decluttering

[Heather Prins]

since i have gone vegan last year, its been a slow but steady process of decluttering my life. Going digi was a huge part of that too. I am finally getting around to cleaning scary dark corners of my house & garage this weekend and i have used the last of my chemical household cleaners. I am switching to home made stuff-vinegar, baking soda, etc. The food thing is big too, i am much more conscience what i put into my body, which feels amazing. Anyone else making any kind of changes this time of year?

[SunshineTK]

Not really specific to right now - but I have also gone to all natural cleaning products. It's amazing what a little vinegar will do! I also use thyme oil (pure essential oil - just a few drops in distilled water) for disinfecting and generally we're moving more to using essential oils for all kinds of things - like lavender for cuts and scrapes rather than neosporin.

It's so funny you posted this today because I was just thinking that it's supposed to be cool on Saturday and I was going to do a little garage organizing when I get out my fall decorations!

[Charla]

Tracy, we need to do the essential oils too. We've already come a very long way with natural living, but that's one thing I haven't bought yet but really want to.

We bought a carpet shampooer a few weeks ago (because renting them makes the house smell like wet dog, thanks to all the dog owners who used it previously) and won't use their nasty chemical shampoos. Oxi-Clean, vinegar and water and a beautifully clean carpet that I'm not worried about the kids walking on!

I need to physically declutter. I'm a huge declutterer in life, but I've been letting it get ahead of me lately. And it's showing. I can't find things that are important, and the house is feeling *too small*. So I need to start working at that!

We're doing it food-wise too, Heather. We took out all MSG/gelatin/autolyzed yeast extract a few years ago now, so when I decided to cut out HFCS, it was an easy jump. We just don't buy anything in the grocery aisles anymore

And we bought DH a bunch of new shirts last night...so today I went up and pulled out all his XL shirts and other shirts from his "cowboy" days That felt great! I can't wait to do that to my closet, but there's no point until Hudson weans. Then I'll do a deep-purge and replace everything with clothes that fit me and look nice for a mid-30s mom of 3!

[SunshineTK]

Charla - I have several books on essential oils but this one is by far my favorite:
http://www.booksamillion.com/product/9780931432828

[Heather Prins]

yea the HFCS is gross and we work to rid that too!!! ANd no bottled water or pop (easy). I would love to know more about essential oils! watched the documentory for King Corn last night-it was good, made me so glad I do not eat grain fed anything!

[nicoleseitler]

We just don't buy anything in the grocery aisles anymore

Isn't it funny how when you make a radical change to your diet, you will just push past 12 aisles of stuff and only shop around the perimeter of the store?

My own changes have been actually cleaning the house, instead of repeatedly ignoring everything. Being pregnant and trying to keep up with everything is a challenge, but I've now got a good rhythm going for everything in our day (breakfast, cleaning, homeschooling, computer time, designing, dinner, etc.). The challenge is when I feel really cranky or overly tired. And with the pregnancy, I've been paying a lot more attention to what I'm eating. I'm trying to correct deficiencies both naturally (like eating spinach salads for lunch) and with supplements from the health food store. Also trying out a little homeopathic stuff for my nasal allergies, since they are non-stop.

I feel like the homeschooling stuff I'm doing with the kids is something that keeps me creative and more aware of the little things in life. I don't know if I can put it into words well, but when I'm busy preparing little word bits for the next day's lessons, it's exciting. I just love developing my own curriculum and hunting out new ideas from helpful books. Like today--I was looking at this page full of examples of when we take a "silent e" off the end of a word before adding a suffix. Next to that, there was a list of short-vowel words that end up with a double consonant (for example moping and mopping). I thought "Oh, my word--one page dedicated to this topic? We are not going to get this in one go!" Plus, I thought it was hard to just read moping off the page and know on sight that it's from the word "mope." So what I did was I got out some construction paper and folded little paper cards. On the outside I wrote "mope" and on the inside is "moping." Then there is one that says "mop" on the outside and "mopping" in the inside. I figure this is going to be more concrete and helpful. Plus, it's hands-on. I'm excited now to have Katie go over this stuff. Kinda like when you sneak vegetables into dinner. You feel all impressed with yourself and happy that your kids are getting what they need!

[nicoleseitler]

(and if you see that end up on my blog, don't be surprised! I was thinking about writing about this anyway...)

[LeeAndra]

We went mostly GF last year, and it has been a pretty easy transition once we figured out what Jeff could and could not eat. We still have some gluten things in the house: mac 'n' cheese for my lunch and crackers for the kids mostly. In general, though, I only cook GF things for all of us to eat, and it makes me so feel crunchy and SuperMom-y sometimes. Being able to clear all the prepackaged boxes out of our cabinets was a fun thing to do.

We are pretty bad abt clutter, though. Neither Jeff nor I like to put paperwork and those type of things away, so there are usually piles of paperwork, bills, etc. here and there on the counter or table. Having a 1 year old who can climb up on chairs has managed to locate the piles to the highest table/counter possible.

I need to declutter digi, too. I don't think I really own anything pre-2008 (I have been digi since 2003) and I have done some major purges in the past, even deleting a designer's whole folder when I wasn't feeling her anymore, but that stuff piles up so quickly that I'm sure I need to do it again. It's something I have to do at night when Monkey is tucked into bed, so sometimes I forget that it's on my To Do list since most of my stash is on a different EHD than my current stuff. Someone hop on Yahoo! tonight and remind me to get to it!

[Heather Prins]

my son likes burgers still and we get him grass fed alberta beef from the farmer's market. i love feeling like a super mom, lol

[hollyinjapan]

I've been spending most of August decluttering stuff around the house and on the HD. It all started because I wanted to finally make a big boy bedroom for my son so he needed the room we had been using as our storage and my office space. SO much of that stuff -- that we kept for years -- got thrown out and more of it is still waiting to go to the recycle shop. Hubby is BAD about purging. I ask him to but he just doesn't. And if I do it "for" him he gets upset. So I do it secretly, a little at a time. He keeps the strangest stuff only because its just too bothersome for him to go through and throw out.

But its hard sometimes because everything is in Japanese. I read and speak it on an everyday conversation level, but some of the things I just can't even begin to know what they are about. I just figure if its been sitting in the same spot for over a year we probably don't need it. Clothes, papers, toys, etc.

Decluttering the HD is harder for some reason. There are some things (even 5 years old or more) that I just can't bear to part with (Jen Wilson).

How many times do you use your digi sets? I try to use everything at least once (especially those I've paid for an just HAD to have), but even once doesn't seem enough to justify tossing it.

[Heather Prins]

i love Jen Wilson!!! my husband tries to be a pack rat too, but he has gotten better.

[nicoleseitler]

Gaah... I miss Jen Wilson so much. She's been gone for too long... about a year and a half now. And yes, I've been counting.

[Heather Prins]

i know i thought she was coming back when she redid her web page, but i am still waiting, CC in hand, LOL

[nicoleseitler]

I know! Me, too. LOL! I still have a gift card balance to spend from my birthday LAST year. I don't know what's up. Even the "Coming Soon" part is down now... Sigh.

[LeeAndra]

Jacinda, I am lucky if I use everything once. I don't buy much these days for financial reasons, but also because with the number of CTs I have, there really is no good reason for me to buy. I still have quite the stash of things bought in the last year or two that I haven't used. I'm trying to pull them all over into a 'To Be Used' folder, and on the off chance that I am scrapping for fun rather than for a CT, I try to go into that folder first.

Heather and Nicole, Jen and I used to be pretty good friends, but I haven't been able to reach her for months. I don't think she's coming back this time. If you're looking for a Wilson-esque fix, I think Cinzia Loosemore's style is very very similar to Jen's.

[nicoleseitler]

Sigh... that's really sad. I would go to my LSS just to buy her paper in print. I don't think there will ever be anyone who comes close to JW in my mind. And that's okay with me.

[Heather Prins]

i agree there is just something about her stuff that i have to have. Cinzia is really really great, but , well, Jen is just Jen

[jomi]

i agree there is just something about her stuff that i have to have. Cinzia is really really great, but , well, Jen is just Jen

Yes totally agree, I miss her and wondering what is happened to her? I got a upset not from someone through her facebook account that she didn't her from Jen for more then months and she was totally done with it and didn't want to speak to Jen anymore? I hope she's fine and nothing bad happened to her or her family

[jomi]

My own changes have been actually cleaning the house, instead of repeatedly ignoring everything. The challenge is when I feel really cranky or overly tired.

I recognize this. I try to built up a good rythme but fail when I am overly tired I just leave it, meaning much more work when I do get around to it and I am not happy with it. It takes away way too much 'me' time.

I decluttered our home last year, but I am not good with finding good places to put everything in to make sure the clutter doesn't return.
As far as food I really admire you doing this Heather! I really try to stay away from sugar and eat less fat but I have to be honest I don't have much luck yet. We are in the progress of eating healthier which means for us using more fresh components intead of vegetables out of a can and we want to cut back on using pre-made stuff. For us that's more then enough right now

[Heather Prins]

I recognize this. I try to built up a good rythme but fail when I am overly tired I just leave it, meaning much more work when I do get around to it and I am not happy with it. It takes away way too much 'me' time.

I decluttered our home last year, but I am not good with finding good places to put everything in to make sure the clutter doesn't return.
As far as food I really admire you doing this Heather! I really try to stay away from sugar and eat less fat but I have to be honest I don't have much luck yet. We are in the progress of eating healthier which means for us using more fresh components intead of vegetables out of a can and we want to cut back on using pre-made stuff. For us that's more then enough right now

it takes time. I was on and off for years then finally just did it. I have no regrets and yes there are the odd moments i think i miss something, but it passes and i like the stuff I am putting in my body now.