The Great Purge

Happy Friday, I hope you have had a great week and are looking forward to something fun this weekend!  I have and am!!  It's a Disney Movie weekend here at the house!!  And that's always a good time!  I didn't want to talk about Disney Movies though, I wanted to share with you my latest project!! 

As I was out in the garage looking at all of the "stuff" that is out there, I was looking forward towards spring and the chance to clean out, again.  The title "The Great Purge" came to me and I'd thought I'd share my purging process with ya!!  I'm not sure why we feel the need to accumulate "stuff"? We always seem to keep something saying that "maybe one day I'll use it" but one day never comes, and those original findings end up the bottom layer of a large mass of unnecessary belongings.  I am putting an end to it, I am.  I am so over this need for stuff.  So, here's where it all started....well at least where the action started...the thoughts were well before this!

 

It actually started a few moths ago, after Hurricane Sandy hit and I received an invitation from a friend of mine, to bring all used clothing to her for delivery to affected areas!  I was happy to help and once I started gathering old clothes from the attic, the bug hit me and I knew that this wouldn't be the end of it!!

 

Fast forward to New Years Eve Day, as we were packing up all of the Christmas decorations, I decided that it would be a good idea to clean up the attic.  I've been on the thought process of only having what I need and needing what I have!  So this was the perfect time to begin the simplfying process....right??  I finished the attic, which wasn't too bad, because ever since moving to this home, it's something that I've been intentional about keeping up with.  I continued the process as we packed up Christmas, sorting out things that we no longer enjoyed or needed.

I moved out to our two car garage attic and hit the motherload!  It seems to be the resting place of many unwanted items.  The problem is that these items don't leave on their own and we've never taken the time to deal with them.  So I brought everything in the house and began sorting. I figured I'd set everything up and invite some friends over for a little indoor "yard" sale!  The finding and sorting process took a week and then another week was spent setting up the downstairs for the sale.

 

 

We held it last weekend and it went very well!  It was a great idea, we passed on quite a few items and it was fun catching up with new and old friends!! Now it's Friday, a week later and we've taken A.LOT of items back out to the attic.  It seems that we'll be having an old fashioned yard sale in the spring!  Hopefully we will find plenty more to get rid of!! 

It pained me to take it all back out there though, it feels incomplete to me, somehow like I failed.  Which, I didn't, but still.  I am looking forward to setting up my downstairs again, maybe in a fresh new way. I'm also looking forward to having the satisfaction of reaching the end point if this process, when we can begin enjoying our belongings because they no longer own us, rather we are in complete control of them.

I am slowly gaining ground on reclaiming my space!  Last night we ate dinner AT THE TABLE!!!  Which is the first time in almost three weeks!  It was nice!  I can walk through my kitchen and my counter space has regrown to its original size!  The attached garage has ample space to get to the items that we actually do need and I can see the light at the end of this tunnel!  Now just don't ask me to go out to the two car garage, which by the way, doesn't hold cars!!  Ha!

I will continue to purge, questioning each thing in my home that I put my hand on.  I will be asking myself these questions:  Do I use it, need it, love it?  Can it be used somewhere else, in a different way?  Is it a timeless piece, or will it be out when the new trend or style comes in?  I only want to have what I need, and need what I have.  I want to keep pieces that don't reflect my current mood or style, but pieces that are timeless, crafted well and mean something to me. 

I do believe that this process is a picture of what a mental clean out is too!  I want to remove the mental and emotional clutter that I carry around with me.  I want to create open spaces not only in my home, but in my heart.  I figure that the more "junk" I get rid of, the more space I have for God to move in!  I don't feel the need to have things lining the walls of my home or the walls of my mind.  I want a clean slate, a clean home, a clean heart, so that I and my family can function better.  So that we can enjoy the things that we have and use them, instead of feeling so overwhelmed by the sheer amount of things that we have and never using any of it! 

Maybe we will get to those projects once we can get to the supplies needed!  I may even craft more, now that I'll have the space and ability to get to what I need.  I'm excited...I know it may seem crazy to some of you.  We do have a large house and plenty of space to hold plenty of junk, but I don't believe that's how God would have us live.  Oh well, if you feel inspired by The Great Purge, please let me know!!!  I'd love to hear about your process, mental and physical!!!  Let's clean out friends and be free!!!!

God bless <3 Lorraine

Oh My Word!

With all this talk about a "word of the year" and such I've felt a little bit out of the loop. So I decided that I need to get my game together and find a word of the year. It actually came a little easier than I had expected. My mom's word has been "simplify" and as a result of that we've been cleaning out everything. My room has been completely taken apart and put back together, the closet has been emptied and tidied, our dining room is in limbo as we are preparing for a yard sale that we're having this weekend.

Because my room was completely taken apart the aftermath has been lingering for the past week. I still have some piles of things to go through, some wall decor to hang up, and other things of the sort. In order to cope with that, I've come up with my own little "get 'er done" project. Did I really just say that? Anyway, like I was saying, in order to cope with the little things that still need to get done, I've started writing down my own daily resolutions. I mentioned this in my previous blog. I know that some people pick resolutions for the year, but I need something a little bit more short term.

What does this have to do with my word? Well I was thinking and decided on the word Resolution or Resolve. I haven't quite decided which one... it just depends what looks nicer in a journal or on my wall. Resolutions have been on my mind lately and they've probably been on yours as well. Maybe you're in the crowd that prefers "dream", "hope", or "goal". I, however, am much more practical and know that if I set a goal or dream it has a much higher probability of not getting done. I am not okay with that. When I want something to get done, it has to get done.

Resolution has a sort of punch to it, it weighs heavier than a dream. When you resolve to do something, dictionary.com says that you "come to a definite or earnest decision about" something. Let me give you a little example... take a look at this picture

 

When you look at this do you think "wow, this guy is serious"? What if we just changed a few words... "Hope To I would like to live for God and if no one else does, I'll still try." It doesn't have the same punch, does it? Resolve holds a heavier meaning and it seems to convey some sort of consequence. 

 

One of the things that I've been wanting to strive towards this year is time management. I like to think that I'm a pretty good manager of my time, I always make sure that school works comes before most anything else. But that seems to be the problem, I want to learn to play the bass guitar, I want to play the piano, I want to read books, and watch movies. But I get myself too caught up in cleaning my room, doing my school work, and things that are much more practical. So I resolve to make time for fun things.

 

 

One of the fun things that I have been doing for the past month is a Disney movie night every month. In honor of my Disney Senior Trip, which keeps getting pushed back, my friends and I have been having a movie night every month, with a different theme each month. Last month, since it was December, we decided to watch The Santa Clause 1&2 and we ate some fun Christmasy foods.... Cookies? It's been a great way for me to let go of any school worries and just have fun, that's something that I struggle with... having fun, I know, weird!

 

 Take some time to think about what you resolve to do this year, maybe you need to sit down and make a list of things you resolve to do every day. Find something that works for you!

 

Happy Thursday!

 

~Jessica 

Winter Break Resolutions Part 2

Hey guys - I just wanted to post a little update on my winter break! If you didn't read my Winter Break Resolutions list... you can do so here! I've completed half of the list and I still have 16 days left. Wait... What??? 17 days!

Anyway, I've reorganized my room as a part of my mother's simplify spree. It was on my list before the simplify frenzy started, but it still counts! We've created a "play corner" for Julia and all of her stuff... ehhhh.... toys. We've also gotten rid of some furniture in the room, cleaned off the bookshelves, moved some dressers, and all of that fun stuff. The closet was semi-cleaned out... not ass well as I would have liked, but pretty well.

I looked over Joe's school schedule and planned some fun movies and other things that will go along with the lessons. Speaking of which, homeschool started back up yesterday! To be honest, I haven't really been looking forward to it. It's just some structure to the day, which I've been enjoying not having. The two things left on the list are 1) Finish LiveLifeOnPurpose and write a review and 2) Get my GED. Numero Uno is making progress... numero dos is still yet to be scheduled.

As far as Winter Break Resolutions go, I admit I sort of lied to you guys. It wasn't so much lying... more of not telling the whole truth. While I've wanted to do all of these things there were many more resolutions/hopes floating around in my head. Well.... one big one. I wanted to be able to lay around and watch movies... maybe just for one day. But with all of these other, bigger, much more important (???) resolutions written on paper, that one sort of got pushed to the side.

So... maybe I'll have some Spring Semester Resolutions coming up. In fact, I sort of like the thought of making resolutions for each chunk of my life. Instead of a resolution for 2013, I'll have a resolution for each semester, maybe even each month. Actually, I've started making resolutions for each day, it might be a bit excessive but.... eh. The past couple of days I've written resolutions on a post-it note at night and when I wake up, it'll be waiting for me in the morning. It's been a good way for me to make sure I do what I want to get done every day instead of wasting my day playing games, or sitting around.

I'd like to keep you guys updated on these resolutions, maybe some book reviews, something about homeschool, my new semester in school, I don't know. If you have any suggestions on things you'd like to read about my day or life or room or anything let me know in the comments! I really have no good way to end this, I don't even know if any of this made sense. But.....yeah.

P.S. Maybe you could leave some good blog-post-ending ideas in the comments too....

~Jessica

Winter Break Resoultions

I'm in the last week of classes and I'm pushing through. The majority of my free time has been taken up by Western Civilizations and it's terrible. But I keep telling myself that in less than a week, I'll be done, for over a month! Yay for college breaks! So I thought that I'd make a little "Christmas break resolutions" list. I have until January 22nd until my next semester starts up, let's see what I can get done in that time!

Winter Break Resolutions

 

1. Reorganize my room!

I need to move things around, decorate for Christmas, and clean EVERYTHING!

 

2. Wrap gifts!

I've been going a little Christmas crazy this past month and have an abundance of gifts to wrap.

 

3. Finish LiveLifeOnPurpose...

... and write a review for the blog (keep your eyes open). This book by Claude Hickman is a great follow up to my weekend in Indiana, but that was like a month ago. The book is so good that I want to take my time with it but I've also started to lose interest... not good!

 

4. Schedule the second half of Joe's school year

I don't know that I've ever written about this before, but I homeschool Joe, the 12 year old. The year has gone really well, but I want to schedule out the other half of the school year and add in some fun hands-on activities.

 

5. Get my GED

I have yet to get my GED and it's killing me. I feel like I have unfinished business with highschool, which is never a good thing. So hopefully over winter break I'll be able to go and take the test and pass!

 

 

Well, that's my Winter Break Resolutions! I'll try to update the blog more and let you know what's going on in my life. Hopefully I can share the finished resolutions with you guys!

 

Jessica

    

Ooops, I did it again!!!!

I have a confession to make.  I changed around some rooms last week.....specifically the school room (gasp!!).  I know, I know, I was smack dab in the middle of a tour of that space but I just couldn't help myself!!  The force was too great and I could not ignore it any longer.  I'm sorry....well, actually, I'm not!!  I couldn't be happier with the change!  

 

 

So here ya have it.....our new school space!!!!

 

This is one of our smaller bedrooms.  It was most recently the boys room.  It's a tiny space and they were squished in here, which was crazy to me.

 

The huge desk fits in here perfectly, and it's big enough for all three or four of us to work there at the same time! I was even able to tuck a little desk into the closet, just in case we need some extra work space. 

 

 

I love the bright cheery yellow on the walls and that certainly helps to make up the fact that there is only one window in this room.  The boys already had a bulletin board up, so I was able to just transfer my things over.  I grabbed the bookcase from Joe's closet and it works perfectly there just inside the door.

 

I've been tossing around the thought of doing this for a long time. I thought it was silly for the boys to have such a small bedroom and for me to have such a large school room.  It just didn't make sense to me.  So I changed it!

 

 

 

The second small bedroom, which was supposed to be Jaysen's room but ended up just a space for stuff, is now our "library/media room"  

 

 

I love the warm brown colors in here.  The turquoise curtains go beautifully and the little chippy dresser actually has some pretty turquoise spots showing through.  This used to be Joe's dresser, now it houses movies, math manipulatives, markers and scrap paper.  Our kitty, Nelson, loves that little padded stool.....he sleeps there, alot!!

 

The closet holds science kits, binders and other supplemental supplies.

 

Our cubes or "library" fits perfectly too!  I love the open floor space, perfect for piling lots of pillows and blankets for movies or reading.  I still have a little bit or work to do decorating the spaces but that may or may not happen.  As for now, I'm done.  It's time to enjoy the space and see how it all feels.

 

So for those of you who are shaking your heads at me, I know!!  I am crazy but I can't help it....I really don't want to help it.  I absolutely ADORE creating new spaces!!  I love to take multiple spaces and re-create the same use over and over, each space offering something new and different.  A friend said that God was not going to give me a mansion in Heaven, but one small room!  I told him that that would not be Heaven, but Hell instead!!  He has created me to be creative and I doubt that He will stifle that in Heaven!!!  So there :P  take that "friend" ha ha!!

 

All kidding aside, I struggle with feeling ridiculous that I "need" to change things so much and loving it, knowing that this is how He's created me!  I am pretty sure that I am done moving rooms and furniture around....my body isn't as young as it used to be and it sure takes a toll!  But I make no promises :)

 

<3 Lorraine

 

 

 

behind the scenes

So as most of you (my friends, that is) know, on Thursday evening I was feeling a bit unsettled and in a strong need of change!  I was exhausted and was advised to rest and let things be!  Well I went to bed at 8:00 that night and apparently that extra rest gave me the umph that I needed to tackle the change on Friday night!!

After several partial conversations with my hubby, we busted a move around 8:00 (i think)!!  I am forever thinking about how things could be better, whether it's form or function, I can't help it, it's just in me!!!  I wasn't looking to just move furniture around the living room, I was ready to move furniture out of the living room, and the dining room AND the family room!!!

We are not finished with the spaces yet but I thought I'd give you a little glimpse behind the scenes, rather behind the cabinets.  They, too, got an overhaul!!  It's not ideal and my dishes aren't exactly what I want, but hey!!  I sure am glad that I have them!!

So here it is!!

 

This is the pantry closet that resides in the original dining room.  It's been a pantry and a china closet.....now it houses all of our baking supplies; pans, carriers, sprinkles, etc.   The large white plastic basket on the bottom holds cookie cutters and there's another on the bottom shelf that holds confectioners sugar, brown sugar and chocolate chips.  I like to keep things together whenever possible.  That way we all know where something is, there's never a question....well, until I decide to change it up again!!

 

These two are pretty self explanatory!!  One holds our matching set of dishes and mugs and yes, random bowls on top and the other is our glasses and random mugs.  I think it's time to go through and thin out this random collection of dishware!!  I would absolutely LOVE a set of nice white dishes, but that's not happenin' any time soon!!  You can still group things together and have it look decent, even if it doesn't all match.

 

We moved our pots and pans up from the space under our stove (we have a cooktop).  These deep corner cabinets are hard to use for smaller things and if you're short they're even harder!!

 

This was a random medicine and odd bowl space, sorely underused!!  Now it's home to our mixing bowls and strainers!

This is one of my favorite pieces of furniture!!!  It's been our china closet and pantry as well and it even housed our schoolbooks!!

 

 

Now it's our media cabinet!!  There's plenty of space for our gaming systems (three of them, which I think is a bit much), video games, equipment and movies!!

 

 

This is another great cabinet that I picked up at a phenomenal yard sale!!  It was orignially in the girls room and held anything from craft supplies to bins of clothing and shoes!!  As of about a month ago, it was a media cabinet in our living room turned dining room!

Can you tell I love things that are multi-functional??!!

 

Now it holds our tupperware and random pantry items....these were previously housed in our big hutch, that got moved into the new dining room!! 

 

Tupperware always seems to be a problem!!  So we group like items together and stack them and I've used these smaller white plastic baskets to hold the lids....all round together, all square and all rectangular lids together!!  No guessing, no tossing them anywhere!!!  Baskets are the answer to pretty much every storage issue you have!!!  You can't ever have too many!!

 

So there ya have it!  A quick look behind the cabinets!!!  There are a few more that need attention, but that will come another day!!

 

What's in your closets???

 

<3Lorraine

What's in my bag? (School Edition)

Hey guys - as you may know I started college a week or two ago and thought it was a GREAT reason to buy a new bag!! Also, I had a gift card from my birthday, so I justified it. I thought I would post a little "What's in my bag?" post today! I always love to look at things like this and get good ideas about what kinds of bags hold the most, how to organize my bag, and just to be nosey! So, without further ado, here it goes!

This is the bag that I bought off of Amazon.com for my school stuff! It's made by Roxy and comes in 2 different patterns! Go see the bag here. I really like this bag and it holds everything I need really well. It has three pockets in the front and then one big pocket, tote style. You'll see all that later, though.

 

Here's a picture of the front three pockets, you can see that they're really big and deep pockets, which is nice.

 

The first picture here shows the first front pocket and then the second picture shows everything, yes it's a lot, that I keep in there. I keep some post-it-notes, tabs, binderclips & paperclips, and tons of pens. I keep so many pens with me because I color code my planner, but in actuality I only use black, blue, and sometimes purple when I'm at college. Next, you can see the middle pocket, which is slightly wider than the other two. In there I keep my glasses case & wipe, my umbrella (I do have to walk from one building to the next), tissues, white out, and more post-it-notes that don't belong in that pocket! haha My phone typically resides in this pocket as well.

 

The last pocket I keep a water bottle. The first day of college I didn't bring a water bottle and I was sorry! I like to bring this little guy from Target, I believe, it holds 10 oz. of water I think... don't quote me on that. It's the perfect amount of water and it slips right into the pocket!

 

Inside of my bag I keep all of my books plus my wallet. A lot of times I feel like the bags going to break from all of my books, but so far it hasn't. My only complaint about the bag is the fact that there isn't a base on the bottom of it. It's all cloth and therefore doesn't provide any stability for your books. Anyway, you can see in the top right picture that I have The Help (for a report), my planner, notebook, sociology book, geography book, and a folder.

 

The planner I use is also from target and it's from bluesky. Now, I haven't been able to find the planner on Target's website and when we bought it it was the only one there. This one is similar, just a different color! So, I don't know whether or not they still sell it. The planner, is a really nice list-like-format. I'm really enjoying it. I keep a notebook that I got from target in my bag as well (can you tell where we went shopping?) and a folder. My notebook has three different sections that I take notes in and in my folder I keep all of my handouts and extra blank paper.

 

Thanks for 'tuning in'! It's not too fancy but I found a system that works for me! If you have any questions let me know and I'll attempt to answer them!

 

~Jessica

 

 

 

Everything has it's place...

If you guys have noticed the pattern, you're probably thinking "It's Thursday, time for an I <3 U post!". But, I want to tell you that you're wrong. I'm changing it up this week and bringing you an organizational post! As you might remember a few months ago, I mentioned my love of lists and now I'm going to talk to you about my love of being organized! Let's get started...

1. Planner/Calendar/Appointment Book

Whatever you want to call it, YOU'VE GOT TO HAVE ONE!! I don't know what people do without these things, but I would never go on... Okay, that was a little dramatic, but you get my point! I love my planner. I just got this one from Walmart for somewhere around $7, what a great deal!

(I'm really sorry for the bad lighting, the sun is going down and I really hate taking pictures.)

As you can see here, it outlines the months for you, but that's it. I prefer them like this, just the months and not broken down by weeks. It gives a broader overview, which I prefer. I like to be able to see what I'm doing this week, as well as next week, as well as in a month! Maybe it's just me....

2. To-Do List & Favorite Pen

I always keep a pad of paper near my desk, and cute things are so much more motivating! This pad of paper is from the dollar section at Target and I have multiple colors of my favorite pens! On my lists, I write everything from cleaning my bedroom (something that needs to be done this week) to blogging (something that needs to be done today) to planning for a meeting I'm having in two weeks.

I almost forgot......

Post-It Notes!!! I have post-it notes everywhere, as you can see I have small post-its, big post-its, colored, decorated, etc. These are great for daily to-do lists. Maybe you only have 3 or 4 things that need to get done, use a post-it! I might have too many post-it notes......

they're organized, though!!

3. Files

Now, I use files in a traditional way too, in the little hanging folders with labels and carefully organized. But, more regularly, I use cute file folders (from Target) that just sit on my desk. These are for all of the misc. papers that I need at my fingertips, but I don't need laying all over my desk and floor!

The first folder has alllllll of my misc. papers in it. Everything from blog ideas to long-term to-do lists to Spanish vocab to pictures I need to frame. You get the idea, EVERYTHING! The thing is, though, they aren't on my desk. I don't feel like a cluttered mess because of them, I know they're in the nicely stacked file on the corner of my desk and I can grab them whenever necessary.

In the next folder, I have some things I need to plan an upcoming meeting for an upcoming trip that is gonna be super awesome! You'll hear about it soon, but for now this is all I can show you!

These are just some of the things I use to keep myself organized in the day-to-day. Find out what works best for you and stick with it! I love to know what I'm doing, where everything I need for that is, and how I'm gonna be doing it and this helps me with that! One more thing, A few weeks ago I got new glasses, if ya wanna see them!

Yeah, yeah... I'm making a goofy face, I know!! :D I hope you guys all have an awesome week and come back tomorrow for Friday's Favorite Five!!

~ Jessica