Goodbye 2024

I have been going back and forth on whether or not I want to do a 2024 recap post. To be honest this year has not been the best. Depression and anxiety have take their hold on me for most of the year. Because of this I have not been knitting or reading as much as I would like. My job changed and not for the better and this is causing me even more stress. My health has continued to be an issue. My husband's cousin was murdered and they still have not caught the person(s) responsible. So this is how I am feeling about the year coming to a close.

But to not be a total negative nellie some good things did happen this year. I finished my masters program in February. Preston completed transitional kindergarten and is now having a great time in his kindergarten class. We had a nice vacation to Holland this summer. Clark is doing extremely well in school and finished his driving hours. My hubby had a milestone birthday. 

So I will say that I am hoping that 2025 is a better year. It will be the last full year where I will be in my 40s. I will admit that I am afraid of how the new administration will be but I am trying to remember to not stress about those things I have no control over. I am wishing you all a safe, happy and health 2025.

2021 In Review

Well what an interesting year this was. It was not quite the shit show that 2020 was but it certainly wasn't terrific either. I feel like the world is stuck in the mud and spinning its tires trying to get out. Hopefully that changes in 2022. Here were my goals for 2021.

1) Read 24 books - nope

2) Knit 12 preemie hats - DONE

3) Finish Clark's  blanket - nope

4) Finish Preston's stocking - DONE

5) Round my purchases up to the nearest dollar and save the change - I did this for a while but fell off

So 2 out of 5 goals met. I am not to upset about that. I am trying much harder to be easier on myself. Yes goals are important but so is life and in the end that is really all that matters. Now onto 2022 and a new set of plans but that is for another post.

2020 In Review

 

I have seen this picture several places online and I feel like it perfectly sums up how most of feel about last year. I did not accomplish much last year but I did manage to survive lockdown, working with a 2 year old at home, moving during a pandemic and catching Covid for Christmas. In review here were the goals I set for myself last year:

1) Finish Clark's blanket - nope

2) Finally finish Preston's stocking - nope

3) Make 6 preemie hats - nope 

4) Read 15 books - ding ding ding we have a winner!

I only completed 1 knitting project last year. It was a prayer shawl for a coworker. I think I finished it in September and I still have not updated it in Ravelry. I will get to it eventually. I did not even start a single preemie hat. I am really going to try and up my knitting production this year. 

My single goal win was with my reading. My goal was to read 15 and I ended up reading 21. This makes me happy and I have upped my goal for 2021 slightly but I will discuss that in other post. 

All in all 2020 was an interesting year but I feel so blessed that we did not lose anyone close to us and that we did not have a financial crisis since I was still able to work and while my hubby was off the extra unemployment that was passed for Covid relief was more than his weekly salary. Also we did not have to pay for day care for almost 4 months which helped as well. We are all happy and healthy and that is all that really matters. 

2019 in Review

It is February 5th and I am just now getting around to posting my 2019 in Review. I hope this is not an indication of how the year is going to go. However, I feel like I am making strides because I would normally be stressed about this and would beat myself up for not being on top of things. Right now I am letting it go and saying in the grand scheme of things this just does not matter much. That is major progress for me.

My word of the year was calm and my goals for 2019 were:

1) Read 12 books
2) Knit 12 preemie hats
3) Publish a pattern (right now I am working on a baby blanket, shawl and dishcloth pattern that have been worked on here and there for the past 2 years)
4) Lose 15 pounds (I need to lose a lot more but I am going easy on myself)

I do feel like I was able to incorporate my word a little bit in my life. We have dealt with some things that year that pushed my patience and I feel like I was better able to deal with these issues than I have in the past.

My knitting production was pretty low. I managed to finish only four projects - one preemie hat, a market bag, a scarf/shawlette and a baby blanket. I did not publish the pattern for the blanket, in fact I did not even start writing it up.

I did lose 8 pounds for the year which is not great but better than nothing. I do still want to lose some weight but I am not going to put a number on it. My niece is getting married in July like I would like to be able to buy a dress in a smaller size. Also II need to buy a scale. I used to weigh myself at work but since I no longer have access to the office because our company was bought out I have no way to weigh myself.

The one goal I did manage to meet was my reading goal. I read 15 books for the year for a total of 4609 pages. Here are the books I read:

1) Rising Strong by Brene Brown (9/20-1/11/19: 280 pages)
2) A Knit Before Dying: A Tangled Web Mystery by Sadie Hartwell (1/12-2/2/19: 263 pages)
3) The Last Letter From Your Lover by Jojo Moyes (2/2-3/30/19: 390 pages)
4) Caroline: Little House, Revisited by Sarah Miller (3/31-5/23/19: 367 pages)
5) The Book Jumper by Mechthild Glaser (5/23-6/23/19: 373 pages)
6) Hide and Sneak: A Savannah Reid Mystery (6/23-7/16/19: 277 pages)
7) Only Skein Deep: A Knitting Mystery by Maggie Sefton (7/16-7/31/19:261 pages)
8) Sweet Tomorrows: A Rose Harbor Novel by Debbie Macomber (7/31-8/21/19: 337 pages)
9) Dyeing Up Loose Ends: A Knitting Mystery by Maggie Sefton (8/22-9/12/19: 263 pages)
10) You Can if You Think You Can by Norman Vincent Peale (9/12-10/10/19: 530 pages)
11) Looking For Salvation at the Dairy Queen by Susan Gregg Gilmore (10/11-11/5/19: 293 pages)
12) We’re Going to Need More Wine by Gabrielle Union (11/6-11/30/19: 262 pages)
13) Twelve Days of Christmas by Debbie Macomber (12/1-12/11/19: 253 pages)
14) The Christmas Angel by Jane Maas (12/12-12/22/19: 175 pages)
15) There’s Something About Christmas by Debbie Macomber (12/23-12/31/19: 284 pages)

All in all 2019 was good and bad like most years seem to be. Here's to 2020 and a new decade!

2018 in Review

Well what a year 2018 has been. Nothing went according to what I thought would happen at the end of 2017. I am not even going to go back and look at what my goals were because I know that I did not meet any of them. And I am ok with that. I had a rough pregnancy - both physically and mentally - and I had to take care of myself first and foremost.

Knitting wise I finished two market bags and three preemie hats. I have three WIPs on the needles - a baby blanket, baby sweater and a Christmas stocking that did not get finished in time.

In reading news I finished 17 books for a total of 4882 pages. Here is my list of books.

1)      A Stash of One’s Own: Knitters on Loving, Living with, and Letting Go of Yarn by Clara Parks (12/27-1/3/18: 146 pages)

2)      Today Matters: 12 Daily Practices to Guarantee Tomorrow’s Success by John C. Maxwell (11/6-1/6/18: 239 pages)

3)      Killer Reunion: A Savannah Reid Mystery by G.A. McKevett (1/4-1/12/18: 307 pages)

4)      A Weekend to Change Your Life: Find Your Authentic Self After a Lifetime of Being All Things to All People by Joan Anderson (1/7-2/12/18-: 252 pages)

5)      Death of a Cozy Writer: A St. Just Mystery by G.M. Malliet (1/12-1/24/18: 298

pages)

6)      Every Body on Deck: A Savannah Reid Mystery by G.A. McKevett (1/25-2/2/18: 308 pages)

7)      A Mother’s Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy by Sue Klebold (2/3-2/13/18: 284 pages)

8)      The Urban Monk: Eastern Wisdom and Modern Hacks to Stop Time and Find Success, Happiness and Peace by Pedram Shojai, OMD (2/12-3/24/18: 261 pages)

9)      The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb by Melanie Benjamin (2/14-2/25/18: 566 pages)

10)  Bootstrapper: From Broke to Badass on a Northern Michigan Farm by Mardi Jo Link (2/25-3/10/18: 262 pages)

11)  The Good Goodbye by Carla Buckley (3/10-3/23/18: 348 pages)

12)  The Ashford Affair by Lauren Willig (3/24-4/8/18: 358 pages)

13)  The Power of Meaning: Crafting a Life That Matters by Emily Esfahani Smith (3/24-5/12/18: 235 pages)

14)  The Good House by Ann Leary (4/8-5/9/2018: 292 pages)

15)  What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith (5/15-9/20/18: 223 pages)

16)  The Knitters Gift by Bernadette Murphy (5/16-6/16/18: 246 pages)

17)  Yarned and Dangerous: A Tangled Web Mystery by Sadie Hartwell (7/7-7/28/18: 257 pages)

I am looking forward to 2019. I am hoping for a year that is more peaceful and less eventful. We will see what happens. Until next time ....

See Ya 2016

I am so so so glad to see this year come to an end. I failed miserably on my goals this year but I am honestly just glad that I made it through relatively unscathed. I am looking forward to 2017 and have a good feeling about the next year. I have not felt this positive going into a new year in a very long time.

Knitting wise I did knit a lot more in 2016 that I did i n 2015 - 6242 yards this year vs 3734 for last year. My Ravelry list of 2016 FOs is here. I managed to complete:

7 hats
2 shawls
3 pairs of socks
3 market bags
1 pair of boot toppers
3 toys
19 Christmas ornaments
23 preemie hats

My reading really took a hit this year. I only finished 32 books this year. That is the lowest number in a long time. The total number of pages was 10,373. For the year I finished:

1)    The Secret Between Us by Barbara Delinsky (1/1-1/9/16: 295 pages) 
2)    Purl Up and Die: A Knitting Mystery by Maggie Sefton (1/9-1/15/16: 311 pages) 
3)    A Box of Darkness: The Story of a Marriage by Sally Ryder Brady (1/16-1/22/16: 240 pages
4)    Rose Harbor in Bloom by Debbie Macomber (1/23-1/31/16: 323 pages) 
5)    The Irresistible Henry House by Lisa Grunwald (1/31-2/14/16: 412 pages) 
6)    The Friendship Test by Elizabeth Noble (2/14-2/29/16: 437 pages) 
7)    The Things We Do For Love by Kristin Hannah (3/1-3/7/16: 388 pages) 
8)    Blossom Street Brides: A Blossom Street Novel by Debbie Macomber (3/7-3/15/16: 318 pages) 
9)    The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters (3/16-3/31/16: 466 pages) 
10) On Mystic Lake by Kristin Hannah (4/1-4/7/16: 322 pages) 
11) Love Letters: A Rose Harbor Novel by Debbie Macomber (4/8-4/15/16: 306 pages) 
12) An Unexpected Guest by Anne Korkeakivi (4/15-4/22/16: 277 pages) 
13) Here’s the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice by Maureen McCormick (4/22-4/29/16: 277 pages) 
14) The Cutting Season by Attica Locke (4/29-5/18/16: 374 pages) 
15) Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple (5/19-5/26/16: 330 pages) 
16) Sous Chef: 24 Hours on the Line by Michael Gibney (5/27-6/2: 214 pages) 
17) My Wish List by Gregoire Delacourt (6/3-6/7/2016: 163 pages) 
18) Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Hugette Clark and the Spending of an American Fortune by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell, Jr (6/8-6/16/16: 359 pages) 
19) Carpool Confidential by Jessica Benson (6/17-7/6/16: 424 pages) 
20) Harbor by John Ajvide Lindqvist (7/7-7/31/16: 500 pages) 
21) Can’t Stop Believing: A Harmony Novel by Jodi Thomas (7/31-8/8/16: 297pages) 
22) Knit To Be Tied: A Knitting Mystery by Maggie Sefton (8/8-8/13/16: 256 pages) 
23) The Silence of the Llamas: A Black Sheep Knitting Mystery by Anne Canadeo (8/13-8/20/16: 296 pages) 
24) Tea With Jam and Dread: A Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery by Tamar Myers (8/20-8/28/16: 217 pages) 
25) Killer Gourmet: A Savannah Reid Mystery by G.A. McKevett (8/28-9/8/16: 294 pages) 
26) Murder in Merino: A Seaside Knitters Mystery by Sally Goldenbaum (9/9-9/17/16: 306 pages) 
27) The Obituary Writer by Ann Hood (9/18-9/25/16: 292 pages) 
28) Dark Witch: Book 1 of the Cousins O’Dwyer Trilogy by Nora Roberts (9/25-10/14/16: 342 
pages) 
29) Silver Linings: A Rose Harbor Novel by Debbie Macomber (10/15-10/22/16: 331 pages) 
30) The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards (10/23-11/16/16: 384 pages) 
31) The Irish Cottage Murder by Dicey Deere (11/17-11/28/16: 234 pages) 
32) Eyes Wide Open by Andrew Gross (11/29-12/9/16: 338 pages)

Onward and upward into the New Year. Until next time ....