New Years = The Best!

Ya know what I love about this time of year?  We get one week of "guilt free" fun! Aka, the week before New Years!  When that clock hits midnight we all get a clean slate!!

Two days after Christmas I stepped on the scale, and oh crap!  I gain 2.5 of the 5 I lost back!  Talk about a bah humbug moment!! I watched every single bite I took, and probably annoyed the crap out of my family with all my diet demands!  (P.S. Thank you to my family for putting up with it!)  I worked hard, I dieted harder and I feel like failure!

Well, one week from today, I get a new slate!! How awesome!  I, however, am starting one week early. Why not, eh? Why should we wait for our lives to begin.  I read a stat that 75% of people make a new years resolution.  45% of those people fail within one week, and 40% of the remaining fail after one month.  I'm not gonna be part of that stat again.

I WILL reach my goal in 2012. Why? Because I can. And I dare someone to tell me otherwise!

“Another fresh new year is here . . .
Another year to live!
To banish worry, doubt, and fear,
To love and laugh and give!

This bright new year is given me
To live each day with zest . . .
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best!

I have the opportunity
Once more to right some wrongs,
To pray for peace, to plant a tree,
And sing more joyful songs!”




 HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! May your 2012 be as awesome as mine is going to be!!

Today I'm Thankful for New Years Resolutions

This morning I woke up and discovered I did not get paid.  Four days before Christmas and my bank account said "$12.15" umm....crap.

Well, being me, I freaked out! I started listing all the bills that had yet to be paid to Colin, and he just calmly sat there.  Then, in his OH so perfect timing, he informed me "Oh, I won't be getting paid my full G.I. Bill payment in January either, thanks to winter break."  GAH! Seriously, he decided, at this very moment to tell me this!?!?   To which I responded to him "Well what the hell?! WHY NOT?! How are we going to pay this? And how are we going to pay that?!?"  And going on and on in my calm manner.

Well, after I realized (at least told him I realized) it was all going to be okay, I decided I needed to go for a run. I stepped foot outside, and while there is a lack of snow, there is certainly not a lack of cold.  This is when I decided I was thankful for the treadmill in our basement.

While I was running, something my dad tells me on a regular basis was going through my head (and I really should take it to heart.)  This circumstance is only temporary. It's only money, and you will get caught up on things.  All married couples go through a rough patch, and we're getting ours out of the way early!

Ya know, this is what I get for following a dream.  I could have (and was offered) several 9 to 5 jobs. I could be secure working behind a desk somewhere, invisible to the world.  But I decided, that wasn't good enough.  I decided, and with Colin's blessing, to go for something that is going to make a difference.

The new year is coming close.  It's time for resolutions.  Well, I got the weight loss and exercise thing under control.
(Totally useless fact: 40%-45% of adults make a resolution each year. 75% fail after the first week)

So, what am I going to resolve this year?  What do I need to work on?! Well, I've decided, each day I need to find one thing I'm thankful for.  Whether it's a hubby who's letting me follow my goal, parents who are pretty much giving their right arms to help us through, or friends who NEVER stop cheering for me.   Each day, I will find something I'm thankful for.  I've shared those repeatedly, so I will find new things! Whether it's small or large, every day!

May I suggest you do the same, it'll make your new year a much happier, and successful one!

Christmas Miracles

I love Christmas, I always have.  There is something about this season, no matter how old you get, you can feel like a kid again!  There's something about the thought of waking up on December 25th, coming downstairs and seeing those gifts underneath the tree!  SANTA CAME! Don't tell me you don't get butterflies remembering that feeling.

This year is different for some reason.  Well, I can tell you why.  There's no snow on the ground.  People are being less than in the Christmas mood.  They've been selfish, grumpy, uncaring, and there's SO much hate in the world right now.  With the economy, we have no presents under the tree. I don't want anything, I want to be able to give them!  I want to see the look on people's faces when they open the "perfect" gift!

Well, no money, no snow, no humanity towards others, the lights don't twinkle as much, all I have to say is merry freakin' Christmas to the world!

Driving to work today, looking at the bleak, brown world around me, day dreaming of a white Christmas, I remembered another reason I love Christmas. I love the idea of the Christmas miracle.  Ya know, you turn on the Hallmark channel this time of year and the movies are full of them!! But then you realize, a miracle doesn't have to be the parting of a sea, it can be so much as getting a check from the government when you REALLY needed that extra lift (yeah, it happened!)  It's meeting a friend of a friend who, you know, somehow, is going to help you make your goals come true (yeah, happened again!) Or, it's going to a dear friend's home for a party and having a person who means the WORLD, and beyond to you, walk in the front door. (Again, totally happened!)

Christmas miracles are the things we miss when we're yelling at the people at the mall 'cus they're going slow.  We miss them when we're so consumed in our own lives, we forget that a hug in itself is a miraculous thing.  Making someone smile, out of the time and effort you put into something, THAT is what Christmas is.  It's the everyday things, that, for some reason, we skip over day in and day out.  I guess you could say, life is the gift that keeps on giving.

Christmas miracles do happen.  Not just on the Hallmark channel, but every time someone opens their hearts to fellow human beings.  Love, in itself, is a Christmas miracle.  As much as I hate "Jesus is the reason for the season" slogan, I do believe, that the point of CHRISTmas, is to renew our faith in what God wants from us.  We can be someone else's Christmas miracle,

And besides, you never know, I could still get my white Christmas, I'm not giving up on mother nature quite yet.

Soldier's Night Before Christmas

This time of year, it's so easy to get caught up in life.  The diets of Christmas (or the breaking of them.)  All the hustle and bustle of gift buying.   While it's fun to unwrap all that pretty paper, we need to take time and remember why we are able to do what we do.  Sometimes I get so caught up in diets and exercise, I forget WHY I'm doing it.  I've realized this year, more than many, this may be my last year here for a while, but I want to serve. I'm not only wanting to sacrifice, I'm asking my whole family to do the same.  However, a soldier is proud, a soldier is strong, even on Christmas!  So, to not go on for too long, here is "The Soldier's Night Before Christmas."  A story of a soldier on the day everyone should be with the people they love, but sacrifice a lot for us.  (Below is the video, I highly recommend a listen with a tissue!)

Twas the night before Christmas, he lived all alone,

In a one bedroom house made of plaster & stone.

I had come down the chimney, with presents to give

and to see just who in this home did live

As I looked all about, a strange sight I did see,

no tinsel, no presents, not even a tree.

No stocking by the fire, just boots filled with sand.

On the wall hung pictures of a far distant land.

With medals and badges, awards of all kind,

a sobering thought soon came to my mind.

For this house was different, unlike any I'd seen.

This was the home of a U.S. Marine.

I'd heard stories about them, I had to see more,

so I walked down the hall and pushed open the door.

And there he lay sleeping, silent, alone,

Curled up on the floor in his one-bedroom home.

He seemed so gentle, his face so serene,

Not how I pictured a U.S. Marine.

Was this the hero, of whom I’d just read?

Curled up in his poncho, a floor for his bed?

His head was clean-shaven, his weathered face tan.

I soon understood, this was more than a man.

For I realized the families that I saw that night,

owed their lives to these men, who were willing to fight.

Soon around the Nation, the children would play,

And grown-ups would celebrate on a bright Christmas day.

They all enjoyed freedom, each month and all year,

because of Marines like this one lying here.

I couldn’t help wonder how many lay alone,

on a cold Christmas Eve, in a land far from home.

Just the very thought brought a tear to my eye.

I dropped to my knees and I started to cry.

He must have awoken, for I heard a rough voice,

"Santa, don't cry, this life is my choice

I fight for freedom, I don't ask for more.

My life is my God, my country, my Corps."

With that he rolled over, drifted off into sleep,

I couldn't control it, I continued to weep.

I watched him for hours, so silent and still.

I noticed he shivered from the cold night's chill.

So I took off my jacket, the one made of red,

and covered this Marine from his toes to his head.

Then I put on his T-shirt of scarlet and gold,

with an eagle, globe and anchor emblazoned so bold.

And although it barely fit me, I began to swell with pride,

and for one shining moment, I was Marine Corps deep inside.

I didn't want to leave him so quiet in the night,

this guardian of honor so willing to fight.

But half asleep he rolled over, and in a voice clean and pure,

said "Carry on, Santa, it's Christmas Day, all secure."

One look at my watch and I knew he was right,

Merry Christmas my friend, Semper Fi and goodnight.