2011

Welcome 2011!

The beginning of a new year brings lots of hope and promise for me. I always like the start of a new year. There is just something about it that makes it feel like a fresh start. You can leave everything behind and learn from the last year.

Each year I usually choose a word or phase, a la Ali Edwards, "One Word." This year I didn't pour over her old blog entries about it. I didn't read through lists and lists of words. In fact I haven't read her blog in a while now, so I don't even know if she is doing it this year. The last couple of years I have chose a word and then didn't really focus on it. I might do that this year as well, who knows what the year will hold. But one word has been nagging at me. "Embrace." I realize that sounds like an odd word for anyone to choose. But I want to Embrace life. Embrace experiences. Embrace everything that happens. Embrace the every day things.

Aside from that I don't think I'm going to make any resolutions per say. I want to work on crossing somethings off of my Bucket List. You can find my Bucket List on Listology. The highlighted items are the ones that I have accomplished. Though I"m wondering if I should change them to a strike through. I will have to check that out. :)

Welcome to 2010

Wow, I can't believe it's already January 5 today. Where has time gone? I have to say that I truly enjoyed my Christmas break. I loved having the time off from my main job and only worked a few hours at my other job. I spent lots of time with Jason and Cullen. I only wish that I were still on vacation and home where it is nice and toasty warm.

Before going on vacation I decided that I was going to get so much done around the house. Do you think that actually happened though? Nope, it sure didn't. But it was a vacation so I should have relaxed and enjoyed my time off right? I hope so, since that's what I did. Everything is still there and will be there when I get to it.

As some of you know from my previous blog post I've done the "One Word" before. My previous words were Cultivate and Homemade Simple. Since December I've toyed with it off and on, and I decided that once again I'm going to do it. This year it's different though. I didn't wade through word lists, or spend too much time thinking about my word. I just felt a nudge that my word should be growth. I'm going with that nudge and that's my word of the year.

As always with a New Year comes with resolutions or goals. I've been debating about posting them here, and I figure why not. It's my blog, right? :) Without any further ado here are some goals/resolutions/things I want to accomplish this year.

• Get back to eating healthy and lose weight. (Again.) I realize that this is a typical resolution, but I recently started scrapbooking my 2006 pictures of our trip to South Dakota. I can't get over how much better I look there. I actually look fairly healthy even! I was still overweight, but so much healthier. I went back and read some of the journaling that I did in our travel book and I cried as I copied it into my scrapbook. I was making good choices then. I need to get back to that again. I need to do it for me. Thus it's one of my goals.
• Keep a list of all the books I read in 2010.
• Keep a list of all the scrapbook layouts I do in 2010. (I'm debating if I should also include the ones that I do for the scrapbook store, as they aren't for me. Hmmm...decisions, decisions.)
• Read at least 1 book off of the banned books list.
• Work on my Listology Bucket List. Cross off at least 1 item. (Hopefully more!)
• Get back on track financially. We slipped off the road so to speak, but I'm sure that we will get back on track. I'm re-reading Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey again. I'm already inspired. :)
• Learn how to use my new camera. I think I will need one on one instruction for this!

This year I also decided to try to do a photo a day again. I found a really cool site called ShutterCal and I've been uploading my pictures there as well as Flickr. I don't think I will scrapbook these, well maybe some of my favorites, but nothing like my self-portrait 365 that I still haven't finished! Instead I'm going to order the prints from ShutterCal and keep them in that nifty, sweet box! Isn't that neat? I love how they look! Plus I can then use my new camera more. :)

I don't think I blogged about my new camera. But I got a Canon Rebel XS from Amazon! I got it for a steal of a deal and absolutely LOVE IT! I can't believe the quality of pictures it takes and how fast the shutter speed is! It's amazing!!! I really haven't taken it off of Auto much yet, but I can't wait to learn how to use it! I am loving it!! Oh and I so want some of the fun lens filters too! :D

Oh and don't worry, I will share my daily photos here on my blog. Or if I'm behind, you can view them on the shutter cal link above, or on my Flickr account.

Speaking of pictures, I should go back and upload the ones I have taken so far and post them here! :)

My Final Word*

*For now anyway. I reserve the right to change my word when and if I decide to and find a more perfect word or phrase that fits.

Home Made Simple keeps coming back and almost haunting me. That is what I'm choosing despite it's name for a magazine/website. Hopefully there is no copy right infringement by me choosing this phrase as my "word" to live by for the next year.

First let's start by defining the words.

{Definitions adapted from www.m-w.com}
home•made
made in the home, on the premises, or by one's own efforts

sim•ple
Not involved or complicated
Being without additions or modifications
Free of secondary complication
Of Humble origin or modest position
Free from elaboration

This year I want to get back to basics.
I want to grow my own veggies in my garden.
I want to use a clothesline.
I want to get better at sewing.
I want to be a wife that my husband is proud of.
I want to do more home cooking.
I want to use products that I made out of simple, basic ingredients.
I want to simplify and get rid of things we no longer need.
I want to "unplug" more.
I want to read more.
I want to learn more.
I want to enjoy the simple things in life.

I want to continue on the path that I started last year. A path that I feel like I should be proud of.  I think with "Home Made Simple" I will be able to do that.   Who knows it might take me in an even better direction.

I look forward to living 2009 as Home Made Simple.

2009 Word of the Year Thoughts

Ali Edwards, a Scrapbooking Celebrity has been choosing one word to focus on for an entire year.

Here is an excerpt from her blog:

The idea behind the one little word concept is to give yourself something to focus on throughout the year. As I stated in my newsletter back in January 2007, "A single word can be a powerful thing. It can be the ripple in the pond that changes everything. It can sharp and biting or rich and soft and slow."

To find out more about it, please visit her blog.

You can read my previous blog entry for what my word was for 2008. This year I'm having a hard time narrowing down my words.

I thought about keeping the word cultivate, but that seemed to be cheating. It fit me so well last year and I think it would fit this year as well.

Then I thought about using the word continue thinking that I could continue what I have started last year.

That lead me to grow or growth. Meaning continued growth in myself, as a wife, as a person, and also my garden.

I also tossed around the word believe. I can't remember exactly why now, but now that I think about it, that word doesn't seem to fit, especially since I can't remember why that was one of my choices!

The word enjoy also came to me. Enjoy life. Enjoy time. Enjoy friends. Enjoy Family. Enjoy the simple moments.

I also thought about the word nourish. Nourish me. Nourish life. Nourish those who need it. Nourish my garden.

Then I thought about Home Made Simple. Simplify, do more home made stuff, make life simple and enjoy it. I love this one, but it bugs me that it's the name of a magazine.

Now the one I'm leaning towards is Back to Basics. I want to get back to basics in life. Make the little things matter. Get rid of clutter. Simplify. Spend time on what matters. Be a country girl in the city. Back to basics to me means look back on past generations and going back to some of that. Home made, home cooked meals. Canning. Gardening. Sewing. Learning. Drying clothes on the clothes line. Eliminate excess.

I haven't made my final decision yet, but I think I'm really leaning towards Home Made Simple or Back to Basics. I realize it's not one word, it's a phrase, but I think that's what I want to focus on.

I'm going to mull over it for a while and decide.

Now I CHALLENGE YOU to choose a word or phrase to focus on during the year. Ali has some wonderful lists on her blog.

Some of the words or phrases that really stuck out to me are:
I'm Okay.
Journey
Lucky
Still (As in God tells us to Be Still...)
No new, make do.
Ten. (As in her friend always asks this person how they are feeling and she also says nine. This is going to be her ten year.)
Unplug
This is my year.

Once you choose your word I would love to know what it is. I'd love it if you would blog about it and link me to your blog, or if you would leave your word in a comment here and why you chose it.

Also, if you have any suggestions on a word that fits what I'm trying to say up there about Home Made Simple and Back to Basics I would LOVE the suggestions. Those don't seem quite right. And I can't place the word or phrase that I'm trying to get at.

2008 Word of the Year

At the beginning of 2008 I chose the word cultivate to define my year. This is what I wrote back then about my word.

cultivate

Yes, it's not your typical word that you would chose to define your year by. But I have come to the realization that I'm not your typical woman anyway. It seems to fit.

{Definition adapted from www.thefreedictionary.com}
cul·ti·vate
To improve and prepare
To grow or tend
To nurture; foster
To form and refine
To seek the acquaintance or goodwill of; make friends with.

That was the perfect word for my year. It encompasses so many things. Last year I sought help for my depression. I nurtured and improved myself by doing that. I'm much happier, which makes me a better wife. I've refined myself.

Cultivate also has a sort of gardening feel to it. I grew my very first garden last year. It was a success and I'm planning on one this year.

The one part of cultivate that I knew I would struggle with was making new friends. I have a very hard time making new friends and letting others get close to me. I am thrilled to say that I have found some of the most wonderful friends. Jessi and Amber. I have a feeling that this year was only the beginning and I look forward to getting to know them in 2009. Jessi and Amber "get" me. Jessi and I are somehow finishing each others sentences. They make me laugh so hard that I cry. We rib on each other just have a blast. My Friday nights just aren't the same when I don't go cropping and get my Jessi and Amber fix. Those Friday nights are my sanity savers.

I have so much more in me that I know what I want to say, but I just can't get it out. Let's just say that 2008 was a great year for me. I am blessed beyond measure. I am happy that I realized just how blessed I am over the last year.