My Abundant Life: A Year In Review And Merry Christmas 2015

As Christmas draws near, it's good to look back on the year that was. We've had a fairly busy year in the Gower home. In January Jessica started Year 12 and Megan Year 10. Within days of starting back at school, they were both on camp.

During April Darren and I went to the Melbourne Flower Show. I also took up card making that month with a special thanks to Annabel from The Bluebirds Are Nesting blog. She greatly encouraged me to have a go and boy, did I have a go !! I find myself racing through my housework to get a few spare hours to craft away. Card making was one of my goals for the year.

In May I spoke at a Cheapskates Club workshop in Knox. I was suprised to see a few friends from school there. I also got to meet Maureen and Anne for the first time.  Both are lovely blog readers who have become friends. During this month Jessica turned 18 and had dinner with friends. As a family we went to see Strictly Ballroom the musical I also started dental treatment to give me a beautiful smile. This was such a big step for me as I'm not that fond of dentists.

In June Darren turned 50 with a big birthday party in our home and a dinner at the Titanic Restaurant. Two days later my smile started to transform with continual dental work over the following six weeks. I ended up spending over 20 + hours in the dentist chair..

In August, Cath and I made a trip over to Adelaide in South Australia for our first ever interstate Cheapskates workshop. We had such a great time with the 25+ people who attended. plus the camera crew from Today Tonight We got to meet Annabel and Tania for the first time. Cath and I were so excited we were beside ourselves. We hardly slept a wink but that might be because we talked so much.

During August Cath started the Cheapskates card making group in her home. We've created such a lovely group of like minded people and learnt some new skills. We also do a lot of talking, tea drinking and eating - hehehe !!!

Around this time I finally got up the courage to try soap making ( another goal for this year ). I must say, it was much easier than I first thought. It's wonderful to use around the home and to give as presents. A very special thankyou to Phil from the House of Simple blog for allowing me to share his soap recipe. Your encouragement has allowed me to learn a new skill.

Just last month I started loosing most of my cleaning work ( for many reasons ). I've learnt to cut the family budget yet again and live on much less. At times it's a challenge but I love a challenge.

This year has bought many new friends into my life through my facebook pages, the Cheapskates Club and through this blog..I'll be forever grateful to everyone who reads my posts and to those who are brave enough to comment. You have bought so much joy to my life. More than you'll ever know.

Thankyou so much to Cath from the Cheapskates Club who has become a firm friend to myself and my family. Your support and kindness is overwhelming. Thankyou for believing in us,

Thankyou to my fellow bloggers who continue to support each other. Annabel from The Bluebirds Are Nesting for you beautiful friendship and gorgeous craft posts. Thankyou Tania from Outback Tania blog for your veggie garden posts. You inspire me to grow more. Thankyou Joolz from Simply Joolz blog for all your cooking pictures. You are truly an amazing cook. Brandy from The Prudent Homemaker has inspired me to think more about how I spend my money. Brandy does an amazing job of feeding her family well on much less than the average family does. Mimi from A Tray Of Bliss encourages us to think about how much our frugal tasks are worth in dollars
.

This year I've connected with many lovely ladies in America through A Working Pantry blog.  Their pantries are amazing as they stockpile for extreme weather conditions. I love to stockpile too so it's wonderful to see how others do it.

It great to know there are like minded people who care about each other.  This blog has been a vehicle for connecting people who are seeking to live a better life on a budget. The world seems a little smaller when we can chat and share ideas.

Darren, Jessica, Megan and myself would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. May you enjoy the season as we celebrate the birth of Jesus - the greatest gift ever given.   .

Our year in photos -