the 2017 vision blog

First up.. this! (Posted by FB Friend Stacy last night.) Love it!

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So to that end, the "be healthier" challenges:

• Cut out the sweets I've become addicted to this holiday season (after I finish eating my cookie tin... hey, I'm trying to be realistic here ;)
• Drink more water 
• Go back to the "wake up early and work out on the Wii Fit" routine that helped me so much six years ago. To accomplish that I will need to..
• Go to bed earlier than current midnight-ish.

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I want to do at least one new thing a week. 

• I started today by -- for the first time in 8 years at my house -- walking to Lake Balboa park from my house and walking the entire perimeter of the lake for the first time ever. It was a gorgeous day after all the rain yesterday and I felt so refreshed. I realized I need to spend more time at that lake -- it's so close and very peaceful (when not near the playground ;). Perhaps I will take my beach chair and books there on Saturday afternoons...

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Speaking of books, here's my reading pile for the year.. a little less ambitious than last year (it's actually just what I didn't even start last year). So hopefully I will finish it (although that Nora Ephron book is thick!)

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The hope behind the choices in that book pile is to inspire me to write more. To that end, I am toying with the idea of starting a trendy bullet journal... it's a way to write and be crafty and organized all at the same time. We shall see... I have a hard enough time remembering to write in my normal journal. But this Buzzfeed article makes it look more fun than the official site does :)

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Speaking of crafty, I think I have finally saved enough wine corks the last year to make a small version of this, which I saved off Drew Barrymore's instragram around Valentine's Day last year. I think it's pretty (and it's all recycled!). And it represents Love ... I'd like more of that in my life in 2017 too. :)

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I hope to remember this each day...

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And... the holdovers from last year:

Two weeks split between here....

... and here

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For a certain twosome who love complaining about my crappy front door, I will get a new one, sort of like this...

With that front door, I hope to kickstart other items on my home improvement list too.... anyone know a good handyman? 

welcome home

I came home from my four-day mini-vacation in Oregon late last night. This morning, I went outside to water my poor, parched plants and this is what I found....

SIX cactus flowers blooming! Apparently my blog reaches heaven :) Hi Granny. Love you too!

love is...

My 84-year-old grandpa in New Mexico sends a lot of email forwards. Many of them spout political propaganda that I immediately delete. However, some are gems of beautiful and/or funny photos, or wise words to live by.

One last week kind of falls into the "wise words" category.

I thought it would be perfect for Valentine's Day. Enjoy!

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A group of 4-to-8-year-olds were asked What does "love" mean? Their answers were broader and deeper than you'd imagine:

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands get arthritis too. That's love." - Rebecca, age 8

"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth." - Billy, age 4

"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs." - Chrissy, age 6

"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired." - Terri, age 4

"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK." - Danny, age 7

"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss." - Emily, age 8

"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen." - Bobby, age 7

"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it every day." - Noelle, age 7

"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore." - Cindy, age 8

"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken." - Elaine, age 5

"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day." - Mary Ann, age 4

"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget." - Jessica, age 8