Aging Gracefully

Is it weird that I'm liking this aging thing? I see myself in the mirror and I don't mind what I see! I could look a bit thinner, but I'm working on that. But aging, the stuff I really have no control over, has been working for me. I'm actually excited to turn 40 (happening in about four years). I only have hang-ups on age because I want to have more children and doctors and hospitals tend to freak out over 35ers having babies. But other than that I truly excited for the future. Is that weird or are there more people out there like me?

Feelings: some advice given that I should take

I know I just wrote something but I have some extremely treasured correspondence with a friend who wrote me today and I had to look back at what I said to her that made her grateful to have me as her friend! (I love that by the way) I'm not going to divulge any details, all I am going to comment on is what I said and how I have learned to finally take my own advice...even if it's little by little.

This is what I said (the "He" of course is Heavenly Father):

".i just feel your pain so much! i understand much of the frustration you must be going through, much of the anger at the one Being that can take this all away or at least to a point where it's manageable. you think "how can this be good for you, your husband, your kids?" and if it's not good then take it away! but He won't...he won't make it easier on you or your family, He won't answer your prayer, your begging, your tears...and it makes you madder than you have felt...and you take it out on everyone, even yourself because then you think "what have i done to deserve this?" and you feel so bad you don't even want to think about it...you shut yourself away so the only person you hurt is yourself (or so you think)...but the problem is still there...waiting for you to open the door so it can rush right in and take over what life you have left...BUT even if you don't realize it, right now things are getting better! you opened the door and let people in again and they are ready and willing to help you out, i promise! not everyone but the ones that truly care and love you. your children want nothing more than to make you happy (even when they scream and yell so much you just want to give them away to charity!) they do silly things to make you smile every day. Heavenly Father sends those things to you every day. He wants to nothing more than to give you everlasting joy...yes He does! you will find a way around this once you start knowing the rules and boundaries. please, please, please read your scriptures, Ensign, whatever...please fast even if you do it from something other than food (i have to do that)...please pray...it's hard to talk to someone you are so angry with but He wants to hear it. He wants to help you. I promise..."

Good advice if I say so myself'!

I'm doing OK!

I just wanted to let all of you know that I am doing OK and getting better slowly but surely! You all know I have had some rough times, and I know those rough times are coming to a close but new ones will emerge. But for right now, right at this moment, I'm doing better than I have been in many years. Nothing is perfect or easy, and I think I'm ready to let that ideal go. I am starting to recover from perfectionism and beginning to find myself.

Clearing away the clutter and organizing my home is helping to organize and clear away my soul. I still have things to work through and I probably always will, and that's OK because that is who I am.

The BIG Clean Up

I don't know if I have told you all about my clean house idea: to clean four times a year versus just one. I was thinking that if I could clean every equinox and solstice, I would have a much cleaner house all year-round and be much happier for it. Spring would be the big junk drop with a HUGE yard sale (more info on that to come).

So...we are starting to BIG clean during the stereotypical Springtime (been doing a lot of things that way this year, why stop now?)

We are going from room to room and eliminating things we don't need or use. We plan to do our town's community yard sale and come home with NOTHING! (except for a couple of larger items if they don't sell). We are going to take that money to make and keep our home more organized with new closet set-ups, kitchen drawer pull-outs, and the like. We are also going to spruce up our home with paint to reward ourselves a job well done!

Our inspiration is coming from the Clean House show we recently got hooked on. It has given us the motivation we needed to get started and continue on! We don't think we're as bad as some of the folks on that show, but we definitely have the tendencies. With the Pack Raticus (Pack Rat in layman's terms) genome running rampant in our souls, we need a good push more often then I would like to admit.

So, tell me. What do you think? Good idea or bad idea?

YAY! Muffin Me! :D

Muffin Top

I reached yet another goal this week...I "fit" into my First Date pants! So, okay they didn't exactly fit but I was able to put them on, which I haven't been able to do since 2005!



 But I pretty much look like this when I put them on...I got them on though!


OH! And another thing....

An unspoken goal I have had was to be able to get up from a sitting position without grunting...and I haven't noticed that I haven't grunted ONCE for like two weeks or more! LOL!

YAY Me!!

Month 2 of THE Dress Saga

Sorry for the sour puss look...long day

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Hey! smile why don't ya!

 Hey there Blythe fans! (just kidding) so it is month two of the ongoing THE dress saga where I put on the dress I got married in (see other post for further info) and see how it fits.

THE dress still fits snugly, but my husband (probably hoping to get on my good side) thinks that I am looking a bit thinner in this month's photos versus last month. I cheated a bit because the pictures on the left hand side are of me standing normal and the ones on the right are of me sucking in my gut!

I suppose you can be the judge on how things are looking. I still can't zip up the goofy side zipper and there is no way I would be allowed outside wearing THE dress but it's still early in the game, and anything can happen.

Leave advice, tips, words of encouragement/discouragement, or whatever happens to be on your mind in the comments. Thanks everyone! See ya next month dress...for now, back in the Hope-It-Fits-Later closet...ya, I have one of those...don't you?!

So Happy I Cried!!

Thumbs up for accomplishing my very first real goal!

Okay, so this one is a little blurry but I had to show it first to let you know fitting into the roller coaster ride was a SUCCESS!

















 You can't see it very well, but I am trying to control myself in this

We all just looked back at someones flash photography

 picture because I was so HAPPY!! I wasn't sure I was actually going to make it. I prayed extra hard this morning to be able to fit in this ride, and I DID!

I know there were prayers and fingers crossed for me and I thank you all for that! Of course, after looking at these pictures I had to stop myself from beating myself up for how big I looked. BUT I made it folks!! I actually accomplished a goal I set out to complete! One that I did not keep to myself and let the whole world I was attempting. This has NEVER happened for me.
A friend pointed out that I have made goals and completed them in the past even if I didn't go out of my way to make sure it was done. But I never set out a goal (and stuck to it) that included anyone else. This was for my son just as much as it was for me. He has been looking forward to going on this ride just with me and I did not want to let him down. And I didn't. I made it. WE made it.