31 Days to a Stress Free Holiday Season!

Really? Really?? - those were my husband's word when he saw me looking at a Christmas countdown clock online today. Don't worry, I'm not listening to Christmas music......... yet!

Every year I say I'm going to get a jump start on preparing for the fabulous holiday season, and every year at the last minute I'm still wrapping, planning, sewing, and creating at the very last minute!

THIS YEAR WILL BE DIFFERENT!!

In an effort to get my act together and have time to actually enjoy and reflect on this important season, my goal is to have my holiday to-do list finished by the end of October!! Want to join me?

This will give us 31 fantastic days to get out battle plan ironed out, put in to action, and completed - just in time to relax and enjoy all we have to be thankful for and for the awesome gift of a Savior coming to Earth!

We will work on trying different recipes, planning out our menus, making our shopping lists, getting our  decorations ready, creating meaningful gifts, and more! I hope you will join me and don't forget to tell your friends about the

  31 Days to a Stress Free Holiday Season Challenge!

Don't forget to grab a button!!!

Organizing 101: The Kitchen

All the trash, bags, and boxes I cleaned out of the kitchen.

Well things always seem to get worse before they get better. I decided now was the perfect time to take food out of bags and boxes and get things into re-fillable containers to help cut down on clutter and spills.

In the last week, I had cleaned up spilled animal crackers and cereal three times due to little helpers and had noticed that some of our chips and cereal had gotten stale before we used it and I just can't stand to be wasteful.

 

I talked it over with Tom and we decided to get some great containers from Home and Garden to put our items in that would not only keep them fresh but keep little ones out of the snacks!

 

This is my broom cabinet, it didn't have many things in it, but was still untidy and cluttered.

 

I rearranged some things, threw out some things, and sent some stuff to the shelter and now it's a lovely place to live, if you are a broom and mop, of course!

I got rid of a box of wine glasses we had gotten right after getting married, we don't drink, so I'm not sure why we even had them. There were multiple kitchen gadgets and odds and ends that needed to gp!


I don't have much cabinet space but I now have many cabinets that are totally empty!

 

I now feel like if we were to move next week, I could have ANYONE pack my kitchen up and KNOW that I would be moving nothing but what I actually love and use!! How freeing!

 

My hubby helped me clean the over until it looked brand new !


Awe, clutter free cabinets!!

 This island only has my stand mixer on one side, some kitchen towels, and a junk drawer that only has a few things inside it now! I LOVE EMPTY CABINETS!!!!

Once it was all said and done I had 5 bags full of donations, and 4 bags of trash!!!

Home Organizing 101 Challenge

Over the next 14 weeks, I will be participating in the Home Organization 101 challenge! I'm already super excited and have made huge strides in the first hot spot, THE KITCHEN!!

Would you like to join??

I purge all the time, but lately I've realized that my purging has been half-hearted. As long as things were fitting in the area they needed to fit in, I felt pretty good. But God has really been working on my heart and has shown me that I was putting this stuff in front of Him.

 

I thought it was stuff I would eventually use, but when I really stepped back and saw what I was holding onto and my clenched fists, I knew it was time to bless someone else with it.

An added bonus is that we will most likely be moving this upcoming July and I really don't want to move ANYTHING we aren't using.

I also came upon this fabulous blog that really encouraged me on my mission! What she says as she's trying to turn loose of some throw pillow, small dishes, and knives really inspired me....

"The truth is, decluttering should be hard. I should be standing in my kitchen with tears streaming down my face, beating my breast and calling out to God over all the times I wandered through stores full of fragile items, justifying myse...

lf as I put things I don't need into my cart. I should be on my knees repenting for caring more about polka dot dishes than starving orphans. I should be begging God to never let me forget again that we are here for something so much better than spending and consuming and storing up treasure here on this broken earth. We are here to touch lives. We are here to spend our lives on HIM.

How many more children could we have sponsored through compassion international if we weren't so busy filling our home with trinkets? How many people in our community could we have reached out to if we weren't spending our time trying to find a parking spot at the mall?

But instead I stand in my kitchen wondering whether I want a more authentic walk with the maker of the universe, or some really cute polka dot dishes.

And this realization, this conviction, brings me to my knees. Lord, break my heart with the things that break yours. "
During the last three weeks of August the sermon's at church were about contentment and again, these messages were transforming! I encourage you to listen to them!

I was being bombarded by these all of these messages on contentment from every angle and would be a fool not to listen, take heart, and put what I've learned into practice!

Join me on my mission to simplify, give to others, and rethink what needs really are!!!