Yes, two posts in one night!

I've done this meme 4 years previously, and I always enjoy it, so here it is for this year:

1. What did you do in 2013 that you’d never done 
before? I hosted a crafting slumber party. 

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? One goal for last year for me was to lose some weight and get in better shape. I'm still early on in my journey, but I did make some progress toward that. I want to continue that in the new year. I also have some financial goals that are really more prayer requests, because I know it will take God's hand on us to make them happen.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? My sister-in-law Faith and my friend Melanie.

4. Did anyone close to you die? My uncle passed away Saturday. I wasn't super close to him, but his wife is my dad's twin sister, and she was always one of my favorite aunts. 

5. What countries did you visit? Just this one.

6. What would you like to have in 2014 that you lacked in 2013? A bigger house! And if we're dreaming, a new HE washer and dryer, Photoshop, Lightroom, and a decent lighting setup. Oh, and a new camera bag! :)

7. What dates from 2013 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? November 21st, the day Liam was born.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Getting the Christmas gifts done and delivered on time. And at one point I had Jack's room spotless, although that's no longer the case.

9. What was your biggest failure? Just the general craziness of the housework situation. It wasn't for lack of trying, but I do wish I had been more on top of things, and hope to be much better about it in the coming year.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? No, thank God, since I was without insurance this year. 

11. What was the best thing you bought? Well, I love my Macbook, but I didn't buy it, so that probably doesn't count. I love my Kindle, and I also got a 35MM lens for my Nikon. 

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Nick has worked so hard at exercising and losing weight, and I'm so proud of him! Morgan has also struggled some this year with school (please don't get me started on Common Core), but she's worked really hard and is currently passing all her classes. Daisy also (finally) conquered potty training, and Jack started walking back in March and hasn't slowed down since. I'm immensely proud that Morgan became a Christian in June, and Nick has continued to grow tremendously in his spiritual walk.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? 
I try to keep it apolitical on here, but I continue to be disappointed in the attitude and actions of our President. 

14. Where did most of your money go? Bills, diapers, gas.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? 
Church camp, and our trip to Texas.

16. What song will always remind you of 2013? The Gummy Bear song. This is a silly little song that Morgan and Daisy both liked initially. Now they hate it, but Jack thinks it's the greatest thing he's ever heard, and it gets him happy and dancing when nothing else will.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? Probably happier - money is a little better, this week anyway, and I fall more in love with my husband and kids every day. b) thinner or fatter? I'm going to say thinner! c) richer or poorer? A little richer. Kate and Will sent us some Christmas money this year, and although it was considerably less than the last Christmas check they sent two years ago, it was enough to pay the bills this week and buy gas and groceries.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Sleeping.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Going on too little sleep.

20. How did you spend Christmas? With family, eating, opening gifts.

21. Did you fall in love in 2013? Yes, with my husband, my daughters, and my son!

22. What was your favorite TV program? Sons of Anarchy, Criminal Minds, Glee, Haven, Psych, Law and Order SVU

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Nah

24. What was the best book you read? Well, I read PK's book a couple of days ago, and I loved it every bit as much as I knew I would! I can't wait for her next one!

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? I'm afraid I don't have an answer to this one. 

26. What did you want and get? A better laptop and an external hard drive. Also, a 35mm lens.

27. What did you want and not get? A bigger house, a new washer and dryer

28. What was your favorite film of this year? I think the only movie we saw in the theater this year was Monsters University, and it was really cute.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 36, and I stayed home and watched Jack and Daisy. My mom did come over for a little while and watch them so I could clean, and my in-laws took us out to Chick-Fil-A that night.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? More money? More money certainly would have made it easier, but we were inordinately blessed. I would say that more frequent and consistent discipline would have probably been a positive thing for me and our lives in general.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2013? Same old jeans and cute shirts I'm afraid.

32. What kept you sane? trusting God to take care of us. Also, Nick has shown tremendous spiritual growth over the last year, which has been wonderful for our marriage.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? I can't say that I was all that caught up in Hollywood this year.

34. What political issue stirred you the most? I'm more than a little irritated with the continuing health care fiasco. Also, I'm not a fan of the Common Core curriculum

35. Who did you miss? My friend Ann

36. Who was the best new person you met? Liam!

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2013. That God's provisions do not depend upon me constantly updating Nick on our financial status and needs. This year He told me to just shut up about it and trust Him, and He's come through every time.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. I can't really think of a good answer for this one. 

I can't believe another year has gone by! Jack will be TWO on Thursday, and it's killing me! Today is our 10 year anniversary of the day we started practicing DD, and 16 years since the first time Nick spanked me. It's been a good life with him, and I wouldn't trade him for anyone!

2013 by the numbers

14 photo shoots

18 Etsy orders

1 birthday slumber party

72 blog posts

12 spankings I was promised 

4 spankings Nick let go

8 spankings I actually got

127 spankings I deserved but were never mentioned

89 handmade Christmas gifts

1 trip out of state

2 hours stuck on a bridge in Louisiana with a vomiting toddler

1 kid potty trained

1 new family member born

1 family member passed away (my uncle passed 2 days ago)

26 trips to Hobby Lobby

8 trips to Joann's

7 trips to Michael's

13 trips to Goodwill

20ish pillow covers made

30ish skirts made

5 trips to the ER

1 child's dental surgery

4 date nights

1 flooded bathroom

1 new family gym membership

19 pounds lost

2 craft exchanges

2 ASE tests passed

1 pay raise

1 craft show

Countless needs met and blessings received!

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Ours was very sweet, although there has been a little sadness too. One of my aunts had a stroke a few weeks ago, so the yearly celebration at my dad's family was cancelled, as she will be in the hospital for at least the rest of the month. And another aunt is at her husband's hospital bedside as he fights for his life after an unexpected episode a couple of days ago. Two of my aunts (sisters) married brothers. Around this time last year one of my uncles by marriage passed away. The one in the hospital now is the brother of the one who died last year, and we would really appreciate your prayers for his recovery.

We're coming up on our 10 year DD anniversary here in a few days. The punishment I mentioned in my last post was cancelled, and there's been one since promised but not delivered, although we've been very busy with family, and I've been trying to get some cleaning done in between celebrations and gift making, so he may have decided to postpone that one indefinitely as well. I'd love to think we might have a sweet evening to mark the anniversary with maybe some not-punishment spanking, but I'm not really holding out too much hope for that. 

I'll post more about Christmas later, but for now I need a something that doesn't require too much creativity on my part, so I'm posting this fun Christmas meme I stole from PK. :)

Wrapping Paper or Gift Bags?

I'm a shameless gift bagger. I hate to wrap with a passion, and I'm really bad at it, so gift bags it is.

Hardest person to buy for?

Well, I make most of the gifts that leave our house, but I'd say the hardest person to make/buy for is Will, Nick's sister Kate's husband. I feel like I don't know him very well, and because they're so very well off financially, he pretty much buys whatever he wants himself. I work hard every year to come up with something that he will enjoy and not be able to go out and just buy himself.

Easiest person to buy for?

All three of my kids. Jack is little enough to be happy with just about anything, and Daisy is so sweet and grateful for everything she gets. Morgan, being almost a teenager, is a little tougher, only because she wants some things I can't make, but she's also still very happy with the things that I can make. 

Do you have a nativity scene?

I do, although I just realized when reading this that we forgot to put it out this year. It's a Willow Tree set, which I collect, and I'm pretty sad now that it didn't make it out this year.

 

Mail or email Christmas Cards?

Every year I promise myself I'll get cards made and sent out, but it usually doesn't happen. At church they pass out a Christmas card list and have alphabetized bins for you to put them all in, and we did manage those this year. 

  

Worst Christmas Gift ever received?

Probably the safari themed muumuu my mom got me a couple of years ago. Yes, a muumuu. I'm not a small girl, but my mom seems to be under the impression that I'm considerably bigger than I really am, and for years she bought me clothes that were sometimes 2 or 3 sizes too big. She's done better the last couple of years, and even bought me a shirt I really like this year, but that muumuu was a doozie.

Favorite Christmas movie?

Probably Christmas Vacation, although I also love A Christmas Story.

  

When do you start shopping for Christmas?

I usually start making things in September for Daisy's birthday in early October, and Christmas gift making kicks into gear from there.

 

Have you ever recycled a present?

On occasion. Usually gift cards when we don't have anything else to give.

Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?

Cookies, cakes, crackers, cheese ball, candy, pie, cake…

  

White or colored lights on tree?

I like both, but we usually have a tree with white lights.

  

Favorite Christmas song?

O Holy Night

Travel or stay home at Christmas?

All of our family except for Kate and Will and their kids are local to us, so we stay in town.

Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer?

I can.

Angel, Star or as tree topper?

For years our tree has been kind of fishing lodge themed (although I'd love to update it to something more traditional), so we usually top it with a miniature fishing hat.

Open presents Christmas Eve or morning?

This year we went to my mom's family on the 21st, my parents' house on the 23rd, Nick's aunt and uncle's house on the 24th, our house Christmas morning, then Nick's parents' house that afternoon.

 

Favorite theme or ornament?

I personally collect Naughty ornaments, although sadly I didn't find any this year. 

Favorite for Christmas dinner?

Anything I don’t have to cook.

  

What do you want for Christmas? 

Money to pay the bills would be ideal.

Who is most likely to respond to this meme?

I think I’m one of the last

Prayer requests and possible punishments...

Hello, everyone. Not a whole lot to report, mostly just checking in. I'm working on the skirts an old classmate ordered, and I'm trying to clean house and plan Christmas gifts. The house kind of got put on the backburner while I was sewing,  and I thought I was going to get a spanking. It's possible that might still happen, although Nick hadn't decided last time he mentioned it. I'm quite sure I deserve it, but mostly I just wish he'd tell me one way or the other so my brain can move on. 

I've got some serious financial needs this week for several bills, in the next couple of days actually, and I would really appreciate you praying with me for God's timely provision. 

Nick and I do have a date night Saturday night for his company Christmas party, and I'm really looking forward to that! Anyway, that's what's shakin' around our house these days. What's up with you guys?