It's Gotta Go...

I feel like I am suffocating. I am dying a slow death of strangulation by clothing. Seriously. I can't do it anymore. Why do I hang on to all these clothes? Why do I buy so many clothes? What is my problem?
And it's not just clothes (though that is my current plight) it's things. Everything. I don't want all of these things.

I think the reason I love to travel so much is:

1. I can get away from all this clutter
2. I live out of a suitcase. It's pretty easy to decide what to wear because the wardrobe is quite limited...I don't have to weed through thousands of possibilities...I only have what I have.  The basics, the essentials...getting dressed is easy pa-cheesy.
3. Very little laundry. Sure I have to do it more often, but I only have to do one load. (When I lived in Europe in 2002 and 2009, I did laundry once a week...one load took 90 minutes, a great break to sit and read my book or catch up on emails...and then it was done!)

There are 3 kinds of people in this world (we all know this is a lie...but go with me for a minute):

1.Those who pinch and save every penny (These folks don't buy much or do much...but are very responsible and prepared for emergencies).
2. Shoppers/Collectors. (People who LOVE to shop and buy and that is what their life revolves around...buying things, collecting things, enjoying things.)
3. Those who live for experience alone. (People who spend all of their money from excursion to excursion. Living to travel and experience the world in all it's glory, but the only thing they collect are small insignificant souvenirs, photos and memories of their experiences.)

I think for most of my life I've been a Shopper/Collector...but now I'm realizing more and more...I strive to be one who lives for experiences alone. The only thing I want to be collecting are memories and photos and the occasional trinket that might remind me of that experience for a while but can certainly be tossed for something new later on.  I want to travel more and buy less. That's my goal.

The Huge suitcase filled with "non maternity" clothes that's been hiding in storage

My Small and overwhelmed closet

The dresses invading Gunnar's closet

So today I'm going to make my first attempt to get rid of half my wardrobe. I have a lot to go through...as you can see (and this does not include the 2 large bins under the bed, the boxes in the closet and another large box in storage).  I'm pretty sure this is key to happiness in my home. So I'm going to make some new rules for myself in regards to future clothing shopping:

1. I cannot buy anymore clothes until the clothes I have fit into one closet.
2. If I choose to buy something new I need to answer some questions:
         a) Do I own something similar to this? (if yes...am I willing to replace that item with this? )
         b) If the answer is no, can I think of 3 reasons why I need it? (if I can't think of 3 good reasons...I   can't buy it. End of discussion.)
        
Gunnar apparently seems to be with me on this path to minimizing. He doesn't seem to enjoy any toy BUT his own hands....they are the BEST toy that exists, according to him. Lately, I could hand him any toy and the longest it will last in his hands is 30 seconds before it gets tossed aside, it was in the way of his full enjoyment of his fingers, you see.

G is really into mommy kisses these days! I surely don't mind!

And apparently I need to get this kid out more often. After his afternoon at daddy's office where he was passed around like a hot potato...G slept a Full 9 straight hours last night!!! The last time he did that was the weekend of his baptism when he stayed up the whole day to socialize with friends and family.  So maybe the key to long stretches of sleep for G is Socializing!!!