Holy Cleaning Spree!

I have a couple theories as to what may have caused it, but for the past two and a half days I have been on a major cleaning spree.

And not just "Oh, let me tidy up!" but "Nothing is safe! Everything must go! Purge!Purge!Purge! Whip this house into shape!"

It all started with quite a lucky gift I had received: When I picked Luna up from daycare I was talking with her daycare provider about a scrapbooking expo (she's practically a professional scrapbooker...is there such a thing?) and we got on the subject of scrapbooking and Project Life. Turns out she had some of the original Project Life things leftover from when she did her Project 365 and she gave them to me! How awesome! She didn't stop there...she asked me if I wanted some more supplies and explained that after companies send her samples and whatnot, whatever she doesn't use or doesn't want to keep, she boxes it all up into a flat rate box and sells it and she gave me one for free!

Let me tell you, it was like Christmas Day when I opened it. Check this out:

(Sorry for the cell phone picture!) So yes...then I had to find a place to put all of this...so I started organizing my crafts. Ended up making two of my own "grab bag" boxes of random bits and bobs. I haven't decided exactly what to do with them.

I didn't stop at the crafts though...I ended up doing the entire shelving unit in the bedroom (with Ryan's help for his side). Can you tell whose side is whose?

I think it's funny: my side has crafting supplies and Harry Potter, his side has booze, books, and video games. (For the record, I read too, but my books are on the living room shelves.)

And, for the first time in over a year, our bed is centered and there is no extra stuff taking up space! (First it was the Pack-N-Play, then it was a huge mound of wedding stuff.)

Lately I've been feeling like our apartment is too small, but intellectually I know it isn't: we just have too much stuff. A bigger place isn't the solution, but a smarter, well-organized, well-trimmed place is.

Ryan was laughing at me yesterday as I went around cleaning and throwing (quite a bit) into donate boxes. For a while all I would say is "Nothing is safe! Everything must go!" I think Ryan thought I might get rid of him if he stood still too long.

So, the dining room, livingroom, and bedroom have all been thoroughly organized and cleaned. The rest of the house has just been cleaned. I still need to go through and organize and purge. But, let me tell you, it feels great. It looks great. And I am just frolicking about pretending we're newlyweds in a brand new place rather than the same place we've been for 3 years.

So...now that the wedding is done and the place is organized, it's time for Christmas crafting!!! I've got so many ideas for people but we'll get to that later. I also have some Halloween ideas as well. (Too bad I have that whole going-back-to-work-tomorrow thing going on, but I'm choosing to ignore that.)

Hope you've all been well!
-Mrs. 246

P.S. Is it weird that I posted pictures of our bedroom online? Hmm...I would have posted pictures of the other places but I didn't take any earlier and it's late with terrible lighting. I don't mind sharing. I find other people's homes fascinating. Sometimes we'll walk around the complex and if it's night, and people's shades are open, I try really hard not to, but I completely check out other people's apartments. It's neat to see what they've done with the same exact space. Gosh. I'm a creeper and I think I'm revealing too much. Pull your shades down, people. I can't help myself.