A Little Reflection

So like any normal human being, I'm going to touch on some highlights of my year as it winds down quickly.  I'm not the type of person that judges their life progress year by year, but it IS good to reflect on lessons, memories, progress, and life overall.

One of the first things I started up in January was my workout jar.  I rewarded myself with a dollar every time I got in a workout of 30 mins or more.  I had hoped to make a bit more, but considering all the hiccups I ran into this year I don't think I did too shabby.

I ended up earning $140 for the entire year up to today.  That means I worked out on 38% of the days this year!  That's a lot more than I could have hoped!  Now that it's all counted up, I can spend it on whatever I want or I can choose to just add to the jar through 2014.  I chose to splurge on myself and will be getting the Fitbit Force delivered to me in the next couple of weeks!

I can't wait to get it and try it out!  My walking buddy was given a Fitbit as well for Christmas so I'm itching to get mine so we can compare daily activity!  The remainder of my money will be kept in the jar to add to 2014's earnings.  I believe I will continue my same deal.  $1 for every workout over 30 mins and something I added in September is I will earn $5 for every 5k I walk or run. :)

 Susan G. Komen 5k

Ugly Sweater Run 5k

The other thing I did through out the year was I worked on my Motivation Board on Pinterest!   That was one of the mini challenges or suggestions of some sort from the Shrinking Jeans.  I love adding to it as I happen to come across workout plans or quotes that move me in some way!  I felt it was a great boost to my "feel good" senses.  I highly recommend everyone make one and add to it as things catch your eye!

My year came with stress like any sane or not so sane person.  I fell victim to them rather than fighting through them and while I can proudly say I did as much as I did, I cannot proudly say I did my best or gave it my all.  But I'm choosing to focus on the first part.  I did accomplish a lot this year.  My knowledge of fitness and health has grown immensely!  I will forever be grateful for the knowledge gained and look forward to adding more to it!

I am ending the year with more weight on than I started the year off with.  It's due to a lot of factors, none of which deserve to be written down as an excuse.  I know what happened and I know I'm trying and that's all that matters.  It's a health journey, not just a weight loss journey.  I do hope to see some changes in my body this coming year as I buckle down now that I don't have school stealing my focus on my off time! :) It's just important to remember that everything worth while takes time and effort.  I'm willing to put in the time.

This next year I'm hoping to go about things a little bit different, maybe a little stronger, a little tougher on myself.  Looking back on my Jan. posts, I feel like I just didn't have the hang of things yet.  But as the year went by, I got more comfortable in my skin, in my blogging, in sharing what needs to be shared, in motivating.  I hope I can continue doing these things, and learn to do it all even better!

Thank you to all that read my blog.  I certainly write for myself but I write for others too.  I feel blessed to be considered motivation for anyone!  I hope to expand my readers a bit more in 2014 as well so if anyone feels the urge to share, by all means please do!

2014 will be kicked off with the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans weight loss boot camp.  I will not be participating in the dietbets as they tend to stress me out more than they help but I will be doing the weigh ins, the challenges, the projects, etc.  I look forward to seeing old and new names and faces as we all take 2014 head on by force!  I also HIGHLY recommend following these awesome ladies because they have a lot to share and they are amazing supporters!

And my last words of blog wisdom for 2013 to push us forward into 2014 will be:

Playing Catch Up! November and December!

Well it's not QUITE 2014 but since I had the spare time I figured I'd pick back up on my blogging.  A TON has happened in the last month and a half and with finals and graduation, I just didn't have the time to even think about blogger even existing!  So here we go!

At the end of November, Zach and I walked the Ugly Sweater Run 5k with a bunch of friends.  It was REALLY cold and overcast all day but we had a blast.  We ended up going out to lunch afterwards and then everyone went their separate ways, but those few hours together meant a lot.  It was such an awesome experience to have a lot of love and support there.  Two of our friends, Sean and Lisa, actually run 5k's and half marathons, so they ran and waited for us at the finish line which was pretty cool too.  They joined back up with us and went across the finish line again.  Here are some pictures from that:

 Working on our Ugly Sweaters!

 Zach actually decorated his own!

 Mine, front and back

 Here's the group! Left to Right: Lisa, Sean, Zach, Me, Amy, Hada, and Scott right up front.

 Getting toasty by the fire!  So many photo op's here!

Amy and Hada had headbands on so they pinned their hats on their back like bunny tails!

 The starting line with some random guy who shorted out the whole system.  The inflatable start line even started to deflate!  Good thing they got it back up and running quickly!

 Another photo op that caused a traffic jam.

 My tree in action! *sporting my Active Accessories Pouch that I LOVE!*

 At this photo op, they even had a snow blower for the pictures!

 Finish line pics!

Lisa and Sean had finished the race like 30 mins before this shot so I made them take the picture of us : /  Wish we had gotten them in here too!

Now on to why I've been such a slacker!  My college graduation!  It's been 7 years of ups, downs, and everything else but I finally made it!!!  Finals and the looming senioritis are what benched my time for blogging.  Here are a few graduation pics :)

 I was the last to walk the stage for my College (Criminology and Criminal Justice)

 Family above and my friends who came below :)

Zach and I :)

Now that we have that out of the way!  The last thought I have to share is that I had to take a step back from all my crazy walking.  I was trying to walk minimum 3 miles a day 3-5 times a week if I could.  Well that backfired horribly around the end of November.  I developed severe hip pains that I just could not stretch out.  So I took a few weeks to let the flare die down.  I've now started walking with my bestie Amy at work!  We walk during our first 15 min break and then we walk during our 30 min lunch as well.  We're currently averaging just less than 2 miles a day between both walks :)  It's not quite enough but it's a start back into the walking world.  I'm looking forward to doing more 5k's but I think I'll be walking them for quite some time until I can get a handle on this hip situation. : /

 Amy and I rocking out in our Ugly Sweaters at Work!!!

Well I think that's the short and sweet of it.  In the next few days I'll be jumping back into the regular swing of things to kickstart 2014 off right.  I'll tally how much money I earned in 2013 with my money jar (which I used to buy a Fitbit Force!!!)  And I'll get cracking on Jan 1st goals and look back at my letter to myself from last January!  Hope everyone had a great year!  Mine wasn't AS productive as I wanted it to be, but I was still active for at least a 1/3 of the year! :)