1-1-11 was super productive

Hello 2011!! So glad you are here and judging from today's greatness, it is going to be a wonderful year! I woke up around 9, what a lovely time, ate a big breakfast with the folks as we watched the Rose Parade. This is probably the first year, minus the one where I was sitting in the stands in Pasadena, that I watched the entire parade because I didn't have to be anywhere! Our new TV makes everything look soooo pretty, the colors are bright, the lines are sharp! I then tidied up my room, organized my desk and got ready for TCU to win the Rose BOWL!! Whoohooooo GO Horned Frogs, one of my best friends is an alum so I'm partial, and the underdog is always one to root for and Texas, of course. During the first part of the game I made my very first gluten free pizza crust! I was following the recipe from the boxed mix and as you can see the final result was YUMMY, very think crust!

My parents and I listed off  3 blessings from 2010 and 3 things to look forward to in 2011 and here is mine, with commentary:
2010 blessing numero uno: yoga, yes, silly, but so true, my yoga membership created a schedule, a discipline and accountability to focus on my strength. When it seemed when I had no control over outcomes, breathing, stretching and relaxing in yoga gave me confidence both physically and mentally. I am grateful I persevered through the beginning when I was weak, my lungs felt too tight and my routine was being thrown off left and right. I look forward to continuing yoga, finally a 'sport' I am athletically good at and the outfits are cute too!

Two: Travel with friend and family time: I was blessed to be able to take some great trips this year with friends and to visit friends. I realized I was trying to rush friendship, that I had this ideal picture of what friendship was instead of acknowledging it as a lifelong journey. This summer seeing my parent's friends that have been in their lives for more than 30 years made me look forward to the future with the people I know now.  There isn't some deadline to meet to say I have friends or think ok I don't have to try anymore I have my group. Friendship is as ever changing as the weather. I learned how sometimes people are yearly friends and a select few are daily friends. They are all good and you need many different types of relationships. I felt the time I spent with my extended family was so healing. Just to be accepted and love for who you are. I learned I did not need to strive anymore, I was just what I was and that life is unpredictable, but they would always be there for me. Being around so many people in different cities and situations made me expect less of people, to not judge so harshly, to not put friendship in this neat little box.  I would say 2010 taught me to breakthrough preconceived ideas, lower expectations and love people for who they are.

Three: My lifestyle, 2010 was when I learned to value mental health and the spirit of gratefulness. Sometimes you have to lose something to appreciate it. My attitude and my faith were strong, but I didn't appreciate them, I didn't understand the great contribution to my health. When I finally was honest with myself that I could not live with CF alone, accepted that counseling was almost as necessary as my breathing treatments, and sharing my brokenness can result in beautiful things. This past year I am extremely grateful to my family for financially supporting me by giving me a job in the family business, a place to live and really the gift of time. The ability, to take a day off when I had no energy or to go to all my doctor's appointments. Giving me extra time in the morning so I could do my breathing treatments without getting up at an absurd hour, for really just not placing the pressures of the world's time on me. It might not always be the case for me to create my own schedule and at some point maybe I won't need to take it so easy, but the time my parents gave me to work on other aspects of my life is such a precious blessing.

2011 Goals:
1. Be content and honest in all situations
2. Be grateful and offer praise and thanksgiving
3. Continue the blessing of time and give back by offering my time to others (aka volunteer)
4. Recognize fear and know that only peace comes from the Lord not anxiousness
5. Take one day at a time by letting go of striving and achieving, but just accepting

And a little update on some major life decisions as of now, who knows, this may all change in a week.
1. April 16, 2011 I will take and PASS the Certified Health Educator Specialist Exam, so that I can validate my major (and the 17 years of being a patient) in the health education field. This is what I have attempted to study for....
2. Living in OC, at least until April and probably some time after that, one day though I think Dallas will be the the place to live. Grandma will not be moving out here to live with us and I will continue to live at home. I don't want to disrupt a good thing ( 98% of the time), I can make it work and I need a supportive environment while I studying and then apply for jobs.
3. Fitting in, I've written about my discomfort and aggravation about fitting in around here, but the past 2 months, once I began to really accept me for me, relationships have developed. Feeling better does help, but my attitude shift enabled me to see myself and others differently. My mental attitude seemed to be keeping me from being friends with others, basically I found out I needed to work more on myself than worry about changing them. I am slowly getting better at extending and accepting social invitations and look forward to deepening relationships that began last year!
4. I plan for my health to be amazing this year, that I will continue to become a super strong, deep breathing yogi master. Not resisting medical advice, but working with it. Keeping my weight up and becoming even a better chef and baker!
5. Here's to lots of God moments, love, good times, sunsets, yoga, peace, health, blessings, dance music, good food, friends, and family in 2011!!