New Year Changes Ahead

I've spent the past week thinking about what I want  in the year ahead.  For all my whining at changes, I do like change when it's of my own making and I like it well enough to bring it about in my life on a fairly regular basis.  I see everything as a progressive step towards the ideal that I hope one day to achieve...and I find that the ideal changes ever so slightly as I take each step.  I'm never off course.  I just get a clearer picture with each change of where I want to head and why.



I've had a long look at finances.  I've looked at home décor photos and looked hard and long at my house.  I've read blogs and borrowed ideas that I find appealing.  I've read  hundreds of recipes and delved into my vintage magazines and spent enough hours on Pinterest to make my eyes bulge.  I've looked at what I do and why I do it in keeping house, in cooking, in how I dress and wear makeup and on and on.  It was enough to make my head spin a bit and then I'd step back and breathe deep and absorb all the images and thoughts and make lists and start over again.  It's been a hard bit of work, for all that I'd promised myself time off.

I thought I'd share what I've come up with and what I hope to accomplish in the year ahead.  I won't call them resolutions, but it's definitely a mapping out of life as I hope to live it in my Blue House upon it's hill.

So let's start at the beginning.  I looked at all the usual categories: finances, food, house décor, yard/garden, personal care, etc.  I wrote lists upon lists of all the thoughts I had in each area.

Finances:  I want to try and live NOW off the income we'll likely have when John retires.  It's going to take some adjustments to get our regular living expenses to curb towards that amount.  I mean to take the overage while he's working and save a good bit, stockpile with a portion of it, possibly set aside some for special purposes and actually get some of the jobs done that we need to do to keep our home livable.

Obviously groceries are a portion of the savings.  It is one of  our larger expenses for all that we are frugal folks.  I won't bore you with all the details of the how to of gaining savings in that area or any other.  I've shared those sorts of things a dozen times or more.  It's the DOing that counts in the end.   I want to continue to add to my skill set and try and generate some savings on a daily basis in my household.  I've determined that between car insurance, house insurance and property tax a small savings on a daily basis will generate enough money to cover those three expenses on an annual basis.  We'll see how I do as the year progresses.


Home: I want to change my style.  I LOVE my kitchen with it's vintage mix of items and the color scheme.  I'm more happy with my bedroom than I was a year ago, though it's a work in progress at present.  My living room this whole past year has left me feeling sort of blah...and I think I've pinned down why.   For all I am a casual sort of person, I like a little more of a formal look in my living/dining room/bedrooms.  I just do.  I always have.  I've tried hard to push the casual into the living areas and it's not happening.  I'm fighting my own nature. 

I realized that my love of English Country/Cottage was really my style.  It's such a nice blend of more formal pieces with a casual elegance about them.  It's cozy, looks as though it was put together over a lifetime or three, with the new mixed liberally with antiques and worn with polished.  There's texture in an English Country room.  There's a mix of live plants and flowers with paintings and china and metal.  It's just the thing for me.

I've thought for some time that I might buy a sofa but I think I'll be happiest with just chairs in my living room.  For one thing I can buy good quality chairs used and slipcover them.  Thanks to my sewing skills I can manage a slipcover that actually fits.  It will be an outlay for the material and any finishing pieces (zippers, buttons, etc.) but I can manage that just fine.  It is my current goal to add one more chair to the living room.  I've pulled my little swivel rocker from the kitchen sitting area at Christmas to expand the seating in the living room and it's the right scale and size for the space.  It shall stay in the living room.  I knew the moment I looked over at it Christmas Day that it was just right.

I've already begun this 'new' look.  I started on Saturday while John was at work and I felt all at loose ends and restless.   I brought out the blue and white china pieces and rearranged the bookcases a bit and I've since bought one or two pieces as well.  There's more to the changes I'll make but fortunately I have roughly 90% of what is required to achieve the look I want and that makes it even more perfect in my opinion because it's further proof that I've been on the track all along, I just had to have a vision.  I'm looking forward to finishing up this little makeover and really enjoying it this year.  It won't be a stagnant bit of decorating as I can change things about in each season

In my yard, I hope to work more on the landscaping than I did this past year.  I really did lose my way in 2018, both financially and energy wise, but I hope to achieve a good deal in 2019.  I'm still under my own power where yardwork goes.  There will be no help forthcoming from any quarter but I think I can mange it in small bites.  

I want to plant a small kitchen garden.  I really do mean small.  I'm thinking tomatoes, potatoes, green beans, peas, swiss chard, squash, herbs.   John is always horrified at the idea of a big garden, but I think a small kitchen garden, even one that is mostly grown in pots, would be something I could do on my own and would be a help to us in providing some of our needs.   And flowers.  I'm determined to add more flowers to my life, if only cosmos and zinnias and marigolds, all easily grown from seed, all drought tolerant and deer resistant.

Self Care: I am quite happy with my current hairstyle and wardrobe style.  I've really honed that well over the past three or four years.  

I settled on a skin care regime that I think will work fine for me at this stage.  It's not wrinkles which plague me, it's  dark spots.  I'm going to start with basics: a diluted apple cider vinegar solution.  I like the Botanical Effects line from Mary Kay quite well.  I've chosen to add the Timewise 3D repair eye cream to the regime.  I experimented with the  Timewise line but the fragrance was too much for me and in the end, I think the eye cream is all I really need.   

I want to take better care of my skin overall.  I find that as I age, my skin is drier and the skin on my hands and arms often appears coarse and crepey.  I'm going to do a daily moisturizing treatment to try and alleviate that appearance.  I'm not using pricey products, just a gel oil to dab on after shower and a creamy lotion to go over my skin after I dry off.  Simple changes that are easily done.   That's really the upshot of everything I want to do in the year ahead: Keep it simple and as inexpensive as possible.

I've been admiring Katie's nails which she keeps polished and shaped.  She and Bess both are pretty big on keeping their nails done and I always admire them so.  I have loads of polish on hand and wraps too, and I seldom use any of them.  I always think it's such an expensive habit to get into but this year I mean to really crack down and keep my nails done.  I'm going to keep cuticle oil and lotion near the sink as well as at bedside and by my chair in the living room.  The biggest enemy I have in nail care is dryness.  I try to limit how much time I spend doing dishes and I never use any dish soap except Dawn because all others ravage my skin and cuticles.

I don't make promises about weight loss or exercise at any time, much less the beginning of the year.  I do resolve to make a few minor changes in my diet this year.  I've just been reading that most people, despite eating leafy greens, are Vitamin C deficient.  I'm going to add one citrus fruit serving daily to my diet.  I was also reading through a diet plan from the 1950's and noted that this plan also pushes a small serving of  milk at each meal.  I did this the summer I got out of hospital and frankly found it boosted my health and helped keep hunger at bay, as well as allowing me to lose a few pounds.  I'll be adding three 6 ounce servings of milk to my daily meals.  

I do want to be more conscious of serving sizes.  I plan to buy a small food scale and to again utilize my measuring cups.  No more eyeballing it or thinking I 'know'.  My eye for food is just as crooked as my eye when hanging pictures.  I'll measure every single time from now on when I'm eating at home. 

I've also  had to acknowledge that there are areas where I just fail and do so every single time.  I get hungry and grab something sweet because it's ready and handy.  I eat poorly when I'm on my own unless I have a meal pre-made.  Ditto for eating salads when I'm alone.  If it's not ready, I won't take time to make it when I do get hungry.  To that end, I'm trying to keep vegetables cut into serving pieces, fruit handy, cheese cubed, whole grain crackers on hand.  I am also going to try and make my food ahead before I start on big projects or leave home on the days when I'm alone.  I've found I will eat a salad or fruit or whole grain crackers 100% of the time if I make sure to have them ready to eat.

I also want to explore essential oils in the coming year.  I have four of the most common ten recommended for use.  I mean to study how to use them, what benefits they may have etc., as well as add to them.  I've saved all the helpful comments I've received and will be taking those into account as well.  I don't want the oils to just sit on the shelf.  I want to fully experience the benefits.
 

Spirit:  I've always equated more than just Bible study with my spiritual state and so you'll see as I share in this section.  First of all, I've had the desire for a number of years to study theology.  I don't want the degree for it's sake...I want the knowledge!  So I've determined that I shall embark on a course of study, via online resources and books and I'll get my knowledge about biblical history, about the customs, about the meanings of certain passages, etc.  

As well, I mean in the coming year to read more books.  I'm setting myself a goal of 52 books this coming year.  That's one a week.  Not at all an impossible task given that I can generally knock out a book in a matter of 24 hours if I make the time.  I plan to be plenty busy this coming year but I shall take time daily to sit down and just read rather than sit and prowl online.  

I want to take time for genealogy on a routine basis.  

The computer is one of my biggest time thieves and I've willingly turned over my time to it when I might have read or done something with genealogy, etc.  Instead I've allowed my mind to be perfectly useless and wasted many hours.  

Music is something I also love and I plan to spend more time daily listening to music. We have all sorts of resources we can choose from both in home and online.   I think the two things I've missed most this past year were music and silence.  Yes, I need some silence in every day as well.  John is getting better at turning off the tv for a portion of each day and I want to stop and appreciate that time as well.

I want to spend a little time outdoors every day.  It might be for varying lengths of time depending upon the weather.  I'm more likely to sit outdoors when it's cold than when it's terribly hot and the gnats are flying about, but there's something about reconnecting daily with nature that is soothing to the spirit and quiets the mind.  

I want to say "Yes" more often to the things I know will bring me joy or pleasure, regardless of how torn I feel about other duties that await. I want to give my 'Mary' a little more free rein in my life and stop squelching her in favor or my 'Martha' self.

I want to be quiet for a bit every day.

And last, I want to focus more on joy overall.  The good things of each day, the happy moments, the genuine things.  I kept a gratitude journal a lifetime ago and I think it's time to bring that habit back.  I found there was nothing half so good as a gratitude journal to remind me that there is good in every single day.

Blog:  Changes here, too?  Well yes, a few.  Nothing too shocking.  I have a real tendency to be an all or nothing sort of girl when it comes to the blog.

I tried to knock out six posts a week in 2017 and held up pretty well but it was a job and a half on top of my other duties at home.  I can't justify pouring that much time into something that doesn't even supply an nth of income.  My attempts to monetize with ads has not gone well at all.  I may try to do more on that side but nothing drastic.   I loathe going to read blogs that are so loaded with ads and videos that I cannot even scroll down the page without having it jump and roll or to have a blog with a video that keeps popping up and running in the midst of the screen, covering any script I might be reading.  It's so annoying!  I don't want that, but I wish, oh how I wish, I might earn even a little to compensate for the time I work on creating post.  So for the time being, I will explore a few more earning possibilities.

I think you might expect three posts most weeks and possibly four depending upon how well I can balance the time needed with the rest of my life duties.   One post will be the usual frugal post at end of week.  I don't know why you all enjoy that so, but you seem to, lol. I did think I'd return to keeping an account of what I've 'earned' by doing some of the things I do, especially those areas where I know full well it costs more to purchase rather than make it happen myself with my own skills, but not in a separate blog post as I've done in the past.  I'll just put in a total on my usual thrifty week post in those areas where I've made a substantial savings, in those easy to calculate places.   I'll have the occasional Coffee Chat with you, at least once a month.  You'll see what I mean.  I have a list of ideas for topics for teaching and sharing that I hope to be able to write.  After all that's where I let you see more of me, beyond my frugal nature.

I'm changing the focus quote under the title.  As I am writing this, the quote is just a vague idea of what I want it to be, but by the time I publish this it will be up.  

I don't know how you all are feeling about 2019, but I'm ready to jump right into it.  Let's make the year a great one!