Emptying the Storage Unit

Back in June, we got a storage unit to hold all the junk we had in the basement for the last decade. It was quite a bit of stuff. The highlights are as follows:

• Christmas stuff
• Halloween stuff
• Easter stuff
• Camping stuff
• various hobby stuff
• Waterski/boat stuff
• junk, lots and lots of junk

Its amazing what accumulates when you have a storage area like a basement to simply put stuff in. It accumulates. And its seemingly all important stuff. With the storage available, its hard to get rid of any of it. So, it all went into the storage unit.

Before extracting it from the storage unit, after the basement was completed, we made a few rules. It had to go through a QA process. We had to justify anything that we brought back home. Everything. This has been quite the chore, and has been spread out over various evenings and days. For example, the Christmas stuff... It was contained in various boxes, i think about 6 containers in total. Each of those containers was opened, and each item was transferred from that box to another box. We actually purchased some new containers that would stack better, were simply newer, and much more sturdy that previous containers. The plan was to transfer into these containers anything we wanted to keep, while discarding the rest. Either to the trash or to DI. Quite a bit has gone to both locations.

I am proud to announce that the Christmas, Halloween and Easter stuff all went thru the rigorous process of QA first, and were successful. We cleaned a fourth to half of the stuff we had been saving all these years. With limited space now available to us to use in the basement, some cleaning and pruning was necessary.

As the weeks have marched on, and we continue to pay the fee to store stuff, some of which is not anything we really need, while other is necessary, its obvious that this can be addicting, and we could simply quit and keep the storage unit. Paying out monthly payments to keep the stuff. However, that was another of the goals of this task. Have the storage unit during the summer, maybe into the fall, but not much after that. We are now dangerously close to 'after that'. This next week will see the last of the items removed from the unit and placed in their final resting home. Be it our home, or elsewhere. In fact, one item we were particularly sad about throwing out actually got placed last night in a good home. We pulled all the carpet from the basement when we finished it. A large green carpet that had covered those floors for over a decade. Last night, another family was in the storage unit place, and came wondering by to talk to us. We offered them the carpet, on a whim, and they accepted. It will now live in their basement, covering their floors.

We should have taken pictures of this process, similarly to the pics of the basement progress. It would have been fun to see the items disappear from basement, rematerialize in the storage unit, then disappear again.

Soon, we'll be back to just our house and surrounding property that contains all of our worldly possesions. Soon.

Semi annual conference

Every six months we get the opportunity to listen to LDS Church leaders expound on topics that they feel we should hear. The topics are always interesting, and oft times they are exactly what we need to hear. But the overwhelming reason to listen to conference for me is to hear those things that I need to hear, and feel the spirit confirm them to me. We all need repeated reminders of where we are headed and how to get there.

I grew up in California and didnt have the chance to simply wake up and watch conference on the TV. Ever since my time at BYU, I have felt blessed to live in a place that allowed me to watch it so easily. Yeah, I can read it later or even rewatch it on TV or over the internet. But there is something in me that says I need to watch it as it occurs. Be there, in case I miss something. Besides, the repetition of rewatching it will need to occur anyway to ensure it gets pounded into my skull.

For our family, we try to watch each session, or listen to each session. Since 6 of the 10 hours occurs on a Saturday, and Saturdays are either play or work days for us, its always interesting to find ways to listen and learn, as well as implement some sort off fun or todo list crossing off. In the past, we've spent Saturday conference time in the basement, cleaning and organizing it.

However, with the basement now finished, this is unnecessary. So, I woke up early Saturday morning and made myself a list of random tasks. 16 in total. Most of which could be done while listening to conference. With various radios and TV's turned on throughout the house, we could come and go from different areas in the home and outside working on tasks, yet still listening. By breaking us up into groups, it makes it easier to listen and not spend the entire time yelling at each other to be quiet so that we can listen to conference and be edified. ;)

Sunday typically finds us watching it on the TV in the family room as a family together. Its always a challenge to keep the kids either not making too much noise or actually listening, or preferably somewhere in between. Its funny after the first sunday session, we typcially need a break, and our breaks usually involve watching TV. But having spent the last two hours glued to the TV, watching TV isnt really a break. Finding something to do, that only takes 2 hours is always interesting.

This time, after the last session finished, and our naps concluded, we grabbed our books, some drinks, some blankets and headed up Provo Canyon to chill out. We spent a few hours hanging out, reading, playing tag and enjoying the time together.

All in all, the weekend came and went, lessons were learned, the spirit was felt, fun was had, time spent together as well as 6 out of 16 tasks completed on Saturday.