Welcome Back to The Blog – 2026 Edition

Wow.  2026 is here already (and we are already almost 2 months through).  I am grateful that the new year is here, and I’m glad it’s finally here.  Wishful thinking has me hopeful that it’ll be better than 2025, but we’ll just have to see. I am VERY interested to see what the FIRE HORSE can do for us!

Goals from 2024

But since it’s a new year, and I’ve been pretty MIA these past 12 months, I figured I would go ahead and re-introduce myself and share a few updates or whatever about me.  Goals for 2026 may be mixed in, but I plan for a separate post on that!  One of the goals for this year is to MAKE time for myself so that I can get back to blogging and such so this is my first go at that!

Anyway, hey!  I’m Abby. I’m the writer and creator behind, and sometimes in front (if you follow us on socials), of Little Miss Martha.  The name is feeling a bit outdated since I rarely pull out my Martha-esque skills in the home and kitchen over the last year or maybe longer (or maybe I’m just being hard on myself), but I’m sticking with it for now because something like “Living with Abby” just doesn’t have the same ring.  The name came about from a gal at work who would call me that sometimes when I brought in fun trifles and food to pitch-ins.  Then we all worked from home for a while and no more pitch-ins.  But don’t worry, we are kind of back to pitch-ins against our will these days.  Every morning, I drink too much coffee with not too much added collagen, I almost always wear tennis shoes because I now have a long walk into work and am old and have recurring plantar fasciitis, and I wish that I could get more sleep, have a clean house, and have time to craft or work on a project but I never do.

I work full-time and have been in a job that I do not love for 18 years.  I know most people don’t love their jobs, but the best part about mine WAS that it allowed me time outside of work to do the things I did love along with flexibility to offset the inflexible job of my husband.  This past year that changed.  Adding in an hour plus commute and kids who are now full time with their extracurriculars means that not only do I work full time during the day, but I also become a full-time unpaid taxi driver most evenings.  Not complaining about the kid part, BUUUUTTTTT if I could win the lottery, hire a driver and quit my job, that would make things so much easier and enjoyable!

IF I could quit my job today, start something new of my own, and money were no object, I would 100% start a paper & party store where I’d host special events, publish a coordinating celebrations magazine, and publish my fairy book along with building up other related products.  You may remember Adopt A Fairy Company which I still have, but it’s mostly on hold at the moment.  I also created a printable subscription that is called Cheerfully.  Currently due to everchanging world events, all of my personal extracurriculars are bascially on hold.  I am hopeful these will come off hold before I die.  Hopeful, but not totally sure.

FAIRIES

I’m married to Mike – Mr Big Rookie.  We have two daughters, Ella & Olive, who are more alike than they want to be and are just far enough apart in age to make them dislike each other just enough to make it miserable most days.  I’m hoping we’ll soon grow out of that stage.   Every once in a while, we have bright spots where they giggle together or don’t fight with each other and I relish in those, but I continually tell them they are all they’ve got so they better figure it out.  And they better be 100% capable of bailing each other out of jail should that ever come to fruition, god forbid.  I am more worried about that happening to Olive than Ella.  Mike & I have been married for 15 years, which is crazy because honestly, I don’t know where the time went.  We went to the same elementary school, church, and ice rink in our home town as kids but didn’t know each other until we met at an ice rink in another city.   If you’ve been around for a while, we are “the Cutting Edge” couple, as in we met at the ice rink, he being the hockey player and me the figure skater.  Skating was our thing.  It’s still his, but I do my best to skip the rink altogether these days.  If you asked me when we got married what I thought I’d be doing for work, I would have said teaching skating, running a skating program, or something still within that world.  Today, while he coaches still, it just wasn’t in the cards for me after having the girls.  I’ve swapped driving the Zamboni (yes, I did drive it a few times to clean the ice but it scared me) to driving my kids around for hours at a time.

Both our girls are active in extracurriculars.  Ella swims, plays the guitar, and loves art.  Olive does musical theater and loves to sing and dance.   They both of course have overlapping practices so I’m typically the crazy mom driving from one side of town to the other trying not to be late, but almost always is.

We also have two dogs, Teddy & Moose.  They are brothers that we got on a whim about a year after our little Louie passed away.  If you are considering getting two puppies who are doodle mixes and brothers, DON’T DO IT.  Potty training two has been painful and they have so much energy that today I’m researching how to fix our yard come spring since they have completely ruined it making it a muddy mess.  They are very lovey, pretty great dogs, but man oh man… Thinking twice next time we get new pups!  Who am I kidding?!!  I will not think twice when the time comes.  Hahha.

The goal of this blog when starting was to share updates on our life for our family.  Times have changed and now I like to share gatherings, finds, and how to celebrate life’s moments, even if that’s just a clean house or getting a new coffee table!  Hell, I might even share that I shoveled the driveway… who knows?!  But I want you to know that whatever I share, I hope that it feels like something you can/could attain or recreate and inspires you.  I hope you find things here that give you the oomph to try something yourself or give you an idea for a party or a gift!  I just hope that you find something that makes you feel like you can do it too!  Too many people out there are constantly sharing things that I feel like would take me YEARS or LIFETIMES to attain!  Let’s just live in the moment and celebrate the good the bad and ugly before we are old and gray…

But… if I win the lottery, you’ll know.  You.  Will.   Know.  There.  Will.  Be.  Signs.  And my content may quickly become unattainable, or honestly, non-existent. Hahhaha

THE LUCKY CLOVER

Ok… going to stop here for now.  Maybe another day I’ll share favorites or things I hate.  But I think that’s a pretty good, quick-ish recap of me and this little blog.

Off to continue on 2026 goals and other next posts!
Welcome back to be blog!