Today was pretty annoying...

I'm pretty sure I've written before about how much I can't stand this time of year.  Every fall when the time changes, I inwardly groan, sigh and think to myself  "once football season and the holidays are over...there is nothing..."

Short days = I want to be on my couch under a blanket like a bear hibernating in winter.  The weather in Charleston this winter has been not just bipolar, but schizophrenic.  It's 80 degrees one day and flowers start to bloom...the next day, it's 19 degrees with an ice storm on the way.   I quit my #jmdvdchallenge because...well, I just don't have a good excuse.  #JMDVDFAIL.  And I felt really bad about it.  I did ok for a few days, but then I just retreated to my blanket a lot.  I feel like I let some of my bloggy buddies down.  Sorry ladies :(

I hate being a huge Debbie Downer, but this is TOTALLY how I've been feeling today.  On top of it being winter, there was the rare threat of an impending ice storm and the whole world was in a frenzy.  The Publix was out of milk, there were people everywhere, and I just wanted to kill everyone in my path.  OH and it didn't start icing up until about 5:00 PM, about 12 hours later then predicted  But the world is ending.  And schools are out.  And I'm just feeling especially grumpy at all the hyperness.  And friends of mine in Atlanta spent like 70 hours in their cars.  Needless to say, I JUST WASN'T FEELING TODAY!

I know, that's pretty grouchy and terrible..  Not the the norm for my positive, chipper self.  I've not had the chance to blog like I really want to lately and that also makes me feel like I'm off-kilter.  But as I sit here and write this, I keep thinking about my life being in transition.  I'm in a new marriage.  I'm learning new things at work.  I'm learning how to deal with money with my husband for the first time.  And I'm just looking to anything new to me back into a good place.

So what's a girl to do when you're over the weather and all of life's annoyances in one day?

You order new makeup in order to fake a tan and look flawless at work while everyone else is looking pale.

True story, I am HOOKED on highlighting and contouring now and have officially fallen in love with Maskcara's HAC Pack (or IIID Foundation System).  It FINALLY arrived last Saturday and I've been enjoying it ever since.  You think that blush looks a little too bright Barbie pink? It's not and it's AMAZING.  It blends beautifully and it stays on all day.  

First things first, before you slap this stuff on and hope you look good, watch some tutorials.  Definitely learn which areas you should contour and which ones to highlight.  Contour will involve the hollows of your cheeks, your outer forehead edges and your jawline.  Highlight under your eyes, above your eyebrows and fill in the areas that you didn't apply the contour color to.  I've found that I do best if I apply a very light layer of foundation first and then start using the HAC Pack on top of it.  Use a good foundation brush and you will look like a pro. 

Word of caution, you may look like an Indian painting on war paint for the first time, but I promise it gets better!

The cream blush, like I said, is awesome.  The illuminator is also beautiful.  You can use that for additional highlighting (tops of cheekbones, brow bone, etc.).   If you love makeup and want to try something new, definitely give this a shot.  Once you know what you're doing, it won't add much time to your makeup routine.  

Ok I know, iPhones don't take the greatest pictures but check out my before...this is great because my skin has a lot of redness to it in the winter from drying out.  This is how it looks before a fresh coat of makeup each day.  (and obvs before a blow dryer). 

(That's an extreme before, fresh out of the shower)

and AFTER:

The yellow in the highlight part of the kit really tones down the redness.

Now that I've shared all of this with you guys, please please please go check out Cara's blog and take a look at her 

For you all that braved the weather today and got stuck out in it, I hope you're enjoying some downtime with your family and maybe having a cozy alcoholic beverage.  I may need a few of those tonight.  It's days like these that I remind myself that tomorrow is another day...and that new makeup will always make me happy!

Night y'all!

Sickly Post

Hi all!

So I've finally come down with...something.  All the stress of the wedding and holidays and all I got was a fever blister.  Now, I'm laying in bed, can hardly move, and have tremendous nausea and a stuffy nose.

To answer the burning question...there is no bun in the oven.  I checked the oven. There's just oven racks in there :)

I'm pretty sure my deskmate felt like this today:

She has a kid, I'm pretty sure she sprayed Lysol all over my desk and chair when I left.  No flu, but something just doesn't feel fantastic.  So I'm resting this evening.

Being sick always throws me into a huge inner turmoil over one thing.  Working out.  Do I do it? Do I just suck it up since I came to work and now go to the gym, while feeling miserable?  Or do I just go home and rest and not work out?  This one always stumps me because I've done both in the past.  Back in the days of being a hardcore runner, 5 miles with a cold was nothing.  (But then I would feel like butthole for 3 days, yes, I said BUTTHOLE!).

As I get older and hopefully a little wiser, I've started to err on the side of caution and just go home.  Sleep.  Drink lots of water.  Actually take real medicine.  Hunker down under a blanket and just ride out your fever.  Or sometimes I sleepwith a bowl next to my head.  How do you home remedy but not eat all of the things?

Do you guys remember being in college and being sick?  Like away from your mom for the first time?  When all you wanted was for your lovely mother to come bring you chicken soup but you had to deal with your roomie bringing you some lukewarm spaghetti noodles instead.  (Not me though, I had an amazing college roomie, she took great care of me always!)  I have fond memories of so many nasty gross germs all from co-habitating with 20,000 girls in one dorm.  And we always shared drinks, shared lip gloss, shared cigarettes.  It's a wonder we all didn't contract the same strand of some terrible fungus from sharing all of the things.  I was fortunate to not have the mono-meltdown mid semester but I remember SO many people that got it.  I mean these peeps would SHUT. DOWN.  Full on hibernate, in class, feverish and bleary eyed in their college sweat pants.  And then they would disappear for a month and be quarantined to their dorm room only to lose 15 pounds by subsisting alone on ginger ale and mac and cheese.

Bottom line: Nobody wants your crud.  Stay home.  

I do have one bright spot looming for me while being the sickly one in the bunch.  I ordered my very first HAC Pack last night and will be checking the mail EVERY single day until it gets here. 

I had to go with the light, and I'm pretty pale, just hoping that this turns out ok and I don't look like Bella Swan.  

What does HAC stand for? Highlighting and Contouring.  I've already thrown this regimen into my beauty routine, it's just nice to see that there is a kit out there to help you and include everything all on one nice, perfect little package.  

I'll fully review and post some before and afters in a few days once the package arrives.

See you guys in a few hours or days once this grossness clears up.  Until then, Happy Monday!

Hurt so GOOD!

Hey everyone!

So since Monday, I've decided to get back on the fitness band wagon by setting foot inside the gym.

It was a big step and I was a "wittle" scared....but I did it.

Tuesday I took my very first spin class since November...and I loved it.  I have MISSED being on that bike and inside that sweaty, dark room that sounds like a club.  

And then there's always THIS feeling after you haven't been in forever...

Tonight led me back to the world of my training class.  A lot of people have asked me "oh, you do Crossfit?" Not exactly.  This is something through my gym that has a different name, but it's very similar to Crossfit.  There's lots of kettlebells, ropes, and pull up bars.  It's awesome and I love every minute of it while hating simultaneously...if that makes any sense.

It's a little bit like this...

I knew tonight was going to suck and that I would be super sore and tired.  I also drank about 3 glasses of wine last night which contributed to a slight hangover and mental fog all day.  So, I knew that class would REALLY really really be a toughie.

5 Rounds for Time of:

5 Power Cleans

10 Front Squats

5 Overhead Thrusts

Followed by 20 pull ups

My arms are officially jello as I type this post tonight.  And I won't lie, I had to bust those pull ups into sets of 5 with a band.  And I could only do about 10.  

I will say, picking up the lightest bar with the lightest weight tonight really humbled me because it made me realize how quickly I can let myself go when I get lazy.  I was squatting some serious weight about 2 months ago and throwing around big manly kettlebells. Now, I feel like I'm starting all over.  I never really gained much weight during my time off (only about 4 pounds), but I've gotten soft and fleshy and I am so ready to get that muscular lean body back.  Beastmode is about to resume in a big way.  I have big goals for 2014. 

I had a flashback in my mind tonight of the time that I sweated in the Belk's dressing room so hard while trying on a size 8 suit for a business trip that I thought would fit.   This was about 2 years ago.  Because no matter how much weight I gained, I just remained at a size 8 in my mind.  The pants wouldn't even pull together to button and I seriously knew I would split the butt if I sat down.  The jacket was pretty much a throwback to "Fat Guy in a Little Coat".  

I felt so awful, and had to go up to a size 12.  I hung my head as I walked out of the store.  I shed some tears in my car. Even then, that didn't open my eyes.  I knew things were not great, but I had a great man that didn't care if I was an 8 or a 12.   I had so many people tell me "you're beautiful at any size".

If there is one thing I've learned in this journey, it's that you have to get uncomfortable in order to see progress.  I had to almost vomit on the floor tonight and want to quit to make me realize that I'm doing the right thing for myself.  I had to struggle to make myself realize that I can definitely do it.  

This is a girl that's had an amazing and tiring week.  I've already worked forty hours in four days.  I found the strength to just keep going.  I managed to not eat like it was still Christmas.  The more I do, the more I realize that I can do just about anything.

Keep pushing my friends! 

The amazing train wreck that is...The Bachelor.

Ok I have to digress from healthy/Jillian Michael's post this evening.  WHY?

Because...

 

It's Monday night in America and ladies, you know what that means...The Bachelor has returned itself to primetime television!!! (Insert eye roll OR gleeful happy/stompy dance here depending on who you are).

 

So if you were just glued to your TV for the past 2 hours, keep on reading.  If you despise this show and eye rolled immediately, check back in tomorrow for some workout updates.  K? Thanks!

 

This show is wonderful for so many reasons.  I mean, come on, it's not hard to get sucked into watching an amazingly hot dude (who has a 99% chance of being a douchelord) each week.  Chris Harrison accompies the show with his crisp suits and over-dramatic interviews with the lovely (crazy) ladies, and then the dude of the moment.

 

At this moment, we all have come to know and love the glory that is...Juan Pablo (aka Juanny P).

 

The guy gets major points alone on his accent.  And a few for the fact that he doesn't have to shave and still manages to look hot.  Sigh.  Thank you Latin American Gods.

 

OH WAIT...he's also a dad.  100,000 more hotness points.  (I feel like ABC is definitely playing the hot mom/dad card here recently, since Emily Maynard managed to hang around so long.  But she sucked and had way too much Botox and that's a whole new blog post. I mean, how do you get rid of One F Jef?).

 

Sometimes, ABC does not pick a good one.  Remember BEN???

 

Ok I can't criticize too much, his hair was nothing short of amazing.  It was always perfectly windblown or touseled.  He made wine for a living...that's cool.  I also felt like he resembeled Josh Groban.  I felt like any moment, he would bust out into "You Raise Me UPPPPPPPPPPP!". 

 

Ok before I spin off into a whole different tangent on this show, here is why it is so great.  Everything is doomed to fail from the beginning, everyone knows it, yet we ALL get sucked in and watch each week.  I mean, I feel like this is summer camp for grown women who all have a crush on the babe of camp.  Everyone is going nutso for a rose and will do anything to get one (cry, meltdown, maybe break an appendage, or faint).

 

I love watching it all unfold. 

 

There's usually someone that breaks down and cries on the VERY FIRST EPISODE.  Like for real? You're meeting a hot dude and wearing amazing clothes, and you probably had some free Botox and a makeover.  Why you crying?

 

Also, there's definitely always ONE girl that turns out to be the undermining female toolbag of the season...remember this girl?  CRAZY COURTNEY!!!

 

It just makes me LOL.  There's always a pyscho in the bunch that is out to monopolize the man in question right from the get go.  They piss off all the other girls and then they get anxiety and start telling the Bachelor man about the girl cattiness going.  And all the guys are too clueless to know how to respond. They usually send home the decent girl. And sometimes the pyschos WIN! But then everyone breaks up, oh you know, because they've only known each other for 2 months? Maybe?

 

I will say that the one thing ABC does right is pick the travel destinations.  Fiji, Bora Bora, Anguilla.  You name it, these people get to go there for free.  (I always wonder if these ladies like quit their jobs or how that works).  The places are spectacular though, scenic, gorgeous, just the perfect places to fall in love.

 

Also, Chris Harrison is the best example of the perfect show host.  He has an impeccable wardrobe.  He handles conflict resolution well.  He is sensetive to the women and listens to all of their issues.  He's there in the midst of a crisis, AKA, when the guy has things narrowed down to 2 women that he's fallen hopelessly in love with.  I'm pretty sure that his toilet paper is 2 ply and cushy, and that he probably wears starched underwear...

 

 

CH is perfection.

 

Every single week is always...''the most dramatic episode in Bachelor history!".  (gag).

 

All in all, this show has perfect parts drama, comedy, tragedy and triump. There are the highs and lows of about 10 different relationships going on at once, only to have one get cut short by the thorn of a rose (ah, that's poetic!).   It's my guilty pleasure, and although I've boycotted it the past 2 seasons, I think I'm back to my Monday night ritual. 

Sometimes, you just have to veg out after a hard workout and watch a hot man get nearly clawed to death by skinny babes that are only eating peanuts for the entire show.  Mindless entertainment at its best.  I love it. Don't judge me.

 

The. End.

 

Celebrating 29!

What up guys!  It's FINALLY the best day of the week.

Today, I turn 29 for the....3rd time.  Last year was by far the birthday of all birthdays (thank you J for proposing!), but so far, my first married birthday has been pretty awesome!  I'm getting together with friends tonight for dinner and we're doing the adult thing of drink and eat early so we can all go home and crash before 11 in order to have a productive Sunday.  #adulthangoverssuck

I will say, that Facebook is a wonderful thing and makes you feel so loved.  Who knew that technology would bring us all closer together???

Ok so I'm linking up with some lovely ladies because I definitely need the accountability here lately, so welcome to Follow Through Friday! (I'm a day late obviously, but better late than never!)

 So I'll be honest.  Jillian Michaels stopped happening for me right around...Tuesday.  It's not due to the voice aggravation, or the left eye squint, but the transition to my new job happened RAPIDLY and I had to like rework my life in a matter of a few days.  And learn new things.  And like study for what I feel like are college exams. 

The one thing I did do well with is eating.  Because I like have time to throw back some food, and it was mostly salads and healthy leftovers.  I ate oatmeal a lot for breakfast and drank LOADS of water.  And coffee, because I literally am like trying to be awake as long as I can during the day to learn all the new things I need to learn.  Which is a lot.

I am going to try to get back on track with J-Dawg (I did do some P90X this week, so that helped), but in the meantime, I've also decided to get back on track with my weekly small group training.  I just do a better job in a group of people and a fun trainer.  And someone is yelling at me.  Or slow clapping as I stand up from a heavy squat.  All of that starts back on 1/16, so look for some upcoming WODs that you can do yourself in the gym or at home.  Lots of kettle bells and chin ups, can't wait!  Time to lose some of the holiday fluff.

Link up for the party each week and let us all know how you're following through with whatever is important to you this year.  I always say that fitness is not just a one time thing, it's a change to your life that has to stay permanent.  That's my goal in 2014.  Not to become the Chubby Spin Instructor all over again.  

Short and sweet post today guys.  Tomorrow I'm going to attempt for the first time in awhile to Sunday food prep so that I can have an easy week when it comes to bringing food to work and staying on track.  Same for the hubs, he's getting some sandwiches in bags to take to work and SAVE US MONEY (ahem, cough cough, stop buying stuff at the gas station, I see it in the bank account).

Happy Saturday y'all and enjoy your weekend!

Combating the Negatives in 2014

Hey y'all!

It's Monday!!! (thumbs down) It's also cold as balls out there (double thumbs down), so bundle up and get your sweat on.  Maybe do some JM Yoga Meltdown.  You can read about my DVD review of that here.

 

Follow all of the #jmdvdchallenge stuff on Instagram!  It's really fun to see all of the posts, so go check out your fave bloggers and join in the fun.  

Tonight, I wanted to talk about change and fighting against negativity in the new year.  As most of you know, a lot has happened recently in my little simple life. Even more stuff has happened just last week.  I found out that I'm transitioning to a new role in my career (same company, different job).  It's a little unnerving and pushing me outside of my comfort zone, but I'm up for a challenge and ready for a change.  

While in the Bahamas, Jarrett and I sat talking on a dock one day about this very thing...change.  So much had already happened to us in just a few days, so it was the topic of convo (while drinking rum).  Should we buy a house? Do we build a house? Do we combine all the bank accounts into one? How in the world did we manage to become adults? Do we have babies in 6 months or just travel, drink and damage our livers a little more?

See? Lots of change.

We tried not to bring up work while relaxing, but we talked about some of our work issues and how we were feeling about changes there.  And I knew I was ready for a change, and J has been for awhile.  I didn't expect it to happen so soon, but I'm feeling happy about it. 

Here's the thing that I'm learning about change.  It will make you second guess yourself.  You may be like "YES, bring it ON Change!"....and then the next minute you're like "ugh, I shouldn't have changed, I should have stayed where I was comfortable!!!".  It's not comfortable.  In fact, in our marriage counseling, our minister talked about how we both react to change.  I do manage to handle it well and can roll with things when they happen.  I guess that comes from being a preacher's kid and moving around all my life.  Jarrett is more suited with knowing what he's doing, all the time, with little change.  But he does deal well when things come up, so it's a good balance to have. 

But still, it scares the crap out of me to think about stepping into a new role, a hard one, and then moving forward into the unknown (As Tom Petty sings "Into the Greaaaaaaaaaaaaaat Wide Open").

Well...I'm about to say bump that noise.  Forget being scared.  I took a look back at my life over the last year and thought about how unafraid I was by just starting this blog.  I put my fluffy butt out there for the world to hold me accountable.  I talked about my ups and downs.  I shared all of the good and bad moments.  What's all of that compared to accepting a new opportunity at work?

I feel like it's such a negative stance to sit back and say "nah uh, not changing, not moving, not getting up and doing anything different".  When my boss talked to me about this opportunity, I didn't need much time to think it over and accept it.  And then, I gave myself ONE MINUTE of self doubt to be like "I can't do this, what am I thinking? Why not just stay the same? I know what I'm doing, I don't want to be the new kid again!"  And I told him that.  And he had to talk me back to a normal state of mind.  Nothing is ever easy, neither is life, so may as well take a chance. Well...it's time to shake it up.  Saying yes to change and letting go of what's comfortable.  

So that's my new goal for this year.  I know, I know, it's not New Years anymore and we're not smooching away 2013, but I am still forming a few goals for this year.  I'm saying yes to whatever comes my way.  

Keep up with all the blog updates this week and the rest of the month for more Jillian updates, work updates, life updates...just all new things in 2014 :)

 Night you guys!

Jillian Michaels DVD Challenge Day 4-Yoga Meltdown Review

Hey guys! Happy Sunday!  Ugh, do we really have to go back to work tomorrow? I need a weekend to recover from my weekend. 

 

So it's Day 4 of the #jmdvdchallenge.  Please follow along on IG and all of the blogs linking up for this.  It's super fun and a few of my blog girl crushes have started following my IG account.  EEK! I feel like the Kardashians have discovered me or something!  Super psyched ladies, you have no idea how much I've told the hubs over and over "OMG! Holly and Jen started FOLLOWING ME!" 

 

He looked at me like I had three heads.  But then he said "good babe, glad you're happy!". 

 

 

So as mentioned before, this is 30 days of Jillian's rasp screaming at you.  Just to make sure it's all understood, you don't have to do the same DVD over and over again.  Which is great, because after 3 days of Ripped in 30, I needed a break from all of her random sayings that don't make any sense.

 

Which is when I decided to change it up today and do Jillian's Yoga Meltdown.  After seeing a ton of reviews, I decided to go with it.

 

Holy.....thigh.....burn. 

 

Let me preface this review with if you are a true yoga subscriber (and trust me, I used to be for a long time, full Hatha and then hot yoga follower for years)...then this is not for you.  This is not a chance to find your zen or chi...or whatever you're looking for.  Or line up your chakras. This is not lay back, relax in corpse pose after synchronized sun salutations for an hour.  This is like an interval workout with lots of planks, chataranga push ups, and some warrior poses thrown in there.

Jillian does a good job of incorporating the sun salutation to bring it all home during the entire workout, which I like, because that is basic yoga for everyone.  But she breaks it up with repeated moves so that you feel the burn.  For real, I was sweating right after the warm up.  I was sweating in my eyeballs at one point and needed a headband.

 

Even though THE VOICE grates on your nerves, this is a workout you do not want to ignore.  If you're not feeling the Shred or Ripped workouts on any given day, do this one.  It's a really works your thighs, abs and surprisingly, your upper arms and lats.  Totally feeling this in my shoulders right now as I type this. 

 

Keep following on Instagram, it's so fun to see the other reviews and figure out what works for you.

 

And isn't this SO TRUE?

 

 

Ok I'm done.  Keep it up you guys!  I am usually a big gym rat but this working out at home thing is awesome (and free!).

 

Jillian in January

So..............New Years is over.  Sigh.  The party is done for.  All the champagne has been guzzled and delicious foods have been consumed.  I had hummus and carrots for breakfast this morning.

 

Sigh. (heavy sigh)

 

Time to get back on the wagon.  I just literally emailed my trainer this morning and was like "please start my membership back up so that I can come suffer for the month of January".  Not like I've gained a ton of weight or let myself go, buttttttttttt, I'm pretty sure I couldn't do 10 burpees and not die right now. 

 

And the pants are slightly tight.  This is exactly how my mint skinnies look today. 

 

‎

For January, I'm joining in with a few bloggers with a JM challenge.  (#jmdvdchallenge on Instagram). 

 

 

 

 Jillian....Jillian...I have to put you on mute because your voice makes me want to punch you through the TV.  And you say weird things.  And you get a little fiesty with your 2 helpers on each DVD.

 

And looking at your perfect abs just makes me want to die.

 

So why should I do this (and you, if you're reading)?

 

The upside to the challange is that Jillian is all over YouTube, so even if you don't own her DVDs (which are super cheap and you can buy them at Target, Walmart, even Marshalls), you can find her on the interwebs. 

 

She has a yoga workout that is pretty intense too, so if you want to take a little bit of a break from the weights/cardio/abs system she is famous for, try the Yoga Meltdown.

 

Oh AND....I watched a little snippet of her take on dieting and clean eating the other day.  It's a GREAT trainer's perspective on how to eat and clearing up any myths about diets.  And it's from her book. Great lifestyle changes and truth about things that can potentially hurt your metabolism.  Note that she debunks cleansing and fasting. Just remember that if you do start a cleanse (like Advocare), you still eat, you just eat clean.  So all this stuff on just drinking cayenne pepper water for a week....yeah, good luck with that.  Around minute 3, she starts talking about her kids and stuff, but check this out, it's great. So glad that someone is honest and truthful about healthy ways to lose weight and clean up your diet. 

 

There's also some monetary incentive in here if you do this right, take before and afters, and sync up with @hollystanfield, @missmel_joy, @kimmyyy1, and @fatchick2fitchick on Instagram.  Holly has a great post up today and some info on how to take you measurements.  You don't have to do the before an after pics, only if you are competing for the cold hard cash. 

 

In case you want to follow along or buy the DVD, I'm doing Ripped in 30. It's really great workout where the weeks do get progressively harder, espeically week 3. 

 

Just do it you guys,  you know you want to.  Get to tagging these lovely ladies on Instagram and start sweating and cursing at your TV.

 

Bye Bye 2013!

Happy 2014 Everyone!  Everyone seemed to get their posts in yesterday, but between work and cooking a huge meal (dessert included, which I don't ever do), I found myself busy right up until 11:00 last night.  Just enough time to snuggle with my guy, catch some bowl game action, and watch the ball drop at midnight.  In my younger years, I used to buy the most glittery dress I could find, spend too much money on tickets to do something stupid, and watch people drink too much champagne.   Now, I'm perfectly happy under a blanket with my furry baby and my man each year. 

 

Last night had me doing a lot of reflecting.  I think that's pretty common for everyone as one year comes to a close and another one starts.  2013 was a HUGE year for me.  I got engaged to my best friend.  I got serious about my health.  I had some highs and lows in my job. I started this blog and got amazing feedback on it. I got married in front of all my dear friends and family.  So far, it's been the best of my life.  I could not be happier right now. 

 

I'm not one to make resolutions, but I'm all about revelations instead.  There are things that have been revealed to me over 31 one years that causes me to stop and think pretty deeply today.  It feels a bit like a Thanksgiving for me, because I am so grateful for so much, but here are a few things I've learned in 2013.

 

I've learned that I could let someone love me and make myself completely vulnerable to that person.  J opened up my world to love.  I was pretty independent and proud to be a single girl until he shattered all that mess.  Now, I'm completely content that he wants to take care of me in so many ways.  And he does.  Thanks honey. 

 

I learned that no matter what, there will always be haters for no reason.  People will trash you...for no reason.  They will be angry at you...for no reason.  Yes they will mean-mug you...for no reason.  I'm having to learn to get better at ignoring that because I take things very seriously.  Now that I know the haters exist and who they are, I'm leaving them behind in 2013.  I don't have room for that on this bandwagon.

 

I've learned that family will always be there for you, no matter what.  My mom, dad and sister have been my biggest cheerleaders in everything.  They continue to rally for me all the time.  I am so blessed to have them in my life.

 

I've learned that I have the best friends in the world and they are a hodgepodge of childhood friends and people I've known only a few years.

 

I've learned that in losing weight and getting fit this year, I won't go back to the person I was 8 months ago in April 2013.  Health will be at the forefront of my life from now on, with my focus moving to weight and interval training.  I figured it out this year and it's what works best for me.

 

I've learned that J and I will have our own timeline when it comes to having kids and we're ok with that.  We love them and want to have them, but we're not ready just yet.  But when it does happen, it will be awesome.  J will be an amazing dad.  I have this vision of having a daughter and coming home one day to find him playing tea party with her, bows and ribbons tied everywhere in his 'do.  Or teaching our son to throw a perfect spiral. It will be great, but there's still time for us.  We want to enjoy our marriage for a bit before babies come along.

 

I've learned that I should stop having second thoughts on things.  I have to go with my gut.  Even if it means sucking it up through hard, crazy times, it will be worth it.  Life is about change and growth, if you don't take a risk, you'll never understand the full benefits. 

 

I've learned that blogging has tapped into a really personal part of myself that I love revealing all the time, so I'm going to keep with it.  Today is my 51st post, so onto 100 and more.  So many people have told me how proud of me they are about blogging, while other are confused about why I do it.  I really don't care who I please, it's the audience that I reach and inspire that is worth the time and the effort.

 

On that note, I'm learning that I can't please everyone, and that's ok.  I've been a "yes" man all my life, and now, I've learned to say no and you know what? It feels GREAT when I do it. 

 

I've learned to be smarter about money.  In the evenings on the way home from work, I listen to Dave Ramsey.  (Yes, I know, I'm old for doing that).  He has killer advice and I am about to apply his principles to our income this year.  Debt free in 2014!

 

Finally, I've learned that no matter what, you just keep going.  Quitting is not an option in this life.  Some days are better than others and easier, but those hard days make you realize how strong you really are.  Whether is battling a bad work situation or pulling a sled of almost 200 pounds, I'm stronger than I've ever been.  And I will only get stronger this year.

 

Happy New Years Y'all!  Enjoy your day and make it a memorable one.