Friday Favorites - Hello Goodbye

Hello 2019!  Goodbye 2018!

No better way to start the first Favorite Things post than with a recap of 2018 and a look ahead into 2019.

2018 started with a bang for sure.

We closed on our house at the beginning of January.

Then we hopped on an airplane for Puerto Vallarta.

Pickles became a cuddle dog this year.  

We took some fun trips to Iowa, Branson, and Florida.

We had niece and nephew sleepovers all throughout the year.

I read a lot of books.  Some good, some not.  Review are here.  

We took Pickles on lots of walks, which is good for all of us.  

We celebrated holidays at our new home.

It's been a good year.  

July was the month that I stopped trying new ways to lose weight and get healthy.  I was reminded of the time a decade ago that I managed to lose a lot of weight.  Back then it was the South Beach Diet.  I followed that low carb plan back in the day and lost 40 pounds only with that eating plan.  When I added in exercise more came off.  So that's what I did, while giving myself grace to enjoy vacations, holidays, and celebrations.  I have lost 32 pounds.  

Here's me in January and me in December.

What does 2019 hold?  I feel like this needs to be the year of more joy, more delight.  More on that later as I ponder and pray about what that means.  I think it means I need to do more of what brings me joy.  Use the talents that God has given me for fun.  More baking, more walking, more reading, more crafting, more crocheting.