Looking Forward to a Year of Peace and Quiet!

{Hello from Miss Brenna Evangeline who turned four last month!}

Welcome to The Homemaking Party! Whew! I don't know about you but this. year. This year. I don't really know what to say about 2016. It was a really tough one for us. Not relationally---praise God for that!! Just financially, emotionally---2016 just took it's toll on our family and I was not sad to kiss it goodbye!!

But 2017!!!! Oh yes! I have such hope for this coming year. One thing--the biggest most wonderful thing I'm going to do this year is a whole lot of nothing. Ha!! Well---nothing that I don't want to do. Do you ever just need one of those no-obligation years? I need one now. I'm gonna take it. {Watch this space to see how long this resolution holds out...hahaha!}

One beautiful thing about my husband is that he knows me well. Without even meaning to sometimes, he just does things that especially bless me and are meaningful in huge ways. This year's Christmas presents are a great example. He just chose things he knew I'd love and in so doing, he ended up getting something to represent each thing I'm going to make a priority this year. Totally didn't mean to---he's just awesome like that.

First was this new Kitchen Aid mixer. He won it in a drawing at work---can you believe it? Apparently, there's a drawing for one every Christmas season. So awesome! He'd bought me a red one back in 2005 or so but with constant use for a family of 11, that old girl is really showing her age. To me, this new mixer represents a renewed desire to provide wholesome nourishment for my family---and not just with food.

Secondly, he ordered this set of letter writing materials from Lost Art Revived. It's the Jane Austen Letter Writing Society Kit. How awesome is that? That's a second priority for this year---to keep in better contact with my pen friends and even establish some new pen pal relationships!

Third was this calendar. Jamie has bought me a new calendar every year since our first Christmas together. It's just a tradition that he started and I love it! He always picks one with beautiful artwork. What I love about the scenes in this one is that they're all peaceful and idyllic representations of American family life. One of my goals this year is to keep this calendar as empty as possible!

Next are these sweet Pioneer Woman bowls. They are one of the many things that I collect and display in my home to make it peaceful and inviting. These represent my desire to strive to create a comfortable place for family and friends to rest.

Finally, this beautiful Victorian-themed bookmark. One of the main things I want to fill my time with this year is reading lots of wonderful literature. I'm even hosting a Victorian Reading Challenge on my literature blog, Belle's Library.

In reality, I have no idea how this year will look! It could be a year of wildness and craziness bigger than I've ever seen! I suppose my resolution isn't so much to force a year of nothingness---but to be careful to leave my schedule and emotions free to handle the things that come my way unexpectedly.

Thanks so much for stopping by The Homemaking Party! I can't wait to see what you've got to share!

It's Still Christmas! Isn't It?

It's still Christmas, isn't it? Surely all that baking and buying and caroling and decorating and Scripture reading and thanks-giving wasn't for just one day, right? Today is Jamie's first day back to work but I'm not so sure I'm ready to get back into the swing of things.

I went to visit a friend yesterday and commented that my decorations would likely be up until Valentine's Day. She said hers would be, as well! Ha!

Yesterday I also visited a local flea market that I'd not stopped at for over a year. I found lots of super cute vintage Christmas decorations like these cowboy snowman and Claus couple ornaments and this bottle brush tree (not vintage). I also found some super cute shakers from the 50s but I forgot to photograph them for you. Maybe next week! I love mid-century Christmas decorations. They've got such adorable character!

Hope you're all having a happy week. I'm excited to see what you've got to share!

Inspiring Resource for Making New Year Resolutions and Goals

Hello Friends! Wow! I don't know about you but this year seemed to completely fly by for our family! We made lots of great friends and special memories---but there's a big part of me that is saying, slow down! So, New Year Resolution Number One is: stay home more!

Do you make New Year Resolutions? Some years I make an elaborate categorized list of my goals for the upcoming year. Other times, I just pick one thing. However you do it, the important thing is to assess why you feel the need to make a change and then start taking simple, doable steps toward that goal.

I hope you'll check out my new devotional for women, Now: Purposeful Steps Toward a More Abundant Life, available in paperback and on Kindle. It's all about taking the steps needed to start living the way you want to and to stop making excuses about why you think you can't. Sound simple? It is! It's a simple little book that you can read through in a day for encouragement or spend time going through it more slowly as a study toward change. It features study questions and prayer topics and is a great gift for yourself or another woman in your life who wants to live a fulfilling life right where she's at!

Finally, I'm looking for a few active homemaking bloggers who would like to join my review team for this and further publications. If you're interested, please fill out an application here: Creaking Door Publishers Review Team.

 Many blessings for your new year! I'm looking forward to great things!