"Out with the old"

On a less serious note, and to have some 'shallow' things on my blog so not everything is so deep......

I did something yesterday that I know would make SO many of my friends and family proud. I threw them out..... those steve madden fabric sandals that I have worn 3 - 5 times a week for the past 5 (?) years! The ones with holes all over the bottom - I didn't realize they put holes all in the 'cork' or whatever you call it for more comfort - the Steve Madden label had peeled off 2 years ago...they were a disaster.... but these shoes were so so good to me. They were so comfortable and could be worn with business casual things for work - or with totally casual shorts or whatever - man I love these shoes. I just know I won't ever find another pair like them. My coworkers will be happy for me - they are sick of looking at these shoes hehe.

When dropping them off, I barely let the car stop before I jumped out and threw them in the bin --- Brandon was like what in the world - why are you in such a rush? ....but I just HAD to get them out of my hands before I could think twice about it. I knew in October when I wore them last that they had to go....... and I had been preparing myself for this day since then - so there they went! :)

BUT.....then I went online and found out they are starting to make them again next month!!!!!!!! is God good or what!? To get anything new you have to get rid of the old! You have to make room for blessings! :) They are on pre order now - sounds like a great Mother's Day present to me!

I have been on a total purging mode in the past week. I just don't like "stuff". I don't like clutter and my personality type is the kind that if I don't control the "stuff" it will be controlling me - and I just don't want that. I come from a long line of pack rats and I just refuse to have 'stuff' around that I don't use. So.... many times a year we purge out everything (except as you heard, shoes --- because your feet don't change size so I keep them as long as I can!)....... I used to feel I couldn't get rid of ANYTHING that a loved one gave me - but not anymore! We have been just tremendously blessed with so many gifts - but we can't keep everything! If things aren't getting used - we try to use them - but if we still don't - we just have to bless others with them that will appreciate them!

This time we had 2 huge suv loads of some pretty nice stuff to give away and it feels so good. I almost posted a blog asking if anybody wanted any of these goodies - because so many of them are great things but just unused --- hair curlers, light fixtures, bags, purses, baby toys, etc. etc. etc. but I wasn't willing to pay for shipping - so off it went to the Goodwill. If Brandon would have left me I would have put them on wilmingtonyardsales.com or have a garage sale - but he insisted I just give them away.

Here's our outside storage closet and one of our hall closets. It may not look super organized to YOU --- but WOW if you had seen the before. I didn't take any before pictures because it was just embarassing!! :)

As far as 'spring cleaning' goes, getting rid of all the extra stuff freed up so much space and it made cleaning so much easier. To tell you the truth though about halfway through one of these projects I was getting discouraged - I felt like I wasn't getting anywhere, it didn't feel organized still etc. etc. and I started getting grumpy - but I just rested for a second and asked the Spirit to help uplift me - I turned on KLove and I can't BELIEVE how much I got done after that.

Can you even believe that God cares about even the menial tasks!??!! He wants to be a part of EVERYTHING we do - even the silliest things - isn't it just AMAZING!? When I started cleaning for Him and making my house beautiful and organized for Him....it went so quick and I got SO much done!!!

Look at this list of things I've done in the past few days. This is an incredible list for me considering I work part time outside the home and have a very rambunctious 20 month old wanting to get into everything! :)

• deep clean fridge and freezer doors/shelves
• vacuum the fridge coils (and I have noticed a difference - fridge got a lot colder so I could turn the temp down)
• cleaned glass and wood on china cabinet
• organized dishes & place mats that I store under china cabinet
• cleaned under both beds and organized into bins what we store under there
• washed bed skirts and bathroom curtains
• cleaned out and organized 3 of our closets and all the cabinets under each of our 4 sinks

This week is all about "out with the old" ---- in more ways than one!!! :)