One a day challange

You may remember from my "New year, New blog, New me!" post that I had challanged myself to make one thing a day starting January 1st. This includes my crochet, embroidery (which im still learning), knitting, sewing, etc. Im also including making it to a milestone on a larger project (of course, I set my own milestones. Everyone knows what they consider an accomplishment).

I know I personally have a lot of projects that are only about halfway done (thanks to my ADD crafting!) and plenty of things in mind that I WANT to do, so this was the perfect motivation to get things done and challange myself as well.


And then I got to thinking.... if Im working on a challange, why wouldnt my readers want to as well?!

So heres my challange to you!

Make one thing, every day.

Thats it. It doesnt have to be anything specific, or anything huge. Just create. If you do paper, graphic design, crochet, knit, quilt, photography, embroidery, needlepoint, ANYTHING, just make one thing. Super simple and everyone can participate!

You dont have to start jan 1st with me, but if you do decide to take this challange, please email me or comment on my most recent post so that I can make a list of people who are participating (and I'll include a link to your blog/site as well).

I'll be updating once a week so you can see what I've been up to, and also so I'm held accountable for sticking to the challange, and I encourage you to do so as well (again, email me or comment, or send me a link to your online updates).

Im also going to add a button on my sidebar so that you can show that you're participating and link back here.

I am SUPER excited about this, and I hope that I have some people wanting to maximize their creativity with me!!

Go get Creative!!

~~Love~~
~~GG~~

Christmas at our house...

I don't know about any of you, but our Christmas' are normally pretty busy. There is a lot of wrapping presents, baking cookies, tree decorating, and all kinds of other ins and outs. We also have 3 families we have to visit (my mom, my dad and Mikes parents).

Sometimes it seems like we get so caught up in the running around that we sort of forget what this season is all about. It doesn't matter if you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or Festivus, the thought behind the holiday is the same. Love each other, be there for one another, and do everything you can for your fellow man. 


Im not going to go into a long post about the true meaning of Christmas tonight, just a quick reminder to everyone that no matter what you get, its the love of your family and friends thats important. 


I wish I could have found a better version of this, but I think this song says it all... and its my FAVORITE Christmas movie!





Have a beautiful holiday, Count your blessings, and I'll see you in the new year!

~~Love~~
~~GG~~

New Year, New Blog, New me!

Another year is gone, a new one on the way. Whenever Christmas and New years roll around, I tend to find myself not only reflecting on things that have happened in the past year (good and bad), but thinking of ways I can improve for the next. I don't really think of them as resolutions (to me, resolutions always seem so inflexible), but as goals and ideas to improve myself, my life and my family over the next year.

 

I've had plenty of setbacks and unfinished projects this year, and a bunch of things that were never even started. I've not taken care of myself the way that I should, and I've been lazy with housework and with my kids.

I've also had plenty of wonderful things happen as well! We got our first house, I started this blog, I've really dived head first into my crafting and sewing, and have found products that I enjoy making and can sell. I've learned some new tips and tricks, and some new skills that I'm super excited about and cant wait to start some new projects!

So in the vein of starting fresh and trying to improve my life, I'll be making some changes to the blog. Don't worry, all good things!! First, if you haven't already noticed, I've decided to add advertisements to my blog. I'll be doing some things to try and monetize a little bit more, and I'm even considering adding a donations button (seriously though, I'm still debating this one. Its really just to make everything a bit easier on me and make it easier for me to do everything that I do and still support my family).It was a hard decision to make, but my ultimate goal is to be able to blog and craft full time, so I don't have to work a day job and can be home with my kids, so this is my first step in that direction. Please keep in mind though, do NOT click on ads multiple times just to click them (this is a BIG no-no and the people at Google wont let me advertise anymore).

I'm also going to be changing up my writing style a bit, and doing more tutorials and talking about stuff that I know (which is pretty much crafting and finance lol). I want my blog to not just be about me and what I'm doing day to day (which is in fact pretty darn boring), but something that people will actually want to read and will hopefully help them in the long run. If there is anything that you are particularly interested in, or a question you have for me, please feel free to email me or post a comment with it and I'll work something up!

I'll probably also be experimenting with the layout and colors to see what I can come up with, so don't be afraid if you look in and see that the background is neon green!

There are plenty of other things I'm going to be working on in my personal life too. I'm going to post a little list here so not only will I be kept accountable, but so I can update with my accomplishments and hopefully encourage other people in their resolutions!

So here's my list:

1.  To get back into shape. This goal is difficult, so I've made some little mini goals for it too
     a) Stop drinking so much soda. right now, i drink several sodas a day. i want to get down to little or none a day
     b) Start eating better. Less red meat and "white" things (rice, bread, pasta, etc). Things I should be doing because of not having a gallbladder anyways.
     c) Start Exercising. Now, I don't just mean running on a treadmill or hardcore aerobics. I'd really like to get into yoga and some meditative type stuffs too. And maybe Zumba, I've heard that's a BLAST!
     d)Get more sleep. This one is better said then done. I need to sleep more. I'm one of those people who needs more like 10 hours instead of 8. We'll see how well that one goes.

2. Organize my craft supplies. My stuff is in messy piles all over our office. I know it drives my fiance nuts, and Its hard for me to get anything done like this, so organization here I come!

3. Create one thing a day. I've already started working on this one a bit (see that pic of the little tree above? I made that out of some $.25 foam coasters I bought from Ikea). That way I can not only keep up with my craftiness, but I can start working on products for the shop (see #4). A little caveat to that though. If I'm working on some sort of a large project, I want to achieve at least one milestone for the project a day (i.e. get to the next section or part of the project).

4. Start my own Etsy shop. I'd really like to get this started by March if possible. It'll probably be full of crochet stuff, and my hair clips, but I'm working on learning some other things too, like knitting and embroidery. I like to expand my repertoire of old lady hobbies :D

5. Save up an emergency fund by mid year. This is a big one, and partially where the blog and the shop come into play. Its something that is SO important. Everyone should have some kind of emergency fund set aside, in case something unexpected happens (which it always does). Its the #1 thing to do in every finance book, seminar, and class, and its where I need to start.

That's all I'm going to list for now. I'll adjust it as the year goes on and I achieve some goals and adjust others.

Please keep checking back for new tutorials, fun stuff, and stuff you may want to know!
  
Much love, and Happy Holidays!!!

~~Love~~
~~GG~~

Comment, tweet, share and spread the word!

I'll be blogging for Christmas... if only in my dreams...

I know, I've been surprisingly absent the last week or so, and for that, I am very sorry. 

I should be able to catch up on my posting this week, because until friday, 

I really dont have much planned lol

During my absence, I've at least been busy. 

and to be honest, I wouldn't have traded the fun that I've had for anything in the world!

My Uncle (my dads youngest brother) just got back from his last tour in Afghanistan in November, so we decided it was time for us to have a get-together. 

I haven't seen some of my family in over 10 years, and some of my cousins had never met each other!

We all met up in Savannah, GA (which i'd never been, so it was also cool to go some place new)

We drove up with my dad and all the kiddos in tow, 

and stopped at St Augustine on the way there to visit the fort.

Dad and Edward, checking out the view

One of the old mortars. I really loved the face where the fuse goes.

John Lennon, Gone 30 years today

I love the Beatles.

I have since I was little and saw "Yellow Submarine" for the first time (why it was on and why I was watching it, I have no idea, but it was colorful and had music, so I loved it!)

Via

When I got a little older and learned a little more about music,

I started to appreciate the phenomenon that was the Beatles. 

I also learned that John Lennon was killed.

Via

Cold hands, Warm Heart Swap!

I did my first swap this last month, and it was such an awesome experience!

It was called "Cold hands, Warm Hearts", and it was dedicated to... you guessed it... Gloves!

This swap was set up by Sandy over at Sandy a la mode and Ilene from Much Love, illy
(go check out the link party at Much Love to see what everyone else got!)

The limit was $25, and it had to be mailed out by Dec 1st.

My swap partner was Lacretia from Readyheart and let me tell  you, I LOVED my box!!

I got it in the mail on wednesday. I just happened to be home because of my horrible stomach bug

Heres what was in that lovely little box:

Finding Myself: The disease of "Perfection" by Single Dad Laughing

I read this blog post over at Single Dad Laughing 

(I also read this one and cracked up because "the cat came back" was always

one of my favorite songs as a kid)

 after one of my lovely ladies from Punky Moms posted it on her facebook,

and really felt compelled to share my thoughts on it.

Read the post. I'll wait.

Seriously.

Go.

Do it NOW!!

Ok, done reading? Then lets proceed, shall we?

It really amazes me that this is something that hasn't been addressed before. The images that we see all day long on the internet and TV do nothing but make us thing we're too fat, too lazy, too poor, and just plain not good enough.

Now, trust me when I say this, I have had serious issues with "perfection", and still do from time to time. Luckily for me, I was raised with a fairly good self image, with a truly loving and caring family, so that was never that much of an issue when I was a child.

But we all feel it.

Everyone gets the "keeping up with the Jones'" syndrome, and I have been known to spend money I didn't have just because I didn't want to tell my friends/family/coworkers that I didn't have any.

I've looked at myself in the mirror and felt ugly.

I've watched my children and felt like I was a bad mother.

I've looked at the wonderful man in my life and felt like I was not good enough for him.

Now, in my heart of hearts, I know that all of that is total crap, but its very difficult to keep it from creeping back into my mind, like the nasty little bugger it is.

Its really difficult to hear stories of people being bullied (including grown adults)
and know that it could easily be avoided or stopped if they had just
had a better self image.

It goes back to the "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" idea.

Someone can tell you you're ugly, stupid or not good enough all day long,
but if you know that you are wonderful, beautiful and amazing (which EVERYONE is)
then their words can do absolutely NOTHING to you.

Its like Dan says, make someone feel perfect by showing them that NOT being perfect is OK!

We've all been there, we've all done that, felt that, experienced that.

I know that when I first separated from my ex husband, it was very difficult not to fall into the
"what ifs" and the "I should've"'s, but thankfully I had my awesome mom, and eventually my boyfriends mom and family that helped me through it, and helped me realize that it wasn't my fault.

Yes, you did read that right.

It wasn't all my fault. It wasn't all my ex's fault either. It happened, and nothing was going to change that, but all I could do was be the best mom and daughter that I could be.

And it seems like that is the first step, realizing that when things happen to you, you can either let it destroy you, or grow and learn from it. I chose the latter.

This is never easy to admit, and much harder to do on a web based blog that people I don't know will read, but I feel that its important to show that even though I'm working on my "Inner Goddess", I'm not perfect, and just like everyone else, I have my times of weakness.

I hope that you all read this amazing post and start to follow SDL. His posts are alternately amazing and funny (and sometimes amazingly funny), and his message is wonderful.

Be a little more "Real" today, and help cure the disease that's called "perfection".

Much Love!!
GG

My busy weekend.... Christmas-y goodness!

This was a pretty busy weekend for us, and Im sorry I havent posted in a while, 

but I've been trying hard not to die.

Well, not really, but I have been really sick with a nasty stomach bug.

Its been really unpleasant, and my wonderful Honey keeps saying I look like "death warmed over". 

But today, since I'm finally feeling a little better, I decided to show you the things I managed to do this weekend, before the horrible bug struck. 

We (with the help of Mikes parents) hung some christmas lights. 

We only did the one little strand because, since we have a 2 story house, it would be way too much of a pain to put lights around the roof. 

Our small Christmas display this year

Much to Mikes dismay, I found the little, purple candy canes at Target for $3!