New Year...New Start

It's a new year...time to turn over a new leaf!  Right?  Let's hope so!  I have a good feeling about the year 2015!!  I'm so ready to leave 2014 in the dust!

I've started a couple of big projects I hope to finish this year.  They are substantial, but ones I truly WANT to finish and frame.  I started them both on New Year's day, so lets see if my wishes will come true!

The first is Aurora Cabin, a Dimensions Gold Treasure Kit.  It is stitched on 16 ct. Aida that came in the kit.  Wish me luck, as I HATE Aida...we'll see if my fingers can deal with this...as the first part I started stitching has me pulling SIX strands of floss through those little unyielding holes.  OUCH!!  Thankfully this is only half cross stitches, and only in a good portion of the sky.  If I can get past this part, the rest should be a breeze...keep your fingers crossed!

The second is The Red Thread by Bent Creek.  It is stitched on 32 ct linen over two...no Gillie...these are not stitched on 40 over one...feel better now?  LOL!!  I've already realized I didn't buy enough floss...ugh!!  I was hoping this would be the year I would stitch from stash.  I will forgive myself a few skeins of floss here and there, but I am determined to save money this year and only buy what I absolutely NEED...not want!!!

I finished up The Weather Vane by Little House Needleworks on New Years Eve...and that became my last finish for the year 2014!  I loved stitching this!!

I received a couple of cross stitch gifts for Christmas.  If all goes as planned, I hope to stitch up some characters from the nativity (Mill Hill Bead kits...8 of them so far...I hope to find and get the angel later as a belated Christmas gift from DH.)  I am going to stitch them on fabric, then make "cubes" out of them so I can have a new Nativity for my collection next Christmas.  Wish  me luck!! 

I also hope to finish two Christmas ornaments a month.  I tried to do that last year...and actually finished quite a few.  I lost track towards the end of the year, but I'm pretty sure I stitched at least 12...if not more.  It helped at the end of the year not to have such a crunch to get things done and out on time.

I'm also participating in another RR this year.  I posted pictures last time of the first one I've stitched on.  It's ready and waiting to go in the mail, as soon as I get my buns in gear.  Hopefully tomorrow!

Lastly, I hope to finish up some WIPS I have floating around here.  It is so unlike me to not finish something I started, but I am totally in over my head with some of the UFOs I started and then set aside.  One BIGGIE...is the afghan I started for my Mom.  I hope to finish that this month.  *fingers, toes, arms, legs and eyes crossed*  Yes...I do look like  a demented pretzel in this position, and it makes it hard to stitch...so wish me luck...will you?

We squeezed in a little trip to the National Aquarium in Baltimore the day after Christmas.  It's always a good time with my guys...they keep me in stitches! 

I've been reflecting on the past year, mainly because each year we write a letter for our Christmas cards, and it always amazes me how much we do, and how far we come in a year.  It's been a busy year for us, one full of ups and downs, trials and treasures.  I will say, as difficult as this year was for us, there were some really wonderful treats thrown in.  This year marked a month away from home caring for my Mom who suffered a ruptured aneurysm last January.  I made her promise not to get sick in the dead of winter again.  I was away for 6 weeks while the snow piled up around us...not my cup of tea anymore!  LOL  She is doing great since though!  I say it's because of  my amazing nursing skills, but actually her Dr. can take most of the credit.  He was amazing!!  We lost my MIL near the middle of the year.  Through the sadness and tears, we did connect with family members we hadn't seen in quite a long while, and healing took place too.  I'm a firm believer that out of every circumstance, good or bad, something good comes.  We learned my BIL has cancer and has been undergoing treatment, but at last report there has not been any spread of the disease, and he seems to be doing well.  There was a wedding in the family!  We were able to visit my cousin in NC briefly, and heard that her long lost brother was recently found and reconnected with the family.  We haven't heard from him in literally decades!!  We learned that there will be two new members of our family in the new year (a niece and a nephew's wife will be having babies), so we are rejoicing with them!  DH and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary with a life long dream of an Alaskan adventure.  The guys totally spoiled me on my birthday with a weekend trip out of town...we took in a dinner theater AND...got to attend a "meet and greet" of two of my favorite TV personalities...Jason Hawes and Steve Gonzalves.  What fun!!  Our son became a full time employee, received a raise and a promotion and finished his first two college courses with good grades.  He took a missions trip to Puerto Rico this year, which he paid fully on his own...so proud of the man he has become!  He has a heart for those in need and acts on it!  Sadly, he is making plans to move out with a couple of his friends.  The thought of being an empty-nester doesn't appeal to me so we are doing as much as we can with him while he still lives with us.  I'm happy he will be moving on, progress is a good thing, yet my heart is breaking a little too.  Yes...the good far outweighs the bad...and we enter into 2015 with high hopes of more good times ahead.  So...on that note...I wish you many blessings in the coming New Year, and hopes of lots of stitching progress!