{new year, new calendar}

I feel like it's a bit odd for me to just jump in here with a project post after being absent for {shamefully} almost three months, so I'll try to catch you up to speed on whats happening in our lives as well as share a project I just worked on. Literally, just worked on it while I waited for the browser to update....anyway I'm loving how it turned out so I figured that was a good reason to try and swing back into blogging again.
Before I tell you about the calendar I've made I wanted to explain why I've been gone from the blogging world. If you didn't read about it earlier, our little family recently made a heart-wrenching yet hopeful decision. We moved to Missouri from Texas in the beginning of November. Driving away from BPS on that sunny, cool morning was a hard thing to do, because even though we'd only served there for four years it felt like so much longer. I still tear up at the thought of that not being home any more.

Then in the beginning of December, we unexpectedly lost my grandma. After being "settled" into our new house for a few weeks, we took off on a road trip to say goodbye, bury my grandma, and rediscover a place we had memory scraps of from childhood. It was another rough, yet good time. In true southern style my grandma's funeral turned into a celebration of her life, and almost all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins were joined to share it. I remember grandma talking about how people in the hills would sometimes mourn a baby being born and feel joy at a body's funeral, but it never really struck home til that trip. You see, a baby is born into sin and a sorry world, but a Christian watches their body get buried from Heaven.

Two weeks after returning from North Carolina, we drove home to PA for Christmas. It was a short time, and after that trip I was ready to plant some roots in Missouri. We'd scarcely been in our new house long enough to call it home. The phase of traveling was over, and this homebody was glad to go home and stay there. 

And so, since then I've been trying to make Knollwood, the lovely big Victorian that we bought in Missouri into a home. And I think slowly it is beginning to feel that way, with every simple day that passes. Too often we think of a life based on big events, when really the life we make is built day by day.

Now that I'm done being philosophical, I'll share one of the projects that I did to help Knollwood feel more home-y. A mini calendar.

 I bought a mini clipboard at Walmart for pretty cheap, and used cardstock that I already had. I cut the 8.5 x 11 pieces in half width-wise, and then measured down two inches from the top and drew a line. On the first few months that I did I actually drew a grid to write the dates in, but I got lazy and pressed for time and decided to just eyeball it. It worked out pretty good for me but I think I'm getting better about eyeballing since I write in a blank paged journal every morning...more about that another time.

Back to the calendar. I then wrote a letter on the line for each day of the week. Next I wrote in the dates appropriately. The last step was to write in which month it was and erase the pencil line. I especially love the way August, November, and March turned out. Hence, they're the ones pictured. I have no shame when it comes to playing favorites with stuff I make, and if you see it pictured on here, it's probably because it's my favorite.

I started with February because I figured it would be pointless to do January. Can you believe we're on the last week of the month already? I can't. I also can't believe this dumpling is half a year old already.