Twenty Fourteen in Review

In January  I started Photo a Day, got the flu, attended my dear friend Hannah's beautiful Christ centered wedding, and chronicled walks in the snow.

In February  I went to swing dances, thawed out my cold toes, bemoaned my single state on Valentine's Day, celebrated my bro's 22nd birthday with minion cupcakes, shared some outfits I word to church, and enjoyed Game Night.

In March  I turned a quarter of a century old (25 - yikes!), was very surprised by a surprise party thrown by Kellie and Alex, welcomed sweet baby lambs into the world, and slept in the shower one night with my bottle lamb.

In April  Hank asked to court me (on April 1st;) and we began getting to know each other with the intention of marriage, we spent Easter with his family, went for hikes, went sheep shearing together, danced, hauled hay, and had fun shooting guns.

In May  I shared outfit posts, Hank gave me purple tulips, and I updated you on my life in general.  Apparently this was a busy month for me and a boring month on the blog. ;)

In June  I crocheted a wedding present for my (now) sister-in-law Jenny, helped Hank clear brush and put up fence around his property, played Candy Land with Kellie and Alex, went off-roading in Alex's Miata, enjoyed Grandma Barb and Aunt Liz's visit, shot a shotgun for the first time, took pictures of my sheep in the orchard, and more sheep shearing with Hank.

In July  Hank asked me to marry him.  I said yes and began planning our wedding.  I shared more about Grandma and Aunt Liz's visit, spent the 4th of July fishing and 4 wheeling with Hank at his grandparent's, celebrated Hank's birthday, was one of the photographers at Jenny's wedding, and worked on the perimeter fence on our property some more.

In August  I recapped July in photos, sent out wedding invitations,  and went into overdrive planning our wedding.

In September  I shared our engagement photos, and wondered where time had gone.

In October  Hank and I were married (Oct. 4th), went on our honeymoon, and began life as a married couple.  I didn't post at all. :}

In November I shared a few photos from our wedding, got my shop ready for Black Friday, and spent Thanksgiving with Hank's family.

In December I gave you a mini pictorial house tour, said "I love being married!", spent Christmas with my family, and went square dancing on New Years Eve.

2014 was an amazing year.  And that is an understatement.

If I learned one thing during twenty fourteen, it is that when you surrender everything, step back, and allow the Lord to work, He does wonderful things.  I give Him all the credit, praise, and glory for everything that happened this past year and I'm excited to see what He has planned for me (and Hank) in 2015!

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And now, my goals for TWENTY FIFTEEN.

• Read through the Bible - Hank and I are both doing this together.  I'm excited!
• Pray more - I want to focus on faithfully praying for others.
• Read more - I usually read at least 50 books a year, and last year...well, it was pathetic.
• Dance more - can't get enough!
• Play my mandolin more - yes, that again. ;)

On this blog I'd like to...

• Photo a Day was so much fun, I'm going to do it again!
• Share more outfit posts
• More movie reviews (thanks for the suggestion, Winnie!)
• Be more faithful to respond to your lovely comments! :)

And that's pretty much it.

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Happy New Year, my dear readers!  I'm looking forward to sharing 2015 with you!

What are some of your goals for this year?  I want to know!

January 2014 // Report Card

I thought giving myself a monthly report card would help me to stay on top of my goals for this year.  Here's my first one.  I'm almost afraid to see how this turns out... *covers eyes*  I've also included a few photos from events that didn't get a proper post.

Photo a Day & Weekly Posting |  I'd have to give myself an A for this goal.  I've been doing pretty good., except for when I was sick.  Haven't gotten around to setting up the blog for sponsors/adds, but we're only one month in.  I've got time.  *chuckles*

New Year's Eve Swing Dance!

One Cross Stitch a Month | A big, fat zero (or F) on this!  However, I was sick for a good part of this month, which kept me from going to the fabric store and buying some necessary supplies.  Tell you what, next time I'm in town I'm going to stop at the fabric store.  I'm going to do it!

Freckles

Movie "Fast" on Sundays |  This, I have been doing.  Aside from when I was sick...I was to miserable to do anything else.  Also, I was so sick I didn't realize it was Sunday.  So I'm going to give myself an A for this one. *grin*

Laura's Going Away/Birthday Party - I miss you so much, girl! :(

Buy Less Clothes |  I've done quite well on this.  No thrift store visits.  I did buy one skirt from eShakti, but that was because I had gift card credits that had to be used up.  You wouldn't want me to let those go to waste, would you?! ;)  I'll give myself an A. *wink*

Invest in Items for my Hope Chest | Nothing to report.

Practice my Mandolin |  Also nothing to report.  I get an F.

Hannah & Jason's Wedding

Keep up on House Cleaning | Aside from when I had the flu, I've been getting a lot of cleaning done.  A+ for me!! *big grin*

Spend More Time in the Word |  I have been getting so much more out of my Bible studies lately.  It's been so good to dig deeper, to really study a passage until I thoroughly understand it.  The Lord is so good to me.  So patient and faithful.

And that's it!  On the whole, I didn't do to bad.  We'll see what February has in store for me. *smile*

If you made any, how are you doing with your 2014 goals?  I want to know!

Twenty Fourteen // Goals

Hello lovelies!  I am so, SO excited about this new year!!  It's a clean slate, a chance to build on the foundations of the past year, to cast off the excess baggage, to embrace the future with joy!  I do love a fresh beginning, and after some thought and prayer, I've come up with a few goals for this new year.

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On this blog, I'd like to be a bit more dedicated to a few weekly posts.  I always begin well, but fizzle out half way through the year...if I even make it that far!  This year, I'd like to follow through.  Now that I have Jack, I'd like to try doing the Photo-a-Day challenge.  I certainly take enough pictures for that to happen!  I know you all love it when I share a video, so I'm hoping to film more vlogs this year, too.

I've also been wanting to set up the blog for paid for ad spots on the sidebar.  In fact, I wanted to do that this time last year, and it still hasn't happened.  Along those same lines, I'd very much like to begin reviewing products on here.  With so much of my time devoted to my little corner of the internet, it would be quite nice to get a little something in return.  Never fear, my dear readers, I will not be turning Day by Day into a billboard!  You probably won't even notice the changes.

And while I'm talking about the blog, I want to thank each and everyone of you, my wonderful readers and friends, for continuing to read!  It still astonishes me that people actually enjoy hearing about my life, and I am so thankful for each of you.  If you ever need anything or have a question, please drop me an email!

edithmacalpine{at}gmail{dot}com

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In my life, I've decided that I want to embroider more.   There are so many crafts that I enjoy, and embroidery always seems to be on the back burner, even though I enjoy it very much!  So, I've set a goal for myself.  I'm going to pick something to embroider/cross stitch every month.  That way, I'll have twelve done by the end of the year, and I can frame them in embroidery hoops and put them all on one wall together.

I'm going to reinstate my "movie fasting" plan this year.  Only instead of doing it for an entire week once a month, I'm only going to do Sundays.  I typically watch films while I'm working on a project, and since I don't work on Sundays, I don't need to be sitting and watching movies.  Instead, I'll use the time to dive deeper into God's Word.  Please pray for me on this, that I won't start down the "well, just this once won't hurt..." path!  Once that's begins, it's all downhill from there.

Something I really need to work on, is not buying so many clothes.  I have everything I need and more.  I do not need more clothes.  The only thing I will be buying come summer is a pair of grey Converse and a new swimsuit.  That's it!  Pinky promise.

Instead of buy clothes, I'd like to collect more items for my hope chest.  Something I really want to begin collecting is vintage pyrex.  Love the lazy daisy pattern!  I'd also like to invest in a grain mill and a mixer.

I'd like to be more diligent to practice my mandolin this year.  I do love playing it so much, but I forget...

Also, I'd like to be more faithful to my house cleaning schedule.  It's so much easier when you're keeping up on everything weekly and not letting it slide.  That's when it begins to feel overwhelming.

Most importantly, I want to spend more time with my heavenly Father.  More time in the Word, more time in specific prayer for my family and friends.  Please pray for me in this area, too.  It's so easy to let life get in the way.

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Here's to 2014!
May it be the best year of our lives as we seek to do His will and enjoy the lives He has given us!!
God bless you all.

What are some of your goals for this year?  I want to know!