Yesterday was our last day in apartment -- the last time we'll have a queen-size bed, full-size refrigerator and all the shoes and boots I desire. We moved out. And you know what, it was easier than we thought. Well, easy for us. Hard for Costello, our golden doodle.

Here's our patented no-mess process to downsizing and getting rid of all your stuff.

Make cuts and make cuts often. About 6-months ago we started a casual Goodwill box. Every so often we'd spot something around the house, toss it in, and repeat until it was full.
Have a garage sale. In May, we held our first and only garage sale. This eliminated a ton of furniture and appliances quickly. Sure, these were some of the tougher items to toss, but we still had a lot of the essentials. Pro tip: Fridays are the busiest. I know, it doesn't make any sense to me either. I mean, I had to take off work. So how are other people garage sale'ing at 8:30am? I don't know. But they are.
Pick out the things you want to store. We all have family hand-me-downs or nice pieces that we don't want to get rid of. Start pulling some of these things out and put them in storage. Luckily we have parents with homes and garages and, in my case, outbuildings to stash all this stuff. One of the benefits of growing up on a farm!
Goodwill....again. You still have lots of stuff you're never going to use. Get rid of it. Let it go. By this point you're down to mostly dishes, utensils, office supplies and little stuff anyway. LET IT GO (cue the Frozen song).
Give it away. We had a dinner party at our home and made everyone leave with a plant. We listed stuff on Facebook and gave it to the first commenters. We love that our stuff still lives on. And better yet, in our friends' homes and apartments!
Toss it. In the final few days, you'll become so focused on just getting rid of it all that you continually give yourself a reality check. Is this trash, or is this Goodwill worthy? Most of it is trash. And what's borderline trash, put on the curb.

That door on the right was us! 1919 Prospect.

That's how we did it, folks. Spreading the downsizing out over time was definitely the key to maintaining a positive attitude about everything. But honestly, think of it this way: you don't need all that stuff. We still laugh at how after steps 1, 2, 3 and 4 we still didn't miss a thing.

As for Costello, he hated the downsizing the most. These last few days he's mostly just been confused; it was his home, too, for the last 2.5 years(!) As we took photographic proof for our landlord that we indeed cleaned it all and left it in tact, we decided to document Costello, too. But chins up, people. Because Costello is about to get a new home. And he's going to love it.

One last note. Getting ready for the road has made us a bit nostalgic. It's why we're starting a new photo series on Instagram today: #DIYDECEMBER. Every day this month we'll post a photo of our year-long renovation of Elsie. Check it out. And visit Camper DIY for more in-depth posts.

#DIYDecember Day 1: After we pulled Elsie back home from Stuart, Iowa we spent our first weekend in Broken Bow, Neb. stripping out all the old appliances (propane furnace, refrigerator, etc.) and prepping her for a total interior renovation.