I was never self conscious about my tendency to keep “nostalgic items” until that damn hoarders show started! I have always held on to items that meant something to me…had some kind of sentimental value! Totally normal, right? Well maybe. Let me tell you what those items are.

For the longest time I held onto a trio of little multicolored plastic slinkys that I got out of a coin machine or something. Why? Because I got them in High School and they reminded me of that time! Don’t worry, I grew out of them around the 2003 mark and they have long since been trashed!

Items like that are maybe kind of borderline-hoarder to keep. But if an item is usable, then keeping it is ok, right? For instance, when my grandmother passed away, my sisters and I ended up with her tupperware and some Christmas decorations. Don’t ask me why this was offered to us….3 girls still in high school (or just out of it), but it was. It was something that I just did not want to say no to. I loved my grandma entirely, so anything that was hers, I would take. So I ended up with a bunch of 1980’s tupperware…and some really old Christmas stuff. Through the years I have thinned out what I have…gotten rid of all of the tupperware, sans some serving bowls, and about half of the Christmas stuff. It was hard, and I was on the phone with my mom crying my way through it. I attached such a meaning to those items…those stupid, run-down, never used plastic bowls! The ones I do still have, I do use. But the Christmas stuff remains in storage, in the boxes and gets looked at once a year. Meh…that’s safe I think, right?

I was cleaning out my dresser drawers the other day and came across a sports bra that still had my laundry mark on it from Basic Training! That was 13 years ago! Did I throw it away you ask? Of course not! It’s a sturdy bra that has lasted, and all you women know how hard that is to find! I was a clothes hoarder for a long time, but I got rid of my last pair of high school jeans probably 6-7 years ago. I finally just decided that if I wouldn’t wear them if I could fit into them, then no sense keeping them. That is my new philosophy when it comes to clothes. So all the clothes I’ve been holding onto in the hopes that I would fit into them again, if they will not be “in style” when I can wear them, then I will get rid of them now. That got rid of a lot that I was holding onto! I do still have 2 of my prom dresses and a poodle skirt from a high school dance hanging in my closet though. I suppose I kept them because I thought someone could use them later on… you know, like a daughter, or a friend’s daughter. Totally not weird, right?

When my first nephew was born, my sister had his pictures done and they were stinking adorable! He was 9 months old with little Wrangler jeans and a little teddy bear! ❤ I found a picture frame that is a little bear holding a heart shaped frame and I put that picture in it and had it on my nightstand….and 18 years later I still wake up every morning to that little bear holding the same photo of my nephew on my nightstand. I also have some baby clothes from both of my nephews in storage. Um…that's just really sweet and sentimental, right? Not like crazy obsessive-compulsive hoarder shit?

I told my husband that I grew up with a “make it last” disposition. Even when I was little and would get to pick out a candy bar, I would choose based on which one would last the longest….had the most pieces, would take longer to eat, etc. I have always been the type of person to hold onto things…I take very good care of my belongings (or try to) and try to make them last as long as possible. I keep the original boxes and packaging. If I have a set of something, and only use 1 piece, I still keep the rest so that I can sell or give them away as the complete set. I have saved stuff from when I was a child (still have my Popple and a Care Bear from my early years) , and most of my home decor has lasted since the beginning of my marriage! I replace my furniture regularly, but seem to just hold onto the decor and keep adding to it. I always felt it was more homey to have art, pictures, and decor up! But then I had to stage for the sell of my house, and minimalist was key! I had to hide all the clutter, personal photos, extensive collections, etc…and I loved it! It was so much easier to clean and deal with! Now we are moving into this house and I have knick-knacks that are just sitting in the basement because I don’t want to put them up. I want to be decorated, but I don’t want to be cluttered anymore! I’m not sure if I am just growing up, or growing out of that stage in my life, but I look around my house and think there is so much “stuff” that I would get rid of if I didn’t have that sentimentality attached to it. The weird green cat and dog bottles are not really my thing, but how to I get around the fact that they were my grandmother’s? The marble chess set just sits in its bag in storage never getting used, but how do I get around the fact that I purchased it on my one and only deployment? Items from my dad, step-dad, mom, husband…things that once were totally my style but don’t hold the same appeal to me anymore. Do people really just get rid of everything they own every 10-or so years? It seemed that my grandma would buy a couch and have the same couch forever unless it was beyond use. Do people do that anymore. I know that I don’t, but I feel that I should, which is where I get stuck. I get the new that I want and like, but feel like I have to keep the old too…and I am really sick of just having so much stuff and no room!! (p.s.–my husband hangs onto things too, so this is doubly in our house.)

(pps…if ever you have seen something in my house that you really wanted…let me know…it just may be on my chopping block! And I have learned recently that if I give it to someone I love who I know will enjoy it, then it doesn’t bother me to let it go! :))