Gratitude and Goals

Is it any wonder that she tops
my gratitude list?

I've decided to spends Sundays focusing on all my blessings (not that I don't think about them everyday, but I think it's good to set time aside for just that) and thinking about what I want to accomplish during the week to come. Sometimes I spend so much time focusing on what I haven't gotten done, that I don't think about what I want to do.





This week, I'm grateful for:

• Zoe's smiles - What can I say? I'm head over heels in love with her and everytime she smiles my heart melts and I feel invincible.
• Michele - I'm grateful for everything about Michele, but lately I am just so in love with her as an amazing mom to Zoe. She's so good at loving our little girl.
• Lisa Gonzalez - Her blog, Happy Mama's Journal, inspires me everytime I read it. She is so full of goodness and light that I feel blessed for having known her.
• Wegmans Food Mart - I'm grateful for Wegmans not just because they employ Michele and provide us with an income and health insurance, but because our Wegmans is full of wonderful people who know our names and always have a smile for us and a kind question about Zoe. Plus, I love the convenience of having access to good, healthy food just up the street.
• Nancy Topolski and her knitting needles - I just got a pair of Nancy's fingerless gloves and for the first time in forever my hands aren't cold as I'm typing this.
• Amazing crafters vending in the cold - I'm so grateful that my friends Kira, Karen, and Sabra went out in the cold today so that I could enjoy hanging out at a craft show.
• Good friends and a wonderful family - we worked on Zoe's baby book today, on the section about who her family is, and I count us so lucky to have so many wonderful people written down on those pages. We are very well supported in life.

And my goals for this coming week are:

• To spend more time in prayer - I don't talk to God nearly enough and I have so much to say "thank you" for.
• To reach out to a friend with an email or phone call.
• To keep up with my chores - I'm finally getting caught up and don't want to get behind again.
• To work on Zoe's flannel quilt - I'd like to finish cutting the fabric.
• To call my parents - since becoming a parent, I don't talk to them as much as I'd like to. I need to fix that.

With honest intentions, I'll strive to do my best this week and have the best attitude while doing so.

What are you grateful for this week? What would you like to accomplish?

A Creative Carrot-Centered Mission

As I mentioned in my last post I have a new mission. Either Mum, Deb, or Michele was brilliant and suggested this at the show. I happened to wander around to all the vendors looking at all their beautiful items and looking, without knowing I was looking, for carrots. By the end of the show, I'd harvested four beauties and one of the brilliant people named above suggested, "You should make it your mission to collect a carrot in EVERY medium!" And so that is my new goal. I thought I'd catalog the ones I have so far:

Photographic carrots: The Organic Carrot series by Chris Farnum - I actually bought the photo on the left at the food co-op, Deb gave us the photo in the middle, and I bought the photo on the right - the third in the series - from the artist herself at the show!

Felt carrots #1: Carroty Goodness family of carrot magnets by Happy Olive Designs - I commissioned these adorable magnets from my friend Sarah.

Felt carrot #2: Smilling carrot key chain by Beadwork by Amanda. This carrot I met and fell in love with at the show. Its purchase spurred the creation of the carrot below.

Needle-felted carrot: Impromptu Carrot by Peaches Products. When the lovely Casey saw how excited I was to find a carrot at her boothmate Amanda's booth she immediately reached for the fiber and started felting me a carrot. She promises to make me a forrest of them and I plan to hold her to that! The delivery of this carrot spurred the gifting of the carrot below.

Crocheted carrot: Impromptu gift carrot from Duncan Creative. When the divine Karen saw how excited I was when Casey delivered unto me my needle-felted carrot, she immediately gifted me this beautiful crocheted specimen.

Polymer clay carrot: You likely remember this gorgeous carrot crafted by Heavenly Creations (my big sis). Sometimes I just stare at it - it's such a beauty!

And now for ones that I did not buy/acquire from my favorite artisans: Ceramic carrots: I bought these during one of my mom's visits. We went to a little town with a little library and a little gift shop and found these adorable bunny/carrots (or barrots or carrunnies).

"Paper" carrot: this beauty was purchased on an anniversary trip to Skaneateles. Its made from a combination of raffia, wire, and papyrus and hangs from the ceiling in our kitchen. We (I) bought it in the morning and Michele wouldn't go back to the bed and breakfast, so I had to walk around with a three foot long carrot all day - I got some interesting looks! It was worth it, though!

Wooden carrot: This is my carrot surprise. I got this in Skaneateles, as well. I actually got two carrots and a parsnip. I decorated two small gift boxes and placed each carrot in its own box floating on a cloud of fiberfill. I haveone in my kitchen and one at work and whenever I feel down I give myself a smile by opening one - it works every time!

Rubber carrot: This handy kitchen carrot was a graduation gift from our friends Tina and Kathryn. They took us on a trip to Ithaca where we had amazing food at the Moosewood Restaurant and saw the gorges - the carrot vegetable peeler was the icing on the cake!

And now for a couple that I've made: Quilted carrots #1: Carrot Mat-a-tat-tat #1. This mat sits on my kitchen table and her sister mat, #2, graces my desk at work. So lovely. I made these from a pattern I found online, but I can't find the link. I will and I will let you know.

Quilted carrots #2: Heavenly Carrots. This quilt hangs in a place of honor in my dining room. I also made this from a pattern I found online - my very first paper piecing. I know the pattern was called Holy Carrots, but I can't find that one, either.

I've got a lot of media covered, but I can think of a few I'll be on the lookout for: painting, metalsmithed, knitted, rubber stamp (Oh, Jackbear!), glass, beadwork, hmmm, what else?

Flossing Appreciation

As you know, one of my goals for this year was to floss regularly. Well, I have flossed at least once a day everyday this year and am feeling pretty proud of myself. In about an hour, the true test of my success comes: a dentist appointment! This is what I expect to hear:

Dental hygienist: Oh my goodness, wow! I can't believe how amazing your teeth and gums look! I've never seen heatlhier gums! Sean, Phyllis, Cara (other hygienists) come over here and look at Michelle's gums!

Dentist: WOW!! Can we take your picture? We want to put your smile on our billboard!

I deserve at least a balloon or sticker or something, right? I mean, come on! I've flossed between 33 and 66 times this year!

Goals

As I mentioned in my last post, my goals for this year are many, but this week I am focusing on flossing (baby steps), which I am finding great success at: Day three and teeth were flossed this morning and I have plans to do the same this evening.

Another of my goals was to make my shop official with the state of New York. Mission accomplished. I just got notification today that my application to accept NYS sales tax was processed and approved. The Quilted House is now official! Yippee!!

As I am on the subject of goals, I thought I would share with you a few of the funnier ones from the "do before I'm 40" list I mentioned yesterday. So in addition to my goal to have a fish in every room, I (at one point about ten years ago) wanted to:

• Become fulfilled (hmmm? OK, I can check that one off)
• Have the perfect craft room (mission accomplished - BIG TIME!)
• Help people (not sure why I needed to put this on the list, but maybe it was a loftier goal than it sounds)
• Take advantage of opportunities (I guess I hadn't heard of SMART goals yet)
• Own a tub I can lay down in (OK, this is still a great desire - I'm 6 feet tall and when sitting in the original tub in our house from 1920, I'd settle for a tub I can stretch my legs out in!)
• Know a lot about something (wow, really?)

Also on the list: Have fun. As you can see from the pictures of Michele, our Utah buddies, Cindy and Jeremiah, and me on New Year's eve, I can cross that one off the list, too!