Mini Mission Monday

So I love the blog 365 Less Things blog but I can't always find the time or energy to do her weekly Mini Mission Monday. Update on the last one I attempted ... I talked about it here ... and for that week I managed to only do 3 out of the 7 challenges. I organized (and tossed) the kids shoe cabinet, I went through my stationary and greeting cards box (again tossed a few old ones that I don't ever see myself using), and put all the electrical cords and chargers back in the basket where they belonged.

This week, the challenges seem really easy. Sometimes I don't have to take time to organize and thoroughly clean an area. I might benefit from just tossing out a few things and feeling less cluttered. This is perfect during busy weeks where I feel so unorganized, decluttering is bound to help me feel better.

You're welcome to join me ...

Monday – There is usually at least one make-up item among the others that we once thought suited our pearticular kind of beauty but now wonder where we got that idea. If you have such an item but haven’t had the sense to throw it away yet, today is the day.

Tuesday – How many handbags do you have and how many of them do you actually use. Declutter one that that you haven’t used in a long time because you don’t love it like you once did.

Wednesday – Declutter one of those once favourite outfits that you never wear any more. Chances are it is now way out of fashion.

Thursday – Check your keepsake box for something you kept but now wonder why. Declutter anything that you feel this way about.

Friday - What is on your walls? Is there something hanging there simply out of habit that you don’t really want or even particularly like? Now is the time to declutter it.

Saturday - Have a look in your display cabinet there is bound to be something lingering in there that you long ago lost interest in. Time to send it to the thrift shop.

Sunday- Look in your jewellery box – Are you really going to wear all of those earrings again or that ring your old boyfriend gave you? Time to cull a few things in there don’t you think?

(excerpt from 365 Less Things blog)

Project Life March

More March madness ... lots of opportunities to party, go out to eat and enjoy music concerts. Blew the restaurant and entertainment budget this month for sure ... but some months are worth it and you just re-prioritize everything else ... like housework and errands and laundry. LOL.

Favorite things to eat included oyster shooters at Monterey Bay Canners, chicken and waffles at Roscoes, omelets at Broken Yolk, sushi at Love Boat, pizza at Pizza Port, escargot at Oceanaire, shrimp cocktail and prime rib at the Red Rock resort in Vegas.

We never go to concerts ... except this month. I'm always amazed at the $50-$100 prices for well known musicians here in Socal. Plus, you see a dot on stage and end up watching it on the big screen anyway. So we usually pass ... but in March, we had an opportunity to see some smaller bands in smaller venues at smaller prices. We took advantage more than once ... Soja with Anuhea, Green with Passafire, Skanic with English Beat. Love standing in front of the stage and rocking out for sure!

Enjoying birthday goodies and feeling very blessed so many are so thoughtful!

Project Life March

Randomness is the best way to do this Project Life. Things that were part of March get captured here just because and I think I like it better that way. The baseball card size also helps to use the scraps from my scrapbooking stash and I'm hoping to whittle that supply down. In this year of less, I'm not acquiring any new stuff by choice but shopping my stash and using what I forgot about is great!

Business trip to Las Vegas was jam packed with work but time spent with coworkers is always fun. The job I have now is pretty independent and so much is online that having face to face time with my team mates that I'm always talking to via email and instant message is valuable. 

A couple family birthdays in March also brought time together with family. Our extended family (called Hanai in Hawaiian) includes cousins and aunties and uncles. Just hanging out and catching up is always joyful ... plus the kids keep growing so every time we get together, we marvel how life moves so fast.

And only one candle to blow out, let's not keep that one real. haha. Mom always gifts us birthday money in a lucky envelope too. It's an Asian tradition around Chinese New Years but she uses the nice symbolic envelopes year round for love and good fortune.

This year will be one of being brave and to keep going. Focus less on the fears, on what others think and focusing more on just doing it and having a good time. Remembering the important moments here in Project Life is something I'm really excited about too.

Project Life March

Rather than doing Project Life by taking a picture a day, I'm finding that I'm taking the iphone pictures taking randomly throughout the month and just getting them into my Project Life binder. These are the happenings of this month and I'm remembering. That's LESS and really just good enough. I think this is the easiest way to scrapbook yet.

March was birthday month and a tradition amongst my girlfriends is to do happy hour together for each of our birthdays. I chose Monterey Bay Canners because they have wonderful seafood appetizers and dollar oyster shooters. I think my 2 all-time favorite things to eat is always shellfish and noodles.

Wines, martinis and margaritas are always nice to add to the mix. I'm so grateful for these friendships and the good times we are sharing together. 

Just snipping bits of memorabilia like the birthday card keeps this memory keeping process easy. I've never been one to scrap souvenirs and memorabilia before. I always save things from vacation but am never organized enough to get them into scrapbooks. As for the everyday, I dump everything! Starting now to keep a few items here and there in a folder for Project Life and getting them into these pages here. Keeping to this baseball card size keeps it simple too.

Project Life March

I know it's April but I'm finally getting March scrapped into my Project Life album.

Journaled the tabs from the pre-made cover page I started at the beginning of March. This album will be very informal and a gathering of memories one month at a time. No pressure, just whatever I remember. Less is more ... at least I'm getting the memories captured and that's the best part.

Not one to usually scrap 8.5 x 11 page layouts, I'm now discovering that they are easier. There's less space to fill and it's easier to just keep it simple. The same layout ideas and plans still work but just less. I'm liking this very much and looking forward to getting more of the everyday stories told. Plus, I'm printing wallet size pics from my iphone and hope to get better at emptying out that sometime 500 plus photo cache!

Are you doing Project Life? Do you have a billion pictures on your iPhone too?

Imperfection

pic source

I read alot of blogs. Why do I care what other people are doing when I don't even know them? Why would I rather follow them than call up friends or family that are in the real world? Well, simply for perspective. Our friends and family are biased. Sometimes I need to step out of my own comfort zone and my own biases to get a better view. In the past couple of years, that view has lead to more purposeful living and a simpler lifestyle. A life that is imperfect.

Lately bloggers have taken a turn for the "real" and are showing how imperfect their lives really are. We don't live in magazines, we don't live on TV, we don't live like the Kardashians. We live in an imperfect world and I'm actually learning to be very okay with that. Focusing on simplicity meant accepting that I can't do it all, to let go of the things I'm just not interested in perfecting.

Simple Mom recently invited all readers to make a different kind of list. Not a to do list but rather a what NOT to do list. There are things that I'm not good at or am not interested in, so it's just easier to not do them. What a concept!

Things I don't do:

1. I don't cook. My kids will tell everyone I burn water.
2. I don't work out. I'm more a creative soul than an athletic soul.
3. I'm not sentimental, which sometimes means I forget birthdays. Not proud of that but accepting that as a weakness that I won't perfect. If I show my love everyday, then it's okay to forget that one special day right?
4. I don't draw or paint or do anything original. Isn't that what pinterest is for? I love to be inspired by other people's brilliant ideas.
5. I don't sing or play a musical instrument. In a family that totally does, I accept the fact that I'm tone deaf and am missing that gene.
6. I don't judge. I try to be patient and tolerant of everyone's differences but gosh it's so hard when they judge back and it hurts.
7. I don't want to be perfect. Again, so hard to be vulnerable and show your weaknesses because you worry people judge.
8. At the end of the day, I don't strive anymore. I do what I can each day to live the best I can and let the rest go. If not now, then when. Today is just as important as what tomorrow can bring.

When I remind myself of what I don't do, I can then focus on the things that I am good at, that I can do and that comes easy. That's simplicity for me right now.

What don't you do?

Taking LESS to the scrapbooks

A couple of months left of the year, a couple months left to focus on LESS. I finally went through all the layouts completed for the last ... oh ... 10 years or so. Can you believe I've been scrapbooking for more than 10 years?!? Me neither.

Taking them all out, sorting them by year, finally putting on the final touches on a few unfinished layouts. Talk about procrastinating ... waiting years to journal, to glue on the final touches and to put them into an actual album. LESS means tossing one here and there that were never going to get finished. Never meant to be.

I also realized there were some years that I scrapbooked way more than others. Was there more life to live in 2007 than any other year? Over 80 pages versus other years where 10 or 20 was all I got done. I think I used to scrap anything and everything and now I'm more focused on scrapping only the ones that really inspire me. LESS in scrapbooking means what matters most, enjoying the process and just caring less about the rest that I may never get to.

What does scrapbooking mean to you?

I just want to create something!

source

With the holidays around the corner, I am seeing way too much inspiration. (Even the blog is ready. hah.) Oh what fun it would be to just create beautiful things ... just have to remember that everything I've saved in my phone, starred in my blogreader or pinned on pinterest is not a to-do item. Fun ideas are fun! I guess this is one time where LESS need not apply.

The 3 C's ...

... of life speaks to me. You're probably wondering why I chose to start over with this blog. In the year of less, I felt it appropriate to have less in my digital life. Would like to focus on real life now, scrapbooking it more and enjoying it more.

I'm making a choice to take a chance in order to change.
What change means to me right now ...
*less emotional (do I really have to act so tough to avoid hurt?)
*less fearful (try to avoid insecurities about what others think)
*less busy (if I'm spending quality time with the kids, does anything else matter?)
*less productive (things will not be better after my work is done, things are good right now!)

This might take me right out of my comfort zone ... but isn't that what taking chances is all about?

My One Little Word 2011 is ... LESS!

I've been following scrapbooking blogs for a couple of years now. In that one little community, I've been inspired to change my perspective on life and try to live a more meaningful one. Scrapbooking is not just art or creativity, it's memories, it's quality time with family and friends, it's gratitude for the mundane day to day, it's life if you really think about it.

In 2009 I chose the word simplify. I keep going back to that year after year and try to find ways to keep it simple. Somehow, though, life takes over and complexity kicks in again. In 2010 I chose the word mindful. I wanted to stop and enjoy the moment. Really pay attention to life and to what's around me. Slow down the pace and enjoy the journey. That is really hard for a goal oriented, A-type planner like me ... but in the end I spent more free time with the kids and started to eat better. These words have become such a part of me, that it's natural to come up with a new word for 2011.

Last week, the word just hit me. Then every day after that, there was further proof that it was the right word for me right now. LESS. How can I live with less? How can I learn to do or need less? Because really, less can be more. If there's less on my to-do list, there's more time for fun. If there's less to want, then there's more time to enjoy what I already have. If there's less to strive for, then there's more time to be grateful for what god has already given us.

And the word LESS has become my point of focus right now. Are you going to choose One Little Word for 2011?

Ali Edwards' One Little Word
Creature Comforts Thoughts for the New Year
Big Picture Online Workshop
Be More With Less
Minimalist.com