Recently I....

....made another Pinterest recipe (that mom had been begging me to try too).  Crockpot Italian Chicken.  Boy howdy, it was tasty.  A keeper, fo sho.....

....stopped by our new (and only) Hy-vee.  I do not rush out to new stores.  It is against everything I believe in.  So I waited until the hype died down and parking was more plentiful.  Shrug.  It's cool, I guess.  Tasty coffee, while you're shopping, at least.  And I had a good cart.  Usually, I get the not-willing-to-turn-or-even-go-straight-cart.  But this cart glided along nicely...... 

....piled up all the books in my possession that I haven't read.  EEEEK!  I counted four.  Three of which are borrowed.  DOUBLE EEEEK!  I just need a good snow day or Christmas break to roll around......

....took stock of all my decluttering.  My 30 days are almost up.  I'm proud to say that I've definitely rid myself of 90 items.  The house is so clean, since I started.  Annnnnnd the special room has a walkway.  This.  Is.  Big.  People......

....got a new ironing board cover.  Handmade by Schlager!!!  Check out her tutorial!  I may have freaked out over her new cover, and she graciously volunteered to make one for me!  I picked out my fabric, and she whipped that baby up in no time.  What.  A.  Lovely.  Friend......

....have been listening to this Christmas song non-stop.  I have a major girl crush on Zooey.  Oh, that voice....

One Week In

Decluttering Challenge weekly update time......

• After a trip to a resale shop, I'm $37 richer annnnnd minus eight articles of clothing (thanks sis for taking it in). 
• Made another pile of over 40 items ready for a spring trip to the resale shop.
• Gave the sister-in-law a bag of ten random items.
• Threw away only three things.
• Put over 20 things in a garage sale tub.
• And made a donate pile. 
• The Relics pile grew a little larger too.

Not bad, right?

But while in the midst of working on this challenge, the house was volunteered for the mister's 30th birthday gathering with his family.  So the decluttering was put on hold in order to make the house presentable.

Oh, and happy 30th to the mister.  (Who got a wild hare this week to rip up the carpet in his manroom and paint it too.  Before we knew we were having the shindig.)  We did have a lovely little outing with all our favorite friends to celebrate on Saturday.  Thank you to everyone who came out.  We really like you people.

But back to the house.  This means sacrifices had to be made to get it to a presentable level.  The special room and garage became hiding spots.  The progress I'd made on each of these areas became null and void.

Here's why it's all okay.......each room of my house is sparkling and decluttered, with the exception of those two hiding spots.  Keep those doors closed, and you'd never know I was a hoarder!  

Another positive........all my junk is now confined to those two rooms............so if I can focus all my energy on those spaces, we may have a completely decluttered house by the new year!

I'm really trying folks!

And I'm dying over this clean house (thanks to mom and the mister for help).  Love it. 

To be continued.......

 

A Challenge

Schlag sort of called me out recently.

Regarding my hoarding problem.

A "30 Day Declutter" challenge she found might just do the trick.  Especially if I have an accountability partner.

(Can you hear me, Schlag?)

(Or anyone else who'd like to terrorize me, so that my special room can see the light of day?  Or so the mister can park in the garage again in time for winter.)

Here's the skinny:  30 days.  90 items (at least).  Or better yet, a clean garage and spare bedroom.  Weekly posts updating my progress.

All in time for the holidays.

Maybe I could host Christmas.  Or Craft Night 2011.

Can I even do this?