back to the treadmill

I try not to think of exercising as a chore but, really, it always ends up feeling that way.  Clean the bathrooms, put on a load of laundry, do the dishes, exercise. All require effort and intention to complete. At least exercise offers me that same rush of a job well done that the other chores elicit. Over the years I've kept up with all the latest tips and trick that exercising gurus recommend for getting off the couch and working out. None have affected me so much as these two pieces of advice I came across recently:

january's resolutions

Since the beginning of January I have been trying to decide on how to split my resolutions. There are 25 of them all together and I know if I tried to adopt them all at once I would just struggle and probably give up. I considered having each month focus on one aspect of my goals such as parenting, marriage or home life. Instead I just chose the ones that I felt the most urgency in starting and made those January's. Easy peasy. By breaking the lot down into manageable bits I hope to avoid getting overwhelmed but still keep my enthusiasm high. I'm counting on the novelty of adding new resolutions each month to keep everything fresh. 

new year, new project

My first thought was to reject the whole idea. How many years had I been making New Year's resolutions and failing to keep them after the first month? Ten years? Twenty? But this year I felt differently about the endeavor. For the past few months I haven't been very happy. Or rather, I haven't been as happy as I think I should be. I've been tired, grumpy and impatient. I have so many wonderful things in my life, things to be grateful for and I seem to be taking it all for granted. I was struck by the urge to do better. 

the time just slips by

So it's been about 4 months since I last posted. I know, FOUR MONTHS. It's just been a crazy time with no chances to catch my breath until now. Since my last post we found a buyer for the house, had to get approval for a short sale, got Jason a job, got our house-hunting hopes up, got let down, moved to Arizona and I stress-ate my way to 10 more pounds. This move and everything it entails has encompassed my every waking moment for the last little while. 

a hell of a year

A year ago I was not in a good place. I had basically made up my mind that I was going to get in the car and go. Where you ask? I still have no idea. What I was certain was that my family would be a lot happier if I wasn't there screwing it all up with my brokenness. Instead, Jason convinced me to admit myself to a mental facility. You can read about that here and here. Those were probably the hardest 5 days of my life. But once I got out I had a new motto - "It can get better." I could get better. Life could be better, happier, easier. Then came a year's worth of roller coaster side effects and medication cocktail swapping (here, here and here). It was a hard road, struggling with weight gain, self esteem issues and more depression.