Company Girl Coffee 3.4.11

Good afternoon! I have been a busy mom lately, but I thought I'd take a minute and chime in for some Company Girl Coffee.

The other day when Rachel Anne posted "Grab Bag" as the Small Thing of the day, it reminded me that I never gave a final update on my 28 bags in 28 days. We finished well over 28 bags. It was a mixture of clothing and toys to donate, and lots and lots of trash. It's amazing what you collect when you live in a home for 6 + years!

I learned I big lesson about myself last month. I tend to hang on to things because I think I need them to hold on to the memories. It's as if I think the stuff I own makes up who I am. As I was sorting I really had to ask myself why I wanted to keep certain items. It was very good. Not only was I cleaning up the clutter in my home, but also getting rid of a little "heart clutter." God really helped me work through some tough things that I didn't even know were there.

I still have plenty of time to work on de-cluttering and packing. And God still has plenty of time to work on me. I love the way Natalie Grant puts it in her book The Real Me. "I am not the woman I was five years ago, and hopefully I am not the woman I will be five years from now. I am evolving, changing, becoming. It's not so much who I am but that I am a work in progress, striving to become more like the one who made me."

Have a great weekend everyone! This post is linked up for Company Girl Coffee!

~Melissa

Company Girl Coffee 2.11.11

T.G.I.F! I'm happy to have made it to the end of the week. I have been trying to stick with my 28 in 28 challenge, despite this cold that we're passing around. We've thrown out plenty of garbage, packed boxes of things we don't need and stored them in the garage for the move, and bagged/boxed up items to donate. I am going to reach well beyond my goal of 28 bags by the end of this month.

Today was the 100th day of school. LR was so excited! She's been looking forward to it for some time now. The kindergarten classes celebrated together with a popcorn party and lots of activities involving the number 100.

This morning with my 4yr old I finished off one of the hardest puzzles we've ever done. It took us a few days to complete it. Everyone pitched in to help. We didn't realize until we were half way into it that all the pieces had two holes and two prongs. It made it rather difficult because they all seemed alike. The picture was also a lot like a painting, so the colors all blended together. I'm glad it's done. Now we can move on to the next one! :)

Today we got an offer on my dad's house. I'm happy that there is a couple interested in buying it but I have mixed feelings about the possibility of that chapter of my life being closed. I have a lot of fond memories involving that old house. Growing up we would go and visit my Grandma there and after she passed away, my dad moved in. I was living in Seattle at the time, so I would go over and just hang out with him. I miss my dad so much. It's hard to say goodbye to a home that has been such a big part of my life, but I know the memories will remain stored up in my heart forever.

Speaking of memories, we only have two Sundays left at our church. Last week was my husband's final sermon. He did a great job. He got a little choked up when he was talking about how it's God's will for us all to be plugged in at a church. We are going to miss our church family so much! Our time there has been wonderful.

Things are really coming together for the new store. My DH has been planning and ordering, preparing for the big convention that he and my Father in Law will go to in two weeks. They will be ordering all the product for the store there. When they return home from that, they will begin setting up shelves and preparing for opening day! It's all so exciting!

Well, I've got to be moving on to the next thing on my list, but I'm looking forward to getting around for coffee this week. Have a great weekend all! Thanks for stopping in to visit. :)

~Melissa

28 in 28 Update

Well, we are slowly but surely packing and purging. I love my husband for getting on board and helping me along with my goal to slim things down around here! He has taken the laundry room on as his personal project. Funny, it was exactly a year ago that I went through the laundry room and did a massive clean up myself. We have such a large, long laundry room that it collects anything and everything! He's already thrown out two big bags of trash.

I started in on the kitchen and have already weeded out a box of old appliances/pots and pans that I no longer use. That was just from one corner cabinet (two shelves and a lazy susan). I still have plenty of spaces to go. It's funny how much we keep around, even though we don't use it.

I'm having trouble convincing my kids that some things just aren't important enough to keep around. For example...Valentine's Day is just around the corner. We still have some valentines floating around out there from last year because my kids have trouble getting rid of anything that's been given to them as a "gift." Just yesterday my 9 year old daughter informed me that she was going to keep the empty heart box that held the chocolates her Nana brought to her because it's "pretty." Anyone have suggestions as to how to get them to throw stuff away without hurting their feelings and seeming harsh?

I've lost track of what number bag we're on at this point...I know it's more than 9. Still more to come though...we've been here six and a half years now. This clean up was long over-due!

A Few Random Ramblings

I have been looking forward to reporting in again on my 28 in 28 progress, but I also have a few other things that I want to blog about, so rather than write out three separate posts, I'll just combine them today.

28/28 progress: I've been chipping away at clutter. This is day 5. Most days are split between trash (I LOVE throwing junk away), donate, and pack. Today I'm going to dig in and sort my linen closets. I have two of them. A small one upstairs, and a larger one downstairs in our guest bedroom. I am obviously working in two different zones today, but I wanted to get all my linens done at once.

We've set up some new "screen time" rules: Screen time in our house involves tv, wii, playstation, leapster 2, computer, and watching other family members on those things. We had to add the last rule because I was finding that even though I limited my kids' time, they would watch each other and we have five kids. You get the idea. That's a lot of hours that can build up! Mom and Dad are cutting back too. I think I got on the computer all of twice yesterday, only for a few minutes at a time. It felt good!

It's puzzle season! Around this time of year my husband always seems to go puzzle crazy. He went to the store with my daughter and picked out a 1000 piece "I Spy" puzzle on Friday afternoon. It was all put together in less than 24 hours. I suppose that's not too impressive with 7 people working on it, but it sure was a lot of fun!

This post actually took me two days to complete because I've been cleaning, packing, and we've had company over. My Mother-in-Law is here to visit. We're going to church this morning to hear my husband speak for his last time at our church. Then we only have two weeks left there...but I'm trying not to be sad about it. I know God has new and exciting things for our future!

"Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and He will establish your plans." -Proverbs 16:3

28 Bags in 28 Days - Day 1!

"The greatest wealth is to live with little, for there is never want where to mind is satisfied." -Lucretias

Hello! I'm super excited to say that I began my 28 day challenge today! I divided my house into zones, and my zones into areas, and today I tackled the entryway closet. Believe it or not, I filled a large kitchen trash bag with items to donate that were outgrown or simply not being used. I straightened the shoes and threw out trash that mysteriously makes its way into the closet. I also went through the scarves, hats and mittens tub and found a few items to give away. My "to donate" bag will go right out to my van when I head out to pick up my kids from school.

Yesterday, I was so excited that I couldn't resist getting a little jump start on purging. I began by cleaning out our craft drawers in the dining room and sorting crayons, markers, and other art supplies. Yes, I sorted my kids' crayons by color. I divided the loot in half and put some back in their crayon bucket and some in a travel size container. The markers found a nice home in a used Pirouette tin. I love reusable containers! I also filled our kitchen trash can with old coloring books and other papers and projects that didn't make the "keep" cut.
That's all I have to report today. I probably won't post every day, but I wanted to get off to a good start.

You're welcome to join in the fun this month. I look forward to reporting my progress, and the great feeling I'll have when it's all done!