A New Year; A New Challenge

Well... as my blog quite clearly shows... after Christmas in the Valley had come and gone, I was exhausted! We had A LOT going on, and I decided to slow down a bit. No blogging; very little jewelry business action; etc. I just wanted to stop and enjoy the Holidays with the kids and hubby. And, we sure did! It was nice, relaxing (I mean, as relaxing as Christmas with 3 stops in one day can be), and VERY enjoyable! We squeezed lots of fun activities in, which included a trip to Nashville as well as some fun activities around here. We baked, we shopped, we ate. I even managed to squeeze in time to read 3 books (the hunger games series), which is quite the luxery for me. We had fun.

Today I feel like it's the first day in a while where my goal is to be productive. It's nice, let me tell you, living for a month with very little hanging over your head to do or get done, and I can't say I didn't like it. I do however, have some things I'd like to actually do. So, here's to a productive "naptime" today!

I know that New Year's brings the dreaded or sometimes anticipated New Year's resolutions, I suppose depending who you are. Never really been for me. In fact, I can't say I've ever made one. My sister, however, things it's the sort of thing that makes for a fun New Year's Eve party... everyone write their goals, and then let's share em... To each his own, I suppose.

But, no matter which category you fall into, it is inevitably the time of year that people begin to think about cracking down on the sweets and stepping up their workout routines. With the holidays and all the goodies that come with that, it's an ever present reminder that we need a "fresh start". So, in light of that, my mom has asked me to continue the birthday present I gave to her (running the weight loss contest) for some extra motivation. She lost over 35 lbs in 5 months and is looking incredible! Everyone loved the accountability, fun, and competition that was involved. I mean, when money is involved, it makes everything just a little bit more motivating, right?

So, we are going to do a month by month contest. Each person who wants to participate each month will pay $20. Half will go to me for running it; Half will go into the prize pool. So, you can do the math.. 10 participants = a $100 monthly prize, etc. Each person will CONFIDENTIALLY report their weight to me each Friday of the month. I will convert the #'s to weight loss percentage and report once halfway through the month, so you know where you stand, and once more on the final weigh day of the month. The person with the highest weight loss percentage wins the prize $. Since the numbers are reported to weight loss percentage, this contest is for anyone needing to lose 5 lbs or 50! If you'd like more info about it, you can email me at rachelgkendall@yahoo.com. This month's contest will begin THIS FRIDAY (January 6).