14 April Challenge: Project "Purge" {Wrap Up, Random Info, a Video and a Link Party!}

Maybe it's the fact that I haven't been getting much sleep.  Or the fact that life just smashed me with crazy busy greatness {are you kidding, baseball season, spring concerts, home demolition!  More on that in a minute!}.  Or the fact that I just am, that random.  Yes, I know that last week's inspiration post was random, and today is dose numero dos of randomness.

So let's back up.  Last month I challenged everyone to a life simplifying purge.  To purge at least thirty items within the month.

I shared tips and purges from our Entry, Living Room, Kitchen, Bedroom & Bathroom.  And boy did I start out strong on the selling front!  Seriously, I made a total of $308.56.  That's like two weeks worth of groceries.  Or $308 dollar menu items.  Or $308 worth of excess clutter I had taking over our home that wasn't being used.  And yes, some things are still lingering on the Craig's famous list.  And I still have a pile of bedroom items to take a moment to list on eBay.  And a giant bin of items to take to Goodwill.  But at least the room's are purged!  What a WONDROUS feeling!

In fact, I only listed and sold items from my first couple room purges, and then life hit us with a crazy storm and the selling process got delayed a bit, but I can't wait to see what else I can heave on out of here with a little play moola in my pocket to boot.  It's so addicting.  In fact, the amount of items I still have left, is calling for a garage sale.  And our town holds a giant festival along with garage sale days, so we have until June to get one set up.  I will absolutely blog about our triumphs or errors as we go!

So back to this big fat stack of 308 dollar billz.  As some spied in this post here... I splurged on a mini reward!

Yeppers, because FLIP is shutting down shop, I found a pretty decent deal on it, it was down to $180 from the original $200 price tag, plus I found an additional 15% off coupon code and free shipping... so total it was around $165, for a total savings of $35 on the 2 hour 8gb model.

Leaving $143 dollars to spare.  And the flip takes up oodles less space than the rug, canisters and baby items that I purged!  It tucks neatly in a dish on top of our shoe station for quick and easy grab and shoot access!

I am pretty excited all that purging paid off and I was able to gain a little reward.  And although I haven't played with it much yet, it will be a great addition to this here blog!



And a button for you:








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I can't wait to see all of your success and feel your happiness in letting go of the clutter.  It's so freeing!  I am keeping the link up party open extra long this month to give everyone a chance to finish up!  I know, it doesn't happen over night or in a month.  Plus, don't forget to take note of the things you said goodbye to and why.  And remember, we can purge at any time, it's great to do a quick purge sweep of each room, each month to ensure we don't let clutter engulf our homes!

So let's talk about May.  A new project?  A new challenge?

Well, I have some SUPER DUPER exciting news.  Maybe more for me than you, but none the less, this month WE ARE GOING TO BEGIN REFINISHING OUR BASEMENT!  That's right, for those of you newer to this blog, last year our lower level flooded and it took out our carpet, trim, doors, furniture, etc...  We have been working on assessing the problem and planning on ways to future proof it from happening again.  We will be installing new flooring, painting, installing trim and doors and redoing the stairs leading to the lower level {the stair carpet also had to be pulled}.  And we will be starting over the next few days/weeks.  This means that our house and world will be crazy busy flipped upside down and chaotic, and I CAN'T WAIT!  Plus, the kiddos bedrooms are going to finally get finished up as we begin moving things around again, so there is a lot in store for our family and you as blog readers!

So I am deeming May, "Project: Projects".  That's right.  We are tackling projects of all sorts this month.  Painting.  Organizing.  Building.  Oh my.  And the party at the end of the month will be all about linking up this months completed projects.  No limits.  Any single project accomplishment is worth acknowledging, so the link party should be grand and fun and full of ideas and inspiration.  I am SO excited I could squeal with delight!!

That being said, we have been running around like chickens with our heads cut off {all though, I have never seen what that actually looks like and the thought is quite disturbing}.  Please forgive the fact that I am a week out on emails, lacking sleep and a tad flighty.

I have a lot of comments to get back to from the last couple of posts, but one trend was "How do you keep your home so clean and organized with three kids?  How do you get them to help?  How do you keep them out of your things?"

Well, that's absolutely deserving of it's own post, however, I will leave you with this "says it all" funny little video I found that my kiddos made with the new Flip, while I was vacuuming one day.... {you may want to turn your sound down, just a warning}

How Three Boys Will Play... from Jen Jones on Vimeo.

Note: credits were cut off.  Realized it way to late in the game to fix it, so much to learn still.  And what's up with the baseball glove?  Michael Jr?  And sorry for my little screamer mocking the most annoying sound in the world {flash back to the movie Dumb & Dumber}.  It's fairly typical around here.  Hopefully all you mommy's can now see that life is just as crazy here as it is there {or more so}  And I adore that!

See, another tangent post.  I have a feeling this is the new trend.  So how much did you rake in last month from purging?  Any fun splurges to reward yourself?  Who felt incredible once their rooms were simplified?  What project{s} are you going to tackle this month?  Anyone taking on a big landscaping project now that spring has sprung?  Spray painting with delight after months of withdrawals?  Want to see more videos?  Who else has kid's as crazy as mine?

I decided a little challenge would be fun! This month we are spending the next thirty days saying goodbye to thirty things!  Wanna Join in?  Take photos and blog about your awesomeness as you go!  I am hoping to do a giant, "We did it!" celebratory post where we can all link up our purging success stories at the end of the month!