Wednesday, December 29, 2010

My first post on my first blog

So here I finally am after navigating Blogger and figuring out how to create a blog I am pretty happy to call mine. I still have a lot to learn so I'm hoping it will only continue to get better and will reflect who I am even more.

I can't believe we are already here at the end of 2010. Overall, this has been a big and mostly good year for me. Ethan and I moved in together in January, which has been wonderful. I closed my little skin care and waxing business in June and although I miss it, it was the right decision. Since then, I have had so much more time to devote to caring for myself. I found out about my gluten intolerance in July and have been eating gluten free since. My health and overall well-being has improved dramatically. I've lost 10 lbs- here's to 10 more in 2011. :) We lost two older family members this year, which was tough. I had a great trip to Vegas with my mom and sister for my mom's birthday in September, which was loads of fun. In October, I had an amazing, life-changing experience which I have wanted to do for years- more about that later. ;) November and December have both consisted of lots of quality time spent with family. I'm so grateful for my mom's understanding of the new way I have to eat; she made both Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner completely gluten free so that I could still have everything. She is just wonderful.

With the new year upon us, I really hope I am able to work hard to accomplish the things I didn't quite get around to this year. I really want to finish decorating our apartment. We have great furniture and a few other great pieces but we are in desperate need of window treatments, pillows, artwork, etc. all placed appropriately. I feel like I have a pretty distinct style and I am so picky that it makes it hard to find things I like enough to have in my home. I search and search and search and finally find things that are way out of my current budget, so I have to wait to purchase them. I hope to save for some of those things this year, as well as find some inexpensive items with character to complete the transformation.

I also want to complete the task I started this year to get back down to my goal weight. I'm certainly not overweight, but would like to at least feel slim and toned and happy with the body I see in the mirror. I danced up until graduating high school (I take class occasionally now but it's not a regular part of my life anymore, unfortunately) and was very slender and in shape. I want to feel that way again, even though I don't ever expect to weigh what I did in high school.

I've also gotten very into some craft projects this year and definitely want to focus on doing more of that. I LOVE making sock monkeys. This year I made them for both of my small nephews as well as my good friend's little girl. I also taught a workshop for some younger girls in my community. I would love to make more for Ethan's nieces, or maybe even eventually open an Etsy shop. My grandmother (AKA "Grammy" or "Little Grandma" in my family) recently taught me how to knit and I am currently hard at work on my first scarf. I'll post more on that, later. I would love to complete more of those as well as some other fun little knitting projects. My mom and I have some sewing projects I really want to finish, as well. Aprons, zippered pouches, and re-usable shopping bags all with gorgeous fabrics we picked up earlier this year and just have not found time to work on. I also want to swoop up more vintage costume jewelry (as if I don't have enough already :D) to restore, re-package, and re-gift.

Also, I loved everything about my Christmas decor and wrapping this year and as silly as it might sound, I am excited about getting next year's figured out early! I also want to master a few great dinners I can cook for company, spend even more time with my family and just do whatever I can to have as much joy as I have had this year. Happy New Year!