Two months ago, I attended a church meeting that has had me pondering its messages ever since. A couple times a year, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints meet together for something called Stake Conference, where all the local congregations of the Church meet in two general sessions over a weekend …
My New Rules for Book Buying (+ What I’ve Bought Since Instigating Them)
About a year and some-odd months ago, I wrote a post about our (ahem, mostly my) spending habits when it came to certain discretionary spending categories (such as clothing, books, movies, etc.). In it, I shared that for several years running, I had usually spend upwards of $350-400 every year on purchasing more books (not …
Why I’m Doing a Refresh of the 50 Weeks to Organized Project
Really, I could just post these quote-unquote “Before” pictures and call it good on posting today. But I’m nothing if not a little long-winded, so we just can’t have that. A brief summary for those of you who haven’t been reading this blog since 2013: Five years ago, I decided to tackle my clutter habits …
How I Taught Myself to Be Tidy (in 3 Steps!)
Ask any person who has ever lived with me (especially my college roommates and/or my mother), and you will quickly learn that I was not exactly the cleanest person growing up (or throughout my college days). While I’ve always known HOW to tidy up and the importance of BEING tidy, I’ve just always had a …
On Trying to Say Yes More Often
I started getting more and more into the “minimalism/simple living” movement *just* before it hit mainstream, a year or two before the Internet exploded with posts about how to live slowly and the t.v. started showing couples searching for tiny homes and Marie Kondo showed us all that we should only keep things that spark …
I Have a Problem Finishing Things + The Book That Changed Everything
First off, I should clarify—I don’t have a problem finishing ALL things. For example, I have no problem finishing books. Or an entire bag of Costco-sized Hershey’s kisses by myself. Or following through on commitments I’ve made to people (usually). No…what I DO have a problem finishing, however, is anything to do with tidiness or …
Trying to Make Birthdays About More Than the Presents
Ever since my big decluttering project in 2013 (aka, 50 Weeks to Organized), I’ve become increasingly wary of bringing new stuff into our home. Not only does new stuff (often) represent money spent, but it also represents stuff that I now have to find a place for in our small apartment, stuff that I …
A Raven in the Snow
Her first glimpse at the snow this morning Last winter, Raven was too young to appreciate the snow too much, so we didn’t take her outside hardly at all. This year, we were actually kind of excited for the first snow–we were excited to see her reaction to this strange cold white phenomenon that had …