The Sleeping Willow

We have had this adorable little trailer for a few years now, and I have wanted to fix it up the whole time… but we always seem to have a list of priorities ahead of it. An elderly couple sold it to us, and he only took it out to do a little hunting and camping, so although it was somewhat taken care of, it really just sat unused most of its life. It is such a happy little spot now, I can take my sewing machine out there and have my own little creating space that is comfortable and quiet. We are so excited to take her camping this next weekend, and I am sure a little trip in it will help me know what is useful and what is not. In all the little spaces we have lived, its always been helpful every couple weeks/months to go through our belongings and purge, tuck away, or replace items that we haven’t used much with ones that are constantly and consistently being used, and I hope that that method comes in handy after we start using her a little more. She is a 1968 18Ft deluxe Aloha (which were made right here in Oregon!). I wanted something we easily could tow with our current SUV, but also one with a full bathroom, so I jumped on the chance to snag this one up when we came across the listing on craigslist. We still have more that we would like to do, but like most things in our life, now that she is just about ready to take out, we will work on the other improvements as we can and have time. Here are a couple before/afters, followed by what she looks like today!

Sometimes when you repeat a day over and over again, it becomes somewhat dull… or tedious. Every few months I can feel overwhelmed with our day to day schedule and our constant commitments to our routine. But, when I sit back and find the beauty pouring out of the small things we daily get to do, I burst at the seams with contentment and joy. Taking pictures can do that for me… it enables me to find the beauty in what would normally be a mundane moment. I truly enjoy our days, I love that we homeschool, I love that we have simplified so many areas of how we live, I love that I am building relationships with my children that will forever reward me as they grow, those are all wonderful pieces of our lives. Our lives have quieted since we simplified our home, our possessions, our needs. Sometimes I need a reminder that in this quietness it is not boredom, but magic. The joy that I have found as my children have learned in our home is something that is hard to explain. A feeling of pride as my 5 year old is now reading out loud is something I will never forget. The stillness in our lives is where I have connected with my husband the most. We talk, we tease, we are learning to openly share our dreams, we cook together. There may be more dishes to hand wash, but we get to share dinner all together nearly every night. Life is so precious, so short, and so incredibly beautiful…even the mundane routines we tend to acquire have the ability to hold magic if we open our eyes to it. So here is some of our daily joy.