Vitality

animation, ardor, audacity, bang, being,bloom, bounce, clout, continuity, drive, endurance, existence, exuberance, fervor, force, get-up-and-go, go, guts, intensity, life, liveliness, lustiness, pep, pizzazz, power, pulse, punch, robustness, snap, sparkle, spunk, stamina, starch, steam, strength, stuff, venturesomeness, verve, vigor, vim, vivaciousness, vivacity, zest, zing, zip

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Last year, my life-long friend (and fellow blogger at Faith of a Small Seed) challenged me to choose a word toward which I would strive for the next year.  I've never been "good" at New Year's Resolutions.  I think they're sort of silly.  This word idea, though, intrigued me.  After much MUCH thought and prayer, I settled on the word "vitality."  

I didn't know then what I do now.  Had I been able to look into the future, I'd have know that vitality was exactly EXACTLY what I needed to focus on in 2011.  I needed endurance.  I needed intensity.  I needed life.  I needed a little bit of punch here and there.  I couldn't have survived this year without vitality!  

If you've been around a while, you know more of my story than the newbies, but just in case you've forgotten, it's been a heck of a year over here!  

In January The Hubby started work on a second bachelor's degree.  That means he's working full time and going to school nearly full time.  He's super busy and we're both super tired!  This mama's needed a bit of pep to survive the long LONG days without any help!

In June Bugsy had a 13 hour skull surgery, the third in his 4 years of life (#6 overall on his surgery list).  If you've ever handed a child over for surgery, you can imagine the pain I felt for that entire 13 hours.  The plan was to take a rib graft from his own chest and use it to fill some gaps in his skull, but unfortunately (or fortunately?) he'd been under for too long by the time the surgeons got to that point in the surgery, and he now has three areas of titanium mesh holding together his million dollar noggin.  God is good, though, and Bugs is a NORMAL 4 year old boy!

In August I received a scary medical diagnosis that changed my life from here on out.  You'll be able to read more about that in February...you'll see.  There was a little bit of just "being" for a while, and then some power.  You see, I have learned that I have to take control of my health.  I'm doing that!

Late spring I decided I needed to regain some health, some bounce, some pizzazz, to my life!  I started on a journey toward wellness and can't believe how much better I'm feeling physically!  I've lost over 45 pounds, gone from a size 16 pants and XL shirt to a size 10 pants and M shirt!  I even have a few small shirts that fit just fine now!  I am eating well and exercising almost daily.  My body is so thankful!

The Hubby took 11 hours of classes this fall!  That mean mama and the kids operated as a single parent family Monday-Friday.  That was extremely stressful.  Kudos to all you parents who do it on a daily basis!  I can't imagine how difficult that must be!  We've decided that we're going to try not to do that again.  It was very difficult on all of us, and probably not great for my health.

I found Zumba!  My Zumba instructors ROCK!  

Although it's been a rough year around here, I've fought back.  I've survived, and I'd say I've shown a fair amount of vitality.  I wouldn't say I was awesome at it, but I gave it a good effort.  I have a long LONG way to go on the vitality front, but I've given myself a good start and am so ready to see where God will take my family in the next year!

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Do you make New Year's Resolutions?  Do you keep them or break them?  Are you like me, and think they're silly?  Are you just so ready to get on to next year you don't even care?

I'd LOVE to have you join me in choosing a word for next year!  Strive to embody that word.  Learn it.  Live it.  Tell me about it!

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Happy New Year and God bless!