A Celebration

Pull out your kazoos because guess what!

Making This Home turned 2 earlier this month.  This blog and all of you have felt like a best friend, holding my hand through so many adventures toward simplicity and dare I say – survival! in a foreign world.  You were filled with urges of “It’s okay!” when I was petrified at my inability to communicate with the German dental hygienist.  You were laughing with me as my adorable Vietnamese classmate in German class struggled so much with my name that she finally settled on calling me… Kevin.

No matter where I am on this journey or with this blog, I just want to tell you thank you.

while hiking – and not showering – for days.  circa 2005

For having such a popular name like Katie, I’m not much good at being cookie cutter.  I’ve always been okay with that.  Mostly.  I was so afraid of just being the co-pilot in our family with my not-so-cookie-cutter spouse.  A year-and-a-half ago, I decided to change that quite literally and get a pilot’s license.  I think that’s when I stopped being co-pilot in general.

That’s why I didn’t announce a big celebration for Making This Home’s 2nd anniversary a few weeks ago.  A party just didn’t feel right this month because like a best friend, you all did something far greater with me shortly after that 1st anniversary.  You cheered me on with something else one year ago this week.  You whispered, “Do it, Katie” as I put myself out there.

One year ago this week, I sold my first journals online.  Gadanke was born.

a She 1.0 journal whose lips are sealed

The clarity I’ve experienced in the last year about (1) running a small business, (2) living simply, (3) learning a foreign language, and (4) finding joy in a journey where I know I am the pilot of my own destiny – all of these things have made the last year just right.

I want to become someone who can share these journeys – not just the ups and downs of my path, but the process we’re all on.  That’s one of the reasons I’ve started featuring handmade artists, small business owners, and dreamers.  I love applauding for them and hearing their stories.  I hope words from a different hand offer fresh wisdom.  I also want to keep offering the wisdom I’m discovering, and I promise to keep doing that.  We’ve made some fantastic moves toward simplicity that I’ll be sharing later this week.

my German class in April after 600 hours in our Berlin classroom.  cheers!

Lets celebrate, why don’t we?!

I have some great things to celebrate with you this week.  Some are victories related to our family goal; some are victories that are all about embracing joy and simplicity.  You know – the good stuff.

If you have any questions for me  or any questions about Gadanke or my own creative process, feel free to leave them in the comments.  I’ll be talking about those things later in the week and answering questions then.

Thank you for sharing this journey!  Here’s to another simple, perfect year!