Take care of our aging family members

I'm sitting here at the kitchen table. My new mug is beside me, filled with hot chocolate. As I sipped it's chocolaty goodness I pondered the day. Our plans originally for today were to go out to lunch and a movie...the 3 generations of us...my grandmother, my mother, my sister and me.  My grandmother has been sick for the last couple of weeks.  So when I called to check up on her to make sure she was up for the trip to lunch and movies she sounded hesitant.  She really didn't feel well.  But she was ready to go out if we were still going. My sister, who is pretty quick on her feet, made the executive decision that we would bring our grandmother lunch and play games with her at her apartment. Gramma loves to play games. So that's what we did!

We gathered the materials for our lunch and drove to her house.  We enjoyed our lunch together and then played two games of Yatzee.  That was a lot of fun.  Most of us hadn't played it in a long, long time.  It took a while to really get the hang of it.  My sister smoked us the first game.  We had some good laughs.

We finished that and Gramma asked us what game we wanted to play next. She really didn't want us to leave quite yet. We decided on playing a round of Golf.  It's a lot of fun!  My mom kicked our bumms!  

I think the best part of the day was being able to brighten my grandmother's day.  She lives alone.  She enjoys her independence.  She also really enjoys having company.  She would have had us stay for another hour or two, but we needed to get back home.  

It made me realize how much just calling her each day is important.  She still needs to feel needed.  She needs to feel loved.  She needs to know that she's not forgotten.  She needs to know that we care. It's so important to take care of our aging family members.  And not only are we taking care of her but we are creating memories and bonds that weren't there before.  We are getting blessed by our time spent with her as much as she is blessed by us being there.  

And as this is New Year's Eve I think it's a wonderful time to add this to my goals for the new year.  What's are some of your goals for the year? Post them in the comments.  

#newyearsresolutions

#takecareofouragingfamilymembers

#threegenerations

#spenttimetogether

#familytimeisimportant

#weloveplayinggames

#familytime

#iamamormon

#iamlds

Over Indulgence...

Oh my goodness.  Trying to keep my weight down and treats around the holidays simply aren't mixing well this year.  Some years I feel like a ROCK STAR and abstain from over eating.  And usually being gluten free and dairy free helps me to say NO to most foods.  But considering the fact that I have learned how to make delicious gluten free, dairy free foods...I'm in trouble.  Big trouble!

Party mix is something we keep in the house from Thanksgiving all the way through until New Year's Eve.  And last week I just HAD to make sugar cookies.  Oh my!  What is wrong with me!! And Cassie and I ate most of them ourselves.  I should have shared a LOT more.  So, Friday, we had brownies for the church Christmas party...yumm-O!  I ate too many...BUT they're SO good! Do you see my dilemma???

I have a friend who is on a Paleo diet...among other allergies...and I decided I wanted to make a treat she could eat too.  Of COURSE I had to taste test those cookies.  My self-control must have disappeared. Flew right out that big open window! And then on Sunday we celebrated our 3rd son's 14th birthday....with chocolate cake and peanut butter frosting.  My stomach is not quite right tonight.  It could possibly be the two large pieces of cake I ate...

Today I had sugar cookies with icing. Notice that's plural.  I didn't stop at just one, but I should have. I just had my kids finish them off.  Sigh!! Then I made them polish off the cake.  Phew!  THAT is way too much temptation.  It's just SO delicious!! After all that...I still ate a brownie after supper. Blah!!  The kids will have to eat those too.  Ugh.  And I made party mix today...which I snacked on this afternoon.  I wasn't really hungry at supper...but I ate a plate anyway...yikes.  Wise choices...where are thou?

I know better than this, and yet there are times where I find myself unable to restrain my hand from grabbing those treats. The best way for me to combat this is to get rid of all treats.  Sad face....

Every week day I exercise...I purposely KICK MY BUM...yes some days I actually do butt kickers...and then I follow my workout with a healthy breakfast.  Fruits, veggies, protein...

But for some reason when I hit late afternoon and supper time I lose my will power.  I need to regain my desire to be healthy.  I need to remind myself that I'm worth it.  I FEEL better when I keep the weight off. I feel better when I eat right.

I think I know what my New Year's resolution is going to be this year....

What's your New Year's resolution going to be?  

#newyearsresolution
#weightloss
#dietingishard
#eatinghealthy
#healthyfoods
#fitandhealthy
#ilovetoworkout
#ilovetoexercise

Happy New Year 2015

The new year began without much excitement or anything extra special.  We stayed at home and enjoyed some calm, peaceful, quiet time with the family simply watching a movie and eating treats. We munched on popcorn.  We scarfed down party mix.  We sipped hot cocoa.  We snuggled on the couch.  As midnight drew closer, my husband and I realized we hadn't planned anything for that moment when the new year began.  He quickly got online and pulled up a countdown timer for our time zone and we began the countdown.  He started at 1 minute and 30 seconds but he quickly realized that was too long.  With ten seconds to go we began the count down; 10, 9, 8, 7, ...3, 2, 1...Happy New Year. A quick New Year's kiss and some small snappers to throw and we were all off to bed.

I know.  Exciting right!

I think as I age I realize there are different perspectives to every aspect of life.  The New Year celebration just didn't seem all that important to me this year.  As I thought about it I realized that it's not just the ringing in of the new year that matters.  It's about traditions. It's about new beginnings.  It's about a fresh start.  It's about new perspectives.

I don't normally make any New Year's resolutions.  Many times I find them daunting.  What if I can't or don't complete the goal?  What if I say I'm going to do something wonderful and it just doesn't happen? I want to believe I can do ANYTHING I set my mind to. But let's face it, life happens.  Sometimes those plans we have or those goals we set don't come to be because of circumstances beyond our control.  Being the perfectionist that I am, it's hard for me to accept not meeting my goals.  It's terrifying to think that I might fail.

A friend of mine posted a list of 10 things she wanted to accomplish this year. As I read her simple but awesome list I realized that in the past I have been setting myself up for failure.  Right then and there I decided that I would make a list of things that I truly, deeply want to accomplish, but that are attainable for ME.

This list might change.  This list might grow.  But it will be a guideline for my year.

Here are the goals I have so far:
1.Get down to and stay at my goal weight
2. Get more fit
3. Read my scriptures every day
4. Pray daily
5. Go sugar free for 4 weeks at least 2 times during the year
6. Go on more dates with my husband
7. Write
8. Read more often
9. Serve more
10. Find balance in life
11. Love more