Hope for the New Year

With half a lifetime of failed New Years resolutions under my belt, I have determined to find a better way of looking forward to the upcoming year with hope and inspiration! For me, the answer came with understanding goal setting. Last year I learned that a goal is easier met when it is clear and specific, and that it should also be realistic and measurable. With this new and basic information, I went about setting some goals.
In general, I wanted to be healthier and loose some weight, so I knew that I would have to make some lifestyle changes to accommodate.  The 1st GOAL was to reach my ideal weight which meant loosing 16lbs and to increase my energy and balance my hormones. The obstacle was that I love my late night snacks and my lifestyle was super busy with kids so I didn't have any energy left over to exercise.
I also wanted to incorporate some outdoor recreational activities and adventures with my family.  My 2nd GOAL was to make monthly steps towards a more energetic and adventurous life! The obstacle was that I didn't have very much spare energy to do fun things, as I mentioned before, and I am so dependent on a plan that I constantly planned all the fun out of the adventures by making them easy instead of great!
Another area of my life that needed improvement was the crazy amount of clutter that ruled my life by sucking up all my free time and causing me loads of stress! GOAL #3 was to clear out everything that isn't either useful or beautiful and make my home more functional for the needs of my family. The obstacle was the obvious piles of clutter, the small amount of time I have to dedicate to addressing it and the acute lack of organizational skills in my possession!
I began setting a plan to tackle the obstacles that were already plotting against me to derail my goals. The first goal was the hardest because this wasn't a new idea. It was that same old struggle that in the past had drawn me towards endless health and weight loss gimmicks that promised a quick and easy fix but never panned out. I can't count how many magazines I have bought, coveting the tight abs featured on the cover. Even the health magazines with some natural, glowing earth momma on the front cover couldn't whisk away my struggles. A healthy body and mind was going to have to be a gradual change in habits that would eventually bring lasting change. The first thing I did was to clean up my diet. I even subscribed to weight watchers for a couple of months (after seeing a friend with noticeable results from their program) only to see or feel no changes. I counted food points and measured regularly only to be disappointed. I only felt frustrated.
In February I began exercising regularly. I also made a life changing decision. When a close friend texted me and asked me to hike the West Coast Trail with her, I said, "Sure! I have to Google." There was a crazy fear and excitement that gripped me when I read about the 76km hike for advanced hikers. No freakin' way had I ever dreamed that I would do such a thing! I had already said yes even though I knew I could still back out, I didn't even want to. My friend and I hired a personal trainer and began personal limit style training which literally pushed us to the brink of vomiting or passing out each session. We trained in a gym, at the park, at the track or at the flight of 56 stairs behind the grocery store. In the beginning I could only run up and down the stairs twice, but by the end, I could run it 17 times and speed walk another 15 times with 10 push-ups between each ascent.
By May, I had way more stamina but I hadn't lost a pound and my measurements remained the same. Though I had far more energy, my metabolism was still at a grinding halt, overloaded with hormonal pollution. Another dear friend had introduced me to a book Trim Healthy Mama and I decided that it was time to take the plan seriously. The plan focuses on starting with protein at each meal then choosing fat or carbs as your fuel. The concept is to never double fuel, therefore engaging your metabolism to burning fuel and not storing anything. I switched to natural sweeteners like stevia and xylitol and drastically reduced gluten. To make a long story short, by the end of 2015, I am 17lbs lighter and my metabolism is working again!
I should also mention that hiking the West Coast trail with my friend and my 18 year old daughter was a personal accomplishment of a lifetime! It was 7 days and 6 nights of backpacking, extreme hiking and living in the woods. This also crossed over into my second goal of recreation and adventure, which is great because I love multitasking.
Another adventure that I jumped on was the opportunity to join a team of women from my community to compete in Mudderella at Whistler in Sept 2015. I did have to bow out, however, because my niece chose that date for her wedding which we attended instead. I did drag my whole family down to participate in the Wild Goose Chase this year and though everyone complained bitterly at first, they all were glad that we went! It was a last minute decision so I conquered my need for a plan in order to participate so this was overcoming one of my fore mentioned obstacles! Everyone ran the 3.5K race and my oldest son, who has Autism and doesn't particularly enjoy physical activity, won 3rd place in his age group! The cheers from the community were far superior in his eyes than the medal he won. By the end of the year, I can look back and say that GOAL #2 gets a check mark as well.
The third goal was something that I have struggled with since I was a child. I never was much for having a clean room, in fact, it was usually quite the opposite. Somehow I could always find my way around my mess. I could actually find article of clothing that I needed from a pile of clothing 3 feet deep in a matter of seconds. It was a skill that I called, organized chaos; to most people, it just appeared to be a disaster. I never acquired the skill for cleaning. I could never concentrate on one task long enough to accomplish it. Instead I bounce back and forth from place to place making tiny little dents in the mess, never really getting anything done. I'm not a slob. For all of you neat freaks I will clarify the difference between dirty and untidy. Dirty involves germs, garbage, possibly odors and excessive dirt. Untidy is just scattered and misplaced things. In my case, an excess of items that don't actually belong anywhere. This creates clutter.
Back to my goal of de-cluttering my home. For me it came down to identifying my values and understanding what is important to me. I took an e-course called The Upstream Field Guide. It went right to the root of the issue, to my life's purpose; identifying it and then changing my environment to serve my purpose. The transformation started slowly at first and then picked up momentum. I went through every room of the house and evaluated everything! Clutter piles became tidy workspaces and overwhelming closets became functional storage for items that we actually use! I even took an entire area previously used to pile random, unused items for "storage" and made it into my office, from which I am now writing my blog!
As I look ahead to the New Year, I must first pause and look behind. These accomplished goals will give me momentum to move into the New Year with excitement as I set new goals and create action plans to make them happen! *happy dance

Introducing

Welcome to my blog! I'm saying that to myself, though you are also welcome!  I am a person with a constant internal dialog raging within. My brain is constantly rattling off ideas on life, wifing, parenting, relationships in general, natural health and all things pertaining to a woman living in these challenging and sometimes contradictory times. It is my pleasure and delight to share with you the musings of my 38 year old brain in order to encourage and maybe challenge you, hopefully not to discourage or infuriate you. So if you feel either of the later emotions following reading any of my posts, please take a deep breath and brush it off. I'd like to think that we can all get along in this world in spite of our differences and ultimately, I can't please everybody all of the time.

I am first of all human; a child of God, unabashedly in love with Jesus and a growing, evolving being in this crazy, beautiful universe that I call home. I am a wife; blessed with a godly husband who is a man of integrity and though far from perfect, a fantastic friend, confidant and lover. I am a very happy and proud mother of 8 fantastic children; 5 of whom I've conceived and given birth to the old fashioned way and twins that I proudly carried as a result of Embryo Adoption (more of that to come) and 1 amazing son through fostering to adopt. You may gasp in shock at the thought of 8 kids, but it really isn't much since I always wanted a dozen! Maybe you can't imagine it, but I can't imagine it any other way! Big and crazy is our family culture. I love a busy noisy environment, full of life and relationships. It energizes me and makes my heart sing, so please don't feel sorry for me for even one moment! Some days I wonder what a quieter, simpler lifestyle would be like and I quickly panic! I wouldn't even know what to do with myself. I guess God made me for this life so rather than compare myself to others or others to me, I simply say that we have all chosen our family culture and we might as well wear it proudly!

My husband and I contract with the Ministry of Children and Families to provide residential care to children and youth with special needs and special situations in two staffed resources, Hope Houses, that together we run as a full time job and ministry. I have been blessed from time to time with the opportunity to be a surrogate mother to some of the children that have been in our Hope Houses. I feel like "mothering" is one of the gifts that God has given me and I openly embrace the possibility of having more children. I intend to be content with the ones that God has blessed me with so far and do my best to help them to be free to be who God made them to be. That is our families moto by the way, " Free to be Who God Made us to Be!" And that is my hope for each one of you as you take the time to read my blog. I pray that you find the courage within you to seek the blessings that God has for you and to wildly chase after them!

So this is my introduction. I make no further excuses for myself or for whatever I say next. Please have patience with me as I become a blogger and share with you my journey as it continues.