LOVIN' LIFE

We are oozing with happiness. Why you ask? Because Spring has sprung. We witnessed it first hand as we moved and took the week off to get settled into our new house. The past few weeks around here have been splendid. The temps have been in the 80s!! Muggy at times, but it sure beats the freezing cold. It has been great opening all of the windows and letting the fresh Spring air in! We like this time of year when opening the windows are enough. It is nice to enjoy this time before we have to turn on the central air. Nothing beats a cool fresh breeze coming off the lake.

We are very blessed and happy with where we are in our life. We have a place to call “home” and we are healthy and alive. We also have wonderful family and friends. Kevin’s folks are the GREATEST. They traveled all the way from Canada to help us get settled. It isn’t very often that we get to see them because we live so far away but when we do get together we truly have the best time. And they are amazing people, so giving of themselves and always willing to be there when you need them without asking. We love them VERY MUCH. Thanks for all your help, Mom (a/k/a Captain) and Dad. :-)

In regards to our house, we absolutely love it. It is beautiful and is much more than we ever hoped for. We cannot wait for all of our family and friends to come and visit and enjoy the view. So all who read this blog, please feel free to come and visit us ANY TIME! Our door is always open. We will post updated pictures once we get our sod..... they say any day now (of course, they have been saying that since before we closed!!!!).

When we went back to work, I decided to take off early so I could spend more time with Kevin’s folks before they left. Since Kevin and I carpool, I sent him a quick e-mail letting him know that I was on my way over to pick him up. I get out to the parking lot and I’m looking all over for my car. I think I spot my Mazda and walk over to it only to realize it isn’t my car. So I’m wracking my brain trying to figure out where in the heck I parked my car after lunch…….. Do dee do…………… it finally dawned on me that Kevin DROPPED me off at lunch and HE had the car….. Yeah, I’m sure I looked real cute walking aimlessly in the parking lot trying to find my car……NOT! Now, if you will excuse me and my pea size small minded brain, I think I need some more of that Spring fresh air..... :-)

ITS THAT TIME AGAIN

Here's a news flash for ya! I have anxiety issues. There are specific social situations where I get nervous and anxious. I have known this since I was a child, but even as an adult I have a hard time explaining why I feel anxious about certain situations. It is hard to explain it to someone else because it is not your simple speaking in public or meeting new people sort of social anxiety. The situations are hard to explain. They do not happen all the time, just every now and again. For instance:

This past weekend we were soooo busy. I felt the anxiety creeping in but I am definitely trying to ward it off. However, it is getting more and more difficult as closing gets nearer! I feel like I am responsible for everyone else's job. Our lender didn't even have a title company scheduled as of Friday. He said "I thought your realtor was handling that." Uh, we have NEVER had a realtor. Not when we sold our house nor during the whole process of building. He KNEW that and totally dropped the ball. Of course, when he realized his mistake, he was very apologetic and got the ball rolling. So everything is fine now but if I hadn't asked him specifically who the title company was and where we would be closing, we WOULDN'T be closing on Thursday. Compound the upcoming closing with our meeting with the tax accountant this morning and the anxiety levels just soars. It is times like this that the anxiety creeps in…. where the control and circumstances slip through my fingertips and our life is placed in someone else's hands. Goodness gracious. Okay, sigh............. :-)

On top of all of the anxiety issues, we had to deal with the time change. In my mind, this leap forward process is a whole big aggravation. Not only does it mess up our mornings (we get up at 4:30 to work out) but we also lost a very precious hour over the weekend. Can we say, grumpy????? It sure takes awhile for the body to get used to that one measly hour time difference! I figure we must be missing some benefit to doing this. But we certainly cannot think of one at this moment. Frankly, in our mind, daylight exists when it exists. If we had our choice, we would say stop with moving the clocks around. Let's just fall back one more time, and then leave it alone. One extra hour of sleep, now that is pure bliss! :-)

People keep asking us if we are excited about our new house. OF COURSE we are, but we are NOT excited about the move. We want that part of our journey to end soon and end it shall…………just two more days!

WELLNESS PATH, WELL TRAVELED

I had an interesting meeting with my wellness coach last week. She gave me huge kudos for my weight loss this past year and the example that I am to those around me. It was a huge motivator. Why? Because I have been down on myself lately about my progress. Isn't it strange how you can go from wow I am starting to look good to feeling like you have gained 10 lbs. If you are a woman, you TOTALLY will relate to what I am trying to convey. My husband thinks I am silly when I start to complain about my body but he loves me for who I am. Even after losing all of my weight I still have days where I still feel frumpy.

People ask me all the time how I stay motivated. What motivates me? Well, if I had the answer to that question I would definitely be a wealthy lady. I have been motivated many times in my life and then it faded away. I used to be the "I'll start on Monday Diet Lady." The one thing that has kept me motivated the last year or so has been my "before" pictures. I don't want to be the out of shape person that I was back then. I also know that I tend to be motivated by challenges. I can be motivated by fear but also motivated by successes.

I still have the capability to be an over eater and I know that I have to be very careful with my portion sizes. I also need to push myself during my cardio sessions. If I hate anything about working out, it is cardio. I absolutely HATE it but to make progress I have to push myself. I would rather lift weights six times per week then do one single cardio session. :-)

My current challenges are to maintain my weight and keep making gains with my weight training. Weight training has changed the shape of my body. If it can do that in over a year, what can I do in the next year or so? I want to become even stronger, maybe a little leaner, and I know I can if I work even harder. I feel that my body looks more lean and fit than a lot of women my age and that, to me, keeps me motivated!

The fear of gaining the weight back is motivating. Even though I have made what I hope are permanent changes I feel that I have to fight this battle every single day. The fear of losing muscle tone that I have never had ever before in my life is motivating. I always want more MUSCLES! :-)

The success that I have made still seems unbelievable. Knowing where I came from and where I am at today. The plan is simple, but it sure isn't easy.


HOUSE UPDATE: As for the progress of our house, we are one week away from our Closing Date! Yippee! We have so much to do and are extremely happy the building process is coming to a end. It definitely has been fun and adventurous but we just want to be settled in our new house. I know Kevin is ready for a cold one and is ready to smoke that stogie with his Dad (outside of course)! :-)