Day 1 - Welcome Twenty Fourteen!

Wishing all my friends here a very happy 2014!

I'm very much looking forward to this year....lots of exciting stuff to look forward to!

As you may have guessed already from the title of this post, I'm going to try doing a blog marathon this month. No compulsion of any sort, no contests that I plan to participate in - I just LOVE to write and I need to make time for it. Hopefully a marathon will get me going in the right direction for the rest of the year :)!

So, how was New Years' eve and the first day of this year for you?

Mine was fairly simple. I worked a bit on New Years eve and then went for 'running shoe' shopping - I have signed up for half marathon training (yet to sign up for the actual race) so I need gear :). It was exciting....did not get the shoe I wanted in wide width but know what I need to buy now. I also popped into a cute little bookstore (the only one around here) right across the footwear store and found "the perfect puzzle'' for the daughter on sale for $6. Also found a great book for a friend. And a diary for myself. A successful outing :)!

We spent the rest of the evening at a friends place....played poker and chatted....I won both the games we played (no real money, just played for fun) so it was a lot of fun for me. We had 2 sets of parents who were trying hard to figure out the rules of Texas Holdem and were struggling....THAT contributed towards many laughs we youngsters enjoyed :). The whole group has kids, so we were really busy trying to keep the kids entertained and prevent them from shoving the poker chips into people's shoes :). When the clock struck 12, we just said "Happy New Year" as a group and parted - no drinks, no partying - that's how you celebrate when you have young children in your household. Even the snacks we had were kid friendly.

This might sound boring to 90% of my FB friend's list - all of those who partied hard and have posted pictures of their outings and dress up - but this was just PERFECT for me - close friends, laughter, kids playing, simplicity and togetherness. As such, hubby and I abstain from Alcohol so we didn't really miss out on anything.

New Year's Day was simple as well. The four of us stayed home ALL day - without any visitors. Quiet rare for us. But I cooked yummy food (daughter's choice). We all napped for 3+ hours in the afternoon - bliss!. We read books throughout the day. We had a fun dance session coupled with ringa ringa roses with kids in the evening. We blew bubbles. We did puzzles. What more would you want - we ate together, stayed together, read together, danced and played together, slept together. Simple, yet perfect!

I'm currently reading "The Miracle of Mindfulness" and it's SO good. The perfect book to read at the beginning of the year, where we soft reset our systems, internal as well as external. A great book to bring about positive changes in our lifestyle (which, for my husband, means washing the dishes mindfully :) :) - you will get this joke if you read the book). {there is a free online pdf of the book if you google for it - fyi}.

I really don't have any traditions for New Years day - I would have liked to go to the temple but it didn't work out today, so we will try to go during the weekend. I usually don't have many resolutions either - to get fitter and stronger, both physically as well as mentally, is always a goal. So is being creative, and growing myself. Travel is also always something I look forward to (have a trip planned in Jan - yay :)). I am going to give this running thing a shot - I've always wanted to try running (vs the walking, hiking that I am used to) so I want to run a race or two and see how I like it. If I don't, I won't push myself to do it, and I'll stick to what I'm good at anyway.

So there it is - a simple yet detailed account of the last couple days. And whether you like it or not, you'll see me here everyday for the rest of the month :)! DO visit, and DO comment :)!

Before I end, here is a collage of the kiddos having fun at home in the evening - notice the matching pajamas...there is a story to it which I will reserve for a future post :).

Wish you all a very happy, healthy, adventurous 2014! Hugz and much love from me to you!