I'm here..and I'm alive and that's a wonderful, wonderful thing. 2012 did it's best to knock me down but I'm happy to say that through it all, I managed to keep getting up. There were days and moments when I wasn't honestly sure that was going to be possible. Life has a knack of continuing to roll on even when you're begging it to stop, even for a moment, so that you can catch your breath.

I watched as those that I loved passed on whether in the sense of heaven or in the sense of they just no longer wanted to be a part of my life.I watched as those that I trusted and thought would be major parts of my support network proved themselves to be hypocrites. I watched as my own mental and then physical health deteriorated. It seemed just as I'd get one on an even keel, the other would dip. There were times when it felt like bailing water with a holey bucket. It was a rough year.

It wasn't all bad though. I also watched as my fledgling idea for a website grew into a reviewing "machine" with a staff of half a dozen people. I watched as my baby took his first steps into athletics and fell in love with football. I watched as my oldest took on new challenges. I watched as people that I barely knew rallied around me and held me up when I thought there was no chance I could stand. I watched as people that I've known for years suddenly appear back in my life just when I needed them. I got to experience more hugs, more laughs and more smiles. I got to experience more love.

Life is never all good or all bad. If you look, even in the worst times, there are sparks of goodness. I don't know what 2013 will bring. However, without a doubt, I know that there will be love and laughter. I know that my little site will grow or it won't, but that there are those working hard on it. I know that even in the bad times, there are those who have it so much worse than I do. I have a roof over my head and food on my table. I have friends who love me and who don't hesitate to tell me so.

I don't have resolutions. I'm not going to resolve to do something better. I'm simply going to be better. I'm going to be a better me. I'm going to focus on the good and on what I can control. I'm going to continue to simplify our lives and our home. I'm going to be healthier and I'm going to be happier. I'm going to love more openly. There will be those who will come and those who will go. Such is life. If they go, they will go knowing that I was thankful for them. I'm going to read more, relax more, laugh and learn with my children more. I'm going to try new things and I may fail. That's okay. If I fall, the floor will always be there to catch me and those who love me will always be there with a hand back up.


So here's to 2013..another year filled with opportunities and love. I hope all of you will join me on the journey.



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Hello 2012 and all my incredibly wonderful readers out there! I've been pondering this post all day and what I wanted to say in it. What did I want to say to all of you about 2011? In the end, I decided I didn't want to say much. 2011 was a year of ups and downs and a lot of chaos and anxiety. It brought the failing health of my grandmother and right at the end of the year, surgery for my oldest son. Instead of looking back at the pain, I want to look forward. Hope is an amazing thing and it's something I'm grasping tight to as I look forward to the coming year.

After all, knowing where you came from is one thing but knowing where you're going is an entirely different creature. But, before I get into all of that, I want to share with you a toast that was posted today by Raven on his Facebook page. I could have said this but why re-invent the wheel when someone so darn fantastic already did it for you? So...I offer you Raven's Toast to 2012:



I honestly couldn't have said it better myself and sometimes, even I consider myself fairly gifted with words. Now, on to 2012:

If any of you remember, last year was supposed to be about simplifying my life. I started out the year with a bang and then chaos happened and woah, did I drop the ball! This year, I try again. I try again for me. I try again for my family. I try again because I deserve better than I've allowed myself to have up to this point.

You see, somewhere along the way, I decided that I didn't deserve to have nice things. I didn't deserve to have the kind of friends who would do anything for you. I didn't deserve to have nice furniture or even a clean and organized house. Those of you who really know me have to be shaking your head at the last one. I'm the girl that other people call to come over because they know I'll jump into any organization project with a gleeful smile and more excitement than anyone should ever have. So, why have I not given myself that same gift within my own home?

I don't honestly know. Even to me, the girl with the Psych degree, this doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I can explain the packrat/border line hoarding. I can explain a lot of things, but this total insanity of I don't deserve the nice things other have? Nope..don't get it. Ok, I do get it. For a very long time, I felt really bad about me. Not just for me, but about me. I thought I'd gotten past most of that but every once in a while I have a lightbulb moment where I go ding ding ding (ever hear a light bulb with a bicycle bell? me either..but roll with it, ok?) and realize that woah, I'm having a majorly insecure moment or woah, I guess I'm not as past all that as I thought. This has been one of those times.

So, I'm repeating last year's goal and that's ok. I don't look at it as any kind of failure. I look at it as life got the hell in the way and sometimes that's what happens. Life happens. I didn't do the best I could with it, but I did the best I did and it's a new year and a new chance to make it happen. Over the next week, I'm going to try to make a plan...a simple plan. Nothing complex. Just simple. One day at a time, one project at a time and sometimes, one schedule at a time, I'm going to size down our home. I'm going to get the organization projects tackled. I'm going to do the gross jobs and the fun jobs and teach my boys that it can be done.

Sometimes life knocks you down but what happens afterward is what matters. You do what you have to do and what I have to do is start feeling more in control of things. I've been letting things spiral and it's not healthy for any of us. So, consider me back as much as I can be back. I'm hoping to pick up some of our daily themes. We might not get them every week, but I'm going to try to be here a bit every week. Hopefully it's as good for you as it is for me. Before I head out though, I want to leave you with 2 quotes...

"Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful." - John Meade


That's just what I want to do. I want to subtract the obvious..seriously obvious..like the books we never even look at and add in the meaningful. I close my eyes and see a home filled with warmth and love and the space we need to be able to do things as a family. To get that, I need to subtract so I can add in those things.

And finally...





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It's 2011 and I'm left wondering what the heck happened to 2010? I certainly wasn't ready to leave last year behind or prepared to step into a new year but it seems the calendar ignored my desperate pleas to slow down and just went right on ahead without me.  Well, that's just fine because it took me with it, even if I was kicking and screaming just a little bit.

As always, the end of a year is cause for reflection and the start of a new year is cause for planning. If you know me, you know I'm a major planner. The funny thing is, that I dream of a man who is spontaneous and will call home and say pack your bags, I have a surprise for you. I know that opposites don't really attract but I do want someone who will bring out my fun side while being able to deal with my ocd neurotic side at the same time. *grins*

So, what am I planning for the coming year? I know you all desperately want to know, right? I hope so because I'm going to tell you. Don't worry, it's nothing shocking or anything that you'll have to send the kids out of the room for. I have very "simple" plans and hopes for the coming year.

In no particular order, they are....(I feel like I'm announcing the top 10 in a beauty contest when I say things like that..hehe)...

1. Grad School - My application is due in 10 short days and I'm down to just having write the 2 page essay. This is going to be the hardest part though because they want a lot in those 2 double spaced typewritten pages and really it's probably the one thing that will swing them towards yes or no. Once it's submitted, I should have an answer by February 15th or so as to if I've been accepted.

2. Weight Loss - Yes, this has been an ongoing battle with me. I get started all gung ho and then my accountability partners quit and not long after, so do I. This year, I'm setting a small goal. I want to lose 20 pounds. Yep, just 20 pounds. Is it the total of what I need to lose? Not even close, but I want to be realistic and break this into small chunks. Last night, I was introduced to A Better Second Half and I'm hoping to hook up with her as accountability partners. I think it would be great for both of us.

3. The House - Yep, it's still standing! I have the same goals for this year as I believe I did last year. I want to continue in my purging efforts. We've gotten rid of so much but there is still so much to go! Plus, we have a move coming up in 5 months and I want to be totally prepared for it. I have serious anxieties as to whether or not we'll be able to find a house that will allow us to have our 5 cats, but that's a bridge to cross once I get to it in April.

4. The House Part B - I mentioned the move in the last section and part B is all about the move. Starting on February 1st, I'm making it my goal to start packing up 1-2 boxes each week so that when it's time for that move, I'm not frantically scrambling.

5. The House Part C - Yep, there's another part to all of this.  I'm also making it a goal for this year to be much more on the ball with my cleaning and organizing. I know that as I purge, this part will become easier and easier because I'll be tripping over less stuff. With depression, this is one area I really struggle in. The more down my mood becomes, the worse my house becomes. The worse my house becomes, the more down my mood becomes. You see the cycle and so do I. I'm working hard on breaking that.

6. Katie's Craft Corner - This is my little Etsy shop and I do mean little. I think there are maybe 4 items posted there right now. Sadly, those 4 items have been posted there for quite some time. I'm making it my goal to set aside 2-3 hours each week to make new items and to get them listed. I'll also be mentioning them here and continuing to post them to the shop's Facebook page. 

7. The Blog - Last but certainly not least is this blog as well as the one over at Welcoming Weightloss. I've been really bad about posting to either of these for the past few months and I want that to change. I'm not promising every day posts (though that's my eventual goal) but I'm setting myself a small goal of twice a week to this blog and once a week to the other. I just heard that my girls over at Sunday Shutterbugs are back up and running so I'm hoping for some sincere motivation and inspiration to help with this goal!

So those are my goals. I also have some other ones, including continuing my Irish language studies and figuring out a way to make some money to get my finances in better shape but I don't have any real plans for those yet. If I get into grad school and get an assistantship, the finances will certainly do better but that won't happen until September. Until then, I'm just going to keep doing my best and who knows, if my Etsy shop takes off, that might keep me plenty busy making extra money!

Holy wow, bloggers! Not only is it Thursday, but it's also New Year's Eve! Can you believe that? I can't. All day long I've had to remind myself of the date because it just doesn't seem possible that today is the last day of 2009. I've put absolutely no thought into 2010 and if you know me, you won't believe that either. I'm a big time thinker.

Being that it's Thursday and the last day of the year, I decided that my time for me would be all about doing some of that thinking for next year and maybe doing a bit of reflecting on last year. I'm so lucky that my friend Edie posted some great things to our yahoo group to give me a starting point. Actually, I'm just super lucky to have those girls in my life at all. They're all wonderful and have such huge hearts.

Now, I'm not sure who had the original idea to pick one word and make it your focus for a year, but Edie just reminded all of us that it's time for us to pick a new word. Some of the words that have been chosen include serenity, faith, empowerment and purpose. Those are all such great words, but I think I'm going to go with Commitment.

So, for 2010, I'm going to be:
Committed to turning my home into a home, not just a house.
Committed to making the money that we need to support our family.
Committed to making some really tough decisions about what I want to do.
Committed to scrapbooking and crafting more.
Committed to being more involved at the boys' school.

Now, the other really awesome thing that Edie posted to the group was something that she had found over on Scrap-Room. I'm going to post it here too because I think it's a great way to think about the coming year.

One Year From Today I Would Like To Have:

Learned - Irish. I loved learning it for my degree, but have let it drop since graduation.

Changed - My finances and my weight. One needs to lose some and the other really needs to gain some.

Figured Out - What I want to do when I grow up. I have a college education in an area that fascinates me but I'm not sure if I want to continue in that field.

Completed - My paper piecing scrapbook that I must have started 5 years ago, before the divorce and the ensuing insanity.

Stopped - Doubting my abilities.

Started - Believing in myself more and having our home be a peaceful retreat, that always smells of something delicious.

Acquired - Enough money to buy anything we need for this house (including some badly needed bookshelves) and to have the van repaired.

Given Up - The remaining million or so boxes in this house along with a ton of clutter.

Visited - Arizona, Nebraska and maybe a lovely trip up north. I miss nature.

Left Behind - Debt, extra weight and renting this house. I would so love to find a way to buy it. It already feels like home, now I want it to officially be home.

So, I guess that sums up my goals for 2010, nicely. What are all of yours? Have you guys thought about 2010 yet? Leave me a comment or sign our linky here and let me know!