2015... in the rear view mirror; 2016... straight ahead

It seems odd to me that for a year in which my one word was "time", I feel as though I can't account for much of my time. Hmmm...

It was a good year for us. Part of the reason for the swift passage of time this year is that my husband had the busiest year ever in appraisals. He literally worked seven days a week and 12+ hours for five days a week all year long. I am begging him to cut back in 2016. I know he has to work while the work is available, but this was too much. I missed him!

When he did manage to unchain himself from his desk we had lots of fun family activities. Three of the grandkids are old enough now to have adventures with. We are so looking forward to the expansion of our little family in 2016 with the arrival of Snow in February.

In 2015 I read my Chronological Bible again for my quiet time. Every so often, I put it aside for another Bible, but I always miss it and go back to it. This year I'm not going to stray and will read it again. I am adding something new, though. I bought a "Jesus Calling" flip calendar this past summer and have been reading it too. I was familiar with "Jesus Calling" because several friends use it as a devotion. I had no idea how great it is until I started reading it. I love it. I can't believe how right on the daily devotions are some mornings - just what I need!

I did a lot of stitching in 2015. I should finish my 20th project before the 31st. I managed to stitch several projects that were just for me and I'm hoping to be able to do that in 2016 too. I'm not very optimistic on that front though, because with new babies on the way, and other commitments, I already have nine large projects to stitch. Maybe my fingers will magically gain speed! Actually, I'm just praying that my eyes will hold out. I do hope to do a much better job about posting my stitching progress. I'm contemplating a rotation system similar to Lana's. I haven't worked out the details yet, but with so many large projects to do, I'm thinking this will help to keep me from getting bored. I will try to update my progress each weekend. I think I can, I think I can... we'll see.

I'm so excited for the new year! I'm ready for a fresh start and a new year of challenges and opportunities.

Thank you for continuing to read my blog, especially this past year when I rarely posted.  I always appreciate your kind comments and encouraging words.

Happy 2016!

Only Four Days Left...

Can you believe it? 2015 is swiftly coming to an end. I have to admit though, that I'm looking forward to 2016. I feel very optimistic about the new year, overall.

Things I'm looking forward to include: my new granddaughter Snow arriving sometime in February, becoming a great-aunt in August, family trip to Disneyland, and completing lots of stitching projects!

Haha, that last one may be a pipe dream, but I'm determined to give it my best shot.

Since our family Christmas was last weekend, Christmas Day was pretty low key for us. We went out to breakfast with Jessica and Storm, and then laid around the house watching Star Wars I-IV. On Saturday we started taking down the trees and watched Star Wars V-VI. Then on Sunday we went to the cinema and saw Star Wars VII. It was very good. I'm excited for the next two episodes in 2017 and 2019.

I have most of Christmas down. I'm moving slowly due to some back issues. Grrr - very frustrating.

This week I will posting my wrap up of 2015 and a preview of 2016 plus my one word.

In the meantime, I'm off to work on baby shower tasks and birthday planning for my mom's 80th. What a way to start a new year!

Stitching Update

Hi. My name is Vicki and I am a cross stitcher. I mean it. I really am. Although you would not be able to tell from reading my blog this year!

I have been stitching steadily this year and as of today have finished 19 projects this year. What I have NOT done is post photos of my projects. I don't know why. I take the photos. I download them onto my computer. But it stops there. Somehow those photos never make their way onto my blog.

Today's post has two purposes. To show some of the photos that have been languishing on my computer and to lay out a plan to be a better stitcher/blogger in 2016.

First the photos. This year for Christmas we wanted to do something very different for our adult kids. We gave them cash. This is not going to be a new tradition, it's just something we wanted to do to break up the routine. I think they all enjoyed the cash.

Of course, I didn't just want to give them cash in an envelope, I wanted it to be more special than that. So I made them all boxes. I always buy cigar boxes, photo boxes, boxes of every shape and size when I come across them at estate sales or Goodwill. They make great displays for stitching.

This year I was fortunate enough to find three Hallmark photo boxes at an estate sale for $1 each. I gave those to the girls and gave cigar boxes to the guys.

I also made a baby sampler for one of Katie's friends. This is the third sampler I've made for her - she has three young daughters. I love this Sue Hillis design.

Now for the changes I'm going to try to make. I tried this before and didn't do well, but I'm dusting it off to try again. I hope to post stitching updates every Saturday. I have a lot of stitching projects to do in 2016 and hopefully I'll do a better job of sharing my progress with you.

We'll see...

Family Christmas 2015

We had our family Christmas this past weekend. It just gets more and more fun the older the grandkids get.

This year we started off with a couple of performances. Jessica and Thunder sang "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" and Skye, Sunny, and I sang "We Wish You a Merry Christmas". Then Skye sang a solo of "Baby Jesus" and Skye and Thunder sang "And Santa is His Name-o".

After dining on Pizza and Salad (although I'm not sure any of them ate even one entire piece of pizza) it was time to open presents. This year the three older grandkids all helped to play Santa, Even though they can't all read yet, they all recognize the letters of the alphabet and could tell who to take the gift to by the first letter of each name. Of course, they can all read their own names (except Storm). It's always so much fun to hear their squeals of excitement as they open each new gift. 

Patiently waiting to dive into their pile of gifts

My folks, Papa and Gigi with Gabe, Katie, Sunny, Thunder

Storm immediately knew what to do with the phone that came with his kitchen!

Skye with a beloved present

Thunder checking out Storm's kitchen

Sunny with her haul

Time to open the stockings

Sweet cousins - Sunny and Skye

Jessica, Storm, Adam - what a good family photo

It's That Time of Year

This is the time of year when I evaluate 2015 and start planning for 2016. I look back over the year and decide what worked and what didn't. I give myself permission to toss out what didn't work and I come up with a new plan for a new year.

One of the areas that I failed miserably in 2015 is this blog and my Christmas blog. I rarely posted. I've mused in previous posts about why that is, but the truth is I don't have a good reason or any kind of an excuse.

It's not that I'm tired of blogging, I still really love it. It's not that I don't have anything to say, I have an opinion on everything and am rarely at a loss for words. It's not that I don't have adorable grandchildren, cute pets, and a terrific family to post about, I do.

It's that... never mind, I have no clue.

So, I'm slowly starting to think of ways to improve for 2016. I have come up with one solution. I try to post a verse every day, but this year I doubt if it was even once a week. The only thing that saved that feature of the blog was that this was an SSMT memory year with Beth Moore, so I at least posted my memory verses every two weeks. But 2016 is an off year, so I won't even have that to keep me in line.

So the first Sunday in January I will introduce a verse for the week. That way I'm committing to 52 verses instead of 365. No wait, 366 - it's leap year!

I'm excited about this new feature and hope you will enjoy it.

Between now and New Year's, I'll be sharing other ways that I plan to improve in 2016 and my One Word.

Thank you so much for reading my blog, I appreciate all of your comments and encouragement!

SSMT #24

Wow, I can't believe this is the last verse of the year. The time has flown by. I hope that I will continue to try to memorize verses through the off year. I want my heart and mind to be focused on God's Word. I need to be able to recall verses of promise, hope, and instruction as I move through my day-to-day life. For the last verse I chose one of my favorites...

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14

SSMT #23

I read this verse yesterday in my daily reading and knew I had to commit it to memory. Actually, it's two verses, but it flows as one.

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.
1 Corinthians 16:13-14