Nurture.

This is my word.
It was an immediate knowing this year.
No hunting for the right word.
It was just waiting for me to get to it, to pick it up & see how it felt.
Nurture.

Definition:
verb.
1. to feed & protect
2. to support & encourage
3. to bring up, train eduacate

noun.
4. rearing, upbringing, training, education
5. development
6. something that nourishes, nourishment

I especially like the verb definitions.
I feel like this one little word speaks to so many aspects of my life, especially the realtionships in my life....with myself, my friends, & family. I'm excited to see how it develops & informs my year. 

Have you chosen your word yet? 

I maybe should have done this two days ago, but better late than never...   :)

I'm wrapping up my 2011 One Little Word...I thought I'd share my thoughts in how this project worked out for me, the things I'm keeping for this new year, & the things I'm letting go.

I didn't work very hard at allowing my word to change my life in 2011. I discovered here at the end looking back that it informed who I was anyway. I made new friends & developed new relationships - something that is usually very hard for me to do in real life because I am so shy. I embraced who I am just a little bit more, embraced my little quirks & laughed at myself more than I beat myself up. That alone seems amazing to me. Bloom was about getting healthier, I just didn't realize in the beginning it was about more than the physical act of making my body healthier. It was also about making my internal world healthier, loving who I am a little more, being kinder with myself, facing a fear or two. I love that my word surprised me this year.

I'd also like to talk a moment about my goals, what worked, what didn't, what I'm carrying over...

Goal #1 was to eat more veggies. Done. This is my new way of life & I love it. I'm not 100% vegetarian, I like to tell people I'm about 95% all veg all the time. But, if I feel like I'm craving something - BBQ wings or crab bisque or turkey for Thanksgiving then I eat what I'm craving & don't beat myself up about it. I also don't make a big stink when I go to someone's house & my option for a veg dinner is coleslaw. Sometimes I can eat all sides & it's totally a meal, other times I eat what's on the menu & move on. I plan to keep this up, & try to think more creatively when I'm in situations where I feel like I don't have a vegetarian option.

Goal #2 was Activity 365. I bombed this a quarter of the way through the year. I feel like maybe I set such a strict ideal for myself I just could not maintain the intensity I thought I should have. So, I am carrying this over to 2012, but with the caveat that I need to be gentler with myself & my expectations of how I make this part of my life. I don't have to spend an hour on the treadmill for me to feel like it 'counts'. I need to find a way to do this so that it can just be part of who I am & not something I torture myself with in the process of or with the failure of.

Goal #3 was a 5k. This never did work out, even though I still think it would be fun to walk one. I'm not carring this over as a goal but will embrace the opportunity should it come up. I still love the idea of a whole group of my family & friends getting together & supporting each other in this endeavor but as a goal it just is not for me.

Goal #4 was to learn to knit in the round. Which didn't happen. It turned out that my creative learning process had another goal in mind - to learn to knit lace - which totally did happen! So, I'm rewording this goal to be - learn a new creative skill. I definitely plan to do that in 2012. Maybe this will be the year for knitting in the round. Ya never know. :)

I'm excited to share my new word for 2012 with you, but that will come in a nother post. I'm still getting comfortable with it today. What I would love to know though is how you word/goals/life changed over the course of the year. Did you change in unexpected ways too? How was 2011 for you & your family? I'm praying there was more laughter than tears, more blessings than sorrow, & more love in your life.

Heeelllooooo.....
Are you still out there??
Has it been forever? It sure feels that way! But, here I am back to share a little about what been happening around here...

First, my hardware issues aren't totally fixed, we improvised a fix that will keep me working while we decide what we want to do for a more permanent fix. So here I am! Second, I've been feeling like a busy bee the last couple of weeks & can't wait to share some cool stuff with you! I've been feeling like my 2011 One Little Word has really shown up around here recently & I am blooming in this new garden of friends in which I've been planted. Third, is that there is lots of real life work happening at our house recently. The pesky water leak we had hoped to fix ourselves (& never could find) has now been professionally dug up in our front yard. Only to discover the reason we couldn't find it is that it is under our house, cannot be repaired, & that we need to have a new line put in. Say Hello to the need to relandscape after that fiasco is completed! Also, we need a new roof...& a new air conditioner, as both succumbed to some hail damage earlier in the summer. It's like we're getting a whole new house! (OK, not really. Boo.) Anyway, in the midst of all this chaos of things going wrong, lets focus on the happy crafty things that have been going oh so very right around here!

On the top of that list is my mom's first quilt!
I'm calling it "Red Brick Road" because the pattern is called Yellow Brick Road & well, you can see that brick color! We've actually completed quite a set of quilty happiness with this fabric collection. A lap quilt, a table runner, & two pillows.

Sorry about those cell phone pictures again...a camera is on the Christmas List, I promise! :)

I love this quilt. I love it's wrinkly, quilty deliciousness. I love that it fits prefectly in my mom's house. I love that we worked magic on scraps to make accessories to match. Mostly, I love that we made it together!

My mom & I also whipped out 40 napkins from an order I recieved in one afternoon! (Of which I did not take any pictures, but the stack was mighty impressive. Trust me.) We shopped for fabric in the morning, had lunch, then I cut & ironed while she got the hemming done. I really think we can move mountains when she & I work together. I also believe that even though I'm not working in a traditional 'bringing home the bacon' kind of way - the time I get to spend really being & working on projects with my mom will always be some of the most precious times in my life. How many daughters get this kind of blessing in their lives?

Now, sweet readers I have to run run over to all of your spaces to catch up on all that is happening in your lives! I so missed you!

I'm daydreaming of flowers around here. Bright, happy, summery blooms. Wishing I could cover the table with little glass bottles of them, cover the garden in giant flowering shrubs.
Soon. Oh. so. soon.

I was wishing for these same sights in January when I picked my One Little Word & set my goals. I was dreaming of blooming in my world & in myself.

Since it has been a few months I thought I'd check-in, take stock, & revisit where I was, where I am, & where I'm headed...

I started the year all ready to change my life & work really hard at it.
Some of that I am still feeling, some of that (if I'm being totally honest) I'm not.
My goals for this year were:

1. More vegetables. Less meat, less sugar. (because I am not 'dieting' but striving to make better, more healthful food choices)
I'm getting better at this all the time. I've decided not to just eat less meat, but not to eat meat at all. Yep, going vegetarian! So far, I'm feeling really good about this. I haven't been missing the meat, & I already feel lighter in my skin & my pants. It is taking me some time to figure out how to cook with my new menu, but as I love to cook anyway, learning new recipes is a big plus for me.

2. Activity 365. (whether it's the Couch Potato to 5K Workout Plan I'm doing, a hike, or a long walk with the dogs - do something active everyday)
Well, I rocked at this the whole month of January...& then I took a day off...& that led to more days off...& now I'm just getting around to it sometimes. This is the area that most bums me out. I fell back into my old routine so easily. I still plan to work at it, try to do more, try to do something I can maintain. Really, any movement is better than no movement & any improvement on where I started...on the couch. If you are inclined to pray - this is my area of greatest need towards getting healthy. Going vegetarian is fairly easy since I LOVE veggies - but I definately DO NOT love working out. I so wish I did!

3. Walk/Run a 5K.
I have amended this one a lot! Especially since the time in which I had planned to make this a reality is now right smack in the middle of a roadtrip to California I'm taking with my mom. That doesn't mean I won't look into it for later in the year, or that I've given up on it all together. I've also found a route that I could do unofficially that wiould still be the 5k distance. I might just do that - with a bunch of family who would also like to walk it. And, yes, I would be walking it. I definitely discovered I am not a runner. Sad as that makes me feel, I get no joy from jogging or running. I basically spent every jog interval of my abandoned 5k plan praying to finish just so I could walk again. So, any 5k in this girl's future will be a walked 5k. Even though it does make me a little sad that I have to let go of that dream I had of hitting the trail in my cute running skirt, ponytail bouncing, & just hitting my stride at mile 3. OK, maybe I don't have to totally give it up...my stride is just gonna be a little slower than I had planned.

4. Learn to knit in the round.
Oh, yes, I'm getting closer to this one. I now have in my possession a set of double pointed needles & two circular needles! I have large flat-knit projects on them at the moment, but as soon as I get those finished & get reasy to start another project I'm casting on. I'm thinking about a pair of yoga socks...

There you have it.
This is me right now.
Thank you so much, sweet readers, for hanging in there with me. For coming back to read my blather about crafts, food, places, things, & all of this - my life.
I'm so glad you're there!

So, where are you in your 2011 goals? Are you hanging in? Changing it up? Abandoning it for new horizons? I'd love to know!

I picked my word & now it's time to set a few goals for the new year...
It has taken me a few days to come up with things not so specific that they really aren't yearly goals, & not so broad that I won't know if at the end of the year if I've done anything to work towards them.
Here is what I came up with, in no particular order...

1. More vegetables. Less meat, less sugar. (because I am not 'dieting' but striving to make better, more healthful food choices)
2. Activity 365. (whether it's the Couch Potato to 5K Workout Plan I'm doing, a hike, or a long walk with the dogs - do something active everyday)
3. Walk/Run a 5K.
4. Learn to knit in the round.

I could include several more crafty type goals here...about quilting, about knitting, about embroidery, or sales, or cooking, or painting...but I chose my goals more for lifestyle changes than for craft style changes.
Why?
Because craft stuff is easy for me & I feel like my goals should be a challenge to be met. And, I know from personal experience when I tell myself a crafty something I *have to* do I automatically do not want to do it. I'm just wierd like that.
I did include the knitting in the round because it is a step up in my current knitting process & intimidates me a little. And, not to say that I won't be learning just tons of new crafty things throughout the year, but it's nice to have a learning goal for myself.

Do you set yearly goals?
This is actually my first time really writing out some goals & really working towards them. I'm pretty excited about it...of course it is only Day 5 - so I am praying my excitement can be sustained longer than a week! :)
Onward!

A friend of mine introduced my to the One Little Word concept last year. And, while I didn't participate last year I've been thinking about how to incorporate it in into my 2011. Here is a post to give you the inside scoop if you are interested. Basically you pick a word you want to inform your year, a word to speak to you, a word to focus on, a word to challenge you, a word to inspire you.

For 2011 my word is Bloom.
Why Bloom?
Well, I knew my overall goal for 2011 was to be working towards healthy. But, healthy just didn't quite capture the true meaning of what I want to strive for. I want to feel alive inside, I want to feel proud of myself, I want to work towards the me I was created to be....I want to Bloom!

~a flourishing, healthy condition; the time or period of greatest beauty, artistry, etc
~a glow or flush on the cheek indicative of youth and health
~to flourish or thrive

Have you thought about picking a word for the New Year? What might yours be?