Explore New Adventures

Every year as we ring in the new year together as a family, we choose a word to define the year ahead.  A simple year to set the tone for the days ahead.  It's amazing the power that a simple word can have on your life.  Focusing on the good you want to come can change everything as you move forward.

We adopted this tradition years ago as a way to move away from the traditional resolutions that many make.  Resolutions are typically about things you want to change in your life, and often come with negative emotions and ultimately failures.   That certainly didn't sound like something we wanted to start our year with, and so a new tradition was born.

This year we had a pretty clear idea of what we wanted to embrace in the new year, even if we had a bit of trouble settling on just one word.  We knew we wanted to jump headfirst into any adventures that 2014 might throw our way, and create quite a few of our own as well.  The girls thought we needed to add a bit more, and Explore was added to the mix.  Maybe a bit of longing for the exploring they love to do when the weather isn't quite as frigid as it has been this winter?  Or maybe a gentle nudge to finally hang the embroidery I was working on earlier this year?  Either way it was a perfect addition to our year, and our decor.

This year certainly brought some fun adventures so far in the way of snow fall, surprises, unexpected (but always welcome) houseguests, and the promise of more to come.  Considering we're only three weeks into the new year, we're anxious to see what other adventures come our way...

The designs came straight from Doodle Stitching by Aimee Ray.  This book has inspired so many projects around here, and there are still so many designs we haven't even tried yet.  I see them popping up in many other places this year, especially little girl dresses.  The lettering is, of course, from Sublime Stitching.  The Sublime Stitching website is what first got me hooked on embroidery, the fantastic patterns and how-to section sealed the deal for me.