What's Your Word for 2015?

Happy New Year!
I found this cutie on FaceBook and had to share!

There’s a trend to choose a word to define your year rather than setting a New Year’s resolution. For 2015, the word I’ve chosen is “reduce.” This word offers me a myriad of ways to make changes in my life.

To start my year off right, my husband and I joined a gym last Saturday. I hope to reduce my body weight, while my husband hopes to reduce his stress levels. I also bought myself a Fitbit to help motivate me to keep moving. While my husband enjoys skiing and bicycling, he does not exercise on a regular basis, so he’s hoping to build up his muscle strength. We’ve made a commitment to go to the gym on Wednesday and Friday evenings as well as on the weekend. As a side benefit, we will also be spending more time together.

I also plan to reduce the clutter in my home by recycling and donating excess household items. Last week when I was on vacation, I got started by cleaning my garage. I found a box of things that I used to keep in my old car, which I sold back in 2004. Many items were still usable, such as the book of maps, but I didn’t need to keep five snow brushes. Fortunately my friend Joannie was glad to take a couple of them off my hands. 

Next, I plan to review and cull my wardrobe. Do I really need five pairs of sweatpants? Or six pairs of sneakers? My Mom, who was born during the Depression and grew up in the Forties, is fond of telling me that as a child, she only owned two outfits: one dress to wear to school, and one dress to change into when she came home. She was also the third of four girls, so everything she wore was a hand-me-down from one of her older sisters. 

I live on the corner of a busy street, so anything that I leave out is usually picked up quickly by a neighbor who may have a use for it. My office often sponsors charitable clothing drives where warm coats, old blue jeans, or old sneakers are requested.

Finally, there's the quilting stash...

My personal motto which is shown on the wall of my Studio.

Will I make a dent in 2015? I sure hope so. In 2014, I only finished three quilts (I didn't keep track of how many I started...) but ALL of them were made from my stash. I'm not going to do anything crazy like promise to stop buying fabric. However, I do promise to look in my stash first before purchases are made...

I’m looking forward to 2015. I plan to embrace my word and use it as my mantra. And if my path to “reduce” goes as planned, my word for 2016 will be “rejoice.”

What’s your word for 2015?

Wishing all of you a healthy, happy, and prosperous 2015! May all your seams be straight!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

P.S. Do you remember my word for 2014? I'll give you a hint. I failed miserably at keeping my word of 2014 and I'll write a post about it soon.