oh, hi!

i have been bad about blogging.  which is okay.  i think it's like any hobby, with peaks and valleys.  i wanted to make sure i caught up on some stuff though, before the new year begins.

 i got a new sewing machine for my birthday! hooray!  i've been making little zippered pouches and practicing my quilting on oven mitts.  although to be honest, i have yet to make an oven mitt that has worked.  all the mistakes have been pretty illuminating, though, and at some point i will make an oven mitt that is both cute and useful.  someday.  sigh.

 

the boys are now a little over eight months old. not quite grown up cats, but still pretty kitten-ish.  they are GIANT.  here is vince in a tote bag.  that face! they both love hiding in bags, boxes, and on top of clean laundry.  what cat doesn't?

i made some tie-dyed tote bags for xmas presents this year.  i love tie-dye.  the hippie part of me is still very active, i guess. 

i was talking the other day of creating a place to store and display my ever-growing collection of tote bags.  my thought was to put it right behind the door of my bedroom, but D said it would be pretty cool in the space by the entryway.  we live in a split-level, so when you walk in, there's a lot of wall space right there.  currently i've been adding photos to one area, which has filled a small area.  the tote bags would look great there, though, and fill the area better.  i'm excited about working on that project.

i think 2014 will see a lot more home improvement projects around here.  we had an issue with a broken pipe out in the driveway (which we were lucky enough to be able to fix ourselves!), which made us think about what we have saved up, what things needs to be done around the house, and make a plan.  first we need a new oven (boooooo), so that will go on layaway at sears.  then i want to finish our bedroom (paint it and lower the bed a bit, maybe make a headboard), and work on the entryway.  we have an honest-to-goodness spare bedroom now too, and we're going to try our hand at laying down laminate and put up some bookshelves.  we've decided it will be a good room to practice in.  when it's done, it will be a room full of books and where we can do yoga and meditate. a nice, quiet spot, as well as a good place for guests to stay. 

the holidays were great, the kids are doing well, and i'm trying to spend less time on the internet and more time doing other stuff.  which makes for boring blogging!  i put a lot of random things over on tumblr, though, if you want to check that out.  i hope your holiday was great, and that 2014 treats you well!