Year of Fulfillment

There are certain years I will always remember. "Big years" in my life.

2003 will always be the year that opened my eyes to the world. I graduated from high school. It's the year I went to college, met Maggie, and truly realized the world didn't revolve around my friends and me.

208 will always be my year of growth. At the beginning of that year, I had just returned from living in Germany. I moved four times that year, from my parent's house (where I was storing all my stuff) back to Kalamazoo to finish my student teaching, within Kalamazoo, and finally to Chicago. In Chicago, in a matter of a week, I moved into my first and only apartment where I lived alone, started teaching, and started dating the man I would marry. It was scary, stressful, overwhelming, and exciting. Looking back, I was entirely unprepared and overly confident. 

2011 was a year of change. In January, we lost my Grandma to Alzheimer's. She was an intelligent, kind, and crafty lady. There's not a time when I use her hand me down sewing machine that I don't think of her. In April, Jeremy and I got engaged. In July, we moved in together. In August, we picked up our little guy, Mosby. In December, my sister and Tony got engaged, were about to move back to Chicago, and were quietly pregnant.

As you all may have guessed, 2012 was a big one. Jeremy and I got married. My sister had Sofia. Emily and Tony got married.

To remember that year, I made a Christmas ornament for Jeremy & I, and also one for Em & Tony.

I started with clear glass ornaments and our wedding invitations. 

Then, I cut the invitations into strips. I made sure to preserve the writing by cutting horizontally following the lines of print.

Then, starting with the most important lines of print, I rolled each line around my pinky.

And placed them inside the ornament.

Then, I placed the colored paper of the invitation into the ornament and placed the top back on.

Both Emily and Tony's and Jeremy and my invitation had ribbon. So, I used the ribbon as a way to hang the ornaments.

Here's a look at Emily and Tony's finished product.

And at Jeremy and my finished product.

I used small bulbs, because they were the only ones available. The larger bulbs would work too. I'm really pleased with the result. It was be a wonderful way to remember 2012, our very important year.

Which brings us to 2013. There's no way that 2013 can compete with the significance of 2012. I knew I wanted to make 2013 an important year, in it's own way.

I was introduced to a "New Year's Resolution" form by one of my fellow teachers. She was using it with her 4th graders, but I loved the idea.

The idea is to start with a word. One word, for the whole year.

I chose "fulfillment". I chose this because too often, I find myself "going through the motions". I go to work, come home, eat dinner, and watch TV. I find myself unhappy and dreading work. While work is an important part of my life, where I spend a lot of time, when I start to make work, and the problems there too important to me. They start to become my WHOLE life. And when things are tough at work (like this school year), I begin to feel unfulfilled.

So, here's where the rest of the resolution sheet comes in.

You have four sentences to finish, to help support your word of the year.

It looks something like this:

Word of the Year: fulfillment

What I want in 2013 is: to feel comfortable in my skin, by exercising and eating portion controlled, healthy foods.

What I need in 2013 is: to watch less TV.

What I will share in 2013 is: my blog with more people.

In 2013 I will succeed at: making a least one Etsy sale.

So, little by little, I am working towards feeling more fulfilled by using my goals.

I have been seeing some more of this:

Sorry for the blurry picture. I was trying to be sneaky, no one likes their picture taken at the gym.

And even when it's a little more effort, I've been saying 'yes' to seeing friends and family, instead of hunkering down in front of the TV.

1. Mom with besties Sofia & Mosby, 2. & 3. Phil Vasser concert with Lindsay, Lindsey, & Lauren  4. game night with Kenny, Rachel & baby Evie 5. night out with Stefanie & Mark

As for my other two goals (blog and Etsy), I'm working on making the time and gaining some confidence to share my blog more. A special thanks to those of you who give me such encouraging words & pass my blog on to others. 

I may have overdone the "getting off the couch" part, as I was sick all week. I'm a little behind on my blog, and hope to be back with another post later this week. I have an idea that I'm excited to work on and share.

Until then, keep crafting!

SB