Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful, relaxing holiday season surrounded by the love of family and friends. My kiddos were home from school and daycare for 2 weeks and I took that time to decompress, reflect on the past year and focus on the year to come. I think it’s going to be a good one!

Last year, The Hubs and I set New Year’s intentions for the first time. For years, I had been setting (or consciously not setting) New Year’s resolutions each December 31st. Sometimes these resolutions would last a month or two, but rarely was I still doing what I had resolved to do by the time December came around. 

The idea of setting an intention instead of a resolution was a new one for The Hubs and I. We each picked a word for the year– A word that would become our mantra, our compass, our reminder of how we want to live our lives. 

Last year my intention was “Do It” and The Hubs chose “Patience”. You can read more about why we chose those intentions here. 

Looking back, it amazes me about just how perfect a word “Do It” was for me.

In 2014 I:

• Left my job of 8 years to start my own business!!!
• Celebrated my first anniversary of being a blogger.
• Conquered my “shy girl” ways and attended 3 blogging conferences!!! SNAP in Salt Lake City, BlogHer in San Jose and Blissdom in Toronto!
• Created relationships and worked on projects with incredible companies like Cricut, Frigidaire, DAVIDsTEA, Royal Design Studio Stencils, Expressions Vinyl, Pottery Barn and Breville!
• Was honored by being named one of the Vancouver Mom Top 30 Bloggers.
• Started volunteering in my daughter’s classroom on a weekly basis.
• Became the editor for UrbanMommies.

Great year right? It was fun looking back at what I accomplished. 

When it came time to pick my word for 2015 the word came to me instantly– Quality.

 What this means to me:

Quality family life- Turning the computer off when the kids get home from school, being present, and focusing my attention on them. They are only young once, and I can’t believe how quickly time is going. My sister is getting married this summer and I can’t wait to spend more quality time with her and my mom, getting ready for the wedding.

Quality Mommy-Daughter time- Yes, she is only 6, but I can see the teenage years fast approaching. Having a solid foundation filled with heart to hearts, mutual trust and love is going to be what gets us through the bumpy years. I want to start spending more one-on-one time with my girl.

Quality marriage- Turtle is finally over his “making strange” phase and finally will tolerate people other than mama. We finally have a babysitter and I want to make it a priority to spend quality time with The Hubs.

Quality health- I’ve written briefly about my struggle with anemia. I had a section of my intestine removed during surgery after a car accident almost 10 years ago and since then my body doesn’t absorb iron. I’ve finally found a good doctor who is helping me with my anemia and now it’s time to get back to my health. I’ll be starting a 6 week challenge soon to help me drop some weight and starting a regular exercise regime is going to become a priority again as well. I want to put quality food into our bellies and really pay attention to what we are putting into and onto our bodies– food, body products and cleaners. 

Quality blog- I think so many bloggers feel pressure to do things a certain way. “You must post this many times a week.” “If you want to raise your pageviews you must do X.” Sew Creative will be turning 2 in a few weeks and with 2 years of blogging under my belt one thing has become very clear to me: It’s not about how often you blog, it’s about the quality that you produce. Sew Creative is focused on creative living. I want to bring you more of the things that you are responding to– Great crafts, recipes and DIY projects. How you can make things that you see at the store or online with your own two hands, at a fraction of the price. Glimpses into my life, the things the kids love, the areas where I struggle, things that move me to tears or make me squeal with glee. Products that I use and love that help me get the most out of my creative life, whether I’m sewing, cooking, crafting or DIYing. 

Quality Business- I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that if I hadn’t started my blog I would not be currently working for myself. Starting my blog and making the decision to leave my job and work for myself has been the best professional move that I have ever made. I don’t want to mess that up. I think when you first start a new business you are tempted to take every single job that comes your way. I want to focus what I’m doing, concentrate on the things I love and work with people, companies and influencers that I truly believe in. I would love to teach more and want to put effort into expanding the consultation work that I do. Quality, every single day, every single project, to every single one of my clients. 

Quality Friendships- The one downside of working for yourself from home is you don’t have the office as a social outlet anymore. I have a fabulous core group of friends who I know always have my back and who I would drop everything for if they needed me. We are all so busy though! We are all moms and with a mixture of new babies, new jobs and going back to school while juggling family and work– we just haven’t been seeing as much of each other as we used to. I would love to see my girls more in 2015, and perhaps make a few new girlfriends along the way. 

So those are my plans for what I’m going to focus my efforts on in 2015! Funny enough, The Hubs was so pleased with my intention for last year, that he has made 2015 his “Do It” year! Bean said she wanted to set an intention too and her word is “Loving”. 

How about you? What are your dreams, goals, aspirations and intentions for 2015? Share, share, share! I love hearing from you.