Wishing YOU Blessings In 2010!

May your troubles be less,
Your blessings be more,
And nothing but happiness
Come through your door.
-Unknown

We had a very uneventful New Year's Eve. In bed well before midnight. Today I have spent most of the day stitching (between your typical household chores). I finished my first piece for the year. Actually, I planned it that way. I've been working on a square for CSFC (Cross Stitch For Charity) and knew I wouldn't get it done before the year ended. So I pushed on thru and finished it today. I also made a start on LHN's The Library. The SAL for this piece began today.

Now, back to the lists. I spent a bit of time going through what's been started and what's been kitted up as well as some committments I've made. Here are some well thought out goals for my new year:

STITCHING STARTS
two ornaments per month (LHN Ornament SAL and Bride's Tree Ornament SAL)
Prairie Schooler ABCs SAL
LHN Travelling Stitcher SAL
LHN THe Library SAL
Brooke's Books ABCs SAL
Christmas Pillow
at this point I am not participating in any exchanges. I will limit them to 4


STITCHING UFOs
Aury's Heritage SAL
2muchXS UFO Challenge - Monarch Butterfly by Dyan Allaire
PS Country Wise
PS Home OF A Needleworker
Sweetheart Tree - Cat Lovers biscornu
Janlynn - Black Retriever
Remberence
finishing techniques for ornaments

QUILTING
bind 3 existing quilts
four QOVs
two personal quilts
make two stitching totes

STASH
I will not purchase any cross stitch charts until I have completed a project and passed on the chart.
I will not purchase any stitching fabric but minimal that is needed to complete a project.
I will not purchase any quilting patterns.
I will not purchase any quilting fabric but minimal that is needed to complete a current project.

PERSONAL (am re-doing all of these as they all need work still)
practice Gratitude
be kinder to DH
drink, drink, drink water
excercise
eat healthier

Sooo... wish me luck!

2009 Winding Down!

The countdown has begun! How will you spend your New Year's Eve? I, for one, will put on my 'party hat' and stitch the night away (at least until DH says he's had enough). We're in pretty much white-out conditions here with no end in sight. A foot of new snow today, so far. Luckily we have everything we need and no-place to go. The plow probably won't get up here 'til Saturday.

The dogs are having a great time whenever they venture out. Kelly's specialty is snow angels. Jessie does a fine high-step. What a riot to watch! Moses (the cat who owns us), on the other hand/paw is quite miffed. He cries to go out and two minutes later is scratching the screen on my window to come back in. I know I'm going to have to replace that screen. Dang! He hates the litter-box but hates the snow too. My new 2010 desk calendar is already damaged by wet cat laying on it & my keyboard.

As I've been AWOL since Christmas Eve morning, I will tell you that we had a safe trip both ways over the mountains and a fairly quiet Christmas (with two young boys NOT!). Again, I did not get one stitchy related gift. Next year I am being VERY specific. Obviously these guys won't buy me gift certificates. DH & I bought a Wii FIT for ourselves, exercise for me, games for him.

It's only fitting to mention here how I did on my goals for 2009:
STITCHING
finish 6 stitching UFOs before I can buy more stash (exceptions are auto ships and exchanges) Big uh oh! Really missed this one! I was worse than ever buying stash and only finished one UFO

complete at least one ornie per month yea! Stitched 14 and two starts. Unfortuantely, I only finished one. Need to work on my finishing techniques.

stitch a minimum of 6 charity pieces Well, I only stitched four blocks, but I did make three charity quilts.

begin a new BAP (this is difficult because I have so many I want to do and several in my UFOs to complete) completed one UFO and started two more

QUILTING
finish 5 quilting UFOs DONE still have at least this many more to finish Yikes!

take at least one class DONE

make two handbags or totes DONE

PERSONAL

practice Gratitude doing better but still needs work

be kinder to DH doing better but still needs work

drink, drink, drink water doing better but still needs work

excercise needs lots of work

eat healthier much better but still needs work

P.S. I did lose over 60 pounds this year!! Big Hooray!!

Tomorrow I'll fill you in on my new improved updated goals for 2010. Have a safe time if you celebrate tonight. Wishing you all a prosperous new year.

I'm So Proud!

My friends, I'm just bursting my buttons with pride tonight! I visited my doctor today and I have successfully lost over 40% of my excess body fat! I've lost nearly 40 pounds too! Guess all that swimming is helping! I'm gonna pat me on the back! Yea!