I'm moving!

I'm moving!

This is my formal announcement: starting next Monday (August 17, 2015), I will blog on my author site, www.alexisdonkin.com. I will no longer post new items on this site, however I will continue to hold this site for archival purposes.

Note: My subscription button in the sidebar to the right will connect you to my active newsletter.

End of an Era

It's been five years since I began this blog and a lot has happened. I declared my intention to be a writer. I screwed up - a lot. I got better. I published a ton of books. I mastered many skills and continue to research, read, and try new things. And I keep getting better because of this.

I am proud of what I have accomplished, and I feel it is time to graduate from my hobbyist beginnings into a more professional and streamlined approach. So come over to the site, check out all the goodies there, in addition to the blog, and sign up for my newsletter to get all the latest (as well as periodic subscriber only goodies).

Thanks for sticking with me and sending good thoughts on this next phase of my professional journey.

Apply Where You Will

Last Monday I took my GRE. I was nervous about it. Not about the test - I figure you are as ready as you can be by the time it comes around. No. I was comfortable with how much I prepared.

Rather I was nervous about what it meant.

Having taken this test, I was officially committed to an idea - the idea of attending graduate school and everything that means. In my case, it means moving across the country.

There are no programs in California that interest me. None. When I began looking at things it became clear I was going to have to move far. The schools to which I am applying are all well past the Rockies and each in very different segments of the country. Each of them is scary for one reason or another.

One is Lesotho in the middle of South Africa...or an island in shark infested waters...whichever metaphor you prefer. Either way, it makes me nervous.

Another is in Flatland, coated in vanilla and sprinkled with a dash of whiteness. I get bored thinking about it.

The third is a dream. It just happens to be in Siberia where the sun never shines and the houses have second story doors opening out to seasonal 9 foot snow drifts.

This is my current feeling, though it may be misplaced, delusional, or just wrong. Whatever the case, these are the pictures I have constructed around each school. They are all good schools, and each one is perfectly positioned to help me achieve my goals. I am confident that I would do well at any of them. Of course I have a first choice and my heart tells me that is where I belong, but there are other prospective students. There are other applications.

And I have to submit mine just like everyone else to be carefully scrutinized.

This brings me to my next steps: personal statements, transcripts, recommendations, and curricula vitae.

Time to research so I can make my application as attractive as possible. Because this is happening. I am moving across the country. It is the right thing for me to do and I won't let anything stop me. I am committed.

The House, The City: The Crunchy Hipster Dream

Mom, Dad, Baby & kitty? (wikipedia)

Lately Christian and I have been thinking a lot about where we want to go and how we want to live. It's a question that colors our thoughts daily especially as we've been living with my parents since late October. I love my parents and I love having our family close to them and to my in-laws - especially for our baby's sake; but it's also increased some stress levels for everyone (Yesterday I actually saw lights, my blood pressure spiked so high - not good!).

We have to decide where we want to go long term and how we want to live when we get there. In short, we have to have plans (seeing a trend with me these days?).

Because of Christian's job situation and me being at home, writing with our baby, Southern California (or rather California generally) hasn't really been very hospitable. California has 13 of the top 15 most unaffordable real estate markets in the country. Several of them were areas where we have lived because that's where the jobs were. The others in the state that had work for Christian had something else really unappealing (like horrible air quality or ridiculously high temperatures and no water ANYWHERE). Plus, there are some cultural things in Southern California that we're not interested in having our children exposed to.

Needless to say, California really doesn't feel like a place we can stay without increasing our stress levels enormously. But I also don't want our kids to be far from family...

That means the west coast is the best coast (though I wouldn't mind being back east, I think that wouldn't sit well with either set of grandparents). So where can we go and feel good (financially and otherwise) in the west?

Well seeing as we eat salad and recycle, and think brown people should have rights we can't move anywhere in Arizona (crossed off list). Nevada feels like the same kind of situation, if a little more...uh...seedy organized crime and less vigilante. Idaho...has some possibilities, but it's also pretty conservative politically and I'd rather not live anywhere where accidental eavesdropping could make Christian get into a brawl.

So...that leaves Oregon and Washington.

I love seasons. I love snow (especially when I can cross-country ski in it). I love apples and wool sweaters and fireplaces. I'm not a huge fan of gray, BUT if I have some awesome things to focus on, I can love a place despite gray. Christian hasn't lived in snow, or seasons, but he hates heat. He's a sweatball, and our son takes after him, so I think snow and rain is a better choice for our family than dirt and 120 F.

Plus, we have some friends up there, which is appealing to both of us.

We've played around with different locations and researched things and so far our top two choices are Bellingham WA and Corvalis OR. The question is when and how.

At this point we're thinking around a year and a half from now, or something like that will be a good time to move. This will give us some time to pay off our educational loans (or at least pay them down) and create a nest egg of sorts. Right now that nest egg could be either a micro house on a trailer base (a serious interest for both Christian and me), or a savings account for moving/down payment, or both (ideally both, but we may be able to swing things with one or the other).

If we can pull this off, we'll be in really good shape. We'll have a mountain of debt off our shoulders. We'll own our home (if not the land it's on...yet) and we'll be in our dream location (at least for this part of life). We're focusing on it, which means it will happen, for sure, right? :-D

Declarations & The Master Writer Plan

Yesterday I posted about how excited I am to have been consistently reaching my goals, but of course, being the INFJ Myers Briggs type that I am, I'm always hungry. I want more. I came across Russell Blake's prolific works and it made me irritated. It's hard for me to be a mom the majority of the day when what I'd really like to be doing is moving on my career, especially when I don't have someone to watch the baby (nor can I afford someone to). It's hard and I have to be patient with myself, which I'm learning. That starts with breathing, moves to yogic focus, and then ends with steady results.

What's the focus? Well, I came across another site that helped me hone things a little more. I know my focus of my writing - women (and a little fun on the side). I know how many books I want to write in a year (7 - modest by Mr. Blake's standard, but pretty high compared to most writers) and how long I want to take doing all this. But all of this doesn't mean anything unless I have readers - devout-buy-all-my-books-and-are-hungry-for-more readers.

Readers are how I can make a living. Readers are the point of writing (or well, at least one of the points). So the question is how many readers do I want? How much money do I need to make to live?

This year I need 1500 readers to buy each of the 14 books I intend to have published by December 31 2014.

That would give us enough money to put a down payment on a mortgage in a new city so we can make a fresh start. That's what I need for my family. Now I need to let that goal sit with my subconscious mind for a little while so that I can figure out how to make that happen. I know I can make it happen because already I see a difference in how things are moving in my writing and in my personal space. The intention is there. The declaration is there. And now it's time for things to move.

Speaking of things moving, I need to get writing and editing. Stay tuned for more about promotion, and the first book of 2014.

NaNoWriMo with a Baby?!

I have a plan.

Nope. Not at all.

I am however, going to attempt NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) this November with the kiddo. Even thinking about this makes me sigh like Sisyphus watching the boulder rolling back down...yet...I am compelled.

The crazy ambition inside cannot be stymied. I may have been only half successful with my writing challenge this past summer, but I'm eager to put my writing discipline to the test. Just how much can I write while having a baby strapped to my chest (by the way, he's in a K'tan right now sleeping as I type!)? How much formatting can I do? How much publishing can I do? Can I get an entire book done in a month with a new baby?

*devilish grin*

You bet I can. I just have to figure out how (though I think wearing kiddo in the K'tan while I type is a good start).

The other somewhat lesser challenge is determining which book to write. Okay, that's probably a very minimal challenge. Though I did start writing FAMILY, FRIEND, or FOE a few days ago, I barely have 3 pages. Yes. 3. Sigh. It has to be a similar length as the other books in the series (approximately 130k) which is about twice the length of the expected NaNoWriMo creation. SO...I think that even though I started the book in October (NaNoWriMo is in November remember!) I can get away with passing it off as a November book. I mean, 130k is no small feat, even without a baby.

I'm getting starry-eyed. If I can actually do this, oooh! That would be amazing! I mean, no success seems to be enough for me (a curse and a blessing), but it might go a long way to affirming my skills and abilities. An indie writer could always use that.

Wish me luck...and a few thousand words this week before our move!

Writing with a Baby

First, I'll apologize for letting this go a little in the last week. It was my first week home alone with my newborn, so you'll have to give me a little slack.

As such, I'm discovering trends in his day, which means...I am discovering the times I'll be able to write and how long I'll be able to write.

Don't misunderstand. Babies are infamous at throwing monkey wrenches. They might be doing really well in church and then all of a sudden you have poop sprayed across your skirt, shirt, and baby carrier and need to race home to get a change of clothes (because of course you forgot to bring extra). That happens (It happened to me yesterday!). However, there are, as I said, trends.

Fortunately babies like to nap, even as they age (well until they turn two I guess). They tend to have naps around the same time each day (or in our case, kiddo sleeps for like 18 hours a day and is awake and alert for the other 6 - 3 blocks of approximately 2 hours). So between changes and extensive nursing sessions (and my own very necessary naps) I have the option of disjointed writing sessions.

This is good. This is really good. It means I may actually be able to finish ANDREW and book 4 of KHLOE by late spring (and maybe even earlier if I'm lucky). The idea of having a series finished and another half way done is really appealing to me. And doing it with a baby is possible...and adds another level of gratification to the process (mostly because it creates an additional challenge to the process, and I love challenges).

I'm not sure when I'll start to really pursue a writing routine, especially as we're moving in a few weeks along with all the changes on a regular basis with a newborn. I'm expecting some new daily goals will come out...followed by some more regular blogging. So maybe by Christmas?

Back to the Bay - The Big Move

It's happening.

I am so excited.

Don't get me wrong, we're going to miss our church. Our church in Bakersfield has a great group of people. I would recommend it to anyone who is progressive and finds themselves in Bakersfield.

I also loved my job here. I really enjoyed teaching writing. I would love to do more of it. I also love teaching adults. If I had to choose one age bracket to teach, I'd choose adults every time.

So yes, we will miss those things. And we will miss the friends we've made in Bakersfield.

But... the Bay. The BAY! We have several good friends in the Bay whom we've missed terribly. These friends not only have similar understandings of life, but they are adventurers. They like to try things, and play in life. It's something that is drastically different from Bakersfield, generally.

In addition to the change in people, the Bay is the kind of place that throbs with creative energy. Forget writer's block! Inspiration here I come! Needless to say, I'm excited about the possibilities for my writing and my art.

It's a new era, and I'm so ready for it!

New Year, New Genre? - A Writer's Goals for 2012

I've been hemming and hawing about this post. Last year I made some grandiose goals that were impossible to reach, and I knew they were, but I made them anyway. Because of what I learned in 2011, I feel better equipped to tackle 2012. Of course, a lot of things have changed since last January.

Since January 2011,

1. We moved from Hayward to Bakersfield.
2. Christian and I were apart for 2 months during the summer.
3. We sold our house in Phoenix.
4. I published The Brothers in digital and paperback formats.
5. I finished writing Lovers and Rivals as well as an unrelated book, James: The Rollins Pack.
6. I also began Lilith and Ammon, book 3 in the Khloe Alwell Series, as well as novelized the majority of the first script of The Apex Saga, Legion.

 All in all, I feel pretty successful in what I was able to do considering some of the life changes that happened this past year. I feel this way despite not having reached my stated goals.  So I guess the question is, what's on the docket for 2012? Well, quite a lot is happening actually.

1. I will publish both James and Lovers and Rivals in the next couple months (both as ebooks and paperbacks).
2. I will co-write at least two scripts for The Apex Saga.
3. I will likely finish Lilith and Ammon, hopefully publish it, and get started on book 4 of Khloe.
4. I expect to work on, if not publish, book 2 and 3 of The Apex Saga.
5. I'm hoping (if I can find the time, and depending on how James is received) to write a sequel to James' story from the perspective of Jeremiah, his older brother.
6. I will play badminton more or less every Sunday afternoon.
7. I'm going to get totally awesome at Zumba 2 for Wii.

This might be a little ambitious, but I think I can do it.  The reason I'm being so intense about my writing is because I have read, time and again, having more books out is better. The reason for this is because you appear more serious as well as having more ways for potential readers to get hooked on your stories. It's a good thing I'm so prolific.

In any case, I hope you'll all follow along on my super intense writing journey during 2012.

Day 1 of Moving Fun - Bako

Moving is always long, stressful, and difficult. Sometimes it's more so than others. When you don't have any help loading and unloading your truck, it's the worst.

Add the fact you didn't bring water, drained the battery of your truck, and suddenly realized your new apartment was a little smaller than you originally thought, and you've got a recipe for awesome.

Maybe I'm just old, but yesterday was completely exhausting. When your legs are buckling under you as you search for a shower curtain in Target, it's bad. I collapsed into bed, muscles relieved, and promptly fell asleep, only to wake up at 3 am, too hot to fall back asleep.

Today is going to bring more moving fun. The positive is it's almost over. The negative is this particular place is temporary. I can't wait...

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Pleasantly Surprised - Apartment Hunting in Bako

Good people, it is official. Christian and I put a deposit on an apartment and I got an interview for a really cool job with the Girls Scouts. Yes. The Girl Scouts. 

But instead of telling you about the job, which may or may not happen, let me delve into the beautiful world of rental properties in Bako. Like many ignorant bright eyed prospective renters, we scoured Craigslist, Padmapper, and the various free periodicals available in local Bako supermarkets. We came upon several initial options which we called last Friday in order to visit yesterday.  The phone calls went like this.

Apartment complex 1: "We don't make appointments. Just come by."

Apartment complex 2: "We don't make appointments. You need to come by and fill out a form."
"A form? We're not planning on renting, we just want to see it."
"You need to fill out a form."
"Okay, thanks...."

Apartment complex 3: "We have 6 pools, 3 BBQ/picnic areas, a community area, and hold parties for our tenants once a month. We don't have appointments, but you're welcome to walk in and we can show you the place right then!"

Apartment complex 4: Recording "We have espacious estudios, 1 bedroom, and 2 bedroom apartamentos for rental. Pleaze leaf a message an we will call you back..."

Needless to say, we wanted to check out #3 first.  Unfortunately, that complex had income maximum caps. The owner gets tax credits for providing low income housing, which meant we were out.

So we checked a few more places on the fly which sent us on a wild goose chase until we found a place in the middle of everywhere with a month to month lease for a reasonable price. Lucky for us, the manager of the property was super awesome and helpful. She even put us on the priority list to get all of the paperwork through as soon as possible.  And then when we went to lunch we discover the cheap theater (1$ matinees, 1.50 night, and .75 on Tuesdays! AND they have 3D!)! It was one good thing after another.

I say this because anyone who has searched for an apartment knows, it's not easy.  When we looked for a place in East Bay, we checked out over 17 different properties before settling on the apartment where we lived in Hayward. Assuming everything goes through well (and as expected), we will have only seen a total of six apartment complexes.  So, I'm going to cross my fingers and hope everything does just that - go exactly as expected.

Anticipation and Waiting - A Dangerous Cocktail

Insomnia is an old friend of mine. Tonight was no different. The problem tonight was of course, a combination of things.

Sure, Santa Barbara proper has night-blooming flowers which make me choke on my own juices. Sure, that third beer didn't do me any favors when it comes to stomach acid, but then again, neither did my anxiety about moving. Sure, I drank too much water before bed so I had to get up... but all these things are not the reasons behind me being wide awake at 3 am.

Tomorrow, or rather, today, I'm driving to Bako to look at apartments and possibly meet Christian's new boss. It's not like waiting for Christmas morning. It's more like Easter for me - sure there is the candy but there's also the obligatory sunrise service. It's a bit of a mixed bag.

Needless to say, the result is a lack of sleep and the inclination for caffiene despite having quit the habit.

I just keep telling myself "it will all be over soon." Then I can get a day job, my book will be distributed, we'll have our own place again, and I can start p90x (yes, I drank the kool-aid, and I will tell you how it sits once down my throat!). But the waiting part is seriously burning a hole in my stomach the size of a small gopher. Good thing Christian gets benefits!

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Home Sweet Home? Bakersfield!?

I am moving to Bakersfield. It's true. When we compared the shop and the cost of living to other places, the offer they made to us was just so much better, we couldn't turn it down.

So here I find myself on the brink of an adventure I didn't expect I'd be having - Bakersfield. Bakersfield. Bakersfield.

For someone coming from Santa Barbara, East Bay, or even Scottsdale, Bakersfield doesn't seem very attractive.  And the reality is, it isn't. I mean, let's be honest.  The economy hit it hard. It's in the middle of corporate farms, and it's a shipping center for the central valley of California. When you go into mall bathrooms, it smells like the lovely burnt Barbie hair smell of recently enjoyed Meth.

All these things ARE true. BUT, Bakersfield is a city of over 300,000 people. There are all kinds of things to do there. I will be able to not only be financially solvent, but close to family, and find people I can be friends with.  It will happen. Definitely. It just won't be like East Bay where I walked into a pub and felt at home instantly. This is mostly because I don't wear Stetsons or embossed riding boots.  I don't listen to Country music. I didn't even know who Buck Owens was until we started looking at living in Bakersfield.


So, Monday I'll go there again, look at apartments and get ready to learn a lot more about Country music. Because it's going to happen. I don't think I could stop it, not in home sweet home Bako.

My Adrenal Problem - Exhausted by Caffeine

I'm beginning to wonder if chronic fatigue syndrome is a fancy name for adrenal fatigue.  Because basically, I've been suffering from adrenal fatigue symptoms for years.

Now, normally I would say that health information easily accessible on the internet only serves to enable hypochondria. However, few people pay attention to their bodies these days.  They also don't get checked out for many ailments because health care requires you give up your firstborn child.  So it makes sense that stress related ailments might not make the top of the list to get diagnosed.  It also makes sense that one of the only ways you'd find out how to fix your problem would be through the internet.

For the last month or so, I've been experiencing the worst spaciness and fatigue I've ever felt.  At first I thought maybe it was allergies.  So I decided to take a look and see what hay fever symptoms really are.  Well, I might have a mild irritation when Spring shows up, but for the most part, I'm really not allergic to anything outdoors in the Bay Area.  So then why was I feeling so off? It was like I was dreaming while awake, or sleep walking, but I didn't feel like I was living my life.

Somehow I was able to get up and workout, but the energy I got from working out would quickly disappear and I would crash about an hour later.  What was happening to me? I couldn't figure it out.  So I looked up spaciness.  Well spaciness can be a result of all kinds of things - from anxiety (which could have been a potential cause), to medications (none of which I'm taking).

But what about fatigue? This sudden change in how I was feeling made no sense. The more I read the more I became convinced that I just needed to take a step back and examine how I was feeling and what exactly was going on with my body.  That, I was convinced, could never be a bad thing. 

I'm really not depressed.  I'm stressed - it's different.  I am however, an anxious person, and the last few years have been ridiculously stressful for me.  When you're stressed, your body releases hormones - cortisol primarily - which happen to also make you fat.  Women, it seems, are more prone to this vicious cycle of stressful fattiness.  Now, as I read this something inside me clicked.  I've been working out and eating better and I have lost inches.  I haven't really been able to lose weight despite the significant lifestyle changes I have been making.  As I researched more, I realized that my stressful life was actually making me fat.  The main organ in need of love and care to remedy the situation - the adrenal gland. 

What an eye-opener!  And the solution is so simple.  Change the way you eat, sleep, and give up caffeine.  Wait, what?!  Did they say I have to give up caffeine?!  Apparently that lovely stimulant on which I have become so incredibly addicted, is actually causing me to gain weight and become more exhausted. Sigh.

Well, it's not going to be easy, but I have to do it.  Already I've started eating smaller meals, incorporating small healthy snacks every few hours, and am weaning myself from my drug of choice.  Hopefully the withdrawal isn't as bad as I'm expecting.  But seriously, I would love my energy back.  So I guess a little snappiness is the price I'll have to pay.

Little Things Are Big - Pre-move Stress

I hate all the little things.  It's not big things that stress you out.  It's little things.  It's a combination of improper filing, new ownership of your apartment complex, a lack of boxes, pollen in the air causing you to space out, along with a lack of money.

Thank GOD I haven't had someone close to me die recently (knock on wood), gotten pregnant, or had a major illness.  If I had, I would have gotten the prize for collecting all the stress badges in a single year. 

Moving is stressful.  Not knowing exactly where we're going is stressful.  Not being able to complete any of my writing projects for months is stressful.  I could go on, but the list just keeps getting longer.  Now more than ever, I want to be settled.  I want everything to be taken care of for me.  I'm so exhausted by the process that I want to curl up into my shell and stop dealing with everything.  Even though I was lucky enough to get the numbers for our settlement with the property management company today (changing ownership had caused a bunch of issues), I don't feel better.  In fact, I feel worse.  Maybe it's because its more real now.  Maybe its because my head is all loopy because my body is reacting to the pollen in the air.  I'm not sure.  All I know, is despite the sunny disposition outside, I'm worn down.  Even though I worked out this morning (which normally gives me tons of energy) I'm exhausted. 

Think I'll go hide in a hole for a little while until the feeling passes.  Then it's back to somehow making things work for the best.  With any luck, the job in North Bay will work out for Christian after the summer's end.  I'm hoping it does, because I'd like to explore the Bay Area more and review some more interesting places and events.  Cross your fingers, pray, meditate - whatever you do - just send us positive vibes that everything works out the best way it possibly can.  Hey, if it does, maybe I'll win that poetry contest I entered.  That would be quite the cherry on top of the mess!

Motivated to Move - Or Not

I've been hiding out this week.  This has meant playing a whole lot of Lufia 2 when I should have been packing, cleaning, or something else.  Still, I've been looking for a replacement art teacher for my student (which has been more annoying than not because of the number of people looking vying for a single regular student).  I also have packed the equivalent of one of our book shelves.  Okay, maybe two.  Probably one and a half.

Already I feel exhausted by the idea of moving.  It's one of the reasons I've been escaping (no pun intended) to Lufia 2.  That and really getting into my interval training, which I love.

Then I come back to reality and see we really only have three weeks before we have to have everything packed and ready to go.  The BMW people still haven't gotten us the information we need about the program, the apartment people still haven't given us numbers for what would work best to leave (although they're talking one month's rent either way, so it may work best just to break the lease and go), and I could go on.  I don't know, maybe I'm just overzealous, but I like to know things well in advance.  Even though I have done most things down at the wire, it has been the result of other people not giving me the information I need - because I always ask.  This reminds me that after the BMW program, I have no idea where we'll be going.  We could end up back in the Bay area, which is both frightening and reassuring.

It's frightening because I'm still not sure what I would do here.  As I have discovered with all the responses to my art teacher ad, there are a lot of people here in the art world who can do the things I do (and many better).  Even though I've acquired some contacts in the last 8 months while living here, it doesn't seem to be enough. 

Then I wonder if it will be any different in any new place. 

Ironically I, the person who has been place hopping for ten years, want to settle down and put roots into a place.  The problem is, I'm not sure exactly where that would be.  We've discovered we like many things about the Bay area, but it's too big for me.  There are too many people.  There is too much concrete.  Maybe the concrete just shows through because it can't be overwhelmed by plants the way that cities are on the East Coast.  But I don't particularly want to move across the country to some place that is cold in the winter (and white), hot and sticky in the summer, and 3000 miles away from both sets of parents.

Yeah, it's a problem.  I keep hoping for divine intervention to make this all become clear to me.  Then I got something in the mail from the Catholic church down the road.  They weren't asking us to come in, they just wanted us to send them prayer requests.  Granted, there were some weird ritualistic things in the appeal for prayer requests It's Catholic, they have mini-gods in their system of Saints which remind me an awful lot of Buddhism and Hinduism - sorry guys, but it's true.  Now, I'm Baptist which means I can't participate in any Catholic sacraments, but I'm not adverse to other people praying for me especially with so much going on in our lives. 

So I'm going to do a few things today. I'm going to pack, send in that prayer request, and with any luck find three poems to enter into a contest.  And I'm making coffee...because this is going to be rough.

The Great Purge - Clearing out the Clutter

It's frightening to get rid of pieces of yourself.  That's what it feels like when I go through my wardrobe in preparation for packing.  The great purge - I should have done it before I moved to the Bay Area from Phoenix, and honestly, I did get rid of quite a lot of things before moving, but it feels like I didn't make a dent.  My current closet is the size of three regular size closets.  Still, I have a full dresser.  Christian's closet is much smaller and half the things hanging in it are uniforms - that he doesn't own - for his job. 

 

Clearly I'm the one who has to purge my clothes. 

 

So I asked for advice.  I read organizing articles. I took my clothes out and put them in three piles - yes, no, and maybe.  Already one garbage bag is ready for good will - but it was hard for me.  The concern that had been keeping me from the purge was the idea that my old clothes would fit me again once reaching my fitness goal.  As it is, some of my old clothes do fit, but the reality is that a lot of the leftovers are just not worth moving.  It's better to reward myself with new clothes when I'm svelte than holding on to things which I may never want to wear or may never fit again.  Fashions change and so do tastes. 

 

The thing is, I've become so frugal, I see each piece of clothing as the money it will cost to replace it.  So when I get rid of things, I feel like I'm throwing away money.  The idea is abhorent to me.  But I know that it's better to save of moving and storage than it is to save on a few shirts or pairs of pants.  Ross is there for a reason.  I should use it as necessary.

Once I had gone through my clothes I moved onto purses, jewelry, and hair things.  It was a lot easier because I had already done gone through the process with my closet (the first round anyway). Not only is it better to get rid of these things because I'm not using them anymore, but also because it declutters my living space.  Beginning was painful, but by the end, it was cathartic.  Even if you're not moving, I recommend going through the process.  I love having empty space in my closet again!