Elizabeth Rangel

This year Jen and I have taken vows, not marriage vows, ( I wish ) vows of another kind. we decided as a whole that we need to do away with a lot of what we think we need, or what we think makes us happy.

We started off the New Year kind of like the spring, we cleaned house. Since the attic became a 4th room we have started to store a lot of “things” we do not need in the office and the office closet. So we cleaned out the closet in the office and now what is left are our winter, fall, and spring jackest. Thats it. We also went through our closets and donated alot of clothes. We went through the entire house with the same intention —SIMPLIFY!!! . So much of what we have are impulse buys, things we really don’t need, or things in that moment we thought we had to have to make us happy. Well we just don’t want to live like that anymore. So this year we vowed to stop that kind of “need to have it” behavior. We are over that. We are very happy with what we have.

Another way we think works for us to simplify is to get rid of debt While we know we will always have some form of debt, we wanted to do away with most of it. I started the process about two years ago, to date everything is paid in full, except for one store card and our mortgage. We are saving and don’t feel as unhappy in our jobs because we know we can walk away, if and when we want to, and we would be okay for awhile. When the need to work is so great, then the things that annoy you about your job are magnafied because you feel your stuck. I know Jen felt like that before and for the first part of our relationship. Now I work part time, and we manage just fine. we are happy because we are making all of this work.

Some other things we started doing is accepting ourselves and appreciationg our health. For a long time I always thought losing weight would make me happy. Well I lost weight, but the happiness came much later. We realized for us its not about being skinny for us its about being healthy. While I may never be the perfect size others think is the best. Jen and I are both healthy, we eat well, and we make the time to take care of ourselves.

So far the year is off to a great start, and we really feel as a family and as a couple we are off on the right track. We hope to continue on this path to what will soon be for us “simple living” .