21 Day Organization Challenge

Wow.  I started the 21 Day Challenge back in OCTOBER!  I got to #9 which scared the daylights out of me, (see post here or how about here?) and did one more challenge...and then stopped.  quit.  I had, had enough!

Then a few weeks ago, I started feeling like I need to clean out our freezer...and fast forward to today.  Freezer still not finished!  So, as I am currently doing #9 (and I will finish it this time!!), #11 will have to wait for a bit.  But it will get done.  And now that I have officially posted all the daily challenges, it's there and I need to follow through.  Even if it takes me a bit longer than a day. 

Take a peak at it, go to the site and see what sort of spring cleaning you can accomplish! 

21 DAY ORGANIZING CHALLENGE

• Join the Challenge (at any time)
• Day 1 - Junk Drawer
• Day 2 - Computer Desk
• Day 3 - Tupperware Cabinet
• Day 4 - Linen Closet
• Day 5 - Under kitchen sink
• Day 6 - Dresser Drawers
• Day 7 - The Pantry
• Day 8 - Coat Closet
• Day 9 - Toy organization
• Day 10 - Laundry Room
• Day 11 - The Freezer
• Day 12 - Spice Cabinet
• Day 13 - Medicine Cabinet
• Day 14 - Under bathroom sink
• Day 15 - Medicine/Vitamin Storage
• Day 16 - The Fridge
• Day 17 - The Mail
• Day 18 - Keepsakes
• Day 19 - Master Closet
• Day 20 - Photos
• Day 21 - You pick!

Toys!

I feel consumed by my children's TOYS!  They are everywhere (mostly the basement) and it is driving me crazy.

I have tried organization, cajoling, nagging, yelling, cleaning them up myself...and nothing has helped.  Maybe I need to be stricter with the kids, but it is hard to get them to clean up, when their 2 1/2 year old brother tears it apart.

A friend of mine, Christa, took away all of her girls' toys.  All.of.them.  I think she threw them away!  Gasp!  What?  Threw them away?   But all of my money would be wasted...until you stop and think.  Do they really need them?   Do they play with them? 

Here is what she wrote to me:

"I had been thinking about it for months and one day as I was yelling "clean up your toys" I stopped mid sentence, went into their room and had them sit on their beds. I came back with several trash bags and started filling them. I just had them sit there and watch me fill up bags and bags of their toys. They shed a few tears but I literally took everything, old and new. I filled 7 bags!

 

I kept them in my closet for a while and went through and took out sentimental toys and that only filled up half a grocery bag! Once they were showing that they could keep their room clean I slowly gave them a toy from the grocery bag. And those are the only toys that they still have. The WORST part of taking all the toys is that they DIDN'T CARE! I was so annoyed that they didn't even miss them! They just made games up with each other, they play with old cracker boxes, they make up crafts...they don't care about not having toys! I feel like such an idiot for ever buying them any toys past babyhood! We made a descion that we weren't going to to toys for Christmas either. It was awesome. I told them not to ask for toys because it wasn't going to happen. And it was our 1st (of many) Christmas sans toys. The best part of no toys for Christmas was that they actually had to think about things that they needed or want, they became very aware of other things that might be cool to have. Good luck- best thing I ever did!"

 

Wow.  She is a brave woman!  I think that having girls is like that.  With Livi, she could basically care less about most of the toys in our home.  The boys are a bit different.  They love their cars, trains, legos, etc.  They play much more with the toys.

 

With that said, I have started the process.  I went down in to the basement.  Took a HUGE box and started filling it up.  I am about 1/3 done, but you can already tell their is a big difference.  I am taking away most of the smaller toys (Little Pet Shop) and keeping bigger toys, like blocks. 

They will keep puzzles and books and bigger trucks.  Spencer and Mac love cars=they are staying. 

 

I have noticed that we have a lot of "junk" toys.  They are getting pitched.  There are only a few McD's toys we have kept because of their quality.  (ex. Kung Fu Panda figurines)

 

It is a lot of work.  I swept the toys in to a pile in the middle of the basement floor.  From there, I had Spencer grab them, place them in the sorting box and then I would start sorting.  I had the garbage, the huge box and the other shoe-sized bins that the toys had originally been in. 

 

Things started filling up FAST!  We only got part way through, but I figure that is something that I can do over the next day or so. 
*These pictures were taken back in November 2011 during my 21 day organization challenge.  After looking at the basement challenge I stopped.  :)  It seemed like too much to do.  I think after this, I'll be starting back up!

Cravings

Do you have cravings?  For sugar or carbs or even things like cheese?  Are they strong and irresistible?  Strong, hard-to-beat cravings indicate that something in our body is off-balance.  If you explore where they are coming from, you will be taking the 1st step to getting rid of them.  And, believe me, life is much more peaceful without those nagging cravings! 

In working with people - and also from my own self-experimentation - I've uncovered a golden truth.  Filling our bodies with nutrient dense foods calms our bodies' "screams" for the non-nutrient dense foods.  Seriously, it is that simple.  Most of our bodies are SCREAMING for nutrients!  Good nutrient dense food.  That is often where that craving is originating.  (There are other reasons that can be explored in another post, but this is the most common.)  Sugar and processed foods are going into our bodies and our bodies are then craving more of the same.  Once we fill them with nutrient dense foods, we discover that the "screaming" slowly goes to yelling, then even to talking.  And eventually it turns into a whisper or doesn't even have a voice at all!  And that is when we have a greater ability to by-pass the same nutrient void foods we were once craving.

I have a friend who decided to get some nutrients into her day by making a green smoothie every morning.  She included lots of fruit to calm the bitter taste of the greens. And that helped her to enjoy and look forward to the smoothie every morning.  After a short while she experienced amazing results.  She said that there was a large cookie sitting on the table that would have normally called to her until she ate it all.  This particular morning she started eating a few bites of it and set it down - surprising herself that she didn't want to eat the rest of it!  She was so grateful that the cravings were settling.  And it was all because she answered her body's call to balance itself with some good nutrients.  Our bodies have a language.  They literally speak to us - through cravings, through aches and pains, etc.  If we are experiencing these things, it is our bodies' attempt to tell us, "Hey, something is off. Something is out of balance.  Help me!"  We can re-balance our bodies and feel better as we listen to what they are saying to us.  It takes some practice, it takes some effort and some true listening.  But once we become more in tune, we will be able to find solutions to our problems and be on the path to greater physical and emotional health.

Amy 

Kindergarten

Man, I miss the good old days.  Did any of you have these in Kindergarten?  Our teacher had the blow-ups for every.single.one.  Loved it!

Shaklee Giveaway!

Congrats Cami!!  You won!  Leave a comment with your email address and I'll get your info.  The comments are hidden! 

CONGRATS!

Giveaway! Giveaway! Giveaway!

What better way to kick off the FIRST DAY OF SPRING than to have a giveaway?! 

Ohhh, I love all things spring.  It may have to do with the fact that I was born in April, but anyway I see it..spring it amazing.

With that said, who wants to celebrate with a Shaklee sample?  Don't know what Shaklee is?  How about a non-toxic, organic cleaning product that is safe for the environment AND your kiddos!

A few months ago, I won a sample and have loved it .  This itty, bitty little sample can make one whole bottle of all-purpose cleaner and another entire bottle of glass cleaner.  Each are 16 oz!  

In order to win:

1.) Share this on Facebook (and come back and post the link)
2.) Write your name and address in the comments section.

Giveaway endes next Tuesday, March 27th at midnight PST.

Creative Juices and Hidden Treasures

You know when you have a TON of things to post and don't quite know how to get them down on paper? Yeah..me neither. I feel like I am tapped out. Nothing exciting to post. Nothing exciting to say...so just bear with me as I write the following:

I still  used to love shows like Cash in the Attic and Antique Roadshow.  Seeing people find 'true' treasures in their own homes was pretty interesting.  MY favorite part?  Seeing how much that piece of pottery or painting was worth. 

This past summer a few families got together and had a Garage Sale.  Besides having a lot of fun, we each made some money. 

Laura had a sewing machine that she was selling that was worth a lot more than the $20 she was asking.  She didn't know how much it was worth, until someone came along and mentioned that she might want to raise the price! (to between $100-300)  :)

The next day, we had a few more people come through that wanted something NOT for sale in my garage.  A lantern. Similar to this one:

The first man to ask was nice when I turned him down.  I could see that he wanted to push the issue, but when I firmly said no, he left.

The next one to ask was an older woman.  She wasn't so kind.  When she asked if she could buy it and I replied no, she got a little heated about it and started to argue.  I calmly insisted it was still a no and then my brain started moving.  Two people in 2 days asked about the same lantern that was partially hidden in my garage.

I decided that my neighbor would know a bit more about it and she did.  She said that it was an old railroad lantern.  She gave a little background and said that it was probably worth some money.  No, I am not going to be a millionaire, but I did investigate a bit more and found that there was a bit of interest from consumers.
Who would have thought that in my immaculate garage, someone would find something that I had no use for, other than the eye appeal. (Like I mentioned above, I am a bit of a sucker for antiques and other fun things). 

How often do we go through life, pushing things to the back, without realizing the worth of them?  My advice?  Clean out your garage!