31 Days {Day 8} Tales from the Crypt

Creeaaaaak!  That's the sound of my hope chest opening.

Hello Parents.  This is going to be difficult.

Hi Ella.  You sit right there.

Awww.  This used to be on my car.

My favorite purple suede boots that at one time I lived in.

Thank goodness I kept them because now I don't have to buy these from Target.  Oh yeah, who's jealous now because they are out of stock.

via

I bought these in France for baby gifts, but I never found the right person to receive them.  The person would have to be a francophile and understand how special they are.  Oh, what are they?  They hold first teeth lost.  France has this mouse instead of the tooth fairy.

Speaking of teeth.  Don't let this creep you out.  Those are my teeth and no I couldn't throw it away.

Nesting dolls have to have some purpose in my future.  I got these in Hungary.  Did I never tell you I traveled in Europe twice in college?  I did two study abroad programs, one in Spain and one in Wales.  Both times I went backpacking around Europe for a month.  I'm only lucky I only had a backpack and could only carry so many souvenirs.  Can't believe this made the cut.

I was born in Germany and apparently I wore this ratty old t-shirt a lot.  It doesn't look like I wore anything else it's so beat up.  I always look like a little orphan in my childhood pictures.  Maybe one day I'll post one.

Troll doll from the 90's

RIP Michael

And I don't want to brag, but you should know that I used to be smart.   

This is my Mom's little box that had her tiara and first Bible in it.  She won some kind of beauty contest and got this.  I wore it in our wedding.  I really am sentimental.

This project wasn't easy, but I was able to let go of two bags of goodwill stuff and one bag of trash. Somehow though it doesn't look that much different when you open it.  Here are just a few things that went.

Wedding shoes

Wedding purse

Many wedding cards-some were cut to decorate wedding scrapbook

Old letters

Graduation paraphernalia-high school and college

Stuffed animal named P.J.

Blank postcards from Europe

Baby clothes for dolls

Childhood clothes

And much more!

The Cabbage Patch kids stayed.  Don't judge me.  Lots of other stuff stayed too.  My previous rule of the hope chest was that every time I opened it I had to get rid of one thing.  It's something that I try to keep under control.  When I got a lot of my Mom's things after she passed away I had to find a place for them too.  

For me the nature of sentimental things is that as time goes by, your need to keep certain things changes.  There was a time when I had a lot of my school notebooks in there.  I have long thrown those out.  When we have kids, it may be a place to hold their sentimental things.  The goal for me is to keep it contained in that space.  I may have some other things hiding out in the house and I am going to transfer them to the hope chest now that I've created some room.  

I feel that the word here is flow and not stagnation.  Keep the things in perspective.  If you have too much of anything, it all loses importance.  I'm working on this.  Maybe one day I'll be able to let go of those teeth.  Aren't they cool though?  I like to click them together.

What about you all?  Where do you hide all your sentimental garbage treasures?  What is the weirdest thing you won't throw away?  Isn't it funny how you think that someone is strange for their packrat items, but when you look at your own it's perfectly acceptable?