Monday, January 2, 2017

A New Year has arrived!

Well, we all made it another year! I am very grateful to have another year here on earth...none are promised tomorrow...

Thought I would take a few minutes and just reflect and write down a few 'goals' if you will I have for this next year. Some are still in the pondering stage...this is just a lose guideline...

Weightloss-Last year I lost 35 lbs doing the low carb keto diet. It works well and the way of eating is amazing. The weight falls off very fast. Many told me it would not stay off and I have to disagree. Over the holidays I did gain 4 lbs, but I am not overly concerned, just have to get back on track and lose it...should only take a couple weeks. I am hopeful to maintain and possibly lose another 10 lbs...but if not i'm ok where I am...I am not overweight and my BMI is right on target....so i'm good!

Eating-I am considering becoming a vegetarian....my reasons are many but the main one being my systemic lupus diagnosis. I have long said I could be a vegetarian and love it... and I could, I am simply not much of a meat eater. I have found I feel much better when I stay away from meat especially red meat...I have considered only eating fish for meat...time will tell what path I take this year....I know I seriously need an anti inflamatory diet....suggestions?

Homesteading...Homesteading with critters for us is over...I am actually kinda relieved by it all...it was a lot of work...I miss the eggs sometimes, but not enough I want to go back to having chickens. We lived the farm/homestead life for 16 years...and while it was amazing and wonderful we are getting older and ready for a change...We want less work,
and more time to just enjoy the great outdoors...we have always loved to sit outside and just be....just sit and soak up the sounds and feel of creation....To feel God in the breeze, and in the warmth of the sun...to see the creator in the clouds floating by..to hear "God" sing to us in the form of birds...or to whisper hello on the wings of the butterfily...To teach us about life in all of creation...Nature is by far the greatest teacher about life...death...and the cycle of it all....

Gardening-Veggie and Herb-We have had a garden of some sort all of our married life(26 years). That will not stop. Gardening for me will be different from previous years just because of my diagnosis. I cannot spend time in the sun like I always have, however it does not mean I can't be in the shade with sunscreen...So I will do my gardening early morning of late evening when our gardening spot is shaded...We will turn our attention to being as organic as we can without losing a crop...We have plans to add a few more fruit trees and berry vines...

I added a small herb bed last year to the gardening mix, but it was way to small for all I had planted...this year will be a much larger area with a larger variety of herbs to choose from....I will dry them and use them in my cooking and many are good for medical things...I look forward to having a beautiful herb garden in which to gaze upon and harvest from...

Yard and Home-For years I have had kinda of a farmish type decor going on in my home...that is changing...I have eliminated much clutter from my home and am continuing to declutter even further...its been freeing...I have boxed up many 'farmy'type decor to be sold in a yard sale this spring...I am working on repainting and redoing our home setting...it will reflect softer, more relaxing type colors with candles and some greenery...A more "zen" type atomosphere is what I am going for...I also have a couple table top waterfalls that add to the element of relaxion....

For the yard I will focus on all things flowers and wildbirds....I am a bird lover, a nature lover really...so was my dad..my dad had an affinity for birds.....all of nature is something I have loved for years but do to certain religous people in my life telling me loving nature was a sin I have never allowed myself to fully enjoy all of God's creation...this year, I will enjoy it as much as my health allows...I will be ordering some heirloom flower seeds next week...Husband and I have began deciding what we are wanting to do with the yard...we both agree we want flowers, cactus, stones, waterfalls and birdhouses with a mystical type spin on things along with things that remind us to be kind...kind to one another, kind to all humans regardless of their station in life, kind to nature... plant and beast...and most of all kind to ourself...we all need to give ourselves some love and kindness...grace if you will...I am excited to see things take shape this year..In previous years all 'extra' money was spent on critters/fencing/outbuildings...and the yard got saddly neglected....this year the yard will be our focus...We have been "shopping" around already to find what we are looking for....We are both super excited about this new journey!

Blogging-I don't have a particular direction at this time for this blog to go...For now, it will simply be a collection of thoughts, tid bits from my life, this spring I am hoping to share many photos of our endeavors in gardening and landscaping...From time to time I may share lessons I am still learning through my dads passing...I am sure I will share thoughts about things I am reading or simply share observings in nature....I have always found "God" while in the great outdoors amongst creation...Nature is where I find my center, my balance and my peace...I hope to bring a bit of that to this blog....

Spirituality-This is last but certainly not least, these project/goals are in not particular order other than how they came to mind...After many months of discussion we have decided to forego organized religion again this year at least at this moment....it is simply not something we have any desire to be part of...Our experiences have not served us well and has brought us much pain...so we will continue to find our way, and serve the creator as we see fit...We will continue to delve into the teachings of Jesus Christ and work on letting go of all the other dogma that has been attached to christianity...I will continue to read and learn about the teaching of Buddha as well, as I find Buddha and Jesus to have very similar teachings...Notice I did not say Buddhism and Christianity are similar as they really are not, however the 2 persons are remarkably similar in what they teach and how they go about life lessons....while some may balk at my findings I am perfectly at peace with my journey and I am learning so much about myself and what it really means to be a Christian...Husband and I will continue to heal from our past hurts within the organized system of religion...

So there ya have it...Nothing spectacular at all...pretty simple really...I like simple...We have spent far to many years in the realm of complicated...Life really is pretty simple when you get down to the "brass tacks" of it all...humans tend to complicate all things...I am finding life is really not as complicated as it seemingly has been fed to me...

Just live, love and let go...when we all figure out how to do these 3 little things....life will be much simpler! Don't you think?

Until Next Time-

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