You know what’s kinda weird about this 31 days of enough series I’m doing? It’s making me feel like a real freak.
For example, take these little treasures …
James Avery sand dollar charm and dangle ring
They were hiding at the back of my jewelry box and I didn’t even remember I had them. But now suddenly, the thought of loosening myself from coveted, possibly retired pieces of sterling silver James Avery jewelry is making my heart seize and feel like I can’t let go. (Which I know is a sure sign that I need to send this lovies out into the world to you.)
If you don’t know anything about James Avery ~ it’s a BIG deal down here in Texas. I have so many fond memories building charm bracelets for my girls. And I can even remember getting my first piece of James Avery when I was a little itty bitty. Yes. BIG deal down here in Texas. Almost like football. And homemade pie. (Speaking of, you’ve got to read what people were saying yesterday about their favorite pie. Gracious. Made me so happy inside. Totally justified my pie obsession.)
Now then, I can’t really say anymore about this JA duo because I’m hyperventilating just thinking that one day my daughter will want to hand this down to her daughter. And so forth and so on. And I’ll have to explain to her how I gave it away. Just like her precious American dolls. And all the horsey Playmobil. Oh, dear. Am I a bad mother … ?
(See, I told you I’m turning into a freak.)
So, let’s be done with it!
Presenting day two: a cute little James Avery sand dollar duo.
There are a few rules for the whole month. Super simple.
Enter only once a day. So only one entry per item.
You are eligible to win only one item a week. Share the love.
No entries accepted after 5 pm on Fridays CST ~ no exceptions.
Winners must live in the contiguous United States.
Weekly winners are announced on Saturdays. Please check your email promptly if you’re announced as a winner.
To enter the day 2 giveaway, answer this question:
What item of your child’s did you garage sale or give away that later made you wonder if you were a bad mother? (Even though you know you aren’t ~ stuff is just stuff!) Or what’s one thing you ditched and still wonder if you should have held on to it?
PS. If you’re just joining me, I’m giving stuff away. All month. Because my husband wrote a book that messed with me. Still up for grabs: day 1 ~ coach bag
If we have more than enough, chances are there’s someone nearby or across the planet who could use what we’re not. ~ Will Davis, Jr.
This giveaway now closed. Winners announced here!
free stuff: coach
My barbies from my own childhood including the carrying bag, they now have their own and i recently gave them all away, now I wished I would have kept mine and a few of their to pass on to my grandchildren one day
My children are still quite young, so I haven’t gotten rid of much yet. Nothing comes to mind when I think of things that I have given away either. I guess that just shows how important “stuff” really is.
MY kids little metal fire engine…:(… it is now an antique! Like you said “it is only stuff” in the end!
My son’s blue & red ribbon’s from elementary school…..coming in 1st place for his age in the First In Fitness race. YIKES!
I also LOVED ‘Enough’……and began purging right away; I’ve taken at least 6 boxes of ‘things’ to Guardian Angel in our town. I’m passing my copy of the book on the my daughter, Taylor, who is married with two beautiful boys of her own.
When I was a single mom I had to sell my daughter American Doll, Bitty Baby set – the doll, the bed, suitcase, clothing – all of it. It seemed like what I had to do in order to pay the bills, but now I wish I would not have sold it. What a great thing to have given her for her children. Bummer……
So many of their toys. I’d love to have some of them back now that I have grandkids.
My kids have a very grounded attitude about “stuff”,however. My daughter says “if something isn’t blessing your life, send it on and let it bless someone else’s life”. And my son and his wife just gave away almost ALL their worldly possessions and moved to Uganda. They took 4 suitcases, one mostly full of books :)! They are living a highly blessed life, serving the Lord and the people in their little village. Without all the “stuff” I sometimes try to hang onto.
There have been so many times that I have thought of a children’s book, a favorite toy, something my grandmother gave me or even a silly denim jacket and wished I still had it. I tie sweet memories to everything. But if evacuating New Orleans as Katrina approached taught me anything – most of what we have is just stuff! I was frantic trying to decide what to take, and in the end gathered up lots and lots of pictures, school records, financial and medical files and my family and headed back to Texas. I think that’s why I enjoy donating my things . . . when I feel disappointment in getting rid of something, I like to think that someone else is enjoying it as much as we did, and lose the feelings of regret.
I love 31 days of enough – as soon as the the weather begins to cool I am heading up to my big Texas basement to purge, downsize and donate lots and lots of sweet memories – and most belong to my collector daughter and I! I think I will gift her the sand dollars in exchange for all her things I’ve donated in secret through the years!!
There is an item that I wish I knew where it was. A very nondescript plastic horse with a broken leg. The leg was repaired by my dad. He passed away about a year later. I was 9 at the time. I often think of that little brown horse. And always think about how much time it must have taken my dad to repair it.
Why oh why did I get rid of my boys tricycle….it still haunts me. (They are 25 and 27 now). I keep thinking of how I could have set it out on our property and it could have rusted and looked really cool and would have had so many memories. Sigh. I actually lay in bed regretting that. It went to the dump when we moved to Wimberley cause it was kinda broken. Sigh. Also regret selling their Cozy Coupe. What a pack rat I am. Perhaps I need to do what you are doing. Sigh. Your sanddollar would look lovely on my treasured James Avery bracelet that I wear daily…most charms are from my sons and my late mother in law, so it is very very special. My most prized possession. Thanks for listening to my rambling. :)
When I was a newlywed I trashed an old stuffed animal of my husbands. In my defense I had no idea that it was really special to him and it was leaking stuffing! Our dog had got a hold of it and my husband had thrown it in the top of the closet where it remained for months until I cleaned. I have never been allowed to forget that I trashed the only thing he wanted from his childhood!
I have trouble getting rid of stuff, but it seems like whenever I end up letting something go, I always need it in the next few days. =) It is amazing tho how much “less” you can really survive with though! Thanks for sharing your treasures.
When my Granny passed away I was given one of her cast-iron skillets. She was an amazing cook who was always in the kitchen. As a new bride learning my way around the kitchen I placed the skillet in the dishwasher (I know, crazy). It came out looking like solid rust – I believed it to be ruined & threw it away! Thirty years later that memory is still torture.
I did it at my garage sale this summer…got rid of one of my daughter’s collectible Barbies. Bad mom. Susie, I too grew up with JA in San Antonio. My best friend and I shared a love of it from 6th grade until she died in 2001. The pieces I have are my most treasured jewelry. Amazingly, I never got the sand dollars, especially because she and I had a memorable trip picking them up off the beach near Corpus when we were teens. They would make a great memory for me!
Haha this is a funny one, kinda! I lost my job a couple yeas ago and decided that I would de-clutter my house :) For 3 months I boxed, stacked and bagged “junk” and my 2 daughters stuffed animals. They never noticed that anything was missing until the day of my one and only garage sale (I’m never doing that again). I of course got up early to set up and when they finally stepped outside they saw all “their stuffed animals” and both started crying!!! So I let them each have 1 item from the pile… Well my oldest wanted her pink and purple unicorn and wouldn’t you know it someone had already bought it… It’s been 2 years and she still asks me if the little girl who got it “loves it as much as she did” :( it breaks my heart!
Classic Barbie collection. I know, I’m a terrible mom. At the moment I was just overwhelmed with too much STUFF. She was grown, never offered to take it off our hands, but when she asked for it recently I felt just awful. If I win the JA sand dollars, I’m giving them to her!
Funny you should ask that. I am in the process right now of finding a home for the piano my grandmother
gave me when I was in the 5th grade. She wanted me to learn how to play and paid for my lessons until the piano teacher retired and we couldn’t find anyone else that she could afford.
It is an old upright with a mirror across the top and genuine ivory keys. It sounds like it belongs in a twangy saloon back in the old west. It takes up a lot of room, and I need the space.
I wrestle back and forth with “should I get rid of it or keep it” many many times. It has such sentimental value to me, it has moved with me since 1980, when Mama insisted I take it with me when I moved out and got married.. I really wish that someone would want it to refurbish and bring it back to it’s original glory.
So, I understand what you are talking about when you mention that it’s just STUFF.
Thanks,
Gwen
PS: I find it somewhat theraputic to write share this with you. Weird huh? lol
I got rid of a smelly old couch my husband had from his college days…oh, wait…I don’t regret that at all :)
Well I must admit it was the crib… I bedded my baby’s in the same crib over 10 years and the minute I sold it I regretted it! The what ifs, the passion of picking it the perfect bed for them. Not knowing I would be blessed with 4 babies to grow in that bed .. I still regret it..just thinking of seeing them thru the rungs of the crib still brings a leap to my heart! Now as for today’s give-away… My family is a beach family that is whee we find rest and amazement. Each summer we head to the beach, we love it, the awesomeness of the ocean, the wonder of what washes ashore … Me I am all about the sand dollar! I pray in awe for one to appear letting me know He is there with me….in 45 years I have never been left wondering!
I gave away my daughter’s Christmas sweater that she wore when she was five to a friend with little girls. Maddy is now 15 and I still wish I had saved that very special sweater cover in jingle bells. I don’t know what I was thinking when I let that one go!
Baby doll furniture :(
I have times sneak up on me that I just want to throw things away! In college, I threw away lots and lots of negatives (what’s that?!?!?). I figured I had the pictures and could never imagine wanting more prints of the same pics I already had! Well, my then boyfriend (now husband) is a romantic. He wanted to make a collage of some of those photos as a special gift without me knowing. Ultimately, he was not able to do that because the negatives were long gone, and the photos were in my possession. He still (after 17 years of marriage) asks me what I was thinking. Now when I get those yearnings to throw stuff away, he usually has to go through it to make sure there is nothing irreplaceable going to the dump. Lesson learned!
Beautiful JA ring and charm. :) Have never owned any JA jewlery.
To this day, I wish I had held onto my original wedding ring set that my husband and I bought when we first got married. I “traded” it in many years ago for a new set because we couldn’t afford to buy the new ring outright and since then, I’ve kicked myself and wish I had that original band and engagement ring back.
Oooo … so appreciative of your heartfelt story.
The duo arrived, Susie!! :) Read about it here…
http://www.heatherncompany.com/2012/10/the-good-news-girl.html
Thank you!!
Heather,
I went to your blog and read what you posted. So very kind.
I’m just so happy that you got the JA duo safe and sound ~ and you’ll enjoy wearing it!
Blessings!
As funny as this sounds… my sons hadT eenage Ninja Turtle toys that I wish I had kept. They are still popular today and I know my grandsons (and sons) wished they still had them.
My Uncle who I loved dearly gave me a chain that I gave away. I wish I would have kept it because not long after he passed away.
At the estate sale we had in Nashville after my grandfather, Daddy B., passed away, I sold an old framed cartoon from the local newspaper. The cartoon had been hanging at the top of the staircase that went to our basement for my entire life (I grew up living with Daddy B. and my mother), but I had really never stopped to look at it until the man at our sale wanted to buy it. As I looked at it I couldn’t believe I was selling it or that I had never taken the time to really see what it said. I still sold it to him for some tiny amount of money, but for months I couldn’t get it off my mind. I travelled back to Nashville for a visit many months, maybe a year, later and told my mother how much I regretted selling it. Of the hundreds of people who attended the 2 day sale, my mother had asked this man his name. I looked up his phone number and called to ask if he would consider selling it back to me. I had set a fairly high price (for me) that I would be willing to pay to have it back. When I reached him he told me he had a booth at an antiques mall (oh no!) and that I could buy it back for $1.00 if it was still there. I was thrilled to find it in his booth and have treasured it ever since. I will email a picture of the cartoon to you and you’ll see why it meant so much to me.
… can’t wait!
I got rid of a small etched silver ring that my mother (who’s 85 now) and I found at a flea market when we were spending a day together. THe only finger it would fit on was the one with my wedding band and my husband kept asking why I kept wearing it….I passed it along and keep wondering why didn’t I keep it…. BTW I have always loved the legend of the Sand Dollar….”This simple little symbol Christ left for you and me, to help us spread his Gospel through all Eternity”…..
those are beautiful. love james avery :)
i once threw out a little dime-a-dozen dinosaur. one of the ones that grows out of an egg when you put it in water? it was old. and hardly played with. but my six year old asks about it almost once a week now. :(
When I was younger I loved Polly Pocket and Littlest Pet Shop. I really wish I had of held on to a few of those because they have changed SO much! Polly Pocket could actually fit in your pocket. Now she’s huge! And the Littlest Pet Shop animals look so weird now! They have bug eyes and huge heads. Back when I was a kid they were really tiny but looked as life-like as a toy like that could. Oh well. At least I can look at pictures on Pinterest of all the fun toys I used to have!