I have moved HOW many times???

Ok, so I am a little in shock....  When I would tell people how many times I had moved I would EXAGGERATE and say I had moved EVERY YEAR since I left for college...

It was NOT an exaggeration...  in fact, it wasn't even close to the truth.  I have had to fill out some intense paper work to get my government job at the Child and Youth Development center on base.  (They want to make sure I am who I say I am, and that I'm not some creepster- I totally think it stinks to go through the process, but am totally a fan that they are trying to protect children!!!)  We had to go back 7 years and report where we have lived and worked... I have moved 16 times in the past 7 years.... SIXTEEN!!!  That's more than twice a year!  (and that doesn't even count some of my small moves where I moved all my stuff to my parents house for a couple weeks before I moved in to my "permanent" location!



Let's take a glimpse at pictures from SOME of my locations....

This is Beth, James and I in the apartment I lived in during my senior year of college.  I had to move because of excessive flooding on multiple occasions!!

So I moved in with my parents for a few months.

And we organized one of their rooms!

Then I moved in with my brother and sister-in-law.  Probably my favorite house...

Then I moved in with a friend, only to get a job a MONTH later... woo hoo for moving for a MONTH of living...

Then I moved here (after living in Denver for a summer, and with my parents for a couple weeks...)

Marvell, AR with 4 others in this house... pretty sweet living accommodations...

Then I moved back home with my parents for a few months.  Here with my mom, dad, sister, aunt and cousins from OR.  

With my parents on move in day BACK to Marvell, AR where I lived above a wonderful woman from church.

Then I was SUPER LUCKY and got to move back to the parsonage while I worked at the church in Marvell.... remember 5 people used to live in this house?  Now it was just me!!!

 Yes, NOT taken during SUMMER....



 Then my summer before I got married I split time between my parents house and my "future" in-laws house- technically lived at home, but man, I can say I pretty much lived at the Zaffke's too!


Then we got married and we moved here.  Where I am NOW...

Ok, our front porch, not the whole house.  

We didn't have a house when we left Minnesota.  There I was a new bride, my belongings shoved either in storage, my parents house, Andrew's parents house or our car, and heading out on a drive to a place I did not have a place to live.  Talk about completely putting my life in someone else's hands!

I feel like millions of lessons could be shared here, but I'm not going to.  I'm not going to divulge into the meaning behind Matthew 6:19, "Don't store up treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal".  Nor am I going to share with you the tricks to packing and moving. (Mostly because I'm still horrible and the only advice I have is to never buy a sofa sleeper... they're really heavy!!)   I'm also not going to tell you how I fail at Matthew 10:10 because I have way too much stuff...

Ok, maybe a little on the last one.  It just really got me thinking.  I HAVE moved a lot, and because I am in the military lifestyle now I'm probably going to move a lot more.  Therefore, why do I keep so much stuff????  With all these blogs I have been reading lately I really have been bit by the bug of de-clutter!!  I want to keep ONLY what is useful and what ADDS to our life.  Too much stuff weighs us down, keeps us feeling stressed, gives us more to clean and STAY organized.  How much happier will I be if I only keep things that are necessary and everything has a place.  (How much easier will moving be??)  I will no longer have to have the box (ok, boXES) that has JUNK that has no place or home and have no idea what to do WITH it!  If I don't have a place for it, a) why do I keep it and b) why do I take it with me??

So, I am not done with my thank you notes yet, but I am determined to start this de-clutter!  So I am starting the challenge on Monday May 2, 2011.  I know, it's a long time off... but if I have a set date, then it starts in my head.  So mark your calendars!!!!  MAY is the month to de-clutter!  And between now and then, find small projects here and there to help you out.  Maybe you start looking for storage solutions.  Maybe you find ONE thing a day to donate between now and then.  I am going to write thank you notes, which will be a HUGE stress taken out when I get them done!  I hope you find your stress that you can master between now and MAY 2nd!  

-Bekki