Putting the "Happy" into "Happy New Year"

Although there hasn't been much activity in the blog there has been lots activity on the other side of my computer. Not only did I have plenty of custom knitting orders in December (which I loved!!!) but once things died down, I decided it was time to rearrange my work room.

I am an employee that works from home and have a desk dedicated for my job. Although I'm constantly on the lookout for new and improved ways to work and process the jobs and to become more paperless, I still have lots of files and papers on my desk -this is not a place that I do any other work. In the same room I had a nice little desk with a hutch that I considered my personal desk, but I had buried it behind craft supplies and couldn't access the drawers or doors. I decided that it would be good to have one desk for work and one desk for personal use. The personal desk could have pretty things like candles and flowers on it. I also thought it would be good if they could be across from each other as this would put them both near the window and both near the baseboard heater plus all I would have to do is turn the chair around from one spot to another which would save some space.

This simple idea, however, took three days to do. It involved unloading two 7' tall Bonde (Ikea)  bookcases and moving a filing cabinet. It also involved getting rid of as many things as I could. The task is now complete and I am happy with the results. The room is still fuller than it should be but I am happy with it and will continue to work on it. And I still have 3 knitting orders for January, which also makes me very happy.

As well over the past two weeks I was able to sit down with several wonderful ladies who've not only supported me in my knitting business but also in my dance. It is a wonderful feeling to connect with such amazing people. I also had a long meeting with my dance instructor discussing where I'm at and how I'm feeling and this has also renewed my excitement for dance and the future.  I know it sounds cliche but it's definitely been a journey in so many ways.

For me, and many others I talked to, 2014 was a tough year. It's not the worst year of my life, and tragic things didn't necessarily happen, but it was hard - not much came easy that's for sure. And interestingly, it was the same for many others. But I do believe that those tough things won't exist this year and I really think the tough past was a prelude to good 2015. I already put all  the hard work into building the foundation and feel I will reap the benefits this year.

I've suffered from depression and low moods throughout my life but I'm feeling really good about things right now. I'm feeling happy and I feel hopeful. I don't write resolutions but I do 'set intentions' (so to speak) for my future and I feel confident about the upcoming months. Dance class starts on Monday. Next weekend four of us are going to Seattle for a three day dance intensive training. Jp and I are both working and money's not as tight as it had been. I am hopeful my brother and I can mend our relationship this year. My mom and I are planning a trip to Europe this spring. I don't want for anything but look forward to peace and happiness and contentment. And this is the song floating around my head:

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Where have I been?

I've been to the mountain and back.

Last week I was away on business in meetings at Bear Mountain Golf Resort. Wowza, is it ever a beautiful place, and the weather could not have co-operated any better. What a tourism commercial. We had people from Western Canada and Ontario at the meeting and I think everyone wanted to return (or move) to Vancouver Island!

Travel-wise it was fantastic. For those of us on the Vancouver side, we have to take a ferry to the island which is about an hour and 45 minutes. That too was wonderful. And the ferries have much improved. They used to be so 'functional' but now they are quite well designed breaking up the sitting areas making them smaller to reduce the noise levels. And landcapes and ocean were superb - and that's coming from a personal who's seen it many times and lives here! British Columbia is a gorgeous place to be.

The craziest part is no one golfed! The events co-ordinator booked a whale watching expedition instead. The thinking was that everyone could be together and mingle since we are all so spread out across the country and you'd only get groups of 4 doing that for golf - but still, two beautifully designed golf courses at your door and no one from our group stepped on the greens. I did see licence plates in the parking lot from Colorado and California though - I bet they had a good trip up here too. If you eve come to Vancouver, you must plan a trip over to Victoria. I'm sure you will be glad you did. (No I do not work for the tourism board)

The weather this spring and summer has been stupendous and I am over the moon. Being a summer baby I just love the sun and hot weather, however, being an adult I no longer get to lay about for hours on end just being outside. Maybe that's why I appreciate it so much.

Friday night Jp and I walked out of the house to go to the grocery store and then realized we forgot our bags (they don't give bags anymore in many stores to reduce the waste and damage to the environment - do they do that where you are too?) so we turned around and headed back into the house. Just then we heard a crash and I see a pile of boxes I had in my office covering the floor. Poor Eco was under my desk, probably not sure what to make of it. First thing we did is call her to make sure she wasn't scared and that she could get out.

Although I'm not happy about the mess, I'm so glad that I was there when it happened. First because I wouldn't want Eco to be hurt by it, and two because if it had happened while I was away I might have felt that Jp was somehow responsible.

The bad news is that my weekend plans were changed as I dealt with this issue. Oh sure I could've just thrown the boxes back together and restacked them, but I decided I'd better deal with them since they were a mess and so I cleaned out my bookshelves and other areas as well. Day 3, almost done! I'm sad that I'm missing the sun, but so glad that the visual clutter won't be clogging up my brain.

How are things going for you? I must catch up in the next couple of days!

Lovin' my cuppa

Recently Jp made some changes and stopped drinking coffee which meant I too had to make some changes. It used to be that I'd make coffee for the two of us either in a french press or the drip coffee maker and liked the coffee very much, but I couldn't seem to get a good cup when I was just making it for one and since I drink my coffee black, the taste isn't masked by crem or sugar so it had to be good. I had just decided that I would switch to tea for my daily cup when he surprised me with a Keurig coffee system for one:

Wow! I am impressed! The manual said it would take 2 minutes for the water to get warm and two minutes to brew coffee but I've got a nice hot steaming cup in 2 minutes total! Can you believe that? I am amazed. And the joke around here is that I need three days to warm up to new appliances introduced by Jp, but this was love at first cup.

And check out all the varieties of coffee- they list 71 on the site! The machine came with a sampler box of 12 k-cups and I've been keeping track of which ones I like - so far the ones marked 'bold' are a bit strong for my liking but they are pretty good. I'm liking "Donut House" which is strong but not super strong. My one issue is that the k-cups are not very environmentally friendly since the little plastic cups have a mini filter inside they have to go into the garbage - but Jp must have known I'd think that about that and so he also bought me a reusable filter. This way I can use the coffee I want and not have to throw anything away. (The grounds go into my compost)

It also brews tea, which I understand if you're in an office or or RV or other location that doesn't have a kettle, but otherwise, tea already can be brewed one cup at a time so I don't see the need for that.

What a great gift idea! He knocked it out of the park with this one! *

Do you have one? Which flavours do you like?



*Note to family members, mum really wants one now too.....

PHOTO  CREDIT: http://www.keurig.ca/brewers/keurig-mini-plus-brewing-system

A fashionable office

Since I have a desk job and I'm at that desk for 40+ hours a week, I might as well surround myself with things I like, right?

So first came the shoe tape dispenser (bought locally)

And then came the purse post-it dispenser (bought in Seattle)

And then came the shoe bank (bought in the Okanagan)

Here's the story: Jp was recently out of town and ended up at an airport where he saw the shoe bank in a window, but it was behind security which means you need a boarding pass to get to the store. Luckily he knew someone at the airport and asked him for some help.  From there they managed to get the shop to bring the shoe bank to another kiosk they owned in the front of the airport so he could buy it just for me. Apparently they had just put it in the window about an hour before he found it for me. Isn't it gorgeous? I absolutely love it. And what a thoughtful husband I have.

Now I shall have to fill it with loonies or toonies to support my on-going shoe habit.