“Where are all your clothes?” my friend asked. I told her some of my clothes were dirty, some were folded in drawers, and that I was storing seasonal clothes in the bins at the top of the closet. I don’t remember why my neighbor and I were in my closet, but I do remember how she looked around the space in complete disbelief, then absently responded, “My closet is so crammed full of clothes.” It was as if she couldn’t imagine her wardrobe being pared down and ... VIEW POST
Storing Seasonal Clothes: Tips from a Pro Organizer
3 Healthy Ways to Deal With Feelings
Over the past few months, our emotions, or certainly mine, have run the gamut from fear and panic to grief and sadness to relief and hope over and over again. During my lowest points, I wanted nothing more than to escape. But, I knew better than to try to bypass the hard stuff. If you’ve been with me for a while, you know I believe the only way to the other side of hard is through it. That requires us to learn how to deal with feelings and process emotions in a healthy ... VIEW POST
How to Organize Your Closet Like a Pro
How many times have you stood in your closet, spending time you don't have, trying to find something to wear? It adds so much stress to your already hectic morning. amiright? Today, I'm sharing how to organize your closet like a pro so you can go from stressed out to super confident. It's kind of like magic. How to Organize Your Closet Like a Pro Affiliate links are provided. Please read my full disclosure policy here. Purge Your Closet It doesn’t matter how organized your closet is if you ... VIEW POST
The Key to Realizing the Desires of the Heart
I sleep all day. And I stay up all night working or watching YouTube videos. This means my days never go as I picture them in my head, that the desires of the heart continue to be unmet. Turns out I just needed a little perspective shift. Discovering the Desires of the Heart Seeing Your Desires from the Outside World I really want my day would look like this: Morning 7:00 a.m. Wake up and check in with myself, see how I’m feeling 7:30 a.m. Practice my ... VIEW POST
Easy Like Monday Morning: My Weekly Planning Routine
“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we are doing. A schedule defends from chaos and whim. It is a net for catching days.” Annie Dillard I felt like that net was ripped out from under me when I quit teaching. Up until then, my days were planned for me. Wake up, shower, go to work, teach Kindergarten, come home to my family, eat dinner, watch t.v., sleep. Without a job to fill my schedule, I realized I didn’t know ... VIEW POST
The Heart Behind Cultivating Home
I used to think I was called to something big. Bigger than I could possibly imagine. Actually, I thought I was destined to follow in Oprah Winfrey’s footsteps. Not as a talk show host, but as a change agent, a thought leader...someone with incredible influence. Then, on September 17, 1998, Hannah Elizabeth Hines was born into this world. That six- pound-twelve-ounce-nineteen-inch bundle of baby girl changed me from the moment I saw her. It was indescribable love at first ... VIEW POST
3 Sneaky Problems With Perfectionism
I’ve been thinking a lot about hope this week. Especially how I tend to live without it. What I mean by that is I’m so used to waiting, and waiting and waiting and waiting, but without the desired results. There are at least two issues with this: I stopped waiting expectantly. I fell into a pattern of judging my life by results. So, I'm always left wanting which is a breeding ground for discontentment and discouragement. Do you know how tiring it is to always be ... VIEW POST
Goodness in the Messy Middle
I didn't like January very much. It felt like a never ending, vast expanse of dreariness. Like thick fog over a graveyard. Maybe because we had to get used to winter without Christmas and home without Hannah. It could be because something is always left behind when you go through a transition. There's also a chance I lost my sense of self-worth in the endless days of nothingness. I actually enjoyed the first two weeks of January. I used the time to relax after Christmas, get the ... VIEW POST
Make Room for Hope
I don't do well with waiting. Especially when I feel like I've done all the things I'm supposed to do to see results; setting intentions for the day, writing goals, and doing the next right thing. Then, I get restless. The next thing I know, I'm rearranging furniture. So, it makes perfect sense (in retrospect) that I was rearranging Hannah's bedroom this week... The Power of Setting Intentions for the Day Intentions are Like Placeholders for Hope Matt and I intended to run an ... VIEW POST
Surprised by Ordinary
We'd just gotten home from celebrating Christmas with family when my daughter said, "Christmas night feels so final, like everything is over until next year." I told her I understood, that I used to feel the same way. Then, I shared how I move past the sadness by telling myself Christmas day is actually the beginning of the twelve days of Christmas. Then, my husband joked, “What do you tell yourself on January 6th...after the twelve days is over?” “I tell myself it’s time to get back to ... VIEW POST
Setting Goals, A Different Approach
So many people talked about taking down Christmas decor, making fresh starts, and setting new goals in the week leading up to New Year's Eve that my soul felt rushed. But, I wanted to look forward to the New Year. So, at about 11: 15 p.m., I sat on my couch and turned the channel to Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve. The ball had already dropped in Time Square, so I joined the countdown in New Orleans. (Which worked out because I'm in the Central time zone.) As a big crowd of people ... VIEW POST
When Holidays Get Messy
We tend to go into the holidays with hopes of everyone getting along and having a nice time. We cross our fingers and hope no one brings up a touchy subject, steps on someone’s toes, or meddles where they shouldn’t. I get it. I’ve been at holiday gatherings gone wrong. But, the truth is messy doesn't necessarily mean bad. A couple of years ago I was hosting Christmas Eve. We were sitting around the dining table, when, after maybe a glass too many of red ... VIEW POST
A Holiday Gift Guide for {Almost} Everyone on Your List
I used to spend the week of Thanksgiving racing the clock to put up all of my Christmas decor by Thanksgiving day. The day after Thanksgiving, I'd run around town like a mad women on a mission to buy as many gifts as possible, without a gift guide to help. All in the name of finishing early so I could enjoy the holiday season, except I didn't enjoy it. My focus was all wrong. One Spring, a friend and his daughter, Faith-Marie, stayed with us for a few days. While they were here, she ... VIEW POST
How to Entertain in Style
I finally did it! Not only was my house, the food and I ready before guests arrived, but I actually greeted everyone at the door, offering them a glass of pretty, pink Moscato garnished with raspberries. Granted, the only reason that I was able to entertain in style is because my parents, who are normally early to the party, were delayed when my Dad accidentally knocked over the cookie display in the store while picking up dessert on the way over, giving me the extra time I ... VIEW POST
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