2026 Goals

2025 is done and gone and to be honest I am not sad about it. I feel like last year was kind of a lost year for me. One where I just coasted through and didn’t get a lot accomplished. I looked back on past years goals and got a ton done in those years. Not so much for 2025.

I have big plans for 2026, but I always have big plans, right?!

#1 Exercise/Walk More

It’s always a goal. I am determined to stay active this year.

#2 Read 52 Books

Last year I had no real goals for reading and it showed. I only managed to read a whopping 10 books last year. There is a reason for that for which I will explain at the end of this post.

#3 Cook More At Home

Cooking more at home will save us a ton of money (it already has) AND my husband got freaked out after seeing something on the interweb about what is actually in grocery store bread so now I plan to bake bread for him. This leads into my next goal…

#4 Bake More For Us

Ok, this should be a no brainer but sadly I have to add this to my goal list. I bake for everyone else but most often NOT for us. This needs to change, thus it has been added to the goal list for this year.

#5 Get $10,000 in Etsy Sales

In 2021 I got over $18,000 in Etsy sales. I can do $10,000 this year.

#6 Get My Little Bakery Cabinet Up and Running

I bought a little vintage pie cabinet last year and started working on it but the fact that it’s so tall and easily tip-overable kind of freaked me out last year so the Hubs has promised he will figure out how to stabilize it this year so I can properly use it.

#7 Journal as Much as Possible

I just have to make a spot that is comfortable that I can go to at the end of every day and write it all down.

#8 Home/Garden Focused

Last year was a bust so this year HAS to be better right?

#9 All New Wardrobe

The newest buzz word on the wardrobe scene is “capsule wardrobe”. It’s pretty much the new wording for “minimalist wardrobe” but either way I need to feel better about what I am wearing because every morning I change my clothes at least three times before being satisfied with what I have on, and not only is that frustrating, but it’s a time waster!

#10 Pay off $10,000 in credit card debt

This will be my goal every year until every last cent of debt is PAID OFF!

#11 Organize/Hoe Out House/Work on a Cleaning Schedule/Work Smarter Not Harder

I am drowning in stuff. I can’t wait to show you in my next update what I have already worked on!

#12 Spend More Time With My Husband

After the 3000 cookies I baked for Christmas and the constant pushing my husband aside to get said cookies baked, I have had enough of putting everyone else first and telling my husband he needs to scram so I can get said orders done. I actually like being around my husband (95% of the time) and we need to have more fun together.

#13 Less Screen Time

I stated above that I didn’t get as much read last year for a specific reason. Actually many of my goals last year were not accomplished because of this very embarrassing issue. I am addicted to playing games on my phone. There I said it. Phew….admitting it is the first step right? It’s not something I want to say jokingly though. It’s a real issue for many. I know we all feel it. That pull every 30 seconds to look at our phone. To check Facebook and Instagram, to see if there is a text or an email or some other communication we feel we can’t miss. I have used playing games on my phone as a way to escape, but it has cost me valuable time. Seriously, I will play HOURS a day. Those hours I could be doing anything but wasting my time playing a game. So my goal this year is to wean myself off games on my phone and stop wasting time. Yes we all need down-time. We need mindless activities that will help our brains to rest but that kind of screen-time is not it!

Ok. That’s the list of goals I have for 2026. Nothing fancy but I like all of these goals.

What do you think? Do you have goals this year? Do tell -MM

2025 Goals Wrap Up

2025 is done and gone and to be honest I am not sad about it. I feel like last year was kind of a lost year for me. One where I just coasted through and didn’t get a lot accomplished. I looked back on past years goals and got a ton done in those years. Not so much for 2025.

Here is where my goals landed from 2025.

Home Repairs Professionally Done -New back door and cut down all sumac in the hedgerow.

We got a new back door!

Kitty loves the full glass view!

Home Projects Done By Us – Paint everything in the kitchen and revamp some of said kitchen.

Nope/Nada done on this.

Learn to Sew DONE!

I accomplished this goal right off in January and I am enjoying learning more all the time!

Add my husband to all of our household bills and finally change my name to my new married name instead of my old married name (it’s only been 15 years lol) DONE!

Yep got this goal accomplished!

Try 10 of my Granny’s recipes from her stash

I only tried one. Sigh…..

Go to three cultured events this year like a concert, play, musical, etc

Only went to one event this year.

Wear all 18 dresses I have at least once this year

I think I only wore 5 dresses. After looking at all of the dresses I really didn’t want to wear many of them. Most of them I am going to donate. Why force myself to wear something I don’t like anymore. Plus every time I went to wear one (like for Christmas Eve) I didn’t have any panty hose to wear with them. That’s an excuse but have you worn a dress without hose in December in NY? Not fun!

Three down 15 to go!

Get my mom and son moved into their new homes and re-arrange our own home now that the kid will be on his own

This goal alone I blame as the sole reason I got nothing else accomplished this year. It was miserable and I am soooo glad it’s over. Everyone is in their places and finally happy and boy did we have fun re-arranging our home after the boy moved next door. Major growing pains this year for sure!

Try 10 recipes off the internet

I only tried a couple of new recipes and only one was worth writing home about.

Do some continuing education for cake decorating technique for myself

Never had time for this.

Pay off $10,000 in credit card debt

In the end we got $4539.71 paid off in debt and after the year we had I am content with that number.

Get that fruit garden installed this year that I wanted last year

I got 2 blueberry plants, a bunch of strawberry plants and 2 big tubs of red raspberries planted but will have to see if they survived. I will continue with this goal in 2026.

That’s it. 2025 is done! Check out my next post which I hope to get done tonight with my 2026 goals!

How was your 2025? -MM

SAL-Girl in Lavendar Field 11

Well… I am almost done with Lavendar Girl, but not quite. By the next update, she will be finished and put together in a pillow and sent off. I can’t wait to show you that!

Here’s the before:

And here’s the after.

There are lots of little places on her to get finished, but probably only a couple of hours’ worth of work is left to do.

Next update will definitely be a happy dance!

That’s it for me this update. Time to hop to the other stitchers in our group!

Thank you, Avis, for organizing this Stitch-a-Long. Please visit the other blogs to see what other fabulous stitchy projects they are stitching. We are all working on different pieces!

AvisClaireKathyMargaret,  

SunnyMeganDeborahSharonDaisyCathie

LindaMaryMargaretCindyHelen

End of Season Preserving

2025 was not a good year for me in the garden or outside for that matter. The year started off rough. I never got any plants started indoors, which is unusual for me. I didn’t buy any seeds, just used what I had from past years. I couldn’t get into the mood. My gardening mojo was not there this year.

Potatoes harvested this year

I find when things weigh heavy on me, I retreat into my phone. I’ll play games on it for hours, scroll social media, look at my email. Why does this happen? It’s almost like my creative drive has been snatched away, and the things I loved to do once are not interesting anymore. That’s frustrating. Blame it on my hormones? Maybe? Probably, yes…that’s what other women have told me. I think in general there is a lack of satisfaction in everyone’s lives right now. Again, another reason to get off our phones.

Right before a killing frost a few weeks ago I harvested everything I could in the garden. I got quite a haul too! Lunchbox peppers, bell peppers, hot peppers, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and parsley. I immediately set to preserving them otherwise I would procrastinate and not get it done.

I used my dehydrator this year after not using it for a while. I preferred to hang my herbs but when I tried this year the parsley just bleached out and looked awful so I used the dehydrator instead and was very pleased with the result.

Then I dehydrated rings of lunchbox peppers. I have done this in years past and then run them through a coffee grinder to make powder, but I elected to dry and store them just as they were to use in soups and stews and sauces later. I like both methods. We ate the rest of the haul, fresh.

I NEED to be more organized and disciplined next year. I need to get my gardening mojo back. I am going to start tonight by getting my workbench cleaned off and all of my husband’s “stuff” out of my planting dresser. Then I am going to get a batch of microgreens started. :).

Here are some shots I took of the garden this year.

-MM

SAL-Girl in Lavendar Field 10

Another three weeks on this project, and a lot got stitched!

Here’s the before:

And here’s the after.

The right side of the project is pretty much finished, and the left side is more than halfway done.

Next update I hope for a happy dance because I need to get her done before Christmas 🎄.

That’s it for me this update. Time to hop to the other stitchers in our group!

Thank you, Avis, for organizing this Stitch-a-Long. Please visit the other blogs to see what other fabulous stitchy projects they are stitching. We are all working on different pieces!

AvisClaireKathyMargaret,  

SunnyMeganDeborahSharonDaisyCathie

LindaMaryMargaretCindyHelen

SAL-Girl in Lavendar Field 9

Wow 3 weeks has flown by!

I have worked really hard to get more stitched in this piece.

Here’s the before:

And here’s the after.

I got the right side of the lavendar field done and most of the rest of the skirt on her dress.

Next update I hope to have the rest of her dress done and the sky finished at least.

That’s it for me this update. Time to hop to the other stitchers in our group!

Thank you, Avis, for organizing this Stitch-a-Long. Please visit the other blogs to see what other fabulous stitchy projects they are stitching. We are all working on different pieces!

AvisClaireKathyMargaret,  

SunnyMeganDeborahSharonDaisyCathie

LindaMaryMargaretCindyHelen

Cakes and other Goodies I’ve Done Since March

After all of the March cakes I did and the 200+ loaves of St. Joe’s bread AND moving my mom and son, I had to take a break from baking for a bit. I took 2 months off and started back again in May (other than the orders I already had booked) and of course it’s been non-stop since then lol!

Here are some photos of most of what I have been working on since just May (and a few Easter orders).

My favorite this time was the 50th birthday with the huge roses. It was even more impressive in person!

The one that gave me the most issue was the Sunshine Nursery school cake. I had to scrape my original design off it and re-frost this time with their own logo instead of my idea. It turned out much better!

Phew that was a lot, and I didn’t even take photos of all of them! I’ll update again soon 🙂 -MM

Another Week Without Facebook

Man, it’s been a bit since I updated about life without Facebook. One of the biggest updates is about Mr. Gray, our gray tiger cat.

Last update was he was still struggling from his tooth extraction and not eating, and it wasn’t getting any better. With my anxiety sky high, I said to my husband, the Thursday after kitty’s tooth extraction that now the other side of his face was swollen, and he still had not eaten much more than a few licks of food in a week! I called the vet and told them they needed to see him asap and I wanted them to sedate him to really see what was going on in this poor cat’s mouth.

Both me and my husband took him in again to the vet that night at 5:00 pm and they knocked him out. We waited in the waiting room anxiously for results. After about 15 minutes the vet tech burst through the door with a big smile on her face and said “well Mr. Gray’s teeth are all gone now, the doc wants you to come in and look.” What??? All gone? We went into the exam room and the doc had cleaned him all up, dried blood was gone from his chin, the matted hair from drooling for a week was shaved off, and his mouth was squeaky clean from teeth. Apparently ALL of his teeth were rotten and when they went in to see what was wrong they just all came out! Unbelievable! They had really never seen anything like it and thankfully he had no gum disease or stomatitis which would have been really bad! Also his blood tests were perfect other than the obvious teeth infections. Poor guy! We thanked our vet profusely and took our guy home all groggy but let me tell you not having any teeth did not deter this cat from eating once he came home. Within an hour and a half, all groggy and wobbly still, Mr. Gray ate like I had never seen him eat before. Nothing was going to stop him and although I was worried I let him eat his wet food until he couldn’t eat anymore.

Within hours our gray boy was feeling much better and within a day he was already acting like none of this ever happened. Thank the Lord I brought him back to the vet even though I knew it would be tough on him otherwise we would have had a dead kitty!

Last weekend we went to the Apple Umpkin Festival in Wyoming and had a blast!

I had a ton of cake orders which I will show in another update.

I cooked my heart out all week, chili, chicken, roasts, pasta salad, breakfast bites, etc.

I got a ton more stitched on Lavendar Girl.

We walked a bunch of times and went to the library, does your library have puzzles to check out?? Ours does!

I cleaned out more items I wanted to get out of the house and down to the parsonage sale.

We had a bonfire one night!

I got 10 jars of chili sauce canned.

A bunch more photos taken of dishes for my Etsy shop.

Lots more work and meetings.

The harvest moon was incredible on Monday!

That’s it! Nothing spectacular but a lot got accomplished.

This will probably be my last official “Life without Facebook” post. I have looked at certain pages on Facebook and I am the admin for several pages on it so it’s hard to completely remove myself but I will continue to use it sparingly and for business and quick info purposes only. -MM

SAL-Girl in Lavendar Field 8

Happy Sunday to everyone! It’s time for our three week update! I got a ton stitched on my girl since last time!

Here’s the before:

And here’s the after.

This piece is definitely looking like a lavendar field now. My eyes have taken a beating on this one, much like the poppy field I did years ago.

That’s it for me this update. Time to blog hop the other stitchers in our group!

Christina is taking a break from the group but we hope she is back soon.

Thank you, Avis, for organizing this Stitch-a-Long. Please visit the other blogs to see what other fabulous stitchy projects they are stitching. We are all working on different pieces!

AvisClaireKathyMargaret,  

SunnyMeganDeborahSharonDaisyCathie

LindaMaryMargaretCindyHelen

Days 9-10 without Facebook

I was really tired after last weekend so the only things I did on Monday were work, tend to sick kitty, pick beans and go to my Trustee meeting at church, plus I got a little more stitching done on Lavendar Girl. A bonus was that my awesome husband had the entire kitchen cleaned up while I was at my Trustee meeting. He is the best!

Yesterday I finally went to the chiropractor after weeks of neck pain. I worked at the office, still tended to sick kitty, (any advice on how to care for a cat after a nasty tooth extraction?). We went to dinner because I just didn’t feel like cooking, then went to Zoning Board of Appeals meeting (I am the recording secretary). I rounded out my night trying to get my orders organized for the next couple of months. I had someone ask me about 500 cupcakes for an order next week but I doubt that will happen. I am not sure where people’s heads are when it comes to giving people notice on orders that large. I mean come on!

That’s it! Nothing spectacular. I needed a couple days of not that much to do. 🙂

What do you think of Social Media right now? Yay or Nay or somewhere in between? -MM

Peace of Mind comes from not wanting to change others.” -unknown

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