Decluttering and ME time....

I am in the process of trying to declutter the house.  I have accumulated lots of things and really can do without many of them.  So....I set a goal of getting rid of at least 5 items per day for as long as I can continue to do that.  Some days I have gotten rid of more than 5.  My best day was today when I got rid of 30 items!!!  Some of the items are going to folks I know who will enjoy them.....many more are going to an area thrift shop.  It feels good to do this.  So far, I'm not noticing a big difference in the house, overall, but that will come, in time.  I also am not finding it difficult to identify items that need to GO.....but I'm sure it will become harder as days/weeks go by!  For now, though, my plan is working well.

Along with this, I am taking more time for ME this year.  This will be done in several ways.....little things to improve my health (remembering to take my daily vitamin and calcium, drinking lots of water each day, increasing my amount of exercise, etc.)  I am also setting out to improve my singing skills in choir and hope to start piano lessons soon. That is something I've always wanted to do since I was a little girl (at which time I had to settle for accordion lessons...which I hated...but that was what fit my parents' budget...no way they could get a piano for me). 

Here is a photo of something cute I forgot I had.   I found it when decluttering and I'm going to put it out and use it AND make some more "quilts" for it.  It is a miniature wooden quilt rack.  I put a pen by it when I took the photo so you can see how small it is.  I really like it and it will not be going out of the house as a "clutter" item!   Some things you just need to keep.....

 

May 2014 bring blessings of good health, peace and joy to all of you.  

Merry Christmas!

For all my blog friends who celebrate Christmas, I wish you many blessings.....and a good year ahead in 2014 for all.

Happy...Happy!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who celebrate that this week....

And Happy Hanukkah, also, to those who will be celebrating that holiday this week!

The winning photos.....

Here is the update we've awaited...and MY guess as to which of my daughter's photos would be chosen was wrong.  Each year, the calendar includes images of two of the main buildings at Colonial Williamsburg.....the governor's palace and the capitol.....so many folks submit photos of those places.  My daughter's photo of the capitol was selected for this year....it will be the May 2015 photo....and is the first one in the second row in the Facebook album of the winning photos.  If you click HERE, you will see all 12 winning photos. Thanks to those of you who voted.  Even though my favorite of hers wasn't selected, I am still very proud of her for achieving this honor! 

Quick Update....

As a follow up to my previous post, I am delighted to report that my daughter will have a photo in the 2015 Colonial Williamsburg calendar.  We don't know yet which of her 4 photos was chosen by the judges....but I will post info about that here when we are told which one it is.  The 12 winning photos will be enlarged and displayed in the Visitors' Center in Colonial Williamsburg starting in May.  THANKS to those who spoke such kind words and voted in the contest!

PLEASE go and vote.....

My daughter does photography as a hobby and has 4 photos in contention for the 2015 calendar at Colonial Williamsburg (in Virginia).  Voting is taking place now until November 11.  Only ONE vote per day (and no using of multiple email addresses by the same person is permitted).  It seems the judges then look at all the photos submitted by the top-vote-getting "photographers" and they then choose one from each of them.   SO.....please consider clicking HERE and then clicking on "Vote Now" just once per day until November 11....and tell your friends to vote, also. THANKS!!!