It starts today

Jan. 1, 2012

For more than a dozen years, I have made pickles using my Grandma Christine Hoffert’s recipe. Over the years, I have taught dozens of friends how to make pickles thus being dubbed the Pickle Princess.
Whenever I gave away a jar of pickles to friends and family members, I was told I should make pickles in mass quantity and sell them at a farmer’s market. And every year, I would say, “Someday.”


Yet another year has passed and I have not made enough pickles to give to all my friends and family yet alone sell at a farmer's market.  


Someday...

How many times I have said “Someday I will… run another marathon, get in shape, lose 20 pounds, write my novel, write a short story, get a new job, learn to cook, track my family’s history, learn who my dad’s birth parents were, renew my passport, save money, travel to … .


Yet another year has come and gone I am still 20 pounds overweight, at the same job, unable to run a mile and have pages and pages of notes for my novel that are gathering dust.
Along with my sister, I recently spent a day cleaning my mom’s basement. In a wooden trunk under yellowed gift wrap, I found photographs of my grandfather Frank Thomas in his basketball uniform from 1927 and 1928. Looking at those photos made me realize that someday I will just be a memory too. And examining my life, I realized I don’t want to go another year being disappointed that I haven’t achieved my goals.  

Looking back on 2011, I would have never predicted half of what happened – from my husband getting a new job in a new city to paying a mortgage and a rent along with two sets of utility bills.  
As I packed away the Christmas ornaments and decorations, I wondered where will I be in a year when I unpack the ornaments and place them on a tree?  Will the house finally sell? Will I still be renting? Will my life my exactly as it is now? As it has been for the last dozen years? Or will I finally have the motivation to change my life?


We’ve all heard the quote “No one plans to fail, they just fail to plan.” And that’s what I have done. In the challenge to meet daily deadlines at work, take care of my family and just the normal day-to-day stuff, I haven’t made time to plan my life, which is ironic since I have planned the next three months of editorial content for the newspaper I work for.  Instead, I have just gone along with what life brought. And what I have learned is that if I continue to do that, I will continue to get the same results and I will continue to be disappointed.


I want more from my life and I am ready to make changes. I know I am not the only person in this pickle – stuck in a rut feeling like I am juggling 10 balls and at any time seven will drop and roll away to never be found. So if you are feeling the same way about your life, join me on this journey to lose weight, meet goals, laugh and most importantly a year from now say “I did it.”


It starts today. Each week, I will make goals and record my failures and successes. It’s my hope you will join me and share your journey to making 2012 the year you meet your goals.

The Honest Facts:

Weight: Jan. 1, 2012 - 158 pounds

Height: 5'8"

Job: Managing Editor for a twice monthly newspaper and a freelance writer

Mom of: an eighth grade boy and a junior girl

Goals for the week: Walk at least 30 minutes a day, send out two resumes, start blog, cut out coupons to go grocery shopping, post four blogs


Confession: Ate some really awesome chocolate today, which is in violation of my goal not to eat sweets.