Tip #12 – 28 Days of Decluttering

Tip #12 – The reverse hanger tip

I love this idea.  I think I’m going to give it a try.  As the weather is warming up,  and I am sick of the clothes I’ve been wearing for the last six months….I always feel right about now that I want to ditch my whole wardrobe and start fresh in the fall.  OK – whom am I kidding!  I don’t really have a wardrobe – – I have tops and bottoms.  Mostly jeans and sweatshirts.   Maybe a sweater is in there on “dressy” days.

But I read about this tip on Becoming Minimalist.  The reverse hanger trick (actually, they credit Oprah for this trick, a little bit).

Here’s is what is written about it on their site:

Try the Oprah Winfrey Closet Hanger Experiment. While this idea didn’t originate with Oprah, she was the one to help give it notoriety. To identify wardrobe pieces to clear out, hang all your clothes with the hangers in the reverse direction. After you wear an item, return it to the closet with the hanger facing the correct direction. After six months, you’ll have a clear picture of which clothes you can easily discard. This experiment could also be applied to a number of clutter areas in your home (cleaners, toys, linens, tools, hobbies and craft items).

What do you think?  Worth giving it a try?

~Amy

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No Wal-Mart and No Yelling in 2014

Do you make New Year’s resolutions?

That seems to be all that I’m reading about on Facebook and blogs these days – New Year’s resolutions.  So I’m jumping in and adding my thoughts too.

So – do you make them?

Do you keep them?

What are some of your favorites or craziest resolutions?

What are your tips for keeping them longer than noon on the 1st?

A couple of year ago….

…I changed my perspective on New Year’s resolutions.  I had what Oprah’s likes to call an “ah ha moment” and realized that I was making New Year’s resolutions in thought only.  I made the obligatory “lose weight”, “get in shape”, “be nicer” resolutions.  But with no real intention of making any changes in my life, they didn’t last and by the evening of the 1st, they were long forgotten.

But then in the end of  2010, I changed my methods.  Instead of making a blanket statement like most resolutions are, I decided to pick one thing that I didn’t like about my habits and change that.

For 2011 – I vowed to return the grocery carts to the corral or return it to the front of the store

For 2012 – I vowed to put away all of the clean clothes after the laundry was completed and stop living out of piles.

This year, 2013 – I vowed to not eat any food that came through a fast food window.

For the first two, I did really, really well and made the new resolutions part of my life forever – not just that year.  I’m happy to report that no grocery cart is ever left out of place by me any longer and I’ve successfully trained everyone in my house to put their clean clothes away.

This year, I started strong, forgot about it for awhile and then remembered later in the year.  That fast food one is a tough one but it  is not going away, that’s one I’ll keep working on.

So I’ll ask again – what are your resolutions for 2014. 

For next year, I’m going with two new ones.  One is easy and one is going to be a personal challenge.  Both make me feel bad when I do it, both are things I really want to stand against and not be a part of my life.

For 2014 I’m going to:

Quit shopping at Wal-Mart.  

Quit yelling at my kids. 

The Wal-Mart one is going to be easy.  I can shop other places, even if it is a little bit out of my way.  But every time I shop at Wal-Mart I cringe and just feel yucky.  I don’t like the company’s principles of how they pay their employees, I don’t like buying the cheapest thing with the thought of it not lasting very long to only have to buy another one soon after the first wears out.  I don’t think the sales associates are all that friendly or helpful.

But you know what I really hate about Wal-Mart?  Is the fact that I have to walk all the way across the store if I am only buying tampons and milk.  I know this is their whole marketing scheme – I know this!  They want us to see things along the way from the tampons to the milk, remember something I’ve forgotten or discover something I can’t live without and add it to our purchase for the day.  I know this – and I hate it.  Sometimes all I want to buy are tampons and milk!

Yelling at my kids is hard for me to admit.  I’d love for everyone to believe that I am a loving, patient mom – all the time.  The truth of the matter is – I am a yeller.  And I hate myself for it.  And not only do I yell to get their attention, but I tend to lecture in a yelling voice.  I’m so embarrassed to share this and I’m so ashamed that it has become such a part of my patenting style.  I don’t want to be that mom. Yelling stops today!  (Why wait, right? )

No Wal-Mart is going to be easy.  No yelling is going to be tough.  I need to be able to remind myself when I get into a situation where I would normally explode , instead to keep my cool – – all the time.  Not just once or twice or sometimes – – all.the.time.  I’m going to have a talk with my boys about it and ask for their help.  I’m sure my older son will be more than happy to point out when I’m slipping.

So, I shared – and I’ll ask again – what are you setting for your resolutions?

Good luck!

Amy

 

 

My advice to newlyweds – – it’s not what you’d expect….

On Friday, some good friends’ young daughter is getting married.  I say “young” because while she is the same age I was when I got married (twenty-one) –  today, to me, that seems so young.  I often wonder – what were my parents thinking, letting me get married so young.

Alas, this October, my husband and I will be celebrating our 20th anniversary – — soooo – maybe we’re doing something right?

Over the last 20 years, three bits of advice on how to have a successful marriage have stuck with me.

1. As told to me from my mom’s friend a few days before my wedding – “Have something in common that is specifically for you as a couple.  Then have something that is exclusively yours.”
2. From Dr. Phil  – “Marriage isn’t 50/50 – – it is 100/100!“
3. From Oprah – “It isn’t a good compromise if someone walks away happy.”

All three of these words of wisdom have stuck with me throughout the years and they pop up in my head from time to time – reminding me of some basics to keeping a good marriage.

If I could give one bit of advice to my young friend – it would be simple – – don’t fart in front of each other.

Seriously – don’t do it.

In twenty years – here’s what I’ve learned.

Right now – everything is  young, perky, funny, casual, lustful, easy.   Sadly – all these feelings will calm down at some point.

You are going to see each other at your worst and hopefully, when the times get tough,  you will trudge through them and get past it.  But when you are at your worst – either you are sick or selfish and that person who is your favorite today  -won’t always be your favorite and farting, while it is funny now – – is not going to be funny then.

Soon the tight butt and perky boobs aren’t so tight and aren’t so perky – and while you grow and mature with each other  – I hope acceptance of change does too.

But farts are loud and they stink and as you grow and mature – – well they just get louder and stinkyer!   And when the times are yucky – – farts are really yucky!

Seriously – – if I could change one thing about what I’ve done in my marriage – it would be to keep some things to myself – – and farting would be one of them.

How about you – – what advice would you give newlyweds?

Hope you have a great day!

~Amy

PS – it is hard for me to say or write the word “Fart“.  That was a taboo word in my house, growing up.  I understand that sometimes, things slip out – those are “toots“. For the sake of this blog today – Farts are intentional.