Christmas time brings peace and family together hopefully. It has forever been my favorite time of year. It means it’s time to reflect on the past year, were you the kind of person you intended to be? Were there regrets or mistakes that you will need to move on from.   

What were your greatest triumphs or missteps?  Each one of us probably has many of both. I hope you’ll humor me and let me share a couple of mine. 

For many years I have wanted to become a member of a church family again. I have gotten away from the practice of prayer and how much it can mean when it is part of your daily routine.  We are blessed to have found a new church family (Thank you Danielle Davis for inviting us). It has been exactly what we’ve been searching for.  If this is something that you have also been grappling with, please reach out and do not waste another second telling yourself “I’ll get to it, there is always time.” before you know it, you’ll be sitting in the same place next year and wondering why you haven’t made a move. 

While that, I consider a major triumph in my life choices. Here is an example of one of my missteps ( or should I say “coulda done better there”. I came into this year thinking “all right Mel, this is your year—you are going to shed the pounds and get back into that pile of jeans labeled maybe one day. That did not happen, not only did I not get back to where I wanted to be, I kept going the opposite direction. I tried all of the “miracle pills”, I spent a ton of money looking for the easy way to do it. Guess what there is no easy way. I just finished my first 30 days of the intermittent fasting reset. In my honest opinion, there is something there. I need to do much more studying and research but, I am down 9 pounds and so far holding. I am hoping the 2^nd 30 days bring more of the same.  

I am not focusing on the failures, I am learning and retraining my mind to go always forward. Even if it’s only an inch, make it an inch forward every day. 

Here is a list of my favorite deals, steals, finds and loves for 2024 

Love*** Learning new things. I have taken a couple classes on Udemy.  Turns out I am a better student when I’m over 50 than I was in high school. I’m looking at you Ms. Newton my senior Russian History teacher.  There are classes on every conceivable subject that you might be interested in. Bonus points is the price, very affordable and has excellent reviews. 

You can check out all of their courses here  

Podcasts: Where have I been for all of these years? It turns out there is a podcast out there for you no matter your interests. These are a couple of my go-to’s. 

The Mel Robbins Podcast 

https://www.melrobbins.com/podcast

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-rachel-hollis-podcast/id1245763628

Audible books—-another little nugget of gold. Wherever you can find them, I use Audible from Amazon which you can find from this link here. Also check out the Lilly app or through your local library. 

Hygge: It is a lifestyle and it is wonderful. Bring peace into your home and reduce stress this holiday season. You can check out my Hygge blog post here. 

All of these items have made my life just a little more serene, reduced my stress in one way or another. Please check out this list from Amazon to find something for the lady in your life. She will love you for it!  

Please share with me all of your tips to make your life a little less hectic. Let’s all learn together.