Hi crafty friends! I hope you’ve all had a wonderful Christmas whether or not you celebrate or not. I grew up always celebrating all the holidays as my Mom was big on that for me and my lil brother. She would go all out and so even when I moved away on my own I still decorated for Christmas, cooked a full course meal and did all the things to bring in the new year.
Things have sure changed since then. Every year, I usually write a post recapping the things that happened and write down my goals for the next year. This post is similar but in some ways not.
Good and Bad Times of 2023
I’ll start off by sharing some major trials I went through. Please note that this post isn’t meant to share my sob story nor to go over every little bad thing that happened. I’ll just say if I had to give 2023 a grade, I’d give it between a D+ and C-. There’s indeed some blessings and so I’ll end this section on a good note. The main downer this year was my day job. I’m an extreme introvert, so I thrive when I can be alone with my thoughts. I don’t have many friends (on purpose) and I give a lot of myself to my work and the people I love. Sometimes, this takes all my energy and I need days to recoup.
My day job is very demanding, moreso than the previous 14 years I’ve worked for this organization. I didn’t expect the 15th year to get so bad that I nearly quit many times. I even wrote several private letters stating my feelings of overwork, overwhelmed and that something major has to change. I never sent any of these letters. I spent a LOT of time in prayer. My husband and my bestie got an earful of my anger and frustration and God bless them for putting up with me. Part of the problem also was my attitude. Every text assignment or new email would make me cringe. I was depressed every Sunday night. My team leader (supervisor which I don’t like to call her) is great at being the face of the organization but her organizational and leadership skills are the pits! She humiliated me several times over texting in a group with co-workers over mistakes I made but never did this to the others. And we ALL made mistakes. I see it all the time, never do I call anybody out for it. We’re not perfect! But she expected me to be perfect and I simply can’t. There are some things I can do better obviously and I intend to improve. I just do not think talking (texting in this case) down to me in front of others is the way to point out a mistake.
All that said, I survived the year with The Lord’s help! For getting this far is a miracle. Going forward, I will need to have thicker skin and not take things personally. I wear many hats for this job and if the board knew all the “little” things I do on a daily basis, it would make their hair stand up! I have a bad habit of being overly sensitive and I take the blame for things not my fault. I say, “I’m sorry” too often when not needed. I can’t go through life with my head down all the time.
The next major blow is that hubby and I have been trying to buy our 1st and forever home since last October 2022. We’ve gone through 4 houses and lost all of them for various reasons: the house didn’t qualify for financing, we don’t have enough income to handle mortgage and HOA fee, debt-to-income ratio, restrictions with VA and govt loans, etc., etc. We have shelled out a fortune in inspections, appraisal, earnest money and now we are under contract for a 5th house. It’s become sort of a sick joke that we have tried for all these houses. This 5th house is under a completely different loan financing as we wouldn’t own the land, only the home but there’s no HOA fee, just a land fee of $105/monthly. It’s a fairly new home (only 3 years old) and it’s cute and in a nice community. I working hard at not getting my hopes up, there’s still many more tasks to complete. I’ve never signed so many papers in my life! We’ll see what happens, the great side of this journey is that we have an awesome team behind us: our realty company and lenders are wonderful.
A couple of months ago, I had a major health scare that absolutely changed me. I’ve lost all my family members and I thought that was the worst but when you see how fragile you are, it really gives you a wake-up call. I could see how my attitude really affected my living. And, I prayed that I wouldn’t leave my husband alone as he has no one either. God promised me something many years ago, I won’t say what that is because it’s very personal, I’ll just say He doesn’t break His promises and He never lies. I’m better, just still fighting a virus. I know that my life needs to change and it starts with me.
I’ve made some improvements like: exercising. I walk laps around the complex where our apartment is for about 20 – 30 minutes as often as I can. My bestie does the same thing (she lives in GA) and we share our stats with each other to encourage us to walk. I also made peace with water!, I’m now drinking my 8 glasses or more a day! 😀 That really helped heal me. And, I’m taking more breaks to rest, to eat and going to bed at a normal time. Before, I’d get up at 8 or 8:30 AM, go to bed at 3 AM every night, eating 1 meal a day and hardly ever drinking water. I was obsessed with pop, juice, milkshakes and every now and again, sparkling water. I’ve sinced dumped all that for just plain good ‘ol water!
A New Logo?
Yes, it was time! I’ve been playing around with a new look and I opted to go with something simple, just using a pretty font. My cards will still be stamped with the old logo and that’s fine for now. But you’ll notice it on the blog and in my eBay store. Sometimes, we have to take a real good look at ourselves and determine how we’re growing and changing. I made edits to the webpages on this blog for consistency, accuracy and to make the site is more enjoyable. For me, if my blog looks bland or uninteresting, then it’s harder for me to create content.
Looking Ahead to 2024
Normally, I have goals I want to reach for the next year, but this time I really only have 1 goal and more like dreams I hope will come true. My major goal is to be a homeowner. Hubby and I are in our 60s and we’ve never lived in or owned a home. It would be a great asset to us. We’re still self-employed and must work, but the freedom we would have that renting an apartment doesn’t permit would be incredible. We’re not comfortable in this setting and the way we live isn’t desirable. I won’t go into the mechanics of this, I’ll just say it’s not good and we have to do something about it. So, if we’re able to close on House #5, we would have the greatest testimony to share and it will be a miracle to start the new year in our 1st forever home.
Dreams? Well, I want to retire so badly. I turned 60 this year, a huge milestone as I’ve outlived my family when I thought I wouldn’t make it past 30. Back then I was self-destructive and suicidal. God has brought me a long way. Hubby and I are full-time online sellers and he’s semi-retired. I would love it if we both could live off our retirements and run our businesses and I no longer have to work for someone else.
I also dream that we can trade in our 20+ year truck for a new one. It’s been a good baby to us, brought us here to Oregon from Florida and allowed us to travel all over the Oregon coast. But now, it’s getting to the point where we have to make some decisions with regards to having good transportation and not costing us so much money to keep it running.
My other dream is still to craft full time, part of our online businesses is my crafty blog and my eBay card shop. I love to create, love to share my creations and love our crafty community. With my day job demands, it’s really hard to get more involved with other crafters. I want to participate in blog hops, go to crafty retreats, classes, join live FB/YT videos, but right now I can’t. Sometimes, it’s lonely crafting alone. One thing I would really love to do when we move into our home is to have Zoom crafty calls with friends. I think that would be so much fun.
Any Future Crafty Projects?
I haven’t started anything yet, but I have written in my planner a couple of things I’d like to do which is find ways to use felt stitching throughout the year and not just for Christmas. I’d also like to explore more 3D paper crafting projects and really use the products I have in my stash without constantly buying new items. I don’t have a picture in my mind what all this will look like. This is why I said this post is different because I don’t have any specific goals for 2024.
I may decide to write more life updates on this blog or on topics about being a creator, not sure yet. I know I want to do more with this blog and extend my crafting beyond cardmaking. Don’t think I’m ditching making and sharing cards, I will always love that. It’s just that I’d like to stretch myself as well as being more meticulous about my purchases. It’s all too easy to buy that latest stamp/die set or that new tool, but I have to prioritize and right now the house is the most important thing on the agenda.
Wrapping it All Up
With the health changes, including mental, I have a different outlook. Stress is something I need to manage so it’s important with my day job, running a business, trying to buy a home that I take time to breath. That I don’t let these setbacks or hurdles get the best of me. Sometimes, it’s really about allowing God to reshape my mind. Jesus came to change the inner parts of mankind. He said, He’s doing a new thing in us. I’ve spent a lot of time just praying for change but He’s also waiting for me to allow Him to work on my heart to change me. So looking ahead hopefully will have a very different and happier picture than all the years prior.
Thanks for Reading!
Wishing you and yours a Happy, Prosperous and Blessed upcoming year!
