Cheers to 2016!

Every time the New Year comes around it really gets me motivated.  I want to overhaul everything in the house, with Birch Landing Home, and my fitness goals and this year is no different.  

I've decided to take most of January to focus on our home:  it's time to do our yearly closet purge, deep clean all the carpets, and reorganize the dumping ground that our basement has become.  While I haven't read the book myself yet, I have read a lot of articles on The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and I'd like to try to use these techniques to purge more unused items from our home.  Though I can't make too many promises on this front.. I can be pretty sentimental about little things so we'll see how far I get.

I have big goals for Birch Landing Home too and I want to grow my Etsy shop and blog in many ways.  I'm planning on expanding to more New England-inspired decor in the shop including signs, handmade boxes, and painted sap buckets (don't worry, we'll still have our signature hand-etched ornaments available).  I'd also like to get our products carried at more local retailers too.  
The blog will still be a mix of DIY projects, product reviews, and lessons learned as first-time parents but there will a be a stronger underlying New England vibe to it.  I'd like to blog more about our favorite places to visit in NE as a family as well as showcase more great local products and makers (by the way, if you're a New England-based maker and want to collaborate this year please send me a message).  

And then there's fitness goals.. every year I say I want to get back into running and while I did run a lot more this year than I have in a while, I still didn't get to where I want to be.  So this year I want to make the push to finally run a half-marathon!  For those of you who aren't familiar with my running backstory, I was training for a half-marathon about six years ago when I suffered a couple stress fractures, mostly due to a structural issue with my foot (which I now wear orthotics for).  
We're hoping to expand our family again within the next year or two and so I feel this year will be my last chance to try for a half marathon again before I'm too pregnant or busy with a newborn to seriously run for awhile.  

Whew, so those are my top goals for 2016!  Wishing everyone lots of health, happiness, and success in the New Year - cheers!  

Reflections and Resolutions (Happy New Year!)

Hope everyone had a wonderful and safe New Years!  With a little one now I spent my evening like I do most.. putting her to bed, working on Birch Landing things, then curling up on the couch to watch some TV with the hubby.  
Pretty wild and crazy, huh?  I wouldn't have it any other way.  

Reflections

This has been a pretty big year for me, for us:  Becoming a new mom with ten million new things to learn (and am still learning), getting into the groove of staying home full-time with our little one, starting this little Etsy business, and getting a photo of our ornaments into Martha Stewart Living, to name just a few of the amazing things that happened this year.  We're very blessed and I am so very thankful.  

Resolutions

What's New Years without some personal resolutions?
1.  I'd love to get back into running.  I ran pretty regularly until I was 8 months pregnant, stopped, and then never really got back into it but it's about time I do.
2.  Ruthlessly cleaning out and reorganizing the basement and closets is also a priority.  We have too much stuff (and I have wayyy too many clothes), it's time to lighten that load.  
3.  And of course I'd love to grow this little business as much as I can - I have lots of ideas for wedding decorations, decor, and accessories all in a rustic theme.  I'm planning on phasing out some items in my shop over the next few months to transition Birch Landing Home into its new identity.  You can expect our Etsy shop to officially find its niche in 2015.

I want to thank you all for giving me a great start in 2014 and I'm looking forward to making 2015 even more successful!  

Cheers!