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21 January 2015

wide open spaces

You're not going to believe this because it really goes against the spirit of the new year and the beginning stages of spring cleaning but I've been on a serious mission to get rid of everything. Within reason. Like, if you have a pulse ... you can stay ... otherwise ... in the minivan trunk you go to the donation bin (love those bins that are everywhere around here!) because that is one fewer thing we will have to haul down to Tampa in a few months. No, no, no - I know you're doing it too! I do. Everyone is doing it. But it's great. I've never been a neat freak and never will be but I swear my blood pressure drops several points when I walk around the house and spot an uncluttered corner or (a rarity!) a nice clean room. And catching a glimpse of a corner of piled up crap has the opposite effect, sadly. So maybe I'm just a neatish freak. Who knows.

Our living room has gone through the most permutations ever since we moved in because, well, it just has. We spend the most time there and it's the first room you see when you walk through the front door blah blah. We've always had a trunk or a table (or both! dumb dumb) as a coffee table because of course! Everyone needs a coffee table! Right? Well, I had a kRaZy revelation and decided that the frequency at which we sit and enjoy coffee (or water or something more exciting like alco-hawl) without a little angel face spilling said beverage is a big fat zero so ... adios trunk. The trunk went up to our room (I know! it should've just been removed from the house but I want to see the Florida housing situation before I get rid of every stick of furniture) and the kids have seemed to gain a new lease on play life.


I took some real nice photos to show you said lease. 


Real nice.


the kids normally migrate down to the basement because that's where the bulk of their toys live which is great but we're in the process of painting over their many Crayola murals down there and tidying things - hold up - this is something future Grace might look back on and be like, "wtf wtf wtf - what were you blogging about and were you intoxicated, former Grace?!"

Sorry. Nope, sober!

Let me finish strong with a cell phone snap so you can get a better idea of the situation ...


{Sebastian was in his room because he bit Julia. Really hard. Broke skin, left a bruise, and all. He'll be living there until, "he needs to go to Costco or Target" according to the victim who is milking her wound real good.}

Anyway, don't get me started on how smart a white rug placement was because we are known for taking wonderful care of our things ...


... and kids aren't just messy and mobile permanent stains waiting to happen ...


At all.

But really. Now I'm eying bulky items like the refrigerator and the toilet and wondering, "necessary?!" or merely customary? and can they go?

I'll keep you posted.

36 comments:

  1. LOVE it! I can't believe you're already gearing up to move - where did this year go?! But alleluia for residency coming to a close! Can't wait to e-witness the great Patton migration :)

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  2. I've noticed that rug and wondered how you managed to keep it clean! I only have one 10-month-old and I'm thoroughly impressed at what a mess just he can make, and It's making me wonder whether I will have any nice things left when I'm finished having my 29 children. Imma guess the answer is... no. Haha. ;)

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    1. haha - I know! I think the same thing about white couches! I got the rug on crazy clearance knowing it wouldn't have a super long shelf life but should get us through showing the house -- at the very very least!!

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    2. I have wanted white couches forEVer and I even got *this close* to buying them once, then remembered I have children and I guess I'll just save that dream for retirement, or maybe as a celebratory purchase when the final child goes off to college?

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    3. I have a white couch + a toddler. I love it because each and every individual cushion is individually wrapped and WASHABLE! 😍

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  3. i need to do this too because you're so right...seeing things disappear does something to that blood pressure! i just love so many things. is it weird to put sentimental value on everything i come in contact with? that's my issue. dang coasters...

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    1. Simon is just like you! And while I know I'll regret chucking our wedding album in the long run - it's nice to be rid of the clutter for now ;)

      Kidding --- but really. I probably get rid of too much stuff when I'm on my rampages!!

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    2. No! Don't succumb to the sentimentality!! It will get you!!! ;)

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  4. Getting rid of things is literally my top 5 favorite things to do (i'm such a fun person). I am constantly doing it! Makes me soooo happy!

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  5. Ok. So my husband is MS2 and we live in Kansas City. You are my favorite blogger and whenever I see your posts I stop what I'm doing to soak it in. Such is the boring life of a medical student wife. Anyway, we are moving to Palm Beach Florida around the same time you are! So we will still stay neighbors, and I won't hate you when you post pictures on the beach in January because hopefully I'll be on a beach too. Oh, and my son broke the glass on our coffee table so I threw it out. We have yet to replace it because there is so much more room for running jumping messing. It's the best. Good call.

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  6. See, I keep trying to get rid of stuff and the kids THROW A FIT at the thought of any of their previous toys that they haven't played with in months leaving the premises... And they have ridiculous memories, so I can have something in storage for a full year and all of a sudden they're asking for it! How do you get rid of their stuff without the drama?

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  7. I loooooove getting rid of stuff, haha. We had a coffee table when we first moved in to our apartment but it has a new life as a bench for the kids to sit on at the dinner table.
    I actually JUST texted my husband to ask if we can get rid of something this weekend!! #tistheseason

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  8. OOoh, I do this at least once a year.....my hubs tells me I get rid of too much. I don't believe him until a few months later I have to bow my head and go tell him we need to find room in the budget for a new whatever because I threw out the one we had because I didn't think we needed it anymore....he is never impressed. Ha.

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  10. I am just like you and I only have about a 5% regret rate...like at one moment in time I regretted getting rid of something...and then I got over it. Getting rid of stuff feels so good!!!!

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  11. We are doing this right now too! Out of necessity from our 8 month almost crawler! I bought a new rug this weekend at Target and when I was checking out the woman said "Oh, you must not have children". When I confirmed that indeed, I had an eight month old she was speechless. Glad I'm not the only crazy to buy a white rug!

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  12. I took a load of stuff to the thrift store last week and just today my oldest was asking to play with something I had donated...kids forget things easily, right? :) Also, my mom would sometimes threaten to put any belongings left lying around in a trashbag to be thrown away- I totally get it now!

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  13. That's an awesome rug! For a second, I was hoping this was a giveaway post and you were going to be giving away an awesome rug!

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  14. Please don't stop blogging, you make me laugh my head off every time! I've been eyeing that rug for a while now, let me know how it holds up to your kiddos, I have two fur balls who probably would give your kids a run for their money. We can trade if you want ;)

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  15. Chris gets rid of EVERYTHING. But it does come back to bite him in the behind occasionally - once he accidentally threw away his class ring. I on the other hand always promise that I am going to fix something that's broken (but rarely do) and get weepy over little things that really aren't of that much sentimental value ... but the little amount that they are gets magnified. Although moving and remember that I have hoarder relatives has made me be bitten by the minimalist bug, too. I've chucked so much.

    Your loved wicker basket and stained glass windows are my favorite parts of the post ... after Phoebe, of course.

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  16. So please tell me what you do/have done/plan to do with all the baby clothes/gear/extras....to move or not to move? I really hate clutter too and storage bins'o'crap in the garage...but the cheapskate in me feels like if we get rid of it, we'll just be wasting money replacing it at some point in the future...thoughts?!?!?!

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    1. good question! I'm pretty ruthless about keeping baby/kids clothes. If there's a stain or a rip - it gets tossed or donated so I don't store a ton of those (and I buy most of their clothes secondhand so I don't feel too bad about replacing when the time comes) and yeah - we store the majority of the gear in the basement. Some things I've found for super cheap at Goodwill or Kangaroo Kids so I have no problem getting rid of it and just finding a new one when the time comes (the bouncy circus play thing that takes up half the living room comes to mind) -- definitely a huge pain storing everything but - oh well! ha

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  17. I got on this massive minimalism kick (erm, still on it), which was awesome, until my husband was like, "We don't REALLY need couches to sit on, do we?" and I was all, "Wtf."

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  18. Your stained glass windows are so charming!

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  19. We moved our coffee table out when my son started crawling and I've never missed it! We have a little ottoman for propping our feet up while we watch a movie, or for Max to practice his jumping off of, whatever.

    Also, I just happened upon a picture of that rug on pinterest yesterday in someone's master bedroom and I fell in love with it and now here it is in your house! Small blog world. Does it shed much? Do you guys have a dog or cat, have they pulled at it at all? We have a cat and my husband is always worried about me buying a new rug and the cat scratching it up.

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  20. I've beed doing the same thing and it's so liberating! Maybe a little addictive too... like I won't be satisfied until the house is actually almost empty, which will never happen bc I'm too sentimental about lots of ridiculous things. Your kids are precious and i love that rug!

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  21. If it's any consolation, my younger brother totally bit me during a wrestling match when he was around Sebastian's age... his pride wouldn't let him lose to his sister, so he went for my collar bone. Broke skin, I screamed at the sight of my own blood, and he got in super big trouble. I may have secretly loved that part... we're super good friends now!

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  22. I need to do this. I should be inspired by this to get myself clearing out more than a few boxes of toys, since we're moving this summer too. But I'm just laughing. Thanks for the laughs :)

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  23. I think everyone who moves goes through the "GET RID OF IT ALL!!!!!!!!" phase. It's a lot easier than packing the stuff up! Just don't be too short sighted. In our last move, there are two things I really regret getting rid of. One is the attachment for our vacuum cleaner for vacuuming the stairs. I never used it in our our last house (a ranch) and really miss it now that we have carpeted stairs. The other thing is a fireplace screen that we had bought for $5 at a garage sale. In our new house, we lived without using the fireplace for quite awhile because it had no screen and eventually ended up buying a new screen for a lot more than that! Oh well. Live and learn, I guess!

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  24. We're stuck inside all winter with a preemie baby and needed more room for the big kids to play, so I got rid of our DINING TABLE! A little extreme? Perhaps. But it has been awesome.

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  25. Oh, Grace, please don't EVER stop blogging. You make my day.

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  26. my sister's husband is doing the same thing. he is almost done with his intern year and are moving to az to do his residency at the mayo clinic. he has already started abruptly getting rid of things and is already packing. my sister is like "wait, babe, i need my pots and pans still" ha!

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  27. Can I ask where you got your super cool wall calendar?

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  28. Yes! Love the wall calendar! Where is it from?

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