January's Accomplishments

1) So I started January off by taking pictures of our house! It was pretty fun and it motivated me to clean it! :) I wanted to take pictures of the house from exactly the same angle that I took them when we were doing the walk through of the house before w bought it. This was my idea of a fun before-after. It is cool to see all of our work. We have really put a lot into this house and it has only been 6 months. I am proud of it. Mike has already made even more improvements since I took the pictures.

2) I dabbled in altering the kids clothes. You know like making flairs into skinny jeans and taking in things that just weren't fitting right. My intent was to revamp their whole wardrobe, but I soon ran out of steam on the project. Whew! I still have some things that I would like to do but I am not going to put pressure on myself by having a dues date.

3)I made BOWS! My new obsession is making them. There are so many cute ideas out there and as soon as I master one style I am searching for another. In January I made a lot of bows and made the fun into play dates so that I could do it with my friends! I am such a grand Tom Sawyer!

These are the many that I made specifically to go with my girls church dresses. All red and black. There are 15 in all. I might add that I have spent a bit of money investing in this new hobby of mine. When I got into scrap booking I acquired my stuff slowly and bought only what I desperately needed or what was on sale, but for these lil babies if I have wanted it, I have bought it.

These are just some of my others (much more to come next month). Mostly silk flower ones but I never spent much time on them in the past so it seems new enough to me. I love the rosettes! They are an all time fav of mine. I have to admit that while I am making these I am having flash backs of the 80's. I became fashion conscious just as they were going out and I was really sad about that. :( I love the era's style! So I say long live the 80's, forever may they rein!

4) Had Kevin and Michelle Gilbert over for a visit. It was delightful! Its fun cause were were dating at the same time, engaged at the same time and married within a month of each other so they are a great couple to hang out with. They have 2 cute boys that the girls liked playing with. Unfortunately I didn't take pictures, but I did make a new table cloth for the event!

5) Fell in love with myfitnesspal.com and lost 10lbs! Don't be jealous, Ive gained back 4! arg! anywho...check it out and download the app! You will be glad you did! It is amazing! It is everything anyone could need to reach their fitness goals. (the 4lbs has been from a week that I didn't use it)

6) Made this darling mini event scrapbook!

I realize that Mother's Day is months away, but I had this drive...see my SIL had a great resolution to do one project a month (mostly from pinterest, but to finish unfinished projects first) This was so great to me. I wanted to finish all my half projects by March 30th. I thought that a goal like that would keep me busy enough that I would avoid the winter blues, so far it has kept me stressed enough to not sleep at night. That's just great!

7) Visited Devin and Becky at their new house, saw their new bundle of joy and took her infant shots! It was a fun trip and she was so amazing after having a C-section. She made us cinnamon rolls and was a perfect hostess! Thanks Becky!

I loved doing these pictures and I worked hard on them. It was great because I really had to learn how to use my new photoshop from Christmas. Becky is a great mom! She makes a cute bow to match each outfit every morning! She is so excited to have a girl!

8) Got contacts. It is harder than I thought, but I have it now!

9) Fake snowed some pine cones for next year.

10) Nursed everyone back to health. We all got pretty sick and it seemed to last forever! Tsadakah hasn't been sick for 3 whole years, honest! But she got it this time. She slept a lot of the time. I learned a lot about sickness. Hopefully stuff that can keep it away next time, like staying warm, and eating the right kinds of stuff and avoiding the wrong kind of germs.

11) Studied Responsibility. Tsadakah got all A's but her teacher said she could improve on her responsibility. I have to admit that I have been taking charge of her responsibilities. So I read an article on how to improve your child's Responsibility (babycenter.com) and the #1 thing to do is be a good example. That is when I realized that I am not! I know where she gets it from! mwa! I started to analyze myself and think about where I am lacking, which is a lot! It all comes down to accountability! I have learned so much about this topic now. I went through my Personal Progress book and took notes on all the things that were to strengthen accountability. Boy do I have my work cut out for me! Not only am I working on my NYResolution, trying to finish my projects by March, and unsuccessfully balancing my time around my newest obsession hobby, but I am also trying to become more responsible. Is it any wonder I'm not sleeping?

When February first came I was like wait where did Jan go? I didn't finish all that I had intended to do. I have failed to do so much! But then I looked at all that I have done, (keep in mind I am also potty training) and I feel like I am doing pretty good. When I look back at all that has happened I actually feel that January has been a very long time indeed.

But I think that I have been losing sight of my NYR and I am going to go back to basics. I need to simplify and learn to let things go so that I can be sane! May Feb be filled with LOVE and no more stress!