The week between Christmas and New Years is very sweet to me - growing up my dad always took work off and we just chilled, enjoyed the Christmas glow and spent time together as a family. This year has been kind of the same - and I have been using the time to reflect and ponder where I want to go in 2011. Instead of New Years Resolutions, I am Setting Goals and Making Plans! Here are some of the things I have come across the last few weeks to help me on this 2011 journey:
- This is from Ali's Blog - For 2011, I want to do something even more tangible with my One Little Word. I’ve found that, just like a resolution, it’s easy to lose sight of the things you set forward to embark on as regular life gets busy throughout the course of the year. To combat this I plan to bring my word into my life more consciously and concretely and make it more visible by creating an album to hold my thoughts, challenges and inspirations.You’re invited to join me on this journey.
Each month you’ll receive an email and an invitation to visit the One Little Word classroom. Inside the classroom, you’ll find a gentle reminder message, encouragement to refocus, and a simple creative project to complete related to your word. At the end of the year you’ll have an album that celebrates and honors your word – making it that much more concrete and visible in your life.
And from Cathy Zielske's Blog - Move More Eat Less - a scrapbooky way to track healthy eating and fitness! From Cathy's Blog - I don't have all of the answers. I'm still trying to figure out where I need to be on the scale and still live a life of joy that still includes food. I fully anticipate the probability of more weight struggles in the coming year, but I will tell you one thing I've finally learned: there is no magic pill to help you get into shape.
1. Even today where at my last weigh-in I'm up 7 pounds from my lowest weight of the year, I'm fully aware that the ball of motivation lies squarely in my own court. No one can do any of this for me. Yes, life conspires to make it hard for us to Move More and Eat Less, but guess what? We get only one to work with. Life, that is. What is it you want to do with yours?
I'm challenging anyone who wants to make a serious change in their overall health and fitness to join me in 2011 with two simple goals: Move More and Eat Less.
You guys know I'm not a professional health and fitness expert, but I'm qualified to tell you this: there is nothing mysterious about getting into shape. It requires commitment, effort and a willingness to both fail AND succeed. And it is an unending process. There is no finish line to be reached, much as I really, really want there to be one. You have to start and then do your best to simply keep it up and take care of the one and only you.
Sure, you can have number goals, but even when you reach them, you have to find new motivations to continue on this journey.
I'll tell you what some of mine are:
1. I feel better ALL the time. I've hardly has so much as a cold this past year. No headaches. No congestion. Nothing. Moving More and Eating Less makes me feel better.
2. I'm less crabby overall. I used to be SO much more moodier than I am today. And let me tell you, for a high strung perimenopausal woman, this is no small deal. Taking care of myself physically reflects on my mental state every single day.
3. I'm less tired. I used to crave a nap almost every single day. Now? I get sleepy at 10 p.m. When I SHOULD be sleepy. I don't hit that crash and burn part of the afternoon.
4. I am thinner than when I started. It goes without saying that this is a motivator for me. I like looking fit. I like that my jeans are smaller. And when that's not enough of a motivator, I look at numbers 1 through 3 again for a kick in the pants, so to speak.
5. I like who I am as a sportier person. Yep. That's right. Me, the girl who used to just sit outside and smoke now really likes the fact that I put on running shoes and head out to sweat, or that I put on some goggles and swim laps, or that I clean the house with a renewed gusto that I didn't used to possess. I like feeling a bit like a badass in the weight room, even if I'm only lifting 8-pound free weights.
6. I have learned to stop limiting myself. Getting in shape this year has helped me to stop using the old "But I can't…" crutch. And I believe it really is a crutch. Anyone can find something to let them Move More. Anyone can find ways to Eat Less. Stop selling yourself short and test this theory out. You, like me, may be pleasantly surprised.
7. Moving More and Eating Less is the only thing that seems to work. As challenging as it can be to get started, there is something very basic in this approach. It can be whatever YOU define it to be, but make no mistake, if executed with care and dedication you will see visible changes
From Becky Higgins and ordered from Amazon - A kit for Scrapbooking a year worth of memories - From Becky's website - Project Life simplifies how you document life and preserve memories. Simply pair your photos and journaling with the striking, pre-designed components from the kit and you'll end up with a stylish masterpiece that represents your life or whatever occasion you choose to record. With Project Life's beautifully simple, all-inclusive format, deciding what supplies to use will become obsolete, leaving you more time to experience life
After I ponder and finalize my specific goals I'll post them here.
In looking through my save pictures for my blog I came 
![My Freedom](<a href="http://shop.shimelle.com/store/product/free" title="My Freedom Scrapbooking Class"><img src="http://www.shimelle.com/images/211.jpg" alt="My Freedom Scrapbooking Class" /></a>)
