January Wrap Up

January, you have not been kind. I'm hopeful for a kinder February. Here's what happened in January:

• We moved in with my parents while our kitchen has been worked on. It flooded the weekend between Christmas and New Year's, and we were hoping the floors would dry out and be fine. NOPE. Thank Maude, for homeowner's insurance. But it's not as easy as putting a kitchen in and moving back. No, we had to move everything out of the kitchen and living room, since they share floor space and the floors have to be stained to match. And we figured if we're doing that much of our space, we'd do all of it. So we have moved THE ENTIRE HOUSE into cubes. I moved into our home thinking we wouldn't be moving for years. HA!
• Costco sold me a bad tire and now won't take responsibility for the fact that they sold a tire that could cause possible damage to my car. The whole thing has been baffling. Costco gets so much press for being a reputable, ethical company, but when it has come to this issue with them selling me the wrong tire, they have been unconscionable. Seriously, some of the worst customer service I have ever dealt with. I would never recommend anyone *ANYONE* buying their tires from Costco (especially drivers of Subaru, Audi, and/or Volkswagen).
• My car had to be worked on from where it was hit in December. So we were a 1 car family for a little over a week. Which is just a hassle (never mind the fact that they kept the car for 5 days longer than they said).
• EVERYONE WAS SICK. Whatever hellish bug has taken over Greenville, we got. It was Tilda's first stomach bug too, which was awful. I think I washed every towel in my mother's house. 
• My mother had an awful fall. She tripped in my sister's yard and spent the evening in the ER as a result. I sweat, I thought her hand was broken when I saw the photos. And of course, we were all scared for her back as she's still recovering from back surgery in September. 
• BILLS BILLS BILLS. 
• Oscar had an ear infection, Tilda has been S-L-O-W-L-Y cutting molars, and it was confirmed with Oz's ENT that he's going to need tubes in his ear and an adenoidectomy (both scheduled for February).
• Tried to get Oscar's cavities filled, only he couldn't breath through the gas mask to get any effect. So that's been put on hold till after his previously mentioned procedure. So we'll have that to look forward to in March.

There's been some good tho. Like my kitchen is now PINK, and I'm very excited (pics once it's finished). We're moving the kids into 1 room together. And I went to yoga this morning and that was pretty amazing.

I've been off facebook about a month. I feel like my anxiety has dropped significantly, even with all the other stressers going on. I don't know why (I have theories) why facebook is stressing me out, but it's been nice to just take a break. 

Things we're looking forward to:

1- Haircut next week

2- Wicked the 13th

3- Ringo the 17th

and fingers crossed, we may have 2 credit cards paid off this month. I have a lot of exciting plans and lists to work on the house and take it a project at a time. I'm feeling hopeful. Self care is hard, it's hard when little people depend on you, it's hard when you're trying to be a fair partner, but we are plowing through. January may have beat us, but we have 11 months to go. I am determined.

Personal Goals 2015

I like the word "goal". You can cross it off. It has objective. Resolution always feel like you are trying to change something about yourself. And there are just some things you can't change. Or it's too hard, and then you end depressed. But a goal is something you work toward. It doesn't have to be all or nothing. So many fall off the resolution wagon as soon as there's a bump or mis-step, "I've already messed up so I'll give up". To me, goals don't feel that way. But maybe it's just word play? Whatever works for you....

So here's my goal list for 2015:

1. YEAR OF LUNCH- Lunch is a hard meal for me to figure out. I'm ashamed to say that we eat way too many PB&J sandwiches and Mac n' Cheese for lunch because I just can't figure it out. I know how to make big dinners, but small meals are a struggle. And also, I need to get Oz eating some different foods, because come fall he's going to be going to school until 2 and having lunch there. He will need some variety! So this year, I'm learning about lunch and expanding all of our tastes.

2. KNIT FOR MYSELF- Sounds simple doesn't it? But it's actually very hard because it always feels selfish. But this year I would like to make a few things for me. If I accomplish 2 things (that are not cowls or scarves) I will be very proud indeed.

3. RECONNECT WITH GREENVILLE- This one is HUGE for me. Once I left Greenville, I never saw myself coming back. Growing up, I couldn't wait to leave. Don't most people feel this way about where they grew up? And I made it to London, and I love London....I honestly thought I would never leave. To this day, I don't think there's a more beautiful site then seeing London at night. I was always grateful and thankful to be there...

O wait, I'm supposed to be talking about Greenville. Back on track... We moved to the States to be closer to family, and so the kids would grow up having a proper Halloween (that's right). But to be honest, I never got around to reconnecting with Greenville. I was always a bit embarrassed to say that's where I live, and lots of teen angsty scowling--from a 32 year old woman.

But the thing is, Greenville has changed so much since I left it. Downtown is COMPLETELY different and ever evolving. There's a lot to do here, a lot of great food to be eaten, a lot of independent businesses that are thriving. I need to enjoy it and embrace it. So that's what we're going to do!

4. CROSS STITCH--- I had a go at this during the summer and made half a lady bug. Now that Tilda is a bit older I think I may be able to actually sit down and do some. And with craft nights happening once a month, there's no reason not to give it a good try! Hopefully I won't suck and I can make ALL THE THINGS.

5. PAY OFF CREDIT CARDS- This could actually happen. In December I went ahead and transferred my balance to a one year, no interest, credit card, and after the one year it's a low interest rate. So that will help, for sure. Griff has his card he's paying down. I think we can do this! And he starts paying student loans this year, so the more debt that's out, the easier those payments will be to manage. OOF. Always paying something....

And of course, there's the always, LEARN TO SEW (why am I so afraid of that machine!?!), and CAMP MORE (actually possible now that Matilda is older and loves to be outside)...

Now our goals for our home, that's a separate list entirely, and one I will share shortly...

The Book List 2014

It was a pretty good reading year, especially towards the last few month. Oz and Tilda are finally able to play together for longer stretches. I will grab a cup of (HOT!!!) tea, curl up my arm chair in the bedroom, and read, read, read, until someone needs me. And then I wait for the next read break. It's been pretty great. This year I also tried to review more of the things I read, so hopefully there will be more of that next year.

I also read a lot of comics, which filled in a lot of the numbers here. I also started listening to audio books and I'm obsessed. It's hard to listen to music in the car anymore if I have a good book to listen.

 I set my Goodreads challenge for 50 and ending up going a bit over 60. So for 2015 we are aiming for 75!

1. You Better Not Cry: Stories for Christmas by Augusten Burroughs 

2 Wonder Woman: Love and Murder by Jodi Picoult- hated this one. Just awful.

3.Y the Last Man: Ring of Truth vol 5 by Brian K Vaughan - I started this series, but I have yet to finish it. My library system doesn't carry the whole of it, I was tired of waiting for it on ILL, so I've decided to start buying it. But it's going slowly. 

4. Catwoman Vol 1; The Game by Judd Winick- This is the NEW 52 run of Catwoman and I hated it. I was very uncomfortable with how young they made her. She was too much sex kitten and not enough bad ass in total control.

5.Y the Last Man: Girl on Girl

6. Glamping with Mary Jane: Glamour + Camping by Mary Jane Butters

7. Doomed Queens: Royal Women Who Met Bad Ends, from Cleopatra to Princess Di

 by Kris Waldherr --Some interesting info, but the writing was a bit dry. I enjoyed the illustrations.

8. Damned by Chuck Palahniuk-- after some awful recent books, I was *really* pleased by this one and enjoyed it from start to finish. Look forward to reading the sequel this year.

9. Wonder Woman Vol 1 Blood by Brian Azzarello

10. Y the Last Man vol 7: Paper Dolls by Brian Vaughan

11. Walking Dead vol 17 Something to Fear by Robert Kirkman

12. Walking Dead vol 18 What Comes After by Robert Kirkman

13. Batman Vol 1 Court of Owls by Scott Snyder

14. The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian by Alexie Sherman- LOVED IT. BOUGHT IT. Trying to get everyone to read it. It was an instant new favorite. 

15. Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol

16. Miss American Pie: A Diary of Love, Secrets and Growing up in the 1970s by Margaret Sartor

17. Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan (audio book)- So hilarious to listen to!

18. Girl Power: The Nineties Revolution in Music by Marisa Meltzer

19. Y the Last Man vol 8: Kimono Dragons by Brian Vaughan

20.Batman Vol 2 City of Owls by Scott Snyder

21. A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson (audio book)- Another fantastic listen. 

22. Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris (audio book) 

23. Walking Dead vol 19: March to War by Robert Kirkman

24. Batman Vol 3 Death of the Family by Scott Snyder

25. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman - Another new favorite! Thank you to my friend Christie for urging me to read it this year. It was brilliant.

26.Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank Gilbreth Jr.

27. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (audio book)- This was the first one I read that was not narrated by the author. And with audio books the narrator makes or breaks it. I was hesitant to read this book because of the "spider" aspect of it...but the narrator is fantastic and made it a great experience to listen to this book. 

28. The Dark Tower; The Gunslinger by Stephen King- this was drawn from my book jar this year! Griff adores this series, and I've always been hesitant to start. I'll admit, it was tough to get through. But I'm not giving up on the series!

29. Oz: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Eric Shanower

30. Wonder Woman vol 2 Guts by Brian Azzarello

31. Salem's Lot by Stephen King (audio book)- I was so happy that the audio adaptation was good!

32. The Good Body by Eve Ensler (audio book)- Absolute fucking garbage. This is total white feminism at it's privileged worse. It made me insanely angry. If you enjoyed the Vagina Monologues, do not ruin it for yourself by listening (reading) to this one.

33. Absolute Trust in the Goodness of the Earth: New Poems by Alice Walker

34. Mistress by Mistake by Kim Lawrence- I had a go at reading a Harlequin Romance for a summer reading challenge and it was awful. Just not sexy at all. Disappointing!

35. How to Make an American Quilt by Whitney Otto- I love the film, the book was equally good.

36. Batgirl Vol 2: Knight fall Descends by Gail Simone

37. Wonder Woman Vol 3 Iron by Brian Azzarello

38. Batman HUSH vol 1 by Jeph Loeb - Loved it. Bought it.

39. Wonder Woman Vol 4 War by Brian Azzarello

40. Batman Private Casebook by Paul Dini- I have no memories of this one, so it can't have been that good.

41. Night of the Living Dead: Behind the Scenes of the most Terrifying Zombie Movie Ever by Joe Kane-- pretty interesting. 

42. Batman Vol 2 HUSH by Jeph Loeb

43. Getting the Pretty Back by Molly Ringwald

44. Batman R.I.P by Grant Morrison

45. LARGE PRINT (Unshelved #8) by Bill Barnes--library humor. Love it.

46. Batman The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb -favorite

47. Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword by Barry Deutsch 

48. Sisters by Raina Telgemeier

49. The Stand by Stephen King (audio book)- I had heard this was a good one, and I enjoyed it, but it was great. I was glad that I had already read the book years ago, because I did tend to drift in and out but had a good idea of where I was. 

50. Smile by Raina Telgemeier

51. The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains by Neil Gaiman

52. God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian by Kurt Vonnegut

53. As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales From the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes - possibly made me love one of my favorite movie even more. 

54. Hereville: How Mirka Met a Meteorite by Barry Deutsch 

55. Yes Please by Amy Poehler

56. A Matter of Life by Jeffery Brown

57. Rooms by Lauren Oliver- It was supposed to be a ghost story, but it was just crap. Absolute crap.

58. Thanksgiving by Sam Sifton 

59.  11/22/63 by Stephen King (audio book)- This was my other favorite for the year. I was never interested in sitting down to read this one. But my co-worker had listened to it, so I decided to give it a go and I was instantly hooked. The narrator and this story are MAGIC. I would find myself looking for excuses to drive, or sit in the car, so I could just listen. 

60. Batman: Gotham Underground by Frank Tieri- didn't like it. 

61. Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers

62. Redefining Girly: How Parents Can Fight the Stereotyping and Sexualizing of Girlhood, from Birth to Tween by Melissa Atkins Wardy- You can see my previous blog about this one.

63. How to Build A Girl by Caitlin Moran- LOVE. LAUGH OUT LOUD. LOVE. I'm such a fangirl over Caitlin Moran. 

64. The Art Of Asking: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help by Amanda Palmer- I am such a fan of hers, and I was not disappointed in this book at all. I cried several times, I couldn't tear myself away from it. Must get it to add to my home collection. 

WHEW. That was a lot of typing. I'm quite impressed with this list *pats self on back*. I'm ready for 2015! 

Book Jar

What to read next? What to read next? My To-Read stash, hidden in the top of my closet, is so overwhelming I rarely pull from it and either buy something or just take something out from the library. But then I read this great article/idea from Book Riot about a Book Jar , it was just too perfect not to do.

Now it's not ALL the books. I wasn't going to pull books down to get to the very back. So these are all the books I could see easily enough and list. It also doesn't mean I'm going to concentrate solely on my jar, and not enjoy my comics, library books, or whatever else. I usually juggle 3 things anyways. This will just hopefully encourage me to start reading/weeding my horde.

Did I mention there's a used book sale the end of this month? More to the stash.

Lists 7,8, & 9

This weekend has been crazy busy but so much fun! So my lists took a back seat for the weekend (not mentally tho. I was thinking about them, so it was quick to put them together) while we were GO GO GO this weekend. We had company for the weekend, cupcakes for breakfast, work, the roller derby, a trip to the zoo, and a few great finds at the books store. I even was able to do the grocery shopping solo and had a chai which was a HUGE treat for me. But anyways...LISTS. I made them:

Day 6: Projects I'm in the Middle of:

Day 5: Favorite Fictional Couples

Day 4: Tools I use to Create

Day 3: My Ideal Day

Just a smidgen of me feels guilty for not having an "ideal day" featuring my kids. But I'm sort of burnt out at the moment. Last night I had virtually no sleep, and I've had 2 pretty demanding young ones today. So all my daydreams were about the day when me and Griff can finally slip away camping for a weekend and that be OKAY. I'm thinking it'll be 2 years still, but we'll get there.

Day 2: How I would describe myself to a pen pal

#30 Days of Lists--- Day One

A few years ago, my friend Christie found a thing called 30 Days of Lists. That first year was free. It was when Oz was a baby, and I need a creative outlet. I've done a few more of their lists since then (which are not free, but still completely worth it). Here I find myself again, with a new little baby, and needing an outlet for creativity. Quick, direct, thoughtful creativity.

The 2013 Book List

So I made a quite manageable goal of 25 books for 2013. At some point I realized it was filling up with Graphic Novels quite quickly, so I quit officially adding them.

1. Misconceptions: Truth, Lies, and the Unexpected on the Journey to Motherhood by Naomi Wolf. --I finished reading this before I found out I was pregnant. Interesting. That or I just don't remember.

2. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White--My sister and I are still working through our "list" of books you should have read in school but probably didn't. I never read this one. I loved the cartoon. And I'll be honest, I didn't care much for the book. Wilbur is an annoying little pig. I have no idea what Charlotte friended him. He's a whiner. I wonder what my impression would have been as a child tho? I'll be curious to hear what Oz and Tilda think when they are older and reading.

3. Water Witches by Chris Bohjalian- I really wanted to like this one, but I was just bored by it. It took me ages to finish it. I just didn't care like I had hoped I would.

4. Cyndi Lauper: A Memoir-- It's not brilliant writing, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Love Cyndi. LOVE. HER.

5. The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury---This is the first Bradbury book I've read. I fell in love with it. The story, the illustrations...it's magic. I had to buy the cartoon DVD and add it to our collection as well. This is something I hope to make the whole family fall in love with.

6. Walking Dead 14: Way Out

7. Walking Dead 15: Find Ourselves

8. Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me by Ellen Forney---I anticipated that I would enjoy the illustrations of this, but I was surprised at how moving the story was. I have found other works/memoirs about depression to be overly indulgent and I get frustrated with the author. Instead, in this one I feel like I learned a lot. I hope to find more of Forney's works to read.

9. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling--So, the plan was to read all of the Harry Potter books while I was pregnant. No such thing happened! But I enjoyed revisiting the first. I will always remember how magical it was the first time I read it, and none of the magic has faded. It's such a complete world. I wish I could go there.

10. How To Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran---LOVED THIS. I took this out at the library, and I want to add it to my collection. Laugh out loud hilarious.

11. Everyday is an Atheist Holiday by Penn Jillette---I may not agree with all of Penn's views, but the man makes me laugh.

12. Banished: Surviving my Years in the Westboro Baptist Church by Lauren Drain-- Meh. They're horrible people, no surprises. Drain was kicked out of the church, but she's making money out of it. I don't think she's terribly sorry for the practices she took part in.

13. Stitches by David Small---another graphic novel memoir. Enjoyed.

14. Walking Dead 16: A Larger World

15. The Year of Learning Dangerously: Adventures in Homeschooling by Quinn Cummings---This was a fun read while we spent some time discussing whether or not we'd be homeschooling Oz (answer? probably not. Unless he asks us when he's older). But Cummings investigates all the different styles and goes "undercover" to get better ideas of how and why people homeschool, while trying to figure out how to school her own daughter. It was a good read.

16. Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris--A lot of fans of Sedaris do not like this particular book. I saw him read one of these stories for a BBC Radio 4 recording, so I think I feel a bit nostalgic. I enjoyed it. It's not a sit down and read through book tho, and that's probably the mistake people are making. They are fables. You need to read one here and there.

17. Help! I'm a Prisoner in the the Library by Eth Clifford--Loved this as a child. I checked it back out when I started working this year. Definitely need to either find my copy packed away in my parent's storage, or I'm going to need to buy it. I'm starting to become a bit obsessed with children's books set in a library.

18. Batgirl Vol 1: The Darkest Reflection----Batgirl has small boobs. This was incredibly important to me. She can fight crime because she doesn't have a ridiculous chest. I'm excited to watch this story unfold.

19. Y: The Last Man. Vol 1: Unmanned---Another new comic obsession coming on! I started by checking them out, and I've come to a standstill as we don't have Vol 5 in the system. I may just have to start buying them once I've caught up on Walking Dead. It's a fantastic story.

20. Batman: Noel---It's a Batman version of A Christmas Carol. WHAT IS NOT TO LOVE!?!? Griff bought it for me for Christmas and it's a great addition.

21. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury---Another book on the sister's reading list. And I got Griff to read it with me as well. He actually tore through and read it quickly. It took me a bit longer to get into it, but once I did I fell in love. It had been awhile since I had to sit with a pen next to me so I could underline as I read along. So many amazing passages. It's a new favorite.

22. The Plain Janes #1----Graphic Novel about a group of high school girls (all named Jane) who begin to art bomb their community. It's such a lovely concept and idea. It made me wish I had been that clever in high school.

23. How to Make Your Child a Reader for Life by Paul Kropp---A lot of the resources are dated, but I think the bones of information are still relevant.

24. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin---Griff started reading these and it had been a long time since I had seen him so excited about a book. He was talking to me about them non-stop, and I found myself asking more and more questions. So I started reading the first one, and I found myself really enjoying it. I won't be reading the series back to back like Griff has. I need to break it up a bit, otherwise I'll burn out and never finish. Plus, I really enjoy being surprised by the show. So I don't want to read ahead.

25. The Great Gatsby---That's right. Another from the sister list. This is one of Meghan's favorites, and I missed this one in high school. Crazy, right? It took a little while to get into the rhythm of writing, but once I did, I found myself enjoying it. But it was so sad. I did not expect it to end so sadly.

26. Illustrated Classic's A Christmas Carol--After having a baby, I didn't think I could sit and read the book. So I decided to read the graphic novel version.

So there ya go! Here's to a lot more reading in 2014. Griff's on first shift now, so we can go to bed together at a "decent" hour and lay and read for a bit. Also? Nursing a baby gets boring and there's nothing to do but read. Working in a library is good for encouraging a bit of reading too :) So more, more, more in 2014! I've set a higher number this year (50) because if I'm going to read a load of Graphic Novels, I'm going to count them. Ready....set....GO!

2013 Resolutions

Well, when I think about it, my list of resolutions come down to this. I need to find what makes me happy again. I need to do things that make me happy. What seems like common sense can get completely ignored and forgotten.

So the list is as follows:

1. Make time to read.

2. Camping

3. Cycle more

4. Watch *new* movies (not released new, just new to me)

5. Start working towards my Library Assistant certificate

6. New Tattoo

7. Start playing the Uke again.

Most of these should cost us little to no money. I want to try sells some of my knits, and all knits money will go to my tattoo fund. The biggest is the certificate. I was originally going to go for my Masters, but I think the certificate will help me decide if libraries is really where I want to be. So far from my time volunteering at the library....I think yes. Baby steps.

2012 Book List

Hands down, this was my worst year of reading that I can recall. It was nearly impossible for me to hold my focus on anything enough to finish. I think I have 4 or 5 books I'm halfway through at the moment. The year before I completed 50 read books/graphic novels. So this year I set a goal of 55. I came in with 24 of 55 read,  11 of which were graphic novels. Not good, people. So this year, reading is going to become a top priority for me again. It's something that is so tied to who I am and how I identify myself...I feel so disappointed in myself (which I think is probably something only a book worm could identify with).

My GIANT HUGE EXCEPTION to all of this though, is that I haven't included children's books. I read to Oz a lot. He gets 3-5 books at bedtime every night and we like to rotate out loads, and we buy him books all. the. time. The kid loves books and we are really encouraging a love of reading. So what I've lacked in myself, I feel I've more than made up for as a parent. I really should start reviewing our favorite children's books, because there are so many fantastic ones out there. Oz's favorite of all time is Dinosaur Roar, which while he doesn't speak very clearly, he can "read" the entire book to YOU. Amazing.

So here's what I read in 2012:
1. Fresh Milk: The Secret Life of Breast

2. A Year Without 'Made In China': One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy by Sara Bongiorni

3. Batman: Haunted Knight by Jeph Loeb

4. I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced by Nujood Ali

5. Walking Dead #9 Here We Remain

6. Walking Dead #10 What We Became

7. Harley Quinn: Preludes and Knock-Knock Jokes by Karl Kesel

8. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

9. This Books is Overdue!: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All by Marilyn Johnson

10. The Addams Family: An Evilution by Charles Addams

11. French Milk by Lucy Knisley

12. The Birth House by Ami McKay (possibly my favorite of the year)

13. Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner

14. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mandy Kaling

15. Then Again by Diane Keaton

16. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

17. Batman: Knightfall Vol. 1. Broken Bat by Doug Moench

18. The Visable Man by Chuck Klosterman

19. Walking Dead #11 Fear the Hunters

20. Night by Elie Wiesel

21. Batman: Knightfall Vol. 2 Who Rules the Night by Doug Moench

22. Walking Dead #12 Life Among Them

23. Death Makes a Holiday: A Cultural Holiday of Halloween by David Skal

24. Walking Dead #13 Too Far Gone

We also got some great use out of the library this year, so that's always a plus. Reading this list and sharing it, I want to comment on so many of them. So I will try and make an effort to comment on them on goodreads and share here.

And while I should be saving this for the Resolutions blog, I will go ahead and share the big challenge Griff and I have set for ourselves this year.

This year we aren't going to be buying books. If we've discovered anything this year it's that we have been hoarding books and it's slightly ridiculous. We could probably go 2+ years and read something "new" to us and still have some leftover. Seriously. It's ridiculous. So we need to read what we have and save some money (although everything we buy is used anyways). Of course, the exception is Oz's books. Oz gets books. And while I think trading in for store credit should be fair game, Griff disagrees. So we'll see. AND Salem's Lot. If I find a new one, that goes towards the collection.

So here's hoping 2013 is THE YEAR OF THE BOOK.

2012 in review

2012 sucked for a lot of reasons. But first, let me share how I did with last year's resolutions:

1. I did not learn to sew. mother.fucker. I keep saying "I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it" and I never fucking do it. What the hell, Ashley? I really want to make some skirts, aprons, blankets, and pillows.

2. I did do a fair bit of knitting for me. Not loads, but more than I've done before. I also refused to be afraid of knitting. So many projects I've turned down thinking "No, I don't know how", but not this year. I am really proud of how far my knitting has come. And I've also made the switch to nice yarn. I'm sure I'll always keep some blends and acrylics in my stash because they are *great* for kidswear, but for me, personally, I'm going to try and add more good stuff.

3. I did not scrapbook the road trip. Not even a little bit close. UG.

4. Be healthy. Not even a little bit. In fact, my health, both physical and mental, are probably at the lowest they've been in a long, long time. My stress eating has been off the charts.

5. I don't know if we got Oz outside more. During the summer he played outside loads and went swimming a lot. I think the winter has been hard for me to get outside and find things for us to do. I really hate not having a yard for him to play in.

6. Virtually no camping. But the one travel/camping trip we *did* have, it felt like the road trip again and we just felt like "US" again. It was lovely. We definitely need more of it.

7. I did something huge out of my comfort zone. With the help of many others we raised over $800 for St. Baldrick's and I shaved my head. If that's not out of the comfort zone I don't know what is. 

8. Listen to more music. Hm...Yes and no. I have downloaded a few new artists, and some old favorites. I have thoroughly enjoyed Amanda Palmer's new album. 

9. Slambook the magazines.... Well, I've made a small dent in the magazines. But there's a hell of a lot. I need to find a system to organize my clippings.

10. I gave up red meat for about 6 months. But I missed pork....sausage biscuits, biscuits & gravy, pepperoni pizza, BBQ. It's pretty clear now that I can't eat beef anymore, not unless I'm happy to be quite ill for the rest of the day. But BBQ is one of the few things I like about where I live, so why would I deny something that makes me happy? 

11. We have seriously de-cluttered. 2 moves in 3 months will do that. We have gotten rid of a load of books, DVDs, knicknacks, clothes... Don't get me wrong, we're not living the minimalist life, and probably never will. It's not our style. But we don't feel the need to hoard like we once did. 

12. Thoughful Buying...yes and no. It comes in stages and phases. I've been on a HUGE tshirt buying binge this year. Do I need them? Nope. Do I love them? Yep. And sadly, when I'm stressed I tend to binge buy. It's really not a good combo. But we're definitely not buying as much crap as we used to just to buy it. 

....So that was 2012. It was also the worst year I've had for reading ever. That's for another post tho. Tomorrow will be posting for a New Year. Come on, 2013.

13

I'm not sharing number 13. It's titled "10 Years Ago I was..", and honestly it's just a bit raw for me. It's personal that I don't feel like sharing. It's funny, because I was not doing anything crazy. Ashley 7 years ago has a lot more skeletons in her closet than Ashley 10 years ago. But 10 years ago I was trying on a hat that didn't fit. So there. Sorry, void-y vortex interwebs.

12

Superpowers I'd like to have....

10, 11

The one above was Saturday's list. Saturday was a pretty great day (until Oz woke up close to midnight and refused to go back to bed, but you know, you can't win them all!).



List 11 was written while Oz was napping on Sunday. You may be wondering to yourself, "What the hell is 'Lost Control'? I don't know that song.". Well, it's an 80's song. Not a great one, but it came on when we were out to lunch on Saturday and my younger sister and I were having a great time singing and dancing and remembering that we really liked the song when we were little. So I'm providing you with the music video. Again, it just reconfirms my feeling that 80's hair does NOT need to make a comeback.

9

this one has been my hardest to "create" thus far. I was just forever frustrated with putting it together, even tho I enjoyed making the actual list. Maybe I'm just over-thinking things today. A lot of my "Happy Places" have to do with places we aren't at the moment. I love to travel, and I'm very excited about some of the things we are planning for this year. I'm looking forward to the beach and camping this summer. I'm hoping that maybe we'll turn the poolside into a sort of beer garden. I wish the US had really gotten the idea of a pub. It can be such a wonderful, relaxing environment for the whole family. *sighs* Anyways, excuse the frustrated glitter and penguins. It's just all I had this evening.

7-8