WOTY 2024

The ever-expanding Word Of The Year (WOTY) 2024 possibilities list. The funny thing is that usually the word I end up using isn't on my list. I also tend to have a transitioning intention for the December/January season, then settle into my enduring word for the year. Last year I chose SIMPLIFY as my transition word, but the word that eventually held my hand all year long was STEADY. 

The phrase from 2021, KEEP MOVING FORWARD is also a STEADY refrain in my head. 😁😁

I have been SIMPLIFYing by purging a lot of my personal possessions and redoing my office spaces, so I am glad to see that I upheld my 2023 intention to some extent. I also quit school and let several past hobbies go, accepting that I am no longer that version of myself. Bittersweet but good overall.

(Reposted from a Facebook reflection I wrote today)

Comfy Fashion Post

Hello y'all! I am on my way to Texas and this is my plane outfit. 😍 These are not affiliate links (yet??!!), I'm just trying to make the world of clothing a friendly, fun, and fitting place. I currently weigh 200 lbs, have a round shape, and wear 16-18, XL. 

And here it is THE TRAVEL OUTFIT!!!!

I can't delete or rotate from my phone yet, so here you go! I'm letting myself be a beginner this trip so this is a great post for that. 

Also, I forgot to mention that it's Wednesday, which for me is WE day, because I focus on group things. Usually I have activities for my kids, and things on Wednesdays that involve groups of people. My WE day colors are black and white. It is also decision day if I have anything on my mind that needs a choice one way or another.

🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤

Details:

Jeans - Gloria Vanderbilt All Around Slimming Effect size 18, found at a local reseller for Costco in WA.

Tunic T-shirt from Elly and Grace - https://ellyandgrace.com/

Heartwork Journaling Trucker Hat and Hanes Unisex Sweatshirt (2x, too big, I'm usually a woman's XL) from Zazzle. (The sizes vary a lot so try a few and you might have to reorder but the customer service was fast and friendly.)

Existential Crisis Duck tap nightlight - such gentle light and a satisfying touch/sensory experience for me. It used to have legs. I found it on Facebook but I've heard they are on Amazon too. 

Bee Better Bombas socks from my daughter. No idea where she found these. Lovely though. I like happy and inspirational words on my clothes.

Mournday

For me, Mondays are Mourn-days. I find that I am a bit out of sorts after my busy weekends, and my sensitive nature has pulled in much of the world's pain. I see many broken things in the course of my life, and for a while, the sadness of what is wrong in our world and sometimes, in my own life, overwhelmed me emotionally. Having a day to process things and tidy up emotionally helps me stay balanced and healthy. The natural low of Mournday sets me up with a clearer mind and more energy for To Do Day (Tuesday).

Mournday is blue, and I try to incorporate water and art (beauty) into my day. I am wearing Walmart or Ross clothes, a scarf I made at my local Crochet Club, and a heart necklace that my son gave me. Usually I'd have dangle earrings too but I've lost my current blue pair.

Beach Outfits

Hello! This is the first post of a new series for my..... outfits! I am part engineer, part storyteller, and very sensory-sensitive, so clothing is a joy and a challenge. Here I want to share what is working for me right now.

Fuzzy blue hat - Walmart

Ear Warmer Headband - Linda's Crochet Love (local and handmade!! ❤️)

Chosen (TV show) sweatshirt "Get used to different"

Blue stretchy pants - Tried and Tru, made in Kenya

Boots - Walmart 

A better view of my favorite new beach accessory - ear warmer headband - as the weather turns from cloudy wet to spring sun.

❤️ Linda's Crochet Love sold through the Facebook page for ART HQx.

Hair Posts

 Hair Saga

I am cutting my hair short on April 6 and hopefully donating it to Locks of Love. I like things that are cyclic, so I plan to grow it out and donate it every 3 years or so. 

Today is the 3rd day of Lent. One of the things I will be doing is a love letter to my hair in portraits. Long hair and short hair are different, and I want this hair to be fully lived (and loved) before it goes off on its next adventure.

Today's hairstyle: front braids.

Hidden Wealth

Salt - the Salt Wars (book)

White Sugar - Little House on the Prairie

Paper - bark, papyrus, parchment...

Toilet Paper - my personal proof that there is hope for humanity.

Someday I want to do a lecture called "You're Richer Than You Know" or something like that. We have enough of so many things. We are wealthier than we know.

Moving Beyond My Notes

 I am trying to get back to posting thoughts here instead of just creating endless new notes on my phone.

So buckle up, it's about to get bumpy! Random thought dumps here we come!

Simple Luxuries 2023

 Right now, to BE this means:

2/23/2023

Prepackaged Nutella (hallelujah!)

2/22

Ordering an extra uniform and team sweatshirt for my son (13) so I'm not worried about laundry and spills on travel weekends ($175 for 6 months).

Investing in good tech (price unknown) and extra chargers ($40 each).

Getting my daughter (10) a practice uniform and a team uniform ($40) for her gymnastics.

Treating myself to a seasonal helium balloon once a month ($1.25).

Buying the fancy soaps at Ross and from my handmade donkey soap source ($8).

Buying myself nice sweatshirts ($40).

I come from a background with a $10 personal spending limit. It's been $10 for years, maybe $20, a month, occasionally$100. Now it's not and I'm having trouble growing, so I'm documenting it here. This list is to remember where I'm at, and also to keep track of the kind of things I find worthwhile to invest in. This is also my gratitude list, that we can do these things now. I remember my mom buying me the nice shampoo in high school, and I was always grateful for that. And taking me to horseback riding lessons. And paying for my Galapagos trip with AP Bio.

No one reads my blog, and yet I still find myself hesitant to hit publish. Well, here goes. My contribution to the honest money talks (not sure if it's a thing, but I've seen articles about salary transparency lately, so I made this category up).

Word of the Year Part 2

 Nope, not on Facebook.

One more place I can check. BRB.

Ah, found it in my family's Advent reflection pages from Big Life Journal. They do these neat end of year packets with a theme. 2022 was a journey, this year had a camping theme. 

Well, at least I found my top contenders, none of which still resonate with me two months in. Open, new, little steps.

In my car Devo book (the one I out in there to read when I'm waiting at the drive thru), it says:

2021 Keep Moving Forward

2022 Believe

2023 Simplify

which is rather prophetic I think because simplify, or rather simple, is actually the idea permeating this year the most.

Simple abundance. Simple luxury. Simple prosperity. Recognizing all the areas in my life that are going well and where I can basically buy or get whatever I love most. Pens. Shampoo. Food. Clothes. Shoes. Sheets. Blankets. Helium balloons from the dollar store. Notebooks and pens and art supplies from Ross. For so long, every penny was so tight, there was no extra. Getting French fries for the kids felt extravagant. I don't regret those years because we had an abundance of other things, like time with extended family, but I am glad to realize that we are in a different sort of financial season now. People used to fight over salt and sugar, but now there is enough to go around, so yay!

It's almost Lent and I want to focus this year on all of the amazing things I have. Letting go of who I used to be and the stuff that represented the old versions of me is high on my list for Lent. I have been realizing that I keep things for several reasons:

1) I want to remember something, or it reminds me of who I want to be, or who I've been along the way.

2) It makes me feels a certain way

3) It's from a happy time in my life

I seem to collect certain types of things - office supplies, stuffies, books, art supplies, notebooks, art, ceramics, textiles, rocks, and sticks. Putting some of my collections into stations along my Whimsical Walking Way in my mom's forest has helped some.

I feel like if I could focus what I collect and harness the visual power things have for me in some other way, then I wouldn't be taken over by stuff that I have no interest in maintaining. What I am looking for is all the feels with less of the stuff. Or something like that. 

Someday I want to live in a tiny house. But even before that, I want to have a simple mindset about what I need and what brings me joy. "Efficiency is key," says my civil engineering self, "The most bang for my buck in joy and minimal storage of things." Efficiency, beauty, functionality, system flow... These are on my mind.

Now I am off to Dynamics.

Word of the Year 2023 Part 1

 I came today to my blog to refresh my mind with my WOTY 2023.... and lo and behold there was no post here!?!?! I have recently discovered that I have a touch of ADHD and dyslexia, so not finding a post is not too surprising. I probably logged on, wrote other things, and logged off while forgetting the ONE THING I came here to do in the first place. Like going to the grocery store for milk and spending $100 but still coming home with no milk.

What I did do was add blogger and shortcuts to my blog to my phone home screen, so at least I had a clear pathway forward when I did not find the expected post. WOTY has single-handedly kept this blog's heart beating some years all by itself (a little redundancy in that sentence but I still love it.)

The good news is I'm still here. The bad news is, I can't remember my Word Of The Year, which is actually usually a phrase. Maybe I posted it on my Facebook page... I'll be right back. Hopefully. Maybe. With ADHD one never knows...

Did I mention that my husband, Byron, and I started a podcast? We've done two episodes of Gudino Gold. You can find it on Spotify.