January so far...

Well...I can't say I'm a huge fan of the new year so far. :P 

On January 1st, we had a coupon for $25 a restaurant order on Instacart, so we decided to get KFC since we hadn't had it in forever. Well...now we won't have it anymore. :P We ordered 4 biscuits...we got a lot of butter and honey, but no biscuits. And then the mashed potato bowl that I always used to get...the quality felt like a frozen dinner you heat up in the microwave. The mashed potatoes were gross and the chicken was rubbery or something. It just wasn't good at all. I ended up making some macaroni and cheese instead. And...this was after our first $25 coupon that we used on December 30th to get Hibachi Boy...and we didn't get the house fried rice that we ordered or the sauce for the appetizer. They almost always forget the sauce...but this is the first time we didn't get the house fried rice. And when I went to look at the receipt from the store...it didn't even have it on there (or the sauce) but it was clearly on the receipt from Instacart. We got a partial refund for the Hibachi Boy order but no refund at all for the KFC order. So...two out of two restaurant orders from Instacart have been a big thumbs down. 

Oh...and then I accidentally restored an autosave of my "Taxes" worksheet from the beginning of July 2025 and didn't realize it until it was too late. It was a really stupid mistake and those mistakes are the ones that always irritate me the most. All I had to do was look at the date...but I didn't. That spreadsheet is where I record all my orders, receipts, etc. So...I had to rebuild that as much as I could using Etsy's data downloads. The only thing I didn't fill back in is the items ordered. It's in my Etsy data download...but I didn't want to put in 6 months worth of catching up. Luckily 2025 is over so I'm not going to be looking at that spreadsheet everyday now anyway. :P But I did get all my spreadsheets updated for 2026, so at least I accomplished that much. 

I wasn't feeling well on Thursday...which is a crap way to start the new year. I had a flare up of my chronic health issues and was up until 4am dealing with that...then still was tossing and turning and having a hard time falling asleep. I'd been working on orders throughout the evening, but didn't end up getting them finished before I went to bed. Then on January 2nd, I still wasn't feeling up to working on orders. Between feeling crappy and then all the medicine...I was just wiped out and I honestly don't even remember anything about Friday. :P I do know that I ended up taking a nap as soon as Johnny got off work. After I woke up, I made beef tips for dinner...and then I went to bed early (well...earlier than my normal 2:30am). 

Yesterday I was finally able to get all my orders finished. Most of them were already done, they just hadn't been packaged yet. I did have a few pages of stickers and an 11x17 page of sticker sheets that I printed and cut yesterday. Now I'm completely caught up on all the orders I had up to yesterday. I ended up with 31 orders going out in the mail today. 

I also realized while making and packaging orders yesterday that I should've ordered supplies last week. :P I could've sworn I had an unopened box of glossy sticker paper...but if I do, I can't find it. I thought it was on my printer stand...but all I had was a ream of cardstock. So I got some more of that ordered. Luckily I still had enough pages to finish my orders yesterday...and any orders I get today won't be due until after my paper arrives. I also ran out of my 5"x7" aqua green glassine envelopes that I package my products in. I had a few leftover from the oopsie sticker packs, so I ended up using those to finish my orders yesterday. Those envelopes tend to run out faster than I think they will because the stack always looks bigger than it actually is, for some reason. I think this is the second time I've run out unexpectedly. But...twice in three years isn't too bad, I suppose. 

I've been trying to find new recipes to try this year...but I haven't found a whole lot I like, so far. The biggest thing is trying to accommodate both my taste and Johnny's. We like a lot of the same things...but it's pretty standard stuff. A lot of new things I think sound good don't always sound that good to Johnny and vice versa. But...I'm determined to find a few new recipes. A couple nights ago I made roast with potatoes and carrots in the pressure cooker and we finished the leftovers last night. Tonight I'm making chicken fajitas in the electric skillet. Those leftovers will probably last 3 days...then I'm back to figuring out what to make for dinner again. :P I always say that I don't mind cooking dinner, but trying to decide what to have for dinner all the time is exhausting. :P  

Ugh...I'm still feeling kinda blah...so I think I'm actually going to lay down and relax for awhile since I don't have orders to work on. Zzzzzz

2025 Year in Review!

Here's my annual "Year in Review" post! :)

1. What age did you turn in 2025? 44

2. What was your relationship status in 2025? Married 8 years, together for 13 years, and in love with each other for 20 years! :) 

3. Did you move in 2025? Nope. It'll probably still be several years before we think about moving. We'd actually like to find some land to build on...but we'll see. Oh...Aubry moved in with her boyfriend in July, so we are officially empty nesters! 

4. Did you purchase a new vehicle in 2025? Nope. But Johnny is really wanting to soon. 

5. Did you add any new family members in 2025? No.

6. Did you lose any family members in 2025? No. 

7. Did you have any school or work changes in 2025? I wouldn't say I had work changes...but I did have an unusually busy July and August because my custom name labels sold really well for back-to-school. Next year I'm hoping to have a few more options available as well. Thank goodness I got the Siser Romeo cutter earlier this year...because trying to make sticker sheets on my Cricut Maker 3 was a pain in the ass. 

8. Did you travel anywhere in 2025? I didn't, but Johnny went to Seattle to visit his mom and brother. Since I wasn't going with him, we spent $100 more for Johnny to fly first class...and he really loved it. He flew on Alaskan Airlines and was on a smaller regional plane which has a side with single seats. He was able to pick his seat (he chose the very front seat on the side with single seats) and had priority boarding, complimentary dinner on the way there and breakfast on the way back, and complimentary drinks. He was able to spend a lot of time with his mom, hiked Deception Pass and went to a salmon hatchery with his brother, and enjoyed the wildlife that visited his brother's backyard everyday. He had a really nice time, but the puppies and I were definitely glad to have him home after being gone for a whole week! Johnny and I haven't spent a single night apart in, like, a whole decade. 

9. Did you make any big purchases in 2025? Aside from Johnny's airline ticket, we also bought a new sectional, coffee table, and tv stand for the living room. The couch was actually our first furniture purchase together! We also bought a new cat tree that we decided to put on the landing of the stairs so that the cats will have something to scratch that isn't the new couch. :P Plus it lets Angel be up a little higher and see what we're doing in the living room more than sitting on the stairs. For work, I also got the Siser Romeo in March and a Cricut Maker 4 in December. 

10. What was the best gift you received in 2025? Mom makes me meatballs and cheesy potatoes each year for my birthday...and it's always one of my favorites! :) We also got a really cute gift basket for Christmas from my sister that had a crockpot and some other cute little kitchen things. My grandparents also gave everyone a little book with cash. Each page spread had a different theme...like going out to eat, getting gas, etc. It was really neat. Johnny and I decided all our new living room furniture is our Christmas present to each other this year. :) 

11. Did you learn any new skills in 2025?  I learned how to use my Siser Romeo...which has been amazing for making my sticker sheets. I also learned how to calibrate the Romeo and manually adjust the camera this past month when it suddenly decided to start cutting off-center. It was the first time I'd ever had to adjust it...including right after I purchased it. It was cutting correctly straight out of the box. But now it's back to perfect.  

12. Did you redecorate in 2025? Just the new furniture in the living room. The only thing we have left to change is the ceiling fan...which I'm hoping to do by spring 2026 because the current ceiling fan doesn't move much hair and hot flashes are stupid. :P 

13. Did you read any good books in 2025? I finally finished The Innocent Man by John Grisham this year. I received the book in 2020 from the "Bless and Be Blessed" exchange group on FB. I carried it around in my purse to read while waiting for appointments and stuff. I actually found it kind of boring compared to other true crime books I've read. I have so many books on my bookshelf that I hope to read at some point. I just don't really make the time to read, despite the fact that I read really fast. :P 

14. Did you see any good movies in 2025? I'm sure we watched some movies this year...I just can't really think of any off the top of my head. We've watched a lot of good documentaries and comedy specials...if those count as movies. ;) Tom Segura just released one on Christmas Eve and it was pretty good. We watch more TV shows than we do movies. 

15. What TV shows were your favorite in 2025? Man...favorite? I like all my TV shows! lol. I think my favorites right now are probably Reacher and Virgin River. Stranger Things FINALLY released the last season...and it was an enjoyable watch. I like how the finale tied up everyone's storylines. We finished several series of shows this year: The Killing and Burden of Truth (both of which I'd watched before), The Old Man, the Tony & Ziva spinoff of NCIS, and Chernobyl. We started Invasion in December and it's been pretty good so far. We just started Season 2. Our other regular shows now that we're still watching are: Tracker, Law & Order SVU, Law & Order OC, NCIS, High Potential, and Murder in a Small Town. We'd been watching Tulsa King and Criminal Minds...but we've slacked on them and have quite a few episodes to catch up on. I've also rewatched Burn Notice, 24, and Manifest a few times. ;) But I don't actually just sit down and watch them...it's just playing in the background while I'm working and stuff. The only time I typically just sit and actually watch a show is when Johnny and I sit in the living room to eat dinner and watch one of our shows. 

16. What things did you do in 2025 that you'd never done before? Mom and I cut my king size memory foam mattress in half to create two twin XL mattresses instead of buying brand new mattresses. I was really happy that it worked out...and we're enjoying being able to adjust the bed separately now so that both me and Johnny are comfortable. It's also really nice being able to sit it up to relax and watch TV together. We watched a couple episodes of Stranger Things while relaxing in bed.  

17. What do you wish you'd done more of in 2025? I don't know...there's always a huge list of things on my "to-do" list that usually take a backseat to work. Even with work I have a list of things I want to get done and there just never seems to be enough time to do it all. 

18. What were you proud of in 2025? For me personally...I'm proud of my progress with CandiMaker. I finished 2024 with 1820 sales in my CandiMakerStickers shop and 94 sales in my CandiMakerPlanners shop. Last year, my goal was to hit 3500 sales in my CMS shop...and I met that goal on December 2nd. I also hit 500 sales in my CMP shop on December 20th (I didn't set a goal for that shop last year). So I'm glad that my business is continuing to have steady growth. I'm also proud of Ashlyn...she got her first "big girl job" this year working for an aircraft manufacturer (different company than Aubry and doing composite instead of sheet metal) and it seems to be going well so far. She'd been working retail for several years, but this is her first job using the WSU trade certificate she got in 2024. Aubry continues to do well and I'm proud of her "adulting" journey. She moved in with her boyfriend in July and that seems to be going well. She suffers from pretty bad anxiety, but Danny is a very laid back kind of guy and seems to be a calming influence in her life. 

19. What was the one defining moment of 2025? Probably being empty nesters now. Since our kids have been adults for awhile (the youngest turned 21 this year), it doesn't really feel like it's as much of a defining moment, but it has been nice. :)  

20. How would you describe 2025 in three words? Loving, productive, and comfortable. :) 

And now for some 2026 questions...

1. What did you NOT have in 2025 that you would like to have in 2026? I would say probably my CandiMaker website. Technically I already have it...but it's still not finished yet. Hopefully soon, though! 

2. What skills do you want to learn or improve in 2026? I still want to find the right material combination/process to start making magnetic bookmarks again. That's what I'd wanted to do for 2025, but I never really got around to it. I focused on revamping CandiMakerPlanners instead. And I'm actually thinking that's where I might list my magnetic bookmarks instead of my CandiMakerStickers shop. We shall see. 

3. What do you want to do more of in 2026? Organizing/cleaning out the basement and garage. And probably still exercising. That was my answer for 2025 and I didn't devote as much time to it as I wanted. I've just been having a lot of problems with my back and my joints which makes it difficult...plus hot flashes which exacerbate my existing health issues even more.  

4. What do you want to buy in 2026? I can't really think of anything for the house except that we want to replace the ceiling fan in the living room. Oh...and Johnny is wanting to get at least one truckload of dirt to fill in the settled spots around the house and the yard. He also mentioned wanting to get a new set of dishes. One of these days we might get a new oven. It's the only appliance we haven't replaced. As for work, I eventually want to get a better (and perhaps bigger) guillotine paper cutter, a binding machine, and possibly a dye ink printer (looking at the ET-8550) to print things other than stickers that work better with dye ink...but I'm not in any rush for those things.  

5. What is your number one goal for 2026? I'd like to reach 6000 sales in my CandiMakerStickers shop and 1200 sales in my CandiMakerPlanners shop. :) Technically those are two goals...but they're both the same kind of work-related goal. ;) 

New Years Eve!

It's hard to believe that it's the last day of 2025. I think the best way to describe 2025 is...10 years that went by super fast. It feels like 2025 has just been...a lot. It's actually been wonderful here at home...it's just...you know...outside is crazy times. :P 

Today is Nova's FIFTH birthday! Nova is just the goodest girl...she is so sweet and laid back. She's the calming influence that has helped Boz overcome a lot of his anxiety. She's also pretty goofy sometimes and we joke that her attitude is like, "I don't know what we're doing, but I'm doing it!" She loves going outside...mostly to search for critters. She's always watching for squirrels, rabbits, squirrels, bugs...doesn't matter, she wants them all. She is pretty stubborn...and will frequently just stand in the yard or even at the bottom of the back steps and refuse to come in unless she gets one of her beggin strips treats (we get the small bacon flavored ones). She also LOVES stuffed toys. She will carry them around and then lay down and just squeak them over and over again. She also seems to like when you say "squeak" back to acknowledge her good work. ;) Nova loves laying in bed or on the couch and getting all the pets and she'll paw at you if you stop. She usually sleeps between Johnny and I  in the bed...laying all sprawled out on her back. She also likes to sleep with her head covered...whether it's her paw draped over her face or tucker her face into pillows or something. She's a daddy's girl and they have their morning routines where she follows him around carrying one of her stuffed animals or pillow, getting some ice cubes, and then her bowl (with too much food in it) and a piece of their duck jerky treats torn up to top her food. Her name is Nova Lee...but at some point I started calling her Nobee...which turned into NoBeans [with the cute ToeBeans]. That started from cleaning the snow out from in between her toe beans. Nova is such a wonderful addition to our family and we couldn't imagine life without her. Here is a ]picture of her on 12/16/25 looking so comfy and relaxed during her 11teenth nap of the day. 

Today I've been working on updating all my spreadsheets. I have so many spreadsheets that I use everyday for work and home life. The "life" workbook includes all our bills organized by payday. I start a new spreadsheet each year so I can organize which bills are paid with which cards...then when payday comes, I just open my spreadsheet, pay the bills due before the next payday, and copy and paste the confirmation numbers into my spreadsheet. Then I have THREE separate workbooks with spreadsheets that I update everyday. One is a monthly calendar where I record all of my orders from all my shops each day and it also totals the orders by week and month. I have another workbook which is pretty much the same except that it records my daily revenue from all my shops and then it totals the revenue by week and month. I also have a worksheet at the end of the calendar that I keep updated with my record highs for the year per day, week, and month. I'm a nerd like that. ;) Then I also have my taxes workbook with sheets related to Taxes. I record all the information for each order on a separate sheet for each shop, all the receipt information for business purchases I've made, etc. I do have one other workbook but it's only updated with every 50 sales in my Etsy shops and at the end of the month when I tally them all. 

Tonight Johnny and I are just going to eat our leftover Hibachi Boy and watch the Stranger Things finale. We'll probably watch the first half while we're eating dinner and then move into the bedroom to watch the rest of it. That way we can adjust the bed up and get all comfy. I like being able to raise the head of the bed up to where I'm not quite sitting up and then raising the my legs up (Johnny prefers just raising the head). I think it's my favorite way to watch TV though. :) 

I hope everyone has a safe New Years Eve and a Happy New Year! 

Christmas Eve!

It's hard to believe it's Christmas Eve already! It hasn't really seemed the same ever since my Grandma Ina died in 2020. For 38 years of my life, Grandma and Grandpa had all the family over to celebrate Christmas. It was the one time each year we'd definitely see our cousins. It was a loud, full house and we've made so many memories that continued through my kids' childhood, too (although some years they couldn't go because they were with their dad). Spending so many years doing the same thing and then suddenly not doing anymore...it's just very sad. The family really doesn't get together as a group except for special events like weddings. It's sad how things change, but it's inevitable, I suppose. 

Part of the same Christmas routine since I was a baby was going to my mom's dad and stepmom's house for Christmas with that side of the family. While the group has gotten smaller as people have moved away and started their own families, my immediate family is still there every year. My grandpa is 90 years old now, but hopefully we'll still have many years left to keep the tradition going. 

Other than that we haven't been doing much. Johnny went to his daughter's house last night. My Cricut Maker 4 didn't arrive until yesterday afternoon, so I was busy setting that up and making orders that were due to ship today. And my Romeo started cutting off center on Friday and I was frustrated so I decided to just wait on finishing the orders. It was working so well...then all the sudden it was off. I figured out how to do the calibration...but even after calibrating, like, a dozen times...it was still off. But then I found how to manually adjust the camera and after a few test cuts and adjustments, I was able to get it cutting perfectly again. Thank goodness! My CandiMakerPlanners shop is doing better this December (and year) than last year. So far my CandiMakerStickers shop is almost on par with last December (I've only gotten 1 less order so far compared to last year), but I've had a 37% increase in orders and a 52% increase in revenue for this year compared to this point last year. Most of the increase in revenue is because I sell a lot more magnets now, which are a higher price point than stickers. 

Johnny asked me today if I got gifts for the dogs. Uh...I wasn't planning on it. lol. They already have a ton of toys and it's not like they know it's Christmas. But...I went ahead and got each of the puppies three new stuffed animals. I started out trying to get them through Petco, but every single thing I'd added to the cart for same day delivery ended up saying sold out a short time later. Johnny said he'd go to Petco after work if I couldn't order any...but they close at 7pm which is when Johnny gets off work. So I looked at Chuck & Don's website and was able to find a lot of toys available for same day delivery. I found three separate brands that had two of the same-ish size different animals (well, one is a snowman)...and I like things to be equal. ;)

I'll wrap them before Johnny gets off work and then we'll have them open the presents tonight after dinner. Last year, Bozley was more interested in the wrapping paper than the presents (he liked them after we threw the wrapping paper away, though). Nova LOVES toys and always has particular toys that she's most attached to. And when she gets excited--like waiting for her breakfast, waiting for us to sit down to eat dinner, or when Johnny is getting ready to go to bed--she'll lay on the floor and squeak one of her toys over and over again. She'll also look for specific toys that she wants at any given time. Bozley tends to just want whatever toy (or sock, shoe, or a stray towel he found somewhere) is closest to put in his mouth when he gets excited. He doesn't care at all about squeakers or anything. His favorite "toys" are rocks or sticks that he finds in the yard that he can toss around and roll around on. He does like tennis balls...though he isn't as great about the second part of fetch. He'll bring it back...he just won't let you have it. :P And interestingly enough, Nova doesn't care that much about tennis balls except for tearing them apart. And 9/10 times if you throw the ball to her, she'll run after it...but then just walk away once she gets to it. They're such funny puppies. And yes...I know that they're 5 years old and not literally puppies...but they'll always be our puppies. ;) 

We've been watching Invasion in the evenings while we eat dinner. Johnny watched an episode while he was visiting his brother in Seattle, so we started it from the beginning. We're only on S01E07. But tonight, Johnny and I are planning to watch Tom Segura's new Netflix special. He's one of our favorite comedians. The second volume of Stranger Things drops tomorrow, but we might not start it until this weekend. About this time last year I had just watched Season 6 of Virgin River and was talking about how we didn't have to wait until next December for Season 7. Well...we don't have to wait until December...we have to wait even longer. :P That's one thing I hate about the change to streaming...it seems that so many shows take forever to release the next season. We used to get 20-24 episodes a season and there was only a break over the summer and a shorter hiatus around Thanksgiving and Christmas. Now you get only 7-10 episodes and it's typically at least a year before you get to watch the next season. You can binge watch an entire season in a weekend (or a day if you're not doing anything else). It's just really annoying. 

Well...I suppose I shall go wrap presents. I hope everyone has a merry Christmas! 

Getting closer to Christmas!

Things have been busy lately. 

Friday we ended up having to take Nova to the vet. I let the dogs outside early that afternoon and right after they came in, she was pacing around and whining to go back outside. She trotted out and immediately went potty again. I watched and she was basically just walking back and forth across the yard squatting to go potty. So I was pretty sure she had a UTI. Since it was Friday, I texted the vet to make an "urgent" appointment since there weren't any appointments available. They weren't able to get a urine sample, but we were able to get her some antibiotics and vetprofen. Nova seems to be back to normal now. By Friday night she wasn't going outside as frequently and not squatting as often while she was out. 

We had Christmas at my sister's house Saturday. We celebrate with my mom, her mom, my dad, my sister and her kids, and then my kids and their boyfriends. The rule for boyfriends is that they have to be dating for a year before they come to family functions...and this is actually the second Christmas they've come to now. Ashlyn's boyfriend had worked all night and then didn't get any sleep during the earlier part of the day, so he actually fell asleep in the living room chair toward the end of the evening...and he was snoring pretty loud. lol. One of my nieces ended up drawing pictures on his hand. :P But it was a nice evening with lots of laughter. We had a lot of finger foods and desserts. I took the ginger molasses cookies, chocolate chip cookies, and chicken salad sandwiches cut diagonally into 4 pieces like my Grandma Ina used to make every year for Christmas Eve. Oooh...and my sister made beer bread and I pigged out on that with the spinach and herb dip. Yummy! I hadn't had it in YEARS and forgot just how yummy it is. 

Then Sunday night, Johnny's daughter and her two kids stopped by for awhile. She also brought their golden retriever over. Boz and Nova had a blast playing with him. I think he's about 6 months old or so. It was fun watching them chase each other around. 

Saturday morning while I was in a hurry getting everything ready to go to my sister's, I knocked over the stand my Cricut is on when I was trying to get in the closet. At first I thought it was fine, but when I went to make orders on Sunday, I noticed that the power jack was bent sideways because it was plugged in when it fell and the cord was caught under the desk. I was able to plug it in and kinda pull the cord back the way it was supposed to go and tape it to hold it in place...and it's working for now. I have the Siser Romeo, but I still use the Cricut as well...especially when I have a lot of work and I can use both machines at the same time. The Cricut can also handle thicker materials and has several different kinds of blades that I use (debossing, engraving, foiling, scoring, perf, knife blade, etc)...and I generally cut all my magnets on it. 

So I went back and forth about whether or not I wanted to replace the Cricut or just keep using it until the tape holding the cord stopped working. I looked on the Cricut website and saw that the Cricut Maker 4 was on sale for $50 off...which is cheaper than I paid for my Cricut Maker 3. On top of that, I had a code for an additional $10 and got an additional 10% off (after the first $50 discount) by paying $9 for the first month of a Cricut subscription. I ended up saving more than $100 for a newer model. Since my deposit for the last week was more than the cost of the machine, I decided to go ahead and get the Cricut Maker 4. Had it not been on sale and had the additional discounts, I probably wouldn't have gotten it right now. But...now I'll have three machines that I can use at the same time (at least for as long as my tape trick will work) and I should be able to keep both Cricut machines on the same stand. Plus we can deduct it on the taxes this year...which is good timing since I had such an unexpectedly busy July and August. 

Cricut cutting machines kind of have a bad reputation among sticker makers. Lots of people complain about problems they have with their Cricut...especially cuts that are off. But I've been lucky to never have significant problems with my Maker 3. There has been a time or two after an update when I've had to recalibrate the get my cuts straight...but that's about it. I've noticed the majority of problems seem to be for those using the Cricut Explore machines...so I don't know if that makes a difference. I'm hoping I won't have any issues with the Maker 4. There isn't a whole lot of change between the Maker 3 and the Maker 4 aside from speed...so we'll see how it goes. 

The last week of November and the first two weeks of December have been really busy with orders. November started out slow, but the month ended up being the best I'd had outside of the unusually busy July and August from my custom name sticker sheets in my CandiMakerPlanners shop. I had 162 orders in November...and I already have 128 for December. It has started slowing down this week since we're getting closer to Christmas, but orders are still coming in. I had 175 orders for the month of December 2024, so we'll see where it ends up this year. I've already passed 3600 sales in my CandiMakerStickers shop and I'm at 499 in my sticker sheet shop (hopefully I can get at least one more sale there before the end of the year!).  

I also need to clean out the office. When we got the new furniture in the living room, I kind of stuffed everything that was stored in the old living room furniture in the office to deal with after Thanksgiving...but still haven't gotten around to it. Thus the trouble getting into the office closet and the Cricut getting knocked over. :P So that's probably what I'll do this weekend. 

But for right now, I need to get back to work. :)