2024 Year in Review

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

1. What age did you turn in 2024? 43

2. What was your relationship status in 2024? Johnny and I celebrated our 7th year of marriage and 12 years together! And we've been in love with each other for 19 years now! 

3. Did you move in 2024? Nope. I've been living here for almost 11 years now and Johnny has lived here for 18 years!

4. Did you purchase a new vehicle in 2024? Nope. It's lasted 5 years so far...hopefully it'll last quite a few more! Johnny is wanting to trade it in for something else, though. 

5. Did you add any new family members in 2024? Nope. Although Aubry and Ashlyn's boyfriends were introduced to the rest of the family this year. I made a rule a long time ago that boyfriends don't come to family functions/holidays unless they've been around for a year...because I don't want a lot of random guys coming and going. 

6. Did you lose any family members in 2024? Unfortunately. :( My Uncle Billy died in August. He was a Chief Petty Officer in the US Navy for over 20 years and served in Desert Storm. He had been in California since I was young, but we remained very close over the years. Then he moved back to Kansas a few years after he retired. I was really glad that my kids were able to meet him. My stepdaughter lost her husband and 11-year-old stepson in September due to a wrong-way driver on the highway. :( And my good friend, Micki, passed away in December. She was one of the sweetest, most generous people I've ever known. Everyone just loved to be around her because she could elevate the mood of the room with her humor. 

7. Did you have any school or work changes in 2024? In February, I added magnets to my CandiMakerStickers Etsy shop and they've done really well. At first, my listing photos still showed the image of a hand holding a sticker...but in September I changed all my listing photos including the main listing photo which was now just the sticker design by itself. I also included the words "Sticker or Magnet" and that 3 sizes are available and I think that's made a huge difference...I started getting a lot more magnet orders as soon as I made that change. Magnets are also a higher price point, so that's increased my income quite a bit since last year. I also offer custom text stickers and magnets which have been doing well. And in November I started adding some more custom name stickers/magnets that have gained some traction. I changed my CandiMakerTransfers Etsy shop into CandiMakerPlanners to sell sticker sheets this year, too. Originally I was selling them in my sticker shop, but it just felt more cluttered. Progress is slow with CMP though because I spend a lot more time working on CMS.

8. Did you travel anywhere in 2024? Nope. Maybe one of these days! 

9. Did you make any big purchases in 2024? Too many, actually! I'd already planned to get my new laptop in January...which is basically an updated version of my old laptop and works SO much better. And my sticker shop has done so well this year that my shop had already "paid off" that expense by the end of March. But then in April we had to replace our entire AC/furnace system (which was luckily paid for mostly by insurance since it was a failure as a result of a power surge). But then in August a storm blew down two sides of our fence. So we had to get that replaced. THEN we had to replace the refrigerator in October because our Samsung side-by-side refrigerator that we'd purchased in 2014 stopped cooling again. But we really like the new Frigidaire French door refrigerator. It feels like there's a lot more room. Apparently this was the year of replacing broken stuff. :P Hopefully that isn't repeated in 2025! Oh! And we got a Litter Robot 4 during Black Friday/Cyber Monday! It was my birthday present from Johnny. :) 

10. What was the best gift you received in 2024? Well aside from the Litter Robot...we got a new Carote White Granite set of pots and pans. I really love them so far...they're very non-stick so they're easy to clean. And it's nice having a complete set instead of a really old set (my previous set of pots and pans were from 2005) and some miscellaneous pieces thrown in. :P Johnny also got me some Sims4 games for Christmas. :) 

11. Did you learn any new skills in 2024? The only thing I can really think of is just making die-cut magnets...which isn't really a whole lot different from making my die-cut stickers. But I did figure out how to make both magnets and stickers on the same sheet of paper with my Cricut. :)

12. Did you redecorate in 2024? Not that I can really think of. I added more organization to my desk, but not really any "decor" stuff. 

13. Did you read any good books in 2024? Nope. Most of my time is spent on CandiMaker things and I just never make time for reading unless I'm waiting somewhere. I always have at least one book in my purse all the time in case I have a long wait for an appointment or when I had jury duty. I keep "collecting" books...so maybe one of these days I'll get around to actually reading them! I do read really fast...so most of the time when I do sit down to purposely read a book, I usually finish it in a day or two. Maybe I'll try to start setting aside some time for reading this year. :) 

14. Did you see any good movies in 2024? We watched Damsel, The Painter, The Beekeeper, Carry On...those were the only ones I can remember that Johnny and I watched together. Oh and he also watched a couple Kiefer Sutherland movies with me: Forsaken and Behind the Red Door. We usually watch more TV shows than movies. 

15. What TV shows were your favorite in 2024? Reacher is probably my top favorite. I can't wait for Season 3 on February 20th! I was also excited for Season 6 of Virgin River that came out on December 19th. I really like a lot of TV shows...and it's kind of "our thing" to watch episodes while we we're eating dinner. Shows that Johnny and I started watching together this year: Tracker, Tulsa King, Rabbit Hole, Once Upon a Time, Secrets & Lies, Black Doves, and The Terminal List (we haven't finished that one yet). Shows I watched on my own: The Killing and High Potential. Shows we still watch together: NCIS, SVU, and Organized Crime. We've watched a lot of stand-up comedian specials, too. Oh and I've watched a lot of documentaries (true crime and cults are my favorite subjects). 

16. What things did you do in 2024 that you'd never done before? Dealt with the dogs getting sprayed by a skunk...twice! That was NOT fun! We've had skunks around here a lot, but in the 11 years that I've lived here with dogs, we've never actually had any get sprayed...until this summer. I also discovered that the strong skunk smell triggers my trigeminal neuralgia which makes it even worse. :( 

17. What do you wish you'd done more of in 2024? Probably slept, honestly. LOL. I tend to work late a lot of nights because the dogs are usually more calm when it's quiet outside. So that's when I tend to be more productive. I try to go to bed no later than 2:30am, but sometimes I get in a groove and get to sleep later than that. :P But since Johnny doesn't have to start work until 10:30am, I'm able to sleep in. So that helps. 

18. What were you proud of in 2024? For me personally, I'm proud of how things are going with CandiMaker. My original goal for the year was to hit 1000 sales in my sticker shop...which I reached in July. Then I hit 1800 sales in December! My revenue for 2024 is up over 300% from my revenue in 2023. So I'm really proud of my progress. Since the second half of 2024, I'm making about the same amount of money I was back when I was working a part-time job outside of the home. And then my kids... Ashlyn finished school at WSU Tech in composite fabrication and Aubry got a crew lead position at work. She's been working for the defense section of a large aircraft company since getting her sheet metal assembly certificate from WSU Tech in 2022. 

19. What was the one defining moment of 2024? I would say probably the end of our bankruptcy! We'd filed Chapter 13 back in 2019 after we'd fallen behind when Johnny was having some medical issues. It was a pretty big chunk of money that was taken out of each of Johnny's paychecks. So it's definitely a relief to have that out of the way. Oh! And his student loans were also forgiven through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program back in April...so that was a weight off his shoulders as well. 

20. How would you describe 2024 in three words? Loving, productive, and expensive. :P

And now for some 2025 questions... 

1. What did you NOT have in 2024 that you would like to have in 2025? Hm...probably full-time income from CandiMaker! :) But if not in 2025, hopefully I'll at least get there before Johnny retires. 

2. What skills do you want to learn or improve in 2025? It's not really a "skill" but I want to improve my magnetic bookmarks to start selling them again. I'd sold them early on, but I want to find better cardstock/laminate combination that holds up to heavy use without peeling. So I plan to work on that.

3. What do you want to do more of in 2025? Aside from work stuff, I do want to get the stationary bike from my mom's house and exercise more. Perimenopause has been BLAH and between that and all my back and joint pain from hEDS, I want to start with the lowest impact option. I'd swim, but we don't have a pool and I don't want to go anywhere to swim. :P So I'm going to start with the bike. I think mom and I are going to start walking the dogs together once a week or something, too. 

4. What do you want to buy in 2025? Split king mattresses! We have a king size adjustable bed, but Johnny and I have very different sleep positions. But...we need to bring in a lot of dirt for the low spots in the yard first and get some other things done around the house...so we'll see. 

5. What is your number one goal for 2025? I've written pretty vague goals the last several years...so my specific goal for 2025 is to reach 3500 sales in my CandiMakerStickers shop. :) 
And maybe this year I'll make a goal of reading 12 books this year (at least one a month)...but we'll see how that goes. ;) 

Almost Christmas?!

This year has gone by so fast! 

On the 14th, we went to my sister's house to celebrate Christmas. She got Johnny a new Yeti coffee cup and I got a cool set of mixing bowls. My dad also got Johnny (all the boys, actually) a hair trimmer... which was good because I was actually planning to buy Johnny a new one. LOL. Oh, and mom also got me sone Hallmark miniature ornaments for my little wooden tree. :) The girls were spoiled too. 

Ashlyn has been sick this weekend...so hopefully she'll be feeling better by Wednesday. I think she's calling the doctor today to see if she can get an appointment before the holiday. So we'll see how that goes. And Aubry is off work until the 2nd. Johnny only has Christmas Day and New Years Day off. :( 

Work has slowed down for me now that we're getting closer to the holiday. For about three weeks I was super busy and getting about 50 orders a week. Last week it dropped down to 30 orders. I've gotten 141 orders so far for December with more than a week still left to go...which already beats my previous record of 137 in July 2024. 

I'm enjoying a little more downtime right now. I got several Sims4 packs from Johnny for Christmas, so I've enjoyed playing around with that. I love building houses on there. :) 

The Litter Robot is going...slowly. Angel LOVES it. She uses it all the time. She also likes to go in and watch it turn to dump it out. If she stands on the step, it stops turning. Leo has also used it several times. However, despite being the very first one to use it (before I actually turned it on), Milo is scared of it. He's scared to the point that he is nervous even going into the cat room. So I've been trying to work with him and I still have their old litterbox down there. It doesn't get used as often as it did, though. 

Oh! And I watched Season 6 of Virgin River! I watched one episode before I went to bed early Thursday morning and then watched the other 9 episodes throughout the day. It was pretty good...but has a big cliffhanger at the end. It moved a little slow at times...and the most interesting and pivotal moments from the entire season all happened in the last 7 minutes. :P It's been picked up for Season 7...and I really hope we don't have to wait all the way until December to watch it. 

And the rest of our shows are on hiatus...so we'll have to find some other stuff to watch. Nate Bargatze has a special has another Netflix special on Tuesday, so we're excited to watch that. No idea what else we'll be watching. 

Well...I should probably head to bed. I hope everyone has a merry Christmas! 

Busy, Busy!

Thursdays have been my "slower" days so far in December. I've been getting 6-12 orders per day since the Tuesday before Thanksgiving...but last Thursday I had 4 orders and today I've only had 3 orders. So while things are a little slower today, I'm working on some more designs. I have a lot more custom name stickers that I want to get listed...but I've been so busy lately making and packaging orders that it's been hard to find time to work on them. I'm not complaining though! I'm to the point now where I'm making as much money with CandiMaker as I was when I was working part-time outside the home. As of today, I already have 97 orders for December. Last month I had 115 orders total for the month...and my record is 137 in July 2024. The first 13 days in July, I had 57 orders...while I had 58 orders in just the first 7 days of December. So hopefully the pace continues and I'll set a new record this month! :) 

I'm loving the new Litter Robot. I set it up the day it arrived. Milo used it right after I first put the litter in...before I even turned it on! It's been hit and miss since then, though. I still have their regular litterbox in there, but it's not getting used as much. I also got a cheap $20 indoor security camera that I'm going to set up so I can see what's going on down there without having to go down and look. :P Because when I go downstairs, they stop whatever they were doing before I started walking downstairs. That have to run to the bottom of the stairs and watch me walk down...so then it's just a wasted trip. :P lol. 

I also used one of our new sauce pots tonight! They're Carote white granite pots and pans. We got the 21 piece set that had the grill pan instead of the egg pan. Tuesday I cleaned out the cabinet where we keep all the pots and pans. I boxed up all the old ones and put away the new ones after I washed them all. It's so much more organized down there without a whole bunch of random pots and pans. 

So far, I really like the new pots and pans. They're very non-stick which is the main thing I wanted...something easy to clean. I made country gravy and it heated really well. The only complaint I have so far is the fact that the two largest sauce pans (4.5 and 5.5 quart) don't have a handle on both sides. They're pretty lightweight, but I already have issues with my wrists separating, so I'll have to use my silicone glove thing to hold both sides when pouring and stuff. They're also not specifically mentioned to be dishwasher safe...but if the non-stick is good enough, that's not a problem. Overall, they're much better than the old pots and pans we had. :) 

Well...I'm going to get some more work done before I go to bed. Hope everyone has a good weekend! 

Overdue update!

I just realized that I hadn't posted in over a month! November has been pretty busy, though!

We had a nice, relaxing Thanksgiving. It was just Johnny and I again this year. All the kids had their own things going on. I'd considered hosting my family again this year (we'd done it in 2014 and 2019) but it's always so stressful and I just wasn't up for it this year. It never fails...whenever we have people over for Thanksgiving, things don't go smoothly at all. :P We typically make a bigger turkey which ties up the oven for a long time. Then other things don't seem to get done in time. One year I turned on the crockpot for the mac n cheese...only to discover that it hadn't been plugged in. :P There's just so much going on at once and lots of people in the kitchen...it feels like chaos. But this year we had zero deadline for when anything had to be done...and I got it all done at relatively the same time without trying very hard. :P I didn't even bake the breads the night before like I usually do. And with fewer people eating, I just make turkey breasts in the pressure cooker instead of a whole turkey in the oven. It only takes about an hour and I don't even have to thaw them first. 

Work has also been super busy this month. Sales were slow during the first part of November...but they picked up A LOT starting the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. I ended up breaking my previous record for total orders (from both Etsy shops and eBay) in one week (Sunday to Saturday)...which was 36 orders. The week of Thanksgiving, I had 45 orders! I actually ran out of the glassine bags that I use for packaging before my new ones were set to arrive. Luckily Amazon got them here pretty quick so none of my orders were late going out. I love being busy, though! :)  

During the slow part of early November, I used the downtime to make some new custom name designs using individual letter graphics and got a lot of them listed before I got busy. I even sold some of the new designs in the last week. :) I still have more letter designs that I want to make...but I'll have to wait for some more down time. 

Most of my recent sales have been for magnets...which are largely made to order instead of keeping them in stock. They're more expensive to make than my stickers so I don't want to have a lot of unsold inventory. I do try keep a couple of the popular ones on hand...which at the moment are my spreadsheet design and the flamingo design that says "Don't make me put my foot down." Since 11/26, I've had 68 orders and 36 of those orders were for magnets. I'm really glad that I changed my listing photos to make it clear that each design can be a magnet or sticker...because it has greatly increased the amount of magnet orders since then. 

While I'm working, I usually binge watch shows that I've already seen...that way I don't have to really pay attention to it. I just look up at the TV to see my favorite parts. It's my emotional support background noise. ;) I'd been watching a lot of 24 and then switched to Virgin River. I really wish December 19th would get here so I can watch Season 6. There's not a whole lot of episodes to binge watch Virgin River...so I've gone through it several times now just in the last few weeks. :P And then last night when Johnny and I were getting ready to eat dinner, I noticed that Martin Henderson was in the photo for the Australian TV miniseries, Secrets and Lies. So I decided to watch that last night after I was done working. I watched all 6 episodes...largely to see if my prediction was correct about about who the killer was (and it was...I'm generally pretty good at predicting TV shows and movies). It was a good show, though. I think the rest of the week I'm going to switch to Reacher. That's another show with an upcoming season that I'm excited for! It's probably my favorite current show right now.

Ooh! We're waiting for my birthday present to get here! :) We ordered the Whisker Litter Robot 4 during the Black Friday/Cyber Monday says. So I'm hoping that really works out well. It's supposed to arrive Thursday. We also picked out our Christmas present...which was a new set of non-stick ceramic cookware. That'll definitely be nice...since I've been using the same pots and pans (aside from a few new pieces here and there) that I bought in 2005 (and my pasta pot is from 2003). LOL. My favorite large 5qt sauté pan definitely needed to be replaced. So hopefully the new set will be good. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out which set to get. :P 

Well...I should probably get some more work done before I go to bed.