Merry Christmas 2018!

Merry Christmas! There's always so much prep and then the big day is here... whether we're ready for it or not. With several busy days ahead with family and friends, I wanted to pop in now and wish you all a wonderful Christmas. It's late on Christmas Eve and I'm taking advantage of a few quiet moments :)

We celebrated with my family yesterday and will be celebrating with my husband's family on Christmas Day. Then I'm hosting an extended family celebration on Boxing Day.

Merry Christmas 2017!

Merry Christmas! Lots of preparations and build-up and it's finally here :) This is our first Christmas in our new home and it's been fun to create new traditions and memories here. Also neat to figure out how to decorate in new spaces, bake in a differently laid-out kitchen, and give cards and gifts to new neighbours. Lots of changes. But good ones.

We're spending Christmas morning with the 4 of us and then my in-laws and sister-in-law are joining us for brunch before we head over to my parents' home for the afternoon and dinner with my family. Tomorrow we will have dinner with my hubby's family. Lots of celebrations :)

Since it will be a busy few days I wanted to pop in and wish you a Merry Christmas now :)  Stay tuned for the next post in the #NetZeroClutter series tomorrow too!

Merry Christmas 2016!

Yay! It's Christmas!  There's always so much build-up to this big day, and I love seeing everything come together. Being organized and doing as much as I can definitely helps with that :)  That way when unexpected things come up or changes in our lives that make it hard to do things the way we usually do I can roll with the punches.

We'll be spending Christmas morning at home with just the four of us initially and then my parents will be joining us for brunch.  Then we head to my in-laws for the rest of the day to celebrate with them.  We also join my extended family for dinner on Boxing Day. So since I won't have much time to fit blogging in, I wanted to take the opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and I thought I'd give you a peek at how we've already been celebrating Christmas!

Tips for Decluttering After Someone Passes Away {Decluttering Sentimental Items - Day 30}

Today in the Decluttering Sentimental Items series, we're talking about decluttering after someone passes away.  This is probably the hardest time of all to declutter... everything feels sentimental because it belonged to the person you lost.

If you're in the position of decluttering after a loved one has passed away, first of all, I'm sorry. And I hope these tips help you through this painful time.

There are LOTS of different opinions out there and I think it's something that's different for each person and each family and each situation. What you keep and what you let go of, as well as how long you take to go through things, will be different from someone else. It's hard no matter what. You know yourself and how you deal with things, so tackle this in a way that you will be best for you.

I haven't had to personally deal with this topic so I asked my friend Danielle to guest post and share her tips and experiences on decluttering after a loss.

Tips for Decluttering Inherited Items {Decluttering Sentimental Items - Day 24}

Today in the Decluttering Sentimental Items series I'm sharing tips for decluttering inherited items. Let me start off by saying, as with everything in this series, I'm not telling you that you have to declutter these sentimental items. It's entirely up to you what you let go of and what you keep. And if you have lots of space to store inherited items, or you actually use your inherited items, then they're really not clutter and you can keep them if you want :)

But if your home is cluttered with a lot of these particular types of items and the past is getting in the way of enjoying your present and your future, then it's time to think long and hard about what you really have space for and what is most important to you. These tips are to help you.

Merry Christmas 2015!

It's Christmas!  Yay!!  There's always a big rush to finish things, but once it's done I love the actual celebrating part.  So do my kids :)

Merry Christmas 2014!

It's Christmas!  After all the preparations, it's finally here! I never know who's more excited... my kids or me! OK... it's probably both :)

What Do Your Loved Ones Think? {4 Steps to Your Healthiest Year}

Last week I told you I'm going to set some goals in 2015 to help me live a healthier life.  I know it may seem strange to see posts about health on an organizing blog, but as I mentioned, whenever I take on a challenge, I do it in an organized way!  I know there are others who will make resolutions to be healthier in 2015 and I want to help you be organized in your journey to health as well.

I also told you about a 4-Day Healthy Living Challenge and invited you to join me.  I can tell from the tracking code that no one has signed up yet :(  I'm hoping it's just the time of year and that you'll still be joining me in the new year as I take steps to being healthier.  I received several comments and emails that indicated you'd be jumping in in January too!

But, I wanted to reach out to you again and invite you to join me now.  Here's why.

Day 1: Planning for Christmas {12 Days of Being Organized for the Holidays}

Do you get overwhelmed during November and December?  Do you get to the end of Christmas Day and you're exhausted and wonder if it was all worth it?  There's shopping, baking, wrapping, card-writing, cooking, and decorating.  All in the midst of parties, gatherings, and celebrations with everyone and anyone you've had contact with all year!  It's a lot to juggle.  And it can easily become overwhelming.

But it doesn't have to be that way.  With some advance planning and organizing, you can simplify the holidays and get things done earlier, so you can breathe and actually enjoy this festive season.  Doesn't that sound good?

To help you do that, I'm going to be writing a series called 12 Days of Being Organized for the Holidays.  Each of the 12 posts will focus on one aspect of being organized for this special time of year.  I'll spread the posts out over the next 6 weeks, with an average of 2 posts per week.

Each post will have practical tasks you can to get organized.  If you've already completed those tasks {good for you!!}, feel free to do something else that's overwhelming you.  If you haven't checked these items off your to-do list yet, then spend some time working on them so you won't have to do everything all at once at the end.

OK, so now that I've told you about the series, let's get to today's post!  I'm going to kick this series off with some tips to help you plan out the next few weeks.

Meet My Family!

For those of you who have been following my blog for awhile, you'll know that originally I didn't share pictures of my family.  You only got to see the backs of their heads sometimes :)  I even blurred their faces out of some pictures.

I wanted to keep their faces hidden for privacy and protection reasons.  My personal friends and family could see them on Facebook, but I didn't share them publicly.

Gradually over the last few months though, I've been including pictures of my hubby and kids in some of my posts.  I feel like those of you who read this blog are my friends.  It felt weird not to share such a huge part of my life with you!

So today you get to officially "meet" my family!