baby steps...

i want to show you

 just a bit of my progress

You might think that it's funny

that my progress includes

yet more

vignettes

but 

a good amount 

of my piles

are stashes of thrifted finds

waiting to be used someday

 it. is. someday.

 i am going through the piles

remembering

my plan

do i  love it?

does it reflect me?

notice the plate above?

even though it is broken

it is a keeper.

i love the colors of the roses

and 

i love that my girls gave it to  me.

it was a sad day when i broke it

i couldn't get rid of it

(i told you i was sentimental)

now it has a home

and 

it is a happy day

i am making progress.

in baby steps

a little every day

soon you will see whole room shots

i'm also getting caught up on my *correspondence*

(that means visiting you'all)

i want to mention a giveaway 

i won a while back

from sweet Rosemary

she sent me these beautiful fairy lights

THANK YOU, Rosemary

i'll be linking up with white wednesday

i'm enjoying the promise of spring

are you?

where am I ?

(warning: keepin' it real post ahead)

This post has been brewing for some time.


Should I  share?
Should  I keep quiet?


 If this is about  MY PASSIONS;
then this is what I'm all about 
right here, right now. 

I am here

 and here

and here.

Donna at Everyday Elegance 
has encouraged me to 'fess up.

I am a keeper.

I am NOT a clean-freak.

I have this quote at my desk.

 a creative mess is better than tidy idleness

I have always been this way.

I am too sentimental.

I love pretty things.

I LOVE old stuff.

I love a bargain.

I can NOT make decisions.

I LOVE old stuff.

I have an antique business.

I need inventory.

I LOVE old stuff.

That, my girlfriends, is a recipe for disaster.

stuff

it 
has taken over
 my home 
and 
it has taken over my life

it is everywhere

to say that there has been conflict is an understatement

conflict with my children

conflict with my husband

conflict in my own heart

every morning 

i would wake up

 and say 
today i will win, today i will  make progress

everynight

I would make my way through the path 
of piles 
to my bedroom

(we have the  last room in the house) 

and fall asleep thinking 
about what a failure I was

everyday. everynight.

when viewing a hoaders episode

I did NOT think

those poor people...why do they live like that?

I would think, "I am so close,

that could be me living like that"

my husband moved my stuff last fall

and I was so  mad 

I could have spit nails

wake-up call

last  winter when my newly, married daughter and her husband

wanted to come stay the night

I didn't have a place for them

in. this. great. big. house. i. did. not. have. a. place.

wake-up call

but the final straw was 
when I finally came face-to-face

with the fact 
that my family was embarrassed by the mess.

I was an embarrassment to my children.

I was an embarrassment to my husband.

wake-up call

ouch.

How did I let it get so out of control?

I was trapped.

Trapped by my stuff

enough is enough

Since January,

I have been on a mission

a mission to

reclaim my home.

It is a long and difficult task.

I am getting there,

slowly.

I still have so far to go.

but 
I  am determined.

Now, every night 
I ask my Mr.

Do you see it?

Somedays it is just a bit

but

progress

is

progress.

Donna's post came just at the right time.
(10 weeks of this and I'm only this far?)

I was feeling tired and discouraged

but she has encouraged me to keep going.

THANKS Donna

over the next few days
 I might share some of my strategy

or 
I  might  not.

My computer time has been limited

because

I am here

oh, progress

sweet progress




my sweet friend reminded me of one of my favorite verses:




"The unfailing love of the LORD never ends!


By his mercies 


we have been kept from complete destruction.

Great is his faithfulness;

his mercies begin afresh each day.


 Lam. 3:22-23




thanks jane, for the words of hope