Three Years Sober

I feel I need to give mention to a big milestone in the life of my family. I should have posted this 4 or 5 days ago (to hit the anniversary on the right day), but either way I am posting it now.

I am thankful for the sobriety of my brother. My brother is officially a recovering alcoholic for 3 years. He doesn't make a big deal of this, but it is definitely something I have thought about lately.

Over three years ago I had a brother that I didn't know if he would live to see his daughter grow up. I didn't know if his wife would ever feel she would see relief from the prison she lived in, and I was unsure if his daughter would have a father who would come to her recitals, play games with her, or take an interest in her life.

My brother might drive me crazy on different days, but I wholeheartedly respect him for his strength and his courage to become sober. His journey to sobriety was hard and was not absent of legalities, but nonetheless, Steve has made it...and he is continuing to make it in his sobriety.

My brother's alcoholism penetrated each part of our family in different ways. From my own personal experience, I remember a brother who moved home my senior year of high school because he had his license revoked for drunk driving. There are parts of that year I would like to forget, but I know that God was working. I was angry at Steve and felt that he stepped into a part of my life and took something from me. Addiction is a terrible disease. It steals the person you love and makes them a monster. It steals the family you know and makes it obsessed. It steals your thoughts and it makes everyone angry.

I love Steve for fighting his addiction everyday. I love him for making his life worth living, and in turn making the rest of our lives worth living. Three years sober means three years of healing that our family has done. God has been good to us. Our burden has become our strength, and in many ways I believe that no one in my family would change our story.

I don't mean for this post to be so intense and deep, but it is something that I have been thinking about lately and wanted to give a few props to my brother and my family (especially Stacy). God has brought us through this journey and we are walking together closer than ever.

Crochet Sites

I have had a few people message me and ask me where I get my patterns. I have made up a few of my own patterns, but have yet to write them out and put them out there for the world to see. Maybe I will get to this eventually.

Anyway, my two most favorite sites for patterns are:

Crochet Pattern Central and Ravelry

I have just been introduced to ravelry, but I was ecstatic when I found it! It has hundred and hundreds of patterns. Some of them are free, and others you can purchase. In general, it is patterns that are out there that other people have created and they are willing to share them with everyone else. For this, I am VERY grateful.

It's funny, because somehow my blog has turned into a crochet blog, although I still want to keep this blog true to sharing the life of my family. I created this blog to share what is happening with out family, but in many ways it has become a journal of our lives that I can look back on. Someday, I hope to be able to go back and show my kids all of the posts I wrote about them and what was happening in our lives at the time. In the midst of the family posts, they will be able to see how much their mom loves to crochet :-)

Etsy Shop

Okay, I have JUST started my Etsy shop. I only have 3 listings, but it's a start for now until I can focus more energy into it. Please pass along the link to anyone who is interested in buying a hat. I am very open to suggestions to make the site better. At the moment we are in the infancy stage.

The Dainty Daisy

More Mega Flower Beanie and a Mega Fat Baby

For some reason I LOVE taking pictures of Belle in the bath tub. There is just something about all of her rolls hanging out that just cracks me up. There is no other time in one's life where you can just hang out and let all your chub hang out and people refer to it as "cute," so I figured I better document this time in her life! At the moment Belle is STILL not rolling over, but she is just starting to sit up. She can only keep her balance while sitting in the Boppy pillow and her massive muffin top helps stop her from face planting into the floor!

Okay, so I not only love taking pics of Belle in the tub, but I LOVE taking pics of her modeling my newest creations. I think she models them well (if I do say so myself). It's hard to put these hats up for sale because I want to keep them all for her, although she will most likely outgrow them in a week. Either way, she is the perfect model for my hats!

To Etsy or Not To Etsy

I am thinking of starting an Etsy store. Actually, let me clarify....I HAVE an Etsy store, but I have never listed a single item. This is due to multiple reasons:

1. I have no clue how to list an item
2. I don't think I have enough inventory to list
3. I don't know how to let customers know that I can customize what they want....let alone make a customized listing
4. I am scared of becoming overwhelmed by too many orders (I realize this may sound presumptuous, but it is not intended to be)

If anyone out there reading this knows how to assist me in going about this I would appreciate the feedback. I believe I have a talent that I can actually use to make a little money while I stay at home with my little one. Not to mention, that I have informed Paul that I am saving all of my profits to buy new counter tops for our house. If you saw our counter tops you would completely understand. Why would anyone make OR buy a lavenderish grayish countertop? Yucky.

Anyone have thoughts on my Etsy endeavor and how I can go about beginning this without being so intimidated?