Decluttering and getting rid of more stuff...

Things here have been insanely busy. Obviously so.... considering we just had Noah's graduation from elementary school last Friday. Plus 3 of us are moving to the United States in about 3 weeks and it's a wonder I can even find some time to update here. So...for now...if my posts are few and far between you will know...and understand why. But...today I am reserving 2 hours to writing on here... and trying to write at least 2 blog posts for today. Starting with this one. More decluttering. Getting rid of things that we can't bring back to the US with us. For starters, we found a Japan based website that lets you post pics and a description. It's local. Though I am assuming it is all over throughout Japan. But for us...we posted a bunch of pictures of things we'd like to give away for free for anyone living in our district. Think of "county" for you in the U.S. And if anyone lives in the same district/county and would like it for free, simply contact us and you may come to our house and take it for free. We listed these 2 toy boxes which I bought at Costco years ago. They were in perfect condition. I didn't want to make money off them. But I didn't want to trash them. So we listed then. And within 3 hours some family from our district contacted Noboru. And picked them up that very same day. It made me extremely happy knowing these toy boxes would get a whole other life with new kids. Versus just being thrown to the trash. It just did my heart good. And granted if I had endless countless infinity time...I would have liked to do this with every single item we own. But as you all know... time is of the essence too. And since time is an issue. Just the big things...we are giving away for free. If by us leaving...means items of ours, can make others happy and touch other peoples lives, in that small way. Awesome! I do believe in karma and so yep. This feels really really good to me... to give things away, to those who could use them. So very cool.  

These could not find homes. So they went to the trash. This clock was awesome, it had a digital clock and hands clock. And it spoke in beautiful American English and taught both my kids to tell time when they were itty bitty. I wish I could have found homes for these, but again...I don't have hundreds of years to just post it and wait. If time allows...great...if not. Oh well, I tried. 

These got rehomed...somewhere in our housing community... little brother of Noah's classmate. : )

We put Branden's desk on the free list...locally of course. And in less than 1 hour, a women emailed Noboru, asking if the desk was still available. And that she has a little girl who will be a pika pika ichinensei this April. A shiny and bright first grader. Noboru asked me. And when I heard this desk could be going to a 6 year old...and would get so many good years of usage and love! I immediately said yes! It's hers!!! So Noboru messaged her and said..."my wife said, that the desk is yours" And she said her husband would be picking it up the next day at 10am, they live in the small city nearest our town. So, what is this picture of??? We had to go through every single drawer of B's. We threw almost every single thing out. And we own so many Diary of a Wimpy Kids books. And Noah loves them so much. Bran read them tons when he was little. But...they're too heavy to bring with us...especially since they're so cheap to repurchase in Target. Once we're back. So the kids books will go to an American mama friend of mine, since she has kids a little younger than mine... who could use them. : )

On the day of the desk pick-up. Pick up was set for 10am. Noboru and Branden dismantled some of it, so that he could fit it in his vehicle. The father drove a great big van. El Grande, I think was the type/name... very nice vehicle. It was a man about 10 years younger than Noboru. Made sense... considering Noboru has a 16 year old and this man has a 6 year old. Not that it matters at all. But they were not financially poor. But instead financially wise. He said they had 2 older kids and they bought desks for the older 2. And for the 3rd kid, they were really wondering should they pluck down the money for a 3rd desk or not? They also heard of the free website that is for free for locals to just pick up. And he said they saw our desk and loved it. He said it was in brand new condition. And it was. Noboru told the man...that our family is just glad that it gets a new child to use it and love it. And so a win win for all of us. I love people who are penny-wise. He brought us omiyage/a gift of cookies. All wrapped up in a box. A nice box of German cookies to be exact. They were delicious and we were not expecting anything in return. 

Did you ever see Toy Story when Andy gives Buzz and Woody away to that little girl? I firmly believe toys should be played with. And desks should be used too, if you like them, my kids never really used their desks much, they preferred study on the kitchen table lol. So Branden did go outside and thanked the desk, before anyone came to pick it up....and said..."you will get a new life and a new owner." Much better than being tossed and thrown away. This makes my heart so happy. You desk, will no doubt be used for all 6 years of elementary school and 3 years of JHS too. You will get 9 full new years of love. Enjoy your new life.  

Thank you for being such a useful desk for my son. And have another *amazing* 9 years. I'm glad I snapped these pics of you, before the new papa came and picked you up. : ) We did get an email from them later that night, that his daughter simply loves her new desk. So thoughtful to message us.

Don't laugh or think it's corny. But...if by us leaving....can make 10-15 peoples lives a little improved...by 2 new toy boxes...or a stack of fun new books to read...or some Nerf guns for summer time play....or a new study desk. Then...that just makes me, so fulfilled and happy. Someday maybe someone will say..."I met them once and they were *really* cool nice amazing people" or if someone said..."they were our dear friends and wow...they were such for real and nice human beings and our best friends" ..Or simply..."what kind people." So yep...at least we could leave a little footprint of goodness, before we left. Giving something without *expecting* anything in return. Giving *without* a motive...other than... to just make someone else's life better, is always the right thing to do.

What's in Branden's room now? Just his bed and a night stand and a lamp. It's paired...way *way* down. We have since thrown 3 huge bags of trash from Noah's room too. Every notebook or text book of Noah's. The text books went to be recycled. And his written notebooks had to go to the burnable trash. Seat cover. Crayons. You name it, it's gone. Last week. And again...we are just streamlining.

As much as we have gotten rid of and given away. We have just as much stuff to still go through and make decisions on. Which is why...I have not used the computer so much lately. I have received so many emails from friends...well wishers...and I am sure they are kindly patiently waiting for replies. And I'm afraid...right now...I just can't reply to emails right now. I just don't have the time for it. Moving is so freakin' fudging incredibly stressful. I'm sure in May...I will be laughing and smiling and thinking...what on earth was I stressed out about in March. But right now...what to throw...what to keep...what to save. OM flipping goodness!!! I feel like I'm in the eye of a tornado right now. The middle of an ocean and I'm treading water. Right now, it's work, work work. Which means...prepare to move. This is the NOT so fun part. Granted in a month, I will be glad it's over. Glad I endured it. But as for now? Meh! It's hard. It's stressful and horrible.
 

Clearing out our shed. Getting rid of so much. Hard, but necessary because of the move...

Two weeks ago on a bitterly cold, but semi sunny day. Noboru and I went out in the backyard and decluttered the shed. Absolutely 100% necessary. But also honestly....a little bit emotionally hard for me. I get attached to things. Granted I go through the shed once a year and I am by *no* means a hoarder. I have absolutely no qualms at all... to purge stuff....getting rid of unneeded no longer useful to us... stuff that we'll never use again, is not a problem for me. But yeah...I'm also human. And on certain things...I do have a hard time getting rid of a certain item or two. The inflatable pools. I have 1 that my kids used as toddlers. My kids haven't been toddlers in forever...but I held on to that. And then I bought a much bigger deeper pool. This one pictured. And honestly....it was nice to fill it with iced cold water on a hot summers day and even though my kids didn't swim in it any longer...they would sit in it and cool off...I would do that too. So...I always kept it. But again...with our move in April. It was sadly time to get rid of both pools. And no selling a used pool.....would be more trouble than it would be worth. The shipping would cost the buyer of my said pool...the shipping would be too much. They'd be better off buying a pool from their local DIY. Pools are heavy. And since I asked everyone I knew close by...if they needed one...no they didn't. So we tossed it.  

A big bag of water guns. Funny....as the mama, I recall where I bought each and every one of these water guns. Either Trial or Cainz. : ) How water guns and our big backyard was always something my 2 boys would love to play with each and every summer. And frankly speaking, who would want to buy a used water gun....when you could buy one at your local DIY store for less than 500 yen. So again...something we just tossed. 

Dryer rack/holder that attached to my old washing machine. I am using my same dryer...but since my washing machine changed last August or September I needed a new dryer holder. So this old dryer holder... had to be tossed. I felt no sadness about seeing a rack that held my dryer go. This stroller on the other hand. My lovely beloved stroller. Was honestly *the hardest thing* I had to part with. This was the item that nearly killed me. Emotionally. For starters, I did have one of those gigantic strollers in America when Branden was born, the kind that hold their baby seats. But in Japan that was so outrageously ginormous...it was ridiculous to use in Japan. When I went back to Denver for 6 weeks when B was just a toddler, 2 and a half or so in age. I went to Babies R US and found this one. It was called the Graco Citi Lite. No, not City Light, lol. It was black and royal beautiful blue. Not that rank off color Thomas the Tank Engine is, sorry Thomas. But a vibrant bright blue. This stroller was so slim and light, it opened with just 1 hand. Japanese strollers I looked into... but their baskets were so super teeny tiny and harder than hell to open. This Graco Citi Lite was the best. As slim as a Japanese stroller, bigger wheels/tires and a way bigger basket. You could open it with 1 hand. Skinny enough for Japanese supermarket aisles. Big basket to hold a bunch of stuff and it was like $80 US. I used this on Branden until he didn't need a stroller anymore. I also used this on Noah his entire baby life and toddler life. When I think how many times this stroller went to Tokyo Disney Sea. Tokyo Disneyland. How many times this stroller flew to Guam. Or strolled my kids around Hakone or USJ. How many times this stroller flew to Saipan (twice) how this stroller flew to Seoul South Korea once and carried a 1 year old Noah all around when the 4 of us were on vacation. How this stroller went to New York. Knotts Berry Farm in California. San Francisco. Minnesota about 25 times. PDX...Sea-tac. This stroller has carried my most precious things in the world to me. It carried my baby's. My sons who I love and adore. When I think about how many times I took the stroller cloth off and washed it. How I had those snazzy bag holder things on the back of my stroller (just a few bucks)...thank you Japan for selling those amazing bag holders for strollers (are those even available in the US?). How I attached little toys on the front of said stroller so my kids would have something to play with, while they were out and about. So for all in intensive purposes.... this stroller carried my most precious cargo. My children. And yep..while I could give my kids out-grown clothes away to friends. I could *never* give their stroller away. I respected this stroller too much. Just so much history, so many memories associated with this stroller. Maybe you're reading this and you'll "get this" and maybe you won't. Either way is okay. But...yes for all these long years...the one thing I could never get rid of...was my stroller. Out of respect or maybe emotional attachment or both. Until 2 weeks ago. For me...the hardest thing to throw? Hands down my stroller. It wasn't the cost or value. It was the emotional attachment. That stroller was *always* with me. Just always. How could I throw it away? Until then...I never could. 

No more undokais/sports days. So no more need for a table and chair combo. Again...didn't feel sad about this. 

Good bye to all our outside Christmas lights. The Christmas lights that lit up outside our house every single Christmas season. How cars would pass our house....because this is the inaka and not many houses are lit up in our town. And so yeah...people/families would drive past and see the warm happy house... all nicely lit up American style. And these were a pinch sad for me... to see us throw these away. But...I did remind myself that....after Noboru moves to the U.S. We will get another house and decorate again. So..the lights were about a 2 out of 10 for me on the sad scale. The swimming pools were about a 3 out of 10. The stroller was about a 20 out of 10, for me. Anyways...I know these lights will not be the last. So...with that in mind...I could let the lights go. However...I know...that stroller would be the last for me. The last stroller as a mama...I would ever own. And so...the stroller for me was freaking beyond hard. Two bikes also went. Again...auctions online...we saw bikes for sale for 500 yen and even then ...people were not buying them! Plus shipping...would not be worth for a buyer or for us to sell. In America we have many Good Will or Salvation Army type places. We have garage sales too. But that really isn't the type of country I'm in. So...and I can't just stay in Japan... until I sell a bike for 500 yen either...that's not logical either. At some point you gotta cut it as a loss... and move on. You can't move forward, if you're stuck in the damn past. 

Trash day. All our stuff carted away to the trash spot. I dropped off Branden at 6:20am and I saw our beloved items and it sorta hurt. Logically I know it *must* be done. I came home. Made sure Noah got his packed lunch and homework and whatnot. Put Noah in the car... drove past our stuff yet again. I looked at the stuff. And on the way coming home, I stopped for about 30 seconds and snapped this picture. Just for my own memories sake. 1% of me wanted to drag my stroller back home and into the shed. But then... I had to snap myself out of it. But by the same token.... You have a lifetime of memories staring you in the face. You remember every squeal and splash that your child splashed in that pool. You remember how your child zoomed off on that bike and the smile on their face. Or how they chased each other and shot each other with their water guns. How many undokai obentos my family enjoyed on that table. Was it a little hard to say good bye to our stuff that day? Of course...I'm not a robot. I'm a living and breathing human being with feelings. It hurt... to say good bye to the stuff.

But I know...3 years from now. We're going to be *so* completely settled in our lives in America. And I'm going to come back to my blog and read how sad that I was... to say good bye to this stuff. And I'm going to laugh at myself for it. So maybe...for today. This post is for me. : ) And for you too. Like I said...you will get to see. The easy parts of moving away and letting go and the hard parts too. That day...was a hard part of letting go. Onwards and upwards. : ) Thanks for taking this journey with me, you guys. : ) 

Anyways...any new news? It's snowing here today. But it's the kind that melts when it hits the ground. But it's gray skies and bitterly cold outside right now. My hair appointment is tomorrow as you know. Starts at 9 or 9:30am. Should be there all day long. : ( It'll be worth it in the end. 

Decluttering the area under my kitchen sink...

A couple weeks ago, I decided to declutter the area under my sink. However, I had to quickly wipe off my counter area first because it was a real mess. Pictured here. 

We have coasters here at the house but clearly nobody uses them. Why family why! : ) Water ring from a cup. Blech.

Couple grains of rice from the night before. Yuck! And yes, I bleach my counter tops and wipe them down daily. Why? Because it takes literally just a second or minute. And because it's gross if you don't do it daily. Clearly I should have done mine the night before but oh well.

I always set my kitchen timer regardless whatever it is or which room downstairs I am cleaning. I set it for 1 hour. Because it should at "least" get 1 solid good hour. However, I always go way over that and this day was no different, in truth I spent about 3 hours that day in my kitchen. But this helps my mind set. Because at least bare minimum, I know the room whatever room it is for that day, will at least bare minimum... get 1 thorough hour of deep cleaning. And now I am repeating myself. But yes, most times I go way over that time. I do crank on the tunes in the kitchen. Just helps listening to some tunes while cleaning. 

Bleach all of them! I love bleach. I just do. My mom always used bleach when I was a kid. She always had the biggest bottle of Clorox around and bleached everything. And as an adult, I have always used bleach too. It disinfects. I love it. The spray bleach, I love and it's a generic store brand. It's 98 yen, I buy the refills. And the big one, I use for bleaching my sink. Toilets. You name it. I also use the spray one on my toilets too. 

Spraying the bleach on the counters. And then wiping down with a super hot sponge.

A cup of bleach and a hot sink of hot water and I let it soak for 30 minutes. I do this to my sink about twice a week. Just keeps it clean.

Now, I just sat on the kitchen floor and got to organizing my under the sink area. I also want to point out, I did my organizing on the cheap! All these green plastic containers came from the Daiso. 100 yen store. Here I was organizing the toilet cleaning supplies... container, that way when I clean my toilets, I can grab whatever I need in 1 spot. American Scrubbing Bubbles and Japanese Scrubbing Bubbles stuff. : )  Toilet tabs and fresheners.

And toilet deodorizers. And yes, I did peel that Color Life sticker off. LOL.

Kirkland antibacterial wet wipes. Super cheap from Costco here in Japan. Makes wiping down my upstairs sink area a breeze. Or wiping down my toilet seats every other day. Door handles. Just takes a minute to wipe something down.

I do have an American dishwasher. I don't need fancy. But, I certainly do need useful and functional! And an American one just does it for me. So why the dish soap for a sink then? Well because I do wash by hand... a pizza pan here or there. You know that type of stuff. This is the American Brand Proctor and Gamble that I grew up with. See the P&G logo at the bottom right hand corner? This is my fave in Japan. It works. And this scent I lovelovelove! It's green tea scented. It smells so good. It honestly smells like a face wash. LOL. I'm serious. And this was 500 yen at my nearest Cainz store. Think along the lines of a Walmart type a store. Except we do have a Walmart in Japan and it's called Seiyu and owned by Walmart. I have mentioned that before on my blog when I was mentioning the Reese's Peanut Butter cups being for sale there. But seriously 500 yen for 2 huge bottles of green tea scented dish soap and a tiny normal sized one. A fantastic deal. 

And because it is by P&G it is antibacterial and all the good things me... as an American housewife looks for.

Dishwasher powder and refill for that and the green tea scented Joy. 

And an extra dish sponge. That way all dish cleaning stuff is all together. 

Kitchen cleaners. 

In one container. Again just makes stuff easier for me to find and I like things organized. Versus crazy and just all thrown under the sink.

Misc stuff. Orange clean. Pledge for dusting. Mighty Duck (quack quack) that extra spray bleach. Again it doesn't have to be perfect. But this way at least things are organized under there. 

This also came from the Daiso. And I put even more random stuff in here used less frequently. That will go way in the back of the sink. There is no need to buy a container from a DIY store where it could be 400-500 yen per container, when you can get just as good, if not better from the Daiso for a dollar!

Carpet cleaner for my rug washer. Yep I did lug a rug washer full size from Target all the way to Japan with me. Hahaha. I use it twice a year for the upstairs carpets. 

And the all done... finished pic! It doesn't take a whole lot of money to be organized. There are only 5 green containers here, so about 500 yen plus tax. And the 1 white container at the back right. So 600 yen total plus tax. That is super cheap. And this is going to sound super corny to say this. But walking into my kitchen for example. And the food pantry is all nicely organized, the dishes cabinet is organized too. I will be redoing the obento box/lunch box row though during summer break. And with the under the kitchen sink in order. Walking into the kitchen feels really light. When your house is in order there is this calmness. Serenity almost. Yes that sounds total cheeseball. But it's true. And same for both the boys bedrooms being all nicely organized too. I also did my upstairs sink area too. And in the book I read...Marie Kondo too spoke about...an organized house bringing such peace. Again...sounds weird. but...I totally get what she meant...by an organized house bringing peace. At the end of the night... after dinner is done and kitchen has been wiped up. And showers have been taken. I sit in my living room on my couch, in my nightgown/sleep tee with freshly washed hair. Lazing about on my couch, channel surfing or watching a good show. Because well...I earned it. I kicked butt all day long and now can reap the rewards and just chill. But yeah...like she said in her book... the feeling of an organized house is peace. I feel really calm being at home. I really enjoy spending time at my home too. And I know the rest of my family feels the same way too. Anyway some of you will "get it" and some of you won't and that's okay. : ) Anyways...just a random day from a few weeks back. Nothing major life shattering or anything... just decluttering here and there and loving the feeling. : )  Oh and that gray thing behind the green baskets? If you are American you will recognize it immediately and know that's my American garbage disposal. I loved having a garbage disposal growing up. And when we first moved to Japan. Our house rental had a very deep basket that held all gross bits dropped into a sink and it stunk and needed to be cleaned all the time. If you live in Japan you'll know that long metal silver basket that holds gross stuff in a Japanese sink. Blech. It's disgusting. My husband hated that thing too, so when we built our home we knew an American garbage disposal was just a necessity. So we're so glad to have it. : ) 

Organizing my food pantry and decluttering my dish cabinet...

This stuff happened almost a month ago, not quite a month, but almost and I want to put it up. The week of May 9th-13th I decided to tackle 2 fairly big jobs in my kitchen. One being the food pantry and 2 being the built in dish cabinet. Of course I still had my regular weekly cleaning, food shopping, meal making and laundry, plus kid pick up and lunches to pack etc and stuff to do. But these 2 bigger tasks really needed addressing and I wanted to get them done. I did purchase some affordable liners for each shelf and stuff. I didn't buy enough, so I did have to run back to Besia/Cainz Home where I purchased them during that week and bought a few more.  

This food pantry took honestly most of my day one day that week and that's fine. I wanted it 100% done and not a half ass job. So, doing a quality job in one go, for me was worth it. Immediately after sending Noah to school, because Bran rides his bike. I came home grabbed a hot cup of coffee. Cranked up some music in the kitchen. And got right to business. I took absolutely everything out of every shelf. I brought the vacuum out because the bottom floor area in there had debris that needed vacuuming. I also got a hot soapy wash rag and scrubbed the heck out of the floor in the pantry and then dried it with a few paper towels. And then I set the liners down. Because well...if a can makes any rust marks I'd prefer it not be on my floor. So liners down. And of course checked dates on stuff too. because again, I'm not doing a half ass job, and I don't want to put anything old and expired in. So, a quick check and back to put things in place.  

Okay bottom floor area of the food pantry done. Very happy with it!

Next shelf! Again wiped everything down and dried it and a nice new liner is in this picture. 

Breakfast stuff for the bottom shelf. Cereal, Pop Tarts. Pancake mix, syrup, coffee, chocolate milk straws. I hate hot tea and only drink it if we're sick, but I do keep a small pack of tea bags on hand in case any of us gets sick. 

Coffee creamers. 

Old Ikea liners which I am replacing with the nicer Besia ones.  

Above the breakfast shelf is the food shelf. Like panko, croutons, spare Miracle Whip. Spare Lawry's garlic spread. Stuffing. Butter noodles. Roux (for curry and beef stew). Cook Do. Pot roast mix. Peach cups. That sort of thing.

You can sort of see 3 shelves at once in this pic.

Essentials row/shelf. Like grains and stuff. Rice, beans. 

Same shelf as the rice but this is on the other side. We have spices galore. Beef gravy, chicken bouillon, garlic salt, buffalo wing power, BBQ sauce and salad dressing and mustard and popcorn oil and popcorn salt for cooking/making popcorn and Lipton soup packets.

Sweets and baking shelf. Marshmallows for rice krispy treats. Reese's Peanut Butter cups. 

Giant Nutella... frosting, cupcake liners galore... baking paper for lining baking pans far right and Crisco for baking. 

I am sure you could splurge and buy very expensive containers made especially for food pantries. But, I buy my plastic containers from the Daiso for 100 yen. And like for me that's good enough. I lump all my sugars in 1 plastic box/container. That way I know where they are. They're all together. : ) Granulated sugar, brown sugar, Japanese white sugar that dissolves easier in cooking. Salt. I have a favorite salt here in Japan the one closest this camera. There is a pic of a stock pot on the front of my favorite salt. This salt doesn't get all wet and clumpy lumpy like the other salts do in Japan. This salt is always nice and dry. In the other plastic container I keep plastic disposable forks, plastic knives and plastic spoons and disposable chopsticks all this stuff was bought at the Daiso. And if we ever have an emergency say a family member in Osaka gets sick and we need to grab a quick meal and pack it up immediately. I don't have to go..."where did I put those plastic utensils?" This way they are all lumped together in one 100yen container. Again I am sure there is a fancier way. But this is my way and it works. : ) 

Paper plates on the right of the plastic forks and spoons etc. This right here is all the Thanksgiving plates and napkins. 

Here are the rest that aren't Thanksgiving. We have the 4th of July plates and napkins in various sizes. I see a green plate with a snowman on it. And other holidays in between.

Easter...

Birthday napkins, if ever I should need one, it would be easy to find.

And a better view and nicely stacked and stuff. That way any holiday I need something, I can quickly look to see if I have it? Do I need more? Do I need replacements? Etc. 

A very good view and idea of these 2 rows. Again nicely organized. Easy to see what's what and where something is. I like things nicely organized. 

Even Happy Easter napkins.

Platters. An Easter platter. And 1 Easter egg holder and some Easter coasters.

A 4th of July platter. 

When my grandma passed. All daughters and granddaughters got to get a nice sized stack of her recipes. And many of us gave copies of the recipes we didn't receive to each other, so we made copies for eachother so we tried to make sure all recipes were given to all of us. Of the recipes we specifically wanted. I am so thankful to have a container full of cherished family recipes as well as some recipes that can't even fit in there because they're a bit too big. But that's okay. They're in my Nana's handwriting and I cherish them and would never let them go. : ) 

That double chocolate cake recipe is out of this world. Bliss. And these are old school American recipes. And I will be giving copies to both Branden and Noah to have and pass down if they'd like too. : ) 

It is hard to see the top top shelf and the bottom of the pantry in 1 shot. See... you can only see to the breakfast row in this pic. 

Here is the bottom of the pantry but now the top shelf is missing...not in this frame/pic. Oh well it does give you an idea at least of what I did that day. I was super tired that day. But really happy with what I could accomplish in one day. : ) This is the day I made the beef stew. I remember because I was basically able to organize my pantry while the beef boiled all day long too. I was knocking 2 jobs out at the same time basically. Getting dinner nice and tender and boiled and an organized pantry all at the same time. 

The day after I finished my food pantry. I did my light house cleaning for that day and I ran to the Besia/Cainz store to pick up more liners. This is what I got that day. 2 extra liners and some napkins for the boys obento/lunches. These napkins seemed so fresh and so right for this season to me. : ) I also picked up a Starbucks drink along the way on my drive home. 

So 2 days after I cleaned my food pantry, I jumped in head first with getting the dish cabinet tackled. As soon as Noah was driven to school, I once again grabbed a cup of hot coffee and turned on some music and got right in on my pantry. I first took absolutely everything out of it and then vacuumed and wiped and scrubbed everything. Dried everything and then lined everything. Tippy top shelf all nicely lined. I placed my beloved all white Crock Pot up there because I want it out of reach from everyone and I really want to keep it safe so that's why it's there. And next to it...

Great big platter, cake cover, and inside that is my big wooden salad bowl (you see this on holidays), a container and my Ikea cheese graters which I seldom ever use anymore, since Costco has the best selection of cheeses (from America) and at the best prices for cheese in all of Japan! And the ones I use most come grated. However eh...I'll still keep my cheese graters around. You never know if it might come in handy. : )

Bowls on this shelf. And I'm not going to go and show you shelf by shelf like I did with the food pantry. It's tedious. But this just gives you an idea. And in this container...clear 100 yen container I keep all my measuring cups and spoons and I like them here... because it keeps things neat tidy and organized in 1 small space. I also keep the big wide soup type plastic spoons in here too besides measuring spoons too. Under that funnel far back right is toothpicks and everyone in the house knows. And they're not hiding it's just saving space keeping the funnel and toothpicks on top of the kakigori (shave ice) bowls, far back right)

Our dinner plates from Costco. And the 2 plates the boys use for breakfast, they have dividers for different types of foods.

Top 2 rows. On top of the crock pot is the popcorn containers for family movie night. 2nd top row is obento stuff/lunch box stuff far left... and plastic containers for storing food far right. I used to have so many plastic containers that I never used so I threw a whole bunch away. I just don't want excessive clutter or massive amounts of crap we don't use.

1 wide whole view of all rows and shelves. Again everything clean. Everything organized. No clutter. Everything has a spot where it belongs. Baking pans on the bottom floor area of my built in dish cabinet.

And lined.

Cutting boards and rolling pin, ceramic bowls next to plastic bowls and colanders. Pans one row/shelf... and baking stuff at the bottom. Again everything super easy to find. Nothing cluttered at all. Again it's just a nice feeling to know my kitchen is done. It's clutter free. It's a calm feeling knowing the house is in order. And not a disaster area.