Happy New Year 2014

Wow... can you believe another year is over?!!  2014 is beginning with all the anticipation, hopes and dreams that a new year brings.

My 2013 was an amazing year.  I started on my weight loss journey.  I'm not breaking any records, but I've lost 34 lbs so far and hoping to see another 30 lbs leave me - in a healthy way - by this coming summer.  My husband and I joined my oldest son and his family for a special vacation to Honduras where my daughter-in-law is from.  We had the opportunity to visit with and meet her entire family.  We also saw many of the special places this beautiful country has to offer.  It was a magical trip.  We spent a week in LA visiting my youngest son and seeing many new attractions out there.  I also spent much time on motorcycle rides, boating, and doing many other events with family and friends.  It truly was a fantastic year.

Understand that everything was not always perfect.  My mother-in-law passed away in February.  My brother passed away in June.  There were many other "ups and downs".  When there are "down" times, I experience whatever it is, feel my feelings, work my way through them, and then let it go.  But when there are "up" moments, I SAVOR them.

In my "Happy New Year" post of 12/31/12, I said that instead of making a new year's resolution, I was going to make a new year's jar.  Whenever something good, special, amazing, or heartwarming happened, I wrote it down on a piece of paper and put it in that jar.  The idea is to open the jar on New Year's Eve and read about all the wonderful events that happened during the year that's ending, and ride that fabulous energy into the new year.  I AM so looking forward to enjoying this experience on New Year's Eve.

However you decide to end 2013 and enter 2014, I wish you love, peace, joy and magic.  Happy New Year.

Love,  Paula

I Love Where I Live!

I love where I live!

The weather here is so inconsistent.  People always say, "If you don't like our weather, wait a minute, it'll change.  Sometimes in spring or fall you can experience sunshine, rain, sleet and snow in a matter of a couple of hours.

I'm a "go with the flow" kind of person most of the time with most things.  If it's sunny, cloudy, rainy, windy or snowy, it just doesn't matter to me.  It is what it is.  I simply work around it.  I LOVE the little surprises the weather gives to us.  Many people I know need the sun.  The get SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) if they don't see the sunshine for a few days.  I feel bad for them living here because we can go days and even weeks sometimes without sun.

The other day was an odd kind of day.  The sky was a sheet of gray.  It wasn't individual clouds, it was a solid sheet of gray.  It was snowing, so when I left work I had to brush the snow off of my car.  While I was doing that - and while it was still snowing - the sun appeared.  It wasn't "shining", it was covered with a film from that solid gray sky.  But it was there.  It was like a reminder that even when we can't see it, it's always there.

That made me think of other things that are always there even if we can't see them.  You can't see love. You can't see support.  You can't see gratitude.  You can't see caring.  And you can't see God (or whatever you call your Source).  BUT you can find strength knowing that they're ALWAYS there for you.
 That reminder from the sun put a smile on my face.

I love where I live!

Love,  Paula