It's Beginning to Look a lot like . . . WINTER!!

Oh, my gosh! The weather is crazy. Crazy, I tell you! Really, this winter started off pretty mild -- then, we had two storms hit Utah right around Christmas, and we have not seen the ground since. Literally. After those two storms, northern Utah dove into what (here) would be referred to as a deep freeze. Highs in the teens, lows in the single digits, everything (including water pipes!) frozen solid! And of course, in Utah, along with the cold comes the nasty, yucky inversion. One of the downfalls of winter in a Utah valley. If you take a drive up into the mountains, you all of a sudden will break through the layer of haze, smog, and crud that the valley is swimming in and see sun! And be warm! Yes, 'tis true. On days like that, Park City is warmer than Salt Lake. The only thing that will knock out the inversion is another storm. And we've had storms this month! Several, in fact, with three in the last three days! We're back to the ground being totally white and the streets being somewhat slushy. One day last week, we even had freezing rain, which I don't think I've ever seen in my 19 years here. Icky stuff. I'll take snow over ice any day! All that being said, the cold, grey weather has really been getting me down. Interfering with my peace-full intentions. Breathing in a lot of anxiety along with the gunk. So I broke down and ordered an Ion Therapy Lamp. My counselor has been recommending one for a couple of years, and a few ladies I'm friends with swear by theirs. So, it arrived today! YAY! I'll keep you posted on what I think.

Obviously, I also need to say that Today is Day One -- mostly because I didn't keep up with my blogging in January. Where does the time go? I don't remember wasting 26 days, but I somehow managed it. We are trying to work on our house -- painting the walls and replacing carpet and floor coverings, so a bit of my time went to that. Still organizing my new craft room, and trying to catch up on online classes. And playing with the puppies, of course. They've really been enjoying the snow. I hope to update you later this week with the new Close to My Heart specials, as well as give you a peek into my Gratitude Journal -- which, I am happy to say, I have journaled in every day this month! Yay me! Also coming up, photography updates and updates for OLW 2013. Stay tuned! 

Until next time,

January with Close to My Heart!

Hello, everyone! Just wanted to let you know about a few specials for January -- one of which is a GREAT way to get a jump start on Valentine's Day! 

1. Whooo's Your Valentine 

2. January Stamp of the Month 

January is National Papercrafting Month and Close To My Heart has created a fancy little Valentine Treat Tube kit called "Whooo's Your Valentine" to celebrate. Spend just $35 (before shipping and tax) and get the exclusive "Whooo's Your Valentine" treat tube kit for only $10 (valued at $40)! 

The kit includes: 12 die-cut boxes 3 cardstock sheets 1 sheet of silver glitter paper (so pretty!) 12 treat tubes An exclusive D-size Whooo's Your Valentine stamp set created specifically for the kit! (see below -- carrier sheet actual size is 6" x 6"):

This is a FANTASTIC deal - $75 dollars worth of product for only $45 -- AND, you have 10 gifts all ready for Valentine's Day! Easy, peasy! Want an even better deal? Read on to get $108 worth of product for only $55!! 

The January Stamp of the Month is an elegant set perfect for weddings, anniversaries, sympathy cards, and Valentines Day . . . just to name a few. It can be yours for only $5 with a $50 order (before shipping and tax) during January only. If you order on my website, you will be prompted to add it before you check out once you have spent $50. **Remember that you only have to spend $35 to get the "Whooo's Your Valentine" special, so with that added, you just need $5 more to qualify for the SOTM!   Here's a close up of the January SOTM:

Be sure to head over to my website to take advantage of these great deals before they're gone!


Until next time,

 

A New Year, A New Word, and a Splash of Gratitude!

Well, ladies and gents, we made it! Into a new year. Past the end of the world. Who'd've thunk it? But yes, it is Day 3 of 2013, and so far, things are going pretty good -- how about you? Have you made your resolutions yet? Me, not so much. I'm not sure I buy into the whole "resolution" thing -- mostly because I pretty much never keep them. Last year, I started my year off by making monthly goals, and that seemed to work pretty well for me, so I think I'll try that again for 2013. DISCLAIMER: I went to Brave Girls Camp last year, and learned a thing or two. I learned that one, I AM a brave girl, and that two, Today is Day One. So is tomorrow. Everyday can be day one, so I'm going to be gentle with myself. (more on this in #2)! So without any further ado, here are my January goals, in no particular order:

 1. Move more, eat well -- This is a Cathy Zielske class, hosted by Big Picture Classes. I'm trying a different approach this year. I've had "diet" on my resolution list for, oh, I don't know, EVER. It doesn't work. And, I can't afford the surgery, so this year I'm throwing it all out the window. I'm thinking about M.E. I'm pretty sure that I'm a nice person - at least, I try to be - and it's high time I treated mySELF nicely. And I think that making better health decisions -- i.e., what foods I put into my body and choosing to get in a little exercise -- are probably the best way to start enforcing the niceness. If I lose weight along the way, all the better. But my GOAL is to be a better me. I'm hoping participating in the class will help me with motivation!

2. Choosing "One Little Word" for 2013: PEACE -- I'm so glad there are really motivated people out there with really good ideas that I can work with! Ali Edwards' "OLW2013" is another year-long class I'm participating in, and this year I've chosen the word "PEACE." This goes along with being nicer to myself. For so long, I've suffered from depression and anxiety. This year, I want to invite peace into my life and into my body. I want to pray more. I want to learn to meditate. I'd love to do yoga. I want to be mindful -- to live in the moment, in the now, and not worry about tomorrow or what might have been. And I want to be gentle with myself -- to realize that these goals are not going to come right away. They're going to take work.  And that's okay. Because each day gives me the opportunity to start fresh, to invite peace into my mind and my soul, to move more and eat well, and to practice making each of them a habit.

3. Live with a Grateful Heart -- My sweet friend Monika Wright gifted me with one of her amazing Gratitude Journals last year. I absolutely loved it -- but I'm sad to say, I wasn't very good at writing things down. :/ This year my goal is to do better. I've put together my own little journal, and I'm hoping to get much closer to documenting 365 things I'm grateful for! I really believe that living with a grateful heart puts everything into perspective. From the great big miracles to the itty bitty everyday things that we usually don't notice, we need to be thankful for them all. It's in the noticing that gratitude comes. 

4. Blogging More -- This one seems pretty easy compared to the others, but it's really not! Even though I've been online for a couple a years now, I'm still really new to this whole blogging thing. I'd like to post more, I'd like to make more connections with other people, I'd like to take a few classes and maybe step up my blog a little! :) This will also probably be a year-long goal, but my immediate goal for January is to blog at least twice a week.

Phew!  To some of you, that may not seem like much.  I'm sure it will keep my plate full!  What about the rest of you?  Do you make resolutions?  Set goals?  Fly by the seat of your pants?  I would love to hear your plans for the coming year!  Wishing you all a fantastic 2013.

Until next time,