Happy New Year, my friends! I hope you’ve all enjoyed the holiday season and were able to spend time with those who matter most to you. I ended up posting a couple times over the break because I wanted to introduce Snowball, our deaf rescue puppy, and I wanted to share my word of the year: grace. I could have waited, but sometimes you just have to write when the thoughts come to you, ya know? As one year comes to an end and another just begins, many of us find ourselves reflecting on what has been and pondering what is to come. We set goals and have high hopes for changes that will make us and our homes better. To be quite honest, until the end of last week, I was NOT feeling it. I just wanted to stay home with my family and I didn’t want to work at all…. And it wasn’t just that I didn’t want my break to end. It was that I was looking ahead and thinking about what was in store for the blog, and I just could not wrap my head around anything. I realized that I was completely burnt out which left me feeling rather uninspired. I am happy to say that my spark has returned but with that, I plan to change gears a little bit during the year 2016 at Primitive & Proper.
As I was struggling last week, my good friend Carmel pointed out to me that “the great thing about blogging is you get to captain your own ship.” And that is the truth. It’s easy to get caught up in projects that keep the blog going and make the house pretty, but this year I want to change gears a little bit- are you still with me? Of course, there will still be projects sprinkled in, but I hope that they have more meaning and are less for me and more for us as a family. So the big house goal for 2016…
MAKE A HOME THAT IS LESS ME AND MORE WE
(And I know that should really read “us” but that doesn’t sound as catchy. 😉 ). We’ve already started to make a few minor changes, and I have more planned that I will share, but basically I want our home to be even more livable, and to express every member of our family… not just me. It might make for less “pretty” photos, and I am A-OK with that, because I only have 9 more years with my kids before they’re both of college age. I want them to thrive in our home. Last year we worked on Emmy’s space and she made so many of the choices.
This year we’ll be reinventing Sawyer’s space a bit to make it work even more for him, and he’ll be helping with the choices as well. He’s already told me he wants ALL of his walls to be painted neavy, so that’s on the agenda.
And beyond the kids’ spaces, we need the shared spaces to work more for us as a family, starting with our living room. Our coffee table is rather large and now that we have 3 dogs underfoot, including 2 puppies who like to chase each other around the living room, a smaller coffee table is more sensible. So I’m on the lookout for the right fit for us, not just something that looks lovely. Oh, and those book cases are on their way out as well since they just hold and collect stuff… clutter. They’ll be headed to Sawyer’s room much needed lego display space.
I should also mention that on Christmas Day our playroom flooded again… for the second time in 4 months. We’re once again dealing with drywall and carpeting ripped out and needing to be replaced and discovering plumbing issues that need to be resolved. With this second flood, my husband said he doesn’t want to move the heavy vintage lockers anymore… so they’ll be going. Because Chris should have at least some say as well if this house is going to reflect all of us. 😉
And to be honest, they just hold more junk… the kids shove things in there and shut the doors and they haven’t been organized in quite some time. So hopefully we can make the playroom a little more efficient and easy to organize for them. With Emmy’s evolving interest in art, we need even more art storage for her extensive supplies.
So as far as projects go, that’s all that I intend to work on definitely. I would love to sprinkle in more meaningful art and photos into our decor as well. I want to craft a home that my kids look back on and remember fondly as the place where they were allowed to spread their wings and fly, not a place where they were stifled and told to “be careful” constantly. I want them to remember the love of their furry friends, snuggles on the sofa, game night at the dining room table, cooking with me in the kitchen. And in 2016 I want to work to create so many more of those beautiful memories for them. I need to put aside my OCD tendencies, and create a home with grace.
In 2016 I also plan to…
SHARE MORE OF MY LIFE
I’ve always been completely 100% myself in my writing here, but I do try to be cautious about how much I share. It feels rather narcissistic to assume that you want to know more about me, ya know? But a few of you have expressed interest in learning more about training and life with a deaf puppy. And as I looked back on my most popular posts last year, one of the top 10 was an interview with Chris.
I have noticed that when I do get personal here, I tend to connect with so many more of you and that’s one of my favorite things about blogging- the connections. So this year I hope to share more of the corners of my soul and the bits of real life with you. Hopefully you will still like me. 😉
And along with sharing more of my life, I will bring you…
MORE LIFESTYLE POSTS
I was blown away by the reception of the fashion post I shared a few weeks ago, so I’d love to share more like that in the future, as well as other lifestyle type posts. One of my goals this year, as I mentioned, was to dress with more grace, so I’d love to have you join me on that journey in taking more care of how I present and dress myself.
Of course I won’t always have the talented Eddie of Jalapeno Photography taking my photos, but I will do my best! Hello, tripod. #awkward
All of that being said, I will still be sharing my weekly Thrift Score Thursdays, but otherwise following no set schedule. I might be blogging less… I might be blogging more. I am the captain of my own ship, and I choose to turn my sail in the direction of the wind, wherever it may take me. I hope you will stick around and enjoy the ride!
