What Gaining One Pound a Month Looks Like

Have you ever stepped on the scale after several weeks and seen that you only gained one pound? Did you think to yourself "That's not bad"? I used to always be that way. But here's the thing, those pounds add up! In the 39 months from April 2009 to June 2012, I gained on average one pound a month to the tune of a total of 45 lbs O_O How insane is that!

January 2009 - June 2012
(I didn't buy that wedding dress because I thought it made me look fat *sob*)

Model Spy by Shannon Greenland

Model Spy (The Specialists) by Shannon Greenland
Speak (May 10, 2007)
ISBN-10: 0142408492
ISBN-13: 978-0142408490
205 pages
Ages 10 +
Buy Here for $6.99
My Rating: 3/5

Currently

How to Save Money on Unexpected Purchases

This weekend Luke's PS3 died. He was mid game play and it just glitched and shut off. It ended up being the "yellow light of death." :(
His PS3 was his 1 year anniversary gift and it is a big use item in our family. Since we don't have cable,  it is used for all our TV watching through Netflix. His biggest hobby is video gaming so he spends several hours each week doing that, and it is our only dvd/blue ray player. So it being dead affects our at-home entertainment which is our primary entertainment since it fits our budget life.

Retro Hints for the Modern Housewife

I was very excited when I saw this post from Design*Sponge this week. Why?
Because I have one of those Pasadena Art Alliance books. I have To Talk of Many Things from 1978.

Purchase History: December 2012

So I actually only made 2 online purchases this month and was too lazy to photograph anything so you won't be getting visuals of my purchases this month.
Most everything I bought was on clearance or sale so I am proud of that.
Here's what I bought in December:

2013 Memory Bank

A few months ago, I fell in love with the idea of a memory bank. I decided I wanted one for 2013 and I even made it part of my 101 in 1001 list.
I initially planned to get a pretty ceramic vase and just drop all our mementos into it...

In My Mailbox: December 2012

72 Hour Survival Kit

So I have been aware of the necessity to have an evacuation kit for a while. And I really do understand the value of one since we did have to evacuate due to Hurricane Dolly in 2008. Despite that, I have never made any effort to compile my own kit and have it ready :-/
Well last week I came across this site and got motivated. I like how she breaks it down into a 6 month project so that you don't get too overwhelmed or break the bank. She also listed things you need that I probably never would have thought of but they really do make sense.

2013 Reading List

As part of 101 in 1001, I want to keep track of every book I read in one year. So I figured 2013 was a perfect time to start. This will be a running list that I will update regularly and you will be able to access it under My Lists on the sidebar if you are interested in following along :)
Here is what I have read in 2013...

Girlfriends

Breakfast with my Grandpa

My Grandfather is a very meek man and this leads to an element of mystery about him. He has lived a "Big Fish" kind of life and Luke says he's the real "Most Interesting Man in the World." :)
But since he is so quiet, my Grandma and the rest of the family tend to dominate conversations and I have never really gotten to know him personally. A few months ago, I learned that he loved Waffle House which is my favorite breakfast place too. So I made it a goal to take him out to breakfast just me and him one day.
I finally had the opportunity to this morning, and it was such an awesome time!

My Business in 2012

2012 was my most successful business year to date but there was a lot of blood, sweat, and heartache that went into it. Literally.

Along the way I learned a lot of things that have shaped my view of my business and industry and have lead me to an interesting crossroad. I have a lot of decisions ahead of me but in the meantime, here are some of my ups & downs from last year.

1. There are major reasons why the USPS is suffering. I had 5 different orders lost, damaged, or seriously delayed because of the postal system. 
2. 2 of those 5 order were part of my 5 most expensive orders.
3. 1 of those was for a celebrity client that resulted in $1500 of product "disappearing" and an extensive insurance claim being filed.
4. I drive way more for my "home" business than I ever realized. I actually clocked almost 3000 miles last year.
5. Developing a relationship with a printer and outsourcing most of my printing was one of my best decision all year.
6. Next to the US, Australia is my largest selling country (at 10 orders) but the headache to ship there is threatening to outweigh the added income.
7. California was my most popular sales state at 33 sales with Texas, New York, Illinois, and Florida finishing out the top 5.
8. I sold orders in 27 states and 10 countries that consisted of the US, UK, Germany, Australia, Sweden, Canada, Ireland, Malaysia, Russia, and Italy.
9. I sold the most orders in January and April at 20 and 17 respectively.
10. My most profitable months were September, April, and June in that order.
11. I sold and completed 53 sample orders, 15 of those resulted in full suite sales.
12. I sold a total of 25 full suites, so 60% of my orders were from sample sales and 40% just from online pictures.
13. My sales numbers drastically dropped when I stopped personally offering sample sales to interested customers.
14. My overall stress level dropped when I set the monthly limit of 2 suites per month.
15. For the first time ever, I actually put my shop on vacation mode starting the first week of December. To be at a point where all my current clients were addressed and satisfied and I didn't have to worry about taking on new ones was freeing and relaxing.
16. I am entering the new year with a vision of change and new perspective.

I might add more as I remember things or as I come across new stats during tax time. I enjoyed compiling this list because it is a nice reference and reminder for me of the accomplishments and struggles of last year.

Project 30.30.30 - Day 30

I can't believe this is the last day! I have loved this project so much and while not every project has been fabulous, I have added a lot of fun new pieces to my wardrobe :)
Even though I am done with Project 30.30.30, I think I will continue to view refashioning as a viable and preferred option to new clothing.
For my last project I revisited an awesome skirt my mom made me a couple years ago. I loved it so much that I wore it all the time and eventually it faded severely and looked really raggedy. So to the back of the closet it went.

Twenty Twelve in Review

I am keeping up with my annual tradition and reviewing my year in blog posts but I am also listing some items I didn't blog about that were big deals in our life as well :)