Getting Organized

Most people think I'm an extremely organized person.  If those of you who think that were around my house these first few days of the new year, you would realize how sadly mistaken you are!!  Granted, there are certainly parts of my life that are neatly tucked......but then there's the rest. 

I always spend the first part of the year, cleaning out and organizing some.  This year is a little different for me.  I have three main motivators for my January craziness this year. 

1) Unfortunately, I have come to the realization that I am not moving anytime in the near future.  If you know me, you know how hard this was for me.  I like to move.  I get restless.  I have moved something like 30 times in my life.  I never get attached to my house, I believe "home is what you make it, where you make it".  Don't get me wrong...we've had some great homes. Our first one was 4,000 sq.ft. and had 2 kitchens. We have owned a beautiful log cabin on a mountain, beside a creek in Montana.  When we bought this house, our plan was to stay here 5 years and then move to something a little bigger.  Well, since both my husband and myself worked in real estate and we all know what happened to that market....I have had to readjust my thinking.  It's not easy for me to do that and I know it's been a lot harder for my husband to watch me work through that process.  Bless his heart....he is a keeper. Anyway, I can't keep saving "stuff" for when we move into a bigger house, because I'm running out of room!

2) I used to be a serious crafter, thanks to my friend Judy, who was my neighbor in Montana and is still my dearest friend.  When I moved back to Missouri, I got so busy with remodeling houses and then a part-time job, that my crafting bug just kind of fizzled and was put on a back burner. Over the last few years, I've been missing it and feeling a need for a creative outlet.  Enter Pinterest and the whole ever-loving-craft-blogging world. Those people inspire me beyond words! Not to mention my friend Kim at Junk n Pretties, who is so talented at refinishing and repurposing. You can check out her stuff here at the right under "blogs I love". (I'm getting a fresh dose of inspiration from her tomorrow!) Now I really need to get back into it! So...I'm living in the smallest house ever, and I need some crafting space.  I'm turning my guest bedroom (sorry Judy, but I'll leave your bed in here) into a craft room.  If you're a serious crafter, you need a room.  So, now I'm starting to pare down, downsize, minimize and (gulp) get rid of stuff I love....so that I can do something I love. The other bonus to this whole project is, my husband is getting a room, the family room, mostly to himself.  I'm nervous about this....he's not the neatest guy, but he deserves some space too.
3) My good neighbor Miss Harriet came by and asked me if I could take her to a doctor's appointment today.  I love Miss Harriet, she is 87 yrs.old and about that many lbs., as kind as can be and can still work circles around me.  She just doesn't trust herself to drive into Springfield anymore, which is fine, because I love spending time with her.  Anyway, she also wanted to know if we could drop off some stuff at Goodwill.  Ohhhh her timing is perfect!  I have gathered up 2 big boxes of stuff (gulp, again) and somehow that equals out to  2 empty cabinets, several empty shelves and some bonus closet space for my new craft room.
And there you have it...my motivation.  Thank you Sam, Kim, Judy and Miss Harriet.
So, in keeping with my blogging promise to live out loud, here are a few pictures of my small guest bedroom before I begin turning into a craft room....stay tuned.....