Summer of 7: Day 2 of clothes

Second day of 7 articles of clothing has been pretty easy.  I expected as much.  I have ran in to a few minor bumps.

1. I wanted to go for a run today, but I didn't choose running shoes as one of my footwear options.  So I went for a bike ride instead.  Totally fun!

2. One of the pairs of jeans I picked are my "too tight when they are first out of the dryer or carrying a few extra pounds" jeans.  Therefore I had to do a jumping dance to get them on at which time I felt something fall off the back.  It was a little button or something.  However, upon further inspection I found a small hole in the butt of the jeans.  Praying the hole does not get any bigger, and that the jeans stretch out after a few wears.

All this is very minor in the grand scheme of life.

7 clothing items + 2 pairs of shoes

Here's a picture of my 7 clothing items for this week of "The Summer of 7".  I picked 2 pairs of jeans, 1 pair of stretch pants, 3 shirts, and 1 hoodie.  Also not shown here are a black and a white tank top that I'll wear under my shirts.  I wear a tank top under my shirt every day so I'm viewing them as undergarments.  Plus, my shirts are a bit thin and I'm not about wearing see-through shirts. 

 I really thought, "This won't be too difficult.  I don't have that many clothes anyways".  But last night, after I already chose my 7, I was folding laundry.  And I almost started hyperventilating.  I folded my most comfy pajama pants and realized that I didn't really have anything to wear to bed.  See, I usually I wear like sweats and a sweatshirt or a long sleeve t-shirt to bed.  I'm all about being warm.  So my options are my stretch pants and a tank top. Because I don't want to wear my hoodie to bed in case I need it for the day time.  I mean I guess I could but.... it might feel grody and beddish.  I guess that's really the point of all this.

Also, I woke up this morning and saw that it was raining, and it's expected to rain for the next few days... and I didn't choose a coat.  I mean, you would think after reading "7" I would have chosen an actual coat.  And I quote, 

"Day 2: Make a coat one of your seven things."- Jen Hatmaker

But it's June here.  She did her clothes in February.  I thought I'd be o.k.  I was wrong.  Oh well.  It's good for me.  

I know Jen didn't do belts, but I'm definitely doing a belt.  Because in the words of Sir Mix-A-Lot, "little in the middle but she's got much back!"  If I don't use a belt I'll look like a carpenter every time I bend over.  It's just a plain brown belt though.  Nothing cute.

And I'm doing one pair of tiny stud earrings.  This is a big deal for me because ever since I chopped my hair off a few months back, larger dangly earrings have become a part of my everyday attire.

O.k. that's all for now.

Summer of 7 linky blogs

I'm not sure if I'm doing these linky things right. Oh well... Here it goes anyways

Summer of 7

After reading Jen Hatmaker's book, "7: Experimental Mutiny Against Excess" I fell off my rocker into the  7 world.  I was determined to try this experiment of hers.  This book messed me up good, and has now led me to other books that are messing me up even more... in a good way... sort of.

Anyways, after completing 2 months of experiments I sorta stopped.  Those 2 months were tough but rewarding.  So I haven't done anything Sevenish for a few months.  Then today I see a link to www.sixbrickshigh.com and they are declaring "The Summer of 7"!  Ha!  I love it.  A group of bloggers and whoever else who will be going through the experiments of "7" for seven weeks during the summer.  Every one makes their own rules since everyone is so different.

Anywho, I'm jumping on the bandwagon, and back onto the 7 horse. Oh dear!  And since tomorrow is June 1st I guess I'll start tomorrow with 7 articles of clothing.  So I can only wear 7 items of clothing for the week.  From June 1st-7th.

Here's my 7:

1. Black stretch pants
2. Honolua hoodie
3. Blue v-neck
4. MissMe jeans
5. White long sleeve t-shirt
6. Black v-neck
7. skinny jeans

I'm reading a book right now about a young woman who moves to Africa to serve and care for the people of Uganda.  It comes as no surprise that the book talks about starvation, lack of food.  At one point it describes a woman making cakes of mud and salt just to have something to fill her children's hungry stomachs.

Yesterday I was listening to NPR and they were talking about the First Lady's new book, "American Grown".  A book about gardening.  The discussion led to the poor diet of most Americans and the "Obesity Crisis".

The contrast between these two bites of information collided!  I mean, it's not like it was news to me that there are people in the world that are starving, or that there are a large number of people in America that are fat.  The piece that struck me is that the problem in America is that we're eating too much.  And the problem in Africa is that they don't have enough to eat.

We're dying because we're eating too much food.  They're dying because they don't have enough food

We're trying to keep our kids from getting fat.  They're trying to keep they're kids alive.

Some of us have to force ourselves to drink a few glasses of water per day.  They're dying because the nearest watering hole is 6 miles away.

I am not pointing the finger, and if I am it's at myself. (This is coming from the girl who downed 5 s'mores last night)  I'm just saying that this is CRAZINESS!  If we consume less, and give to them, doesn't everybody win?  We won't die from heart attacks and diabetes and other diseases linked to obesity.  They won't die from starvation.

And I know about all the food processing and how that factors in.  But I'm just thinking about pure quantity.  We have much, they have little (if any).  If we give out of our abundance, they have what they need.

I think there's a reason why the story of creation does not include, "and then God made a wooden structure for the people to live in.  It had four walls and it sheltered them and kept them inside, away from the creation He had just made."  Don't get me wrong, I am so grateful for my house!  And I know shelter is so necessary and there are many who are living without it.

But I just went for a short morning walk!  It is sunny and beautiful and birds are singing and the air is filled with the smells of Spring.  And I'm pretty sure my heart almost burst at the joy it brought me.  I would not call myself an outdoorsy kind of girl in the least.  But there is something wonderful being outside in the middle of all that God created.  Especially first thing in the morning when everything is waking up.

And can I get a "WOOT WOOT" for the sunshine.  Because if it had been gray and raining today this blog post would most likely not have been written.  Instead I would have written about how amazing hot coffee is and how I love sitting in a comfy chair with it in the morning.

Moral of the story:  GO OUTSIDE TODAY!! YOU WILL LOVE IT!!