{ Hello January, Hello 2020 }

Good morning my sweet friends, come on in out of the cold and sit a bit with me.

I have some hot coffee and cinnamon rolls, just waiting to be dug into.

Well, it is 2020.  The much anticipated new decade.  I tend to get a little weary when a new year comes in, simply because I have no clue what is coming our way in the next 12 months.  If I look back on the previous year, so much happened that I didn't have a single clue about.  I guess that is good in a way because if we know what is to be expected, especially the not so good parts, we may live in a perpetual state of worry, right?



As always, I have no new year resolutions, never do, but what I do have are aspirations and ideas.  Certain things I want to work on, change, add to my life.  We tend to get so caught up in being like everyone else, and feeling like we have to follow suit, that we sometimes forget that what is best for others is not always best for us.

And so this coming year, I want to ask you to take some time for yourself, for your own life, your family, and to really focus on doing YOU.

The visiting family have all returned home, and as much as I miss them, I do always look forward to going back to my routine.

The holidays are wonderful, but they completely mess me up, to the point where I don't know whether I'm coming or going or even what day it is.  For me lately, every day is a Sunday, or at least that is what it feels like.

But time to get cracking back into normalcy.

The first thing I did was get rid of all the Christmas decorations.  Much as I love pulling them all out each year, I think I like it even more when they're all put away again.  The house always seems bigger, cleaner and not so cluttered.

That moment while you have everything laying around before going in boxes, makes me more antsy than anything else.

I quickly moved through the boxes and packing away, then got into the kitchen.  Before picking up the paint brushes again, I needed to do some food prep, which I hadn't done in weeks.  Like I said above, having family and constant get togethers and this and that going on, meant that a lot of my usual chores got set aside.

Parsley was chopped and put in the freezer.  I need to go by Walmart later today and pick up some more paint, milk and see if they have cilantro.  When I went grocery shopping last Friday, the commissary was completely out, and I can't do without my cilantro and parsley mixture.  I use it in pretty much every meal I make.

Same with my garlic in olive oil.  I was out of that for a week or so.  Thankfully it was during a time where I wasn't cooking much, we were mainly over at my brothers house for get togethers.

I got my garlic all peeled, chopped and in the mason jar to go in the fridge, just in time for my return to normal cooking.

Once the house was set to order, I got right into the painting.  You always have an idea of how things will go until you actually get into it, then you realize nothing you thought is actually how it goes.  When you think of painting kitchen cabinets, it's always with visions of it being super quick and simple, and while the simple part may be true, it's never quick, not if you want to do it right.

So we took our time, doors were pulled off, hardware removed and using a paint gun, we got to business.  The process was quick, though the drying time is longer.  I get a little impatient, I must admit.  I just want to see it all done so that I can start enjoying my kitchen right away, and so I have to force myself to slow down, let it take the time it needs and do it right.

I will say that the transformation is already huge and that looking around makes me grin from ear to ear.

I honestly can not wait to show you all the end result.

It is slowly coming along, nowhere near finished and I think it will take at least until next week for it to be completely done, but that is ok, I'll be patient, or try to at least.  Ha!

I can't tell you how excited I am to get back into our normal routine, to know that within the next few days I'll be back to pottering around the house, doing laundry, ironing, cleaning, organizing and cooking for my family. 

I also want to get back into my period dramas, which I haven't been watching for quite a while.  I feel like I fell off the wagon last year, in all things that I find near and dear to me, and it's time to get back on that wagon and take off at full speed.

So here are my plans for today:

1. Watch The Bonfire of Destiny on Netflix (period series)
2. Take some last minute pictures for a review
3. Find a book to start reading (I haven't read in a few weeks)
4. Go through my Youtube subscriptions, unsubscribe to the channels that no longer interest me, and find new channels to follow.
5. Go to Walmart for paint, milk and cilantro.
6. Go by my brothers house to say goodbye to my niece, before she returns to Idaho.
7. Continue working on kitchen.
8. Take out meat for tonight's dinner, which is Goulash.

I also want to sit down and come up with a new schedule for cleaning my home.  I had one many years ago but times have changed, homes have changed and no two houses are the same when it comes to cleaning and organizing. 

I want 2020 to be the year that I really and I mean really, focus on my home and being the homemaker that I love with all my heart.  It is not something to be ashamed of, it is not something to continue frowning upon, it is something to cherish, to enjoy and to be extremely proud of.  I want to pass this onto my children, especially my daughter.

I feel that youngsters today have been taught to look down upon homemaking, old fashioned ways and simple living.  They no longer know how to do the simplest of tasks, can't cook, don't know the first thing about cleaning, paying bills and budgets.  It is up to us as parents to change that way of thinking, and I really do hope that I am able to do that for my own children.

So I welcome 2020 with open arms, let's go into it with a renewed passion for life and see where it takes us.