A new adventure and finding my sweet spot

As if I need another adventure to begin...

Since deciding to put my teacher hat on the hat rack for the next year and putting on my mommy hat, I have been doing A LOT of thinking about what this next year will look like for Max, our kids, and myself.  Most of you know, I LOVE my oils, and I will continue to love and share them with others.  But, I have also discovered another passion of mine that I want to pursue...ORGANIZING!!!

I have always loved to organize.  I even asked for a label maker for Christmas one year.  I never really thought I would ever consider blogging about organizing until I was at my church's summer Bible study for moms.  It happened to be the first day I attended this summer that we talking about this (God's timing is perfect, isn't it?)  We read a chapter from Living Well, Spending Less called "We All Have a Sweet Spot."  The first quote in this chapter is from Ken Coleman.  He says, "People are most successful when they are in their sweet spot.  Your sweet spot is the intersection where your passion meets your greatest strength."  I definitely LOVE to organize (passion).  One of my favorite memories is going to The Container Store in Atlanta before moving to college.  An entire store geared towards organizing.  I also think I am pretty good at organizing.  I'm not sure I would call it my greatest strength, but it is definitely something I think I do well (unlike managing money).  So, maybe I'm on the journey to find my sweet spot.

I am a VERY type-A person and OCD when it comes to cleaning and organizing.  I became obsessed with cleaning and organizing when I was in college and I had roommates that were messier than I was.  I do not have a hard time throwing things away, but a book helped me to think even more about things to throw away and get rid of.  I fell off the cleaning out and organizing wagon when we moved into a much larger home that had more space than we knew what to do with.  While having a large home is a blessing, it also allows you to clutter up unused rooms and keep more than you really need.  It is easy to have a room (or 5) to put things in and just close the door.  However, with the arrival of the "burrito babies," we now need that space and make it more useful for our family.  Enter Marie Kondo.

I am reading an AWESOME book that walks you through how to declutter and tidy your home.  It is called The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organzing by Marie Kondo.  She gives VERY explicit steps of how to do this, and, if you follow her steps, you should only have to declutter your house once.  Of course there is always the day-to-day tidying.  I will be honest, some of her ways of parting with items is a little strange to me (like thanking items for what they have taught you), but I understand what she is saying.

So, i have been cleaning out and discarding.  I haven't totally started the KonMari clean-out as I am not finished with the book.  As crazy as it sounds, I LOVE to throw things out.  Max and I have even talked about putting my love or organizing into something bigger than our own home and possibly becoming a professional organizer.  I definitely have a passion for organization and tidying and have already felt "lighter" by getting rid of things.  I would love for you to join me on this journey as I discover my sweet spot.

~Emily