i'm ready!

i love the "fresh start" feeling of the upcoming new year. every year, i start to get excited and motivated about things i want to do and change with the fresh start. this year, my list is pretty typical....

1. eating better

love this website-eat better America, that my bud t shared with me last night when we were chatting. it looks SO good! even the tuna salad made my mouth water! i threw away the last of the Christmas goodies last night, so i 'm ready to go! 

 2.exercising more. confession time. i haven't worked out in over 8 weeks. the busyness of the photography business, became my focus over the last months of this year...which was fine, as long as i get back to it now. i have been meaning to mention this. ashley is such a great motivator...she's so real, and funny and just the most refreshing person! this class is sure to be a really, really great thing! several of my friends are signed up.  

3. purging and getting organized. i have a good start on this one. i went through my closet, armoire, dresser drawers and built-ins in our bedroom over the past few days, and as i was purging, tom joined in with his closet and drawers, and then we moved to our coat closet. we ended up with 8 boxes/bags for goodwill. it filled the backseat and trunk of the car! and that's just from 2 areas. i'm not a packrat when it comes to clothing. i just went through everything about 3 months ago. but i was much more mentally into getting rid of things over the past few days. i finally realized that i only need 1 or 2 t-shirts for painting :) so i hope to continue in this frame of mind over the next month, and hope to take lots more to goodwill!

4.working on my photography. i have so many fun ideas that i want to implement this year. more workshops at the loft, and more options for clients. i really want to go to wppi this year too.

5. getting back to my love for all things crafty. doing more classes, both taking and teaching in small venues! and just spending time in my studio creating. i have been loving it lately. i want to create just because.

6. continuing my new attitude about time spent on relationships. trying to be more like my friend pam, who will drop almost anything to go to lunch or just hang out...and in the end, aren't people and relationships the most important thing? much more important than any task on our to-do lists. i want to invest more in the people i love. tom and i took a few hours on friday night and turned the tv off, turned the fireplace on, had a glass of wine, and sat on the hearth and talked. really talked. about things we haven't made time to talk about in a long time. our hopes and dreams and goals for the next year. we need to do this more often, especially in the winter months. in the summer, we sit outside and chat almost every night. i didn't realize how much i missed it. we have been using the hot tub more this fall and winter too, so that's been good.  why not? i think time slips by and before you know it, you can be in a rut that you don't want to be in.

7. saving more, spending less. tom will be very happy when he reads this :)

8. reading as much, if not more than i did in 2008. i have kept a list of the books i've read since 1998. mainly, because if i don't, i forget and buy or borrow books that i've already read. in 2008, i read 28 books. i read some pretty intense and thick books this year. i might do more light reading this year. although i have "east of eden" slated to read after i finish the book i'm reading now! i found it under a pile of magazines in my dresser drawers when i was purging! my whole dresser is full of reading material, instead of clothing! not one stitch of clothing in my dresser! i do have an armoire that holds some clothing!

9. go deeper with God. i always look forward to picking out new devotionals and reading material for my quiet time. i spend time in the Word every day-i will continue with that. i've already picked a couple of books with daily readings to work through in 09, in addition to my Bible reading. i do read through the Bible every year. i think that's my most important reading. also, yesterday in church they announced that john and donna kriete (super cool, wise people) will be leading a marriage class at church starting in january...i leaned over to tom and asked if we could go....he looked at me and said we didn't need it : ) i still want to go! plus, we'll be doing a prayer study on thursday nights. i'm excited to get back to some regular studies in addition to just attending church.

10. projects around the house. we moved to this house, and hit it like a tornado for the first year. we removed wallpaper from 6 rooms, we painted, we scrubbed, we replaced hardware, we furnished, we pulled down every window treatment and replaced some....and we burned out. now it's time to dig in again. we're so close to having it just the way we want it! so my plan, to get us really going strong, is to do a project a week this winter. we are not into working on the house when it's nice outside, so i think it will be wise to tackle it when it's nasty outside. i'll try to share them as we go. some will be super simple, others will be more indepth. are you reading tom? i bet you're thrilled to read this!

so yeah, i love the freshness of a new year. yesterday, during communion, pastor was talking about the new year in a way that made me squirm a little. he was talking about how none of us know what the new year will hold. and about how we may need God's grace to endure more than ever. i know this is true. i do like to approach the new year with a positive attitude. but i also recognize that it's important to realize that the new year will also undoubtably hold some challenges, but with God's grace, even the challenges will be character building and we just need to trust that He has us in the palm of His hand.

i do have a few fun things to share visually today too. the super talented, funny, sweet cari kraft made some amazing pretties for me and my loved ones recently. 

 

aren't they beautiful? i know i mentioned it a while ago on my blog, but then we didn't get it together before Christmas. but now, these beauties are available to my photography clients! if i've taken your photos and you are interested in having a pendant made of your kiddos or family, let me know and i'll get details to you. of course, i love that i'm able to WEAR my grandchildren's photo now!

this piece blew me away. cari is truly an artist. i have never seen a piece with this finish. by the way, it is a cari kraft copyright....so don't copy!

 

i could do a whole blog post on originality and copyright issues. BUT, to put it very basically, i know we are all influenced by each other and everything around us, so i'm not a freak about it. i do hate to see projects copied and the original artist not at least credited, if posted online. i love it and consider it a huge honor when someone likes my work, uses it as inspiration and creates their own. recently the talented shannon zickel used my advent calendar  as inspiration. i loved it! she made it her own, and it's adorable!  

thanks for all the congrats on jared and beth! they are making decisions and enjoying their engagement so much! and we're enjoying it too!

i need to get going now, or all my best intentions won't happen! i need to head to the basement and get my work out in....it's gonna be ugly! i hope you have a wonderful day and God bless!

Comments

[emma]

i love them! they are so cute!

[tara pollard pakosta]

i was just thinking how excited i am about a new year, fresh changes and it hit me that i don't know what this year will hold, and what challenges i will face. scary thought, but exciting too!
love every bit of information b!
t

[er]

wonderful news and overjoyed for j!!
can't wait to meet beth.
love,
er

[Jennifer]

I LOVE my necklace!!!!!!!!!!

[Debby Schuh]

I love your new year's list! I have many of the same goals...I'm excited about the adventure God has for each of us in the new year!

[jenn]

East of Eden is a long book but once you start reading it will go quickly. Such a lovely piece of American literature, enjoy it.

[Terri Paulson-Sasaki]

I love the frames, they look really big.

[Lori]

Can you suggest some Devotionals? I was thinking about starting in the new year and went to the Vineyard store......wow, what a selection! I am more indecisive now than when I went in.
Please help!

THANK YOU !!!!

[Shannon]

Hey, wanted to say thanks again for the inspiration... I would have NEVER thought to do that on my own and I am so happy to have the little item, already excited to get it out for next Christmas, may even do countdown to birthday tabs for the boys too for each month of their birthday!!!! and just reuse the frame over and over again!