Out with the old. In with the new.

On this the last day of 2014, I am not making any resolutions.  Resolutions always fall by the wayside in two weeks or less. I am just going to focus on becoming healthier, which for me means losing weight, eating better foods, and drinking more water.

If anyone out there followed my posts through the month of October, you will remember I was focus on health then.  I still am.  So much so that I actually lost two pounds over Christmas.  I still ate the cookies and delicious foods that my wonderful family had made.  I ate cinnamon rolls for breakfast as part of our Christmas morning tradition.  I also exercised by getting outside and walking at a brisk pace 5 out of 7 days the week of Christmas.  Yes, I am very thankful for the unseasonably warm temperatures that made this easier to do.

Another step down this path is beverages.  Last week I had my last soda/pop/cola for a year.  I have given up those sugar filled drinks for the year of 2015.  This will be especially hard for me while traveling.  When ever I am in the car, I have a drink with me.  The easiest thing to grab from the cooler section of the quick stop (and what calls my name the loudest) is the cherry flavored sodas.  In a day of running erands, a giant cup from Chick-Fil-A will tide me over.  A trip of more than 2 hours requires at least two 20 ounce bottles of the bubbly beverages.  That had come to an end.

I will still have my drink at the ready, but the bottle or large cup in the holder at my hand will be filled with water, tea or flavored water.  So if you see me out and about and I am carrying a bottle that looks like soda, double check. I may have refilled it with tea or water.

Happy New Year everyone. Be Safe and Make healthy choices.

Christmas

Cards, picking the perfect gift for each person on your list, making sure all the right people are on your list (we don't want to forget anyone), cookies, decorating, scheduling time with family on both sides, wrapping, traveling, packing for traveling; oh the stress of Christmas.

The fun of receiving actual mail from far-off friends, driving around enjoying the decorated houses and all of the lights, giggles as gaily wrapped packages are stacked beneath the tree, shrieks of joy when a desired gift is opened, the amazed silence when an unexpected perfect gift is unveiled, the aroma of fresh baked cookies, the sighs of satisfaction at the first bite of a delicious dish,
the belly laughs that bring tears over cups of coffee late at night in the kitchen with the "women-folk", thumps of grandkids' footsteps as they play around the house, shredded wrapping paper strewn all over the floor, sharing games and laughter with cousins, numerous nativities in each room of the house with the Babe laying in a manger wrapped in swaddling clothes; oh the joy of Christmas!

The Joy of Christmas will always outweigh the stress.  On one level we are glad it is over and things can get back to normal, but on another, we miss the celebration of Christmas with all the pagentry, carols, and fuss.  We are disappointed we must wait for an entire year before we can do it again.

The Babe in the manger does not go away because the year has ended.  He grew into a Man who sacrificed Himself for me.  He is always with us no matter what time of year it is.

Happy Thanksgiving

Two growing boys

A wonderful man

Plenty of food

to share with the fam.

A warm cozy house

with a big yard for fun.

So many blessings

and Thankful for each one.

Happy Thanksgiving from us to you.

Happy Birthday

I love fall.

The colors of the leaves. 

The brisk nip in the air. 

Part of this love of the season may have to do with the fact that my birthday just happens to fall right in the middle of it.  This year we celebrated a day early as my wonderful husband had the day off and the four of us could spend the entire day together.

The morning began with a quick two mile walk at the park. And the bridge wasn't even slick at 7:45 am!

Skid marks from that dangerous walk!

 After returning from my walk (my hubby jogged his miles and walked a cool down lap with me), I jumped into a super fast shower and then headed for the church leaving the three guys at home.  It was the day of our regularly scheduled moms group.  I am in charge of making the coffee for 20+ moms who have just spent the previous hour(s) getting their children ready for school, making it to the bus stop/droppping them off at school, while getting themselves and any remaining children ready to get to the church by 9:30.  They deserve a cup of steaming hot coffee waiting for them.  I have the privilege of making sure that happens.  So after the coffee was made, I scooted back home.

Two cards awaited me on the breakfast table. One contained this:

While I was gone, my guys hid six items around the yard for me to find.  My very own geocache series for my birthday! I love my men so much! Such a thoughtful and wonderful fun surprise!

So after hunting and finding my caches, I am set.  Each cache was a tool to help grab actual finds along the trails.  

After that fun hunt, we loaded into the car and spent the day in Pittsburgh doing stuff our family loves to do.  We ended the day at a local restaurant that happens to have a fabulous bakery attached to it.

French Vanilla Cake with Raspberry Creme and Fudge

I feel very loved and treasured.  It was a fabulous way to spend a birthday. I even have leftovers from dinner for tomorrow, even cake!

How to attend a football game

The four of us had the opportunity to attend the Boston College vs. Virginia Tech game in Blacksburg, VA.  For those of you who may not know, my wonderful husband is a Virgina Tech Hokie Alumnus.  He has been wanting to take the boys to a game for a long time.  Finally all the pieces and the timing worked out for this weekend.

The only thing that didn't cooperate was the weather forecast.  Thursday before the Saturday game they were calling for  90% chance of rain at game time.  A quarter inch of rain in the afternoon.  The game started at 12:30.

Not to be detered, we packed snowpants, sweatshirts, long johns, thick socks, boots and swim wear (our hotel had an indoor pool).  We each planned an extra outfit to have with us in the car for immediately after the game so we had dry clothes to change into.  We packed blankets and ponchos in backpacks to carry into the game.  Gloves were tucked into pockets and we were set.

We loaded the car and set off Friday to points south.  It was a nice day for a drive and the trip went well.  Thanks to the patience of my wonderful husband, we even made a couple geocaching finds along the way.    After a lunch stop, a dinner stop, and a couple of other necessary stops, we arrived at our hotel.  Upon check in and finding our room, we quickly changed into swimwear and headed to the pool (and hottub!) AHHHH

The next morning we were up and about bright and early to find snow falling and collecting on the ground outside our window.  An extra layer was added to our game bags and we hit the road for the campus.  As we drive the snow turned into a light rain and that eventually subsided.  We drove around my hubby's old stomping grounds and walked around the memorial.  It is a beautiful campus! After logging another couple of geocaches, we hit the student union for a lunch of really good burgers and fries.

We went back to the car, layered on our clothing and snowpants, then headed to the stadium for the game.  We had great seats.  We could see the band. We could see the players on the field close enough to even see the ball being passed from player to player.

The rain onlly amounted  to a drizzle for part of the time.  We stayed warm by cheering and rooting for the Hokies.  The cheerleaders were right in front of us, so we helped them as much as we could.
The boys even attracted the attention of the camera man and he put them on the jumbotron (the scoreboard) twice!

It was a great day, even though our team didn't finish with the most points. As we walked back to the car, after shopping a little at the campus bookstore, the littlest M asked if we could go straight to the hottub when we got back to the hotel.  I told him we could, right after dinner.

And so we did.

The "New" House

On Memorial Day, 2013, we moved into our new house on a private lane.  Our neighborhood consists of three houses.  But from our hilltop abode, we can see only glimpses of the other two through the leaves in the spring and summer,  and corners of them through the branches in the fall and winter. One neighbor is a retired school teacher and her husband and the other couple is a retired contractor and his wife.  Both couples have given our boys generous permission to play where ever they want on the hillside, even if games of tag and exploration of the woods bring my exuberant boys on to their property.

Our "Little House in the Country" has an open floor plan with a master bedroom on the ground floor and the boys' rooms on the second floor with their own bathroom up there too. The finished basement needs a new paint job to reign in the eight different colors currently on the walls.  The room spans the width and length of the house and, I think, the decor was chosen by the boy who used to live there.

Surrounding the house is a little over two acres of land.  Some of it is wooded with lots of space for two young growing boys to explore and discover.  Our drive way is a quarter of a mile from our house to the main road.  No one can see and not to many people even know our house is at the top.  Many times while the guys are headed down to get the newspaper at the main road, they have startled deer and turkeys, not to mention the usual squirrels and rabbits.

The previous owners left behind a tree house that the boys have dubbed their clubhouse.  It even has real windows that slide open and closed.  They have added a small table and two chairs to the space and I'm sure a request for a coat of paint is not far behind. I can't wait to hear the discussion that leads to the color choice.

There was a large portion of the back yard (actually the side yard, but it is the largest section so it is "The Backyard) fenced to contain a garden.  A garden that size would have easily fed a family the size of the Duggar clan and would have killed me and caused no end of grief.  So we pulled out half the fence and now the garden for us is one-third the size.  It is still a thorn in my side, but one I will bear for fresh green beans and garden-ripe tomato sandwiches.

We are surprised at the freedom we feel living in the country as opposed to living in a subdivision.  We don't have to worry about keeping curtains or blinds pulled to avoid the eyes of the neighbors seeing our dash to the laundry room to grab a pair of jeans from the dryer.  If the grass get a little long, we are not going to get a "nasty-gram" from the Home Owners Association.  And if we park our camper in the driveway, no one will complain about it being an eye-sore.

While we are still 15 minutes from the grocery store and less than an hour from the big city, we feel a subtle separation from the hustle and bustle life can bring.  Even after a year, I admit, I still have a lot of sorting and organizing to do.  There is chaos and clutter at times, that covers every flat surface.  But sitting on the swing on the covered back deck, watching deer wander by and listening to the woodpecker capture his dinner, peace fills my heart. My boys are healthy and happy.  My hard working husband comes home each day to a house filled with love and energy and is refreshed. As long as our home is our retreat from the world, we will be ready for anything that happens beyond the driveway.

Success

Day 31 - 31 Day Challenge
To read this challenge from the beginning, click HERE.

This month of blogging has definately been a challenge.  No one forced me to choose the topic of health. No one forced me to post each day.  But I took up the challenge and am better for it.

While I am glad I can be a little more varied with my topics from now on, I will try to continue to blog more often than before the challenge started.  That shouldn't be too hard, as I only posted once every few months.

Setting a goal is healthy. Whether or not you meet that goal is sometimes not as important as doing your best to achieve success.  I may not have lost more weight this month than ever before, but I set small goals and started working towards success.

I am surprised I achieved this goal.  I was sure I would miss a day or two along the way.  It is fun to surprise yourself.  Surprising yourself can give you a boost of confidence that you weren't expecting and is much needed.  Knowing I can get a blog post in everyday for a month shows me I can get at least two done per week.  I have blogged while camping, traveling and during the normal everyday busy-ness.

For those of you who checked in to see what I was up to during the month - THANKS.  It was fun to see the numbers of those who visited my blog each day.  Thanks for the support, comments, and encouragement. I hope you will come back and see what I am up to when I am not chatting about health.

Please continue to set goals, drink your water, and eat wisely.  I am still walking the road towards health. Don't give up.

Let's do this!