2017 Goals and Resolutions

Let’s take a look back at 2016’s goals and resolutions and my progress:

1. Keep up with Stamp Club and card classes — Success! I had two successful rounds of club in 2016. The second one ended right before I had the baby, so it was perfect.
2. Complete another Week in the Life album — Success! This time we did it in May. I love my new tradition.
3. Drop my Messy Box subscription, sign up for a planner kit subscription — I dropped my Messy Box subscription, but decided to not sign up for anything else.
4. Ban on buying PL cards (core kits, mini kits, partials, or theme kits) — Success! I avoided buying more PL cards.
5. Curate my crafty Pinterest boards — Success! I paired down my Pinterest board and reorganized. It was perfect.
6. Make 150 different cards — Success! Joining the SSINK design team was a great move for my momentum and creativity!
7. Continue my 2016 PL albums — Success! I need to catch-up for the last three months of 2016, but I've kept them going and love them!

Now on to 2017’s goals and resolutions:

1. Restart club in January -- I've got some ladies interested and I love hosting stamp club. Hope we can start 2017 off right!
2. Launch a newsletter for my crafting business -- I've been thinking about doing this since October. Hopefully I can get it moving in January.
3. Continue participating on the SSINK design team -- Loving my time on the team. Looking forward to what 2017 brings!
4. Jump into the Awesome Ladies Project Practice Team with my memory planner -- A whole new crafting community launched this week and I'm on the Practice Team. I can't wait to explore telling my story. I am planning on using a planner to create a memory planner for my 2017.
5. Another Week in the Life album (time tbd) -- Really enjoyed doing this the past two years. I hope to continue the tradition.
6. Overhaul my PL card and supply stash -- My supply stash is a bit out of control. I need to do a destash and a reorganization and commit to using up my supplies!
7. Continue to do my PL albums -- Still want to scrap our family and all four kids' albums in 2017.
8. Expand my planner skills -- 2016 was the year I dove into planning and I would love to continue. I am addicted to a paper planner and have had fun decorating it to my preference. I've got my 2017 Happy Planner and am ready to go!

Currently...

Watching: January is traditionally a month of new-to-me movies. I've already started, catching up on some silly Hallmark Channel Christmas movies.

Reading: Mom got Hannah Hart's Buffering for free at the library and had no idea who Hart was. I jumped at the chance to take the book off my mom's hands.

Listening: Twins are playing video games of course. It's a constant background noise during school breaks.

Making: Finishing up the 2016 Holiday albums. Only a few things left to do before I can give them to my mom, in-laws, and grandma and grandpa.

Feeling: Baby's not sleeping great right now meaning I'm usually tired.

Planning: We go back home in a just a few days. I've been busy figuring out our January activities and attempting to meal plan.

Loving: As much as I hate the cold and would never move back to Indiana, I did enjoy having snow on the ground this year.

Currently...

Watching: The Librarians is back! Yeah! It's one of our silly fun shows.

Reading: Been wanting to pick up Five Days at Memorial for months and finally got around to it this week. Good, but obviously very depressing...

Listening: Finally catching up with my One Bad Mother episodes.

Making: I'm finishing my Christmas cards for this year. Still have a few to fill some holes for my December blog posts.

Feeling: The entire household was struck down by a nasty cold last week. J is still pretty sick. A is recovering but still coughing. Q and I seem to have recovered. Yeah!

Planning: We having a few friends over for the feast on Thursday. Our menu is set, just need to organize and plan out my schedule of cooking and serving.

Loving: The boys and I drove through the canyon road the other day on the way to the store. We enjoyed looking at all the fall leaves on the way.

Desktop Thursday #20

I think I need to sort and put away the paper...

Currently...

Watching: Working my way through the entirety of the Gilmore Girls. I'm currently in the middle of Season 2.

Reading: About 1/3 of the way through Wild by Cheryl Strayed

Listening: Catching up on my One Bad Mother podcasts

Making: Diving into making some Christmas cards. I have some leftovers from last year, but also wanted to make a few with my new Christmas sets.

Feeling: Yesterday I had a horrendous migraine. It's not completely gone, but I'm pulling out of it.

Planning: Trying to finish the meal plan for the rest of the month. 

Loving: Baby Q is not a great sleeper, so any that I do get is wondrous.

Desktop Thursday #19

Getting ready for my card classes on Saturday. I'm running the All Occasions Card Buffet @10am and the Christmas Card Buffet @ 2pm.

Currently...

Watching: Somehow we got behind on Last Week Tonight. We have been rectifying that oversight this week.

Reading: Finally got Rat Queens Vol. 3 from the library. I read about half of it yesterday while at the indoor play place. Hoping to finish the volume today.

Listening: Quentin's been having some gas issues resulting in baby screeches. He's only happy laying on me.

Making: Finally getting back to crafting. My first project is getting our Project Life albums up to date. The family one is almost done. Arthur's is up to date to the end of September. I've started on Quentin's album.

Feeling: I have a three week old baby. Consequently, I am tired. That is all.

Planning: Thinking about November. Starting to fill our calendar.

Loving: Last night I had a beer for dinner. Oh how I missed you!

Currently...

Watching: J and I have been watching all the movies while home with the new baby. This past week we've watched Ghostbusters, Independence Day 2, and Captain America Civil War.

Reading: In the newborn haze and I can't deal with heavy books. So I turned to fluffy romances read on my iPad.

Listening: Q is a big talker already. He loves making little noises while awake.

Making: Q is constantly eating. Hence, making tons of bottles.

Feeling: One week out from a c-section and I'm feeling sore, but improving. Every day I feel like I'm gaining more movement and energy.

Planning: Sending J and the toddler to the grocery store to stock up, but need to make the meal plan and grocery list.

Loving: Oh my! I forgot how much I love newborn snuggles. Q loves to burrow into my side and sleep during the day. I can't do it all the time, but I do love a few minutes of snuggles.

Desktop Thursday #18

Working on some Halloween themed cards today. You can spy a just finished one at the bottom of the photo.

Currently...

Watching: J and finished Turn S2 last night and it was amazing! We finally get an appearance by Alexander Hamilton. Benedict Arnold's treachery is revealed. Captain Simcoe gets a bit of comeuppance. And we see the eventually meeting of Andre and Talmudge. It was so good! Now we're wondering if they are going to make a third season. If they do, I imagine we would be focusing on the run-up to Yorktown. I'd be okay with that.

Reading: Voyager by Diana Gabaldon. I finally dove into the third in the Outlander series. About 300 pages in and I'm liking it more than Dragonfly in Amber.

Listening: Loving the Nina Simone Pandora channel lately.

Making: Finishing up a load of freezer meals just ahead of having this baby!

Feeling: I'm 39 weeks tomorrow and feeling it. Tired and super sore all the time.

Planning: Quentin arrives in less than week and I'm trying to tie up the little loose ends before he comes.

Loving: After a cool down, the temperatures were back in the high 80s this past weekend and few days. Not excited about the heat, but it has allowed Arthur and I to visit the pool a few more times before the baby comes. As an added bonus, swimming relieves some of the pressure I'm feeling.