Hello Blog? It's me...Carol...long time, no type.

Where have I been for the past 17 months...SEVENTEEN MONTHS!!  I could say I was on an island counting endangered fish, or off in the far north living with wolves, but it would all be lies. Truth is I got in trouble for blogging at lunch (pushed the envelope a bit there, I suppose) and as a result, I reacted as I usually do, blow it completely out of proportion and ran away. Far away. Technically, I didn't actually leave, but I did drop a lot of my routine. Last year was the year of the struggle: I struggled with the fallout of Mom passing, the resulting family strife, settling into being a home-owner, usual weight BS and work that wasn't as easy as it used to be. It was not a good place to be and I needed to work my way out of it, on my own.

Fast forward a few months and suddenly I'm starting to feel like myself again. Work seems to be clicking again, home life is the usual but I like that. Sadly I lost one of my fur-babies over the summer, so it's just me, Maggie May and Simon.  Although I do keep looking at kijiji at cute little kittens...I want one of every colour and shape, which is dangerous.  Three is the Crazy Lady starter kit...more than that? Well, you know how that goes.

I still love Crossfit, although a bout of shingles in the spring (OMG, the commercials are right!  Get the shot!!!) and my other leg acting very arthritic for awhile has me kind of back at the beginning. Still can't do a lot of the moves, but I am determined to succeed. I have an amazing set of coaches, including Miss Emily Abbott (8th at the Games, on Team Canada at the Invitational), so I know one day I'll figure this all out. The weight loss journey has also been a little bumpy, but I am committed to that as well. I know that as long as I heft around the extra 60 pounds, the harder it will be for me to conquer a pull-up or handstand.

So, I thought it would be timely to revisit the blog. Get reacquainted with the blogs I followed before, and maybe find some ones to inspire me to continue to the light.  Post about my goats (crossfit goals), food and life again.  Get the jumble of words out of my brain and onto the page. "Better out than in, I always say" to quote Shrek!

It is the 3rd day of 2016, and to date I have committed to Whole30 for the month, posting a daily happening that I am grateful for, meditating and fitness. I've also started a 30 day squat, push-up, plank and pull-up challenge. Since the 1st, I've done 165 squats, 70 seconds of plank, 15 push-ups from the knees (goal is toes by the end of the month) and 5 jumping pull-ups with my freshly installed pull-up bar. I'm still a WW member, but I do need to sit down and really look at the new program and commit. I will say, I do like the Oprah ad, and feel quite inspired by her. This could will be my year.

Off to the kitchen to prep for the week...salmon in the oven, pork and sweet potato/butternut squash in the slow cooker, and a variety of vegetables chopped up and ready to roast. I purchased containers from Amazon, and find as long as I have dinner ready to grab and go (and that goes for breakfast and lunch), I make much better choices. And I throw out less, meaning less wasted food and money. This is also the year I get control of my finances.

My vision board:

So, hello to anyone reading. I hope we can reconnect and take this journey together.

With gratitude,
Carol