Decluttering

I have a goal: to become who I was meant to be. I believe Heavenly Father has a plan for me, and it's time for me to start living it. Fortunately, he has also created a ton of other women whom he has similar plans for that are helping me on my journey. Unfortunately, not everyone gets it. And that's part of why it's so hard to do. I feel like I'm waging a battle just to accomplish the things I was meant to. Not everyone I admire does ALL these things, but here's a good list of what people I consider heros are doing:

• homeschool their children
  
• question the validity of mercury in our vaccines
  
• give birth at home
  
• limit their children's extra-curricular activities
  
• don't allow TV or video games
  
• throw out their microwaves
  
• replace toxic plastic food containers with glass
  
• eat a whole foods, plant based diet
  
• grow a garden
  
• limit their expenses
  
• recycle
  
• buy organic
  
• are well read

I'm sure I'll think of more, but that's a start. In trying to become this person I feel I am meant to be, I started decluttering my home about a year and a half ago. We have a very small house, so I was quite surprised at how much JUNK I found in it. Last year I felt like I was taking loads to DI constantly. When we sat down to do our taxes this year I pulled out the receipts, and Brandon was shocked to see how much I had donated. But it was real. And we're not done! That was mostly my stuff.

The girls' room is another story. I've learned a lot lately about how to help my children learn true happiness. I knew they had way too much stuff. I tried to follow my mentors steps on helping them get rid of it, but to be honest my kids do not act like hers. It just didn't work, even after repeated tries. I finally had to do it my own way. I boxed up whatever they couldn't take care of (translation: anything they couldn't put away). I did this several times, but I never got rid of their stuff. It just sat in boxes in storage. The kids knew where it was, so I think that's why they were ok with it. Then a short while ago, after seeing some yard sales in the neighborhood, they got their own idea (Sophie was the force behind this). They were finally ready to sell their stuff! I told them if they would wait until a date I felt like I could work with, I'd help them AND they could have all the stuff in storage to sell.

This past Saturday we finally made it happen! They got a bunch of boxes and sorted everything by how much they wanted to charge for things. There were no tears, no trying to hang on to toys that don't bring real happiness. Just excitement. They had a blast, and made some money doing it! And since I completely forgot to get a picture of them out selling their things, here's a preview/hint of our next big project we're up to: