project get rid of 365

so i realize that i forgot to post the last two weeks worth of get rid of.

so i will post both weeks in this post.

as you will see i cleaned out my bathroom cabinets and alot of the items came from there.

item number one is an old makeup bag from clinique

item number two is a foundation that i bought because i liked the sample but when i bought the full size i did not care for it so it is going to my mom

item number three is an empty bottle of nail polish that i had been holding on to in hopes of finding the same color again

item number four is an eye shadow from avon that i have never used in the last 10 years

item number five is also a avon eye shadow that i don't care for but held on to because i have the matching nail polish and lipstick

item number six are calm drops which i like but these have gotten old and taste funny

item number seven is the same but with moon drops

item number eight is a sample of burts bees face scrub that i never use

item number nine is a foot thing also from avon that i have no use for

item number ten is a lip serum that my mom gave me that i tried last night and this morning they were all chapped and nasty so bye, bye it goes

item number 11 is
a large pink ornament that i forgot to take a picture of


and item number 12 lastly is (was) a broken toy of my sons that i gave up on trying to fix, sadly he tossed it before a got a chance to snap a pic.
so the next 7 items will be posted on sunday. hope everyone had a great christmas.

week 3 of 357 items

so another 7 items are leaving (or have left) my home.

without further ado here are the items that got chopped this week.

item #1 is a pot of bliss youth as we know it eye cream. i love every other product in the youth as we know it line except for this eye cream. it caused me to get little bumps in the areas i applied it to. so it is going to my mom who loves it dearly.

item #2 is a book of internet sites that came with a laptop that i purchased around 11 years ago.

as you can guess many of the sites no longer exist today. so when i came across it i figured it was time for it to go. sorry i forgot to rotate it.

next item up is a clip thingy (yes that is a technical term). it was unclaimed by all three children.

each of them denied ownership so off it went.

item #4 is a strand of lights that was on a little tree that goes on my bathroom counter.

now, the lights have been on the tree for around four years, but i only lit them the first

two. i got tired of having to unscrew the back and put the lights in and then unscrew the back again after xmas to take the lights off. so this year i thought why am i even leaving them on there; and promptly took them off.

item #5 is another book. i have read it twice. so in all fairness it is time for it to migrate elsewhere.

it was a good book. i read it a few years ago and apparently held on to it. when i came across it the other day i couldn't remember exactly what happened so i read it again. it too will be migrating to my mothers.

item #6 is also a book. this one i have only read once. it was very quirky with a few unexpected twists.

it was good but odd. adios book set in wales.

and finally, alas, item #7 i did not document. it was two light strands that haven't worked in quite awhile that i had been using the bulbs off of. i said good bye to the pair of them.

and that rounds up week 3 of this project. don't have a clue yet what will go in 

the coming week. check back next sunday to find out.

sunday post 357 items

it is sunday once again and i have my items tossed/given away list for the past week.

item number 1 is a star that is no longer working, tried changing fuses and bulbs and it is still not working. have had this star in our christmas collection for at least the past 11 years.

items #2 and 3 are a star and an xmas tree that have suction cups on them. you adhere a 9 volt battery to them and they light up and you can stick it on the window of your car. have not used them for several years so i have let them go.

item #4 is a avon magazine that has been living in my closet for several weeks,

so in the recycling it goes.

item #5 is a necklace that i have had since high school. i am going to see if my daughter wants it if not it will go in the items to donate bag. you will have to forgive the photo, for some reason the camera wouldn't focus on it. i took at least five pictures of it and sad to say this is the best one.

items #6 and 7 are actually a box with old ornaments from my daughters trees when they were younger. this isn't even all of them so i figured they could count as two.

don't know what i will be getting rid of in the coming week but i will post again next sunday to let you know what i said good-bye to.

neutrogena product update

if you didn't see the first half of this review please scroll down several entries and you will find it .

so here is my update on the process/progress.

once again if you have any comments either on the product or the video in general please let me know. 

i have some ideas for a few demos; if you have any post below as well.

letting go

so i posted that i was going to start getting rid of one thing a day, and was going to try and sustain that for a whole year. so here is last weeks toss'.

first up was a vitaman bottle that has been migrating around the family room for longer than i care to admit.

next was a jar full of split peas and beans that i have had for at least 10 years. when my kids were smaller they used them for craft projects. they haven't been used in at least two years.

number three was a puzzle that i was gifted and have completed more than once and not any time recently.

item number four: a pattern that i cut up a year ago and used the tissue paper for a college.

and number five actually included eight books all together. i was a girl scout leader for five years but this past year i stepped down. so i let go of all the books i still had. i decided this could count for items seven and eight as well since there were quite a few of them.

so i will let go of another seven or more things this week. and will post them on sunday.

harvest time

fall is here and everything slows down just a bit before the holiday hustle and bustle.

this year i went for a paired down look to my fall decor. more simple and not as many garlands and leaves everywhere. while it might be a time to celebrate abundance in your life and to be thankful for it i felt that i wanted to focus more on abundance in life not necessarily in things.

with the economic times we are living in and also trying to be more earth friendly alot of us are trying to pair down our lives and live more what i look at as an uncluttered life. and using and being happy with what you already have.

in this same vein, i came across a few websites in the past few days where people are documenting how they are getting rid of one item a day by taking a pic of it before it goes. am thinking this is a great way to not only say "yes" this can be done, but of also holding yourself accountable for doing it. so i maybe adding this to my blog as well. can i sustain that for a whole year? i'm sure i can. i'm thinking i will start on this coming monday, not sure what parameters if any i will set for it other than something that is obviously trash like a coke can doesn't count. any thoughts out there on this?

maybe you would even be willing to join me on this journey and challenge yourself to do the same.

neutrogena microdermabrasion system product review

this is my first product review, i hope someone finds it useful. if you have used this before please leave a comment and let me know what you thought of it. i also did a video of it instead of just writing about it, i don't know why i just felt moved to do it so i let go of my insecurities and went for it. i haven't learned how to merge the two videos yet so bear with me.

this is part one the before and below is part two the after.

on to the holiday season

So halloween is down and now it is time to figure out not only fall/thanksgiving decorations, but also lock in the thanksgiving menu and get to crafting christmas presents.

also need to work on the all important art of just saying no.

no to too many volunteer positions but no also to too many holiday engagements; last year the holidays went by so fast and we didn't get to do hardly any of the things that we had planned to do as a family. so this year i will work on poilitly declining most invetations and work on saying no even when i'm voluntold about something that needs to get done.

It's raining

I just had to make a quick post. I live in south texas and it is training right now ! As I you're this I can hear the rain,i even (swoon) smelled it! And it stopped. Alright,5 minutes was better than nothing, its a start.

Morning Muffins

i am not a morning person i any sense of the word, so this morning when i made muffins my kids were pleased to say the least.

they did come out good if i do say so myself. as you can see they are blueberry.

 i keep telling myself that i need to get back in the habit of baking but i never seem to make it. my baking seems to come in waves. ill bake every other day for a few weeks and then nothing for months at a time. i have plenty of ideas of stuff that i want to make and try its just the finding the time and actually doing it.

am i the only one like this?

romance

romance by solarray featuring vintage dresses

paris in midsummer

paris in midsummer by solarray featuring lightweight scarves

birthdays

another birthday has come and gone and i'm not sure how i feel about it.

i feel that i have not done much with the time that i have already had.

and who knows how much time we have left.

yes i have a home a kids, but what have i REALLY done?

i'm feeling some changes are coming and i'm thinking

that i may be ready this time.

am planning on starting the artists way, kinda did two weeks ago but didn't really give it my all.

am hoping now that volunteer work has calmed down somewhat

i may start to feel a little less overwhelmed all the time.

i'm beginning to feel that maybe my lack of success in finding a job

is due to the universe telling me that i need to get off my butt and do what i love

for a change. 

i'm thinking i may be going back to school and following my dreams a little more.

and a little less of the martyr syndrome and trying to be all things to everyone.

there comes a time when you have to stand back and say enough, i can do no more

right now.

hmmm.......

squirrels! okay squirrel as the case may be...

my oldest dd has an amigurumi book that she bought a couple  of

years ago with her b-day money. but she has yet to get past the basic chain

stitch in crochet. so while all the patterns use single crochet (sc) she has not

mastered it.

so she sat down next to me the other day with her book and asked nicely if i would

make the squirrel for her. so i agreed, she went and rummaged through my

yarn stash and came back with a fuzzy blue (that i have had for years, i once

made a bunny out of it as a baby shower gift), and some tan.

so i whipped up the pieces and she attached the eyes and nose, then stuffed it.

i put all the pieces together, which was a little more difficult than i had anticipated.

i am in no way new to crochet, but trying to attach those little arms, and then not

being entirely sure what to do about the tail, as the instructions gave no

instructions for that part, i finally got it all together.

i ended up tacking the tail to the mid back of the thing with a few stitches so that it would

stay in the full upright position. so without further ado here it is:

tada!

as a side note on the tan, she originally brought me some yarn that came

with a plant hanging kit i bought at a flea market close to 10 years ago.

it is in no way a soft type of yarn. the only other tan that i had

 i was/am making my first ever sweater out of, so i used that skein

starting with the other end that i wasn't working off of.

now i'm going to have to try and hunt down that color

if i ever want to finish the sweater.

 so now that i have made one amigurumi i'm already starting on another

one from the book. i'm using the same blue yarn to make a bird.

after of course i finish a baby blanket for a friend who is having a baby

tomorrow. the yarn that i am using for that i got 7 years ago to make a

blanket for my ds when he was born. but it just frustrated the heck out me

(being 8 months pregnant will do that) and i never used it. it is red heart

cloud. i'm not sure if they make it anymore or not. but i figured why go out and buy more

baby yarn when i have 5 skeins of it in my stash.

so when i finish it i will post picks of it as well. the blanket not the yarn.



CANDY CANES

at the grocery store today i bought candy canes for $.37! these ones to be exact

but but you say it is to early or to late for candy canes, did i mention that they were

$.37! the cashier asked if i was going to eat them and i assured her

that i was not, that i was in fact putting them away

for next year. she then wanted to know if they would

keep that long, and i assured her once again that indeed yes they

would, as long as they were not kept in an attic or somewhere

hot they would be fine.

so i got the bright colored ones to go on the family room tree which is white.

the pale red and green ones are for the tree in the

dining room. and the blue ones may go on the tree in the living

room, though i'm not sure about that one yet. not

totally sure how i feel about candy canes on that tree. that is the one tree

that i am kinda particular about. all the ornaments are white, silver, robins egg blue and

a few are a pale apple green. we shall see next year how i

feel about it.

speaking of xmas, i almost have all the xmas stuff put away. just a few more things

to pack away, and the totes need to be stored away and two trees need

to be taken down. that's it i swear, the ornaments are

already off the trees but the trees are still standing.

it is my husbands job to take those bad boys down and put them in their

bags.

project life

i'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of my project life kit. hoping that it will get here soon.

if you are not familiar with this it is ab fab. here is a link to the website.

www.beckyhiggens.com/products/

you can also read about it on ali edwards blog, she finished one this past year and is starting a new one this year.  2011 will be my first year attempting it.

in a nutshell it is a big 3 ring binder that comes with lots of notecards, clear pages with

pockets, and lots of other goodies. there is room for you to document each week

of the year. with traditional scrapbooks you are only capturing a moment here and a moment there usually. this captures all those little moments each week that normaly go undocumented. 

i've got lots of big plans for my family this year and i'm hoping that this well be a way for them to look back and remember all those little moments that we had together that made life what it is and special to us.

i encourage you to check out the website and get a taste of what it is all about.