Belated Christmas Wishes!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas this year. We had a great one that kept us quite busy. In fact, we still have one more party to go to tomorrow.
It's been a crazy, busy but very fun time for us =)

Here is a slide show of some of our holiday pictures:


=)

... A New Beginning

So the other day I told you about my big epiphany and how I was going to use it to set high goals for myself for 2009!

So I sat down one day and thought - really thought - about the goals I want to set for myself.

My first step was to write down what I wanted my ideal day to look like - if I could snap my fingers right now and change my day, what would I change it to. And I wrote, from details such as to how to schedule things to how I wanted to feel and how my surroundings would look. I also kept in the back of my head "if I had one year to live, how would I want that year to look" and wrote and wrote. Which was good in so many ways and really gave me a TON of direction. Now I have a picture - in words - of what I am working to. I'll liken it to people who cut out a picture of a house and carry around in their wallet so that when they shop, they have a reminder of what they are saving for to help them spend money wisely. I now have that for myself and it was VERY helpful.

I read over all of all that and then wrote what is going on today that is disconnect with how I want a day to look. Which, might have been the hardest part because when you do that you have to admit your flaws and shortcomings. Which isn't always oh so fun. But I did it.

After that I made of list of changes - both big and small - that I could make in order to bridge that gap. That was actually the fun part (although I haven't finished it entirely). It also helps fill you with hope because you think, okay, if I can manage to do this one thing, I'll be one step closer to where I want to be.

Then I added goal dates to those items. Because, let's face it, I need all the motivation I can get ROFL!! This was hard because I had to keep them realistic without giving myself too much time to procrastinate and also, I had to decide where to start, where to end, what goes in the middle. Which also means I had to prioritize my goals!

The main focus of 2009 for me will be getting organized. Because I am not organized right now and after I thought about it, I realized that is probably what is keeping me from finishing other tasks I want to accomplish. You can't stay on top of things very well if you can't find things you need, can't find an empty spot on the counter to work, can't keep appointments and other places to be straight and can't sit to relax because the piles around you are too distracting. I also decided to completely eliminate my 101 in 1001 list. Because it just makes sense for me to do that right now.

Anyway, you'll have to read about this all year long, because I'll be sharing my goals and progress! I know, you are SOOO excited to hear that =) I'm calling it "2009: My Time To Shine" (yes, cheesy, I know, but I like it LOL!) and have also started a group over at the Motherhood so come join us!! =)

Dryer Balls

Just about 2 years ago, I decided we needed to stop using dryer sheets - it was for a variety of reasons, but I was trying to figure out easy ways to give up single use items in our house (we also stopped buying water bottles too at the same time!)
And so, I went to the store and bought some of those blue dryer balls that were so heavily advertised - As seen on TV! - and began to use them. We have the same set still today - although I'm pretty sure they have a much shorter life span, despite what the commercial says. Actually, they didn't even shorten drying time, only helped removed static cling from certain fabrics and did not make things come out fluffier at all. And lately, things are coming out stiff and yucky. And I know they've needed to be replaced - but I was unsure of what to do. Because it occurred to me that although they are reusable - clearly they do not last for years and well, plastic isn't all that awesome for the environment in general and so it left me wondering: what to do?

And then I found The Bashful Sheep through another blog who was doing a give-away of them! So I ordered a set:


I have used them a few times and I can say I completely recommend them! My clothes are really coming out soft and wonderful. Now, it has cut my drying time, but not by much. However, my dryer stinks and it usually takes about 1 1/2-2 cycles to dry things. I've been able to cut it down to 1 to 1 1/2 dryer cycles to dry things. Which is awesome! (but I dream of getting a new dryer that can dry things in less than 90 minutes!!). It has cut down on static - but not eliminated it. And can I add, that she shipped them right away which I was impressed with as well =)

And they are cute and I love them LOL!! I can honestly recommend these to you. And I'm so glad I managed to stumble across them!

A new year ...

is going to start soon! And with the year comes a chance to turn over a new leaf, set goals and resolutions, change our lives and make the upcoming year be the BEST ONE EVER.

Right, well, isn't that what all the chatter is starting December 26th usually? And Oprah does shows about how this is your year. And so do about one million other television stations.

But, well, I SO want 2009 and to really and truly be my year! For a while now - since summer, I have known things around my house needed to change. And oh how I said things were going to change. Look over to the right and you can see my operation purge. We started out with a bang, but we've stopped. We didn't reach our goal. It hasn't been for lack of desire. In fact, 2 weeks ago I actually called a few personal organizers to get quotes for having them come help me get things in order (they are all out of my budget). So last week I checked out a huge book about how to organize pretty much everything.

And I immediately did what I always do and made the same old list: get rid of clutter, don't stay up so late, stop drinking so much pop. Which so far has gotten me nowhere. And then it hit me. I'm approaching this all wrong.

I need to stop thinking about what I don't want and focus on what I do want.

Because if I know what I want, then I have a direction and a goal and a clear picture in my head. Let's take the clutter example. I don't want clutter. But, in truth, clutter is subjective. But if I say, for instance, I only want enough fabric that will fit on that shelf, well, then I know how much to get rid of - everything that won't fit!

Now this felt like a major epiphany for me. Changing the goals from what I don't want to what I do want feels really good already. I just hope I can keep this feeling to accomplish all the goals I have set for myself for 2009!

Holiday Dresses are done!

I finished my girls' Christmas dresses tonight! So happy they are finished. So happy they turned out. So happy that tomorrow we can go visit Santa and drop off their letters to him at Macy's!

I used these dresses to break in the new serger! It really does make me want to sew more because I just feel that much more confident about seams and what-not. Up next on the serger, some holiday napkins for us to use as we get nearer to Christmas.

And also, tomorrow, I'm going to show you the fun new item I just got that I think you should probably have too LOL! =)