5 years and a lifetime to go

Five short years ago, I put on a beautiful white dress, got a smashing updo and made my way down an aisle lined with family and friends to meet up with a handsome man in a tuxedo. On that night we said our I do's and started our lives together.

 I haven't regretted it.

My husband wasn't the only guy waiting at the end of the aisle that day. In addition to becoming a wife I also became a stepmother. And, on November 7, 2008 we became a family.

 I don't really write about my stepson. He is old enough that his privacy dictates that. He is old enough to tell his own stories. Second, being a blended family has enough challenges that it doesn't need me sharing the gory details with the world. But when I speak of my family, I mean all five of us.

Back then we were three. We added two more to make things complete. And then we were five.

 Five years and one day ago, it was just me. And now I have all this. Life is good

2013: The Year of Less

Happy New Year! As I said on my Facebook page, whether your 2012 was good or bad, I hope 2013 is better. I certainly have no complaints about 2012. We welcomed our little (big) Landry and nothing went too terribly wrong during the year. I call that a win.

Now we welcome in a new year and like everyone else I use the beginning of a new year as time to assess my life and make some changes. Of course, I want to lose weight, exercise more and all that jazz but really want in my life is less excess. Looking around at  my house is somewhat sickening. I don't mean the mess, well not entirely. I just mean the amount of stuff we have. Excess. In a four bedroom, four bathroom house we can't find a place to put everything?!?!? Our middle floor looks like Toys R Us vomited all over it. Our kitchen is full of food we'll never eat. My stomach is always full of food I didn't need. It's ridiculous. And we keep buying more. We keep eating more. We keep wasting more. Confusing need and want all along the way.

So this is a year of less. Less consumption. Less buying. Less spending. Less waste. Less stuff. Less eating. Less weight. Less stress? The Year of Less.

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” -Leonardo Da Vinci