Something New

I have a mission this year.

Okay, well, actually I have a few.

I won't list them all here, but one major one is to perfect my sewing. And by perfect, I mean, become  amazing at it. :)

I have the fabric.

I have the thread.

I have my awesome new Singer sewing machine.

(And my vintage one that is as old as me, until Chad makes me toss it.)

I have the tutorials online and all those other helpful things. BUT...

I *needed* these.

(I know that Chad and Mom are laughing right about now, because they know how I am when I get on a so-called mission. Ha!)

I actually have 2 others, but they weren't new. I bought these with Christmas gift cards last night (except for the bottom two which were gifts). I love these books. You know what's so great about them? They have all the patterns INSIDE THE BOOK to make the items inside. :) I'm new at this, so that seems quite amazing to me.

So, that's my new venture for this year. I want to make a million things and sell them all. Or gift them. I have such a passion for pattern & fabric that I finally realized that this was what I should be doing.

Just for fun, here are the other books I received as Christmas gifts this year.

I have already read 2 of these, but I wanted my own copy. (I'm a book addict - more on that later.) I borrowed The Time Traveler's Wife from a friend and absolutely loved it. Such an emotional read, it had me laughing and crying and feeling the strongest feelings of love and heartache. I will definitely read it again. (Kajsa, I still have your copy, don't worry.)

I have also read Mitten Strings For God already. That was a fabulous read for anyone who wants to remember to slow down the pace of life - but it's especially great for mothers. It made me think long and hard about aspects of raising our children and I *need* to read it again. :)

Back to my book addiction. I don't really know how to stop it. Is there Book Buyers Anonymous out there? My heart skips a beat whenever I buy a new book or see one that I want (I'm also this way with fabric) and I just can not help myself. It's not a horrible problem, I just don't go shopping anymore, unless I have gift cards. :) My problem lately is that I just don't have time to read them all. I probably have 30 books sitting around waiting for me to read them. I want to read them. I L-O-V-E to read.

And then I start one, but then I see another one lying there and I open it up and so on and so on, until I'm really just playing Musical Books. At any time, you could walk into our bedroom and I will have stacks and stacks of books sitting by our bed. On my side only. They are ones that I have read and newer ones. (I like to look at the covers of the books I've read to remind myself of the amazing story inside. Crazy, yes, I'm well aware.) I would share a picture, but Chad just made me clean it all up and he would probably be horrified if I shared something like that. Neat freak.

My point is this: I'm going to assign myself a book for every month this year. Not counting this month because I'm too busy and it's already halfway over. I will post a list later in the week after I've had a chance to decide which ones I will focus on this year.

Something else new.

I have started a 6 week class called Style School. You can see what it's all about on Leigh Ann's blog: Freckled Nest. She is one of the teachers along with Elsie at A Beautiful Mess. And to be honest...I haven't done one bit of my homework yet. This flu that hit our home last week was harsh and we are still recovering from it. Not sick wise, but just home wise. The house was neglected and I'm catching up. I hope to work on some of these fun and adorable projects this weekend. I will post anything I get done.

My last something new for this post is my *other* blog. Ha!

I challenged myself at the beginning of the year to see if I can take at least 1 photo a day for the entire year of 2010. So far, I've done it. It can be any photo. And it can be from any source, even my phone. It will be fun to look back at all of it at the end of the year and see a glimpse of my life from every single day. If you're interested, join me at Mimi Leigh {Project 365} and see if I can keep it going. :) You can subscribe by email or follow on Google reader, like on this one. If you (family) like to see day-to-day activities of the kids, you may want to watch that one too.

I am having so much fun with my new Canon camera. I'm averaging about 60 shots a day so far. I wonder if that will slow down as the newness wears off? Hmmmm. We'll see.

(Oh! I almost forgot. I found THE PERFECT dress for the Grammys today. It is my 4th dress purchase and it was worth the hassle to drag both kids around to get it. I can't wait to share it with you, but that probably won't happen until after the event. Only 2 more weeks!!!!!)

~Amanda