Organizing is a passion of mine...

I love to organize everything.  When I was younger this trait of mine manifested mainly in making collections of items.  Remember being younger and having people ask you that "getting to know you" series of questions..."How old are you?  What is your favorite subject in school?  What is your favorite food and color?  Do you collect anything?"  I would always nod enthusiastically, and then begin to spout off an entire list of my collections!  How tedious!  Bet that was always unexpected for the person inquiring!  Lets see if I can remember my past collections so I can make you squirm just a little too! ;D  Well...actually I'd prefer not to revisit some of them, although I will highlight some of my favorites.

I think my mask collection is my most impressive, or most valued collection, even to this date. It all started with a trip to New Orleans when I was younger. My family has had the opportunity to travel quite extensively, and a wonderful way to commemorate each trip was to get a small token or souvenir from the destination   On this particular trip, I saw a plethora of stores' walls lined with magnificent Mardi Gras masks in an overwhelming array of feathers, sparkles, and different accent colors! I could not believe how colorful and exquisite each one was.  It was hard not to fall in love with them.  Although after much deliberation (and votes from my family members) we finally choose the perfect one.  That one mask has started a lifelong quest to acquire more beauty in the form of masks.  Since then, I have found masks every where!  It is absolutely amazing what you see around you when you open yourself up to noticing it!  My favorite addition to my mask collection after the initial one that started it all...is one that I purchased in Venice, Italy.  I will never forget the sheer joy I had of selecting one of the many spectacular masks to take back home with me and be a part of my collection!

Other collections of mine that have fallen away from an actively-collecting mindset are: pins, patches, postcards, bus transfers (they are colorful scraps of paper, but other than that, I'm not really sure why my sister and I started thinking they should be treasured when we were really young), Nancy Drew books, silver charms for a charm bracelet, Red Rose Tea figurines, and THOUSANDS of pop can tabs that I saved to donate funds for The Ronald McDonald House.  And some others which I will allow time to dust over and be forgotten.

Other collections that the average person might be collecting, that I take great pride in continuing to collect is jewelry.  Especially earrings and some necklaces.  My sister has been making earrings since probably I was 7 and she was 9.  At first, they were fashioned out of bent paperclips and big plastic beads.  Today, she has up the quality significantly!  In fact, she has an Etsy shop online and most of our family and friends have bought or begged for her jewelry as gifts for themselves or gifts for them to give!  In addition to my sister's creations, from time to time I will relish buying jewelry that means something to me, or is unique and I have not seen it made that way before.  Not much can stop me from looking at every single hand-crafted jewelry booth at street fairs and local festivals.

Another collection that I have been trying to wrestle into some sort of manageable-ness is my book collection.  I have always been a book worm.  In fact that is really the only thing I ever got scolded about when I was younger...not getting my chores or homework done because I was reading one book after another after another!  My parents at times were so frustrated they hid my book someplace until I finished my chores!  Or I would get disappointed lectures from my parents when I would try to read throughout entire car trips, as I was missing seeing the scenery.  Then they would barter with me that I could read on freeways as the car was moving too fast to see much clearly anyways.  How funny that is!  I have this funny feeling that not many kids are reprimanded for reading!  Today I have given many of my favorite young themed books and novels to my younger sister-in-law.  She has that same fierce passion for reading as I did.   I am thrilled that she is starting to track down and collect some of the same series I adored including my beloved Nancy Drews!  In addition to giving my books to people that would love them, I've donated many and also I've stopped buying as many physical books now that I can collect thousands of books in one small space thanks to my e-reader, Nook.  My book obsession has become SO much more manageable since I purchased my first Nook several years ago.  I figure, from my training with The National Association of Professional Organizers, as long as your possessions are kept where they will be used and don't get in the way of your daily life, those are the best types of collections to keep.

A collection that I have yet to mention that I have been actively maintaining for YEARS is fortunes.  I have an entire wooden box bursting with those little scraps of paper.  It makes to happy to collect them and as the box I keep them in is a 4x4 square, it doesn't take up much space on my bookshelf.  Now this collection has a special purpose.  I knew from the very first day I started collecting them that I would turn them into an art piece.  I want to collage an entire wall with them one day!  Over time I have refined that idea and sometime in the not too distant future I'll begin that art project and enjoy every minute of it!

Something I've been collecting without actually articulating it to myself is a good array of coins.  I have been adding to that "collection" for years without even realizing I was.  With traveling, comes various currencies and keeping a small sample of each was always a must for me.  Then in 1997, on a trip to Denver, my family visited the Denver Mint.  While there we saw a display announcing the coming 50 State Quarter Program.  How interesting!  What would Washington State choose for their design?  It seemed like the decade long program's end was a million years off to me at the time, as the quarters were released in the order the States were established.  Yet today, all the 50 states have been released and looking back time flew!  There is even a new program for National Parks that recently started in 2010 called: America the Beautiful Quarters.  Five commemorative quarters will be released per year, until the programs' completion in the year 2021.  All in all, when this current program ends, we will have had 23 continuous years in which all quarters being minted were commemorative!  That leaves the public with such a fun and educational way to interact with history.  Are you excited to officially declare a yourself a coin collector?  Now seems to be best time to pick it up...we can keep ourselves busy with tracking down all of the 50 state quarters while we wait for 5 new quarters to come out every year (until 2021 that is). ;D

Do you collect anything?  Did you ever sit down anylize your collection, mulling over both how and why it started?  If you have an "old" collection, when did it stop getting attention?  Is it something you can let go of to allow better and newer things into your life?  This is what is on my mind.

The Zero Waste Lifestyle...

    This week has reopened my eyes to some things. On Monday and Tuesday I completed half of a Green Collar Workforce Training program. I am able to take this class through a State-Funded Grant.  I was invited to enroll in the four-day training program because of my history of working in construction.  The class is taught by an acquaintance I have known and worked with for a number of years.  He is the Director for Sellen Sustainability, a company created at his urging, in attempts to keep up with the growing demand for bettering our world through positive choices that all impact our world not only today, but especially for all future generations.
    I learned about a LOT of things and I would love to share and discuss ideas on sustainable living and building more often.  It is an important issue, one that we each have to decide to adopt.  General contractors are adopting more "green" elements and practices to stay relevant and win more work.  I think that all workers on "Green" job-sites, or buildings trying to achieve "LEED" certification should take this class.  In a few years it will most likely be a requirement, so I feel honored to be able to be ahead of the curve and take the class now.  In fact, several times in the past, I've almost paid to take a class very similar to this one...so I was pretty excited when I was able to enroll in it.  The second half of the program will be a site-tour of The King Street Station remodel next Monday, followed by an exam on Tuesday.  I'm pretty excited to dust my hard-hat & other safety gear off for the tour on Monday! Although due to a funeral that is also on Monday, I may miss a good portion, or all of the tour.

   In the class, we learned about a lot of different products, projects, and practices that focus on sustainable resources as well as the FOUR "R"s of the environment.  Did ya know there are now 4?
Here they are:
1) Reduce
2) Reuse
3) Recycle
4) Refuse

Refuse is obviously the newest addition.  We watched a really interesting video on a family that has adopted a total Zero Waste lifestyle. (Here is a link to a video about the Johnson Family, if you would like to watch it).  As they mention in the video, it sounds expensive, but it actually ends up saving them 40% (as compared to their past expenses) each year!  I am extremely intrigued by the idea.  I have a feeling I will be a reading every inch of her blog when I get a chance.  If you are interested in her blog, it is called: The Zero Waste Home.

    This class helped me open my eyes to a lot of thoughts about life, the world we live in, and what the future may or may not hold for us.  I for one, am going to be rethinking a lot of decisions I make in the future.  I want to be proud of the choices I make.  I want my future children, grandchild, great-grandchildren, etc to know the world as I once did.  If we do not educated ourselves about the harm we can do, and have been doing to the earth...well...let us hope we don't have to find out what will happen, or when.  As for now, I encourage you to check your impact on resources.  How much energy does your household use per year?  What about per month?  Or even break it down per day?  Is it above or below the U.S. average?  What activity in your household uses the most energy? Could you take measures to cut that amount down?

What about WATER?  Water is so vital to life...but why do we use so much of it every day???  Just how much water is your household using per day?

Did you know "if [all] the world's water were poured into a bucket...only ONE spoonful would be drinkable?"  Why do we use drinkable water from a hose to water our lawns?  How silly are we?  Why not use "gray water" to water lawn?  Gray water could mean water collected in cisterns or rain-barrels; there are tons of solutions out there.  They are just waiting to be adopted!

Did you know that "every minute four people across the world die from a water-related disease [due to a lack of uncontaminated, or clean, water]"?

Did you know that the average person living in the United States "uses 105.7 Gallons of water per day...and in developing countries such as Mozambique the average person uses 1.3 gallons per day?"  I should point out that "a low-flow toilet in the U.S. uses 1.6 gallons of water per flush"!

If you are a visual person, like myself, then I suggest watching this (super short, but really well made) video which includes the above tid-bits on placing an importance on water.

This last item makes me really want to get a "green" car...
I'll leave you with a with a clear VISION of just one of the impacts we are making on our world:

(source)

For every 1 Gallon of gasoline burned in a car, there are 19.4 POUNDS of CO2 created.

For every 1 Gallon of diesel burned in a car, there are 22.2 POUNDS of CO2 created.

Here again...

Hello there!

Here I am again.  And this time, I hope it is to stay.  I've been feeling especially inspired to write and yet, I keep finding myself avoiding it.  I examine and re-examine why I don't just go and give it to my creative inspiration.  Every time I do examine that desire, I my opinion, I do not have a good reason not to.  Maybe it's because deep down I know that once I open the door to writing again a little, this time I have so much to explore with writing...that once I open the door a crack...that door will be FORCED open so wide that there will be no hope of ever being able to close it ever again.  But upon this last internal struggle...the creativity side won, so here it is.  Door cracked open.  I'm toying with the idea of a 365-Photo-a-day blog combined with the beginnings of writing about all the reading I do.  I'm constantly reading; it is a big part of my life, why not share it? I sure hope I continue to choose to write.

And there.
Only a few short minutes.
And I have a fresh start.
A new blog.
An outlet into the world.
Writing.
Again.

Happiness.