Simplify -- Homeschool Stuff

Simplify!

Our Goal

A simple and beautiful house

that the Lord can use as a peaceful haven

for my family and others.

Click here to find out why/how I started!

This is what 21 years of homeschooling looks like:

The above is really a fraction of what I had accumulated throughout those years of homeschooling.  I've given away or sold a lot along the way, as soon as my youngest no longer needed it.  The above picture represents the high school years, plus any other stuff I hadn't bothered to get rid of. up to this point

I took this picture yesterday, then organized everything into categories--math, science, history, etc.  Danny spent a long time organizing the science supplies into kits that could be sold with the various high school science curricula I had to sell.  Then, I priced everything and boxed it up, and Danny carried all the boxes to the Suburban. 

Danny finished final exams this week, and had today free, so he went with me to the curriculum resale event I had signed up for a few weeks earlier.  I was determined to come home with nothing, or very little, at the end of today.

At the end of the day, I'm happy to report that I came home with just two boxes of stuff.  In the first 20 minutes of the sale, I made almost $150!  This was way better than any garage sale.  By noon, most of the buyers had come and gone, and by 1pm, Danny and I started packing stuff up (the sale officially ended at 2pm).  I also brought about a box worth of books over to the "free" table by the entrance.  Danny and I helped box up all the free stuff up for the church (whose building hosted the resale event), which would hold their own garage sale a week later.

After I came home, I ran down to the basement for some reason or other--I forget what--and discovered...four more boxes of homeschool stuff that never made it up for the sale.  Ugh.  Now that is sitting in my living room, awaiting its fate.  Most of it is extra books and supplemental stuff, and I was able to sell a few curriculum packs I had made up, but still--the rest of this will be gone this summer, I've determined!

We'll plan a graduation party for Thomas this summer, and since he is graduated, Heritage Academy has officially closed its doors.  With most of its supplies gone, it seems a bit more real now--this chapter of my life is over.  Pretty soon (but not right now) I'll feel like celebrating.

What I am celebrating is the cleaner basement, and less stuff in my home!


Back to life,
Christine

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Simplify -- Say No to the Dress

Simplify!

Our Goal

A simple and beautiful house

that the Lord can use as a peaceful haven

for my family and others.

Click here to find out why/how I started!

The dress is the centerpiece, if you will, of a wedding.  Besides the vows and rings, it's probably the most important part, some would argue.  It's what people see first, what stands out--there's the bride, here comes the bride.  For us in the Christian community, the pure white of the dress symbolizes the bride offering a pure self to her groom, with her father giving her away to this new union.  It's a sacred and beautiful ceremony, and the dress plays a large role in that.

I regret only one thing about my wedding dress:  I never tried on a single dress.  As her wedding gift to me, a friend made my dress.  So the two of us went to the fabric store, looked at patterns, and I picked one that I thought was super pretty.  Then she took me shopping for all the extras--lace, edging, buttons, ribbon...

Although I loved my wedding dress, and felt so beautiful in it, I do wish I would have gone to some bridal gown shops to at least try a few on.  I had no sense of style (I still struggle with it!), so I just went with what I liked in the picture on the pattern envelope.  It would have been fun to go try a few on, but the regret is small, because I am practical, as I said, and I can't go back and change things.  I guess I can look forward to trying on mother-of-the-bride dresses!

So, you're wondering why this is in a Simplify post.  Well, I said "yes" to this dress when I was getting married.  That was 28 years ago (wow).  This dress is not quite old enough for the vintage category, but too old to be in the contemporary stylish category.  And since I've been decluttering our stuff, it was time to say "no" to my wedding dress:  I'm not keeping it any more.  The memories are in my heart.  Since I'm a photographer, I decided to plan a little photo shoot of this once-fashionable dress.

I tried to make it out to The Morton Arboretum during spring, when the trees were blooming and flowers were popping up.  But, the weather didn't cooperate, and our schedule didn't cooperate, and...  I never made it out.  One last spring-y day before it was supposed to rain then turn cold, I decided to go to my special place (for that is what it will be some day) in my back yard.  I have a bench back there, and somehow, the dandelions and weeds were fitting for this last trip down memory lane.

While I took pictures, I focused on the details--the ruffled hem, the beading in the veil.  I remembered that amazing day I walked down the aisle in this dress, feeling as if I were on the edge of a new life--which I was!  Feeling beautiful, and blessed, and set apart for my new life with Fernando.

I focused on the love with which Mary Beth stitched every stitch and paid attention to every detail.  I remembered how she made a flower girl dress with the leftover materials, and how my niece Suzie looked so adorable in her little dress.

These new images will help me remember those things and more, as the years slip by and details become fuzzy.  Even if these images never make it into a hard-copy photo book, I'll have them, and the memories they spark, for the future.

Once, I said "Yes!" to this dress, and joyfully wore it, and fondly kept it for the memories of an amazing day.  Now, I'm saying "No."  It's time to give it away.  But I remember that I'm giving away only the physical dress.  I get to keep every memory--the dress, the day, my family, my friends, my new husband--forever.  I'm so thankful for pictures to help me remember!


Back to life,
Christine

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Basement Clean-Up

March 28.

Our basement ends up being a catch-all for things.  Is yours like that?  I don't go down there very often, even though that's where our TV/entertainment area is located.  Isn't it crazy how we just seem to accumulate stuff; I mean, where does it all come from?!  We don't have much income at this point, and we're not purchasing much besides food, so really--how do piles and piles of stuff just appear out of nowhere??  I'm flabbergasted.

Here's my before picture.  *insert embarrassed look here*

My goal was to separate in one place all the homeschool stuff I wanted to sell, because I signed up for a homeschool curriculum resale event.  Everything else needed to be put either "in a box" (I'll deal with it later) or in the donation box.  With that, I went to work.  I love all those empty blue Rubbermaid storage boxes--it means I've gotten rid of stuff!

It's amazing when you pick up everything how much floor space there is.  You can see all the boxes of homeschool stuff  on the left; those will hopefully all be gone in a couple weeks.  Yeah, the wires hanging everywhere are ugly, but it is what it is at this point, and as the guys move on with their lives much of that will disappear.  Give it a quick vacuum, and at least we can walk around down in this basement space.

Trust me, there is still lots to do down here in this unfinished space.  But there's something to say about clean floor space, don't you think?

 Stuff to go to Goodwill.

Back to life,
Christine

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A Simple Half Birthday

Simplify!

Our Goal

A simple and beautiful house

that the Lord can use as a peaceful haven

for my family and others.

Click here to find out why/how I started!

March 14.

March 14 is my half birthday!  Here's what I did...

On my journey to a simpler life, I have been collecting and boxing up unwanted things all winter long, then stashing the boxes in the garage.  For me, once a Goodwill-bound box is in the garage, it's gone.  I don't have any desire to wander out there to root through boxes of stuff I already said goodbye to.

Finally, on this day, I was ready to make a run to Goodwill--and the funny thing is that the store is at the end of my street, then across the main road!  I'm not one for making multiple trips; I'd rather get it done all at once in one big run.

And there you have it--from the garage to the back of our Suburban, on over to Goodwill and unloaded by two handsome young men!


Back to life,
Christine

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Simplify -- Master Bedroom Closet, Part One

Simplify!

Our Goal

A simple and beautiful house

that the Lord can use as a peaceful haven

for my family and others.

Click here to find out why/how I started!

Today's focus is on our master bedroom closet.  Sometimes, simplifying means making a mess first, taking everything out, then putting back only those things you do want.  Everything else needs to go.  So make it leave!

Part One, 
In Which We Remove Everything in the Closet, Then Paint and Re-Floor It.

We received an incredibly generous gift of laminate flooring from my parents.  We held on to it until we knew we would get to keep our house (read all about that here).  Once our house issue was settled, this project--in the master bedroom closet, of all places--became a symbol of hope, that we would stay, that we had a future right here.  So we forged ahead.

Not only did we receive a gift of flooring, but a gift of funds for a closet organizing system.  The Lord is exceedingly generous, isn't He?  In order for this huge project to go forward, we first had to empty our closet.  Time to declutter, people!

Here's the before picture; I have decluttered this space in the past, so it doesn't look that bad.  Notice I'm focusing the camera on my side of the closet.  Fernando's side is a bit, um, messier.

You can play Guess What's Missing? with these next two images.  Before removing everything, I decided to declutter clothing that I knew I wouldn't be keeping.  May as well get that taken care of, instead of sorting through it later.  I removed only a handful of items, maybe seven or eight things.  What you see is the extent of my wardrobe, except for some tee shirts, shorts, underthings, and workout clothes.

After the quick once-through of my clothing, everything else came out, starting with the stuff on top of the shelves.  I donated a whole bunch of stuff, and set aside some other stuff to sell.

Fernando's side--the scary side.

I hung a lot of my clothing around my bedroom, and folded the rest, which fit inside a Rubbermaid 44-quart box (below).

We splurged on a quart of paint, a beautiful brown color named Armadillo.  Huh?!

Our bedroom looked like this:

Fernando ripped out the closet carpeting and tack strips, and then he was ready to install floating laminate flooring.

My hero!  *sigh*

That's the end of Part One.  Join me soon in Part Two, where I'll show you the final result, and what our closet looks like now--can't wait!


Back to life,
Christine

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Simplify -- Folding More than Shirts

Simplify!

Our Goal

A simple and beautiful house

that the Lord can use as a peaceful haven

for my family and others.

Click here to find out why/how I started!

Yesterday I showed you how to fold a t-shirt.  You can use that same general method to fold other clothing, too!  Watch this, for underwear.  (Shh, don't tell my guys!!)

Face up.

Fold the bottom half up.

Fold one side (doesn't matter) in, as in thirds.

Repeat picture--I moved the underwear down to see it better, lol!

Fold the other side in.

Rotate (don't flip over!) so the top is toward you.

Fold the top up and in half, and store in your drawer seam side down, fold side up.

Easy, huh?  No go do some laundry.  :)


Back to life,
Christine

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Simplify -- How to Fold a Shirt

Or, How to Fit your Clothes in the Drawer.

Simplify!

Our Goal

A simple and beautiful house

that the Lord can use as a peaceful haven

for my family and others.

Click here to find out why/how I started!

T-shirts, shorts, sweatpants, Cuddl-Duds...

I love this method as a space-saver!  However, let me say this--if you have a ton of t-shirts, please declutter them first!  Do you really need 40?  Or 30?  There are some of you who have that many.  Honestly--you can't wear that many, and you should assess exactly what you're wearing.  Remember, this is a Simplify blog post; the idea is to simplify your life--house, clothing, schedule, etc.--so that you have time for people, not things; so that things don't control you; so that you have what you love and love every thing that you have.

This method of folding will help you maximize your space, meaning you can fit almost twice as many items in the same space, all while being able to see every single piece of clothing.  See the photo above--you can see every shirt and pair of shorts I own (okay, one pair of shorts isn't folded, but you can still see it!).

Keep in mind that this method of folding takes a few seconds longer than any method you've probably been using.  So if you plan on keeping a ton of clothes, you will be spending extra time taking care of them.  Eliminate the extra, maximize your space, maximize your time.  It's that easy.

Folded laundry waiting to be put away.

The Method.

Here are the steps, with the corresponding picture below each step.

1.  Lay the shirt face down on a flat surface.  (My shirt is hanging over a bit.)

2.  Fold in one side (doesn't matter which side you start with) in, on a line about even with the neck.

3.  Fold the sleeve back, thus:

4.  Fold the other side over, just like the first side.

5.  Fold the sleeve back in.

6.  Fold the bottom up a bit to hide the bottom hem edge.  (Since my guys are men, these shirts are long, and I fold the bottoms up quite a bit.  For children's shirts, you'll fold a lot less up.)

7.  Take the bottom and fold it upwards in half.

8.  Take the bottom again and fold it upwards in half.

9.  Flip the shirt over, et voila!  It's ready to go into your drawer, folded side up.

10.  Place the shirt vertically, seam side down and fold side up, in your drawer.

Once you fold two or three shirts, you'll quickly get the hang of it.  Below, you can see each item, which can be taken out instead of rooted through to find the right one.  Because of the fold on the bottom, the clothing items stay upright even when you remove one from the drawer.

Unmentionables.  ;)

Back to life,
Christine

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