Oh me, oh my!

Happy April Fool's Day! And no, the picture above is no joke. That's what I woke up to this morning. It doesn't surprise me. It snowed last year too on April Fool's Day. How do I know or remember? Because last year I was helping a friend out by filming a coupon segment up at the University of Utah. I drove up there and took the wrong exit and was headed towards Park City. The weather was horrible driving through the canyon. I know, I'm weird like that. But that's me, a lot of dates are associated with certain events and that's what helps me remember.

Anyhow, the past couple days I've been on an organizing, de-cluttering spree. Forever and ever I've had the hardest time parting with things. Don't know why, but I just do. I hold on to a lot of things for sentimental reasons. But after reading a friends blog where she mentions her husband has her sell stuff or give away stuff if not used in 6 months, it made me think. If I have something that I haven't used in 6 months or longer, then obviously it's something I don't need. So with that mindset, I've been on a mission to do that.

Now, I wish I could get everything organized and de-cluttered in one day, but that's tough with my schedule. The plan is to take an hour or two each night and do that. Tuesday night was my boys room and their bathroom. The cabinet underneath their sink was a catch-all for everything. When I was done with their room and their bathroom, I had 2 trash bags full.

Last night...it was my fridge and a couple cabinets in my kitchen. I would've done the freezer too, but had to empty it first and shut it off so I can do that today. As we were cleaning out the freezer, I ended up throwing away a few items from in there as we were moving the items from that freezer to the one we have outside in our garage.

In the past with my coupon shopping, my pantry could not hold all the items, so I ended up using my cabinets to store the overflow items. I guess it wasn't a good idea to store items in there because I eventually forgot about them. Here's what I found:

What's the big deal about these? They all are expired -- not just a month or two expired, but years expired. Can you guess the oldest expiration date? 2006. Pretty embarrassing. Not just embarrassing, but talk about waste of money. My excuse? The early stages of my couponing when it was about how many. I think it's a lesson learned. Another lesson learned -- be better about checking the dates and what not of my stock. Definitely a goal to work on.

Next cabinet to organize and de-clutter -- the dishes. Here's what I ended up pulling out:

I know...it looks like a collection you would find at the thrift store or garage sale. That is a pic of our every day plates. We have nice ones for when guests come over, but that right there is a pic of our every day plates. The tropical ones -- a purchase from the dollar store. I loved the print. A black plate when I had a set of black plates. The sunflower design -- I think we got those from my bridal shower. And then there are Christmas plates. Yes, Christmas plates all year round. I finally pulled them out -- moving my nice dishes (a sage colored set) over for us to use every day. And yes, that's how laxed I got over the years.

And the organizing and de-cluttering goes on...stay tuned...I'm sure as I continue, more interesting items will turn up. LOL.