Sunday Inspiration: The Only Person

Thankful Thursday: January 25, 2025

 

I Am Thankful For:

The craft room finally coming together

A slight warm up before the bitter cold sets in

Cute little coffee cups

Snow falling

My sister coming to visit

Noodle bowls

Laughing with family

Time with my grandsons

Peaceful mornings

The smell of gumbo cooking

Sunday evening

Staying up late to hang out with my sister

A quick and delicious dinner

Hugs goodbye

A warmer day

Holding hands with my husband

Comfy pajamas

Sunday Inspiration: Be Willing

Thankful Thursday: January 18, 2024

 

I Am Thankful For:

Cute dog videos

Podcasts I can listen to while cleaning

Comfy clothes

Feeling good about myself

Getting my errands done early

Better than take-out dinner

Cozy evenings in

Family playoffs watch party

Family heirloom being used by a new generation 

Cupcakes

A good haircut

A delicious stew in the crockpot

Kissing my husband

A very productive day

A warm house on a cold day

My husband offering to help fix dinner

When my daughter calls just to talk

A quick vet appointment

A clean fridge

Sunday Inspiration: Every Moment

Thankful Thursday: January 11, 2024

 

I Am Thankful For:

Beautiful yarn

Finding a soft, pretty sweater on clearance

Grapes

A trip to the craft store to use my gift card

Kitten cuteness

It wasn't an icy morning after all

My husband making me laugh

Pictures of my grandkids

My beautiful poncho

My husband

Delicious recipes for Meatless Mondays

Salsa Verde chicken

The rain finally stopped

Not One Word for 2024

 It has become common for many people to select a word for the year.  A word to set the tone or to be the focus for the year.  I have done this for many years.

Not this year.

Here's the thing....

Last year, my one word was Explore.  In that spirit, I decided to select a different word to explore for each month.  And I enjoyed that.  A lot.  I liked having a new focus for each month of the year. It kept things fresh and interesting.  Which is why as 2023 rolled to its conclusion, I decided rather than having one word for the entire year, I would have One Word for each month of 2024! 

My One Word for January is Begin.

It almost feels a little too obvious.  But, it also feels incredibly appropriate.  January is the start of a whole new year.  It's a month meant for new beginnings and fresh starts. 

After having my Etsy shop on vacation for the final quarter of the year, I made the difficult decision to leave it there.  So, business-wise, this year is a new beginning for me.  I'm not entirely sure where this new path is going to lead, but I'm ready for wherever it takes me.

In light of that upcoming new beginning, I have begun to sort through my home office. I am slowly transitioning from office to a craft room. 

I am beginning a new focus on my health.  I am dedicated to moving more often. In January, I begin to work my way up to doing some exercise/movement five days a week. I am beginning to pay less attention to the numbers in the scale and more to the numbers on my lab results. I am especially beginning to pay closer attention to how I feel. I know that I am now at an age where it's more important than ever to take care of my body so that I can keep doing the things I want to do for years to come.

This year I plan to begin actively cultivate even more joy in my life. I will seek out activities, situations, and people that enrich my life and bring me happiness.  I will probably also need to begin eliminating some things that cause stress, anxiety, or unhappiness.

So, there it is. January is my month to Begin.

What about you? Do you have a word for 2024, or for the month of January?

Sunday Inspiration: A Little Bit Lost

Thankful Thursday: January 4, 2024

 

I Am Thankful For:

Getting out of the house for a little while

No more leftovers

Planning for the new year 

Being able to vent to my sister

Breakfast for dinner

Browns are going to the playoffs!

Christmas is put away for another year

Chocolate Bailey's

First part of a project completed

Orange juice 

Nyquil

A quiet New Year's Eve at home

Sleep

A windy, cold New Year's Day

A simple, one pot spaghetti and meatballs meal

Feeling much better as I get over head cold 

A return to normal

New gutters are finally installed

January 2024: Happy New Year

Happy New Year!!

Most of December was a blur.  That month always seems to speed by like a rocket.  At least until Christmas.   That last week between Christmas and New Years seems to last as long as the entire rest of the month. It's like a black hole of time and energy.  Did anyone else live in a blur of leftovers and lost days between Christmas and now?

January is a quiet month.  For those of us in the northern hemisphere, nature is tucked in and resting in its winter slumber.  The days are shorter. January seems meant for long evenings by the fire, cozy blankets, warm beverages, and good books. It's a cozy month.

In January, we celebrate our oldest grandson's birthday. He'll be 12 this year. I'm baffled as to how that can be possible. I'm certainly not old enough to have an almost teenage grandchild. Except that, apparently, I am. 

As I said before, thanks to the cold days and long evenings -January is a good month to settle in and read some good books.  My reading list for the month includes "The Private Lives of the Tudors" by Tracy Borman, , "Divine Rivals" by Rebecca Ross and "The Turn of the Screw" by Henry James.  How's that for an eclectic blend of genres? I do like to mix it up a bit.

We're hoping that January will be the month that all the refurbishment projects on the outside of the house will finally be completed. We're still waiting on the new gutters to be installed and the trim around the front door to be done.  After that, we'll be ready to look at submitting the plans for permitting to build our new deck. Which at this point, that may wait a few months until we head into spring.

I closed up my Etsy shop at the end of last year and am still trying to figure out what my next chapter is going to look like. It may take the form of a slightly different craft business, I could return to crochet but focus exclusively on local markets and craft shows rather than online sales, or it might be something completely different.

I am skipping my usual One Word for this year in favor of a Word of the Month. This came about after last years experiment with doing both. I found that I liked the freshness of a new word to focus myself on for each month.  My word for January is Begin. More on that in another post. Stay tuned.

My goals for 2024 are:

• Work my way up to exercise/movement 5 days per week
• Health: Pay less attention to the numbers on the scale and focus more on the numbers of my lab work and how I am feeling
• Focus on crochet projects that will use up the bulk of my yarn stash instead of requiring me to purchase more
• Read at least 36 books

My goals for the month of January include:

• Reorganize my home office to be a craft/ guest room
• Purge and reorganize my dresser
• Exercise/Movement 3 days per week

What's new for you in January?