New Years Resolution #3

Wash my dishes every night.

And yes, it's sad that I had to make this a resolution, but I am so bad about cleaning up the kitchen before bed. It's so nice to come downstairs to a clean kitchen every morning!

(The blue cup on the counter is dirty, and you can't tell from the picture, but there's a cup soaking in the sink. Brian was cleaning out his car today and found these lovely gems in the backseat. I don't do 3-month-old moldy chocolate protein shake. He promised to clean them when he gets home from work.)

My New Obsession...

California clementines. I've had 7 today.

New Years Resolution #2

Get more organized.

Today we turned this:


into this:


(Our closet is long and skinny so it was hard to take a good picture, but you get the idea.)

We moved our second dresser into the closet to make room for my table in our bedroom. I finally get my own craft table! So it's not a craft room... but beggars can't be choosers. (I could have had a nice workspace in the basement, but who wants to be two levels below the rest of your family in an unfinished basement when there are subzero temperatures?)

New Years Resolution #1

(It's currently 12:17am on January 2nd, but humor me and pretend it's still the 1st.)

I've never been much of a New Years Resolution kinda gal. Probably because I know how I am... I have spurts of great ambition which fade away quickly, and I don't like to be disappointed in myself. (definitely the sanguine side of me.) That's not to say I never make resolutions... I do. Just not at the start of the new year. Something about the new calendar year combined with "I will do all these things better!" intimidates me.

But this year, I've decided to change. (ha!) I'm making a few resolutions. Not because it's the new year, but rather, because it's something I need to do anyway, My decision just happens to coincide with my purchase of a new calendar (that was 50% off at Barnes and Noble, by the way... score 1 for waiting til the last minute!)

New Years Resolution #1: Take more pictures.

So vague.

So I've decided my motivation is to use the 365 Photo Blog idea. But instead of starting a whole new blog for it (because really, I already have 2 to keep up with and I'm doing a pretty bad job as it is) I'm just going to upload my pictures here.

My biggest stumbling block?

My camera broke on Halloween. So I have to use Brian's. No biggie, except that my computer and his camera don't get along. In fact, the computer refuses to acknowledge that the camera even exists. (Apparently it has something to do with the drivers that come preloaded onto the computer, but what do I know about that?) So for now, I have to upload my pics onto Brian's computer and transfer them to mine, either through a flash drive (where did that go?) or via email. Sure, I could just do my blogging from his computer... but then I couldn't post while laying in my bed under the covers. And that just won't do.

I'm hoping that in all this I will be encouraged to dive into Photoshop (which is only on Brian's machine.) I love love love my MacBook (even though I distinctly remember saying how I would never use one less than a year ago), but the iPhoto editing software is just not cutting it.

I know I won't be able to upload a picture for the next 365 days... but my plan is to at least take a picture every day for the next year, and upload as often as possible (ideally, once or twice a week.) And most of them will probably be of my child, which is fine by me, and actually leads into my second resolution (which has to do with scrapbooking!)

I did take a picture today. But am currently unable to upload it (other computer is in use and I need to go to bed!) But just for the heck of it, I'll upload the most recent picture I have on my computer (just from a couple days ago.) I already posted it on Facebook but it's so stinkin cute I just have to put it up again.

He loves playing with the candy canes (and pulling the low hanging ones off the branches.) Caught him grinning at just the right moment!

If I'm not at home, I'm at the doctor's office!

We've been 8 times in the last month. Yes, eight times! And we both have an appointment next Monday - OB for me, 6-month checkup for Nate. Then hopefully we can stay away from there for a while. It's getting ridiculous, especially since it's a 30-minute drive each way. (Did you know you can write off your travel expenses to and from the doctor's office on your taxes? Too bad we don't itemize!)

Other than that, it's been a SUPER busy week, and we're all fighting lingering colds, but still going to bed late. Maybe going to bed at a decent hour should be one of my new years resolutions. (As I type this, it's 1:41am.)

We got our family pictures done at Target earlier this week, and the small versions are available online already. I just HAD to change my picture at the top, even though it doesn't really fill the title bar...

A friend keeps turning me on to all the crafting blogs, and I continue to be inspired with new ideas! Unfortunately, it has caused my wallet to shrink substantially in the last couple weeks. I'm afraid to add up my receipts from JoAnns and Hobby Lobby because of the guilt I will inevitably feel. My current projects are:

* working on the basement. Actually, this is a joint project - Brian's doing all the manual labor, I'm doing the decorating. :) We rent a town home with an unfinished basement that is big, over 400 square feet. It's just a big open room, and we're trying to make it livable without actually finishing it off. So far we've gotten old carpet and puzzle foam flooring to cover the cement floor, which has turned out pretty well. Today I finally stopped procrastinating and bought some home decorator fabric to put up on the concrete walls. The Scotch double-sided foam tape works really well, and we'll be putting some tacks at the top to keep the fabric in place. So far we've used 13 yards, and we probably need another 18-20 yards to finish. Before and after pictures will definitely come once we're done!

* felt farm. We have a small corner of the basement as the designated "play area," and I spent all evening working on a 4'x4' felt square on the wall, decorated like a farm. I've got the whole background done, and just need to cut out some animals now. Obviously Nate isn't old enough to play with it yet, but he'll grow into it!

* Mod Podge. When I worked at Hobby Lobby I remember people buying it and never really knowing what it's for. It's basically a kind of glue that also works as a sealer on craft projects. It works really well. In fact, the picture at the bottom of this post is a gift I made for a relative for Christmas that used paint, paper, wood, and Mod Podge. It was time consuming, but easy at the same time. (I can't say who it's for in case a family stumbles across this post! but I'm pretty sure none of them read my blog...)

* anything and everything scrapbooking/papercrafting. I got my Christmas present early (a Cricut Expression!!! My husband is the best.) and have been playing around with it the last couple days. It is awesome - I have two cartridges to go with it, and basically, you plug one in, select a shape and size, and it cuts it out for you automatically. It cuts from 1/4 inch to 12 inches. I've already designed upcoming baby's birth announcements, but this will make it SO much easier. Once I actually FINISH a project I will put up a picture.

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Sorry it's all craft stuff, again. I have it on the brain lately.

gift for family member - sorry for the poor quality! taken with my webcam
since I still can't figure out how to get my computer to recognize Brian's camera
and sadly, mine broke.