Personal Goals of 2012

I'm not a fan of resolutions. I think that they are made, like rules, to be broken. Instead, I like goals. I set goals all the time in just about every aspect in my life. This goes very well with my love of lists and mantras and desire to complete something. You've already seen my professional goals, so here are my personal goals for 2012.

1 – Find peace within myself and love myself more. I am a big believer that you can't be at peace or love someone else until you do those things for yourself. I think that my outside world feels tumultuous because my mind and soul feel like a choppy ocean. This will probably be one of the harder goals to reach but I am determined to reach it. And hold on to it with both hands.

2 – Find a job I love. This will happen. I know it will. And I won't stop looking. And the job that I'm meant to have will come just when it is supposed to.

3 – Get Scarlett Key and Little Life of Mine to a place that I'm proud of and to a place that I want to sponsor and do giveaways on other blogs that I love. This sounds like a professional goal, but these things are so very much a part of me that they needed a goal here too.

4 – Spend more time with my friends. I am extremely susceptible to feeling lonely, this could be stopped by actually making more of an effort to see my friends. I'm also very unsure if I will continue living in Dayton – and if I move over an hour away it will only get harder to see the people that I miss now when they only live minutes away.

5 – Spend more time walking. I don't want to set a goal to lose weight – a girl with a history of an eating disorder shouldn't place too much emphasis on this – I merely want to be more active. I have a treadmill for a reason.

6 – Actually get some face time with my dear bloggy friends. Camille & Haley, I'm looking at you!

7 – Make peace with my sister. This is by far going to be the HARDEST thing to do. Just the idea scares me.

8 – Stay up-to-date with my 12 in 12! I'm really looking forwards to this!!!

I'm sure this list will change and be edited throughout the year. BUT, that is the point of goals, they're supposed to grow and change as you meet them. I'm excited for 2012 and can't wait to see what the world will throw at me!

New Etsy stuff coming soon!

Scarlett Key will be getting added to soon!  I will probably be posting things over the course of a few days, or if I really get frisky I will do it all next week when I go home sometime!  Want some hints?

Newly designed by me headbands
Large & funky rings
Large & funky bobby pins
Handcrafted wooden pens (made by my daddy!  I get my crafty gene honestly!)
Earrings - some chain/beaded and some wooden ones
New color cup cozies

....and soooo much more!

In other news, I follow Susannah on Twitter and Blogger and each month lately she's been running a quick mini contest for her Twitter followers of winning a small monthly ad on her blog!  How fun is that!  I missed last month, but I won this month!  So, starting Sunday or Monday my little blog button will be on her sidebar!  How rad right?!?!  She does fun sponsor posts at the end of the month too so I will get a little write up there!  I emailed her my stuff tonight so, fingers crossed, everything goes well and my reader/shoppers will go up this month!  If you follow her on Twitter you might catch her giveaway next month!  (hint, she usually does it around the 20th or so...)

Bookworm Wednesday!

Let me set a scene for you...think of a big bed, lots of blankets, a bowl of chocolate chips, and the Real Housewives of the O.C on the tv. Yep, that was my Saturday night when I picked up this book. Best combo every? Possibly.

I have followed R.G. Ryan for almost as long as I've been on twitter. I don't remember how I found him, but an author that seems easy going and talks to his followers? Sign me up please! We occasionally send a tweet here and there and he is really just a great guy, very down to earth, and deserving of any praise that he gets.

Oh, back to the book! Snapshots is just a delightful book. I don't usually find myself drawn to short story collections, but this was different. This is more, well, snapshots into a world you can't help but be drawn into the vignettes. They will make you laugh...Conversations with Eddie – Part 7. They will make you think...Church Lady. They will make you believe in hope...The Treasure. Some will even make you so teary that you may have to put the book down and walk away for a minute...Captain Mike & Ma Fille Speciale & La Petite Princess. Ultimately all of these stories touched my heart, my soul, and my brain in a way that will stay with me for many days to come.

As mentions before, RG tweets, and recently opened up a blog. He writes in such a way that he can make you wish for the day when you might run into him at your local coffee shot. Just remember that he likes a medium coffee. With room for cream. :)

I have a confession

I hate opening gifts in front of people.  I intensely dislike being the center of attention.  It makes me sweat and gives me an upset tummy and just generally makes me a nervous wreck.  So opening things those people watching me have given me?  Yeah, makes me all kinds of a silly nervous wreck.  I always feel like they're expecting a different reaction than I'm showing.  I choose to not open my Christmas presents in groups if I can.  I'm pretty skilled at it at this point.  I make a huge deal of watching everyone else open stuff for so long that usually I get forgotten--the one and only time it is great to be the forgotten baby of the family!  I wonder if this all has something to do with the fact that we never really had big birthday parties when I was a kid so I was never really forced to deal with this situation when I was little, I never had to learn how to find a way to get through the whole process.  Even when we did Christmas when I was a kid, there were always enough of us that I could hide a bit. 

This year was super easy when we were with my brother's family because I could get anyone to focus on B at any time pretty much, so I didn't open anything.  The gift my mom got me?  Yeah, I managed to not open that during gift time yesterday, I opened it this morning sitting alone on the couch.  I like it better that way.  I can appreciate whatever the gift is on my own and in my own way.  The only time this isn't a good thing is when something like today happens when my aunt was super excited about what she got me and wanted to see me open it.....but I hate opening presents in front of people!  haha, I managed to get out of opening it until we were back on the farm and I was alone in the house because mom and dad were down in the barn. 

I'm slightly afraid that people will think I'm ungrateful for gifts in general and then I'm reminded that the people that love me and understand me know that I don't like this at all and therefore are ok with it.  My best friend, Allicen, is great with this, usually I can get her to tell me what she got me so that I don't *need* to open the gift in front of her.  Anywhooooo, I only have two more gifts to open and they're the ones I'm most excited for!  I still have my Christmas package from Camille at my apartment that I will get tomorrow probably (only if she gets hers!) and then I'm exchanging with Allicen on Wednesday when we spend our chill-out day together which is something that is much needed for both of us!!

I hope everyone had a magical holiday and got everything they asked Santa for! 

Happy Birthday!

To my babies Max & Bear!!!!!!!!  They were born late on Christmas eve many years ago and both were given away...and they both found their way back to us.  I love them both very much!  But, while Bear thoroughly enjoyed his pork neck, Max let the cats have his....always they loving Uncle Max as we cal him! 

Kinda freaking out over here!

It *just* hit me that it is the 22nd....of DECEMBER!  That means only 2 days until my immediate family Christmas!  And ya know what?  I only have gifts picked out/bought/made for 3 of the 7 people I need to have something for.  I've never put my shopping & making off this long!  I think I tried to forget it was coming this year, kinda like if I don't acknowledge it, it won't happen.  I was sadly mistaken about this.  I still need to figure out stuff for my parents, my brother, and my nephew.  You know, the hardest ones to buy for....thankfully, though, I always get my brother the same thing so he will be easy.  I'm thinking clothes for B since that kid has nearly every toy...and plays with about 3 of them.  As for my parents.  I have ZERO clue.  I've thought of a million different things but nothing feels right.  Do you have to shop for anyone like that?  What do you do to break the "gift block"? 

Bookworm Wednesday!

It All Began in Monte Carlo is a fun, beach-y type read that begins on Christmas Eve so I thought it would be fitting to do it this week! It takes you to, where else, Monte Carlo and plops you in the middle of a situation involving a girl running from a stupid guy and the robberies she ends up trying to solve. The great thing about Elizabeth Adler is that she writes characters you want to be friends with. She makes you feel like you're there in the thick of the action with those new friends. She's a great writer and I can't wait to see what she will come out with next.