Resolutions...

I am not much of a new years resolution maker, but I do have a list of things I want to do this year. I thought I would share it with you, and along the way share the pictures and updates.

First and foremost I want to read my 1 year bible... for one year!

Second I have 3 beautiful cookbooks 'The Barefoot Contessa, Martha Stewart's Cooking School, and America's Test Kitchen'. I have never tried a recipe in any of these books even though I love looking trough them. So I have decided this year I will try a recipe from one of these books 1-2 times a month. btw these are not quick and easy the first one I am trying is from the Contessa and it takes 2+ hours to cook.

Third, I NEED to start jogging again. And I am sure I will, when it is not freezing in the mornings, so I'm thinking more like Feb.

And finally I have this list of projects I really want to get done this year--

paint spare bedroom blue

attach head/foot board to spare bed

paint bed rust red color

make bead board headboard for our bedroom.

move gate out on fence

mark garden out in 12x12 sections

wallpaper for laundry room

paint cabinets in our bathroom white in boys bathroom black

sew a seat cushion for cedar chest in toy room

I must say too that I am SO excited about gardening this year. I have a plan and I hope to get some early veggies in this ground soon!

And finally I am planning on posting more, I really have slacked off since school started, and that was also about the time I joined Facebook. What can I say, it's easy and addictive!!

Here are most of the projects I worked on for Christmas. I didn't take pictures of my mom's apron and the matching hats I knitted for the boys.

This red hat is for Andrew's teacher at KDO. I've made gifts for her before, so I asked her what she would like me to make and she choose the slouchy beret. I also made these key chains. These were so easy to make and so quick. I bought this kit online and used these instructions did I mention it was super easy!!

My favorite projects this year were these metal signs. I primed and painted cut metal from Lowe's and traced the picture and painted it on and glued on the letters. Pretty easy for a great gift! Unfortunately this is not the finished picture! I didn't take one apparently! From this point I finished painting Micah's, distressed them all, sprayed them with clear coat, punched two holes in the top and added jute for hanging.

This is a hat and cowl set I knitted for Mom.

These are some knitting stitch makers I made for Kim

A scarf I made for Joyce. I used a bamboo/silk blend yarn and it turned out SO beautiful! I almost kept it for myself!

Dale's apron. I sewed it out of a dark denim and then painted the letters on.

Carlotta's apron. Navy and Toile

And Lily's apron. I made it to match her mom's.

And today we are still out of school b/c of a snow from 3 days ago! It hasn't melted yet and today will be day 4 of sledding. There is another storm coming tonight, so we may not go back to school until next week! Who knows, all I know is if this snow was in Iowa, the school systems wouldn't even think about closing schools. We are talking 3 inches of snow people!