I've been busy

Over the two weeks I was off, I cleaned and organized a couple areas of my house and two areas of a friend's house. I did not get as much done as I would have liked, but being the pro-simplicity mother that I am, I choose to spend more time with the family and less time organizing. To be honest at some points I was really aching to get back to organizing but the egg nog next to the fire kept calling my name. Which means that you are going to get even more posts with before and after pictures.

Here is what I did so far.....

Children's bookshelf BEFORE and AFTER

The tea and baking cabinet at my house BEFORE and AFTER

Toy Corner at my friends house BEFORE and AFTER

After I completed the toy corner at my friends house her daughter asked me a few questions.

How long did it take? It was actually pretty quick, I got the children involved and had them make all the descions since it was their stuff. We had three of us working on it and one of us (me) was frequently saying let's see how fast we can get this done, so with less then 10 seconds to decide we were done in less than 45 minutes.

What did you do with all the stuff? We had four piles; keep, donate, toss, and bring toy to Dad's house to match with the rest of set or give to so and so. The we bagged them up and put them next to the door so that Mom could take them to the Goodwill or where ever.

Wasn't it hard? Not really because we found out that most of the stuff was outdated and needed to go. Also underneath the intial clutter there was some good organization that Grandma had going. Most of the art stuff was in one basket, the games were all in one area, and so on. It was just getting the top layer of things that had not been put away placed in the correct area.
These same answers went for the areas of my house that I decluttered. It is just getting up and doing to it that is the problem.

Keep a look out for more pics to follow as I continue to declutter.

Grace by Candlelight

Last night during dinner I saw the lights flicker a little and about 30 seconds later out they went. With a quick glance out the window I realized the entire neighborhood was out of power. The kids got an excited but uneasy feeling about it being so dark, so I lit a candle and put it in the middle of the table. We enjoyed the rest of our dinner by candlelight.

On a normal evening I have a bunch of things that need to be done; like homework, dishes, laundry, baths, hair brushing, and stories. Usually I would get a little flustered and think to myself, “Oh great, now things are going to pile up!” Instead I made a conscious decision to not get worked up.

After dinner I left the dishes on the table. I lit a couple candles around the house. My husband decided to head off to bed as he has to get up early for work. I got the kids all curled up in bed together with the portable DVD player and a soft candle nearby. I ran the hot water for a bath and crawled into the tub. The sweet smell of holiday candles filled the house while the dim candlelight made for a peaceful bath. For some reason as soon when it is completely dark the kids began to whisper. The quietness of the house gave the feeling of midnight; however it was only 7:00pm.

We all had Peace.

After the bath I brought a glass of milk to my daughter and cuddled with her in the room as I brushed out her hair. She fell asleep in my lap and I was soon to follow.

The last couple of weeks have been filled with activities and decluttering. I could not help but get a little drained. Last night it was probably the most relaxing evening we have had in a long time. I did not make my son do his homework in the dark. I did not rush to get the dishes done or throw a load of laundry in. I simply gave into the grace that was given to us with a simple switch of the lights.

Grace and peace are things I had longed for. By acknowledging that they had arrived, we welcomed the joy and let the relaxation began. I was reminded that by being present or conscious of what happens in daily life I was able to accept this gift with an open but tired heart. I was reminded that simple things like warm water on your skin, cuddling under the blankets and the taste of food by candlelight should not be taken for granted. I felt favored at that moment and an immense amount of gratitude. Some might think of this not as grace, not as a gift, but as an inconvenience; I warn you now the subtle gift of the electricity going out in my neighborhood was no inconvenience but a much needed shove toward a new year.

Just In Case

One of the most common excuses I hear from my decluttering victims - I mean friends who graciously agree to let me help them declutter - is that they can't get rid of something because they might need it one day. Well, friends, let me reassure you that if you haven't found a need for it in the past year (as indicated by A. the inch of dust covering the item, B. the fact that we found it buried in the way back of your closet underneath an unopened 2008 calendar, or C. your exclamation of "I didn't even know I had this!"), it's pretty safe to assume that you won't ever need it - so get rid of it!

I have been getting rid of stuff from my home for a few years now and I can't think of anything that I ever regretted giving away. If you ask my husband the same question though, he will immediately bring up the Soup Pot. He loves to tell people the story about how I gave away a PERFECTLY GOOD SOUP POT, only to have to borrow his mom's every time we wanted to make soup, until we finally got our own as a wedding gift from my mom.

So now I'm sure you're all siding with my husband and feeling so sorry for him that he has to deal with his crazy wife who gives away all of their prized possessions. Well let me tell you about this fabulous soup pot. It was useless! You couldn't even cook with the darned thing because the bottom was warped and it wouldn't sit flat on the stove top! How do you make soup in a lopsided pot?!?! And here's the other part - all those numerous times that we had to borrow his mom's soup pot? About 5 times. In a year. Remember my last post? I don't cook!  

In reality though, my husband is pretty great about my whole decluttering obsession. So if his Soup Pot story is the only thing he's going to tease me about, then I feel pretty lucky!

The moral of this story is this - despite your protests, you won't use it, so give it away to someone who actually needs it.

The other moral of this story is that decluttering wives are always right. :D

Giving Back in the New Year

Now that 2012 is quickly approaching, it's time to start thinking about New Year's resolutions. Last year my resolutions were to work out 5 days a week, quit eating sugar, and cook more meals at home. Unfortunately, I failed at all three of those resolutions - I barely managed to work out 2 or 3 times per week, I ate sugar like a fiend, and, much to my husband's chagrin, I think I made dinner a total of 4 times last year. But this year will be different!

In keeping with the theme of this blog, and the theme of my life, this year I am only going to have 1 simple resolution: Give Back. Yes, we are in the middle of a recession and times are tough, but there are so many people out there who are less fortunate than me, and so many organizations dedicated to causes that I believe in who could use my support. So this year I will aim to donate 3% of my income to charity.

Of course money is not the only way that we can Give Back. One of the MOST FUN ways that I know of is by DECLUTTERING!!! Here are a few suggestions:

- Donate your used books to the library! Go through your bookshelves and pack up any books that you no longer need. This includes old college text books (yes, Amanda - you inspired this one!), books you've already read that you don't plan on reading again, books you didn't like, duplicate copies of books, and books that your kids are too old for. Then pick out 10 more books to add to your pile as a New Year's gift to me. :D

- Donate canned and dry goods to your local Food Bank! Open up those cupboards and pull out all of those cans of soup that you bought on sale but realized that you don't like, any extra bags of rice or beans, jars of peanut butter, or unopened boxes of cereal. What's left in your cupboards should be neat and tidy, with plenty of room to organize your food by height and width, in even rows, labels turned forward, categorized by type and texture...just kidding, this is what my food cupboard looks like:

- Donate clothing and shoes to your local Goodwill or charity store! There are only 7 days in a week so how many pairs of pants, shoes, and t-shirts does one person really need? Plus with less clothing comes less piles of dirty laundry to wash, fold, and squeeze into overflowing dresser drawers.

- Donate your chotskies to charity! Urbandictionary.com defines chotskies as "Generally useless crap of little or no value." I couldn't have said it better myself! Toss them in a bag and donate those useless, dusty, space wasters to charity so that someone else can have the privileged of caring for them for the rest of their lives - at least until they read this blog!

Hopefully after decluttering these 4 areas of your house, you will be invigorated by your clean, organized spaces and want to do more. If you do, then congratulations are in order because you, my friend, have discovered the wonderful world of decluttering! Happy New Year!

My Holiday Decluttering Session

As I mentioned previously, I like to declutter before Christmas to make room for all of my new gifts. Here is what I'm decluttering today:

1 Christmas tree stand - our tree trunk was too big to fit in it this year, despite my husband and brother-in-law's attempts to modify it.

1 Purse tag - I bought a new purse and it came with a big, clunky label tag which I have no use for, so it's getting donated.

1 Purse - In following the "One in, one out" rule, I'm decluttering my old purse to make room for my new purse.

1 Strand of broken Christmas tree lights - to be recycled at the next e-waste event.

1 Broken MP3 player and it's computer cord and head phones - Hubby got me a new one for my birthday =)

2 Pairs of Socks - I'm trying to dress more professional for work these days, so no more holiday socks.

1 Christmas Stocking - My friend and I used to give each other stockings for Christmas every year, but this year we decided to take ourselves out to a delicious, vegan restaurant that we both love instead. Good company + good food = Awesome gift!

1 Book - This book will be donated to the library for others to enjoy.

2 Herb Containers - These are remnants of my obsession with decorating my apartment with European things. I'm over it.

1 Shirt - I used to have a closet full of black shirts for when I was required to wear them for my spa job. I haven't worked at the spa in almost two years now...

1 Pair of Jeans - These jeans make my butt look huge. Not a good look for me.

 

Now that my holiday decluttering is done, let the Christmas festivities begin! 

Happy Holidays!

An Interview with the Lovely Lilly

Bella4Eva: OK, are you ready?

Lillypad: Yes

Bella4Eva: Well hello, Lilly! How are you doing today?

Lillypad: Fine Bella, thank you for asking.


Bella4Eva: So, Lilly, what made you decide to start simplifying your life?

Lillypad: Being a working parent, I felt like I did not have enough time in the day to do all of the things that needed to get done. I felt like I was constantly cleaning and organizing, and I never got to just BE with my family and the friends I enjoy. So I decided I wanted to get organized and I wanted free time.

Bella4Eva: I agree. We definitely did not spend enough time together.



Lillypad: Off the record - the kids on the blog after us are adorable. 

Bella4Eva: lol

Lillypad: The mom has a haircut that I could see on you.

Bella4Eva: Lethally Fab? The haircut that is an imitation of Christian Siriano?!?! That's a boy haircut!

Lillypad: The Cole's

Bella4Eva: Oh

Lillypad: I like it...it's sharp.

Bella4Eva: I can't find it

Lillypad: Oh well never mind back to the interview.


Bella4Eva: OK, so after you made the decision to simplify your life, what was the first thing that you did?

Lillypad: I started organizing but when organizing the house did not seem like enough, I sat down to make some lists. Lists of what was important to me and what wasn't. From there I had to decide what I was going to reduce or remove from our life. Not just items, but activities and people.

Bella4Eva: What kind of people did you remove?

Lillypad: I reduced the amount of time I was spending with people who obviously were not going to be a major part of my life, people who were toxic were completely removed (I decided I could love them and pray for them from a distance), I reduced the amount of time I was spending with people who were not permanent (coworkers, classmates, people I once knew), and I stopped trying to hang out with people who were always busy (if they want to see me they will make time). Then I made a list of people that I was going to put effort into seeing, even if it meant flying to where they were. That list of people are the ones who are a priority.

Lillypad: If there were people on the list who made it hard for me to be with my family, then they were removed. For example I had a friend who was really vulgar and in order to hang out with her I would have to leave the children at home because she couldn't tone it down in front of them - so she was removed. I love her, she is a blast to hang out with, but I do not want to ditch my kids every time I have to see her. My kids are a part of me and people enjoy them as they would enjoy me.

Bella4Eva: Glad i made the list!

Lillypad: Yes, you did!

Bella4Eva: What else did you remove from your life?

Lillypad: I no longer take organizer rolls when volunteering.

Lillypad: I say no to birthday parties for people we do not see ourselves knowing for long or for people who do not come to our parties.

Lillypad: If my children are not enjoying or learning from an extra curricular activity then I stop going right away.

Lillypad: I got a new job and left the company where I had a long commute and they were not flexible with my children's schedule. The old job also caused me to have a lot of stress.

Bella4Eva: What about things you owned? What section of your house did you start decluttering first?

Lillypad: I started with the hall closet where we keep the medicine, towels, sheets, and cleaning supplies. It was packed full of stuff and we couldn't find anything we needed.

Bella4Eva: How does your hall closet look now?

Lillypad: Like I need to go through it again, lol.

Bella4Eva: Sounds like a great idea for a future post!

Lillypad: Yes, I will post about it in a few days.

Bella4Eva: Yay!


Bella4Eva: So how did your family react to all of the changes you were making?

Lillypad: The kids enjoyed being able to find things when looking in the closet and they did not notice that we were reducing the amount of activities we went to.

Lillypad: My sister said she was proud of us.

Bella4Eva: What about your husband?

Lillypad: In the beginning he didn't really understand why I was making these changes, but he has now learned to love every simplifying, frugal, and decluttering change. We recently had a major life change and it just so happened that simplifying fit right it. He is now the master declutterer and really enjoyed simplifying the Christmas list this year by reducing the number of presents we are giving out.

Bella4Eva: That's great!


Bella4Eva: How many years has it been since you first started your journey?

Lillypad: It has been about 4 and a half.

Bella4Eva: How does your life now compare to how your life was 4 and a half years ago?

Lillypad: It is really different. We had a good life then, but I feel my life is much better now. We are not struggling with feelings of obligation anymore. We are still decluttering as any parent of two children will be, but it is easier now and takes less time.

Bella4Eva: I've definitely noticed a change since you started this process. Your house is much more organized, you seem less stressed, and happier.

Lillypad: Thank you for noticing...I am trying.


Bella4Eva: So, what has been the hardest part of your journey?

Lillypad: Staying focused when others do not understand what you are doing or are not on board. Another really difficult part is getting distracted...when you get distracted, you take a few steps back and have to re-implement what you have been doing, like going back to declutter the hall closet again.


Lillypad: I just sent you two emails. Can you tell me if you got them?

Lillypad: I want to use one of them as a picture for my daughter's evite for her birthday party but I need to make it look fancy. It is a princess tea party.

Lillypad: Did you get the email?

Bella4Eva: Hold on a sec.

Bella4Eva: No, I did not.

Lillypad: I am not sure what is going on here.

Bella4Eva: Dunno.

Bella4Eva: Have people given you a hard time for trying to simplify?

Lillypad: If I text you the pics, can you save them and email them to me?

Bella4Eva: I don't have internet on my phone.

Lillypad: Oh, bummer.

Bella4Eva: What are you doing?

Lillypad: Writing an invitation to my daughter's birthday. =)

Bella4Eva: What were you saying about being distracted? lol.

Lillypad: lol!


Bella4Eva: Have people given you a hard time for trying to simplify?

Lillypad: No, just not understood what it means. I find that people like to be busy and say they are busy as if it were a status symbol. I have also noticed that people do not want to get rid of what they have. I think it is because most people like to be in control of their things, so if you give them the idea then they do not want to to do it, but if it is their idea then they are all for it.

Bella4Eva: Have other people noticed a difference in you or your decluttered house?

Lillypad: Yes people have certainly noticed my decluttered house and they enjoy the homey feeling that my house has now. People feel more comfortable coming over and relaxing there.

Bella4Eva: That's definitely encouraging.


Bella4Eva: Is there anything you've decluttered that you later regretted?  

Lillypad: I cannot think of anything...maybe some clothes.

Lillypad: But I don't get rid of things that are important to me.

Bella4Eva: Were you able to find something in your closet to wear in place of the item that you gave away?  

Lillypad: No, I will need to buy it. lol!

Bella4Eva: lol!

Bella4Eva: Great, there went our readers.

Lillypad: I do not have the perfect closet yet. That is a different post.

Lillypad: That questions sucks - it is an entirely different topic.

Bella4Eva: OK fine

Lillypad: If I want to look crappy, then yes.

Bella4Eva: LOL!


Bella4Eva: OK last question. What would you say to someone who isn't sure if they are willing to let go of things in their lives?

Lillypad: I would ask what is keeping that thing, person, or place there? What makes them a priority?

Bella4Eva: OK, well that is all the time we have today.

Bella4Eva: Thanks for talking with me!

Lillypad: Have a wonderful day!

The Pre-Santa Cleanup

Every year around the holidays I get some much needed time off - two weeks to be exact. At first I thought I would spend the entire time doing "Holiday Things" with my kids, but then it hit me that what I really needed to do is clean up and get organized. A little winter cleaning, if you will, BEFORE Santa brings all of those new and wonderful presents. I thought it would be the perfect time to organize and wrap presents without children. Did you hear me say without children? That's right, I made the decision to drop the kids off at Daycare for a couple days while I got the house in order.

In the past we did not have a childcare system in place. My husband stayed home with the kids while I was at work, and then when I was home, it was his time off. So the kids and I would enjoy our time together and nothing would get done.

We all know that when kids are around productivity decreases. It is extremely difficult to try and organize or clean something when you are busy separating arguments, making sandwiches, or kissing boo boos. Obviously, if I was going to get things done, I would need to remove the kids from the situation.

Bringing the kids to daycare simplifies life in a few very important ways, leading to less frustration, more time, and a happy Mama.

Reasons For Bringing My Kids to Daycare:

1. I will not have to hide when I wrap presents, I can take my time, and I can spread things out.

2. I will get more housework done in less time.

3. The children will not be scolded every half hour because they are bored, and being bored turns into an episode of siblings gone wild.

4. The children will not be here to make another mess while I am cleaning, have a debate about whether or not they still play with a toy they received three Christmases ago, or have a dramatic breakdown about why they cannot help clean.

5. When the children are home for the rest of the two weeks I will be PRESENT with them because all other obligations will have been completed and my heart will be focused on making this a special time together.

The kids complained a little about going to Daycare and I did receive a few remarks about how it was unfair to them, but as a parent who works full time I know that my time with my kids is limited. So if I have to sacrifice two or three days of their two weeks off so that they can have the best mommy possible when they do have me, IT IS WORTH IT.