going to serve anyone.

I'm caught between wanting to be "prepared," for whatever it is that I might need in the future and wanting to live life now less cumbered by stuff, and more purposeful with everything I do have. I'm also caught between living with MyGirl who likes the minimalist look and is just waiting to help me throw it all out and living with MyMike who holds onto things for a long time, because being prepared is really important to him.

I also realized a huge challenge is the basement storage area. In my last house I had 700 sq, feet of storage. Some of it was food storage and the rest was the exercise equipment, suitcases, old clothes, craft stuff, old pictures, filled bookshelves etc.

Now I have about 200 sq. feet of storage. Most of it is food storage, and the suitcases. That's it! That is a huge change and what do I do with everything else? Most of it has already gone. Thank goodness for an office big enough to hold four bookcases, thought I still gave away two boxes of books! Technically, there is more living sq. footage in this house, but less closets, especially compared to the ones MyMike built me in the finished part of our last basement.

So, the purging must go on. I can't believe its so hard because I know nothing is worth more to me than the people who live here, and yet I also know it is going to take some real creativity to figure out how to downsize and live with less because we are used to more. This is good for me. Its just a transitionary time that I am ready to be over with. I want to deal more with living than still be dealing with stuff. UGH!