Category: Uncategorized

Happy New Year to you all! It’s already the 3rd! I was going to say that I have obviously lowered my standards and that’s why this is being posted on the 3rd. Then I thought, I haven’t lowered my standards at all. If anything I have raised them. I’ve raised my standards for myself. I’m mindfully putting myself first. I’m taking care of me. Posting a Happy New Year post on the 3rd is proof that I simply have redefined my expectations of myself. All of that feels really good.  Every year between Christmas and New Years, I go deep inside my head and ask myself if I am okay where I am at in my life. Do I want to do anything different? What do I want to accomplish in the upcoming year? It’s always a great week of reflection for me.  I am so stinking excited for this […]

This was a happy little accident. Sometimes I drizzle a little olive oil in the skillet and then I just start chopping and dicing whatever I can find. Sometimes it’s nothing. Sometimes I’m pleasantly surprised. When my husband says…..”What’s in this?”, I’ know its a keeper. It was chilly out and a bit rainy. A perfect day for soup. A few staples that I like to have on hand for these days are Stock (Veggie, Chicken or Beef), Rotisserie Chicken meat in the freezer and frozen bags of caulirice. It’s always good to keep onion, celery and carrots too. You can start so many delicious dishes with celery, carrots and onions. Your house smells amazing in the process! There really could not be anything easier to throw together.  Enjoy! “love the life you live, live the life you love”

I enjoyed some time in the kitchen the week before Christmas. I really wanted to have healthy foods available and keep the treats out of the house as long as possible. As much as I enjoy cooking, I don’t really cook anything complicated. I find the chopping and dicing relaxing. I like just a few quality ingredients and I like to keep it easy. I knew that spending a little time in the kitchen preparing some healthy meals would lead me to feeling successful at the end of December. I’ve also gotten to the point where I can comfortably throw food away after a party if it is food that won’t leave me feeling so great if I eat too much of it. I always felt the need to hang on to the party food after the party. Eat on it for several days. Not waste it. Now, I’m much better at allowing myself […]

On Christmas Eve 2017 I was 10 days post op my breast reconstruction surgery, I was moving past cancer and adjusting to a very different body. I could barely stand and I was trying really hard not to let on how disappointed I was in how my year was wrapping up. This year was full of kids and laughs and family and friends and fun. I could not be happier.   These three one year olds stole the show!   This might be my favorite picture of Christmas this year.   It was so nice to feel like “me”.   The chaos makes it all so perfect.   I have more fun watching them play with their Stocking Stuffers than anything else.   When one of the kids reminds me, we get out the Gingerbread House kits. It’s messy. I love it.   No words needed. Agree?   Before we […]

So I’ve just been over here living in my bathroom.😂 OK, maybe not 24/7, but I have been spending a lot of time in our newly decorated bedroom and bathroom watching Christmas movies, shopping online taking baths while watching Christmas movies and shopping online (you know I’m not lying) and just enjoying this new space. It’s so relaxing.     Work is going great and I have never appreciated having a job that I love as much as I do right now.   We had a great weekend and we’ve got a full week planned. Saturday afternoon I picked up this little cutie pie.   We then headed to the airport to pick up Tess, Manuel and Tucker. They are here through December 23rd. This year they will have Christmas in Dallas. When you’re kids grow up, you have to share them with other people and it kinda stinks, but I’m […]

Mike had been wanting to remodel our master bath for years. He had this big tile shower that he wanted to build. He had walked me through what he wanted to do several times. I loved all of his ideas. We have lived here for almost 20 years.Mike actually designed and built our house. The upstairs carpet had never been replaced and we had carpet in our master bath. Gross, I know. Mike began this project in June, 2017.     Anyone remember when we discovered we had bats??? It was all during this bathroom remodel! We think they’re gone?   The bathroom looked like this for a really really long time. Like…..a really long time.   I can see myself in the mirror in this picture. I’m on crutches. That means that this picture was taken one year after this project started. I was now going down to the basement to […]

Happy Tuesday. I hope you’re week is off to a great start. I switched things up today. For years I have gone to a Friday meeting. Those are now called workshops. Since I now work at a Friday workshop I’m having a hard time finding a workshop of my own to attend as a member. I’ve played with a few different days and times and trying to find the best one that works into my schedule. There is actually a Workshop close to my house that is held at a church on Tuesday mornings. Today I made it official and changed my weigh in day on my app to Tuesdays and decided that is going to be my new regular Workshop. If you are a WW member then you understand how changing your weigh in day can affect your thought process for the week. It sounds silly to some, but watching those points and […]

I spent last weekend out of town with some girlfriends, and although the trip was planned for shopping, I wasn’t really expecting myself to accomplish much. I just shop better alone. Well, surprise! After that trip, I’ve continued my shopping mojo this week and now I’m almost done! It was such a great weekend. We stayed at a condo in Branson. We were directly across the street from the Outlet Mall and within minutes of The Landing, which is the cutest litte shopping area along a waterfront. We arrived Friday early evening and stayed in for the night, chatting, giving each other foot massages, doing face mask, drinking wine, playing games….all while listening to either Christmas Music or Lifetime and Hallmark movies in the background. How perfect is that?   I stopped at Costco before heading out of town and grabbed two small shrimp platters, an olive platter, lots of raw […]

With each day I am feeling more and more like “me”. I was starting to feel like myself in May, then my knees started giving me trouble. I’ve had so many days over the last few months of feeling frustrated and trying so hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It just wasn’t in sight. I envisioned going into 2019 feeling sluggish and defeated. Well, I am finally starting to feel better. I went to my physical therapy appointment yesterday for my knee post surgery. I had one more appointments scheduled, but he said that I  seemed to be doing so good that he released me. I graduated from physical therapy! This past week I’ve been doing 2 miles regularly on the treadmill along with a yoga video with only mild discomfort. It feels so good to be able to do a plank on my wrist. […]

Short and simple post, but Tuesday felt like the old Julie and it was a really good day. I knocked out five loads of laundry, paid bills, tried a new Yoga Video and walked 2 miles on the treadmill. The knees felt great and for the first time, I was able to sit crossed legged during Yoga, do a downward dog and even a plank on my wrist! The doc called to tell me that my aneurysm CT scan was back and that it showed no changes in size. That means I don’t have to do anything for another year, then we’ll look at it again. Yay! This is great news! I utilized my leftovers and planned a few simple things for the rest of the week. For breakfast I made pancakes using this mix I buy at Costco. No added sugar! I already feel better after eliminating sugar for the […]