operation be authentic and operation simplify goes on a field trip...

4,721.76 kilometres away.

this year has been dedicated to being the change I wanted to see
and finding out who I am, the good, the bad, the ugly, the beauty.

all of it.

just being me.

every day, every moment.

as well, i (and by association my family) embarked on journey to simplify
every aspect of our lives.

to take the time to remember what it is important
to concentrate on our family unit
eliminate people, places, things that were negative influences
on what we feel is important.

we are trying to minimize our need for material goods

concentrate on spending more time with each other

and be aware of individuals around us who may need a hand up.

so when the opportunity presented itself to participate in

a service mission to el salvador with scott's employer, Stepper Homes

i didn't hesitate for a second to sign us up.

not even fazed by the bugs, heat, my over the top sensitive stomach,

the crime rate, earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, hurricanes, mudslides

it just felt like the right thing to do

i couldn't think of a better way to celebrate this

year of monumnetal change.

and now as we are 3 sleeps away

the nerves are starting to settle in

and I am wondering what the heck I have got myself into

will I pass out?

how sick I am going to get?

will it be safe?

how many creepy crawlies will I be sleeping with?

is the earth going to shake?

will my heart being able to take what I am about to see?

how will this effect me? scott? us?

will the kids be ok without us?

how many el salvadorians babies am I going to be sneaking into my luggage?

scott and i can not build ikea furniture together without world war 3 erupting, how are we going to build houses?

just how much am i going to cry?

i believe in being the change you want to create, how will this experience shape me?

only time will tell at this time,

we are set to fly out 7am Saturday

(long layover in houston and El Salvador late afternoon)

in sunday we meet the families, monday to thursday we build (2 houses for each group of 5)

friday is the key ceremony and perhaps food delivery to the houses.

saturday will be a beach day and sunday back home.

saturday night will we have a quick meet up with the second group

(our group of 20 (80% staff, 20% spouses) are gone for the first week

and the second group, also about 20 employee/spouses will come for the second week)

stepper will be hosting a blog that apparently will be kept updated

it can be found at blog.stepperhomes.com (click here)

feel free to leave comments and I am sure Jaclyn (host of the blog)

will pass them on.

i encourage you to watch the video below,

it will give you additional insight into our trip

and it also shows the current homes many of these families live in

and give you an idea of what we will be building for them.

it also shows you just how beautiful this tiny little country is...

175/365

june 2010

happy thoughts...

summer drinks
love
family
fresh cut grass
honesty
smile dimples

children
bare feet
girlfriends
blue sky

freedom
fluffy clouds
laughter
campfires
dancing under the stars
new jack johnson cd
peace
chocolate
rosemary sourdough bread

creating

potential

new starts

what is your list?

playing a little ketchup...

April 18th (108)

a funny saying of mine

well, funny to me anyways,

that I say when someone states

"I have a lot of "catch up" to do"

and I say...and I have a lot of mustard to do

get it..mustard and ketchup?

ok, like I said amusing to me

but due to lack of Internet

a lost camera

misplaced power cord

and the moving of our lives from

the 'burbs to downtown living

I am more than a little behind

so without further delay

I give you a quick 8 day overview

of the chaos that is my life...

April 17th (107)

playing with Lawrence's i-phone

at last night's bowling banquet

& took a picture of Kari's rosary that she received

from a good friend.

I am having more than a little phone lust,

especially since I have been without my camera

and only found the point/shoot yesterday

I have been surviving with my blackberry camera

and I LOVE the different camera apps

that you can get for the i-phone

I am trying really hard to walk away but

an i-phone may be in my future.

April 16th (106)

my technical war zone

and the bane of my existence

for the last week

well actually the last 6 months

where I reset my modem everyday

have the worlds slowest Internet

and call Telus weekly for a new modem

until yesterday when I had a titch of a fit

as I still had no internet

and "gently" demanded Telus get me up and running

or I was shipping their modem back in

little itty bitty pieces and moving to Shaw.

They showed up today (Sunday) and within

5 minutes I had my new modem

and super fast Internet.

April 15th (105)

the big day

closing date of our old house

I loved this house

and someday I will do a post

about it but as this is a super duper

condensed reader's digest version of

the last 8 days I will just leave it at

this was a sad day but

also a freeing day.

Operation Simplify felt

"simple" for the first time in

many weeks.

April 14th (104)

found a lucky penny

in the parking lot

after a staff bowling extravaganza

April 13th (103)

Shelby and I had a real chuckle

while we waited for Scott to come

back from a dump run...

for 2 years Scott would say EVERY SINGLE TIME

we would open the garage door and pull the car in

"this Saturday, we are cleaning out this garage

no excuses, this time it is getting done"

well it took selling the house but

the garage has finally been cleaned up for him :)

April 12th (102)

another moving giggle,

as we were cleaning out the basement

Matt (Shelby's boyfriend) found

this Ikea leaf of Kaeden's that

Kaeden sold to Matt for $2

When I saw it I said "perfect" as I took it from him

and put it on the top of his car

as he has leaking sun roofs

and I said he could drive around with this on top

him and Shelby thought it was amusing

but there was a good chance we were all

getting punchy from all the constant work we

were doing at the old house

April 11th (101)

one of the daisies that we bought

to brighten up the new apartment

April 10th (100)

our new home

a wee bit of a difference

from my last kitchen :)

we started loading up the trailer at 8am and by

11:30am we were unpacked and completely

settled into the apartment

Amazing how quick it is to unpack

when you have very few "things"

of course I had my bedside chair

(my table didn't fit)

all set up with my most recent book purchases

first thing

Shelby setting up the living room

there is a chance...

I have packed myself in a box

or more like

I lost my power cord for my lap top

lost Scott's camera

my broken camera is still away at Canon

& have no internet until the 15th

all this adds up to an unplanned hiatus

from this little home of mine.

I have still taken pictures each day

for project 365

some of them are with my camera phone

and others are with the lost camera

I can promise you up front that

they are not my best creative work

but they tell the story of this last week

operation simplify sucks arse right now

but I am seeing glimpses of the pay-off

once the copperfield house is gone (noon on the 15th)

things will start to settle a titch and we

can start getting ready for our California trip

and Shelby's grad

what I know for sure:

the thought of cleaning this 700sq apartment

is a very happy one compared to my prior 2300sq ft.

I loved walking for coffee Sunday morning with

Scott to the corner Starbucks.

living with Scott's snoring for the past 18 years

has totally paid off as I hear none of the

late night party goers, sirens, the elevator opening and closing

and the water running

I have been sleeping awesome

Shelby not so much

she apparently hears every little sound

but considering the fact we face a

busy downtown street

Scott and I have been surprised with how

little we hear.

I will be back

on Friday

as I think we are going to go for a celebratory

the house is finally in the hands of new owners

and I no longer need to spend every waking hour

cleaning, purging and packing

dinner Thursday night.

96/365 a house update and words, lots of them

not much new

except the windows have made it

from the garage into their proper places.

in other home news we have started

to move small things over to the apartment

and the big move will be this weekend.

I am excited, ready for all the hard work to be done

but looking forward to the new adventure.

everyone in the family has now seen

our short term home

and I wouldn't say the kids are

thrilled or even ok with it but

if I have learned anything this week

is that a little change & stepping outside

their own little self involved world

may be hard but is such an important exercise for them.

I guess I was very simple in my thoughts when this

all began, my Jerry Maguire mission statement was this:

make things simple

take out the extra "stuff"

eliminate the waste of energy, time and resources

concentrate on being authentic individuals and a family

easy peasy right?

well, it has turned out to be an iceberg

but not in a taking down of the titanic way,

more of a there is so much more to it

under the surface then what you see.

one of the lessons I have learned,

is that my children need a little

more adversity in their lives,

the chance to develop tools

that will allow them to accept change

see the best in situations

and rise to the occasion in difficult times

I don't want my children to be sad, scared or angry

I want to protect them

make sure they are safe

and know they are loved...

however, I am doing them no favours

if I don't encourage them to do things they don't want to do,

make decisions that are good for the family

but with the realization that it will disrupt their routines

and to challenge their reactions and attitudes.

I am sure in the short term they don't give

a flying leap that this is an important learning experience

but it is my hope that if they read this in 20 years

they will recognize this experience as one that helped shape who they are.

95/365 a well timed gift...

today was a tough day

probably one of the hardest

since operation simplify was initiated

it was probably inevitable

things were going well in my mind

and I was soldiering along

dismantling any obstacle in my way

can't find a short term lease

flirt a little, use those big brown eyes for all they are worth

and secure a 3 month lease for a great price

in an apartment building downtown

can't get any packing done as someone keeps unpacking every box

send him away with his dad for the weekend

and become a packing maniac

enrolling anyone who stops by into your packing marathon

your children throw up roadblocks of why this decision is ruining their life's

walk a fine line of artful negotiator and salesmen of the year

to convince them this is actually a fun adventure

but today

it just came crashing down around me

and I was having serious regrets

that maybe I had indeed ruined my children's mental health

and that moving wasn't actually going to create any sense of simplification

at the end of the day, perhaps this was a colossal disaster of an idea

I may have been living in la la land that it would be possible

to create a more simple life when you live in a fast paced large city.

yep...I was having a big old pity party.

I then received a very thoughtful gift from

my friend and blog follower Lisa today that couldn't

possibly be any more well timed...

~ the words that jumped out at me as soon as I saw it "No Regrets"

Thank you Lisa for the pick me up that was much needed.

I also want to throw out a rather large thank you to my family and friends that have been very supportive and helpful during this time. It has not gone unnoticed and is very much appreciated.

83/365 - Operation Simplify starts to pay off

Just when I was about to rename this operation

to something like Operation Impossible Dream

(as it has been anything but simple lately)

it has started to yield some very positive dividends.

There are 3 very big pieces of news to share

on the Operation Simplify Homefront

1) we may have found the answer to our homelessness - just trying to finalize an apartment downtown. More on this once everything is settled. I have a whole post, could almost be a novel, on what we have learned during this process.

2) look at the picture below for a clue of where we have booked a spur of the moment family vacation...

did you guess DISNEYLAND,

then you would be right

it is a very quick 5 day trip

to thank the kids for being so patient

during this upheaval and to

reinforce the reasons we chose

to embrace simplicity.

more time together as a family

enjoying the moments of every day

and creating memories

which leads us to the news I am

so over the top excited about

this email:

if you can't read make heads or tails of the above email

then let me help:

for many years

I have followed the blog of photographer

Tara Whitney.

I love her style,

it is free, fresh and unscripted.

On my bucket list was to get great family photos

preferably by Tara Whitney.

We have never had professional photos done

and I can count on one hand the family snapshots

that I am in.

I never really thought the Tara Whitney part

would be possible

but until I found someone

that I found as inspiring locally,

I wasn't very motivated to arrange photos.

Well, fast forward to our spur of the moment trip

(we leave in May)

and a hail mary email to Tara asking,

ok, it was more like begging,

if she had any availability

while we were in town

not really expecting she would be available

but Shelby convinced me to email her

as she knew I would kick myself if I didn't

at least check.

To my absolute shock and

delight, Tara is available and

we are now working out the details.

Scott asked me,

just how much is this going to cost?

and my reply?

more than a breadbox,

less than a Pinto

apparently that was not reassuring for him

I just know how excited I am

and that hopefully I will finally

get the family photo I have been

wishing for

at such a perfect time as

we embark on this new

way of living

and with Shelby getting ready to

graduate, turn 18

and start out on her own

this may be one of the last family trips

for awhile

and it will be great to

document this time,

right now,

with photos by someone

I really admire

and respect

and who has shaped my style as

a photographer.

82/365

a conversation from tonight:

Shelby: oh right, I forgot we won't have a home then (talking about something happening in May)

Me: Shelby (said in the patient, work with me, mom voice) home is where the heart is

Shelby: No, home is right here...walls, roof, carpet (as she does a little foot stomp for emphasis)

Me: hey, social services just states I need to provide you the necessities of life... such as a clean, new Kenmore Appliance box.

Shelby: well, it better be a fridge box, I deserve that.

79/365 Operation Simplify creates an adventure

one of the perks of the overhaul of our life

is we knew that it was going to allow us

to experience new things as a family

and create memories that hopefully

will not emotionally scar anyone.

Adventure No. 1

the Chibry's go to the auction to buy a home...

we have come to the conclusion that the best

option for us for our 3 months of homelessness

is to buy a trailer and park it at a local campground.

however, as we are going to live in it 24/7 for 3 months

it needs to be bigger then we would have looked at if it

was just for weekends at the lake.

as we all know

space equals money

so it has been challenging

to find something that will suit

our needs (bunks and at least 1 slide)

for a price tag that fits into the

grand operation simplify plan.

This quandary led us to the auction house

where sometimes good deals can be found.

We were definitely newbies

and looked a little out of place

but the staff was very helpful

First up we got our bidding number:

checked out the inventory booklet

then went to check out the trailer we had our eyes on

all was going well until

we went into the trailer and

found more than a little evidence

that a mouse (or mice) had found

themselves a new home.

as soon as this was discovered

I was out the door

but after lots of discussion

and Scott's sister Nicole

coming up to help us

decide if this was just a matter of

mice clean up

or was this a sign of a bigger problem

we decided to go to the auction

and see what the low bid would be.

If it was under or on the pre - determined

number Scott and I had

then we would bid,

if not we would walk away from

what we called the "mouse house".

The auction part was very entertaining,

I can talk fast

but boy those auctioneers put my

blabber mouth to shame!

& the atmosphere was fascinating,

full of energy but also a whole lot of tension!

The mouse house went for way more

than our set budget and we were

ok with that,

it was going to be a huge

job cleaning up the mess,

never mind what other issues there

may have been as it was

an as is where is purchase.

It was still great to go

and experience it

but we are still back at

square one of

Operation find a place to live.

63/365 Operation Simplify

As I have mentioned previously

this year has been dedicated to finding

my authentic self

accepting who I am

and being true to that every day

but also pushing myself to be better.

I knew from the beginning that

this year was going to be difficult

and uncomfortable at times.

things were going to have to change

tough decisions had to be made.

operation healthy family

was just the beginning.

every facet of my life

and in turn my family's life

is under review:

health

eating habits

spending habits

values

how we spend our time

our relationships

goals and dreams.

With that in mind

it is time to introduce,

Operation Simplify

life is busy

life is complicated

that is fact.

but are we (this family) making

it even harder on ourselves by spending

our time and money

on items that are not of value to us?

running in circles

to support a life that is not fulfilling?

there are many levels that we need to simplify

and I knew when I entered into this

particular operation

it was going to be very difficult

and the first tough decision:

selling our home,

and moving to a smaller (1400 sq ft)

less expensive semi detached home

in a neighbouring community

(New Brighton).

This is a big and difficult decision.

Scott built this home

it is beautiful

and we love it.

however,

it is expensive to maintain

from both a time and money perspective.

we had to be real with ourselves

we are not stay at home people

we are not huge on cleaning

and by no stretch are we gardeners

this is not a fault

just not a strength for us

we were trying too hard

and that didn't feel right for our family.

there are goals we want to achieve

as individuals

as a family

so even though it is hard

and feels anything but simple

right now...

I know this is the right thing for us.

Scott is with me

& is fully on board

the kids & the dog?

well, it is a work in progress

but Shelby is old enough to understand

what we are trying to achieve

& she is a trooper, she will come around

Kaeden is starting to come around

the fact that in the new house he

has a huge walk in closet

& an en-suite has helped soften the blow.

and the dog?

she is really out of sorts

as we clean, organize & prepare

to list the house

but she is not called an amoeba for

nothing and I am sure she will settle in just fine.