slow and steady wins the race





Sometimes even the best plans go awry.  Like mine. For instance, I was planning on having an entirely super clean home that Better Homes and Gardens would have showcased.  I was planning on being the mom that was super in shape Sports Illustrated cover ready.  However, I am not there yet.  I got totally sidetracked with LIFE.  (not the magazine, but the process of being)  The point is that I am not throwing the entire plan out the window and then spending hours re-planning.  I am simply extending my deadlines.  I was the person that at one time thought there was a huge flaw in the planning part and would have done exactly that.  Spend my whole life planning and not doing.  I can see some success, but I am finding it harder to maintain minimalism, even though it brings me peace.  Remember that lovely closet redo?  Well, it is not beautimous anymore, there are dirty clothes outside of my dirty clothes basket and shoes that were too lazy to put themselves up.  It is okay.  All I have to do is stop it before it starts breeding to other areas.

my mom is the bomb. and I am her mini-me.

  On a wonderful note, though, I did go through 2 of my kids' rooms.  you would have been super proud of me.  I probably could've been a candidate for hoarders up there.  Here are the sums...(oh by the way I forgot pics of the before, sorry, but I would not have posted them anyway, they were THAT cluttered) 10- 52 gallon bags of trash out of two rooms!  10- 52 gallon bags of donation clothing and one hockey table and one little tykes dollhouse.  It really is worth it, guys, all my kids want to do is hang out in their rooms!  And now I can actually get to the part where we decorate.  and invite friends over, almost anyway.  How is your journey going?

Dirty little secrets

Ok peeps- The laundry room was de-cluttered. (Dirty little secret number 1- I had sheets from my bed that I had "lost" over a year ago hiding under decorating items and cleaning supplies in my laundry room!)  I still need to move a cabinet out of that room into the office, but I am not ready to do the office yet, so it will stay here until that time period.  I can literally dance in there now, which, of course, I did.  I felt soooo invigorated about that simple success that I went ahead and worked on my closet.  You saw the before- here it is again...

BEFORE

yes the brown pressboard shelf is ugly AND you can see the floor!!!

Project-o-Meter, planning your attack!

Sometimes, what you need is a new way of thinking.  I have been so down and out because my progress has been s-l-o-w.  Actually it has been nonexistent.  I began re-examining my life in order to figure out what made me feel like life was living me instead of the other way around.  It is due primarily to the fact that I have too much stuff that steals my time and becomes a priority over what I really want out of life.  Basically, I am clearing toys off my floor and not taking my kids to the park, playing a game with them, planning an adventure, etc- the cleaning of the toys became the priority.
I am giving myself a deadline, a deadline for the queen of procrastination...

Phase 1: Assign myself an area of my house, de-clutter for 1 hour. Remove non-essentials, bag up and do not look back! This should be completed by January 15th.
Phase 2: In same areas deep clean each room for one hour.  Vacuum, dust, sweep, etc. for one tiny hour. That is it. Should be completed by Feb. 1st.
Phase 3: In each room determine what projects need to be started,completed, or put on hold Due date Feb. 7th. Create a master plan for these projects to take place and what PRIORITY they have.
Phase 4: Beginning February 8th Project-o-meter commences, this is the part where you can truly enjoy your living space and accomplish the tasks that you have dreamed of but never got up off your hiney to do. 

I am still working on organizing my closet into a haven of purdyness.  But here is the before picture...


sweet baby Jesus that just does not scream serenity, at all!

Thankfully, I have a really awesome best friend who is excited to help me accomplish my dream of a minimalistic home and has agreed to declutter, supervise my project accomplishments, and create belly aching laughter to get me to where I am going.  Honestly, she is only 1 out of two people I ever allow in my home because the stuff is ruining my life!  In return, I must travel the Oregon trail to her house and do the same, but life is soooo much better with good friends (and coca-cola, more on that later...)