Moving on . . .

Happy New Year to you!  I hope you had a great New Year's Eve and New Year's Day!  We did a very low key celebration - - - meal at home and quiet movies, reading, lots of napping, and a little crafting as well.

Ran across an old favorite of mine - The Oprah Show - dated back to 2007 as she no longer has her syndicated show but shows old reruns on her own network OWN.  Weight loss was of course the theme for January 1 on every show on the TV it seemed and I quickly was reminded that I don't have 150 or 200 or 400 or 500 pounds to lose - I need to lose 50!  Good reminder for me as I finished my first "walk" of the year on the ole' treadmill . . . I challenged my sister Tami to a one mile walk . . . a small challenge for both of us . . . or so I thought it was for me . . . but it has been since 2012 that I exercised faithfully.  In those days I took off 30 pounds (gained back 20) and walked and jogged on the treadmill at a really good clip!  Along with a weight training program at that time, I felt much stronger and was ready to try some hiking in the Colorado Rockies . . .

Today was much different . . . I have some progressive back problems and that alone made walking painful and tiring . . . but I'm happy that I did do a half-mile - - - in 12.2 minutes - - - and I'm off and moving . . .

So this is how I share with you one of the three focuses I have for 2015 - - - Eating the right foods in the right portions and exercising for my health.  I will lose 50 pounds and then I will regroup and learn how to stay at that weight for the rest of my days . . . I'm not looking to put on a bikini and go to the beach - ha!  I'm looking to still be able to go shopping with my sister and be able to stay on my feet, I'm looking to be agile and energetic to help with the new grandbaby coming in May, and to be the best that I can be at my job and in taking care of my home and hubs!    If I continue on like I have been . . . these things will not happen.

I have no fancy quotes to share and no brilliant diet plan . . . it's not a deep dark secret out there that anyone is keeping . . . stop eating so much and get your butt out of the recliner and exercise.  

My health - - - is #1 this year.  Stay tuned and I will share my progress and my discoveries!    I will also share  more on the other two areas that I will focus on this year . . . #2 is my faith walk and my spiritual walk . . . #3 is to find fun!    All three of these "focuses" for me will contain several parts - - - as "health" means eating the right foods and exercising in ways that I will stick with it and enjoy it!  It also involves being better with dental check ups, physical exams, and of course skin and hair care!  And who can be healthy without ridding their lives of unnecessary stress??  So . . . wish me well as I look into all of these areas!

Back later with an introduction to what I am doing for the Lord in 2015!!

What is your #1 for 2015?

New Year's Eve 2015

Just a quick post to wish you all a properous and peaceful Happy New Year 2015!!

As I have posted before, New Year's Eve rivals Christmas Eve for me with anticipation and excitement and a feeling of good will . . . I realized tonight as I got sleepy and napped in the recliner most of the evening that maybe it's the "idea" of New Year's Eve that I love the most . . . the thoughts of a clean slate and a second chance and a clean new page to fill with great memories.   I enjoy "wrapping up" the old year both at home and at work . . . straightening, cleaning, and organizing the home after Christmas and finishing the last projects at work and making a fresh to do list for January 2.

Last year I declared to do no resolutions but to do a list of things to focus on . . . I chose 7 I think it was and really that was too many areas to really zero in on and make big changes.  This year I am sticking with the "focus" idea . . . but my areas are limited to . . .

Awww stayed tuned until tomorrow or the day after possibly as I work on that post :)  Three areas that I need and want to work on . . . can you guess?

How did you celebrate the New Year's eve? and want to share your plans for 2015?

Happy New Year - - - And I'll leave you with these thoughts . . .

Mark Heim | mheim@al.com 

A wise person once said....

OK, so you probably have heard that before. But it does seem appropriate as we move from one year to another to look at some good thoughts and well wishes on this most renewing of holidays. So here you go:

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right."

Oprah Winfrey

"Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man."

Benjamin Franklin

"To have the kind of year you want to have, something has to happen that you can't explain why it happened. Something has to happen that you can't coach."

Bobby Bowden

"People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas."

Author Unknown

"The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes. Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective."

Gilbert K. Chesterton

"Youth is when you are allowed to stay up late on New Year's Eve. Middle age is when you are forced to."

Bill Vaughn

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

Mark Twain

"May all your troubles last as long as your New Year's resolutions."

Joey Adams

"Let our New Years resolution be this, we will be there for one another as fellow members of humanity, in the finest sense of the word." 

Goran Persson

"Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an 

invincible host against difficulties."

Helen Keller