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You are here: Home / Simple Living / Cozy Life Reset / Make the Big Change | Cozy Life Reset – Day 23



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Make the Big Change | Cozy Life Reset – Day 23

Wednesday, December 31, 2025 (Updated: Thursday, May 7, 2026)
3 Comments

Post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure statement.

I shared in July that we made a major change in Ordering the Home For Life Now | Cozy Life Reset – Day 18. The short of it, if you remember, is that we moved David’s office out of the living room and to the basement. The living room is now our living room. It has been an excellent change and we’ve all been pleased with how it has improved life in various ways. 

What we didn’t fully anticipate is how it would impact our Christmas. 




We’ve never had proper room for our Christmas tree in this house. As much as I love and appreciate our home, the rooms are small. Trying to fit a Christmas tree into the family room means having to remove furniture, move things, etc. It always feels like it is in the way because it is. We tried it once in the living room many years ago when it was configured differently and none of us liked it that time. It didn’t feel like Christmas. The only place to put it was in the family room overflowing into the already small dining area. It’s never been perfect, but it was the only thing that really worked. 

Well, this year we were able to put it in the corner of the living room and it looked perfect. It was like the spot was made for it. We see it all the time when passing through. It’s not in the way at all. In fact, none of us are in a hurry to take down the Christmas decorations because they don’t feel in the way this year. Usually I can’t wait to put them away because it just feels like too much clutter. It doesn’t feel that way now. 

So I want to encourage you to take a leap of faith and make that big change you have been thinking about. Sometimes we really don’t know how great something can be until we do it and live with it. 

Category: Cozy Life Reset | Our Family Life

About Sallie Borrink

Sallie Schaaf Borrink is a Christian, wife, mother, homeschooler, homebody, and autodidact. She owns a home-based graphic design and web design business with her husband (DavidandSallie.com).

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Comments

  1. Merrilyn MCelderry

    Wednesday, December 31, 2025 at 8:49 pm

    I just love your posts all the time they lift me up ..and this one especially as that living room is soooo cozy and I love that tree..the prettiest I have seen…. i woud use it now for Valentines.. then for Easter in yellows and pinks eggs for ornaments it is just tooo perfect to take down.. so do not. hee hee love to you all there from Minnesota Blizzard s of ice and snow for days.. winds non stop but then this IS Minnesota. Interesting is this is SOUTHERN MN not Northern MN in Ely where I spent most of my life after moving up from Chicago where we had our dental business until I was out of high school.. then up to Ely to buy our family resort at Eagle’s Nest Lakes… between Tower an Ely mn just think that in nineteeh sixty two we sold our home for twenty five thousand with professional swimming pool and half glorious acre of our loving trees and flowers and bought that resort for twenty five thousand … today the home would sell for three hundred thousand and the resort for a million…… but I am so thankful that when mom and dad passed on I goofed and subdivided that resort and that was dumb so I learned and well with family fighting over the place I am so thankful I just was able to reset as you call it.. I moved and opened a Willow House B and B in Virginina mn and tried to run that alone with m y son ill.. for a while.. and ended up losing that to the bank as the eighties were rough on the Iron Range.. BUT reset again.. Wells Fargo bought it back from me so I had enough to move down here as Erick , son, wanted to be near the BLind School where he went.. and college where he went down here he is a college grad and writer.. artist.. so here I am in a lovely apt which I had to get used to.. he is in a group home from liver transplant and healed up ..soon we find a place a duplex … but tonight we love life in the moment.. in this reset.. like you .. small lights on in my place…. tiny German houses from my granma in Germany a hundred years old on a small table with snow… magical night.. and I watch the Monks walking for PEACE.. and cry .. rejoicing with them in the NOW, the moment of Love.. Thank you for all you do Sallie for us out here.. you are so generous with your brilliance.. Maybe you will to some voice talks.. as when you did that before I was .. like, healed just hearing you talk.. Blessings and gratitude and joy.. and PEACE how is your dog .. arf and happy.. Love those teddy bears on the floor I had all those too.. Merrilyn Mc Elderry ie Merri x

    Reply
  2. Ashley

    Wednesday, January 14, 2026 at 12:31 pm

    That looks so beautiful and cozy. I would not want to take any of it down! I love Christmas stuffed animals. There’s something comforting in seeing the same sweet, cherished furry friends every year.

    I just bought a new one on Dayspring’s after Christmas sale. A little snoopy with a red Santa hat. Filled with lavender, smells so good! Saving him for next year. I have a feeling I’ll forget about him during the year. It will be a nice surprise when I open the Christmas decor again next year!

    Reply
    • Sallie Borrink

      Wednesday, April 22, 2026 at 1:47 pm

      Hi Ashley,

      We have a picture of Caroline with all the Christmas stuffed animals from every year starting when she was two. This year we forgot to do it! So I guess that tradition is ended. But it’s always fun to bring them out. It’s always been Caroline’s job to unpack and arrange them.

      Sallie

      Reply

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Sallie Schaaf Borrink

I’m Sallie — wife, mother, just-retired homeschooler, and happy warrior for Christ. Our little family lives a quiet and cozy life of home education, self-employment, and pithy exchanges. I’ve been writing here for 20+ years as a curator of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. I write about what I'm learning while thinking for myself. And I like to laugh. A lot. Start here. ♥

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