#NoDistractionsChallenge

As I'm typing this, I'm listening to my course on control commands for Linux OS. I recently took up some small courses to improve my knowledge of IT and just to basically do something on the side. I have always been interested in Internet Technology. I figured why not give it a try. I'm working on Course 3 of 5 and so far so good. It feels really good to be improving myself. But that's not what this blog is about.

I recently been feeling the need to get away from Social Media. I remember it being such a great place to express my individuality and creativity. But as technology grows and times change when a new generation takes over... There's just been too much... chaos. There's no original ideas, there's just the same things over and over. People express themselves through others expressions. Its very... disconnecting. I, for one, thought that I would never get tired of being able to share and express myself. But its becoming more of job than being something of a hobby. It takes the fun right out of it. So I figured, lets just a take a break from it. Take a break from Social Media. My problem is, I still had access to it.

Fast forward to this past month, which has been a difficult one on a personal note. I stumbled upon the "No Distractions Challenge" video. Since now of days everyone is so distracted and dependent on our phones, why not get rid of what is distracting you on there. The challenge is that you clean up your phone, get rid of the Social Media accounts that you often check every damn second, turn off the annoying notifications, and declutter your phone life. I never felt so inspired to gain more time and gain back my life. So I cleaned up my phone.

I'm going on week 2 without Social Media apps and I realized all the notifications and even text messages that corresponded to what I posted are no longer a problem. I've had more time to breathe and enjoy the moments of my life. I have never felt so good. I still have to deal with the twitchy fingers though of checking an app.... which thankfully are not there. It feels less stressful. I definitely recommend anyone to try it and see how you feel after. 

That's all for now.

~ J

April 2019 vs April 2018

Happy Easter Sunday!

This time last year, my husband and I made one of the biggest decisions of our lives. We were moving out-of-state. Again. 

We first made this decision on our owns once upon of time. I was just 22 years old...I lived in California my whole life, born and raised and I made the decision to leave that all behind. We spent 11 years in the Pacific Northwest. I doubt that was even our intention but it was our reality. We explored the cities, the attractions, and the food. Eventually it became all too familiar, all the same. I think we both were secretly hoping for some kind of major change. 

We got that, when my husband's workplace decided not to renew their contract with the building they were using to house all the employees they had. It was so sudden when we heard the news... nothing was concrete and all we knew was that the job that my husband enjoyed would be laying off employees with the downsize of office space. Some how good news became of this bad news, as there were opportunities for my husband to stay with the company by landing a job in a different area... different State even.

After much debate and discussion, we both knew we needed change. On April 19, 2018, My husband and I drove to his work place and he accepted a position for Arizona. And when I returned to work, I went through the process of a transfer. 

So much time has passed and so much has changed within our lives but one thing remains, moving to Arizona was a grand choice for us.

Until next time,

~ Jennifer

Our Decluttering Journey, Part I

Well hello, after my last post about moving... Let's just say, time slipped away. Everything kicked into high gear after little bit of packing here in and there. My husband and I had such clashing schedules most the time, so getting errands done was slow going with just one person doing some of the packing and cleaning. But on the days we were both off, we were on it!

I must admit, I am a little ashamed of how messy our place had become over the years. When we both work so much it felt like we were on this ongoing spring cleaning as I most often referred to it. Throughout the years, I would constantly come home, try to make a vision, start on declutter, take a break....and then everything all went to shit again. Its like I couldn't get it under control. At least no by myself. And again with us working so much, my husband and I were just never in the right mind to clean. We would go home and rest and wind down....Repeat our day the next.

Finding your underlying problem always helps you to start your journey so here is mine...
When I moved up to Washington State, I barely had anything to my name. All that fit in a 4-Door Sedan rental came with me for the roadtrip up. I literally only had a few storage tubs of clothes, a suitcase, and a few knick knacks. My husband and I started with nothing. It was a our first place together...Not even a bed, or couch, or TV, or Dining Table.

Now the way I'm being so vague, we are at no way hoarders at all. We just didn't put things in the right place, as there was no rhyme or reason. It was overwhelming and frustrating at time but it continued on...Up until we learned about our move. Every cleaning project prior didn't have a clear goal. But here it was on a platter, no going back. Learning about our upcoming moved forced us into reality that we needed to get our shit together!!!

And thus, the decluttering began...
THE GREAT DECLUTTERING PURGE OF 2018.

Sorting through everything , one pile at a time really helped us to realize firstly "WTF were we thinking?!!" and secondly, why did we ever keep these things in our lives if its useless. Taking a few tips from the book I read from Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up,  we started our decluttering with clothes. Should be easy enough right, since we barely wore half of our wardrobe. We decluttered quite a lot. Some I was afraid to let go because of the "What If" factor but then something in me set in that I should think about the now. What will work for me now. Material items can always be repurchased. Better yet, something better might come along!

We worked our way into the dreaded Paper category. Paper was just one of those hidden nuisance that you don't realize is cluttering up your space. But damn was it everywhere and what for! With technology now a days, everything has a file --so going paperless has always been the best options and my husband and I DO use paperless billing, Yet here I was collecting paper bills from the past. I didn't even know what for! And receipts.... my goodness the receipts. Our first shredding day ended with 3 shred bags...every day that we decluttered our shred became less and less until my husband and I had just one binder of important documents and small accordion file for a little bit of more documents. Going paperless and getting rid of papers in your household is one of the best options you can make yourself if you are on a decluttering journey.

Of course, you can figure out the rest, getting rid of books and magazines we no longer read, getting rid of things that serve no purpose anymore. My husband did such an amazing job getting rid of some of his items and I hope to do a little more myself. Since we began our packing process and started to run out of time, a lot of my items are coming a long for the ride. So my decluttering journey must continue on even though I felt I got rid of a lot. There is always still much work to do.

Its happening....

No use in beating around the bush so,
I'll just drag this out....

For a long time now my husband and I had at the goal of moving. Ideally it was moving into a new place. We've definitely outgrown our First Apartment here in Washington State. But we've also outgrown exploring here. I know there is still hidden gems everywhere but for the most part we've seen a great chunk of it over the past 11 years. YES ELEVEN YEARS!!! Even talking to some of my coworkers that have come and gone, I couldn't believe how long they have lived here and haven't even set foot in Seattle!! That's literally a short drive away.

So fast forward to January, when we got the brief news of my husband's company closing locations down and having small job openings for the mass amount of people who work in that building. We became worried. In January, my husband had just hit his one year mark with the company. What would that mean for a seasoned worker...Would my husband even have a chance to stay with the company? Over the months we got little bits of more information. How the moves will go? When to apply for the lateral move? When you will find out if you got a position?

Fast forward to April, my husband landed two job offers and after much deliberation he accepted the offer for the promotion.

WE ARE MOVING TO AZ!!!

I cannot believe it. I am so proud of him and super excited for our next journey.

This will be our first major move together. When I first moved up here, it was just a rental car packed with my belongings (I didn't have much). And over the years we've accumulated more things than we needed. We will definitely be doing some major cleaning, selling, and donating. This is the only beginning!!!