Tips to Help You Organize Your Clothes

Hello my lovelies,

Last month I realized something: I own way too many clothes.

80% of my clothing shopping is done at thrift stores so I don't feel that I have spent a fortune on my wardrobe. BUT. When a person has more clothes than they can possibly wear in a year, something must be done about it. I have also been hanging on to some clothes for nostalgic reasons and I tend to avoid wearing them to preserve them. (Ridiculous, I know, but there it is.) Others are just plain worn out from favoritism. I think some letting go has to happen, don't you?

So I've decided to purge! I have three clothing closets in this house. Now, now, hear me out! They are small closets and one of them isn't even filled all the way :P I also hang up most of my clothing. People don't normally hang up t-shirts, but I do 'cause it keeps them from getting wrinkled like they would be if I kept them in a dresser. I am not a fan of ironing so this is essential.
I was also very nice to Robert and let him have the biggest closet in our bedroom (and house), which fits most of his clothing. Someday I want to design my own walk-in closet, but today is not that day.
 

This is my entire t-shirt, flannel shirt, and cami collection; minus a few that were in the laundry pile.

 Today I'm going to start with my t-shirt, cami (camisole), and flannel shirt closet. I keep these out year round because I can layer long sleeved shirts with t-shirts or flannels with t-shirts, etc. Camisoles are a very important part of my wardrobe because of how thin and low they make t-shirts these days. 

I was losing my hold on the stack in this pic. My arms were sore the next day after this photshoot :D

Things to keep in mind while going through your clothes:

1. Inspect every. single. piece. Look for signs of wear such as: holes, rips, loose threads, stains, fading, and pilling (fuzzies). I may end up mending some of the above that I find, but if it's too far gone it's going!

2. Try on everything. And I mean everything. Does it fit right? Is it too tight? Too short? Fabric uncomfortable? Is the fabric stretched out? When you lift your arms or bend over, does skin show that you would rather keep covered? Is the fabric design or color going to match something you already own? Numerous times I have bought something just because I liked the style or fabric and stubbornly refused to think practically. Most of those purchases ended up being forgotten in the closet because I didn't ask myself these questions. Ask yourself questions like these, especially when you are shopping and take a friend with you for another opinion. Or simply because it's fun shopping with friends!

3. Do you need it? If you're anything like me, I tend to keep things because they have good memories attached to them. As I mentioned above, there are clothes in my closet that I no longer wear because I don't want to ruin them and am trying to make them last longer. What's the point of keeping clothing if you're not going to wear it? I don't need the shirt I was wearing when I experienced my first kiss, I have a picture of myself on that day. Bonus: I married my first kisser! I get reminders every day :)

4. Are you tired of your clothing? Do you own things that you loved at the time, but don't love now? I still have shirts that I had when I was 10! I'm 21 now, and my style has and is changing. Trends come and go, and sometimes I don't always like what is 'in style'. I do want to update my closet with some of the trends I do like and I think it's high time to part with some teen style t-shirts.When people see me, I want them to see an adult, not a teenager. (Which I often get mistaken for.) I'm keeping some of my nerd/geek t-shirts though. They is important!

5. You may be able to sell your clothing!!!! If something you don't want anymore is lightly used, you may very well be able to get money for it on places like Ebay or Poshmark. I know I've mentioned thredUP before and I've sent clothing to them in order to get credit several times. Unfortunately they are very picky about what they will take. They only accept certain brands and conditions of clothing, and last year I sent them some items that were only worn once that they didn't accept :P If you want to get the clothing back from them you have to pay $12.99 return assurance prior to sending the bag. I like buying from thredUP but I don't think the selling option is worth your while. I'm sure there are tons of other clothing buying and selling websites and options out there for you to choose from, these are just the ones I have personally used or know of.

 I'm sure there is more that I could think up, but it's time to begin the purge! I'm going to take this colossal pile of t-shirts and begin my investigation.

 Tools you will need: 

1. Needles - For mending anything you want to spend the time to mend.

2. A razor - This helps remove difficult pilling/fuzzies. Be very careful while your using this, I almost slit my fingers a few times. I also managed to make holes in a few shirts. Don't go too crazy with it or you'll end up causing more damage to the shirt than there already was!

3. Thread - Coordinating with whatever needs mending.

4. Lint Shaver - This works for removing some pilling, but it doesn't always work remove it all. Be careful with this too because if the material bunches up while using this, it will cause it to make little holes. Try to avoid going over the thread lines on your shirts because it can mess those up too. I speak from experience :P

5. Scissors - For snipping off those annoying loose threads.

6. A movie or music - To keep yourself from dying of boredom while doing this!

It's best to do this on a flat surface so that the material won't bunch up. I used our coffee table. Just lay out your choice of clothing and get to it! This does take a while. I definitely didn't do this in one sitting.

 Here is my end result! The pile on the left is to keep and the pile on the right is going away. I parted with almost half of what I started with, guys!!!! Pretty good, if I do say so myself.

I hope this helps you the next time you decide to organize your clothing! From now on I will be keeping a practical mindset whenever I go clothing shopping so I won't bring anything home that I will regret later!

Catch ya later,

Mary

New Year Goals + Life Update

Well, hello there. 

Since the beginning of January I have kept telling myself "Hey, you should really do a New Year's post for your poor neglected blogglings." I totally agreed. So here I am. With only these four last days of January to go! Yipes, where did this month go?!

Happy 2016!

So, Happy Belated New Year, guys! 2016! WOOT! So far it's been a very good year and I'm liken' that. 2015 was tough. And it showed through my lack of blogging. The beginning of the year started out really well and then a lot of not so great stuff happened during the latter part of the year and I sunk into a depression that I had a really hard time pulling myself out of. Too many things were happening that were having a negative effect on my life. Family problems on both sides of our families which was causing emotional pain and stress, physical pain from my neck and shoulder (I'll talk more on that later) that was leaving me exhausted and not being able to do things that I used to be able to do, our future plans constantly changing, and me still not being able to get pregnant after 2 1/2 years of marriage, in which we have been completely open to life. Just to name a few.

I was losing hope and having a hard time believing anything was going to get better.

I didn't feel like I should blog in the state I was in. I don't ever want this blog to become a negative and depressing place. So, I stayed away. I was taking less pictures, doing less of what I liked to do, and part of that was due to the physical fatigue I was experiencing. I just didn't feel up to anything.

I wasn't putting my trust in God, either. I'm one of those people who thinks they can handle everything on their own with little to no help from others. I wasn't looking for the good in everything. Even in the bad stuff that was happening, there were good things coming from it. I was just too blind to see it.

Well, slowly but surely, things started changing for the better.

The family issues are definitely taking their time, but there has been progress. Praying and talking to God about it definitely helps! Learning to keep my calm about it is going to take a while, but I'm willing to change for the better. I'm definitely healing though, which is good.

My neck pain is so much better now! I shall explain about that:

About two years ago now, I started have discomfort on the left side of my neck. I thought I was just getting stiff necks from the pillow I was using, so I changed pillows. Still had discomfort. We had several different pillows in the house, so I tried all of them to see if they made a difference. Not enough. The pain kept getting worse and I just kept thinking I was sleeping on my neck wrong. Then the migraines started. It came to a point where I was getting them every couple of days and my neck pain kept getting worse. I was exhausted when I would get home from work. I do a lot of manual work at my job, cleaning and such, so by the time I got home, I was pooped. I started taking naps when I would get home, because that was the only way I could cope with the pain (migraines and neck). Robert started cooking dinner because of how I was feeling and it made me feel awful that I couldn't make dinner for him. He's a wonderful cook, but I just felt guilty that I couldn't even help him. He kept telling me that I should go to a chiropractor and I kept insisting that we didn't need to spend the money. That was dumb on my part. Eventually I finally caved and made an appointment. I started going to an upper cervical chiropractor in June. My x-rays showed that my head wasn't on straight (nothing new there!), it was setting off center, to my left . My neck was slightly twisted and curving in the opposite direction it should have been, and my shoulder was having some issues as well. No wonder I felt like crap. I started out on weekly adjustments, and now I am on every two week adjustments and it looks like I'm close to moving to three. Robert has been going to the same person because it helps relieve pain from his scoliosis. It's just amazing the difference I have felt these past several months! I don't get migraines caused by my neck anymore and I feel close to being back to normal (whatever normal is)! I could just kick myself for not going sooner, but what happened, happened. And now I'm on the right track :)

As for the fertility issues, we recently found out that my progesterone levels were very low. So low, that I wasn't able to conceive. SO. We're working on fixing all that, and I'm so happy that I know what to do now. I have a chance at having children! I also have hope now, which was pretty much gone before.

So anyways, GOALS FOR 2016!

1. Worry less - I am the Queen of worrying. I just need to stop stressing out about everything.

2. Let go and let God - "Let it go, let it gooooooo!" *Ahem* Something I definitely need to work on.

3. Get up earlier -  This has been going really well! For awhile there, Robert and I were not giving ourselves enough time before work to get ready and enjoy our breakfast. Now I'm not inhaling my food every morning :)

4. Stop feeling like your house has to be perfect all the time- Because it doesn't. I feel like this is a disillusionment that young housewives have. Plus I don't have time to make it perfect so, y'know. I'll have to learn to pretend that dust doesn't bother me :P

5. Blog more! - Can I get a 'Heck YES!'? I'm also thinking about changing my blog's look, but that may take a while. I need to get my techy-ness up to date.

6. Possibly become a homeowner? - Because that would be, like, AWESOME. A house with a lot of natural light would be nice.

7. Cook from scratch more - Especially since I just found out I'm gluten intolerant :P I get to join my husband in his agony! Last year I did very well on trying new recipes, but I want to do even more this year.

I think I'll leave it at that before I overwhelm myself :P

So there you have it. You got to hear about my not so fun experience. I hope it sounded more like explaining then complaining because that is what I was going for. I remind myself every day that others have it so much worse than I have ever had. I'm just going to take one day at a time and not let myself get down anymore. Because it doesn't help at all.

I hope 2016 is treating all of you well, and that it is the best year yet!

Cheers!

~Mary

Happy New Year and Happy Birthday

HI!

Did you all have a smashing holiday season? Mine was lovely and very, very crazy :) I have a lot of catching up to do, don't I? Well, first of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2015 is already speeding by, but this must be how adult years go by so I guess I must get used to it.

I have no good reasons for my lack of posts :P Just busyness mixed with laziness and the fact that I've had a new job for about two months now! I'm the cleaning lady at a place that sells tons of different lights, stoves, refrigerators, and cabinetry among other things. It's a big place and I always have something to do, which is very nice because I hate having to find things to do at a job. It's a good job and I like it and I'm extremely thankful that they hired me out of 41 other applicants! Crazy, huh? I'm still adjusting to my new schedule, which seems busier than any of my previous work schedules. It's just a matter of doing things at different times than I'm used to in order to get everything done at home.

So we brought in the new year by watching The Lego Movie for the first time and changing our calendar right when the clock struck midnight (which is something I've always wanted to do!). We were like *BAM!* New calendar. It was awesomeness.

We also drank some of this during the first minute of 2015.

I started a food diary this year. I have a suspicion that I may be allergic to certain dairy products so I started this diary so that I can pin point what my body is disagreeing with. So far I have faithfully written down everything I've eaten in it....we'll see how long that lasts!

This was my New Year's Day Mass outfit.

Us at a cousin's wedding a few days after new year's.

This was a casual wedding, so I wore my newish aqua tennis shoes.

This is the first wedding photo booth we've ever done! (It was a beach themed reception, hence the hula skirt and leis.) Robert is on a pool raft if you can't tell :D

A few days later (Jan. 6) we celebrated our 23rd and 20th birthdays! Robert and I share the same birthday, if you remember my post last year. I made GF pretzels for the very first time (top left). Not quite what I wanted them to look like, but they tasted good!

Robert's Mom brought over some GF brownies and cake for us! They were goooood.

Presents!

These were my gifts from Robert: A book from one of my favorite series, Robin Hood BBC season 2 (GAH!), and my very first book light! He spoils me :)

My gifts to Robert: Books by Lemony Snicket, and the ship and asian castle sets above the books.

These we both picked out because Barnes and Noble was having a sale. They are BEAUTIFUL books and we can't wait to read them :)

Hard to believe we've celebrated 6 birthdays together already!

Robert's new glass tea pot! We tried out one of our flowering teas and it was so cool watching it bloom!

So yeah, I'M 20 NOW! I told my sister I'm entering the decade in which I will start forgetting how old I am. I'll just start telling people I'm in my twenties :D

I didn't really make any new year's resolutions this year...I just want to keep on trying to keep my life simple and get into the habit of doing things (like blogging) and other useful things I want to do at this point in my life. I also want to become closer to God and maybe actually read the Bible the entire way through (we hear a lot of it in Church but it's still not the same as reading it for yourself, y'know?).

I also promised Goodreads that I would read 100 books this year...I'm starting to think that was a bad idea because I haven't even completed one book this year! Yipes. I need to add up my grand total of last years books as well as Robert's to see how we did on our bet. I'm pretty sure I won...:D

Goodnight! You'll hear from me soon :)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year (2014)!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 
I hope everyone's Christmas was wonderful! Mine was awesome. Robert and I had Christmas at our house with my family for the first time! It was great. Everything turned out perfectly and I wasn't hyperventilating in the kitchen. No cooking disasters or anything!

Here are pictures of our winter festivities:

                                                                  Our Christmas Tree

                                                               My winter/themed desk

                                         
 My decorating theme was inspired by Narnia (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe), The Snow Queen, and The Polar Bear King. Some of my favorite fairy tales. And of course I had to get out my Narnia bookends :)

 

 This is me and my husband, Robert, at a local performance of "The Nutcracker". I hadn't been able to go in years and I'd never been to one with Robert, so that night was really special for us.

This is a better view of my dress. I found it at a thrift store earlier this year. It was a bit long for me, so I cut it and was going to hem it but my sewing machine is having issues at the moment. I waited until the day of to do this (of course) so I ended up just wearing it without hemming, and hoped no one would notice :D I think I'm just going to add some black lace to the bottom edge, instead of simply hemming it.

                                          The Christmas Day spread on our Dining room table.

I made gluten and dairy free gingerbreads and peanut blossums. Robert is allergic to both, so over the years I've learned to substitute. The chocolate chips I used do have butter in them though. Robert tested better with butter, so he is able to have it, just not a lot. There is white cotton candy (or fairy floss!) to the left, and dark chocolate non-pariels ( or snow caps as I prefer to call them) to the right.

                                                             The Winter Place Settings

                     Our stockings, above the little fireplace my sister created when we were kids!

A ball of mistletoe! I found this at Lowes and originally it had red velvet ribbon with a bell dangling from it. The bell hung at just the right length, so that tall people passing under the doorway would get bonked on the head. A.K.A. -  Robert.So, I found some blue snowflake ribbon I had laying around, cut off the red ribbon and the painful bell, and glued on the new ribbon. Voila, a bunch mistletoe to match the rest of my decorations!

Some of the Snowflakes we made together.

This was a Christmas gift for my sister. I bought a plain white plate and mug at the dollar tree and drew on them with a black sharpie. After drawing, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and pop it in for 30 min. Design is permanent and safe! I got the inspiration off of Pinterest. They are both Narnia themed. The mug says "How would it be if you came and had tea with me?" and the plate says "It's only just 'round the corner, and there'll be toast and sardines and cake." She loved them!

Well that is all for now! Today I've been taking down Christmas decorations and thinking about New Year's resolutions. Keeping life simple and trying new things are some of them :) I think my brother plans to take us to see The Hobbit DOS tonight...I know, I haven't seen it yet!

Enjoy your Winter! You shall hear from me soon :)

~Mary