Hello, 2014!

Happy 2014, everyone! First off, thank you for a wonderful 2013, which I'm going to go ahead and dub the Year of the Moth, after looking back at my art photos. It was a great year for me on the painting front, and that's largely in part to meeting so many customers and artists who have continued to challenge and inspire me. I'm very proud of the direction my work is taking lately, and I have lots of new ideas and plenty of painting goals for 2014 that I can't wait to bring to life. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I hope you all have had a wonderful holiday season. We had the chance to head back to Illinois for a week to see family and friends, and to meet our brand new (and very first) nephew, who arrived a few days early (probably because he knew we wanted to spend more time with him). It's so unbelievable to comprehend how very tiny and perfect he is. We couldn't be happier for my brother and sister in-law! I recently shared that we'll be expecting our first baby this spring, so he'll have a cousin right away, and from here on out our holidays will only get crazier. It's a baby-boom time for both of our families, with several new ones and a few on the way, so it's going to be interesting, to say the least!

The whole idea that we'll be welcoming a little person soon is thrilling, wonderful, and utterly intimidating all at once. Some days I feel like my brain will just explode from all of the thoughts/ideas/worries/excitement. I know that it's not something that I can ever actually prepare for, but just the same, there are a lot of ways that I'm certainly trying! I'm not sure browsing baby art and clothes on Etsy and Pinterest counts as preparation, but there's plenty of that happening as well. Ha.

Since having a baby isn't enough, we decided to go ahead and buy a house too... Crazy? Probably. Necessary? Absolutely! We have been renting since we came to Omaha, and now that our family is going to grow, we knew it was time to find a bigger place with more room and less knob and tube wiring :-). This little house has been good for us, and has really given us an idea of what we need for space, and what we want in a home. After much browsing and lots of being ridiculously picky and confusing to our families, we found a house that we're really excited about.

We're planning to move in February, so I'm living in a land of boxes. I can't share pics yet, but I will tell you that a few highlights include a fireplace, first-floor laundry without scary spiders, a bigger kitchen (with a dishwasher!!), and plenty of room for me to set up a studio. It's a 1980s construction, so there are some nice modern lines and it has an openness between the dining/living areas that really sold us. For now, we'll be holding off on any projects, aside of expanding the fence for Miss Scout. Luckily the current owners have been meticulous caretakers and it's move-in ready. This lets us worry about getting situated and ready for the new family member instead.

So, there you have it. New Year = New Baby, New House, and New ART on the horizon!

Thank you again for all that you do to keep me motivated and excited about MAKING!