It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Wow... I haven't written on my blog since May!

The Memorial Day garage sale was a huge success. I got rid of 3/4 of all our storage boxes in the garage through the sale, and by donating the rest.

I now have a shelf/bench out in my garage that my cousin Jeff so graciously gave to me. It's not fancy, but it's highly functional.
I also put together the girls' old diaper changing table as "craft central" for all the supplies/projects I have/do. I placed it on my rolling extendable coat rack so that I can hang things above it also (tie-dye t-shirts, other things that need to dry).
Now I just have to get rid of a couple more items in the garage that didn't sell and I've put on craigslist so that I can put "craft central" over on the end of my shelf/bench allowing for room for an additional refrigerator or chest freezer.
I'm also going to install a couple bike hooks so that I can hang my bike instead of having it take up floor space.
With that I'll also install a couple hanging 2x4s to create a place to put the plastic kiddie pool so that it's not out in the elements and not in the way of the car.
And perhaps, just to finish things off, I'll find a space out on the bench to organize my tools when I'm done with those installations so that they're no longer haphazardly placed in my linen closet.

After that I just need to tackle my bedroom, bedroom closet, coat closet, and Entertainment Center.

Bedroom closet:
I need to organize Jay and I's clothes back into the dresser (they've migrated to sitting on top - so everything in the drawers now is pretty much never worn and can be sold/consigned/given away).
Bedroom:
Organize the book shelf to actually contain books (eliminating probably another box in the garage). Unpack the boxes stacked next to our TV stand (yes, there is one in our bedroom even though we never watch anything in there - ever). Organize the night stand. Store the baby items that are still haphazardly around the night stand. Examine the contents under our bed and decide how best to organize them or if any can be given away/sold/re-purposed. Get another book shelf on my side of the bed and fill it (eliminating another box or two in the garage).Decide if I want to re-position the layout of the bedroom.
Coat closet:
Unpack/organize/repack the boxes stored in there and move them to the garage. Design a shelving/storage system on the floor for the kids' toys to be stored away when not in use (their play room is the living room - I would like to reclaim the parts of it used to store their toys). Organize board games on top closet shelf - they're currently topped on the book shelf in the living room, but there's no more room up there and there are still several in a few boxes in the garage.
Entertainment Center:
Find a better shelving method for our DVDs (maybe building shelves above the DVD player and/or re-purposing the firewood storage den in our living room (currently containing DVDs, random cables, and who knows what else). Alphabetizing the DVDs and taking inventory on a spreadsheet so we know what we have. Mounting the digital antenna to the wall so that it's not resting on top of the flat-screen.

However, the next few days are dedicated to Christmas prep.

I need to:
Bake/decorate a cake (for a client).
Bake/decorate cookies (for this client's colleagues).
Do the weekly laundry.
Complete the home-made crafts for the Christopherson family nieces/nephew.
Paint and assemble my mother in-laws gift.
Ship those gifts.
Purchase some gifts for my mother, father and husband.
Assemble the rocking horse we got for the girls.
Wrap presents.
Feed the missionaries on Wednesday (Bata yaki - be jealous other Hellewells).
Go to the Borah High School Christmas choir concert on Thursday night.
Find weighted stocking holders/hooks for our fireplace mantle.
Paint mine and my neighbor's windows with some holiday motifs.
Decide on what "treat" to leave in the mailbox for our mailman as a Christmas present.
And... I can't think of anything else.

Thankfully the tree is already assembled and decorated and our lights are "up." The lights I put "up" outside are simple this year (solar powered luminaries lining the driveway - the posts looking like peppermint sticks).

We're staying in Idaho for Christmas this year (our first Christmas together as an immediate family since becoming parents). Jay has to work on Christmas day... but we'll figure something out to make it special - perhaps joining him for luch at work.

Maybe we'll get a chance to Skype with our family members in California/Colorado/Texas on Christmas eve - and make that a new tradition.

I hope your Christmas is Merry and Bright!

2015 will be here in 16 days, 17 hours, 18 minutes, and 19 seconds! (it is now 12/15/2014 @ 7:42:41)

It's time to clean up!

I am a pack rat.

Not in the extreme sense like you see on "hoarders" or similar TV shows. But I've always had a hard time letting go of things or just plain throwing things away.

I remember as a kid that I purposefully memorized the pick-up schedule for the ARC donation truck so that I would "book it" home and ensure my precious "things" didn't get given away. Things like stuffed animals, clothes, toys, etc.
I've always had a hard time letting things go.

However... I'm not at the point in my life that I realize I have too much stuff.
I have boxes that I have not opened in over 2 years (since we moved here from Salt Lake City).
Ones that I truly don't know why I'm holding onto them considering I don't even use or look at their contents, ever.

So... here's what I'm doing to clean up.

I heard about "Idaho's Biggest Garage Sale" while listening to a radio station in April.
The idea intrigued me.

An outdoor flea market/garage sale.
All the advertising for it already exists - you just have to buy a space and set up your stuff.
Brilliant!!

So now for the fun part - I'm currently de-cluttering my house, closets, and yes, my garage.

I'm going through every single box. Literally.

I'm categorizing the items I'm not keeping into other small boxes by price ($1, $2, $5, $10, $15, $20, etc), and even including "free items" or "name your price."
On Friday, May 16th I will be going to set up my booth space (it cost $30 to reserve) with all of these things - they will be watched overnight by police/security to prevent theft; and will be there all day Saturday, the 17th, selling them off.
What I can't sell there (and honestly think I can't make a buck off of) will be donated to the local DI, Idaho Youth Ranch, or Goodwill.
Everything else will find itself listed on Craigslist.

It's time to clean up!

I'm not moving all this stuff again when we get out of this duplex.
I'm not moving this stuff ever again.

Find me at the garage sale!

http://idahoslargestgaragesale.com/idahos-largest-garage-sale-directions/