THE 2011 Decluttering Challenge!!

Hello. My name is Mary and I am a piler. Here is how I got started on decluttering!

I am a huge Mothering.com forum fan. I've been posting there for several years and always checked out the birth & pregnancy stuff. With Brian's pregnancy I noticed they had decluttering & simplifying your life forum. I checked in with that a time or two & didn't think much of it. We collected more stuff for baby and for the house.

Then I got pregnant with Liam. I had HUGE nesting issues with this pregnancy and just had to get stuff out of my house. I felt closed in and smothered. I remembered seeing that forum and immediately signed up for the 2010 things out of your house in 2010 challenge.

Realistically, that is a mere 5.5 things to purge on a daily basis. Well, you know that life happens and along with that comes stuff to deal with. Some days I purged like crazy and other days it just plain didn't happen.
As I got bigger, my list got longer and longer. The items got harder to find and to let go of.

I purged my house of 2013 items in 2010. I purged around 1,000 items of clothing between all 5 of us. Nothing was sacred...not even pictures and I realized that I still had MORE that needed to leave my house. This year, the bar is raised to 2011 items to be sold, trashed, donated, gifted or recycled.

I want a functioning, easy-to-clean house. One that where everything has a place and EVERYONE knows where to find it. I want that comfortable, beautiful, decluttered and CLEAN house that magazines showcase. Okay, that is a little too perfect, but it is a lofty ideal to shoot for. I don't want to have a 2012 aspiration for decluttering.

January is half over and I have purged approximately 440 things out of my home. Not bad for just 20 days in. I started a Facebook group and it has close to 40 women sharing the same goal. My piling habit ends. I am working with small area at a time and coming back to each area to double check.

 I am teaching my family to respect the things we have, make them last and to be resourceful and creative with the stuff we already have.

~Goodbye 2010 and Hello 2011~

I love New Year's! It symbolizes a fresh, clean slate, something that I need everyday being the mom of 3 young boys. One, who won't be named, is loudly screaming in the background as I type. This argument is about Nerf bullets. Seriously, this is my life. I won't change it at all, well, maybe to eliminate the screaming and lower the amount of chaos a teensy, tiny bit,  but that is about all.

But, on to New Year's...it is about having something click in your life. While you can change anything at anytime, it is nice to have the world thinking positively with you. So many people pick out resolutions that are totally unattainable-like losing 100 pounds or eliminating a food group from your diet. I am picking something I can do on a daily basis.

My resolutions this year will be simple...love deeper and speak sweeter. Words that stuck with me after listening to a Tim McGraw song on the radio. Everything else are goals--decluttering, simplifying, expanding my doula passion, paying a few things off and living within our means.

The new year brings 365.25 days of clean, fresh slates. What are you going to do with yours?

WOW!!!

WOW! I was totally floored by being nominated in the category Best Doula in North Texas by North Texas Child Magazine. This is such an honor!
I don't know how or who did the nominating, but I am very appreciative of them. It truly is an honor to be just nominated. I am up against two other doulas who are amazing:) One of us will win the title, but all of us are rockin' doulas who love what we do:) You can vote once and up to 1/3/2011.

http://northtexaschild.com/best-families-sub.asp

~~I am in a NEW DECADE~~

Yesterday, at 9:43 p.m., I turned the magically age of 40. I don't feel any different nor do I feel older or even old. It is an amazing turning point in my life. I remember when I turned 30--I finally was a grown up.

This year I have survived something that broke me into a million pieces. This year I have learned to forgive. This year I have learned to look at things without being too jaded. This year I have learned what I am about and how I deal with "stuff". This year I have been humbled, many times. This year I have learned to love without reservations.

Looking back on my years, I wouldn't change too many things...just two. I won't ever be "okay" with those two things. They have shaped the woman, wife, mother, sister, daughter, cousin, friend and doula I am right now.

Life is good. Happy New Decade to Me!!

Day 6 - When your Ipod is on shuffle, what are the first 10 songs it might play.

Thinking about this list made me really take notice about how eclectic my music selections are. Each song has meaning behind it for different places I have been in my life.

1) With or Without You--U2...I fell in love with this song in high school & it is "our song"..and Bono's hot!.

2) What Would You Do Today if You Were Brave?--Jana Stanfield...I first heard this song at Camp Jon Marc (when I was a counselor for Camp Muscular Dystrophy). It was played live by Jana & I cried. It made me realize that I am a very strong woman who can overcome with tolerance.

3)When We Dance--Sting...a true love song

4) Margaritaville--Jimmy Buffet...a classic

5) Suspicious Minds--Elvis Presley...another classic

6)Something Like That--Tim McGraw...a catchy tune that makes me think of my "dating" days

7) I Would Die 4 U--Prince, when he was actually Prince. Awesome song!

8) La Belle Dame Sans Regrets--Sting...another love story all in French--amazing song--Sting is another hottie~

9) Friends in Low Places--Garth Brooks...College Days-need I say more?

10) Psalm 23--Temple & Brent...one of my laboring songs for Brian & Liam's births. I originally heard this at a birth I was photographing.

I have alot more but these are my top 10!

Day 5 - Short term goals for this month and dreams for your life ahead.

So, this is day 5 on day 16 of November...I just don't use time well obviously. I'm going to set goals for December instead:

*finish my 2010 item purge with 2011 items out of my house
*decide which baby equipement we are keeping
*talk talk talk about baby #4--notice I didn't say try try try:) LOL
*make an effort to look pretty everyday (hair & some sort of make up)
*sort through my wardrobe & only keep the clothing I feel good in. Everything else has to go.
*make Brian & Liam's Christmas stockings before the 24th of December
*write my 2011 goals and aspirations
*make my own Motivated Moms house blessing checklist
*start walking & excerising again (going to do that today though). You can't complain if you are sitting on your tush most some parts of the day:)

Dreams for my life ahead:
be present, be more kind, listen to my children more, learn to say "No" more efficiently and read as much as I can! I love reading. Oh, be 99% debt free by 2012 (not including our mortgage).

Day 4 - A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you!

These three little ones and the one little angel you can't see have changed my life. The way I think, I dress, I speak, I behave, I get upset and most importantly, the way I love. Some days are definitely better and smoother than others. I know I am not a perfect parent. That is okay since I didn't sign up for that title anyways. I am learning how to be a better person because of these people in my life.

Day 3 - A picture of somewhere you have been.

This is the view from our hotel room in Mexico. Huatulco to be exact. It was such a lovely honeymoon:) We literally hung out at the beach, drove to the town in a crazily driven cab, ate till our hearts content and just relaxed. I still can't believe we left with our American Express card and $50 in our pockets...to be young again~ LOL

Day 2 - A recent picture of you and your friends.

Well, crap! I don't have a recent picture of me with my friends. I think the last time I took a picture with any of my friends was before we had any children...almost 10 years ago. That is very, very sad.

On the bright side, the ones I do have are fabulous! They are film/prints & since my scanner isn't hooked up right-you still don't get to see them.

Now my goal is to get together with my friends, before the end of November, and take that picture.

This is a book I have on request for the library--The Friends We Keep: A Woman's Quest for the Soul of Friendship by Sarah Zacharias Davis. A doula friend discovered it and wants to start a book club with this selection. While I don't know if I will be able to travel for the book club, I am definitely going to read the book.

http://www.amazon.com/Friends-We-Keep-Womans-Friendship/dp/B0044KN2ZC/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1288722084&sr=1-2

The link is long since I don't know how to do it any other way:)

November blogging challenge

So as I am welcoming a new month, I also am welcoming a new chance to let others keep up with my family:) I noticed a few of my facebook friends doing a blogging challenge...so it begins here too.

Day One: A recent picture of yourself and 15 interesting facts.

I met my husband when I was in 8th grade...had French I with him in 9th grade and we started dating in 10th. It took him a little bit to realize I had a crush on him...we were married in 1994.

One of my best friends I met in 8th grade-she was in 7th. We almost had a fight...think city preppy girl meets cowgirl with attitude.

I knew I would have children, but I didn't know how much I would love it overall. I think we are still thinking about more.

I am not a seasonal decorator. I am not a normal decorator. I think I missed this gene in my family.

I like a clean house. I currently have a messy house. Frustrating.

I am almost to my 2010 items out challenge this year. Next year is 2011. Wowza!

I have Orinthophobia. Especially when they are all flocking together in one location. Just got a shiver right then. Orinthophobia is a fear of birds.

I want to make a quilt and learn to sew. I adore moms like Amanda Blake Soule who make it look so freaking easy. And she has a perfectly clean house...and she has 4 children...ugh.

I love to get my hair cut and colored. I just don't do it since I don't always make the time.

I really like to buy my own birthday presents or give a list. It is so tacky, but the things I desire aren't the obvious choices. An Example is the Mothering 2011 calendar...who would think to buy that for a birthday gift??

I love my friends. They are very dear to my heart.

I have a strong desire to birth in the water.

I could easily be a vegetarian, but I could never give up candy.

I made a 4.0 GPA in my master's program. I enjoyed being a student and would go back to get another degree, but I don't want to retake the entrance exams.

I failed Algebra I in high school and had to retake it the following sememster with a full class of flunkees. Summer school isn't like the movie Summer School.