New Year – Clean Slate!

Dear Readers…

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Happy Feast Day of St. Basil the Great and The Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus.  I love that we celebrate the 8th day after Christmas, the day our Lord was officially named as was Jewish Tradition.

I hope and pray you are still out there, dear readers and that you feel blessed and pumped up for a new year.  I’ll not belabor how bad the last year or so has been for me and my family. Every time I thought I’d write again on a more regular basis, it never happened. Today is the first day our life is starting back to normal. My husband had surgery mid-December and still is not walking. He is at work today (thank you Lord for allowing him to work so closely to our home) as I drove him. He has a knee scooter (again I must praise God because a friend lent it to us as we could never have afforded it) and he hopes to make it all day. St. Basil the Great, Pray for us!

Oh – and I don’t know about y’all but it’s COLD here. Ok – it’s cold for Fort Worth. We haven’t been above freezing in days. I wish it would snow. In fact, I think that should be mandatory if it is cold – just saying! HA… Anyway – stay warm. Blessings!

Here are a few pictures from the Holidays:

Christmas Eve @ the Movies

New Year’s Eve running errands

SaginawTX Decor and Sky

Fluffy Waffles

Treats made for friends!

You can see we are doing better. ❤

So, without further blah blah blah, here are some of my goals for 2018:

GET HEALTHIER

Weight Loss — 

Me – I’ve lost almost 100 lbs since last January. I’d really like to get this last 30-40 lbs off by May (my nephew is getting married). I’ve really been snacking and such since late July when my feet were operated on and I’ve not worked out in a year.
Hubby – When he had surgery last month, we were informed that his bloodwork showed he was borderline diabetic.  I will help him get weight off and eat better. Less Carbs and sugar. More veggies, etc. He needs to lose about 50-60.
Bud – he was put on meds for his thyroid in October and has lost about 12 lbs and grown a couple inches. He needs to lose about 40 lbs more.

Work Out Routine — I really wish we could afford a trainer… but in lieu of a lottery win, we are just gonna have to do it ourselves. Bud works out daily. But he needs to step it up. I’m going to be walking and doing toning/light weight lifting. Marque still has a month or two before he can even entertain an actual workout, but I am hoping to get him active – even in a sitting workout program.

Better Eating Habits  —I know – I know… I had bariatric surgery, how could I have bad eating habits?  Well…. I’ll tell ya. #1 – clearly I am a fat girl at heart. LOL #2 – after surgery, food likes and tastes change and things nauseate you – it’s not easy. Toast is easy to eat if you toast it right – but it’s carbs. So, really it’s about right portions, cutting carbs back out. Going back to half-caff.. because Caffeine is not great. AND those kinds of things.  As for my family — I am simply going to serve them what I can eat, and in the right portions. Once the treats and things are gone – they won’t be coming back.  In fact, my friend Kathy bakes – very successfully – with natural sugars, and I’m going to figure that out. Because – Sugar is NOT my friend.

Real quickly, before I forget, join me in the Pantry Challenge. I didn’t do this last year because of Surgery. BUT – I have been participating in some fashion since 2008 or 2009. And I love this challenge. Read about it HERE.  #pantrychallenge

To this end,

Sanity — This year, is about getting sane. Ok – I’m not actually INSANE, but I’m unorganized and that feels like the same thing in my world.  My identity and email info were stolen and I have to get that all organized again. I’ve got to get my child through school AND I can’t keep winging that. I just need to go back to actual lists and checking it off, and those kinds of things. Being so unorganized makes me insane.

LIVE MY FAITH

One of the biggest reasons my blog has suffered (along with everything else in my life) is that I have experienced an extreme lack of Faith. Sigh. I’m not proud of it. And It’s not that I didn’t believe. It’s that I was lost and didn’t trust it. Does that make sense? People don’t talk about these things, but that is the truth of it. I was losing my trust in God, my family and everything else… and we all suffered.

I was so proud of my husband on NYE, when he proclaimed we were not eating dinner till we said the rosary. It was so nice to do that last evening AND I am hopeful we can pray our way into a better year.

I loved my Erin Condren Planner, but I’ve gone back to the Catholic Daily Planner from Michele Quigley. I missed the feast days and reminders. I also love the Sacred Reading Books. It incorporates Lectio Divina and it’s inspiring. And also – my faithful Magnificat. Oh that I could be as trusting and giving as Our Blessed Mother.

BACK TO BLOGGING

It is my hope and prayer and one of my goals this year, that I get back to blogging.  Much of my blog may be lost or without pictures…because when my email was hacked and all that drama happened… my husband made me get rid of my old email. But if I close my google account (the old one) all the pics disappear. I’m contemplating exactly what to do… and how long it will take me. Pray for me.

CRAFT MORE

I miss making cards and getting my hands dirty. This brings me peace.  I’m hoping to do it more.  Additionally, I have a Catholic Women’s Bible Journaling Group on FB and I’m hoping to do that more. I’ll share my plan soon.

FIND A JOB

I am hopeful I will find a PT job working from home. Pray for me. Then, when the boy goes back to school, I will decide if I want to work outside the home. I have some ideas. I’ll share later.

Anyway – those are the basics. I have a list of things I want to do. I’ll keep you posted.

Tell me, what are you doing in 2018.

Happy New Year and many blessings.

Em

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