Mother's Day 2011 - Mother's Day 2012 A Year of Change

A lot of changes have happened in my life since Mother's Day last year. Last Mother's Day I was already unhappy with the weight I has at, after that day I was even more unhappy. We went hiking at Ludington State Park for the day and I had Mallory take some pictures of me. When we got home and I loaded those pictures that was the slap in the face that I needed to do something about it.

Mother's Day 2011

I immediately sat down at the computer and signed up for Weight Watchers online. Over the last year I have lost 20 lbs.  and have been able to keep it off. I don't always track my food every week, but if I notice the scale number start to creep up, I immediately go back to tracking everything, and within a week I am right back down again. I am still not at my ideal goal weight, but that is something to keep striving for. It also may be something that I never reach, the point is I feel so much better about myself and more confident this year compared to last year.




Some other changes that have occurred in these past 366 days:

• I sent my only child off to her first year of college, a college that is 8 hours away none the less. Leaving her there after we had moved her in was the hardest thing I have ever done. She, though has flourished. I am so proud of the confident, strong, social young woman she has become.
• I decided to leave my part time retail job that I had been at for the past 5 years. Now I have more time to get house projects done, more time to work on improving my photography skills, and more time to just be me. I have more time to be there when Mallory calls and wants to talk, that is priceless time! I do work a few hours a week for a local furniture store taking pictures of their inventory for their Facebook page and their website. It is the perfect creative outlet. 

I have been taking some photography classes on line. In particular a self-portrait photography class for the last 3 weeks. It has really made me look at myself and be proud of the things I have accomplished in the last year. I look forward to what I can do between now and Mother's Day 2013. So here's to the next 365 days :)