My 2012

In response to your requests to see what I'll be up to... more like y'all are making sure I keep on track... for this new year of 2012, I have posted my 2012 list.  For now.

I am a list maker.  I love lists.  I'm pretty nutty when it comes to my lists and organization.  OK, fine... I call it nutty, others call it OCD.  But isn't there such a fine line between the two?  Making lists is the only way I've found to help me keep my sanity and not feel like I'm losing control [no comments about how I should have made these lists a long time ago and wouldn't have to worry about a redo of 2011].  And, in this crazy technology-driven world that we live in [and I'm a huge fan of], I have tried many list-making apps on my iPhone and Mac but I am a tried-and-true paper list maker.  I think it has something to do with the actual crossing off process.  I'm the same way with my daily planner.  No app for me.  Give me a good ol' spiral-bound DayRunner, a mechanical pencil, and a big fat eraser and I'll be set.  Something I can flip through, back and forth.  Don't even get me started on the ebook reader vs actual paper book in hand.  Maybe this will be another post for another day.

Getting back on track... as with most of my lists, this list will also most certainly change.  Tasks will be completed, goals will be met, and my own priorities and focus will shift with whatever mountains and valleys life puts in my path.

So, I hope you'll come back and check in on my progress.  Don't be shy... push if you think I need a little push... and let me know of any tips you might have to help me start checking these things off.

Off we go... here's to seeing more mountains than valleys!

A Week of Change with Funky Junk Interiors

Funky Junk Interiors

"Go ahead and procrastinate for another whole year if you want to redo 2011 all over again."

Ouch! Really? I. don't. think. so.

Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for every blessed day God gives me on this earth but who wants to go another year without growing, learning, realizing dreams? I've seen countless posts of setting resolutions, goals, making lists and finding the "new you" in 2012. Problem is... I make lists all year long... I have enough goals to keep me busy until, well, you know... and resolutions? Every day I make resolutions to get more exercise, eat healthier, blah blah blah... But where's my motivation? Where's my energy?

Well, Donna at Funky Junk Interiors just HAD to go there, didn't she? But,honestly, I'm so glad that she did! That one little sentence smacked me in the face like a dead fish (unfortunately, I do have personal experience with this).

I'm tired of too much talk and not enough action. I entered into a new decade in life last year. Time to get a move on! I have thoughts and ideas and even a workshop to call my own. So, you might be asking, "What's my problem?" That's the very same thing I've been asking myself. I convinced my husband to let me take some time off work to follow my creative dreams. We're living on his income alone. You'd think that would be motivation enough! But, my workshop sits in disarray. I continue to eat things I shouldn't, spend too much time sitting at the computer and then hoping it would all be different.

So, who wants to redo 2011 all over again?

Not me!

I want a different year. They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result. Not this year. This year is going to be different. This year is going to change everything!

Won't you join me?

Bring it on, Donna... let's see whatcha got!

Happy New Year 2012

Merry Christmas 2011

Happy Thanksgiving 2011

Crows

Crows.

My husband hunts crows.

They are smart little devils.  And mean, too.  But, alas, they have found their way into our home (and you haven't even seen the stuffed ones yet!).

The crow puzzle is Amish made.  It was my Christmas gift to him one year... but he had to put it together.

I'm not big on "grubby" candles, but the smaller one had a crow on it... 'nough said.

I'm trying to stay away from the primitive look and the country look, but there's no getting around that when your main theme is crows.

If you're admiring our paneling... well, that's one project we just haven't tackled yet.  This is an old house... with old fixtures and old carpet and old paneling.  Colored paneling in each room to match the colored carpet.  Boy, aren't we lucky?  This stuff isn't too bad, at least it's neutral.  Same with our master bedroom.  But the blue wood grain paneling to match the blue carpet and the green wood grain paneling to match the green carpet... well, let's just say... those projects can't come too soon!

I purchased the pie safe in California when I lived there.  It has literally traveled across the country with me.  It has a matching 6-foot tall floor clock.  The pie safe used to house our set of china, growing collection of Polish pottery, and a few other dishes.  I am currently re-working it with crocks, cookbooks, and a few other things which have not been discovered yet.

My Mulligan

In the world of golf, a mulligan is a retaken shot on the first tee box, usually due to a previously errant one.

No, I am not a golfer but I'm taking my mulligan shot none-the-less!

I originally started my blog to digitally record my new garden adventures.  I planned to track exactly what I planted (plant by plant, seed by seed), when I planted it, where I planted it, and how it did in it's new home that I had chosen for it.  All complete with weekly progress pictures.

Somewhere along the way, I veered off my initial course... but that's what I do... I digress...

Being a Virgo/Libra, I'm told that I get caught up in the details too often.  It didn't take me long to start putting off my progress blog posts because something wasn't quite right... I didn't have a picture, or I wanted this-and-that to be organized first, or... the list could go on and on!

Procrastinators, unite!

In the meantime, I finally took the leap of starting my own business...

... The Old Park Homestead ...

Why a homestead?  Because I have grand visions of living off the land... becoming a self-sufficient family... gardening, canning, cooking, baking, quilting, knitting, crafting, painting, remodeling... you get the picture.  And, of course, blogging along the way!

Stay tuned for updated posts... as I "go confidently in the direction of my dreams"!