My Personal Challenge
Day 5-

                   What  began as an organized method of trimming away unnecessary items from my home, has taken on a deeper meaning.  I am not even a full week into my challenge, and I have learned a lot about myself.  I have found that, although I am generally a very giving person, there are some areas in which I need to improve upon.  The funny thing is, I can let go more freely of the larger and/or more "valuable" things than I can the stuff that no one else would probably want.  I have a little bit of the "depression mentality" I guess.  I look at some things and think:  "I might need that for a future project", "I could never re-buy that item for what I paid for it" or "someone else might need it".
         
                Today I worked on my craft closet downstairs.  I figured that It might be a hard area for me, just as my sewing/craft room was.  Both of these areas still need quite a bit of purging, but I believe that it will be easier if I move to another room tomorrow and revisit these two "zones" in a few days.

                 Despite the little challenges that I have faced so far, I love how it feels to let go of stuff.  We can become so cluttered with things that our stuff, in a sense, "runs" us.  As a friend once told me, "everything that we own, takes time-we are either cleaning it, moving it or repairing it".  For me, that is a perfect reason to simplify.  Time then opens up for those things that truly matter, like spending time with those you love.

                  So I "boogie" on....

July 6, 2012
mouth-watering fresh summer salsa

ingredients:
5 large garden fresh tomatoes
1/2 medium red onion
1 jalapeno pepper
2 limes
1 can of Rotel
1/2 Tbsp. salt
1 bunch of cilantro

directions:

chop tomatoes and onion to desired size and put in a large bowl

add diced jalapenos, juice of two limes, Rotel and salt

dice desired amount of cilantro.  I like my salsa with a ton of cilantro!

add to bowl

stir all ingredients together well.  chill.

~Serve salsa with your favorite chips~

The tomatoes are wonderful right now, so visit your local farmer's market and stir up some mouth-watering salsa.  Your family will be glad you did.

We are blessed to have our tomatoes fresh from our garden-there is just nothing like a tomato that you grew yourself!

My Personal Challenge
Day 4-

           It is 100 degrees out today so getting rid of a sweaters, tights, gloves, leggings and slips was not too difficult.  Purging the Isotoner driving  gloves was super easy. I will be 50 on the 30th of this month and they just seemed to be a constant reminder of my aging process.  Now the Jane Fonda leg warmers I may miss as I am a very cold natured person and they are perfect for my work-outs on cold winter mornings.  I do have another "back-up" pair still in the drawer just in case I get desperate.  The ladies that I exercise with have given me grief about my warmers in the past, but I think that they are just jealous.

First weigh in- lost 32.7 lbs.  

If I continue to lose about 8 lbs. per day, I will have a skinny house by the 30th

Only 4 days into my challenge and I am pumped up about my progress.  I have a ways to go, but I know I can do this!

My Personal Challenge
Day 3-

     Today I thought it would be best to work in the kitchen after having a little difficulty yesterday in my craft room. Everyone has "extras" in the kitchen, right? I always feel like I have so much more than I need to fix the basic meals each day.  I still have a few items that were given to us as wedding gifts almost 28 years ago coupled with the many others items that I have accumulated since then.  One of the reasons that I have not purged lots of things from the kitchen before now is that I felt that I needed to hold on to them in case my children needed them when they moved out of the house. Since both have moved out now, and they have not asked for any of these things, I feel it is safe to slip out at least 27 or so items.  I will probably let go  of more from this area in the days to follow, but tomorrow I will tackle a new zone.

I am going to do a "weigh in" soon to see how much weight much house has lost.  Should be interesting.

My personal Challenge 
Day 2-

     This morning I decided to work on my sewing/craft room and found that this area is where I am probably going to struggle the most with my flinging.  Getting rid of interfacing from decades past, two of my four measuring tapes, a free wallpaper sample book and multiple bobbins that don't fit any of my three sewing machines was easy.  The hard part will be working through my stacks of fabric and what I like to call my "raw materials" (things that I might need for a future project).  Tomorrow I may have to spend time in another area of the house so I don't hit a wall so early in my challenge. It's this little taste of "hoarding" that tripped this 27 day task to begin with, so I press on...

My Personal Challenge

I'm hoping to be thinner by my 50th b-day (my house that is!).  Yes, I am putting my house on a full blown diet.  For the next 27 days I am doing the 27 Fling Boogie-actually I am going to be doing a 27FB for each and everyday.  The Fly Lady http://www.flylady.net   coined rounding up and removing 27 things from her home, the "27 Fling Boogie".  By the end of my challenge I will have removed 729 items from my home!  I know that sounds like a lot, but I am determined to whittle the "waste" line of my abode over here. As a wife, mother, crafter, volunteer, seamstress, gardener, reader, journaler, cook, pet owner, dreamer and avid yard fanatic, I have accumulated so much more than I truly need.  It's time to pass lots of things on to others. It will be a win-win situation. If you see something that you want or need  in one of my posts, please let me know quickly as I will be moving the "flung" items out of my house in a speedy manner.  This will avoid any temptation to cling to what I fling. If you see an item that you have given to me in any of the pictures, please do not be offended; it's time for me to share the kindness that you showed to me with someone else.   I am going to try and remember to post a picture of the items that I "fling" each day.  Please wish me well...

Day 1-

       Okay, so I counted each floral stem today, but I do have a long way to go.  I have the right to "play it safe" on some days.