WELCOME TO 2015

The old year has gone and a new one has begun.....
2014 was a pretty good year..
Here is hoping though that 2015 will be better.....

Certainly didn't reach some of the goals I set my self but I am going to go back and revisit them and see how I fared....

These were my target goals for 2014
What are my target goals for 2014  They need to be goals I can measure and not too many that they overwhelm me... For 2014 I want to

• Continue working on my health:  loose at least 30kgs this year.
• Continue on my fitness - get back into the habit of doing exercise at least four days a week, and stretches at least five days a week.   
•  Be organised at home.... meals, and housework wise....
• Spend more time connecting with friends and entertaining...
• Skyping with my grand daughter and son weekly.
• Spend more quality time with my husband building our relationship
• Continue to grow my relationship with the Lord
• Live a life of joy and Peace
• Live a thankful life. 
• Spend more time with both sets of parents.

How did I fair....
Not as good as 2013 that is for sure...

Continue working on my health:  loose at least 30kgs this year.
No good news to report here.  I did well for the first four months of the year and there was a small steady decline in my weight, but once Sarah and Willow came to live it all kind of changed.  It still wasn't bad probably until August and we went on a cruise and exercise and good eating fell by the way after that.  It needs to change for 2015 though.

Continue on my fitness - get back into the habit of doing exercise at least four days a week, and stretches at least five days a week.  
Exercise well by the way also.  Still continued to walk regularly until about the middle of the year.
Towards the end of the year, have had back issues which prevented long walks.  No excuse because when I was walking I felt heaps better.   Stretching was only happening when  I was sore...
I worked to much in 2014 and didn't leave enough me time to  do the things I need to do... Will be working on that this year also...

 Be organised at home.... meals, and housework wise....
I do feel that I have been better organised at home, although I could sense that slipping a bit towards the end of the year.  For the most part of the year meals were planned....

Spend more time connecting with friends and entertaining...
Definately spent more time doing this....  Managed to have some girlfriend holidays as well as holidays with Steve and other good friends...
Family holidays happened this year also.  Something we want to do more of... 

Skyping with my grand daughter and son weekly.
I feel like we were pretty successful with this also,  although probably more so with Willow than Pete, but we are settling into more of a routine of skyping with Pete now that he is more settled.

Spend more quality time with my husband building our relationship 
Enjoying more and more the time we spend together, and we have made a real conscious effort to do more things together this year.  Loving this stage of our life....

Continue to grow my relationship with the Lord
I don't think we ever really get to the place we want to be with our relationship with God.  This will always be a continual working out in my life, but my desire is to know God more and serve Him more especially in our everyday life....

Live a life of joy and Peace
I feel like I have been pretty successful in this area of my life...
I have sort to live this sort of life this year and I do feel a real peace and joy in my life circumstances.  
 
Live a thankful life. 
I try to practice this daily.   I feel very blessed, and I am so thankful for the simple things in life,  thankful that we have shelter and food... Thankful for family and love...
Thankful for my senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste.  How truly blessed we are...

Spend more time with both sets of parents.
We probably haven't spent enough time with my Dad this year, but we have spent lots more time with Steve's folk.  It has been a tough year for them as they have both had major health problems...
it has been nice to be able to serve them and care for them.

Where does that leave me for 2015...
Once again they need to be measurable goals, and not too many.
I must admit though, I want to continue some of the goals from last year to this year....

•    Health is Number 1 this year.  I don't want to set a particular figure that I want to loose although I think I would like it to be in the vicinity of about 30kgs.  I want a balanced life of good eating and good exercise...
• Regular exercise and stretching this year...
• Meal preparation each week and shop accordingly.  Use my thermomix to cut out lots of preservatives in the foods we eat,
• Projects at home... two main ones,  revamp our kitchen... paint and new benches etc.  Also do an outdoor living area to be ready for Christmas 2015 when everyone is home....
• More entertaining.... catching up with folk we haven't seen in quite a while....
• Continue building Steve and my relationship and making time for us weekly.
• Skyping the kids regularly.
• Save for a trip overseas in 2016.
• Continue working on my relationship with the Lord.  Trusting God more.
• Continue living a thankful life, and to experience Joy and peace. 
• Continuing to support and be there for our parents....
• Continue to garden this year also and eat fresh wherever possible.   

 I think so that I achieve my first couple of goals this year,  I need to put some accountability steps in along the way.  One of those for me will be returning to Weight Watchers... hopefully going with my friend, so that we do turn up each week....

Secondly,  I think it might pay me to post my menu plan each week so that I can stay on track....

Founds an interesting article here...
There are some good quotes there that I would like to save and remember this year... 

Appreciate everything life sends your way, whether good or bad and know that “Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” ~ Melody Beattie

“Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.” ~ Greg Anderson

Put your fears aside. Allow yourself to be vulnerable. Develop a deep trust in the wisdom of life. “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” ~ Matthew 17:20 

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” ~ Albert Einstein 

Go outside. Spend some time in nature. Look at the plants, the sky, the stars, the moon and the trees. Celebrate the miracle of life.

Commit yourself to making the best of everything life sends your way. Be soft and flexible. Go with the flow of life and no longer against it.

“The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination.” ~ Don Williams Jr. 

Welcome 2015