Day 13/14

I have been on panic mode since Thursday evening. Friday was my last chance to register for my last 2 classes because they start on the 16th. Registration deadline is actually the 20th, but who wants to miss an entire week of class? I finally got that taken care of after spending the entire day at AASU getting advised, taking care of my GI bill stuff, making sure my financial aid was in order, and then finally registering for the last 2 classes. I am super excited though, because 2 of the classes are fast track, 7 weeks instead of 15 weeks, and I have 2 classes that are the whole term, and one that starts on day 1 and the other starts on October 13. I LOVE taking fast track classes, because you get through them and there isnt as much BS, its more of you get the work done now and dont have to wait 3 weeks before you can turn it in. I have to take 4 gym classes between now and next Fall. They offer swimming, tennis, golf, and other stuff like that. I am so excited that I transferred schools and changed my major!! I am now a Health Sciences major with a focus on Health, Fitness, and Nutrition. (it is a Pre-Sports Medicine major) I am going to try and get a couple of licenses and certificates in the mean time, to plump up my resume and to help myself in the long run!! As for the cleaning and organizing stuff, I have officially gone through all of my coupons and gotten rid of all of the expired ones and the ones that I know I wont ever use. They took up 3 garbage bags after I was finished. I havent spent much money at all, but I will have to spend about 200 over the next 2 weeks for childcare since I start school tomorrow. My husband will be home at some point next month and I need to buckle down and finish up everything that I plan on getting done before he gets home!! I still have several things that I need to fill out and file and mail and get rid of in general, but I think, if I keep up the way I have been, I will get everything accomplished. I am also 130 miles short of walking/running/biking 1000 miles to Afghanistan!! I am super excited about that one!!! I know, by the end of the week, I will hit my goal!!! I have done so much during this deployment that I would probably fill a book with them! I have thought about writing a book, but so far, it is just a thought. Maybe after my husband comes home, I will do it, but right now, the anticipation of his arrival is enough to make me crazy! There isnt much else to write for now, but I knew I was behind in writing in here, so I had to make an update. I will do another tonight for today, though. So, until tonight...

Day 12

I am exhausted!! I was up half of the night thanks to over-hydrating and my body deciding that I needed to get rid of the excess water, ie puking for 3 hours...UGH!! I am very sore and not really feeling too great today, so I de-cluttered things that I would normally not think of. My daughter LOVES puzzles, I mean, she has more than 30 of them that she puts together on a regular basis. Today, we went through every one of them, put each one together and figured out which ones are missing pieces and which ones are complete. The ones that are complete, we took a picture of (none of them have boxes, just ziploc bags) and put with the puzzle for ID purposes. The rest, we put in bags, but wrote how many pieces were missing. More than 3 pieces, got trashed. We are still cleaning out their rooms, so finding an extra piece or two is pretty likely. I also cleaned out my DVR. I know that sounds like a minimal thing, but when there was 1% left on the DVR, I decided it was time to delete some things. There is now 87% available on there. Depending on how I feel tomorrow, we are going to finish the kid's rooms and start on the garage. I am looking forward to the garage because I know there are things in there that I can use in the house, I just have to dig them out of the boxes!! I am really hoping to have the garage done this weekend and to finally make a long awaited trip to Goodwill!!! Wish me luck!! Until tomorrow...

Day 11

Today, most of my day has been spent trying to surprise a friend of mine with her boyfriend who came in from Afghan 2 days early. It took 3/4 of a tank of gas and about 3 hours, but they were finally united and she got her "present" that I said was sent to me for her. Other than that, I have been very un-productive today. I felt like I needed a rest and a breather from everything that I have been doing these past 11 days. I talked to my husband this morning and I know how down he has been because this is the end of their tour and they are so close to coming home, but yet, still a couple months away. I have decided, that from now until the last day for mail, I am going to send him something. Whether it be a box, card, note, letter, drawing, picture, whatever. I am hoping that it will cheer him up and make him feel a little bit better!! I dont have much else to report, so, until tomorrow...

Day 10

Day 10 has been very good to me!! The transfer from my husband's GI bill came through, we got a phone call from the Road to Reunion documentary people, and I finally got my acceptance letter from the college that I had already gotten accepted to last month. I kept the living room, kitchen, and dining room clean today. The upstairs has stayed clean for 5 days now. I am working on laundry and finishing up in the girl's rooms. K1 decided that instead of soccer, she now wants to play football. I am all for it, but right now, all I can find is flag football. She said that's okay for this year, until she learns how to play. I threw out many bottles and containers of expired lotions, makeup and other odds and ends from the bathrooms. It took up 2 trash bags. (at least my garbage cans outside smell good now, right?) I think, on Friday, I am going to start posting pictures of my progress, to show how far I have come. I dont have any before shots, but I will take some when I start new projects, from now on. I took a spin class today, because I have been needing something a little different than just Zumba and the treadmill. It was awesome!! I will definately be taking that class again!! I also got my BMI and my body fat calculated. When I started losing weight in December, my body fat was 33% and my BMI was around 33. Today, my BMI is 24.8 and my body fat % is 24.4%. That is almost a 10% decrease in 9 months!!!! That is all I have for today!! Until tomorrow...

Day 9

So, nothing really got done today. We just kind of went lazy today. I cleaned up the kitchen, did 2 loads of laundry and picked up in the living room. The girls were being fussy and rotten, so I just let them play most of the day. I am going to work on their rooms tomorrow. I went to my Zumba class this evening and it was nice to talk to adults for a change! I think going to the gym and just getting out of the house is going to help alot with my spending habits and help keep my mind focused. I am more than ready for K1 to go back to school!! Countdown is T-minus 2 weeks and counting. She has been asking more than 5 times a day, when is she going to go to school again (she is starting Kindergarten this year). I tell her, and then she asks "Is it August 30th yet?". No honey, trust me, mommy will make sure you know when the 30th is, LOL. Not much else to report today! Hopefully, I will have more to report tomorrow! Until tomorrow...

Day 8

So today, I cleaned the house and made dinner. My friend Amanda and her kids came over and we had a great chat and ate some really good lasagna and homemade bread. Tomorrow is garbage day here on post, so I made sure to fill my trash can and recycling up and I also put several things on the curb that I no longer needed/wanted. Most of the curb stuff is gone now. It feels so good to finally start letting some of the clutter go and move on to a more organized and happy life. The house is clean and I am hoping that it stays this way for alot longer than just tonight. Tomorrow, we are starting K1's bedtime routine (for school) so that we can get her used to it before school starts. I am also going to finish swapping K1 and K2's rooms around and also finish organizing all of their toys and clothes. Wish me luck, there are alot of toys and clothes!! I dont have anything else to report, so I am going to say goodnight!! Until tomorrow...

Day 7 (part 1)

Today, my horoscope was "All the troubles you have will pass soon". I sure hope that is true!!! Today is day 7. I have officially hit the last day of my first week of my journey. It was not easy by any means!! I have learned a couple things throughout this week. The one big thing, patience. This is a process that takes time and hard work and I have to be patient and remember that when this is all over, I will be a better person, have a better marriage, be happier and have a better life in general. I have alot planned for this weekend in terms of projects and things that I would like to get done. I have given myself the deadline of August 31 to finish de-cluttering and ridding my home of the overages of stuff. Hopefully by then, my daily routines and weekly to do's will be well stuffed into my brain and we can start the school year off right. I will update again this evening. Until then...

Day 6...

I am losing steam!!! I have been working on going through various boxes of paper and tossing un-needed ones and so on...I have gone through a bunch, but it still looks like I have a heavy load to go...I know I have made a dent, but it sure doesnt feel like it today!! Got Katelynn's play area in the garage organized and rugs put down and such...It looks really cute now!!! I just wish this whole journey wasnt so hard!! My motivation for today is not nearly what it has been for the last 5 days...I think I am going to go get a Red Bull and try to get some more done!! Wish me luck!! Until tomorrow...

A small revelation...

Today, there might be a few posts. I started this blog as a way to help myself deal with the large amounts of "stuff" that I have accumlulated over the years. I hate getting rid of things, yet I love buying new things, even if there is a chance that I dont "need" it, I just want it. The sad thing is, I only spend like this, when I am here alone. My husband is a soldier and is away on deployments for 12-15 months at a time and in the field for a month or so at a time. I am not looking for anyone's sympathy or "oh it must be hard's" or the "well you married him" comments. When my husband is home, I couldnt be happier and I am able to control what I spend (to an extent) and where I spend and what I buy (because he is here and gets onto me if he thinks I bought something useless). When he is deployed or in the field, it is the opposite. I buy things to give myself that happy feeling that I have when I see his face in the morning or when he gets home from work. When I get home, I get that "damn, why did I buy this or that, I dont need it" feeling. When I return whatever items, I feel embarrassed because I know inside, I shouldnt have gotten whatever it was in the first place. I get the high and then the crash. I have started talking to a money manager person who also specializes in shopping addictions. She says I am a shopaholic. Just like a cocaine addict needs his fix, I need mine. I told her I was starting a blog to keep myself accountable for everything I do, good or bad. She told me that it was a good way to keep up with everything and to see where I might need some work. I decided to make 2 lists. 1 list for everything I want to buy (like a new shirt or something for the house), the other for everything I need, (like milk or bread), along with the cost of each thing. I am hoping that if I see the costs before the item is purchased or before I even go to the store, I will be able to control the impulse better. My big downfall in all of this, is that I love getting a "good deal" on stuff (and it makes me feel like it's okay to buy whatever, because it was "a good deal"). The cheaper, the better. I love clipping coupons and using them to cut my grocery bill or at whatever other store I am using them at. My problem with that is, I way too often buy stuff that I dont need or will not use but maybe once or twice. We have a pantry full of great deals, but alot of the stuff, I wont ever use. What good is a "great deal" if it never gets used? It's not. This blog is for me, to help me get through a very hard couple of lessons that I need to teach myself. My only hope, is that I might help just one other person see that they can overcome this too. I have so much clutter and stuff clouding up my life. I just need to dig through it, and find my way out. Like all "addicts", I have to take it "One day at a time". Until next post today...

Day 5...

Today, I went through both of the girls' bedrooms and put everything in a specific box/bag/drawer/whatever. Next week, I am going to go through each of those containers and get rid of things that they dont play with. I already tossed all of the broken stuff as I was going through them today. I am also switching their rooms around so my oldest daughter has the bigger room and more space for her toys and stuff, because she actually plays with all of her toys right now. I also finished getting K1's school items, with the exception of her clear/mesh backpack. I would like to eventually like to get a couple more shirts and pairs of pants/skirts for school (she has to wear uniforms), but for now, we have enough to get started. K1 has been very open to the whole "lets see what we need and what we dont" situation and has offered some of her own books and toys to give away "to a little girl who doesnt have any toys". I am glad to have a child with such a kind heart!! I will be out of town this weekend, but I will be back at it on Sunday. I will continue to update this weekend, so that I keep up the daily blogging in my routine. Until tomorrow...

Day 4

So, I finally got my computer back from the geek squad. Helped a friend out today with her b/f's car. I ended up heaving it out of the storage unit so that we could get it jumped and take it to get a new battery. Not much accomplished today. I wasnt really feeling up to doing much. I cleaned the kitchen and bagged up a ton of sippy cups and baby bottles. Why in the world did I think we needed that many? Maybe I thought having too many was better than not enough? No idea!! I am taking the leftover cups to my mom's since they seen to go missing from her house quite often (maybe thats where all of mine came from?). Going to be taking the excess bottles and cups, along with food that we have an excess of (that we will never eat) to the shelter next week. It is getting easier to finish my daily tasks and to keep up with the things that have changed so far. I have heard that it takes 27 days for a person to get into a routine and stick with it. I hope I make it that far without driving myself insane!! Until tomorrow...

Day 3

Yesterday was day 3 of my journey. I had a ton of errands to run, so not much got done around the house. I finally made a daily list of things that I want to get done everyday, 7 days a week, to help me stay on top of my new way of thinking. Cleaning, errands, stuff to do with the girls, anything and everything that I want to accomplish on a daily basis, is on my new lists. I am keeping them in a notebook for easy access and I will update the lists as I go along. Now, onto my clothing situation. Really, how many pairs of socks and underwear does one person actually need? I mean, I have at least 50 pairs of underwear and probably 30 pairs of socks jammed into my dresser drawer. Kids, I understand having a bunch of them, because they are kids and have accidents etc. My husband, I understand too, because he goes into the field for training and goes through socks and boxers probably 2-3 times a day, so him having a bunch isnt a big deal either, but me? Thats just a lot to me!! I am paring down to 2 weeks worth and then a couple extra for those "days" of the month that you just want to be comfy, not sexy. Hopefully, I will have everything gone through (I still have a couple baskets of clothing to go through) by tonight. I am also starting on the garage today. I didnt realize it, but there are still boxes in there from when we moved in (January 2009!!). Kids toys and books are next and thats when the real fun starts, not really, but I have to be positive at some point right? This change has been fairly easy for the last 3 days, but it is getting more difficult with each passing day. I just have to remember to take it one day at a time!! PS, I get my computer back today, so I will be able to update on a daily basis, instead of when I can get to a computer!!

Day 2

Yesterday, I adopted a new way of life. I am adopting the "use it or lose it" and the "less is more" attitude. I have a ton of stuff at our house. Some stuff was bought with good intentions and with projects or people in mind, other stuff was bought just to "have it". I started this yesterday and so far, I am very happy. I have gone through all of our clothes in every closet, dresser, laundry basket and anywhere else there was clothing and have purged anything that hasnt been worn in the last 3 months. I now have 9 bags of clothes to get rid of and/or post on Ebay or Craigslist. For the next 30 days, I will be going through every inch of my home and getting rid of things that we no longer use. Some things may be replaced with multi-purpose items and others will be gone for good. I am blogging this journey, both to hold myself accountable and to keep a record of how far I have come since August 1, 2010.