I’m going to take a slightly different approach to my monthly updates here on the blog. I thought it would be fun to share a little more than just family highlights from the month and tell you some things I am “into” right now.
What I’m Reading
I used to be such an avid reader. I would devour books like I was starving and had a tough time putting a good book down to even sleep sometimes.
These days I fall asleep if I read when I am tired, sitting, not wearing my glasses, sitting…you get the picture. My goal for 2015 is to get back my love of reading and finish more than one book a month.
My good friend Cherie Lowe (AKA: Queen of Free) wrote a book and it.is.good.
We both grew up in the same rural community and, funny enough, married men who grew up together (Her husband’s brother was one of our groomsmen.). I have designed both her blog and her book website.
But those aren’t the reasons I think Slaying the Debt Dragon is a great book.
The book is great because Cherie was able to take a potentially boring topic (finances) and put her heart and encouraging spirit into it to make me want to be a better steward of my finances. I highly recommend Slaying the Debt Dragon.
Sticking with the topic of frugal living, I also started reading Living Well, Spending Less: 12 Secrets of the Good Life
I also started reading Emma by Jane Austen in January. I am a huge Jane Austen fan. I have read several of her books and have seen almost every movie version of her books that has ever been made. Julia and I kind of have a thing for British TV, especially period movies. Did I mention how fun it is to have a teenage daughter?
What I’m Watching
Downton Abbey Season 5: I have watched every season so far but I am missing it tonight because of some football game. 😉 Thankfully, I will be able to watch it tomorrow on PBS.
My daughter and I have also watched a few Jane Austen movies recently, Death Comes to Pemberly, Emma and Persuasion.
Thanks to Netflix and Amazon Prime we have been able to save a lot of money since we ditched our satellite TV 6 years ago.
My Family
January has been a month full of basketball games and play practices for my two oldest kids. James will be playing his final games of sixth grade this week while Julia will continue to practice for her role as Mrs. Banks in her high school’s performance of Mary Poppins.
The youngest three kids have watched a lot of basketball and have been cooped up indoors more than I would like. We haven’t even had snow to play in this winter.
I like to try to find fun activities for them to do and gave Frozen Clean Mud a try when I saw it over at Happy Hooligans (awesome blog).
I think their favorite parts were unrolling the toilet paper and watching the Ivory soap expand in the microwave. However, they did have fun with the dough once we got it made.
We really did have a great month. I just can’t believe how fast it went. I guess that is what happens when you have 5 kids and are in your 40’s. Time seems to fly by.
On the Blog
Here are the posts I wrote in January. I have some crafty posts planned for February. (Finally)
- Free Printables to Get Your Life & Home Organized
- What to Do When You Feel Like Complaining
- 8 Simple Creation Sunday School Crafts
- Party Food: DIY Personal Pizza
What I’m Working On
January was a busy month for my business and I have spent a lot of time designing three blogs and doing a few random blog maintenance jobs for clients.
I started embroidering again after a seven year hiatus. You see, when I was nearing the end of my pregnancy with Joseph I quit my embroidery business and sold my 6-needle machine. My husband bought me a small personal machine for Christmas and I have enjoyed embroidering some shirts for the kids. Joseph has this thing about plain shirts. He now has 6 “new” shirts thanks to some embroidery. (All designs are from Amazing Designs, I think, and were purchased many years ago when I had my embroidery business.)
I’ve also been working hard to keep up with the household chores. While my house may never be perfect, I am glad to have a routine for some of the less fun tasks like dusting and sweeping.
Favorite Picture
I snapped this picture Saturday morning with my phone (#nofilter). Isn’t God’s creation amazing? By the time I ran back inside to get my good camera the lighting had changed.
To keep up with me until next month’s update head over to Instagram. Be sure to follow me on Pinterest and Facebook while you’re at it.
What were you into in January?
I’m linking up with Leigh Kramer to show what I’m into lately!
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