Happy 2013!

Even with my lack of attention to last year's goals, I can't resist making a few goals for the coming year. What can I say, I'm a list kind of girl! For the most part, I decided to go less specific this year so as to not limit the goals.

1) Make some things for charity.
I'll start with making those two quilts that I had intended to make last year, but I don't want to limit myself to only those two items. In 2011, I had fun making small things for charity, such as birthing kits that were sent to Haiti and a quilt block that was to be part of a larger quilt for injured soldiers. Small projects help just as much as larger projects, so I'll be on the lookout for those opportunities as well.

2) Use my camera more often.
Back in 2011, Nick and I bought fancy shmancy cameras to bring with us on our Great Western Adventure. Although I love this camera, I somehow managed to barely use it in 2012. I'm not sure how this happened, but this year I am going to make a conscious effort to use the camera and continue to try and learn how to use all of the fancy settings. Here's hoping for more (and better) shots like this in the new year.

3) Learn how to reupholster.
In March 2012 (I can't believe it's been that long), Nick and I bought our very first brand new couch, and ever since then I've intended to start reupholstering our hand-me-down chairs and ottomans. To make this whole process easier, Nick got me some upholstery tools for Christmas! We're still not sure what color/pattern we want the chairs to be, but this needs to happen. Although the room already looks so different because of new floors and lamps (don't worry, I'll share before and after pictures of our renovation once it's completed), I want this view to be completely different by this time next year.

 

4) Knit something new.
Up until now, all of my knitting has been in the shape of scarves. I've knitted Nick a scarf, myself a scarf, a scarf for a co-worker, 14 scarf-like panels for an afghan, scarf-like panels for Baby G's blanket, and scarves for my mom, sister, and mother-in-law for Christmas (which I also completely forgot to take pictures of). That's 21 scarves/scarf-like items if you're keeping count. I'd say, at this point, I'm pretty comfortable with scarf knitting and it's time to try something new. I have the supplies for the Aidez sweater, which I actually started but stopped because I think I messed up somewhere in the first few rows. I'm going to revisit that but I'm not getting too specific with the goal because I just want to try something new knitting-wise. If I end up knitting a hat or learning how to knit in the round, all the better.

5) Continue to live healthier.
This is kind of a catch-all goal, which includes, but is not limited to: exercising regularly, eating well, keeping a garden, and cooking more instead of eating out. Nick and I loved cooking and baking before, but now that we have a brand new kitchen, it is so much more fun, even cleaning up. We've been cooking and baking our way through our Christmas break and that trend will continue this year. This past week alone we've made chili, biscuits, tuna ceviche, pizza, chicken tortilla soup, vanilla bean ice cream, filet mignon, french fries, and a salted caramel apple pie, all from scratch. OK, some of those items aren't the healthiest of foods, but at least they were made from scratch without any preservatives. Now that we can access all of our wedding gifts easily, there shouldn't be any excuse for not continuing to plow through our many cookbooks. It'll be even better when we can use items from our garden in our meals!


So that's my big list. I still want to sew and embroider regularly, but refrained from setting any concrete goals because I know that my time is going to be limited because of grad school and I'll want to be able to pick up whatever project I'm in the mood for at any given time.

Hopefully I'll have more success with these goals than 2012's!