How #Relevant10 Met #GoodbyeJunk & #HelloMornings Today...

So, I FINALLY got to talk to my sweet friend about her experiences at the Relevant Conference this morning.  We met for coffee and talked for hours, it was so wonderful.  She knew that I had wanted to attend with her, and was sweet enough to bring back her goodies and share them with me!  Isn't she the sweetest friend? 

Look at all the cute, fabulous stuff I got from Relevant, through her:

I promise, I left some for her too! :)

I am so glad that she is NOT a  reader.  A blogger who hates to read.  Funny, huh?  But, lucky for me!  I got some really cool books that are going to be perfect for HelloMornings.  Just a short, easy to read page a day.  I can't wait to start tomorrow.  AND, a version I can share with the boys....Even better!  I've been wanting to find something like that, but haven't gone looking, and here it just 'falls' in my lap.  I love how that works!  Plus, an e-book copy of Ann Voskamp's 1000 Gifts, which I've also been dying to read, and a cute little journal to write...something tiny in!

Plus, a super cute paperweight for my office (maybe it will encourage me to keep my desk neater).  That little cute 'PEACE' necklace has something on the back..... "BE STILL".  Now, tell me that wasn't meant for me?

So, I've mentioned how this all connects with the #HelloMornings group that I love, but how does bringing all this STUFF into my house fit with #GoodbyeJunk?  Well, for the first time, probably ever, I was INTENTIONAL about what I was choosing to bring into my home.  There were some other really cute things to choose from.  Things that I wanted, but I put them back, because I knew deep down that they were just future GoodbyeJunk.   I only chose things that I knew I had a purpose for, and would really, truly use.  Progress!

Oh, and FYI, more GoodbyeJunk stuff coming soon, so bear with me!  I'm working on a big, new announcement.... More good stuff to come!  Look for details closer to Thanksgiving. 

In the meantime, 

may you be blessed with friends as wonderful as mine, 

and may you remember that as fun as it is to receive, 

it is even better to GIVE.

#GoodByeJunk Helpful Tip #3.... Keep Going!

 Keep Going!  That's it for the tip today.  Just keep going.  You know how Dorie in Finding Nemo sings, "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...", well just keep tossing, donating, selling, filing, whatever it is you've been doing.  Don't give up now that you've gotten such a good start getting rid of junk.  Keep doing what you're doing.  One thing a day.  Several things on the weekend.  Whatever is working for you, just don't give up!

Don't forget to chime in and let us know how you're doing from time to time!

I promise to have a better tip next week.... It's been kinda crazy around here, and Thursday just really snuck up on me this week!  Keep saying Goodbye Junk in the meantime...

#GoodbyeJunk Helpful Tip #2

Goodbye Junk Helpful Tip # 2:
Get rid of the junk in your pantry.  It may not be in sight for company, but YOU see it everyday.  Wouldn't it feel wonderful to look into a clean, not junky pantry when it's time to fix dinner?

Go through and toss expired foods in your pantry.  Try one shelf at a time.  One shelf a week.  Whatever works for you.  While you're at it, set aside everything that will expire in the next few months, so that you can use them up, or donate them to a local shelter.  Thanks Nemo,  for inspiring this tip by tweeting about cleaning out your cupboards!

I went through mine about a month or two back, one at a time.  Over the course of a couple of weeks I threw out a disgraceful amount of expired food, most from when I was doing the coupon game which seemed like it was saving me tons of money.  In truth, it just encouraged me to overstock or stock up on things we didn't need and therefore wouldn't use, because it was 'such a good deal'.

I put foods about to expire in a basket on my kitchen counter.  Everything that would expire by the end of 2010 went in my basket.  I'm trying to use them up, and hope that having them out in plain sight will help me to remember that.  So far it's working pretty well, and we've probably used up about a third of them already.  You could also donate foods to a food pantry, if you don't want to use them and they're not too close to expiring. 

Throwing away expired foods feels extremely wasteful.  And it is.  But the reality is, if it's already expired, there isn't anything you can do about that.  Feeling guilty won't change that.  What you can change is how you buy, store, and use the food you restock with.  Don't go out and go hog wild replacing every thing you just tossed, because chances are you'll have the same expired foods later on down the road.  Rethink what you need and how you buy it.  Make it work for you, with the goal of not letting food expire. 

My pantry looked bare at first, but now I've gotten used to it this way, and I love it.  There are only things that we eat regularly in it now.  Special things I can go out and buy when needed, but if they are in my pantry, chances are I won't use them before they expire.  The bonus?  I can easily see everything we have, and I don't end up buying it again at the store just because I couldn't see or find it.   I plan to go through the pantry roughly every six months to look for items that might be expiring soon, or within the next several months.  Then I can put them in my 'I need to use these up' basket again, or donate them to a food pantry.

Are you 'holding onto stuff because you feel it would be a waste of good money if you got rid of it...'?   Read this article and free yourself of the burden of feeling wasteful.

Also, Gwen wrote this wonderful post about the impact of our Goodwill donations.  Stop by and check it out.  She talks about the impact of donations for both the people Goodwill Industries helps and for the people who shop there for great deals!  Thanks, Gwen.

#GoodbyeJunk Updates...

 Hey all...
How did you do this week at saying #GoodByeJunk?  Did you get rid of something daily?  Did you do enough for the week all at once?  How about finding a home for random things?  Were you successful at that too?

I had a great week.  I got rid of 43 pounds of stuff, added it to the pile from the week before, and drove it all to Goodwill.  What a wonderful feeling.  So far, I've donated at least 67 pounds of junk.  It feels terrific! There are lots more things to work on, so I'm not going to be done anytime soon, but I love the feeling that just doing one thing a day makes me feel successful.  And it's so easy I don't even try to avoid it!

By the way, there is a great calculator at GOODWILL online where you can calculate the impact of your donation.  I put in the things I rounded up my first week, and it came out to roughly an hour of training per pound.  An hour a pound of help for someone else...What a fabulous incentive to declutter!

As far as finding a home for things, I've been doing pretty well at that too. Mostly in my office, where there were a lot of leftover VBS or summer craft things that needed to be put away.  I also worked out in the garage a bit, organizing and tossing things in there.

Don't forget to check back on Thursday, when I have another helpful tip scheduled to keep you motivated!  If you have anything that's working really well for you, or a tip you'd like to share, please email me at goodbyejunkchallenge@gmail.com so I can include it in a future post for everyone.  Thanks!

If you're doing the challenge with us, how did YOU do? 

Link up to a post you've written about #GoodbyeJunk, or just leave a comment for us so we can encourage you!   Don't forget to tell us your Twitter handle so we can encourage you there too.  Be sure to tweet me @2BeStill if you haven't already so I can support you!  After you link or comment, be sure to stop by and visit some of your fellow GoodbyeJunkers to give them a little support.  I'm so proud of how well everyone is doing.  Keep up the great work!

Here's this week's GoodbyeJunk Linkup:

#Goodbye Junk Helpful Tip #1

As my son would say, "Helllloooooo, ladies!!"

How are you doing with your #GoodbyeJunk challenge this week?  Don't forget there will be a new linkup coming on Monday, so snap a picture, or jot down something that you can post or leave in the comments so we can support you!

Here's our first Goodbye Junk Helpful Tip:  Figure out a way to deal with your horizontal surfaces.  You know- those flat spots on a table, counter, or wherever that just collect junk in piles?  Yeah.  Those surfaces.

For myself, I've done two things.  First, once I get one of these cleared off, I make it a priority to keep it cleared off or at least get it completely cleared off before the end of the day.  The biggest help here is not letting something that doesn't have a home sit there for later.  I try to find a home for it right away.  Somedays that works better than others.  The other way I've decided to deal with these junk hotspots is to make them pretty.  Yes, you heard me!  If it's pretty, I'm much more likely to not want to cover it up with some pile of clutter.  Try it.  Let me know if it works for you.

Here's an example before and after of one of my previously awful horizontal surfaces. This is in my office, which is by far the very worst room in the house.  I think even the garage might be better.  So, before:

I wanted to hide these drawers (they look so messy, even though their contents are organized). But I still wanted to have easy access, so I took some particle board and covered it with pretty scrapbook paper. 

Particle board, recycled from somewhere else in the house.

This is so much prettier in person!

I even added a lovely quote that makes me happy.

 And finally, the result:

Saying Goodbye Junk to the piles on either side next!

Now, it's a lovely table top, and I don't want to put anything on it that will take away from the prettiness of it. In fact, I'm planning a few more finishing touches to make it even nicer.  The bonus is all the drawer storage for different projects that's now hidden underneath, but still easy to access.   Just finished it, so I'll let you know how that works out, but I'm pretty hopeful that it will be a success.

If you're still looking for inspiration, read here for more helpful ideas from Organizing Junkie (and she's got a little challenge too...)

How are you dealing with your horizontal surfaces?

#GoodbyeJunk Challenge Linkup

 Hello Goodbye Junkers!  So glad to have you along for the ride.  Doesn't it feel great to get rid of the junk and not have to deal with it anymore? Aren't you looking forward to cabinets that don't look like this anymore?  Don't you love how easy it is?  Just two things a day- one to donate/trash/sell and one to find a home.  Simple.  We can all do that.  For more about the details of the #GoodbyeJunk Challenge, click here.

I want to say thank you for all the support that I've gotten for this challenge, and for all the support I see all of you giving each other.  Way to go, everyone!  Wouldn't the world be so much nicer if everyone were so encouraging?  In that spirit of encouragement, let's link up and continue to support each other.  Please link up either a post on your blog (with a #GoodbyeJunk theme, perhaps?) or your twitter handle. Or both!

I plan to have two #GoodbyeJunk posts each week.  On Mondays, we'll have a linkup where we can show our successes (do a post with a picture of your cleaner space, or just tell us how it's going.  Or just tweet about it.  Anything #GoodbyeJunk related, really!).   On Thursdays, I'll share a short and sweet tip that might help you with your #GoodbyeJunk challenge. 

So, it's a day late due to the Labor Day holiday yesterday, but here's our first linkup!  Please take a moment to stop by the other blogs and leave a comment,  or leave your fellow #GoodbyeJunkers a tweet of support.  Oh, and feel free to grab a Goodbye Junk Button for your self/blog.  The code is over on the sidebar.  Thanks, and happy #GoodbyeJunking!

Link up here for #GoodbyeJunk Challenge support: