Approaching the end of 2022!

I can't believe the year is almost over. Time just goes by so fast! 

We had a nice, relaxing Christmas. Our original plan was to have our annual Christmas Celebration at my sister's house on Christmas Eve...but she was sick so it was postponed a little bit. Christmas Day we went to my grandparents' house here in town like we always do for chatting, dinner, desserts, and presents. It was the first time we've been able to go since 2020. Before that...we've gone to my grandparents' house for Christmas day every year since I was a child. We used to celebrate Christmas Eve at my dad's side of the family with all my aunts, uncles, cousins, etc...but when my Grandma died in 2020, that was no longer carried on. It's just not the same without her. :( 

Ashlyn finished all her classes for the semester which means she's officially done with high school! She'll still be able to go to Prom and then will still walk at graduation at the end of the school year with her classmates...she just doesn't have to go to class anymore. She turned 18 in September, but I told her that she wasn't allowed to move out until after she was done with her classes. She has wanted to move back to our hometown and live at XH's parents' house (where Aubry had been living since she graduated in 2020). Ashlyn has been excited so she started packing about a month ago. She moved some of the boxes she already had packed the Friday before her last couple days of school. Then she wanted to move the rest on Tuesday--her last day at school--but she wasn't anywhere near ready to go. She had a ton of packing and cleaning left to do. Then Wednesday, she'd gotten more done but still wasn't finished...and then the weather got bad so it didn't really matter anyway. She finally finished cleaning and packing on Friday and was able to move out the rest of her stuff. Aubry was excited...because she's been really anxious to move back here. 

Truth be told, I was looking forward to an empty nest after 10 years of people coming in and out of our house. But...I did have Aubry sign a lease agreement so that everyone knows up front what to expect. In an ideal world, that wouldn't be necessary. But we've found that adult children can often take advantage and not be respectful of others in the house (or property) and it's far easier to establish ground rules up front including how much they are expected to contribute toward expenses. And when it's in writing...no one can "forget" what the terms are. Aubry understood and had no problem with the lease agreement at all. Everything seems to be working out fine so far. She starts her new job next month and is planning to save up for a newer car and her own place. 

The dogs are doing well. :) With Aubry moving in...she brought her chihuahua, Linken, back with her. He's a little more vocal than Ashlyn's chihuahua, Neko. But he's starting to warm up to Bozley and NovaLee. It would be easier if Boz and Nova would calm down more...they tend to get pretty excited. They're fine by themselves...but they seem to rile each other up. It's the same way with the cats...by themselves, they're calm with the cats but together they end up chasing them back downstairs. We've been trying to work with them, but it's apparently a slow process. :P We need to get them to the groomer again too. It's been, like, a year since they've been to the groomer. :P They never need full-on haircuts, but a good bath and trimming their paws and everything is overdue. Johnny gives them baths once or twice a month depending on how dirty they get outside, but they always look and smell so good after the groomer. :) 

I've been busy with CandiMaker stuff...as always! Luckily I love what I do. :) I'm trying to finish preparing for the grand opening of CandiMakerStickers. I'm SUPER excited about this Etsy shop. I keep adding new products which makes me even more excited. :) I'll have die-cut stickers, sticker sheets, planner stickers including weekly kits, laminated and magnetic bookmarks, laminated planner covers and page markers, and planner dividers for classic-size 9-disc planners (to fit Happy Planner brand pages). I may branch out to different sizes and different types of binding in the future, but we'll see how this works out and go from there. I'm still maintaining my two current Etsy shops as well. My goal for 2023 is to really work hard on all my Etsy shops to make them as successful as possible. :) 

I hope everyone has a very happy new year! :) 

Already December again!

The years just seem to go by so fast. I think it's interesting how...when you're stuck in a miserable life, it seems to go by so slow. Like during my first marriage...the days were long, the years were long...it was just miserable. I think it's because you think about how much you want out...and so you're just waiting for it to be over. You're looking forward...hoping that what comes next will be better. So you're waiting for it to end and it feels like it's too far away. But then once you get to the point where you're happy and content with your life...you don't want that to end. So as time goes by, it feels like the end is coming faster than you want it to. I've never been this content with my life before...so I hope it lasts for a very long time! :) 

We had a nice, relaxing Thanksgiving. I made dinner here at home. Ashlyn decided to spend Thanksgiving with her dad and his side of the family, but Aubry came over and had dinner with us. She took some turkey over to my parents' house, too. And my favorite part...leftovers for a few days! I love a break from figuring out what to have for dinner every night. :P I don't mind making dinner...it's just trying to decide what to make that's annoying. :P

I've been working on a lot of behind-the-scenes CandiMaker stuff. I've been redoing my pricing at CandiMakerTransfers in order to start offering First Class packages with Priority Mail upgrades instead of just Priority Mail. I ordered some rigid mailers in three different sizes and they arrived yesterday...so I reorganized everything to fit the new mailers in my shipping armoire. I'm also working on getting everything ready to start selling stickers...descriptions, pricing, materials, product packaging, etc. In addition to stickers, I am also creating laminated and magnetic bookmarks. :) I want to have quite a few products available when I open, so I probably won't have my grand opening until after the first of the new year. 

I also finished rearranging and reorganizing my office. I've really tried to make the most of the space. Once of these days I would love to build my own desk/storage system, but I'm pleased with how it has turned out so far with the furniture we already had. The only furniture I purchased was a rolling cart to hold my heat press and toaster oven. I was able to find it at Walmart.com for less than $40. So far it's working out great. I also found some nice, cheap white curtains. I wanted some natural light into the room so it took awhile to find some plain white curtains that weren't blackout curtains but weren't sheer. I was planning to get shorter curtains, but our Walmart didn't have these curtains in 63" length so I got the 84" panels. The only things right now that I haven't gotten yet is an LED light for inside the armoire and I still haven't figured out a better method for storing my sublimation paper yet. But I did take pictures of how the office looks so far. :) 

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And on that note...I'm going to get back to work! :)