Simply Practical: January 2016

Greetings, ya'll! I hope ya'll are cozy and warm! And enjoying this wonderful, new year! So much has happened since I last wrote, that I don't know where to begin! I'll start with Gavyn, my new great-nephew. He was born December 6th. He is the son of April, my niece and little brother of Winterlynn and Riley. He is the cousin of Yasmine and Layla. Now our quiver is full! All those girls and finally a boy! He is such a pretty baby! And a good one at that! He is definitely the center of attention when he's around. But he sleeps quite a bit, so we don't get to see those beautiful, brown eyes very often. He is keeping April up at night and sleeping during the day. That will change with time, hopefully!

Soon after Gavyn was born, I had a birthday. Then it was Christmas. And I mean a very different kind of Christmas! We are experiencing a wet winter this year. We had storms on Christmas day! That's a little out of the ordinary, even for us! We were sitting at the table finishing the wonderful Christmas dinner we had all prepared, when all of a sudden, the lights went out! A tree had fallen on the power lines! And it was almost dark outside! The children hadn't even opened their gifts! We kept waiting to see if the repairmen would come, but they didn't. Randy finally got the generator on and hooked up some lights for us. They were quite bright! But at least the kids could finally open their gifts. All went well! We finally had electricity the next morning. I'm glad it wasn't too cold during that time!

So, our weather, like I said earlier, has been a bit on the rainy side. At times it gets very cold! Other times, we have quite warm temps. Last week was very cold. And we had just a light dusting of snow. It was so pretty! I tried to capture a photo of it falling but it didn't show up. The schools dismissed early that day in preparation for bad weather. The high was 50, but dropped into the thirties. That's when it snowed. Snow is a very rare thing here. So are temps in the 20's and below. We are just not used to it. Just as someone from, say, Wisconsin, wouldn't be used to our hot, humid, summers. I just couldn't take the cold weather they have there!

I am embarking on a new workout and healthy eating regime. I've always loved to exercise, but last year I got away from it too much. I also didn't eat as healthy as I should so the weight came on. I wasn't that big, I just wasn't in shape. I had too much fat around the middle and elsewhere. I have since lost down from a size 14 to a size 10. I am very happy about that; and now I'm trying to build muscle where there is fat. Even after losing weight, I still have a considerable amount of fat. I guess I notice it more now for some reason. I am trying to incorporate more protein and healthier carbs into my diet. It's not exactly Paleo, but sort of. I don't eat white stuff: rice, potatoes, bread. (Except my occasional homemade!) I am drinking more smoothies again, and green tea. I can really tell a difference in the way I feel and look. I think this is a way of eating that I can maintain permanently. I will keep ya'll updated with my progress. I am also incorporating pliometrics with my exercise program. Plios get the heart rate up and that is what helps to burn fat. I only exercise 20 mimutes every other day. I feel like I should exercise more often with all the food I'm eating! I just started eating that way this week so I'll see how eating more will affect my weight.

Thanks for being patient with my blogging! I hope to write on a more regular basis this year. Have a great day! Blessings from Bama!