The bright and shiny day dawns and it feels like a fresh start...
turning the page on my day timer offers an opportunity to put the past year behind, but not forgetting the events, experiences and adventures but taking note and learning from them, while moving forward with a spirit of renewed energy, optimism and positivity.
As this new year unfolds, my plan is to live simply, honestly, compassionately, while embracing beauty and slowing down to consciously look for the bright spots in my daily round.
Making small changes that will help contribute to a healthier, happier year ahead for myself and our family.
I am grateful for so many things in life and will continue to give thanks...
We spent some time on New Years Day at Butchart Gardens.
The gardens are lit up for the festive season with lights and their popular
"12 days of Christmas" displays.
I don't make many resolutions...
I will try to walk more and moderate the amount and type of food that I eat.
The New Year will include a couple of trips.
I have not felt inclined to travel much since Mom passed away
until
these past few months.
I am in the process of planning a cruise to Alaska this summer
followed by a 3 week adventure
to Rome, Tuscany, Provence, SW France and Paris.
I will be packing for three weeks in a carry on!
Italian lessons for travellers are on the agenda for the next few months.
What plans do you have for the New Year?
Do you make resolutions?
~ Be Well and Be Kind ~
28 comments:
Happy New Year! What an exciting year you have ahead -- and good to hear that you're beginning to move out of the worst of the grief over losing your mom. Is this another solo trip to meet up with friends on the other side or have you a fellow traveller this time? I can't wait to follow along, preparations and travel. . . .
I am travelling with a friend! and we will take in the sights of Rome for a couple of days before going to a 7 day Tuscan cooking vacation which features daily excursions and cooking class in the afternoon where we learn new skills and prepare our dinner. We will rent a car and drive to Provence ans stay in a small village near Aix en Provence for a week...exploring the countryside, then drive to meet up with our friends who live in SW France in the beautiful village Auvillar. I am hoping my friend Cheryl who lives in Auvillar will hop on the train and join us for the Provence leg of our journey. After a few days in Auvillar we will catch the train to Paris for a couple of days before flying home.
I feel excited about and planning for this trip. I bought new walking shoes today!
Black comfy Junga leather ones that I will gently wear in so I can walk for hours in comfort. Any tips for us when we are in Rome? We are staying at B&B in the city centre...I know you know it well :-))
I am so happy to hear you will be traveling more. I know how much you loved your trip to Paris, I imagine further voyages will only bring more happiness. I am even more happy to hear you are finding peace after your mother's death.
Time is a healer... and it feels like the right time to move ahead and move forward and explore and expand our horizons.
Thank you for your comment Lisa I value your opinion and cherish our online relationship 💕
Such beautiful images and hopes for the year ahead, Leslie. Happy New Year.
SSG xxx
Hope you fulfill some of your dreams this year.
Liz
Those sound like lovely adventures you are planning.
Thanks for posting the pics of Butchart Gardens, I really must go there next Christmas as we will be in Victoria then (alternate each year with family)
All the best for 2019.
Suz from Vancouver
I am so happy to hear that the time you have taken for yourself to heal has allowed you to venture out with your friends later this year. Your trip sounds wonderful, especially the cooking classes in Tuscany!
The photos are lovely. It looked like you had a great evening out and about.
Having lost three of our five family elders in the last four months of the year, I have taken to heart the words spoken in church about a life well-lived. Although I wouldn't call it a resolution, I have been trying to let go of my work frustrations (and tame the spillover into my private life.) I have since worked even harder to be gracious especially at work. Happily, a great weight had been lifted off my shoulders when we decided it was time for me to retire at the end of the school year. It is so much easier to now gloss over things that I find have little to do with kids and education. My mantra is , "What are they going to do...fire me?" It's very freeing.
I guess my resolution would be to clean out 20+ years of stuff from two schools before June so that my replacement doesn't have to wade through the leftovers of my career! Carol in VT
Wonderful travel plans, Hostess. I look forward to hearing about your European adventures.
I don't make resolutions but I am making a lifestyle change to a primarily nutrient dense plant based diet, based on the book Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. My two Christmas gifts to myself were two cookbooks, Kitchen Matters by Pamela Salzman and Raw-Vitalize by Mimi Kirk. I'm really excited about this new odyssey as I look forward to my milestone birthday of seventy this year.
Hope your New Year is filled with much joy and health and sweet content.
Honey Bee
How exciting to be planning a trip or two. We'll be going to Europe this summer, too, and travel with only carry-ons. It takes some planning and organization, which you are very good at. I look forward to hearing more of your trip plans.
No resolutions here, but I would like to finish several projects, read more, and walk more. Daily habits are so important.
Happy New Year,Leslie!
And how exciting plans for the year ahead,I'm so happy for you
The Christmas light installations are lovely
I usually don't make New Year resolutions at all
Dottoressa
Hi Leslie...looking forward to hearing more of your plans...maybe later on this month?
We still have no phone or internet. They say on Monday...maybe.
Wonderfull photos of Butchard Gardens. I think Christmas is the best time there.
Ali
Happy New Year! I think that you will really enjoy your cooking classes. There is so much to see in the Mediterranean area. Losing your mother and mother-in-law in the last couple of years must have been hard. Reading, walking and eating healthfully are my goals for the new year.
"forever in our hearts" I always quietly say these regarding loved ones who have passed over. And it is so true. When we are bound by love, it always remains. And having your cruises will be a wonderful respite
Happy New Year Leslie. I don't make resolutions...I find life just sort of reveals itself and I try to go with the flow, as gracefully as possible.
I'm so glad you're planning to return to Paris - and you will love the South of France. I'm jealous in a nice way, and look forward to hearing more.
Happy New Year to you and your family! Your little one is growing up so fast...I like reading your posts.
A couple of goals this year...the dream of travel and trying to stay healthy by walking more...hope you enjoy a healthy and happy New Year!
Hi Suz,
The displays at Butchart Gardens are so pretty...I like going before its dark and watching the light fade and the lights come alive! Bring your skates...the rink at The Gardens is always open at Xmas.
Carol,
I have beeen remiss in not commenting sooner on the blog but I have been busy at the cottage and trying to walk more! Letting go takes real determination and discipline but IF you can succeed it will pay off in so many ways...better health, far less stress and you feel more at ease and in control...good luck with that goal.
Several of the teachers that I worked with who were retiring, put up a table in the staff room and hallway and placed what they no longer wanted out for other colleagues to take their extra stuff...it worked like a charm!!
Have fun in your last few months of teaching.
Eating more mindfully is a fabulous goal...and turning 70 is a cause for celebration. I hope you have a wonderful year Honey Bee.
We are having fun planning and arranging our itinerary...Paris at the end of the trip will be like icing on the cake! I look forward to hearing more about your travel plans...best wishes for a healthy and happy new year Lorrie.
Resolutions can be made at any time of year...I like to think of January as a fresh start and a time to implement small changes...hope you are enjoying the start to the New Year.
Ali...I am looking across the Salish Sea towards your island as I type this response!
Will check my schedule when I get back home...hope by now you are back online! Pender roadsides are littered with branches and chunks of large fallen trees...the stories of the storm are on the tip of eveyones tongues...everyone helped their neighbours and a true sense of community was evident in all the conversations that we have had with the locals. Hopefully the storm will not to be repeated anytime soon.
I've been enjoying the bright colours of Mexico in your recent posts...a lovely respite from the cooler temperatures and rainy days that we have here.
My friend brought a Fit Bit with her and it is a real motivator...we did about 7000 steps on the walk yesterday! By the time we returned we were at 10,000! A healthy gadget that seems to work well...it prompts her to get up and move if she has been idle too long!
Happy New Year!
Best wishes for a healthy, happy and prosperous 2019
Going with the flow is so healthy...too much angst and stress result from resisiting what comes our way, so letting unpleasant things, that are beyond our control, wash over us...is so much healthier than worrying.
The south of France in the Midi is beautiful. I can only imagine how exquisite the villages will be in Provence and the Riviera...the stuff of dreams.
Will be looking forward to the cruise in July and the bigger trip in the fall!
Hope that 2019 is a great year for you.
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