Happy New Year!!

Here it is. 2020. HALLALUJAH. At times I wasn’t sure we were going to make it. But look at that. 2019 almost beat me. You know that moment when you are almost beat but not quite so you come out of your corner fueled with fury and ready to put a whoopin on someone. That’s where I’m at. 2019 was mean to me. I was mean to me. And that’s the worst. You can’t expect to see the good anywhere in life when you aren’t even being kind to yourself. But here I am at 2020 and I’m ready to fight. I’m ready to see big changes in my life. I’m ready to be fully, deeply happy.

I know people get tired of the "new year new me" stuff. I guess if you want to understand me and this new me you have know we have been walking through a cat 5 hurricane over here with an umbrella and galoshes. We have lost several close family members in the past 18 months. Which if you have ever lost someone close you know there is no going back to normal. We started the custody battle of our life that has so far cost us thousands of dollars and tears, hours of lost sleep, and both mine and my husband's job. Also my entire private life was spilled to every first responder organization on the north side of Houston. Which I think was the worst part. And it's not over yet. My husband went back to school and I started a new job. This has been hurricane Harvey deluxe! It has left me looking like an east county trailer fire. Very little left standing and all the contents reduced to ashes. It's devastating. It's the best thing that could have happened to me. It has forced me to create a new me. A new plan. A new purpose. A new direction. And I'd love to tell you how I have that sorted out but I don't. I spent 2019 barely hanging on most of the year. Counting my little blessings now and then and feeling really sorry myself the majority of the time. But in October I decided one could only mope for so long. Eventually you have to get off the couch, trash the stained, ugly sweat pants and go back to a real life.

Okay. So it’s time for those new year resolutions. You know the promises we make ourselves and keep faithfully for 3 weeks then somehow forget. The "new year new me stuff". I made a list of changes I wanted in the coming year back in late October. And some of them I went ahead and started. Why wait? If you find something on my list you identify with take it. Make it your own. You will notice some of my things are listed in more than one category. Don't you love things that meet more than one goal? Multi-tasking at it's finest! I‘ve been doing a lot of gut health research. I believe in gut health like I believe in the Lord above. So from said research I’ve decided on a few health goals. 1) intermittent fasting. 16 hours. At least 3 times a week. Yes it going to be done at night so I can sleep through the worst of it. 2) No sugar. No sugar substitute. It really can be done. That means you read every label and you stay away from processed foods. 3) One week a month I’m gonna binge eat plants. No eggs, meat, dairy, flour, or processed grains. PLANTS!! DETOX!! GUT HEALING!! 4) More physical activity and exercise and less excuses. Hello gym membership, leggings, ponytails, sore muscles, flatter abs, tighter arms, and sense of self satisfaction.

Lower stress. It has to be said. We all have a ton of different reasons for stress. So I recommend finding your top few reasons and working on them. 1) were paying off debt this year. I don’t care if I have to sell a kidney on the black market (just kidding) or get 9 jobs or whatever. We are doing it. So I sat down and made a budget. This is not a regular budget. This is like pay this bill this much money by this day even if you have to rob a bank. That's slightly exaggerated, very slightly. I believe if I work hard and trust God I'm gonna rock this like a Boss Babe. There is still time for you to start the year off with a financial plan or goal. SO DO IT!! 2)I need more time. Where does one get more time? You do it with life hacks. So for instance I made a week long dinner menu. On the back I made the grocery list for those meals. I made 8 of these. Pull one out and the week is planned. I even made a couple for my fasting week. 3) I need more family time. So I got a calendar and blocked off weekends for family time. Are we going somewhere awesome? Maybe. Maybe not. But we’re doing it together.

So that covers stress, money, time and food but what about me. The real me. I want to be smarter so I have a library card and a reading list. One book a month. Minimum. Non fiction. I love my oils and my classes and booths. So more of that. On the schedule already. I love for my time to be structured. So my daily plan is made. Gym, shower, clean house 1 hour, run errands 1 hour, reading/journal 1 hour, Start dinner. you get the idea. This won’t work every day of my life but it will help me start establishing a routine.

I want to make choices that benefit my family, choices I won't regret. Choices that Honor God and honor who I am at my core. So i think these choices need to be held before God. So one week a month remember how I'm binge eating plants? Well double duty here. Were gonna go ahead and call that a Daniel's fast. I'm committed to praying that week for my family and the people close to us. I'm committed to bringing our life before God and asking for direction. I know we are where we are in life because He put us here to learn and grow. So I'm going to do that! Learn your lesson and get the heck out of this season!

One more thing. 52 thank you cards. One a week. There is one way to be happy. That’s to be thankful. This year will be happiest and my most thankful year ever. I’d love to hear how you plan to take 2020 by the horns.