9 days to go til the wedding, and thoughts on the house.....

So, we have 9 days til the wedding, and we're continuing to receive gifts and putting our house together.  My mom is always an interesting twist on stuff.  She said "I thought you were trying to downsize." LOL....

I, of course, have been talking about getting rid of "stuff" and downsizing to either do "Tiny house" living or something similar.  But I'm finding ways that I can have a smaller house (in cost) and still entertain on the inside.  So downsizing but in other ways.

I have a passion for food and sharing that food with people, but I also have an old book addiction.  Seriously.  Some people collect cats or rescue pets, I rescue old books.  What do I plan to do with them?  Donate them to my college, when I'm ready.  I've been building an Irish History collection of rare and out of print books, and then recently have been picking up older books in other areas including literature, British History, and I recently acquired a 1910 encyclopedia collection.  Why?  Because old books have always fascinated me, and according to studies of children's literacy, a child is more likely to have good reading skills if there are more than 50 books in the house.  To inspire, not to harm my child's (future child if possible) imagination. :)

My grandmother either bought us or gave us an encyclopedia collection when I was super little.  I remember drawing flags from the images in the book, and posting them all over the walls in my room; reading about the renaissance, Egyptology, anatomy, state histories, and all sorts of stuff.  I don't think I would have discovered so much had it been limited to the internet.  Having internet is a great thing, but when you have small people, you tend to want to have a better filter on things and having it limited to your library is pretty much the easier course of doing so.  I know had the internet been available when I was small, my mom probably would have not let us use it except for projects for homeschool.  My wanderings through my encyclopedias were totally recreational, and I loved every minute.

The other part, is with the house, I'm going through and deciphering what's still in fab shape that I can send along and find another home for items.  We had kept his pots and pans, not anticipating that we would be replacing our pots and pans so quickly.  Plus new crockpots and plates and such, it certainly warrants a look at older platters that are still in great shape to share with friends and family as they build their entertaining dishes. 

We're still not sure what to do with housing in the future and such, but hey, I continue to give away what is not used to bless someone else's pantry of fun. :)  And of course, build an awesome collection to donate to future students.