RELEASING THE CLUTTER ONE ROOM AT A TIME

Hi Everyone!

 RELEASE has many meanings for me, not only am I releasing the clutter outside but also the clutter within.  You know what I'm talking about, we all have our issues!  Time to let them go just like the clutter we hang onto in our homes....time to let go and bless others.  With THAT said, one of my favorite blogs is FLYLADY!  The ultimate blog about getting rid of the excess clutter in your life.  If you struggle with this, FLYLADY has great advise on how to get back on track.

I'm getting back on track now.....One Room At A Time. LOOK OUT!!!  Mom's on A Decluttering Mission!  Yes, January is a perfect time to start thinking about how much stuff has been accumulated and if it is really of importance in our lives.

 Ok, so I thought I'd start in the guest room where my daughter and grandson will be staying but it looks like they aren't coming right away so I've been given a reprieve! LOL!   Instead, I started in one of the smallest bathrooms, eewwah, I know! how glamorous is that? But my house is tiny and the bathrooms are of importance to me (and if you think about it, everyone has one and uses it on a frequent basis).  Over the toilet resides a cabinet that holds anything the medicine cabinet doesn't, and it was crammed packed!

BEFORE

Hubby has the bottom shelf and yes, the top one is mine, stuffed to the max!  I threw out boxes and expired medicine (yep) and half used bottles of hair product (mousse, gel and hairspray, oh my!) and moved other health care products to another cabinet under the sink.  Truthfully, I'm the pack rat.

SO now check out the cabinet! 

After

Uh huh, it looks pretty good doesn't it?!? That blue bag on my shelf is a travel bag and it has been recently removed.  Onward to the medicine chest and under the sink.  I was ruthless.  When I was done releasing the clutter from under the sink, medicine cabinet and above the toilet cabinet, my husband took out a 13 gallon size trash bag, it weight approximately 25 lbs!  Also, we will be donating a 3 lb. bag of hotel shampoos, hair products and soaps to our church for the needy in the area.  Releasing the clutter never felt better!

Please join me each week as I work my way through the house releasing the clutter and blessing others in need.

Suzy

ONE LITTLE WORD....

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

Welcome back to Travel Thursdays!   While reading a post on Pam Garrison's blog a week or so ago, she mentioned the One Little Word project with Ali Edwards, I was intrigued by the thought of choosing One Word for the coming year.  Leading up to this point, I wasn't planning to make Resolutions for the New Year, however,  I had a few things on my personal goal list for 2014 (and yes, a list IS different from a Resolution in my world); one of those goals was: Take a class and ask a friend to join me. 

After reading about  One Little Word class with Ali Edwards I just had this feeling that I needed to sign up for the class.  Why I don't know and I'm still wondering about my impulsiveness, not only did I sign up, I ordered supplies!!  Oh my goodness, now I feel committed and THEN I asked my friend Bonnie to join with me and she DID!  So there, two little things on my list were checked off within hours of making them.

 My One Little Word is RELEASE. I didn't meditate or ask the universe or anything that weird for a word, it just came to me.  As I mentioned a few weeks ago,  my daughter and grandson are coming for an extended visit and I need to get the guest room ready for them so,  I've been in January Declutter mode. It all started with decluttering the drawers and that's when it hit me what my One little Word would be: Release.  This lead me to think that it is not always the tangible things that need to be Released.  Looking back over the past year is something a lot of  people do just before the New Year. Some analyze their past success and sometimes their failures before venturing into the New Year.  Looking back to the past has its merits unless you tend to get stuck there, looking forward is fun, unless you forget about the present.  I sometimes have to remind myself that if I'm living in either the Past or the Future I'm not connected with the Present.  Living in the present is being just that, present in the moment.  That's one way to look at it, another is this: each day is a gift, that's why it is called the Present; open it up and receive the gift you have been given today.  Be grateful, be generous and let go of the past (Release).  Obviously letting go of the past is not always easily done.  I live a lot of my life in the past, mostly in memories. It's not all bad, in fact it is fun to travel down memory lane on occasion.  But what I am talking about is getting stuck there, mired down in the bad stuff.  We all have stuff in our past that we must deal with, we all have issues, but what I am saying is it bogs us down, sucks us in like quicksand and spirals us to the depths of.....well you know, right?

So..... my focus this year is more on the PRESENT than the Past....The Present, and receiving the good gifts that God has in store for me.  I hope you will join me in receiving the Present God has given to us today!

Come back and join me as we Travel  through my house One Room At A Time RELEASING the clutter. 

Suzy