In June of '17, my family of five had the unique opportunity to travel across the world and participate in a real-live, full-fledged archaeological dig. My parents arranged the trip as their 50th anniversary celebration, and it was an amazing experience. I thought I'd share the things that went through my head as I scraped dirt into dustpans all …
decluttering
Decluttering: Looking Good Isn’t Enough
For the past two Christmases, I've bought color coded charging cords for each member of my family. The first year I got six foot cords, and last year I went wild and got the ten footers. Somehow, cord-borrowing and cord-losing still happens, but it's better. These are good quality cords, and they seem to last better than any others we've …
Finishing the Project = Decluttering
As we've been cooped up in our home, I've been thankful for the outside space we have. As we've spent more time outside, I've put a little more work into our yard. I saved up and bought a new outdoor dining set after eating many Spring of 2020 backyard dinners on a folding table and the same metal patio chairs I sat on as a toddler. But I …
Help: How it Happens and How to Accept It
I accidentally wrote a blog post, even though I'm on my summer break. (This year is weird.) I was sharing on Instagram about some amazing and unexpected help we received decluttering our front yard, and ended up writing a whole big thing. I have big thoughts on this subject: help. I shared the first two “before” and “better” photos in a …
Pictures do make a difference! Closet Decluttering Process Photos
It's summer, and that usually means I don't post. But I have to share these pictures from one of you! I'm so proud of Amy, and thankful she's willing to let us all see her progress! Taking photos is powerful, y'all! Here's my story of the impact of a before photo. This closet was inspired by your 5 minute decluttering email. I …
Decluttering? Take the Before Picture!
When you're decluttering, taking a "before picture" is so helpful. "I've been working in my yard a lot lately." That's a phrase that sounds normal coming out of someone else's mouth, but it doesn't feel normal coming from me. Working in the yard is helping me stay sane. My yard had been on my "we really need to" list for years. I've …
Decluttering Regret Vs Keeping Regret
I was so excited to run to my latest Donate Box and start digging. We'd recently received news that gyms were closed. While I'm an on-again-off-again gym user who wasn't the least bit devastated, there are members of my family who were very discouraged. So when "exercise bands" were casually mentioned in the conversation about what we wish we …
Want to Declutter But Can’t Donate Right Now?
If you're reading this in the future, I hope you think to yourself, "Why in the world would I not be able to donate right now?" But my guess is that if you looked at the date when this post was written, March of 2020, you'd say "Ohhhhh . . . . " We're living in a crazy time in history. We're stuck at home, with nothing to look at except our …
Finish The Project and Call it Decluttering!
Projects are fun. The idea/planning/collecting-of-stuff stage of a project is fun. The finishing stage is fun. But today I'm talking about the middle stage. It's fun, too, but it can make decluttering difficult. It's the stage when you've gathered the stuff and started, but you're not done. And then life happens. And the unfinished …
