two thousand and twelve.
It's here. I'm ready. I'm mid-stream in making changes in my life. Good changes. Me changes. The Tuesday before Christmas brought me to 19.8 pounds lost. Just point two shy of my 20 by Christmas goal. And actually, back when I joined Weight Watchers mid-October, we were asked to put our goals on a post card and they would mail them to us for a January 1st arrival. And sure enough, when we rolled into town tonight, mine was waiting and I had written "15 pounds lost in 11 weeks (which was January 1st). And so I'm a smidge ahead of the game and as focused as ever.
I didn't exercise much over Christmas so I'm not sure what to anticipate for Tuesday's weigh in, but I did have some remarkable victories over the Christmas 10 day vacay and overall did very well with my eating. My mother played a huge roll in that, simply because she wanted to see me succeed so she made the conscious choice to not bake my favorite stuff, or have my favorite Canadian chips on hand (Chedda-corn - Um, can I hear a shout out from my Canadian peeps?). I cannot imagine how hard it would have been had she not made those changes for me. It simply would have been too hard to say no to all sorts of goodies and creamy casseroles and stuff so I am forever grateful for her sacrifices in changing the things she loves to make.
Okay, back to twenty twelve. I have a lot of friends who have had crap for 2011. Like, a LOT of friends. Death, cancer, job loss, personal issues, etc. So I'm all about saying good-bye to twenty eleven and BRING ON twenty twelve.
It IS going to be a different year. I just feel it. I know God can and will do BIG things in 2012. And so I'm going to be watching for His fingerprints all over the place.
I fell asleep last night realizing that I have given zero thought to my 'word of the year' for 2012. {You can read here for 2009 and here for 2010 and here for 2011 for previous words from previous years.} Normally, I'm already thinking and praying about what word God would want me to 'have' for the year. I'll be doing a post later this week on last year's word and how that went....
As is quite typical for my organized, task-oriented, focused self, I find myself extremely motivated right now to get strict on our budget, set up the chores for the kids, put away the Christmas decorations, deep clean the house {I don't really mean this one but I figure if I say it enough, MAYBE I will yearn to deep clean one day?}.
And so, Monday morning will soon be here. January 2nd of a new year. A new day. A new me. And a new you if you feel like it!
I'm anxious to be free of the burden of extra weight, which I know affects every area of my life, as my friend Cleary and I were talking about just today. I'm anxious to make serious changes in how I parent, showering my kids in gentleness and kindness. I'm anxious to continue on my photography journey, which I am still so VERY excited to be on. I'm anxious to get to know God better.
I'm anxious to give more and love deeper and experience richer joy and live more passionately and care less about what others think {in a good way of course} and more about what God thinks. I'm anxious to live out loud and on purpose and with intention.
I'm just excited tonight. Maybe it's my new fancy pants hair conditioner that is supposedly -- even as I type -- making the frizzies go away.
And so, because they say that all good posts must have a picture or two, I'll leave you with a couple from this past week up in Canada.
Jack is just LOVIN' getting his picture taken, eh?
Mom and Jackson
Dad and the kids
We were freezing but I think the last picture of the four of us was taken at Easter this past year, so one of my twenty twelve goals is to get more family photos with moi in them.
And here I am, 19.8 pounds lighter with a whole lot more to lose but I'm focusing on good choices every day and I'm making the conscious effort to not focus on the pounds left to lose. As a wise woman once told me {that would be you, Mom}, it took a lot of time to gain the weight, so it will take time to take it off. And as a disclaimer, I share this paragraph to hopefully encourage you, if you need encouragement in weight junk. Because if I can take off some pounds, I just know, without a doubt, that you can too.
Be hopeful. Be encouraged. We can do this.
Whew, that's a very close up picture, but, I felt cute in it {which is not necessarily a given. Ever.} so thought I'd post it.
And so I hope that as Monday rolls around you'll be motivated and excited to make the changes that you need to make. Whatever those are. Let's be a better version of ourselves come this time next year, 'kay?
Here's to a kickin' twenty twelve.