Love it or Leave it

I thought it was about time I popped back in to say hi! It's no surprise that I've been letting this little blog of mine fall by the wayside...again. Most of the time I think "no one wants to read about my boring little life," but to be completely honest, I'm not really doing this for anyone else except me. I have never admitted to being a "writer" but I find it therapeutic. Growing up I have always kept a journal of some sort starting with my Hello Kitty diary in 3rd grade. :) It's fun to go back and read years later, just like I do with this blog. I started this blog right before Buie and I were married and this summer we will celebrate 7 years of marriage together. It's hard to believe 7 years has already gone by. In some ways it has been some of the best years but also some of the hardest years of my life. Most of the real intimate personal stuff I don't write about here on my blog, mainly because I don't want the whole world knowing about it. But the small stuff like gardening and our animals and our home, the everyday stuff...I still want to remember all of that stuff. So here I am again.

In January I wrote about simplifying and I have really been trying to do that this year. If you know me then you know I come with a lot of stuff. ha. It sounds weird to say because I don't consider myself to be materialistic. I don't have to have stuff to make me happy. However, I am one of those inherently messy people. I think it comes naturally though if that makes any difference at all. I can remember going to visit my great grandmother, Margie, who we called "NaNa" and her place being filled with stuff. She had plants everywhere, stacks of magazines from years past that she had "plans" to do something with, unfinished ceramic projects. I remember she always had to clean a place off for us to sit down. :) Isn't it funny the little things you remember. My mom always said I have a lot of NaNa in me. We are both artists. We are both messy and creative and not at all organized. We both save every little thing to remember an event by. (I don't really do this anymore but I used to in junior high and high school.) We both have hoarding tendencies and I have a garage full of stuff to prove it. When my NaNa passed away, I felt such a connection to her that I felt like I must keep her stuff. I couldn't stand for it to go to charity. Through out the years, I would eventually lose all of my grandparents and each time, I felt like I had to hoard their belongings to keep a part of them with me. There are so many pieces that are so special to me that I would never in a million years get rid of and I am so thankful that they are in our home.

this is my MeMe's couch that is in our breakfast nook. I love this couch so much and remember spending many Christmases with all of my cousins all piled up on this couch opening presents. 

this was my MeMe's hutch that was in her kitchen that now stores our cookbooks and some of my china. 

this loveseat belonged to my Grandmother on my dad's side. It was in their Master Bedroom for as long as I remember. It is now in our living room and serves as a good cat napping bench. :)

I also have several boxes of just random trinkets and nicknacks that I have no emotional attachment to, other than I know they belonged to my grandparent. It has been somewhat therapeutic, to go through those boxes and find a special place in my home for those pieces that I do want to keep and let go of the things that I am not keeping.

On top of going through my grandparents memorabilia, I have kept so much stuff from college that I have now sold or given away. It feels good to clean out closets and purge! I highly recommend it! Is my garage clean yet? Well, heck no but I'm still working on it. :) My motto has been if I don't LOVE it then LEAVE it. I either sell it or give it away to someone who I know would appreciate it or box it up and give it to charity. Also, I'm not just keeping things for no reason anymore. I'm getting to old for trinkets. ha! It has to serve a purpose in my house. :)