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! 

2014 in review + my word for 2015

i feel really weird writing an end-of-the-year post, when 1. i didnt make yearly goals in january, 2. i totally bailed on my monthly themes in like april, and 3. i havent even blogged consistently for most of this year. but im going to do it anyway. 

because, whether i was willing to admit it at the time or not, 2013 was, basically, the worst year ever. if i could compare it to anything it would be 365 of alexanders terrible horrible no good very bad day in a row. 

and 2014 was very much not that. i mean, it started out looking like it was going to be that, but then it wasnt. 2014 turned out to actually be a HUGE year for the meyers family, it was a year of growth, a year of change, and a year of things in general not sucking so bad. and i dont know if it was the low, low, low expectations i had at the beginning of the year, but honestly i am blown away at how this year turned out. i was not expecting all this. and i am very, very thankful to be able to say that. 

i thought about writing a long, emotional post chronicling the challenges we started the year with and how things have changed, but for both yours and my sakes, im going to keep this upbeat and positive by sticking to a list of our accomplishments. because im pretty pumped about what weve done this year, and i want to start 2015 pumped about whats coming next, not being all weepy and nostalgic over how bad things used to be. because nobody wants to read about that. heck, i dont even want to write about it. 

so on we go! awesome things about 2014!

james got a big promotion and worked full time for most of the year! now, promotions are supposed to be a regular, predictable thing with his apprenticeship program, but because of some weird scheduling hangups and having like no work at all for several months, his promotions got messed up, BUT i am now married to a level four carpenter and we are finally past the "this is going to get a lot worse before it gets better" part of him having this job. 

i went back to school! technically this was a decision i made in 2013, but my first classes started in march, and ive now completed FIVE of the classes toward my lifelong dream of a degree in fashion design (only eight more to go!) and i have aced ALL OF THEM! (unfortunately, due to really struggling with most of my important classes the first time i went to college, i probably wont get to graduate with honors. sad face.)

i quit working at joanns and am now legitimately self employed! every year since i was like, 18, ive said, and i quote: "THIS IS THE YEAR THAT I WILL BECOME LEGITIMATELY SELF EMPLOYED". and at 24, I FINALLY DID IT. though, in a surprising twist of fate, not through my own business ventures, but by becoming a jamberry consultant (which, by the way, i had sworn up and down in college that i would never, ever do direct sales again). 

alice turned three and is freakishly, terrifyingly intelligent. alice started this year as a very verbal and observant two year old, and over the course of the year has blossomed into a witty, logical, three year old that can make recognizable objective drawings and WRITE HER NAME. and she doesnt even have an easy to write name. in other news, we have unofficially started homeschooling. 

i did a craft fair (two, actually) and didnt quit the shop or blog at any point even when i wanted to! even though my sales werent great, and i did take a major, unexpected hiatus in the middle of the year (that was only really, really hard to climb out of), i kept the shop running for the entire year, prepped for and did my first craft fair in a looooong time (which meant i was totally ready when a surprise event came up thanksgiving weekend), and kept the etsy shop up and running for the entire year. same with this here blog. 

we still have money in our savings account! last year basically drained our entire savings, so when this years tax refund came, i had hoped and prayed wed be able to keep enough in savings to renew our disneyland passes in full and pay next years car insurance in full (i just like not having monthly bills if i can avoid them, ok?). now its december, and AFTER taking care of some major expenses, way upgrading the disney passes, getting through birthdays, christmas, and the slow months, and going on a real, actual vacation, there is still twice as much in there as i had originally hoped. 

james and i went on real, grown up dates! and a vacation! and not just fancy dinners at actual restaurants without a gift card or coupon, i mean the kinds of things I've always wanted to do but we never had money for, like a concert, and a comedy show. and did i mention our first real vacation after four years of marriage? 

i made some major investments in my business goals. even though running my own business has been a lifelong dream of mine, and over the last couple of years ive figured exactly what that business is, ive always been too afraid (or broke) to make the necessary investments to really get things going. but this year i said NO MORE to holding myself back and invested in: an overhaul on my craft fair set-up, business coaching, a tripod, AND a new macbook. 

so, as you can see, 2014 turned out to be an awesome year for the meyers family. but also, as is plainly obvious by reading back over this list, it was also and absolutely insane and all over the place kind of year. which, yeah, after all weve been through in previous years was exciting and refreshing, it was also exhausting. honestly i mainly wrote this post as a pep talk for myself to remind myself why i ended the year so tired and burnt out, and that it was because of totally awesome reasons. 

which brings us to 2015. more specifically, my goals for 2015. even more specifically, my "one little word" for guiding my goals for 2015. 

see, this time last year, i was too afraid to commit to one word for the entire year. we were very much in a temporary, short term, survival mindset and well, thats changed. one of the biggest developments this year was that weve been able to shift our gears from survival to long term planning. and this time, i have a word for 2015:

focus. 

2014 was the crazy, all over the place year where we tried a lot of different things and figured out what was really important. 

2015 is the year that we zero in on those important things and make some serious progress in those areas. 

2015 is the year of focus. 

focus on what exactly? well, youll just have to stay tuned for my 2015 goals series to find out!

do you have a word for 2015? let me know what it is in the comments!