I Certainly Miss Blogging!!

Good Afternoon!

It has been ages since I have updated all of you.  SO much has happened this past year it is crazy.  My head is still spinning.  We have officially completed our homeschooling.  Our son graduated at the top of the class in Abeka Academy.  We could not be more proud of him.  We are not certain what is next for him.  He has decided not to pursue the military at this time.  I am ok with that.  He is working full time for a local company and likes it ok.  He is actually exploring different colleges.  YES that surprised us as well.  HAHA!  He really loves agriculture so is leaning towards a degree in Agriculture Engineering.  I didn't even know that was a degree.

My daughter Katrina has started her 3rd year at a local university.  The program she is in is for those with Developmental Disabilities.  She likes it "ok".  She goes but honestly is not really into learning.  This program is great because it will give her job skills.  I just pray she will put forth the effort so she can gain employment at the end.  We shall see.  On another note she is engaged to Kyle.  This was the night he treated us to supper.  Little did I know that he was going to purpose to her!  YIKES how did we get to this season of life??  No date set has been set.

Hannah has been accepted into the same program as Katrina.  She is a freshman and is loving everything about going to college.  She is embracing everything and loves to tell us everything she learned at school.  Warms my heart.  She has made many new friends, and sees friends she has not seen in a long while.

My husband has been diagnosed with a neurological disease that affects the arms and legs.  He now has braces he must wear at work and other times.  Mainly work.  He is taking it all in stride and has not let it get him down.  He just keeps plugging along.  We are learning to not take things for granted because it will change in an instant.  He is currently working towards becoming a personal trainer so he can help others in a similar situation.

Lastly, many changes have been happening to me.  I have been working on myself and my health a lot this year.  I am VERY happy to say that I have lost 70 pounds.  I have gone from a size 24 to a 16!!  I feel amazing!  Better than I have in years.  I am at a lower weight than when I had my kids.  I have always been overweight.  At my physical last year I was told I was headed towards diabetes.  Something that scared the heck out of me.  It was that statement that really made me start working hard on getting my health under control.  I still have a ways to go, but am so happy!  Now that the kids are all doing their own thing, I am starting a new job Monday as a medical records specialist.  I am really looking forward to it.

So that is our last year in a nutshell.  We are living life and enjoying every moment! It has been a lot of struggles but none that God has not brought us through.

It has been a long time!

It has been such a long time since I posted anything here.  Our lives had become so busy I had neglected the things that really bring me joy!  All of my photography, blogging, cooking had taken a back burner to life.  Life is way too short to spend all of your time trying to make a living you neglect your hobbies.  I have been working so much I had forgotten what it was like to just sit down at the computer and post on my blog.  So if I have any readers left, please leave me a comment or message letting me know.

I have returned to my love of being in the kitchen.  I have put social media on a drastic diet.  I was so interested in what others were doing that I was neglecting the people right in front of me.  I am trying to return to my love of everything home.  Just because I work outside of the home does not mean I cannot continue sharing my home with you.

So much has happened in our family since I last wrote here.  My eldest daughter has been going to college not far from here.  She is doing a program for those with developmental disabilities.  We are so proud of her!!  Life has not been easy for her, but when she is knocked down she gets right back up and continues on her way.  She has had a photograph published in a campus magazine, and will have a poem published as well!

Our middle daughter will start the same program in August.  She is so excited about it!  She has already started the countdown and planning what she will wear to school. Haha!

Our son has finished up his schooling for the most part.  We are truly never done with our education are we?  He has continued with his dream of being a fire fighter.  He has decided not to join the military at this time, I can't say I am sad about that.  He has started the state training for fire fighting and is doing very well with it!

It feels good to get back to things I enjoy.  It seems like when I am happy, the rest of the house is happy as well.  We are anxiously awaiting our favorite museum to open up for the season.  There is nothing like the smell of a hearth and the meals that await the families that "live" in the homes.  I love the sounds of the birds singing away as we stroll through the village.

 It is the simple tasks in life I seem to always return to.  The ones I spent so much time complaining about doing.  We recently said goodbye to my grandmother.  She is the one who really gave me the love of everything home.  So perhaps it was all of the memories I have that really has brought me back.  Life is really too short to put off today what we want to do.

So if you have read this far into my post thank you!  I am looking forward to sharing more with you.  Might not be very interesting, but I will always share my heart with you.

My poor neglected blog, and 2016 Goals

My poor little blog has been sorely neglected the past few months.  I have not forgotten about my blog.  Life had just become so busy I did not have a lot of down time.  Thank you all for the kind emails I have received checking on me.  I really do have wonderful readers.  A few of you have asked me what I have been up to.  Well I am settling into my job with the ambulance.  I have also received a few requests to do a series of posts about the life of a new EMT.  So those will be coming soon.  I pray everyone had wonderful holidays. 

Our Thanksgiving was very nice.  We went to my sisters and had a delicious dinner.  It seems like the time from Thanksgiving until New Years goes by so fast.  It becomes all a blur no matter how much you attempt to slow it down.

Christmas was very nice.  We spent most of the day at home just the 5 of us.  Had our traditional Overnight Caramel French Toast.

We then had a nice time with my siblings and parents.  We have removed all the Christmas decorations and they are once again put away.  The house feels so empty. 

Now onto the New Year! I do not typically make resolutions.  I instead set goals for myself.  This year I have 2 major ones.

My first one is to continue my weight loss journey.  In 2015 I lost 50 pounds.  I do have to admit I have slacked off a great deal since October.  But that is all behind me.  I am going to be starting up the 21 Day Fix again.  I found a nice journal online that I was able to adapt to fit the fix.

This journal I will be able to keep track of everything I eat and drink.  There is also a spot for my progress measurements and photographs.  I did have to highlight the columns so I could keep track of my containers from the 21 Day Fix.

I am looking forward to getting rid of the junk from my body.  I still feel really good but somewhat sluggish when I do not fuel my body properly. 

My second major goal of the year is to use my camera more.  I have not used it much at all since I started my EMT training.  Now that is behind me I can focus on relaxing things.  Things that will help me distress.  Taking pictures is one of those activities.

It started to snow today so I grabbed my camera and started practicing some macro photography.  I have a long way to go.  But each shot is one step closer to being comfortable with what I am doing.

Here is one of my first shots.....

The snowflake was not even in focus.  So I continued on.

Next shot....

No single snowflake in focus.  But I do still like this shot.

Getting better...

My favorite one from today...

This shot was taken in front of a window.  Notice the reflection of the snowflake?  I find snowflakes absolutely stunning!  No two are at all alike.