Thankful Thursday ~ 12/31/2020

 

Here are some things that made me thankful/smile/excited this week:

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~ Christmas!  We had a wonderful, relaxing Christmas!  The girls are getting older now so we slept in until around 7am and I actually had to wake them up!  I love the Christmas season and all the preparations and time spent together.  Things were a little bit different this year but still GOOD :)

~Mary, Did You Know!  The Ladies Choir at Church sang "Mary, Did You Know" this past Sunday morning after having one practice!  Yikes!  We were worried about coming in at just the right moment but we managed to pull it off :)  Here's one of my favorite versions of the song, that we sounded nothing like.  Nothing...

~New Computer!  I mentioned earlier in the week that my oldest daughter, Kaylee, got me a new computer for Christmas!  It didn't get here until this past Monday but that is OK.  I'm still super excited to have my own computer again!  It was just so hard to use my kindle for everything.

~Bible Reading Plan!  I will be attempting to read The One Year Chronological Bible in 2021.  I'm very excited about this because my Mom and my Aunt Donna will be reading along with me!  I'm hoping that having the extra motivation and support will help me be more consistent with my daily Bible reading.  If you'd like to join along, here is the Bible we will be using.  There is even a Kindle version.

~Calendars and Planners!  I have my new wall calendar and a new blogging planner all set and ready to use come tomorrow!   My new calendar is Landscapes and my planner is in my favorite turquoise color.  I'm a geek about these kind of things :)

~New Year's Eve!  I want to take this little bit of space to say goodbye to 2020 and say hello to 2021...It has been real but I'm ready to leave 2020 behind!  I pray that 2021 will be kinder and more gentle to us all :)

What are you thankful for/smiling/exited about this week?  Tell me all the good stuff! 

Colletta

P.S. I love for you to stop by MY SHOP and give it some love!

Wondering Wednesday ~ Looking Back At 2020 ~ 12/30/2020

Welcome to Wondering Wednesdays hosted by A Baker's Perspective, a weekly post to learn more about me and other bloggers.

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Today’s question is – Looking back on 2020, what is something that had a big impact on you?

My Answer -  Now here's a loaded question!

I'm not going to get political, so I'd say the thing that had the biggest impact on me is everyone being home more.

The hubby and Kaylee still had to go to work, but Laken's school was on a hybrid schedule and now is all virtual.  I can't say that I mind sleeping in and not having to fight her to get up for the school bus...  However, I don't think most kids are getting the education that they should be getting and I worry about Laken falling behind even though she is getting all A's on her work.  I'm just not sure if the workload is up to par.

We've had to learn to be creative with our downtime.  We've put more puzzles together this year than ever before.  We've played family games and had matches of 500 Rummy.  We've learned new recipes.

Basically, we've had to adapt.  BUT, I do hope that things normalize a bit more.

What is something that had a big impact on you in 2020?

Colletta

P.S. I love for you to stop by MY SHOP and give it some love!

Weekly Weigh In ~ 1/8/20

Hello, 2020 fitness and wellness!

My goal is to lose 1 lb per week.  I had my first 2020 MyWW weigh in on Saturday January 4th and lost .4 lbs .

I was a bit disappointed that it wasn't 1 lb but then I started thinking that it had only been 1/2 a week since 2020 had started so that would be right on track!

I tracked my smartpoints all week and counted everything I ate on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.  I tried to be mindful of what I was eating while still enjoying the holiday food wise.  I think I had 6 weekly points left by Friday night.

I really want to get my 25 lbs Charm by the end of January.  I need to lose 4 lbs to get there.

This week I definitely want to hit the 1 lb loss mark and to do that I need to track everything and get some good walks in either on the treadmill or outside.  It is a bit cold outside so I don't know if I'll make it outside but thankfully I do have the treadmill option.  I also have walking DVD's but, frankly, I'm sick to death of them!

How are your 2020 fitness and wellness goals going so far?


Now,

On to the weigh in:

WW Starting Weight ~ 7/27/19 ~ 290.8 lbs
2020 Starting Weight ~ 12/28/19 ~ 270.2 lbs

Last Week's Weight ~ 12/28/19 ~ 270.2 lbs

This Week's Weight ~ 1/4/20 ~ 268.8 lbs

This Week's Total:  -0.4 lbs
 
Grand Total: -21.0 lbs

I'll be weighing in on Saturdays and posting my results on Wednesday.  If you'd like to join in on the journey, I'd love to have some weight loss friends! 
 
Colletta

Tackle My TBR 2020 Reading Challenge

I decided to join another TBR Challenge for 2020!  I'm going to tackle the "First Down: read 25-36 TBR books".


The following is from Kimberly Faye Reads:

The 2020 Tackle My TBR Reading Challenge runs January 1, 2020 – December 31, 2020. You can join at any time, but the link-up closes on November 30.

• The goal is to read at least ONE book from your TBR every month. It can be an ARC, ebook, audiobook or print – your choice. Any reading is good reading!
• If one TBR book a month isn’t enough, set your goal higher! Do you think you can read five a month? Ten? Go big or go home! There are some goal levels below if that’s your thing.
• You don’t have to be a blogger to participate. You can track your progress on Goodreads, Insta, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube… wherever you want!
• Use #TackleMyTBR2020 on social media.
• Feel free to use the banner graphic on your posts and/or social media.
• Link up below to declare your intentions.
• Tell your friends! [Shortlink: http://bit.ly/tacklemytbr2020] 

Challenge Levels

Back again this year: challenge levels! (Unsurprising to anyone who knows me, they’re football-themed.) Pick a level, any level! (These are all based on a 1-5+ books per month average.)

• Safety: read 12 TBR books
• Blitz: read 13-24 TBR books
• First Down: read 25-36 TBR books
• Field Goal: read 37-48 TBR books
• Hail Mary: read 49-60 TBR books
• Touchdown: read 61+ TBR books

And because reviewing is so important, I’ve added a couple of bonus levels!

• Extra Point: review half of the TBR books you read
• Two-Point Conversion: review all the TBR books you read

Go check it out!

Colletta

Thankful Thursday ~ 1/2/20

 

Here are some things that made me smile this week:

 

~Happy New Year!  I'm so excited for 2020!  I always look forward to starting a fresh, new year.  If you're interested in reading my "10 Goals for 2020" click HERE :)

~A New Quilt!  The family and I went to the mall over Christmas break and found that Sears is having a "closing sale".  I discovered a King sized quilt in my favorite colors and it only cost me $8.47.  My hubby would tell you that I have too many quilts, but I couldn't pass it up for that price! :)

~Organized Bedroom!  I spent some time on last Saturday working in our bedroom, particularly my closet and book shelves.  We moved some things around and tried to make the room more functional and aesthetically pleasing.  It feels so good to have less clutter :)

~A Loss!  I was so excited to report that I had a loss on the scale after Christmas instead of a gain.  You can read more on my last Weekly Weigh In post :)

~New Agenda!  I was gifted a 2020 agenda for Christmas.  I already have an agenda that I use for my daily tasks so I decided to use my new agenda to keep track of "One Sentence A Day".  I'll be writing one or two (maybe three) sentences about each day.  I'll be posting my sentences on the blog at the end of each month.  Rebecca Jo at Knit By God's Hands hosts a monthly linkup where I'll be sharing.  I'm excited to try out this form of journaling!  :)


What made you smile this week? 

Colletta

Happy 2020!!!!!!!

 

Colletta

10 Goals for 2020!

Can you believe that a new decade is starting?  Isn't that exciting?!?  I absolutely adore starting a New Year!

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about my goals for 2020. What do I want to do?  What do I want to accomplish?  What do I want to achieve?  What are my plans?

So, I put together a list of 10 goals for 2020.  Some are big and some are small.  Some will be super hard and others will be easy.  Some are new and some I already do and want to continue.  Without further ado, here are my goals for 2020 in no particular order:

1.  Read 26 Books.  In the past I always set my reading goal for 52 books.  I don't know the last time I actually hit that goal.  So, I decided to set a more realistic goal of 26 books this coming year.  I'll be reading books from my current TBR (to be read) shelf and participating in the Goodreads Challenge and the Mount TBR Challenge.

2.  Lose 52 lbs.  I feel like losing weight is on my list every year but this year I'm going to be more realistic with this goal also.  If I can just lose an average of 1 lb. a week, by this time next year I'll have lost over 75 lbs total.

3.  Exercise 5 Days Per Week For 30 Minutes.  Setting my goal for 5 days a week may be setting my goal a bit high, but I want to be specific in my goal and create a weekday habit of walking for at least 30 minutes a day.  I'm going to be writing "Exercise" on my daily planner just like any other task I want to accomplish.  I'm hopeful that I can accomplish this goal!

4.  Daily Bible Study Time.  Having a daily Bible Study time is something I currently do and want to continue and be even more consistent with.  My daily goal is to read at least 1-3 chapters of the Bible and also stay current with my Ladies Bible Study lesson for the week.  I'm not going to try to do a "Bible in a Year" in 2020 as I find it very difficult to stay on plan and achieve.  I then feel guilty so I want to set my goal as something I can maintain on a daily basis.  My goal is to be in the Word daily but not feel pressured.

5.  Grow My Hair Out.  I've been growing my hair for about 6-7 months now and it is finally almost chin length.  (I had a pretty short pixie cut.)  I want to continue growing it out to be at least between my chin and my shoulders.  After I get it that long, I can decide if I want to continue growing it out or keep it shoulder length.

6.  Continue MyWW.  I've been on the MyWW (Weight Watchers) program for about 5 months now.  This isn't my first time on WW.  In the past, I've given up.  My goal for 2020 is to continue on the program the entire year.  I want to work the program to the fullest with tracking my SmartPoints and getting my weekly FitPoint goal.  I'm already committed until March because of my sign-on package but I want to stay motivated and committed throughout the entire year.

7.  Be a Consistent Pen Pal.  This goal should be simple but life gets in the way.  My plan is to NOT put a recently received letter aside to write back later but to write back to my Pen Pal right away.  I love all things stationary, so I think having some new, cute stationary will help keep me inspired!

8.  Stay on Budget.  I have our 2020 Budget Binder all set up and ready to go!  Now comes the hard part.  2020 is going to be a year of paying off debt and getting ahead in our savings.

9.  Be Organized.  I've recently been on an organizing kick.  I've been organizing our bills and papers, my desk and will soon be working on getting our bedroom more organized.  My 2020 goal is to keep it that way!

10.  Blog Daily.  This is something I currently try to do and want to continue.  I have a pretty good schedule set up for myself.  I've been blogging for 10 years (with a few breaks here and there) and have considered giving it up but I enjoy it too much.  Blogging is a wonderful outlet for creativity.  I love blogging about books I've read and my crochet creations and things I'm thankful for.  I hope others enjoy stopping by my blog as much as I enjoy writing the posts.

Well, that is it for now.  I'm sure there will be other things I think of and want to do but 10 isgoals more than plenty to start with.

I'd LOVE to know what your goals are for 2020.  Let me know in the comments!

Colletta