fresh start

2007 was a good year. The past few years have all been sort of full of major events, getting married in 04, then buying a house in 05, then having Delma in 06... And some job promotions mixed in there too... This year didn't bring any major life changes. It was just a nice year of adjusting to being parents and living our life. I got a sewing machine and spent lots of time getting crafty.

And this has been a really nice holiday season. This was our first year of exclusively celebrating Chanukkah at home. We visited family on Christmas and spent it with them as usual, but there was no Chrristmas in our house. It was great. There was none of the usual pressure to be in an appropriately festive mind-set, to rearrange furniture to accomodate a tree, buy gifts, etc. I did make some gifts, like wheat sacks, and one gift that I was really pleased with but of course forgot to take pictures of: I made aprons for my nieces and nephew, and got them a mini muffin pan, some small little spatulas and little mixing bowls so they have their own kid-size tools to bake with. They loved it all, and pranced around in their aprons and fought over who could carry the gift bag with their little baking things in it.

I also tried out some new patterns for some swaps. I made the Bend-the-Rules Sewing Simple Tote, along with my little fabric-covered photo albums that I make for any and every occasion, and a little fabric tissue cover based on this pattern. I overlap the sides of the opening for a more secure fit.




We have been doing some serious cleaning and organizing at home. I feel like for the first time since we bought the house 2.5 years ago, I have a handle on what our living space needs really are and how to meet them. I know what we need to store and what can get Goodwill-ed or trashed, etc. Our office has been a nightmare catch-all room for forever, and it's finally a tidy, comfortable, functional space. Our family room is sort of a random mish-mosh of our TV area, play area for Delly, and my crafting area. It still has to fit all those bills, but there are ways to make it all a bit more cohesive and comfortable. Our utility room has been a wreck, piled floor to ceiling with boxes we haven't even opened since we moved. We're getting rid of tons of crap and are getting some shelving to help us tidy up in there too. The goal is to get the room cleared enough to put the treadmill in there, and maybe some other exercise equipment. Our house is small, and we need to make good use of every square inch. I feel like this year we'll get there -- or pretty damn close, anyway. One of my resolutions for 2008 is to continue on this organizing kick.

And speaking of resolutions, here they (almost all) are:
1. Finish organizing our utility room
2. Finish our little odds-and-ends fix-up projects (tile in family room; replace all icky goldy brassy door hardware with brushed nickel; paint doors; paint office; paint family room)
3. Plant a vegetable garden
4. Learn how to use the fancy features on our fancy camera, so I can take better pictures
5. Plan weekly meals, shop accordingly, try new recipes (started already, more on this soon in another post)
6. Make a quilt

All of my goals are realistic and attainable, and will make me happy. Yay, 2008!