Friday, January 03, 2020

Happy 2020!

It's the new year!  2020!  How 2019 for you?  What are your hopes and goals for 2020?

One of my goals is to post more often here on Willow's Cottage blog.  I have been mostly consistent with posting my Friday Fave Fives.  Last year, FFFs was one of the things that kept me posting!  So here I am.  Posting my Friday Fave Fives on the first Friday in 2020.

1.  Safe drive home from Phoenix.  We left at 3:00 pm because we stayed to attend the Children's Theatre production of Ella Enchanted with PAL.  It was a great play and we enjoyed sharing it with Chaplain Dan, PAL's mom and PAL.  Then we hopped in the car with Dr. Mike and made it home in record time.  It helped that we gained an hour in the westward change and that Dr. Mike took his turn driving.

2.  New Year's Eve.  This is the first time in several years that we have been home on New Year's Eve.  We joined many families in our church congregation for a fun evening and watched the ball drop -- in New York.  We were home by 9:30.

3.  New Year's Day we took a walk along the beach.  4.21 miles.



4.  How fast can you clean up your house and make it ready for a realtor to show it to a prospective buyer?  We were out of the house in twenty-one minutes!  (Is that a world record?)  No, the agent said his client isn't going to make an offer on our house.  But it is nice to realize that we can prep the place so quickly.

5.  One of my goals for 2020 is to actually practice my sketching this year.  I discovered that Leslie Fehling who I took a class with a couple of years ago has a January Everyday Artists Challenge.  Do a  pen/pencil sketch or watercolor every day in January.  I've done two.  This afternoon I am going to my Art Group and will do Day 3 there.  Three days in a row is already a record for me!

Yesterday's pen sketch
Palm trees from a photo


Here's to a New Year!

12 comments:

Deb J. in Utah said...

Hello - glad you had a good visit to AZ and arrived back in Cali so quickly. I remember making the trip from So Cal to Phoenix and back and ending up in giant traffic jams that started out in the desert. Not so fun. Glad that was not your experience. Are you moving to Arizona? I have heard that lots of people are moving from California to AZ because you can get soooooo much for your money there. That is what we did - then we moved from AZ to more expensive Utah. Good luck with the sale of your home. Yes, having the house always spotless for showing can be a pain, but usually worth it in the long run. I bet you sell super quickly. Keep us posted. See you agian soon!

a spirit of simplicity said...

I remember my daughters reading Ella Enchanted when they were girls. They both loved it. Happy New Year.

Karen said...

We love celebrating new year's New York style. We're in bed by 10:) One of the advantages of selling your house is that it can be cleaned up lickety split. When I've had that experience I always vow to keep my 'new' house the same. Ha! Kudos for joining in on the drawing challenge! It's nice to see your palm trees on this frigid Colorado morning. Happy New Year!

Mereknits said...

You are off to a great start for 2020. 21 minutes, that is amazing!

Faith said...

Oh I remember when my girls were into the movie and book Ella Enchanted. I didn't know it was also a play! how fun!! Glad you made it home safely....i'm IN NY and didn't watch the ball drop although I did stay up until a few minutes in the new year :)

LOVe that you took a nice beach walk.....4 miles....YAY!!

your sketch is wonderful.

I just posted my goals after my FFF. one of mine is to play my piano more. i can't even play well the pieces I performed for my junior and senior recitals in college! yikes....my goal is twice a week and I start today :)

Barbara Harper said...

Glad you had safe travels! I usually turn on the TV long enough to watch the ball drop, but had fallen sleep on the couch about 10:30. Nice sketch!

Gattina said...

I wished I could do a walk along such a beautiful beach ! The water looks like silver ! On New Year's day the weather wasn't so good for a walk and then we were sooooo lazy !

Wendy said...

I hope you get some good news soon on selling your house. It must be a pain having to constantly rush around to tidy up and then get out before the realtor visits. Your sketch is lovely. I am not in the least artistic especially if originality is required. Glad you had a safe journey home and good times with family and friends. Happy New Year.

Susanne said...

Happy New Year, Willow! How fun that you are getting back to sketching. I like the drawing of the palms. 20 minutes to pick up and be out the door is amazing! Praying that just the right person comes and your house sells quickly for you so you don't have to do too many more of those mad dashes out the door. Walking on a beach on New Year's Day, what a lovely thing.

ellen b. said...

Have fun with your sketching. It really is a fun addition to journaling. Happy New Year to you and yours!

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