A Lot Can Happen In A Year!

2015..

A year I will never, ever forget... a lot sure can happen in a year.

A year of heartache, new beginnings, new paths being built, time spent in the country, time spent in the city, time with family, time with friends, tears, laughter and reflection...

I want to say a HUGE "Thank you" to family and friends for your love and support this year. I can honestly say that you have all been what has kept me going on many occasions this year..... Again.... Thank you! xoxo

The photo above is a snapshot of my 2015 and it not only reflects the year that has happened, but the year to come ahead too....

Time spent with friends, time spent outdoors, time at home, healthy living, my Charlie Bear, diving into home decor inspiration and liking the small joys that a simple life brings.

I plan on continuing to live a simple life, enjoying the little things, making memories and really embracing life and living it! Every single moment!

2015, you prepared me for just about anything life could throw at me.

I've grown personally and professionally. I've developed a few more life lines (ie. wrinkles) and a thicker skin. There has been much laughter and many tears. Through it all, I've remained me and have hopefully become a better version of me.

Cheers to the year ahead....2016, I'm ready for you!!

RR

The First Week...

So how has your first week of 2015 been? Have you kept up your resolutions? Have you 'fallen off the wagon'?

However your first week has gone, I hope you have had a good one. 

Mine has been quite good and I feel as if I've packed a lot of productivity into the past 8 days.

As I sit here writing this, I'm looking at the bags of clothing and boxes of housewares that I have purged and will be donating to local charities. If you read my last post of 2014, I wrote about promises I made for myself for the new year ahead. One of those promises was to Simplify. By purging these items from my home, it opens up physical space which also in turn opens up 'head space'; it has allowed me to take stock of what I have and really ask myself do I Need this vs do I Want this?; and these items, via the charities, will be going to new homes whose families I hope enjoyed them as much as I did.

I have been doing little things like being sure the dishes are all done before I go to bed so there is no clutter on the counter in the morning.

It's these little things that are allowing the interior of my home to in turn bring clarity and space to my soul.  

 I've also started journalling again.... It is so cathartic. I'm writing down every cent I spend in an effort to analyze and adjust my spending habits. I've already saved money! I made my lunch and dinner all week long (I've even made my latte every morning and taken it to work) and not only have I saved money, I've also eaten much more healthy, 'real' food. I've been keeping a food journal too....I'm definitely not eating perfectly, but, I am eating well and know what's going into the food I'm eating as I'm preparing it.

So overall, so far so good.... really good!!

Cheers to 2015!!

RR

Promises to Myself!

I truly do Believe this.

As many wonderful days that my life has had in the past 35 years, I really do think that some of the best days are yet to come.

I also Believe that we create the lives we lead...they just don't happen.

We create our happiness, our successes, our fun....and we also create our sadness, our failures and the not so fun moments. We need to find a balance....happiness and success are what we strive for but in order to really appreciate and experience happiness, we need to also experience sadness and failure as we learn from these and in turn, we therefore increase and maintain the positives in our lives.

My promises to myself for 2015 (not resolutions) include a lot of things I'm already doing fairly well, but also some that I want to improve on. If I had to choose a word for 2015 that will keep me focuses on these promises, it would have to be BELIEVE! This word has been pivotal in my life over the past few years (heck, I have it tattooed on my foot) and it sure has gotten me through some tough times but has also reaffirmed my thoughts and feelings in the great times.

For 2015, I Believe.......

For 2015, I Promise myself.....

Again, some of these promises I am already doing and want to continue, while there are some I want to improve on and also add into the mix.

Some I would like to improve on are:

• Eat better.
• Drink Water (I realllly need to increase my water intake).
• Talk Less. Listen More.
• Experience Life. (to me, this means finding balance between Needs vs Wants; living more fully with fewer `things` and having more experiences that result in amazing memories!)

Some I want to do more of are:

• Read books.
• Adventure.
• Feel deeper.

And of course..... BE HAPPY! Like I mentioned above, I Believe we create our own Happiness. Don`t get me wrong....I`m uber happy and have very few concerns with life at the moment...but...(and this is a good but)....I want more! More Happiness! I want more and am willing to do what it takes to make this happen....

I honestly think that for me, simplifying life will lead to even more happiness. This is something I`ll be `testing`through 2015....Simple things like eating better, listening more, going on adventures can only add positives to my life, without adding any type of complication or negativity. Let`s call it a `back to basics`approach.

With this approach, along with Believing that happiness can and will be created through how I choose to live my life, getting back to basics, in every aspect of being, is something I am really looking forward to! I can`t help but think (and Believe) that through Simplicity and identifying Needs vs Wants, life will almost automatically improve in a number of ways (ie. emotional, health, financial etc).

Create that life you have always wish existed for you.... The best days of our lives truly are still ahead of us....

Cheers to 2015! Cheers to Promises to Myself! Cheers to Believing! Cheers to Simplicity!

RR