Here’s the last page of my Christmas journal.  I added this page (a piece of paper bag) for listing all the goals I have for the new year.  It’s something I do in every Christmas journal because it feels like such a great way to pull the stories together into future journeys.  Plus it’s a whole lot easier to actually remember goals when you know exactly where you recorded them.

One Easter season, my aunt told me, “This Lent, I’m going to give up all of my New Year’s Resolutions!”

“What were your resolutions?” I asked.  I was probably 12 years old.

She paused and started laughing.  ”Can’t remember!”

Who can?!  That’s why I write them down.  (I’ll be doing that tonight.)  For 2010, I set 10 goals for the year – some big, some little – like…

Completing integration level German lessons.  Check!

If there’s anything 2010 taught me, it’s to believe you can do the things you never thought. Sie können!  (You can!)  So from the tire house to your house, here’s hoping for a 2011 with plenty of cheers and plenty of pleasure.

Thank you all so very much for joining me here.  It’s been such a treat.

Frohes Neues Jahr/Happy New Year!

2011 is for organizing a beautiful life.

Yes there are papers to be filed and a small stack ready for the thrift shop.  There’s also so much more – like being open to opportunities that come through the year, bettering the people we are becoming, and celebrating moments.  This year, I want to be more open to all these things.  How about you?

The idea of an organized life has already sparked new things at our home.  We’re figuring our our new roles in our home and community.  We’re actually attempting to have our taxes ready before, oh, the last minute.  And finally, I am going to learn to sew a zipper and patch the hole in Martin’s winter coat.

Yeah – part of organizing is organizing all those fears about patching that coat (it’s been duck taped since before I met Martin), and throwing them all out the window.  A poorly patched coat has got to be better than a duck taped coat!

My 2010 was so much about wanting a decluttered home and life.  Organizing a beautiful life just seems to flow into the next step.

So I’m going to open our doors to you and share this new journey.

Organizing isn’t about stressing.  It’s eliminating unnecessary.  It’s allowing time for what you love and the people you love.  It’s taking care of the ordinary so you can celebrate the stories.

I’d love to hear what your thought is for your 2011.  Any new year organizing you plan to dive into (or need to dive into?!)?

If 2010 were summed up in one word at Making This Home, I think it would be DECLUTTER.

Many of us worked on The Decluttering Project.  We got to peek into a lot of simple homes (like this Bulgarian home in Berlin).  And I’d like to think that just maybe, we were able to cut back on the things and the stuff that don’t matter so that we could focus on the things in life that do matter.

(Martin + Katie yearrrs ago)

It’s incredible how easy it is to add tasks to our lives.  We start feeling overwhelmed and frustrated.  You know what I’ve discovered over the years, though?  A lot of those tasks that I had were often just busy work… busy work that I was creating.

For example, I was always grabbing the free magazines at the organic grocery store.  I thought there might be something in those magazines that I’d want to know or want to try.  The magazines would pile up.  I’d read them and tear out articles.  I’d file those articles.  Then I’d go through my files and flush out articles that didn’t seem worth hanging onto.  This cycle would take several months.  And each time, I would feel anxious about this pile that I “needed” to go through.

One day it hit me.  The lightbulb was big, bright, and totally LED.  ”Hey Katie,” it whispered.  (Did you know lightbulbs can talk?)  ”Have I got an idea for you, and it’s totally brilliant.”

I’m pretty sure I leaned in for that secret and dimmed all the other lights around me.

“Stop bringing home the magazines in the first place,” it said.

That’s it?

Yeah.  That’s it.  I think we introduce a lot of unnecessaries into our lives. It makes everything more complicated than it needs to be.  Our lives are overwhelemed and cluttered.  Somehow, we find ourselves decluttering again and again.  Criminy!  This is a cycle I don’t want to be a part of.  Now I am the only person on earth who can control how I live my life.  You are the only person who can control yours.

Be true to yourself, not your stuff.

I hope you’ve had some successes with decluttering and eliminating unnecessary in 2010.  Maybe you didn’t reach everything you wanted.  That’s okay.  We have to recognize a desire for something new before we can create it.

I have this vision on where to take my home and Making This Home in 2011.  I’ll share that with you tomorrow.

In the meantime, I hope you’re all having a wonderful holiday time.  These words from Og Mandino have been running through my mind this morning.  (Og Mandino was a bestselling American author and philosopher.)

Never again clutter your days or nights with so many menial and unimportant things that you have no time to accept a real challenge when it comes along. [...] You are not here to fritter away your precious hours when you have the ability to accomplish so much by making a slight change in your routine. No more busy work.

What are your thoughts on decluttering and creating unnecessary in life?  How do you resist it?  Or when do you find yourself falling victim to superfluous projects?

Cheers to a Merry Christmas!

We woke up to a cold, cold tire house today.  Perhaps the heater wanted to take a little Christmas break?  So I think a revamped Christmas blessing is in order.  Cheers to a merry and WARM Christmas to all of you.  We hope your holiday is filled with so very much love and good cheer.

We’re attempting a European Christmas tomorrow – from Gluhwein to roasted chestnuts.  We can’t wait to surprise my family with these little traditions that shaped us so much last Christmas.  (Christmas Eve is the traditional day of celebration in Germany.)  Then Christmas Day is all American.

As I’ve been telling all the happy baby-gift makers around here (only a few hours until our newest family member arrives in town!)… don’t worry about making things perfect.  Enjoy the making, the giving, and the celebrating.

Cheers to you all!

xox

Katie (and Martin)

The stories of our December are weaving together – sometimes in ways that we planned, and certainly in ways that we didn’t.  I’ve shuffled the papers of my {Joy to the World} Christmas journal around so many times.  I’ve added Christmas cards and photos – even a comic from the neighbor’s newspaper!

Here are the stories from around here.

Some pages are for specific days of the month.  Some pages, like the one below are there to capture what’s going on because even when deep inside, we’re still the same, so much around us is different than our last Christmas.  I used red tape to accent the left page and make a box around the word “love” on the right.

#4 – the name of a dear friend has been erased for this photo.

And the last page I want to share with you is from this weekend.  We were supposed to go flying (my first in months!).  A snow storm quickly changed that plan.  Winter flying is my favorite because of all the snow, ice, and Christmas lights.  The Christmas card I cropped and hole punched on the right page captures this sentiment for us.

I hope you’re finding plenty of small moments to celebrate in these final days of 2010.

The lucky winner bringing home this beautiful necklace from Joyeful Art is…

…Barbara.

Barbara, please email me to claim your prize.  And to Joye – thank you so much for sharing your beautiful jewelry and painting all in one with us.  Your work is just lovely!