I'm Still Here ~

 I wanted to pop in and let you know I haven't given up on blogging. I have just been dealing with circumstances related to the spouse's disability, which takes up a lot of my time, physical and mental energy and emotional stores at times. So, if the blog gets quiet, just know that that is most likely the reason.

I love this little space where I share and am able to indulge the writer in me but sometimes that can't be the priority in my life. I know you will understand.

I will see you as soon as I can spare some pieces of me again.

Thanks for understanding and stopping by.

xo,

TJ

A Little Catch Up~

cheery daffodils are abloom in the garden

Hello friends!

I know it has been a while. The holidays and winter days were relaxing and invigorating for me. I hope yours were just what you needed them to be. 

I have been busier than usual, what with trying to get the BP Challenge figured out, sort out the direction I want this new year to go for me and just trying to keep on top of the everyday business at hand.

The challenge has had me feeling like I'm in a race each day. A race to eat the required six meals spaced 2-3 hours apart. A race to drink the amount of water I need to each day. And juggling all that, plus normal life stuff, with trying to fit in the daily workout. The discipline of it all is unfamiliar territory but that very discipline is much needed in my life. You see, after my husband became disabled and I had to quit my job to care for him full time, I slowly drifted into unscheduled days without the usual routine I was accustomed to. I slowly worked out a new normal, albeit a more relaxed, and dare I say it? A lazy one. Thankfully, the healthy meals and exercise and rivers of water I have been drinking have given me the energy to tackle it all. I posted a YouTube video about it if you are interested.

This past week we had some heavy thunderstorms along with tornadoes that touched down not far from us. Actually, the tornadoes did heavy damage in a city I lived in twenty years ago so I was particularly concerned for those affected. The worst we got of it was a little flooding in our neighborhood and our backyard. 

reflections of a stormy day

The sunset the day before the storm was absolutely gorgeous however!

I hope you are having a wonderful winter season and many beautiful sunsets and sunrises!

I will see you soon.

Thanks for stopping by! 

xo,

TJ

Daily Selfie 2023 ~ BFL Challenge

I have officially been accepted into the latest challenge offered by the author of these books! I have had Bill's BFL and EFL books for several years now and refer to them often. To say I am over the moon excited to be included in this team challenge is an understatement! Between losing myself in the midst of a perfect storm of simultaneously navigating the final year of our youngest child's high school years and my spouse's stroke along with the aftermath of it, the ensuing journey of being a caregiver had left me comfortably numb. I turned to food for comfort. (heck, I just plain turned to comfort for comfort!) Add to that, I have always considered myself to be a binge eater and food addict. 

I need to start taking better care of myself and put myself as a priority also. I want to rebuild and regain my health. I recently had surgery to remove cancer and have that healing journey ahead of me now as well.

My goal for the challenge is to lose 25 lbs and gain energy and strength. I have never been a highly energetic person even in my younger days (I've always compared myself to a luxury vehicle...built for comfort, not for speed, lol) I don't have aspirations of looking like a fitness model, I just need the stamina to navigate my daily life, which is sorely lacking for me right now.

This is me on day one of the twelve week challenge. I'm in the middle of enjoying a post walk/"trot"(~entry level jog😉) protein shake. Wish me luck!

Thanks for stopping by! 

xo,

TJ

Daily Selfie 2023 ~ Dinner Prep

 My daily selfie saga continues, lol. And quite honestly, for this normally camera shy girl, that's no small feat. I'm fluffier than I want to be (working on that!), older than I've ever been (thankful for that!) and living a life that by most people's standards is quite uneventful. So, what is there to post? And who would care to see it? The answer to both of those questions is,  "I don't know." but nevertheless, here we are. As I stated when I said was going to post a selfie a day in 2023, I think it will be interesting to document how my face has worn my life in the upcoming year. And why the heck not? It's for fun. I try to never take myself, or life, too seriously. 

Here's today's selfie with a little commentary...

fridge pov aka how the inside of my fridge sees me 

Dinner prep, fridge POV, 2:56 PM. 

I've been aiming to start dinner early for the past several weeks rather than wait for the dinner hour. Usually by then (around 5PM), our west facing kitchen is at it's warmest and I am just not in the best of moods (tired🥱? hungry😖? HOT🔥? {I'm a lady of a certain age, after all😉😓}. ALL OF THE ABOVE.) to face making much of a dinner. So, I try to be mindful to start early taking steps to get a decent meal ready by 6 PM at the latest. Last night, I plopped all the ingredients for a meat sauce in our mini slow cooker to simmer overnight for our pasta tonight. The meat was cooked the night before THAT and ground up in my old school Ninja blender last night-mama don't have no patience to stand over a hot, steamy stove breaking up ground beef into bitty pieces I'm lazy like that. Today, I boiled the noodles, mixed them in with the meat sauce, topped with some mozz pieces and stuck the whole shebang in our 8 quart slow cooker to heat up for tonight's din. 

Steps. Baby steps.

"Baking" in the slow cooker. Trying to not heat up the kitchen. 78°F with 71% humidity so...NOPE. No oven tonight. I placed a small casserole dish with the pasta inside of it into my 8 quart slow cooker with about an inch of water in the bottom, pressed "slow cook" to heat it up so it will be ready for a nice, warm, tummy filling meal at 6.

What's for dinner at your place?

Thanks for stopping by! 

💋xo, 

TJ

Daily Selfie 2023 ~ Mapping Out the New Year

How are you spending the first day of January 2023? I spent some extra time dreaming,  planning and goal setting. Now to back it up with action and effort!

Happy New Year! What are your goals, plans and dreams for this new year?

💋xo, 

TJ

2022 ~ Reflections ~ Struggles

2022

~sharing~

*this is a very transparent post 

Reflecting on 2022 and one word continuously pops up in my mind. 

Struggle

...with the direction our lives have been going in (apparently there is no manual on managing the new normal of your life after a loved one's stroke. How could there be? Each situation is unique. We are 10+ years in.)

...with my self image

...with my weight

...with feeling stagnant 

...with my health challenges

...with figuring out what I want in the near and distant future

And so much more. Too much to put into legible words. We all have struggles. Some more than others. I never lose sight of that.

But...I am the eternal optimist and have faith that mine will all be sorted out if I continue to put in the work. Action is a ✨️magical✨️ word when it's very definition is applied to our circumstances. And attitude most definitely can be a tool we can use to work for us, or against us.

It is possible that I am extra reflective (annnd a tad melancholy) at the close of this year since I am facing my 60th birthday soon. I also think I have a touch of PTSD where a new year is concerned, since we have all been put through the wringer these past few years. Nonetheless, I have planned my plans, dreamt new dreams and have gorgeous goals laid out for this new year.

So, in honor of bidding adieu to 2022 with a soft kiss on it's cheek, welcoming the baby new year, and my upcoming 60th, I have decided to post a selfie a day for the duration of 2023. On the good, the bad and the "it is what it is" days. I think it will be interesting to see the changes from day to day. (I have officially reached the point where, as one woman put it, "one morning I woke up, looked at myself in the mirror and said, 'WHAT is THAT? That wasn't there yesterday!'") So...yeah. This should be fun, lol. Would you like to join me? I'll be using the hashtag #dailyselfie2023 on Instagram if you would like to follow along.

cheers to 2023

Wishing a most HAPPY, HEALTHY, SAFE, PEACEFUL, BLESSED and PROSPEROUS year ahead to y'all! See you next year!

💋xo, 

TJ

Christmas Greetings ~

 

Wishing you and yours the merriest of Christmases! 

I will be spending the day with my beloveds and will see you in the next post!

💋xo, 

TJ