My Life Not Even on the D-List

Today, I slept in late and went out to a nice lunch where I ordered a lemonade with a little kick in it, to kick off the weekend.

I made a quick trip to the fabric store where I bought an industrial strength needle and thread to repair a hole in the couch. Chris bought the couches from Craigslist before we moved in together and I was never much of a fan. The couches are nice enough (originally from Macy's Furniture Gallery) but they don't seem to hold up well. They are huge and overstuffed and no matter how I sit on them, my feet never seem to be able to touch the ground. Lounging on them isn't much more comfortable because the cushions start to smother you all on their own. And they've always smelled a little like dog; we don't even have a dog.

The rest of the day we clean the apartment like tornadoes in preparation for his parents' Sunday arrival. Things are really starting to look good and we got a much amount of stuff put away. I started running out of steam though, so I hope nobody looks in my closet. It actually looks like a tornado hit in there!

The reason we cleaned so much today is because I won't be around for a few days, so if I don't blog, it's not just because I'm being lazy. My mom, sister, and I are going to see the loveable Kathy Griffin in Seattle on Saturday. I'm heading up to my parents' house tonight so we can all go together tomorrow. Then I have to hightail it early in the morning on Sunday, to get back to our place before Chris' parents do.

I am giving myself Monday as a recovery day, so hopefully by Tuesday, I'll move forward with my goals, and hopefully while I am gone, I don't fall off the bandwagon!

I'm Finally on Track, But How Long Will It Last?

With January quickly coming to an end, I fear that once it’s gone, my motivation will be too. I use the term motivation in the loosest sense as we all know I don’t have much. Lately, I’ve been using what little I have and powering through though. I’m actually following through with some of the goals I set. (I choose not to call these New Year’s resolutions because I am strongly against making New Year’s resolutions. Those are just made to be broken.)

I’ve actually started being more pro-active in my wedding planning. This week I even went to TheKnot.com and created a wedding website for Chris and I. By next week, I hope to even have the “save the date” emails out. (However, next week will be February, so there’s not telling if that’s going to happen.) I’ve talked recently to my bridesmaid about a dress that we both love and as she is conveniently making my invitations as well, about those too. Things are well underway.

As far as job hunting goes, I’m still slacking on that front. I just feel like I need to get a few more things under control before I can start working. At least, I was feeling that way. I going to set a date for myself: next Tuesday I must begin the process of starting to find a job. My former boss gave me a letter of recommendation, something I was always too afraid to ask for in the past, so my application materials are that much more complete. While my savings are dwindling, I’ve been curbing my shopping habit (which is incredibly hard for me). I feel guilty shopping when I have no idea when my next source of income will come in and I refuse to beg Chris for an allowance. There is no reason for that. (I understand there are many situations when one person in the relationship must support the other, but I’m just being lazy in my job search. If I truly cannot find a job soon, then I may reconsider this scenario.)

My goal to get out from under the clutter is going better than I ever expected. I’ve been very diligent in donating and throwing away things that I don’t truly need. I realize I keep mentioning how much of a shopaholic I am, but haven’t shown you much in that respect if you don’t already know me personally. That’s mostly because I’ve been trying to not even think about shopping since I don’t have the means to do it at this time. Here is one example though. I am a shoe and purse fanatic! Now, I haven’t gotten around to going through my shoes yet, but I decided last night, to sort through my purses. Besides the handful of purses that I have scattered about, I brought 3 bins full of a variety of purses: bags large enough to be used as computer totes, small clutches and tiny wristlets, from more luxurious brands like Michael Kors, Betsey Johnson, and Coach, to the one with more everyday prices points like Nine West, Nicole Miller, Rampage, and Guess, even a few Wal-Mart and Payless purchases. I don’t discriminate. While I do get a thrill buying designer brands, I truly go for the aesthetic appeal; if it’s cute, classy, stylish, or anything in between, I HAVE TO HAVE IT. Anyway, I digress. I was wanted to pat myself on the back for donating an entire box of purses. And I don’t mean some small box; I mean a full on medium moving box from Home Depot. I usually have such a hard time getting rid of purses, thinking that I can use them again sometime, but the truth is I never use them again. I’ve already moved on and bought ten more purses, some I will use and some I never will. The purses are just the beginning; I’m totally getting my junk situation under control.

I’m still not quite ready to talk about my weight loss goals. Weight is something I’ve struggled with my whole life, and I’m embarrassed to even talk about it. I always feel judged on it, but when I delve too deep into trying to lose weight, I become obsessed and it consumes me. I’m working on finding a happy medium before I start going public with my weight blogs. (I continue to work on them privately.)

Finally, I have one more goal that I haven’t mentioned on my blog. The reason being: it is so new. I was readying over the February “People: Style Watch” one of my favorite magazines. It has an article about 5 ways to getting great skin. Since I’m all gung-ho about goals right now, and my wedding in coming up in August, I figured I might as well work on getting great skin. My skin is fine, if not a little dry, nothing great. I don’t breakout much, but when I do I always get one or two giant blemishes that no matter what you do, you can’t cover and you can’t resist picking (eww, I know, but it’s the truth). Anyway, I’m working on taking better care of my skin. I’m starting with a new night regime for now: I start with some basic cream face wash, then put on a newly purchased serum that is supposed to even out skin tone, and follow that with another newly purchases ultra-moisturizing cream, top it off with cream made specifically for the eye area and you’re set. So far, I haven’t seen a change, but it’s only been about two days so stay tuned if you’re interested to find out.

Living in Limbo: A Writing Exercise

I grew up just outside of Seattle, but I’m currently residing in another town: Limbo. The Census is unable to track the population number here being that people always seem to pop in and out, in and out. Many of my fellow residents are recent college graduates, just like me. Sometimes I think that Limbonians forget they can leave. After all, it can feel comfortable and relaxing (especially in the beginning). And after only a short period of time, it begins to feel like home. You get into a pattern or a habit and then it feels like, well, life. But the truth is, a lot of time we Limbonians are not living as much as existing. When you are simply in the state of existing, life can feel boring and tedious, but you don’t remember how life was before this. You have a hard time imagining life after Limbo, too. Let’s face it; change is a four letter word, not just for Limbonians, but also for those residing elsewhere.

There are roads all over this place that lead to the rest of the world, but what happens when you find them? Everyone’s intentions are good, but intentions can lack motivation. There is usually a misstep or fallout between thinking and doing here in Limbo. Some people can get out of Limbo forever. Some people never leave. Most of us will be temporary residents at some point in the course of our lives.

Lucky for me, there are a lot of stores in Limbo to keep me busy!

Where Did All This Stuff Come From?

For the last three days all Chris and I did was unpack. I realize we have been unpacking for almost two weeks now, but I attribute this to the fact that I am, indeed, a shopaholic. As I previously mentioned, before I started blogging publicly, I was privately blogging as a therapeutic release. Part of that self-therapy was trying to get myself out from under the clutter I was living in at my parents’ house. As I have also mentioned before, I am convinced I have an acute case of hoarding. Recently I learned that hoarding is a type of OCD and associated with it, many times, is compulsive shopping. Also, it can be genetic. Note: I have not been evaluated by a professional and so this is all self-diagnosis. I could be wrong, but I don’t think I’m hurting anything by acknowledging that I may have a problem. (Please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.)

So, as I was saying, my goal at my parents’ house was: Get Out from Under That Clutter. One quick fix was to move into a bigger space. Another was to leave a large amount of items at my parents’ house, where I know it won’t be tossed. But that is really not fixing the problem, it’s masking it. Eventually it will catch up with me again and I don’t think I can afford to move into a bigger place. My parents won’t want my stuff around forever either.

Moving into this nice, new place has made me realize how great it feels when things are clean and organized. I don’t want to clutter it up and feel like I’m being suffocated by my possessions like I did at my parents’ house. Because it’s still January, I feel like I can get away with adding another New Year’s resolution. I will downsize the amount of unnecessary junk I hold onto and make sure not to get buried under clutter. Here are a few steps I have been using while working on it thus far:

• Ask myself, “Why are you keeping that?” and being honest with myself about the real reason
• Commit to cleaning up and clearing out, not getting lazy about it
• When in doubt, throw it out
• Keep the memory, maybe a picture, but toss the item
• I must throw away or donate at least one item a day
• If I’m feeling ambitious, I can throw away or donate a little more but that doesn’t count towards the future
• Reward myself, within reason, by keeping one thing out of the bunch, getting a new treat to replace something, or just taking a long break and watching a girly movie, or blogging
• Don’t let other people clutter my life, for example, don’t worry about getting rid of something because it was a gift

So that’s it for right now. I’m working on getting my life and house a little more uncluttered. And I have to say, I’ve been doing pretty well for me. I’m parting with things that before I would never have. I’m shopping much less (but that’s another blog in the making). Chris’ parents are coming on Sunday. We still have a lot to unpack before they come, but I think it’s good. I work better with a deadline. I’ll let you know how the visit with the future in-laws goes. I’m not too worried, but then again, that’s when bad things happen.

Eventually, I Will Get with the Program

Okay, I know I said I was going to start writing more now that I have my computer hooked up. I probably can't get away with the excuse that our Internet has been acting up, because of course, I could have at least written and posted later. And that excuse probably flies with you even less because I was in fact at my parents' house for three nights, where the Internet was working just fine. But I'm willing to bet, you will allow the excuse that my family led to my unproductive behavior. Who wouldn't agree that family has the ability to take you completely off track? Whatever your goal: cleaning, organizing, writing, weight loss, job hunting, wedding planning, family always wants to help, but usually only makes it worse. If you don't agree, then you are one lucky duck! (Even as I type this my cat has begun to walk over my keyboard, making this post mighty tricky.)

I will get with the program soon. Really not much exciting has happened anyway. Here is a quick overview: Chris and I have cleaned the place up minimally, but it's starting to come together nicely. The good news is that I have found my camera and even the cable, so as soon as I unpack the rest of my car, I can finally post a few pictures.

On Saturday, Chris and I met with the caterer at the wedding location. It was a very quick consultation. We just went over the basics: how many people will come? buffet or not? food allergies or preferences? It will be about 85 people, buffet style, and we have no really prefernces on food except that Chris' step-sister is a vegetarian; oh, and I absolutely HATE mushrooms. We figured out the logistics and I think it's going to be beautiful. We'll have a sample menu in a couple weeks and the caterer works with the rental company for tables, tents, and chairs, the works! Stay tuned for more to come!

As I said, I went to my parents' house Sunday night. (Don't get ahead of yourself there! There was no blowout fight or exciting news that sent me rushing home to mother. I just left a lot of junk at home because of my horrendous packing skills.) Before making the drive back home, I made a list of all the things I wanted to be sure to bring back to the apartment. You'll be surprised to hear that not only did I find everything on the list, but I successfully packed it into my car and got it here!

I'm not quite ready to post about my weight loss yet. I haven't gotten with that program yet either, but I will say that my goal is to lose 65 pounds; and I do have the much to lose. More to come on that as well.

As for job hunting...that hasn't even made it's way onto page one of my "To Do" list yet. I'm getting there. Eventually...

I Like to Move It, Move It

Not so much. Moving is not so fun. There are a lot of reasons why moving isn’t fun, but here is how it went down…

I moved from my parents’ house, the house that I lived in since I was born. My mom is a borderline hoarder. (Don’t ever let her know that I admitted that to the world, but it’s true.) That means that pretty much everything I have ever owned is still in that house, and if I try to get rid of it, she usually interrupts me and says, “Aw, you’re going to get rid of that?” Thus, I have pretty much everything since I was born in that house, not to mention all the furniture and other things I accumulated in the four years I was away at school. All that added up to the process of packing becoming too overwhelming, so I gave up and left a bunch of stuff there. I’m heading back Monday to start to make heads and tails of it all.

As if packing wasn’t bad enough, there is the actual process of loading everything into the truck. My dad, bless his heart, wanted to help, but due to back injuries, can hardly even walk. He stood in the way, moved one thing at a time, and most of all, aggravated me. He also spent the whole time commenting on how half of the moving truck was full of my shoes. Yes, Dad. Anyone who knows me knows I have a large collection of shoes. It is not my fault, as I said, I’m a shopaholic. (Oh no, I just used the word “collection” to describe my belongings. I’m afraid my own hoarding tendencies are starting to show through. It’s genetic you know!)

Anyway, my fiancé and I loaded up the truck and my SUV and drove the two hours to get to the new place. It was getting late and we still needed to return the truck, so we decided to do a quick unload and leave everything in the garage for the time being. That was Saturday, January 9th. It’s Wednesday, January 13th and most of it is still there.

I did bring up a few boxes from the garage. I started with kitchen gear, and after putting hours of working into it, the kitchen is really starting to come along. The bedroom is pretty complete; it just needs a little artwork or something. The walk-in closet is almost empty as my clothes are almost all still in the garage. (Chris, that’s my fiancé, gave me the entire walk-in because it’s not all that big and, being a shopaholic, I have a lot of clothes.) The second bedroom is almost entirely empty and the office has become a catch all for junk. The dining room/built-in desk area have turned out great. (That’s where I’m working right now. The living room is a disaster, but while look a lot better after we get all the boxes and garbage out. (I plan to post pictures soon, after I find where I packed my camera!)

Finally, I'm happy to report that everything has been great living with Chris (and the two kitties) so far. He's being patient with my slow moving in style and I'm pitching in by making dinner for him so it's ready when he gets home from work. I love the new place; the set-up is great and so are all the amenities. We have even taken advantage of the communal hot tub and workout room. Moving may suck, but it was all worth it!

FYI…I plan to start posting more often, now that I have my computer up and going. I expect the next post will be about my weight loss goals, as that’s the next step. Since I’m still in the process of moving, expect updates on that as well. And as for the exciting part, we are meeting with the caterer on Saturday, so wedding planning is in full swing. Job hunting is on hold at the moment…I’ve got too much going on right now!

Introduction

Writing has always been somewhat therapeutic for me. Many times I have tried to get into the habit of writing more, but I just never did. In October, a co-worker/friend of mine and I got to talking about the books we had recently read (another hobby I have always tried to find more time for with little success). My co-worker and I found we had a lot in common when it came to reading, and she shared with me that she had just finished writing a book. As she became more involved with the process of getting it published, she decided to start up a blog. (Check it out here; her writing style is fantastic!) I began following her blog and was so inspired that I decided to create my own. I’m quite the perfectionist though, and am pretty self-conscience of my writing. I starting blogging, but made it visible only to myself. I’ve decided to go ahead and create a blog that anyone can read, even though I’m sure not many people will!

As you’ll find in the “About Me” section, I’ve recently left my job to move to a new city. I’m moving in with my fiancé for the first time, planning our wedding set for August, job hunting, and many other average, everyday things. Through my blog I can keep all my friends and family up-to-date without having to tell everyone the same thing over and over again. The topics I plan to include are: job hunting, wedding planning, the trials and tribulations of moving, setting up a new place, living with my soon to be husband, the fact that I’m a real shopaholic (hence the blog title) and even my weight loss plan; life in general. So follow me and I hope to bring you some entertainment and if nothing else, a weekly slice of my life.