Lisa R. Blog Post
March/April 2010

In her book, The First 30 Days, Ariane de Bonvoisin writes, “When change comes, time seems to disappear. I agree!

Part of my plan to re-discover me was to renovate my closet with a refreshed wardrobe and an organized space. Don’t get me wrong, I was super excited to update my wardrobe. Who wouldn’t be excited about a shopping spree? Finding time to go shopping by myself, however, is a precious commodity indeed. My amazing husband, Phil, volunteered to watch the kiddos for me so that I could go on a small shopping spree. My main goal was to replace old items with updated, more fashionable pieces and to replace most of my shoes. I also bought two sets of new hangers. For some reason, I just felt like matching hangers would make the closet renovation that much more special.

After a little shopping, I also needed time to do the actual closet re-organizing. In another show of complete support, Phil gave me an entire Saturday that he would be in charge of the kids so that I could focus on my closet.

I don’t know about your closet, but my closet tends to be the place where things go when there is not a specified place for something to go. You can take a look at the before picture to see why I was hesitant to disturb the delicate balance of chaos. My criteria for the closet cleaning were simple. If I had NOT worn a piece of clothing or pair of shoes within a year, I put it in the donate pile. I went through my clothes twice. During the first sort, I quickly pulled out everything I did not wear or intend to wear ever again. I took a 30-minute break before starting a second sort during which I asked the question “is this piece of clothing worthy of a new hanger?” If so, I changed the hanger. If not, I placed it on the donate pile and moved on to the next item.

In the end, I put nothing back in the closet that did not have a purpose for being there and I ended up only using 80 of my 100 new hangers. I can’t wait to fill the extras with another shopping-spree of goodies! Overall, it took me eight hours to complete my sorting and closet re-organizing project. I donated four large (yard-size) trash bags of items (including all of the “old” hangers), replaced out-dated shirts, pants, skirts and sweaters, and updated four pairs of shoes.

Reflecting back, I’ve learned two important things through this step of my Fresh Start journey. First, this fresh start took intentional planning and the help of my husband to allow me to make the time to see this project to completion. Ariane devotes an entire chapter of her book to “your change support team,” and Phil is my team Captain. Second, making a fresh start in one area inspired me to make a re-organized fresh start in other areas. It is really hard to have a messy bedroom attached to such a nice looking closet. I’ve been on a mission to clean and organize all of our closets and bedrooms. I cannot do it all at once, but a little at a time is making a big difference in how we live in our re-organized space.

Making a fresh start is an on-going process. I did join a local fitness center located in the shopping center behind our house (I can walk to it!) and have been visiting there daily since the beginning of January. Not as much fun as a shopping spree and not over as fast as a closet renovation, I look forward to seeing about how the fresh start in my physical fitness is going to shape more than just my abdominals!

November/December 2009

Greetings from Lexington, KY! I am so excited about all the elements of my Fresh Start, and I cannot wait to put everything into motion. Before I dive into what is happening right now, I need to dole out a huge amount of thanks to some very special people. First, thank you so much for the CAREFREE® Fresh Start Fund and all of the individuals who worked together to oversee the project, for choosing me as a finalist, and for allowing me this amazing opportunity to make good, and necessary, changes in my life. Second, to everyone who voted for my personal story – thank you. I truly would not be here without you. Third, to all of the CAREFREE® Fresh Start Fund finalists who bravely wrote your stories, thank you for sharing, and to Pilar and Melanie, who I got to meet during our time in New York, thank you for allowing me to share in this experience with you. You are amazing women. Last, but not least, I would like to give a super-sized shout-out to my husband and family. Without their complete support, my fresh start could not happen.

Okay, so let’s get to what you really want to know. How’s the fresh start going? After the celebration in New York and the encouragement from Ariane, I couldn’t wait to get home and start making changes right away. As with all things in life, however, my daily routine picked up right where I left it, and organizing my changes is taking a little more time than I had hoped. Regardless, I was able to implement one part of my Fresh Start right away.

My entry for the CAREFREE® Fresh Start Fund talked about “re-discovering me” after having spent most of the last five years totally focused on my family. One element of my plan included philanthropy, or more specifically, making a fresh start by getting more involved in the non-profit organization, Project Seahorse.

My husband, Phil, and I started Project Seahorse after the loss of our daughter, Emily. Emily was one of a set of quadruplets who arrived 13 weeks early, each weighing less than two pounds, in November 2005. Emily was doing very well until day 8, when she contracted a MRSA infection (a serious staph infection resistant to antibiotics). Despite all efforts by her medical team, after 19 days, Emily lost her battle with MRSA. The three remaining little ones had their share of struggles, which kept us in the hospital a total of 122 days. During our time there, we saw many families come into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) very scared and unsure, as most infants in the NICU arrive there under emergency situations. As we thought of ways to honor Emily’s short life, we wanted to find a way to encourage families who found themselves overwhelmed and afraid for their precious little baby. While we know that we cannot completely understand each individual journey, we can let families know that there are others who have walked a similar journey and have survived.