Jumping in...

I never know how to re-start something, so I'm just going to jump right in.

We're in a new house.
David has a new job as a neurology resident in Minneapolis, MN
We've got two kids now (DJ and Aniline)
Lulu has moved on to a new home, due to allergies (not her allergies, ours)
I said goodbye to the formal dyeing side of Our Humble Castle as an etsy business. I may still use the shop to sell the odd skein of handspun yarn.

So much change! So much potential!
So little time!

I've grown and changed so much over the last year, and I am excited to see where God is leading me. It's been a little crazy over the last day or so as I've been re-reading old posts on this blog as I attempted to give it a little micro-facelift before publishing this post... Who was that girl anyway? I know it was me, and I'm super glad I was so open & honest, cause now I can look back & see exactly what God has done for me!

Excuse me while I go try to get some sleep, so I can be better prepared for our family day tomorrow. I'll leave you with this picture of our kids:

 Aniline & DJ. Yes, my baby girl is wearing her big brother's hand-me downs, and no, I don't put anything in DJ's hair to make it do that. It is spiky and crazy all by itself.

It is a New Year

It's a New year, with new goals, new hopes, and new dreams.

I'll admit, I'm a little slow getting some things started this year. Budgeting and record keeping one of them- I really need to work on that soon.

But let me tell you a little bit about what my plans & goals are for this year. Let me share how I am approaching things.

I have four main areas that I am focusing on this year, with the most important listed first:

1) Grow in the Lord
    a) Daily devotions- reading His word & praying.
    b) Get plugged in at our church
2) Care for my Family
    a) David- make sure his needs are taken care of (meals, rides to school, etc)
    b) DJ- Make sure his needs are taken care of (feeding, changing, loving him. Hard job eh?)
    c) Keep our home as a castle- Be a good steward of what God has given us- keep it clean & tidy
3) My body as a temple
    a) Eat healthfully
    b) Exercise regularly
    c) personal upkeep - Even if I'm not going anywhere or doing anything that day, still get ready just in case
    d) Music
4) Etsy
    a) weekly updates
    b) keep good records
    c) keep everyone up-to-date via Ravelry, facebook, twitter, and my new blog.
    d) Other mis. business goals.

I'm approaching things backwards from the way New Years Resolutions often go. Instead of making a huge list of resolutions, implementing them all at once, and then watching them swirl down the drain, I'm starting slow. I've got one thing I focus on each week. The rest of them, if they happen, great. If not, no biggie- I'll get to them one of these weeks. If I mess up on one week, I'll repeat it- not always the following week, but probably within a month. (P.S.- this is inspired by Benjamin Franklin's 13 virtues and how he approached self-improvement. More info here.)

To show you what I mean:
In the back of my journal, I've got 52 lines set aside. 52 weeks in a year right? Well, so far,
1) Daily devotions
2) Get into a daily schedule, including preparing 3 meals/day, on time
3) Better dental hygiene (Start using a water pic, etc) [I failed at this one- it'll be a re-do in a couple of weeks]
4) (this week:) Smoothie or fresh fruit + a cup of tea every day

As I think of things, I add them to a list of things I'd like to work on this year. Some goals I've already got in place fairly well, without having a specific week to work on it. Some goals wouldn't fit into the one week system since they are once/month goals- like reading 2 books/month, knitting a pair of socks a month, participating in monthly spinning challenges.

What were your new year resolutions? How are you approaching the hope that this new year brings? If you feel like you've failed already, may I encourage you with a phrase I used last year: "February is my new January" Hey- for that matter, ever day is a new day! A new chance to start working on something good. Why does it have to only be once a year that we evaluate where our lives are headed?

If you've read this far, you deserve a little treat:

Goodnight all!

A choose your own adventure.

As promised on Facebook- to those of you who follow me both places- a choose your own adventure! Well, sort of. Let me explain a little bit of background here first.

I love lists. I lived by them in collage. Well, my whole life actually. If I don't have a list, I don't get it done. However, since the birth of my son, I find that lists can be very discouraging. When DJ was first born, I would sit down at the beginning of the week, just as I used to, and make a "master list" of all that needed to be done that week. Then I'd break it up into days... These 5 things need to be done on Monday, I'm going to do these 2 big tasks on Tuesday, run errands on Wednesday, etc. However, when you're living with the beautiful unpredicability of a small child, it becomes hard to get things done. Monday would end, and I'd only have one thing (if that!) done. Tuesday would begin and I would be determined to get both Tuesday and Monday's list done. And, once again, major fail. It got discouraging very quickly. I tried to lower my expecations and not worry about getting anything done, only... I would end up not getting anything done, even when I did have the time to do it.

The following is something that has been brewing around in my head for a while. I have been starting the day without a real list, but with the attitude of trying to get as much done that day as I am able. This "Choose your own adventure" (Us scientists like to call them dichotomous keys) has guided how I approach my non-existent to-do list. At the end of the day I find I am able to look back and have a good number of things done.

So here you have it:

A choose your own adventure in getting things done that weren’t on your list.


#1) You see or think of a task that needs to be done.   Can you do it now?    Yes - go to #2. No- go to#3

#2) Don’t delay! Do it now! ~

#3) Why can’t you do it? If something else must be done before you can tackle this particular task, then go to #4. If you don’t have time- go to #5. If you don’t feel like it, throw your feelings out the door & pick one of the other two options. 

#4) Can you do that other task now? Yes -go to #2. No- go to #3

#5) You don’t have the time because: The task takes more time than you have right now – go to #6. If you are in the middle of something else- go to # 9.

#6) Do you have your schedule or paper handy? Yes- go to #7. No- go to #8.

#7) Yes! You always carry your schedule or paper with you. Write in the task that needs to be done in an appropriate time slot. ~

#8) No! You’re not one to have paper or scheduling devices handy. You need to either get it and write down the task, or (less desirable) make a mental note.~

#9) You are in the middle of something else. Is your current activity more important than the new task? (eg. - are you entertaining a baby? Or watching a TV show?) Yes- go to #10. No- go to #12

#10) Can you pause your activity? Yes- go to #6. No- go to #11

#11) Carry on with that very important activity! ~

#12) The activity isn’t as important as the task, so the task should be your first priority. However, does your current activity really need to be done? Yes- go to #13. No- go to #16

#13) Do you have paper/schedule book? Yes- to got #14. No- go to #15

#14) Write down your activity so you can remember to do it later, and start the new task. ~

#15) Get paper & write the activity down for later, or make a mental note, and start the new task. ~

#16) Drop whatever you were wasting time on & start the new task! ~

cupboards & drawers.

There is a problem with cupboards & drawers. They are great for keeping things organized around the house (I.e. keeping messes out of sight.) However, you can perfectly organize a cupboard, and no one would ever know. The rest of your house looks just as messy, or just as tidy (however it happens to be at the time). You do feel a little bit accomplished I suppose, but it is hard to keep that feeling once you look around. I guess you could always leave the cupboard door open to see your work & remind yourself of what you've done?

Just kidding. If you're tall, like we are, you'd hit your head.

So... I'm still chugging away at organizing things in our house- part of my list of October goals.

Less is more. Thats what I'm aiming for. Streamline- organize- reduce/re-use/recycle.

Oh. Quick cool comment on that- we got single stream recycling in our area  of Lansing. I am so excited! It makes it really easy to recycle- EVERYTHING goes in one box. I know that's totally off topic, but I just reminded myself of it and had to mention it here. I just broke my only blog rule: one topic per post! Oops. Please forgive me.

Until next time:
Me.

October Goals

Hey guys!
I'd like to start something on this blog. I want to post lists of my goals: In January, my new years resolutions. Goals for the next week, next month... etc. Feel free to post a goal or two of your own in the comments. After that time frame is over, I'll check back in and see how I (we) did. And hopefully we can encourage each other in how we did.

So for October:

A few things I'd like to see done by the end of this month:

1) get a good chunk of my Chrstmas knitting done- particularly the gifts for my Canada family & friends, as we're going to visit in November.

2) I've been trying to do some organizing & streamlining of my life and things (Remember project 333?) and I'd like to continue with that. A closet or drawer or two a week perhaps?

3) As the leaves start to turn, I'd like to keep up with raking them.

4) I think that's about good for now! I'd rather have a few good goals that I know I can reach than a huge long list that I'll be discoraged by when I read it at the end of the month.

What are your goals for October?

Fingers

My fingers have always been important to me. When I  was younger, my fingers and I learned how to play music on the piano and violin. We practiced hard, and got quite good at what we do. I started painting when I was a teen, and it was my fingers that held the brush. Throughout my education, my fingers have typed many words on a computer's keyboard, trying frantically to keep up with my train of thought. They are typing now, as I write, though this time only one hand's worth of fingers at a time, while the other hand's worth of fingers craddles DJ's head. I've used my fingers to knit and crochet, to grasp the whisk as I mix cake batter, to proudly announce my engagemant with a diamond ring. It was my itchy fingers that sent me to the doctor when DJ needed to be born early, and it's my fingers he prefers for comfort over a pacifier.

What do your fingers do?