Here We Go Again....

New year.  New start.  Goal... stay on top of this just a little bit more!

2013 proved to be my year for stitching.  I even managed to get a few pieces hung up on the wall!  I admit that I got a little obsessed and most days would have gladly spent stitching for hours upon end accompanied by Netflix provided entertainment.  Okay... I guess I did actually spend a lot of days doing exactly that.  I updated my list of 2013 finishes.  In reality most of them were finished between July and December so we'll see if I can beat my number in 2014.  I also updated my list of WIPs.  Oh boy!  Sometimes I put a project aside and forget about it.  Here's to finishing some of those this year too.  

Other goals in my life include finally getting my craft room organized and having that cozy vibe that crafting needs, learning to quilt, multitudes of board games, new recipes, and being a bit more active and pulling myself off the couch occasionally (while still giving time to stitch of course!).  Brandon's been stitching too - I love that he takes part in some of my interests.  He's really good too, my mom is more than impressed.  I think maybe more impressed with his work than mine!  We've also started Breakfast and Board Games once a week.  It's been a nice way to spend a weekend morning and I hope to learn some more of our games and get a few more this year.  Also hoping to expand my breakfast recipe collection and I think this will help.  Today we played Pandemic and I made a Sausage Biscuit Gravy Casserole.  My Southern boy loves his sausage gravy and biscuits so it was a big hit.  

Watson and the cats are still at odds, but Pandemonium is definitely warming up to our furry friend.  The pup is very protective of her territory which puts the cats (and several neighbors) at her odds.  Mayhem likes her upstairs safety retreat and will happily spend her days in the bathroom sink and my craft room - which I think is more her room than mine.  Maybe I'll get her to share, but I'm not overly hopeful.  

2013 was overall a good year.  Brandon turned 30 and is now aging faster than me... maybe not, but I can dream.  We traded in one mini and got an SUV.  Got a beautiful puppy who has us wrapped around her paw.  We upgraded our technology and entered the world of the iPad.  I stitched a lot and we played a lot of games.  We cooked lots of meals in our lovely kitchen and have grown closer together as we celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary.  We celebrated the life of my 93 year old grandmother and were fortunate enough to be with her as she passed.  And we spent a lot of time with family and friends.

2014 has it's work cut out for it.  

Learning to Live in the Present Day

I've realized lately that I have a ridiculously addictive personality.  Whether it is crafting or gaming or books or netflix or... the list goes on.  And on.  Due to these addictive tendencies my current focus tends to be all encompassing.  I want to have all the materials and complete all of the projects at once.  It's for this reason I have a multitude of scrapbook supplies and very little desire to actually scrapbook with them.  It's the reason I have three tubs of completely organized and categorized yarn in my closet and haven't touched a crochet hook in years.  It's the reason I have skeins of floss in just about every purse I own.  And it's the reason why I've decided I want to blog - keep a chronicle of my quirks and what has my focus presently.

On the reverse side, I'm trying to tell myself it's okay that I don't have every project I've ever worked on ready to be cataloged.  It's taking everything within me not to go take pictures of the baby blankets I crocheted 4 years ago with the intention of selling for some extra cash, or the beading supplies I purchased when I wanted to make a band for the watch head I just couldn't throw away.  It's hard for me to start in the present because I see the projects I've completed in the past or the projects I have goals to finish some day soon more clearly than what is being worked on today.

 My current focus and all encompassing passion is being devoted to cross stitch.  We moved into our house this past October and I have no excuse for the walls still being bare.  This past week I sat down in my cluttered craft room and made some plans to get organized and ready to complete some projects.  I sat down with my master supply of floss and my dream stack of patterns and got organized.  I pulled colors, made copies, and picked fabric.  And then... after making a huge mess... I started stitching!  And now... I've started blogging.

So here's to keeping track of my current obsession.  Here's to remembering to take pictures and post.  Here's to living in the present (and maybe throwing in a project from the past here and there).  And here's to finally getting some pictures on the wall and making this house into a home!