Cleaning, Due to Immiment Move and Marriage:

I realized a few days ago that this next week, before I move back to school, is the only "free" time I have to clean my room and sort through my things before I get married. Our wedding is on le 14 Juillet*; over Christmas break we'll be travelling back and forth, doing the family holiday things; and after I graduate, the wedding will be under two months away, which means that we'll be horribly busy with the last-minute things that can't be done months in advance.

So, bearing that in mind, I took a deep breath and plunged into the depths of my closets. They hadn't seen the light of day for a good while, at least a few years (once I got busy with college and moved away).

As a result of cleaning the closets and the rest of the room, I have five bags of items for Goodwill (due to my ruthless mantra: "If I haven't worn it the last season it was suitable for [meaning sweaters for fall, summery things for hot weather], someone else can have it." this is in direct opposition to my former mindset, saving things due to inherent sentimental value), and a few more just going out to the dumpster. It sounds horrendous, and I seriously didn't know I had that many things sitting there, waiting to be donated or thrown away.

Here's the top half of the closet:



Note that every shirt I own is now on its own plastic hanger...

And the lower half:



carpet? I had no idea! ...joking...kinda...


* July 14th!! We booked the church and found a reception hall -- oh, my goodness. I am so glad that we don't ever have to replay the day and a half we were hunting for the hall; every place we found, they charged at least a $1,000 fee for renting the hall, plus at least $3,000 in payment for the food (not including gratuity and tax). Wait, did you hear that? That was my heart sinking so low that it made friends with my pinky toe. The most expensive one ($1,400 to rent) still seemed rather junky; the "dance floor" was faux-wood linoleum, a area of 20 sq. ft. area, and smelled of chlorine. By the end of the day John looked pale and tired, and I was despondent and joking (only invite people we really like to the reception; tell them to bring their own food).

But on the second day, we went to the (Slave)Labor Temple, and miracle of miracles, it was exactly what we had been looking for. Beautiful hardwood floors throughout, a warm, homey atmosphere, mirrored walls, a separate bar! with tall, cushy seats! and windows all along the ends; there's a wide hallway that goes from the parking lot to the hall itself, and it has wooden floors as well; and there's a ton of natural light! Most importantly, though, it was $250. The nicest place in town, and only $250! When we walked into the room, it was as though a weight had fallen from our shoulders; we were so thrilled, and I could've hugged the room. It was wonderful.

I am so excited.