Yesterday's Tomorrow + #MyPostMonday Linky The Week's Best Original Content

 My husband and I are having some difficulty keeping even a semblance of the good eating habits and body transformations we thought would be in store for us at the start of a new year.  I know, same old trite story, make the resolution--break the resolution. My husband has been saying each month for the past year that this will be the month he'll reach his goals. And each month has fallen flat. I don't know why January 1st would be any different than any of those other months, which is why January 1st really holds no significance for me. I've just been trying to maintain my 5-lb typical winter weight gain and not let it get out of control. It's been tough and I'm at a rough patch because I'm up 7 lbs. from my low this past summer. 

Every day, my husband says to himself, "today I'm going to have a great eating day. I'm going to eat everything correctly, balance my carbs, proteins and fats, and drink plenty of fluids, along with an amazing exercise session which consists of a 1.5 hour weight-lifting session, a 30 mile bike ride, or a 10 mile hike. 

Every single morning he starts out with a bowl of oatmeal, a yogurt bowl, eggs and tortillas, or some variation of a healthy breakfast. He takes his supplements, and downs a morning elixir designed to de-toxify the body. Then lunch comes around and he can't seem to cope with the extreme stress of the morning, which I'm not sure what it consists of because I'm at work, dealing with my own stress. So he caves and he buys take-out and also gets dessert. Then comes the evening, when he absolutely hates himself for what he did at lunch, so he says "I've already blown it, I'll just eat what I want and start again tomorrow." And so along with the dinner that he eats, it will be also be accompanied by a bag of Doritos, a large bag of M & M's, or a Haggen Dazs ice cream. If it's really bad, he'll eat all 3. But somehow, in the doing, he thinks of me. He invariably comes home with a "present" for me, which is, you guessed it, some kind of junk food. And he knows what my weaknesses are. He'll get the exact thing that I can't seem to resist after my own stressful day at work. And you'd think I'd be able to resist and say, no thanks. But I don't. I take the treat and I usually eat it, leaving nothing remaining.

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The Past Year In Retrospect

Before I sat down to write this post, I thought back about my blogging year.  As memories of the past year streamed behind me, I remembered both good and bad.  I feel there were some months where I was incredibly focused.  I followed up on deadlines, I pursued social networking, I produced content and communicated with sponsors. But other months were....less than stellar.  And let's face it, there are quite a few areas that need to be addressed regularly if you're a blogger. For instance, if social networking is neglected for any length of time, traffic can be severely impacted.  (Which it was) And if one doesn't post regularly, it can be devastating. But how much posting is sufficient?  Once a week?  4 times a month? In my mind, that isn't near enough.  But that is what happened at times. 

My quandary was time.  I love to blog, but realistically how much time do I have to spend on it? Life sometimes gets in the way.  Who can plan for the unexpected?  Who would've thought my son would go to State and then actually win State?   And after all, my first 3 priorities are my faith, family and my job, which provides my reliable source of income and, let's be honest, gets me out of the house. Even so, blogging is an easy 4th.  While things went even as they did, I still managed to grow my blog, produce content, do reviews, and host giveaway events.  More importantly, I still love to blog and don't dread opening up my browser to create!  Here are some of the highlights of 2014!

• I was flabbergasted at the high water usage in certain areas of our desert state and I ran into an all-too-common occurrence as we build further and further into wildlife habitat!  

• I had a crazy driving adventure due to road-rage and was "under"whelmed by our legal system and the abundance of frivolous lawsuits happening everywhere.

• I was ever-concerned with my diet, health and beauty and perseverated about how my genetic make-up was perfectly good and acceptable, despite popular argument and evidence to the contrary!

• I hosted an average of one giveaway per month and my favorites were Magic Zoo Jewelry, Cariloha bamboo sheets, Mrs. Fields Cookies, Classical Stretch Season 10, Rejuvenator Microbubble Showerhead and Rainshadow Labs!

• I started two linkys - Motivating Monday and Sabbatical Sunday!  These will be continuing throughout 2015 because I love to read your blogs and learn from your experiences!  I don't ask anyone to follow other blogs, but I do promise to promote all link-ups on one of my social media channels! 'Cause I love you!

I've never been into goals for my blog but this year I think I'll try it and even make it public! My goals for next year are to grow my content and giveaways by 20%!  That means 3 more giveaways than last year (and I do select my giveaways carefully) and 4 more self-authored posts!  Yay!  Something to shoot for!  My most important goal, however, is to continue to love blogging and if that means taking a break sometimes to clear my head, I will definitely do it!
 

What are your goals, blogging or otherwise, for 2015?