my word for 2016: fresh.

ok first things first: i was really, really apprehensive about coming back here after such a long absence. i was convinced that even if i COULD find the time and energy to come back (and get through the especially difficult post to explain why ive been gone so long) that nobody would remember me and that id just be blogging into a vacuum until i re-built my entire audience from scratch. now i would like to take a minute and say a big fat THANK YOU to everyone thats read, commented, emailed, etc., it was SO nice to come back and instantly know that people are still reading here. 

but i digress.  

last year was the first year that i had done the whole "choose a word to center your goals around" thing, and i have to say, i really liked it. even though my word ("focus") was a little vague and turned out to not mesh well with the goals i made and the year really, really didnt turn out the way id hoped, setting a theme for my goals was a great way to get myself excited about actually doing the things i said i was going to do. 

so, obviously, im going to do it again this year. 

honestly i actually had a different word (and goals) picked out (and i was really excited about them) up until, oh.... about a week ago. but then some things happened (mainly car stupidness), and well... i needed to make some adjustments. and by adjustments i mean we needed to start ALL over and find something else more appropriate. 

and as i was sorting through all my blog papers half-heartedly trying to salvage my old editorial calendars and scouring craigslist for a similar replacement to my station wagon while not only dealing with all the bad things that happened over the last year but also the repercussions of how i just suck at life when im pregnant/have a newborn, my word for 2016 came to me: 

fresh. 

2016 is a year for fresh starts: for letting go of whats not working for us and focusing only on what is, for making our life better instead of just treading water. 2016 is a year for a fresh, positive outlook, for dropping bad habits and replacing them with good ones. 2016 is a year for really making a life we enjoy rather than just checking off a bunch of lists. 

so what does this mean? 

well first and foremost im not going to make a long, itemized list of goals to feel guilty about not accomplishing. but this is what weve been working on so far: 

ive officially quit jamberry and selling handmade clothes. yes, those things did technically make money but not very much, and definitely not enough to make up for the time they took away from my family AND being able to work towards what i really want to do for money. 

ive decided what i actually want to do for a career. im not going to juggle a whole bunch of tiny little jobs that im really not into anymore. i want to be a pattern maker. obviously i cant just go be a pattern maker right now, but my priority right now is to work as much on my education as possible so that when the time comes, i can be an awesome pattern maker. 

were getting back on all kinds of wagons. remember how i said i super suck at life when im pregnant? well... over the last year i completely lost my grip on a lot of my household responsibilities. mainly the REALLY important things like budgeting, meal planning, and cleaning the house. so our first order of business is to get back on track with our former thrifty, healthy, tidy lifestyle. 

im going to be like, a legit blogger. and by that i mean, i threw out all my old editorial calendars, cracked open a brand-new note book and started planning a whole YEAR of new content that im actually excited about, rather than just what i felt like i "should" be doing. 

whether we like it or not, were buying a new car. ok maybe not a new, new car, but this time were going to REALLY research and carefully shop for a reliable long-term family car so that we dont end up in this exact situation not even three years from now (can you tell this has happened to us before...)

but most importantly:

im not making a lengthy list of arbitrary goals to feel bad about all of the time that im not accomplishing goals. because if theres one thing ive learned from setting new-year goals, its that (for me) they really get in the way of (me) enjoying life as it happens and celebrating the things we DO accomplish without comparing them to the things we didnt. (not knocking new-year goals in general, this is just how things have gone for me). 

so yeah, thats where things seem to be headed for this fresh new year. 

what do you have planned this year? do you pick a "word" for the year? if so, whats yours? let me know in the comments, i love hearing what other people pick!

the 15 best things to happen in 2015 (and what happened to those 2015 goals).

good morning 2016! and happy new year everyone! hope you didnt party too hard last night (not to brag, but we just had our SIXTH consecutive new years eve of going to bed early because at least half of the family was sick). 
after yesterdays totally downer post, and before i jump into the legitimately awesome stuff i want to do i wanted to take a minute to reflect on all the great things that happened over the last year, as well as catch up the goals i made at the beginning of 2015, so that we can start moving forward from a nice clean slate. and, what better day to do it than new years day? none, obviously. 
moving on to our first order of business, lets get to the 15 best things to happen in 2015: 
1. we had a baby! not only does this mean im not pregnant anymore, but we also got a really cool baby! and i got to give him a totally ridiculous name without anyone noticing how ridiculous it is (except, like, my mom. she knew EXACTLY how ridiculous it is).
2. i got to collaborate on a rap song! no, im not kidding. my favorite rapper mc lars asked twitter about hipster mom stuff and when i (obviously) had the best answers we emailed a bit and he actually used a lot of my suggestions in his song hipster mom. 
3. i got a trophy in pattern making class! pattern making class was NOT easy (for a variety of reasons) but my teacher pushed us all REALLY hard to do the best we could and when i made the largest collection of the class (11 pieces!) she totally recognized my effort. (sidenote, i never did sports so this is probably the literal first time ive ever gotten a trophy). 
4. we bought all new bedroom furniture! for the first time, our bedroom is cute and functional and filled with stuff we like! and it only took a million trips to ikea and a medium amount of fighting!
5. we went on our first ever family trip! when my childhood best friend got married at a gorgeous but pretty out of the way park, we made it a weekend trip and it was pretty awesome. 
6. alice got tall enough to go on big rides at disneyland! also, her hitting 40 inches coincided perfectly with her turning four so she had a VERY special birthday this year. 
7. james worked at target during christmas time so all our christmas shopping was at least 15% off! honestly, im pretty bummed target doesnt pay enough for us to live off of, because i already miss that discount. 
8. my guts totally calmed down! remember how i used to have like a million food allergies? well now its down to literally only gluten! for a long time i couldnt tolerate too much corn or soy but guess who can have (moderate amounts of) regular soda and tofu? thats right, me. 
9. everybody totally killed it on christmas gifts this year! james got me a boxed set of harry potter books, i got him a bunch of clothes from american apparel, and we managed to get alice ALL of the things she asked for this year. 
10. james and i both embraced minimal living and we got rid of tons of stuff! ive lost count of how many loads weve taken to the thrift store, and theres no signs of them slowing down any time soon. 
11. i got As in all three classes i took this year! which means my GPA since coming back is a solid 4.0! (well see if i can pull my cumulative GPA high enough to graduate with honors though...). 
12. we had some pretty big milestones in the family. my youngest sister turned 13, my brother turned 18 AND graduated high school, and my other sister turned 21. there were a LOT of great parties in 2015. 
13. we saw my favorite band play my favorite record! and i only cried a little. and maybe that was mainly because i was pregnant...
14. james and i celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary! we didnt have the money to do anything crazy so we just went out to dinner, but still, thats a lot of anniversaries. 
15. james leveled up to a level six apprentice! which means he only has two more levels before he journeys out and we never have to deal with this apprenticeship process ever again!
so while 2015 DEFINITELY had WAY more than its fair share of bad times, it had its good times too. and we cant forget about those good times. 
now, what about those goals i set at the beginning of the year? well, in retrospect "focus" was a GREAT choice in a word for the year, but pairing it with 43098574983 little goals was NOT a great decision. i figured out midway through the year that i had spread myself too thin and it just wasnt realistic to do ALL of those things anyway. but, in the spirit of finishing what i started (something ive never been good at but would like to master), heres the final tally: 
i did: solidify my blogs brand and content, blog consistently (for the 2/3 of the year i was blogging), schedule my posts in advance, collaborate with other bloggers, vend at 3 craft fairs, experiment with new designs, have more family time, purge and simplify our home, buy a new bed/mattress, replace the hi-fi in the living room, improve my credit score, get straight As in school, and experiment more in the kitchen. 
i did not: apply for any of the patchwork shows, turn my fabric stash into inventory, go one one "real date" per month, start consistently homeschooling, stick to a reasonable budget, get 1/2 way to our goal emergency fund, or maintain a part time income with jamberry. 
so, looking at the big picture (not one of my strengths but im working on it) i did a LOT more than i didnt do, and we did have an unreasonable hard year. and i learned a lot about goal setting, so thats what really matters i guess. 
now, on to 2016! stay tuned for monday when i talk about my word for 2016 and what i have planned for us as we start the new year! 

goodbye 2015 + a life update

(note: this photo has absolutely nothing to do with todays blog post, i just want to draw attention to how much benedict loves cats)
in case you are brand new here (or forgot this blog existed), id like to get something out of the way real quick: yes, i am completely aware that i posted a super long, exciting post about rebranding and then went AWOL for four months. no, the irony is not lost on me. 
to be completely honest, ive been trying to mentally write this post (and have had several different versions in my drafts) for a few weeks now, and i just couldnt figure out how so i just... didnt do it (yes, this is how i typically deal with things. yes i know its terrible). but today is the last day of 2015, and probably the most appropriate time to just come out and say it: 
2015 has not ended well for us. 
in the interest of catching everyone up to speed with whats been going on without descending into a bottomless pit of self-pity, heres a brief list of bad things that have happened lately in more or less chronological order: 
1. in early september we lost my stepdad to suicide. im not going to go into detail explaining how horrible this was/is for everyone involved because, well, this is something id rather deal with privately than publicly discuss, but yes, it was (is?) terrible. 
2. james didnt work at all for two whole months after that. this was entirely coincidental, and, while on the one hand it was helpful to be able to just stop everything and grieve as a family, we also need james to work so we can like, pay rent and stuff. 
3. my health got, like, way worse. right at the very convenient time of right after we were dropped from our health insurance. (dont worry, im not dying, im just in absurd amounts of pain for no reason. also, im probably too old for having babies).
4. jamess bike got stolen. you know, the thing that makes our whole "having one car" thing totally manageable? stolen at the also very convenient time of right when james started working again/got a second job at target. 
5. i had a really, REALLY rough semester. the first 2/3 was a lot of confusion and wasted class time and the last 1/3 was constant stress and insanity. and i was only in one class. 
6. james (briefly) worked two jobs while i was still in school and we were sharing my car and it drove everyone literally insane. also he had to work (at target) on thanksgiving/black friday, which was stupid. 
7. i spent months trying to figure out our health insurance situation, and when i couldnt get any answers i started the process with getting insurance from the state, only to find out at the very end that WE HAD INSURANCE THE WHOLE TIME (well, not the time when they sent us a letter saying "no more health insurance" and cancelled all my scheduled appointments, but all the other time. yes i just realized i described the worst m. night shyamalan movie ever). 
8. overall james had a terrible year at work (like, made about half of what he made last year), right when we decide that im going to go to school instead of having a job for the next two years. 
and
8. my car died. literally, completely died. TWO DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS. seriously. 
so yeah, that about catches us up to today. obviously, other stuff happened in there too and were all still alive and healthy (ok, the kids are sick with sniffles) with lots of friends and family around to help/make us feel better (also, christmas was great), so life isnt that bad. and i mean, things can only go up from here, right? 
good riddance 2015, and stay tuned for tomorrows post where i talk about stuff thats not totally depressing!