Here I am again — I finally remembered to do my review post for 2011. Once again I’m just copying my questions from last year. This retrospective was originally inspired by Linda at Sundry Mourning.

1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before? I got paid to be a community manager. I’ve done online community management for, oh, well over 10 years. All that experience got me a job doing it for a paycheck. W00t! And I went to NYC for business (and had to leave the baby for more than 24 hours for the first time). And we took the family along on a biz trip to San Francisco where we made a mini vacation out of it.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Nope.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? My friend Mandy. But I didn’t get to see the baby yet. Soon!

4. Did anyone close to you die? No, fortunately.

5. What countries did you visit? Absolutely none, except in my mind. (same as last year!)

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011? A house. (That hasn’t changed.)

7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? My kids’ birthdays are the only thing I can think of. And maybe the day I got laid off.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Surviving unemployment and using my network to find another job, I guess. That and keeping my sanity. Mostly. And managing to move our household while my husband was ill and mostly unable to help.

9. What was your biggest failure? Not having a backup plan in place and getting bills paid off as quickly as possible in case something like a layoff happened – which struck just a month after we moved and more than doubled our rent. Hope to do better this year.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Just my back went out after lugging all of those boxes down 2 flights of stairs. And then back up some stairs into our new place.

11. What was the best thing you bought? I got a laptop really cheap for work stuff and it has worked quite well. Oh, and I got an iPad2 while I was still employed. And an iPhone. But the jury’s still out on whether I like my iPhone better than my old Droid.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? My oldest son. He has worked SO HARD on his speech and has made tremendous progress the last several months.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Celebrities. Politicians. The usual.

14. Where did most of your money go? Paying off debt… and too slowly at that.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Moving out of the old place. I hated that apartment. The parking was horrendous and we got harassed all the time. Our new place isn’t perfect, but we have a garage (to ourselves), dishwasher, and laundry. SO MUCH BETTER.

16. What song will always remind you of 2011? The Dog Days are Over by Florence & the Machine. Because it was everywhere.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

– happier or sadder? happier, mostly.

– thinner or fatter? slightly thinner.

– richer or poorer? maybe a tiny bit richer.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Taken time to go do fun things with my son during the day.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Working my tail off for little return.

20. How did you spend Christmas? We were with family, as always. We weren’t sure we were going to get to go because of the layoff. But things came through at the last minute to make it possible.

21. Did you fall in love in 2011? Yes, more & more with my family.

22. What was your favorite TV program? I think it’s still Castle. But Grimm is giving it a run for the money.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? No, still hating on the same person for, oh, about 8 years now. Some things don’t change.

24. What was the best book you read? I didn’t get to read a whole lot, as usual. I think it was this year, though, that I finally read the Hunger Games trilogy. I enjoyed it.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? Adele, I guess. And Florence & the Machine. (Yeah, so I’m a little late to things. I don’t get out much.)

26. What did you want and get by year’s end? I got some time off. Like a month and a half. Not exactly what I wanted, but I was very fortunate to get another job with an awesome company.

27. What did you want and not get by year’s end? Out of debt.

28. What was your favorite film of this year? I think I saw one film: The last Harry Potter.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I went to dinner by myself (yes, on purpose). 38.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Being able to buy a house. (Do I sound like a broken record yet?)

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011? Comfy & lazy.

32. What kept you sane? Hubby giving me time to get out of the house & do things by myself. Like go have a leisurely cup of coffee. Or browse the bookstore. Or go do some of my art journaling.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Nathan Fillion from Castle. Love the show & his character.

34. What political issue stirred you the most? I can’t stand politics. Truly.

35. Who did you miss? My mom – I wish we lived closer. And several out of state friends.

36. Who was the best new person you met? I met a lot of cool people through the local moms on FB and Twitter. They are pretty awesome.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011. Put money away while you have it. Because you never know when you won’t. A layoff isn’t the end of the world, even though it sure seems like it at first (during panic mode). And never underestimate the power of networking. Or kindness from the most unlikely of places.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. …I can’t think of anything right now. Didn’t listen to a whole lot of new music, either. The radio station I listen to plays older stuff.

It seems sometimes like I’ve lost my voice. Not my physical, yell at my children voice, but my writing voice. My personal writing voice. I think of little things here and there to blog about, but by the time I’m done with work, I really just want to get off of the computer and spend time with hubby and the boys. Or it’s something that seems stupid. Or silly. Or not worthy of my time — or yours.

I want to chronicle this time with my boys. I’m not even doing that. I have way too much to do and I haven’t been very good at managing my time on & off the computer.

On top of that, I wonder if anyone even cares any more. Do I? I’ve been writing online since 2002. I remember that date because I was writing about a fishing trip I took that summer. But I’ve since lost those archives. What’s my point? I don’t know. I’ve been writing a long time. Do I have anything worth saying anymore?

I’m not really sure. But I still need a place to write, to get things out of my brain. Does anyone else do that? Write because you need to clear your head? I’ll go crazy if I don’t.

So it may be disjointed. It may be boring. But I need to get it all out once in a while.

Maybe Thanksgiving can’t be totally stress-free if you’re cooking for a large group, or even just your family. But you can take steps to reduce your stress. Choose simple side dishes that are flavorful, but not time-intensive. Use a crockpot. Or two. Or even have your guests bring several sides while you concentrate on the turkey and gravy.

Last year, I made dinner for us, the daughter and her boyfriend, and the bro- and sis-in-law. That’s not a large group for most people, but it’s about the max we can fit in our small place. And with a small kitchen, large meals aren’t easy. But it can be done.

The rolls I love to make (Pioneer Woman’s No Knead Dinner Rolls) can be started a day or two ahead of time and stored in the fridge. My candied sweet potatoes can be partially done the day before and refrigerated until you’re ready to pop them in the oven. And you can cook your dressing and green bean casserole in crock pots. Just get things ready early, pop them in the crockpot, and you’ve got two side dishes with minimal fuss.

Speaking of dressing, my mom usually makes hers from scratch using stale bread and homemade cornbread. It’s really good. And I need to learn how to make it. But to shorten things, I use a box of stuffing. Yes, I do. But to make it more my own, I sauté an onion and some celery and add it to the mix. I also add dried sage (I really like a lot of sage in my dressing). Add those things, and use chicken broth for your liquid and it’ll taste just as good as homemade!

Here are a couple of recipes for some tasty side dishes that aren’t too hard to make. I really like the carrots, while the entire family just LOVES the sweet potatoes. I believe I originally found these recipes in my Better Homes and Gardens CookBook. I have a newer edition (the pink plaid one), but I actually prefer the recipes in the much older edition my mom gave me. I need to put it in another binder, though, as it’s falling apart. There are some seriously good recipes in there (the cinnamon rolls are amazing) and it’s a great reference. I’m constantly looking up cook times for meat and veggies – it has several references based on the type of cooking you’ll be doing.

On to the recipes!

Candied Sweet Potatoes

4 med sweet potatoes (~2 lbs)
1/4 c. packed brown sugar
3 Tbsp butter, melted
1/2 c tiny marshmallows
(you could also use chopped nuts, but we all prefer the marshmallows – it really makes the dish, trust me)

1. Peel your sweet potatoes and then cut into 1 1/2″ chunks. Cook them in just enough boiling water to cover until tender – about 10-12 mins or so. Drain. (You just barely want them tender, or they’ll overcook later.)

2. Transfer to 2-qt baking dish. Add melted butter & brown sugar, stir to combine.

** Now, you can stop here if you’re doing prep the day before. Just cover and chill up to 24 hours. When you’re ready to start again, uncover and bake as directed in step 3. Don’t forget to let it come to room temp before putting it in the oven. Cold dish + hot oven = broken dish & a big mess. **

3. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 mins or until potatoes are glazed, stirring gently twice during baking. Then sprinkle on the marshmallows and bake an additional 5 mins more.

Brown Sugar-Glazed Carrots

1 lb. med carrots peeled (baby carrots will also work just fine)
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp brown sugar
Salt & Pepper to taste

1. Cut carrots in half, cross- and length-wise.

2. In med. saucepan, cook carrots covered in a small amount of boiling salted water for approx. 8-10 mins or until crisp-tender. Drain and remove from pan. (You definitely want the carrots on the crisp side so they don’t get mushy.)

3. In same pan, combine butter, brown sugar, and salt (a dash). Cook and stir over medium heat until combined, then add carrots. Cook uncovered, about 2 mins, until glazed. Stir frequently. Then season to taste w/black pepper.

There you go – a couple of my Thanksgiving standbys. If you want the green bean casserole recipe, it’s always on the side of the french-fried onions can. And yes, I do make it every year. Total comfort food for us.

What’s YOUR favorite side dish for Thanksgiving?  

We’ve hit the 28 week marker. Time has moved so slowly I thought that I’d never get here. And now it’s third trimester time. Did I hit the uncomfortable stage of things this soon last time? I don’t remember. I’m already having trouble breathing and eating – where’d all the space go? At my last appointment, I was measuring a week ahead already. That prompted my doctor to go ahead and schedule a c-section.

Unfortunately, Thanksgiving gets in the way. And that means dates are limited, especially since I don’t want to go in on my other son’s birthday. I refuse to have two birthdays on the same day if I can avoid it.

So the doctor scheduled it the day after. Sigh. I don’t care about being in the hospital on Thanksgiving. I really don’t. But I am frustrated that I’m limited to two days just before then AND the doc chooses the 23rd. Why couldn’t he schedule it on the 24th and at least give us a day in between?

And don’t get me started on feeling like my choices have been taken away. My original due date was 11/29. But based on conception date, I know that’s early by at least 3 days. I didn’t get a chance to give him those details (and would he listen anyway?). Because of my gestational diabetes, he doesn’t want me to go to my due date. In fact, he apparently doesn’t want me to get too close to that since it’s possible my son will be big.

Let’s face it. i have a big family. I don’t think it has a lot to do with diabetes. We’re just big people. My other son was 9 lbs. 10 oz. My uncle was either 10 or 11 lbs. when he was born. Another uncle, other side of the family, was somewhere in the 6′ 6″ range as an adult. My hubby is 6′ 2″ See? Big people.

If I’m “lucky” I’ll go into labor on my own. But since the c-section is a week early and my last son was late, that’s not looking likely.

I was really angry and upset when I first got the news. Now I just feel resigned to it. The ultimate goal is a healthy baby and mommy, no matter how we get there. I just really hate feeling that my choices are limited. I was really hoping this pregnancy would be different. Instead we’re hearing the same tune just three years later.

And that’s part of why I’ve been avoiding much personal blogging. It all turns into angry rants or whining. And who really cares? It could be much worse. At least I’m not in the hospital on bed rest, unable to work or take care of my son.

One thing I’m dreading is caring for my older son while trying to recover from a c-section. Did I mention that he weighs 44 lbs.? Yeah, there will be no lifting him out of the crib in the mornings. Which is one reason why my husband is pushing to get him a toddler bed – one that he can crawl in & out of. (That still won’t help with diaper changes, though, which we do on our waist-high bed.)

I’m a mess. Have been the entire pregnancy. Worried about money. About how I’ll care for two kids at home by myself. How my older son will react to mommy’s attention going to the wee babe. How I’ll miss this wonderful time with my older son. We are such good buddies. Man, I love that little guy. But I don’t want to write a bunch of anxiety down, lest my younger son someday think he wasn’t wanted. He really is. So much so. But I haven’t done anything to prepare for his arrival — which is now ELEVEN weeks away thanks to the surgery — nor have I taken more than 2 weekly belly pics. Last time? Took a ton. This time? Not many. I wonder how I’ll give both of them adequate attention when I don’t even feel like I give ONE child enough attention (thanks to having to work so many dang hours – another story in itself).

See? Even I don’t want to listen to me anymore. Hence posts about anything or everything except my pregnancy. Or nothing at all.

I suppose I could write about how much I loathe both of my downstairs neighbors right now, BOTH of whom are doing remodeling. I hate it with a burning passion of a thousand fiery suns. Wouldn’t you think it would be, I don’t know, courteous to let your neighbors know that you’ll be starting some noisy remodeling? Especially those that you KNOW have small children? Yeah, none of that. I hate this place. Hence my looking for a 2 BR closer to hubby’s work. But those are way out of our price range. Actually, EVERYTHING is out of our price range. And I feel trapped. Another source of anxiety.

I really hope all of my stress doesn’t affect the wee babe, too much. But it probably has considering that it affects my eating and blood sugar numbers. See? Mommy fail AGAIN. I just want this to be over with so we can go visit my family and decompress for a month or so. Really hoping that helps. I need a break. I need to stop worrying about money, living quarters, my car that’s going to need a lot of work soon, working too hard for too little… I need something. I just wish I knew what it was.

I’ve been reading Connie’s 30 Journals 30 Days series over at Dirty Footprints Studio. I have to tell you how much I have been loving the look into other peoples’ art journals. So much inspiration to be had!

Today is the day that others can join up in the project. We were asked to answer a few questions and link up. So here it goes!

How long have you been Art Journaling?

I’ve been doing this for about a year. It started when I took an e-course offered by Teresa McFayden. I had no idea what it was about, but it sounded fun. Soon I found other artists and techniques and I was hooked! I still have a long way to go in order to really find my own style. But I’m experimenting and playing — and I love it!

How has Art Journaling impacted, changed, or enhanced your life?

I feel so much more creative since I started journaling. I look at things in a new light. I try to find a way to reuse papers and interesting bits of things I come across. I used to fill up journal after journal with just words. But I’m finding so much more fun when I put down a little color or some collage elements. So much more interesting than just a page filled with scribbles.

What are some of your favorite Art Journaling materials to use?

Still learning here, too. Definitely use a lot of craft paints, but I really want to move up to Golden. The paints I’ve been using don’t do well with most of the pens I want to use. I like watercolors, all kinds of papers (right now I mostly have scrapbook paper that I tear up & use), rub ons, and lots of found elements. One of my favorites right now is a big Bloomies ad that came in the mail. I’m gessoing over the pages and using them as my base for a completely different book and look. I love it. Also? Water-based paint Sharpies. I can’t believe they discontinued – so great for writing!

I started with Liquitex clear gesso but have moved to Golden gesso. I love it so much better – it’s way smoother than the Liquitex and much easier to apply elements over.

I want to eventually try nicer paints and some Pan Pastels – I hear such great things about them!

Who are some of your favorite Art Journalers?

I discover new ones nearly every day! But so far:

Teresa McFayden
Teesha Moore (I love her YouTube videos – so helpful!)
Sabrina Ward Harrison
Pam Garrison
Judy Wise
Diana Trout
Mary Ann Moss
and there are so many more on YouTube with terrific videos that I love!

What kind of words of encouragement would you say to an Art Journal newbie?

Well, I still feel like a newbie myself. Keep looking around for inspiration. If you hate a page you made, let it sit for a while and come back to it. I had a page where I played with watercolor crayons. I loved the colors, but hated the shapes and designs I made. It sat & stared at me for days. I finally just turned the page away to start on something else. I’ll come back to it later and see what I want to do with it. You can always cover something up. Or tear it out and use pieces of it in another work. Just keep plugging away.

Where can we contact you… give us some link LOVE!!

I blog at misspriss.org – I’m working on taking pics of my work and featuring more of it there. I have posted in the past on my Flickr page (but not recently – I need to get back to that!).

Videos:

My Scrappy Journal from Becky S. on Vimeo.

Short Bio.

I’m a writer and editor and have been blogging since about 2003. I live in San Diego with my husband and son (soon to be two sons!). I’ve written journals as long as I can remember, but never considered myself an artist. Only recently have I learned to love combining images and words – and I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner! I’m still a bit of a dabbler, but am trying to incorporate more art and creativity in my everyday life.

I’m participating in the SITS community 31 Days to Build a Better Blog challenge. We’re working our way through Problogger Darren Rowse’s workbook of the same name.

Our first day’s challenge is to create an elevator pitch for our blog. I always stumble when someone asks me what my blog is about. Because, well, it’s about me. And my family. And whatever flights of fancy filter through my head.

How do you pitch that to readers? Or advertisers?

I’m a mom.

A writer.

A wife.

A woman.

As I try to balance all of those things, I’m still figuring out where the old me fits in with the new (mommy) me. So maybe that’s what this blog is about.

You see, I once thought I knew who I was, but that’s gotten lost in the diaper shuffle. Or maybe it got left under the dirty clothes. I might have left it under my desk since I work from home and don’t see a lot of adults at this point in time. Occasionally, but not that often. If it weren’t for Facebook and Twitter (and managing to get together in person with friends from there once in a while), I’m not sure if I’d have any adult interaction aside from hubby. And that’s a lot to ask of him. Can you imagine having to be someone’s all? Their everything? That’s quite a burden.

Maybe I should talk about that struggle a little more. Instead I keep it inside. I don’t know why. I’m sure so many moms can relate. For now, I think that’s going to be my elevator pitch. It may change later.

I’m a writer who’s trying to balance work and motherhood, while figuring out who I am beyond mommy.

What’s yours?

I’ve had several people ask me if I’m okay after that last post. I am, really. I was just having a super-craptastic day and needed to write something. Maudlin, much?

Of course, there could be a tiny reason why I’m a bit easily pushed down into the depths, thinking the world just might end.

And it may have just a wee, teeny bit to do with hormones.

Lots

and

lots

of

hormones.

It has been really tough not talking about this. I have been so very sick, averse to a lot of foods and just plain miserable. And happy. But oh how I wanted to share my woes over feeling so sick that I have been taking a nap almost every day at the same time as my son.

Or how utterly exhausted I have been. All. The. Time.

Or how my husband is thinking about banning me from drinking merlot ever again. (But that’s a different story.)

Last week, about Thursday or Friday my belly POPPED. It’s a little hard to hide the news now. And Friday night, I went to Mamafest here in San Diego and ran into a bunch of ladies I knew. During the course of conversations, the news slipped. Oops.

That’s really okay, though. I’d already had my first appointment, seen that tiny little being, and heard a heartbeat. It’s real.

Oh boy. I’m going to be a mom to two littles, exactly 3 years apart. And I do mean exactly as this wee one is due a week after his/her brother’s birthday.

We’re calling this baby 3.0, because the boy was jokingly referred to as 2.0 on our shower cake last time AND this kid will be the third. So there you go.

The holidays are going to be busy this year, y’all. I can’t wait.

Okay, so it wasn’t too many days ago I said I want a gift card for Mother’s Day. But after browsing through my reader I actually saw something else I really, really want.

I haven’t been into creating my own art for too long. Well, not on paper with paint, brushes, glue and messes. Photography, yes. Other art? No. And even though I don’t have a lot of time to work on my art journals these days, it still calls to me. So much so that I’m going to have to make time to get my hands dirty really soon. It speaks to a deep part of me that I didn’t realize needed its own form of expression.

Several months ago, I bought a book called Taking Flight: Inspiration & Techniques to give your Creative spirit wings by Kelly Rae Roberts. Before picking up this book, I was not at all familiar with her art. But it wasn’t her art that drew me in. It was the content of her book. At that time, at that moment when I started reading her book, I needed inspiration and encouragement. I needed to hear how we all find our place (in art) with experimentation. There’s no room for perfection, but there’s plenty of room for play.

I tend to get frustrated with myself because I see the amazing things other incredible art journalers are doing and I really wish I could do that, too. I want to be inspired by them and learn new ways to do things, not to be intimidated into thinking that I’ll never make anything interesting.

And then I remembered that I’m not making any of this for anyone else but me. Would I love to do this and someday have people want to see it and enjoy it? Yes. But not yet.

There is that someday, though. How would I do it if I wanted to get my art out there and maybe even make money with it at some point? How in the world do you get started?

Kelly Rae is giving a class just like that. It’s called Flying Lessons: Tips + Tricks to Help Your Creative Business Soar . And I admit it. I want to take it. Who knows if she’ll even offer it again. There’s something about her tone in her writing that I really enjoy. I think I’d learn a lot from her.

Alas, the $99 price tag is nowhere in our budget right now. So while I’d love for this to be my Mother’s Day gift, it isn’t going to happen. But maybe one of you out there will get a chance to take it and I can live vicariously though you.

If there’s one thing I will never get used to living here in Southern California, it’s earthquakes. Big or small, they freak me out. Today was no exception.

Or maybe it was, because this was no small thing. And it definitely freaked me out more than previous shakers. A lot more.

The unpredictability of earthquakes is what gets me. The ground starts shaking. Then it shakes a little more. And more. Is it going to keep shaking? Is it going to get a lot worse? Is my apartment going to fall down around me? How do I protect my son?

All of us were in bed, trying to take a nap. I was just starting to doze off when I felt the bed moving. It felt like someone was standing next to it & bumping it, trying to wake me up. But it kept shaking. Then it got a little harder. “Earthquake!” I said, and my husband woke up, too. It kept shaking, getting a bit harder. “Should we get in the doorway?” “Yeah, I think so.”

I grabbed my son & headed into the little hallway just outside our bedroom. Hubby went out into the living room. Things were STILL shaking. At that point, I was dizzy & couldn’t tell if it was me or if the building was still moving.

It finally stopped.

We decided to get dressed & get out of the house in case something bigger came along. We opened the front door & could hear neighbors downstairs, talking about the shaking. Our next door neighbor opened his door about the same time we did, checking in on us as we asked him how they were.

Just some shaking, a few things fell off of shelves and high places. Not so bad. No major damage that we can tell. Possibly some cracks, but this place is already so cracked who can tell?

First thing after the shaking, when I was sure we were all okay and things had stopped moving? I hit Twitter. Of course. So did a ton of other people in San Diego & So Cal. News gets around so fast.

Later, in the car, I posted a Facebook update as well, so friends would know that we felt it but things were ok. I didn’t stop being jumpy, though, for at least another hour or two.

Maybe it was waking up from a nap. You’re disoriented and it takes a moment to realize what’s happening. Or maybe it was because this really was the strongest and longest quake I can remember since I’ve lived in Cali (that’s going on 16 years, BTW).

I’m just glad it wasn’t worse. It could have been so much worse.

(thinking of those in Mexicali who did actually have it worse. and Haiti, where it was unspeakable.)

Photo: USGS

One of my favorite all-time Irish blessings goes like this:

May those who love us,
love us;
and those who don’t love us,
may God turn their hearts;
and if He doesn’t turn their hearts,
may he turn their ankles
so we’ll know them by their limping.

I hope you have a blessed St. Patrick’s Day.

I, for one, am so grateful to my ancestors who came to the US during the potato famine to forge a new life. Their hardships and trials made way for great opportunities for me and my children. I only hope I can be as brave and strong in order to pave the way for even better lives for my future lineage.