Decluttering Methods (Part 1) + "Taste of America" + Projects and Lunch with Dad | #WeeklyWednesday

Hello, everyone! Hope you're having a love~ly week!

Fall weather has started here in Carbondale, and I am LOVING IT. Well, loving when it's actually fall weather and not the weird mood-swingy winter to humid summer to fall thing that Carbondale seems to love doing.

Actually had some cool things happen this week, so let's get to it!

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Decluttering My Life: Part 1

So, in light of that "heavy-hitting decision" that I oh so cryptically mentioned last week, there was a TON of decluttering happening. I've stupidly forgotten to take pictures of the first two rounds of it, but finally thought of it this week. So here we go! Time to chronicle the decluttering process of my life!

I'm gonna try my best to make a comprehensive list, and then maybe turn it into a giant "Here's how to declutter" kind of thing. Maybe. lol XD

PRO TIP: Always keep track of where things are capable of selling and WAIT till you've scanned it all to see which ones will bring in the best return for you :)

I've got a ton of books that I've loved, taken care of, and sadly, have outgrown.

Most of these were purchases from my high school/undergraduate days, and I just don't read them anymore. Time to send them on to better places to get some love!

#1. Bookscouter App

Just like it sounds, this app/site is capable of taking a barcode that you've scanned into the app and running it through like...20+ different websites that purchase used/second-hand books.

#2. decluttr App

If you had books that don't quite fit into the category of #1, decluttr can help with some of those. I also sell back a lot of video games I no longer play and DVDs I no longer watch. In essence, decluttr is REALLY helpful. Gamestop also has a trade/sell-back option, so I ALWAYS compare the two to get the best value for my games (i.e., decluttr wanted something for $0.86, Gamestop was willing to pay me $8. Vice versa, Gamestop wanted to give me $2.31 fo rsomething, decluttr was gonna give me $9.34). 

Cross-checking, guys. DO IT.

I still have books left over. I wanted to donate them somewhere and decided to go with the Carbondale Public Library. I had originally wanted to send them to the SIUC Morris Library, but a lot of these were from my high school/undergrad days, and CPL has a larger high school audience.

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Taste of America Hayride Event
So, every year, Calvary/Chi Alpha hosts an autumn themed hayride event to give the international students a chance to experience how Americans celebrate the fall/harvest season, complete with a home-cooked American potbless (or potluck), a hayride attached to a tractor, square dancing, games, etc. 

Pics are hopefully self-explanatory so that I don't have to say too much WITHOUT the pics, because it's really one of those things best explained with images.

The front porch of our church elder's house. We decorated with a banner going across the front, and they also had lovely autumn color themed flower pots. A few pumpkins to lay on the steps and we're done!

Putting up American flag things in the barn where the square dancing would be held.

I helped Jeanne (this is her blog) with this display. Isn't it cute? :)

Fabi from church made this display to serve as a photo-booth. I added the leaves going across the top with live branches chopped off a nearby tree (safely, guys, SAFELY) by Jeanne's husband, George.

Chinese students trying horseshoe throwing for the first time.

My Angolan bro, Vladimir, looking like he's about to drop some SICK beats with that amplifier XD

Sack-race with international students. No one on our team fell. YEAH!

Lining up for a seed spitting contest. Our poor ZhaoTong from CCF (the Chinese in the open shoulder green shirt in the video below) didn't like the sunflower seeds because they were WAY too salty and after trying one that was left over from the batch she was given...agreed. Ick.

You can see her poor face :(

Getting food. Past the tent is a giant bonfire that was lit later on. The fire you see here was for the pot of apples being cooked in apple cider to be eaten with vanilla ice cream later.

ZhaoTong was literally looking forward to eating this ALL NIGHT. Here's a tiny vid of her helping to stir the giant pot.

Square dancing. Not good for photos, but I felt this one (blurry as people are) gives a great feel of energy.

My adorable mother :)

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Recent Projects
My Gaming Narrative class had us make a paper prototype (think board game version) of the digital game we have to have made by the end of the semester. I'm semi-in-charge or my group, so...I did my thing? :)

Our aliens at the top and bottom were drawn by Spencer in our group with help from Will. I assembled/made everything else on the board. Alan's contribution was more with the scenarios FOR the game itself (not pictured here because it's a lot of text), and he serves as our group's snarky GM (game master). It's fun times all around.

The PC isn't pictured here because I took this picture at home before Spencer gave me the last icon for the PC. I laminated all of the little icons to keep them intact, and used 3D foam tape to make everything stand up nicely. :)

I (according to the others in class that weren't in my group) evidently:

"set the bar too high for them to catch us"

"went for ham"

"freaking used blue glitter tape"

...Yeah. I'm proud of this :)

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Harbaugh's Lunch with Dad
...not much to say. My lunch date for today canceled on me, so I went for lunch with Dad. He got the Corned Beef Hash with Hollandaise sauce and eggs over easy, and I went for the 3 meat omelette (called The Little Piggy) with spinach and avocado. Yum :) 

My dad is adorbs. I love him :)

My yummy brunchie-luchie :)

I had a good week.

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There's been quite a bit happening, so that's a refreshing change from my normal life. lol XD

International Sunday coming up, so look forward to it. 

See you next #WeeklyWednesday! :)