Skip to main content

Day 49: Our House

I loved our big yellow box of a house when we bought it. It has lots of redeeming qualities: a large open living area, big bedrooms with great closets, and the location is fantastic. We have all the square feet we need, including a huge playroom, which gets tons of use.

However, as time has gone by (9.5 years here!), I sort of started to hate it. I'm not willing to give up my guest room, because we have lots of guests. We have 3 kids and 3 bedrooms, which means all the little people and all their stuff sre shoved in one room. We had extra space for a lot of years, which means we accumulated lots of crap. 

We spent 2015 trying to get rid of said crap, and updating some things in case we decided to sell the house. As it turns out, it wasn't actually the house I hated; it was the stuff. I mean, I really did hate the stained up country blue countertops, but overall we have a great house. 

We have updated the counters, appliances, bathrooms, and made minor improvements all over. And all of those things are great! I love the updates! But the weight that is lifted from getting our unused stuff out of the house is making such a difference for me! 

I can't believe how much I let stuff control me! I spend so much time moving it from place to place, cleaning it, organizing it and storing it. I recently finished "The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up" and it made me question my attachment to my stuff and why I avoid dealing with it. 

I don't think I can successfully KonMari my whole house, but I've started reevaluating all of our possessions and why we have them. I have reduced the stuff in my side of the closet by almost 50%, I think. I'm struggling with the next category, books. But I am making progress, and I feel so good about it. 

I don't hate our house! Or (some of) our stuff! I'm grateful I've been inspired by a number of things (potentially moving, the book) to get rid of what we don't need, use, or love. 


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

I Am A Blogger: CWBN 2017 Recap

The last weekend in March I had the great pleasure of attending a real life blogging conference! Like a real blogger! Cathedral of St. Paul Jacqui ,  Anna  and  Susanna  hosted the Catholic Women's Blogging Network Twin Cities get together at a stunning Summit Avenue mansion in St. Paul. Thirty-some wonderful Catholic women from the Twin Cities, the Midwest, and even Maryland joined up to talk blogging and really just to support each other and build each other up. My friend Monica encouraged me to go, and I signed up on a bit of a whim, figuring that if I paid for registration I'd be more inclined to go. If I didn't have a mutual friend link to one of the organizers, and if a couple of my most favoritest bloggers hadn't been speakers, I'd probably have chickened out.  In response to my evident nerves on the way, my husband wisely mused, "Well, if you're going to walk into a group of people you don't know, this is probably the best group yo...

Day 149: Date with Mom

Mom and I slipped away yesterday afternoon for a trip to town. We had a relaxing couple of hours away from all the chaos at the lake. We shopped, drove around town chatting, I visited the sacrament of reconciliation, and we picked up my favorite small-town pizza joint pizza for supper. I love my hometown so much, but don't spend much time there anymore now that my parents live at the lake. I enjoyed cruising around town catching up on the changes and updates. Mom caught me up on local news, and I accidentally bought a dress, two shirts and a travel mug. That type of thing happens when I hang with my mom, but that's OK!  It was a wonderful afternoon and I'm grateful for our little escape. 

Day 101: Shopping Spree

One of the lovely ladies from my mother's group organized a shopping party at Clothes Mento r for last night. About a year ago, I had a most excellent experience with their personal shopping consultation, and I was excited to get back, especially since my favorite jeans now have around 5 holes. We had the store to ourselves for two hours last night and I tried on all  the pants. I hate trying on jeans. With help I was able to find a couple pairs, along with a top, tank top, and cardigan. I got it all for $65, which I feel is a pretty good deal. I also tried on a dress, backwards (because I guess I thought the tags went in the front ), which accentuated my dry, Scandinavian white, flaky legs. All the NOs you can no. I know some people aren't into used clothes, but I definitely am, especially from a respectable store like Clothes Mentor or Thred Up . I KonMari'd my clothes at the beginning of Purgefest 2016, and now my closet has mostly  versatile pieces that I like and ...