Monday, Monday

Hey y’all!!

I hope you all had a great Monday. I was on the struggle bus this morning. I just could not get out of the house with everything i needed. I left my phone, then I had to come back inside to get my lunch. Yeah, it was a Monday for sure.

Anywhoooo....I just wanted to drop in this evening and talk about exercise just for a minute. Its sometimes still not my favorite thing. I have always been active. I mean I love to dance and things, but I was never an athlete. I worked out when the kids were little. I didn't get serious about my health until after my mom passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2007. Most of my family has died with some form or other of cancer.

I started working out at a local gym near our home and I would go three or four times a week. It was good, but not really me. I was always comparing myself with the other women and most of them I already new, gees I went to church with these ladies. I just never felt comfortable. But I was going to let that stop me. So I turned my daughters old room into a "workout room". Oh, I still have her bed and dresser in there in case she comes home for a visit. (Below are a couple of pictures of some the equipment I use)

I'm saying all this to say, I was 43 years old when I got serious about my health. It wasn't just about losing weight. I was at a good weight for me and my height. Its more about being a better me. Taking care of me. Watching what I put into my body and how strong I can be; mentally, physically and spiritually. Yes, spiritually. You can connect to who you really are while working out. I look forward to working and spending time with me. It helps me focus, renew not only my body but my mind as well. And it also helps me take out my frustrations, lol. We all have those on Mondays.

It doesn't take a huge space and top of the line equipment. Just a determination to do better and be better. Your family will thank you for it and so will your body. You only get one body and we are in charge of what we do with it. No one can make us. Its up to us. Just little changes like in our diets, no bread or sugar. Change it up a bit, you don't have to do it all at once. There are all kinds of FREE exercise videos you can get on YouTube and play them anywhere.  And hey, if we fall don't stop. Get back up and go again!

I hope this helps someone. I will always thank the two ladies I seen in a local grocery store 3 years when I finally made up my mind to start taking care of ME.

Have a great week everybody! Thanks for stopping by:)

                                                   Just a couple of yoga mats, free weights
                                                   kettle bell and of course shoes
                                                   





Exercise  (stability ball), step, resistant bands
and the treadmill. I tie the band around the treadmill
for more leverage in some exercises.
                 

Seasons

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!!!

Can you tell I'm from the South???

Fall is one of my favorite seasons. Which to be honest, I love all the seasons. Even if some of them are short lived in eastern NC. Seasons are just like a new day. It's a chance to try again, to do better, be better. To change.

I'm still working on change. I am a creature of habit. Although I should be used to it by now. Nothing stays the same. But, that's alright. How boring would staying the same be??? Same ole, same ole. New seasons are a chance to dream again. Make goals and achieve those goals. I have a few on my list. 

Seasons are also a chance to reflect on the last season you just came out of or maybe you still are going through. I have had some seasons where they lasted longer than 3 months. What I love most  about a new season is the excitement of the unknown. What is going to change this time. We go to the Blue Ridge mountains every year during the fall. I am originally from there and have family I love to go see. While we are there my husband and I love to "go up on the mountain" and see the fall leaves. All the beautiful colors. Oranges, reds, pinks, even some purple; its spectacular. I have been doing this every fall season of my 40+ years and I never have seen the same colors in the same places. Some years the colors are really vibrant and some years the colors do not last as long. Yet all the leaves still change. 

You may be or not be excited about the season we are in but girlfriend, it will CHANGE. We have to change to bring new life to us, to wake us up and prepare us for the next season. Just like those trees in the mountains that change colors and eventually loose their leaves. In the spring they start to bud and blossom again into something just as beautiful than the season before.

Every season has some kind of beautiful, whether its the beginning, the middle or the end. Look for your beautiful during this season.

Thanks for stopping by.

Dawn

Date Your Mate

Hi everyone!

I hope you all had a good day. It was a “different” day at work , but nothing I cannot handle.

I popped on here for a quick second to say, “Date your Mate”. Terry and I went to Goldsboro after work today to check on a few things (work related) and we turned it into a date night. A quiet dinner. Simple conversation, not rushed.

I am saying this from experience; it is easy to fall in to the same ole same ole. Sometimes that’s a good thing and sometimes not. Make time for your partner. Write a note. Send a text. Things like that aren’t just for the young people. They mean a lot.  Of course, I pray that Terry knows how much he means to me. He still likes to hear and be shown. I do, too!

Anyhoo, date your mate. Your relationship will be stronger for it. It’s worth putting that effort into it, that’s the whole reason you choose each other, right? Because you love each other.

Have a great week. Talk to you soon!

Blessings,
Dawn

Vacation

Happy Sunday!!!

I just got back with the family from a mini vacation in the NC mountains. They are so beautiful  and the weather was fabulous! Cool, around 55 degrees in the evenings and in the low 80s during the day. Just fabulous! We couldn’t have requested better weather.

This is the first vacation we have taken in a number of years. For different reasons; you know life get busy, I recently changed jobs. Terry’s health scare. Just things. But we got the chance to go and I’m so very glad we did.

My son and daughter went with us and Lord, we laughed, played games, ate ice cream, shopped, laughed some more. Went down a couple of dirt roads. And wherever we went it took an hour to get there, but we really had fun and it’s was so relaxing. We didn’t worry about bills, doctor reports and tests or our workplaces, we spent our focus on each other and reconnecting. There were some evenings we just set on the back porch in silence and read. Both my children got that love from me. We love to read a good sturdy book.

I have some pictures that reminded me of God’s faithfulness. A week before the area where went to spend our time was hit by a bad thunderstorm. Rocks falling, lighting, trees and debris everywhere, they said. You see, we didn’t see any of that. Everything was clean when we got there. You see the place didn’t look like a storm hit it. It was peaceful. Sometime life is like that. We go through so many different storms, a lot people don’t know about. But afterward, just as sure as God makes the winds cease and the sun rise and set, He will give us a way to clean up and work through our storms.

God is faithful my friend. He is working when you don’t see Him. You and I have no idea what is going on in the Heavenlies. But we can trust Him to look after us, that’s a fact.

I hope you have a great week and this was some encouragement to you. These pictures sure were to me.

Thanks for stopping by!  

“He made the storm be still,
And the waves of the sea were hushed.”-Psalms 107:29 ESV