In January of this year I started writing this post. I can remember excitedly writing in the evening about the process of sorting though every single piece of clothing I own. And my future plans of decluttering. 

It was quickly forgotten with the business of this year, along with fifty other drafted blog posts (I wish I was kidding). 

I always feel a little uncomfortable talking about something so foreign, and a little out of place for me. Especially with many others talking about simplicity, capsule wardrobes, and minimalism, I look like a slob. 

I prefer to wait until I feel more confident in a subject. I've quickly learned that this is an area that I will never perfect, and may take a long time for me to excel in. So, here I am humbly sharing with you my progress in decluttering and simplifying.

So, back in January,

my sister-in-law, Chelsey, the best visitor anyone could ask for, helped me sort through all my clothing. Along with decluttering and cleaning up most of our house. 

I remember taking these photos three months ago. This was around the time Ruby developed her love for the stairs, and really all things climbing. The light was pouring into the room, and I took way too many photos.

I remember sorting through and trying my hardest to pair down these photos. I love all of them, the blinking eyes, the blurry ones, and the funny faces. 

Though, it's amazing what time can do. Now she climbs up and down the stairs daily, and I have many photos of her on these exact stairs. 

Today, it was easy to comb through photos, and pick a handful of my favorites. But, I learned why it's so hard for me to erase these memories. 

It's my responsibility to savor all of these moments. I need to be the memory keeper, to tell her one day about our simple moments. The little ways we spent our day. 

& her goofy chuckle

I am mostly waiting to declutter sentimental items in our home, like notes & photographs once we get through everything else. Though I have been working on creating a system for organizing, storing, and backing up photos on our hard drive. Please let me know what works for you, especially what has worked for the long haul. & please tell me I am not the only one frantic about preserving all these sweet smiles. 

p.s. i didn't mean for this post to be about simplifying, it just took that course when i started writing out words. probably because I am currently working on simplifying our home, you can read more about that HERE 

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Back in January I started reading the life-changing magic of tidying up by Marie Kondo. I read half of the book in an evening and was so inspired. I immediately threw all the contents of my wardrobe on my bed and began sorting through them, I got rid of so many things! About an hour later, Ruby woke up from her nap, my inspiration and energy lost, I barely managed to stuff my clothes all back in place and placed all of my discarded clothes in the corner of our bedroom. And then had to take the book back to the library. 

Just a few day later, my brother and his wife, Chelsey visited. Chelsey has always been my biggest helper in the world of organizing and making decisions. So, horrified by the pile of clothes in our bedroom, helped me clean sort all of my clothes again. And this time put them away with care. She also helped me declutter, clean, and organize the rest of our bedroom, the bathroom, and our mudroom. Basically, the entire house. Like, you need to hire her. She may be the next Marie Kondo. Thank you, Chelsey. This decluttering made such a big impact on our home. 

The function of our home changed and made keeping our home tidy much easier. However, in these past hectic months, I have barely maintained our house. I'm ready to continue the process of decluttering and simplifying our home in order to make life easier. I'm not at all good with systems or organizing, nor do I like rigid rules, and am not an expert, so I hope to just share my journey of simplifying our home. And to give you some helpful tips from this mama who totally does not have it together.

Yesterday, we made it out in the almost 100 degree heat to visit the library. I picked up the same copy still dog-eared on page 130, along with some Rick Steves' guides to Europe.

I love Kondo's feelings and intuition based solution to decluttering and simplifying. It's different than practical solutions, numbers, capsule wardrobes, or timelines. It comes down to the heart of respecting the items that you love and discarding all the rest. I mean, how simple can it be? Simplifying your home should be simple. 

So, do yourself a favor, rent her book from the library, or buy it off of amazon, and join me, the queen of junk drawers, in simplifying your home. 

I've armed myself with some inspiring words of Marie Kondo, and these are what I'm going to remember as I choose what remains in our home: 

"we should be choosing what to keep, not what we want to get rid of"

"always think in terms of  category, not place"

"discard those that have outlived their purpose"

"what things will bring you joy if you keep them as part of your life?"

"keep things because you love them-- not "just because""

"keep only the things that speak to your heart.
then take the plunge and discard all the rest."

all from Marie Kondo's the life-changing magic of tidying up