hello, 2012.

Hello, lovelies!

I hope your holidays were merry & bright...

I had a wonderful time celebrating with my husband & our families,

and I'm so excited for what the new year may hold. :)

{a his + hers journaling project}

I'm not great with New Year's Resolutions.

Staying motivated is hard for me.

But for 2012, this is what I want...

grow in Christ.

finish reading through the whole bible. pray more!

spend time with God every day.

get fit.

complete the C25k program. work out more. Wii Fit.

work on portion control. lose 10 lbs.

cut out soda.

at least temporarily. drink more water!

grow The Sweetest Petunia & Petunia Blooms.

watch less, read more.

write more letters.

& send encouragement cards just because!

create for the sake of creating

not because I have to, not just for the shop.

just for me.

date my husband.

making him feel loved, respected & important.

enjoy every moment.

my goals {2011}

{via}

I'm generally not too good at resolutions.

I make a list of all the changes, all the big ideas...

And the list is usually forgotten by February.

Sad, isn't it?

But this year, I have some goals, some things I would definitely love to do.

Some of them are very important to me; some are just good ideas.

{which is why I loved Mique's printable!}

But I'm hoping that 2011 will be a very good year. :)

{2011}

• read through the Bible chronologically.
• grow my shop!
• play through my entire Hanon {piano exercises} book.
• read as many of the books on this 100 Classics (UK version) list as possible.
• exercise more regularly.
• drink more water.

And lastly {but certainly not least}, I want 2011 to be remembered fondly.

I want to embrace life, and choose happiness & contentment.

Miss Gussy once shared this quote, and I've never forgotten it:

"If you want to be happy, be."

And that is most certainly what I want.

What about you? What are your hopes and dreams for this year?

*****

The {randomly chosen} winner of the Christmastime giveaway is Meg!

Emailing you soon... :)

hello, 2011!

Today is the last day of 2010.

Tomorrow is the first day of 2011.

Wow, time seems to fly!

There are some things that I definitely would like to accomplish in 2011.

And Mique posted this fabulous printable that I'm going to use for sure!

{Thanks, Mique!}

There are some things I'm determined to do, some that I'm

still deciding on, and of course, just for fun!

I'll be posting more on the things I'd like to accomplish in 2011 later.

In the meantime, I hope you & yours have a safe and happy New Year!

{ 101 in 1001 }

I made a list for myself. 101 things that I'd like to complete 1001 days. Some of these are important and special to me; others are just things I'd kinda like to do. I've decided that if I get to September 27th, 2012, and I have not finished everything on this list, it's fine. I can find the joy in the things I did accomplish.
I've included the entire list here, and it is kind of a lot. I will be impressed if you read through the whole thing! You may notice that some things are already crossed off...I didn't waste time for some of these! (You'll here more about that in other posts).

{ January 1st, 2010--September 27th, 2012 }

1. Learn to sew in a zipper.
2. Figure out how to crochet a cup cozy.

3. Add a bookshelf to my collection.

4. Read all the works of Jane Austen.

5. Learn the basics of knitting.

6. Play through all of the Hanon exercises.

7. Build up my savings account.

8. Learn to sew with a pattern.

9. Sew a lovely dress.
10. Learn to make the "perfect" pie crust,

11. Crochet baby blankets for any new arrivals.

12. Finish writing my novel.

13. Read all 28 original Elsie books.

14. Read the Bible. All of it.

15. Make a Book Page wreath.

16. Add to my Lamplighter collection.

17. Buy a nice camera.

18. Learn photo-editing skills.

19. Stop biting my nails.

20. Add 20 new recipes to my file.

21. Read all of the original Sherlock Holmes stories.

22. Get engaged. :)

23. Plan a beautiful, simple and sweet wedding.

24. Get married!

25. Perfect a simple apron pattern.

26. Buy Hayden something sentimental that he'll love.

27. Read through all of my Mystery of History curriculum.

28. Lose 10 pounds.

29. Make a new Etsy banner.

30. Make cocoa mix.

31. Compose a "classical" piano piece.

32. Write several short stories.

33. Learn to make lavender sachets.

34. Do some basic coupon clipping/organizing/using.

35. Make a Pride and Prejudice-inspired dress.

36. Paint a picture.

37. Take a trip up north to see the leaves change.

38. Visit Washington, D.C.

39. Surprise someone!

40. Whiten my teeth.

41. Get rid of all acne!

42. Create/sew a bag (use/make a pattern).

43. Memorize 1 Corithians 13:4-8a.

44. Write a poem.

45. Make a CD (playing the piano).

46. Get a pedicure.

47. Learn to type--correctly!

48. Write down our love story.

49. Buy the Pride and Prejudice soundtrack.

50. Learn to play 2 songs from Pride and Prejudice, and well.

51. Give someone a "care basket" (for no reason).

52. Run a mile.

53. Buy something (on my own) from an Etsy shop.

54. Start up a blog for The Art of Paper.

55. Figure out how to sell {Create Your Own} card kits.

56. Make a set of cards shaped like coffee cups.

57. Buy someone else Starbucks.

58. Get pictures done by a "real" photographer.

59. Teach someone to play the piano.

60. Create a scrapbook.

61. Take one picture every day for a month.

62. Rearrange the furniture.

63. Find a good devotional and use it.

64. Go to the beach.

65. Pack a picnic lunch to share with someone.

66. Sew a zippered pouch.

67. Read The Chronicles of Narnia {again}.

68. Read The Lord of the Rings trilogy {again}.

69. Work through a mathbook.

70. Do a logic puzzle.

71. Create a crossword puzzle & challenge someone.

72. Do a Sudoku puzzle.

73. Buy a book of crossword puzzles.

74. Read (and finish) Great Expectations.

75. Buy The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo.

76. Plan a "Girl's Night In" and have a good time.

77. Get a vinyl wall decal to add to the decor.

78. Go to IKEA.

79. Go out to The Melting Pot.

80. Clean out my closet and donate clothes.

81. Shop at a thrift store at least once.

82. Buy some artwork.

83. Make Creamy Chicken & Wild Rice soup.

84. Host a Spa Night.

85. Give an anonymous gift.

86. Babysit for free.

87. Make Peppermint Sugar Scrub.

88. Stay up all night.

89. Buy something "vintage".

90. Knit a scarf.

91. Take some kind of music class.

92. Make a Dutch Apple Pie.

93. Get a job (of some sort).

94. Sing for an audience.

95. Make cinnamon rolls from scratch.

96. Add to my Willow Tree collection.

97. Plan a surprise party.

98. Make a quilt.

99. Call an old friend.

100. Play Braham's Waltz in A flat.

101. Memorize James 3:2-10

Whew!
Still here? Great! You should probably get a prize. :)

I will be keeping you all updated when I finish these, to some extent. I'm excited to see what all I can get done!

{ Goals }

This year, I have not written any resolutions.

It's not because there aren't things in my life that I want to change, because I do. And I'm working on it. But I find that when I write down resolutions, I have a very, very hard time keeping them.

Is anyone else like that? Good, I'm glad it's not just me.

source

However, I do have some goals. Things I'd really like to do in the future. I started thinking about it even more when I saw this post on Mandi's blog about { 101 things in 1001 days }.

So I started my list.

Some of them are not very significant. Things like "Learn to crochet a cup cozy". Others are bigger, like "Take a trip up north to see the leaves change." I'll post them all once I finish my list.

What are your goals?