2012!! Bring it!

Leighty-bug with her new glo-worm.
She loves it as you can see.

It's 2012!! A new year!! While 2011 had it's ups and downs, it brought me Leighton. I will forever be grateful for that year for this reason alone. 2012 is a new year, with new challenges, new goals and a new found love of this blog. Not that I didn't love it before, but over the holiday break, I have done a lot of reading and "soul searching" if you will and found more interest in updating and being a real blogger. Every year, my boss spends the NYE holiday alone to sort out his upcoming year. So the last few years, I have tried to get my head right as well and usually find a sense of peace with it. I guess my thought is to make them public with this post so now they will be set in stone and I will have some accountability to make 'em happen.



With our additional sweet bundle of joy it has also brought additional costs to our budget. Being my busy minded self, I am always trying to think of ways to cut what we are spending carelessly on, budget better or bring in more income.  I have a fantastic job and trust me, I am grateful for it. But because of said job, we need childcare. Of which I'm not too happy about it being that I love being with the little one as much as possible, but I have to make money and I HAVE to work. For my own mental stability and my husband's. I told you I have a busy mind.

Being that I have such little free time now, I always feel like my "personal time" could be used as a two-fer. A way to find enjoyment as well as a lil extra cashish. But I can never really find that one thing to reproduce that will be the golden ticket to funding my crafting or add to the household bottom line. Still, I search and search. Looking for that one big break.

I search blogs, the internet, whatever. I waste a lot of time doing it, but it gives me pleasure to see other peoples stuff. Yes, I am a creeper. You can imagine my LOVE and surprise when I discovered PINTEREST! Since I love to create and be inspired, it's the best of both worlds. Not only that, I am not one to have a lot of originality when it comes to style. If I see it on a mannequin in the store, sold. If not, I have a hard time putting things together on my own. So I borrow ideas. At least I know that about myself. Therefore Pinterest is perfect for me. Someone else does the work of putting it all together, and I just find the pieces I have or just buy the ones I don't. Same when it comes to crafting and decorating. While I am slightly more creative in this aspect of the world, I still need a bit of inspiration every now and then. You get it. I am no designer. Never claimed to be. Never will be. Nor an artist or a savvy person. But I continue to try. Take a stab at what I can when I can. Coupon more now as a mother. Blah, blah. I am so NOT alone.

That brings me to why I started this blog. It was a way to showcase my "work" if you will. To show the world, or the thought of having the world WANT to look at/read about, my cool creations. For most of my life, I have created things. Usually a crappy Christmas gift that I was really trying to make sentimental or a "touching" item rather than a cheesy sweater or tie. Nothing of worth or value, but they all held a place in my heart. So, (one of) my 2012 new year goal(s) is to blog more. About the crafts I make, the ways I decorate, the organizing I oh-so-love to do..and the cheap ways I do it. The savings, I try to get; the redecorating I am trying to do in our house; the thrift shopping I love. Which means I have to craft more. Clean more. Organize more. I'd say cook more because it seems to fit the convo, but who am I kidding. Then blog about it. There will still be plenty of life's samples and of course Leighty-bug to keep it interesting.. and let's be honest, to keep people coming back for more. Let's also add, take more pics. Because you will have to see it all right? (With my NEW AWESOME camera of course.)

Coming back to me being a cheap-o. I mean, saving money. Or making money. Whatever.  In my newly found love of blogging and the blogworld, I found a blog post about ways to save and get over the cost of the holidays. A few of my fellow blogging ladies - yup, I said it, I'm a blogger; more to come on that - have started a 31 day challenge to spend $0 for the month of Jan. Well, I think I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna do the 31 day challenge. I have to give a nod to this great blog for the idea.

Here are the rules: (Their rules that I am borrowing and adding my versions of to in italics.)

1. Thou shall not spend ANY money on Crafts, home  decor or go into a craft or Dollar store. Includes WAL-MART lady!

2. Thou shall not spend ANY money on DVDs, CDs, Books (got one for Christmas) or Clothes (Gift cards for Christmas too)

3. Thou shall not spend any money on Sweets or Treats. Try to shed that last 12 of baby weight!

4. Thou shall only buy essential groceries and make savings wherever possible! Don't forget to take the coupons TO THE STORE this month!

5. Thou shall only complete crafts with the items already in the house. Even if there is a missing link to said project. Finish what you can first!

6. Thou shall not go to ‘Coffee’ or ‘Lunch’ with other Mummies unless invited to their home or them to mine. Or I can take my home packed lunch with me. Or it's free.

7. Thou shall think “Thrifty”. In our case, Nanny & debt.

8. Must complete at least 1 project per week to blog about it. 

9. Must blog about progress of challenge. (Gotta write it up make it happen for me.)

10. Multiple blogs per week with pictures. (You spend 2 hours per day on a train and you have the blogger app on your phone.) No excuses!

So there... my rules/goals are in place. I vow to live up to the blogger title I just self-proclaimed to be. You might love it. You  might hate it. Either way, please come back on occasion, click on something and share my posts. I need your eyeballs and for you to pretend to like it even if you don't. HA! Just sayin... 

Until next time I update,

Shona