happy new year

every year i make resolutions for the new year, and mostly, i fail at keeping them. i can't remember what i resolved for 2011, and i'm too lazy to see if i blogged about them. [update: i blogged about my 2011 new year's resolutions here. i'm prety sure there was a low rate of success. i did manage to lose some weight, and i even kept off half of what i lost. i did start exercising, and kept that up until just before the foot surgery when a break to my toe made me have to put pilates on hold a bit earlier than planned. of course, having now looked back at my 2011 resolutions, there were no weight loss or exercise resolutions made! i did however finish a few sewing and quilting projects and i did pay off my student loans!

here's a recap of the 2011 resolutions and whether there was a success or fail:

- complete the january no-spending challenge with safieh (no spending for non-necessities) I'm pretty sure this one was a FAIL

- Fabric Diet Challenge (january and february) - no fabric purchases (swaps and trades are okay!) I'm not sure this was a 100% success, but I recall that I did pretty well, and even took the opportunity to swap out a good bit of fabric I didn't want anymore for stuff I liked better.

- make a meal plan for each week so that we're not tempted to eat out, even though we have a freezer full of food (correlative resolution: throw out less food!) Half success/Half fail I started out strong on this one, but as we reached a point where M was gone a lot during the week due to out of town jobs, I slacked off

- complete (at least) one sewing/quilting unfinished project (UFO) each month Ha! In January, I finished a wallhanging I'd started a few years back that was no longer my style, but I gifted it to someone who loved it. In February, I finished a mug rug for Saf that I'd started in November. In May, I finally finished Emily's big girl bed quilt I'd started over a year earlier. In November I finished a table runner for my mom I'd started late 2010, and in December I finished a quilt for my mom made of blocks started in 2010. In restrospect, that's not a terrible FAIL, but I'd like to have done better!

- spend more time with friends, especially those we haven't seen as much lately We did all right with this one, seeing our friends the Van Courts three times in the last half of the year.

- pay off my student loans DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- finish more sewing/quilting/crafting projects than i start (ha!) FAIL


in 2012, i'd like to work on the following:

continuing to exercise, even though i likely can't start back with pilates until february.

getting back on weight watchers and keeping to a reasonable and healthy weight, which for me means less than 140 lbs.

getting back to following a monthly budget, so i can see where our money goes. i set up a new budget spreadsheet today to help me track our expenses. . . especially my discretionary spending.

using fabric from my stash instead of hoarding it. i plan to dive in and use some of my hoarded denyse schmidt for the set of tea towels i'm working on now that i started yesterday.


finishing the bed quilt i've started for M and myself. the sooner the better, as i've had most of the blocks done for over a year and a half now. the procrastination is just ridiculous.



finishing some of my lingering sewing and quilting projects. i can start with a quilt for my dad's bday in february. just before christmas i finally trimmed and quartered the batik bento box blocks i had sitting aside for this, sewed new blocks from the quarters and stitched them into rows, then into a completed top. all i need to do is locate the batiks i'll use to piece the back, then i'm commissioning liz to pebble quilt this one for me, or else i won't have it done by early february for his bday.


and last, but certainly not least, i'd like to get M's house sold. y'all know what that entails, if you know me in real life, so i'll just leave it at that.

hopefully these goals are reasonable enough that i can stick with them and have a higher success rate.