2012, All Wrapped Up and Tied in a Bow

I tried to think of all the highlights of this year, and I know for a fact I've left out some major ones. So let's just say here are a few highlights of 2012:

4 vacations--Hawaii in March, Southern Utah in June, Seattle in September, and Jackson in October.

It is always best to travel with and go to visit the ones you love in your life.

5 new release movies--7 if you count seeing Hunger Games twice and seeing Les Mis twice (yes, already)

Favorite movie of the year

7 quilts/quilting projects completed--a few more started but not finished yet.

Favorite Quilting

Most work put into, happy with the results

Favorite quilt of the year

17 Baby books/scrapbooks scanned, merged, and published into 7 volumes--two more to publish.

Winner of most valued project of the year (and best kept secret for months)

Only possible because of Audrey's tutelage

I scanned 17 books the size of the two on the right.

49 books read--not a record, but still a lot of books

So many books, so little time

Here are two of my favorite first time reads of this year

December Report

Each month I dread having to do this report. In the end, it never takes very long, and it is completely for me. Here it is December and I had decided a month ago that I would only do this for 2012, and not continue for 2013. Now that I look back on the year, I realize I did a lot more towards keeping my goals and resolutions this year than ever before, because I took a look at the results each month. I can actually remember what I tried to accomplish this year instead of drawing a complete blank on the last 11 months of my life.

Reporting each month kept me accountable to myself. I feel great about my goals for this year. Was I perfect in keeping/attaining them? Not by any means. Did I learn anything from trying to keep these goals? Tons. Am I happy with my level of "completion"? Yes, I'm thrilled.

Today I am outlining what I hope to keep focused on for next year. But for now, here is my final monthly report for 2012:

1. First things first: Eating right, exercising, and saying my prayers and reading my scriptures. I did all right with this goal, but I do know it is a lifetime goal that can always be strengthened and improved upon. This is a focus I want to keep primary in my life.
2. One shelf/drawer per day: I did some of that this month, not a ton. I must say it's my favorite goal for the year. I did not end up doing every shelf and drawer in the house, and I did not do it every day. I did feel like I made major strides in this area, and no longer feel overwhelmed by the task. I'll be incorporating this into my goals for next year in a new way.
3. 30-30-30: This is perhaps the most effective manner of keeping myself focused on whatever task I am working on that I have found in my life. It won't be a goal/resolution this next year per se for me, but it is well incorporated into my life right now, and I hope to keep it that way.
4. Skype/Webcam: Technology swept in and took care of this goal for me. Really, FaceTime takes care of all this and I video through that with my grandchildren on a fairly regular basis. However, I did get a webcam installed early this year and used it a few times before I had FaceTime available. And I must say that I spent four minutes (yes, four) right before writing this post signing up for, and getting all set up on Skype. So now I have that option also. This is so typical of me--taking 12 months to accomplish a four minute goal. So silly. But at least now it is done.
5. Digital Photo Storage: I am all set to get going next year on this. I've learned how, and now I will apply that knowledge. It is my way of recording our family history. Mine, my own family, and my family growing up. I'm excited to do this.

That is December, and really 2012, in a nutshell.

Calico Palace by Gwen Bristow

My guess is this is my final read for 2012. It seems unlikely that I will finish a book today.

Another fun Gwen Bristow book. This one takes place in San Francisco during the California Gold Rush. It was interesting to learn so much about what life was like then and there. I liked it a lot, but I think Celia Garth and Jubilee Trail rank just a little higher for me among her books.

TV Tray Ironing Board

When I went to the Utah Valley Quilt Guild Retreat back in November, I saw a few of these TV tray ironing boards. What a clever idea for travel--they fold flat for transport, and don't take up much space in your quilting area. But they are nice and firm and make a good ironing surface when piecing.

I made three this week. One for Trish, whose birthday is this week, and one for Audrey (a late Christmas gift) and one for me (just because). I learned a few things along the way.

I loosely followed a tutorial found here.
I made a few changes:
1. They suggest using home decor fabric that is thicker and more durable. Probably a good idea. I chose regular fabric that I liked. Then I put a layer of muslin underneath. Maybe not as durable, but sure cute!
2. I cut the top fabric 5 inches larger than the TV tray instead of 3 inches. For example, my TV tray was 15" X 19". I cut the fabric 20" X 24".
3. I only used 2 layers of batting and one layer of Insul-Brite. That was plenty.
4. Instead of trimming the batting at right angles at the corners, I trimmed them diagonally. (Took three trays to figure that out.)

My husband manned the staple gun, and did an immaculate job of it. That fabric is not coming off anytime soon.

 

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

In 1941 Stalin was busy trying to eliminate Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia. In order to do that he deported thousands and thousands of people. Many of them were sent to Siberia.

This book is a story about the deportation of a 15 year old girl and her family from Lithuania. It was a compelling read. I was worried about it being too depressing. Somehow it wasn't. Yes, it talks about hard things, but it also talks about the importance of hope and a desire to live. It is a young adult book, and I like the way many of the situations were handled in light of that fact.

I was not aware about this mass deportation at all. At first I was worried that they would be exterminated like Hitler did the Jews, but at least in this story, that didn't happen. It's scary to me that this kind of thing happens so easily without the rest of the world knowing anything about it. China, Germany, Russia and so many other countries have suppressed what we as Americans consider to be unalienable rights. It's a blessing to live here. We need to make sure to exercise our rights to vote and keep the freedoms we have.

December Photos

Things remain hectic around here, and blogging has taken a back seat. So I decided to include some December highlights in this post. It's mostly pictures. 

One thing it lacks is photos of Christmas gifts I made this year. I was so busy trying to get them done in time (all but three got finished) that I sent them off with no pictures to record what I made. I did Christmas pillowcases this year. I swear I took pictures of them when I made them, but can't find the photos. Then I made little quilted bags for a few friends. No pictures of those either. Oh well. I'll try to be better about that.

Here is the last half of our month in photos:

December 16--Ray's birthday. Beth's is the 17th so we had a double celebration. Tri-tip, potato-cheese casserole (most people know this as funeral potatoes), and Caesar salad. Brownies for dessert.

Ray and Joanne Linford, Carolyn and Emily Urban, Bruce, Andrew, Rachel, Ray
Ray, Beth

The Birthday Boy and Birthday Girl: Ray and Beth

 December 18--Trish Derrick and I drove to Wendover to watch my grandchildren in a dance recital.Two plus hours of driving (each way) for about 10 minutes of dancing (total). It was worth it.

Elizabeth

Austin and Matthew. Their dance was choreographed to "The Nightmare Before Christmas"

 December 25--Christmas! The Hanks were here all day, and the Petersen's came in the afternoon. My parents joined us for dinner.

Elizabeth, Matthew, Austin

Elizabeth

Matthew

Austin

Joseph

Audrey

Beth with her Yankees purse. I wanted to keep it.

Andrew

Elizabeth and Rachel

Ray

Elizabeth, my mother, Rachel

Our Christmas pajama picture. The first totally happy one in years. Of course, Andrew isn't in the picture yet.

All the kids (except my Washington grands - oh, how we miss them!) and Beth. Mostly happy... 

Les Miserables

I've seen the play at least a dozen times. It's my all time favorite. I've been excited to see the movie and bought the tickets a few weeks ago. We saw it first thing Christmas morning.

One word: Magnificent.

Merry Christmas!