
I declare this year the Year of the Homemaker for me.
See the end of the rainbow? That’s my home. My pot of gold. The last few years have been a great adventure, getting my business on its feet. It’s fun. I love it. But it also takes a lot of attention. And I’ve let some of my habits slip.
I have a picture in my head of what I want my home life to look like. It’s pretty. It’s nice. It’s warm, it’s comforting, it’s loved, it’s taken care of. In this beautiful picture of home life, home and family are attended-to FIRST, not LAST on my list.
That hasn’t been the case. Of course the kids come first but everything else came last. I noticed this problem especially during the crazy year-end busy season. I can’t be too hard on myself, it’s something to be expected and embraced in my line of work. But I managed it poorly and it cut into what I want for my family. I didn’t get my shopping done until a couple of marathon days the week of Christmas. No baking, no Christmas cards, no decorating, no special traditions. I’ve just felt the lack of warmth and the abundance of stress and chaos in my life and want to turn that around a bit.
I bought myself a Christmas present (and made Dave wrap it and put it under the tree for me!)
It’s just a pretty book where a British woman talks about all of her creative pursuits and home making endeavors. She knits, quilts, bakes, gardens, all with an artistic eye. I love the thought of viewing what I do at home as an art. Making a loaf of bread is an art rather than a chore. Love that!
Dave laughed at me when he saw the book. “The Gentle Art of Domesticity?” To me, even the title alone is beautiful. He asked if I got the recommendation from my inspirationally domestic friend Kathi, who he coined as my “domestic coach”.
No, she didn’t recommend it. But she probably could’ve written it. To my knowledge, she doesn’t knit. But I don’t think this Jane lady grinds her wheat for her homemade bread, so there.
The cool part is… my friend Kathi has offered to teach bread-making lessons. I’m so excited. We’ll just take an afternoon and go start-to-finish and talk about the whole process. What’s more… she’s going to offer her classes to anyone who wants to learn. Reply here or send me an email if you’re local and also interested in learning! The class will be held within the next 3 weeks, most likely… though we haven’t talked about a date yet. Believe me… it’s worth going just to sample the end product!
But it doesn’t stop with bread. I plan to start a garden this year (again, with Kathi’s coaching). I cleaned the spot already, but that was last fall and with the rainy season there are all sorts of pretty green non-welcome plants back there needing to be dealt with again. She tells me that weeding is part of the deal. I’m coming to terms with that.
I’ve cooked meals at home every night this week. I’ve decided that there will be no more eating out in this family until April. Even school lunches are banned. So far, so good. We’ll still go out for special occasions like birthdays (mine’s tomorrow!) and date nights. But other than that, I’m making the time and planning ahead and living life consciously. Less than a week in, but I’m doing great so far! This is kind of big for me, because in the past months I’ve generally decided to run my errands around lunch time so I’d have an excuse to eat food that someone else has prepared. Who knows? Maybe this change alone will help me lose some of the weight I packed on last year. (no more denying this isn’t leftover from pregnancy!)
So. I’m putting it out there. Committing myself. The Year of the Homemaker. I plan to update my endeavors on this blog. So prepare for this place to be a bit more personal and varied, not just about photography, but also about my domestic arts. I’m excited. I only made a couple resolutions this year (I hate to fail!) but this is the biggest one. Wish me luck!
by shannon
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