Not Buying "Things" for a Whole Year - 12 months later

Welp, we did it! We successfully went 12 months without buying any "things".

So here are our,

Lessons Learned

• There is a whole lot of stuff, we just don't need.
• We did buy a few things as replacements. For instance, my car was stolen, so we bought a new car. And actually, if we weren't doing IVF, I could have gone without an extra one.
• We had 2 yard sales in this process, and still we manage to find more "stuff" to get rid of. (I can't wait to make the babies room and get rid of even more!)
• We use this time to fix things in our house. For instance, we got recessed lighting put it. 
• Now that we are free to buy, it is still hard to buy for us. I have been buying presents for other people, but honestly, I just don't go to the store ever.
• I became the queen of justifying as one co-worker tells me. For instance, I bought a new rain coat, because I hiked rainer, but I also sold my other rain coat that also had a down coat inside, so really i replaced 2 things with 1 (good justification right?) But the reality is, that was a part of our rules. We could replace things.
• Because we didn't ever go to the store really other then for food, some things did really need to be replaced by the end of the year. Such as Thomas' undershirts. Yikes. Good thing we got new ones last week!
• You need a whole lot less then you think.
• Food and consumables are awesome gifts that don't clutter!
• It is really hard to read through the hundreds (ok thousands) of books I have to get rid of them in a year. Although I did make a really good dent!
• Every year that we go through and get rid of stuff, it gets easier to get rid of additional stuff the next year. I mean, do I really need 7 creamer pitchers? 
• I was even able to score an awesome deal on a table and chairs, turn around and sell my old chairs and the table, coming out $110 ahead! That was a deal I could not resist.

These were from our 2nd yard sale of the year.

Yes we still have a lot of crap.

And by the way, non of this comes back inside. Our rule is, once it goes out, it goes to good will!

So the pile we have in our basement again? More stuff that we need to get rid of again!

Although I do have to say that 3 other people brought stuff over :)

See? Justifying!

And if you get a chance? This is still the same lady who first inspired me to live simply with less waste,. She talks about how to celebrate earth day with your kids. Definitely a good read.

http://zerowastehome.blogspot.com/2014/04/how-to-celebrate-earth-with-your-kids.html

Take Away Thoughts

I am so glad I did this.

I am glad that it helped us prep for going to 1 salary in a few months when these babies come.

I am thankful that my kiddos will not be raised with the excess mentality.

I am super excited to do babies minimally.

And Thomas and I are still implementing, when something comes in, something must go out.

So if you ever want to do this yourself…. give yourself leeway, but at the same time have an accountability partner! I can't tell you how many times Thomas and I had to remind each other that we couldn't buy anything! It is not natural in our society, but it can be done!

And now I feel like I need a whole new wardrobe. 

But of course I will be switching out all my old stuff with new stuff, right?! :)

I am Climbing a Mountain... in Africa

This crazy adventure started last December when I inquired about a friend’s address and it took off from there. Long story short…. She decided to hike Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa this June and I decided to join her. Thank you Andi for letting me crash your party. Hope you know what you are getting us into.

This is where Tanzania is in Africa

Mt Kilimanjaro is the top right of this picture.

The decision was not easy considering we have been trying to get pregnant for some time, but when we discovered we would have to do InVitro and we could not start until June Thomas graciously agree that I could push it off 1 month longer and go on this crazy adventure.

So here are the details of my adventure…

I am climbing a crazy tall mountain.

19,340 feet high. NINETEEN THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED AND FORTY MILES HIGH. Oh Crap. Sometimes it just hits be all over again. What on earth am I thinking?

Oh and by the way, we are going in June. To the other side of the equator. Where it is their coldest week of the year. Brilliant Mica, just brilliant.

Random side note. Did you know Kilimanjaro means Shining Mountain in Swahili?

There are 5 different zones we will be hiking through. Bushland/Moorland, Rain forest, Heath, Alpine Desert, and Arctic Glacier. I think that this website gives an awesome description of these zones.

http://www.ultimatekilimanjaro.com/mountain.htm

The company we chose to go with is Climb Kili. So far it has been fantastic working with them. Look them up

When Andi was telling me about this craziness, before I committed, I asked about the training that needed to be done. Basically if you work out 5-6 days a week for an hour was the consensus. And then we also decided to do the longer route to better counterbalance the altitude.

Here is a video if you are interested. - http://www.climbkili.com/3d-routes/9-day-lemosho/

But essentially, these are the important details for our trip.

Day 1 - Londorossi Gate to Mti Mkubwa begin at 7742 ft, 3 miles, 3-4 hrs, rain forest zone
Day 2 - Mti Mkubwa to Shira Camp 11500 ft, 4.5 miles, 6-8 hrs, rain forest to Heath. First views of Kilimanjaro.
Day 3 - Shira Camp to Moir Camp 13650, 5.7 miles, 6-8 hrs, Heath to Alpine Desert
Day 4 - Moir Camp to Barranco Camp, up to 15,000 end at 13,000, 4.6 miles, 5-7 hrs, Alpine Desert
Day 5 -  Barranco Camp to Karanga Camp, 13,200 up a 500 ft wall, 2.2 miles, 3-5 hrs, Alpine Desert
Day 6 - Karanga Camp to Barafu Camp, 15,200, 2.2 miles, 3-5 hrs, Alpine Desert
Day 7 - Barafu to Summit to Mweka Camp, 19,340, 13 miles, 12-14 hrs twilight start with a sunrise and summit, then back to camp. Alpine Desert to Arctic Glacier
Day 8 - Mweka Camp to Mweka Exit, 5400, 3.7 miles, 3-4 hrs, Arctic Glacier back through Alpine Desert, Heath, Rain Forest, and into the Bushland.

Oh my. Seriously a crazy adventure. And honestly, I am not sure why I am doing this. I think 35% of me wants the challenge. I have already been to Tanzania back in 2006, so I do not even get to check a new place off of my bucket list. But I think the other 65% of me loves adventure and loves quality time spent with friends. And boy is Andi going to get quality time with me!

So training to climb a mountain has also been why I have been so super busy. Every extra moment has been taken up with exercising or cramming a hike in on the weekends. Yes, that is why I crammed in 2 hikes that we did in the rain and in the snow!

And yes I did have to break my no buying things hiatus for this. I am borrowing most items from my climber friend Sarah, but things like unmentionables I choose to obtain on my own. Sorry friend, we aren't that close.

And Thomas will be posting the updates here that the company sends. So if you want to follow along, make sure you sign up for my email updates in the top right corner!

Buying Hiatus 3 Month Update

December...

January....

February....

And now we are into March. We have successfully gone 3 full months without buying anything....

Except. 

I feel like there is always an except. 

Ours comes in the form of new food storage. I had really been wanting more glassware lately to swap out my plastic ware, but I am on this thing called a buying hiatus. So of course I can't buy anything.

Except....

I made up these rules that say I can switch things out that break.

And I feel as though switching out plastic (which really isn't amazing for you when it gets microwaved every day with lunches in it) for glass is a smart healthy move. And we didn't buy more then we already had.

Our very well used plastic ware. Clearly orange from spaghetti.

My new glass ware!!!

I bought a set of snap top glassware from Costco a few years ago and loved it. And then over the years I have bought a few lunch sized pieces of the non snap tops and realized that not only do they break, but they also are a lot harder to get off of frozen food.

So many different sizes!!!!

The Costco by my house has not carried these for quite some time now. So 2 weeks ago while Thomas and I were killing time before his flight to Vegas, we went to the Costco by the airport and low and behold... we found these. We also found that Ikea has individual ones perfect for lunches! I love this big pack because I needed larger sizes for general food storage, but yay! All different sizes!

So that is my rationalization. Yes I switched out 1 for 1. Yes it is for our health. And now that I have shared it with you, I don't feel guilty. :)

I still haven't bought anything else though! 

I am interested in what I am going to where to 2 weddings in the next few months. I might just have to borrow dresses from friends!

And finally, a friend of mine sent me a great article. This women decided to not buy her children anything new for a year. And in the middle of that year she became pregnant and give birth.

And she still managed to not buy anything. Well almost.

Check out her story here.

Inspiring.

Hallo Germany and then Auf Wiedersehen

Early on in our relationship, Thomas and I came up with the perfect holiday schedule pre-kids. I say pre-kids because I have no idea how much or if all of it is going to change once we have them. I tend to vote for all. Anyway, we fly to Thomas' family one year for Christmas and mine the next. This year happened to be Thomas' family and when talking about it with Thomas's mom we decided that Germany was a good place to have the holidays so she could spend time with her family too.

So we spent the first 2 nights with her sister in Nurnberg/Nuremberg (German vs American spelling). While we were there we went to the Christkindlmarkts which were giant Christmas street fairs. Fantastic.

There were little booths with Christmas items everywhere!

You could not miss the beginning and end.

These are called pyramids. The ones that are normal size in your home are powered by candles. This one is huge!

This is glühwein. A Christkindlmarkt must. Happy kid.

In the middle of the market with a beautiful church in the background. Love.

Seriously who doesn't want to try these?

And these?

So many people everywhere!

Who was the person that decorated each one of these? I call not dibs!

These almonds were amazing. I want more.

This is also a pyramid. Probably 3 stories tall. Wow.

We were here. We promise.

I don't know why, but this pictures just screams Christmas to me.

Thomas' Aunt Marlene took us on a tour of the cities cellars. It was a fascinating tour.

Thomas only had to scrape his head once to keep it low.

This is a pickling shoot. Straight into the barrels.

Did you know that wood was once used as water pipes?

It is  Germany. You have to have schnitzel, potato salad, and cucumber salad.

Family! Myself, Thomas, Maria (Mom), Marlene (Aunt), Christian (Brother), and Keith (Dad).

Typical German housing on the water.

This started out as a half meter long bratwurst! I wasn't able to get a picture before he started.

Christmas eve family. Christian, Opa (Grandpa), Myself, Oma (Grandma), Herbert (Uncle), Miriam (Cousin), Keith, Maria, and Thomas.

After a delicious traditional Christmas Eve dinner of brats, potato salad, and sauerkraut, the boys found the foosball table.

We spent lots of time with the Grands and Maria and Marlene kept their hands busy with cracking walnuts.

Family! Marlene, David (cousin), Thomas, Oma, Christian, Opa, Myself, Maria, and Keith.

Seriously, such a cute sleigh tiramisu! So creative!

A little blurry, but more family. Miriam, Herbert, Keith, Maria, Myself, Thomas, Christian, Marlene, David, and Sasha (Miriam's boyfriend).

We had a free day and headed over to Miltenberg to explore for the day.

Oh brothers.

I mean seriously? Love this!

It was a sweet little town, but being that it was Boxing day, nothing was open.

Who doesn't love this fairytale village?

You can see how cloudy it was. And a wee bit cold.

Who doesn't want a Turkish Gyro for lunch?

Our last full day in Germany we headed to the airport to pick up Lisa (Christian's fiancee). After she met the Grands, we headed over to Mespelbrunn to see this guy. Thomas and I had been there the first time I went to Germany, so it was fun to see it again.

This is the view looking away from the castle. Stunning.

And Christian and Lisa.... So cute.

On our final night, Thomas had a mini beer. Look how small it was compared to Herbert normal size beer?

It was a fabulous week where we were able to get in lots of quality family time and yet relax after our crazy holiday weeks, but before our remaining tour of Paris and London. 

Which is up next...

Hopefully...

Stretch goal for the New Year.