16 NOT RESOLUTIONS for 2016

I don't like the whole concept of New Year's resolutions.  I mean, I get it.  I know that people see it as as a fresh start, a chance to be a different you.  To many people, they see the end of the calendar as a chance to be a new person.  It is as if everything that happened before now is gone.  What happened before January 1st, 2016, never happened.  It is the year 2016.  Blank slate.  New me.

It may be a fresh start but it isn't a start over.  This year I will not be making New Year's resolutions.
If I was, here is what they would be:

1. Have a clean house every night before I go to bed.
2. Read through my Bible in a year.
3. Run at least 20 miles a week so I can run a half marathon in under an hour in the half Ironman relay this May.
4. Drink only 2 Cokes a week.
5. Have both of my boys tucked in for the night by 8:30.

None of these resolutions individually are outside of the realm of possibility.  However, I am pretty sure that, to accomplish all of these, I would need to be 3 people, I think.  I may be able to do these for a couple months if I worked really hard at it.  But somewhere in the midst of resolving to make these happen, I will lose myself.  Something would have to give.  For all of these things to happen, I would have to let go of other things that I love-time with my boys, sleep, caffeine, confidence, reality, and sanity.

Instead, I resolve to see the new year in a different way.  For me, it will just be a turned page.  All that I have written before with my life is still there.  The mistakes I have made, the milestones I have reached, the people I have hurt, the people I have reached, the times I have been lazy, the times I have overcome, the good, the bad, and the ugly.  None of it went away.  It is not a new chapter either.  It is just the turn of a page.  Another new day.  So from my heart to yours, HAPPY NEW DAY, my friends!

Instead of resolutions, I have created goals.  My goals are within the realm of  possibility.  None of them say "every day no matter what."  They are not destinations to reach, but things to reach for.  There is no opportunity to be hard on myself, lose confidence in my abilities, or feel like a failure.  They are just things I would like to focus on as I move into the new year.  So here  goes!  This year I plan to...

1. Be more positive and content with the here and now.  Those of you who know me well, or have read my blog recently, know that I have desires to move my life in a different direction.  Instead of focusing on where I want to go, I want to focus on where I am.  I love my life, right here and now.  Truly, I do.  I have my family and that is all I need.  Sometimes I am so focused on the fact that I am not where I am going, that I forget how good I have it NOW.  I would like to be content with the place God has me, now, while I look forward to where I hope I can be down the road.
2. Read and reflect on AT LEAST one Bible verse a day.  I think that almost every year since I first accepted Christ into my life, I have made my "New Year's resolution" either to read the whole Bible in a year, or to have a "Quiet Time" every day.  It didn't take too long to fall short of that resolution, which led me to feel like a "bad Christian."  That  whole "bad Christian" stuff is a lie from the devil, but creating and failing in my "resolution" played a part in me believing it.  I plan on spending much more time in the Word than I did last year, but reflecting on one verse a  day at the  will do wonders for my spiritual walk.
3. Make prayer a priority.
4. Perform at least one intentional act of service per day for my family.
5. Spend quality time with each of my boys individually so they each feel wholly loved.
   
6. Read one new book and one old book to my boys every day.  We do a lot of reading in this house.  Shea loves to read books.  However, he memorizes books VERY QUICKLY and has favorites that he wants to read over  and over again.  After trying to make room for new toys after Christmas, I realized we have a TON of books that we have never read to the boys.  So I plan on reading a new book every day to the boys before reading a book they have heard hundreds of times.
7. Work on my areas of weakness-forgetfullness, lack of focus, distractability, and absent-mindedness.
8. Be more accepting of my shortcomings.  I have a bad habit of beating myself up when I make a mistake.  I am even critical of myself when I do things out of my control.  Sometimes my medications or epilepsy cause me to say the wrong words, or forget what I am doing or talking about.  When I feel my mistakes are affecting other people, I let it get to me much more than I should.  I need to learn to shake things off and move on.
9. Complete at least one custom creative project, and one personal creative project per month.  Recently, I have been doing so many custom projects that I have not been able to complete any of the ideas floating around in my head for either my family, my online store (that I have closed temporarily due to the abundance of custom orders), or myself.
10. Train to run the WHOLE half marathon running portion of my leg of the Half Ironman.  At one point of my life, running WAS my life.  But that feels like a whole lifetime ago.  I ran competitively all the way up through college.  However, running hasn't really been much a part of my life anymore since Shea was born.  At the beginning of this school year, I was asked to complete the running portion of a relay half marathon race.  It is taking place in May and  I am just now getting back into running.  I don't have any time goal, but I do want to aim for running the whole race.
11. Drink less Coke than last year.  I have never even TRIED to stop drinking Cokes.  I know there is no way I could do that.  I love me a good glass or  bottle of Coke...mmmmm.  But I know they are not good for me.  So this year, I plan to drink less Coke than I did last year.  
12. Be more  organized.  I just wrote a whole blog post about this.  Go read it if you feel like it.  I thought it was pretty exciting.
13. Document my accomplishments. I think writing down my accomplishments will make me feel more positive and confident and proud.  I am going to do so in Milo...don't know who Milo is?  Go see.
14. Take better pictures of my work.  Believe it or not, those who don't know me or haven't known me for long, I once had a photography business.  I was pretty good at it.  I loved it.  But now I love a lot of things much more than I love taking pictures.  But I know from experience that taking good pictures of the things that I make will make a huge difference in the amount of sales that I make.  I have been skipping this step and taking pictures with my phone because I am too excited to take the extra step of taking good pictures to show off what I make.  I just take a quick snap with my phone and post it.  And oftentimes I have to write below it that it is even cooler in person than in the picture, or the colors are different in person.  I know I could sell much more if I had high-quality pictures to show the products just as my clients will see them.  Like these pictures that Lorie took of some of my blankets that are still
15. Have one month where my profit from my creative endeavors equals at least half of my teaching salary.  This is quite a lofty goal.  But my last goal is how I am going to get there.
16. Increase social media presence.  Some of you may not like this idea.  Some of my friends and my family may be a little tired of seeing my blog posts and pictures and crocheted blankets and quilts.  I get it.  However, if you are, now would be a good time to unfriend me.  My feelings won't be hurt.  But count on more of it in the coming year.  I am not doing all of these posts to make myself look better or to show off.   If that is the way it is coming across, I am  sorry.  But this is all just what it will take to get me from where I am to where I want to be.  My dream is to be able to make my side job into my job-job.  To get there, I have to put myself out there as much as possible.  So please be patient with me.  If, on the other hand, you like what you see, share it with all of your Facebook friends.  Pin my pictures on Pinterest.  Re-tweet my tweets.  Tag people on my Instagram pictures.  Make me busy.   Here is what last year looked like and what I want this year to look like.  And as I said before, these aren't resolutions, just goals to aim for. 

• Pinterest was my biggest area of growth.  Without focusing on gaining Pinterest followers, I somehow have 4,000 Pinterest followers.  Let me get this straight.  This does not mean that many people like my work, just that they like what I am pinning (it probably helps that I have 7300 pins, oops, don't judge).  For that reason, please pin and re-pin the pictures that you like from my blog.  The more you pin, the more people see what I make.  
• My goal is to increase my followers from 4000 to 10,000 by the end of the year.
• Facebook is where I get the most blog traffic from.  Most of my posts are read because one of you clicked on the link on my Facebook page.  If you know someone who would like my post or something I made, share the link with them or tag them in the post.  The more the merrier.  My Scrap Stash Studio Facebook page is something I have neglected.  I will update it more frequently this year.  When I do, I hope to go from 82 page  likes to at least 500 this year.
• I really hope to focus a lot on my blog this year.  I love to write and share my life with family, friends, and strangers.  My goal (not my resolution) is to write at least 3 posts per week.  I hope somewhere along the way I learn how to monetize my blog, but that isn't a must.  
• Here is an overview of my blog this year.  This year I had 5,685 views of my blog.  I averaged 470 views a month.  
• Here are the numbers for my top 5 most read posts:
• Work-in-Progress Wednesday (285 views)- This post focused on my Mermaid Tails that have been very popular.  This was the post that was on my blog when I received the most traffic.  This happened after Ginger Wesson (who has a very popular You-Tube Channel), shared the Mermaid Tail that I made for her.  
• Fed Up Friday (278 views)-This post was about my thoughts and feelings regarding the United States supreme court decision to allow same-sex marriage.  It was written while I was pregnant with Patten and therefore very emotionally raw and unapologetic.
• Sometimes Life is a Pill (210 views)-This post was about my journey with epilepsy and my quest for medicine that worked for me.  It was a story of ups and downs and real life.  It also drew extra views because it was featured on National Seizure Disorder Foundation's website.
• To teachers, moms, and  my high school crazies (209 views)-This was a post about the realities of being a teacher and the realities of being a mom who is a teacher.  I wrote this in response to a post from a mom writing to her children's teachers.
• Life in the Strauss House (133 views)-This is just a post about life in the Strauss house.
• There are two common themes in the top five posts on my blog.  I connected with people.  And I was real.  I think that is what people are interested in reading.  So this year I plan to make connections and be real.

HAPPY NEW DAY, my friends!

What are your GOALS or RESOLUTIONS for 2016?

Finished Product Friday

I have a lot to say lately so I will just let the pictures speak for themselves. The first two pictures are of a tshirt quilt I made for my brother as his high school graduation gift. He is now playing football at The University of the South. I am super proud of him and can't wait to watch him throw the pigskin around this season.

And I crocheted 2 more mermaid quilts.

And crocheted 10 flower coasters.

And sewed a superhero quilt.

If you are interested in ordering a quilt or crocheted items, leave a comment below or message me on Facebook. Wait times are about 4 weeks so plan ahead for Christmas. Prices vary.

Happy weekend, my friends.

Finished Product Friday

Life has been crazy lately.  Being a stay-at-home mom is hard work. This 2-year-old is wearing this 34-week-pregnant-mom out.

He is nonstop energy, sweetness, entertainment development, and discovery. This makes me feel blessed to have this extra time one-on-one with my sweet little man to be a part of all of it. It amazes me how quickly he learns about the world that is so new to him. It is crazy to watch him go from the kid saying a word or two and us racking our brains to figure out what he is trying to tell us, to a kid communicating in sentences..."I watch Mickey TV please, Mommy?" "Mommy pitch gloves?" "I have more pop tarts, please?" "I sorry for hit, Mommy." "I love you SOOO MUCH!" 

But he is also a little frustration, confusion, crabbiness, whiny, noisy, aggressive, and rebellious. The whole terrible twos is not a myth. I wouldn't call him terrible by any means but his newfound independence has made him a little sassy. He thinks rules don't apply. He thinks anything and everything is his for the taking and messing and throwing. He thinks he can always have what he wants when he wants it. And when he doesn't get it, he thinks it is perfectly acceptable to hit or bite or cry to tell you just how much he wants it. And that makes me so tired, and frustrated and impatient at times. Sometimes I lose my temper. Sometimes I don't use MY inside voice. Sometimes I temporarily forget that he is still a new human just learning how to be a person, just as much as I am a newish mother learning how to be a parent. But I have also seen God building up in me more patience and calm than I had before. I am learning that I can't do it alone. I am seeing more of God's grace in the moments where I mess up and Shea turns out okay anyways. The times when I have to tell my little boy sorry for how I reacted and he hugs me and says he loves me remind me of my Father's love and forgiveness.

 There is no still or chill in this little one. But because he is more or less an energy drink in a 27-pound package, he is FINALLY taking decent naps. 

And what a blessing that 1-2 hours a day has been. Not only do I get to fight him for 15 minutes to stay in bed, but I get to spend the next 10 minutes or so singing and cuddling my little person and holding his hand until he finally gives up fighting. Then I get to do the other things I love, like crocheting and sewing. And thanks to that quiet time, here is what I have finished this week. Before this week I have been busy making memory blankets like these twin onesie quilts.

But this week I have been doing IN-MEMORY projects. A dear friend from high school sent me this message a little while back.

"Hey Meredith,

Hope you are doing well, I see you're expecting your second little boy is well. 😊 I have a couple of sort of special baby quilts I would like to have made I was wondering if you were possibly interested in doing them for me...I am expecting another boy in July, and my brother Alex is expecting his first at the end of August. We were both very close to my grandmother who passed away in 2008, and for as long as anyone can remember she was always wearing the silk pajamas. Not real silk of course just some kind of fake polyester. I have a pair of those and I would like to have a baby quilt made for both of our children that incorporated those pajamas into patches. nothing large just small baby quilts." 

So here is what she got. This is quilt #1.

Working on number 2 during today's nap if all goes as planned...which it often doesn't.

This is the second In-Memory project I finished this week...another mermaid wrap blanket.

This one was extra special, and here is why. This is the text I received with her custom order.

"Oh my gosh I have been looking for someone to make these for me for a year now! My best friend and I both shared a love for mermaids and she passed away last summer, our favorite colors were pink and purple and she loved lime green, could I possibly get one with those colors?"

I love how it turned out and so did she. 

I hope it brings her comfort. 

I would love to do more projects like these (or any projects for that matter), so message me here or on Facebook if you are interested. 

To-Do List Tuesday-Before Baby #2

Baby Patten Turner Strauss will be joining the family soon.  Not sure when, but going from previous experience with his big brother, Shea, who decided to mix things up by trying to come 7 weeks early, it could be soon. But if he decided to be like most babies he may not be here until his due date on July 29th. Gotta wait and see.

But there is quite a to-do list to finish before he arrives. I am blessed to say that list is MUCH shorter than it was last week. My dad and little brother came and did some extensive house-prepping and cleaning and detailing the past several days. I cannot thank them enough for all of the love and hard work they put into our house that had bit by bit gotten a little out of hand.

They cleaned out our whole garage and added shelves to store our stuff that doesn't have a spot in the house. That included burning a pile of about 70 cardboard boxes that had accumulated since we moved in a few years ago, and shop-vaccing crawly critters who decided to make those boxes home. As soon as we have our next yard sale we will be able to fit 2 cars in the garage, which hasn't been possible since we moved here.  

The kitchen appliances are sparkling, the windows are clean, the floors and baseboards are scrubbed. A few minutes ago Shea left the living room and headed in the kitchen.  He's supposed to stay in the living room with me. When I asked him to come back he started crying. "I white, I white." I am not yet fluent in toddler speak but I am getting there. I was stumped.  I said, "show Mommy what you want."  He grabbed a dish towel off the stove, ran back in the room, and proceeded to "white" (wipe) the windows.  "I clean, Mommy."  He has learned a servant's heart by watching the people he loves and looks up to.  I think his love language is acts of service like his daddy and my daddy.  So I smiled and thanked him and gave him a big hug because my love language is physical touch.  :)

Paint has been touched up. We could probably sell this house tomorrow if we wanted to.  They left early this morning to drive back to Texas leaving behind a different house than the one they arrived at.  We are truly grateful.  

To-Do List

-Finsh organizing Patten's nursery and Shea's bedroom

-have another yard sale to clear out the rest of the garage

-clean my bedroom and bathroom as well as the rest of the house has been cleaned

-organize my arts and crafts from the studio in my basement (see previous post)

-finish the edging on My brother's high school t-shirt quilt

-make some quilts for my friend from high school

It's done list

-twin onesie quilts

-puppy quilt for Ryder

-photo props for Lorie 

(who happened to have done an amazing job on Shea's one and 2 year old pictures)

Www.lorieallison.com

-a crocheted baby blanket

-and another mermaid wrap blanket

If you are interested in having me make you something, either message me on Facebook or leave a comment at the bottom of this post.

I love my crazy life and am so thankful for the help with the craziness.

Today's to-do list includes joining my hubby for lunch at UTC followed by a visit to the doctor to check up on our little Patten...hopefully followed by a nap for the other little one when we get home.

We may not have it all together at the Strauss house, but we are on our way, works-in-progress. And God is using us and molding us and teaching us and humbling us and LOVING US in the midst of the madness.

My verse for today:

If I say "my foot slips," your mercy will hold me up. In the multitude of my anxieties within me, your comforts delight my soul. Psalms 94:18-19

I was anxious, thinking "how in the world will it all get done? We aren't even close to being ready for Patten. This place is a mess and I don't know where to start. How are we going to afford another one?" But it is getting done. And we have been blessed with resources and help to make life more organized. And God will provide what we need just like he always does. He has brought comfort and joy to my soul in the form of organization and family.  Now that they have headed home, I am homesick but I'm looking forward to a family reunion soon when Patten comes. 

Inspire Me Monday-Monika soon-to-be Patel

So normally my Inspire Me Monday posts are about artists and crafters that inspire me with their work.  But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that my inspiration has come from other places lately...most recently from my dear friend, Monika.

This past month has been my most creative month in a while.  I think I can attribute that to lots of things.  First, I would have to say that I have made more things because I have had more orders than I normally do.  I am grateful for that.  It will keep me busy after school gets out for the summer.  My last day of school this year is May 22.  I don't know who is more excited, me or the students.  I like teaching, and I like my kids, but I am glad that school isn't year-round.  All that to say I am glad I have something to keep me busy this summer besides just my little boy and my hubby...who I am super looking forward to spending more time with really soon.

  :)   This is the longest list of orders I have ever had outside of the holiday season.

1. 4 Mermaid Tail Blanket Wraps-DONE...This is where I can say that inspiration came from a friend.  Blakely, one of my husband's co-workers posted a link to mermaid tail patterns on my Facebook and within a day I had people requesting I make them.  They were really fun to make and I hope I get to make more in the near future.
   
   
   
2. 2 T-shirt Quilts-DONE
   One is not pictured because it is a surprise.
3. Heart Quilt-DONE
   
4. Secret Special Surprise for my LITTLE brother who is graduating from high school in 2 weeks-WIP (work in progress)
   
5. Onezie Quilts for twins-one boy and one girl-WIP
   
6. Crocheted Football Headbands-To-do list
7. Newborn Crocheted Elephant Hat and Diaper Cover-WIP
8. Teddy Bear Quilt-waiting on fabric to arrive from Etsy
   
   
9. T-shirt Quilt Order-waiting on shirts
10. Quilt for my dear friend and her Hubby-to-be!-DONE
    
    

This dear friend of mine, Monika, has been an inspiration to me since we were roommates and teammates on the track and cross-country team at UTC. 

She is a jack-of-all trades, that woman.  I am inspired by her ambition and ability to throw her whole heart into a variety of hobbies and callings and passions and be a rockstar at all of them.  If this tells you anything about her, her wedding is next Saturday and she spent literally all day yesterday preparing for her physical therapy final today.  Next year she will be graduating from PT school.  So yesterday her only break was catching up on life with me over some Crust Pizza.  I felt special.  As I pulled up to her house to park my car, I was greeted by a giant community garden that Monika created herself.  It has brought the people of the community together and is a source of food and fun for the neighborhood.  And she made it on her own.  No one asked her to or paid her to or praised her for it.  She just saw a need in the community and an empty lifeless space owned by a neighborhood church and she asked them if she could give it life.  Look at it now.  It used to be a lot overrun with weeds and now it is a beautiful garden.

I am so excited about the new adventure she is soon embarking on with a great man.  I just pray that her marriage is as much of a treasure and light in her life as mine has been.  I pray they continue to make each-other's hearts happy and inspire each-other to more wonderful things.  I can't wait to see what the Patel team does.  Here is a testament to Monika's awesomeness and Pranav's love for her...proof that these two will do more for the world together than they ever would apart.  This is what Pranav said of Monika on their wedding website.

Why I chose Monika

Her determination, honesty, and humility are magnetic. She maintains an active, yet simple lifestyle, helping others and contributing to our community. She's adaptable and all-accepting.  She has an unconditional giving nature in every act.  She's in sync with nature, reads often, and has not missed a single day of journaling since the age of six, which shows discipline, commitment to one life principle. Mark Twain, one of Monika's favorite authors, made a statement when announcing his engagement, and nothing could ring more true for my feelings toward her:

"I am not worrying about whether you will love my future wife or not—if you know her twenty-four hours & then don’t love her, you will accomplish what nobody else has ever succeeded in doing since she was born. She just naturally drops into everybody’s affections that comes across her."


So I have concluded that if Monika can do it all, I can do it all, too.  I can't wait until her wedding next weekend.  It is going to be a blast.

This was her on my wedding day RAPPING...yes RAPPING a "speech" at my reception.  I won't be rapping but I do plan on returning the favor as creatively as possible. ;)

I can't wait to share in her special day in 6 days! Eek!