Goal-setting

With the New Year comes hope—hope that 2017 will be better than 2016, which was a rough year for us…especially December, since we were dealing with my Grandpa’s passing on November 30^th on top of all the other stress and over-commitment that was our Christmas season. -_-

Hope that the Good Lord will fill in the “missing pieces” in my family’s lives.

Hope that He will resolve some conflicts and frustrations that are blocking us from moving on and having some joy.

Hope that I’ll do better at reaching the goals I’ve set than I did last year. :-P I’m not going to go back through my list and count all the goals I didn’t meet—that’s too depressing. Instead, I’ll make a new list and pray for God’s strength and perseverance to complete it!

~Goals for 2017~

·        Organize. All. The. THINGS!!! Sorting and culling. Finding a place for everything from bed sheets to beading supplies. Ridding myself of things I don’t need or even want anymore (except a few special keepsakes, of course). Simplifying and streamlining my personal space.

·        Build my Dream Dollhouse. This has been a dream of mine for twenty-three years, and after a lot of second-guessing, confused praying, and almost physically painful waffling, I’ve decided that yes, this is something I want—something I almost need—to do. It’s time to stop dreaming, hoping, and waiting—and start DOING!
Also under this category: Doll-making. Deciding which of my numerous dolls/kits will have the privilege of living in the Dollhouse.

·        Writing! Main goal: Finish Prince Nácil. Before the family lock me up in the Tower of Ecthelion with nothing but bread and water, LOL. Also fine-tune and polish up some details for the rest of the House of Othniel/Main Series, the “spin-offs,” and work on that Blog Party I want to host someday.

·        Bethlehem Bazaar. This is a scheme Mom and I (mostly Mom) cooked up, due to the sad lack of much of anything Christ-centered at the local Christmas Bazaars. We’re talking with other church-folk in the community, and getting ideas for things to make that will focus on the Birth of Jesus. Mind you, not EVERYTHING will HAVE to be Christian-oriented; my contributions will mainly be crocheted hats (inspired by this pattern, with tweaks, of course), teddy bears that are safe even for babies, perhaps some Irish crochet hair ornaments, and of course my Wild Rose Designs jewelry.

·        General Good Habits. Things like being more cheerful/focusing on the positive, drinking more water, getting some form of regular exercise, being more regular with my Bible reading and contacting friends, going to bed and getting up at a decent hour—that sort of thing.

·        Taking Time for FUN! Spending less time on the computer [read: surfing the Internet] and more time doing things I used to love, like reading, yarnwork, embroidery, drawing, sculpting (polymer clay), miniatures, writing. Putting time slots in my schedule for those things and giving myself permission to do them. Convincing myself that my interests and hobbies are VALID.

I have a few fun craft projects I’d love to do this year, too, but I’ll share those as they progress (or I finish them). That way, if I don’t get to some of them (or I decide not to do them), it’ll be less awkward. :-P

I’m oddly hopeful about this year. Perhaps, please God, this will be the year when things start to settle into place. The year we can start thriving and blooming where God has planted us.

Maybe this is the year I’ll actually do something instead of just dreaming about it. ;-)

Until next time, Gentle Readers,

God bless,

~R~