Reality check-in; I feel myself resisting some of the things I want to get rolling this year. First, I want to do a blog post once a week. I’m a week behind, brush off and start fresh. Second, it is my intention to make stretching and cardio a priority 3-4X per week, behind but brush it off! I am almost finished with my stairway project that has been on my list for months (OK, 6 months). VERY good, big thing that has been hanging over my head.

Here is a list of some of the other things I set intentions/goals for in 2019:

• Save $500/month and track
• Make $100/month on my blog
• Get at least 7 hours of sleep each night
• Track my spending
• Digitize my old photos/kids’ papers (many steps to this)
• 3 alcohol free days/week
• Complete blog courses by February
• Get all my DIY projects on my blog
• Play with affiliate marketing
• Review (and write about) more items I use in my home, on my body, and take into my body
• Read at least 12 books this year (I am going to keep a list this year)
• Reduce my clutter until I don’t have any left

I don’t like procrastination and I do like accountability. I’m thinking for 2019 I should track my progress here on the blog. I could write a ton more stuff on all things I want to do, but in reality, I just need to start. Here goes for my first 2019 check-in!

Week 1 and 2: Four dry days, started stairway project, slept 7 hours 6 nights, cleared out some leggings, turtlenecks, jewelry, organized bedding, painted 3rd bedroom, got my investment accounts set-up, paid for some blogging courses, got electrical work done, paid off credit card, reorganized bathroom supplies, cleaned out the fridge, and created a last will/testament. I went to work everyday!

When I moved into my last apartment with the little storage room, I realized I probably didn’t need to keep ALL the Christmas decorations I had been toting around. I had never had all the things out for the last 5 years. I also whittled down my books to a mere 6 boxes.

I bought my house in August of 2015. It was a LONG way from move in so I had 2 months to get my things ready to move. BUT, I also had a lot of work to do at the new place. My new house was twice as big as my apartment….wow, I could stack all my sh*t inside! My mom came to help me get moved and she was shocked how much stuff I had stashed in my apartment. In the new place, it looked like it had doubled. It was spread out all over the place. When I moved into that apartment, I moved on Friday and had company over on Sunday. Everything had been put away quickly.

This move was different. I still had a lot of work to do before everything could find a real home. I had stuff stacked in the basement, in the living room, in the bedrooms. The only places that were ready to roll were the kitchen and bathroom. I was planning on renting out the largest bedroom so that one was perfect and clutter free. The rest….disaster! A month in my house it looked like Goodwill and Home Depot both exploded inside. It was a crazy time but I found places for everything (all those boxes of stuff). I was going to rent the garage out, so I didn’t stack anything in there. I rented my basement out also. I had a 2076 sq.ft. house but I used 1,236 sq.ft. I shared living space with another person also. I had the equivalent of one bedroom to myself and a bunch of stuff stored in the other sloping ceiling room and storage room.

The first year in the house I updated the basement; it’s rented. Second year, I anticipated a remodel upstairs. I had all this space with a sharply pitched roof so the space you could stand in it was very little. I had a bunch of stuff stored in the area that you had to crawl to. The remodel created the need to downsize the stuff. My garage was rented and I knew I had too much stuff. I had to mentally let go of whatever had kept me moving the stuff for 7 years. Was it a sense of security, of not wanting to let go of the person I used to be, or not giving up the happy or painful memories that those things carried?

Five large tote bins of fabric….first to go. Hard, yes! Gradifing, yes! Then I went through my shoes; 10 pairs gone. Half my clothes, gone. Tons of other things. Last Christmas my daughter hosted Christmas in her house for the first time. I took 90% of the decorations and left them there. Will a couple of the things ever make it back into my house? There’s a 50/50 chance.

The remodel is almost complete. I haven’t looked at most of the stuff that has been in the garage for over 6 months. It is easy to say that I probably don’t need most of it. It will be harder to let go of it. Several boxes are filled with pictures of my kids and keepsakes. The pictures will be getting digitized when the rain starts again and each of the kids will get a disk and their share of the hard copies. The keepsakes I’ll go through and see if any of them can make their way into the light so I can look at them. If the kids want some of the items, they can store them. I will take pictures of some items then donate them.

The thought of less stuff and more space does make me feel good. Less stuff is more mental clarity, more physical space, more emotional relaxation, and more spiritual trust. Less is more!