The February Report

Another month has come and gone. Well... almost.  I'm excited to kick February to the curb. I'm not hating on February or anything. I just prefer it to be out of the way.

I've remained soda-free this month, but it's been really hard. January wasn't so bad - I got through the month without major cravings, but February came along and nearly did me in. I want a Dr. Pepper so bad. It is a daily battle. I have to give myself pep talks. "Stay strong, Britt! Look how far you've come! Don't drink The Sauce!"

I wish I was the type of person who could enjoy an occasional Dr. Pepper without worry, but I know no moderation! I go back to Dr. Pepper like a bad boyfriend. It doesn't matter how much it's hurt me in the past. All I need is one slightly flattering encounter, and I go all in with my loyalty.

Part of the problem with staying off soda is that there is no visible reward for doing so. I don't feel different, I don't look different. I'm not richer. I'm not a better person. I'm still Britt but without something to look forward to in the middle of the day.

Last month I wrote a little about how I feel like should accomplish something great this year. I used to be a very goal-oriented person. Blogging helped me become that way - having a place to write about my progress and having an audience to be accountable to has been a great blessing to me in my past goals. At some point in the past few years, I lost that. I now struggle with setting and reaching goals, but I find myself feeling drawn to something. Some sort of accomplishment. I have this great desire to set a goal and work toward it.

A couple of weeks ago, I was thinking about how much I loved Personal Progress when I was a teenager, and I wished that I had something like that now to motivate me toward personal growth. I always hoped to earn a YW medallion as a leader or as a mother of a young woman someday, but I haven't served in YW since my early 20's, and I still have a couple of years until I have a daughter in YW.

With the new youth initiative rolling out next year, if there is something I can earn in a leadership position someday, it's likely that it will be different from the current program. I started wondering if I could earn the YW medallion as a regular Joe Shmo since the leader/mother thing isn't going to happen. According to the Personal Progress book, "Other women who desire to participate in and complete Personal Progress may do so by completing the same requirements as young women and by assisting a young woman with a portion of her Personal Progress." (p 93).

So I'm going for it! Scotty is taking the place of "parent and/or leader" as I fulfill my requirements, and we've had some good discussions as he has signed off on my progress. I called our stake YW president and made sure I was interpreting everything correctly, and she was really excited for me (she was my YW president when I earned mine as a youth).

For the past two weeks, I've tried to spend at least an hour a day (multiple hours on Sundays) working on Personal Progress, and it has been wonderful. Just as Marie Kondo came into my life at the right time, Personal Progress came to mind when I needed it! Another answer to my prayers!

I encourage you, if you're feeling drawn to doing the same, to give it some consideration, especially if you have any interest in the current program. I think it would be cool if a bunch of women in my ward earned theirs, too, but the season isn't right for everyone (and the season is short... because 2020 will be here before we know it! I mean, look at February with its foot out the door already!)

The great thing about Personal Progress is that there is so much I'm doing already that coincides with the requirements. I'm just putting more meaning and more reflection into those things now, and that adds a greater measure of the Spirit each day. I'm also becoming aware of some areas of weakness and neglect that I've developed over the years. I thought I was already "aware," but now I'm tragically aware. Needless to say, I've wandered a bit

So enter March. I have some work to do.

Sick Day

I'm sick!

Not complaining. Just stating the fact.

We've had a relatively healthy winter so far - just a few minor coughs and stuffy noses - so we are due.

Nicky was first. He came home from a weekend scout camp with a sore throat and fever. He slept all day Sunday. Daisy was next - waking up Monday morning with the same symptoms. Now it's me (though no fever for me so far). Nicky was well enough to go to school today, but I kept Daisy home. She and I are using today to be lazy and catch up on some Netflix and reading. Fortunately, I didn't have anything dire on the schedule for today, but I did have intentions of going for a run.

It won't be long before the little tornadoes come home, though, so our lazy time is limited.

Over the weekend, Scotty installed a new shower head in our master bathroom. We've lived in our home for 15 years, and we still had the original, builder-grade shower head from 1996. We've always talked about getting a new one, but there have always been other things that take precedence. We finally bought a new shower head for our Valentine's Day gift to each other. We got one with a stationary shower head and a sprayer. Scotty has always been too tall for our shower. Now he can actually stand up straight and rinse his hair!

We thought the sprayer would be good for rinsing our girls' hair out... turns out, Eva is terrified of it. On Sunday morning, during bath hour, you would've thought someone was being murdered in the tub.

I let Daisy try the sprayer on her own hair. That was stupid. She sprayed the bathroom counter and mirror and flooded the floor within about five seconds. I also caught Zoe spraying the ceiling and singing a song about waterfalls (a Zoe original). I haven't yelled the phrase, "Point it down!" that many times since 2009 when Nicky was potty training.

On Saturday night, our furnace went out.

We are on our third day with no furnace. It's chilly, but we're surviving. In the meantime, we keep telling the kids, "Just pretend we're camping!"

We sure take warm houses for granted! I can't tell you how many times a day I get the impulse to bump up the thermostat.

We borrowed some space heaters. Apparently space heaters are a common thing; everyone owns them but us!

The furnace should be fixed by tomorrow.

Until then, I'm staying in the sweats I've been wearing since Sunday.

UPDATE: The furnace tech was able to come today instead of tomorrow. He had the furnace up and running just in time for me to get hit with fever, chills, and body aches. Now, can I please sleep for the next 24 hours? Ha! No. I'm a mom! But I showered and changed out of my Sunday sweats... into some other sweats, and I feel like that was a step in the right direction.

My kids don't have school today (and ten other random facts)

Fact #1: I've enjoyed sharing my KonMari experiences with you all, and I've especially liked the conversations I've been able to have as a result of those posts!

Fact #2: Several people have asked me how I feel about Marie Kondo's 30 book "rule." I never interpreted it the way the internet did. In her show, she stated that she tries to keep her own book collection to thirty books at a time. Nothing about that bothered me.

Fact #3: I have no qualms over getting rid of books, though. I love books, of course, but I don't need to own them (this is a drastic change from my twenties when I wanted to own every book known to man). When I buy books, I usually pass them on to someone else or donate them afterward unless I end up doing a lot of highlighting and know I'll revisit the volume again and again. I use the library a lot, and I'm starting to use Kindle more. I like the highlighting and search features of e-books (I never thought I'd make that transition).

With that said, I have well over 30 books remaining.

Fact #4: I've finished "tidying up" most of the interior of my house. There is still work that can be done in my children's bedrooms, but I don't have as much control over what we keep and discard in those areas. I got rid of quite a few of their things, and as a result, I've had a month of being yelled at and told I'm hated at least five times the normal amount.

(Did you know my kids hate me? They'll tell you all about it. Maybe someday they can write essays about it and earn scholarships. Or free therapy).

Fact #5: When the weather gets nicer, we'll begin the worst of the tidying up... the garage and shed. Heaven help us! That's Scotty Territory, and for some reason, he thinks his deceased grandfather's three shoe horns spark joy.

Fact #6: Lately I've been having a particularly difficult time with Eva. My three-year-olds have always been really hard, and Eva is no exception. Since Christmas, she has spiked!

(And she hates me. Just in case that's not already clear. She also hates everything else. Don't worry, she'll tell you all about it).

She wakes up in the night and comes into our room and yells at us because she wants milk or different pajamas. She won't go to preschool, dance class, or primary. She has a potty mouth, and she hits and kicks. She has meltdowns over ALL THE THINGS - like the color of the peanut butter jar,  a string hanging from her sock, a coloring book not having any 'beautiful' pictures to color, not being able to go swimming outside at grandma's house in February, and not having a ninja costume.

Fact #7: This week I had to help out in Eva's preschool class. She started throwing a fit in class, and there aren't very many places in an elementary school to take a screaming child where they won't be a complete disruption, so I opted for the bathroom (her sounds still reverberated through the two adjoining classrooms). I spent about an hour overall with Eva laying on the bathroom floor kicking and screaming (we went in and out several times). I had to do that thing where you act all calm even though your blood is boiling, and I had to use my fake, "I'm in control, and I can handle this" voice.

Fact #8: Due to the aforementioned Eva difficulties, church has been a real beast. I haven't had a decent Sunday yet this year.

Eva clings to my legs and pulls on my clothes while I do singing time. It makes me scatter-brained, sweaty, and angry. And I just keep a big, fake smile on my face - the kind that shows my inner crazy - while I sing all the wrong lyrics and pray she doesn't pull my skirt down in front of the kids.

I dread Sundays! Absolutely dread them. I'm already showing symptoms for this week, and it's still two days away.

Fact #9: How did I spend my Valentine's Day? Why, thank you for asking. I broke up fight after fight between my children from 6:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. But in the middle of it all, I managed to prepare a my first ever... traditionally roasted turkey! It took me six hours from start to finish to get that dinner on the table, and all my kids wanted was the frozen corn that I spent three minutes microwaving.

Fact #10: Okay, okay. I exaggerate a little. They also ate some mashed potatoes and gravy which I made from this heart-shaped beauty:

Twenty Years Ago

It's Valentine's Day!

And with the stress of multiple Valentine's Day parties this week, and having to buy all the Valentine's, make the stupid boxes, and remove candy wrappers from every nook and cranny of my house, I have to say... it can't be over soon enough!

Add parent-teacher conference, scout camp drama, orthodontist appointments, volunteer hours, an eye appointment, snow, and kids home from school to the mix, and I'm a bit of a mess. 

But let's pretend I'm fine and that Valentine's Day is wonderful.

And let's rewind to the year 1998, and I'll tell you a love story. It's the Scotty and Brittany love story. And it's the most romantic thing you'll ever hear - far better than any regency romance novel or Hallmark movie. 

When I was 14, I knew who Scotty was, but I'd never paid much attention to him. We went to the same church, but he was older than me, so we didn't really interact. If I'd run into Scotty at the store, I would've known who he was, but I wouldn't have said hello. That was the extend of our relationship. I didn't attend church very often at that time, but I occasionally went to weeknight youth activities, and that is where Scotty eventually caught my eye. 

At one activity, we were playing that human knot game where you stand in a circle and grab random hands. Then you have to untangle the circle of people without letting go. 

To this day, I maintain that Scotty grabbed my hand. He is unsure... "I never would have grabbed a girl's hand!" he says. And though it was very uncharacteristic of young Scotty, he really did grab my hand! And I liked it! And long story short, I went home that night and wrote in my journal that I was going to marry Scotty.

Five years later, I did.

The End.

Oh, but wait! Let me fill you in on a few more details. 

After my journal entry, my little crush grew bigger and bigger. I started going to church every week to see Scotty. I would casually ask people about him. I started conveniently walking by his house (it helped that it was on the way to my best friend's house). 

Scotty was in high school, had a job, and had his own car. I was head over heels in love with him, but I wasn't trying to pursue anything. I assumed he had a girlfriend.* Plus all my aspirations were for the future - I was going to marry him, and I was willing to wait. I figured our romance would take place in young adulthood. In the meantime, I was just having fun doing a lot of daydreaming and practicing my signature with his last name.

The day before Valentine's Day in 1999, I took him a Valentine. It was just a card with a sucker on it that I swiped from my little brother's valentines. It was meant to be funny and was based on an inside joke we had - now that we actually spoke to each other. We had become friends, but I figured he thought of me like a little sister. 

The next morning - Valentine's Day - happened to be a Sunday. I got up and was getting ready for church when my step-dad informed me that there was something on the porch for me. It was a rose. I assumed it was from my dad - he would occasionally bring a treat or balloon for Valentine's Day and leave it on the porch. 

I picked the rose up and turned it around and saw "From Scotty" written on the wrapper. 

I was in complete disbelief and even thought that it might have been from the Scotty who lived next door - who was 10. It couldn't be from 17 year old high school Scotty to whom I had betrothed myself! 

I had a friend do some detective work. She made a phone call, and she found out that the rose really was from him! The Scotty. The one I wanted!

And that's how it all began. 

Twenty years ago!

*Little did I know that Scotty had never even been on a date and that he wanted to grow up and live alone in the mountains. I ruined his life's plan, but he forgives me.

FluBritt Goes KonMari - Episode 4

As I've written about my experiences with "tidying up," I've assumed that my readers know the basics of the KonMari method. Just in case you're not familiar with the process, one of the biggest parts of "tidying up" is going through your belongings by category (clothing first, books second, as recommended by Marie) and choose what to keep. To decide what to keep, you hold each item in your hands and discern whether it "sparks joy." If it does, you keep it. If it doesn't, you get rid of it.

"Get rid of it" sounds harsh. There's more to it than that. Before you set something aside to donate or discard, you thank it. It sounds silly, but these actions really have a lot of meaning. First you're identifying what you love and what has real importance and significance in your life, but then you are also expressing gratitude for the things that have served you, taught you about yourself, and fulfilled their purpose.

The bookshelf post-KonMari

Saying "thank you" to my nasty, old, pit-stained shirts felt ridiculous. I did it anyway. Clearly they worked hard on my behalf. They deserved my gratitude. But as I moved on to other things, saying "thank you" became emotional and necessary. I wasn't sad, though. My emotions were a combination of excitement and gratitude - excitement to move on and gratitude because my belongings really had served me well and fulfilled their purposes. And for the things I rarely used, I was excited to send them on their next journey. Marie says,

"I have never encountered any possession that reproached its owner. These thoughts stem from the owner's sense of guilt, not from the person's belongings. Then what do the things in our homes that don't spark joy actually feel? I think they simply want to leave... Make your parting a ceremony to launch them on a new journey."

There are a few items I had to have a special parting with. 

First was my wedding dress... or what was left of my wedding dress after cutting it up to make a blessing dress and baptism dress. At first I wasn't sure if I should get rid of it, but after thinking it through, it became clear that the time was right. I felt especially good about it since the dress had been used for other meaningful things. I held the scraps in my arms and... dare I admit it... put my veil on my head and sat there for a minute, grateful I had no audience. I thanked my dress, thanked my veil, and then set them aside.* 

Another item was my baby blanket. The funny thing is that I never had an attachment to this blanket, specifically. It wasn't "THE" blanket (I don't recall ever being attached to one blanket). But it's the only one I kept from my childhood, and it was super comfy and worn. I held it several times, and I spent a morning with it wrapped around me while I ate breakfast before I thanked it and placed it aside. 

Then there was Scotty's animal quilt. He refers to it as his "Eagle quilt." His mom made it for him when he earned his Eagle rank in Boy Scouts at age 13. After nearly 25 years, it was falling apart. It had holes in it, and the batting was falling out. A few years ago I thought about repairing it, but it would have needed so many patches that the repairs would've made it an entirely different blanket, and the best part of that quilt was how comfy it was from wear. We kept it in the basement for a while and brought it out for camping and outdoor events. It was a great quilt! To say good-bye to it, we washed it (so it would be nice and fresh) and slept with it one last time.

The next morning, I folded the blanket and carried it into the kitchen where Scotty was sitting at the table. I stuck it in his face and said, "Thank your blanket." 

He responded with, "Uh... thank you?"

And then it went away. 

I laughed when this video was posted online the same weekend I got rid of Scotty's blanket:

Some things that were really hard to go through were the mementos and letters from Scotty's mission. As I started tackling those boxes, I sorted through a few letters and honestly didn't want them to be part of our lives anymore. At first I felt guilty, because I felt like I was supposed to want them, but I made the decision to get rid of my letters to him and his letters to me. I don't like myself in those letters, and I can't stand reading them. But I didn't feel it was my place to get rid of letters from other people, like Scotty's friends and family. I didn't feel comfortable reading any of them, so I asked Scotty what he wanted to do with them. He decided he didn't want to keep them any longer. They fulfilled their role at the time they were sent and received. So we thanked them and they went away.

Of everything we released, I think it was the mission items that were the most freeing. As soon as we made the decision, we felt really good moving forward. We have no guilt leftover!

Marie Kondo believes that our belongings have energies and feelings. She likes to tap books to "wake them up." And she believes that her folding method allows us to put positive energy into our clothes through touching them. People might find this idea to be a little bit "out there." I, personally, am not opposed to it, but I probably have a different take on it. I don't have the words to describe it, but there's something. I've felt a sense of sacredness as I've tidied, and I keep reflecting on Moses 3:5 which teaches that God created all things spiritually before He created them physically. I believe that what I have felt is a connection to the Creation.

-----------

When I started this process, I didn't intend for it to go this far. I now have voids in my shelf space and a few empty drawers! It's amazing but also disconcerting. I'm all sorts of panicked about what to do with the free space. Should I just leave it? Are there things in my house that would be better-stored in that space?

It's the same kind of feeling I have when I have free time away from my kids. What should I do with this time? I feel so unprepared.

The pressure!

But it's also really fun when a friend comes over, and my house doesn't really look any different to her, but I'm able to say, "Come look at this!" and show her my empty kitchen drawer. 

*People have recommended that I donate the remnants of my dress to Angel Gowns (a foundation that makes burial clothing for babies). I reached out to some of these organizations a while ago, and they are so bombarded with dress donations that they aren't taking any more. Instead, they are looking for people to sew dresses. Those who are willing to sew may use their own wedding dresses. I thought about doing this, but it stressed me out to the max because my sewing skills are very lacking. 

In Defense of Brocation: Why I "Let" My Husband Go to Disneyland With His Friends

This year my husband will go to Disneyland with his friends for the fourth year in a row. This event, deemed "Brocation," has become a fun tradition for our whole family - even those of us who aren't tagging a long.

Unfortunately, Brocation is sometimes met with criticism. It's a silly thing for the general public to care about, in my opinion. But we occasionally hear remarks from people that it's inappropriate, frivolous, or just downright stupid. Opinions have been expressed that the men shouldn't be taking time away from their families to go to Disneyland. I can't help but wonder if the same comments would be made if they were going on a mountain biking, backpacking, or golfing trip. There's something about it being a trip to Disneyland that makes people upset. One person, upon learning about Brocation, responded with, "What a bunch of @$$holes!"

The tradition began when, a few years back, we were talking with some other families about possibly doing a couples trip to Disneyland or taking our families all together. The expenses and calendaring quickly brought us back to reality, so we decided that the men should go. 

The number of men going on the trip has fluctuated from year to year. It started with 4, and it has had as many as 12. Some of the men are from our church congregation, but most aren't at this point, as it has extended to brothers, friends, and in one case, even someone's boss! 

The Bros leave on a Wednesday, go to Disneyland Thursday and Friday, and are home on Saturday. They don't miss church, and they make the trip as short and sweet as possible. It's also pretty affordable. In past years they have driven, but this year they found an excellent deal on flights, which means they will spend even less time away from home. They usually take their own food and split the cost of hotel rooms or rentals.

Each of the married bros has the support of his wife. This is the most important part! We've all discussed how our husbands deserve a break once in a while (just like we do), and we have no qualms with them going on a Disneyland trip because most (if not all) of them rarely do something independent of their family, work, and church responsibilities. 

While they are gone, we have a blast sharing pictures and stories through facebook, and we even have some inside jokes involving photos of feet.

During the trip, the Bros share lots of laughs and face the woes of their aging. They come back exhausted, unsure if they can do it again, and then they start planning the next year's trip.

For us, it's been a very positive and uplifting tradition to take part in, so the Bros have my full support, despite the questioning and commentary of others.

FluBritt Goes KonMari - Episode 3

Episode 1
Episode 2

As with any lifestyle or self-help book, there are parts of Marie Kondo's book that I'm not likely to adopt. Some things don't work for me right now, but others I won't adopt ever. Fortunately, Marie is on board with this:

"... automatically following criteria proposed by others and based on their 'know-how' will have  no lasting effect - unless their criteria happens to match your own standards of what feels right."

-Marie Kondo

(I'm just not sure if she knew she would be the one that I would apply this quote toward).

The one thing Marie is adamant about is that you must discard first! But after that, "The rest depends on the level of tidiness you personally want to achieve."

With that said, here are a few KonMari practices I'm not moving forward with:

1. The Folding

Okay, most people love  the folding. I actually do, too, but I don't feel like I can turn my life over to KonMari folding right now. For one thing, I can't get the other five people in my house on board with the folding, especially the 3 and 6 year olds. Actually, you know what? All five of them are equally unlikely to jump on the folding bandwagon - not just the littlest, but I think of them first because they empty their dresser drawers on the closet floor every day. Sometimes more than once. So I pick up the clothes in one big wad and throw them back in the drawers.

I can hear what the KonMari believers are saying... "But if you fold their clothes like Marie Kondo, they'll be able to see what's in their drawer, and they won't throw all the clothes on the floor." That may be true, but I'm not up for the experiment right now. Let's just say that if I go through the work to do the folding, and the clothes still end up on the floor, I'll feel so defeated that I'll have to go to DI on an emotional shopping trip, and I'll probably buy all my old stuff back.

On top of that, I feel like the folding is very time consuming, I don't like using a surface area to fold (I fold in the air), most of our stuff hangs in closets, and our dresser drawers aren't tall enough to store our clothing vertically.

However...

I have folded Scotty's and my socks and underwear. We are just testing it out - I don't know if we can keep up with it, as it taints our entire laundry routine. Prior to Tuesday of this week, we didn't mate our socks or fold our underwear. We have literally thrown it all in a drawer for the last ten years, so it's going to take a significantly bigger chunk of time to fold and put away laundry if we keep up on it.

It is pretty, though, I will say.

I also folded out pillow cases. My mom has made my kids pillow cases for each holiday, so we have more pillow cases than the average household, and they look lovely folded up all KonMari-like.

2. Shoe storage

I don't think Marie mentioned this in her book, but I recall her saying in one episode of her show that she like shoes to be stored lined up with their mates in a way that allows you to see them all easily.

So she would probably frown at my practice of throwing them all in a laundry basket on a shelf in my closet.

3. Ditching the sweats

"The worst thing you can do is to wear a sloppy sweatsuit. I occasionally meet people who dress like this all the time, whether waking or sleeping. If sweatpants are your everyday attire, you'll end up looking like you belong in them, which is not very attractive."

Hello, Marie, I am one of those people. I love my sweatpants, and I don't care if I look like I just climbed out of a dumpster, I'm not giving up on my sweats. Girl, please. 

I imagine Marie Kondo putting on sweatpants and being like the princesses in Wreck-It Ralph II when they discover lounge wear.

She don't know what she's missing.

4. Keep things out of the bath

Marie Kondo says you should wipe down your bath products after you shower and put them in the cupboard.

5. Piggybanks are disrespectful to small change

Marie thinks putting change in a piggybank is putting it in a place to be ignored and that it's disrespectful to money.

I disagree. I feel that piggybanks are actually very respectful to money because it allows us to save change until we have a large enough amount to do something useful with rather than just spending it at the McDonald's drive thru (which I also do... because I'm all about balance...)

I really enjoy filling up a piggybank and then taking the change to the bank to make a deposit.

6. Empty your bag everyday

Marie wants you to empty your purse (or bag) every day. This means you have to have a place different than your purse to keep your wallet, keys, Carmex, tampons, whatever... at the end of each day.

Apparently "grab and go" isn't her thing, but it is mine! My stuff will stay in my bag.

Snow Day

Yesterday we were surprised when our school district canceled school because of snow. I grew up and worked in our school district, and I only know of one snow day. I think I was in sixth grade, so it was around 1996. And you know what the whole neighborhood did on that snow day? Went sledding! At THE SCHOOL!

Good times.

One of the reasons our district doesn't like to close for snow is because we have a lot of families in our district for whom school is a source of warmth, safety, and food. They want to make sure that the kids who need food are able to go to the school. Our district is good about snow though. Even though they never close the schools, they are lenient with absences and tardies during snow storms, and they always tell us parents that we have the option to keep our kids home without penalty. So regardless of a formal cancellation, I feel I can keep my kids home if I need to on the really bad days.

 

Obligatory snow photo. I didn't want to go outside, and this

was the closest thing covered in snow I could snap a quick 

picture of (KonMari hasn't reached the back patio yet).

In addition to the schools closing, our county libraries and our dance studio closed. Nicky's junior high orientation was canceled, and the dentist office next to my dentist office was closed, but my dentist office was not. And that's relevant because I had three kids with dentist appointments yesterday. I called the office to see if they were postponing or cancelling appointments, and they responded to me like I was an insane person. So I kept our appointments for 10:00 which worked out well because we also had an 8:30 pediatrician appointment that we (and the doctor) didn't make it to. They had a cancellation at 11:00 that we were able to snag, and it's in the same building as the dentist.

 

Elsa takes (non-licensed) Nemo to the dentist.

Follow that up with burgers and courtesy cones from a very empty Arctic Circle, and we were all happy as clams... except for the part where one kid had four cavities, and the dentist told me that I absolutely cannot put off taking my kids to the orthodontist any longer. My vision is suddenly obstructed by dollar signs. Which reminds me... I have a kid who needs glasses.

Since the kids had an unexpected day off school, I let them stay in their dirty clothes, play video games, "do art," and eat marshmallows for most of the day. 

They also played outside for exactly seven minutes. 

FluBritt Goes KonMari - Episode 2

(Read Episode 1 HERE)

Today I want to share some of my favorite excerpts from The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. I have to say, that when I started reading Marie's book, I was very put off by it. I didn't like her voice in the book. In fact, parts of it made me feel the same way I feel when I get stuck in a multi-level marketing presentation. It was hard to imagine that the person in the book was the same quiet, gracious woman in the TV show. Overall, I gave the book 3 out of 5 stars, but these are the five-star gems I took away and have re-read several times:

"When you come across something that you cannot part with, think carefully about its true purpose in your life. You'll be surprised at how many of the things you possess have already fulfilled their role. By acknowledging their contribution and letting them go with gratitude, you will be able to truly put the things you own, and your life, in order. In the end, all that will remain are the things that you really treasure."

This was, perhaps, one of the most profound perspectives I gained from Marie Kondo. As I "tidied" my house, and came across items that I wasn't sure I should keep, I asked myself, "Has it served its purpose?" This made it a lot easier to identify some of the things I no longer need to keep, but it also gave me the chance to recognize the ways my belongings have served me. And of course, I thanked them for that!

This principle helped me to part with:

• My wedding dress
• My blessing dress
• Nicky's blessing outfit
• Scotty's forest animal quilt

"Truly precious memories will never vanish even if you discard the objects associated with them... We live in the present. No matter how wonderful things used to be, we cannot live in the past. The joy and excitement we feel here and now are more important."

This quote helped me with some of my sentimental items. I don't always need the item to maintain the memory. This helped a lot when I went through an old memory box. Therefore, I let go of:

• A box of meaningful children's clothes (hospital outfits. etc)
• Nicky's favorite baby blanket (I took a photo of it and clipped a 4" square to put in his memory box)
• My baby blanket
• Over half our photos 
• My high school Book of Mormon

"It is not our memories but the person we have become because of those past experiences that we should treasure. This is the lesson those keepsakes teach us when we sort them. The space in which we live should be for the person we are becoming now, not for the person we were in the past."

Because of this, Scotty and I chose to part with:

• Our racing medals

"...don't focus on reducing, or even on efficient storage methods, for that matter. Focus instead on choosing the things that inspire joy and on enjoying life according to your own standards."

During this process, I took a lot of time to consider how we store things. I've been exposed to a lot of messages that proper storage equals organization. Yet, I've spent my entire adult life placing things in labeled bins, and I've never felt like it has solved my clutter problems or made my home orderly.

After two weeks of KonMari, I have emptied:

• Seven large bins
• Four small bins

(These bins held things like blankets, Halloween costumes, holiday decor, things from Church callings I've held, arts and crafts supplies, old video game consoles, etc).

I also got rid of my gift box - the box I kept "go to" gifts in. Gift giving is important to me, and as I looked through the gifts I was storing, I realized, they were things I bought because they were a good deal, not because I personally selected them for people I love. I decided to get rid of the gift box because it's important to me to pick out gifts for people rather than find something random in the box.

"The process of facing and selecting our possessions can be quite painful. It forces us to confront our imperfections and inadequacies and the foolish choices we made in the past."

Boy, does it ever! As Scotty and I sorted through some of our sentimental items, we made the choice to part with:

• Scotty's mission letters

We realized that they had served their purpose (i.e. providing communication while Scotty was serving his two-year Church mission in South Carolina), and we don't feel like we need to re-read them or impose them on our children someday.

So far we have donated six vans full of our belongings, and we have filled our garbage cans four times (not including the things we've recycled), and we still have a huge pile of stuff on our back patio that we need to throw away or recycle. 

(Oh how I wish I had a dumpster for this process!)

I've purged our house many times over the years, but this time it's different. 

Marie says, "Tidying is our opportunity to express our appreciation to our home for all it does for us," and she is so right! My past de-cluttering efforts haven't sparked joy and gratitude like this time has. It's been very spiritual, and it has been such a good thing for me to do emotionally. I didn't even know I needed it!

Things I Spend Way Too Much Time Thinking About

Thing 1: What would it be like to have someone else's mind?

Wouldn't it be fascinating to mind swap with someone for a day? I sure think it would! I would love to experience someone else's processing for a while, just to see how different or similar our minds are. And I bet I can learn a lot about myself from being in someone else's mind. I'd finally have something to compare my "crazy" too.

Thing 2: If I ever write a novel set in modern-day, will my characters use cell phones and/or social media?

Definitely something to consider.

Thing 3: Would I have liked this book more or less if I'd read it in my own voice?

One of my favorite books I "read" last year was The Chilbury Ladies Choir. I listened to the audiobook while I was in Lake Tahoe. The book has several narrators and is one of the only books written in letter/journal format that I've really liked. The readers were fantastic, but they gave completely different voices to the characters than I probably would have in my own head. This made me wonder how different my reading experience would have been if I'd read the actual book. Would I have loved it as much?

Honestly, I'll never know. I can't undo those voices now and give them my own. This is something I think about anytime I choose to listen to an audiobook instead of reading the book myself.

Thing #4: Are the animals acting strange?

Whenever there's a natural disaster, there are anecdotes of animals behaving strangely right before it hits.

When I was in elementary school, I bought a book from the book fair about animals that warned people of danger or saved their lives - dogs that knew their owners were going to have heart attacks and lizards that performed CPR (okay, maybe not... I don't remember the specifics).

It's a habit of mine to watch the animals. So yesterday when hundreds of birds were flying over IHOP in a disorganized frenzy, I couldn't help but think of all the possible disasters they could have been predicting.

FluBritt Goes KonMari - Episode 1

I first heard of Marie Kondo's book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up almost five years ago when a friend reviewed it on Goodreads. I took my friend's review as validation that I didn't need to read it. In fact, the very title of the book repulsed me. Over time, I heard more and more about the book and read more reviews from friends, and most of them found it "meh" or didn't like it at all, so I continued to thrive on the fact that I would never feel pressured to read it.

Over the past few months, in my prayers, I've been asking Heavenly Father what I can do to simplify my life. "Just help me find one, simple way to make my life calmer!" This has been especially important as I've tried to work toward lowering my blood pressure. Whenever my blood pressure tests high (which for the last year has been always), my doctors have asked, "Is there anything you're worried or stressed about right now that could be increasing your blood pressure?" and my answer is always, "There isn't anything specific - I feel pretty normal right now," and then when asked to describe what I feel like, I have to admit that I feel tense and overwhelmed all the time. That's normal to me. It's how I've always felt, even as a child and a teen.

I recall my AP psychology teacher calling me out on this in high school. We took a stress assessment in class, and I scored so high that he kept me after class and asked me why the heck I was so stressed. I said, "I'm not!" because I had no idea I was stressed. It was (and still is) my norm. Now I have a daughter who acts just like me, and I can see it so much clearer now. I'm always on edge! And she is too! Something needs to change!

When Marie Kondo's show came on Netflix at the beginning of the year, it was pretty easy to not pay any attention to it. I'd long ago learned that her "thing" wasn't for me. Then late one night, while Scotty was gone playing basketball, I got this little nudge to watch Marie Kondo.

I made it through about twenty minutes, and frankly, I was a little bored. I didn't have the patience for it, but I thought it was nice to see Marie Kondo in action. She seemed like a sweet lady and not the militant individual I imagined going into houses and demanding that people get rid of their junk and live a minimalist lifestyle. Even though I admired her calmness and her peaceful presence, I was still full of defiance. I watched her make the first couple take all their clothes out and go through them. After that, I stopped the show thinking I wouldn't come back to it. Then I went upstairs and started flipping through my shirts in my closet. I didn't even realize I was doing it. That's how Marie Kondo gets to you!

Despite my Marie Kondo aversion, I have always liked the idea of holding an item and seeing if it sparks joy, so I decided I would do that with my clothes, but I was going to do it my way. Then I thought. "You know what? She has a good point about putting all the clothes in a pile so you can see how much you have. Maybe I'll do that after all."

So pretty soon all my clothes were on my bed and I was holding things and thanking things, and I realized how beautiful it was to express gratitude to the clothing items that had served their purpose. I ended up parting with over half my wardrobe.

As I finished this quick process, I had the impression to keep going with other things. "This is it," my heart spoke to me, "This is the answer to your prayers! It's Marie Kondo! SURPRISE!!!"

So I kept working, and over the course of the past two weeks, I've gone KonMari on most of my house. I continued watching the show, and I even read the book!

I want to write about some of the experiences I've had and some of the things I've learned. I'm not trying to convince anyone to read the book, watch the show, or "tidy up." The reason I want to write about this is because my prayers were answered - not because I want to endorse any particular way of organizing one's living space (in fact, you'll learn very quickly that there are parts of the KonMari method that I am completely ignoring... stay tuned...) I also just want to share my experience with things coming to our lives during the right season. Five years ago, Marie Kondo's principles weren't what I needed, so I'm glad I didn't pick up her book just to hate-read it. It opened my heart to it at the right time!

"You... have been led by fate to read 

[this book], and that probably means

 you have a strong desire to change 

your current situation, to reset your 

life, to improve your lifestyle, 

to gain happiness, and to shine."

-Marie Kondo

Currently {February 2019 Edition}

Reading: Refugee by Alan Gratz (a Beehive Award nominee) and Dare to Lead  by Brene Brown.

Listening to: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Cold.

Watching: Tidying Up with Marie Kondo (like everyone else). I have been saving the last two episodes for when I need motivation.

Craving: Soda. I did very well staying away from soda for a few weeks, but over the past week I've had several tempting moments.

Also Moochies. Always. I ate there last week, and I'm not even kidding when I say that it was so beautiful I almost cried. The fries were so hot and fresh, and the sandwich was perfect.

I can't even.

Singing: "Sugar." I'm blogging fresh off the Super Bowl Half-Time.

Stressing about: The chaos that comes with the first week of the month. I have to do the birthday poster for the school, I'm due for volunteer hours at the school, and I sit in on my girls' dance classes this week (which span three days) so there are extra efforts that need to be made in getting my kids everywhere they need to be. We also need to take Nicky to orientation for junior high, which falls at a time during the week when we have three other places to be (dance, scouts, and Young Men). Tonight during our family council we have to work out all the logistics.

Buying: Hopefully nothing. Our freezer is jam packed, so we really need to spend a few weeks eating what we already have! How do I make myself do it? I kind of rely on grocery shopping as a therapeutic escape. We will need milk, though. Can I make it two weeks with only buying milk? CAN I??? Because I really need to.

Trying: To decide if there's some way I can hold myself accountable and not buy any groceries. Having a blog is a good resource for that, right? Should I commit to documenting all my food preparation and purchases for two weeks? I'm thinking about it...

Missing: Disneyland.

Loving: Having a clean closet. I went KonMari on that thing, and it's so nice.

Frustrated by: My children's inability to keep anything clean and organized. I spent a good chunk of time wiping rocky road ice cream off Wii games this morning.

Looking forward to: Going to see Wicked soon! I bought tickets back in November and then texted Scotty, "Hey, thanks for the birthday present!"

Neglecting: My toenails. I keep them nicely trimmed, but they are still sporting the polish I wore for my brother's wedding.

In July.

Ahem.

Moving on.

Thankful for: My family, my home, my van, and my ability to see, speak, walk, sing, and all the other amazing things I take for granted each day. I also really love that my eyeballs currently have nothing in them and that my nose is currently clear.