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Yellow Cottage Living

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Lifestyle · March 5, 2023

Let’s Make 2023 Great

I’m on a quest to make 2023 great in my world. I’d love for you to join me for the adventure!

I know.

It’s been a while – A LONG while, actually!

Before I ghosted all of you, I mean all 3 of you, I announced I had accepted a full-time accounting job with a company I worked for 20 years ago.

In some sick twisted place in my mind, I was convinced that working remotely would provide me with all this extra time and freedom I didn’t have while on the in-home organizing circuit.

I couldn’t have been more wrong!

Working full-time remotely has been an all-consuming venture.

Add the house-building process.

Plus club soccer.

Plus a senior in high school deep in the pit of choosing a college.

5 adults sitting behind a table with a black table cloth with blue and white letters that say Auburn Tigers

Plus a puppy.

Plus…..

You get the point!

In the midst of all of this life, the overwhelm was real and debilitating.

At the end of 2022, I decided I wouldn’t continue living in the pit of my despair.

2023 would be the year I quit making excuses for my bad attitude and self-loathing.

That sounds extreme, I know.

So here I am – attempting yet another comeback to the blog!

“You only fail when you quit trying.”

Isn’t that how the saying goes?

If not, that’s how I’m using it today!

I’ve taken the past few months to ease into the new year.

cavapoo with buff colors fur sitting in a blue chair

How I’ll Make 2023 Great

Exactly how am I planning to make 2023 great, you ask?

  1. Develop better habits.
  2. Being kind to my body.
  3. Dive into creative outlets.

Over time, I’ll dive into these more, but just penning these words on this page is a big step for me in working on number 3.

At the beginning of 2022, I was reading a devotional one morning and the main point of that day’s reading was about telling our story.

I felt compelled then that I should be telling my story – not because I’m super special or have a great word to share with anyone.

I felt compelled because we live in a time when we’re surrounded by people telling us all the ways we should be doing things

  • how skinny we should be
  • how much we need to be working our side hustles
  • how incredible and elaborate our social lives should be
  • how perfectly ROYGBIV’d our pantries, closets, and refrigerators should be

I could go on and on…

I want to be that place where we can feel safe being ourselves – our boring, bargain-hunting, plain jane fashionista selves.

I’m not ever going to imply that I’m a fashionista!

The world needs more of us who are willing to talk about our real lives.

A few years ago, when I was blogging on my old site, Wades’ World, I made a comment once about how we as women want to know and be known.

Let me tell you, and I’m positive I’m not alone in this, but the past 3 years have been hard and strange and weird and isolating.

Anyone else feel that way?

We need a safe place and safe people who get our struggles and don’t try to minimize who we are, what we look like, how we feel, etc.

I want Yellow Cottage Living to be that safe place.

I want to write for people who live in the real world, with real budgets, and real kids who make us question our sanity.

If you’re here for that, stick around!

If not, Instagram is full of filters and influencers who will gladly sell you some magic potion that will shrink your belly and butt while you sleep and make you bitter that your husband wasn’t born with the Chip Gaines gene!

Let’s make 2023 great – what’s left of it – and beyond!

Before we go, though, let’s look back at some of the adventures we’ve had in the past.

School Memory Box

Remember when we created Memory Boxes for the kids?

office with white desk and dark walls. pegboard and chalkboards on back wall.

And when I created my very favorite home office in our house – 2 houses ago?

September and October wall calendars with white frames, white background, black grid lines and blue and green post it notes for planning

Or when I used old frames to make these two large calendars?

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In: Lifestyle · Tagged: Goals, Motivation, Personal Stories, real life

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Tina Grayson says

    March 11, 2023 at 10:47 AM

    I definitely am still using the closet shoe organizer. Great blog post 🙂

    Reply
    • Jen Wade says

      March 11, 2023 at 4:14 PM

      Thanks Tina! Glad you’re still around!

      Reply
      • Julie Sawyer says

        March 12, 2023 at 1:25 PM

        Jen- sounds like life has been a little crazy! Glad you are back at blogging! And I love my memory boxes you made for my girls!!

        Reply
        • Jen Wade says

          March 13, 2023 at 10:05 PM

          I miss you! Glad you’re enjoying your memory boxes.

          Reply
      • Melba says

        March 12, 2023 at 8:40 PM

        First of all, congratulations on creating a safe place for many us that need it. And yes, the last 3 years have been a lot. It is so amazing to see you following your create dreams. Such a wonderful post.

        Reply
        • Jen Wade says

          March 13, 2023 at 10:04 PM

          Thanks, Melba! You guys have been so encouraging!

          Reply
  2. Frankie says

    March 11, 2023 at 11:23 AM

    Hello friend!! I’ve missed you! ❤️❤️❤️

    Reply
    • Jen Wade says

      March 11, 2023 at 4:14 PM

      I miss you, too, friend! We need to do a catch up call soon!

      Reply
  3. Sharon says

    March 11, 2023 at 11:54 AM

    Great post!! This is the kind of community I need!! I’m adding you to my Feedly!!! Glad you are back and have a new vision!! I’m kind of in the same boat of deciding where my blog is going!!!

    Reply
    • Jen Wade says

      March 11, 2023 at 4:13 PM

      Thanks, Sharon! and thanks for adding me to Feedly. I need to do Feedly so I can keep up with everyone!

      Reply
  4. Jen says

    March 11, 2023 at 11:57 AM

    This is spot on! I’m here for it and you!

    Reply
    • Jen Wade says

      March 11, 2023 at 4:13 PM

      You’ve been here for it and been in it with me for a LONG time!

      Reply
  5. Lucy says

    March 11, 2023 at 11:57 AM

    Welcome back! Thanks for reminiscing – I’m not sure I got to see any of your creativity when I found you before you had to bow out of blogging. Looking forward to learning from you.

    Reply
    • Jen Wade says

      March 11, 2023 at 4:12 PM

      I’m glad you’re here now, Lucy!

      Reply
  6. Debbie Wade says

    March 12, 2023 at 5:13 PM

    Glad you’re writing again!! I’ve missed it. Look forward to what 2023 has in store for us all!😍

    Reply
    • Jen Wade says

      March 13, 2023 at 10:05 PM

      We’ll see how long this lasts! LOL!

      Reply
  7. Carol Karl | Living a Real Life says

    March 12, 2023 at 7:49 PM

    This is such a great post, Jen. You bared your soul and that’s really authentic. I’m sorry that life has pretty much sucked for you for a while but I’m sure that the first step is becoming aware that changes need to be made. I had the same thought when I started working at home – more time! NOPE! In theory, it should work – you no longer have to commute so you have more time. For some reason, it works in reverse but I think that’s a mindset thing as much as anything. Good luck on your journey. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

    Reply
    • Jen Wade says

      March 13, 2023 at 10:05 PM

      work from home is definitely a deceiving concept! gotta get myself in a good groove.

      Reply

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Welcome to the Yellow Cottage! I'm Jen and I hope you'll see I'm a lot like you. I crave a simple, chaos free life, but have 4 kids, a full time job and a husband who works and coaches high school XC and Track, and a 1 year old Cavapoo! As I get older, I'm learning to better embrace the chaos and holding onto a 'good enough' mentality. Let's learn to coordinate our chaos together!

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