2013: The Year in Review

I say this every year, but I love looking back and 

reading my blog from the past year

and seeing where we were and where we've come

and how much life has been lived along the way.

Because it feels the same.

It feels like I'm stuck in the exact same place I was at this time last year.

It feels like I will never move.

it feels like I will never make progress.

But that's not the truth. 

The truth is that all of these brave little baby steps

 taken day by day

moment by moment

sleepless night by sleepless night, 

it all adds up. 

And there is movement.

And there is progress.

And like a first grader learning

 how to put her thoughts down on paper,

I want to celebrate what I am

instead of seeing all the things I am not.

I gave myself a year to explore the world of art licensing.

I tried a lot of different styles and techniques.

I bought a large format scanner.

I figured out the difference between jpeg and tiff and png. kind of.

I figured out how to add text images in Photoshop.

Honestly, at this time last year I was ready to be rich and famous. 

Okay, maybe just rich. 

Okay, maybe just able to stay working part time for another year. 

But, as it turns out, I'm neither rich nor famous and I don't love painting assignments.

Actually, I would be thrilled with painting assignments if I got paid for them.

but right of the bat, I don't.

So, I'm on the fence about art licensing.

I ordered and loved Lilla Roger's book:

I Just Like to Make Stuff

and the one thing she says again and again is:

People buy your joy.

So true.

With licensing, I created  assignments, 

without making time for creating my joy.

And that kind of sucked the life out of me.

it made me not want to paint or play or even be creative.

It just made me feel tired. Like more work.

In January I rocked 31 Days of Scripture Art Journaling
with every intention of finishing.

This January I plan to do the same. except finish.
January 6th -January 17th
It's coming.

I finally made a calendar.

I've been wanting to make one ever since I started creating.
I finally did. It was a ton of work.
I kind of love it.

And I made more scripture prints.

And I made a bunch of free scripture printables.
You can get them here.

The boys grew and grew and grew.

2012

2013

They turned 2 and 5,
Thank goodness . I love these ages.
Can we stay right here, please?
This is the hardest best thing
I've ever gotten to do.
By far the hardest.

My husband made it through a year and a half of his Master's program.
He'll be done in July and we will all say a big Wahooooooooooo!

My two little words were: shameless audacity.
I don't feel like I did anything audacious.
But I started to pray big.
And God started answering.
In one big, humongous way and a lot of little ways.
Thank you, Lord.

My friend Kristi and I decided to try our hardest
 to get our kids serving our community.

Collecting shoes...

Passing out cookies to strangers...

Ummmmmm... with 2 and 3 and 5 year olds, it's hard.
It takes planning and work. But it is so worth it.
Of course it's worth it. Every single time it's worth it.
I'm thankful for Kristi because I would have
 called it a day after the first activity.
But I told her I would and she keeps us going.4
And every time I'm thankful.

That was 2013 over here.
Thank you for coming along for the ride.
See you in the new year!