Sister

I'm grateful for my sister!  Liz is silly and fun and I had a wonderful time visiting with her this last week.  She loves Tweety....can you tell?

We went to Disney World...

...and we had a blast.  What a loooong day!  But it was such great fun.  My friend LuDona was with us too and it was just so much fun.  I love this picture of them and Carson & Sage on Rockin' Roller Coaster!!

We also spent some quite time at the beach.  Liz was trying to work on getting some "color" but I'm not sure how successful she was.  But there is something so wonderful about toes in the sand!

We had a great time together...and it was all too short.  I can't wait until our next get together!!

Yummy

Starting phase two of the South Beach diet.  Tonight I had some brown rice and a whole wheat tortilla and and we made YUMMY burritos. Wow, was that good!  I've missed rice.  And that tortilla....Yum-O.  Now, just one burrito and some green beans and I am stuffed.  I am grateful for yummy, healthy food.

Disney

What a magical place!  It's one of my very favorite places in the whole world.  So many memories starting in my childhood and now with my own children.  We just got Disney World passes again and we had a blast.  I love the smiles on my children's faces.  It makes me happy.  Here are a couple of pictures I took while Rafe and I were on the Tomorrow Land Speedway.  He is now big enough to not only drive the car, but work the peddles too!  I love, love, love the smile on his face!

Opportunities & Daydreams

I am grateful for new opportunities.  Life changes so fast some times and yet other times seems to drag.  Change is on the wind.  Some changes have already started.  Others you can see coming.  I am hoping to make the most of it.

On a side note, still going strong on the no carbs no sugar.  Nobody has died yet.  No bail money has been needed.  But I still miss sugar and sweet stuff.  I find myself daydreaming for a doughnut or toast with jam.  Isn't that silly?  

Well, almost a week down and then one week to go and we can enter phase 2.  Then I can add things like fruit, whole wheat and sweet potatoes into our menu.  Sadly, no doughnuts.  Is there a doughnut diet??  Anyone?  Anyone?  Yeah,....I didn't think so. 

LOVE

6 people.  1 house.  All are on day one of no sugar, no carbs.  Wow!  Aren't we just a bowl full of cherries!!

Today I am grateful that we love each other....very much.  Chant with me....I love you, I love you, I LOVE you.....I said I LOVE YOU!

A New Baby=Happiness!

Is there anything better than holding a new baby?  I don't think so.  They are precious and soft and cuddly.  I could go on and on with the adjectives. 

My friends Tracey and Marc had a baby girl two months ago and tonight I got to spend some quality time holding this precious little girl.  Her name is Jessica and she is perfect.

How can you not have gratitude while holding a new baby?

Happy New Year

There is something refreshing about new beginnings.  A fresh start.  A do-over.  A time to make plans, set goals, start over or begin again.  New Years is the great re-set button.  Didn't like the way somethings were going?  Do-over.  Tired of old habits?  Re-set.   Ready to make some changes?  Set a goal and have a fresh start.  Anything is possible right now.  We can be like children again and dream big, grand dreams filling it with our plans and wishes for the coming year.  

Van Gogh

The New Year is also a time to reflect and appreciate what we did enjoy and accomplish this past year.  We have so many blessing in our lives, yet why is it so hard to remember those?  Everyone is talking about all the negative that has happened this past year.  Very few are listing the great things in their past year.  Take a moment and think back over not the negative but the positive.  The birthday's, the weddings, the vacations, the lazy Sunday afternoons, that goofy family game night.  So your life is not perfect....nobody's is.  We ALL have problems, trials, things that we would rather not have had happen or had to do.  That my friend is life!  It's what it is all about.  And it provides such a wonderful balance and contrast to the good!!  It really makes us appreciate those lazy days, those fun times with friends, the reaching of a worked toward goal. 

It's good to have goals and dreams.  Don't get me wrong.  Life would get pretty boring if we kept stagnant and didn't change anything.  Tired of being tired?  Put on a few pounds?  Set a goal, start to exercise, change your eating habits.  It's a good thing.  Finances take a tumble this past year?  (who's didn't?)  Set a goal, make some changes, go back to school if you need to,  plan a budget.  It's a good thing.  

Life is an adventure!  Enjoy it.  Take the bad with the good and learn from it.  Try not to make the same mistakes again.  Learn compassion from it so that you can help lift others when they are struggling with something similar.  Try to have an attitude of gratitude about everything in your life.  It's hard sometimes to be positive...but remember what our mother's used to say:  "If you don't have something good to say...don't say anything at all!"  Just smile and think, "this too shall pass."  And it will.

One of my favorite movie lines comes from "Auntie Mame" with Rosalind Russell.  Make this your mantra this year!  

"Live! Life's a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!"