Happy New Year

 

Happy New Year

Wow, it feels so weird and kind of futuristic to say the year 2025.  When I was young, that really sounded like space age future!

As typical, I do have a few things I want to do this year, while I don't call them resolutions, there are some habits I want to develop and goals I want to reach.

Healthier eating, exercise and weight loss (doesn't almost everyone want to do this?)

Daily Bible Reading (continuing this from last year)

Flossing my teeth daily (I'm bad about not flossing as I should)

Brushing my teeth at night (I often skip it)

Daily journaling...I only journaled like 4 times last year so I bought a daily journal to help me this year

Meditate/pray daily

As you can see, many of these new habits are daily, but they are small and easy things to do.  

I know I may have a health challenge in 2025, based on recent tests, but I also know that God is holding my hand all the time and whatever I face, He'll take care of me.

August 2023 Project Life

This was a very momentous month for me.  A major life change - I RETIRED !!!  I could have retired 5 years ago will full benefits, but I just wasn't ready and honestly, I enjoyed my job (for the most part) and the people I worked with.  But I finally took the plunge after a LOT (and I mean a LOT) of prayer. 

I traveled a lot too - I was in 8 different states this month!  I visited mom, and my friend Susan and I took a trip to Graceland, but decided to see a few other things while we were out, we stopped by the National Quilt Musuem and Laura Ingalls and Almonzo Wilder's home.  That was so cool!  I would love to travel out that way again.  There was so much to see and we since so much was kind of "on the spur of the moment", we didn't really get to spend as much time as I would have liked in some of the places we visited.  We had really planned for Graceland and boy, we had a blast!

We had record heat this month - whew!! The highest day, was 106 ° F.  I just don't tolerate heat very well, but it was worth it. 

Click on the photos to enlarge. 

Happy New Year - 2018!

You know, sometimes I cannot believe it when I say Happy 2018!  Seriously, wasn't I just partying like it was 1999 and there was a lot of talk of Y2K - how was that 18 years ago?  Wow!  I guess the saying is true that as you get older, time really does seem to fly.

I won't lie and I don't want to be a "Debbie Downer" but I will admit, the holidays were not the best for me this year.  They were not bad, nothing horrible happened or anything like that, thank goodness but it was just a sad time for me.  It was harder this year than last for some reason.  Since my dad passed, I know the holidays will never be the same and for some reason, I was really, really, really missing my brother this year. 

Christmas 2013, I went to visit my brother and sister-in-law for Christmas, my mom went with me.  My niece, her husband and baby flew in from New Zealand.  It had been a long time since I had seen my niece and her husband and it was the very first time seeing their child (just turned 1 at the time) in person.  What a joy she was (and is).

My brother and sister-in-law was just over the moon at their grandchild.  My brother was so fun to watch, he missed out a lot when my niece was little because he was in the Navy and was gone for many months at a time.  He was so thrilled to have a grand-daughter in his life.

I took this photo of them playing together and you can just see the happiness in his eyes.

Little did I know, how could I have known, that this would be the last Christmas I would spend with him?  How in the world would I ever imagine that he wouldn't be there the next Christmas?  It still doesn't seem real sometimes and yet, sometimes it seems all too real.

Did I mention that my brother's birthday is January 1st - a New Year's baby - which is an even bigger reminder that he isn't here.  He would have been 58 today. 

I know life has to go on, but it is hard.  However, now that the holidays (and his birthday) has passed, I must move on to the next year. He would want that for me, he would NOT want me sulking.  He lived life to the fullest and would want all of us to do the same so I will do my best to continue to do that.

I don't really have any resolutions for 2018 except to complete some of the crafty projects I have started, to spend more time reading God's word and more time in prayer and quiet time with Him and to continue working on my healthy life changes (I've done a pretty good job doing that if I must say so myself ...patting myself on my own back). 

I have been doing Project Life (aka: Project 365) since 2009 and will continue again in 2018.  In conjunction with that, I'm taking an iPhone Photography class to improve my iPhone photo skills since it seems that lately, I use my iPhone more than my regular camera.

I don't usually post my Project Life layouts but I may start doing that (weekly? monthly?).  I did get behind a couple of times last year but I caught back up.  I just need to order my pages (I like to print them out and put them in a book, since I started using the app).  Before the app, I would just order the photos and put them in page protectors. 

I am hopeful for 2018.  I know it is a journey - there will be hills with some ups and some downs but I am hoping there are more highs than lows.  I expect there will be.  2017 was a pretty good year, all and all.  While there were people missing from life and a few others passed on, overall the year was a happy one and I know that since God is always with me, that no matter what lies ahead, He will be there!

I hope you had a good 2017 and that 2018 is fantastic!!

Love Letter to a Car

June 2, 2017

Dear 2003 Chevrolet Blazer,

I purchased you February 25, 2003, you were brand new.  While you were not the first "new" car I purchased, I was more excited about this purchase than my previous "new" car.  I had wanted a Silver Chevy Blazer for many years but just didn't know that I could afford one.  However, God has a way of forcing our hands sometimes and as it were, my Chevy Cavalier decided that it was no longer going to run for me so I decided to bite the bullet.

My mom and dad went with me Henrick Chevrolet ( then located on Shackleford Rd in Norcross, GA) and they were there more for advice and support.  I was 30-something (age withheld-haha) and when I saw you on the lot, I knew I wanted you.  The salesman, Richard Pittman, let me drive you home and keep you just to see how I like you.  He was pretty new there and later I think he must have realized he shouldn't have done that because he called me the next day wondering when I was coming back - haha.

But I actually was about to head back and tell him, let's make a deal.  I did all the dealing myself and I drove off the lot with a beautiful silver/gray Blazer.
                                                                                                      

 

I got you just in time because on the way to pick you up, my old car died on me, literally, and I had to have it towed into the dealership.  This was the days before everyone had a cell phone so  thank goodness this lady let me come into her house and use her phone to call them and they sent a tow truck to haul it in.  That was interesting....

The minute I got you home, I loved you.  I read the owner's manual cover-to-cover.

I took many, many, many trips with you...to Virginia to see my dear friend and my Godson, he had just celebrated his 3rd birthday when I got you and now he is about to be 18!!!  That is a lot of birthday visits.

I took you to Kentucky a couple of times to see my brother and sister-in-law.  And we went to Florida way too many times to count...to see mom and dad and other relatives and go to Family Reunions and to see the beach.

Some of my happiest memories are riding down to Florida and back with my beloved and trusted dog, Thatcher in the car with me.  He would start out looking out the passenger window but within 20 or 30 minutes, he was laying on the floor so the cool air could blow in his face.  Even after he was gone, I continued to look at the spot on my trips and picture him laying in "Thatcher's Spot". 

Again, those trips were before cell phones and before digital cameras (which shows you how long I had this car).  I wish I had some photos of him in the car but it just wasn't that common to take photos then as it is now, since getting film developed was pretty pricey, but I sure wish I had a photo.  At least I have the picture in my mind, which I can see whenever I want to.

I put a lot of miles on you - but considering how long I have had you, I don't think it is too bad.

You came with a CD player, which was starting to become pretty common when I bought you, but people still played cassettes and I had plenty of them so luckily you had a cassette player too.

As you can tell from the worn markings...the radio, CD and cassette player got plenty of use!

It was so, so hard to trade you in for a new car.  I didn't want to and even as I type this blog post, I am tearing up thinking about it because I really didn't want to let you go.  There are so many memories attached to you, I really loved this car!!  I was emotionally attached and will miss it so much. 

However, as God kind of gave me a gentle push before, He surely gave me a gentle push again.  I prayed (A LOT) for guidance on if I should trade and when the mechanic told me that it was going to soon need over $2,500 worth of repairs (when I just put in almost $1,000) and I was just getting a gut feeling that something major was going to go wrong and it would be very expensive....knowing that the financial value was way below that...I listened to God's guidance and decided it was time.

I took both sets of keys - even all this time, I never once had to replace the battery in the key fob.
It was obvious which was the one I used all the time and which was the spare set (you can't even read the writing on it)

I had to say goodbye to my friend

I prayed for you on the drive over to the dealership...I prayed that after I leave you, that another owner comes along, that you are treated well, that you are given regular maintenance every 3 months, just as I did, that your tires are rotated every six months, and mostly that the new owner will LOVE you just as much as I did.  

On the drive over to the dealership, I was behind a Florida Rock truck, which is the company my dad worked for...to me...it was a sign from my dad that I was doing the right thing and he was with me, still supporting me as I let go of a car that I loved very much.

Good bye dear friend...thank you for being reliable, for all the trips and for all the memories.  I will miss you but I will never forget you.

Lucky Girl

You know, I have been having a few good days and I'm feeling pretty positive about life. It has been a while, after all the tragedy in my life that happened 2 years ago, life has been a bit challenging but for the first time in a few years, I feel like I can deal with life again.

I was thinking over the past few days that I am really a very LUCKY GIRL.  First of all, I was blessed with the best parents in the entire world.  Although my dad is gone now, I was fortunate to be with him when he left to go to Heaven.  I was blessed with an older brother and a younger sister, we grew up very close (even though we fussed about silly things when we were little - like who is touching who and who borrowed whose clothes without asking) but we have always been close.  Even though my brother is gone now, how lucky was I to have him as part of my life for 51 years?  How lucky was I to spend my birthday with him and enjoy a great few days with him and get to tell him I love him in person, just a couple of weeks before he left to go to Heaven?  Do I wish my dad and brother were still here?  Of course I do!!  But I just feel so blessed to have been in the same family with them.

I'm also lucky and blessed to have a wonderful sister-in-law, who is a sister to me too.  I have a beautiful, independent and smart niece, who is married to a great guy and they have a beautiful, funny and clever daughter.  We all love each other and never argue.  My whole family is supportive of my decisions, even if they may not agree with them all the time.

Last year, I was selected for a pilot program that only 25 people, out of all state employees that applied were chosen.  I was randomly selected and given an opportunity of a lifetime.  It was something I wasn't sure I actually wanted, to be quite honest but I prayed a lot about it and since I was chosen, I feel that God wanted this for me and now that I have gone through a year of the whole process, I truly believe it was the best thing for me and have no doubt I made the right decision by going through the whole process.  It has already changed my life in many ways and I suspect, I will see many more changes due to this program in the next coming year.

I am so lucky that I have great friends - supportive and loving friends.  I may not have a 100 friends but the friends I do have are loyal and true and we'd all do anything for each other.  Not many people can say that.

I am so lucky that I belong to a wonderful, Christian church where I have another family.  We just have the best pastor in the world (if you ask me).  I just can't hardly wait until Sunday so I can go to church and see my church family and hear the good Word of the Lord.

I have a great job, that I love and where I feel appreciated and needed.  At my last job, which I enjoyed a lot until a certain person was hired and made my life a living nightmare, I was happy there and loved many of the people I work with but I was not appreciated and I was seriously, seriously underpaid for the amount of work I did, the kind of responsibilities I had and the amount of hours I put in.  I was not appreciated there because I could do 999 things right and do 1 thing wrong and I would get written up for the one thing but never even patted on the back for the 999 things. (Well I did have one boss that appreciated me but sadly, they ran her off).

But at this job, I feel really appreciated as an employee and as a person.  I feel I am well paid for what I do and for my responsibilities and I feel my opinion is important.  My co-workers are the best and one of them I consider my best friend!  She is the Thelma to my Louise (or is it vice versa).  How fortunate to work at a place you like, with people you like and to even have a good and steady job - what a true blessing that is!

Although my car is 14 years old, it runs great - I seldom have any issues with it and I just love it.  We've been through a lot together.  How lucky that I have a good, safe, reliable car and haven't had a car payment in 9 years!

I have a lovely home.  It is paid for too - which is super sweet!  It is the home I grew up in, which I now own.  It is small, about 1,050 sq feet, including the 1 car garage but it has 3 bedrooms and tiny closets, 1 1/2 baths, a living room and a combined kitchen/dining room.  It has a pretty good size yard and I am lucky enough to have a next door neighbor who keeps the grass cut and the leaves picked up (at a cost but that helps us both out).  It is small, but just right for me.  I have done some redecorating over the past few years, and still have some things I want to do but it makes me happy to come home and I thank God every day for giving me a nice roof over my head, keeping me safe and warm and dry.  My house was build the same year I was born so it is perfect for me.

I am crafty - I can do pretty much any kind of crafts and I enjoy them...Crochet, Knitting, Cross-Stitch, Needlepoint, Crewel, Embroidery, etc.  I am lucky that I am able to do those kind of things that bring me joy and happiness.

I can see (although I need corrective lenses), I can hear (although I say "what" more than I used to), I can walk, I can talk and I have a decent amount of common sense.  Not everyone can say those things - how lucky am I?

I could probably go on and on and on!!  But I know how blessed I truly am.

God is so Good !!

Liebster Award

Thank you to Jen at It's My Life for her Liebster Award nomination. Wow! Totally an unexpected surprise.  How exiting!! This award is for bloggers who have less than 200 followers.

This is how it works:

You start by being nominated by a fellow blogger who likes what you have been posting (so sweet)

Then you tell 11 random facts about yourself and answer 11 questions.

You then get to nominate 11 fellow bloggers and give them 11 questions to answer.


Here are 11 Random Facts about me


1. I wanted to be a vet when I grew up, until my brother reminded me that sometimes animals get hit by cars.  I couldn't handle that.

2. I don't like shoes - I would go barefoot all the time if I could.

3. I was an extra in the movie "The Slugger's Wife" but good luck finding me.  I was part of the Stadium crowd.

4. The first man I ever kissed was Duke's of Hazzard star, John Schneider.  He was 19, I was 16.

5. My favorite town that I've visited is San Francisco.

6. My favorite classic Disney character is Goofy.

7. I cannot whistle due to a short lingual frenulum.

8. I've seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show over 200 times.

9. Both of my ears are pierce three times.

10.  I have taken and kept a photo every day of my life for the past 5 years (and am starting on the 6th year).

11.  My favorite dessert is Crème Brûlée.

Here are the answers to the 11 Questions Jen left for me:

1. Why do you blog? I started because when I joined the knitting community of Ravelry, everyone seemed to have a blog and it was a way for people to share, so I started one too but now it is just more for a creative outlet and a way to share some recipes and crafty projects and such.

2. What is your highlight(s) of 2013?  There were many good things in 2013 but I think my highlight was getting to finally meet my great niece in person. She was born in New Zealand in November 2012 and I finally got to see her and hold her in December 2013.

3. What hobbies do you have? How much time do you have?  Let's see....I like to crochet, knit, cross-stitch, scrapbook, take photos, travel....I'm sure there are more I didn't mention.

4. What is your favorite dessert? Haha - I put that under my random things before I saw this question - it is Crème Brûlée

5. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be? England

6. Did you have any pets growing up? Yes, cat named Fuzzy, cat named Sox, dog named Bandit, dog named Minnie (had others after that but those are the ones we had when I was growing up)

7. What is your favorite thing about yourself? That I'm loyal.

8. Do you like sports? If so, who do you cheer for? I like sports but not a fanatic about any.  I root for the home teams - Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta Braves but I also root for the Miami Dolphins and Alabama Crimson Tide.

9. What is your favorite season of the year? Why? Autumn, I love the cooler temperatures, all the colors of the trees, all the Fall Festivals and the smells of the season (pumpkin, cinnamon, etc)

10. Do you have a piece of jewelry you wear everyday? No, I don't wear much jewelry at all.

11. Name 3 things on your life bucket list. To go to England, To see the Statue of Liberty, To see the Alamo.

Those were some great questions!  Now here are my nominees:

Linda at Grandma's Vintage Recipes

Thomasina at Thomasina's Nine Lives & Times

Rollerscraper at Roller Scrapper

Chenelle at The Tall Girl Cooks

Stephanie at StefStyle

Staci at The Black Butterfly

Sukigirl at Sukigirl

Beadknitter at Beadknitter Gallery

Aimee Marie at The Maine Page Turner

Minna at Where I'm Me  

Bev at Bev's Country Cottage

My questions for you are:

1. Where is your favorite vacation spot?

2. If you could go back in time, what year or even would you pick?

3. Have you ever ridden on a motorcycle?

4. Do you have any tattoos? If so what are they?

5. What is your favorite pizza topping?

6. Where did you go on your very first date?

7. What is your favorite day of the week? Why?

8. What skill do you wish you had?

9. What is your most inspirational quote?

10. Do you wear perfume daily?

11. Do you prefer the beach or the mountains?  

Thanks again Jen for the Liebster Award ! 

 

Happy New Year - 2014 !

Wow!  I totally am floored that it is 2014 !  The saying is true - time really does seem to fly.

It is that time of year again, when I list my GOALS for the upcoming year.  I don't make resolutions anymore, I stopped that a few years ago - instead I like to make goals for the year.  Sometimes I meet them, sometimes I don't but you know what...that isn't the end of the world. 

I didn't have a ton of goals last year - some goals I met, most I didn't.  I had a tough year, emotionally.  Even though I lost my dad in 2012, for some reason it was harder in 2013.  I really went through a great deal of depression throughout 2013 and actually still deal with it.  I try not to focus on it but throughout 2013, when my life was to be about "Balance" - it was instead about "Avoidance" - I just tried to avoid the world for the most part. 

There were some good things that happened in 2013 - I got to see my friend Anita and my Godson, Jacob - not just once but TWICE last year - that was great !  I went to Nashville and saw Donny & Marie.  I saw Adam Ant after many, many years.  For the most part, my family was healthy and I got to see my niece & her husband, who I haven't seen in 2 years.  I also go to meet my great niece, Isobel, in person and that was so special to me!  I love that little girl so much!  I turned 50 (gulp! but yea!).  I started researching my family tree and found out a lot of interesting things.

However, when at home for the most part, I pretty much would lie on the couch, sleep when I could and avoid doing anything else - cleaning, crafting, cooking, reading, etc.  I just wanted to close my eyes and wake up and everything be better - but it never was.  I did what I had to do to get through each day and Thanked God for the strength that I survived another day without my dad, without Thatcher and Thanked God for those that I did have in my life. 

Each year, for the past few years, I've picked a word to try to be my focus for the year - based on Ali Edwards "One Little Word" concept.

Previous year's were:
2011: Happiness
2012: Completion
2013: Balance

So what is the word for 2014?  I keep going between two of them....Focus and Routine.  I keep going back and forth.  But I think I will make my word "ROUTINE" for 2014.  Why this word?  Well...I was thinking back to a time in my life when I was very, very busy yet I was pretty happy.  I lived in a condo with my sister.  I was going to school full-time, working full-time and managed to keep things at home organized and going smoothing and still managed time for a social life.  During this time, though, I was really in a routine.  I got up the same time daily, did certain things at certain times and on certain days.  I liked having a routine schedule - it helped me stay organized and helped me stay focused (there is that word again).  I think having a good routine helps with your focus, which is why I decided to go with routine. 

My life now is anything but routine....I get up at various times, get to work at various times, leave work at various times, I don't plan my meals, I don't plan much of anything - what happens, happens. I am the kind of person that needs some kind of routine and schedule - it works for me, it helps me stay on track.  So...that is going to be my One Little Word for 2014.

Spiritual Goals:

Well...as I do every year...I want to read the whole Bible in a year.  I even have a special one-year Bible for this purpose:

The problem is...I have misplaced this !  (Maybe my OLW should be "organize").  Actually I THINK I know where it is but haven't looked there.  So I will look there tonight and hopefully it will be there so I can start with it tomorrow.  However...I do have another plan to follow as a backup. 

This is obviously something that is near and dear to me - something I really, really want to do since it has been a goal that I do not stop thinking about....but sometime around March, I always seem to lose steam.  I really want to complete this goal this year - mainly to stretch my spiritual knowledge but also so that this time next year, I will not be making this a goal again - I can actually say I DID IT.

 

Another spiritual goal is to spend more time in solitude and prayer.  I am pretty good at this spiritual discipline but I want to include it as part of my daily routine.  Spending time, probably after daily Bible readings, with just the quietness and listening for the Lord - giving my prayer requests to Him and just "being" with Him.

Crafty Goals:

Well...I didn't meet any of my crafty goals from last year.  As I mentioned, I was quite blue throughout a lot of the year.  When you are feeling down, you just don't feel like doing anything, especially something crafty.  I am...I promise, promise, promise, promise myself, that I AM going to complete my Around the World Afghan.  Frankly, I cannot believe that I started this almost 4 years ago - has it really been that long??  I, mean, REALLY??  I guess time really does fly, as I mentioned earlier. 

Of course there are other crafty things I want to do this year, but this is the only goal I am setting because this is the one that I will complete this year.

Other Goals:

Genealogy - I will continue on my quest to find out more about my family.  My goal is to get everything into 2 (or perhaps 4) books - can't quite decide how I will organize it.  I want to especially have the Odom family information completed as much as possible before our family reunion at the beginning of May.

Health - I will continue to eat healthier.  I have done fairly well - avoiding fried foods and refined sugars.  I will continue to focus on healthy eating and incorporating more vegetables and more exercise into my life.

Reading - Other than the Bible reading plan, I am not really going to set any "reading" goals.  I do want to take time to read more but it really isn't a goal, just something I hope to do.

Travel - Again, not really setting any travel "goals" but I do have a desire to take more "day trips" or "overnight trips" this year - places within driving distance.  I am going to plan a trip to Washington, DC for me and my friend, Susan - but not sure I will take the trip this year - I would like to though - perhaps around September/October.


Well...that is really it - not really a lot of goals - mainly two - read the Bible in a Year and complete the Around the World Afghan.  The others are, what I guess you might call desires or mini-goals.

Wish me luck :)

Happy New Year !

Well...another year has come and gone and a new one begins.  The year 2012 was full of emotions.  In January, my beloved father passed away and my heart has been broken since.  I don't think it will ever really heal.  I miss him so much and it is hard to ring in the New Year knowing he is not here on earth with me and I can't talk to him and give him a big New Year's kiss.

It is amazing what life can bring... On November 9, 2011, I was sitting in the CCU waiting room with my neice and her husband, who were in the process of moving away from Japan after living through a major earthquake and tsunami.  They both decided to visit the United States before moving to his home country of New Zealand.  Who knew at that moment that exactly one year later on November 9, 2012, my dad would be gone, and that they would be in New Zealand, with new jobs, a brand new home and experiencing the birth of their child, a beautiful baby girl, who they named Isobel Savannah?

It was like God called one angel home in 2012 and sent us down another one.  I talk to daddy all the time and ask him to watch over Isobel. Let her have a very happy and properous life, filled with happiness and love and let her always, always know that the Lord is with her.  I pray that she has a loving relationship with God and is constantly aware of His presence in her life.  Her mom, my niece, went to church when she was younger and both my neice and her husband were raised Methodist.  My neice's parents (my brother and sister in law) were not very involved in church, I don't know about his parents though.  I hope that since they had Isobel baptized the Sunday before Christmas, that they do raise her with religion in her life.  We shall see.  It is just something I will continue to pray about.

I'm not sure what is in store for me in 2013.  Last year my One Little Word was "Completion" In 2011, it was "Happiness".  I didn't do especially great with either word.  I did think of them and work on them but didn't generate as much happiness as I would have liked and certaintly didn't complete as many things as I would have liked.  But that is all okay.  It is not a big deal - at least I tried, right?

This year, my One Little Word is "Balance" - I have realized in the past few weeks that I simply do not have balance in my life, especially the balance between work-life and home-life.  I need that.  I need a happy medium.  I spend way to much of my life focused on work.  I need to spend more time focusing on the people in my life, my home, structure, etc.  I've tried doing Ali Edward's workshop the past couple of years but couldn't keep them up and therefore would get discouraged.  That is so not what the OLW is about...so I have decided this year not to do the workshop.  I am just going to do my own thing...maybe I will blog about it, maybe I will journal about it, who knows...but I will work on adding balance to my life in 2013.

I do have some goals for next year, as I usually do:

Spiritual Goals:

Each year I say I am going to read the entire Bible and each year, between February and April, I stop.  In the middle of last year, I bought the One Year Bible so I am going to read it every day!  It will be part of my routine and will add some of the balance to my life that I am seeking.

 

Also...I am really going to focus on my words to others this year.  Really be mindful before speaking.  

~Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing 
(1 Thessalonians 5:11)

This was brought on by reading the Two Peas in a Bucket NSBR forum of all things. There are 4 or 5 "peas" that are down-right mean, spiteful and nasty.  I can only imagine that it is because they are so unhappy in their own lives that it makes them feel better to beat someone up when they are down.  Plus, I guess since they are anonomyous, they feel like it is okay to use foul and hurtful language towards another person, that they don't even know.  Surely, they would not speak that way to a person face-to-face.  These particular people really should be embarrased and ashamed of the things they say.  I know there is a blog out there on the internet somewhere where they privately bash the other peas even more.  I saw the blog once, it was enough for me to know that it was not a place where I wanted to spend my time.

I figure I can use my words to build someone up (as mentioned in the above verse) or knock someone down.  Why wouldn't you make someone feel better if you have that ability?  So I am going to do that with the people in my life (and on message boards, if I happen to be on them)

Knitting/Crochet Goals:

Right now I have 2 goals and only 2.  The first one is to finish my Around the World Afghan and the second one is to begin and complete a Sky Scarf.  There are several other projects that are in progress, that I want to complete as well and I desperately need some new dishclothes and towels...but as for now, I'm only setting 2 goals for the year - to help me maintain the "balance"

Scrapbooking Goals:

I'm going to continue with Project 365.  I did that digitally through Shutterfly last year but haven't finished my book yet.  After dad passed away, I didn't have the desire to keep up the digital book, but I still kept taking photos.  I will continue the photo taking and I will decide if I want to order the photos through ShutterCal (where I currently post my P365 photos)

Christmas Cards - I will make and send out my Christmas cards at the end of 2013.  I want to start my cards really early - maybe even this month.  I haven't made cards the past three years and I miss that.  I got a home-made card from an old friend, Yvonne, this past Christmas.  She makes really pretty cards (I was her inspiration she said) and Yvonne passed away today from pancreatic/liver cancer.  I will treasure her card, especially knowing how sick she was, yet she took them time to make my Christmas a little more special.

Those are my only goals - I do want to scrapbook more and know what things I want to work on but I am only setting those 2 goals to keep things manageable. 

Other Goals:

 

Live healtier - less eating out and more exercise and being more mindful of what I put in my body.

Read - I have a set of books that I want to read - they are sitting on my ottoman in the living room behind a chair - I'm going to read them this year.

Visit mom more - probably at least monthly, this means I may need to change my work schedule but that shouldn't be a problem.

Plan a trip to NYC with Anita

I think those are plenty of goals for the year.  Will I set other goals? Probably...but for now I am keeping it manageable, keeping it small and keeping it balanced.

101 Things

I was reading somewhere on twopeasinabucket.com and someone posted about the website DayZeroProject.com, it is sort of where you can put your list of things you want to do (somewhat of a Bucket List) but apparently you are supposed to complete these 101 things in 1,001 days.

I have never made, what I prefer to call a Life List, things I want to do - I'm not sure if I have 101 things but I do have several things so I might as well start listing them. Some of them I have accomplished, so I am including those too...I will add to this list as I move along - maybe eventually I will have 101 things...

Here they are in no particular order (just wrote them down as they popped into my brain)

1) See the Statue of Liberty
2) See the Alamo
3) See Mt. Rushmore - DONE
4) See the Golden Gate Bridge - DONE
5) Ride a Horse
6) Learn to Knit (already know crochet) - DONE
7) Give blood at least 3 times each year (2009-DONE, 2010-DONE, 2011)
8) Read 10 classic novels
9) See the Eiffle Tower in Paris
10) Vacation in London
11) Drive across the country
12) Drive up the east coast during Autumn
13) Send a secret into PostSecret
14) Complete Photo Project 365 (2009-DONE, 2010-DONE, 2011)
15) Get to my goal weight
16) Maintain my goal weight
17) Meet Donny Osmond - DONE (more than once!!)
18) Get new carpeting for the house DONE

19) Re-wallpaper (or paint) the bathroom
20) Complete my Las Vegas Scrapbook albums
21) Complete my 2 Disney trip scrapbook albums
22) Visit DisneyWorld/Universal - again DONE
23) Write my life story (biography)
24) Make my own recipe book
25) Walk up Stone Mountain (again)
26) Walk all the way around Stone Mountain
27) Finish ALL of my "work-in-progress" craft projects - only one more to go
28) Learn to knit with double-pointed-needles
29) Knit myself this hat
30) Knit myself a pair of fingerless gloves - DONE
31) Watch all of Season 1 & 2 episodes of Fringe (before season 3 starts)
32) Clean out the living room closet - DONE
33) Clean out the hall room closet - DONE
34) Clean out my bedroom closet - DONE
35) Set up a usuable scrap room
36) Make a will
37) Take a tour of Italy
38) See the Northwestern Coast (Oregon, Washington, Toronto)
39) Go to Yosemite
40) Get regular manicures
41) ???