Z

is for Zest for life ...
my kids are so excited just to be here each and every day. It's amazing ... and it's contagious!
So for the new year, I hope that they keep their zest for life, well that they keep it always, and that 2007 is full of wonderment, merriment, joy and love - for them, for my entire family, and also for all of you!

Happy New Year! =)

I'm not allowed ...

to spend any money.
Oh. Yeah.
That is very hard for me to do, especially seeing as I'm starting this new quilt project and only want to use civil war reproduction fabrics.
But dh told me tonight, no money aside from essentials can be spent until we close on our house, move into the house, see what furniture we need to buy, and then see where the money situation falls into place.
We were wishing and hoping the side business he has would have sold by now, but it has not. Which means we will have enough to put down what we had planned, but not a whole lot extra.
And the furniture we need is stacking up -

couch for family room

hopefully 2 chairs for family room

Couch/sofa bed/day bed kind of thing for basement

dresser for mine and dh's room

Computer desk

misc. lamps/lighting

Bedding for teh bed we have in storage (it's a king sized bed ... our current bedding is for a queen ... we can stretch the comforter but not the sheets!)

Bedding for the girls room

lighting in the house

TV for family room

love seat for sitting area

TV and stand for sitting area

Bathroom things for all three bathrooms

hopefully a bookshelf in the girls bedroom

and probably even more that I won't know until we are in and see what is missing.

And oh yeah, I forgot one tiny thing. We will most likely replace the furnace, you know, so we can be warm and all that this winter. Their furnace supposedly works, but it's 20 year old 9(at it's lifespan) and has a hairline crack in it. One heater guy says as long as it's small it's okay, another says any crack, no matter how tiny makes the unit unusable. Lovely. Although, if it's the only work we have to do to move in, that's still very great in my mind!

Now, I'm all for furniture in my house - trust me, I am. It's just that, well, I've not lived so budgetedy in a several years (although we haven't had tons of money, there has been spare). The hardest part won't be not spending the money. It will be getting into the frame of mind to not spend the money. But I will do it. I will try to finish all UFO's. I will work from stash. I will not buy any more yarn or fabric, or stickers, or paper, or thread, or patterns. Nope, I will not. Well, okay, I will, but only if it costs less than the gift cards I am currently holding onto. But aside from groceries, gas, and a few things we need to bring to a party in a few weeks, this momma is going into savings mode. Right. Now.

Wish me luck. I will need it.
I will also probably blog more. Everytime I want to spend money, I will write instead. Everytime I want to bid on e-bay, I will write instead. Everytime I want to buy something new, I will pack up a box of things in this house. I will eliminate the items we have accomulated but no longer need (and I have a few baby things to take to a resale shop AND two items for e-bay that I believe will be well worth listing them). And I will use that money for new furniture! And it will be good!

Y

is for my younger days ...

These are all me - from random points in life ...
Starting at 2, moving to around 4ish maybe, then to 5 or 6 (the white dress is one of my favorites!), then off to jr. high - maybe 8th grade?, then on my 16th birthday, New Year's Eve in 97 (so Dec. 31, 1997), my wedding in June of 99, the birth of my first dd in Oct. 99, then college graduation May 03!
I admit these are all photos of photos so the quality might not be the best. But I have to say, it was fun to go through the photos and pull some out! The pictures of me from birth to the start of college fill up roughly one album, and then there is an explosion of pictures! It seemed once I started taking the pictures, there were a ton of them!
Maybe that's why I photograph my children so much ... I have so very few of me, especially really little - I think I have about 20 pictures total of me from newborn to age 5? Pictures were just few and far between then ... now with the digital age, I can take too many! Now watch, my kids will be so sick of pictures that when they have children, they'll take the fewest amount possible LOL!

X

x is for my
XL-6000 Embroidery/Sewing machine that was a Christmas present! And I love it!! =)

Dear Jane