New Year Challenge and Holiday gift to yourself....

It's easy to put together Resolutions for the new year. We never seem to have too many imperfections we want to, "fix". Ever notice how hard it is to say thank you when some one else compliments you? This year before you begin your resolution list, give yourself the gift of PROPS!! List your accomplishments and pat yourself on the back!! Even the most trying year can produce great accomplishments that can miss acknowledgement, due to heavy circumstances. Go ahead! Take a moment and reflect on what you learned or accomplished this year! 

For me, this year was trying. I lost some gains I had made in the gym, and let my clean eating go quite a bit. While making my list this year, I realized what set me back and how to reset my goals.  I also realized that while I endured some set backs, I also had some major changes that I needed to get through. Graceful or not, I got through them and learned to be forgiving of myself. 

This year I, 

Tried my hand a vlogging (yikes!)
Made my tummy smile on YouTube
(double yikes!! lol) 
Embraced the empty nest lifestyle 
Transitioned in my job from Park Ave Center to Stanley. (This was the hardest adjustment of my year. I honestly took for granted that I would retire at Park Ave with my PAC family.  This was a very painful adjustment for many reasons, but in the end it is coming together) 
Created my own home fitness/yoga studio
Painted our house
Got our first leather couch
Learned to let go, and be forgiving of myself and feel comfortable in my own skin. (This one is huge and making my tummy smile on YouTube was a huge moment of freeing myself from the worries of what my body looked like vs. what I felt others, and I thought it 'should' look like) 


For 2014 I will,

Explore the Beauty of hiking in the Pacific NW
Reconnect with my healthy lifestyle and move forward from a tough year
Rediscover my love of blogging 

As for the smiling tummy on youtube .....I look better in that video than I do right now. That's okay. It was a very challenging year and sometimes we have to cut ourselves some slack, ya know. Being perfect is never my goal. Learning from life and stumbling blocks is how I roll. 

I hope you all take the time to acknowledge your accomplishments, before facing your resolutions. Flaws are plentiful for all of us. Improvement is awesome, but even more important is celebrating where you are now. 
Peace, love, and health to you all in 2014.
Happy New Year!