Happy New Year - Welcome 2022

 

Wow! That sounds so weird to say 2022 !!  I remember when I was little how futuristic the year 2025 sounded and now that is only 3 years away!

Like everyone, I am about tired of COVID-19.  Every time things seem to get a little better, then it starts getting worse again.

In our office, we had a record number of COVID-19 cases in December 2021 - 47 people! So far, my department had avoided it but unfortunely someone in my department contracted it on 12/30/2021. 

Also, I had a cousin and a friend both contract the virus...my cousin (who believes the conspiracy theorist) was not vaccinated and had a pretty bad case, although luckily, wasn't hospitalized.  My friend, who had vaccines and boosters, had a very mild case.  

The Indigo Girls show that I was going to for New Year's Eve 2021 was postponed until New Year's Eve 2022 - oh well...I think it was for the best and at least I already have plans for New Year's Eve 2022!

As with the beginning of each year...I don't set "resolutions" per se, but I do set goals and make plans for the year.

 Some goals for this year are

1) Daily Bible Reading and Prayer.  I would REALLY love to read the entire Bible this year.  I set this goal almost every year and tend to slack off once the busy season comes at work...but I am really going to make a stronger effort this time around.

2) Lose weight/eat healthier/exercise.  That is also usually a goal I set each year.  I didn't really exercise much at all last year but I did okay with my eating habits "most" days.  I want to get back to the gym this month - I miss working out - I feel so much better when I do.  Plus, I would love to go back to Las Vegas (probably not in 2022 but in 2023, and want to have more endurance when I go so I can do more walking/exploring)

3) Watercolor.  I painted my first watercolor in 2021 and enjoyed it.  A goal for 2022 is to do at least 6 watercolor paintings.  Of course I would like to do more - maybe one a month at least but I don't want to stretch myself since I am a beginner so I am setting a goal for 6 paintings.

4) Crochet/Knit.  I am glad that my mojo for crochet and knitting returned in 2021 and in 2022, my goals are simple.  I want to make at least 6 prayer shawls for church (like the paintings, I would love to make at least 1 a month but I don't want to put pressure on myself so I am setting a goal for 1 every other month).  I also want to complete my Around the World Afghan (even though I fear I may run out of the yarn that is no longer manufactured) and I want to finish making hats for the homeless by January 15th of 2022.  I could have finished them before the end of the year but I had company and that slowed things down a bit.  I also have a kit that I bought from Mary Maxim that I would like to make. 

Last year I didn't participate in the dishcloth exchange on Raverly for various reasons but I would love to do that again this year, so hopefully I can do so.   

5) Personal Journaling.  I used to journal, a LOT, but it got a big difficult because of carpal tunnel syndrome.  It is easier to type but at the same time, I don't always feel like dragging the computer out and typing, especially when I have been on the computer all day at work.  I think I will start writing again in a journal and see how it goes - if the carpal tunnel problem makes it difficult, I will go back to typing - not sure if I will journal daily, but at least 4-5 times a week, even though daily is preferred.

I am grouping blogging in here too - I plan to blog a little more in 2022 then I did in 2021.  More new recipes to try, more crochet/knitting projects to share, etc.

6) House projects - there are LOTS of projects I want to do around the house but I have 2 primary projects.  One is to clean out a spare room so I can set it up as an office/craft room and the other is to clean out the garage...there is just too much stuff stored in there.  There are lots of other things but I am just setting those as goals for this year.

7) Scrapbooking and Project Life - I kept up with Project Life in 2021 - whoo hoo!  I plan to continue doing Project Life/Project 365 using the PL App in 2022.  I just can't decide what kit to use this year.

 

8) Genealogy - I don't have a lot of goals this year for genealogy research simply because I have other things (see above) that I plan to give priority.  However, I would like to find a way to perhaps organize in some kind of binder - at least for my mom and her direct ancestors - nothing especially fancy, just something that she can hold, look at and share. But I plan to make this a bigger project in 2023 - hopefully I will be retired then (at least that is the plan)

So there it is...lots of goals and a bit ambitious this year but I feel it is important to have some specific goals for the year.

I hope those reading this has a HAPPY NEW YEAR and that 2022 is the year that COVID-19 goes away and you and your family have a fabulous year!!

 

Happy 2017!!

Here were are again - at the start of a new year - 2017!! Wow!!  That sounds so wild to say.  I am happy to report that I survived another year and it actually was a pretty good year.  Nothing terrible or tragic happened in my life (well, except for Donald Trump being elected but that is another story for another time).

My remaining family is healthy and doing well and I was able to see my niece and great niece a few months ago and I am so proud of the mom that my niece has become and to see my great niece grow and become her own little independent person.  She is such a joy, just like her mom always is.

Things at work are going well, things at home are going well and I really don't have anything to complain about (except Trump of course - LOL! but nothing I can do about that, right?)

While 2017 saw a lot of celebrity deaths, there were some good things - the CUBS won the World Series!!  How awesome was that?!  Heck, the Falcons are a contender for the Superbowl - so maybe 2017 will be their year - one can only hope.

I did pretty well with my 2016 Goals.
1)  While, I still want to grow stronger in my faith, I do feel that I have reconnected with the Lord and once again have that yearning to learn more of His Word.  I read a daily devotional and it helped me a lot.

2)  I have gotten healthier, thanks to the support of my sister.  We followed the Atkins Plan together and I am proud to say that I have lost 50 lbs.  Atkins was pretty easy for me some reason.  We started together on July 1st with an initial goal to lose 25 lbs by August 31st and we both met our goal!  I slowed a bit during the month of October - birthday, traveling, Halloween - no excuse but just wasn't as strict but I got back on track in November and managed to lose 25 more pounds before the end of the year.

3) As far as the crafts.  I didn't have as much time to craft as I would have liked to.  I did make my 2nd cousin a beautiful baby afghan, which she totally did NOT appreciate like I thought she would.  Plus she never sent me a thank you card (Lesson learned!).  I finished the Mystery CAL Afghan, which I didn't like at all (2nd lesson learned, no more "mystery" patterns for me).  I made this cute little cross-stitch for my niece and her her family, which she totally loved (yeah!).  I learned a new crochet technique, while watching a John Wayne movie. I knitted my mom a little dress for her dishwashing liquid bottle.  I participated in a dishcloth swap and made 5 dishclothes (also learned a new knitting technique in the process) and I got 5 different ones in return. I started making a Virus Blanket (but put in on hiatus for a bit).  I also made 3 Messy Bun Hats (which I haven't blogged about - maybe later)

Wow - looks like I was a little more crafty in 2016 than I remembered.

So....what are my 2017 Goals? 

2017 Goals

Health - continue losing weight.  I still have quiet a bit I need/want to lose and I just know that with some recent decisions I have made in my life, that this year, I will see a major change in my weight and health.

Religion - begin my journey (again) to read the entire Bible.  I really, really, really want to do that this year.  I have had this as a goal for many years but this is the year I intend to actually do it.

Crafts - I want to finish 2 WIPs I have (Virus Blanket and HUGE granny Around the World afghan).  Plus I want to make my mom a knitted shawl and I have a couple of other afghans in mind that I would like to make.  I have a cross stitch that I would like to do too but not sure if I will get to that this year - it is quite an undertaking but you never know.

Other - I would like get my "final financial plans" in place - you know, things like a will, advanced directive, add my sister to my bank accounts, assign a power of attorney - those kinds of things.  None of us are promised tomorrow.  I want to make sure that when that time comes, it will be easy on my family.  I hope that is a long way away, but I have learned that life can end in a second, without warning.  I also have several things around the house that I would like to accomplish, mostly some organization things and such.

Again, although I won't be scrapping about it, my One Little Word of the year is going to be "Renew"

So, here is to 2017, may it be a great year (even with Trump as president). 😝

DIY Saturday - New Backsplash

When I moved into my house, it had this cute country print wallpaper on it in the kitchen.  My mother had put it up probably in the 1980s (I bought my house from my parents when they retired back to their hometown in Florida)

It wasn't really my taste and I wanted to change it for a long time but just didn't know what to change it to...plus it didn't really bother me that much since my mom put it up and it makes me think of her.

 Cute, right?  But country and not me at all.  Here are a couple of more BEFORE photos.

It looked okay and as much as I didn't want to cover up something my mom had done, even she agreed that it was time for a change.  So.....I found this cool company called Dali Decals.  They sell these decals called Modern Mosaics.

So...I thought, hey why not give that a try.  I wanted a tile look as my backsplash but didn't want the expense and the work that came with it...so why not try this?  Much, much, much cheaper than tiles.  When I ordered it - it was delivered in a big roll...like this

I chose the color scheme called San Clemente because it matches my vintage 1950s dishes and pyrex and had the teal color I wanted but wasn't toooooo teal - just enough.  I love teal and brown together so this was perfect.  If you don't like the colors they have, they will custom make the color scheme you want.

So...my friend Susan came to visit and help me put it up (you need 2 people - trust me on this).  I couldn't have done this by myself. We measured, measured again and measured again...what is that saying "Measure twice, cut once" or something like that.  We measured many times because we wanted to get it right.

Then it was as simple as cutting to size and putting it up and slowly peeling of the back, It is really just a big sticker so to speak.  Kind of like scrapbooking on the wall - haha!

 

So what do you think?  It is really much prettier in person and really looks like tiles - I LOVE IT !!