The start of my new year

So here I am writing my first blog. I have been inspired my sister-in-law and I thought this would be a great way to document my year off of work. I have decided to take a leave of absence from work for a year and try to get my mind, body, and soul moving in the right direction. I have let myself really get to a bad place mentally and physically and I know I needed something drastic and fortunately this option was presented.
Here I am with this year sitting in front of me and what am I going to do. So far it has been pretty busy. Week 1 started with my brother and my nephews coming to Minnesota for a week. It was a blast though we missed TOnya and Kasey. We hit the Science museum, Children's museum, MOA (twice), Valley Fair, bowling, mini golf, Como Zoo & MN Zoo. I miss those guys so much so it was great to have them visit. Colin's first airplane ride too!
The next week was off to Texas to visit with my grandmother. She is 85 years old and not in the best of health though she really rebounded and found some amazing energy to work on genealogy all week with me. It was also good to visit with my dad and new step-mom as well as a side trip to my mom in Brownwood. It was a good start to working on the genealogy and learning about my grandparents and family history.
After a quick stop back in Minnesota, it was off to spend the weekend in Maryland/DC with Anton and his brother Liam and his wife Maira. I hadn't seen them in quite a while so it was a great visit. We did the DC tourist thing for 2 days, but the best was hanging with Liam & Maira. Anton and I headed to Greensboro on Sunday and go there after driving through some crazy traffic and rain. Why Greensboro you ask? Americal Idols on Tour!! The music was awesome and it was a great evening with my husband. Something I don't get nearly often enough.
So this brings me back to Minnesota and starting my time at home. Started at WeightWatchers today. While it was not fun to weigh in, it was good to go to a meeting and to get back to tracking. That really does seem to be the key to success. I also started a lot of yard work today. It was great to be outside, especially since the weather was so nice. I started a compost pile and did quite a bit of trimming of the trees. There is still quite a bit more to go, but it is so nice to be working outside!!