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2014 Word Of The Year: Intentional

I would like to preface this blog post with a round of musings from my mind.  It’s a scary place, consider yourself warned.  I’ve been struggling lately.  REALLY struggling trying to figure out what I want in life.  It’s been SO fun (she says sarcastically), just ask Colby.  The biggest “what I want” debate has been my vocational choice, running our Etsy shop full time and leaving corporate marketing.  While I LOVE Etsy, sometimes I feel like I lost my purpose.  Was I meant to be a marketer?  Was I meant to be an entrepreneur?  Was I meant to do something different?  Needless to say, I keep making decisions these days and second-guessing myself.

My latest decision was that I was going to quit blogging.  That was a week ago, right after my blog post about the bull horns.  Most days with the blog I feel like I write to no one.  Or that pantry we’re building in the kitchen…you know…the one that’s coming together at a snail’s pace….nobody wants to hear about.  Or really cares about.  It’s trivial.  So why do it?  While trying to figure out my next step career-wise, I’ve started asking myself why I do things.  Why do I blog?  Hmmmm.  Good question self.  Is it for the business?  No, not really, although it helps.  Is it for my Mom (my biggest fan…hi Mom!)?  Sometimes.  But mostly, it’s for myself.  Blogging is my zone out me time.  To write witty words and publicly journal about our home (and sometimes our lives…especially when Goose does something especially odd).  So I changed my mind and decided to keep going.  Although I may not post every day or every other day, maybe just once a week, I’ll still be here blogging my little heart out to my precisely 53 followers…and my Mom!

So this little prequel to the blog post brings me to this…my 2014 Word of the Year:  Intentional.

Why yes, I have jumped on the “word of the year” trumps “resolutions” bandwagon.  Lord, I apologize.  I feel like the last three or four years of my life I’ve lost the meaning of what I do.  Career-wise, hobby-wise, and life in general-wise.  Even with our home.  When we first bought our house we couldn’t fill it.  We had small apartment furniture…cheap, particle board, small apartment furniture.  Mind you, our living room used to look like this:

It pains me to post that picture.  So…painful.  At least my photography skills have come along a bit.  But that was pretty much all the furniture we had.  Then Goose ate the couch and we started to make some changes and move forward.  But a lot of the time, we made decorating and house decisions based on what was cheap and not necessarily because it was the best decision or what we wanted.  Case in point…our bathroom toilet nook:

It’s not bad, but it’s not great.  Every time I see the nook I’m reminded that it’s not what I intended that nook to look like.  I had different ideas of a gorgeous framed print and a little half-moon shelf beside it with maybe a puffer fish sitting there.  I found those trivets for next to nothing at a flea market and we already had the frame and picture on hand so we went for it.  But I’ve always felt that nook was too busy.

Another example of lost intention…the rope shelf in our bathroom:

I blame Pinterest for this one.  With all the gorgeous pics of rope shelves that I collected on my Pinterest boards, we HAD to have one.  We love the shelf, it looks cute and all, but it’s not functional or what we intended for the space.  The shelf is a little tippy and we probably should anchor it.  Regardless, we’ve been too scared to put anything precious on those shelves like storage jars for Q-tips and cotton balls, things that would make our vanity nook more functional.  We would rather have some chunky molding-like shelves up there.

And then there’s the dining room curtains:

Not the best picture but they’re kind of hard to photograph with the ginormous window there.  Same thing, not what I intended.  But they were cheap and fun to make with my mom.

Anyway, you get the point.  So this year, I am vowing to be more intentional.  Intentional with my time.  No more wasting time cruising Trulia.  Do they have a 12-step program for real estate addiction?!  Intentional with my career.  I swear I’m going to figure it out.  I’m close to deciding what I want to do career-wise and have even applied to a couple of jobs…although they may be a stretch for me to get.  And intentional with our home.  Our home could be so much better intentionally organized and decorated.  We often complain that we don’t have enough space, especially since we BOTH work from home and have our own office spaces, but we can make it work.

So to sum it up…almost quit blogging but I’m back, word of the year is “INTENTIONAL”, and yes it was justifiable to write it in all caps.  If I write it in caps…maybe I’ll actually do it!

Pssst…Enough about us, what about you guys?  Did you make resolutions or pick a word of the year?  On a similar note, do you guys read Edie’s blog, Life In Grace?  I love her blog.  She and a few other bloggers picked an Un-Word Of The Year.  Love that!  I also just read an awesome post at The Handmade Home about why we don’t need to move up to that bigger home.  I felt like she was speaking to me!

Comments

  1. Angie — hang in there! I try to read your blog posts when I see them… or at least scan the pictures of the various projects. This post, though, I read in it’s entirety and really reflected on your openness. Finding direction in life is something we all struggle with… It really comes down to figuring out the ONE thing where you find your identity – then everything else just naturally flows from that.

    Ultimately, I agree being intentional is the first step to curing an identity crisis. We use that word a lot, too. And to be intentional, in my mind, is not to elevate too many things above the one (or two) things that TRULY matter. And also, don’t have too many random things going on in life at once…

    I happened to click on the link to Edie’s blog at the bottom because the blog name, “Life in Grace” caught my eye. I read her post “On Giftedness and Calling” and couldn’t agree more with the insights – it is spot on! Keep reading her posts, and you’ll be on the right track to being intentional with what matters :)…

    We should all hang out again soon!
    – Prill

    1. Thanks so much Aaron!! And I thought you might like Edie’s blog! She writes such amazing and often inspirational stuff that usually keeps me grounded! And thanks for the blog help the other night! Much appreciated!

  2. I hear you!! My past year has held a lot of change. This year promises to be the same. I think my word this year is “grown up”. We are finally getting stuff together to start looking at buying houses …. And maybe filling said house…. My husband and I are going to be real adults. Just in time for my 30s 😉 I know its hard but things happen for a reason and in the end you may get somewhere completely different than where you thought. But a lot of times, that place is even better 🙂

    1. I’m glad you mentioned that, “things happen for a reason”. I often forget that! Good luck with the home buying and “growing up”, but don’t grow up too much! And let me know if you ever want to go flea market-ing together! It’s my favorite way to “fill said house”.

  3. Great word choice, Angie. (I’ve been struggling a bit with trying to define myself, lately, too.) And I really enjoy reading your blog, btw, even if I don’t seem to comment much.

    I agree with you about being intentional with your home projects and makeovers. One thing I’m trying to work on this year is to focus more on finishing each room in my home and less on doing a craft or a project just for the sake of having something to post. It’s a process, anyway…

    1. Oh goodness…I know what you mean about doing a craft for the sake of blog content! I do that too! But it’s so hard sometimes when your blog/business life are entwined with your home life. But I have to admit…I do enjoy your craft projects. I’m seriously smitten with that snake skin duct tape planter…can’t…stop…thinking…about it!!

  4. It seems that 2014 is the year of indecision. Intentional sounds like a good idea. I often buy cheap items instead of waiting to get what I want. In the end it ends up costing more, or I’m just not satisfied with the results.

    Hope 2014 is a great year for you!

  5. I so agree with Aaron, we all have moments (or years) of indecision. We (I am as guilty as the next person) all need to focus our energies on one or two things. Live to love and love to live. Life’s realities have a habit of pulling us along for the ride, when we should be directing our own paths. I’m glad you decided to continue with your blog. I know you enjoy the creative process and the cathargic (sp??) results from sharing all your stories, but remember to take time for you!!

  6. Hi Angie. I’m from Maine as well so when I discovered your blog last year I was very excited. Please don’t stop blogging. Your posts are real and funny!! I live in Texas now but still have many family members in Maine. Mainiacs are awesome!!

    1. No way! What part of Maine were you in?!?! That’s so awesome! Thanks so much for the sweet comment, I hope you’re enjoying Texas (especially right now with all the snow/ice), and if you’re ever in Maine….and want a flea market buddy (maybe?!)…let me know!

  7. Hi Angie, I really enjoy reading here and hope you don’t quit blogging. I don’t know how you accomplish so much and I love seeing your projects from start to finish. You tell it like it is, in an entertaining way and that makes for good reading. Thanks, Mary

    1. Awwww…thanks so much for this comment! It made my day! And as much as I try to quit blogging…I just can’t do it! I love it and it’s so much fun! Thanks for reading (and encouraging) my habits!!

  8. Oh I am SO glad you talked yourself out of quitting! I look forward to reading all of your posts,. I don’t remember how I stumbled upon you but I save your posts for my Sunday morning “me time”. I think your word for this year is great. I may adopt it and be intentional with you. We have had quite a surprise to start our year and I think being intentional with how I handle things is a great way to start . Until next time!

    1. Awww…you’re always so sweet! Yes, let’s be intentional together…maybe start a club…come up with secret handshakes…the whole shebang! Hope things are going well with you and your 2014 is turning fabulous!

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Angie's Roost Campbell Family in front of home in 2021

Hi there! We're the Campbells. We traded in Maine city living for the country life in Vermont. You'll find us here fixing up a circa 1781 historic home, growing our own food, and filling this home with the memories and things that matter. Read more about us...

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