Etsy!

I have officially opened an etsy shop! My first item up for sale is ... of all things ... Birdseed Toss Wedding Roses. They are fabric roses with birdeseed (or whatever you chose) stuffed inside to toss at the bride and groom as they leave the wedding. Pretty cool I thought! They were ones that were made with the intention of being used at a friends wedding but there was a discrepancy about the lace that we used. I guess the bride didnt want lace to be anywhere near her wedding.

Personally, I dont blame her! Im not much for lace either. Something about lace reminds me of the 80's. Maybe it was the gloves that Madonna wore ... who knows. But these are pretty none the less. I might have more too. Some that dont have lace on them. They would be the extras from the actual bunch that made it to the friends wedding. I like these ones. Especially the red ones. There were five colors for these roses. Red, blue, green, yellow, and brown. The ones with the lace were just flat colors with the lace over them. (see pic) Not bad, the red ones were I think the best. They were really bright. But I like the ones without the lace better because they arent flat colors. There are patterns on the fabric and like I said before, I really like the red ones. They had a rose pattern on them. Really bright and very pretty. But I guess that's one woman's opinion. :)

Goals vs. Resolutions

I've seen this statement all too often this year. "I prefer to set goals, not resolutions, for the new year." So I wanted to delve into that thought just a little. What is a goal and what is a resolution?

Goal - according to Merriam-Websters Dictionary a goal is "the end toward which effort is directed".

Resolution - the word resolution is a form of the word resolve. Resolve means "fixity of purpose" and "an official determination" according to Merriam-Webster.

People have the belief that a goal is better than a resolution. I beg to differ. A goal is the effect of a resolution. If you believe what the dictionary says about what the two words mean, then you have to believe that in order to set a goal, you have to make a resolution. Lets take an example: "I resolve to lose weight this year". (isn't that everyones new years resolution?) Now lets break that down. This person has a fixed purpose and has officially determined that they will lose weight during the year ahead. The next step would be to make a goal of how much by when they want to lose the weight. This is the end in which the effort of their resolution is going. Its cause and effect here people! The resolution causes the goal.

So I guess I just wanted to say that people need to pay more attention to what it means to make their resolutions. I honestly think that most people dont make a resolution because they are so tired of making them and failing. The problem is that they confuse what it is and take for granted that you have to work to make those things happen. I did make resolutions this year. I intend to keep them by making goals that help me fulfill what I wanted to do this year.

Resolutions

This year I'm hoping that I can actually accomplish some of my goals. Ive been pretty bad about it in the past and have at times not even made goals because I knew that they would be forgotten just as soon as they were made. But with a bit of work I think that I can actually accomplish a few this year. I'm keeping them somewhat small, yet worth working on.

Goals for 2009

1. Cook more from scratch. The simple truth is that I'm fat. The reason for that is the fact that I have not been the best at cooking home made meals. This year I pledge to learn more simple recipes that are healthy and actually make them on a regular basis. I want to lose weight, but I'm not going to succeed at that unless I learn how to cook healthy meals. Plus I want my family to be healthy as well. We have never really been the type of people to be consistently sick but this fall was a bad fall for us. I think that we were sick the majority of the last three months. Also, it will definitely cut down on expenses if I can get my act together and put a pantry together. Less eating out, more eating in equals a happy family.

2. Get outside more. The other half to the first goal. There's nothing better than getting outside a lot to help with the weight issue. Plus I have three growing boys that really need to get outside and play a whole lot more. They love playing outside and our yard isn't the greatest for small children to play in. The solution, going to the park on a regular basis. There's places around here that we can go on nature walks as well. I want to go camping a bunch this summer too. Its been years since we've been camping. We gave it a good go this last summer but the lake was so high that there was practically no where to camp. I hope that the lake is a lot lower by summer this year. We have a tent set that we haven't even been able to open because we haven't had a chance to go camping.

3. Start sewing. I have a new sewing machine that has barely been used. I am going to set up a desk or table that I can sew at and start a bunch of projects. I have a few dresses that I want to work on this year. Hopefully I will have them done by this time next year. Sew much to do and sew little time. (hehe couldn't help myself!)

4. Work harder on school with A1. He's been doing really well the first half of the school year. He knows how to read really well. Its only on the larger words that he has troubles. We've worked on some of the history things that kids his age are supposed to know as well. I think that the biggest thing that we have to work on is his math. He's doing well in it but we need to work a little more with it.

So, now you know what my goals are. What are yours? What resolutions are you making for the new year?

Is it in you?

Sound Mind Sound Mom Book Club

Simple Mom has anounced the book list for the Sound Mind, Sound Mom Book club. I encourage you to hop on over and check it out. She has quite a few good selections in there and you dont necessarily have to be a mom to join in the fun. I will be posting my reviews of the books as we read them. I hope you do too.

A Wonder To Behold!

My husband and I and our four month old son moved to Arkansas WAY (okay not so way) back in 2003. We moved out here from California in the spring with a friend of ours. When we moved, the price of gas in California was about $1.60 - $1.70 per gallon and the price when we got to Arkansas was $1.45. I loved it. It was so much cheeper! Then things started to get expensive and we had a steady climb in prices for the next 5 years. We saw the price of regular unleaded gas jump to the extreme price of $4.00 a gallon and in some places it went so high as $5.00 a gallon for a short time. We saw the price of not only gas go up but everything else went up as well. Price of houses shot up to unbelievable prices. California, Florida, and many other places around the nation saw the price of small single family houses rise to more than $300,000.

Then at the height of it all when fuel prices, housing prices, food prices, and everything else skyrocketed, the bubble burst. At the very height of it all, in the middle of the summer this year, price of a single barrel of crude oil was $147 (yes that is one hundred and fourty seven dollars), and people just couldnt do it anymore. Humpty dumpty came tumbling down. Those who bought into the super high house prices couldnt afford it anymore. Their intrest rates adjusted and they could no longer pay the mortgage. They lost their houses.

Now, because of this bubble bursting, we have seen one of the fastest declines in prices since practically the great depression. The actual numbers are still pretty high but the percent of decline is steep. Percents that the experts are saying that we havent seen since that depression. Stock prices are dropping, house prices are dropping, and best of all gas prices are dropping. Today when I went to the store I saw the price at the gas station there and was absolutely amazed at the prices. Thinking about it, prices were in the $2.00 range only two weeks ago. Today the price was $1.45. The same as when we moved to Arkansas almost 6 years ago. In just about five months time we have seen the price of gas drop from the high of almost $5.00 in some places to less than $1.50 and its still dropping. WOW!! What a time we live in!! I wonder how low it will go? Will we see it drop to less than $1.20? Or will it stay where it is? I cant wait to find out!

As for me, Im just excited that it's less than $1.50 since Im going to Colorado to visit a friend for the holiday. This is going to be one CHEAP driving trip!

What are your thoughts on the recent economic developments?

Love to Read?

Well here's your chance to read some new books. Starting in January Simple Mom is going to be hosting a book club on her blog. Subjects will range from food to frugality, kids and home, money management and organizing. We will be reading one book every two months (to make it easy). Anyone can join and I hope you do!