Feeling Resolute?!?

I'm not exactly sure why, but it seems as though the simple act of swapping out the wall calendar brings out a sense of optimism. You know, the commitment to improve. Whether we're talking about eating habits, saving money, or staying in touch with friends, we all want to do "better." And of course that same drive is found in the papercrafting community.

So I'm going on the record. I HAVE TOO MUCH STUFF. I've been doing a lot of sorting and have sold/passed on quite a few items that I know I won't use. But I still need to force myself to get all the other stuff organized. You see, I'm quite a lazy person. And I'm all too content to work amongst the clutter (although admittedly it's frustrating). So not only do I need to use the stuff that I have, I need to have it in some semblance of order. And it sort of goes without saying that I shouldn't be buying more in the meantime (but I really did *need* more adhesive, and since I was so close to getting free shipping anyway...)

Anyway, I'm usually not big on resolutions, so I'm looking at this more as continuation of my quest toward being an organized, responsible adult. Will continue to report on my progress. And just in case you'd like to join in, Kimm will be posting challenges, tips, and stamping workouts throughout the year. She always has some great ideas, so I'd highly recommend checking it out!!

The cabinets are in!!!!!!!

Still not complete by any means, but we're making serious progress!! We should be getting the countertop later this week; that will be 7 foot long so that there will be "open" space for me to work, and the existing shelves that you see in the lower right will be turned against the wall. I have a large rolling Iris cart that will end up living between the bookshelf and the cabinet, and can easily be rolled out of the way if needed. You can also see a bit of my large bookshelf. My hubby built these when we moved into the house, and they go all the way to the ceiling. Of course they were originally for all my books, but those have had to make way for my new passion :) My boxed SU sets and books/magazines are on there, and I'll be doing some serious purging so will end up with even more space available. I'm so stinkin' excited!! I need to do some touch-up painting, cover the shelves and drawers with Contact paper, and then mount the doors and hardware. We're also going to put some open shelves in the space between the upper cabinets, so will have somewhere to display my finished pretties! And lastly, I'll be stowing my seemingly endless stash of alterables (tins, picture frames, bottles, etc) on the top of the cupboards. My hubby thinks I'm crazy and wanted to mount them flush with the ceiling, but I wanted to be able to reach into the cabinets easily (I'm only 5'4"), and really trying to maximize the space.

Any other ideas? Would love to hear your input!

Whew!

Well, I've made some headway in the craft pit - my friend/downline Kelley came over on Friday afternoon (with her kids, too, so they could keep my munchkins occupied!). And then came back that night and helped until about midnight. I am so blessed by the friends I have! Anyway, my room still isn't empty but it's looking much better. Here's a peek at the guest room, You can't see the HUGE pile on the other side of the bed, though. We'll probably be picking up the cabinets tomorrow night, and I must admit that I'm getting excited. The biggest issue will be forcing myself to keep only what actually fits... It's been sort of fun to go through all this stuff, though, and unearth some neglected treasures. It was really hard to keep plugging away and not just drop everything and stamp :)

And lastly, I've been tagged again! Wanda tagged me for 7 random facts (and I vaguely recall someone else tagging me within the last month or so, but I never did it...) So anyway, here goes:

1. I don't really have a favorite color, but purple is about as close as it gets. When I was in 7th grade, my absolute favorite outfit was a purple hat, purple sweater, black pants, and purple suede flats. (Yeah, I was stylin'!!)
2. I dislike the color orange, but like peach and coral.
3. In addition to my stamp obsession, I adore music. Much of my high school earnings went toward purchasing CDs.
4. I lived in the same house until I left for college. And my parents are still there.
5. We had a pretty big garden growing up, and helping care for it was one of our chores.
6. When my hubby and I bought this house, there was a small garden plot. We ripped it out and planted grass seed a few weeks later.
7. I do like having flowers around - they've got to be perennials, though.

It seems that virtually every blog I've read lately has had this same list, so I'm not going to tag anyone else. But feel free to play along if you'd like!